Most men and women have started taking physical fitness and health a lot more serious than in past decades. It’s fairly obvious with the tremendous growth of fitness centers, weight loss reality TV shows, and exercise groups how important it is for people to look and feel good about themselves. They are ready to do anything to achieve that end goal. From yoga, pilates, gym, aerobics, zumba style dance and more, there are many options to choose from on the road to fitness, depending on an individual’s preferences and long-term goals.

To add to a long list of physical activities enjoyed by many, crossfit training enters with a bang. It is a fitness system based on varied exercises and functional movements, that involves several joints at once, typically executed at high intensity. This type of crossfit training is used by many military units, tactical operations teams, and numerous professional athletes around the world who aim to improve their physical condition.  Now this type of training is gaining favor with personal trainers and gyms across the world, as they realize its advantages, and utilize crossfit exercises for the benefit of their clients.

The execution of the exercises in crossfit training are so varied that it demands the usage and cooperation of a multitude of various muscles and joints in the body. Unlike concentrated exercises carried out on typical gym machines that seek to focus on one, two, or even three areas of ​​the body, crossfit exercises, called functional exercises, work the body as a whole, and reduce the workout time necessary to achieve optimum results.

It is no wonder why so many men and women have begun employing crossfit training exercises, because it helps to rapidly improve strength, power, flexibility and speed of the practitioner in less time than many other traditional methods. It is also suitable for all types of people, since the level of demand and intensity is applied according to the physical capacity of each person. Many people have integrated this type of exercise into their daily lifestyle, and entire families come together for crossfit, making exercise a connecting and enjoyable group activity.

Crossfit training truly creates an atmosphere of motivation and competitiveness for a large number of people. It includes the philosophy of “garage gym”, which is to defend the idea that an athlete can build a high quality gym in a garage, warehouse or industrial premises, with a bare minimum of equipment, for relatively low cost. With minimal equipment you can develop an elite training regimen based on lifting, throwing, jumping and climbing, typical of crossfit training, which is very difficult to find in a conventional commercial gym, although some gyms are expanding to accomadate this type of equipment and training.

If you haven’t given crossfit training a try yet, but would like to, consider finding a local gym that has crossfit resources, talk to a personal trainer versed in crossfit methods, or find some online forums and user communities that discuss crossfit topics to learn more about them and how to get started.

This following website is the authority on crossfit:  CrossFit.com

source: FoxNews.com

The dreaded “double chin” could become a thing of the past if clinical trials of an injectable drug pan out, Agence-France Presse reported.

The drug, made by Bayer, is called ATX-101 and works by reducing localized fat under the chin, the company said in a statement. Right now, Bayer is testing the drug on more than 700 volunteers at centers in Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Italy.

“There is a huge demand for a safe, effective and approved injectable treatment for localized fat reduction,” Jean-Paul Ortonne, a French dermatologist involved in the trials, told AFP. He said this is the first step towards “a well-studied, clinically-proven treatment to reduce localized submental fat without surgery.”

Yvonne Moeller, a spokeswoman for Bayer, describe the procedure as “something like a tattoo.

And this is why: In order to achieve optimal results, a doctor must administer between 40 and 70 tiny injections into the fat cells over several sessions, with the amount depending on the size of the double chin.

“You would hope to see noticeable results after about 16 weeks,” Moeller added.

Bayer hopes to launch the product in Europe, Asia and South America in 2014.

By Danielle Braff

Remember how, during your teens and 20s, you could eat practically anything and not gain a pound? Now that you’re hovering around middle age, you’ve probably found that’s just not the case anymore. Part of the problem is that your metabolism decreases as a result of other age-related factors, like decrease in muscle mass. However, there’s no need to give in to a bigger pant size just yet! Read on for eight ways to rev up your metabolism and keep those unwanted pounds from your waistline.

Do Intervals
Mixing in fast-paced intervals raises your metabolic rate higher than doing a steady cardio workout, and will continue to do so up to an hour after you’re done, says Kristin McGee, a trainer and Pilates instructor whose client list includes Tina Fey and Bethenny Frankel. An Australian study also found that women who did intervals while they were biking lost three times as much fat as those who worked out at a steady pace. If you’re a walker, simply walk at your normal pace for 1 to 2 minutes, then speed-walk for 30 to 60 seconds. Repeat the sequence 10 to 15 times.

Opt for Caffeine
It’s time to hit Starbucks. A study published in the journal Physiology & Behavior shows that coffee drinkers have a 16 percent higher metabolic rate than those who abstain or drink decaf joe, because caffeine increases your heart rate and stimulates your central nervous system. Spread out the cups over your entire day to keep your metabolism running at a boosted rate—just be sure to have your last cup by early afternoon so you can hit the pillow with no problems later on.

Add Some Ice
Though the increase is modest, there is some evidence that drinking cold water can cause a slight surge in metabolic rate. Since your body maintains a core temperature around 98.6°F, cold water will be brought to that temperature after being consumed and calories are burned during the warming process. Discovery Health deduced that you can burn up to 70 extra calories a day if you follow the common rule of drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of cold water per day. Need another reason to up your water intake? Researchers at the University of Utah found that participants who drank half of the recommended amount of water per day (four 8-ounce glasses), not only showed signs of dehydration, they also experienced a 2% decrease in calories burned per day.

Eat a Big Breakfast
It’s time to nix the oatmeal with skim milk. Instead, start your day with a fatty breakfast, including eggs and even a piece of bacon, suggests Molly Bray, PhD, lead author of a recent study showing that a fat-filled morning meal will jumpstart your metabolism for the day faster than a lowfat, low-calorie breakfast. Another study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that people who eat 22 to 55 percent of their total calories at breakfast gain 1.7 pounds over four years. That’s not bad considering those who eat 0 to 11 percent of their calories in the morning gain nearly 3 pounds.

Drink Green Tea
Not only does green tea contain enough antioxidants to keep colds and the flu at bay, but it also does wonders for your metabolism, according to a study published in the journal Phytomedicine. Researchers found that people who drank the equivalent of three to five cups daily for three months shaved 5 percent off their body weight. Green tea contains ECGC, a plant compound that stimulates your metabolism, says Rania Batayneh, MPH, a nutritionist in private practice in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, and founder of Essential Nutrition consulting.

Don’t Skimp on Dairy
Calcium-rich foods and drinks, including milk, yogurt and cheese, increase the rate at which fat turns into waste, says a study by researchers at the University of Copenhagen published in the The Journal of Nutrition. It doesn’t matter what form of dairy product you’re consuming as long as the serving size is adequate (keep it lowfat!)—either a full glass of lowfat milk or 6 ounces of yogurt is perfect. Also, the study noted that you have to actually ingest the calcium in its natural form; supplements don’t work due to differences in the chemical makeup.

Build More Muscle
Gaining lean muscle mass boosts your metabolism and makes losing weight much easier, McGee says. If you add just 5 pounds of muscle to your body, you’ll burn up to 150 more calories per day without even working out those muscles. And, you can burn an average of 600 calories per hour during your cardio workout thanks to that extra muscle mass. “Muscle burns more calories than fat does, even at rest, so any strength-training activities to build lean muscle are excellent,” McGee says. The key is to challenge all your muscles and do a full-body strength-training workout, hitting your core, arms, legs, back and chest.

Pick Up Heavier Weights
By using heavy weights at a very slow rate—twice as slow as would feel natural—you break down your muscles (you’ll know the weights are heavy enough and the workout slow enough if you start to shake after just a few lifts or squats). Researchers at Wayne State University found that when your body repairs those overworked muscles, it causes your metabolism to increase for up to three days after the workout.

Original article appeared on WomansDay.com.