Working out with a punching bag, is one of the best kinds of workouts you can do. It will increase your strength, agility, and stamina. It meshes together cardio and weight training all in one. It’s an absolute killer on your muscles and great for your heart. Here is a great routine to try out, while you train on your punching bag.

Top Heavy Bag Workouts

The good thing about a heavy bag, is its heavy. It allows you to work your muscles and build strength up. Hitting the bag constantly will work your lungs and heart. Follow this workout, to get you into fighting shape

Hard Jabs

Reps: 10 each arm, with no rest in between

Hit the bag with a hard jab, alternate arms after each jab.

Knees

Reps: 10 each knee, with no rest in between

Hold the bag in a Muay Thai clinch, and drive your knee into the bag, do one leg at a time.

Hooks

Reps: 10 each arm, with no rest in between

Hit the bag with hooks, alternate arms after each hook, throw hooks as fast as you can with good form.

High Kicks

Reps: 10 each leg, with no rest in between

Kick the bag with high kicks around the stomach and head area. Step back and kick.

Uppercuts

Reps: 10 each arm, with no rest in between

Continuously uppercut the bag.

Low Kicks

Reps: 10 each leg, with no rest in between

Hit the bag with kicks, lower body shots are what you should aim for.

Punching bag workouts are a lot more fun than hitting up a cardio machine. How do you think fighters get in shape so easily, they use their entire body and use all their muscles. By hitting a heavy bag on a regular basis, you will force your body to become a fat burning machine. So buy a hanging or freestanding bag and get to sweating.

The reason why these workouts burn so much more fat than regular workouts, is because it is high intensity and you have resistance. Combining the two makes for a high interval, high intensity workout. These types of workouts raise your metabolism and it makes your body burn more calories throughout the day.

Normal workouts only burn calories during the workout. This is why fighters are a lot more condition and a lot more lean, than other types of athletes.

When it comes to muscle pulls and tears, there’s nothing quite like rotator cuff pain. It not only hurts a lot, but you also have to suffer the misfortune of losing the mobility in your arm. You never realize how much you rely on a body part until you can’t depend on it anymore. I mean, you’re used to being able to casually reach for items off of a shelf, or throw a ball across the yard, or even pull a t-shirt over your head.

But now, each one of these activities is a struggle, because every time you go to use your injured arm, it aches, and is stiff as a board in some cases. Yep, a rotator cuff injury is no laughing matter. But, you’re slightly encouraged because you learned that if you do rotator cuff exercises, your shoulder can get better – even healed completely.

This is true, but I want to give you a word of caution: don’t just jump into any old upper arm exercise routine and think you’ll be safe. You see, this area in your arm is very delicate, and it got injured because of too much wear and tear. When a rotator cuff is pulled or torn, it can be the result of over strenuous activity, or years of using your shoulder and arm to perform various tasks.

Most of us never think about how much we use our arms and shoulders until something happens to them. We take them for granted most of the time. Even when we’re having fun or working out, we are putting stress on those rotator cuff muscles. Doing normal arm exercises may actually end up making your problem worse, because most exercise routines aren’t designed to address this particular area of the body.

In order to get your shoulder back to normal, you’ll need to do specially designed rotator cuff muscle exercises. These are gentle exercise routines that involve stretching motions and some light strength training. You can use exercise bands, a lightweight dumbbell, or even a towel to perform each exercise. They are not designed to get you toned, but to increase the strength and elasticity of the rotator cuff.

The goal of these exercises is to target the source of your pain. Doing so means that gradually, you’ll begin to feel a sense of relief when you lift your arm. But, the only way this will work is if you make a full commitment to actually performing these exercises on a regular basis. Even if you normally don’t do any kind of exercising, in order to get the full benefit from rotator cuff exercises, you’ll need to follow the program as laid out.

The reason why I’m emphasizing this is because there are many people suffering from this awful pain, including you, who could greatly benefit from a targeted series of simple exercises, but for one reason or another, just kind of think about it without taking any action.

I want to stress that you can be free of the pain and limited mobility if you really want to be. If you’ve watched any type of sports, then you know that athletes often suffer from muscle injuries that are quite painful. Sometimes they have to leave a game, or be carried off the field due to these muscle injuries.

After a few weeks, many of them are able to get right back into their sport and play like nothing happened. Yes, sometimes this is because of pain medication, but often they are given extensive therapy that targets the exact area of the muscle that needs rehabilitation. The average person never sees this workout, but obviously they are very effective in solving the problem.

So, there’s no reason why you can’t do the same thing for your own painful shoulder. All it takes is your willingness to learn the routine and follow easy instructions.

Tabata training is one of the most brutal training techniques out there. It consists of performing an exercise for 20 seconds straight, followed by 10 seconds rest. This is repeated for another 7 times, or 8 total rounds for a total of 4 minutes of extreme training.

You can perform Tabata with cardio, bodyweight, dumbbells, or barbells. But when you do them with Kettlebells, it completely changes the game. Kettlebells are tough as it is, but when you combine them with a high intensity technique such as Tabata, you can create truly mind blowing, scary intense, puke in your shoes workouts.

The following is a really intense Leg Workout using the Tabata Technique:

Complete 8 Tabata Intervals for each exercise:

• Kettlebell Swing
• Kettlebell Front Squat

That’s it. You’ll only need two exercises to completely destroy your legs. The key to developing a proper Kettlebell Lower Body Tabata workout is to combine one hamstring dominant exercise with a quadricep dominant exercise.

Hamstring Dominant Exercises:

• Kettlebell Swing
• Kettlebell Clean
• Kettlebell Snatch

Quadricep Dominant Exercises:

• Kettlebell Front Squat
• Kettlebell Overhead Squat
• Kettlebell Squat Jump

You can also combine exercises. Try performing a Kettlebell Clean + Front Squat, or a Kettlebell Snatch + Overhead Squat. When you combine exercises in this manner, they are known as hybrids. You can literally train both aspects of your lower body at the same time.

Don’t just stop there. Use the same techniques to train your upper body. Here’s a bonus Upper Body Tabata workout Using a Kettlebell:

Complete 8 Tabata Intervals for each exercise:

• Kettlebell Push Press
• Kettlebell Bent Over Row

You probably won’t be able to create a hybrid with Push Press and Bent Over Row. However, there is an exercise called the Renegade Row, but you need two Kettlebells to perform this exercise. I will talk about this exercise in a different article. For now, just try out these two Tabata Kettlebell workouts, and let me know how it goes for you.

Now, before you go crazy on me… hear me out.

I’ve been in the health and fitness industry (more specifically health clubs) for a while now and I really have to say that if I were to start a club from scratch… I wouldn’t include an aerobic program at all.

Why?

Because I’ve never REALLY seen these programs work.

Sure, I’ve seen people start to drop weight with step aerobics, but they tend to plateau extremely quickly and plateaus lead to frustration. Frustration leads to doubt and doubt leads to failure.

Studies have shown that aerobic activities can burn away valued muscle AND have shrinking effects on the heart and lungs. Now, of course I’m not taking about aggressive cardiovascular routines that truly challenge the body.

No, what I’m referring to are the activities that try to “put” you in a certain target rate… you know… the vaunted “fat burning” zone.

Listen to this:

Yes, it is true that your body burns more calories from fat when you are operating at a certain effort level like what is experience when most people are involved in activities like step aerobics.

However, what you truly miss out on are the “afterburn” effects that other types of exercises can provide. Most people lose any and all the benefits of a heightened metabolism within 30 minutes of finishing a step aerobic workout. Compare that to the 72 hour lift in metabolism that interval training and weight training can provide and you can now start to understand why many of the people that are actually on the workout floor subjecting themselves to more grueling workouts look and feel better than their “step aerobic” counterparts.

I’m sure you’ve seen all of the step aerobic DVD’s and tapes that go on sale in places like Walmart or even on TV…

Don’t waste your money.

Most people only do these tapes for a short amount of time and then they quit.

Why?

No results… it’s too convenient… it gets stale… etc.

Remember, your body is an INCREDIBLE assembly of systems and it’s ability to adapt to any given stimulus is quite remarkable. That being said, the other downfall of step aerobics is that you are always doing the same routines over and over again and you adapt.

Adaptation = NO RESULTS

There is one good thing about step aerobics though…

Most step aerobic classes are VERY SOCIAL and this social atmosphere actually helps people to continue their workout programs.

I like social programs and working out… the right social program properly formatted will give you incredible results.

Unfortunately, step aerobics really doesn’t fit the bill of what I would consider “proper formatting”.

Aerobics means with oxygen, and aerobic fitness consists of physical exercise, strength training and stretching. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends at least 30 minutes to 1 hour of moderately intense physical activity a day. Aerobic exercise has many health benefits besides weight management.

Exercise causes the heart to pump more efficiently, making it stronger. It reduces the systemic inflammation and decreases the chance of developing heart disease. Exercise also helps to increase good cholesterol and decrease bad cholesterol. The effects exercise has on the heart can control blood pressure and contributes to a healthier life, better weight management and a sense of well being.

Another benefit of exercise in people with Type 2 diabetes is that it makes the efficiency of the body better by increasing tissue sensitivity to insulin. In addition, more glucose is produced and pressed out of the blood stream. The blood will enter the cells and decrease the amount of glucose in the blood. By allowing glucose to metabolize in the body and letting normal blood sugar levels be maintained, aerobic exercise minimizes the risk of developing diabetes.

Reducing the risk of obesity makes exercise another benefit by controlling calories, decreasing body fat all while improving lean muscle, strength and flexibility. Aerobic activity increases endorphins, making life a happier experience, it prevents certain cancers, improves sleep, increases energy and mood, and lessens feelings of depression, stress and anxiety.

Reaching a target heart rate is key to benefiting the most from aerobics. Using the age method, age is taken away from 220, then that number is multiplied by 0.7. The American Heart Association recommends a target heart rate range of between 50% and 75%. Because people exercise at different fitness levels, this method may not be completely accurate but it does give a number to work toward.

Dr. Kenneth Cooper is the physician who brought aerobic exercise to the forefront in the nineteen sixties when he noticed that people were not putting enough physical activity into their lives. He authored the book Aerobics in 1968, outlining his exercise routines such as swimming, bicycling, walking and running.

Immediately following Dr. Coopers book, a woman named Jackie Sorenson developed aerobic dance. Aerobic dance consisted of a series of dance routines, done to music, where by improving cardiovascular fitness.

Sportaerobics was introduced in 1983 by Howard and Karen Schwartz. The first national aerobic championship was held in 1984 and by the year 2002, the competition included six athletes performing a 1 minute and 45 second rhythmic routine. Scores were based on artistic and technical merit. By 1996 gymnastique discipline had replaced the name sportaerobics.

Including aerobic activity into a daily routine, will lead to a longer, happier, and healthier life.

With free time in short supply, worries to shoulder and active family and social lives, far too many of us find ourselves caught in a non-stop whirl. The all-too-common result is stress burnout, a topic of major concern for leading psychological researchers and hundreds of thousands of victims each year.

Chances are you’ve felt the symptoms – knots in your neck, butterflies in the stomach, irritability. Stress can get a lot worse, though, and if it’s bottled up it can be a potent and disruptive force to the healthy body and mind.

So what do you do when you find yourself grinding your teeth? The cure might be a good workout. Recent research has once again affirmed common sense: getting the heart pumping and letting the sweat start to flow can tone your attitude as much as it forms your physique.

As a whole, people who exercise regularly and take athletic time out to blow off steam can manage stress better.

Besides, as a weapon against stress, exercise is healthier than having a drink and cheaper than visiting a psychiatrist. And it works.

WHY WORK OUT?

What we commonly know as “bad stress” – tension – is actually an instinctual, physiological reaction that enabled our prehistoric forefathers to survive the dangers of the wild.

When you perceive a danger or threat, your body assumes the well-known “fight or flight” mode that prepares you to defend yourself against attack. The hypothalamus region of the brain sends a message to the pituitary gland to secrete cortisol, “the stress hormone”, into your bloodstream. In the chain reaction that follows, signals begin rushing to all parts of your body. Adrenaline pours into your bloodstream, your heart beats faster, your blood pressure increases and your breathing gets heavy. You’re ready for action. Usually, though, the opportunity for physical release isn’t there; you merely sit and seethe. Though the stressful event may be over, the lack of reaction means that those chemicals remain in your bloodstream. Over a prolonged period, they can become overwhelming – even leading to high blood pressure, hypertension or a nervous breakdown.

Dr. Hans Selye, a pioneer in the study of stress and author of ‘Stress Without Distress’, explains that we have a three-step reaction to stress. First, we experience a stage of initial alarm. Followed by a stage of adaptation or resistance, and finally, we are exhausted. If we don’t move all the way through these stages, stress gets bottled up inside – a cumulative and insidious process.

Of course, exercise isn’t going to be any help at all if it only adds more stress to a tension-ridden life. So don’t create a situation where it means a rush-hour train journey to the gym, signing up for a class you won’t able to make, or spending more money than you can reasonably afford. But take heart, almost any regular muscle-moving activity, no matter how offbeat or humble, is stress-reducing. In fact, Selye goes so far as to call exercise “good stress.”

HOW TO WORK OUT?

Joining the local football team, playing tennis at the club, and going out dancing are all great ways to blow off steam. The reason is that they incorporate aerobic exercise.

When you hear the word aerobic, don’t think only of tummy-tightening calisthenics in leotards. Any exercise is classified as aerobic if it increases your breathing rate without leaving you out of breath, and makes your heart and lungs work to supply more oxygenated blood to the muscles in action.

The best aerobic sports are swimming, bicycling, jogging, tennis and racquet-ball. Team sports that involve running, throwing and agility are good too (however, you can be somewhat more prone to injury). All of them will prove physically beneficial if you do them consistently, and they can offer just the tension-busting release you need to unwind, breathe deep and put things in perspective.

Pick an activity you enjoy and not one that’s going to make you even more stressed. Depending upon your level of fitness when beginning an aerobic exercise, walking may be the right exercise to meet your stress reduction needs. Consult your doctor when designing any anti-stress exercise regimen.

Those who work out regularly have expressed amazement at how the addition of an exercise programme into their daily routines can make a difference in their attitudes, their health and even their sex lives.

The human body wasn’t designed to sit at a desk; we were built to be movers and shakers in the physical, not the corporate sense. When you give your body the outlet it’s begging for, symptoms from listlessness to reduced sex drive to tension headaches often mysteriously disappear.

And you’ll learn to deal with stress better over time. Dr. Kenneth Cooper, founder of the Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas observes: “Aerobically fit people actually have lower heart rates during stressful situations than people who aren’t fit.”

HOW TO START?

Follow these general stress reduction guidelines:

Work out hard enough but not too hard. When you perform aerobic exercises, your goal should be to get the heart pumping to 70 per cent of its maximum capacity. Once you’ve hit this point, you should maintain it for about 20 minutes. A good rule of thumb for determining how hard you should do an aerobic exercise is that you should be able to hold a conversation at the same time.

Also, pick a place to do it that makes you comfortable. Try to schedule your workout at a convenient time, and stick to it. Nothing will make you more tense than feeling obligated instead of inspired to get your body moving.

And don’t expect too much at once. Remember, as with all activities, you only get out as much as you put in.

CHEMICAL REACTION

As you get into the groove of stress-reducing exercise, you’re likely to discover yet another benefit – it can actually get you high.

When you work out, your body secretes endorphins, those morphine-like substances that are often responsible for the euphoric feeling called “runner’s high.” These same endorphins that make you feel good during a workout can be a powerful weapon in your war against stress.

When tension sets in, endorphins are released into your bloodstream along with the cortisol hormone, and the combination can go a long way toward offsetting bad feelings. You only reap this benefit once you’re in good physical condition.

Though research is ongoing, some scientists claim that endorphins have a stabilizing effect upon the hormones (like cortisol) released during stress, tempering the negative effects on the body. According to Dr. Daniel Landers, professor of Physical Education at Arizona State University, “If you block the effects of endorphins, the heart rate goes up to twice the normal level.”

The bottom line is that not only does exercise help offset the stress you’ve already endured, it goes a long way in preparing you to deal with those increasing tensions yet to come.

All this shouldn’t make you think aerobic exercise is the end-all and be-all of body and mind conditioning techniques. It still has its limitations. If you don’t work out on a regular basis, the best exercise will do little or nothing to improve your reaction to stress, and it may even make stress worse by increasing your heartbeat intermittently between periods of inactivity.

There are chemical disadvantages to working out sporadically as well. If it is unaccustomed to the exercise, your body will not increase its endorphin levels until after the workout is over, in which case they might act to dull pain of strained, out-of-shape muscles, but will be released much too late to counter the stress hormone in your system.

Once you’ve built up your heart and turned yourself into a super-efficient stress-busting machine, it’s time for the next step: learning how to relax.

For ultimate stress relief, consider those activities that take you into the great outdoors. Whether you work out in the open air every day or supplement an indoor-gym programme with occasional jaunts across mother earth, you’ll find that a little communing with nature can go a long way in melting away stress.

Most importantly – enjoy it. As the Simon & Garfunkle song says, “Slow down, you move too fast, you’ve got to make the morning last… “

Make it last with some sports activity that makes you happy. And the next time you feel like blowing your top, you might just find you can cope a little bit better.

Over the past 15 years or so, we have been told that a healthy lifestyle is important. Scientists recommend we should be accumulating on average 60 minutes of exercises a day in order to maintain healthy levels. What exactly does that number mean? Over the course of a regular day, we should be doing some sort of physical activity that adds up to approximately 60 minutes. Whether it is in the gym on the treadmill or just in the garden for the afternoon, adding physical activity is vital.

First we need to know what actually constitutes exercise. The term Healthy activity can be broken down in to three categories; Cardiovascular, Resistance, and Flexibility.

Cardiovascular training

It is recommended to do cardio 2 or 3 times a week. Depending on your fitness level., cardio can consist of a nice walk with your dog, or a vigorous run on the treadmill. Ideally you are trying to increase your cardio capacity. which has many health benefits.

Resistance Training

Part of living an active lifestyle is by doing some sort of resistance training at least 2 times a week. That doesn’t mean you have to go to the gym and lift weights, you can easily do it at home by doing movements as simple as pushup and sit-ups, or by using something like resistance bands. Resistance training is just as important as cardiovascular activity and adds to your overall physical health.

Flexibility (stretching)

After you exercise, it is recommended you stretch for roughly 10 minutes, holding each stretch for 15-30 seconds. Stretching is crucial to maintain flexibility and reduce the chance of injury from exercise.

Benefits of Exercise

So now we know that working out is important, but what are the actually benefits of living an active lifestyle? Below are just 5 of the countless benefits of being active.

Reduces the Risk of Dying Prematurely – Those living a healthy active lifestyle live longer compared those who are more sedentary.

Lowers the risk of developing diabetes – Exercise keeps body fat in control and helps regulate sugar levels

Increase muscular strength – Having an increase in strength helps make daily activities less difficult.

Helps reduce the risk of heart disease – Regular exercise strengthens the heart, respiratory system, and lungs which aids to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Decreases Body Fat – Exercise along with a balanced diet will reduce body fat significantly.

As you can see there are many excellent benefits of living an active lifestyle. By adding a small amount of cardio, resistance training and some stretching to your daily routine, the overall benefits are almost endless. Essentially being healthy is about adding balance to your life. You don’t have to be a Lance Armstrong, or a Venus Williams to be considered active, you just have to add some extra activities to you routine.

When it comes to the foods you eat on a regular basis, there is no question you have your fair share of options. Walk into any grocery store and you will see a number of choices, all that look tantalizing to your taste buds. But as you put groceries into your cart, one thing you will want to be sure you are doing is opting for whole foods as often as possible.

Practicing the “single or one ingredient” rule or eating foods containing a single component is your best bet for optimal nutritional success. Why do this? Why not indulge in some of the more complex foods you enjoy?

Here are four great reasons…

1. Single Ingredient Foods Are Nutrient Dense. First, when you eat a food containing one component, you can rest assured you are getting a nutrient dense food. The more processed food is, the more it has been broken down from its original state, meaning the fewer nutrients it will contain.

Remember eating healthily is about more than just counting calories and the grams of macronutrients you consume. It is about taking in a vast array of micronutrients as well, meaning your vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

2. Single Ingredient Foods Rank Higher In Satiety. The next reason to opt for foods containing one component is they rank high on the satiety scale. These foods will satisfy your hunger head-on thanks to the high fiber content they usually contain.

While not all foods will be high in fiber: food such as a chicken breast for example; any foods carbohydrate based and single ingredient, usually will have more fiber in them.

3. Single Ingredient Foods Stabilize Blood Sugar Levels. Thanks to the fact these foods containing one component have more fiber, or else are a rich source of protein and dietary fats; this also means they will control your blood sugar levels better as well.

Controlling your blood sugar is important for those who are suffering from Type 2 diabetes or those people simply trying to prevent developing this form of diabetes. Likewise, if keeping your weight in check is a goal of yours, single ingredient foods can help with that as well.

4. Single Ingredient Foods Don’t Contain Artificial Ingredients. Finally, when you eat unprocessed foods made up of just one component this also means you will not take in a large dose of artificial sweeteners or other unhealthy ingredients. Instead, you get what Mother Nature put into those foods and what was naturally intended for your body to consume.

Food that does not contain artificial ingredients is a far better way to nourish your body and keep you feeling healthy.

Think twice before putting processed food in the shopping cart. As much as you can, put only single ingredient foods in your cart and use those to cook your meals from. Your body will thank you.

Here is the wonderful idea to melt away belly fat in 3 weeks time. Spend a few minutes time here to gain fantastic tips to lose fat. Since we are talking about the natural method of weight loss, you will not turn towards diet pills to shed fat.

Tip 1 – Metabolism rate should be at higher level for instant fat loss

Your body should have good metabolism rate to melt away belly fat in 3 weeks. You can hit this target only if your life style is full of nature. Yes, you should first free your body from chemicals and other diet pills that reduces metabolism rate. Replace this place with natural foods such as proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, fibrous foods and healthy fats. Vegetables, fruits, egg whites, omega fatty acids, cod liver oil, nuts, almonds, dhal are some of the natural food products that can be utilized to boost metabolism. Water should be provided in plenty for quick action of digestive system. So, when you boost metabolism through natural food products, your weight loss will be permanent and consistent.

Tip 2 – Reject all the faded foods

Faded foods or the celebrity foods should be completely avoided as they squash the metabolism rate. Each and every part of your body starts working slowly, which results in accumulation of fat. The digestion power is very less when your body is fed with faded diets. These faded foods include your fancy foods such as pizzas (contains unhealthy fats), quick bites etc.

Tip 3 – Frequent eating and calorie shifting diet

Calorie shifting diet holds the key to melt away belly fat in 3 weeks. Along with this shifting technique, you need to stick to the frequently eating habit. That is, unlike in other weight loss methods, you are not going to starve for food. Four to five time meals is compulsory for peaking up the metabolism. You can increase or decrease the calorie level in your meal and aim at higher level of metabolism.

So, along with proper nutrition, if you can do the combination of shifting technique and eating technique effectively, you will be at the winning track to melt away belly fat in 3 weeks.

Looking to purchase the P90X home fitness workout program? Have you wondered if you can buy P90x in store? Well, I wondered the same thing and did some research. I thought I’d put together a quick article for any others who have had the same question in mind, as well as share some success from the program.

When I first heard about the P90X Home workout program it was introduced to be by a friend I work with. He’d received it from his brother after he had successfully completed the 90-day program. Naturally I was curious as to how well he did. According to my friend, his brother lost approximately 33 pounds and the tone and definition he received was quite impressive. Seeing the results his brother received, my friend became quite motivated and began the home workout program.

From what I read, and from what my friend shared with me, the P90X home workout program is a 90 day program and focuses on intense and abbreviated workout sessions where your muscles are

placed in a “confused” state – constantly being caught off guard during each workout session. The program consists of a series of cardiovascular and strength training moves and routines. The program is designed to target individual muscles and muscle groups, as well as provide a full body workout. This is all performed from the comfort of your home.

Initially, my friend wanted to purchase the program from a retail store, but after contacting some of the larger retailers such as Walmart, Target, Dick’s Sporting Goods, he was told this wasn’t available in stores. After speaking with him, I did a search online and confirmed what he had researched. It appears that this program is only available by way of the TV infomercial, or major online retailers. I found that Amazon.com to be one of the best locations where discounted pricing, product package deals, and shipping discounts can be found.

My friend is about 30 days into the P90X program, and is quite excited, He’s already begun seeing results – pretty cool! His enthusiasm and excitement is addicting. He’s noted that he’s lost about 11 pounds and now looks forward to each workout – initially it was hard for him since he was quite overweight and hadn’t exercised too much in the past. My friend also noted that the nutrition guide included with the course took a little getting used to, but again this is coming from a guy who practically lived off of fast food restaurants – Kentucky Fried Chicken and Burger King.