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Posts Tagged ‘exercise’
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Thursday, August 19th, 2010Lose Your Belly Fat Before The End of Summer!
Monday, July 5th, 2010Lose Your Belly Fat Before The End of Summer
Want a slimmer waistline in a few weeks’ time?
It’s certainly possible. And easier than you may have hought.
When it comes to losing that bulge around the middle, most of the advice you’ve probably heard is completely wrong.
It’s not surprising. There are quite a few myths out there when it comes to getting a flat stomach.
For example:
- “You’ve got to do 100s of crunches to lose that belly”
- “You need to diet (i.e. starve yourself)”
- “All you need is XYZ brand’s diet pill.”
- “Do hours on end of traditional low-intensity cardio, like walking on the treadmill.”
The truth is that it’s not that complicated to lose your abdominal fat.
Here’s all you need to know:
Eat right. This means eating properly to fuel your body, boost your metabolism and burn more fat. Avoid all junk foods, including fried foods, soft drinks and heavily processed foods. Stick to foods that have one or two ingredients max. That means good protein sources (like chicken, fish and eggs), plenty of fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats (nuts, olive oil, flaxseed oil, avocados, etc.) Also, try to eat 4 – 6 small meals evenly spaced throughout your day.
Train with weights. This one’s a given. Train 3 – 4 times per week. Focus mainly on compound movements. This means the “tough” exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, barbell rows, etc. These are effective at building muscle and priming your metabolism to burn fat like nobody’s business. Plus, these kinds of exercises are more functional and will provide the strength you need to go about your day-to-day life.
Do cardio smartly. Once you’re eating healthy and working out with weights, it’s time to add in a little cardio. But not the kind of cardio you see everyone else at the gym do. The goal isn’t to see how long you last walking on the treadmill. Instead, you’re going to do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
Simply put, this means alternating between all-out exertion and resting. For example, if you’re on the treadmill, you’d warm up for the first 2 minutes, then sprint as fast as you can for 1 minute. Then rest the next minute. Do this for 9 more sets of 1 minute exertion followed by 1 minute rest. Doing cardio this way burns more calories in less time, since you’re “upping” the intensity factor.
So there you have it. Follow these three tips starting today and you’re bound to lose some belly fat before Summer’s out.
5 Tips To Get in Shape For The Summer
Monday, April 19th, 2010Summer is the perfect time of year to move your health and fitness goals closer to the top of your priority list and to take the steps necessary to obtain a body that is both healthy on the inside and strong and physically fit on the outside. If you have been putting off taking care of yourself all year, this summer is the time to finally get serious about achieving your physical fitness goals. Listed below are five helpful tips that will help you get the ball rolling and maintain a healthy momentum.
Try something new. Now that the weather is warmer and the days are longer, why not add an exciting new outdoor activity or sport, such as inline skating, mountain biking, tennis, basketball, surfing, or climbing to your exercise program? With all of the options available, there is no excuse for allowing yourself to become stuck in a comfortable rut this summer. Use your imagination. Buy a new pair of walking shoes or dust off your bike and explore uncharted territory. Join a softball team or running club. If there is no club in your area, start one.
Engaging in several different types of sports, exercises, and activities on a regular basis (sometimes defined as cross training) can add excitement and variety to your exercise program. Cross training also increases the odds that you will be working different muscle groups and varying the amount of aerobic and anaerobic exercise that you obtain on a regular basis. Significantly increasing your level of physical activity not only improves the efficiency of your cardiovascular system, but also increases muscle tone and metabolic rate, making it easier for your body to burn fat, even while you sleep!
Clean up your diet and clean out your pantry. Start taking time to read food labels and increase your nutritional awareness by becoming better informed. Throw away the items that you instinctively know are your biggest downfall and start with a fresh, clean slate. Cutting out junk food, fried foods, and simple sugars can make a considerable difference in your energy level and in the way that you feel about your body at the beach this summer. Be especially cautious of products that are high in trans fats and saturated fat. Not only do saturated fats raise your total blood cholesterol, but there is also a link between diets high in saturated fat and the incidence of certain types of cancer, most notably colon, breast, and prostate cancers.
Eat higher quality foods. Concentrate on eating food for the nutritional value and not simply for the taste. Take a trip to the health food store and try something different. Experiment with new healthy recipes and ask friends for fat reducing tips. Increase your consumption of antioxidant-rich vegetables, legumes, and whole grains by frequently cooking a big pot of healthy vegetable soup. Get a vegetable steamer and put it to good use. Put your fresh fruits and veggies out where you can see them. Cut up raw, nutrient filled foods such as carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, and celery and snack on them during the day or take them to work with you.
Make it a high priority to drink at least eight glasses of water a day in order to provide your body with a clean internal environment and prevent dehydration. This is especially important during the hot summer months. Don’t wait until you are thirsty to drink water because thirst is your body’s way of letting you know that you are already starting to dehydrate. Be aware that caffeine and alcohol can also have a dehydrating effect on your body as well.
Pair strength training with cardiovascular exercise. Combining weight training with aerobic exercise doubles the chances that you will lose bodyfat and gain more lean muscle mass this summer. Try to really concentrate and focus on using correct form while strength training with weights. It’s much more important to use proper, safe form than it is to try to lift as much weight as possible. If your goal is to add more muscle mass, use heavier weight and fewer repetitions (around 8 reps). To increase definition of the muscles, use lighter weight and higher reps (10-12). Also, keep in mind that at least 20 minutes of uninterrupted cardiovascular exercise is necessary to begin burning fat as your primary source of fuel.
Go for it! Push your exercise and athletic boundaries further by signing up for an event or race that you have never participated in before. So what if you don’t finish first or if your time is slow? Setting a new goal for yourself gives you something specific to work toward and leaves you with a lasting sense of accomplishment. You might be surprised by just how much you can achieve when you set your mind to it.
This is your summer to feel healthier, happier, and stronger. Go for it!
This article was written by Dr. Suzy, chiropractor and Health and Fitness Educator
http://www.pure-life.com/pages/5tips.htm
Lose that stubborn belly fat!
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010Why is it so hard to lose that stubborn belly fat?
Body fat comes in two varieties. There’s subcutaneous fat, a noticeable layer of fat that lies just below the skin, and then there’s visceral fat, which is buried beneath the muscles. Visceral fat is the more worrisome variety because it surrounds vital organs and is metabolized by the liver, which turns it into blood cholesterol.
Visceral fat can go largely unnoticed because it’s not visible to the naked eye. In fact, the only effective way researchers can locate visceral fat is by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which uses magnetic waves to take a picture of the inside of the abdomen. Researchers can use this picture to estimate the amount of visceral fat a person is carrying.
What Causes Visceral Fat?
Your genetic makeup is between 30% and 60% responsible for the amount of visceral fat you carry. Nevertheless, research shows that both your diet and your level of physical activity contribute to your level of visceral fat. People who consume large amounts of saturated fat and people who perform little or no physical activity are likely to have high stores of visceral fat.
Short of talking a physician into performing an MRI on your abdomen, how do you know how much of this unhealthy fat you have? Check your waistline. A trim waistline is a good indicator that you don’t have a large buildup of visceral fat.
Getting Rid of Visceral Fat
Research shows that people whose diets contain polyunsaturated fats in place of saturated fats have less visceral fat. Polyunsaturated fats are found in high concentrations in sunflower, corn, and soybean oils, as well as in fish. Also, just exercising moderately—doing things such as walking, swimming, or playing tennis—on most days of the week will help you prevent visceral fat from accumulating. What’s even better is that doing regular bouts of vigorous exercise can markedly reduce the amount of visceral fat you already have.
Building muscle—through weight lifting or other resistance exercises—will help, too. Muscle burns calories and helps you maintain your metabolic rate. The more muscle you have, the bigger your body’s engine, and the more likely you will be to burn fat
Once adipocytes get the signal from hormones and release fat into the bloodstream, they shrink just like a balloon that you let air out of. When they shrink, so does your body fat. But if you eat excess fat once you’ve shrunk your adipocytes, chances are it will find its way right back to the adipocyte, and once again you’ll gain fat.
No matter how much physical activity you do, adipocytes never shrink so much that they disappear entirely. Like a balloon that you let all the air out of, you’re always left with some remnant. The only way to totally remove adipocytes from your body is with a surgical procedure such as liposuction or excision. But even with these procedures, if you go back to eating excess fat, you’ll put all the fat back on.
The physical activity recommendation for improving health is to accumulate 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, if not all, days of the week.
Article was taken from http://www.womenfitness.net/visceral_fat.htm
Is Walking or High Impact Aerobics More Beneficial In Increasing Bone Mass?
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010Walking Can Be a Bone Booster
Experts have recommended high-impact aerobic exercise as a means for increasing bone mass, but a review of 24 studies on aerobic exercise and bone mineral density in women suggests that walking just 30 minutes per day a few days a week is enough to moderately increase overall bone density.A team of researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions in Boston analyzed studies that followed predominantly sedentary women assigned to aerobic exercise programs lasting 16 weeks or more.Walking was the preferred form of exercise by most participants. Compared to non-exercisers, the regular exercisers increased their bone mass by about two percent.Exercise helps strengthen bones because it forces them to bear weight, which is why high-impact exercise elicits even greater gains in bone density.The fact that walking and other low-impact activities are also beneficial, however, is particularly encouraging given that many women find high-impact exercise painful or difficult to master.Experts recommend women follow a program that combines both aerobic activity and weight training, which also increases bone mass, to lower their risk of developing osteoporosis.
Source: Annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, October 24, 2001.
http://www.acefitness.org/healthandfitnesstips/healthandfitnesstips_display.aspx?itemid=201
Here’s How Exercise Reduces Stress:
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010Physical activity — whether it’s a relaxing walk, bicycle racing or meditative tai chi — helps relieve stress.
By now, you should know that exercise does your body good. But did you also know that virtually any form of exercise can decrease the production of stress hormones and counteract your body’s natural stress response? It’s true. The same regular exercise routine that helps prevent disease and builds muscle can also help you better manage stress.
How does exercise reduce stress?
Exercise increases your overall health and your sense of well-being, which puts more pep in your steps every day. But exercise also has some direct stress-busting benefits.
- It pumps up your endorphins. Physical activity helps to bump up the production of your brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. Although this function is often referred to as a runner’s high, a rousing game of tennis or a nature hike also can contribute to this same feeling.
- It’s meditation in movement. After a fast-paced game of racquetball or several laps in the pool, you’ll often find that you’ve forgotten the day’s dilemmas and irritations and concentrated only on your body’s movements. As you begin to regularly shed your daily tensions through movement and physical activity, you may find that this focus on a single task, and the resulting energy and optimism, can help you remain calm and clear in everything that you do.
- It improves your mood. Regular exercise can increase self-confidence and lower the symptoms associated with mild depression and anxiety. This can ease your stress levels and give you a sense of command over your body and your life.
How to get started
Every successful exercise program begins with a few simple steps.
- Consult with your doctor. Begin any new fitness program by consulting with your health care provider, especially if you have a history of heart disease or other risk factors.
- Walk before you run. Build up your fitness level gradually. Excitement about a new program can lead to overdoing it and possibly even injury. Plus, if you begin your program slowly, chances are better you’ll stick with it.
- Do what you love. Don’t train for a marathon if you dislike running. All forms of movement — from horseback riding to swimming — can increase your fitness level while decreasing your stress. The most important thing is to pick an activity that you enjoy.
- Pick a time and stick to it. Although your schedule may necessitate morning workouts some days and evening activities the next, carving out some time to move every day helps you make your exercise program an ongoing priority.
Motivation to keep moving
Starting an exercise program is just the first step. Here are some tips for sticking with a new routine or reinvigorating a tired workout:
- Set some goals. It’s always a good idea to begin or modify a workout program with a goal in mind. If your primary goal is to reduce stress in your life and recharge your batteries, your specific goals might include committing to walking during your lunch hour three times a week or, if needed, finding a baby sitter to watch your children so that you can slip away to attend a spinning class.
- Find a friend. Knowing that someone is waiting for you to show up at the gym or the park can be a powerful incentive. Working out with a friend, co-worker or family member often brings a new level of motivation to your workouts.
- Change up your routine. If you’ve always been a competitive runner, take a look at other less competitive options that may help with stress reduction, such as Pilates classes or yoga. As an added bonus, these kinder, gentler workouts may enhance your running while also decreasing your stress.
Exercise = less stress
Whatever you do, don’t think of exercise as just one more thing on your to-do list. Find an activity you enjoy — whether it’s an active tennis match or a meditative meander down to a local park and back — and make it part of your regular routine. Any form of physical activity can help you unwind and become an important part of your approach to easing stress.
This article was taken from Mayoclinic.com
To learn more about stress management click here
