Heart Rate

Ready to kick-start your fitness routine but don't want to face the crowds at the gym? We've got you covered. The Los Angeles Times reviewed a recent crop of fitness DVDs and selected our picks of the best gym-free workouts for exercisers of different levels and interests. Whether you're trying to build muscle, protect your knees or just start moving your body, we've got a workout for you. You're an intermediate exerciser looking for a new challenge: If you haven't tried kettlebells, you're missing out on a super-efficient workout that builds strength and blasts fat all at once.

Even the most jaded fitness aficionados (of which L.A. has plenty) would have to admit Santa Monica's exclusive new Iobella studio resembles nothing else they've seen before. With its Plexiglas heated workout pods and triple-oxygen spa cabins, it is as much spa as it is boutique gym. And that's exactly the appeal for its small circle of posh clients, who shell out thousands of dollars (the owner wouldn't be specific) for a customized program that includes a personal training plan, a dietitian on call and relaxing cucumbers-over-the-eyes sessions in those O3 pods, which are supposed to soften skin and muscles after your workout.

Rickety, squeaky, flimsy, bendable, breakable. The low-priced, home-model versions of elliptical machines have always earned lousy adjectives. But this season has seen the rise of several exceptions to the long-standing rule that you can't buy a quiet, solid home elliptical for less than $2,000.

SAN DIEGO - Kenley Jansen should be able to attend his newborn daughter's graduation and wedding ceremonies. No longer does the Dodgers' hard-throwing setup man have to worry that playing baseball could cost him his life. His heart now functions normally. Nearly six months ago, Jansen underwent a cardiac operation that scared him out of his usual laid-back persona. "It's finally fixed," Jansen, 25, said with a smile. Heading into the Dodgers' series opener against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Tuesday, Jansen has pitched three times.

Somewhere between the $70,000 anti-gravity treadmill that uses an air vacuum to lower your body weight by 50% or more and the $369 department-store rattletrap with a tread belt about as burly as toilet paper is the sweet spot: a moderately priced treadmill that's tough enough for years of serious running and walking. The four below offer heart-rate readouts, good reputations, solid feel and a nice array of high-performance programs. -- Roy M.

SAN DIEGO - Kenley Jansen should be able to attend his newborn daughter's graduation and wedding ceremonies. No longer does the Dodgers' hard-throwing setup man have to worry that playing baseball could cost him his life. His heart now functions normally. Nearly six months ago, Jansen underwent a cardiac operation that scared him out of his usual laid-back persona. "It's finally fixed," Jansen, 25, said with a smile. Heading into the Dodgers' series opener against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Tuesday, Jansen has pitched three times.

The words "interval training" can strike fear in the hearts of even the most athletic men and women. Alternating periods of high-intensity work with recovery may sound simple enough, but those intense bouts can leave the exerciser gasping for air. It's that intensity that ultimately reaps great benefits, including strengthening the heart and improving the cardiovascular system, which is why personal trainers tend to favor interval training.

You've been dumped by a romantic interest you really liked. You've been passed over for a job by a boss you thought admired you. A group of friends is going out together, leaving you out of their plans. This kind of social rejection prompts your brain to send warning signals to your body that there's been a sudden tear in your personal social fabric, says a new study. Some of those signals you will undeniably feel -- the pain in your gut, the ache in your heart, the lump in your throat.

Question: How do I train in my heart rate zone at the gym? BEATRICE GACOVIE Carson Answer: Your heart rate is your body's speedometer. It gives you an indication of how fast your body's "motor" is running. Exercising at the right intensity level will help ensure you're getting the most from your aerobic exercise. Your heart rate can be measured by feeling the pulse of the blood moving through the artery near the outside of your wrist or the carotid artery on the side of your neck.

Ohio University center Nick Terry will be sidelined at least another week after passing out during a practice because of a rapid heart rate. Terry, a 6-foot-11 freshman, blacked out during a practice Saturday, team trainer Skip Vosler said Tuesday. "The cardiologist wants to do more testing," Vosler said. "He's not satisfied yet to allow him to participate." Vosler said he believed Terry would be tested through the early part of next week. The Bobcats, who lost to No.

Ready to kick-start your fitness routine but don't want to face the crowds at the gym? We've got you covered. The Los Angeles Times reviewed a recent crop of fitness DVDs and selected our picks of the best gym-free workouts for exercisers of different levels and interests. Whether you're trying to build muscle, protect your knees or just start moving your body, we've got a workout for you. You're an intermediate exerciser looking for a new challenge: If you haven't tried kettlebells, you're missing out on a super-efficient workout that builds strength and blasts fat all at once.

The results are in from Felix Baumgartner's record-setting leap from a capsule floating more than 24 miles above a barren New Mexico desert, and it turns out he went faster during his supersonic free fall than originally estimated. With more than 8 million computers and other digital devices tuned in Oct. 14 to the live stream on YouTube, Baumgartner reached 843.6 mph, or 1.25 times the speed of sound. Previous estimates said he hit speeds of nearly 834 mph. Either way, he was the first free-falling human to crack the sound barrier.

Cardio doesn't have to be deadly dull and serious. In this fun animal-inspired exercise, you'll get your heart rate up, build muscle and you might even crack a smile. Called the lateral traveling ape, this move is part of the new "Animal Flow Workout" that body weight fitness pro Mike Fitch developed for Equinox gyms. What it does It's great for entire body conditioning, as it works muscles in the arms, shoulders and legs at the same time it's elevating your heart rate and torching calories.

Researchers reported Sunday that it may soon be possible to power a pacemaker by a patient's beating heart. The team, which presented its work at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012 in Los Angeles, developed an energy harvesting device that someday might take the vibrations created by a heartbeat and convert them into enough electrical energy to power a pacemaker, said lead author M. Amin Karami, a research fellow in the...

Still nipping out of your workplace or a restaurant to cop a cigarette out on the sidewalk? You are public health hero, and a grateful nation salutes you. Workplaces and eating and drinking establishments that are free of second-hand smoke have shored up Americans' health even in the face of rising levels of obesity and Type 2 diabetes, says a new study. Published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the latest research focused on Olmsted County in Minnesota, and tracked the rate of heart attacks and sudden heart attack deaths in the wake of smoking bans that cleared Olmsted County's restaurants, bars and workplaces of tobacco smoke.

A stability ball is a powerful ally in your quest for flatter abdominals and a cinched waist. Not only can it make that plank or crunch more challenging, it also ups the ante on standing abdominal work such as the Russian twist, demonstrated here by celebrity trainer and group fitness instructor Amy Dixon, who uses the move on her "Give Me 10 Core Cuts" DVD. What it does This exercise tones your core, loosens your hips and gets your heart...

Backup center Zeljko Rebraca, sidelined indefinitely because of an irregular heartbeat, was resting comfortably at home Friday and his heart rhythm was normal, Clipper Coach Mike Dunleavy said. "He felt totally fine today, and that's totally what you want to hear," Dunleavy said. "They'll run some other precautionary tests and tell us what they think, but that was good news."

When the weather cools off (we hope) this fall, the active man and woman will hit the trail. Whether you hike, bike, run or bird-watch, carry a giant backpack or a pocket-sized water bottle, push your heart rate to the limit or barely break a sweat, the items below will add to the fun - helping to speed you along, keep you on track, record the adventure and get you home safer and sounder. Smart head light Petzl NAO: Patented, self-adjusting headlamp for all-night marathoners, mountaineers and rock climbers that automatically alters light output based on how far you are from an object, theoretically maximizing safety and battery life.