Posts Tagged ‘Exercise’

Regular Exercise And Strict Diet Plan Are The Ways to Get Slim

January 30th, 2010 admin

Health care professionals hold the view that physical activity and healthy food choices need to be promoted within the home, in the community and at school. Most of the children in the UK are obese, thus making childhood obesity an increased health threat.

There is no magic way and formula for slimming or losing weight overnight. The only reliable and effective way to become slim is to adopt a healthy lifestyle and balanced diet. Even if you already have a weight problem, the best way to lose it is to make positive lifestyle changes. A healthy diet and regular daily exercise are the key weapons for becoming slim in the end.

Our daily diet should be well balanced and must contain all important constituents such as proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and water. If you observe the eating habits of all those people who have gained extra pounds, then you may find most of them making wrong food choices, be it snacks time or with meals.

Parents have a great role to play as they can promote a healthy lifestyle among their children by serving as role models through the adoption of an active lifestyle. You can involve children in various fun activities that require maximum physical effort. In this way, they can have both fun and enough physical exercise.

Physical exercise can be a great way to become slim however, although, parents should also consider the nutritional intake of their children, ensuring that they eat healthily. This may be difficult for most parents at first, as most children prefer sugary snacks and easy fast food. However, making these unhealthy choices can add to the overweight problems of children as well as adults. So, these should be avoided as far as possible. You should try to substitute these with some healthy food choices such as plenty of fruit and vegetables. It’s okay to have occasional sugary snacks just for a change, but should be avoided on a regular basis.

For people who have gained considerable amount of extra weight, these slimming tips may prove inadequate. Therefore, they can have a check up from a doctor who can suggest them any suitable treatment for overweight or obesity problem. There are some useful treatment drugs available on the market like the Reductil and the Xenical. These drugs are taken orally and available only on a prescription from a doctor. You should not take any of them if the doctor recommends against it, as these drugs can also have some undesirable side effects on the user. However, in most of the cases, these drugs have proved to be effective for treating obesity among most sufferers.

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How Exercise Improve Your Health After 40

January 30th, 2010 admin

Physical activity ( exercise ) done regularly is something people can and should do for a life time. It helps people feel and function better physically and mentally. Older age is not a reason to stop exercising. It fact exercising more important as people age. Older people may have many concerns about exercising. They may think they are too old to start. Older people may worry that they cannot do most exercises. Why exercise? They many answers to that question, for me a man that is 50 plug it the closest thing to the fountain of youth. It improve my health and appearance. I’ll not trying to restore my twentieth or thirtieth but exercise help me keep active and living independently life. Improve balance and coordination. Balance is the ability for you to maintain equilibrium when you stand, walk or perform any other daily activity, plug exercising boost the immune system, this is important to older people. It help to distinguish the body own cell from foreign substances ( cancer cell-bacteria ) that invade the body

How Important Exercise Is To Older Obese People

Percentage of older people who are obese, has been increasing during the last few years. People may be obese throughout most of their life or they may become obese late in life. It important to know that a little extra body fat is not necessarily bad for older people. Fat is the way the body stores energy. Some disorders, such as cancer or infections, can increase the body need for energy. How ever too mush body fat is unhealthy for older people as well as for younger people. Health problem increases as weight increases, example, heart disorders, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes…. Try this tip: Eating smart doesn’t mean eating too little. In fact, starvation is proven to be quite counterproductive if your goal is to lose the right kind of pounds. Instead, make sure your pre-workout meals match your plans. I f you’re about to lift weights, have some complex carbs beforehand to fuel your workout. If you’re about to do cardio, emphasize the good fat ( olive oil, fatty seafood, etc ) and protein so as to aid the fat burning process and preserve muscle mass. Healthy diet is important as exercising. Healthy diet provides the right number of calories to keep your weight with in the desirable range. You need both a good diet ( check The Food Guide Pyramid ) and exercise, they work together. ( first check with your doctor )

Find a study that, i like to share with you

A study in The Annals of Internal Medicine found that attempted weight loss was associated with lower mortality.

Weight loss, Body Fat Exercise and Life Expectancy

Obesity can shorten your life. A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that being over weight and obese was associated with significant decrease in life expectancy. The loss in years is a follows:

Overweight 40 year old female nonsmokers lost 3.3years

Overweight 40 year old male nonsmokers lost 3.1 years

Obese 40 year old female nonsmokers lost 7.1 years

Obese 40 year old male nonsmokers 6.7 years

Obese female smokers lost 13.3 years

Obese male smokers lost 13.7 years

Can exercise help? Many studies cite the beneficial effect of exercise for weight reduction. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that regular exercise, such as brisk walking, resulted in reduced weight and body fat in a group of overweight and obese postmenopausal women. The walking program was of moderate intensity and done for at least 45 minutes, 5days a week for 12 months.

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Exercise Programs and Diets Online

January 30th, 2010 admin

Can exercise programs and diets online really work, and is it comparable with real, live personal trainers? In this article I am going to compare the two and I hope to give you an objective opinion.

First a bit of personal background.  I come from a family of big people. My father was six feet six inches (195cm) tall and weighed around three hundred pounds (136 kilograms). Myself and three of my brothers are also over the six feet mark and weigh around the 260 pounds mark. I was not a great sportsman at school. I only started playing rugby in the last two years at school and in the army the year after. Then followed a break for seven years, before I played my last season. I was a tight head prop, and quite unbeknown to me, I injured my bottom two vertebrae.  In my job I traveled a lot, drank a lot, smoked a lot and exercised little. Resultantly, I slowly but surely gained weight. I did go to gym for two short stints, encouraged by my brother who was a championship bodybuilder. Each time I had reasonable results, but then my work would transfer me, and I would stop again. 

At the age of forty I stopped drinking, and two years later I stopped smoking. And I became as big as a house. My weight went up to 301 pounds. I was obese, unfit and unhealthy. When my daughter told her mother I look like I am nine and a half months pregnant, I decided to do something about it and I joined a gym. Because I had to travel a long distance in very heavy traffic, I decided to use the gym to my advantage and to travel to the gym close to my work, work out and then go to work. 

I did not have money for a personal trainer. Here in SA they charge around $200 for twelve sessions. I see in the USA, they charge as much as $60 for a single session. So I used a program that my brother gave me and went on a low carbohydrate diet. The training program consisted of two components: A cardiovascular part and a weight-training part. The first day, after the cardiovascular training, I thought I was going to die. I had to rest three times in the 100 yards I had to walk  back to my car. But slowly but surely I got fitter, and I could run, row and cycle for longer periods. At first I lost weight very quickly, but after about twenty pounds, I stopped loosing weight.

That was the time I decided to hire a personal trainer. She worked out a new training program for me, and put me on a very strict diet. The problem was that I always felt hungry, and when I had to do weight training, I felt weak and could not push myself to the limit. When I complained, I did not get a lot of sympathy, and was given the old cliché “no pain, no gain.” The problem was that neither the training program nor the diet was adjusted to my level of fitness and energy requirements. Needless to say, I cheated with the diet and did not loose any weight.

I then joined an online training, fitness and diet program. Firstly, a twelve-week course costs as much as one week with my previous trainer. I was absolutely astounded with all the services they offer online. More than 40 specialist instructors to call on 24 hours a day, more than 178 exercises demonstrated on video, a customized diet and exercise plan based on your actual level of fitness and a lot more. There are calculators to work out anything from your optimal heart level, body mass index, to your ideal hip to middle ratio. In addition, there are more than 20 other videos showing exercises like kickboxing, Pilates, core training, aerobics and even a boot camp! All free.

After determining my current measurements, fitness level and heart rate, we discussed my goals and objectives, how much I want to loose over how long a period. My online fitness professional then sent me a personal training program and a customized diet. I learned how to eat the right foods five times a day and I felt strong a full of energy. Because I suffer from hypertension and cholesterol, my diet and training program made provision for that as well as my weak back.

I do not believe in taking diet pills and other appetite suppressants. Even if they should work, which is debatable, you have to stop using them sometime. Your appetite will return and you will regain the weight lost. One may use a bit of a protein substitute because it is handy when you are at work and cannot cook, and some vitamins and minerals, but that is all. Personally I believe that one should not loose more than two pounds a week, as that much, combined with the exercises, will result in your skin shrinking with you, and leaving you smooth and unwrinkled. I also told my trainer that I do not want to look like a bodybuilder, just have a reasonable physique. My objective was to loose weight and be healthier.

Well, I am glad to report that over the next twenty weeks I lost a further forty-four pounds, and reached my goal weight. I am now fit; do sixty minutes heavy cardiovascular training three times a week and resistance training three times a week. My blood pressure and cholesterol is also under control. Thanks to the advice I received from the online training and diet specialist, I have developed a totally new lifestyle and I am maintaining my weight.

You too can increase your fitness anytime you join a good online fitness and training program. They will teach you the right training techniques, give you a customized diet plan and assist you to reach optimal fitness.

So my vote goes to an online fitness, training and diet program. They offer much much more than an ordinary personal trainer and are available for support 24/7. There is no excuse not to exercise. Start today.

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Exercise, Lose Weight, and Sleep Better (Whey Protein and Weight Loss)

January 29th, 2010 admin

Sleeping disorders are a major problem in the United States. An estimated 70 million Americans are in some way affected by them. One of the major problems with sleeping disorders is one of their major side effects is increased weight gain for those affected. The reason that the side effect of increased weight is such a major problem is due to the fact that a side effect of obesity is to have problems sleeping. Like so many medical problems, often numerous disorders are linked to each other. When one gets worse it will negatively impact the other condition.

With so many Americans having sleeping disorder problems, and numerous more Americans having problems with obesity; it is important that Americans do everything that they can to reduce the negative side effects of both. Weight loss is a good first step to both improve your health and to improve your sleep.

Many studies have shown that exercise will aid people to get more restful sleep. A person should exercise at least 20-30 minutes each day. They should also try to schedule their exercise to be in the morning or in the early afternoon. If you wait until night to exercise it may interfere with your body and cause you to have more problems sleeping. Exercise should include both cardiovascular training, and also resistant based training. Studies have shown that an effective mixture of the two types of training will burn many more calories than using just one method.

The goal of a good resistant based workout should be to create and maintain lean muscles. When your body is creating lean muscle, it is required to use a large amount of calories, more even than when your body is actively exercising, thus helping you to lose more weight. A good way to help your body to produce more lean muscle is to supply it with protein. Protein is the building blocks that your body uses to create lean muscle. Protein isn’t a stimulate, so you don’t have to worry about loss of sleep when taking in more protein. Also, your body almost never converts protein into fat so it serves as a good dietary option to increase protein intake when trying to lose weight.

The best way to get more protein into your diet is to take a protein supplement. Whey protein is the best supplement available that you can take. Whey protein is easy to digest, and doesn’t have the side effects of indigestion that other soy based protein supplements produce. Whey protein isolate contain a higher percentage of pure protein compared to other types of protein, with most isolates having 90% pure protein. This helps to get the maximum amount of protein into your system, without any additives that might be detrimental to your weight loss goals.

The best time to take whey protein is right after a workout or right before you go to sleep. Those are the two major times that your body will produce lean muscle. That is one of the reasons that it is so important that you get a restful full night’s sleep. Taking whey protein before sleeping will help your body create a pattern, which will help it to get to sleep easier.

The pattern of sleep, exercise, and weight loss will create a positive cycle that will counteract the negative side effects of sleeping problems and obesity.

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Fad Diets Don't Work – Fad Exercise Does!

January 29th, 2010 admin

As long as there are people trying to lose weight and get fit, there will be trends and fads that cater to them. However, the tried and true statement for anyone on New Years is, “I resolve to eat healthier and exercise more” and that remains the singular truth about losing weight. Just because the latest diet fads don’t work doesn’t mean there aren’t trends to dive into in order to lose weight. In fact, fad exercise can be a great way to lose weight provided you jump into it smart and with the proper foundation.

The foundation of all exercise is having the right nutrition in your body to promote lean muscle gain. During exercise your muscles will need protein to repair torn tissue and promote new muscle growth. The easiest and most fat free way to supply this protein is through a protein supplement. Whey protein shakes make a good choice for people trying to lose weight, because the whey protein is quick to absorb and easy to digest. Whey protein is also low-fat, which will help the muscles grow in a lean way, without added fat tissue.

Once you start with a proper foundation, jump into fad exercise and lose weight in a fun and trendy way. Here are some great fad exercise trends that can be great for burning fat and losing weight.

Pilates has become a very popular way for people to strengthen and develop core abdominal and torso muscles. The point of pilates is to provide a low-impact method of core strength and training. With a powerful core, other strength training is easier and safe, and developing core muscles by themselves promote better posture and health. The best part of pilates is that they promote development of core muscle tissue without having to do endless crunches, pushups and squats. Pilates groups exist almost everywhere, so join a pilates group and get fit in a social and trendy way.

Yoga is another way to strengthen and develop their core muscles without having to go through repetitive cycles of boring exercises. Like pilates, yoga emphasizes the core torso and postural muscles but it goes on step further. Yoga involves balance and strength training in the lower and upper body as well by moving fluidly from posture and posture and involving dynamic stretching. Yoga is a great way to tone muscles throughout the entire body as well as provide cool down stretching after more rigorous activity.

Another trendy way to stay fit is to start hooping. Hooping is when you use a fitness hula hoop to generate an aerobic and core exercise. A fitness hoop is weighted to provide more resistance throughout the body and promote an easier balanced motion. While it may sound childish, pick one up for 10 minutes and you’ll already feel the burn throughout your entire body. What could be a funner way to tone up and lose weight than to work out with the 1950s favorite fad?

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Wii Fit Gets Serious About Exercise

January 29th, 2010 admin

When the Wii Fit, the Nintendo video game, told me my ‘fit age’ was 41 – a decade older than I actually am – I took it personally. After all, I run 32km a week and weight train twice a week. As I stood on its wireless balance board, Wii Fit gauged my BMI and had me perform stability tests. Though I was slightly underweight, my balance scores were apparently pathetic enough to age me. So I tackled Wii’s fitness games for a week. Here’s what I learned.

Balance

The Routine

Four initial exercises; five advanced available.

Best For

Improving posture and overall body alignment.

Pros

Heading soccer balls, walking on a side and lean forward slightly. My balance scores shot up after a half hour of practice.

Cons

While the games kept me entertained for a week, I imagine I’d soon be sick of them and the post-workout evaluations by the virtual trainer who has a revolving script of tiresome one-liners.

Yoga

The Routine

Four poses initially. Master these, and 11 more are ‘unlocked.’

Best For

Stretching slackers.

Pros

My tight hamstrings could certainly benefit from yoga, if I had the time and courage. With the Wii, I was able to confidently work on my poses in private. And because the four-pose routine lasted only 10 minutes, I did it five days a week.

Cons

My den isn’t exactly Zen, so it was easy to get distracted. And I have to think doing Warrior I with one leg elevated on the board would appall yoga traditionalists. After a week, I was bored with the same poses – and you do them one at a time, without the flow of a normal yoga routine.

Cardio

The Routine

Choose from nine workouts, lasting up to 30 minutes.

Best For

Cross-training.

Pros

Of the games (jogging, dancing, step aerobics, etc.), boxing was my favorite. I burned some calories – and some steam.

Cons

Running in place in front of my TV was torture. I could never stand it long enough to get in any semblance of a legit training run.

Strength

The Routine

Five initial exercises; 10 advanced available.

Best For

Starting a strength-training routine.

Pros

This category has the best variety of activities, ranging from push-ups to lunges.

Cons

Wii sends you back to the main menu after doing only one set when I could’ve easily banged out two or three sets. And it’s a far cry from a living, breathing trainer. The Wii gives you the basics, but it’s not customized to your individual needs – especially if you have injury issues.

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