In the past, when he wasn't hanging out with his brother's family, he was at his desk until midnight or in a reclining chair channel-surfing while snacking on Pringles and soda.
So his weight inched up over the years. Recognizing himself in the mirror became increasingly difficult. At 5 feet 9 inches tall, 225 pounds was too much to carry. With a body mass index of 33.5, he was 3 points over the line for being obese.
His exercise regimen consisted of playing with his brother's children on weekends. He hated jogging; he tolerated walking. And he needed to have fun in his recreation. Boredom produced many a failed experiment.
Experts say that's why avoiding boredom is a big part of staying with a program. About half of adults who start exercising quit within six months.
The official name for trampoline exercise is "rebounding." The source of the name isn't clear; it popped up somewhere between NASA, the U.S. surgeon general and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
However, the monitors all eventually agreed that when people didn't try to do flips and fall on their heads, the exercise was even better than jogging — 1,000 calories an hour by some estimates.
The exercise uses every muscle in the body. But even the impact of landing with twice the force of gravity doesn't hurt the joints because of the elasticity of the floor.
The key is that you never stop moving. Even when you're standing, the need for balance and stability requires energy; walking on the trampoline uses more energy, bouncing uses more energy, and the longer you bounce the more energy you use.
SkyZone solved the danger of falling off the side by eliminating the sides. All of the rooms are padded higher than people can jump, even the kids.
Mai visits three times a week, "… as much as my schedule will allow. It keeps me in good shape for the demands of traveling and the long hours."
"Then I combined this with a sensible diet," he says. "I was on my own, just common-sense eating: smaller portions, three meals, and then to not eat dinner too late, not past 6 o'clock."
"The first two or three weeks without those things is the worst," he says. "It's a lifestyle change. We're conditioned to eat until we're full."
"Put the diet aside for special occasions; birthday dinners with the family or dates, I'll eat more normally," he says. "But a full hour of working with the SkyZone aerobics has been as helpful as watching my diet. I couldn't have achieved my results without doing both.
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