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I plan to get in better shape this spring by using the 10-mile-long flat bike path at my local park. Which burns more calories: inline skating or bicycle riding?
???It depends on your intensity,??? says Tom Seabourne, Ph.D., director of physical education at Northeast Texas Community College in Mount Pleasant and a former competitive ultradistance bicyclist. As long as you push yourself, Seabourne adds, you can burn plenty of calories doing either activity.

For a 145-pound woman, inline skating burns approximately 500 calories per hour, while bicycling at a reasonable 12- to 14-mph pace burns about 560. But if you up the intensity to 16 mph, cycling can burn as many as 835 calories in an hour.

To boost your calorie burn on Rollerblades, skate as continuously as possible, minimizing the time you spend gliding. The same goes for cycling: Try to pedal rather than coast. ???You might also try interval training,??? Seabourne suggests. When the bike path is clear of other cyclists and skaters, sprint for a couple of minutes, slow down to your normal pace until you feel rested, then push hard again.

I???m 30 years old and have never enjoyed lifting weights, but I do love to jog and walk on the treadmill. Is this good enough to reduce my risk for osteoporosis, or do I need to lift weight too?
???You should be lifting weights as well,??? says Joan Lappe, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., a professor of nursing and medicine of Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., and a faculty member of Creighton???s Osteoporosis research Center. Walking or jogging is not sufficient to protect against osteoporosis and to protect against hip or wrist fractures.

Although considerable research has been done on the bone-density benefits of exercise, it???s still unclear exactly how much is optimal for bone health. Studies do show, however, that swimming and bicycling are insufficient; the exercise must be weight-bearing to have a protective effect. Even walking is not enough. At the moment, Lappe says, the best advice is to follow the American College of Sports Medicine???s weight-training guidelines, which call for working all of your major muscle groups twice a week. You easily can squeeze this into two 20-minute sessions, so you???ll still have plenty of time for those treadmill workouts you love. Just make sure you use weights that are heavy enough to fatigue your muscle after eight to 12 repetitions. If the weights are too light, the exercises are not likely to place enough stress on your bones to make a difference. Also, it???s clear that squats and dead lifts are best for positively affecting bone density of the hip.

Women begin to lose mineral density in their early 30s. It???s good idea to start lifting weights now; these exercise habits will help maintain the bone density you???ll need later.

Lappe emphasizes that exercise alone isn???t sufficient to maintain bone density. Consuming enough calcium ??? at least 1,000 milligrams per day until age 50, and 1,200 milligrams after that ??? also is essential. ???Our skeleton is a storage receptacle for calcium,??? Lappe says. If you don???t get enough calcium in your diet, parathyroid hormone secretion will increase, which will lead to weakening of the bones.

When I began strength training three months ago, I used to get that good muscle-tiredness feeling the day after a workout. I still lift weights with maximum effort and vary my routine, but I don???t feel sore the next day anymore. Does this mean I???m not gaining new muscle?
No. ???Don???t equate the value of workout with how sore it makes you,??? says American Council on Exercise spokeswoman Dixie Stanforth. ???When you???re actively sore, it means the muscular damage has not healed, and you can???t generate as much force.??? Reduced soreness is generally a good sign, Stanforth adds, because it means your body is quickly repairing the microscopic muscular damage that occurs during a workout. Muscle soreness results primarily from the eccentric contraction, also known as the lowering phase of an exercise.

Once your muscles get used to working out, you???re not likely to experience soreness unless you lift dramatically heavier weights or do an entirely different kind of workout. ???If you lift weights regularly and then go to a power yoga class, you might be sore because you???ve challenged your body in a different way,??? Stanforth says.

If you are lifting weights to fatigue, varying your exercises and growing stronger, Stanforth says, ???you???re doing everything right,??? sore or not.

I just joined a gym with a great pool and want to alternate swimming with Spinning. I haven???t been swimming in years ??? what sort of workout should I do? And will it burn a lot of calories?
???Interval training gets better results than continuous swimming,??? says Michael Collins, coach of the Nova Masters, a swimming- and triathlon-training program in Irvine, Calif. For example, swim 50 yards (two lengths in most gym pools), then rest 30 seconds, repeating this sequence a total of 10 times. Swim the first four reps at an easy pace, the next two at a faster pace, and then push even harder for the final rep of 50 yards. This set should take you about 15 minutes.

Collins recommends that beginners start with 30- to 45-minute workouts three times a week, during which you???ll be able to do two or three of these 500-yard sets. Beginners should do intervals of 25-100 yards at a time, none longer than 100 yards. If you try to swim longer distances, you???ll tire and your technique will break down.

You???ll burn more calories by doing intervals because you???ll be able to keep up your speed. Swimming at a pace of 50 yards per minute, a 145-pound woman burns about 300 calories during that 15-minute, 500-yardset. It???s fewer calories than you???ll burn Spinning (a 145-pound woman burns about 164 calories in 15 minutes pedaling at 15 mph), but swimming is an excellent way to develop cardio fitness without stressing your knees and other joints.

To become a faster swimmer, work on your technique. ???Most beginners kick too hard, which makes their heart rate go through the roof, causing them quit early,??? Collins says. ???You need to generate power from your hips rather than your arms and legs.??? Another common rookie mistake: swimming with your head too high. ???Think about pushing your chest and head into water,??? Collins explains. You should be looking at the bottom of the pool, in other words, not the wall ahead of you.

Is jumping rope good exercise for weight loss, or is it too hard on your joints?
???Jumping rope is an excellent activity for weight loss if you follow some basic precautions,??? says American Council, a spokeswoman for the American Council on Exercise and a certified trainer in Rome, Ga. To minimize the impact, Crews advises, bend your knees slightly as you land, and jump only high enough to clear the rope. Also, try to jump on a shock-absorbent surface such as rubberized flooring or hardwood (although padded carpet or dirt will do); grass is fine too but does tend to catch the rope. Avoid jumping on asphalt and concrete, which aren???t shock-absorbent.

Even if you???re already fit, jumping rope can quickly leave you breathless, and your calf muscles will likely feel sore after the workout. So start by doing by doing intervals: Alternate 30 consecutive jumps with about 30 seconds of walking in place. As you walk, hold both ends of the rope in one hand and swing it in a figure-eight motion. Gradually increase the length of your jumping intervals to the point where you can jump for several minutes at a time. Cut yourself some slack if you???re tripping over your feet. ???Jumping rope is a skill that has to be developed,??? Crews says.

Once you???ve relearned your grade-school technique, you???ll find that jumping rope burns a tremendous number of calories. A 145-pound woman jumping rope for 15 minutes can burn about 174 calories (by comparison, walking at a 15-minute-per-mile pace burns about 78 calorie). Still, to lose weight, you generally need to burn more calories than that per day, so Crews recommends combining jumping rope with other cardio activities, rather than jumping for longer periods.

Jumping rope not only is a great activity to boost weight loss, Crews says, ???but it can develop nearly every area of fitness, including aerobic fitness, anaerobic fitness, speed, agility, coordination, timing, rhythm an muscular endurance.??? However, the impact may be too much for some peoples??? joints. If you experience knee strain, even after building up gradually, try a different activitiy.

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