The Schwinn Airdyne is quite different from most exercises bikes. Instead of a flywheel and magnetic or friction braking, it has a large fan for resistance. Airdynes show up in gyms, but they're also suitable for home use. The design leads to several benefits to regular users.
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Whether you work out exclusively at home or only when you can't make it to the gym, there are numerous exercises you can perform for your pectoralis major muscles, or pecs for short.
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Power describes your ability to generate force quickly, an important quality if you are involved in sports. Throwing a baseball, kicking a soccer ball, sprinting and jumping are all examples of power activities, and there are exercises and drills you can use to help develop power.
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Rope climbing is a traditional exercise used by armed forces to prepare soldiers for climbing up and down from hovering helicopters and scaling tall buildings. Rope climbing has also become a mainstream conditioning exercise used by certain training groups like Cross Fit.
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Pull-ups are an effective and challenging upper body exercise. Pull-ups develop the latissimus dorsi muscles of your back, your biceps in the front of your upper arms and your forearm muscles. Traditionally performed using a pull-up bar, this exercise can also be performed using a door.
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A rounded upper back, sometimes called a slouch, is correctly called hyperkyphosis. Hyperkyphosis can be caused by a number of factors including tight chest muscles, weak upper back muscles, an imbalanced exercise program with too much emphasis on pecs development or spending too much time sitting at a desk or driving.
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Slouching describes a rounding of the upper or thoracic vertebrae that is often accompanied by a forward head carry and is commonly referred to as hyper kyphosis. Spending too much time sitting at a desk or driving a car can lead to developing a slouch, as can being tall and habitually bending forward.
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Badminton players need to possess a variety of fitness capabilities to be successful. Cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, agility, power and strength are all desirable traits that can be developed with regular training.
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A punching bag provides an effective workout for boxers and fitness enthusiasts alike. Hitting a punch bag will condition the muscles of your arms, shoulders, chest and core--your abdominal muscles, waist and lower back--as well as burn plenty of calories.
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Weighted vests and backpacks are used by sportsmen and recreational exercisers looking to add an extra element to their workouts and develop an even higher level of fitness and conditioning. To avoid developing lower limb or back injuries, slowly increase the load and intensity of your workouts.
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Shotput is an athletic field event where competitors take turns throwing a heavy metal ball from a 7-foot diameter circle using one arm. The shot is pushed -- called putting -- as opposed to thrown under or over arm.
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Spending long periods of time sitting at a desk or driving a car can cause your lower back to become rounded. Tight muscles, combined with weak abdominals, can make this rounded position become habitual, which places a significant strain on the ligaments and discs of the lower back.
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Hitting a punch bag is a great workout -- not just for your arms but your whole body. Long “rounds” of three minutes will develop your anaerobic fitness and muscular endurance, while shorter “rounds” of higher intensity punching will develop power and strength.
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The American College of Sports Medicine describes cardiovascular fitness, sometimes referred to as aerobic fitness, as the ability of your body to take in, transport and use oxygen while exercising.
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Muscle growth is facilitated by an anabolic or building-up process called hypertrophy. Hypertrophy places a greater-than-normal strain on your muscles, is affected by a number of factors and can only occur in favorable physiological conditions. If your muscles are getting smaller, they are atrophying.
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A weighted vest is a device used by exercisers to make workouts more challenging. Weight vests are available in a variety of styles, but most are made of strong nylon, held in place with elastic Velcro straps and are weight-adjustable by adding or removing metal ingots.
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Many people spend long periods of time in a seated position. Being seated promotes a flexed spinal posture which, according to back expert and author Stuart McGill, can cause intervertebral discs to bulge outwards resulting in pain and inhibited spinal extension.
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Weighted vests make exercises such as push ups, walking, jogging and playing sports more challenging. Vests can weigh as little 5 pounds or they can exceed 80 pounds. You can adjust most weighted vests by adding or removing metal ingots from the pockets.
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Pushups are the most common and popular bodyweight exercises for the upper body. Pushups work the pectoralis major muscles of your chest and the triceps brachii of your rear upper arm. In addition, pushups also work your anterior deltoids or front shoulder muscles.
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Your gluteus maximus, medius and minimus muscles -- glutes for short -- are essentially your butt. The largest and most powerful muscle group in your body, glutes are responsible for movements such as extending your hip to the rear when you sprint or climb stairs.
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