Top 10 Fitness Mistakes

Written by Jon Gestl


Most fitness goals include weight loss, orrepparttar reduction of fat content, in one way or another. Whether we want to lose a couple pounds, change a clothing size, or gain muscle mass, loss and control of our fat content is usually part ofrepparttar 115350 plan.

Just as it is necessary to know what steps to take to meet your individual fitness goals, it is just as important to know what not to do. Avoidrepparttar 115351 following top ten mistakes that are sure to ruin your fitness efforts:

1. Fail to Plan. It's been said over and over: "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Working out without a pre-determined workout regime is similar to going on a trip without directions; most likely you'll end up getting lost. Don't make this common mistake. Enlistrepparttar 115352 aid of a qualified personal trainer to design a proper resistance training and aerobic program. Purchase one ofrepparttar 115353 many guides to fitness programming and educate yourself onrepparttar 115354 basics.

2. Compare yourself to others. Go into any gym and you're sure to see grunting exercisers muscling their way through workouts. Meanwhile,repparttar 115355 group fitness studio is filled with twirling, panting, leaping students who look more like they're auditioning for a music video than participating in an aerobics class. Don't even think about trying to emulate them. Atrepparttar 115356 very least you'll get discouraged that you can't keep up; atrepparttar 115357 worst you'll get hurt.

Keep your expectations realistic. A beginning expecting to bench 300 pounds inrepparttar 115358 first month is doomed to failure. Better to increase strength incrementally over time. Likewise, presuming that you'll lose 100 pounds of bodyfat on a new diet in three months will never happen. Set realistic goals that will keep you motivated and concentrate on yourself, not others, throughoutrepparttar 115359 process.

3. Too little exercise. Contrary to what popular exercise programs would have us believe, it is simply not enough to put in three or four exercise sessions per week and expect major results. Weight loss and body composition changes are results of cumulative lifestyle choices, not just exercise inrepparttar 115360 gym. There are 168 hours in a week; expecting to lose weight by just spending 1% of our available time being active is ridiculous.

This doesn’t mean you need to spend your entire day chained to a barbell, but make sure that you are active in some fashion every day. In addition to workouts, increase lower level activity by walking or bike riding to work, chooserepparttar 115361 parking space furthest away fromrepparttar 115362 grocery store’s door, or get out and play with your kids. The point is to be active and keeprepparttar 115363 body in motion on a regular basis.

4. Too much exercise. Onrepparttar 115364 other hand, don't become obsessed with exercise that it begins to rule your life. Over-training is as detrimental to achieving fitness goals as doing nothing at all.

Common signs of over-training include overuse injuries, insomnia, fatigue, prolonged recovery from workouts, and general disinterest in exercise. Rest and recovery are vital for achieving gains and preventing burnout.

5. Never change your workout routine. Nothing is as boring asrepparttar 115365 same routine over and over again. Not only will you get bored, your muscles will adapt and quit responding. Change your exercises,repparttar 115366 order you do them,repparttar 115367 number of sets and reps, and varyrepparttar 115368 weights. Variety is necessary or progress will stop. Make every workout different in some way.

6. Starving to lose weight. The usual American diet consists of a quick (usually missed) breakfast, lunch onrepparttar 115369 run and then a huge feast for dinner. Unfortunately, this isrepparttar 115370 worst eating plan for weight loss because it slows downrepparttar 115371 metabolism. Whenrepparttar 115372 body is not fed consistently, it flips into starvation mode developed through evolution and hangs onto fat content for survival.

Research supports thatrepparttar 115373 production of thyroid hormones can be negatively affected by repeated bouts of dieting and calorie restriction. Five or six smaller meals spaced evenly from 2.5 to 3 hours make it easier forrepparttar 115374 body to digest throughoutrepparttar 115375 day and increase metabolism overrepparttar 115376 long term. It may sound counterintuitive, but in order to burn fat you need to eat. Instead of reducingrepparttar 115377 amount of meals, care should be taken in controlling portion sizes.

Male Infertility and Glutathione

Written by Priya Shah


Copyright © 2004 Priya Shah

Are You Half The Man Your Father Was?

It is a well-known fact that sperm counts have dropped by half inrepparttar last 50 years, and that modern men have 20 percent less semen volume than their fathers (BMJ, 1992, volume 305).

A recent report from researchers in Aberdeen presented preliminary data that suggestsrepparttar 115349 sperm concentration ofrepparttar 115350 men seen in their clinic had declined by 29% overrepparttar 115351 past 14 years. (British Fertility Society; 5 January 2004)

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and endocrine-disrupting chemicals from normal, everyday plastics are known to cause reproductive damage, as documented in Theo Colborn's book "Our Stolen Future."

Damage to sperm caused by exposure to common chemicals like alcohol, pesticides in food, has been linked to lowered intelligence and behavioral disorders in children.

Lifestyle risk factors known to decrease sperm quality include

> Cigarette smoking > Alcohol consumption > Chronic stress > Nutritional deficiencies.

Other reasons for infertility include congenital factors, and health conditions like prostatitis and diabetes that can affect sperm production.

Pollution is stealing our future, and there's little anyone can do to avoid it. There may not be a lot you can do to reduce your exposure to persistent environmental toxins.

But there are definite measures you can take to reducerepparttar 115352 impact ofrepparttar 115353 environmental pollutants and toxins on your body.

You can prevent and, to a certain extent, repairrepparttar 115354 damage they cause to your body, through a better lifestyle and nutrition.

Some nutritional therapies and antioxidants that have proven beneficial in treating male infertility and improving sperm counts, sperm morphology and motility include:

> Carnitine > Arginine > Zinc > Selenium > Vitamin B-12 > Vitamin C > Vitamin E > Glutathione > Coenzyme Q10

Studies show that anti-oxidant supplementation - glutathione in particular - can improve sperm quality, and possibly increase your chances of conceiving.

If you smoke, drink, are exposed to stress, chemicals, radiation, pesticides or take medication or drugs (like sulfasalazine, ketoconazole, azulfidine, anabolic steroids, marijuana) that affect fertility, you should consider taking an antioxidant supplement to reverse some ofrepparttar 115355 damage.

Why are Antioxidants Important for Sperm Quality?

Mammalian spermatozoa are coated by a membrane rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids. These fatty acids are extremely susceptible to oxidative damage by free radicals or Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) by a process called lipid peroxidation (LPO).

Lipid peroxidation damagesrepparttar 115356 sperm cell membrane. It is considered to berepparttar 115357 key mechanism of ROS-induced sperm damage and leads to

> Loss of sperm motility > Abnormal sperm morphology > Reduced capacity for oocyte penetration > Infertility

To protect sperm from damage,repparttar 115358 body depends on powerful antioxidant enzymes inrepparttar 115359 body such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase/reductase (GPX/GRD).

Seminal plasma and spermatozoa have several antioxidant enzymes - glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase.

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