If you somehow haven’t noticed by now, the Obamas are BUFF. With Michelle baring her toned arms in those sleeveless dresses and Barack going shirtless in Hawaii (yum), there’s no doubt we’ve got a fit couple leading our country. The Obamas get it done – and if they can do it, so can we!

In honor of President’s Day, here are some tips on staying healthy and fit from  the most powerful couple in the world:

Presidential Tip #1: Always schedule time for exercise.
You know it’s important, so schedule it like everything else in your life!  You can always find ways to fit it in – Michelle used to work out at 4:30am and Barack starts most days in the gym.  Not even constant traveling deters him; during his presidential campaign, Obama’s aides “arranged workouts for him in several dozen states. The staff called gyms a few days before his arrival and persuaded them to close late or open early to oblige the candidate’s schedule.”

Gyms on campus are usually open pretty early and late, so we don’t have to worry about making special arrangements (or having assistants to do so)! Still feel like you don’t have time? Even if you’re losing a bit of precious sleep, the benefits of exercising probably outweigh the half hour of sleep you might lose (or less if you work out right!). Obama has the same problem with the “trade off  between sleep and working out,” but insists that a workout makes him feel much better throughout the day. Read More »

Like many busy college students, I often justify skipping gym sessions by telling myself that I don’t have enough time.

“I have a paper to write, I can’t waste an hour waiting for the only elliptical that works.”
“I need to run on the treadmill for at least 45 minutes, and since I have a paper due tomorrow, that’s out of the question. I probably just shouldn’t go at all.”
“I’m not waking up at 7am to get in an hour workout before class.”

You know the deal.

I know that if I don’t clock in at least thirty minutes of cardio per session, I feel like my gym outing has been a waste and a failure. And I’m always hard on myself if I leave without doing crunches, even if I’ve run a couple of miles. In short — going to the gym has become about the time clock, but according to a study published in the New York Times, I’m going about things all wrong!

A couple of years ago, researchers from the National Institute of Health and Nutrition in Japan observed two groups of rats paddling in a small pool. The first group completed two 3-hour workout sessions, and the other group engaged in interval training, moving for twenty seconds and then resting for ten seconds for a total of 14 reps. The scientists were trying to figure out if prolonged exercise did more for the body’s endurance (ie., your ability to work out for longer, which translates into more calories burned) than the shorter/quicker exercise method. They found that both groups exhibited the same molecular changes that correspond with endurance gain, coming to the conclusion that we might be working out for longer than we really need to. Read More »

It's time to try something new. And that includes wearing an actual shirt to the gym.

If magazines like Women’s Health or Fitness are considered a part of your required monthly reading (or, really, as long as you haven’t been living under a rock), you have probably learned that switching up your workout routine is vital. In addition to being a surefire way to speed up weight  loss by ensuring that you’ll burn more calories, varying the things you do at the gym will ensure that your body is up for any challenge.

Now, if only I had listened…

Last week, I returned home from school for the long-awaited Christmas break and was informed by my mom that I would be accompanying her to her training session. She works out once a week with a nice (and semi-attractive) man who seems to be pretty un-intimidating, and seeing that she is a 52-year-old mom and I’m a 22-year-old rock star in pretty good shape, I figured that it would be a piece of cake. I can run on the treadmill, right? I can do bicep curls with ten pound weights! Bring it on!

Instead, I was forced to endure pull ups (I cannot do these), lunge and squat around the entire room while carrying crazy weighted sticks, lie down on that squeaky medicine ball while doing sit ups, fling around little black weights that looked like cowbells and bruised the inside of my wrists, and lower myself into numerous machines while I pushed and pulled and panted until I could barely breathe. Meanwhile, my mom was just humming to herself and completing her tasks without a word. Read More »

If there is one man who knows fitness and health it’s Patrick Murphy.  We found him on Twitter, Tweeting away helpful advice snippets for the taking. And why should you do what this man says? Maybe because he is the man responsible for getting both Eva Longoria and Olivia Wilde their #1 spots on Maxim’s Hot 100. And did I mention that he was willing to sit down and talk to you?

Well not talk to you personally, but he did spend a long time on the phone with CollegeCandy telling us about the importance of switching up our workouts, why it’s crucial to stay hydrated and all the other tips and tricks he uses to get his clients into tip-top shape. Although be forewarned; this man is serious business when it comes to seeing results (i.e. opting for apples and green tea for dessert), so getting in shape his way is no easy task.

And there’s more! (I know!) His new website www.murphyfitness.com is launching today, July 1st, and members can download workouts, videos and keep a food diary where Patrick will give personal feedback to ensure success! And he’s giving away a FREE membership to one very lucky CollegeCandy reader. You (yes, YOU!) can look like Olivia Wilde for FREE. Get to know Patrick a bit and then find out how you can be one step closer to that banging bod…

5 Questions We Ask Everyone:

1.    What is your most ridiculous college memory/most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
I disappeared with a bunch of friends to Mexico without telling my family for like, almost a week. I just disappeared for like five days, that was really bad. I was just starting college so I was just experimenting and partying my ass off.

2.   What are five things you can’t live without?

Exercise, my wife,  my eyesight, contacting my mother every week, and I can’t live without staying hydrated… You’re gonna find out in this phone call that I’m kind of a fitness fanatic. I live and breath my job. I love it.

3.    What’s your motto/advice you live by?
Well, I say many things, but one of the things I like to say is that the root of all evil is the lack of circulation. So, everything – every problem that we have, mentally and physically with our bodies – is a lack of circulation.  That is the cause and root of all evil. That’s why cancer happens, why we have eye problems, why we have skin problems, why we have all types of problems. So,we gotta keep moving. Read More »

There is nothing I love more than the great feeling of accomplishment (with a side of endorphins) that comes after 45 minutes on the elliptical. Well, maybe sex on cold sheets. Or the guys at Cold Stone who give me a “Gotta Have It” for the price of a “Love It.”

But, still; a good workout makes me feel really, really good. I walk out of the gym with an “I’m so sexy and toned” swagger and really feel like I can accomplish anything. It is almost like I’m high but without the horrible munchies.

But the beefy trainer at the gym recently told me that long workouts may not be the way to go. Interval Training – or mixing up your workout routine – will actually burn more fat and calories while improving your endurance for future workouts.

Interval training is simple: instead of hopping on the treadmill and running at the same pace for an entire episode of The Biggest Loser, interval training forces you to vary your speed and intensity. The ideal program would be to run/bike/swim/work at about 85% of your ability for about 3-4 minutes and then bring it down for 1-2. Then do it again. This gives your heart and body a chance to work hard and then rest for a minute before going again. Read More »

On average, people gain 5 lbs during the holiday season.  Wearing sweat pants and bulky sweaters to keep warm can mask and even increase the amount of the added weight, but I’m pretty sure the bikini you are preparing to wear in 6 weeks won’t.  I didn’t say it, but you know what I’m talking about: Spring Break!

They gym is probably overflowing with New Years resolution fanatics and Spring Break obsessed tanorexics.  This is a guide for those who want to lose weight in a healthy yet effective and quick way.

First, I have good news for those short on time.  You can actually burn just as many calories – if not more – in a shorter amount of time on any piece of cardio machine.  Fitness professionals have known this for a long time, but still I see many people jogging at the same pace for 40 minutes.  If you work out using intervals, you’ll burn more calories.  Intervals require you to workout at a hard intensity for short bursts of time followed by a lower intensity rest period.  For example, run at a 7.5 mph for a minute, followed by 5.5 mph for 2 minutes, repeat with a 7.5 mph minute burst.

Depending on how in shape you are, either lower or raise the intensity.  A favorite workout of mine is switching intensity every song.  I make a play list that is around 25 minutes.  The first song is a warm up, the second a little faster, the third slower, fourth faster and so on.  Use creativity and make sure the bursts of high intensity get your body going.   This will burn roughly 300 calories! Read More »