If you are not familiar with Dr. Mehmet Oz you have not been paying attention to the health issues currently at hand. Dr. Oz has been seen on Oprah as well as many health programs on television and magazines. Dr. Mike Roizen is the chief medical officer at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute.
Dr Oz was in Portland, Oregon at the Oregon Health and Science University’s Center for Health and Healing to give 15 minute health screenings along with others from OHSU. He is touring the country highlighting the importance of regular checkups and preventive medicine.
To read the entire list of the tips they are giving in the Oregonian please read here. It is very informative and very easy for all of us to follow.
Dr. Mercola currently runs the #1 natural health website in the world. He researches and does his own studies on all aspects of health and fitness. We love showing his posts because they are so well done and very informative. To read this great article on the need to reach muscle failure through high intensity cardio and muscular workouts please click here.
HBO ( Home Box Office) has just started a new special that is so full of valuable health information I do not know where to begin. They are trying to help slow down and or stop our nations obesity epidemic. They have teamed up with some of the most health knowledgeable doctors and persons in our country to share information that could save our lives and our nation from the ever rising health cost. We are spending too much money on health care after we are sick and not enough on prevention and education.
Please read on with me while I post from this special or go to HBO.com and please watch the episodes yourself and begin your journey to a healthier you or family member. The more we know the more we can help ourselves.
Thank you HBO and all of the contributors to this very important message of health. We needed this.
To begin reading with me start here.
There is a new way to measure yourself and it is replacing the BMI (Body Mass Index). Click here to visit the site and see where you are in reference to where you should be.
By now you probably know that strength training is one of the most important things you need to do for yourself. It is the one thing that will help you through everything you do in your life…for your entire life. The changes we make to our bodies now, will reflect in our overall health later in life.
Strength training(www.mayoclinic.com/health/strength-training/) is achieved many different ways; none being more important than muscle strengthening. Your muscles must be worked for you to see results. Use it or loose it has never rang more true. With the Soloflex Whole Body Vibration (WBV), you’ll be able to implement the next step to your exercise routine that will effectively change the way you workout.
Strength training is not isolated to any one type of muscle building;(www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews-story/) from climbing stairs, to lifting weights and stretching. These are all parts of a training program. Your program should include opening with a light stretch for flexibility and mobility, and then lead into lifting weights or resistance training to build muscle and endurance. Finishing up with a cardio routine, as this will get your heart rate elevated, making your heart healtheir while buring calories at the same time.
A good workout program will be done 5 days a week, with traditional training taking up to 1-2 hours per day. This is a lot of time! There is an answer to this problem; the Soloflex Whole Body Vibration (WBV) (www.wbv.net.au/documents/wbv.pdf/)
When you add WBV to your routine you can cut your workout time down to only 10-15 minutes per day and do all of the important exercises on your routine. Nothing needs to be missed. WBV will add benefits to any exercise; stretching, weight lifting, or resistance training, or cardio. Vibration technology forces the muscles to react by contracting and relaxing involuntarily; causing an enormous increase in blood flow to muscles, tendons, ligaments, and tissues.
NASA and the Russian Space Program(www.vibrationz-thelawofattraction.blogspot.com/) started using WBV years ago to help pilots muscles from atrophying while in space. Soon after, trainers and doctors began to see the great benefits WBV could offer professional athletes(www.thefreelibrary.com/whole-body-vibration-helps-athletes/). Professional sport franchises have widely and enthusiastically embraced the concept, including the:
Not only can WBV help reduce the time a workout takes it also aids in faster muscle growth, better flexibility, better blood circulation, reduction of sore muscles, improved balance, even help heal athletic related injuries. The Soloflex WBV gives you less time working out, better results, it’s easy to use , and safe: what more could you want?
Affordability?
Price has, until now, been the most difficult thing about a WBV Platform. They have only been available to professional athletes, government industries, and celebrities like Madonna and George Clooney because they cost so much to purchase. Commercial units can run as high as $12,000! The average person can’t afford that.
We proudly offer the Soloflex WBV Platform at an affordable price so this very important conditioning can be available to all. The Soloflex WBV Platform is only $445. Yes, Soloflex had done it again. We have brought home weight lifting and resistance training to homes for over 30 years with the best built, safest home equipment on the market. With over one million Classic Soloflex machines, one hundred thousand Rockits, and two hundred-and-fifty thousand Adjustable Hand Weight Systems sold to date, Soloflex has given people the best opportunities for strength training on their terms and time. Now with the WBV you can continue with your Soloflex routine or any other routine you may have in a lot less time with better results that only WBV can offer.
When you begin using WBV you will find the vibration levels that best suit your needs. The range of vibration should run between 25hz – 60 hz(www.gymequipmentssports.blogspot.com/) for optimum results. The Soloflex WBV comes with an adjustable rheostat so you can find your perfect level. Over time you may up the hertz or always remain comfortable with the level you are at.
The Soloflex WBV Platform is built to last. Made of 3″ steel tubing legs, thick urethane molded foam pad over 15 ply wood that can hold up to 1200lbs, the highest quality motor and rheostat; just like the Classic Soloflex, you’ll be using your WBV for years to come!
The size of the platform is another reason to look at Soloflex. The platform is 41″ long, 10″ wide, 5″ high, and weighs 31lbs. This is much larger than most other vibration units on the market, which allows you to perform a wide range of exercises including Pilates, Yoga, general stretching.
A weight resistance routine, as mentioned earlier, is the most important addition to your strength training. Soloflex sells the very best Adjustable Hand Weights on the market to aid in your goals. They have a very comfortable soft rubber hand grip with rubber plating on the weights themselves to help with safety and sound as well as overall visual quality.
Soloflex is also the only company to offer the vibration motor separately so it can be attached to almost any surface you choose. If you already own equipment and want to increase gains and benefits from that equipment that is not a problem. The WBV attachment motor can be attached to workout benches, chairs, any workout equipment. Soloflex sell the motor to many existing Soloflex product owners. The Classic Soloflex, The Rockit, and the Soloflex workout bench are all perfect candidates for a WBV attachment motor.
Any of the Soloflex products available can be purchased www.soloflex.com or call 1-800-547-8802. Also, please check out our new blog at http://soloflex.com.
Listed below are just a few links and testimonials for you to read from our blog…..
Video: Dr. Oz http://soloflex.com/archives/muscles-burn-50-times-more-calories-than-fat/
http://soloflex.com/archive/a-short-cut-to-fitness/
http://soloflex.com/archive/weight-lifting-is-nature’s-fountain-of-youth/
http://soloflex.com/archives/exercise-increases-serotonin-to-fight-depression/
http://soloflex.com/archives/what-are-celebrities-doing-to-stay-in-shape/
http://soloflex.com/arachives/my-home-gym/
http://soloflex.com/archives/how-did-the-soloflex-kid-get-fat-then-fit/
http://soloflex.com/archives/various-techniques-and-equipment-used-with-vibration-training/
Testimonials:
C.
January 29th, 2009
I am very much pleased with the results after using your WBV platform. One word to sum it up? Improvement. Yes the difference between how I used to feel and how I feel right now, I own a Concept 2 Model D Rowing machine (which sometimes used as a “men’s valet”) your WBV platform and dumb bells. Your price is excellent, quality so far is great. My rating as of today has to be EXCELLENT. Thank you! You got it right with this product.
Richard
February 5th 2009
I purchased this machine and the results are amazing. I recommended it to a friend, a judge, and the results were the same. Thank you for being a customer friendly business and making your product not only remarkable but affordable. God bless you and your families.
Body by Soloflex Workout Fitness Junkies
Thirty years! That’s how long Soloflex has been making beautiful bodies. We have been hearing testimonials and receiving photos of Soloflex users for almost as long.
“I will be turning 50 in February (2009), and I’m still using the same Soloflex that I bought in 1981, when I was 22. I’ve updated the weight straps and added the butterfly and leg extension over the years, but the machine itself is still the same and it’s still going strong. One of the best products I’ve ever owned. Soloflex No. 21133″
— Kean on January 27th, 2009
In the beginning we wanted to bring the “gym” to everyone, for a price and size that fit in the corner of your home with quality unsurpassed. With the original Soloflex, we did just that, and continue to do so today.
Since Soloflex first began making fitness equipment thirty years ago, we have added a number of products to compliment and inspire your workouts. The Rockit, The Swimmer, Adjustable Hand Weights, and now the Whole Body Vibration Platform (WBV). All of these products were created with the same goal as the original Soloflex – get healthy, stay healthy.
All of our products build muscle, increase serotonin, relieve stress, and will help you leave a healthier life. The Soloflex WBV is also offering these opportunities to people who are recovering from injuries, suffer from physical limitations, and obesity. WBV stimulates the body’s stretch reflex and causes muscle contractions, forcing them to work even if you can not. The WBV works to enhance the workouts that you already have in place. This way, even the most physically fit can see the results of vibration training, and in just 1/3 of the time spent doing traditional weight training and stretching.
We here at Soloflex want to continue to hear from you and share your experiences with others. We can all inspire and help each other through conversation. Discuss workouts routines, motivations, experiences, or any thing you want to talk about. Everyone needs a little help now and then and together we can do just that. Do you have weight lifting questions, want to know some of the dos and don’ts in working out, Soloflex equipment questions, or wonder how to get to the next level of fitness? So many questions let’s get them out there. Send photos, drawings, what ever you want to share about yourself or Soloflex products and their effects on your life. Let’s Talk!
Any of the Soloflex products available for sale can be purchased at www.soloflex.com. You can speak to a trained sales representative by calling 1-800-547-8802, or contact us via email. If you would like more information about WBV, please visit The Soloflex website.
A couple of very important dates were not mentioned in Part I of the Soloflex history. Let’s begin there.
The Super Bowl ads began running in 1985 and were run again in 1987 and 1995. These were the most expensive forms of advertising for any business and absolutely the most expensive advertising Soloflex had ever done. These ads on the Super Bowls were huge for Soloflex. Just like any company would dream of, these launched the Soloflex world into more homes than any other type of advertising could do. One of the ads was just mentioned in US Today’s “Sexy” Super Bowl ads. These were fantastic ads. Soloflex has been a leader in putting sexy in advertising and that is one aspect about the company that will never change. Soloflex took the body beautiful exposed out of the motorcycle world and put it in over 10 million house holds.
By late 1991 Soloflex was running two shifts just to keep up with the demand. Their advertising agency, 53rd Street Advertising, was putting out some of the most popular ads of the day. Sexy, Sexy, Sexy. These ads were in major magazines, television and newspapers. By the end of the 90′s television was soon to end however. Ad costs along with DVR and TIVO just made the television ads not a good investment any longer.
Two buildings were added in the late 80′s and early 90′s. Production demanded it. A total of 125,000 square feet was now available for ordering, making and shipping all Soloflex products.
A peak of 400 employees were running Soloflex by the mid early to mid 90′s. Selling the number one home weight lifting equipment took a lot of people.
Soloflex introduced the Rockit in 1993. This lower body exercise machine has been Soloflex’s 2nd best seller. It is the perfect equipment for legs. All of the strain put on the back when doing lower body exercises is eliminated. Over half a million have been sold to date.
The rubber coated hand weights plates were introduced in 1995. These are very special and unique in that they have a rubber coating around the iron plate to help with the clanking of noisy plates as well as adding some protection if dropped on a foot. Their sales have been climbing ever since.
The Armchair Quarterback was introduced in 1985 but I forgot to mention that in Part I. Sorry. The Armchair was made famous by Gold Medalist, Mitch Gaylord. It was a full body exercise machine. The use of your own body weight was how this machine worked. That is very hard for the average person. The Armchair Quarterback is no longer in production for that very reason. A very well made machine just too hard for all of us.
In 1994 Soloflex was forced to into battle with NordicTrack. A lawsuit was filed. NordicTrack was in violation of copy right infringement and trademark. This was settled between the two companies and an undisclosed amount was paid to Soloflex by NordicTrack. Both companies said the settlement was fair.
In 1999 a second lawsuit was filed against Direct Food, Inc. or Nautilus, Inc. This is the company that manufactures Bowflex and Nautilus Fitness equipment. The suit was also won by Soloflex. The same reason for the lawsuit, copyright and trademark infringement. Nautilus tried to copy the Soloflex way too closely. When you make the best home weight lifting equipment you are bound to be copied. Others want to be like you, the best.
Soloflex is still a family owned business. Marilyn and Jerry Wilson are still involved in the company along with their daughter Connie.
P.S. The picture at the top of the story will is from a book Mr. Wilson wrote. It covers Soloflex from day one to now.
Your system of muscles (contractile body tissue) enables you all the movement you enjoy and depend on for survival: from the simplest endeavors such as sitting up straight to actions as complex as running, jumping and playing the violin.
Everyone has 430 voluntary muscles attached to their bone structure by the connective tissues called tendons.
Weightlifters do not have any more muscles than anyone else, they simply have larger muscles. They have lower body fat ratios which makes their underlying muscles more visible. In people who are over fat their muscle is covered up over by years of inactivity and slowly replaced by fat.
There are three basic types of muscles in the human body:
Striped (striated or skeletal) voluntary muscle which move the bones.
Smooth involuntary muscles lining blood vessels, the stomach and other internal organs.
Heart or cardiac muscles
The last two types of muscles, the smooth and heart muscle, are involuntary and are controlled by the automatic nervous system.
It is the striped muscles are the muscles which we control with our will and which we depend for our physical movement and strength.
There are two types of striped muscles, fast and slow twitch. Fast twitch muscles are used for bursts of energy and primarily used in any weight bearing activity such as weightlifting. Slow twitch muscles are used in the body’s efficient use of oxygen.
When you want to use one of your voluntary muscles your brain sends a message to a nerve impulse through your spinal cord to the appropriate muscle which in turn contracts through the release of muscle fiber chemicals called neurotransmitters.
Weightlifting, Strength and Muscle Growth
The only way to enlarge your muscles and prevent muscle loss over time is to work them against resistance. When this kind of strength training is done the process known as adaptation takes place. Better known as weightlifting. This means the muscle adapts to the stresses put on it while remaining healthy. Microscopic tears occur in the muscle bringing minor soreness. This is normal in building new muscle and should pass within a 48 hour period. Additional muscle fibers (myofilaments) are crated in the process adaptation which helps the muscles become stronger (increases their ability to contract). The individual muscle cells which have undergone hypertrophy are not only stronger, they are also healthier than before.
The process of weightlifting is anaerobic (a short bursting/high intensity activity through which energy is used without the aid of sufficient oxygen in the muscle). As a result, high-intensity weightlifting cannot be performed for long periods of time. However, anaerobic also work the heart and lungs. Weightlifting methods like circuit training can have aerobic benefits too.
Muscles, Aging and Gender
Over time, the thousands of muscle fibers of the striped muscles in inactive people are replaced by connective tissue. This will make the muscle weaker and less able to contract. Fat also sets in.
However, it is not true that people are condemned to lose their muscle and strength as they age. The doctors of Tufts University have twice performed widely publicized studies on people as old as 96 who more than doubled their strength and greatly improved their lives by doing weight-bearing exercises. Muscle can be built and maintained at any age.
Men have a far greater capacity for building muscle than women. There should be no fear in a bulking up for women. It requires more than the simple act of weightlifting. Enhancements are also needed such as steroids. Muscle building and muscle strengthening are the goals for everyone.
“Your metabolism is your body’s fat-burning engine”.
What does it mean? Well, it is pretty simple.
Your body depends upon you metabolism to supply it with energy. This energy is produced when fat, protein, and sugar are burned in your body’s cells. Of the energy produced by your metabolism, about half is used in general body maintenance, and in allowing you to complete physical activities. The rest is released from your body as body heat. Excess calories are stored as fat. That’s your metabolism. It’s an engine, which burns food (fat, sugar, and protein) as fuel.
Everyone has a metabolic rate–a rate at which his or her body burns fat.
How to Determine Your Metabolic Rate
To figure out how fast your fat-burning engine is burning calories, do this simple test (although a doctor, or sports specialist could do a more accurate accounting or your “basal metabolic rate”).
Multiply your weight by 11 t arrive at the minimum number of calories you need daily to maintain your body (with no activity). Now, multiply your metabolic rate number by your activity level rate (To determine your activity level , you need to do a little math. If you are getting little or no exercise, use 0.30 to 0.50 as your activity level multiplier. If you are “slightly” active, multiply by 0.55 to 0.65. If you get a “moderate” amount of exercise, multiply by 0.65 to 1.0. So, if you are a 175lb man wh0 exercises moderately three days a week, you would multiply 175 by 11 to reach the number 1,925. That would be the number of calories you body would need as a minimum before any activity is figured in. Then you would multiply by 0.70 to arrive at 1,348 (your additional caloric needs). By adding these two totals together you would get a rough idea of the number of calories you need to take in daily: approximately 3,273.
To a certain extent, metabolic rate can be hereditary. If one or more of your parents tend to be “heavy” there is an increased chance (though it is not a certainty) that you will have your work cut out for you in staying slim.
Your metabolic rate is not necessarily fixed.
For instance, over fat people who go on starvation diets end up worsening their metabolism problems. In a crash diet situation the body, believing there is a crisis, begins to hoard fat. Just like a squirrel storing up nuts for the winter. This famine response slows down the metabolism/engine and makes it harder to lose body fat.
Over eating is an even more certain way of gaining unwanted body fat. That’s because calories that are not used as fuel are stored. So for every 3,500 calories you consume over what your body can use a pound of fat is gained. All you have to do to gain two pounds a month is eat about 300 more calories a day than you burn off. That is about a piece of pie.
However, lest you throw your hands up in despair, stoking your metabolism to burn more fat is easier than you think. To burn more fat 24 hours a day you need to increase the size of your fat-burning engine. The best way to do that is to get exercise that increases your muscle mass. How you ask. Weightlifting!!!! You can put on pounds of muscle which will in turn burn hundreds of extra calories a day.
Weightlifting can also help stop the so-called “natural” slowing of the metabolism that starts to affect most people in their 20s and 30s. That slow down occurs because people who are inactive begin losing muscle at the rate of half a pound a year. The less muscle you have the slower the burn rate of your fat burning engine.
Again, to fire up your calorie burning metabolism, at what ever age, you need to get regular exercise that includes resistance training (weightlifting).
Doctors and exercise experts agree that the percentage of body fat you carry around is more important than how much you weigh. (Additionally, muscle–which is “healthy” tissue–weighs more than fat, though it takes up less space.
So, the bathroom scale isn’t the best measure of your health and fitness.
A body composition test measures what percentage of your total weight is body fat. Everything else is lean body mass (muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, skin and organs).
How Much Body Fat is Too Much?
Of course, you do need some body fat, to help carry on normal body functions. For instance, fat helps protect your internal organs from injury. However, a high percentage of body fat can lead to heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses. Experts recommend men carry at least 5 percent body fat; women should carry at least 12 percent. But those are just bare minimums for maintaining health.
The recommended body fat level for most men is around 15 percent. For women (who have higher body fat levels) a 22 percent range is considered healthy. Generally speaking, the more fat you carry (above the recommended levels), the worse shape you’re in. Men usually carry their body fat in their abdomen; women carry fat in their arms and their thighs. And statistics show that Americans are increasingly carrying far too much fat.
In 1996, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that–between 1980 and 1991 an additional 8 percent of American population became over fat. By 2011 the percentage of over weight Americans has hit 68 percent. This means that 7 out of 10 Americans are now over weight or obese. The percentage of children that are over weight or obese is between 30 and 40 percent (depending on ethnicity and gender). According to the U.S. Surgeon General Office the over 300,000 people are dying every year as a result of being too fat. From diseases to heart attaches to actually choking to death. It is unhealthy to be fat.
The reasons given for these loses in “the battle of the bulge” are simple: the American people– adults and kids–are eating too much and not getting enough exercise. Fad diets are not helping, though Americans spend an estimated $40 billion a year on trying to control their waistlines. Statistics show that as much as 95 percent of those people who go on a diet regain all their weight (meaning body fat) back, often times increasing their body fat levels.
If you are concerned about your percentage of body fat, or that or your children, you should seek the guidance of a physician in planning an exercise program and low-fat diet. Under no circumstances should you put children on a diet without the advice of a doctor.
How We Lose Muscle, and Gain Fat
One of the major problems for inactive adults is the fact that–without regular weightlifting (resistance training) of some kind–the muscles you were born with and develop through your active teens and twenties, will rapidly start to be replaced by fat.
As a general rule, inactive women and men start losing muscle at the rate of half a pound a year. This half-pound annual loss of muscle also sees about a pound and a half of fat gained each year. Scientific studies have shown it does not matter if you’re doing regular aerobics, or if you overall body weight remains the same, you will be losing muscle and gaining body fat as yo approach middle age.
By the time you reach 70, most people will have lost about 30 percent of their muscle, unless they have taken steps to prevent (or reverse) the atrophy of their muscles.
Resistance training is the only way to maintain and re-build muscle. For every pound of fat you replace with muscle, your body will burn about 50 extra calories a day, even when you are at rest. An additional benefit of weightlifting is the strengthening of bones (part of your lean body mass), which helps guard against osteoporosis.
Where to Get Tested
If you are interested in getting a body composition test, talk to your doctor, or someone at a sports clinic. They routinely measure clients’ body composition, using a variety of methods.
Many doctors and professionals often measure body fat by using hand-held calipers. A hydrostatic test entails submerging clients in a pool for “underwater weighing”. And Magnetic Resonance Imaging (an MRI) measures fat and muscle by taking X-ray like “pictures” of soft body tissues, muscle, and bone, rendering each of these in different tone, or colors.
The most sensible approach to reducing your percentage of body fat is do eat a healthful, low-fat diet, and to adopt a regular exercise program that includes building and maintaining your muscles.
