Tips To Help You Find The Right GymWritten by Nathan P Boyd
Taking those first few steps towards establishing a Fitness Lifestyle can very well be intimidating, especially if decision is made to sign-up for a gym membership. In fact, deciding on even using a gym can be a double-edged sword of sorts. On one hand, there are many of us who feel that we’ll become more motivated towards exercising regularly if we do sign-up for a gym membership. After all, you’re now investing more money into your health so you certainly don’t want to just throw that money away. Additionally, there are typically many more people working out at gym than anywhere else, so you’ll probably be more likely to get caught up in ambience and energy of others exercising as well. However, on other hand, because there can be so many people working out at gym, you may feel intimidated beginning those first steps towards getting back in condition in front of others. When you stop to consider all of pros and cons with signing up for a gym membership, you may find that making this decision was a more daunting task than you first thought. Fortunately, there are many gyms and fitness facilities available now to accommodate virtually every factor and consideration involved in your own decision making process. From large fitness clubs such as Bally’s and 24-Hour Fitness to local YMCA or university health centers, and from private one-on-one training studios to even mobile Personal Training trailers, chances are excellent that a gym can be found to match your own personal preferences. What’s important to keep in mind is that every gym and fitness facility has it’s own unique personality and subsequently, there’s a gym to match your own unique personality as well. Therefore, with a little gym shopping savvy and factors that we’ll providing you for consideration, you’ll be on your way towards locating a gym that’s a perfect match for you! Presented here then is a brief summary of several factors for you to consider when shopping for gym that’s right for you: 1) Location Typically, you’re better off when your gym is near to your home or work. The greater distance that you’ll have to travel to exercise, then greater chance that you may find an excuse not to. At same time, don’t let location be your sole determining factor, as it’s important that you don’t join a gym that you dislike simply because it’s nearby. 2) Management Attitude When you walk into your gym, I strongly believe that you should never feel like only a dollar sign or a second-class citizen. Look for honesty, sincerity, politeness, and above all, respect. The vast majority of gyms that I have stepped foot into are operated by managers and staff members that genuinely enjoy their jobs and genuinely enjoy assisting their clients. However, if you feel like a gym is not interested in your needs at all, then you may wish to keep looking. 3) Hours How does your own personal schedule fit in with gym’s? If conducting early-bird workouts is your best option, then at what time does your gym open up? What if you can only workout late at night? Is your gym a 24-hour gym? Is it open 7 days a week? 4) Price This factor is actually most people’s first consideration when searching for a gym. As this issue can be largely affected by your own personal taste and budget, I would simply propose following points to consider. First, look at entire package before you just consider cost. Being cheapest gym around does not necessarily make it best fit for you. You do sometimes get what you pay for. Secondly, be mindful of contracts you sign. There are fitness chains that have been notorious for absolutely locking you into a long-term contract and then making it nearly impossible to cancel should you decide to withdraw at a later date. If you are not convinced that you’re going to stick with regularly working out at a gym, you may then prefer to sign a short-term contract instead even if it costs more per month.
| | Betony The Healing HerbWritten by Judi Singleton
Stachys officinalis common names: Betony, Synonyms and Common names: Betonica officinalis, Stachys officinalis, Bishopswort, lousewort, purple betony Evergreen Perennial Ht: 2' - 3' Wood Betony is a hardy perennial that likes full sun to partial shade, and is usually self-sowing once established.Native to Europe, wood betony is now planted in many parts of world with temperate climates. The primary portions of plant that are used as medicine are leaves and flowers, though historically root has also been used. There are many similar species originating from Eurasia, including Stachys sieboldii (Chinese artichoke, kan lu) and S. atherocalyx (hedge nettle).Betony is used as a substitute for black tea. The infusion resembles taste of black tea and is caffeine-free. It helps relieve headache. This is a wonderful flowering perennial it blooms in spring with lavender-pink spikes. There are five species of Stachys growing wild in this country - once much-valued Betony (S. Betonica); Marsh Stachys, or Clown's Woundwort (S. palustris); true Woundwort (S. Germanica), a doubtful native, occurring occasionally on limestone soils in England, but very common on Continent, where dense covering of its leaves was at one time in rustic surgery employed in place of lint for dressing wounds, low-creeping Field Stachys (S. arvensis); and Hedge Stachys, or Hedge Woundwort (S. sylvatica), perhaps commonest of them all. Augustus, wrote a long treatise, showing it was a certain cure for no less than fortyseven diseases. Throughout centuries, faith in its virtues as a panacea for all ills was thoroughly ingrained in popular estimation. It was largely cultivated in physic gardens, both of apothecaries and monasteries, and may still be found growing about sites of these ancient buildings. Robert Turner, a physician writing in latter half of seventeenth century, recounts nearly thirty complaints for which Betony was considered efficacious, and adds, 'I shall conclude with words I have found in an old manuscript under virtues of it: "More than all this have been proved of Betony." ' In addition to its medicinal virtues, Betony was endowed with power against evil spirits. On this account, it was carefully planted in churchyards and hung about neck as an amulet or charm, sanctifying, as Erasmus tells us, 'those that carried it about them,' and being also 'good against fearful visions' and an efficacious means of 'driving away devils and despair.' An old writer, Apelius, says: 'It is good whether for man's soul or for his body; it shields him against visions and dreams, and wort is very wholesome, and thus thou shalt gather it, in month of August without use of iron; and when thou hast gathered it, shake mold till nought of it cleave thereon, and then dry it in shade very thoroughly, and with its root altogether reduce it to dust: then use it and take of it when thou needst.' Many extravagant superstitions grew up round Betony, one, of very ancient date, was that serpents would fight and kill each other if placed within a ring composed of it; and others declared that even wild beasts recognized its efficacy and used it if wounded, and that stags, if wounded with a dart, would search out Betony, and, eating it, be cured. The active constituents of wood betony have not been clearly identified. The tannins, alkaloids, glycosides, and volatile oil found in this plant and its cousins may all contribute to its activity. Almost no research has been conducted on wood betony. Some Russian research in humans apparently suggests it may promote lactation, though details of these studies are not readily available.
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