Fitness For Dummies E-Book

Suzanne Schlosberg

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 689

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

The latest and greatest in getting fit and staying that way!

Fitness For Dummies, 4th Edition, provides the latest information and advice for properly shaping, conditioning, and strengthening your body to enhance overall fitness and health. With the help of fitness professionals Suzanne Schlosberg and Liz Neporent, you'll learn to set and achieve realistic fitness goals without expensive fitness club fees!

• Achieve motivation and social support from social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook
• Take advantage of digital resources such as e-exercising programs, video instructors, digital training systems, apps, and more
• Gives you the latest tips and methods to test your own fitness level, set realistic goals, stick with your program, and get great results
• Shows you how to spot where fat is sneaking into your diet
• Get the most out of high-tech exercise machines and equipment, plus tips for using dumbbells or a simple jump rope to achieve results
• Offers step-by-step instructions on creating a home gym on a budget

Featuring all-new informative fitness photos and illustrations, this revised edition of Fitness For Dummies is all you need to get on track to a healthy new body!

Leseprobe

Fitness For Dummies®, 4th Edition

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

What You’re Not to Read

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Part I: Getting Your Butt off the Couch

Part II: Going Cardio

Part III: Building Muscle and Strengthening Bone

Part IV: Limbering Up with Flexibility, Balance, and Mind-Body Exercise

Part V: Getting Fit in Health Clubs and Home Gyms

Part VI: Exercising for All Ages and Stages

Part VII: The Part of Tens

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: Getting Your Butt off the Couch

Chapter 1: Establishing Your Plan of Attack

Understanding What Fitness Means

Setting Goals and Tracking Your Progress

Assessing your current fitness level (yes, this class has tests)

Setting multiple goals and rewards

Putting it in writing

Selecting Exercises That Are Right for You

Staying Motivated to Make Exercise a Habit

Getting inspiration from others

Training for an event

Keeping it interesting

Dressing the part

Staying realistic

Chapter 2: Testing Your Fitness

Reviewing Your Health History

Talking to a tester at the gym

Assessing your health history yourself

Vital Signs: Following Your Heart

Determining your resting heart rate

Knowing your blood pressure

Discovering how fit your heart is

Estimating Your Body-Fat Percentage

Getting the lowdown on fat measurements

Measuring body fat

Measuring Your Strength

Measuring your upper-body strength

Testing your core strength

Measuring your lower-body strength

Stretchy Stuff: Checking Your Flexibility

Checks and Balances: Standing on One Foot

Recording Your Fitness Test Results

Making Sense of Your Test Results

Chapter 3: Watching What You Eat: Nutrition Basics

Keeping an Eye on How Much You Eat

Deciding What’s for Dinner: Food, Real Food

Figuring Out Fat, Carbs, and Protein

Getting the real deal on fat

Choosing your carbs carefully

Avoiding high-protein propaganda

Getting the Scoop on Supplements

Fueling Up

Timing your meals

Eating before you work out

Snacking during your workout

Refueling after your workout

Drinking Plenty of Fluids

Chapter 4: Educating Yourself

Judging Fitness Media Reports

Starting with reliable publications

Watching out for sensational headlines

Considering credentials and biases

Making sure there’s a source

Remembering that advertisers can influence content

Being wary of celebrity endorsements

Putting limited stock in personal stories

Asking whether a study is newsworthy

Watching for outdated information

Evaluating Scientific Research

Paying attention to the experiment

Noting that results can be manipulated

Checking the math

Not assuming cause and effect

Putting a study in context

Trusting Credible Coverage

Chapter 5: This Doesn’t Have to Happen to You: Avoiding Common Injuries

Reducing Your Risk of Injury

Recognizing When You’re Injured

Identifying Common Exercise Injuries and Ways to Avoid Them

Inside information: Surveying injuries to muscles, bone, and more

Looking at injuries by body part

Treating Sports Injuries with RICE, RICE, Baby

Part II: Going Cardio

Chapter 6: Cardio Crash Course: Getting the Right Intensity

Comparing Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise

Understanding the Importance of Warming Up and Cooling Down

Warming up

Cooling down

Using Simple Methods to Gauge Your Level of Effort

The talk test

Perceived exertion

Measuring Your Heart Rate

Looking at what heart rate tells you

Understanding your target zone

Finding your maximum and target heart rates

Measuring your pulse

Chapter 7: Creating a Cardio Program

Following a Cardio Plan

Doing cardio for good health

Doing cardio for weight loss

Doing cardio to maximize your fitness

Fun Ways to Dial Up Your Fitness and Burn More Calories

Interval training

Uphill battles

Tempo workouts

Lifestyle movement

Putting It All Together: Sample 6-Week Exercise Programs

Sample beginner program

Sample intermediate program

Estimating How Many Calories You’re Burning

Knowing When to Give It a Rest

Chapter 8: Using Cardio Machines

Treadmill

Who will like it

Why the treadmill may not be your thing

Treadmill user tips

Elliptical Trainer

Who will like it

Why the elliptical may not be your thing

Elliptical-trainer user tips

Stationary Bicycle

Who will like it

Why the bike may not be your thing

Stationary-bike user tips

Stair-Climber

Who will like it

Why the stair-climber may not be your thing

Stair-climber user tips

Rowing Machine

Who will like it

Why the rower may not be your thing

Rowing-machine user tips

Chapter 9: Exercising Outdoors

Walking

Essential walking gear

Walking with good form

Walking tips for rookies

Running

Essential running gear

Running with good form

Running tips for rookies

Bicycling

Essential cycling gear

Cycling with good form

Cycling tips for rookies

In-Line Skating

Essential skating gear

Skating the right way

Skating tips for rookies

Exercising in Water

Essential water exercise gear

Swimming with good form

Swimming tips for rookies

Part III: Building Muscle and Strengthening Bone

Chapter 10: Why You’ve Gotta Lift Weights

Considering Five Important Reasons to Pick Up a Dumbbell

Staying strong for everyday life

Keeping your bones healthy

Preventing injuries

Looking better

Speeding up your metabolism

Building Muscle: Myths and Reality

Looking at questions of strength

Wondering about body shape

Asking about fat versus muscle

Chapter 11: Your Muscles: Love ’Em or Lose ’Em

Seeing the Big Picture

Looking Over Your Shoulders

Deltoids

Rotator cuff

Getting Your Back

Trapezius

Latissimus dorsi

Rhomboids

Erector spinae

Checking Out Your Chest (Pectorals)

Taking Up Arms

Biceps

Triceps

Forearm muscles

Getting a Core Understanding of the Abdominals

Rectus abdominis and company

Internal and external obliques

Bringing Up the Butt and Hips

Gluteus maximus

Hip abductors

Leg adductors

Looking at Your Legs

Quadriceps

Hamstrings

Gastrocnemius and soleus

Tibialis anterior

Chapter 12: Demystifying Strength Equipment

Using Weight Machines

What’s new in weight machines

The advantages of traditional weight machines

The drawbacks of traditional weight machines

Special tips for using weight machines

Cutting Loose with Free Weights

The advantages of free weights

The drawbacks of free weights

Special tips for using free weights

Using benches with free weights

Pulling Your Weight with Cable Pulleys

The advantages and disadvantages of cable pulleys

Special tips for using cable pulleys

Getting into the Swing of Things with Kettlebells

The advantages of kettlebells

The drawbacks of kettlebells

Special tips for using kettlebells

Stretching Your Routine with Tubes and Bands

The advantages of tubes and bands

The drawbacks of tubes and bands

Special tips for using tubes and bands

Training with Weighted Balls

The advantages of medicine balls

The drawbacks of medicine balls

Special tips for using medicine balls

Relying on Your Body as Strength Equipment

The advantages of using your body weight

The drawbacks of using your body weight

Special tips for using your body weight

Chapter 13: Designing a Strength-Training Program

The Building Blocks of a Strength-Training Workout

Choosing your weight

Planning your workout

Considering time and speed

Setting up and changing your routine

Considering your core

Lifting Safely and Effectively

Lifting weights the right way

Making sense of the instructions

Following a Simple Total-Body Workout

Squat

One-Legged Squat

One-Arm Dumbbell Row

Dumbbell Chest Press

Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Back Delt Fly

Dumbbell Biceps Curl

Triceps Kickback

The Plank

Opposite Extension

Part IV: Limbering Up with Flexibility, Balance, and Mind-Body Exercise

Chapter 14: Flexibility Training: Getting the Scoop on Stretching

Understanding Why You Need to Stretch

Deciding When to Stretch

Exploring Stretching Techniques

Still Life: Doing Static Stretching

Following a few rules of static stretching

Trying a simple static stretching routine

Trying Alternative Stretches

Testing out Active Isolated stretches

Doing the PNF Hamstring Stretch

Chapter 15: Finding Your Balance

Balance: Use It or Lose It

Evaluating Your Balance

Taking four simple tests

Interpreting your test results

Trying Nifty Tools for Training Your Balance

Doing Four Balance Exercises

Sit to Stand

Hopping

Balance-Beam Walk

Pick-Ups

Chapter 16: All about Yoga

Understanding Yoga: Knowing Your Asana from Your Elbows

Looking at What Yoga Can Do for Your Body

Finding a Yoga Style That’s Right for You

Getting Started

Taking yoga classes

Looking at yoga equipment and clothing

Following yoga tips for beginners

Trying a Yoga Routine

Downward-Facing Dog

Forward Bend

Child’s Pose

Modified Sage Twist

Cat Pose

Triangle Pose

Sun Salutation

Chapter 17: Getting the Lowdown on Pilates

Understanding Pilates

How Pilates works

How Pilates benefits even beginners

Fitting Pilates into Your Workout Program

Exploring Your Pilates Workout Options

Two ways to practice Pilates: Choosing your type of workout

Finding a qualified Pilates instructor

Doing Pilates at home

Performing Some Pilates Exercises

The Hundred

Rolling Like a Ball

Single Leg Pull

Spinal Stretch Forward

Part V: Getting Fit in Health Clubs and Home Gyms

Chapter 18: Choosing and Using a Gym

Should You Join a Health Club?

Four reasons to sign up

Four reasons to say, “No thanks”

Knowing How to Judge a Gym

Location and hours

Size

Cost

Equipment

Group exercise classes

Staff

Members

Cleanliness

Extra amenities

Eco-friendliness

Braving the Gym for the First Time

Packing the perfect gym bag

Making yourself more comfortable

Health-Club Etiquette: The Unwritten Rules

The must-do’s

Major no-no’s

Locker-room rules

Chapter 19: Designing Your Home Gym

Planning Your Exercise Space

Looking at the big picture: What you want to work on

Choosing an inviting spot for your equipment

Taking careful measurements

Thinking about flooring

Equipment Shopping Tips

Shopping around

Taking a test drive

Looking for safety features

Asking for a discount

Checking out warranty and service plans

Investing in Cardio Equipment

Two cardiovascular bargains

Treadmills

Incline trainers

Elliptical trainers

Stationary bikes

Rowing machines

Stair-climbers

Buying Strength Equipment

Exercise bands and tubes

Free weights

Weight benches

Multi-gyms

Considering Flexibility Helpers

Chapter 20: Hiring a Trainer

Five Smart Reasons to Hire a Trainer

Weeding Out the Poseurs

Certification

University degrees

Experience

Liability insurance

Appropriate trainer fees

Digging Deeper: Making Sure the Trainer You Choose Is Right for You

Narrowing down your choices

Evaluating your trainer

Getting the Most out of Your First Training Session

Being the Best Client You Can Be

Chapter 21: Choosing an Exercise Class or Digital Workout

Getting Through When You Haven’t a Clue: Taking an Exercise Class

Signing up

Knowing what to expect from a live instructor

Getting the most out of your classes

Considering popular classes

Working Out with an On-Screen Instructor

DVDs

Streaming and digital downloads

On-demand TV and ExerciseTV

Podcasts and YouTube

Video games

Part VI: Exercising for All Ages and Stages

Chapter 22: Fit Pregnancy: Exercising for Two

Understanding the Benefits of an Active Pregnancy

Working with Healthcare Providers and Trainers

Great Activities to Consider during Pregnancy

Walking this way

Getting into the swim of things

Taking prenatal exercise classes

Trying prenatal yoga and Pilates

Lifting weights

Putting a prenatal spin on studio cycling

Using Wii Fit, online videos, and other media

Avoiding Risky Exercises

Overcoming the Obstacles to Prenatal Exercise

Monitoring Your Prenatal Workout Routine: Watching for Danger Signs

Exercising After the Baby Arrives

Chapter 23: Getting Kids Fit

Looking at How Exercise Helps Your Child

Getting Your Kids Moving

Engaging the toddler and preschool set

Motivating school-age kids to move

Getting Kids to Eat Their Peas

Chapter 24: Staying Active as You Age

Getting a Late Start: How to Begin

Seeing your doctor for a checkup

Starting cardio exercise

Pumping some iron

Working on your flexibility and balance

Adjusting Your Program if You’re an Experienced Older Athlete

Part VII: The Part of Tens

Chapter 25: Ten Great Reasons to Break a Sweat

You’re Less Prone to Illness

You Keep Your Weight in Check

You Look Marvelous

You’re Less Prone to Injuries and Aches

You Feel Happier, Calmer, and Better about Yourself

You Enjoy Camaraderie

You Perform Better at Work and at Home

Your Family Benefits

You Feel Younger and Enjoy Life More

You Do Good for Others and the Earth

Chapter 26: Ten Fantastic Fitness Investments

A Heart-Rate Monitor

A Digital Tracker or Pedometer

A Hydration System

A Stretching or Sticky Mat

A Physioball

A Workout Log

An MP3 Player or iPhone

Exertainment

A Personal Trainer

A Massage

Fitness For Dummies®, 4th Edition

by Suzanne Schlosberg and Liz Neporent, MA

Fitness For Dummies®, 4th Edition

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2011 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The contents of this work are intended to further general scientific research, understanding, and discussion only and are not intended and should not be relied upon as recommending or promoting a specific method, diagnosis, or treatment by physicians for any particular patient. The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation any implied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. In view of ongoing research, equipment modifications, changes in governmental regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to the use of medicines, equipment, and devices, the reader is urged to review and evaluate the information provided in the package insert or instructions for each medicine, equipment, or device for, among other things, any changes in the instructions or indication of usage and for added warnings and precautions. Readers should consult with a specialist where appropriate. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. No warranty may be created or extended by any promotional statements for this work. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any damages arising herefrom.

For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2010937829

ISBN: 978-0-470-76759-7

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Authors

Suzanne Schlosberg is a fitness, health, and parenting writer known for her humorous approach to lifestyle topics. A former senior editor of Shape magazine, she is the author or coauthor of ten books, including Weight Training For Dummies, The Ultimate Workout Log, The Ultimate Diet Log, The Good Neighbor Cookbook, and The Active Woman’s Pregnancy Log. Her articles can be found on the Web sites of Fit Pregnancy, Ladies’ Home Journal, More, Parents, and Parenting, among others, as well as her own Web site, www.suzanneschlosberg.com. An avid cyclist and totally mediocre Nordic skier, Suzanne lives in Bend, Oregon, with her husband and twin boys. She can be reached at [email protected].

Liz Neporent is a columnist and blogger for AOL Health and That’s Fit, as well as a regular contributor to many other Web sites, publications, and media outlets. She cowrote The Winner’s Brain with authors Jeff Brown and Mark Fenske. Liz brings a strong science background, fitness authority, and sense of fun to all her work. She holds a master’s degree in exercise physiology from New York University and is certified by the American Council on Exercise, where she served on the board of directors for six years and now serves on the emeritus board and as a national spokesperson. She’s a health consultant to Harvard Medical School in the publications division and is president of Wellness 360, a New York City-based wellness management and consulting company. She lives in New York City with her husband Jay and daughter Skylar. Follow her on twitter @lizzyfit or check out her Web site: www.w360.com.

Dedication

To all who are striving to improve their fitness.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Senior Project Editor: Alissa Schwipps (Previous Edition: Elizabeth Kuball)

Acquisitions Editor: Tracy Boggier

Senior Copy Editor: Danielle Voirol

Copy Editor: Todd Lothery

Assistant Editor: David Lutton

Technical Editor: Carol Kennedy-Armbruster

Senior Editorial Manager: Jennifer Ehrlich

Editorial Assistants: Rachelle Amick, Jennette ElNaggar

Art Coordinator: Alicia B. South

Cover Photos: © istockphoto.com/Chris Bernard

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Kristie Rees

Layout and Graphics: Lavonne Roberts, Christin Swinford

Proofreaders: Betty Kish, Lauren Mandelbaum

Indexer: Becky Hornyak

Special Help: Steve Kelly, Kaitlin McGlone

Special Thanks: Robin Anderson, Shawn Cook (Cardinal Fitness at Windermere Place), S. R. Gunale, Swati Gunale, Vatsala Gunale, Deanna Holland, Brandon Hooks, Andrew Rezkalla, Jennifer Stewart, Kevin Stewart (www.stewartfitness.net)

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies

Ensley Eikenburg, Associate Publisher, Travel

Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User

Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Introduction

So you want to get fit? You’ve come to the right place. Though we can’t lace up your sneakers and lift you onto a moving treadmill, we can do the next best thing: explain the benefits and basics of exercise, cover the best workout programs and products, and give you some long-distance encouragement.

That’s what we’ve been doing since the first edition of Fitness For Dummies was published back in the prehistoric mid-1990s, before you could tweet your bench-press stats or “friend” a fellow swimmer halfway around the globe. So much about fitness has changed since then — the equipment and training theories, the classes and gadgets. So once again, we’ve overhauled this book, adding chapters and substantially revamping others.

To understand how the field of fitness has been transformed, consider this: The first edition of Fitness For Dummies contained exactly four paragraphs about the Internet. Even in the 3rd edition, you couldn’t find the word podcast or a mention of phone apps. But the book you’re holding right now, the 4th edition, is loaded with tips on using the Web to get fit.

If you’re a technophobe or just staunchly old-school, don’t worry: Some of today’s most popular fitness trends are among the most time-honored and low-tech. For example, kettlebells — cast-iron weights that were all the rage in Czarist Russia — have made a comeback. Yoga, dating back thousands of years, is more popular than ever; so is Pilates, developed more than a century ago. And one of today’s trendiest and most useful workout gadgets, the physioball, is really just a glorified beach ball.

As always, the fitness field offers something for everyone, from gamers to grandmas — and heck, grandmas who are gamers. (Attention gamer grandmas: Check out Wii 10 Minute Solution: Knock-Out Body!) In Fitness For Dummies, 4th Edition, we strive to cover fitness from all angles.

About This Book

Fitness For Dummies, 4th Edition, updates you on all the latest — the good, the bad, the totally cool (free workout podcasts) and the totally weird (shoes shaped like feet). But our main mission remains the same as it was the first three times around: to get you jazzed to move, to make you a savvy consumer of fitness products and information, and to help you tackle your worries, whether you fear the chest-press machine or panic at the thought of attempting a spinning class.

Fitness For Dummies, 4th Edition, tells you the stuff you really want to know, such as:

Will exercise really help me lose weight?

Which weight-training exercises are best for beginners?

What’s the difference between yoga and Pilates?

Is it safe to exercise in the third trimester of pregnancy or the ninth decade of life?

Will diet soda help me lose weight?

Can I really get in shape with a phone app or a Wii fitness game?

Which brands of home exercise equipment are most reliable?

How do I know whether I should join a gym or buy a DVD?

Can I actually get a “Rock Solid Bod in 6 Weeks,” like the Web sites say?

This book is basic enough for the fitness rookie to follow, but it’s also intended for workout veterans who want to brush up on the latest fitness concepts, gadgets, and training techniques.

This is no textbook, so if a particular topic piques your interest, turn right to it; let the table of contents and index be your guides. Also, in every chapter we define terms and point you in the direction of any information that may help you.

Conventions Used in This Book

We use few conventions in this book because we want you to be able to pick it up and start anywhere. But two conventions to keep in mind are the following:

New fitness jargon appears in italics, like this, along with a brief definition. Use these terms to impress your friends or the trainer you just hired using the guidelines in Chapter 20.

Web sites appear in a special font, like this, to distinguish them from other text. Jump on over to your computer or smart phone and check them out.

What You’re Not to Read

We intended for this book to be a pleasant and practical read so that you can quickly find and absorb the information you want. However, we sometimes couldn’t help going a little bit deeper or relaying information that expands on the basics. You may find this information interesting, but you don’t need it to understand what you came to that section to find.

When you see a sidebar (a gray-shaded box of text) or text flagged with the Technical Stuff icon, know that the information is optional. You can lead a full and happy life without giving it a glance. (But aren’t you curious? A little?)

Foolish Assumptions

Before we could write this book, we had to make some assumptions about who you, the reader, might be. We assume that

You’re just beginning an exercise program, thinking about starting one, or returning to a healthier lifestyle after a few years in the recliner. Or you may have been working out for years and are looking for advice on how to reinvigorate your routine.

You’re interested in sorting out all the different options for fitness activities so you can decide which are best for you.

You want to get the lowdown on all the latest fitness research, bargains, classes, equipment, and gear — anything that has to do with getting you into shape.

You’d like to become more knowledgeable about exercise and fitness so you can avoid mistakes and injuries.

How This Book Is Organized

Fitness For Dummies, 4th Edition, is divided into seven parts, and the chapters within each part cover specific topics in detail. You can read each chapter or part without having to read what came before, although we may refer you to other sections for more information about certain topics. Here’s a brief look at the seven parts.

Part I: Getting Your Butt off the Couch

In this part, we give you the tools to start a fitness program. First, we explain the key components of fitness (did you know that being able to balance on one foot is as important as being able to walk a mile?) and offer tips on staying inspired to exercise so that it becomes a habit. Then, we help you evaluate your current fitness level with a series of fun tests; no worries — you can’t flunk. We run down the basics of healthy eating so you can stay fueled for your workouts and fit into your jogging shorts. We also explain how to stay abreast of fitness developments through Web sites, blogs, TV, and other media and how to find reliable health and fitness information. Finally, we offer tips on keeping your muscles and joints injury-free and on treating aches and pains that do crop up.

Part II: Going Cardio

This part is devoted to cardiovascular exercise — the kind of activity that strengthens your heart and lungs, burns lots of calories, lowers your stress level, and gives you the energy to chase down your cat for a bath. Walking, jogging, swimming, and cycling are a few examples. We explain terms such as anaerobic and target heart-rate zone, and we tell you how long, how often, and how hard you need to work out in order to slim down, live longer, or train for a 10K run. We also cover the most popular cardio-exercise options, both indoors and out, including essential gear, proper techniques, and tips for getting started.

Part III: Building Muscle and Strengthening Bone

In this part we explain why everyone — whether you’re 18 or 80, male or female — ought to strength-train. We give you the know-how to get started lifting weights, and we answer questions such as:

What are the differences between weight machines, dumbbells, and barbells?

What are sets and reps, and how much weight should I lift?

Which exercises are most effective?

What’s a deltoid, and why should I care?

We also include a complete strength-training routine you can perform either at home or at the gym.

Part IV: Limbering Up with Flexibility, Balance, and Mind-Body Exercise

In this part we cover activities that typically don’t involve buckets of sweat but are deceptively challenging and incredibly important, not to mention fun and relaxing. We’re talking about stretching and balance training, as well as activities that usually incorporate both: yoga and Pilates. We show you numerous exercises you can do at home or in a class to make your body more flexible, graceful, and agile. These are all attributes that will serve you well when you work out or train for an event and as you get older and more prone to accidents and injuries.

Part V: Getting Fit in Health Clubs and Home Gyms

This part gives you the information you need to enter a gym with confidence. We explain how to choose a club that suits you, how to snag a membership bargain, and how to demonstrate stellar health-club etiquette. We also tell you how to get through an exercise class when you feel like you have two left feet that are tied together, and we update you on the latest in exercise classes, from Zumba to boot camp to IndoRow.

Fitness clubs and studios aren’t for everyone, so in this part, we also help you choose the best home fitness equipment for your budget, your goals, and the size of your living room. We cover everything from space-age treadmills to $3 rubber exercise tubes and offer tips for designing your home gym so you’ll actually use the stuff you buy.

We also help you find a qualified fitness trainer, if you’re so inclined, as well as high-quality, low-cost, and motivating digital workouts, on DVDs and online.

Part VI: Exercising for All Ages and Stages

This part covers exercise from the beginning — we’re talking in utero — all the way through the AARP years. Research has proven that prenatal exercise is not only safe for Mom but also gives babies a healthy start, lowering their risk for obesity and diabetes throughout life. This section fills you in on what kind of exercise program is ideal for moms-to-be. In light of the country’s childhood-obesity epidemic, we include a chapter on getting kids of all ages, from toddlers to tweens, up and moving. For those of you entering your sixth decade and beyond, this part is for you, too. We show you how to get and stay fit so you can continue to stay active and look good in your jeans.

Part VII: The Part of Tens

Every For Dummies book has a Part of Tens. These chapters give you a different spin on some of the information already presented in the other parts, along with plenty of new stuff. For example, scattered throughout this book are many reasons to get and stay fit; in Chapter 25, you find a whole chapter of reasons. (Did you know that exercise lowers your risk of developing dementia?) And in Chapter 26, we tell you which fitness products we consider to be most worthy of your hard-earned dollars.

Icons Used in This Book

Icons are small pictures in the margins of this book that flag certain material for you. The following icons highlight information you want to pay special attention to.

This icon flags great strategies for getting in shape, such as testing your fitness every three to six months. We also use this icon to highlight money-saving tips — such as asking your health club to waive its initiation fee — and excellent fitness products, from treadmills to stretching devices to fitness games for your kid’s Wii or Xbox.

When information is just too good to forget, this icon helps you remember. This is the stuff you want to jot down and attach with a magnet to your fridge.

We use the Myth Buster superhero to dispel popular fitness myths. For example, in Chapter 7, we explain that exercise doesn’t have to hurt to be good for you. (In fact, the vast majority of the time, it shouldn’t hurt at all.)

This icon warns you about hucksters who offer false promises, sell bogus products, or try to snare you with slimy sales tactics. We also use this icon to caution you about common exercise mistakes, such as neglecting to adjust the seat on an exercise machine.

We use this icon when we tell a story about our own adventures in fitness or recount the experiences of people we know. The anecdotes range from the wacky to the inspirational to the just plain helpful.

The Technical Stuff icon marks info that’s interesting but not necessary to your understanding of fitness.

Where to Go from Here

You can dive into this book in two ways:

If you want a crash course in fitness, read the book cover to cover. You’ll get a thorough understanding of what it takes to get in shape, and you’ll come across topics you may not have thought to look up, such as how to practice proper etiquette in the gym, how to judge the accuracy of fitness Web sites and blogs, and how often you need to buy new running shoes.

If you want to find out about a specific topic, you can flip to that section and get your answers right away. Use the book as a reference every time you boldly enter uncharted territory, like a yoga class or a Web site that sells fitness DVDs.

Whatever your approach, enjoy your journey!

Part I

Getting Your Butt off the Couch

In this part . . .

This part helps you get going on a fitness program, no matter what shape you’re in. Chapter 1 explains what fitness really means and helps you devise a game plan. You find out how to set realistic goals, track your progress, and make exercise a habit. Chapter 2 explains the important first step toward getting in shape: testing your fitness. You can either do this on your own or hire a professional. Chapter 3 gives you the lowdown on healthy eating, including how to slim down without going hungry. Chapter 4 tells you how to become a savvy consumer of fitness media, including TV, Web sites, and blogs, so that you can distinguish accurate news reports from misleading fluff. In Chapter 5, we explain how to protect your muscles and joints from injury and what steps to take if you do sprain an ankle or strain a muscle.

Chapter 1

Establishing Your Plan of Attack

In This Chapter

Defining fitness

Pushing yourself with goals

Choosing the right exercises for you

Making exercise a habit

If you’re reading this chapter, you’ve decided to get fit. (Or like wannabe chefs whose action plan amounts to sitting on the couch watching cooking shows, you’re pretending to get fit by reading this book!) Although transforming yourself from couch potato to fit, lean, exercise machine doesn’t take a PhD in physiology, you’ll have more success if you know what’s in store.

This chapter explains what the term fitness really means, what’s involved in becoming fit (no, you needn’t quit your job and take up residence in a gym), how to get started, and how to stay motivated. We want to help make fitness a permanent and enjoyable part of your lifestyle (rather than some weird hobby, like UFO hunting, that you once took up for a month before moving on to something else).

Understanding What Fitness Means

Fitness, which some people refer to as wellness, has a lot of different meanings. You can be fit to run 5 miles, fit to hoist 200 pounds, fit to do a headstand in a yoga class or transform yourself into a pretzel. You can look fit — that is, lean — and not actually have much stamina, strength, flexibility, or balance. Or you can possess all those attributes but still consume doughnuts and soda for breakfast — not what we’d call a health-conscious diet. It’s a rare human being who is a champ in all respects, and we don’t expect that of anyone, including ourselves.

Individuals need to pick and choose which areas of fitness to focus on, the ones that make the most sense for the goals they have and the lives they lead. Still, it doesn’t take that much effort to achieve a basic level of physical fitness in the five key areas: cardio, strength, flexibility, balance, and nutrition.

Cardio fitness: Workouts that get your heart pumping and continuously work a lot of large muscles such as the arms, torso, and legs are known as cardio (short for cardiovascular) exercises. These activities, such as walking, cycling, and using an elliptical machine, improve your heart, lungs, blood vessels, stamina, and, to some extent, strength. Cardio workouts also burn plenty of calories, which can help you lose weight. Check out Chapters 6 through 9 for a primer on cardio exercise, both indoors and out.

Strength training: Whereas some men focus on weight training to the exclusion of all other fitness activities (you may meet a buff bodybuilder who can’t run a mile), some women shy away from lifting weights for fear of looking like that buff bodybuilder. In fact, for reasons we explain in Chapter 10, both men and women should incorporate some strength training into their fitness programs.

Flexibility: Unlike cardio exercise and strength training, flexibility training — also known as stretching — doesn’t get any glory in the fitness world unless you happen to be a gymnast or a dancer. Most people skip stretching altogether or do a few cursory toe touches and call it a day. That’s because the benefits of stretching your muscles and joints aren’t immediately obvious; being flexible doesn’t make you slender or buff or able to outrun your teenager. So why bother? Because as you age, your joints become less mobile. Maintaining your flexibility through the exercises in Chapter 14, yoga (Chapter 16), or Pilates (Chapter 17) helps minimize your risk of falling and getting injured while allowing you to continue moving with grace and good posture even into old age.

Balance: If flexibility is the forgotten stepchild of fitness, then balance is the ignored twice-removed third cousin. But like flexibility, balance is an aspect of fitness that’s important when you’re young and absolutely essential when you’re not. A good sense of balance helps you move more fluidly and prevents unnecessary falls. Even if you have no aspirations to become a tightrope walker, doing the basic balance moves that we describe in Chapter 15 should be more than enough to help you maintain your sense of balance. Think your balance is already stellar? Take the balance tests described in that chapter and see how you rate.

Nutrition: When you make wise food choices (ahem, that means nixing the peanut-butter cookie in favor of the whole-wheat toast with peanut butter), you have more energy to exercise, and you recover more quickly from your workouts. And of course, cleaning up your eating habits is the key to losing weight. But when you’re faced with conflicting research reports and sneaky marketing tactics by food manufacturers, making good choices is tough. High protein or high carb? Do you really need eight glasses of water a day? How about a vitamin supplement? Chapter 3 guides you through the haze.

Setting Goals and Tracking Your Progress

You need to clarify why you want to improve your fitness. Maybe heart disease runs in your family, and you want to avoid carrying on that tradition. Maybe your kids, or grandkids, run you ragged. Maybe you’re tired of spending money on new and bigger clothing every year. Whatever the reason, make sure you’re doing this for yourself — not simply to please your doctor or to attempt to match your high-school-era Facebook photo.

Next, you need to set concrete fitness goals. In the following sections, we help you explore your current fitness level, set long- and short-term goals, and keep track of how you’re achieving them.

Research shows that goal-setting works. In typical studies, scientists give one group of exercisers a specific goal, such as doing 60 sit-ups. Meanwhile, they tell a second group of exercisers simply, “Do your best.” The exercisers with specific goals tend to have significantly more success than the “whatever” groups. This approach can work for you, too.

Assessing your current fitness level (yes, this class has tests)

To help you clarify what you want to work on — and to best determine how to reach your fitness goals — you first need to figure out where you are physically. We suggest undergoing a fitness evaluation that includes a full health/fitness history and other important measures, such as your resting heart rate, blood pressure, percentage of body fat, strength, and flexibility. We explain all these terms in Chapter 2.

Fitness tests can be done by a physician or a certified personal trainer. Or as we explain in Chapter 2, you can do many of them yourself. Don’t worry: You can’t fail these tests. Think of them as baseline measurements that help you decide where to put your emphasis and give you a basis for comparison a few months after you start working out.

Setting multiple goals and rewards

It’s important to look at the big picture, setting long-term goals, while giving yourself smaller and more manageable stepping stones along the way. Having mini-goals makes your long-term goals seem more feasible. The following sections give you a look at the different types of goals you should set.

You give your golden retriever a doggy treat when he fetches the Frisbee, right? Be nice to yourself, too. Attach an appropriate reward to each of your goals. If you lift weights three days a week for a month or finish a 5K run, treat yourself to a massage. Sure, it’s bribery, but it works. (By the way, triple-decker fudge cake isn’t what we have in mind for a reward.)

You can get pretty creative with your rewards. We know a woman who put a coin in a jar for every mile she ran. When the jar was full, every few months, she counted the coins, totaled her miles, and had a little nest egg for splurging on new lipstick.

Long-term goals

Give yourself a goal for the next three to six months. Some people get really creative with their long-term goals.

Suzanne spoke to a woman in Ohio whose long-term goal was to walk to a friend’s house — in Alabama. No, she didn’t literally hoof it 697 miles. She charted the route on an auto-club map, and for every 20 minutes that she spent doing an aerobic exercise video, she gave herself credit for 1 mile. At the end of each week, she added up her “mileage” and used a yellow highlighter to mark the ground she covered on the map.

Make your long-term goals realistic. If you start your swimming program today, swimming the English Channel isn’t a wise six-month goal. But don’t be afraid to dream. Choose a goal that really sparks you, and you may be surprised by what you can accomplish.

Liz has a client who was 60 years old when he started training for a trek up Alaska’s Mount McKinley. Liz eventually had the guy walking uphill for up to 90 minutes on the treadmill with a heavy pack and hiking boots. After six months of training, the man successfully completed his trek. He was the oldest one on the trip, but he wasn’t the slowest.

If you’re a beginner, we recommend setting moderately challenging yet still meaningful goals.

Short-term goals

Half a year is a long time to wait for feelings of success. In order to stay motivated, you need to feel a sense of accomplishment along the way. Set short-term goals for a few weeks to one month. Here are some examples:

Take two spin classes a week for one month.

Improve your 1-mile walk time by 20 seconds.

Move up one weight plate on shoulder press in two weeks.

Balance on one leg for a full minute without holding on to anything.

Immediate goals

Immediate goals refer to goals for each week, day, or workout. This way, when you walk into the gym, you don’t waste any time figuring out which exercises to do. Here are examples of immediate goals:

Spend a full 10 minutes stretching at the end of a workout.

Do upper-body weight exercises and 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer.

Run 2 miles.

Bike a hilly 20-mile course.

Backup goals

You always need a Plan B in case something happens and you’re not able to reach your primary goal as soon as you want to. By setting backup goals, you have a better chance of achieving something, and you don’t feel like a failure if your long-term goal doesn’t work out. Suppose your long-term goal is to complete a 10K run in the spring, but you sprain an ankle and have to stop running. If one of your backup goals is to strengthen your upper body, you can still keep on track while your ankle heals.

Putting it in writing

Setting goals and rewards is pretty easy; forgetting what they are is even easier. To keep yourself honest and psyched up, we suggest tracking your goals and accomplishments. Here are other ways to make a commitment and monitor your progress.

Making a goal sheet

Put your goals somewhere visible, and next to each goal, note the corresponding reward. Figure 1-1 shows a sample goal sheet that you can fill out each week. Underneath each heading, write down your goal and target date.

Suzanne knows a swimmer who writes his goals on his kickboard. Liz has a client who enters her workout goals into her computer’s screen saver so that she sees them scrolling by every time she takes a break from typing.

Keeping a workout log

Tracking your workouts in a workout log (also called a workout diary or training diary) can help you get better results. You can look back at the end of each week and say, “Wow — look at what I did!” And you may be inspired to accomplish even more. A log also provides a reality check: You may think that you’re working out four times a week only to flip through your log and discover that you’ve been overestimating your efforts.

Figure 1-1: Make a goal sheet like the one here (or photocopy this one).

Test your fitness regularly and track these numbers in your workout log so you can keep track of your progress over time. Exercise gives you intangible benefits like more energy and greater self-esteem, but it also helps to translate your progress into raw numbers: how many pounds you can bench-press, how many beats your resting heart rate has dropped, how fast you can run a mile.

For your first year that you work out regularly, you may want to get tested or test yourself every three months. (You make the most noticeable improvements when you first start exercising; then progress becomes less dramatic.) After that, we suggest getting tested every six months. If you don’t want to spend the time or money on a whole battery of tests, ask a certified trainer to do the part you find most motivating, such as a body-fat test or blood-pressure reading. Or use the self-tests you find in Chapter 2. You can buy a log at a bookstore, use nifty computer software to monitor your progress, or use a Web-based tracking program.

Selecting Exercises That Are Right for You

When you shop for clothes, not every outfit you try on is right for you, but when you find the perfect one, doesn’t it make you feel great? The same is true of exercise. Not every activity you try, whether it’s a weight circuit, a kickboxing class, or a hike through the woods, will fit you like a custom-made suit. But when you find the workout that suits your current fitness level, your budget, and your personality, it’s a fantastic feeling!

This book helps guide you through the myriad options so you can make that connection. If you’re pregnant, for example, you’ll want to flip to Chapter 22 to find out what activities are likely to suit you best. If you’re over age 50 and just starting to think about getting in shape, then the information in Chapter 24 will get you started in the right direction. If you think you could get really get passionate about running, Chapter 9 will be a page-turner.

Along with sample exercises to interest virtually every type of exerciser, we offer leads on plenty of other resources to help expand your knowledge about fitness so you can find the best exercises for you — everything from selecting equipment to choosing the right Pilates class to finding the right workout group on Twitter. And if you want to seek the help of a personal trainer to set up a safe and effective routine, check out Chapter 20.

Staying Motivated to Make Exercise a Habit

What separates people who stick with exercise from those who fall off the wagon? Tracking your progress is an excellent way to keep yourself inspired. Following are several additional tips to help you get over the hump and stay jazzed. We discuss several of these topics in detail throughout the book, but we want you to keep them in mind from the start.

Getting inspiration from others

Sometimes the strongest motivation to stick with your workouts comes from other people. Here are some ways to get some support:

Work out with a buddy. If you make a plan to meet up with a friend, you’re a lot less likely to blow off your workouts. Plus, time flies when you’re chit-chatting as you sweat.

Liz knows a couple who decided to get in shape together. They took a class in healthy cooking, walked every morning together, and even pumped iron twice a week as a team. Each pushed and encouraged the other, and at the end of four months, both had lost more than 20 pounds. “Besides looking and feeling 1,000 percent better, it’s done amazing things for our relationship,” the wife says.

Join a group or a team. For some people, exercising with a whole group of people — whether an informal group or an organized club or team — is even better than meeting up with a buddy. You have more people to socialize with, and if one person can’t make it that day, the workout isn’t derailed.

Don’t worry if you’re the slowest one in the group; just do as much as you can handle. The group will likely push you to try harder and achieve things you never dreamed you could. Don’t sweat it, either, if you feel like an outsider for a while; keep showing up, and eventually you’ll be one of the gang. To find a group, check with local sporting goods and fitness-equipment stores.

Join an Internet fitness community. Thanks to the Internet, you can gain inspiration from fitness buddies across the country — or even the world. There are now thousands of Web sites that bring together like-minded fitness buffs so they can discuss their training, share tips, and talk through challenges (see the nearby sidebar for details).

Internet groups are especially helpful for home exercisers, who don’t have the social benefit that you can get at a health club and may not have friends or family who exercise.

Read success stories. The good ones offer not only inspiration but also specific and realistic advice. (Forget about those before-and-after ads in which a blubbery guy with a scowl on his face is miraculously transformed into a grinning hunk of muscle.) On AOL Health, for example, you may read about a woman who beat breast cancer and went on to run a marathon, or a woman who lost 100 pounds and is now a slim, trim fitness instructor. We especially like Internet success stories because you can post and read comments by other readers. Sometimes the posters have some amazing stories to tell.

Training for an event

Suzanne once interviewed an Olympic weight lifter who described himself as a “pretty lazy guy.” “If I wasn’t training for the Olympics,” he said, “I probably wouldn’t even work out.”

Even if you don’t aspire to hoist 424 pounds overhead before thousands of screaming fans, committing to an event can jump-start your workout program. The options are countless — a 5K walk, a 10K run, a mini-triathlon, a 100-mile bike ride. The minute you pay your entry fee, you have a whole new sense of purpose. And the feeling of accomplishment you get from completing your event is like nothing else.

Keeping it interesting

Boredom can be the enemy of any workout. Here are a couple of ways to stay engaged:

Keep yourself entertained. Walk on the treadmill while listening to your favorite music on your iPod, and 30 minutes may fly by as if it’s 10 minutes; accidentally leave that iPod at home, and those 30 minutes may seem like 3 hours. For many people, entertainment can mean the difference between sticking with exercise and skipping it. Some gyms now offer on-demand services, MP3 ports in each piece of cardio equipment, and more than 500 entertainment channels.

Mix up your workouts. Some people thrive on routine. Suzanne used to ride her bike with a 67-year-old guy named Barry who had been cycling the exact same route on Saturdays for 41 years. Much to the frustration of his wife, Barry refused to take long vacations because he didn’t want to miss his Saturday ride.

Most of us, however, need a bit of variety to stay motivated. For this reason, you may want to try cross-training, which simply means mixing up your workouts. You can vary your sport — running on Mondays, yoga on Tuesdays, hiking on Wednesdays, and so on. Or you can vary your pace and terrain — walking fast and flat one day, slow and hilly the next. Or you can try different equipment — using weight machines one session and dumbbells the next. In addition to relieving boredom, varying your workouts helps you avoid injuries from repetitive motions.

Dressing the part

You needn’t become a fitness-clothing junkie, but buying snazzy new workout shorts or comfy new athletic shoes can get you fired up to exercise. Plus, you feel like a workout pro, and you let your fellow exercisers know you’re one of them.

When Liz started indoor rock climbing, she’d show up in running shorts and a T-shirt. She noticed that all the good climbers wore tank tops and long sweat pants cut off at the bottom. Gradually, Liz conformed to the dress code and found out a few things. For one, the “in” crowd was more accepting of her because she looked serious about the sport. But more important, Liz realized that rock climbers dress that way for a reason: The long sweats protect you from bumps and bruises. Cutting off the elastic at the bottom lets you move your legs and feet more freely. And a sleeveless top makes moving your arms easier.

Staying realistic

Trying to do too much or setting your expectations too high can lead to a lot of frustration. Here are some ways to stay on track:

Pace yourself. Don’t buy every exercise DVD, listen to every podcast on the market, or try every weight machine in the gym the first day. You’ll flame out fast. Always pace yourself so you live to fight the good fight another day.

Cut yourself some slack. Recognize that everyone improves at a different pace. Getting inspiration from other people is great, but don’t let anyone else’s accomplishments diminish your own. Always keep in mind why you laced up your sneakers today and be proud that you’ve worked up to walking 3 miles every other day, even if your neighbor runs 10 miles a day. Fitness is something personal and unique to you.

And don’t get down on yourself if you miss a few days — or even a few weeks — of exercise. If you fall off the wagon, just try again. You have the rest of your life to get this right.

Plugging in to online fitness communities

A Facebook or LinkedIn search for walking groups yields thousands of results. Refine your search for your location, age group, and fitness level, and chances are you’ll still have more than 500 groups to choose from.

Liz especially loves the groups on Twitter. Where else can you get great advice and links packaged in a poetic 140 characters or less? Type in your search term, and you’ll find others with the same search term in their name or profile. For example, if you type in “weight training,” the search may return Twitter handles like Luv2weighttrain and weightlift4ever. It also gives you anyone who mentions a love of weight training in his or her profile.

If you don’t feel like sifting through the results to weed out marketers and potential weirdos, search through a Twitter group-compilation site like www.twibes.com, twittgroups.com, or justtweetit.com. These sites also list instructions for how to communicate with your group through the use of tags and all the other strange little tricks you need to know in order to master any of these social networking sites.

Chapter 2

Testing Your Fitness

In This Chapter

Checking your health history to determine what’s safe

Measuring your heart rate, blood pressure, and body fat

Evaluating your strength, flexibility, and balance

Recording your results and finding out what they mean

We constantly hear people say, “I’m so out of shape. I need to lose weight.” But that’s like telling a travel agent, “I’m in Europe. I need to go to Africa.” Your travel agent needs to know the specifics: Are you in Rome? Berlin? Madrid? Do you want to go to Cairo? Cape Town? The Kalahari Desert? Before you embark on a fitness program, you need to know your starting point with precision. A fitness evaluation gives you important departure information.

Don’t panic. A fitness test isn’t like your driver’s license renewal exam: You can’t flunk, and you don’t have to stand in line for three hours listening to people rant about government bureaucracy. A fitness test simply gives you key information, such as your heart rate and body-fat percentage and how you rate in terms of strength, flexibility, and balance. Armed with these facts, you or your trainer can design an intelligent plan to get you to your fitness destination. And when you arrive, you’ll have the numbers to prove just how far you’ve come.

In this chapter, we describe what to expect when a professional tests your fitness. We also explain how to evaluate your fitness on your own. If you do most of the testing yourself, consider getting certain aspects of your fitness assessed at a fitness center. As you complete the various tests, record your results in a log or on the chart near the end of this chapter.

Reviewing Your Health History

When you join a gym, one of the first things you should be asked to do is to fill out some sort of health-history questionnaire. That way, you and the staff can get an idea of your health limitations before you start exercising. In this section, we explain the kinds of questions you may be asked and help you evaluate yourself if a gym membership isn’t in your future.

Talking to a tester at the gym

Your answers to health-history questions give a snapshot of your overall well-being, including your exercise and eating habits, your risk for developing cardiovascular disease, and any orthopedic limitations or medical conditions that you may have. Typical questions include: Do you have any chronic joint problems such as arthritis? Do you have a family history of heart disease? Are you currently taking any over-the-counter or prescription medications?

After you fill out your questionnaire, your tester should discuss the answers with you and ask for more information if necessary. If you’re a smoker, for example, he may ask you how much you smoke.

Respond honestly and thoroughly. Don’t say that you run 5 miles a day if you haven’t broken a sweat since high school — or if you intend to run every day but just haven’t gotten around to it.

Liz once worked with a client who hid the fact that he had diabetes because he was ashamed to tell anyone. One day after a workout, he walked into the locker room, and several minutes later someone else came out screaming. The client had passed out on the floor. His blood sugar had crashed and he had gone into diabetic shock. A nurse was quickly summoned, and she probably saved his life. Afterward, he admitted it was far more embarrassing to be found lying naked on the bathroom floor than to reveal his medical issues.

Some gyms request that you be tested by a physician if a staff member feels you may have a medical problem. Don’t groan; a request like this indicates that your gym is on the ball. Some health clubs just want your money. They may not require any testing — other than the test that determines whether you can sign your name on a credit-card slip. If that’s the case, you need to take responsibility for getting tested.

Assessing your health history yourself