Beauty Tips - Natural Health Care Tips » Fitness

FIGURE TRIMMING EXERCISES IN THE POOL.

admin — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 08:27:08 +0000

Swimming is a first-rate means of getting fit and slim. For people who are overweight or who have stiff joints, it has the great advantage that the water provides support. It is also easier than jogging on the heart, which does not have to pump against gravity during swimming. Swimming breaststroke or backstroke consumes about the same number of calories as fast walking or slow jogging at four to five miles per hour. Swimming crawl requires more energy and is comparable to a moderately fast squash game or cross-country running. The intensity of your swimming effort also influences the number of calories you burn. First warm up your muscles with under given exercises. Beginners may find these exercises quite strenuous.
1.Waterjumps:
Stand at the shallow end with the water up to your waist or higher if you like. Bend your knees, touch your feet(perhaps with your head under the water) then jump out of the water as high as possible. Repeat this exercise five to ten times. Work up to 25 times over the next few weeks.
2. Water jogs:
Run on the spot in the water, bringing your knees as high as possible. Take up to 15 steps with each leg. Work up to 80 steps over the next few weeks.
3. Push-offs:
Hold on to the edge of the pool and bring the soles of your feet up flat against the side of the pool, between your hands. Then let your hands go and push off with all your strength from the side of the pool. Make a note of how far you get. Go back to the edge and see if you can do better Repeat five to 10 times, and work up to 25 times over the next few weeks.
Water provides a unique combination of resistance and buoyancy: resistance increases the effectiveness of exercises aimed at building stamina and shaping muscles, while buoyancy makes it possible to get supple with minimum wear and tear on joints, tendons and ligaments. You can make use of this in these exercises, which are designed to trim the waistline by tightening abdominal muscles. These exercises should be done at the end of your swimming session so that they do not interrupt the aerobic sequence. Try them out at home first so that you are sure you have learnt the correct movement.
1. Knees ups:
Sit on the edge of the pool, grip the edge and lean back slightly, pulling in your abdominal muscles. Then raise both knees towards your chest and at the same time lean forward a little to touch your knees with your head. This requires careful balance or you will fall into the pool. Do this five times and work up to 10 times over the next few weeks.
2. Floating sit ups:
Float on your back with your hands at your sides and depending on the type of pool, either rest your foot on the edge of the pool or on top of the rail, pressing your heel down to grip, or hook your toes under the rail. Then bend forwards, pulling your abdomen in, and grasp your ankles for a few seconds. Do this 5 times in all. Build up to 20 times over a period of weeks if you can. After you have got up to 20, try doing the same exercise with hands clasped behind your head, just bending until you get into the same position as before.
3. Waist trims:
The advantage of the water here is that it will cushion you if you find this difficult and overbalance. Stand in the shallow end and join both hands behind your head. Raise your left knee up and bring your right elbow with down. Try to touch the elbow with the knee. Straighten up and do the same with the other knee and elbow. Do this four times to begin with and work up to 10 over the next few weeks.

TENSION RELEASE EXERCISES.

admin — Sat, 01 May 2010 09:56:47 +0000

Overeating, heavy drinking and smoking are some of the most common ways in which people attempt to cope with tension; They are damaging to health both because of the direct physical effects they have and because they are habits that reduce our sense of control over our lives. This sense of being in control, of feeling that we are acting out of choice and can influence events, is beginning to emerge as the single most important prerequisite for mental and physical well-being. The secret of relaxation, whether snatching a few minutes out of a busy working day or floating off before going to sleep at night, is not to try too hard.
A number of studies by doctors and phychologists around the world have shown that a perception of helplessness may play a part in causing illness and can influence the eventual outcome. A sense of powerlessness may also be the critical factor in preventing people from slimming successfully. We have choice of two very effective techniques to pick from a sequence of tense-and-release exercises or simple meditation. The exercises work directly on the main muscle groups, on the principal that anxiety and muscular tension are inseparable.
Deep relaxation, a skill which needs to be learned and practiced, will enhance your sense of control in several ways:
* By curbing bad habits such as overeating, drinking too much or smoking. ‘Tension control reduces harmful displacement activities resulting from nervousness, particularly excessive eating and anxiety nibbling.
* By making you feel more energetic and confident. ‘Your energy reserves and vitality are raised when you control stress, so that your body image improves and confidence is boosted.
* By making you less likely to over-react emotionally. Relaxation lowers the physiological arousal that triggers emotions. So you will feel calmer and more efficient.
Exercises.
These are best done lying down in a warm, quite room with dimmed lights. But they can also be done sitting down.
Lying down: Lie on the floor, preferably on a rug or blanket, arms by your side but not touching the body, feet pointing outwards. If your neck needs support, use a cushion or pillow or, better still, a book or books about 2 ½ inches thick. If you have a sway back or pain in your lower back, put a pillow under your knees to take the strain off the lumbar region, and keep them slightly bent.
Sitting: Sit with your lower back supported. If the chair has no headrest to lean back against, you will need to clasp your hands behind your neck in order to tense your neck muscles.
How to do them: Work from top to toe, tensing and releasing each muscle group in turn. Hold each position for about 10 seconds, then release. Pay attention to the muscles relaxing and make a mental note of what it feels like for specific muscle groups to let go. After about 15 seconds, move on to the next group.
1. Eyes and forehead. Close eyes; screw them up tight, frown hard.
2. Jaw and tongue. Clench jaw, press tongue against roof of mouth. Clench your jaw, clamp your teeth together and feel the tension radiating outwards towards your ears. Release, let your mouth drop open and your tongue lie flat. Swallow and feel your throat soften as the tension subsides.
3. Neck. Press head against floor, pillow or seat, or clasp hands behind head and press head against hands.
4. Shoulders back. Draw shoulders back, as though trying to make shoulder blades touch.
5. Shoulders up. Hunch shoulders, as though trying to touch ears.
6. Arms. Straighten arms, clench fists and tighten arm muscles.
7. Abdomen. Draw in abdominal muscles, as though trying to touch spine with abdomen.
8. Buttocks. Squeeze buttocks together. Pull your buttocks close together, hold them there and release.
9. Legs. Straighten legs, bend back feet and tighten leg muscles.
10. Toes. Stretch your legs, Scrunch up toes and squeeze, pointing the toes down towards the floor as far they will go. Hold the stretch for a few moments, then stretch again and release, feel the tension gradually ebb away.
11. Checking. Check that eyes, forehead, jaw and tongue are relaxed without tensing these muscles first.
12. Verbally. Say to yourself, ‘I am completely relaxed from my head to my knees to my toes’ as you feel a wave of warmth and relaxation wash over you from head to foot.
At the end of the sequence you should be feeling warm and very relaxed, as well as refreshed; you may even have a sensation of almost floating. Do these exercises at least once a day, preferably twice, any time you feel under pressure, anxious, aching or tired. After a hard day they can be as restorative as a nap.

THE HOME WORKOUT.

admin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 05:52:20 +0000

It is not hard to get fit and stay fit. The old idea that being fit meant getting up at dawn, taking a cold shower, running long distances to work up a sweat and exercising to the point of exhaustion, is now completely devalued. The trouble is, the myths and misconceptions persist. People still believe, for example, that exercise only starts to do you good when it hurts. Precisely the reverse is true if it is hurting, it is probably doing you harm. During the last three decades there has been a revolution in thinking about physical fitness. It started when doctors and other experts began to investigate not how much exercise an individual needed to take to be fit, but how less can work. The results were amazing that whole range of different tiring and complicated exercises were unnecessary and few simple exercises were sufficient to achieve and maintain all-round fitness. It is discovered that burn up 300 calories a day in physical activity helps to prevent gain weight and raising the heart rate to 120 beats a minute for at least three minutes every day to exercise the cardiovascular system. Many people fulfill these requirements during the course of a normal working day. A busy housewife, for example, bending and reaching to dust the house, walking to the shops, carrying her bags home herself and then doing the ironing, almost certainly completes the schedule. There are many home workouts for the average reasonably active persons who really want to lose weight.
Room running.
It is possible to have a good run even in a small house or flat. If you don’t mind being seen by neighbors, you can include any paths outside the building, otherwise set up a track around one or more rooms, moving the odd piece of furniture if necessary. Set off at a gentle jogging pace you can keep up. If you get out of breath, slow down to a walk until you get your breath back. If you really short of space, run on the spot, preferably on carpet, raising your feet at least four inches off the ground.
Dancing.
The aim of this part of the home workout(which should last five minutes) is to move about vigorously, extending muscles further than before, burning up energy and mobilizing fat from your body reserves. Vigorous disco dancing is ideal, and other types of dancing are almost as good if they are done at a brisk tempo. If you like, choreograph your routine. It is important to keep moving, so if you find yourself getting really out of breath, slow down to half tempo for a minute, then continue at the faster speed. Play some music with a strong beat at a moderate speed. Walk sideways to the left following the rhythm of the music, clapping to the beat as you go. Take four to eight steps and walk back again. Do this six times. This should get you used to the rhythm.
Stair climbing.
Your aim should be to walk up a total of about 100 steps in two and a half minutes. In practice this will probably mean going up one flight between six and ten times. If the 100 steps take you less than two minutes, you are doing well. If there no stairs where you live, you can get a similar effect by stepping on and off a low stool, or more strenuously, a chair. Alternate your leading foot. This exercise is more strenuous because there is no period of rest equivalent to going downstairs. Try to keep going for a full minute, rest and do more. If you find this too difficult do room running instead.
Skipping.
This section lasts two and a half minutes. Skipping is a demanding exercise which burns up two or three times as many calories per minute as jogging. It requires skill. Even people reasonably fit may find it difficult to begin with, and will have to concentrate on developing their skill. Begin with the basic skipping step: feet together, weight on the balls of the feet, arms at the side, knees slightly bent. Practice about 50 skips without the rope. Then start skipping with the rope, remembering to start with it behind your feet avoiding the common mistake of jumping too soon and getting your legs tangled in the rope. It exercises the heart and lungs as well as the legs, arms, chest and shoulders.

WHY EXERCISE IS ESSENTIAL?

admin — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 07:37:19 +0000

Maybe you have only a few pounds to lose. You find most exercises difficult and boring. Do you really need to punish yourself with exercises when you can starve for a week and watch the weight fall off? It was once believed that cutting calorie intake was the only way to lose weight, that you would have to walk 32 miles to lose a pound, and that exercise only sharpened your appetite. But recent research shows that exercises sets up various changes in your body which help you to slim and balanced diet help you stay slim without starving yourself.
In people who take little exercises, appetite signals seem to go astray, so that you feel hunger inappropriately. Exercise actually improves the efficiency of the appetite regulation centre in your brain so that you feel hunger only when you need food. A complex series of hormonal changes occurs so that your body can distinguish between real hunger and false appetite. This is what happens when you exercise. Many scientists now believe that exercise lowers the ‘set point’, the point at which your weight tends to stabilize. Exercise is the only way of lowering this set point permanently.
Without exercise, attempts to slim demand enormous self-control and are likely to become increasingly difficult because body weight tends to return automatically to the set point. Strong-willed individuals who have endured the pangs of dieting may end up weighing less, but much of the loss will have been muscle. When muscle is lost by dieting the ability to burn up energy from food decreases and so less food must be eaten if weight is not to be put on more quickly than before. Those who do continue to diet successfully by self-starvation often acquire a rather drawn appearance, with thin sagging skin supported by insufficient muscle. The same loss of muscle occurs after years of a sedentary lifestyle, and to most people as they get older and take less exercise. The figure then begins to sag even though body weight may change hardly at all.
Exercise produces a better body shape and a more youthful appearance. Fat particularly tends to go from the hips with walking or running. Even if your weight changes only a little exercise will change your shape for the better. Exercise tones the body, alerts the mind, increase resilience to physical and psychological stresses, firms muscles, loosens joints, banishes stiffness and general aches and pains, builds up the efficiency of heart and lungs. Without exercise health suffers because it is impossible to balance the diet properly. A diet adequate in nutrients contains too many calories for someone who is inactive and so weight is gained. Alternatively, if the diet contains only the small number of calories necessary for a sedentary life then it is inadequate in nutrients and so health may suffer.
Exercise lowers blood cholesterol, helps overcome insomnia, regulates appetite and generates a vigorous and vibrant sense of wellbeing.

THE SUGAR TRAP.

admin — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 13:22:19 +0000

A heaped teaspoon of sugar contains about 30 calories, so a person who drinks six cups of tea or coffee a day, each with one teaspoon of sugar, is consuming 180 calories. Soft drinks such as seven-up, tango or coca cola contain the equivalent of at least four teaspoons of sugar each. A ripe apple contains only about 12 percent of sugar, an orange 9 percent and a banana 16 percent much less in percent terms than a biscuit, cake or many other prepared foods. The sugar in fruit is encased in the fibrous structure of the flesh and is released slowly furthermore, sugar in fruit is mostly of a type called fructose, which is converted more slowly by the body into energy.
Therefore fruit is a good way of satisfying a taste for sweet things. If you cut out six teaspoons of sugar a day you can eat two medium apples and a banana without consuming extra calories and of course the fruit will be much more filling and nutritious.
Understanding where the sugar in our diet comes from is an important part of diet plans. It is valuable to increase your knowledge of the quantities of sugar which are added to prepared foods, so that you can reduce your intake of nutritionally empty calories.
Some people who have great determination find they are able to give up something easily once they have decided to do so. If you come into that category all you have to do is to give up sugar in all drinks, and choose carbonated mineral water or tap water, instead of soft drinks and squashes. For those who do find it more difficult should take low calorie soft drinks or squashes. This means that you will get an immediate reduction in calorie intake without having to change your taste for sweet things. At the same time set yourself a target of two or three weeks in which to give up sweeteners altogether, and week by week reduce the amount you take in drinks. Check out the labels on all the foods before buying ingredients are generally listed on packed foods, if sugar is the first, second or third ingredient, the product must be very sweet and should be avoided. Jams, ketchup, chutneys or pickles, though sweet, are used in relatively small quantities combined with other foods, so their sugar content should not necessarily stop you from using them, just be careful about the quantity.
Stop buying biscuits, sweets and chocolates and stock up on fruit and vegetables instead. Eat fresh fruit instead of gateau or cheesecake. Bake teabreads and fruit loaves, which generally contain much less sugar than cakes.

THINK TRIM NOT SLIM.

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:19:17 +0000

Correct weight is only a part of being fit. You and your doctor are the best judges of might be best for you depending upon your height, bone structure and age. Unfortunately standard charts produced by the medical profession don’t account for bone structure. If you are small boned, deduct 6lb (2.7kg); if you are large boned, add an extra 6lb (2.7kg). If you are around normal weight, aim for trimming up rather than slimming down. Exercise tones the body, alerts the mind, increases resilience to physical and psychological stresses, firms muscles, loosens joints, banishes stiffness and general aches and pains, builds up the efficiency of heart and lungs, lowers blood/ cholesterol, helps overcome insomnia, regulates appetite and generates a vigorous and vibrant sense of well-being. Of all the beauty routines you could adopt exercise is undoubtedly the most worthwhile. Energy generates energy. The more you move, run, stretch, jump and bend, the more vigorous and energetic you will feel. The next time lethargy descends, try overcoming apathy with activity. Take a brisk walk, jog up and down on the spot for a few minutes and see how much more alert and refreshed you feel. In addition, you should also aim to exercise fairly vigorously for at least 20 minutes three times a week. Exercise is one of the easiest things in life to find excuses not to do. Cold weather, alternative arrangements, indolence all undermines the best of intentions. So make it easy as possible for yourself. Choose a sport or activity you enjoy and set out gently. Sudden enthusiasms and frenetic bursts of activity can lead to fatigue, exhaustion, sore aching muscles, strains, sprains, even fractures- all signs that you have pushed your body too far and have asked it to do something for which it was insufficiently prepared. Your physical strength and athletic ability are largely determined by the strength of your muscles. Strong muscles are firm, give a sleek contour to the body and enable you to perform most type of movements with ease. Stamina is staying power and it is the factor by which fitness is most commonly judged. Stamina enables you to go faster and further without becoming exhausted or breathless. See how good your stamina is by carrying out the test, opposite. If you did not achieve the highest rating, aim to improve it. Any type of ‘aerobic’, or oxygen-using exercise will increase your stamina.

Fitness Tips

admin — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:45:00 +0000

Physical inactivity has been the major risk factor for the cardiovascular diseases, blood pressure, stress, diabetes, arthritis and other diseases. Following fitness tips adds up to a healthier life.

Exercise

Exercise is very useful for minimizing the effects of dieting, menopause in women and regulating the body metabolism. Before starting exercising make a realistic plan and it’s wise to consult your doctor before joining any exercise program. During exercising use a diary make the records and adopt the gradual approach e.g. you want to join a gym then you should increase the duration and frequency of exercise gradually. Core exercises target the abdominal and low back area.

Some of the commonly adoptable important exercises are walking, swimming, vigorous gardening, jogging, hiking, golfing, football, row boating, running and dancing to music. But again consult your doctor before joining any particular exercise program.

Body Building

The most important thing in the body building fitness program is using the full range to the maximum parts of the body. The targeted areas in the body building are neck, calves, shoulders, biceps, triceps, abdomen, thigh, forearms, traps, neck, quads, chest, and lower back middle back. Gradually increase body building exercising under the supervision of a coach.

Supplements

In the human body there are hundreds of balanced processes and systems. When we subjected to unnatural and stressful lifestyle, unhealthy food, drug abusing and lack of sleep then these natural balances are disturbed, which leads to depress, anxiety, frustration and ADHD. The best food supplements that everybody need are proteins, creatine, glutamine, calcium, vitamins, minerals and herbs. Vitamins supplements provide extra supply of nutrients that is required by the body for the growth, improved digestive system, cellular repair and fast metabolism. Different vitamins and mineral supplements come from different food that helps the body to create new enzymes, control nervous system, distribute fluid and bring oxygen inside and carbon dioxide outside the body.

Positive Mental Outlook

Your mental health and aptitude can directly affect your health and longevity. Do you feel good about yourself? Are you happy with your life? Studies show that the people who feel good about themselves and live happily live longer than those people who say that they are dissatisfied and unhappy with their lives. Happy people with the positive mental approach shows the characteristics of optimism, have high self esteem, have personal control and are empowered to make decisions and outgoing. Being unhappy and negative mental outlook shows signals of unbalanced and unhealthy life. With family members, friends and co-workers try to workout your differences in a peaceful way. Helping needy people gives fresh perspective and inner satisfaction. Persistent unhappiness can lead to stress and depression. Stay happy all the times to live longer.

Avoid Smoking and Drinking

Smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol leads to dangerous disease, such as liver disease, cancer, tuberculosis, asthma and others. One who is working to quit the addictions in fact returning to a better and health life.

Protect yourself from Pollution

Air contains lower level pollutants such as dust, molds, chemicals and gases. Some pollutants molds, bacteria, fungus and mildew are harmful when they stay in a confined places such as houses and offices and they leads to the breathing problems, allergies, asthma and bronchitis. Try to protect yourself from the pollutants to live a healthy life.