How To Defend Yourself

Do you ever find yourself feeling overwhelmed? Do you sometimes feel like you just have too much to think about? Does it make you tired, irritable, or even depressed? What can you do about it?

People rarely go to doctor to say "I think I have stress," and yet National Institutes of Health say that 80% of illnesses are caused by stress, directly or indirectly. Hormones, such as adrenalin, are released into your blood when you're stressed. This causes a rise in blood pressure, a faster heart and breathing rate, and faster conversion of glycogen into glucose. These are good things if you need to escape a charging grizzly bear, but when these effects are prolonged, immune system is depressed, and your body suffers other negative changes.

Common effects of prolonged stress include fatigue, pain in muscles and joints, headache, mental confusion, depression, anxiety, and irritability. Stress reactions cause your body to use too much energy, which can result in physical and mental weakness.

Managing Stress With Meditation

Improved Physical Appearance and Performance

One important result of strength training is increased physical performance. Muscles quite literally utilize energy to produce movement, functioning as engine or powerhouse of body. Strength training increases muscles' size, strength, and endurance, which contribute to improvements in our work, favorite sports hobbies, and our general day-to-day activities.

Another benefit of a good strength-training program is its effect on our overall appearance and body composition. Which can directly influence self-esteem, self-worth, and level of confidence. Take, for example, a 170-pound man who has 20 percent body fat; 34 pounds of fat weight and 136 pounds of lean body weight (muscle, bones, organs, water, etc). By beginning an effective strength training program, he replaces five pounds of fat with five pounds of muscle. He still weighs 170 pounds, but he is now 17 percent fat with 29 pounds of fat weight and 141 pounds of lean body weight. Although his body weight remains same, his strength, muscle tone, and metabolism have improved, giving him a fit appearance.

Both our physical appearance and our physical performance can be improved by muscle gain or hampered by muscle loss. Research indicates that unless we strength train regularly; we lose about one-half pound of muscle every year of our lives after age 30. Unless we implement a safe and effective weight lifting program, our muscles gradually decrease in size and strength in process called "atrophy."

Lifting weights is therefore important for preventing muscle loss that normally accompanies aging process. A common misconception is that as we reach age of senior citizens, it is normal to stop being active and to start using ambulatory aides like canes and wheelchairs. Many people think we have no choice; they think this is normal.