Author: Brenda Gaines Hunter

Maybe you’ve been practicing the martial arts for years. Maybe you were the best wrestler on your high school or college team, the best boxer at the Golden Gloves gym where you’ve conditioned, the best kickboxer or Muay Thai artist in your class; you can supply the most effective holds in a takedown. But is any of that enough to be a mixed martial arts fighter? Not likely. While you should certainly play to your strengths, you definitely need more than one. MMA is called Mixed Martial Arts for a reason. It is the ultimate in fighting, calling on the use of all…

So you’ve tried a ski mask, long johns, wearing two pairs of socks and two pairs of gloves, and all of that stuff only got in the way. How does anyone jog like that, bike on ice, through snow or wind or rain, or even walk down the street when they lack peripheral vision? Worst yet, you’ve spent that last few months getting your exercise routine down. You’ve watched your weight dwindle, your body tone. “Boy, I’m gonna miss it.” You’re now in a groove, and wondering what are you going to do? Don’t panic! Those of us who live in…

When many people think of resistance training, often the image of a sweaty bodybuilder, with bulging muscles bench pressing 400 pounds, comes to mind. While weightlifting is one example of resistance training, there are others. Resistance training is any type of exercise that uses force to cause muscular contractions. So lugging sandbags, rowing with kettlebells, stretching with resistance loops and bands, lunging, and doing pushups, are all instances of resistance training. Not every activity that causes muscle contractions is resistance training, however. Training is purposeful activity, something that we do with forethought to meet fitness goals. Not all resistance training…

When I was in San Francisco over the holiday season, one of my friends laughingly remarked, “It must be nice to have a job in which you can yell at your clients.” That immediately brought to mind a convergence of images: Sergeant Carter of Gomer Pyle, USMC looking like he was on the verge of having a heart attack while screaming at his platoon as they stood at parade rest, intermingled with images of some of the drill sergeants I had the pleasure of meeting during my boot camp days back in the late 1970s. The images were intimidating in…

Last summer while out for my walk, I saw a family of four jogging along the lakefront here in Chicago. The family was made up of two adults and two small children. The children looked to be approximately six and ten years of age. When I first saw that sight, I thought “How great!” and gave them the thumbs up as they passed me. But as I continued my walk, I noticed that they often passed me and then fell behind. After about two miles into my walk, I noticed that the mother and daughter were at least a block…

Even if you have a health condition, such as asthma, diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, or are obese, you can attain your fitness goals. Get ready, because I’m going to share some of my training secrets with you. No matter what, make sure to hire a trainer to get you started on the right track. Once a trainer has helped you hone your skills, many of the types of exercises I’m going to discuss can be done at home using some ingenuity and a good book. I train members of special populations, mostly. People like you. While it is true that more…

If you’re like many guys, you’ve got your routine down. Your chest, biceps, and triceps are so well sculpted they look like Michelangelo chiseled them, although they’re the result of your sweat and, maybe, tears. You get the credit; you made the sacrifices. You didn’t hone your craft while an object in a crowded group exercise class, or while a subject in a series of personal training sessions, but as the author of your own story. You worked your way up to using a 350 pound barbell to bench press. Each of your shoulders also now will take nothing less…

That question seems so easy to answer until you try to utter the first few words. Various images come to mind. Usain Bolt bolting down the track. Nadia Comaneci doing the scissors on the balance beam. Wayne Gretzky splitting two defenders as he scores a goal. But those images quickly become contrasted with images of 6’0 tall 330 pound sumo wrestler Asashoryu Akinori raising his hands in victory, as he became the first wrestler to win all six major sumo wrestling tournaments. Babe Ruth’s stomach bulging over his belt during his home run trots. Kirby Puckett taking short, quick steps…

Whether you can lose weight just by cutting calories depends. We’re often told that our diets comprise anywhere from 60-80% of our ability to lose or maintain weight as well as our overall fitness. If we eat a lot of fat and simple carbohydrates, for instance, we often eventually pay a price. So there is a relationship between diet and body composition, but whether or not just cutting calories will be enough for you to lose weight is dependent on a number of factors, some of which you can manage, such as various aspects of your diet, and others you…

Eating in a restaurant can be challenging, especially when you are trying to lose weight or body fat or when you are simply trying to maintain your weight. Trying to stick to a vegetarian or vegan diet, or a lactose or gluten-free one can make your goal look like a tragedy. Before you faint dead away, however, realize this: whatever your goals, there are strategies that you can use to eat right while on the run or while having a relaxing meal with family or friends. Let’s make sure we’re on the same page and start by defining “diet”. The…