First was the choice of Train2move Athlete Josh Platt. Hopefully you were able to follow along as he trained for, and then accomplished his goal of running the time to qualify for the Boston Marathon. He ended up wearing his favorite pair of running shoes, the Nike Zooms. He had a different pair he wore for about a month but it was not working well for him so he went back to the shoe he had discovered the most success with.

I would say that the Various styles of Zooms was quite possibly the most common shoe we saw. I was however surprised to see how many people were running around in Nike Frees'. I like these shoes for walking around doing your daily routine but I could not imagine myself running for long distances in them. This however is a great choice and to be quite honest the closest shoe yet to allowing the muscles of the foot to get the maximum stimulus they deserve.

After that there were plenty of  Asics and I noticed quite a few Mizunos as well. I think it would be an interesting study to see what the most common running shoe people do marathons in would be. If you had to go run one today what would you were? Personally I would want ones that came with their own motor because I am in no condition to go out and attempt to run 26.2 miles.

One other thing I wanted to touch on was how surprised at how many men did not take any precautions to protect their nipples. In the time we waited for Josh to cross I counted at least 6 that had blood all down the front of their shirt, coming from their nipples. Now Josh finished in the top 250 so I would assume many of those people had to know what they were doing. Then I saw a significantly higher number that came across over the next few hundred people. It looked extremely painful but maybe it did not bother them. I bet it hurt pretty significantly when they got in the shower though!

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The premise behind the book is to compare choices you can make in various types of foods. It goes from general topics such as the Best and Worst Foods in America to specific topics like food additives and foods for your cholesterol and blood sugar.

The book is laid out nicely and gives you grades for many popular restaurants. Then in many different categories it breaks down the best and worst that you will find. I like how direct these guys are and the fact they take pride in the fact they have made changes in the world of nutrition. This is a great read that I highly recommend you pick up. The amount of useful tips in it makes it worth the small cost. I have been working with young athletes for many years now and I am always looking for additional tools to use with them to help them make better choices. This book works great since it is not telling them they cant eat at certain places, it is telling them the best thing to eat at those places.

Follow this link if you want to check the book out.  Eat This Not That

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He has worked incredibly hard at it and I have been impressed with how well the program encourages kids to keep going with the scoring updates. He is almost to his 45,000 he needs for his Silver Medal and he is quite proud of himself.

The next step is to order his awards! As a part of the Presidents Challenge you receive various trophies to show off your hard work. My son is all excited to order his Champion Awards and to be hones they look pretty cool.

Overall I found this program to be excellent. It is very well thought out and one thing I particularly liked was that it was not easy. My Son had to work incredibly hard to be able to achieve the Silver Medal. To be honest it was almost too hard since for him to get to the Gold would have been more dedication than I think he could muster at only 8 years old. I will be curios to see at what age he will be able to achieve the Gold Medal and He and I have already agreed that he will do the program again next year.

Once again I would like to say that I highly recommend this program to all of you who have children and want tools to help you teach them the value and reward of staying healthy. The program has everything you need, is very user friendly, and comes with some great rewards at the end.

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My Son loves the freedom that he gets now that he is able to ride. It reminded of how I felt when I was a kid. It is true that being able to ride a bike efficiently allows you to go to new places and explore areas you may have not done before. Today on our ride we found several new areas of the town we live in that neither of us would have ever found if not for the ride. If you have kids I highly recommend that you get them out and riding. The joy they get from this sense of freedom is great to watch and the time that shared is irreplaceable. 

I recently came across a good article about purchasing a bike. It was out of a Dick's Sports magazine I received in the mail. Here are the 5 steps they feel are important when purchasing a new bike. Here is a basic rundown of the top 5 things to consider when looking to purchase a new bike.

1. Be realistic about what you are going to do with your new bike – If you are going to be riding mostly on streets, then do not purchase a bike meant for trail riding. Comfort is very important!

2. Fit – Make sure that the bike fits you. Dick's obviously wants you to purchase a bike there but just make sure you are getting advice from someone knowledgeable about how to get a bike that fits you correctly. A bike that does not fit you will be more trouble than it is worth. 

3. Price Range – Just like anything else, you get what you pay for. Do not feel as though you need to break the bank for a new bike but get one that comes with good components and options on it.

4. Accessories – When doing your budget, save some money for the fun odds and ends to get with it, water bottles, gloves, and of course, get a good helmet that fits you correctly.

5. Ask Questions – Make sure you fully understand how to use the bike you are about to purchase. If you have not been on one in awhile they have changed. My Dad recently got a new bike and they actually offered a class where people could come in and learn how to shift correctly. If you have the option, take it!

Now go get out and enjoy a nice ride!

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Anyway, there was no amount of antibacterial solutions that could make me feel better about that situation. I wanted to where a chemical suit.

Ok now that I have shared my trauma with you lets discuss why these sweat producing monsters are really not your best choice in the cardio area. 

1. Lack of true stimulus to your muscular system. The objective of the machine is to simulate walking up stairs (I know, I am a genius right). The problem is that you are basically floating in space as you do it. There is no necessary reaction of certain muscles in the body since there is no impact into the ground. What happens is you give a tremendous amount of training to the major muscles in the lower body but there is very little to the many smaller muscles that help with the stabilization of your joints. This creates imbalances you do not want. Imbalances that can leave you more vulnerable to nuisance injuries like joints sprains.

2. Tends to promote poor posture – I think we have discussed many times over that we are all suffering from poor posture due to the lack of stimulus t our entire muscular system. This causes imbalances in strength in our bodies which leads to skeletal misalignment. The posture I see most people with on Stairmasters is in a word, atrocious. First off the hand rails should be taken off since as we fatigue what do we do? We put as much of our body weight into our upper backs in an attempt to hold ourselves onto the machine. This creates all kinds of posture issues for us. To do the machine correctly you would need to naturally swing your arms at your sides as you step just like you would walking up stairs. Typically if people need handrails to get up strairs, they are not going to choose this as a major form of exercise. Strange then that a machine to train you in the same manner would encourage you to do so.

3. Takes your lack of muscular efficiency and magnifies it greatly. This is similar to posture but take all of the various imbalances you may have, improper stride, carry your stress in your neck, low back pain, wrist pain, anything you want to name and I can assure yo the Stairmaster will make it worse. Carry your stress in your neck, well imagine how it will feel to put all your weight in your neck and upper back because your hips are too weak to support you so you grab onto those handles for dear life. Same with wrist pain or carpal tunnel syndrome, then try my least favorite pose I see many people use, twist your wrists around backwards to hold onto the handles creating an even greater amount of stress in that area.

Can you burn a lot of calories on a Stairmaster? Yes, you can trust me I have cleaned most of them up in the lake of disgusting body fluids under them. However we are always trying to get you to understand that your training must be to promote muscular efficiency, not take it away. Anything else you do will have negative side effects that will inevitably lead to pain and lack of mobility at some point.

There is a better choice, its called the Step Mill. It is like an escalator that has stairs that keep rotating so it truly simulates walking up stairs. Just stay off the handles!!!!

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The quality of the product from a manufacturing standpoint is again very high. They did a great job not only on the cover but the workout itself is done by professionals. They use a great studio for the backdrop and the camera work is great. It always makes a difference to me on the little things like this.  

Overall Quality Score – 2/2

From an efficiency standpoint this one again leaves me a little bit confused. In fairness it does do a much better job than the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.  The 3 levels of difficulty are interesting. The hardest one to me would be level 2. I found it interesting that Jillian admitted her surprise that the routine she was doing was level 2 since she herself was dying during it. She had to stop to even have a chance at talking at all during the workout. Level 1 was the best one. It changed the emphasis the most frequently. Bob the trainer does a good job of explaining the form you need to have and keeping you moving while attacking the various directions of the body. Keep in mind it is shockingly hard for a level one workout. If you are out of shape, you will struggle real bad with this one for quite some time until your body adapts to it.

My last thought on this is watch closely to the bodies of the people on screen. It is sad to think that even though these people are in better shape and have lost weight, their posture, form, and muscular efficiency is really quite bad. The guy in the back row hurts me to watch. I want to help him out so badly as I watch. he could get so much more out of these workouts if the trainers would give him the right type of stimulus to improve his efficiency, not just get his heart rate screaming. Just so you are aware, your Level 3 workout is a kickboxing one. 

Overall Efficiency Score – 1/2

The value is tough to give too hard of a score to since it only costs about $11.00 with shipping. Again you are getting a pretty limited package but the workouts are going to get you working hard and sweating  buckets 

Overall Value Score – 1/2

In the extras department I have my easiest score yet. there was only one page telling you about another one of their videos. So there is nothing to really score here.

Overall Extras Score – .5/2

The final portion is the Ease of Use. This is pretty easy to score on a DVD. 

Overall Ease of Use Score – 2/2

Total Score 6.5/10

Like I mentioned on the other Biggest Loser DVD, there is such a steep intro into the workouts I really feel you need to be in some form of cardiovascular shape to really get much out of these. the warm-up on this one is much better so that helps. 

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My family of course wanted one as well but I lucked out and was able to trade a guy on Craigs List for another video game system we had. It is a great tool for us. We love to play board games and hang out together and this became just another option for us to use. The game that was included had bowling nd a few other group ones we could all play.

The idea behind the system is to get gamers more active instead of just sitting in a chair to play the games. Even the way you use the controllers is very active. It has proven to be a great idea and it is making the Wii the first choice for many families when it comes to video games. it was only a matter of time before the company came out with an exercise game.

The first was Wii Fit. A game truly designed to get you out of the chair and increase your activity. My family and I have spent a fair enough amount of time with the game that I feel I can give you a quality review of the product to see if it is right for you.

1. Quality - I have had several Nintendo gaming systems over the years and they are always good quality so this was an easy one. The system is very reliable and is very quick to load and get you into your games. Nintendo has always done a great job of this. The packaging is always done nicely so the product is shipped safely. The balance board that is included in the package is very sturdy and has the perfect sensitivity to it to allow the many games and exercises to work extremely well.

Overall Quality Score – 2/2

2. Efficiency - The idea behind this game is fantastic. It has a great combination of several key components of fitness. First is a Strength Training Component, then there is also cardiovascular training, yoga, and even some fun balance games. Like many video games there is the process of "unlocking" stuff. This concept refers to how in the early stages of the game only a small portion of the game is open to you, then as you play your earn more of the games content. In Wii Fit this is simply done by playing. Unlocking the rest of the content takes quite some time ut as long as you play, it slowly happens.

The beginning of the game asks you to go through the process of determining your current health. It will get your BMI (Body Mass Index) and you actual body weight, then it tests your balance. These things combine to give you your Wii Fit Age. At this point you are able to set some goals and then get to work on improving your fitness.

Overall The balance games are a blast for my kids to play but I would not assume that you are going to make tremendous strides in your own personal balance from them. They are just fun to play.

The yoga workout is actually quite good. It is frustrating that it took so long to unlock all of the moves to complete the entire workout. The exercises are good and it is overall a pretty complete package. A complaint I do have is that it takes forever to do the complete workout since it is so slow to go from exercise to exercise. There is far too much down time which can prove both boring and distracting.

The Strength component is also better than I wold have anticipated. They do a good job of covering most of the 8 directions of the body and to complete the entire workout is overall fairly demanding if you choose it to be. They do a good job of giving alternative forms of moves and you will feel like you got  great workout when you are done.

The cardiovascular training was very limited. To be honest it is pointless. I do not recommend even bothering too much with this one. In fairness I think you re a bit limited but I think it would have been better to do more of a Dance Dance Revolution type mentality for this.

For the first iteration of a game like this I think it was just fine. The potential for a product like this is huge. I hope to see an updated version of it soon and I would love to be a part of the development team!

Overall Efficiency Score – 1/2

Value - The Cost is around $90.00 and can be found at Amazon.com or other local retail video games chains like Gamestop. It is a pretty steep price tag but I have found that when it comes to video games it is a cost per hour thing. Is it valuable enough the be the price of a 2 month gym membership? I would say no but my family has really enjoyed playing it.

Overall Value Score – 1.5/2

Extras – There are not many other extras outside of the game manual which is fine. To be honest it is much better than most Game manuals that are included these days. Like I mentioned earlier the balance board actually works very well.

Total Extras Score – 2/2

Ease of Use – The product does a good job of getting you through the process from set-up to the tests an then into the exercises. It is all a bit slow is my only complaint. The time it takes to work through some of the exercise routines just felt sluggish. However, it is very easy to use.

Total Ease of Use Score – 1.75/2

Overall Score for Wii Fit – 8.25/10

If you own a Wii and are looking for an option to stay active with your kids while you play video games. Right now this is definitely one of your better options.

Now, Good Luck finding one!

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For the first portion of the review we will start with Quality. You can tell that there was some effort put into the video. They took the time to make the DVD case attractive and the video itself is very polished. Jillian does a great job and the two women she has working out with her on the video do a great job of showing you good form. The camera work i also done well giving you the feeling that there was great effort put into the product.

Overall Quality Score – 2/2

Next up is the efficiency. Again, this is how well the product can benefit your development and improve your overall muscular efficiency. I was pleased to see that there was 3 levels available for you to choose from so we started out with level 1. The concept behind the workout is what Jillian call her "3-2-1" system. The idea is to maximize burning of calories by doing 3 minutes of strength training followed by 2 minutes of cardio and then 1 minute of abs. She does start it off with a warm-up but to be honest it is a bit of a joke. It is about 5 exercises and they do very little other than to get your heart rate up a bit.

The level one workout was in a word surprising. I have to be honest and say that unless you are already exercising you are going to have a pretty hard time with some of these. One of the abdominal exercises is very demanding on the lumbar spine and you really need to be able to control the abdominals or the exercise will be pointless. There is no variety in the cardio, it is just butt kicks in place and imaginary jump rope. I also could not believe how much flexion of the hip there was with no extension outside of some lunges in one of the strength moves. If you have any lower back tightness or other issues in your lower back, this is going to be a very hard on your back.

As we went to levels 2 and 3, there was little to no difference. The warm-up had one additional exercise and the routine itself followed the same pattern with just some slight variations in the exercises.

Overall Efficiency Score – .5/2

Next up is the value of the product. It is hard to be do harsh on this since it did only cost about $8.00. However, I just do not think you will be happy with your purchase. There are a lot of options and i will keep looking to find a better option for you to try. Still if you are in decent shape and just looking for a quick 20 minute workout to do for a change of pace, you could do worse I think.

Overall Value Score – 1/2

The Extras included in the DVD are just an opportunity to give more money to Jillian Andrews. One option is to buy her book. The other is a chance to sign up for 30 days of free access to her online program. Here you will have a chance to get a significant amount of additional content. There is some great nutrition info available and it looks like it has a pretty good online community to it. This is the best part of the DVD in my opinion.

Overall Extras Score – 1/2

The final portion is the Ease of Use. This is pretty easy to score on a DVD.

Overall Ease of Use Score – 2/2

Total Score 6.5/10

Outside of the lack of a real intro level for someone looking to get in on the Biggest Loser momentum, this is a decent package. I like the ability to use the tools on Jillian's Web site better than the DVD itself and I think you will as well. We will be reviewing more of the Biggest Loser Videos soon so come back to see if they are able to be a bit more of a complete workout for you to follow.

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Many of you have probably seen some form of advertisement for the product known as "Perfect Pushup". Here is our take on how valuable of an asset it can be for your workout programs.

First is Quality – Upon opening the product it looks like it is a decent quality item. At no point during the first few minutes of it did I think it was a piece of junk. The base of the handles are sturdy and the handles are just the right size. Several of us tried it out and we all agreed that the handles fit great in your hand. They rotated very smoothly without and grinding. I was pleased at this because I fully expected that to be the issue but I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth the rotation was. Last thing on the handles was that they were also not so hard that it was hard on your hands. In fact it was quite comfortable.

Final Score for Quality – 2/2

Next lets look at the efficiency of the product – This is where I was pretty disappointed. Included in the package was a DVD that tried to get you pumped up for the product and the workout. They do however go over all of the different exercises in good detail. Also included is a workout card that on one side has a reminder of proper form for each of the moves in the video as well as the modifications to make it harder or easier (kneeling or feet on a chair, lame). On the back side is the workout they would like you to follow. It is a 21 day program that includes 10 workouts. The whole program is pretty limited. It is a great pushup workout but it offers very little beyond that. To be fair however they are not claiming to be more than this so you are getting what you paid for, a new toy to use when doing pushups. Here are a few of my major concerns. The biggest is there is not any form of a warm-up. In fact the first thing you are supposed to do is to max out on pushups, good thing you did not buy a squat rack from them I guess. I felt it a bit irresponsible to not give people at least a few exercises to do to help make sure that the shoulders are in a position to do a pushup without compromising the safety of the elbows and wrists. Also there are so many people that have very tight shoulders and upper backs that to go straight to a pushup can prove to be a serious mistake.

Final Score for Efficiency – .5/2

Next is the Value of the product – The price tag I got form Amacon.com was $29.99. I consider this to be a very fair price. I would not want to pay more than that for a product like this but 30 bucks is fine. It ill be a good addition to your home gym or as an extra tool in any fitness facility.

Final Value Score – 2/2

Extras – I already talked about this earlier but you do get a DVD that goes over the basics with you. It does not give you a workout to follow, just the basics of the equipment and some exercise guidelines for proper form. The workout card is extremely limited and offers little to make you excited to continue with the program.

Final Score for Extras - .5/2

Ease of Use – I really liked how easy the product was to use. I can see that someone had not really done much exercise in their past they may struggle a bit with control over the rotation at first. There is no assembly of any kind to do so it is right out of the box and into your first set.

Final Score for ease of use – 2/2

OVERALL SCORE – 7/10

So here are a few extra ideas you could do to make this a bit more of a complete workout. If you have read any of our strength training philosophy posts, you know we have a system that we feel maintains a higher level of muscular efficiency. This includes working all of the different angles we discussed are necessary to keep proper motion in the shoulder.

Here are 3 variations to try;

First is a more vertical pushup, this will help to incorporate more of the muscles of the shoulders

Second is to incorporate a row into the pushup position. This will help to gain strength in the muscles of the back of your shoulder and upper back.

The final one for now is my favorite of the three which is more of a tricep move. Try doing a dip with the handles for a great workout for the tricpes.

We will have a complete Perfect Pushup workout available for you to download. It will include a complete warm-up designed to give you the most out of your workout as well as a much more complete workout designed to incorporate the entire body. Look for it soon.

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We will use a scale of 1-10. 1 Being a total piece of junk and a 10 being something that can truly help you in your quest to stay in shape.

There will be several categories that we will try to give yo an all around perspective on the product. 

1. Quality – this will include not only how it looks but also how does it feel as you are using it. For instance I have used home gyms that look great but are so cheap due to them being way to light so it is distracting to try and exercise on them. 

2. Efficiency – how could we not go over this, everything we talk about has to do with how much it will either help or hamper the efficiency of movement in your body. This section will be to tell you which way the product goes.

3. Value – is the price they are asking worth it. Will you get a fair amount of use from the equipment in regards to your personal workouts.

4. Extras – many fitness items are shipped with example workouts or DVD's to help you out. This score will let you know if these extra materials are of any value to you

5. Ease of Use – how easy is it to use the product? Is it easy to setup and easy to store etc.

We will add any additional info that we think will help you make the right decision on purchasing the products we review. If you would like to see a particular product reviewed, let us know and we will do what we can for you. 

We hope this section of the blog can help you make your money help you to achieve your fitness goals.

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