Saturday, August 30, 2014











September GGX Schedule:
New yoga time slot with Nicole- 9:30am-10:30am (Thursday)
TRX for Tues.and Wed.(just 2 classes) :5pm-5:30pm and 5:30pm-6:00pm





Friday, August 29, 2014

Wednesday, August 27, 2014





AVAIL OF THE EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT, REGISTER NOW AT www.zumba.com


Friday, August 22, 2014










Gold's Gym Saipan will be the official venue for the Zumba Basic 1 and Basic 2 Instructor Training. Registration can be done on site at  www.zumba.com. 


Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Gold's Gym will be the official venue for the Zumba Basic 1 and Basic 2 Instructor Training. Registration can be done on site at www.zumba.com.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Gold's Gym GGX Schedule for this week!
More Zumba Classes! as we welcome Elly back on Thursdays 6:30pm, Gold's Gym would also like to welcome Allen, our new Zumba instructor. Come to his Zumba class on Tues.7-8pm,Wed.(7:30am-8:30am), Fri. 5:30pm-6:30pm.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

                                                                 


STRENGTH IN KNOWLEDGE

WALL BALL BASIC EXERCISES:

The medicine ball is an excellent tool to help you develop strength, coordination, balance, power and core stability. The ball can help individuals of all fitness levels train multiple muscles at once. The movements often combine balance and strength and utilize a wide variety of muscle groups. Below is a list of throw exercise to be completed with a medicine ball.

Exercise #1: Wall Throw

Stand facing a wall with feet shoulder-width apart. Raise arms overhead, clasp hands behind the head holding a medicine ball. The wall should be approximately 4 to 5 feet away from your body. Take a step forward with one of your feet and bring your arms up and over your head. Extend your arms out in front of your head towards the wall as you throw the ball. Release the ball towards the wall when elbows are almost straight. Aim to have the ball hit the wall 1 to 2 feet above the bottom of the wall.

Exercise #2: Side Throw

Stand with the wall to your right side, with feet hip-width apart. You should be holding a medicine ball with both hands on the hip of the leg opposite the wall. Shift your weight to the leg with the ball on the hip. Rotate your entire body 90 degrees as you release the ball from hip level towards the wall. As you rotate your body, you will want to shift your weight into the leg closest to the wall. Catch the ball as it bounces back towards you.

Exercise #3: Hammer Throw

Stand with the wall to your right side, with feet hip-width apart. Hold the ball positioned on the hip opposite the wall. Have the majority of your weight also in the leg opposite the wall. Shift your body weight into the leg closest to the wall and twist your torso as you release the ball at shoulder height on the wall side of your body. The motion of this exercise will have the ball beginning at your hip, crossing your torso and then exiting at shoulder level. Unlike the side throw, you will not rotate your entire body for this exercise.

Exercise #4: Slam

To complete this forceful throw, begin standing with feet shoulder-width apart with a medicine ball held over your head with both hands. Jump up and bring your arms down the front of your body towards your hips. Release the ball once your arms are almost completely lowered, throwing it down onto the floor directly between your feet. Catch the ball as it bounces up towards you.

Exercise #5: Squat Throw

Start with body in a squat position, feet shoulder-width apart and holding a medicine ball with both hands at your chest. Quickly jump straight up and stretch your arms up over your head. Release the ball, throwing it upwards, once your arms are extended straight over your head. Catch the ball as it comes back down towards you.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Gold's Gym family would like to "Thank" a great staff at the front desk, a great TRX and Spin Instructor, and a great Personal Trainer. But instead of saying goodbye, we'd rather say "See you again, Roger" or "Till next time, Roger." Goodluck on your future endeavors. We will truly miss you!

Monday, August 11, 2014

STRENGTH IN KNOWLEDGE:

Beginner’s Guide to Plyometrics

What Are Plyometrics?

Unlike typical strength training exercises that involve long, slow movements designed to increase muscular strength and mass, plyometric exercises involve quick, explosive movements designed to increase speed and power.

A plyometric exercise consists of three phases. The first is a rapid muscle lengthening movement called the eccentric phase. Second comes a short resting period called the amortization phase. Finally, the athlete engages in an explosive muscle shortening movement called the concentric phase. The athlete repeats this three part cycle as quickly as he can.

The goal of plyometric exercises is to decrease the amount of time in-between the eccentric and concentric movements. By reducing the time in-between these two movements, a man can become faster and more powerful.

A Brief History of Plyometrics

Plyometrics were developed by Soviet Bloc scientists during the Cold War. The leading researcher of plyometric training was a Russian scientist named Yuri Verkhoshansky. Dr. Verkhoshansky developed a system of exercises called “Jump Training” that used repetitive jumping in order to increase the speed and explosiveness of Russian track and field athletes. He published the results of his studies on this new form of training in 1964.

During the 1960s and 70s, Soviet Bloc countries dominated the Olympics thanks in part to Dr. Verkhoshansky’s exercises. Seeing that the Americans were getting their asses handed to them by the Commies, American track and field coach Fred Wilt started to investigate how they were training. He saw that the Soviets were doing a bunch of crazy jumps from boxes and skipping around like school children. Wilt took some notes, went back to America, slapped the moniker “plyometrics” on these new exercises, and started implementing them with his athletes.

Since then, sports teams across the U.S. and the world have incorporated plyometrics into their training regimens to help their athletes become faster and more explosive.

The Benefits of Plyometrics

Plyometrics improve the functions of muscles, tendons, and nerves so that you can run faster, jump higher, and hit harder. In short, plyometric exercises can help you improve your pick-up basketball game or prepare your body for when you have to save your own life.

Benefits to muscles. Physical power is the ability to convert strength into speed as quickly as possible. In order to increase your power, you need to increase and strengthen the muscle fibers that are responsible for converting strength into speed. These fibers are often referred to as fast-twitch fibers. Plyometric movements can strengthen and even increase the number of fast-twitch fibers in your muscles. The stronger the fast-twitch fiber, the faster the muscle contraction.

Benefits to tendons. In order to increase the power and speed of muscular movements, you need to increase the strength of your tendons. Moreover, stronger tendons mean fewer injuries. Many men I know have had to undergo surgery because they tore a tendon while playing soccer or basketball. They might have been able to avoid these injuries had they only worked on increasing strength and elasticity in their tendons. Plyometrics strengthen your tendons and boost their elasticity by placing stress on them in a controlled setting.

Benefits to nervous system. A final component in increasing power and speed is your nervous system. Every time you contract your muscles, a signal is sent from your brain to your muscles via your neuromuscular system. The more efficiently your neuromuscular system can transmit this signal, the faster you can contract and relax your muscles, which in turn increases your athletic speed and power. Plyometrics boosts this efficiency.

Plyometrics for Beginners

There are dozens of different types of plyometric exercises. In fact, you can find books filled with hundreds of pages of them. I couldn’t possibly include them all here in one post, so I’ve narrowed the list down to the ones a beginner could easily try. But before we get to the exercises, let’s discuss some general guidelines to keep in mind as you get started.

Safety First. Plyometrics are by their nature intense. You’ll be putting a lot of load on your joints and tendons. If you haven’t worked out in awhile, I recommend holding off on adding plyometric exercises to your routine until you’ve built up your strength and flexibility with regular cardio, weight training, and stretching.

When you first start off, take it slow and focus on performing the exercises in a controlled manner. You should always warm up with some light jogging and stretching before you begin. Allow adequate resting time between plyometric workouts. I usually only do two plyo days a week: one on Tuesday and another on Saturday.

Sets, reps, and rest. Perform all of the exercises listed below. With each exercise, I like to perform 3 sets of 12 reps with 1 minute rest in-between sets. In-between exercises I rest for 3 minutes.

Exercises

Squat Jumps. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Squat down and jump as high as possible. Upon landing, squat and immediately jump up again.

Lateral Jumps. Stand next to a cone or another object that you can jump over. Jump sideways to the opposite side of the cone. Upon landing, immediately jump to the other side. Remember to make the jumps as quickly as possible.

Power Skipping. Remember skipping as a kid? Well, you’re going to do it again, but this time you’ll put a bit more oomph into it. Perform a regular skip, but jump and lift your knee as high as you can.

Tuck Jumps. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Explode and jump as high as you can. As you rise, pull your knees into your chest. On the way down, straighten your legs and land softly on the balls of your feet. As soon as your feet touch the ground, perform another tuck jump.

Alternate Leg Bounding. Bounding is sort of like running, except your steps are longer and higher. Drive off your right foot and bring your left knee up. Try to stay in the air as long as possible. Land on your left foot and repeat with the right foot.

Box Jumps. Stand in front of a box or other suitable platform (like a park bench). Try to find a box that’s at least 18″ off the ground. As you get stronger, increase the height. Jump onto the box and immediately back down to the same position. Immediately repeat. Perform the jumps as quickly as possible.

Vertical Depth Jump. Start off by standing on top of a box or other platform. Hop off the box and land on both your feet. As soon as your feet hit the ground, jump as high as you can. Get back on the box and repeat.

Plyometric Push-up. Assume a normal push-up position. Lower yourself to the floor. With explosive force, push off the floor with enough force that your hands leave the floor. Repeat.

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2010/05/21/beginners-guide-to-plyometrics/
Photo: STRENGTH IN KNOWLEDGE:

Beginner’s Guide to Plyometrics

What Are Plyometrics?

Unlike typical strength training exercises that involve long, slow movements designed to increase muscular strength and mass, plyometric exercises involve quick, explosive movements designed to increase speed and power.

A plyometric exercise consists of three phases. The first is a rapid muscle lengthening movement called the eccentric phase. Second comes a short resting period called the amortization phase. Finally, the athlete engages in an explosive muscle shortening movement called the concentric phase. The athlete repeats this three part cycle as quickly as he can.

The goal of plyometric exercises is to decrease the amount of time in-between the eccentric and concentric movements. By reducing the time in-between these two movements, a man can become faster and more powerful.

A Brief History of Plyometrics

Plyometrics were developed by Soviet Bloc scientists during the Cold War. The leading researcher of plyometric training was a Russian scientist named Yuri Verkhoshansky. Dr. Verkhoshansky developed a system of exercises called “Jump Training” that used repetitive jumping in order to increase the speed and explosiveness of Russian track and field athletes. He published the results of his studies on this new form of training in 1964.

During the 1960s and 70s, Soviet Bloc countries dominated the Olympics thanks in part to Dr. Verkhoshansky’s exercises. Seeing that the Americans were getting their asses handed to them by the Commies, American track and field coach Fred Wilt started to investigate how they were training. He saw that the Soviets were doing a bunch of crazy jumps from boxes and skipping around like school children. Wilt took some notes, went back to America, slapped the moniker “plyometrics” on these new exercises, and started implementing them with his athletes.

Since then, sports teams across the U.S. and the world have incorporated plyometrics into their training regimens to help their athletes become faster and more explosive.

The Benefits of Plyometrics

Plyometrics improve the functions of muscles, tendons, and nerves so that you can run faster, jump higher, and hit harder. In short, plyometric exercises can help you improve your pick-up basketball game or prepare your body for when you have to save your own life.

Benefits to muscles. Physical power is the ability to convert strength into speed as quickly as possible. In order to increase your power, you need to increase and strengthen the muscle fibers that are responsible for converting strength into speed. These fibers are often referred to as fast-twitch fibers. Plyometric movements can strengthen and even increase the number of fast-twitch fibers in your muscles. The stronger the fast-twitch fiber, the faster the muscle contraction.

Benefits to tendons. In order to increase the power and speed of muscular movements, you need to increase the strength of your tendons. Moreover, stronger tendons mean fewer injuries. Many men I know have had to undergo surgery because they tore a tendon while playing soccer or basketball. They might have been able to avoid these injuries had they only worked on increasing strength and elasticity in their tendons. Plyometrics strengthen your tendons and boost their elasticity by placing stress on them in a controlled setting.

Benefits to nervous system. A final component in increasing power and speed is your nervous system. Every time you contract your muscles, a signal is sent from your brain to your muscles via your neuromuscular system. The more efficiently your neuromuscular system can transmit this signal, the faster you can contract and relax your muscles, which in turn increases your athletic speed and power. Plyometrics boosts this efficiency.

Plyometrics for Beginners

There are dozens of different types of plyometric exercises. In fact, you can find books filled with hundreds of pages of them. I couldn’t possibly include them all here in one post, so I’ve narrowed the list down to the ones a beginner could easily try. But before we get to the exercises, let’s discuss some general guidelines to keep in mind as you get started.

Safety First. Plyometrics are by their nature intense. You’ll be putting a lot of load on your joints and tendons. If you haven’t worked out in awhile, I recommend holding off on adding plyometric exercises to your routine until you’ve built up your strength and flexibility with regular cardio, weight training, and stretching.

When you first start off, take it slow and focus on performing the exercises in a controlled manner. You should always warm up with some light jogging and stretching before you begin. Allow adequate resting time between plyometric workouts. I usually only do two plyo days a week: one on Tuesday and another on Saturday.

Sets, reps, and rest. Perform all of the exercises listed below. With each exercise, I like to perform 3 sets of 12 reps with 1 minute rest in-between sets. In-between exercises I rest for 3 minutes.

Exercises

Squat Jumps. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Squat down and jump as high as possible. Upon landing, squat and immediately jump up again.

Lateral Jumps. Stand next to a cone or another object that you can jump over. Jump sideways to the opposite side of the cone. Upon landing, immediately jump to the other side. Remember to make the jumps as quickly as possible.

Power Skipping. Remember skipping as a kid? Well, you’re going to do it again, but this time you’ll put a bit more oomph into it. Perform a regular skip, but jump and lift your knee as high as you can. 

Tuck Jumps. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Explode and jump as high as you can. As you rise, pull your knees into your chest. On the way down, straighten your legs and land softly on the balls of your feet. As soon as your feet touch the ground, perform another tuck jump.

Alternate Leg Bounding. Bounding is sort of like running, except your steps are longer and higher. Drive off your right foot and bring your left knee up. Try to stay in the air as long as possible. Land on your left foot and repeat with the right foot.

Box Jumps. Stand in front of a box or other suitable platform (like a park bench). Try to find a box that’s at least 18″ off the ground. As you get stronger, increase the height. Jump onto the box and immediately back down to the same position. Immediately repeat. Perform the jumps as quickly as possible.

Vertical Depth Jump. Start off by standing on top of a box or other platform. Hop off the box and land on both your feet. As soon as your feet hit the ground, jump as high as you can. Get back on the box and repeat.

Plyometric Push-up. Assume a normal push-up position. Lower yourself to the floor. With explosive force, push off the floor with enough force that your hands leave the floor. Repeat.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Here's our GGX schedule for this coming week,!
Welcome back to your Thursday Zumba Class Elly!
Noon Yoga with Nicole on Tuesdays!



Friday, August 8, 2014


STRENGTH IN KNOWLEDGE:
Articles by Stuart
How to build muscle: 6 big lies that kill your
bodybuilding progress

This is the first part of the BIG LIES series.

LIE#1: TRAINMOREOFTEN TOGROW MORE MUSCLE

There may seem to be some logic here because, in many activities, the more often that a skill is practiced properly, the quicker that competence is acquired. But bodybuilding training isn’t like pure skill training. Furthermore, when someone discovers that a modest amount of proper training builds muscle, there’s a tendency to think that training more often will yield even better results.

A bodybuilding workout will build muscle only if it safely stimulates growth and is followed by sufficient recovery time and supply of nutrients to permit the body to heal, which means to recover from the training and build a very small amount of overcompensation tissue—muscle.

Train too often, and you may not stimulate any growth because you’re unable to train hard enough because of the excessive frequency of training. And even if you do stimulate growth, you’ll not have sufficient recuperation time between workouts to permit the growth to occur.

It’s very easy for a natural bodybuilder with normal genetics to overtrain. But someone with outstanding genetics for bodybuilding can prosper on more frequent training, and such a person can prosper on even more frequent training if he’s on bodybuilding drugs.

Hardgainers are best off training no more than three times a week, but with just twice a week being ideal for many bodybuilders. But the super-responsive, drug-fed bodybuilding elite can prosper on six workouts a week. (Some, for short periods, have progressed on twice-daily training, six days a week!)

Such high frequency is training suicide for hardgainers. But even the pros can overtrain, and many of them have discovered that, even with their huge advantages, when they cut back on their training frequency (and volume) they are better able to build muscle.

Don’t think that by splitting your training over, say, four workouts a week is necessarily easier on your recovery system than two brief full-body workouts. Because the muscular system is so interwoven, and many exercises overlap somewhat in the muscles they recruit, some split routines train some of the same muscles at every workout. Furthermore, intensive training for just a limited area of musculature still has an overall systemic demand that needs to be recovered from before you work a different area of your physique.

Recovery time—and lots of it for hardgaining bodybuilders—is essential in order to build muscle.



LIE#2: TRAINLONGERTOBUILDMORE MUSCLE

The origins of this lie are the same as for the previous one. Men and women with exceptional genetic talent for an athletic activity, especially when assisted by performance enhancing drugs, can prosper on a far greater volume of training than can drug-free, genetically normal athletes.

Some great medium- and long-distance runners, for example, inherited an ability to process oxygen and produce energy that’s in another world relative to that of a normal person. Of course, the great runners further enhance their natural advantages with great dedication to training, but they had way more to work with from day one. The same sort of point applies in the bodybuilding world.

As little as just one work set can stimulate muscle growth, provided that its quality is high enough. If you ever need to do more than three work sets for a given exercise, you must be loafing. Train harder. Make three work sets per exercise your ceiling. Sometimes, just one or two work sets per exercise is better. Some body parts are much larger than others, and thus can sometimes benefit from multiple exercises in a given program, but there’s no need to do a great many sets per body part.

Too much training is as counterproductive as training too often. But most hardgaining bodybuilders train too often and do too many sets per workout, and that combination is usually a major part of the explanation for why they continue to make little or no progress.



LIE#3: THE ROUTINES THAT WORK FOR THE BIGGEST GUYS WORK FOR OTHER BODYBUILDERS, TOO

The routines that work for the biggest bodybuilders only work well for people who have the same genetic advantages and drug support that the biggest guys have. While the big guys know what works well for them, that doesn’t mean they know what works for drug-free bodybuilders with normal genetics.

Someone who struggled for years without building any muscle, but then managed to build 25 pounds of muscle drug-free, knows way more about how to train genetically normal, drug-free bodybuilders than does a genetic freak on tons of drugs who has built over 100 pounds of muscle.



LIE#4: A BODYBUILDER’S DIET SHOULD BE A LOW-FAT ONE

Alow-fat diet undermines if not prohibits muscle growth even if your caloric intake and protein consumption are adequate. The phobia of dietary fat that many bodybuilders seem to have seriously undermines their ability to build muscle.

When you’re trying to build muscle, get about 30%of your total caloric intake from healthy dietary fats. Avoid newfangled fats, fried food, deep fried food, and anything with trans fats or hydrogenated fats. If you check food labels, you’ll see that most processed food contains unhealthy fats.

And even if you’re cutting back on body fat you still need to consume healthy fats because they supply essential nutrients. A low-fat diet is unhealthy.



LIE #5: TO BUILD BIG MUSCLES IT’S NOT ESSENTIAL TO BE STRONG

Even bodybuilders who have a similar amount of muscle can vary greatly in their strength levels. The explanation may include differences in leverages, muscle belly lengths and efficiency of the nervous system, and variations in the ratios of the different types of muscle fibers. A smaller bodybuilder who is better put together for strength may be stronger than a larger bodybuilder.

But you have to get stronger than you are now, to build muscle. If you can bench press 150 pounds for eight reps now, and in a year’s time you still can’t bench press more than 150 pounds for eight reps, you’re highly unlikely to have bigger chest and triceps muscles. But if in a year’s time you can bench press 200 pounds for eight reps in the same technique as before, you’ll have somewhat bigger chest and triceps muscles. Then if, for instance, 18 months later you can bench press 265 pounds for eight reps in the same technique as before, you’ll have substantially bigger chest and triceps muscles.

The “get stronger to get bigger” maxim is misinterpreted or abused when bodybuilders focus on adding poundage at the expense of exercise form. Don’t be guilty of that. Exercise form must be correct consistently. You must not get injured.



LIE#6: WHENYOU’REBULKING, YOUNEEDLOADSOFFOOD

On growth programs, many bodybuilders overdose on food, and thus overdose on body fat. While you need a sufficient surplus of calories and nutrients to grow on, “sufficient” doesn’t mean a gross excess. What “sufficient” means is enough to permit muscle growth but without adding appreciable body fat.

Most bodybuilders need to allow a small amount of body fat to accompany a larger amount of muscle growth. But many bodybuilders have overdone the bulking mentality and added far more body fat than muscle, which doesn’t yield a pleasing end result.

But no matter how ideal your caloric consumption may be, and how ideal your dietary fat and protein intakes may be, if you’re not training effectively, the surplus of nourishment will go to waste, and just add to your waistline.

To build muscle, you need an effective training program in combination with sufficient nutritional surplus and lots of sleep (and rest in general).

Thursday, August 7, 2014

STRENGTH IN KNOWLEDGE:



                                                                   






Articles by Stuart
How to build muscle: the closing 7 big lies.


LIE #1: YOU CAN CONVERT BODY FAT INTO MUSCLE

Fat and muscle are different types of tissue, with different functions. Fat is a very simple tissue when compared with muscle. Fat cells are just storage “bags” for lipids. Muscle cells undergo extremely complex metabolic processes. Fat can’t be converted into muscle.

What you can do, of course, is trim excess body fat, and build muscle, but each is independent of the other. If you lost 10 pounds of body fat, and gained 10 pounds of muscle, you’d end up with the same bodyweight but your body composition would be changed substantially (unless you were very fat to begin
with). But that doesn’t mean you converted the fat into muscle.



LIE #2: YOU CAN GET RID OF FAT BY SWEATING IT OFF

When you sweat, you lose water and a little weight. But when you properly hydrate yourself you’ll restore the water weight you lost, and return to the same weight you were before the bout of sweating.

Fat can’t be sweat off, but the exertion that yielded the sweat uses up calories, and if that caloric consumption makes a contribution to keeping you in sufficient caloric deficit for long enough to force your body to live off its body fat stores, there would be fat loss.

Efforts to exaggerate sweating while exercising—wearing excess clothing, and exercising in a hot environment—are foolish because they put an exaggerated strain on your body, which is dangerous for some people. Some people have died as a result of severe dehydration arising from intentional exaggerated sweating.

If you’re dehydrated while you exercise, you’ll mar your performance. Being properly hydrated is essential for optimum performance, including delivering sufficient intensity. Consider how much importance professional athletes place on staying hydrated when they train and compete.

Keep yourself properly hydrated when you exercise.



LIE #3: WHEN YOU STOP TRAINING, YOUR MUSCLE TURNS TO FAT

When some former premier bodybuilders gave up training, their body composition changed dramatically. Their muscles shrank, and their body fat increased, but that doesn’t mean their muscle turned to fat.

What happened was that because they no longer exercised sufficiently to maintain their muscle mass, their muscle atrophied; and because they consumed more calories than they needed now that they have become much less active, they stored the excess calories as body fat.

But had they reduced their caloric intake so that it was just sufficient to supply their reduced caloric needs, their muscle mass would still have diminished but their body fat wouldn’t have increased.



LIE #4: ON A LOW-FAT DIET YOU CAN EAT AS MUCH AS YOU WANT WITHOUT GAINING ANY BODY FAT

If you exceed your energy requirements you’ll gain body fat even if you’re on a low-fat diet. Conversely, you could eat a fat-rich diet, but provided you don’t exceed your caloric requirements you won’t gain any body fat.

Of course, it can be easier to consume excess calories from fat-rich food than low-fat food, because a gram of fat has nine calories whereas a gram of carbohydrate or protein has just four calories. But calories can still be consumed in excess even on a low-fat diet. A low-fat intake could be loaded with sugary food, and easily oversupply calories. Some weight-gain powders are low in fat, but loaded with calories due to their abundance of carbs (including sugars), and will quickly make you fat if, because of your overall intake of calories, you way exceed your energy requirements.



LIE #5: LOTS OF AB WORK DEVELOPS A SIX PACK

Common but skewed thinking imagines that doing ab work will somehow “whittle away” the midsection fat. But human physiology doesn’t work that way. (And neither can fat be reduced through sweating, massage, or friction.)

Properly done, ab work will build muscle on your six pack, but it does nothing to help reveal a six pack. You can have a well-developed six pack, but it can’t be seen if it’s hidden under a thick layer of fat. Conversely, you could have no extra ab development, but if you’re under 8% body fat you’ll have a ripped six pack.

There’s no such thing as spot-reduction other than through surgery. To lose fat from around your abs, you must lose fat from all over your physique.



LIE #6: WEIGHT LIFTING MAKES YOU MUSCLE BOUND

The notion that developing bigger muscles reduces flexibility is one of the oldest myths. Bigger muscles may accompany a reduction in flexibility, of course, but they may also accompany an increase in flexibility. It depends on how the training is carried out.

During and immediately after a hard set of a weight-lifting exercise, the involved muscles feel tight and congested, which may reduce your flexibility; but that’s just temporary. It may be from that sensation, at least to some degree, that the “muscle bound” myth originated.

For many years, weight training—also called resistance training and strength training, which is the essence of bodybuilding—wasn’t common among athletes, at least in part due to the “muscle bound” myth. But over recent decades weight training has become ever-more popular among athletes, to build muscle and improve their performance. But this wouldn’t have happened if weight training automatically made people less flexible.

If you currently have a below-average level of flexibility, and you build muscle while avoiding full ranges of motion in your exercises, and not doing any stretching, you probably will become less flexible. But that’s a bastardization of weight training.

If you use a full but safe range of motion in at least most of your exercises, and you supplement your resistance training with a good flexibility routine, you’ll increase your flexibility.

People can become more or less flexible irrespective of whether or not they do resistance training. It’s what’s happening in other areas that matters more.



LIE #7: TODAY’S GREATEST PHYSIQUES ARE HEALTHY

Due to abuse of their health, a few top physiques have died while in their prime, or had a close brush with death. It all depends on what was done while building the physique, and what’s done while maintaining it.

The bodybuilding I teach—drug-free, using sensible training routines, and while following a healthy overall lifestyle—is one of the best things you can do for your health. But some other approaches can destroy your health.

The benefits of proper bodybuilding, including a healthy lifestyle, are huge: It builds strength, develops muscle, strengthens bones, improves overall fitness, increases the body’s caloric consumption, helps control body fat, improves posture, slows the effects of aging, increases resistance to injury, and transforms physical appearance. No other single form of exercise can produce all these benefits. And when the weight training is supplemented with properly performed stretching and cardio work, you’ll have a complete program of exercise.

Your health is your most important possession, and much more important than the size of your muscles. But not only is it possible to improve your physique tremendously while following a healthy lifestyle, that strategy is the best one for keeping your health and a terrific physique over the long-term.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Back to School, Back to Workout-
Working out is just like going to school, and Gold's Gym Saipan is giving you a back to school promo.

Monday, August 4, 2014

5 Surprising Health Benefits of Yoga


Gold's Noontime Yoga starts tomorrow...Tuesday, August 5th from 12:00-12:45pm

Yoga increases flexibility and reduces stress, but the practice can do more than help you twist your body into pretzel shapes and find inner peace. These hidden benefits will help you in the kitchen, office and bedroom — and will give you five new reasons to show off your yoga skills (plus recommended poses for each one!).

1. Boost Immunity

Sun Salutation
Photo: Pond5
recent Norwegian study found that yoga practice results in changes in gene expression that boost immunity at a cellular level. And it doesn’t take long: The researchers believe the changes occurred while participants were still on the mat, and they were significantly greater than a control group who went on a nature hike while listening to soothing music. Yoga also helps to boost immunity by simply increasing overall health, says Mitchel Bleier, a yoga teacher of 18 years and owner of Yogapata in Connecticut. “As you breathe better, move better and circulate better, all the other organs function better.”
Strike a Pose: Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskar)
This sequence of eight poses performed in a row can be found in almost any yoga class. It creates great circulation and tone, plus sweat, says Bleier. This video breaks down each posture one by one.

2. Ease Migraines

Bridge Pose
Photo: Pond5
Research shows that migraine sufferers have fewer and less painful migraines after three months of yoga practice. The cause of migraines isn’t fully understood, but Bleier says it could be a combination of mental stressors and physical misalignment that create migraines and other issues. Hunching over a computer or cell phone with your shoulders up and head forward causes overlifting of your trapezius and tightening of the neck. This pulls the head forward and creates muscle imbalances that can contribute to headaches and migraines.
Strike a Pose: Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet hip-distance apart on the floor. With your hands resting on the floor, begin to press down into your legs and draw your hips toward the sky. The key, Bleier says, is to keep your shoulders in line with the base of your neck, moving the back of the shoulders together so the shoulder blades are close. Lift your chest towards your chin and your chin away from your chest, so the upper trapezius muscles flow away from the head.

3. Boost Sexual Performance

Bound Angle Pose
Photo: Pond5
Studies have found that 12 weeks of yoga can improve sexual desire, arousal, performance, confidence, orgasm and satisfaction for both men and women. How? Physically, yoga increases blood flow into the genital area, which is important for arousal and erections, says Bleier, and strengthens the “moola bandha,” or pelvic floor muscles. Mentally, the breathing and mind control involved with the practice can also improve performance.
Strike a Pose: Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana)
Sit with your feet together and your knees bent and reaching toward the floor. Slowly fold over your feet while trying to bring your knees closer to the ground while moving the groin back and engaging the pelvic floor muscles. “It’s a great hip opener, plus the pelvic floor engagement tones the muscles for orgasm,” says Bleier.

4. Sleep Better

Savasana Corpse Pose
Photo: Pond5
Researchers from Harvard found that eight weeks of daily yoga significantly improved sleep quality for people with insomnia. And another study found that twice-weekly yoga sessions helped cancer survivors sleep better and feel less fatigued. This can be attributed to yoga’s ability to help people deal with stress, says Bleier. “Sleep issues are like anxiety. Your head can’t stop spinning, you don’t know how to relax,” he says. “Breathing and mental exercises allow the mind to slow down, so you’re going to start to see yourself sleep better.”
Strike a Pose: Corpse Pose (Savasana) with Diaphragmatic Breathing
Savasana is the final pose in a yoga class and is meant to restore the body. Lay on your back with your legs slightly apart and your arms extended at your side and your hands on your belly. Inhale and exhale through your nose, follow the breath and feel the belly rise and fall under your hands. The breath, muscles, and mind should be completely relaxed.

5. Fight Food Cravings

Meditation
Photo: Pond5
Researchers from the University of Washington found that regular yoga practice is associated with mindful eating, an awareness of physical and emotional sensations associated with eating. By causing breath awareness, regular yoga practice strengthens the mind-body connection, Bleier says. The awareness can help you tune in to emotions involved with certain cravings, and yoga breathing exercises can help you slow down and make better choices when cravings strike.
Strike a Pose: Meditation
Sit or lay in any comfortable position and bring attention to the natural breath moving in and out through your nose. Next, bring attention to the triangular area around the tip of your nose and upper lip, paying attention to your breath hitting this space as you exhale, the temperature of your breath, and which nostril you’re breathing through. Try this for two minutes, working up to five or more. “The key is to try and be still and focus just on the breath,” Bleier says. “No moving, no reacting, just stay present.”

 on 12/16/13
http://dailyburn.com/life/fitness/health-benefits-yoga/




                                                                




Congratulations to our very own Raymond Santos for bagging the silver medal in the 8th Micronesian Games, we are truly proud of you.

CNMI’s Raymond Santos competes in the clean and jerk event in the 62-kg weight class of the weightlifting tournament in the 8th Micronesian Games in Pohnpei. (United Youth Media)





Saturday, August 2, 2014

Do you feel stressed after a half day of work, and want to go back work feeling all relaxed and perked up?, Come join us, as we introduce NOON YOGA with Nicole every Tuesday 12pm-12:45pm.


Friday, August 1, 2014

Gold's Gym Saipan August Promotion:




Gold's Gym August Smoothie of the Month:






GGX Schedule for AUGUST
* New addition- NOON YOGA with Nicole 
Every Tuesday 12pm-12:45pm