Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Benefits of Detoxing for Fitness and Health

It seems to be a little disgusting when you are detoxing or cleansing. Your body shows some signs that you have built up toxins. These toxins can affect your whole body fitness and health.

There are times that you feel sluggish and feel the stressful. Your body may experience continuous aching, diarrhea, constipation, and feeling of clumsiness. Rapid weight gain and the incapacity to lose the excess weight can also be signs of having toxins in the body.

Moreover, the toxins found in the body are found and stored on your fat cells. For Americans who are taking the usual American diet, a person may consume 70 trillion garbage cans for each cell. In detoxing your body and cleaning that unwanted garbage in your cells, you should pay attention on your elimination organs.

There are particular organs in your body that deal on cell waste management. These organs play a major role in the detoxing process for a fit and healthy body.

1. Your liver is the organ that recycles the unwanted chemicals in the body. It sorts out the toxins and places them to the organ for elimination during the process of circulation. The principal elimination organs will back up the liver on where these toxins will be stored and then eliminated.

2. The lymph glands also play an important role in eliminating the toxins. A network of tubing brings out the excess waste of the cells from the body and to the final eliminating organs. The appendix, thymus, tonsil, and spleens are major lymphatic glands that help the major organs of the body in cleansing and detoxing.

3. The kidneys help in the water management of the body. They are the ones that keep the good chemistry of the blood alkaline by eliminating the dissolved acid waste. You can help your kidney to function very well by drinking plenty of water. It is much better if you drink fresh alkaline juices and purified water. You may take 1/2 ounce of alkaline everyday to see positive results on your body weight.

4. The lungs are the organs that keep the blood air purified. They allow the oxygen to go directly to the bloodstream. It is also responsible in removing waste gases that are found in every cell of the body. Deep breathing and fresh air is very helpful in keeping the lungs healthy and free from toxins. If you are in the urban area, it is recommended that you find an oxygen rich area where you can perform deep breathing.

5. The colon is a solid waste management organ in your body. Medical practitioners have found many peolpe that may have an 80-pound mucus and rubber like solid waste that are found on the walls of the colon. Detoxing and cleaning the colon can be a real tough thing to do. However, having a free waste colon can certainly provide you good benefits of having a clean and healthy body.

If you are experiencing some signs of detoxification, you may try doing a regular walking exercise. Exercise is a good key in having a fit and healthy body. Many diet doctors also suggest that you drink plenty of lemon water. This is an effective way of maintaining a very good circulation and can increase the rate of detoxification inside the body.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Benefits of Cardio Training

Being fit and healthy is the in thing. Actually, it really never goes out of style. That body is the most valuable asset you could have in your lifetime. Thus it is important that you take good care of it. Give it the proper attention it needs.

When it comes to ensuring and maintaining the health, the best option is to do cardio training.

What Is Cardio Training?

Cardio training involves any activity that requires the use of the large muscle groups of the body in a regular and uninterrupted manner. It elevates the heart rate between 60 to 85 percent of the fastest heart rate you could get.

Some of the usual cardio training activities are walking, jogging, running, aerobics, cycling, tae bo, swimming and rowing. Cardio training is considered an aerobic exercise as one is required to move from one exercise to another.

What Are the Benefits of Training?

1. Gives Energy to the Body
You can expect more energy and higher endurance after some time of regular cardio training.

2. Prevents Diseases
One could prevent heart diseases with regular cardio training. It is also helpful in preventing other variety of diseases like diabetes, obesity and even high cholesterol. The cardiovascular training strengthens the heart and the lungs. The low to moderated type of cardio exercises are required for people seeking to prevent diseases. Examples of these are walking, brisk walking or jogging.

3. Control Your Weight
With cardio training, you are able to burn more calories. This will help one who needs to lose weight. While those who already achieved their ideal body mass, the training will make it easier to control the weight.

Cardio training helps burn calories. However this generally depends on your current weight and the kind of cardio training you are undergoing. Better consult this matter with your physician or trainer, to know the proper type of training for your needs.

4. Lose Body Fats
Some people do not have problem with their weights. However, there may be some excess fats that keep bothering. Cardio training will help in getting rid of those. The activities involve the movements of large muscle groups. Regularly doing the training will make you leaner.

5. Get Rid of Boredom
Cardio training is fun. It pumps up your system. You will definitely feel more energized and on the go.

Recommendations to Better Enjoy the Benefits of Cardio Training

Cardio training is essential when you need to make health improvements. For starters, it is best to do the 30 to 45 minutes of exercises, 3 to 5 days a week. If you are aiming for weight loss, the training must be done 5 days a week. The more frequent you do it; the more likely it is that you will lose weight. However, avoid exhausting yourself too much in exercise. Avoid going beyond 45 minutes. Remember, it has to be done in a regular basis.

Start now. Walk or ride the bike around the neighborhood now. Follow that aerobics video you purchased. Set a goal and follow that goal. At the same time, modify your diet too. Eat healthy food.

As you increase in the fitness level, the intensity of the training must also increase. This is to have an area of variation and there should always be room for improvement. Implement this by intensifying some parts of the training. If you are into jogging or running, increase speed every 5 minutes for at least a minute or two. It is important that you challenge yourself, so as not to be stuck in a stump.

Avoid doing the cardio exercises before bedtime. You will have a difficult time sleeping if you do so as the energy level of the body will stay high for sometime.

If you are undergoing weight training too, do the cardio exercises right after, not before.

It is best to take a snack 30 minutes before doing the cardio exercises. Do not start with training in an empty stomach. This will not help in achieving the proper momentum when you train. At the same time, avoid indulging in large meals too before exercise. Just give your body the proper supply it will need to sustain exhausting movements.

It is good to do the cardio exercises outdoors. This way you can easily interact with nature and breathe fresh air. You can also simply enjoy going around the neighborhood as you get your system healthier by the minute. It is possible to make some friends among the people who also do their exercises.

Be consistent and stick with the training once you have started it. This is the only way that cardio training will benefit your body and your health in the long run.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Benefits of Cardio Interval Training

In a long-term study of the health of the people of in the United States, the U.S. Public Health Service documented the chances of developing heart disease among various groups in the population. Long before the any symptoms appeared, epidemiological research could identify high-risk groups.

Among the highest risk factors are male sex, age over 35, cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, high levels of certain blood fats, and a family history of cardiovascular disorders.

Other researchers have added to this list another risk factor: the compulsive, hard-driving, highly anxious personality. The greater the number of severity, the greater the person's overall risk.

These threats to the heart can be divided into two main categories: those beyond individual control, such as age, sex, and heredity, and those that can be controlled, avoided, or even eliminated. Among those in the second category are what cardiologists call "the triple threat." These are the high blood pressure, cigarette smoking, and high cholesterol levels in the blood.

If you smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, your risk of having a heart attack is twice that of a nonsmoker. If you smoke, have hypertension, and eat a diet high in fats without any exercise at all, your risk is five times greater than normal.

The Healthy Heart

If these risk factors endanger the heart's health, what enhances its well-being and improves its odds of working long and well?

Obviously, quitting cigarettes and eating a low-fat diet will help. The next best thing you can do for your heart's sake is to give it what it needs: regular exercise or a complete cardio interval training.

The heart is a muscle, or, more accurately, a group or "package" of muscles, similar in many ways to the muscles of the arms and legs. And just as exercise strengthens and improves limb muscles, it enhances the health of the heart muscles as well.

Since World War II, several large-scale statistical studies have evaluated the relationship between physical activity and cardiovascular disease. One well-known survey compared 31,000 drivers and conductors of some bus companies. The more sedentary drivers had a significantly higher rate of heart disease than the conductors, who walked around the buses and climbed stairs to the upper level.

The why and how behind these statistics were bet explained by classic experiments with dogs whose coronary arteries were surgically narrowed to resemble those of humans with arteriosclerosis. Dogs who were exercised were had much better blood flow than those kept inactive.

The exercise seemed to stimulate the development of new connections between the impaired and the nearly normal blood vessels, so exercised dogs had a better blood supply to all the muscle tissue of the heart. The human heart reacts in the same way to provide blood to the portion that was damaged by the heart attack.

To enable the damaged heart muscle to heal, the heart relies on new small blood vessels for what is called collateral circulation. These new branches on the arterial tress can develop long before a heart attack - and can prevent a heart attack if the new network takes on enough of the function of the narrowed vessels.

With all these facts, it is now boiled down to a single question: What should be done in order to prevent such dilemmas?

Some studies showed that moderate exercise several times a week is more effective in building up these auxiliary pathways than extremely vigorous exercise done twice often.

The general rule is that exercise helps reduce the risk of harm to the heart. Some researches further attested the link between exercise and healthy heart based from the findings that the non-exercisers had a 49% greater risk of heart attack than the other people included in the study. The study attributed a third of that risk to sedentary lifestyle alone.

Hence, with employing the cardio interval training, you can absolutely expect positive results not only on areas that concerns your cardiovascular system but on the overall status of your health as well.

This particular activity that is definitely good for the heart is a cycle of "repeated segments" that is of intense nature. In this process, there is an interchange periods of recuperation. It can both be comprehensive activity and moderate motion.

Consequently, the benefits of merely engaging into this kind of activity can bring you more results that you have ever expected. These are:

1. The threats of heart attack are lessened, if not eliminated

2. Enhanced heart task

3. Increase metabolism, increase the chance of burning calories, therefore, assist you in losing weight

4. Improves lung capacity

5. Helps lessen or eliminate the cases of stress

Indeed, cardio interval training is the modern way of creating a healthy, happy heart and body.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Benefits of Boxing Training for Fitness

You may improve your health and have a physically fit body by getting into boxing training fitness programs. This is the best way for you to have a stronger body and gain confidence. Boxing workouts can help you to be at your best fighting form as well.

Many people see positive results from boxing trainings. You may build stronger and more defined arms and legs. These programs and classes also help you to gain a sense of inner strength and emotional balance.

Boxing training classes got across to the mainstream of physical fitness training a few years back. They have seen the benefits on the cardiovascular and toning of the muscles by these boxing training workouts. Tae bo work out videos also popularized these boxing and kickboxing exercises.

Cardio boxing training classes and the innovative variations of the sparring jabs, power punches, defense, and fitness has all blends of aerobics exercises. You will learn the proper execution of the punch and kick combinations for a more intensive workout that can help you become stronger and more confident.

The combinations you perform on the blocks, jabs, and kicks are executed to an imagined opponent. You may see classes where participants throw punches and kicks on the air. You will also find training camps that have quality equipment such as punching bags and you may also have the option of getting a partner that has padded hands.

You may also enjoy more benefits aside from the physical aspects of boxing trainings. Cardio kick boxing workouts allow you to burn out 350 to 500 calories in just an hour. It also helps maintaining the heart rate at 75 percent to 85 percent regular beat. This has been proven to be good and is the recommended range if you are exercising or into training.

Moreover, these boxing training classes improve your speed, resistance, and strength. Flexibility and the reflexes of the muscles are also enhanced. Repetitive motion on arms by sparring and jogging while you punch helps your arms and legs gain strength and power.

These workouts also enable your joint movements to build very efficient fitness results.
These movements require you to develop balance and coordination that enables your body to be stable and maintain a good form.

These physical benefits you gain from boxing and kickboxing are just few of the many benefits that they can provide. You will be able to learn more about defense mechanism skills, which you may use in case of unwanted instances. You will also feel the satisfaction when you punch or kick. Relaxation and self-motivation is also developed.

You will feel a sigh of relief and feel that you are released from stressed. It also helps you to get rid of that anger that is inside of you. Once these things are releases, you may feel lightness into your body and peace of mind as well.

Many aerobic and fitness experts recommend boxing training lessons for beginners. It allows you to workout on your desired pace and body condition. Boxing classes let you to push yourself to the limit as long as you are safe and well conditioned.

Positive results await you with boxing training. You will enjoy a physically fit body and will keep you in better shape. You have the option working out and exercising at your preferred level and skill. Enjoy the fun of these boxing training programs.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Benches Are The Central Part Of Any Good Weight Training Program.

Weight benches are a central part of any weight training program. Not only are many weight training benches of the sturdiest and highest quality available, but they're offered at the most competitive prices online too. The utility bench is unequaled in design and craftsmanship. The seat pads adjust independently to achieve precise angles and the bench accepts a wide variety of attachments for individual customizing for the many different exercises you can perform and to accomadate the varying sizes of people. This is one of the best pieces of home fitness equipment you can purchase and is the best work out for body maintenance.

A good Weight Bench is one of the most effective tools in the Building Foundation for a Strength Training Program. Home fitness equipment is not like Weight Benches you can get in Sporting Goods or Department Stores with their inherent flimsy unstable Designs.

Olympic Weight Benches and Standard Weight Benches are constructed from Industrial Grade Heavy Duty Steel and many offer Flat, Incline, Decline and Shoulder Pressing adjustability with leg press attachment as well. Olympic Weight Benches are suitable for Advanced Bench Pressing or for a Beginner Weight Lifter to Build Complete Functional Upper Body Strength and is a key element is self improvement both physically and mentally.

Whether it's a treadmill costing thousands, or a hand grip for $30, both of these devices are classified as fitness equipment. So you see, it's a big arena, with lots of products. In fact, fitness equipment overlaps several other markets including sports, entertainment, and healthcare. So when you visit a large, fitness equipment store you'll find everything from rubber floor tiles to dvds, not just the obvious fitness equipment you see at the gym. But searching through the many online fitness stores available, you are sure to only find fitness equipment that is related exactly to what you are searching for.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Beginning Pointe- What to Expect

Although every teacher is different, the goals of the introductory pointe class are similar no matter where you dance. These goals include strengthening the feet and ankles, breaking in the pointe shoes, and learning proper execution of skills while wearing pointe shoes.

To strengthen the feet, your teacher may instruct in a variety of methods including demi-pointe work, exercises for the feet and ankles, and basic releves at the barre. Instruction may also be given for additional work that can be done outside of class to help you gain strength and skill.

Breaking in pointe shoes is simply the wording used to describe taking the shoe from its initial factory condition to where it is conformed to the shape of your foot. This may include some work with your shoe in hand softening hard spots and bending the shank. I highly suggest waiting for a teacher’s instruction before bending, softening, or attempting to break in the shoes. Doing so on your own may permanently damage or improperly break in the shoes.

In addition to manually softening the shoes, your feet will serve as your greatest break in tool. Simply doing releves will do much to help the shoes mould to your feet. Again, be careful about doing too much outside of your teacher’s watchful eye. Doing steps incorrectly in pointe shoes may cause the shoes to break in improperly or lead to an injury.

Lastly, a basic pointe class will include barre work and eventually center work doing the steps you already know. Plies, releves, tendus, jetes, and other basic technical steps will help you learn placement, understand positioning, and gain strength as you develop your pointe skills.

In an introductory pointe class, you may find yourself spending only a few minutes actually dancing in the shoes. Do not be alarmed. It takes dedication and time over the course of many months and years to develop a strong pointe technique. You will gain strength, increase grace, and expand your dancing horizons as you begin pointe. There will be blisters, frustration, and pain, but the beauty of the dance will always make it worthwhile!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Become Healthier, Become Fitter

If truth be told most of us want to be a lot fitter then we are. It is something we should all be aiming for, a better level of fitness. So where do we all start. Well a quick internet search reveals too many pages to provide a good and reliable source of information, and there is a great deal of in formation provided on the TV channels, books, newspapers and countless fitness DVDs. To be honest there will always be something out there that will help, or maybe you can take a little information from each one to build your own fitness regime.

Are there any benefits to being fitter? Guess what the answer is. Yes, fitter is better. Fitter equals less body fat as this is something that is burnt off during exercise and exercise is how to become fitter. You could just diet to become slimmer but your chances of loosing weight will be much greater if you exercise as well as diet.

A fitter person has a lower heart rate which improves your well being and as you will be breathing harder during exercise this will increase your lung function so you will enable your body to absorb more oxygen to feed your brain and muscles.

If you have hypertension, being fitter can help to lower this and can positively affect both diastolic and systolic levels. This has helped me recently as I am suffering from hypertension and one of the side effects of my medication has been to lower my heart rate. A lower heart rate means less oxygen circulating round my body, and less oxygen means less brain food. This explains why some days I have been slightly confused and somewhat forgetful. I decided to raise my overall fitness level and have been working out for several months now. My confusion has gone, my weight is down, my excess body fat is dropping and my hypertension is much better.

Being fitter can also have a positive effect on cholesterol levels, reducing LDL cholesterol, (which is good), yet helping to raise the HDL level, (which I understand is also good). Greater fitness can also help your heart and lower the chance of having a stroke. I used to smoke which wasn’t good for my heart and found exercise very hard. I decided to stop smoking and coupled with a fitness regime I now feel much better and a lot fitter.

My stamina and strength has increased greatly since working out and this is even more important to people as you get a little older.

A great way of developing a fitness regime is to seek help and your local gym should have a personal trainer, (or you can find your own). These will advise you on the best way to become fitter and remember they are the experts. A personal trainer knows the things we don’t and it is sensible advice to listen to their advice. They will not set up a fitness regime that is so strenuous that it will kill you on day one. A personal trainer will help you build up your strength and stamina by developing a sensible program of exercise. To develop a sensible fitness program we need to consider 4 important areas.

Aerobic exercise is a form of exercise which is low in its intensity but lengthy in its duration. Put simply this means not too hard but goes on a long time such as walking, swimming and aerobics on your own or in aerobic workout classes.

Another way of getting fitter is to pull weights which is known as resistance training. My experience of this training is limited but to do it sensibly start with low weights and build up the weight as your fitness builds up. Remember, be sensible and don’t over do it as you can damage your body easily with unsupervised weight training.

You could take up a fitness regime involving flexibility exercises such as yoga. Remember though you still need to eat a properly balanced diet of sensible foods as part of your fitness program.

Getting fitter can be easy, just do easy exercises a little at a time and then do it properly and intensively. To get fit quick though, consider being advised by a specialist fitness trainer, either a personal one or one based in a gym. They will help you find out what is best for you. Books and web sites can give you guidance as to how to get fitter and this is what a personal trainer will do, but a book or a web site cannot tailor the advice to you and your circumstances. A personal trainer can, and will, do this. Another thing they can do, which is usually something I need, is they can help to motivate you in order that you can develop your own fitness regime. Becoming fitter takes time and time is something that many of up are short of in today’s modern world. Just remember that you need to keep working at a fitness regime to develop a better level of fitness. Fitness is not something you can buy at the supermarket. In order to become fitter you just need to take things steady at first but there has to be a first, you have to start somewhere. Just look at me. I used to be a heavy smoker and drinker; I was grossly overweight and had hypertension. Now, I am much fitter, can jog miles without problems, the hypertension is much more controlled and my waistline has shrunk. How, well I started a fitness program which was easy at first, and just built up from there. Start small and build up to a more developed program. Good luck. I did it and so can you.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Beauty and Fitness

Health is wealth. By being physically fit, it can make a person look lean both inside and out.

There is a lot a person can do such jogging or walking in the morning, playing basketball or any other sport with friends but if a person wants to have muscles and look lean, the best thing to do will be to sign up and workout in a gym.

Just like taking any medicine, one should first consult the doctor before undergoing any form of exercise.

Physical exercise is beneficial because it helps maintain and improve ones health from a variety of diseases and premature death. It also makes a person feel happier and increases ones self esteem preventing one from falling into depression or anxiety. It has also shown to make a person with an active lifestyle live longer than a person who doesn't.

The best exercise plan should have cardiovascular and weight training exercises. This helps burn calories and increase the muscle to fat ratio that will increase ones metabolism and make one either gain or lose weight.

A person who has never worked out before should do it gradually. Doing it too much for the first time can make one pull a muscle or have an injury making it worse. Endurance will never be built in a day and doing it repeatedly will surely be good to the person.

Focusing on certain portion in the body can help make it improve. A good example is going to the gym and doing a workout more often in a specific area such as the abs can give one a chest pack.

But beauty is not only about having muscles which is what people can see. It is also about enhancing the beauty within.

Here are some things one can do everyday to stay beautiful and healthy;

· Reading books and other reading material more often keeps the mind sharp just like working out keeps the body in shape.

· Work no matter what kind it is produces stress. One can reduce this by taking the time out to do something special like lying in a hot tub, shopping or watching a movie. Studies have shown it is reliever and helps one from looking haggardly.

· Pollution is something people cannot control given the size of the problem. When one goes out, it is best to put some form of protection such as beauty products that contain antioxidants that protect the skin from damage. There are also other beauty products available and choosing the right one with the help of a dermatologist can help the person.

· Another way to stay healthy is to give up some vices. Most people smoke and drink. Smoking has been proven to cause lung cancer and other diseases as well complications for women giving birth. Excessive drinking has also shown to do the same.

· For people who don't smoke, it is best to stay away from people who do since studies have shown that nonsmokers are also at risk of developing cancer due to secondary smoke inhalation.

· Lastly, it is best to always start the day with a positive outlook. Just as studies have shown that exercise makes a person feel happier, smiling produces the same effect. A smile can do a lot and it is contagious in a positive sense. It brightens the day of not only one but others as well.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Be Lean, Mean: Tips for Buying those Fitness Equipment Machines

How do you regularly stay fit, healthy and flexible? A hale and hearty diet of nutritious fruits and vegetables is the key as well as regular and continuous exercise.

The best exercise is one that you are really and sincerely going to be working out on, be it push-ups, stretches, jumping jacks or the regular jogging or the much tamer walking. However, there are people who prefer to work out using fitness equipment in their own homes.

The following are a few basic and important things to consider when buying those exercise equipments.

Do not believe what you see and hear

At least not everything, it is good if you assess all those claims exercise equipments declare in their advertisements. It is so hard to accept as true for example some statements that assure people that they will lose several pounds off their weight in as little as seven days or that you will decrease your pants size in one month. Even with the assistance of dietary supplements, it is not possible to accomplish changes as major as these in just a few weeks, much less days.

Fat Burner is a No Burner

Be skeptical about claims that say you will be able to burn a tremendous amount of fat in a specific area of your body, such as the hips, thighs, waist just by applying a specific type of ointment or lotion, etc. The only sure way to burn all those fat way is by changing what you eat. Exercise is the best solution to works out every area of the body whose fat you want to get rid of.

The only testimonial that counts is yours

Before and after pictures of people who claim that they were able to lose weight because of using such and such equipments may or may not be true. If ever they are, their experience is purely personal and that is no assurance that your unique body weight, body make-up will also undergo the same change they went through.

Read the fine print

It is always advisable to read the fine print of anything. Though you believe that the fitness equipment you are planning to purchase is a good one, reading the fine print really wouldn't hurt as it may say that you also have to decrease your calorie intake and not just rely on what the machine could do for you.

Do the math

There are advertising statements that say you could pay off the fitness equipment in a number of easy payments or by paying a mere thirty nine ninety five a month. Do not forget to inquire about shipping and handling costs and include that in your calculation. Also, add-on the required sales tax, delivery fees, set-up fees. Know all the details before you purchase.

Guarantee the warranty

It is best that you consider asking about details on their thirty day money back guarantee. Though this could sound good to you as the consumer, it may or may not actually do you good if for example you are going to return the item. You may actually pay for the humongous shipping cost and it could cost you more than what you could guarantee to receive in thirty days.

Call customer service

Make sure you contact their customer service hotline. Usually, they have toll-free numbers that you must be able to easily contact as well as a customer service representative who must be glad to be able to take your call and answer thoroughly all or any questions you may have about their products and services.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Barbell Exercises That Suit Beginners

The aim for beginners to weight training must be to lay the foundations for the intensive workouts that their bodies will eventually be subjected to. Obviously successful bodybuilding involves bringing together disparate elements such as nutrition and rest but choosing the right exercises is crucial. In this article we'll outline the barbell exercises that will enable new bodybuilders to develop the general strength and body conditioning needed.

Initially beginners should aim to complete two sets of ten to twelve reps but after a few weeks, when you have developed sufficient control and basic strength, experiment with one set of six to eight reps to failure. This will maximize your muscle growth and give you the impetus to move on to the next stage of development. Before long you'll find the use of this single piece of equipment restricting, so later in this series of articles we'll pull together a muscle boosting program that utilizes other equipment to take you to the intermediate level. In the meantime, get to work with these exercises in order to get used to working your muscles.

Start off training four days per week and work body parts on the following basis not forgetting to incorporate rest days:

Day 1 - Biceps, Back, Abs

Day 2- Hamstrings, Shoulders, Abs

Day 3 - Quads, Forearms, Calves

Day 4 - Triceps, Chest, Abs

The exercises recommended for beginners are as follows:

CHEST: Bench press

SHOULDERS: Upright row, military press, front shrug

TRICEPS: Lying triceps extension, lying triceps extension with EZ curl bar

BICEPS: Standing curl, EZ standing curl

LOWER BODY: Squat, reverse lunge, calf raise

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Back Exercises – Strengthen Your Back

The National Institute of Health has estimated that 4 out of 5 Americans suffer from back pain at some time or the other in their lives. Back pain afflicts a person suddenly and without giving any prior symptoms. When affected, one must use their body’s own healing ability to combat the pain, instead of preferring medicines, and strengthen their body through back exercises. Back exercises, such as acupuncture, massage therapy, chiropractic, osteopathic care and certain other physical exercises are safer ways of treating back pain.

Basic Guidelines for Back Strengthening Exercises
Back exercises are one of the better ways to relieve yourself from back pain and lead a healthy life. It is important to ensure that exercises are worked within a range of motion, so as not to further strain the painful back. In case you experience pain while doing some stretching steps, stop exercising immediately. Avoid sudden movements and jerks when performing back exercises, even though it maybe hard to perform the steps in a slow and controlled motion.

People suffering from lower back problems face various problems while working out. It is important to get into an exercise routine gradually and build muscle power. Always performing back exercises after consulting your trainer. It is also important to understand that back pain doesn’t develop overnight and hence restoration of the back will also take time.

One of the back exercises that gently stretches your back muscles is:
lie on your back with knees bent.
Slowly raise your left knee to your chest, while pressing your lower back firmly against the floor.
Remain in position for 5 seconds.
Relax; repeat the exercise with your right knee.
Repeat this exercise 10 times for each leg.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Back Exercise Stretches For Back Pain

Back exercise stretches the lower back muscles to help bring relief to back pain caused by over-stressed back muscles. Spine rehabilitation too is done through back exercise. People suffering from back pain are put through an exercise regimen, as exercise stretches the back and promotes better blood circulation in the area.

You will hear many people complain of back pain occasionally. About 75% to 85% of the people experience back pain at some point of time in their life. The most common area of back pain is the lumbar region of the spine. This is the region that bears most of the body weight. Sudden twisting and bending can cause injury to the back. Back pain also occurs when the muscles get stiff because of poor posture. Back exercise stretches the stiff muscles to provide relief.

Back Exercise Stretches – For Back Pain Relief

Back exercise stretches need to be performed softly. You should treat your back gently and not subject it jerky and violent movement. The exercise routine that you follow should start gently, and gradually build over a period of a few weeks. You could cause more harm than good, if you do not follow expert advice in matters of back exercise.

Warm up your body before you embark on the stretching routine. Exercise stretches the muscles, ligaments and tendons in the area surrounding the back. The muscles and tendons associated with the spine are designed for movement. Hence, they need to be stretched everyday to perform optimally. The hamstring muscles are an important factor in back pain problems. Most people with back pain have stiff hamstring muscles.

Stand comfortably with your feet shoulder width apart. Now slowly bend forward and try to touch your toes with your hands without bending your knees. Your action should be smooth and not jerky. Be careful not to overdo the stretching part. Stop when you feel pain. This exercise stretches your hamstring muscles. Your back pain will improve gradually, as you continue with the exercise. The exercise can also be performed while lying down.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Back Exercise, Making Your Back Work For You.

No matter, what our jobs, all of use our back every day when we're sitting, standing, lifting, even lying down. A back injury can result in pain, disability, and even loss of income if it prevents us from doing our jobs. Together with proper lifting techniques, back exercises are one of the most important things each of us can do to strengthen our backs and help protect them from accidental injury and sports injuries. The right back exercises, when done on a daily basis, can help you to keep your back fitness at the best possible level.

Remember, though, if you are experiencing back pain of any sort, check with a healthcare professional before doing these or any exercises. And do the exercise according to the medical advice rendered by that professional. Sciatica is the disease which affects nerves of the back. To control the back pain due to the nerve disease you must undergo strength training in physiotherapy.

If you understand the concepts of how backs get injured by bad back exercise habits you can easily tell if you are moving in healthy ways, if an exercise will help or harm, or if you're doing a good exercise in bad way. You're not helping yourself if all you do is a "list" of exercises. Worse, many people are given a list of things to never do again. This list is often favorite activities that made their lives worthwhile and fun.

Most people spend their lives doing activities with poor posture that rounds their lower back. They sit, stand, walk, and exercise round-shouldered and round-backed. This shortens chest and shoulder muscles in front, and over stretches and weakens your back. Like squeezing a water balloon in front, when you round forward, it squeezes the front of your discs between your back bones (vertebrae) above and below the disc.