Five Ways to Fit Fitness Into Your LifeWritten by Rick DeToma
Everyone is pressed for time these days. It does not have to mean that fitness can't be a part of your life. In as little as 10 minutes a day, you can begin to make positive changes to your body.People often have an all or nothing idea about exercise. They feel that if they can't fit in an hour of exercise that they will do nothing instead. Successful exercisers make fitness an important part of their lives. Try scheduling your time to exercise like you would any other appointment. If you are struggling to fit exercise into your day, try these fitness tips: 1. Tackle one body part per day and perform as many reps as it takes to reach failure. Or set a rep goal for yourself and do as many sets as it takes to reach your goal. 2. Exercise while you watch TV. (Don't just sit there, DO something.) Why not do some crunches, or leg extensions while watching tube? How about some lunges? Anything yo can do in a gym sitting down, you can do at home sitting down in front of tube. 3. Superset your workouts. Put two exercises together and perform them one after another with no rest in between. You can either do a mixed superset of an upper and lower move combined, or you can choose two opposing muscle groups like chest and back. 4. Combine 2 moves into 1. Any time you perform a lower body exercise and your arms are not involved you miss out on a time-saving opportunity.
| | Heredity Is Not Destiny: Do Health and Weight Problems Run in Your Family? It May Be Habits, Not GeneticsWritten by Janiss Garza
I grew up as an unathletic kid. My mother was unathletic, so she just assumed I was too. You see, our family has weak ankles and no coordination. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized that all this was a lie. I wasn't unathletic - I just hated team sports. I discovered I actually had a flair for dance, which takes quite a bit of athleticism and coordination. Weak ankles? Of course they're weak if you don't do anything to build up their strength. A lot of physical deficiencies that I thought I'd inherited were really born out of laziness and blind acceptance - those were real deficiencies. Once I worked on overcoming those, my body got stronger and I started enjoying physical activities.On positive side, we don't have weight problems in our family. As a matter of fact, my dad's weight is within 10 pounds of what he weighed in high school. Is that due to genetics? Not really. We're just very moderate in our eating habits. More than once I've visited friends whose relatives were on plus side and found that their meals were also plus sized. What am I trying to say here? Maybe you won't like this, but I'm trying to pull security blanket called "blame" out of your grasp. It's necessary if you ever want to make any changes in your life. You have to let go so your hands are open to receive new ideas, information and attitudes. It's a favorite family game to blame genetics for a lot of problems. Weight issues, weak knees, heart disease, fallen arches - if you've got it, chances are so does someone else in your family. People often assume that means it - whatever "it" happens to be - is hereditary. And yes, certain conditions are hereditary. Heart disease and obesity do run in families and doctors do find genetic links. But not always. And there are also times when a family's lifestyle choices can make a genetic condition worse. So before assuming you are destined to suffer from any particular physical affliction just because your father or grandmother did, examine family habits. They're just as telling as genetics. One of easiest habits to dissect is eating habits. Every family has its own approach to food, and it is often handed down from generation to generation. What types of meals run in your family? How big are portions? Does your family serve up hefty amounts of meat and potatoes? Are comfort foods like macaroni and cheese frequent visitors to dining table? Are there a lot of chips or homemade cookies available all time for snacking, and do most meals end with a rich dessert? Then it's no surprise if many of your family members might have a weight or cholesterol problem. While nothing can match taste of your mother's home cooking, you may have inherited some poor eating habits along with heirloom recipes. Consider creating light versions of those rich recipes, cutting down on those huge portions of mashed potatoes and adding more vegetables to dinner plate (and to lunch too, for that matter). There are many ways to lean down your menu without completely forsaking family fare.
|