Choosing The Right Exercise For You

♠ Posted by Unknown in

The type of exercise you do all depends on you and
what you like to do.  What you hate doing, paying
membership fees, and whether or not to buy equipment
are all things you need to consider as well as
answer.

If you choose something that you don't like to do,
you aren't going to keep doing it for a long period
of time.  Give it some thought - if you don't like
jogging, you aren't going to get up at 6 AM and go
running.  If you can't find something you like to
do, choose something you hate the least, which will
normally be walking.

Walking is great exercise, as it suits all levels
of fitness.  Anyone can start a walking program at
any time, it's normally the intensity and duration
that differs.  Walking is also a social exercise,
as it isn't difficult to find a training partner
to chat with while you exercise.  Walking with a
partner will also make time go by faster.

No matter what exercise you choose, you should
start at a low level of intensity and build it up
over a period of weeks, which is essential to the
longevity of your exercise program.  If you start
off too hard, you could end up with an injury
which will require time off to get over.

If you are really in bad shape, you should start
off by walking for 10 minutes each day.  Then,
increase it by 5 minutes every 2 weeks.  To make
things more interesting, you should try walking
a different course every few days.  You can also
roster a different friend to walk with you each
day of the week.

If walking isn't your thing, then you may want
to try a fitness center.  They have loads of
variety and normally have trainers on hand to
answer any questions you may have.  When you
choose a fitness center, make sure that they give
good service.

If they aren't willing to treat you well before
you join, then they certainly won't after you
join.  You should also make sure that the equipment
they use is well taken care of.  It's easy to
find out, as all you have to do is listen to the
machines.  If they squeak a lot or make noise,
then chances are they aren't being taken care of.

If you still aren't sure what you should do, then
you should look into golf or tennis.  Both are
good social activities in most areas, and you can
even meet new friends.  Tennis is great for fitness
although it isn't for someone who is just starting
out.  If you haven't exercised in a long time,
then golf may be the best activity for you.


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Chidren And Exercise

♠ Posted by Unknown in

If you have a child of 6 to 8 years old that wants
to start exercising and lifting weights, you may
find yourself wondering what you should do.  While
some think it is perfectly fine for children to
exercise, there are others that think differently.

The long and short of it is that yes, it is
beneficial for your child to partake in exercise
or a weight training regimen although there are a
few things that you should keep in mind once this
starts to happen.

No matter how you look at it, children aren't
minature adults and therefore you can't use the
same methods with growing children that you can use
with adults, as children are different from adults
emotionally, anatomically, and physiologically.

All children have immature skeletons, as their
bones don't mature until they get 14 - 22 years of
age.  With girls, exercise during childhood can
have very critical effects on bone health that
can last for their entire lives.

Children are often times vulnerable to growth
related overuse injuries such as Osgood schlatter
disease.  Children have immature temperature
regulation systems due to their having a large
surface area compared to their muscle mass which
will cause them to be more susceptible to injury
when they aren't properly warmed up.

Children don't sweat as much as adults do, so
they will be more susceptible to heat exhaustion
as well as a heat stroke.  Due to their low muscle
mass and immature hormone system, it makes it
harder for them to develop strength and speed.
Their breathing and heart response during
exercise are also different from an adults, which
will affect their capacity for exercise.

On the other hand, young boys and girls can
drastically improve their strength with weight
training although opposed to adults, neurological
factors instead of muscle growth factors are mostly
responsible.

When you consider programs for children, first and
foremost you should obtain a medical clearance.
The first approach to designing a program is to
establish a repetition range of 8 - 12 and keep
the work load appropriate for the range.

You should ensure that workouts are spread out
enough to have at least 1 - 2 full days of rest
between workouts. The main focus when working out
should be on the form of every exercise performed,
and not on the amount of weight being lifted.

Before weight training, warm up and stretching
should be done.  Start your children off with light
loads and then make adjustments accordingly.  No
more than 3 non consecutive exercise sessions
should be done in a week.  You should also see to
it that they drink plenty of water before, during,
and after exercise.  Getting enough water is very
important with exercise, as it is often times very
easy to get dehydrated - especially with children.




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Cardio Exercis

♠ Posted by Unknown in

Everyone has wondered at some point in time which
cardio exercise is better.  To put it in simple
terms, both low and high intensity exercises will
help you to burn off body fat.  The question here
is which is the most effective to burn off more
body fat.

When scientists first discovered that during
intensive exercises, your body burns glycogen, which
is a form of stored carbohydrates that are stored
in your liver and muscles for energy.  During low
intensity exercises, your body will burn a lot of
fat.

If your wondering whether or not it works, the
answer is no because there are so many obese people
still around.  Even though they are working out
with low intensity routines, it still makes you
wonder how it can be.

The scientists were right when they said the human
body burns more body fat during low intensity
exercises like walking or swimming.  During a
high intensity exercise such as running, the body
will burn a lot more calories.  Even if some of
the calories burnt are from glycogen, there are
still many fat calories burned as well.

To put the icing on the cake, when your store of
glycogen gets low, the carbohydrates from your
food you eat will later get converted into
glycogen to fill up the store and won't be
converted to body fat when they are left unused
for energy.

High intensity cardio exercise will juice up your
metabolism even after you have completed your
workout.  What this means, is that your body will
continue to burn body fat hours after you have
left the gym.  This effect is nearly non existent
in low intensity cardio or aerobic workout.

Accumulatively, your body will burn up more and
more calories during and after you have finished a
high intensity cardio exercise that it will with
low intensity.

You can inject high intensity exercises into your
cardio workout by introducing some interval
training. You can walk for 5 minutes or so, then
break into some jogging for another 5 minutes or
so.  Then, walk briskly again until you have
caught your breath and then sprint for a minute
before you walk again.  From this point, simply
alternate your running and walking for the
next 15 minutes until you are finished.

One of the best things about cardio is the more
you do it, the more energy you'll have.  Cardio
will help you to burn calories, although its more
useful for keeping your energy levels high.

If you've never tried cardio before, you should
give it a shot.  If you like to exercise, you'll
find cardio the best way to boost your energy and
keep in top shape.  If you are just starting out,
you'll want to go slow and keep your cardio
exercise in track - as it is very easy to over
exert yourself.

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Buying An All In One System

♠ Posted by Unknown in



These days, more and more people are turning away
from memberships to gyms and instead choosing to
invest money in a home gym.  You can put a home
gym in a spare corner of your home, or even in the
basement if you wish.  Along with helping you save
money by combining several different types of
equipment into one machine, these types of equipment
can easily fit in small spaces and type up a lot
less weight than their individual counterparts.

When you are considering to buy an all in one piece
of exercise equipment, you should first think
about your goals.  You should consider what you
hope to achieve from exercising and just how well
this piece of equipment will benefit you.

There are several types of all in one equipment for
exercise on the market and almost all of them are
advertised well on television, in magazines, and
on the internet.  The most popular types on the
market are those types that are geared towards
individuals who are interested in lifting weights.

Right now, the two most popular types of all in
one exercise systems are the Bowflex and Total Gym
brands.  The Bowflex system uses resistant bows
that bend instead of the traditional weights that
simply lift.  Bowflex is designed to fit a wide
variety of budgets and needs, it's widely
adaptable and extremely popular as well.

To make things even better, you can store the
basic Bowflex system in small and tight places,
even under a bed if you choose.  The larger and
more expensive Blowflex system competes with
the types of professional equipment that you can
find in gyms, which allow you a quality workout
on quality equipment.

The Total Gym system is great as well, as it
is advertised by martial arts legend Chuck Norris
and supermodel Christie Brinkley.  It is less
expensive than the Bowflex and uses gravity
and resistance instead of traditional weights.
By using this system, you have the ability to
adapt the machine to a wide variety of exercises
that will work many different areas of your body.

When you make that decision about buying an all
in one exercise system, you must also decide
on price, features, brand, and just who will use
the machine.  If your family plans to use it as
well, then you'll need to get a system that
everyone will agree on.  You obviously wouldn't
want a machine that is too complicated for
others in your home.

Even though Bowflex and Total Gym are the 2 most
popular types of all in one equipment, there are
several others out there as will, from brands
such as Weider and many others.  Before you
make your choice, you should look at several
to see which one offers you more for your money.



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Alcohol And Exercise

♠ Posted by Unknown in

On Friday afternoon after you leave work, you probably
think about going out and having a few drinks with
friends to relax and wind down.  Even though you
may think you deserve to go out and have a few drinks,
there are some things that you should certainly keep
in mind.

Like any other day, tomorrow is going to be a day
for exercise, and since you are exercising on a
regular basis, a few drinks of alcohol won't really
hurt anything, right?  Before you decide to rush out
to the local bar, there are a few things below that
you should think about before you make your choice
about going out to drink some alcohol.

Research has proven that even small amounts of
alcohol with increase muscular endurance and the output
of strength, although these types of benefits are
very short lived.  After 20 minutes or so, the
problems will begin to surface.  All of the negative
side effects associated with alcohol will easily
outweigh any possible benefits that it can have.
No matter how you look at it, alcohol is a poison
that can really harm your body if you aren't careful.

The negative side of alcohol can reduce your
strength, endurance, aerobic capability, recovery
time, ability to metabolize fat, and even your
muscle growth as well.  Alcohol will also have an
effect on your nervous system and brain.  If you
use it long term, you can cause severe deterioration
of your central nervous system.   Even with short
term use, nerve muscle interaction can be reduced
which will result in a loss of strength.

Once alcohol reaches the blood cells, it can and
probably will damage them.  With alcohol users,
inflammation of the muscle cells is a very common
thing.  Over periods of time, some of these cells
that have been damaged can die which will result
in less functional muscle contractions.  Drinking
alcohol will also leave you with more soreness of
your muscles after you exercise, which means that
it will take you a lot longer to recuperate.

Alcohol will also have many different effects on
your heart and circulatory system as well.  When
you drink any type of alcohol, you may begin to
see a reduction in your endurance capabilities.
Anytime you drink, your heat loss will increase,
due to the alcohol simulating your blood vessels
to dilate.  The loss in heat can cause your
muscles to become quite cold, therefore become
slower and weaker during your muscle contractions.

Drinking alcohol can also lead to digestive and
nutrition problems as well.  Alcohol cause a
release of insulin that will increase the metabolism
of glycogen, which spares fat and makes the loss
of fat very hard.  Due to alcohol interfering
with the absorption of several key nutrients, you
can also become anemic and deficient with B type
vitamins.

Because your liver is the organ that detoxifies
alcohol, the more you drink, the harder your liver
has to work.  The extra stress alcohol places on
your liver can cause serious damage and even
destroy some of your liver cells.

Since alcohol is diuretic, drinking large amounts
can put a lot of stress on your kidneys as well.
During diuretic action, the hormones are secreted.
This can lead to heightened water retention and no
one who exercises will want this to happen.

If you must drink alcohol, you should do it in
moderation and never drink before you exercise, as
this will impair your balance, coordination, and
also your judgement.  Think about your health and
how you exercise - and you may begin to look at
things from a whole new prospective.


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3 Secrets and Tips For Anit-Aging

♠ Posted by Unknown in

Summary:
What you're about to read is a great resource for learning how to easily stay young without all the hype. See a place full of anti-aging tips that are easy to follow, easy to implement and easy to live. There's no reason why you can't stay young!






<b>Anti-Aging</b>, Staying Young, looking younger or just feeling younger is a multimillion dollar industry. There's a really good reason for it. We have an ever-aging generation. This generation is one of the largest generation on the planet. Naturally, there's a huge number of this population that do not want to grow old. Therefore, anti-aging products are rampant in the marketplace. But don't get 'taken' by the unnecessary products that play on the emotions of those who wish to look young.

The following are three secrets and tips that will allow you to avoid the risks of buying certain products that are not needed.

Secret Tip #1: Feed Your Face
If you feed your face with anti-aging food on a consistent basis, you'll find it easier to stay young. Another way to say this is to just make sure you're not feeding your body full of junk that is sure to perpetuate the aging process. Also, know that if you try to escape the eating step, you'll grow older faster. The body knows what it needs. Just give it to your body.

Secret Tip #2: Pick Something or Go Somewhere
In other words, get up off the couch, turn the TV off and do some anti-aging activities. This doesn't have to be work either. Find an activity or two that you enjoy. Walk, run, weight train, ride a bike, get on a pogo stick. Do anything that causes your body to move and exert some activity. This will allow your body to stay young by stretching muscles and keeping you limber at the same time.

Secret Tip #3: Don't Be A Party Pooper
Mentioned above for the #2 Anti-Aging Secret Tip was finding something you enjoy. That's the whole secret of this entire article. Find something you have fun doing. Just know this, if drinking alcohol into a drunken stupor is the one thing you enjoy, you are not going stay young for very long. In fact, if you're older in age and you're doing this you may not even enjoy staying old. The key to the entire process of anti-aging is to treat your body right and have fun doing it.

Enjoy life, stay young mentally, emotionally, physically and you'll see an anti-aging process that you'll be happy about. That will give you the motivation and momentum to continue the lifestyle of anti-aging.



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The Way to Health & Vitality

♠ Posted by Unknown in



Summary:
Easy to follow hints, tips and advice to gradually achieving optimum Health and Vitality and improving your general Well-being with a simple exercise and eating regimen.


Keywords:
health, fitness, vitality, nutrition, exercise, weightloss, slimming, aromatherapy, massage, personal development, self-improvement, stress, relaxation, smoking, headache, lifestyle, diet, well-being


Article Body:
It's time to start a Healthy life:
your 7 days program

How many times have you gone to sleep at night, swearing you'll go to the gym in the morning, and then changing your mind just eight hours later because when you get up, you don't feel like exercising?

While this can happen to the best of us, it doesn't mean you should drop the ball altogether when it comes to staying fit. What people need to realize is that staying active and eating right are critical for long-term health and wellness -- and that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The more you know about how your body responds to your lifestyle choices, the better you can customize a nutrition and exercise plan that is right for you. When you eat well, increase your level of physical activity, and
exercise at the proper intensity, you are informing your body that you want to burn a substantial amount of fuel. This translates to burning fat more efficiently for energy.

In other words, proper eating habits plus exercise equals fast metabolism, which, in turn gives you more energy throughout the day and allows you to do more physical work with less effort.

The true purpose of exercise is to send a repetitive message to the body asking for improvement in metabolism, strength, aerobic capacity and overall fitness and health. Each time you exercise, your body responds by upgrading its capabilities to burn fat throughout the day and night, Exercise doesn't have to be intense to work for you, but it does need to be consistent.

I recommend engaging in regular cardiovascular exercise four times per week for 20 to 30 minutes per session, and resistance training four times per week for 20 to 25 minutes per session. This balanced approach provides a
one-two punch, incorporating aerobic exercise to burn fat and deliver more oxygen, and resistance training to increase lean body mass and burn more calories around the block.

Here's a sample exercise program that may work for you:

* Warm Up -- seven to eight minutes of light aerobic activity intended to increase blood flow and lubricate and warm-up your tendons and joints.

* Resistance Training -- Train all major muscle groups. One to two sets of each exercise. Rest 45 seconds between sets.


* Aerobic Exercise -- Pick two favorite activities, they could be jogging, rowing, biking or cross-country skiing, whatever fits your lifestyle. Perform 12 to 15 minutes of the first activity and continue with 10 minutes of the
second activity. Cool down during the last five minutes.

* Stretching -- Wrap up your exercise session by stretching, breathing deeply, relaxing and meditating.

When starting an exercise program, it is important to have realistic expectations. Depending on your initial fitness level, you should expect the following changes early on.

* From one to eight weeks -- Feel better and have more energy.

* From two to six months -- Lose size and inches while becoming leaner. Clothes begin to fit more loosely. You are gaining muscle and losing fat.

* After six months -- Start losing weight quite rapidly.

Once you make the commitment to exercise several times a week, don't stop there. You should also change your diet and/or eating habits,' says Zwiefel. Counting calories or calculating grams and percentages for certain nutrients is
impractical. Instead, I suggest these easy-to-follow guidelines:

* Eat several small meals (optimally four) and a couple of small snacks throughout the day

* Make sure every meal is balanced -- incorporate palm-sized proteins like lean meats, fish, egg whites and dairy products, fist-sized portions of complex carbohydrates like whole-wheat bread and pasta, wild rice, multigrain cereal and potatoes, and fist-sized portions of vegetable and
fruits

* Limit your fat intake to only what's necessary for adequate flavour

* Drink at least eight 8-oz. glasses of water throughout the day

* I also recommend that you take a multi-vitamin each day to ensure you are getting all the vitamins and minerals your body needs.

I suppose that's all I can think of for now. I should extend my thanks to a doctor friend of mine. Without him, I wouldn't be able to write this article, or keep my sanity.

Enjoy life, we all deserve it.

You'll find many more useful information and articles at Health & Vitality - to Enjance Your Life.

Health & Vitality for all your life-enhancing and personal development products. - Visit: >>> http://www.health-vitality.com


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