Jump, Jump and Lose Weight

The perfect shape is what every woman dreams of. Chung Da-yoen, 39, appeared on the Internet with great flair, making her Ms. Perfect Shape. She further caused a huge syndrome over working out to get into perfect shape. Chung worked out very hard after giving birth to her child to perfect the shape of her body. Gyms are in. Everybody works out to become another Ms. or Mr. Perfect Shape. But not everyone will benefit if they just run without realizing what they are doing. They should know what they are doing in order to get desirable results.

-Firming exercises for women

Women should do firming exercises because they differ in body structure from men.

Men can easily build up muscles with their high amount of testosterone hormones, but women tend to accumulate fat tissues due to high Estrogen hormones. Also, women have smaller-sized hearts compared to men, beating with 20ml less blood than those of men. Their lungs work less than those of men, with a maximum oxygen intake 40 percent to 60 percent less than that of men.

Therefore, it is inefficient for women to use the same kinds of exercise machines and programs as men.

-At women-only gyms, with exercise machines fit for women

The latest fashion in women’s exercising is doing short hours of exercises fit for women.

The E-cubic Center in Mokdong, Seoul advertises itself as a women-only gym. The atmosphere of this area off limits to men was quite different from the ordinary. The gym is painted in pink, and it is a place where teenage girls and grannies in their sixties work out together. This is quite different from the mixed gyms where they would be running in the middle of many other men.

“I have to pay attention to how I look if I work out around guys, but here I can only concentrate on exercising,” said one gym member.

The secret to become a Ms. Perfect Shape in three months is this. The E-cubic Center recommends exercise on nine different machines every forty seconds for thirty minutes repeatedly. The gym ordered exercise machines specially designed for women such as chest press, pack deck, and abduction machines.

-Airboard, the secret machine for Ms. Perfect Shape?

The most attention-catching machine was the Airboard. The center’s head, Kim So-ul, said, “The Airboard is a non-powered pressure exercise machine, and you just step in it and jump to get exceptional exercise results.” Gym-goers have to bounce for forty seconds on the Airboard every time they change machines.

I tried jumping on the board after taking off my shoes. No shocks were transmitted to my ankles, and I could feel my pelvis and upper-leg muscles strengthening.

Last year, a scholarly meeting on physical science therapy announced that the Airboard could be a useful tool in exercise therapy for older people with problems in their joints , as well as a stimulant to children’s growth.

If the distance from the E-cubic Health Center deters you from working out, practicing jogging and other exercises can be effective combined with Airboard use at home as well.

Soon-Il Kwon stt77@donga.com