I didn’t really have any fitness related gear on my Christmas wish list, namely because the things that I want still, like a heavy bag that you can only hang from the ceiling and a medicine ball, were just things that I knew I was going to buy on my own when I had the spare cash or time to go looking and bargain shopping for them.

Also, that’s honestly just the kind of thing that I’m totally picky about, and I want to make sure I read reviews and do all the other anal things I like to do for research before I purchase items like that, so I’d much rather pick it out myself than potentially hurt someone’s feelings by asking for the return slip, or having to bother with the return in the first place, which I absolutely hate doing to be totally blunt.

Boy, do I sound like a royal scrooge, but I know what I like, and that’s that dammit! At any rate, if you had any fitness stuff on your list that you didn’t get, make sure you shop online for it, as there are already huge reductions on everything from treadmills and ellipticals to yoga mats, DVD’s for exercising, and other fitness accessories.

I was just at TJ Maxx, the retail store, that day after Christmas, and even they had a huge table of fitness sutff, weights, DVD’s, various neat accessories to help your work out better and more, on clearance, so I’m sure that online there are still bargains to be had since they are counting on people with New Year’s resolutions to still be out in force shopping for things that they need to make their new year a little more svelte and sexy.

I think that I’m going to look for deals on medicine balls out at the stores soon, because I thought about it, and due to their weight, I’d probably get a really good deal on the medicine ball itself online, but then I’d have to pay a fortune in shipping because it weighs a lot for a smaller item. So, for something like that it might not be worth it unless they paid for the shipping.

Oh, I also found a really cheap “The Firm” workout DVD at TJ Maxx. It’s a cardio burn one that uses a step to work out, so we’ll see how it works out for me, I’m not to keen on stepping workouts because they really blow me away energy wise, but this one shouldn’t be too bad because it’s only 35 minutes long and it only cost me three bucks, so easy come easy go if it doesn’t work out.

Ok, so I saw this commercial for a new set of weights that targets women who hate their arms – like me. I have to admit, after laughing my you know what off after seeing the sexually suggestive commercial which appears to be women pleasuring a man (trust me, it looks ridiculous, if you see it and don’t get that connotation, well then you might have the purest and most innocent mind ever!), I was intrigued by what this shake weight might be able to help me with when it came to one of my biggest problems on my body – my arms.

More specifically, my upper arms. They have always been, along with my thighs, one of the areas that my body first deposits extra fat, and my upper arms have always been larger and less toned than I want them to be. It has made me self conscious to wear sleeveless shirts in the summer, and also has been a source of embarrassment when my arms come out looking huge in pictures. It’s one of the reasons I don’t even like to be photographed in short sleeves!

This Shake Weight is priced at about twenty bucks, and it’s a single weight. I did see it in a CVS drugstore, so it’s not only available online. You’d also save yourself shipping and handling charges if you bought it at a store, just an idea. It’s a weight that uses a sort of vibration where when you pick it up, it’s using dual inertia to make all of your muscles in your arms and your chest work simultaneously.

It supposedly gives you pretty much a full upper body workout in about six minutes, which would be awesome, considering I work my arms out longer than this and don’t get the results I want sometimes. However, be warned that you do have to also watch your diet to get those toned arms you admire on movie stars. You can’t just work your arms out and expect them to look sleek and ripped, as a lowfat diet will help eliminate the fat that covers the muscle as well, so it’s a two pronged approach if you want sleek, ripped arms.

If I don’t get the Shake Weight for Christmas from my husband (he knows I’m interested in it), then I’m going to break down and go buy one myself at CVS and I’ll have a full review for you on the Shake Weight in January sometime. Let’s hope it works – it’s certainly not a bad price to pay for toned arms!

I was looking to get my boss a popular exercise DVD the other day at Target, and since they have all of their workout and fitness videos in the same section as their fitness equipment (it took me forever to figure this fact out after browsing in the DVD section forever), I got to see what all the latest, fun stuff was that you can buy to add to your fitness routines. While a lot of it is still your routine basics like weights, there were some newer items that I wasn’t aware existed. One was a sort of lumbar support for your back when doing floor or ab work of any kind.

I could see how this would come in handy, especially for people like me that have issues with their backs and need all the protection they can get when they’re working the abdominal area, which tends to often strain the neck and the back when it shouldn’t. A lumbar support’s purpose is to sort of force your back into the correct position so that you get the exact position at which you will both gain the most mucle workout and also save from straining those other delicate muscles that happen to try to work too when they shouldn’t.

While stuff like this may not be the most exciting thing to buy, it certainly can save you from a lifetime of hurt and frustration with your workouts.

Another thing I noticed was a newer type of medicine ball. This wasn’t quite the “water ball” I just talked about, but it was a hard medicine ball, with a softer, more squishy layer over it of shiny plastic, so that it was a bit easier on the hands, and perhaps easier to grip if you were using it, say, between your knees to get either a more targeted ab workout, or to help shape and sculpt your inner thighs for an extra burn.

They were a little bit on the high end, price wise, at least that was my opinion. I think it cost something like $45 for the largest one, which weighed in at about 9 lbs. But hey, we’re talking Target here, not Wal-Mart. Target may have better selection for things like this, but they sure don’t usually have the better prices. It’s all about the nuances and marketing for Target.

Pedometers seem to be very popular these days. They had pedometers (as my husband likes to call them – peedometers), ranging in technology and price allover the map. I didn’t even recognice some fo the functions that the higher priced ones offered, but then again, I have never used a pedometer myself. I wonder how much some of those functions would come in handy anyways.

Of course, yoga mats and other accessories were incredibly popular, since yoga is spreading in popularity and recognition.

Well, if you just saw my most recent review on the Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga DVD, then you know why I’m asking this question, and answering it too! I had never seen one of these nifty little contraptions in use before for exercising. It’s a ball, the one I saw was a bit smaller than your typical medicine ball, that is squishy and filled with water. It’s very pliable, so you can do things like put it between your knees while your working your abs and really get that transverse ab muscle that is so hard target with this little sucker.

This is not to be confused with the novelty item that allows you to float, while inside it, on the water’s surface. Those are very cool though, I must say! This is a piece of exercise equipment, or better yet, an accessory, that you can use to help your resistance exercises feel a little more strenuous when you are doing the ones where you have a small space to fill such as between your knees in the situp position, so you can actually use the ball to exercise your resistance skills, instead of just body part on body part.

It’s a great idea since you really do feel it more when you increase the surface area you are resisting. I might look into getting one eventually, but for now I stick with my medicine ball for that exercise.

Have you ever worked out, where your feet are hitting a hard surface, over and over again, like on a treadmill, or running outdoors, or some other relatively high impact aerobic activity, in bad shoes?  I have, and let me tell you, I was pretty much laid up, unable to work out much less do any vigorous activity at all for a week because I had the shin splints really bad.  The bottom line is that our feet and lower legs are very sensitive, and when they don’t have the proper cushion and support, we tend to get injured and sore much more easily.

You also can get vericose veins and broken small veins much more easily as well, so if comfort and well being don’t make you get comfy, more expensive and cushioned shoes, then vanity may certainly be a motivator (I know that’s part of my motivation!)  One of the instances that comes to mind, is when I was in high school, and had my first exposure to real, hard working out when I joined the track team.  I wasn’t really a great runner.  I had asthma, but this was my way of joining up with some friends and getting out of my shy exterior for a bit to try to get fit and socialize a bit more.

I remember that I wasn’t able to get a good pair of tennis shoes in time for our first practice, so I literally ran in Keds.  Remember Keds? Yeah, those rubber soled, thin canvas shoes that had zero support or padding on the bottom of the shoe?  Well, I ran on hard tiled floors in our high school for about an hour on those.  Not only were my feet on fire at the end of practice, and I was too embarrassed to stop, but I also had shin splints very badly to the next two weeks.  My feet were so swollen that I couldnt’ even run for those next two weeks, and I could barely walk comfortably.

That was my first lesson in the importance of comfortable, supportive gym shoes to work out in, especially when you are bouncing around a lot of putting a lot of stress on the joints.  If you don’t adequately soften the blow, your body quickly responds with a fighting response, which is swelling and white blood cells to the rescue, as well as inflammation, and that’s where the real pain comes in.  So make sure you’re spending a little money on those shoes, and you will definitely enjoy your workouts more, instead of feeling like you’re being tortured.

There’s a new venue for working out and toning your muscles. It is called Shape Up shoes and by wearing them for 30 minutes a day, you can improve your posture and get your legs, abs and glutes more fit.

The act of staying balanced on the Shape Up shoes causes you to use muscles in the legs, abdomen and glutei that you would not use otherwise. The result is lower body toning and strengthening. By using the Shape Up shoes for 30 minutes a day, you will diminish unsightly cellulite on the legs. Another benefit is the reduction of varicose and spider veins as the Shape Up shoes improve circulation in the legs.

Using Shape Up shoes also eases lower back pain and decreases swelling in the legs. The convenience of the Shape Up shoes is that you can use them while doing your daily activities so you can find time for exercise this way. The Shape Up shoes can help you burn calories and control your weight with a proper diet. You can wear Shape Up shoes anytime except in wet weather or while driving.

To use Shape Up shoes, walk on the flat platform under the ball of your foot. Do not shift your weight onto the toe or heel area. You should keep your foot parallel to the ground for walking and keep your toes pointed forward. Use of the Shape Up shoes should improve your balance, increase your leg strength, and lengthen your muscles.

Shape Up shoes come in a sandal, clog or boot style. Prices start at $39.99 for the sandal style, the clog style is $60.00 and the boot variety is $80.00. Sizes are unisex and women should order a whole size lower than what they ordinarily wear. The sizes are available only in whole sizes and tend to run on the large side.

If you usually wear a size 7 1/2 and are a woman, you would need a size 6. The workout while wearing the Shape Up shoes is similar to a workout on a balance board or Stairmaster. Shape Up shoes can be worn for more than 30 minutes if you are comfortable with increasing the time and have no sore muscles. When wearing the Shape Up shoes, your body will want to shift forward or roll back. The workout is achieved by staying balanced on the flat part of the Shape Up shoes.

There are a ton of new, neat little exercise and fitness gadgets and fitness equipment and accessory ideas out there for those of you that want to get something for the holidays fot the fitness enthusiast on your shopping list, and one of them is this neat and innovative new product that may just catch on like wildfire amongst those that love to do yoga. They’re called “Yoga Paws”, and there these little glove like contraptions that go on both feet and both hands.

The idea is that they replace you carrying around your yoga mat. The cool thing is that they are small enough for you to fold up and put in your purse, so they don’t take up much room, and they are of a “sticky” non slip substance so they perform the same utility as a yoga mat, only you don’t stand on a yoga mat, instead you are “wearing” your yoga mat on your hands and your feet, which are the two body parts that you use when you do your yoga poses, and you won’t slip on a carpet or a hardwood or other smooth surfaced floor in these neat little contraptions.

They are around forty bucks, which isn’t bad when you consider what some other pieces of exercise equipment cost, like a treadmill or an elliptical machine, and they are portable, so someone that likes to do yoga could very easily carry them on their person without much fuss when they are going to a yoga class or are taking a video with them to do (like you can do in most gyms these days, most have DVD players and tv sets).

I have to admit, I’m kind of attached to the idea of my yoga mat though. I might be one of those people it would be hard to coax to try this one, although I’m sure if someone got me them as a gift, I’d certainly use them. What’s that saying? Sometimes you can teach an old dog new tricks? Or is it the other way around?

Finally, there’s a video game with the emphasis on fitness, activity, exercise and balance. The Wii Fit by Nintendo comes with a balance board that informs the user of their weight, center of gravity and even their body mass index when their height is factored in.

With all of the information compiled, the Wii Fit informs the user of their fitness age. Wii Fit has approximately 40 different exercise activities. Included in it’s programs is a series on yoga poses. The balance board tracks your center of gravity during these activities.

Other categories of activities include aerobics, strength training and balance games. The aerobics series includes jogging, step aerobics, hula hoop, rhythm boxing and more. The Wii Fit balance games involve ski jumping, ski and snowboard slalom, heading soccer balls, a table tilt game, a tightrope walk and more.

For strength training, the Wii Fit offers push ups, side planks, jackknife, the lunge, rowing, squat, arm and leg lifts, a parallel stretch and more. The yoga poses on the Wii Fit include the Half-Moon, Warrior, Tree, Salutation, Standing Knee, Palm Tree and more.

The combination of workouts emphasize basic core training but avoid overexerting the individual. To get to new activities, you must unlock them by acquiring “fit credits”. The fit credits are accrued in a “fit bank.” If you get a 100% score on an activity, it unlocks the next more advanced level of that activity.

Also featured on the Wii Fit is an activity log to track other activities outside of the Wii Fit game. On your activity log, the categories are light, medium or heavy activity. Wii Fit is a good introduction to exercise for some individuals who have been sedentary. It’s a good tool to keep exercise fun with the playful balance and aerobic games. Within the game play, Wii Fit incorporates Miis to assign to each person to add to the fun and track your level of fitness.

I have seen these new shoes that look like normal flip flops, called “Fit Flops” on display over about the past year and a half at several department stores, and often wondered if they actually do anything besides make walking perhaps a bit harder, like tone the butt or thighs or lower legs any better than just walking in regular shoes, or flip flops for that matter. They have gained popularity though, and certainly a dedicated following in some circles, which is usually a giveaway that something works, at least for some people.

Fit Flops are sold at only a few select locations, and unfortunately they are not the cutest looking sandal/shoe, so be prepared to wear something that may not be your perfect ideal of what you usually wear on your feet in terms of looks, however they are supposedly very functional and comfortable to walk in.

A friend of mine bought a knockoff of fitflops, but hers were more targeted toward reducing cellulite, which I kind of thought was a little hard to swallow, especially considering that usually cellulite only responds to direct contact with the skin and deep tissue massages or something that otherwise can get in there and manipulate the lumps and bumps under the skin so that they can be smoothed out.

However, she told me that a couple rounds with these on the treadmill and she definitely noticed that she was feeling it more in her legs and butt, so I thought they might be doing something good in terms of toning. The ones she bought though, were very high, and actually made it so you were almost walking on uneven stilts, which I couldn’t help but wonder could this be good for you back and posture?

However, the Fit Flops are supposed to be good for posture and also help to strengthen the feet, with what they call a wabble board technology, which just makes it a bit hard for you to keep your balance when you’re walking in them. This theory is a bit like the running in sand theory, and that is that if you run on a sandy beach rahter than a flat and even surface, you are getting much more workout for your time, because your feet and legs are constantly working to keep straight and balanced.

Overall, I’d say Fit Flops probably do a little extra toning, but they probably will not do so significantly, since by my knowledge they would really more so work the feet and calves, not the butt and thighs as so many of us women want to get rid of.

I’m not exaclty how widespread this problem is, but I have virtually flat feet. This means that I have a very weak, and almost nonexistent arch in my foot. This can lead to a lot of soreness in the back and spinal alignment problems if it’s not taken care of properly, and also can present problems in balance when working out.

We just got a Wii Fit in fact for our Wii gaming system, and it’s only furthered my conviction that my balance is extremely weak, even with yoga and balance exercises, and it’s only strengthened my resolve to improve it so I can stand straight more easily and have less posture and back problems throughout my life.
One of my favorite tools for getting a lift under my arch are those gel inserts that you can buy at your local drugstore. They basically create an artifical arch, and hence more support, underneath the middle part of your foot so that you can walk more easily and also balance better without stressing your feet out as much, or more importantly, your back.

If you buy the arch support gel inserts, don’t go cheap . I’d go with a brand you know like Dr. Scholl’s or some similar comparable brand name, since it’s your posture and your spinal alingment we’re talking about here. You really want to make sure that you get the right size too. Make sure you don’t buy an arch support that is too high up if you have only a slightly flat foot, because that can also throw you off further than if you didn’t have one at all.

Another thing to consider is whether your shoe will fit the arch support correctly. Generally, only close toed and sneaker shoes will work, if you don’t want the inserts to show too much or be conspicuous. Some arch supports I’ve used are so intrusive that I can barely tie my tennis shoes with them in, so that’s why I also caution against buying ones that are too thick. It can really put a lot of pressure on the top of your foot if you buy the wrong size, so it’s imperative to get it right. If necessary, visit a podiatrist and have one professionally fitted, it will be worth it.