What a novel idea!  This guy is going to great lengths to bring green fitness to the gym.  It would be nice to see more gyms take this approach.  He is right on at the beginning of the video that most gyms waste electricity through out the day.  They have busy times through out the day but most of the time sit idile.  He has went to the extent of trying to capture the engery people are producing when they workout.  He then stores it for use in other equipment that needs electricity.  The gym is also installing solar panels and going as far as having eco-frienndly toliet seat covers.  This gets my vote for green fitness!  I myself perfer workingout as much as possible at home or outside.  However, some people just need that gym experience to put in the time.  In that case, this is a good green fitness approach that I would like to see more gym’s inherit.

Technorati Tags: eco-friendly fitness, green exercise, green fitness gym, human powered energy creation

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I am a huge fan of bodyweight exercises.  I feel these are the only form of exercise you will need for gaining strength and size.  I would like to discuss what I feel is one of the best exercise for building huge biceps.  The exercise I have chosen is the close grip chin-up.  This may surprise some, but let me explain.

I used to be a huge fan of bicep curls with dumbbells, preacher curls and so on.  However, I started to notice a few people at the gym begin to experience problems with their elbows.  A close friend of mine needs surgery on his elbow.  He has been avoiding it by using anti-inflammatory drugs and getting cortisone shots.  He was a firm believer in preacher curls and it was one of his favorite exercises.  Now he can no longer perform this exercise without pain and discomfort.  I also feel that concentration exercises such as bicep curls do not effectively build any real-world strength.  Close grip chin-ups on the other hand will build real-world strength as well as size.

So what makes close grip chin-ups the most effective?

Reason #1

One reason is because is because close grip chin is a closed-chain bodyweight exercise.  This means that you are moving your body through space, rather than just moving weight relative to your body.  These types of exercises have proven to elicit the absolute highest growth and strength responses of all exercises.  Your body simply has a greater response to these types of movements versus concentrated exercises.

Reason #2

The tension is also constant on your bicep throughout the full range of motion.  With this exercise there is never a point at which you relax the bicep as there is always constant tension on the muscle.  With a weight based curl movement you start to feel your muscle relax near the top of the curl movement.  With the close grip chin-up your bicep is constantly working in every position- top, middle and bottom of the movement.  This provides a greater breakdown in the muscle fiber and promotes a greater growth response.  It also eliminates the possibility of injury.

Now what I suggest is that you take this advice and run with it.  Drop the weights, hit the pull-up bar and you will never look back.  If you get strong enough and need more weight buy a weighted vest and continue to do the same movements.  This will increase the difficulty and build massive biceps that will make the girls drool.  They say in the gym “curls are for the girls”.  I say close grip chin-ups “separate the men from the boys”.

Technorati Tags: bicep curls, Biceps, bodyweight exercise, chinup, close grip chin-up, close grip pull-up, pullup

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Thought I would share this video with everyone.  This is one of my all time favorites movies and is an awesome circuit routine.  This is not a workout that you do everyday you must condition yourself for this type of workout.  If you guys have videos of yourself completing this workout I would love to put them on the site.  Just contact me using the link above and I will get it posted to the site.

Technorati Tags: 300 workout, bodyweight exercises, circuit training, fitness, hard workouts

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I am writing today to give special thanks to Chasing The Wind for awarding Green Fitness World the Lemonade Award.  Chasing The Wind is new blog find for me as I just happened to stumble on the blog as I was searching for my own blog in Google.  I then  saw that they had nominated me for this award and was thrilled.  I did not expect to be nominated for any awards, as I am really new to blogging.  I am grateful that they have been awarded with the Lemonade Award.  This award is passed to bloggers for showing great Attitude and/or Gratitude.  I would now like to take the time and nominate 10 other sites for this award.

We hope you enjoy the sites and also check out the ways to take action at the bottom of all our posts.

And now I get to pass the award on to ten other blogs.

1.  Green Living Ideas

2.  All Green Blogs

3.  Forced Green

4.  Best Green Blogs

5.  The Greenest Dollar

6.  Be Green Minded

7. Tree Hugging Family

8.  Green Somethings

9.  Green Life Smart Life

10.  Green Resolutions

The rules of this award for recipients:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude.

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

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Technorati Tags: natural fitness, natures diet, raw food

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Before we discuss the benefits of bodyweight exercises, let us explore its importance.  Human kind has attained its present day dominance by strictly following the guidelines of intelligence and diligence in equal measure.  However, the intelligence is available now on the fingertips, due to the advancement of internet and related technologies.  This has resulted in the diligence getting a backdoor.  Hence, we see more lazy and lethargic population getting obese day by day, while they depend on such technologies to finish even simpler functions of daily life, involving a few body movements.

Therefore, it has become more important, than ever, to be conscious of our bodies.  Bodyweight exercises are one of the best ways to obtain a healthy lifestyle and remain fit and disease free even in old age.  While many among us may recommend going to a Gym as being the best way to have body workouts; the exercises done in tune with the nature are more beneficial and can be done by all, irrespective of age.  A particular machine in a gym may strengthen a certain muscle, but it does so in complete isolation.  The other muscles of the body remain as limp as they were earlier.  Hence an exercise regime is required which can tone up all the body parts and its muscles.

One of the best complete body exercises is swimming.  Swimming tightens all our bodies muscles, particularly calf, legs and arm muscles, it is best recommended until the age of 65 years, for most people.  Walking is something that is consider a bodyweight exercise and is a good way to begin a program if you have not been active in a while.  Walking is an exercise, which can be done by everyone, irrespective of age.  You could really take walking to the next level by doing short intense sprints with some rest in between sets.  This would really accelerate your muscle growth.  The benefits of such bodyweight exercises are tremendous as they feed our bodies with enough oxygen, which is required for trouble free functioning of the heart.  Moreover, all the muscles and organs of the body get activated by such exercises, thereby strengthening the leg muscles and lower part of the body

While the above exercises are best performed outside, other bodyweight exercises can be done at home, the office or anywhere.  One of my favorite body weight exercises to do at home is dips.  I have even went as far as building my own dip bars.  I do have to say this was a challenging task but after some initial failures I finally got them together and they function well.  Dips are performed by holding our bodies with two hands, between two bars, shoulder width apart and then lowering the body down till our arms are bent at right angle.  Dips done regularly work on all muscles of the body particularly triceps and muscles of the back.

There are more natural bodyweight exercises that aim not only to improve our physical system but also our mental agility as well.  Such exercises include yoga and meditation.  It has been observed that such practices conducted regularly have a positive effect on our bodies and mind.  They rid us of all lifestyle diseases like Hypertension, Diabetes High Cholesterol and other related problems etc.. As it is a vast subject in itself the benefits of yoga and meditation shall be discussed in future articles.

Technorati Tags: bodyweight exercises, dips, green fitness

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While I have various tips for green fitness and exercises to remain healthy and fit, natural fitness is more related to our dietary habits.  As in animals, their are two kinds of humans in the  population, with regard to their eating habits.  These can be categorized as meat eating and non meat eating, or… to put in simpler terms.. Vegetarians and Non-vegetarians.

Most of us believe that non-vegetarian food provides us with much required proteins, calcium, iron, vitamins and other minerals.  However, such food does produce more toxins and intoxicants in our body, resulting in all gastrointestinal and acid related problems.  This diet has contributed to an increase in chronic heart diseases, kidney / liver ailments along with many other aliments.

What should you eat?

So one can ask, what food should we eat to maintain our natural fitness?.  The answer lies in having our dietary habits in tune with nature.  This would be more closely associated with the vegetarian diet.  To start your day, take a few glasses of pure water, as this will keep you hydrated throughout the day with positive effect on our kidneys.  For breakfast, you should preferably start off with fresh fruits.  My favorite is watermelon in the morning and I make sure to take down as much as I can hold.  It will not last as long in keeping off the hunger, so be sure to have other fruits on hand when needed.  I usually stick with keeping bananas around at all time as they are quick, easy and cheap.  You could also choose to eat a green salad, consisting of such things as spinach, romaine lettuce, green peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and organic sunflower seeds.  In all honesty this is the hardest part for me is eating the proper amount of greens.  The fruits are nice sweet and juicy and really appeal to me quite easily.  However, it is a struggle getting used to eat the plain green salad.  I have tried different combinations of homemade dressing but I have yet to find one that I really enjoy having on my salad.  I usually keep the green salad for a lunch time meal and then an after work dinner.  I just feel like fruit allows me to really start the day off right with a good amount of energy.

With that in mind though having more leafy vegetables like spinach, cauliflower etc. during our meals, provides a boost to our digestive system while clearing our body of all toxins.  I am currently trying to stay away from such fermented foods like yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese and kefir.  I have yet to be proven that these are something our body was designed to consume.

Food taken with very little quantity of oils and fat always helps us to keep trim, slim and fit.  Lesser intake of salts and sugar keeps our metabolism in proper balance.  Fruits in my opinion meet these criteria quite easily.

Exercise is still needed!

While natural fitness requires certain natural dietary habits like the ones I have described.  You still need to insure that you are exercising on a daily basis to maintain your health.  I feel that some form of exercise needs to be taken everyday.  If you look to the past you will see that this is even more true.  We used to be scavengers and had to roam the earth in search of our next meal we exercised daily in some form.  However, today we are stuck at our desk at work, at home or just glued to the TV catching up on our latest TV shows.  These are not forms of exercise that I would recommend.  Please for the sake of your health get out of the house and do something.  I have even gone as far as putting in a small gym in your basement.  I have done this easily and made most of the equipment that I use without a problem. 

You see the less productive your body is the more at risk you are of getting obese and forming other life threatning diseases.  This is irrespective of whether one is a vegetarian or no vegetarian.  Your exercise schedule has to be strictly combined with such dietary habits, to obtain the best results of natural fitness.

The best exercises, which are in tune with the nature, are swimming, biking and short intense sprints.   I personally believe that we as humans were not mean’t to run long distances so keep this out of your program.  I recommend doing several sets of a short intense sprint followed by a nice brisk walk.  These being simple and easy to perform, do wonders to our health and fitness program.  They work on all the muscles of our body as compared to a Gym workout, which isolates a particular muscle for building it up.  Just keep in nice simple and intense and work the whole body as one unit and you will do fine.

Technorati Tags: natural fitness, natural fitness diet, nature, raw food, vegan, vegetarian

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I wanted to share this push up game with everyone as I found it quite interesting. This just goes to show you can make a game out of anything.  While at the same time making your workout a little fun.  I received this game in an email from BodyWeightCulture.com in there Nugget of Gold #35.  It was originally produced by Paul Zaichik’s in the ElasticSteel/Gravity Advantage material.  

The Pushup King ™

Adopted with permission from The Gravity Advantage Seminars.
This game is for push up lovers. It’s a game of strength, endurance, wit, and will. To win you must know your body and you mind, you must know what your opponent thinks and what he is capable of. You must be able to both make a bluff and call a bluff. This is monopoly and chess and tough physical conditioning all coming together in one. This game can be played anywhere.
This is a game of intelligence and quick wit. Muscles alone won’t make you a king.

Are you ready?

The object of the game.
To outsmart, overpower and outlast your opponent,to become the Pushup King ™.

The setup
Two contenders face each other. Both get into the pushup position. Each player must remain in the pushup position for the whole duration of the set. Only hands and feet can be in contact with the floor.
Before you begin, you must be familiar with the rules.

The rules
There are 3 sets in the game, to become the Pushup King ™, you must win two sets.

Each set lasts for 3 offenses and 3 defenses offered alternatively by each party.

To initiate the offense the player states his “shot”. “I am going to do 20 close grip pushups.” Or “20 Diamond.”

Player two has a several options. His defense must take into consideration the strength and endurance of his opponent, as well as his own.

There are two main options.
1. To Surrender by saying; “I give” or “Give”
2. To Defend by saying; “Go”

Option 1. The defending player surrenders. That means that he believes that the offensive player can carry out his shot and the defensive player either can’t repeat the shot or doesn’t want to spend energy on it. In the case of surrender the offensive player gains a point. The offensive player has no need to demonstrate his shot.

Option 2. The defensive player put’s up a defense.

1. If the offense performs the shot and the defense can’t answer it, the offense gets 2 points for the successful offense.
In the Pushup King ™ there are 5 more scenarios that are possible, if the defense or resistance is offered.
2. The offence can’t do the shot. . In this case the offense looses a point or defense gains a point in case the offense has zero points.
3. The offense does the shot and so does the defense. No point is scored for either side.
4.The offense can’t do the shot and the defense doubles it. This is an automatic set win for the defense.
5.The offense can’t do the shot, but the defense can. The defense gets 2 points.
6.The offense does the shot and the defense doubles it. This give a defense 2 points. (This also takes away one of three chance of offense from the offensive player, leaving his with 2 chances for an offense. This does not apply if the offense has completed it’s 3rd offense in the set.)

We challange you to learn the rules, play the game and live to tell about it.

Guys @ BWC

Technorati Tags: bodyweight exercises, green fitness, push-up game

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Yes we have to follow all the rules and guidelines of green fitness if we want our next generations to live safely on this earth.  With the present crises of Global warming, environmental pollution, energy hazards etc., the only way out to save our planet is to go “GREEN”.  With this blog I am hoping to explain various ways to achieve this.

All the gadgets; like AC, TV, Refrigerator,etc;  we use, emit rays and gases which are harmful to our atmosphere.  However, we are bound to use these gadgets, as they have become an indispensable part of our daily life.  While at home, we certainly can become more energy conscious by making it a point to turn off all the electrical and other gas based appliances, when we go out.  However, this usually is not the case as far as our office is concerned.  We normally leave the AC, fan, lights etc on when we leave our office at the end of the day.  If we are to follow green fitness, then this behavior has to change.  Make it a point a your office to help by turning off your lights when you go out for lunch or when you leave for the day.  If everyone works to increase the little things they do it has a “butterfly effect” on the world’s environment.  Small things do go a long way.   

As we all know automobiles are he major source of carbon exhaust to the atmosphere.  We can help in reducing the same by just simply walking a couple of miles to the office or shopping area etc.  This not only saves us the cost of fuel but it also helps us to maintain a proper and healthy lifestyle.  For all the seekers of green fitness, walking is the better exercise than running on a treadmill or going to a Gym, which utilizes power and damages the environment in turn.  Walking or swimming in any case is the best way to remain slim, trim. and healthy.  Riding a bicycle also, helps maintain a better environment.

Avoid synthetic foods and junk foods as they perform functions, which are not suited to our bodies system and produce junk for our atmosphere.  Eat an oil and fat free diet, which has rich portions of green vegetables and fruits.  Fruits and organic nuts are a good option for eating at the breakfast time.  This will help to provide you a day full of energy.

Always use reusable water bottle for carrying drinking water. Always avoid use of plastic bags.  Plant a green plant or nursery and a kitchen garden in your backyard or at the community garden.  This will allow you to grow vegetables of your choice.  Organic foods like locally produced vegetables can help your budget and keep you fit as well.

The above are only a few ways by which we can reduce the burden on us and our planet earth.  So, do your part and follow a strict schedule of green fitness.  It is an awesome way to give back back to our planet earth.

Technorati Tags: green fitness, green living

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This is a nice clip from Lee Hayward that shows a nice circuit routine of bodyweight exercises that can be performed in the gym.  If that is where you absolutely have to perform your workouts.  I recommend the comformt of your own home or out with mother nature myself.  However some people have to go to the gym in order to feel motivated to do anything.  So this is a short clip I would like to share with them.

Technorati Tags: bodyweight exercises, circuit training, video

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