Archive for the ‘exercise’ Category
“Close” isn’t generally a word we connect in our mind with success. In fact, very little in life, it seems, counts much at all if you don’t hit “a bull’s eye” or a “grand slam.” Luckily for some, this may not be absolutely true when it comes to longevity. As a chiropractor who has many middle-aged patients and who is also fully dedicated to encouraging my patients to exercise at every age level, I was very happy to read about the results of the following study.
Researchers found that of the “least-fit” versus the “slightly more fit” of the nearly 4,400 healthy Americans in their recent study, roughly 20 percent with the lowest physical fitness levels doubled the risk of dying over the nine years of the study as the 20 percent with the next-lowest fitness levels. (In other words, those 20 percent who were close to the lowest fitness levels.) This is the time-honored “bad news/good news” situation. It is obviously bad news if you are a resolute sofa spud. But, it is definitely good news for those who haven’t quite hit rock bottom in the sedentary lifestyle department but are not, by any stretch of the imagination, “exertive.” Apparently, those individuals who remain even moderately fit as they age may have greater longevity than those who are totally out-of-shape, the study suggests.
Between 1986 and 2006, researchers evaluated the fitness levels of 4,384 middle-aged and older men and women during exercise treatmill tests. The researchers then followed their progress for close to nine years. Such factors as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure were taken into consideration in the study. This, in and of itself, accentuates the importance of physical fitness itself. In an email to Reuters Health, lead researcher, Dr. Sandra Mandic of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, noted: “Our findings suggest that a sedentary lifestyle, rather than differences in cardiovascular risk factors or age, may explain the two-fold higher mortality rates in the least-fit versus slightly more fit individuals.”
Nearly two-thirds of the participants at the least-fit level failed to get at least 30 minutes of moderate activity, five or more days a week, which was the minimum recommended amount of exercise. “These results emphasize the importance of improving and maintaining high fitness levels by engaging in regular physical activity,” Mandic said, “particularly in poorly-fit individuals.”
Classifying the study group participants by fitness levels, the researchers discovered that 25 percent of the least-fit men and women had died during the study period, as opposed to 13 percent of those who were slightly more in shape. Only 6 percent of the most-fit group (i.e., the ones who hit the bull’s eye and grand slams, so to speak) had died during the follow-up period.
The five fitness-level groups presented little dissimilarity, overall, in their reported exercise practices during most of their adult lives, but conspicuously, they varied in activity levels only in recent years. “Since it is recent physical activity that offers protection,” Mandic said, “it is important to maintain regular physical activity throughout life.”
And, perhaps it goes without saying, imagine the health benefits we could all obtain if we worked towards the higher levels of fitness.
SOURCE: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, August 2009.
If you have a child of 6 to 8 years old that wants to start exercising and lifting weights, you may find yourself wondering what you should do. While some think it is perfectly fine for children to exercise, there are others that think differently.
The long and short of it is that yes, it is beneficial for your child to partake in exercise or a weight training regimen although there are a few things that you should keep in mind once this starts to happen.
No matter how you look at it, children aren’t miniature adults and therefore you can’t use the same methods with growing children that you can use with adults, as children are different from adults emotionally, anatomically, and physiologically.
All children have immature skeletons, as their bones don’t mature until they get 14 – 22 years of age. With girls, exercise during childhood can have very critical effects on bone health that can last for their entire lives.
Children are often times vulnerable to growth related overuse injuries such as Osgood schlatter disease. Children have immature temperature regulation systems due to their having a large surface area compared to their muscle mass which will cause them to be more susceptible to injury when they aren’t properly warmed up.
Children don’t sweat as much as adults do, so they will be more susceptible to heat exhaustion as well as a heat stroke. Due to their low muscle mass and immature hormone system, it makes it harder for them to develop strength and speed. Their breathing and heart response during exercise are also different from an adults, which will affect their capacity for exercise.
On the other hand, young boys and girls can drastically improve their strength with weight training although opposed to adults, neurological factors instead of muscle growth factors are mostly responsible.
When you consider programs for children, first and foremost you should obtain a medical clearance. The first approach to designing a program is to establish a repetition range of 8 – 12 and keep the work load appropriate for the range.
You should ensure that workouts are spread out enough to have at least 1 – 2 full days of rest between workouts. The main focus when working out should be on the form of every exercise performed, and not on the amount of weight being lifted.
Before weight training, warm up and stretching should be done. Start your children off with light loads and then make adjustments accordingly. No more than 3 non consecutive exercise sessions should be done in a week. You should also see to it that they drink plenty of water before, during, and after exercise. Getting enough water is very important with exercise, as it is often times very easy to get dehydrated – especially with children.
Ronald Goodpaster
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/children-need-exercise-too-96722.html
While it may be the polite thing to tell you that you don’t have to exercise regularly to loose weight and get in shape. Nothing is further from the truth if you lead a sedentary lifestyle. You should try workout 3 to 4 times a week if you want to get in shape and enhance your weight loss efforts. This especially applies if you have a sedentary lifestyle.
Regular exercise is important and the people that make exercise part of their lifestyle can make sure they participate in some type of exercise on a regular basis.
It’s common knowledge that one of the best ways to get into shape is through frequent exercise. However, we all have set backs when it comes to taking the actual time to do it. Lets address a few common mental “road blocks”.
“I have very little time to exercise to get results. It’s not worth it.”
There are many ways to work out for a short duration of time and still get results. Remember, most people don’t have time and they are busy as you are. It comes down to determination and creativity. Of course it also comes down to how intense your workouts are.
Also, to save time you can either work out at home or join a gym. This depends on your life style and what works best for you. Whether you work out at home, at a fitness club, you’ll be exercising on a regular basis. You’ll also be on your way to not only loosing weight, but you’ll get into shape and build muscle mass.
Properly designed workouts of one hour or less will are very effective as compared to poorly designed long workouts. It’s all about knowing what’s best for you.
“You need a lot of money to start your own exercise”
Believe it or not, you can control expenses while still creating an effective work out regimen. While buying weight equipment does cost money, you do not have to weight lift to get in shape. You can start off with exercises that do not require any equipment (such as walking and bodyweight exercises).
For example, walking is very easy to start with. You can walk around your neighborhood three to four times a week for a half hour or hour each time. You will start feeling good about yourself. Plus, you’ll be building your strength and endurance for power walking or running.
Bodyweight exercises are exercises that require very little or no equipment to execute. For example, you can build a strength work out that includes push ups, sit ups and split squats. All you would need is a chair for the split squats.
“Exercise is just not fun and I want to do the right exercises to lose weight.”
The only way you can stick with your exercise program is to like what you’re doing. If you don’t like your exercise routine, change the exercises to something you like.
You can choose for a myriad of low impact such as walking, yoga and swimming. If you’re stuck on an idea that you have to do specific exercises to lose weight, you have to remember that it’s best to choose exercises that fit your lifestyle and interests that will give you optimal results for you.
John Purfield
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/daily-exercise-routines-avoid-mental-road-blocks-to-exercise-frequently-and-burn-fat-94295.html
Do you need an exercise weight loss plan that just gets you really pumped up and gets your body raging with fire in no time so that you can enjoy the effectiveness and benefits of exercising without getting in the way of your busy schedule?
If the answer is yes, then this mini guide is for you. This weight loss plans for the busy bee can help busy people like yourself stay fit. This weight loss exercise plan can be divided into 2 plans. Plan one is the weekend warrior plan, which is you are only required to exercise on the weekends and the other plan is to workout twice anytime during the weekdays but only for 45 mins.
An exercise weight loss plan for the Busy Bee plan 1
This is an exercise plan for the busy people than can workout during the weekends only. The workout days are Saturdays and Sundays. Therefore, during Saturday, the workout consist of exercises that workouts out the legs, chest and triceps. Then on Sunday, the exercises would be the ones that exercise the back, shoulders and bicep muscles.
This way, we can actually hit the entire body muscles in two days. Stomach exercises and cardio have to be done after the weight training on both days. Each cardio session should be around 30-45 minutes at the heart rate of 75 percent of your maximum heart rate. Yes, it seems like an impossible task but then we can win all can we. The weekdays off exercise will give you ample amount of rest to recover for the next weekend.
An exercise weight loss plan for the Busy Bee plan 1 layout
The exercise format for all the exercises should be done this way. Each exercise consists of 2 sets. Each set consist of 2 phases. Phase one would be a set of 8-10 heavy reps and then without rest, continue with phase 2 which is doing the same exercise but at a lighter weight and higher reps. For example, the first phase your rep out 10 reps with a 30 pound dumbbell, then put that dumbbell down, grab a 20 pound dumbbell, and rep out 15 reps.
The purpose of doing this is to fully workout the fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers. We are at short of time here; therefore doing this way is better than the traditional 3-4 sets pyramid training.
An example of the program would be
Day 1: Legs, chest and triceps
Barbell squats
Leg press
Single leg press
Lunges
Incline barbell chest press
Bench press
Incline dumbbell chest press
Cable crossover
Dips
Standing cable triceps press downs
Lying triceps extension with EZ barbell
Day 2: Back, shoulders, biceps
Assisted chin-ups or chin-ups
Lat pull down to the front
Barbell rows
Barbell dead lifts
Dumbbell shoulder presses
Bent over rear delt reverse flyes
Standing lateral raises or up right rows
Standing biceps barbell curls
Seated incline dumbbell biceps curls
This exercise weight loss exercise plan should not last more than 45 minutes on the weights and 30- 45 mins for the cardio session.
An exercise weight loss plan for the Busy Bee plan 2
Ok, this exercise weight loss plan 2 is for those that can workout during the weekdays but only has limited time for cardio and weights. One of the most advised approaches towards this is by using circuit training on both of the days.
An exercise weight loss plan that can work both your cardio and muscles!
Yes, circuit training is a form of high intensity training that can give you the benefits of cardio and weight training. This circuit is performed by alternating 2 sets of weights and 1 set of high intensity cardio and this each session will have to work the entire body. Basically, if the muscles are challenged to its limits, you will achieve hypertrophy, meaning build muscles. There fore, each set of weights has to be done until you really tax your capabilities. By alternating weights and cardio non-stop, your heart rate will be elevated through out the session giving you the benefit of fat burning.
An exercise weight loss plan for the Busy Bee plan 2 layout
Barbell squats
Leg press
Running
Lunges
Lat pull downs
Running
Barbell rows
Seated cable rows
Stair climber
Bench press
Incline dumbbell chest press
Rower
Cable chest flyes
Dumbbell shoulder press
Running
Upright rows
Lateral raises
Running
Standing cable triceps press downs
Barbell curls
Note: For each weight exercises use the weights that can give you total failure at 12-15 reps to really stimulate the muscle fibers. On the cardio machine, each cardio will be 2 minutes and it must be your max, really killing you at the end of the second minute. Each session should be around 45- 60 minutes and your heart rate should be at 70 percent of your max throughout the session.
Abs
For abdominal workout, do basic crunches for two sets of twenty-five reps, bicycle crunches for two sets of twenty-five reps and seated knee ups two sets of fifty reps.
Exercise is the one of the most crucial component in weight loss. Neglecting it and just dieting for fat loss is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Invest in some proper weight loss weight-training program to get your fat loss accelerated. It pays to get the right direction to your ultimate goal, your dream body.
Chung Leong Yu
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/an-exercise-weight-loss-plan-for-the-busy-bee-91586.html
When purchasing exercise equipment there are many factors that you need to keep in mind when making your purchases. How much money do you want to spend on equipment? What kind of equipment do you need. Is there room in the space that you have for the equipment that you want? Most importantly though, you have to ask yourself what are your fitness goals.
I suggest that you start off with a few pieces of versatile equipment that have multiple uses, as well as being very affordable. I recommend you begin with a physio-ball and a variety of dumbbells. Dumbbells and a physio-ball will enable you to do numerous exercises that work a wide variety of muscle groups. In addition to their versatility, I recommend these pieces of equipment because they are available to consumers at a reasonable price. If you are looking to purchase equipment, these items are far more reasonably priced than commercial equipment machinery.
Commercial exercise machinery is often very expensive, and limits the number of exercise types and muscle groups one can exercise. Although commercial machines are durable and well built pieces of exercise equipment, they often promote poor form when exercising, and can prevent the body from aligning itself properly when exercising. In reality, you may think a commercial exercise machine is the better method for home training when in fact it could be doing you more harm than good. You also need to ask yourself, does the commercial machine cater to your own height and weight proportions? Does the machine move smoothly, without any jerking movements? Also, does the machine come with any sort of warranty from the manufacturer?
In deciding whether or not to purchase commercial or consumer exercise equipment, you need to ask yourself how committed you are to using the equipment. Are you simply making a New Years Resolution that will possibly fail after a few weeks, or are you making a lifestyle commitment to change your health, that will continue with you for the rest of your life. If you are planning on purchasing expensive equipment, you had better plan on using it for a while, and not letting it become a clothing dryer for hung items, in your spare bedroom or collecting dust in your garage while you continue to make payments on it.
In addition to exercise equipment for pumping iron, you need to consider what type of cardio equipment you need to keep around in order to take care of your body’s cardiovascular needs. Again, a commercial treadmill for example is usually the best overall for conditioning, but, you need to ask yourself how committed are you, how much are you willing to spend, and do you have the space for the equipment.
If you still have questions on what to buy for your home, get a free pass at your local gym. Go and try out their equipment. Use the treadmills, and stair-steppers and other cardio equipment. Use their weight machines to see what you like and what works for you. Collaborate with your personal trainer to determine what is the best equipment to meet your needs. Your personal trainer will not only tailor your sessions with him/her for your needs, but he/she will recommend specifically what equipment you need in between sessions with him/her in order to better reach your fitness goals. If you follow these tips, you should be able to find what you are looking for in quality exercise equipment.
Scott White
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/tips-on-buying-exercise-equipment-92571.html
The world of exercise videos is loaded with an endless supply of exercise material for all fitness types and all levels of physical ability. The problem is that most exercise videos are pure trash and absolutely worthless, while a small percentage of all programs in existence actually contain valuable and helpful fitness programs. Many exercise videos are just recycled, old material with a new look package and maybe even a new name with a phony celebrity endorsement attached to it.
You can pick up an old exercise video on Ebay or at a garage sale and watch it side by side with it’s ‘new’ version and they’d literally be exactly the same. So, how do you find and exercise video set that is compatible with your situation and fitness needs. Fortunately, the power of the internet can be your secret weapon in helping you find effective and realistic exercise videos that are going to give you the most bang for the buck.
You should first start out by running a search for your specific fitness goals. For example, go to your favorite search engine and type in ‘lower body exercises’, ‘butt exercise dvds’, stretching exercises or ‘body shaping exercises’ – or whatever words describe what you may be trying to improve. then take some time to look at the results.
If you find some points of interest written or reviewed by a fitness professional or exercise physiologist – take their name and run a search for their name and then take a look at what you find regarding this person. A certain percentage of fitness writers and consultants produce their own line of exercise videos, independently or in partnership with a larger company.
Some important things to note before you start your search for the perfect exercise videos are: Define your fitness goals, both short term and long term. Decide if you want a program that can be done at home or while traveling, with little or no exercise equipment. Do you want an exercise video that focuses on using heavy weights and machines that are only found in a health club? Do you want a program that is flexible and compatible with a hectic family and career life – but still gets you the results you desire?
Be careful not to mistake what the exercise video producers are marketing their program as. For example, many ‘body-toning & fat loss’ exercise videos are nothing more than old-fashioned aerobics programs in a new disguise. If you want an exercise video that targets certain stubborn, trouble-spots then be sure to find out if the program you are interested in contains specific exercises that target body parts and muscle groups.
An example of this may be where a woman wants to shape and firm her butt and saddle bag area or where a man wants to shrink his flabby gut and tone up his chest, arms and shoulders – it is these specific needs you want to factor in to your exercise video search and look for in the content of the specific program or program series – as many top selling exercise videos are produced as a series or group of videos for different specific purposes.
Approach your exercise video search with some forethought and simple planning and your effort to locate a program that addresses your exact needs will be much easier and more likely to be a success.
Joey Atlas
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/the-hunt-for-the-perfect-exercise-video-132849.html