Health Fitness and Exercise

Ever Wonder What Exercises Really Burn Away Body Fat?

2009-01-14T13:48:00.001-08:00

To really lose weight we must choose exercises that will turn up the body furnace and melt away body fat. This article gives good examples of fat burning exercises. Enjoy.

clipped from ezinearticles.com

Fat burning exercises are the slow, aerobic, long duration types of exercise that involve most of the major muscle groups. Your body will burn a higher percentage of calories from fat with lower intensity cardio exercises.
Fat burning exercises include walking, jogging, running, elliptical exercise trainer workouts, cycling and swimming. The key factor to keep in mind is the more muscle groups you use, the more fat you'll burn.

5 Exercises To Lose Weight Quickly

2009-01-07T22:07:00.000-08:00

Exercise is a very important part of any weight loss program. But with our busy and ever changing schedules, we all search for exercises which will help us lose weight quickly. But there are quick and simple exercises to lose weight quickly which we will share with you in your quest.

Losing weight quickly can be misleading. The goal for a healthy weight loss program is to lose 1-2 lbs per week. If you are just beginning to lose weight, aim for up to 2 lbs of weight loss in your initial weeks. However, after 6-8 weeks, strive for a realistic goal to lose at least 1 lb of weight every week. Never try to lose weight by drastically restricting your caloric intake. If you do, you risk weakening your immune system. Remember, a healthy weight loss program will boost your Immune system and not starve it.

Here is a list of 5 exercises to lose weight quickly. They include both aerobic and strength training which can be done in the comfort of your home.

Exercise 1: Jumping jacks: Jumping jacks is an excellent complete body aerobic workout that can be done anywhere. Do 4 or 5 sets of 20 jumping jacks, or as needed..

Exercise 2: Fast walking: Normal walking is great aerobic exercise, but fast (brisk) walking is even better for burning fat. Be sure to stretch first and warm up prior to walking.

Exercise 3: Pushups: Pushups falls into the category of strength training: your arms have to support up to 70% of your body weight. Strive to complete 2 or 3 sets of 20 pushups to build arm strength and increase your heart rate.

Exercise 4: Squats: The largest muscles in your body are your buttocks and leg muscles.. Each day stand in front a mirror and put your feet at shoulder width while facing forward and repeatedly squat down-and-up 10-20 times for 2 or 3 sets. Feel the burn while building your leg and buttock muscles. This is one of the best exercises to lose weight quickly.

Exercise 5: Stepping: Stepping is a excellent way to increasing your heat rate and burn calories. You can use your stairs at home, but for best purchase specialized stackable step mats and stack them up to at least 15 inches. Do 2 to 3 sets of 20 steps each to begin.

As you continue to use these 5 exercises to lose weight quickly, your body will continue to benefit from both aerobic exercise and strength training for years to come. Best of all, you will look and feel better, become healthier and increase your longevity.

Stay motivated and add more exercise to your program as you gain stamina.

10 Excellent Ways To Speed Up Your Metabolism

2009-01-03T23:38:00.000-08:00

Finding easy ways to fire up the body's metabolism is a never ending battle when it come to slimming down. Achieving a high level of metabolism allows you to automatically burn unwanted fat and drop weight effortlessly with the least amount of activity. Metabolism is the rate at which the body produces and energy and calories to support the living body.

There are several factors which affect the metabolism of your body, such as the amount an density of muscle tissue, how frequently you eat, your genetic makeup, current stress levels, present personal diet and activity levels.

Metabolism slows done due to the following: lack of physical activity, the the body consumes its tissue because there is not enough food energy to to maintain body functions, and the decrease of physical activity that comes naturally with old age.

Here are 10 ways ways to fire up a stubborn metabolism.

1. Create lean, trim body mass. Your metabolism naturally decreases along with age, persistence, it is possible to slow the aging transition. Just by looking at the amount of muscle you have is a excellent indicator in the ability to burn up calories, lose weight and shed fat. The key to melting away those unwanted pounds is exercise. Start by building overall strength and resistance by exercising at least twice a week, if possible with weights.

Simple tasks such taking your dog for a walk and walking the stairs in place of the elevator can burn off excess calories. Here are just a few example of effective exercises:

Overall strength training

-Increase the number of repetitions of a particular exercise.
-Increase the level of resistance
-Utilize advance exercise techniques if possible

For cardiovascular training

-Include additional intervals between exercises
-Integrate cross-training and combine exercises

2. Don't skip breakfast. A lot of people ignore the fact that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Your metabolism can drastically slow down if you eat breakfast during in the afternoon.

3. Avoid sugar intake. Sugar allows your body to store fat. It is a good idea to eat foods that helps your body maintain even blood-sugar level.

4. Consume spicy foods. Hot spicy foods can increase your metabolism.

5. Get extra sleep. Muscles revitalize during the last few of hours of sleep.

6. Increase water intake. Water washes away waste that are produced whenever the body burns fat.

7. Consume smaller meals. It is advisable to consume 4 to 6 small meals that are spread out 2 to 3 hours apart.

8. Never skip meals. People tend to skip meals in order to lose weight, which is a bad mistake since it slows down metabolism.

9. Take time to plan meals in detail. Always prepare the right amount of food to be consumed at the designated intervals.

10. Keep away from stress! Stress, can be both physical or emotional, triggers the release of a steroid called cortisol, which decreases metabolism. Most people tend to eat excessively when stressed.

Here are some diseases that you are putting yourself in risk of if you are carrying a lot of extra pounds:

1. heart disease
2. stroke
3. diabetes
4. cancer
5. arthritis
6. hypertension

Following the ten ways to speed up you metabolism will help to prevent and control these diseases.

Obtaining your desired body weight is never impossible if you has the determination and patience needed to maintain a stabilized the metabolism level, which is instrumental in weight loss. Eating the right foods and working out is not just a seasonal fad , but a healthy way of life.

How To Fit Exercise Into A Busy Schedule

2008-12-02T11:10:00.001-08:00

Is your schedule so full that you have a hard time fitting exercise into your daily routine. For good health and fitness, take time to exercise and follow healthful tips in the below video.

2008-11-26T08:38:00.001-08:00

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2008-11-09T16:23:00.000-08:00

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2008-11-09T16:21:00.000-08:00

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2008-11-09T16:20:00.000-08:00

Benefits of Detoxing for Fitness and Health

2008-11-05T10:08:00.000-08:00

It seems to be a little disgusting when you are detoxing or cleansing. Your body shows some signs that you have built up toxins. These toxins can affect your whole body fitness and health.

There are times that you feel sluggish and feel the stressful. Your body may experience continuous aching, diarrhea, constipation, and feeling of clumsiness. Rapid weight gain and the incapacity to lose the excess weight can also be signs of having toxins in the body.

Moreover, the toxins found in the body are found and stored on your fat cells. For Americans who are taking the usual American diet, a person may consume 70 trillion garbage cans for each cell. In detoxing your body and cleaning that unwanted garbage in your cells, you should pay attention on your elimination organs.

There are particular organs in your body that deal on cell waste management. These organs play a major role in the detoxing process for a fit and healthy body.

1. Your liver is the organ that recycles the unwanted chemicals in the body. It sorts out the toxins and places them to the organ for elimination during the process of circulation. The principal elimination organs will back up the liver on where these toxins will be stored and then eliminated.

2. The lymph glands also play an important role in eliminating the toxins. A network of tubing brings out the excess waste of the cells from the body and to the final eliminating organs. The appendix, thymus, tonsil, and spleens are major lymphatic glands that help the major organs of the body in cleansing and detoxing.

3. The kidneys help in the water management of the body. They are the ones that keep the good chemistry of the blood alkaline by eliminating the dissolved acid waste. You can help your kidney to function very well by drinking plenty of water. It is much better if you drink fresh alkaline juices and purified water. You may take ½ ounce of alkaline everyday to see positive results on your body weight.

4. The lungs are the organs that keep the blood air purified. They allow the oxygen to go directly to the bloodstream. It is also responsible in removing waste gases that are found in every cell of the body. Deep breathing and fresh air is very helpful in keeping the lungs healthy and free from toxins. If you are in the urban area, it is recommended that you find an oxygen rich area where you can perform deep breathing.

5. The colon is a solid waste management organ in your body. Medical practitioners have found many people that may have an 80-pound mucus and rubber like solid waste that are found on the walls of the colon. Detoxing and cleaning the colon can be a real tough thing to do. However, having a free waste colon can certainly provide you good benefits of having a clean and healthy body.

If you are experiencing some signs of detoxification, you may try doing a regular walking exercise. Exercise is a good key in having a fit and healthy body. Many diet doctors also suggest that you drink plenty of lemon water. This is an effective way of maintaining a very good circulation and can increase the rate of detoxification inside the body.

To Your Health,

Jonathan Mckinney

Why Should You Warm Up Before You Exercise

2008-09-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

Exercise and health fitness is important to a healthy body and longevity. People of all ages are involved in physical exercise of some sort and many do not take a moment to understand the importance of warming up before any strenuous activity. Many exercisers repeatedly ignored warming up before working out, and fully understand the consequences of not doing so.

Why should you warm up? Several changes takes place in the body once you begin physical activity. Your respiratory rate, blood flow, and oxygen and nutrient levels delivered to the cells significantly increases. The rate of increase should be regulated in a steady pace to prepare the body for the physical stress that exercise will demand.

If you skip this muscle warming procedure, the body will function less efficiently and the workout will produce less quality results. Warming up preps up the nervous system, heightens mental awareness and alertness, and loosens up joints and muscles to make them less prone to injuries. Warm ups jump starts the fluid located in the joints, minimizing the risk for wear and tear of the muscles. It gives the heart a suitable period to adjust and pump up blood and nutrients into muscles.

Warming up prior to exercise is vital for older people, since they have tissues that are less supple; they have joints with less fluid, and weaker hearts. Sudden exercise can may result in heart attacks or other medical emergencies. Always consult with your doctor when planning to exercise.

How do you warm up properly? Initially, it can be done in any type of exercise that enables the heart to beat faster. One can simply walk and jog, or if a cardiovascular equipment is available, such as rowing machine or a bicycle, it can be utilized. Always start at a gentle pace, and then slowly increase the pace until heart beat rate increases and the body temperature rises. It important to note that the pace should be within your current fitness level, where the activity will leave you energized and not exhausted.

After working up a light sweat (suggested time is 3-5 minutes, longer if working out in a cold environment) you should do dynamic stretching. Stretching helps to developing overall flexibility, particularly in the spine, shoulder, and hip areas. The kind of stretching depends on the type of activity you plan to engage in. For instance, if you are about to play a particular sport, the recommended kind of stretching should mimics the movements that will be done in the court or field.

If participating in martial arts, do light sparring in one quarter of the normal speed, or just simply do the movements in slow motion. Be certain that the major muscles groups are stretched for 8 seconds minimum. Remember to keep feet moving or do leg exercises whenever the upper body is stretched to keep prevent blood from pooling in the legs. Don't forget, you should only do stretching if the muscles are already warmed up. Do not bounce while stretching. It leads to a contraction that can result in muscle tear or pull.

For weight-lifters, this is what should be done after the initial warm up. Load the bar with about 50-60% of the heaviest weight to be done for the session and perform the number of repetitions that will be done for the heavy sets. For the second set, the weight will be increased to 80%, then eventually to 90%, decreasing to 2-3 repetitions. Afterwards, rest for about 30 seconds, then repeat the steps. After this warm up, you can now proceed to the heavy lifting for the day. The advantage of doing the procedure is that the heavy sets will feel less daunting and can now be performed with considerably less stress.

After warming up and proceeding to the main workout, it is equally important to cool down. When you suddenly stop an exercise , blood gathers in the muscle and oxygen is blocked. When this happens, you risk having a heart attack or injury. So cooling down should have the same importance as warming up.

Exercise is good for the health. Everyone is encouraged to pump it up, just remember to remember all the necessary precautions not only to maximize the workout, but also to stay safe and healthy.

To your Healthy Body,

Jonathan Mckinney