Fitness Strategies and Benefits

Written by Renee Kennedy


Continued from page 1

Benefits of cardiovascular training: 1. strengthens your heart 2. helps you lose weight and reduce fat 3. increases your endurance

Interval Training or Anaerobic Training: Aimed at improving aerobic endurance for athletes. Interval training is characterized by repetitions of heavy exercise with a recovery period following each repetition. For instance, you might sprint for 10 seconds and then follow that sprint with a two minute recovery jog. Then you repeatrepparttar sprint/jog routine for about 20 minutes. Duringrepparttar 115570 sprinting you are producing a state of oxygen debt. This can also be called anaerobic training because you are out of oxygen. Circuit training is also a form of interval training.

Benefits of Interval Training: 1. improves athletic endurance 2. strengthensrepparttar 115571 heart muscle 3. improvesrepparttar 115572 lungs orrepparttar 115573 ability to take in oxygen

Cross Training: Aimed at improving aerobic endurance, strength and flexibility in athletes. Can also help fight boredom for anyone who exercises. Type of training that requires you to do two or more types of exercise either withinrepparttar 115574 same routine or in successive routines. For example, you may stretch every day for flexibility, lift weights two days a week for strength training, and ride a bike once a week for aerobic endurance.

Circuit Training: Type of interval training aimed at losing weight and inches. Circuit training has been made popular by places like Curves and Ladies Workout Express. In circuit training you have several pieces of strength training equipment interspersed with aerobic equipment like steps or jogging pads. It has allrepparttar 115575 benefits of both cardiovascular and strength training workouts.

Renee Kennedy isrepparttar 115576 editor ofrepparttar 115577 monthly ezine NutriCounter Update. Come and visitrepparttar 115578 NutriCounter web site at http://www.nutricounter.com/news.htm for an extensive selection of articles on health, nutrition and exercise.

Renee Kennedy is the editor of the monthly ezine NutriCounter Update. Come and visit the NutriCounter web site at http://www.nutricounter.com/news.htm for an extensive selection of articles on health, nutrition and exercise.


The Ayurvedic Approach to Menopause and Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy

Written by Nancy Lonsdorf M.D.


Continued from page 1

Balancing your doshas, as discussed above, isrepparttar first approach to ensuring optimal hormone production after menopause, but Ayurvedic herbs can also help. Indian asparagus root (shatavari; asparagus racemosus), thick-leaved lavender (chorak; angelica glauca- related torepparttar 115569 Chinese female tonic Dong Quai,) licorice root, sandalwood, pearl, red coral, rose and others are used by skilled practitioners in balanced, synergistic combinations to help relieve hot flashes, libido problems, irritability, mood swings and other menopausal symptoms.

Hormonal Help from Plants--It's Not Just Soy! Diet also plays a key role in balancing hormones during and after menopause. It is well known that Japanese women rarely experience hot flashes, probably because their diet contains large amounts of soy, a food rich in certain plant estrogens called "isoflavones." Soy products are notrepparttar 115570 only source of plant estrogens, however. Another equally healthful source of phytoestrogens are "lignans," compounds found in a variety of whole foods including grains and cereals, dried beans and lentils, flaxseed, sunflower seeds and peanuts, vegetables such as asparagus, sweet potatoes, carrots, garlic and broccoli and fruits such as pears, plums and strawberries. Common herbs and spices such as thyme oregano, nutmeg, turmeric and licorice also have estrogenic properties.

It turns out that if you simply eat a varied diet high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and dried beans you will be ingesting a rich phytoestrogen feast in your daily cuisine! Variety and moderation are important because just as too much estrogen is unhealthy after menopause, too much phytoestrogen may also be dangerous. This danger can be avoided by getting your phytoestrogens naturally from a variety of whole foods, rather than from supplements or concentrated tablets.

When You Can't Stop Flashing, Get The "Lead" Out!

More serious symptoms, such as frequent hot flashes, continual sleep disturbance, and moderate to severe mood swings, are signs of deeper imbalances that, if left untreated, will persist to setrepparttar 115571 stage for later disease. For these more troublesome symptoms to manifest,repparttar 115572 tissues of your body–your bones, muscles, fat, organs, skin, and blood–must be disturbed in some way. Ayurveda describes that stubborn symptoms are usually due torepparttar 115573 buildup of wastes and toxins, referred to as "ama," in your body's tissues.

For example, hot flashes that won't go away despite herbs, diet, exercise, and perhaps even HRT usually represent a problem with ama. One of my Ayurvedic mentors explained it this way: When your body's channels are clogged with wastes,repparttar 115574 heat from metabolism builds up in your tissues. Hot flashes result from sudden surges in blood flow asrepparttar 115575 body tries to clearrepparttar 115576 channels and dissipaterepparttar 115577 heat buildup quickly. A similar phenomenon occurs when you have a heater set on high in an overheated room with allrepparttar 115578 windows and doors closed. To cool downrepparttar 115579 room, first you must turn downrepparttar 115580 heater (see Tips for P-Type above) but you also need to throw openrepparttar 115581 windows and doors (as in removingrepparttar 115582 ama) sorepparttar 115583 heat can flow out.

We can understand this analogy medically in terms of hormone receptors. No matter how much estrogen or phytoestrogen you have floating through your bloodstream, it does you no good unless it connects with your body's estrogen receptors,repparttar 115584 tiny "keyholes" on your cells. Estrogen and phytoestrogens fit these keyholes like minuscule keys and through them gain entry into your cells. Whenrepparttar 115585 receptors are clogged with debris or "ama," your hormones cannot get into your cells to do their work. Then bothersome menopause symptoms may persist despite a variety of attempted therapies.

In this case, a traditional Ayurvedic detoxification program referred to as Maharishi Rejuvenation Therapy (MRT), or "panchakarma," may be needed to clearrepparttar 115586 body's channels and gain relief. This internal cleansing approach is alsorepparttar 115587 treatment of choice for more serious problems such as osteoporosis and high cholesterol. A study published in a recent issue of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine confirmed that this ancient technology of herbalized oil massage, heat treatments and mild internal cleansing therapies does indeed reduce toxins inrepparttar 115588 body. Hormone disrupting PCB's and pesticides such as DDT were reduced by approximately 50% after just 5 days of treatment. Other studies have shown overall reduction in health symptoms, a rise in "good cholesterol," and reduction in free radicals from MRT.

In my clinical experience, MRT can be very transforming, eliminating symptoms while atrepparttar 115589 same time dramatically reducing stress and fatigue. After a week of treatment, my patients not only report feeling much better, they radiate health and youthfulness and many experience a profound sense of well-being and inner peace.

It's Not Too Late The important point to remember at midlife is that health problems don’t pop out of nowhere when your estrogen levels start to fluctuate and fall off. Rather it isrepparttar 115590 cumulative effects of damaging lifestyle habits--late nights, fast food, eating onrepparttar 115591 run, lots of stress, too little exercise--over decades that set in motion chronic disease and aging well before menopause. Your symptoms are simply telling you just how out of balance you are. The good news is that with a few basic lifestyle changes, andrepparttar 115592 healing power of Maharishi Ayurveda when needed, underlying imbalances can be resolved, pavingrepparttar 115593 way for a smooth menopause transition and great health inrepparttar 115594 years to come.



Nancy Lonsdorf M.D. received her M.D. from Johns Hopkins and did her postgraduate training at Stanford. Dr. Lonsdorf has 17 years of clinical experience with Ayurveda and is the author of two books on Ayurveda and women's health: web site url: http://www.ayurveda-ayurvedic.com/


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