Tuesday 31 May 2011

Abdominal Exercise


Ab Exercise


Any good abs exercise program involves high intensity muscular overload and progressive increase in intensity. Abdominal exercises must be undertaken carefully so that the back is adequately supported. The upper and lower abdominal muscles are not separate muscles and abs exercises can help strengthen the entire abdominal region. But some exercises will tend towards developing either the upper or lower abdominal region. Abdominal exercises can help you also gain strong stomach muscles and back muscles. This can reduce the likelihood of back pains and provide protection against injury by efficient response to stress.


Bicycle Movement


The bicycle was ranked as the best abs exercise by the American Council on Exercise because it uses every muscle in your abs to create a strong, lean torso. Make sure you pull your abs in (draw your navel towards your spine) and keep them contracted throughout the movement to protect your back. Don't hold your breath and go slowly so you can really feel it! Do 10-16 reps.

  1. Lie on the floor and lace your fingers behind your head.
  2. Bring the knees in towards the chest and lift the shoulder blades off the floor without pulling on the neck.
  3. Straighten the left leg out while simultaneously turning the upper body to the right, taking the left elbow towards the right knee.
  4. Switch sides, bringing the right elbow towards the left knee.
  5. Continue alternating sides in a 'pedaling' motion for 1-3 sets of 12-16 reps.

Captain's Chair Leg Raise


The captain's chair leg raise is the second most effective move for the rectus abdominis as well as the oblique. The key to keeping this move safe and effective is, first, to avoid swinging the legs or using momentum to bring the legs up. Second, keeping the knees bent will help you focus more on the abdominals and less on the hip flexors.

  1. Stand on the chair and grip handholds to stabilize your upper body.
  2. Press your back against the pad and contract the abs to raise the legs and lift knees towards your chest.
  3. Don't arch the back or swing the legs up.
  4. Slowly lower back down and repeat for 1-3 sets of 12-16 reps.

Crunch on an Exercise Ball


The exercise ball is an excellent tool to strengthen the abs and is the third most effective move for targeting the rectum abdominal. What makes this move a bit more effective than crunches on the floor is that the legs are often involved in floor crunches. On the ball, the abs do more work.
  1. Sit on the exercise ball with your feet flat on the floor.
  2. Let the ball roll back slowly and lie back until your thighs and torso are parallel with the floor.
  3. Contract your abdominals raising your torso to no more than 45 degrees.
  4. As you curl up, keep the ball stable (i.e., the ball shouldn't roll).
  5. Lower back down, getting a stretch in the abs, and repeat for 1-3 sets of 12-16 reps.


Wednesday 25 May 2011

Most Important Meal Of The Day

The Importance of Breakfast

The American Dietetic Association says breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Despite the healthful benefits, breakfast may be the meal that is most often neglected or skipped. Eating breakfast not only aids in weight management, it fuels the body to help provide energy, better concentration and problem-solving ability throughout the day, according to the food and nutrition experts at the American Dietetic Association.

There are many reasons why people choose to skip breakfast, some think by skipping breakfast it will help to lose weight, and others just feel they don’t have time for breakfast. However, these are part of an incorrect thinking because breakfast is in fact the most important meal of the day.

Breakfast is the first chance the body has to refuel its blood glucose levels, also known as blood sugar, after eight to 12 hours without a meal or snack. Glucose is essential for the brain and is the main energy source. Blood glucose also helps fuel the muscles needed for physical activity throughout the day.

"Breakfast is also very important for weight loss and weight management,"

It helps curb your hunger and prevent binge eating later in the day. Breakfast is important to manage your weight and potentially lose weight by eating less calories throughout the day.

Starting your day with a good breakfast boosts your energy, increases your attention span, and heightens your sense of well-being. You’ll be in better control of your emotions. A good breakfast is one that provides at least one third of the day’s calories.

The effects of a skipped breakfast are short attention span, lack of alertness, longer reaction time, low blood sugar, decreased work productivity.

Simply remember the following tips while preparing your breakfast:

Breakfast should supply at least 25percent of your daily nutritional requirement. Should be high in complex carbohydrates and fiber like wheat or grain, less in saturated fat like butter and have a moderate amount of good quality protein like milk or egg. Chose a whole fruit rather than gulping down that juice.

Health is by Choice...not by chance! The choice is yours. You don’t have to be a statistic. By adopting a better diet and wiser lifestyle habits, you can live longer, feel better, and enjoy a healthier, more productive life.

Tuesday 24 May 2011

Different approaches to Exercise



Whether you’re trying to lose weight or just achieve a certain level of fitness, exercise is necessary. Everyone should exercise regularly just to maintain their general health, but for those aiming for weight loss, exercise can make a huge difference. People lose weight and get into shape must faster when they follow exercise programs than when they use dieting alone.

Exercise isn’t just great for weight loss, though. It also serves a stress reliever, a mood regulator, a way to keep your skin looking better, a way to tone your muscles, and just a way to do something good for yourself during some “me” time. Some people participate in fitness exercise just for weight loss or their health, while others consider exercise to consist of activities like going for a long walk after dinner, or spending time in the garden each day.

Fortunately, there are many different types of exercise so that you can choose things you enjoy doing. It’s important to participate in some sort of cardio exercise at least a few times a week, both for general health and to speed weight loss. Cardio exercise is aerobic in nature, meaning your body is using oxygen for an extended period of time, which lets your body burn fat. Walking at a good pace, running, using a stepper or an elliptical machine, swimming, bicycling and any activity that keeps your heart rate up for several minutes are considered cardio. These exercise your heart and lungs.

Weight training is also an important type of exercise. This tones the muscles which can make you look healthier and feel stronger. If you’re trying to lose weight, alternating weight training with cardio exercise is important. Not only will you tone up your body and make it smaller through exercising the muscles, but you’ll have good muscle tone appearing as your body sheds the fat on top of it.

Of course, if you’re eating a poor diet or eating too much, all the exercise in the world isn’t going to do as much good as it could if you were getting the proper nutrition and eating the right amount of calories for weight loss. If you’re not sure how to eat, you could read several diet reviews and use those to pick a plan that seems comfortable for you. But if you’ll just aim for lower fat meats and dairy products, whole grain breads and pastas, and lots of fruits and vegetables, you’ll be following the ideal diet - not just for weight loss but for health, too.

When you’re ready to start an exercise program, don’t just decide to run or use a stepper simply because everyone else is doing it. Find some sort of activity that you’ll enjoy, or pick several and switch off. If you choose something you find yourself dreading or that is too hard, you’ll end up not doing it. It’s easier to feel that motivation to get up and exercise each day if you know you’ll enjoy the time you spend improving your health.



Thursday 19 May 2011

Traditional Breakfast Ideas


 Here are some traditional choices you can select for your healthy breakfast.

French toast, waffles, or pancakes
 Eggs
 Cold cereal and milk
Yogurt with fruit or nuts 

                                            Hot cereal, such as oatmeal or cream of wheat
Fruit smoothie and fresh juices
 

Tuesday 17 May 2011

Keep yourself fit and smart


In these days people are forced to live in a very fast moving life. In today’s life style people have to travel long distances for their work places and return home by evening. In the midst of the fastness people usually forget to think deeply about their food. The often take foods which are easily available and consumable. They never concentrate on the quality of the food they have to take. Thus in the mean time, they may be forced to take even fast foods to quench their hunger. Fast foods are prepared with high fat content and certain taste makers which are poisonous to the human body. Moreover these fast foods have no nutritional value at all. Hence they are totally harmful to human body. The constituents in the fast food and their cooking media are favorable to increase the body weight of the consumer. Hence those who are willing to control their body weight by reducing the fat consumption must avoid fast food in all respects. Homely foods are highly desirable for a healthy body.
Another way to reduce excess fat for maintaining good health is to consume balanced diet. Balanced diets are foods which contain all essential nutrients with high nutritive value. In this diet all essential elements are found in proper concentration. Hence balanced need not be taken too much. A minimum quantity of balanced diet is suitable to support a healthy body. Hence consuming balanced is the ideal way to control excess fat in taking. Foods having low calorific value with high fiber content is very good far a reduced fatty diet. Oats is the ideal food which is highly recommended in this category. Oats are grains which have very low calorific value comparing to other foods available. The cholesterol content in oats is determined as zero. The fibers in oats work as sponges and absorb fat content present in human body tissues. Hence oats are very good low fatty food for maintaining good health.