Archive for June, 2010
Low-impact Exercises Are Fun And Healthy
Not everyone is made for highlevel exercising. But you can become fit without bouncing around in a leotard battering your joints. Forget all the huffing puffing lugging lifting and straining. Movement therapy is a gentle yet effective group of sports that include yoga tai chi and Pilates. Just dont be fooled by their mild manner. These activities can whip you into shape without breaking a sweat.
All three have ancient Eastern roots and are merely different interpretations of the same principle: keeping your body and mind in harmony naturally leads to better health.
It wasnt until recently that modern science confirmed the many physical benefits of yoga tai chi and Pilates. With them you can improve your balance flexibility and strength no matter what your age weight or fitness level.
No Pain but great gain
Yoga tai chi and Pilates are gentle enough for anyone to try. If you consider yourself in bad health or disabled in some way youre a perfect candidate for these movement therapies. You can ease into the programs slowly and set your own pace. Its easy to stick with them and youll see improvement quickly.
Here are just some of the benefits you will get from these soothing approaches to fitness.
When you were a child tripping and falling meant just another minor scrape. But as you get older taking a tumble can have serious and crippling effects. If your sense of balance is as bad as Humpty Dumptysthese are the safest forms of exercise for you.
Just like the trick to growing tomatoes is to keep the main stalk strong the trick to great balance is to keep your core muscles strong. The bands of muscle in your abdomen lower back and buttocks are the center of strength and control for the rest of your body.
All three examples of movement therapy are relatively stationarybut because they strengthen your core muscles your balance will improve quickly preventing falls and youll develop greater flexibility and strength. Soon you will be moving with confidence again.
Tai chi and yoga are especially recommended for people with arthritis.Gentle yoga can improve arthritis in your hands for example and tai chis precise flowing movements help keep your joints limber relieve your pain and keep you active.
The dancelike stretches poses and maneuvers within each of these movement therapies will gently strengthen and tone your body. Pilates is especially good as a strengthtraining workout.
Add yoga or Pilates to your exercise regimen if you need to improve your heart health.
In todays hectic world it may be hard to squeeze an extra 30 minutes of exercise into your schedule at least without feeling even more stress. The beautiful thing about movement therapy is that it combines stress relief with exercise so you kill two birds with one stone.
All the activities tai chi yoga and Pilates are done slowly with intense focus on proper breathing and posture. They all relax your body and calm your mind.
As you can see you can boost your overall health with these joyful healthgiving movements.
Things to know before you give it a go
Just to be safe make sure that you take these precautions before starting any new exercise program.
Get your doctors approval on your fitness plan especially if youve badly injured your back neck kneesor shoulders in the past.
The stretches poses and movements of these therapies should not hurt. If you feel pain stop and check your technique before continuing.
Pilates is the most intense of the three exercise forms. You may want to try one of the less strenuous programs first if you are out of shape.
Be forewarned you might get addicted to these calming sports.
About the writer: Raymond Lee is one of the foremost experts in the health and fitness industry and is a writer specializing in body health muscle development and dieting. He has spent countless of time and efforts conducting research and share his insightful and powerful secrets to benefit men and women all over the world. He is currently the author of the latest edition of Neck Exercises and Workouts:. His innovative and well designed program is a powerful instantaccess ebook with a comprehensive supporting resource. Additionally members receive a number of bonus ebooks on topics ranging from managing sports injuries the best positions to sleep the proper technique to perform neck stretching their very own personal email consultation and much much more!
Low Carb DietsAtkins Diet – Are They Safe?
Are low carb diets safe? How safe is Atkins diet? Are low carb and Atkins diets dangerous to your health? These are burning questions for dieters all over the world.
I have personally tried low carb diets and Atkins diet and these diets made me lose weight very quickly. However not only did I lose body fat weight I also lost muscle weight. I had very obvious muscle and fat loss because I can visually see my reduced muscle mass in the mirror.
This certainly isn’t healthy. Furthermore the more muscle mass that you lose the less toned your body shape is. The end result is that you will end up thin and yet looked flabby with lose skin.
The frustrating part will be that after you are off the low carb or Atkins diet you will very probably gain back all the weight that you have loss and even more. This is because your muscles are active and they continuously burn calories. Since you have less fewer muscle mass now your body’s metabolism or capacity to burn calories slows down tremendously.
In other words when you put on weight again you are putting on body fat instead of muscles if you do not exercise. You will be fatter and less healthy than before you went on the low carb or Atkins diet. To compound matters because of lesser muscle tissues resulting in lower metabolism and thus lesser calories being burnt you are going to get fatter.
Since then I have stayed off both low carb and Atkins diet. Both types of diets are almost similar as they require you to cut down drastically on your consumption of carbohydrates. Atkins diet went a step further by advocating almost no carbohydrate consumption for 2 weeks before adding some carbs to your meals gradually thereafter.
Besides losing muscles how safe are low carb diets? This is what Dr Lyn Steffen and Dr Jennifer Nettleton from the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health commentated in a Lancet report “Low carbohydrate diets for weight management are far from healthy given their association with ketosis constipation or diarrhea halitosis headache and general fatigue to name a few.”
The doctors warned that the diet increases protein load on the kidneys and alters the balance of acid in the body. This also results in loss of minerals from the bone stores and affect bone strength. The doctors went on to say that “Our most important criterion should be indisputable safety and low carbohydrate diets currently fall short of this benchmark.
Dr Atkins the creator of the Atkins diet died in 2003 after he was alleged to have slipped on an icy road and hurt his head fatally. However his medical report stated that he had a history of heart attack hypertension and congestive heart failure.
Were Dr Atkins medical conditions related to his low carbohydrates diet is anybody’s guess. Do you want to take the risk by going on a low carb diet? I don’t think I will. If I ever want to lose weight again I will rather go on the proven method of healthy eating and regular exercises instead of jumping on any fad diets.
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Visit Golf Impact Training to get more golf exercise advice as well as tips to help you lower your golf score.
Losing Weight Through Healthy Dieting
The hallmark of a successful diet is one on which you are able to lose weight while still feeling as if you are getting enough to eat. While that may sound impossible making healthy choices about what to eat is just as important as how much you consume. Learning to diet sensibly can help you to lose or maintain your current weight while getting all the nourishment and emotional satisfaction that your body needs. Following are some expert tips to help you get the most out of your diet.
Diet Tips for Losing Weight
Dieting is never easy but knowing how to avoid some common dieting traps can help you to stick to your resolve.
1. Eat a Healthy Breakfast Every Day. While many dieters opt to skip breakfast doing so actually hurts your attempt to lose weight. If you wait until lunch to eat your bodys metabolism will slow down and any calories you consume for the rest of the day will take extra time to burn. Even a piece of fruit or a slice of whole wheat toast can give your metabolism the boost that it needs.
2. Get a Diet Buddy. If you have a friend who is also trying to lose weight team up to keep each other honest and provide moral support. Knowing that there is someone else you can turn to for encouragement can help you to stay true to your diet plans.
3. Read About Ingredients. Instead of just finding out how many calories a certain product contains look at the complete nutritional value of the item. Reading the label can tell you how much sodium fat and carbohydrates are loaded into your meal. Calories are very important to weight loss but they are not everything.
4. Supplement Your Diet with Vitamins. When you are trying to lose weight by reducing certain types of food you may be unconsciously limiting important nutrients and vitamins from your diet. Adding a vitamin supplement to your plan will help you to keep balanced and healthy.
5. Plan Ahead When Eating Out. Knowing what you want to order before you even arrive at the restaurant can help you to avoid looking at the menu and giving in to temptation. Try to frequent restaurants that have fresh salads and offer a variety of low calorie choices.
6. Stop Eating When You Are Full. It may seem like common sense but many people feel the need to finish everything on their plate or eat until they feel stuffed. It also helps to eat slowly since the brain can take up to 20 minutes to register that the stomach is full.
7. Add an Exercise Program. Combining a sensible healthy diet with even a moderate exercise regime will significantly enhance the results you see on your waistline.
About the writer: Wendy Wood is a fulltime mom in the process of losing extra pounds and loves to show other moms how they can lose weight and be healthier as well. Sign up for your free healthy recipes at http://www.DietMamma.com