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luni, 19 octombrie 2009

Does Exercise Make You Fat?

Posted by dantntfcs

“The Myth About Exercise” is the cover story for the Aug. 17 issue of Time magazine. The myth, it seems, is that exercise can make you lose weight. In fact, according to the article, exercise can make you gain weight, because it makes you hungry and you then eat more. It makes sense, if this is true, that the more you exercise the more weight you will gain. The New York Marathon is Nov. 1 this year and Chicago is Oct. 11. You may want to watch one of these and see all those fat distance runners. 
The author of the article has a scientific study to back him up, as well as his own experience of getting hungry, apparently for sweets, after exercise. He does not mention the large number of studies that show that exercise, while helpful in weight loss, is vital to keeping the weight off after you lose it. As far as anecdotal stories go, you can find plenty of those in publications like Runners World from people who became serious about exercise and took off large amounts of weight because of that. 
Individuals vary, of course, but most people do not get hungry right after exercise. In fact, there are good reasons to eat certain things after a hard workout, race, or game, and there are products in liquid form designed for that purpose because the athlete or exerciser may not want solid food. 
The article emphasizes that how many calories you burn depends on your overall activity, not just formal exercise. This, of course, is true. If you are someone who drives around for 15 minutes to find a parking place close to the gym so you won’t have to walk, you may want to re-evaluate your activities. And it does emphasize that exercise is good for your health, so you should do it even if you don’t lose weight. The author tells us there is a growing body of evidence that for prevention of certain diseases, weight loss is more important than fitness. He doesn’t mention that there is a growing body of evidence that fitness is more important than weight loss for preventing or postponing some other conditions (like death). 
Here are a couple of other things. He talks about converting fat to muscle. That doesn’t happen, as they are different types of tissue. You can lose weight and gain muscle, or vice versa, but not convert one to the other. And it shouldn’t be surprising that heavy people may burn more calories than slender people. It takes more energy just to move the heavier body. 
Some of this article is inaccurate and some is just oversimplified. They even devote much of a double-page spread to illustrating the tiresome oversimplification that you have to exercise x minutes to burn off that muffin you just ate. The truth is both activity/exercise and diet are important for weight loss, gain, or management, as are the type and duration of activity and the composition and amount of food. All of this varies somewhat by individual, but you can figure it out for yourself with some accurate information. Just don’t believe everything you read, even in usually reliable publications.


When it is time to set up a fitness room in your home, there are many things to consider.
You will want to create an environment that is motivational.
After all, half the battle of working out is staying motivated.
The best thing to do is create a theme to the room. Choose a setting that makes you feel at ease, and that makes the room enjoyable to be in. If you don’t like working out in the first place, you sure won’t enjoy doing it in a room you don’t like to be in.
Use a Motivational Design

You can place pictures and posters of motivational phrases or places on the walls. You might also consider using pictures or yourself as you lose weight or get in shape, to keep you motivated. Some people even display charts or workout regimen.
As you complete one day’s workout you can mark it down on the chart, for motivation to continue. Many people find that using charts is a great way to visually see the progress already made, and to set goals for future workouts.
Make Your Room Easy to Clean

Your fitness room should be easy to clean, and wipe down. Consider using tile or hardwood floors that can easily be swept and mopped. You may also want to use a washable paint in the room.
If the room is used by several people, you may want to keep a cabinet with disinfecting cleaners, and rags in the room. This will make it much easier for each person to clean up their own mess.
Make the Room Larger With Mirrors

Consider covering at least one wall of the room with mirrors. It is much easier to complete an exercise or routine if you can see whether or not you are doing it correctly.
When learning a new routine, it is much easier to practice in a mirror for the first few tries. Mirrors will also make the room look much larger. A mirror can make you feel more at ease, and reduce the feeling of being cramped.
Light and Bright

Studies have shown that bright colors provide a motivational and happy feeling. Therefore, it is best to choose a room in your house with plenty of natural sunlight, and choose paint colors that are bright and refreshing. 
Choose coordinating bright colors for each wall to give your room a fun and engaging feeling.
Include All the Amenities
For a true feeling of comfort and joy when working out you will want to include all the necessary workout amenities. Consider purchasing a beverage cooler, and installing a sink for freshening up.
You will also want to purchase all the equipment [Fitness equipment] needed for the workout regimen you choose. Being without one piece of equipment will give you an excuse to skip your workout.
Decorating your fitness room to be motivational isn’t hard. With a little effort and planning, you can create an environment that inspires you to get in shape and feel great about yourself.


Strength training is the process of using resistance to muscular contraction to build the strength, anaerobic endurance, and size of skeletal muscles.
In common usage, this term is often confused with bodybuilding, weightlifting, or even power lifting.
These are sports, however, and while it is true that strength training is an important part of these sports, strength training exists as a separate entity, and important part of overall health and fitness.
There are many different kinds of strength training. The most common form involves using gravity, usually in the form of weights, to create resistance to muscle contractions. As the muscle works against the resistance, it develops strength, hence the name.
Elastic bands or hydraulics are gaining popularity as methods for providing resistance in strength training. It should be noted that the terms “strength training” and “resistance training” are often used interchangeably.
When performed correctly, strength training will provide benefits and improvement in overall health. Some of these benefits include increased bone mass, and strength in bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments.
Joint function may also improve, and you may be less likely to suffer injury. Research has also shown that there is a temporary increase in the rate of metabolism (think calorie burning), as well as improved cardiac function.
There are a number of books, DVDs and websites that can help you learn about strength training. In addition, classes are usually available as well.
Whatever method you choose, work gently and slowly and build up over time to allow your muscles time to grow and recover. Building bulk is generally the provenance of men: women lack the necessary male hormones for building large, bulky muscles without concerted effort.


Becoming fitter and losing weight, will not only give you more confidence but you will feel much better.
Your friends and family will notice a new glow and an extra spring in your step.
Fitness is not about following fashion and it is certainly not something to do for others, you should decide for yourself when you want to change your diet and start to do more exercise.
The good thing about both of these things is that they will make you feel better about yourself after only a little while.
By exercising the body you will as a consequence start to clear your mind of the everyday stresses of your hectic life. There is nothing better than a walk to remove anxiety and help sort problems out, away from the surrounding causes. Frustration will disappear, angry feelings will fade, positive energy will prevail and the world will be good again.
As you lose weight you will be able to do more, your mind will work quicker too. As you replace your bad diet with more healthy options, your energy levels will rise. You will remove the highs and lows, suddenly your life will be lead at a steadier pace.
Your new trimmer body will not need to be hidden behind drab baggy clothes anymore, where you once hoped to keep it concealed from the outside world.
Clothes that were once too tight will be more comfortable and the area of fashion will have renewed appeal now that you have dropped a dress size.
More seriously, your risk of developing major illnesses will be lessened, heart disease may now pass you by and diabetes is just not an issue any more. The chances are that you will now live longer and all your new habits will rub off onto your children.
Your friends may be inspired to themselves, attempt to mirror your success, good news travels fast.
Things in your life that were once negative, have now disappeared and you are surrounded by positive energy that makes you feel like anything is possible. Increased confidence might encourage you to change your job, for singletons going out to find your life partner now seems like an adventure.
The world around you is exactly the same, the only difference is yourself and how good you feel about everything since you decided to make the change and adopt a healthier life style. This could be the theme music to your life too, it’s all up to you.


For men in particular adding muscle to their appearance will give them more confidence and they will get fitter in the process.
By doing Abs fitness training combined with a well balanced healthy diet, this is exactly what will be achieved.
Ideally general exercise and changing what you eat should be the forerunner to working out.
Firstly you will lose body fat and secondly you will have an increased level of fitness before starting at the gym.
In a way, you have to be fit to get fit otherwise you will overstretch yourself and cause possible injury.
There are different exercises for the various abdominal muscles; the latter are made up of three main areas.
External obliques are at the sides of the body’s torso and intercostals run from the latissimus dorsi up to the upper pectoral region. Intercostals are actually tendon and muscle fibers.
The area referred to as the six pack is called the rectus abdominis, and is recognized as the major hub of the abs. What most men are looking for is muscle definition and it is worth finding out the best kind of exercise for the muscles you want to tone.

Your local gym will have professionals who can advise you and most of them will set up an individual program for you to follow, free of charge. Avoid aimlessly trying out the different machines as it is a waste of time not to mention energy. Build up gradually and do not over exert yourself.
Think of your abdomen as a big chunk of muscle and remember that no amount of exercise will alter the six pack’s shape. This is governed by the different tendons which are taut against the actual muscle and can not be adjusted in any way.
It is a common misconception that performing regular sit-ups is perfect for this region but this simply isn’t true. The main muscle that will be pushed in this position is the psoas that joins the front thighs to the lower back region.
As with everything it is all about researching what you need to know and asking the right questions.
Ideally if you take regular cardiovascular exercise, drink lots of water and eat regular small meals based on the food triangle, it is the basis of a new lifestyle. Then once this routine is in place and working for you, then that is the time to add in visits to the local gym.
This routine will then become the start of a new fitter individual and the toned abs will simply be the icing on the cake.


The first step to fitness at any age is to address nutritional issues and cut out all the junk.
Drink plenty of water and increase your intake of fruits and vegetables.
If you are over forty, then just be cautious and do not change too much too soon.
Small alterations to what you eat will be very beneficial, switch white carbohydrates for brown, cut out sodas and drink plenty of water, rediscover the taste of fresh produce and replace red meat with white and include oily fish too.
Take the time, find out what is good and what to avoid, but allow yourself an occasional treat or else you will start obsessing over anything and everything. Often changing cooking methods can be a big help, try roasting root vegetables or steaming green ones. Tantalize your taste buds with new recipes.
Statistics show that less than half the citizens of America get enough exercise and even worse that three quarters lead a very sedate life style. This all leads to increase in heart patients, diabetics, and many other avoidable conditions.
Alongside a healthier diet introduce exercise, building up gradually. Your heart is having to work harder so choose something you enjoy and that you will not get bored with. Swimming exercises are also a good choice for those over forties but walking, cycling and jogging are all out there.
It could be a good time to start a new hobby which involves physical activity like golf or bowls. Even better if you have a willing friend or neighbor so you can share the highs and lows of getting fitter together. With so many different things to choose from, there is bound to be something that you enjoy.
Gardening can also provide exercise so it does not have to be all about sports. Your muscle tone will improve, so all those ache and pains will likely disappear, as your fitness levels rise.
Most activities are a great way of reducing stress levels; after all it is hard to worry about something when you need to concentrate on aiming a ball or hitting the back of a net. Confidence too will grow when you realize, just what you can achieve, your skin will benefit and your wardrobe will become full of new possibilities.
The only thing about getting fitter and eating more healthily, is that you will regret not doing it years ago, except the new you has no time for thinking about the past.


Two new studies presented at a recent meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine indicate that you might just be able to dance your way to fitness and improved health.
Needless to say, this is great news for people who find traditional workout regimens boring and utterly lacking in entertainment value.
Dancing is an activity that has increased in popularity in recent years.
At the very least, watching dancing on television has positively soared in popularity and shows like “Strictly Come Dancing” and “Dancing with the Stars” have been consistent ratings-busters.
The first of the two studies was conducted on a group of 27 sedentary adults with an average age of 53. The participants, most of whom were women, were invited to a 12-week course on introductory ballroom dancing.
The course covered dances such as the cha-cha, the fox trot and the tango. The classes were designed to occupy normally sedentary time for the participants, with the aim of adding at least 2000 steps to their daily total.
The other study, conducted by researchers in Italy, focused on Salsa and the effect the dance had on the oxygen consumption and the heart rate of the dancers.
The study noted an increase in heart rate between 60% and 75%, coupled with a 50% increase in oxygen consumption, which translated into a pretty good workout.
While both studies established dancing as an effective alternative form of exercise, the researchers were quick to point out that it is important not to lose the benefits of dancing by consuming high-calorie snacks and drinks while partying.

Why Skinny Is Not Always Fit?

Posted by dantntfcs


It is easy to look at a person with a beautiful body and be envious.
We think because someone is skinny, or slender, that they must be fit and healthy. That is not always the case.
Fitness and size do not directly equate. It is possible to be a size 2 and be very unfit, and it is equally as possible to be a size 20 and be in very good physical shape.
When you are judging your fitness level, your weight is only one component to consider. Yes, you want to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
But the key word there is “healthy.” This means avoiding obesity, and also avoiding unseen visceral fat, the kind of hidden fat that doesn’t show, but accumulates under your muscles and is unhealthy.
A better measure of fitness is your ability to do the kinds of activities that you like. Can you play with your children without becoming out of breath, or do you mostly sit and watch? Can you park your car anywhere at the mall without having to circle endlessly to find the closest space?
Do you have the energy to pursue your interests when you get home from work, or do you collapse onto the nearest couch? Do you do enough weight bearing exercise to keep your bones strong? And last, but certainly not least, do you work for flexibility, range of motion, and cardiovascular health?
All of these questions are far more important than just reaching a certain number on the scale or on the label of the clothes you buy.


Most people who remember Rock climbing the steps in front of the Philadelphia square are familiar with the fact that climbing stairs is supposed to be an excellent form of exercise.
For those who are not Rocky Balboa enthusiasts, climbing stairs is still a well known exercise to help keep the body shape, but now researchers are looking seriously into the positive effects that climbing stairs can have.
Due to the fact that climbing or descending stairs can be beneficial and may even help solve the nation’s problem of obesity, researchers are advocating that designers approach stairs creatively to help make them a more popular choice among people.
In fact, some designers have even considered adding music to stairwells to make them a more desirable way to travel throughout a building.
One of the largest problems with stairway use is that the stairs have gotten a bad rap in the past associated with a fire exit only or as creaky old stairwells that contain more dirt than a pleasurable way to access the building’s floors.
Other distractions that also draw people away from regular stair use is the fact they often lack carpeting due to fire codes and in many cases have large heavy doors which intimidate people accompanied by little or no air conditioning.
The report authors are encouraging designers to attack these preconceptions making stairs a central feature instead of a fire compliance thrown in along the side as an afterthought and by making small improvements in buildings that are already existing.
They also stated that with just a little extra flair such as artwork in the stairwells, and some carpet stair use may increase naturally on its own.


Television shows featuring dancing are more popular than they have been in a long time, and they have spurred a new interest in dancing for fun and fitness.
And for good reason: dancing exercise is a lot of fun, but it is also physically demanding. Still, there is no better way to get fit and have fun at the same time than to dance.
Start by thinking about the kind of dance in which you might like to participate.
Do you want to dance with a partner, or do you want to dance on your own?
Do you want a mostly social style of dance that allows for maximum conversation and interaction, or are you interested in getting a really intense workout?
Do you want something classic like ballroom dancing, or you interested in something more cutting edge, like a Bollywood or Zumba class? Whatever type of dance you are interested in, and whatever type of fitness level you are starting from, you can find a class that works for you.
Once you have chosen a style of dance, it is time to observe some classes to find one that is a good fit for you. Different instructors have different styles, so find one that you think will work well for you.
Ideally the class should be small enough that you can get some personal attention so that you learn to perform the moves correctly and don’t develop any bad habits that can be hard to break later.
If you are choosing a style of dance that requires a partner, you may want a class that is large enough that you will have the opportunity to dance with a number of partners.
Some classes call for special attire, while others don’t. There are a few types of dance that can be performed barefoot, or in regular exercise shoes.
Some types of dance require special dancing shoes, which usually are designed for a combination of support and flexibility, and often have leather soles.
Unless special clothing is specified, choose something in keeping with the spirit of the class. Dancing should be fun after all, and it is far better to wear clothing that makes the experience more fun.
Remember that dancing, although fun, is exercise. If you have not been very active, start slowly and work up to the level of intensity you desire. Remember to stretch after dancing to help keep your muscles limber.


Whether or not we like to admit it, many of us are perfectionists. This attitude carries over into our quest for fitness.
We think that if we can’t perform an exercise properly or if we don’t have the exact right exercise equipment, then there is no point in exercising.
We say we’ll learn more, or we’ll buy what we need, but we never do. We keep postponing exercise for some perfect confluence of circumstances and it never happens. Meanwhile, our fitness suffers.
If you have this kind of attitude, you may be sabotaging your fitness program without even realizing it.
The thing to remember is that some exercise is better than no exercise. Say you haven’t taken a particular class before, and you’ve been waiting to learn more about the moves before you start. Just jump in!
There’s no better place to learn than in the class. If you have wanted to start a running program but you haven’t found the right shoes, walk instead. Or swim. Whatever you do, get up and get moving.
This is especially important when you have been sick, and you think you have to wait until you are completely well before you can begin exercising again. You are better off getting back into the swing of things as soon as you can.
Just be gentle with yourself and do not overexert. Obviously if you are under a doctor’s care, wait for his OK, and never exercise if you are too sick to do so. But, when you can, start back slowly. You’ll be glad you did.

joi, 15 octombrie 2009

Golf Fitness Exercises

Posted by dantntfcs


Golf requires practice, skill and patience. Keep some in reserve for when you hit the golf fields ... Golfers need to concetrate on technique to see improvement, but two important components of conditioning can improve your golf fitness and reduce your risk of injury. 
The two areas to focus on include core strength and flexibility exercises. The muscles of the core are the powerhouse and the foundation of your golf swing so proper conditioning will truly make a big difference in the power you get from your long shots. 
Good core strength also allows you to have more endurance so your short game is more precise, fresh and controlled. The core exercises work the muscles of the abdominals, back and hips. Many other muscles attach to this area so the midsection is considered the foundation of all movement. 
A good example of a golf exercise is the Golf Posture Lateral Raise: 
- Bend forward at hips just beyond normal golf posture. 
- Hold dumbbells in front of your thighs, palms facing each other. 
- Slowly raise dumbbell to the side and up. 
- Slowly bring back down to pre-stretch position. 

This will quickly build up the strength in the back of your shoulders for a strong take-away and downswing. The only equipment required was a pair of dumbbells, or hand weights. 
Back pain is the golfer's most common complaint. The golf swing can put a lot of strain on this area, so make sure you stretch those back muscles. 


Whether you call it a beer belly, a spare tire, or a mommy pouch, having belly fat is not only unattractive, it is also unhealthy.
Carrying fat in your abdomen means you are at risk for a number of health problems, including the development of heart diseases and diabetes.
But a new study has shown that exercising the abdomen—even if you don’t diet—can help you avoid these health risks. In fact, the study showed that either diet or exercise worked to lower your risk, and that either alone worked as well as both in combination.
Fat cells release chemicals in the body that lead to inflammation; more and more medical science is discovering that inflammation is at the root of a number of serious health problems, particularly those that affect us most as we age.
To target your belly fat, you can do specific exercises for the abdominal area, such as crunches [Abdominal Exercises]. But you will get better results if you also exercise regularly. If you aren’t used to exercising, start slowly and work your way up.
A little exercise done consistently is better for you than a lot of exercise done sporadically. Walking is a good way to begin to get fit.


Many of us do a good job of setting goals at work, but when it comes to our private lives, we have a hard time applying these same principles.
If you had an important meeting with your supervisor, you would find a place for it in your schedule, right? So why can’t you find time to exercise?
The problem can be two-fold. For some of us the problem is that we are not fully committed to exercising and becoming more fit. If deep down you do not want to exercise, then no amount of planning or goal setting will help you start exercising.
This kind of issue calls for serious self-reflection, and perhaps works with a counselor who can help you discover why you are having issues becoming more fit and healthy.
The other problem is that we allow our fitness plans to be somewhat amorphous rather than setting the kind of goals we would for an important project at work. Just saying, “I’m going to exercise this week,” is not enough. Make your plans as specific as possible.
Pick the type of exercise, the date and time, and the duration. Say instead, “On Monday, Wednesday and Friday of this week, I will attend the 5:00 p.m. Pilates exercise class at the gym.” Then actually enter your appointment with yourself on your calendar. The more specific you make your fitness goals; the more likely you are to reach them.


Many athletes often debate if golf should be considered a sport as golf is not seen as a very active exercise focused sport.
However, exercise for the average person may lie at the key of the debate since golf does not include a lot if you use a golf cart to get around the tees, but on the PGA Tour players must walk the course. This means that each golfer walks about four miles in addition to swinging their clubs.
For an average 175 pound person, the activity would burn more than 300 calories which may make you think twice about renting a golf cart once you get out on the green.
If you want to maximize the physical activity that you get out of an average game of golf you might also think about skipping the caddy and carrying your own bag as well since it will help work out some of your core muscles.
These are just a few ways that you can use golf to get in shape this summer, but there are plenty of other sports that you may think of as recreational activities such as tennis, bicycling, or a sightseeing stroll that can help you get in shape as well with just a bit of tweaking.


If you are serious about your sport, and want to play the best you are capable of, then off-season basketball workouts are not a choice – they are a necessity.
You need to maintain your fitness, strength and skills throughout the off-season, so that your game will continue to improve.
If you want to develop your game, then basketball workouts are for you.
It doesn’t matter what your age or level of play, your position or skill level, you must use good techniques in your basketball workouts in order to make the most of each workout to improve and become the best player you can be.
Your commitment to your workouts, the effort and time you put into them, will all work together to give you the best results.
Your individual basketball workout needs to have two different components. Firstly, you have the cardio and strength training part that is essential to your success.
You need to have the strength and endurance to play games effectively throughout the season. Secondly, you have the ball skills part of the workout because without these you won’t be a useful and successful member of your team.
Here are some tips for getting the most from your individual basketball workout:

Understand that skills develop gradually over time, with consistent practice and effort. Don’t expect to see fast results; that is unrealistic.

Be committed to your basketball workouts; be dependable to yourself and don’t skimp or miss a session. Consistency is the key to improvement and success with off-season basketball workouts.
Plan your workouts – have a time limit, know what you are going to do at each basketball workout and stick to it. Having completed your goal for the day, you are free to go off and do other things, knowing you have done what you set out to do.
Make your workout mimic a game with short bursts of activity. Basketball is not a marathon type of sport; it is more like interval training, so structure your workout skills training in the same way.
Your individual basketball workout needs to focus on both your weaknesses and your strong points. Continue to develop your good moves while you work up the skills that are not your best.
Keeping a training journal is a great idea. It keeps you focused, allows you to record results, what worked well and what didn’t, and gives you a way of keeping track of your progress.
Keep in mind that skills development is gradual; very few people get straight to being able to do a skill. You need to go through the learning steps to acquiring any skill. Don’t get discouraged; hang in there and you will break through and succeed.
Train your mind as well as your body. You need to be able to make smart decisions on the court by anticipating, seeing opportunities and making snap decisions. As you go through your individual basketball workout, keep your mind active, work with imaginary plays and train as if you were in a game.
Use these tips to develop your basketball workout and make your off-season training sessions the key to your on-going improvement on the court.

Having goals can help us achieve what we want. If you set a goal to lose a certain amount of weight, for example, or increase your resting heart rate, then you have a specific measure of your achievement. But what happens after you achieve your goal?
We do need to take time to relish what we have earned. But the danger when it comes to exercise and fitness is that we become complacent.
We fail to set up our next goal, or we allow boredom to creep in. The next thing you know is the pounds have crept back on or you have dropped your exercise program because it was no longer interesting, exciting, or challenging. You had nothing to look forward to.
Fitness and health involve more than just numbers and goals. Fitness isn’t something you achieve, then cross off your list and forget about. For a long, healthy life, you must remain active. You can only do this if you make exercise an ongoing part of your life.
To help yourself do this, set goals that will keep you growing and moving forward, even as you build on your achievements. If you like to run, try training for a 10K.
If you like to walk, prepare for a charity walk-a-thon. If you like the more structured setting of a gym, commit to trying several new classes, or learning how to use new fitness equipment.

Nordic training has been done by Scandinavian skiers for many years, also known as fitness walking; it involves walking while holding poles.
It provides a complete body workout and consumes nearly fifty percent more energy than walking alone.
For regular walkers taking up this form of exercise could be the next step in their fitness regime, as it will improve endurance levels and make the upper body a great deal stronger.
In fact most of the body’s muscles will be enhanced.
It is essential to use the correct size pole for your height and shape, if you don’t, more harm could be caused than good. You should be able to find out quite easily the length of pole that you need.
Fitness walking is actually easier than ordinary walking because the poles provide the body with better balance and help with stability. Climbing steep inclines are therefore a lot easier and the various joints will benefit from a more even distribution of weight.
An increase of calories will be used up and in terms of cardio-vascular activity it will at a much higher level. Even the bones will not be exposed to as much stress as their density.
It is believed that up to ten million people in Western Europe have now changed to fitness walking as it requires no quickening of pace or extra miles to undertake. All ages will feel the advantages and once used to the correct way of carrying the poles will enjoy it just as muc


Everyone is uniquely different and nowhere is this fact important than the area of exercise.
Only you know your body and how far to push its limits.
Exercise regimes should never be based on what others are doing as their strengths will be very different from your own.
Setting out a clear plan of what you want to achieve will help you reach your target goals which should be attainable and take into consideration your lifestyle. Focus is required to stick with your daily routine so try to exercise in ways that you enjoy to avoid becoming de-motivated.
Recognize if your plan is not working and make appropriate changes, a morning jog may be better fitted in after work and extra exercise at the weekend might work better than seven days of every week. It may be easier than you think to fit a half hour walk into your lunch break.
Allow yourself down time, if your life becomes a cycle of work and exercise, you will soon get frustrated and your body will suffer too.
Drink plenty of water and ensure you eat sensibly, small regular meals are better for the body than skipping meals and subsequent snacking. Allow yourself a treat occasionally so you don’t start craving an old favorite.
After about a week you will begin to appreciate what your routine can do for you, as your whole body acclimatizes everything will be easier, including the actual exercise itself. Concentrating on exercise is a good distraction from life’s everyday worries and really is good for the soul too.

Quality of life is what we all want. Good health helps us achieve a high quality of life. Fitness makes us want to live it every day. If you agree with these three premises, keep reading.

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A great way of saving money and eating more healthily is to grow your own vegetables.
You will be amazed at how much tastier, freshly picked produce straight form your own backyard actually is.
As well as the satisfaction of producing something for the pot, gardening in general is great exercise.
All that digging, planting, weeding and eventually the harvesting use muscles that you may never had known that existed.
It is great for all the family and children in particular love watching things grow.
If you start to become more confident about growing, you could even start to sell on the excess vegetables at a farmers market or even offer a local delivery service.
It is a good way of creating an extra bit of income and your customers can appreciate the real taste just like you do.
Joining a gym is likely to now be out of the question, for the revised and much tighter budget. However with only a small investment you can have your own gym in the comfort of your own home. It is also, much more convenient, than queuing up to use a club’s facilities.
Exercise equipment is much more competitive than it used to be, so shop around to get the best deal. Consider second hand equipment that has often, hardly been used but is being sold just because of a change of heart. Basic dumbbells are very inexpensive and small trampoline can be picked up very cheaply.
If you have the space convert a spare bedroom into a home gym, if not there take up less space than you may imagine.

According to a new study, average 50-year-old leads a fitter and healthier life than someone half their age.
The study says that people in their 50s are determined to get most out of life, by turning their backs on the car and the sofa to keep fit.
The average 25 year old takes 2,300 calories a day, exercises only thrice a week and munches on 12 types of junk food every month, researchers said.
Compared to 25-year-olds, 50-year-olds take below 1990 calories daily, spends exercising more time and does at least 4 different types of activity.
The older generation gives into the temptation of junk food just once each week. The survey also shows people in their mid-20s tuck into three takeaways a month, while 50-somethings have only one.
Many young people are not understanding the benefit of balanced and holistic approach to diet and lifestyle.

marți, 13 octombrie 2009

Creatine Supplement To Improve Lean Muscle Mass!

Posted by dantntfcs


Creatine is the most advanced and well known nutritional supplement used by most of the body builders and also athletes.
If you are very regular to gym and very serious about your body building and fitness programs, then it is very essential for you to know about creatine.
This natural substance plays a vital role in production and modulation of cellular energy.
It also helps in prolonging the life of your muscle cells and tissues and also helps in protecting them from serious injuries.
Creatine offers a wide range of benefits for you, provided if you use it in proper prescribed proportions. It has been proven by many researches that creatine is mainly beneficial for muscle peak torque production and increasing muscle strength capabilities.
It also provides ample amounts of energy for your muscle cells. These effects of creatine are mainly due its better ability of maintaining ATP levels in your body.

Other helpful uses of creatine include:
Creatine mainly helps in reducing muscle wasting in post surgical patients.
By increasing the levels of water, it helps in maximizing the volumes of your muscle cells.
It can also help in increasing the overall capacity in your muscle.
It is very beneficial in storing its contents in muscle for producing short term energy for you.
It is also useful for increasing glycogen re-synthesis process.
Is it safe to take creatine?

Many researches have proved that creatine is a safe supplement for body building. It has been considered that there are very few side effects of using this supplement. Some of those mainly include stomach upset, muscle cramps, dehydration and also diarrhea.
Most of these potential side effects can be reduced by drinking more amounts of water, while taking creatine. Most of you tend to have these side effects, if you take this supplement in the form of powder.
It is very important for you to know that this creatine doesn’t affect any of your hormone levels and also it do not show any kind of affect on your skin. It has been estimated that almost 95% of people who consumed this supplement for muscle improvement do not have any kind of side effects.
As a word of caution, it is highly recommended to take proper suggestions from your health care provider and also any experienced doctor, before consuming any kind of body building supplement in order to avoid undesirable conditions of health.

Recent findings in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism reveals that being overweight or obese may not protect people from developing brittle bones.
Study lead by Dr. Jean-Marc Kaufman of Ghent University Hospital in Belgium and his colleagues, found that fat people had small and thin bones when compared with lean people who have larger and denser skeletons.
Earlier studies believed that high body mass index might protect both men and women against bone thinning diseases like osteoporosis, while being thin increases the chances of person to develop fractures.
But, recent research suggests that fat mass may affect bones differently than muscle mass does. Lean muscle mass is the major determinant of bone size and bone size is adapted to dynamic load imposed by muscle force rather than passive loading by fat.

According to a study published in journal Pediatrics, kids are showing up in emergency rooms with injuries from gym class at more than double the rate of ten years ago.
While the rate doubled, the number of injuries yearly shot up by 150 percent, from 1977 to 2007.
Dr. Lara McKenzie of National Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, the lead researcher on the study, told that lack of supervision and school nurses may be part of the reason behind a 150 percent jump in physical education related injuries.
But whatever the cause behind the trend, McKenzie was quick to add, the benefits of participating in PE far outweigh any risks.
McKenzie and her team looked at data from the US Consumer Products Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, which tracks sports and recreation-related injuries treated at a nationally representative sample of about 100 US hospital emergency departments.

1.-Don’t take the elevator, take the stairs! Opting for the stairs over the elevator will burn calories you wouldn’t have burned before. Taking just one flight of stairs will burn 20 calories. Just think if you climb 5 flights you would work off the oatmeal you had for breakfast!
2.-Get up and walk around the office for your breaks. Instead of going to the kitchen, primping in the bathroom or gossiping with co-workers and friends, walk around the office or better yet, walk around the block a few times!
3.-Walk just 20 minutes a day. This is better than nothing at all. And if you can walk in the morning, this will jump start your body metabolism for the whole day and you will feel so much better about yourself! In fact, studies show that people who work out in the morning are more conscious about what they eat throughout the day. Double bonus!
4.-Park at the back of the parking lot. When you go to the grocery store, movie theatre, church, wherever you go park at the back of the parking lot and walk that much further!
5.-Walk around the block during commercials! Instead of flipping through the channels, get up and walk around the block!

Aerobic capacity, or VO2, is defined as the highest amount of oxygen that is consumed in one minute of aerobic exercise.
It’s often considered the standard test for determining aerobic conditioning.
The higher your aerobic capacity, the more the aerobic system will contribute to energy production. This means your endurance will improve no matter how high the intensity of your exercise.
Determining Your Maximum Aerobic Capacity
In order to improve aerobic capacity, you need to train at around 95% of your maximum aerobic capacity. To find out what your maximum aerobic capacity is, you need to perform a time trial.
Normally, this will take between six and eight minutes and you should be well rested beforehand. You’ll need to monitor your speed and heart rate. During this test, you will need to perform at the highest intensity you can for six minutes. Your speed and heart rate at this maximum, six-minute intensity will give you your maximum aerobic capacity.
Putting Your Maximum Aerobic Capacity to Use
In order to increase your maximum aerobic capacity, you’ll need to spend quite a bit of time performing at your maximum oxygen consumption. More than likely, you will need to raise your intensity and duration.
However, even when you are performing at a high intensity, it only takes about one minute and forty seconds to raise your oxygen consumption needed to increase aerobic capacity.
Two Ways to Maintain Maximum Oxygen Consumption
There are two ways that you can maintain your maximum oxygen consumption for an extended time. One is repeat training, and the other interval training. Repeat training has long repetitions, and a full recovery between sets.
Since you need about two minutes to elevate your oxygen consumption, your repeats must be quite a bit longer than two minutes. Interval training requires shorter repetitions at the same high intensity, but with shorter recovery times.
By reducing these recovery times, the maximum oxygen consumption will occur much faster during each repetition. This allows you to keep your oxygen consumption elevated for a much larger percentage of the set.
Performing at a Higher Intensity for Shorter Intervals
You should not perform at a higher intensity for shorter intervals. This will not help your aerobic capacity, but will actually increase your recovery time. The normal aerobic capacity set should be five sets at three minutes each. You should have a three minute recovery. This is a very difficult workout and you will need to build up to it.
Where to Begin
You should begin your aerobic capacity training slowly. It will actually be a very noticeable increase in intensity for most people. Consider shorter rest intervals, with a total “on” time of about eight to twelve minutes.
You should build your volume up slowly, but consistently. As you progress, you need to shift your sets to those with longer repetitions. Make sure you monitor how your body recovers very carefully. It can really vary between individuals. Even those athletes who are used to a high volume training program can break down very easily with aerobic capacity.

Why is it that one can exercise but not lose fat in spite of their strenuous efforts? Well the answer lies in the way that you exercise, the time you exercise and what exercise you perform and of course what you eat.
You will burn calories with exercise, but whether those calories come from fat or glucose is the key!
One does firstly have to understand that the body stores fat in the body as insulation as well as for times of need.
We evolved in a way that the body learnt to store fat for when food was scarce, as in times of famine etc. So whatever the body does not need right now from the food that you eat, it will store for a later date.
The body has not evolved in a way that it recognizes the availability of food, of plenty, so it continues to retain that fat which it tries not to expend. This is the way evolution programmed us to be and unfortunately we are unable to reprogram this.
Since this is the way we are programmed, we have to also understand that the body burns fat last. To begin with it burns off sugar or glucose which is present in the system from the food eaten. This sugar is first utilized for the body’s energy needs, after then is exhausted; the fat stores of the body are targeted.
In the following ways we can end up burning fat and not glucose:
Exercise long enough for the body to finish burning glucose and start burning the fat. Many experts state that for the first 20 minutes of doing cardio, the body will call upon its sugar reserves and then after that fat will be burnt. [ cardio exercises]
Exercise in the morning on an empty stomach when there are fewer sugars and glucose in your system for the body to burn. The fat deposits will more likely be targeted by the body for its energy needs if you exercise first thing in the morning when the glucose levels of the body are depleted. Also exercising in the morning will up your metabolism and keep it up during the day, burning even more calories.
Resistance exercise or weight exercise will build lean muscle tissue which burns more calories of the body even when at rest.
Don’t starve or eat a very low calorie diet. This will send the body a message of starvation, and the body will horde the fat. It will slow down the metabolism rather than expend the stored fat.
So make sure that your work out is as effective as you can make it, by ensuring that you are burning fat and not merely glucose.

Effective Yoga Poses For Women

Posted by dantntfcs

Yoga plays an important role in every stage of a woman’s life. Yoga exercises will make you more aware of your strengths and weaknesses while reducing stress, improving co-ordination, increasing flexibility and extending your range of motion.

Here are some recommended yoga poses for women to perform regularly:
Poses for women
Archer pose: This pose is excellent for women. It stretches your front muscles and opens the hips.
Stand straight, keep your left leg forward and bend it so that it can support the weight of your body. Keep your right leg straight back with the heel off the floor.
Extend your left arm as if holding a bow and with the right hand pretend that you are pulling back the bow strings. Your right hand should reach all the way past your chest. Take a long breath and hold the pose.
Baby pose: Baby pose is great for relaxation and aids in digestion. Sit down on your heels and bend forward until your forehead touches the floor. Keep your arms by your side with palms facing upwards or downwards.
Shoulder stand: This pose stimulates your body metabolism and is great for weight loss. Lie down on your back. Lift your legs and bring them up over your head.
Keep your hands on your back for support. Keep the body in a straight line with the floor. Make sure there is no neck movement. Look at your chest and relax your breath.

Yoga Pose Basics:

Posted by dantntfcs



            Yoga pose works on your mind and body and makes your body lighter and healthier.
Yoga pose helps in supply of blood to brain and various parts of the body.
Your body becomes purified and you become healthy and conscious.
Some of the yoga poses are described here.
Lotus pose (padmasana): Lotus pose requires crossing your legs while keeping your back straight. Sit down on the floor with legs stretched and keeping your palms down. Hold your right foot and put it on the left thigh until it touches the hip joint. Similarly, hold your left foot and put it on the right thigh until it touches the hip joint. Keep your hands upwards or downwards.
This pose has lot of benefits such as increasing attentiveness, stimulating body parts, relaxing effect and increasing awareness. It also develops in maintaining good body posture.
Easy pose (sukhasana): Easy pose is a comfortable seated position for meditation. Sit on the floor by crossing the legs and placing the feet below the knees. Place your palms facing up on the knees. Press your hip bones down in to the floor. Drop the shoulders down and back and press the chest forwards. This pose is used to open the hips and strengthen the spine.
Yoga pose (yogasana): Yogasana requires sitting and crossing your legs. Put your hand behind you and hold the left wrist with right hand. With deep breath slowly bring your forehead and nose in contact with the floor. Exhale as you lower your head. Keep your head on the floor for about ten seconds and rise up slowly breathing in as you reach the initial position.
Hero pose (virasana): sit on your heels and legs underneath you. Keep your knees together, lift the buttocks and move your feet apart placing them on either side of the buttocks. Place your hands on the thighs, palms facing up. Sit straight, relax your shoulders and face muscles.
Corpse pose (shavasana): Lie down quietly on the surface on your back. Rest your hands at your sides and keep your palms facing up. Make your mind clear. Take long breaths with your mind in relaxed condition.
Bow pose (dhanurasana): Lie down on the stomach and reach back and grasp your ankles and inhale. Lifting your legs, head and chest, arch the back into a bow. Retain your breath, exhale and lie flat. Repeat it four to five times.
Wind relieving pose (pavana muktasana): This pose can relieve unwanted gases from your body. The excess gas would be removed from the stomach and the digestive system will be improved. Lie down on your back. As you inhale, bend your knees. Wrap your hands around right leg and press it to your chest. As you exhale release the leg. Raise your chin to your knee, breath and relax. Repeat the same procedure with the left leg.
Yoga poses are very effective and they have many benefits:
It helps in reducing the weight loss and illnesses and makes your body healthy.
It massages the internal organs of the body.
It increases the flexibility of the body.
It helps in reducing health problems such as arthritis, backache and digestive problems.

luni, 12 octombrie 2009

Hatha Yoga Basics

Posted by dantntfcs

Hatha yoga is an easy and important type of yoga popular in Western countries and United States.
Hatha is made of two words: ‘Ha’ means Sun and ‘tha’ means moon. Yoga means to join or unite. Hatha yoga means union of sun and moon.
It means harmonizing the positive and negative currents in the body.
Hatha yoga is an excellent means of stretching, exercising and freeing so that the body can be healthy, vital, and long lived instrument of the soul and mind.
Hatha yoga prepares our body for the spiritual path via breathing and physical exercises. Hatha yoga is the best to start with if you never tried yoga before.
Hatha yoga mainly concentrates on asanas, dhyana and pranayama. It aims at balancing different energy flows within the human body.
If you are practicing hatha yoga, your mind become clear and you can concentrate well. As your minds become clear, your healthy body enables to meditate easily.
Practice hatha yoga with a calm and meditative mind. Sit quietly and relax your mind for few minutes. Now you can start doing asanas slowly. Don’t overstretch yourself as it may lead to injuries.
Asanas are positions of the body that strengthen, purify and balance the endocrine, circulatory and nervous systems. Asanas have healing properties and prevent diseases to occur. Hatha yoga methods are used to treat emotional disorders and chronic illnesses.
If you practice asanas regularly, your body becomes flexible, bone strength increases, will power and concentration increases. You breathe more easily, your body gets rid off all toxins, your weight decreases, you gain energy, your blood pressure normalize, your stress decreases, and your negative thoughts decreases.
Pranayama depends on the breathing techniques. Pranayama is derived from prana (energy source or life force) and ayama (to control).The practice of pranayama help to get energy inside your body. Our mind can be controlled by controlling our breath.
Hatha yoga works all your muscles of the body. It tones your body and helps to build stamina to perform other exercises in the future.

Some of the examples of hatha yoga are:

Gentle yoga: this type of yoga is used by the beginners. This is used to warm up the body and works on joints and glands. It can be used for warm up for rigorous exercises.
Restorative yoga: this type of yoga focuses on poses which are restful and rejuvenating even for those who cannot perform any physical movements. Restorative yoga adds balance to your hectic schedule and also brings the body into balance.
The hatha yoga asanas cures the following problems such as Asthma, arthritis, appendicitis, anemia, abdominal problems, accumulation of fat, constipation, back pain, hypertension, headache, diabetes, gastric problems, nervousness, memory loss, eye weakness and immune system support.
Advanced hatha yoga practitioners get more health benefits by following particular asanas. You have to practice all asanas without giving strain to your body, spine and ligaments. All hatha yoga asanas improve blood flow and oxygen supply to various parts of the body

Kundalini Yoga- A Dynamic Yoga

Posted by dantntfcs


It is a method of expanding consciousness and maintaining the new awareness.
It concentrates on the awakening of the energy that is found at the base of your spine. This energy is going to take the form of snake.
Therefore it is called as kundalini; the meaning is ‘coiled up’. Kundalini yoga awakens this snake and sends moving up your spine to the brain which results in uplifting state of delight and attentiveness.
Kundalini yoga deals with basic life energy, prana. Prana is the sub atomic energy, the life force. Kundalini yoga teaches how to use prana as it is the path of the discovery of the source of the prana.
It passes through different chakras or centers of consciousness which are in the human body, once the kundalini is awakened. Awakening the kundalini is not a big deal since for life to exist in us, it must already be active. We do not know what contributed to this awakening but moments of deeper awakening happen in life.
To awaken the kundalini, you need patience, devotion and perseverance to your practice. You may get different feelings once it is awakened. You may feel tickling sensations along the spinal cord or you may feel trembling, pains in the areas of different chakras, tingling sensations and nervousness. There are seven chakras which provide power or experience when stimulated.
To understand the movement of kundalini, you should have knowledge about the nervous system, especially the spinal cord because the seven chakras are found to be in this area of the body.
If you are practicing kundalini yoga, it balances the glandular system, strengthens the nervous system and enables you to control the energy of the mind and the emotions. Therefore you can control yourself rather than being controlled by your thoughts and feelings.
The kundalini in your body can be awakened by practicing mantras, asanas and pranayama, the help of guru, practicing bhakta yoga and hatha yoga, and concentrating and training your mind.
If you are practicing kundalini yoga and awakening kundalini without the help of guru, it can be dangerous. Without the help of guru, the results of practicing kundalini yoga are stress, headaches, irregular breathing, depression, forceful mood swings, mental confusion, dissipated behavior and psychosis. Therefore you should not awaken kundalini with force without guru.
The Kundalini yoga can be practiced in different ways:

Meditation exercises: These type of exercises find peace of mind, improves consciousness, creativity and harmony.
Relaxation exercises: These exercises are used to reduce stress and reinforce physically and mentally.
Physical exercises: These exercises gives flexibility to your body, strengthen your nervous and glandular system, stretch your muscles, improves the digestive system, balance and stimulate various functions, improve blood circulation and improves sexual energy.
Breathing exercises: These exercises control your emotions, and purify respiratory system.
Kundalini yoga is more than a physical exercise. It is powerful, dynamic tool for increasing awareness. It perfects the finite life while connecting it to the infinite experience.

High-Carbohydrate diet

Posted by dantntfcs


            I will tell you some words about high-carbohydrate diet, what I like and what I don't. You will choose to use it or not.
In the first 5 days of the diet program you should take the basic of 4.4 gr of Carbohydrate and 2.2 gr protein for every kilogram of your body. This you need is to take a protein from the food. You should eat once on every 2-3 hours - viel, chicken, whole eggs and low-butten milk products. This will give you enought for your body-building.
The next 5 days you should take a little calories, getting 6.6 gr Carbohydrate oin every kilogram of your body. The protein is staying 2.2 gr per kilogram. This too high quantity of Carbohydrate, will get much glycogen to your muscles, which is a fuel for your training. You should practise a lot of drills and prend not less than an hourn in the fitness hall per training.
           The next 2 days you should decrease the getting of Carbohydrate, because you will have too high quantity of glycogen, and it will slowly goes into normal rates. Here you should increase the protein rates to 4.4 gr per kilogram of your weight. You will keep your weight and you will have enought calories, which is the main you need.

Pills versus diets

Posted by dantntfcs


           If obesity is associated with endocrine disorders, so that you can otslabnesh or napalneesh using hormones? Some doctors try to treat obesity early by thyroid hormones (they are made in the thyroid gland). Insofar as they regulate the metabolism, a greater amount of them leads to speeding up this process and to reduce weight. But not today is taken to treat people with normal thyroid function by thyroid hormones. Fitnes sometimes is not the best activity for you.

          One of the main causes of obesity is the presence in the diet of large amounts of fat. in this case it is recommended that rational nutrition, greater physical activity and use of products specifically designed for weight loss. Furthermore, well known are the negative effects of the adoption of unnecessary thyroid hormones. This affect the myocardium (appears tendencies, of heart-front fibrillation and abnormal rhythm). effects and bone (to stimulate the development of osteoporosis). Such treatment can not be called harmless. Furthermore, always try to make treatment aimed at the causes of the disease. In patients who have normal thyroid function, the appointment of thyroid hormones is not justified nor advisable. If obesity is received following a breach of the functions of the thyroid gland, tireodnite hormones can actually help. They shall be appointed until the normal status of the thyroid gland and leads to weight loss. Hiperfunktsiyata thyroid generally leads to weight loss. in this case a weight problem can be solved if normal gland function by agents that block its activity.

Weight loss products are a hot item on the market today. People want to look good and enjoy vibrant health. It is natural to want to try the product that promises to give the fastest results. There are many OTC and super pills claiming to do just that. The fact is however, there is no quick magical way to lose weight. Exercise, limiting calories, and a healthy diet are the best way to lose those extra pounds and keep them off.

A low calorie diet is essential for losing weight. This remains true even if you take a diet pill. It is not feasible to depend on a pill long term to control your weight. 

Here is some of the top diet pills currently discussed in the news:

Clenbuterol
Alli
Xenical
Ephedra
Ma Huang
Bitter orange
Hoodia


Clenbuterol
You may have heard about the Size Zero pill in the news. This is a nickname for the drug Clenbuteral, a pill used to treat asthma in horses. Celebrities are using this horse pill to achieve the starved, hollow eye look that appears to be the trend now. It is approved by the FDA for horses but is unsafe for human use. This wonder drug will suppress appetite for up to nine hours. It also causes body temperature to rise and increases heart rate, making blood pump faster throughout the body. This drug is obviously not a safe way to lose weight. 

Alli
Alli weight loss tablets are a product that burns or blocks fat. It is an OTC fat blocker used for weight loss. The FDA approves it for human use. Weight gain is caused by eating foods containing too many calories or fat. Alli takes up to 25% of the fat you consume and stops it from being digested. This fat leaves the body naturally; it does not remain in your body to put on extra weight. This is an effective means for losing weight. 

Failure to follow Allis 15 gms of fat per meal may cause some uncomfortable side effects such as gas, loose bowel movements, discharge or other problems associated with digestion.

Many common foods contain more than 15 gms of fat. Following Allis fat restrictions may prove difficult for some.

Xenical
Xenical can be compared to Alli, they are both comparable in effectiveness and follow much the same diet plan.

Ephedra
Once found in weight loss products and dietary supplements, ephedra is now banned due to health and safety concerns. Regardless of the ban many products containing ephedra can be found for sale online.

Ephedra is banned for use by professional athletes due to health concerns. It was once widely used by athletes to increase performance.

Ma Huang

This product is banned in the USA as it is nothing more than ephedra under a Chinese name.

Bitter Orange
An ephedra replacement according to marketers, this OTC preparation claims to burn up a large number of calories in order to speed weight loss. Like ephedra it may cause health problems and its effects are not know.

Hoodia
This is claimed to be a natural appetite suppressant. It is an extract from a plant growing in the deserts of South Africa. It is similar to a cactus plant. There is no evidence that this preparation is safe for use. The FDA does not approve it.

-Ken Kifer on Fitness After a brief discussion of the fitness controversy today, I present my own understanding, using personal history and observations rather than statistics to support my statements. I support the idea that fitness is best achieved and maintained through regular cycling at moderate speeds rather than through intense effort. 

-A Review of Pedalling Health Pedalling Health is an Australian web site with important statistical data about how cycling promotes good health. The site answers some questions about the amount and intensity of exercise needed to promote good health. (Note: "Pedalling" is a British spelling.) 

-Is Cycling Dangerous? How the belief that cycling is dangerous can lead to deaths through discouraging vehicular cycling, why sidewalks are more dangerous than streets, the most common causes of bicycle-motor vehicle crashes, why cycling is actually less dangerous than motoring, the fatality rate among cyclists, the much greater number of other injury-related deaths, the chances of injury compared with common sports, and the much more common dangers of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. 

-The Healthy Diet for Cyclists (or Anybody) A healthy diet does not need to involve any unusual foods or strange menus. However, only one person in ten eats properly. Most people eat too much meat and not enough grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. 

-The High Fat, Low Carbohydrate Diet vs. Bicycling for Good Health Dr. Atkins and others recommend diets with extremely low carbohydrate and high fat levels. Some people lose weight on these diets. However, the theory behind them is flawed, and they create serious health problems. Bicycling and a balanced diet is a better solution. 

-Southern Stroke Belt! A report in the newspaper pointed out that strokes are much higher in the South and said that scientists were baffled about the cause. I wasn't baffled at all; our lifestyle and our lifespan are firmly tied together. A lack of aerobic exercise and too much fat in the diet are the cause. 

-Ways of Being Tired Not paying attention to fatigue can lead to a spoiled bicycle trip or even much more dangerous consequences. It's not enough to know that you're tired; you have to know how you are tired. 

-Stages of Fitness Answering a question in the newsgroups about dieting, I describe how cyclists' bodies adapt to the demands we place upon them depending on our level of fitness. 

-My Fall -- The Story of a Bicycling Injury and Recovery While riding my bike, I fell and broke my hip. Here are the details of how the accident occurred and how I recovered.

Cycling Health and Fitness

Posted by dantntfcs

              People follow three paths to good health: doctor, diet, and exercise. Our path to the doctor involves the greatest expense, $1,035 billion in 1996, or almost 1/7th of the Gross National Product. Over 60% of these visits involved medication, and there were over 70 million surgeries (source CDC). However, there would be less expense, trauma, and tragedy if we prevented many of these medical problems. According to the American Medical Association, 60% of Americans are physically inactive. According to U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, the number of people at risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and stroke is increasing, and 50% of Americans are overweight. He said that improved nutrition along with 30 minutes of exercise five times a week could reduce cardiovascular illnesses and deaths by 50% and colorectal cancer by 40% (source CNN, June 11, 1999). 
            Unfortunately, those who decide to respond to health alerts tend to go overboard on nutrition and to adopt the wrong exercises. Rather than exotic nutrients, we need a diet consisting mainly of grains, fruits, and vegetables, with reduced amounts of meat and cheese. Rather than weightlifting, TV "aerobics," and ab crunching, we need true aerobic exercises that help strengthen the heart, such as fast walking, cycling, jogging, swimming, rollerblading, skating, and cross­country skiing. The best exercise to change our sedentary habits is the one we can and will do nearly every day. 

Bicycling has several advantages over other exercises: 
            Cycling exercises the heart better than walking without the pounding of jogging. 
One can ride a bicycle almost anywhere, at any time of the year, and at low cost. 
Little or no time has to be lost, as bike travel can be used to get to work, perform errands, or enjoy the outdoors. 
            Commuting by bike reduces pollution that causes asthma and bronchitis. A commuting cyclist is also less exposed to air pollution than a commuting motorist. 
On the down side, cycling does involve some risk of injury which has been greatly exaggerated by fearmongers. Cycling actually has similar risks to traveling by automobile. The British Medical Association has estimated that the health benefits of cycling outweigh the risks by twenty to one. 
            One very interesting question is how much aerobic exercise should one get every day? Some medical authorities recommend as little as 20 minutes a day, three times a week, while others recommend 2,000 kCal, which would be at least four times that amount. Why the great difference? Well, most authorities recognize the more exercise the better up to some undetermined point, but many are afraid that if they expect too much, people won't exercise at all. Another reason for lowering the recommendation was due to the damage caused by jogging, a problem cycling does not share. I am afraid that those setting very low requirements are giving people the mistaken impression that they don't need any more exercise than their usual, basically sedentary activity. 
            How much exercise do I recommend? I find that 45 minutes of cycling six days a week (about 2,000 kCal) keeps me feeling good, but not great, two hours per day keeps me very strong and controls my weight, and six hours a day on my bicycle trips makes me feel like superman after several weeks. We might say that lower amounts of exercise improve one's health and higher amounts improve one's fitness. I would recommend a minumum of 45 minutes a day and as much addition cycling as time permits. The time spent cycling will not be wasted; in addition to having a good ride, the cyclist will be more productive during the remaining time and will live longer as well.


            Yoga is an integrated means of synchronizing mind, spirit and body and is an essential way of life.
Yoga is an ancient Indian body of knowledge that dates back more than 5000 years ago.
The word “Yoga” came from the Sanskrit word “yuj” which means “to unite or integrate.”
Yoga is an art and takes into consideration your mind, body and soul in reaching divinity. Your body must be purified and strengthened through various practices.
Yoga focuses on harmony and body. The aim of yoga is to strike the balance between mind and body to attain self-enlightenment.
To achieve this, yoga uses breath, movement, relaxation, meditation and posture in order to establish a healthy, balanced and lively approach to life.
Yoga offers various modes of effective physical therapy that can help alleviate painful conditions such as stiffness of neck, improved blood circulation, arthritis, constipation, back and feet, improving respiratory conditions, increasing lung capacity and relieving insomnia.
The basic idea of yoga is to unite the individual or atma soul with universal or paramatma soul. By cleansing your mind and controlling your thought process, you can return to that primitive state when you are nothing but a part of the divine self.
The three main aspects of yoga are:

Asanas or poses: 

The various poses of yoga give your body flexibility, strengthen the muscles and reduce the fat. Many asanas are aimed at improving the blood circulation and functioning of specific organs in your body.

Pranayama or breathing:

Pranayama is the important aspect of yoga which purifies the subtle energies flowing through the body. The breathing techniques of yoga are an effective tool to energize, harmonize, calm and tranquilize the body and mind. All poses are to be properly coordinated with exhalation, inhalation and holding of breath.

Meditation:

Meditation is a way to control the mind’s restlessness. Regular meditation trains your mind to be calm, relaxed and detached. It is extremely helpful in stressful situations. It controls overreaction, losing temper and emotional outbursts.
Meditation and pranayama have capacity to reduce the stress inducing hormones. It restores calm, promotes positivism and encourages patience. It will keep you fresh and rejuvenated both physically and mentally.

The aim of yoga is knowledge of the self. Yoga outlines methods of achieving this.
eternal vows or yamas
observances or yamas
yoga postures or yogasanas
breath control exercises or pranayama
withdrawal of senses from distractions outside the world or pratyahara
concentration on an object, place or subject or dharana
continuance of this concentration meditation or dhyana
ultimate stage of yoga meditation or samadhi
Benefits of Yoga:

There are numerous benefits of yoga. Some of the benefits of yoga include improvement in mental health, anti-aging, development of personal and social values, increase in knowledge and wealth, balance and flexibility of the body. Yoga also helps in improving sexual life, weight loss, and strength.
Yoga is a good way of relaxation. It can ease the tension building in your muscles and joints without experiencing overexertion and fatigue. Yoga makes you look younger. Yoga provides inner peace and radiant health.
Healing benefits of yoga are enormous that you feel better at the end of recovery. Yoga enhances your understanding of life. Yoga changes your perspective about life.
You can see positive effects of yoga as you practice it. The sense of feeling good envelops around you.
The driving force of yoga is aimed at monumental, life changing discovery of who and what you actually are. Yoga gives you the strength to unravel the truth with which you will begin to live with security, confidence and inner psychological peace. Yoga changes your life.

Before starting yoga remember these points:
If you want to enjoy don’t push too hard. You may hurt yourself in the process.
Know your body limits and workout.
It is recommended to start with a yoga teacher.
consult a health care professional before starting the yoga exercises if you have any medical conditions

       Diet and exercise are the key points to live longer, look younger and stay healthy.
       There are no substitutes to stay healthy other than these factors.
       You may be a teenager, an adult, or an aged person, if you follow diet and exercise regularly, you can stay healthy and look younger.
        Human Growth Hormones (HGH) is the source which controls our body. It gives strength, firmness to skin, high libido and youthful look.
        But as we grow older, human growth hormones decrease or stop production. You need amino acids which stimulates the pituitary gland in your brain to maintain human growth hormone levels.
        The function of pituitary gland is to enforce maturation, growth and metabolism. As many factors decrease growth and health, healthy diet plays an important role in improving health.
        Your body needs fat, cholesterol, proteins, amino acids and carbohydrates to stay healthy. But only diet is not important to stay healthy, you have to exercise. Exercising makes your body to burn more number of calories. If you are not following diet and exercise, you may suffer with health problems like diabetes, heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke.
       You have to plan diet and exercise to keep yourself healthy. Decide what is your goal and stick to achieve that goal. Plan how to achieve the goal. If you want to lose weight, what you have to do. If you are planning for fitness, decide what diet and exercise program you have to follow.
           Keep a goal and work towards that goal to achieve it. Healthy diet includes low protein, fat, and low cholesterol foods and high fiber food. Include vitamins and minerals in your diet.
Healthy diet:

        Include fruits and vegetables and high soluble fiber in your meal. Soluble fibers include beans, potatoes, fruits, rice, oranges, strawberries and bananas. Include whole grain products such as barley, wheat, brown rice and oats in your diet as they improve your health and maintain weight.
         Include raw vegetables such as salads, yellow vegetables and cooked greens. Consume citrus fruits daily. You should not prefer fruit drinks rather fresh fruit is healthy.
         Use minimum protein. Meat should be lean and low in fat. Low fat and low cholesterol meat contains vitamin B12, so it should be consumed once in a week. Take time to chew the food. Drink plenty of water as water is the best source to keep healthy.
Exercise:

         Aerobic exercises are the best way to increase the amount of calories you burn. They also increase your heart rate and improve cardiovascular system. The exercises include walking, running, swimming, cycling and jogging.
          You select the exercises which you are interested to workout and include in your diet and exercise plan. Apart from these aerobic exercises, you can do stretching exercises. You can include simple exercises in your diet and exercise plan to stay healthy. Instead of lift, you can take stairs at home or office. You can go for shopping without a vehicle if the store is not far away. You can park your vehicle away from the entrance in the parking lot. You can take a walk around the office in the coffee break.
         Following diet and exercise helps you live longer and stay healthy. But you should not stop following diet and exercise after few days. You should have patience in following the program as you can see the results slowly. Once you are habituated to it, it will be easier for you.

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