Conference rocks::weight_control

    There are a few things to keep in mind about exercizing to spot
    reduce. Basically, you can't decide to lose fat in a specific spot;
    it doesn't work that way. When fat comes off, it comes off from
    everywhere it's stored: the face, the thighs, the rear, the chest,
    you name it. 
    However, exercizing does MORE than just take off fat in certain
    spots. What it does is strengthen and tone up the muscles hidden
    under the fat, so you end up looking and feeling better. The more
    the muscles get toned up, the easier it is to get even more toned
    up! (Did you follow that?) The best part is that muscles burn more
    energy (calories) than fat...lots more...so the more muscular you
    get yourself, the easier it is to lose weight without restricting
    your diet (of course, eating cookies and ice cream makes you lethargic
    so you won't want to exercize so you'll lose your muscles...sigh).
    
    Now then, as far as specific exercizes to tone up specific muscle
    groups...to work the buttocks and back of the thighs, there's a
    bunch of good exercizes that you can do with light weight dumbells.
    One is called "lunges" (no not "lunches" ~/~). I don't know if I
    can explain lunges without demonstrating, but....
    grasp the weights (start with light weights, maybe 5 to 10 pounds),
    and let your arms hang straight down by your sides; stand erect,
    always use good posture. Now, slowly and steadily take a step
    forward with your right foot, bending both your knees, so your
    back knee almost touches the ground. Hold that posture for 2-3
    seconds, then slowly come back up, bringing your right foot back
    a step to be even with your left foot. That's all there is to it;
    do the same thing for the other side, your left foot taking the
    step forward and backward. The two steps together is one "lunge".
    Do ten lunges, take a 1 minute break, do ten more lunges, take
    another break, and do ten more lunges.
    You will *definitely* feel it in the back of your thighs, especially
    after 24 hours. No pain, no gain (as they say)!
    That exercize will do more for your legs, buttocks, and back than
    I can say. Try to do it every 2 or 3 days. See what you think about
    it after 2 or 3 weeks.
    
    -Barbara

    Another important point about exercising is the importance of warming
    up first!  Not warming up adds to the day-after pain, too.
    
    I am what Americans call a "belly dancer" and here are two that
    we do that hit the areas you mentioned plus thighs.
    
    Start standing upright, extend arms out to the sides, come up on
    balls of feet, and slowly do a deep knee bend.  The slower the better.
    When you are crouched down, grasp ankles and slowly raise rear end
    up straightening legs while still bent at waist and holding ankles.
    If you can't totally straighten your legs, don't worry, that will
    come with flexibility.   Anyway, when your legs are about straight,
    then raise your upper body, extending your arms again and repeating.
    This is hard to describe in words! But you should aim for a fluid
    continuous motion.  Put on some soft music to help maintain a steady
    rhythym.
    
    Another one works the same muscles but you're not stretching your
    hamstrings -
    
    Start out in a kneeling/sitting position - I mean sitting back with
    your rear end on your ankles, as opposed to just standing on your
    knees.  Then, slowly raise your self up so that you *are* on your
    knees.  The secret to this one is to keep your upper body straight
    up and down as you do it - the tendency is to kind of lean into
    it with your head first and pull yourself up with head and shoulders.
    You want to feel as though your thighs are are raising you up. 
    Keep the muscles in your butt tight, keep your back straight and
    butt tucked in.  Imagine balancing something on your head as you
    are raising and lowering yourself.  Again, doing it slowly is the
    key.  for a variation on either of these, swing your hips slowly
    left and right - for the standing one, as you go down, for the sitting
    one, either as you're going down or coming up.
    
    These are for shaping and developing muscles; they don't work off
    many calories, but are effective!!  And remember to breathe!!!!!

    
    The following is taken from a new magazine that I have subscribed
    to.  It's called "Cooking Light"  printed in Birmingham, Alabama.
    It contains recipes, hints on exercise and health tips!  It's a
    good magazine....
    
    
    	Burn Calories Faster
    
    	Regular exercise not only uses calories, but it may increase
    	the rate at which your body burns calories for functions such
        as breathing, pumping blood, maintaining muscle tone, and digesting
        food.  This measurement is called the basal metabolic rate (BMR).
    	
    	When you reduce calories enough to lose weight, your body protects
    	itself by lowering its BMR.  Working at a slower rate, your
    	body burns fewer calories, and weight loss plateaus. 
    
    	Exercise counteracts this effect by raising the BMR for several
    	hours, according to researchers at Emory University in Atlanta.
    	Studies showed that regular exercisers not only burned more
    	calories while exercising but burned more calories digesting
    	food than sedentary counterparts.  Even a small increase in
    	BMR makes a difference.  For a 160-pound man, a 5 percent increase
    	burns an extra 75 to 80 calories a day. 
    
    
    		

    Has anyone read a book called "Quantum Fitness"?  Or "Callanetics"?
    Both were offered by the book club I'm in, but the copies the library
    had were checked out.  Quantum Fitness semms to deal with exercising
    as efficiently as possible, and Callanetics from what I understand
    was designed by a woman whose name is Callan, and emphasizes
    strengthening and toning the larger, deeper muscles.  I had leafed
    through her book before, and recall the before and after pictures
    being really amazing.
    
    Any opinions?

    I thoroughly recommend _Callanetics_.  The book shows a number of
    unbelievable case studies (those volunteers are much braver than
    *I* am!) depicting the toning (and slimming) process over a number
    of 1-hour sessions.
    
    The exercises are rigorous and difficult (at least to me), but they
    are not hard on the back or any joints (particularly the knees).
    It is helpful to do them with another person, especially at first,
    so your partner can read the directions out loud to you while you're
    trying to coax your body into incredible positions and then make
    it move (prepare to laugh a lot--and then groan a lot).  There is
    also a VHS-format instructional video out.
    
    The exercises strengthen and tone the deeper muscles with very small,
    very precise, and very slow movements rather than large, wild
    movements.  Many of the exercises are taken straight from barre
    work in ballet.  Others are like nothing I've even seen (or done)
    in my life.
    
    My exercising partner and I have both shown significant losses in
    the hips and thighs that we can't account for any other way.  So
    I'm totally convinced that Callanetics work.  But be prepared to
    be sore!
    
    --Kirby

    I'm the exercising partner that Kirby referred to in .5. 

    I was initially very skeptical about Callanetics since it seemed to
    promise results in such a short time.

    Well, I'm no longer skeptical.  The significant losses that Kirby and I
    have seen have happened after only 3 hours of Callanetics!

					Laura 

    WOW!  I was afraid Callanetics was just another fad, a gimmick to
    get the author on all the talk shows!  I'm going to try it! Thanks.

    There is also another wonderful exercise that you can do that will
    improve your muscle tone every waking hour of every day.
    
    It's what your mother always told you to do--stand up straight.
    Good posture, good carriage, whatever you call it, it means holding
    your body *always* so that your spine is long and free, your rib
    cage isn't collapsing into your waistline, your buttocks are contracted
    just enough to keep the "bowl" of your pelvis underneath your guts
    (so they don't flop out in the street), your legs are in correct
    alignment and flexed just _barely_ enough to activate all the thigh
    muscles.
    
    Good carriage has helped me over the years develop a better body
    than I could have ever gotten with just plain exercise (any kind
    of exercise) alone.  Why?  Think about it . . . I do my regimen, 
    whatever it is, for perhaps an hour, or half an hour, 3-4 times a 
    week.  Maybe 6-7 if I'm zealous?  What about all those other 
    hours when I'm schlumping around, feeling like an amoeba?  There 
    are a lot of those hours--if I exercise for 1 hour a day, that's
    still 23 x 7 hours per week of potential amoeba-hood.  Yuck.  No
    wonder I still looked like an amoeba even though I exercised 6 days
    a week.
    
    The bottom line is that (for me) I don't expect to be able to correct
    (indeed I couldn't correct) the flabbies if I only work on it for
    that little amount of time.  But I also can't spend my life in brutal
    physical labor, nor would I want to.  Practicing good carriage not
    only makes me look better, it gives all my muscles a constant, subtle
    form of exercise.  By making sure to carry myself well, I "work
    out" every hour that I'm awake, and that gives my exercise regimens
    quantum results.  I've found that I now get results faster from
    any exercise program than I used to--I think it's because the muscles
    strengthened and toned in the regimen are further enhanced by the
    "workout" of good carriage.
    
    When you carry yourself correctly, every movement becomes an exercise.
    
    (Geez, talk about sounding preachy!  Sorry about that . . .<grin>)
    
    Marcia

re .4
Tonight May 27, 1987 on Evening Magazine they will be discussing Callanetics.

I don't know whether they will be interviewing Callan Pinkney (sp?) or not but
this spot in the show should prove to be interesting....

I should say this is the Boston station WBZ-TV 4.  With Barry and Sara as the
hosts.
Loretta

    I saw the segment last week on Evening Magazine on a Philadelphia
    channel.  They do interview Callan.  Her approach is encouraging,
    direct, but not bossy.  As soon as I save up some money I'll look
    for her video.
    
    Peg  

    
    
    	There is a new notes_file on Aerobics on PITTS::AEROBICS.......
    
    		Myra