Walking to Become a Slimmer YouWritten by Bette L. Hall CMA, NHC
We've got to increase our activity level if we want to become a Slimmer You and keep pounds off permanently. Walking is my number one recommendation for increasing your activity level. There are other more subtle ways to increase your activity level. I'm not talking about joining a high impact aerobics class or jumping out of bed and doing 200 push-ups as my son Army captain does. Start with simple things at first, such as parking at far end of parking lot instead of sitting comfortably behind wheel of your car circling around for twenty minutes waiting to park as close to entrance as possible. Try taking stairs once in a while instead of elevator or escalator. My sister works on fifth floor at a California hospital. She always takes stairs. She uses stairs when she arrives at work, when she takes a lunch break, and whenever she runs errands. She didn't just start doing that as part of an exercise program. She has always taken stairs. She has never had a real weight problem. If her weight ever goes up five or ten pounds, it comes right back off quickly. Her and her husband also take a class in country line dancing and she plays women's softball. I'm telling you all this because I'm trying to impress upon you need for physical activity. It doesn't have to be boring. Make it fun. Find an exercise that you like. Once you get involved in some sort of activity you really enjoy, you won't quit so easily. You'll look forward to it. My husband and me like to play handball. Him and my grandson like to go swimming together. Exercise does a lot more than just burn calories. Exercise increases your metabolic rate, strengthens your musculoskeletal system, improves your circulatory system, helps you to sleep better, and alleviates stress. What I really want to talk about though is walking...walking...walking.
| | Stretching For FitnessWritten by Ms Namita Nayyar
An ideal fitness routine comprises of exercises to improve cardiovascular efficiency, create muscular strength and endurance along with improved suppleness .Flexibility exercises are those that serve to keep joints flexible ,especially vertebral column and its various sections. Stretching independently or as a part of a fitness routine has many beneficial effects that can be felt even during exercises themselves. In order to understand benefits of stretching or flexibility exercises, it is essential to understand how various body tissues are nourished .What happens when you stretch? As in case of muscles which recieve their nutrients directly via vascular system through rapid exchange rhythm ,there is no such active supply system for cartilage tissues covering ends of bones in joints .Cartilage instead is fed by migration of particles from joint fluid surrounding it ,know as synovial fluid . To be able to absorb synovial fluid optimally, cartilage has recourse to an alteration of pressure and suction forces . It is precisely this regular rhythmic exchange optimizing supply to cartilage that is achieved with flexibility exercises . Indulging in regular stretching exercises leads to enhanced cartilage nutrition and loosening up of all connective tissues . While performing stretching exercises both outward and inward concentration is necessary .
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