Monday, October 19, 2009

Are you in an exercise Rut? Give your fitness routine a makeover.

You want to exercise for the sake of optimal health, but it all seems too uninteresting and at risk of losing your motivation to continue. Has your exercise routine lost its sparkle? Do you loathe going to the gym when you know you used to love it? Have you listed your motivation in the lost and found ads?
Below are 4 tips to re-energize your exercise schedule to make it fun to stay fit and strong.
1. Maintain some huffy-puffy type exercise every day. Any exercise where you are moving the large muscle groups in the body is enough to get your heart rate up. This is what will keep your heart healthy. So, if you have been walking or running on the treadmill or riding the stationary bikes, it may be time to make a change and get outdoors and enjoy doing the real thing. Running and riding your bike everywhere when you were a kid was so much fun and not a chore at all. Of course, don’t forget to slip, slop, slap in the sun.

2. Change the type of exercise you do. No time like the present to try something new. Join a Swimming Squad if you have always fancied doing some laps or just want to join in some aqua classes. Sign up for some dance classes or just boogie around your home to your favourite tunes while doing the housework or cooking dinner. Join in a team sports group in your local area. Most gyms have a variety of group exercise classes where you can join in with others. Try a different one every week until you find the one you like.

3. Get in the gym and do some resistance training. Lifting weights will increase lean muscle and increase your body’s ability to burn body fat. Get the assistance of a Personal Trainer to assist with technique.

4. Experience some mind-body movements and experience Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, or meditation. They will all strengthen, tone, stretch and align the entire body. All of these disciplines will connect you with a finely tuned awareness of what your body needs as well as provide a system for maintaining long lasting health and well being. A great compliment to any exercise regime.

Remember the purpose of regular exercise is about moving your body to stay fit for a health and longevity. If you are over running on the treadmill or walking the same neighbourhood it is time to move on.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Why we get fat

With so much hype in the media about the obesity epidemic that is sweeping the nation, it is easy to be confused about where our weight gain really comes from.
There are only 2 main reasons we get fat. They are:
Increase in energy intake (what we put in our mouths)
OR
Decrease in energy expenditure (Activity levels)
There are considerations which can influence these 2 reasons such as genetics, medical problems (E.g. Thyroid), Disease (E.g. Diabetes), gender, age, history of dieting, slow metabolism, and medications. These considerations have a role to play in body weight balance and can be managed. Either way, it is all too easy to use them as an excuse for being fat.
Factors which may influence energy intake are:
Foods high in sugar/high glycemic foods (High GI)
Late night eating
Irregular eating
Too much fat
Too much total intake of energy for the day
Social eating / food intake with alcohol
Extreme hunger
Consistent eating
Overindulge eating (Binge)
Factors which may influence Energy expenditure are:
Lack of planned activity/exercise
Sedentary job
Discomfort/injury/incapacity
Self perception /consciousness
Personal commitments
Fear (crime, injury, failure, success etc)
Lack of awareness
Inactive transport to/from work
The weather / Environment
Take home message
Making changes with energy intake or energy expenditure are the only two ways likely to be bring success in the treatment of what make us fat.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Why Do I Get Sore Muscles After A Workout?

Getting started on a new workout program can be challenging enough, but dealing with the soreness that follows makes it difficult to stay on track. After all, who feels like leaping out of bed when you are too sore to move, let alone raising your arms to get dressed?
It is natural to experience muscle soreness if you have NOT participated in some form of strenuous exercise in quite some time. Your muscles go through lots of physical stress when you work out. Combine that with not exercising for a while and it is a recipe for DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).
So what is DOMS?
Exercise physiologists refer to the discomfort you feel 24 – 48 hours after a workout regime as a result of physical activity that stresses the muscle tissue beyond what it is accustomed to. Mild muscle strain creates small microscopic damage (Micro – tears) to the muscle fibres as well as swelling. Such swelling increases the pressure on the surrounding structures and results in pain and stiffness. The amount of soreness depends on how hard and how long you exercised and what type of training you do. The soreness is generally at its worse at 48hours and usually starts to subside over a few days.
Can elite athletes get DOMS?
The good news is that no-one is immune to DOMS. Whether you are a professional football player, body builder or a week-end warrior, we all can experience DOMS. Elite athletes all get some form of discomfort as a result of increasing stresses on muscles to make them stronger and better perform the mission the next time.
Preventing DOMS.
There are a few things you can do to keep soreness to a minimum or delay soreness altogether. Ensure you warm up before your activity with 3 – 5 minutes of low impact activity such as walking, biking and include some stretches. Warm down completely afterward with an active recovery as per your warm up and include comprehensive stretches. (Hold all stretches for a minimum of 20 seconds)
Don’t be discouraged – it is OK to be sore.
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is common after exercise and usually means you are getting stronger. Such symptoms are a normal response to unusual exertion and are part of an adaptation process that leads to getting stronger once your muscles recover.
Don't stop exercising because of muscle soreness.

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