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Archive for the ‘Fitness’ Category

Ideas To Build Muscles And Stay Fit Over 40

13 Jun

Every aspect of our lives these days revolve around time, everyone needs time to get things done but time happens to be such a scarce resource. When it comes to working out, time is still a big issue and people do their best to do all they can and get healthy as fast as possible. If you are aged over 40 and are seeking ways to gain strength, look better, burn fat or just to stay fit, there are so many exercises and training programs you can use to attain your objectives. The first great idea in strength training over 50 is to double up exercises instead of working on one muscle groups at a tie. Effective combination of muscles while working out using compound exercises will give a better result in a shapely figure due to muscle growth and fat burn as well as greater strength.

What you need to do is do your research well to find out the right exercises you need. The right kind of exercises will depend on your health and strength, body shape and type as well as the desired end result. There are always the right exercises for anything you want your body to be, it is how you do them that will determine their effectiveness and your body’s response to them.

The best thing I can advise you to do to be certain that you are doing everything right is to find a get fit over 40 book that contains all the details on your workouts and exercises, diet, rest and everything else that will count in your quest to get a better health and look. If you do a simple web search, you will get tons of tips, tricks, instructions and advices from experts” but it is funny because most of the ideas you will get will be abstract, blurry or contradictory. A good workout book written with someone like you in mind will be easier and more effective to use.

 
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Senior Weight Lifting- Your Key To A Longer Life

10 Jun

It is a fact of nature – as we get older, our bones become more brittle, and muscles lose mass. It becomes harder to get around and everyday we chance injury through slips and falls. But does it have to be that way? Not at all. Senior weight lifting is very important as we age and is something to start right now.

Staying fit is extremely important for the elderly. Flexibility in our later years is something that does not come easily. Creating a regular exercise regime is the key to a more comfortable and enjoyable retirement. Whether your exercise plan includes aerobics, walking, biking or weight lifting, a well-balanced workout is important.

Senior weight lifting is going to be different for everyone. As with anything in life, moderation is important – what your neighbor considers a workout might not be the best for you. Becoming active on a daily basis – within your means – can lead to increased lifespan. Bones and muscles deteriorate the older we get and by lifting weights, it is possible to tone your muscles, increasing muscle mass. In turn, stronger muscles will support your bones and help prevent further loss of bone mass. You will have less chance of breaks due to osteoporosis or accidents.

A regular weight lifting routine will increase your energy levels, provide your body with good circulation and develop better flexibility. Getting around will be easier and you probably will enjoying day to day activities much more.

Whether you go to the gym and are lifting weights or get your exercise lifting bags of groceries, there will be a plan that works best for you. Involving a friend or two can also help. Getting together to exercise not only is more enjoyable and keeps you on track, but the social aspects are a great benefit!

I cannot stress that you need to start your senior weight lifting exercise plan today. Waiting until some point later in the week will turn into sometime this month or next month and you will just keep putting it off. A healthier retirement is something to look forward to and waiting is not something you have time to do. For more information on key components of senior weight lifting, click here. It is in your best interest to get going now – take that first step to a healthier future.

 
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Senior Fitness- Exercise For The Elderly

10 Jun

At least once a week on any local news channel anywhere in the country there is a color piece on an octogenarian who just completed a marathon, or a 98 year old man who went skydiving, or a team of rugby players all over the age of 60. Fitness isn’t exclusive to the young.

Admittedly, age takes a toll on the joints and muscles, but the principles of honing the body’s strength, flexibility, balance, and cardiovascular health still hold true for seniors just as much as youth. Intense wind sprints and hundreds of push ups may not be the best route to senior fitness, but there are still plenty of types of exercises for the elderly. Here are some of the best…

Swimming

Can’t sprint? Swim! Swimming combines the intensity of a full body workout (especially the core) with the reduced stressed, low impact environment. One of the best exercise option for seniors suffering from arthritis. This exercise is a particular draw for elderly woman suffering from chronic back pain, or seniors with brittle bones.

Tai Chi

No, this is not a spiced herbal beverage available at Starbucks (that’s chai tea). It is an ancient martial art focusing on subtle movement, coordination and balance. As a martial art, it’s much more art than martial. This is a wonderful exercise for the elderly as speed is not a requirement. And regardless of age, many use Tai Chi as a form of stress relief as well as fitness

Yoga

If you take kindly to Tai Chi, Yoga would be a next healthy step. Yoga can be more vigorous than Tai Chi, but still applicable for senior fitness. It works to strengthen and lengthen muscles, as well as improve flexibility. Additionally, there are many yoga positions and routines specifically designed to alleviate back pain.

Hiking/Walking

The most primal exercise, and perhaps the best, humans were meant to hike. The human body evolved to endure and thrive from long, low impact walks, and that applies perfectly to elderly. Hiking outdoors encourages adaptability; it is the opposite of the treadmill. Even a slow hike can provide a good amount of cardiovascular exercise without reaching painful intensive levels for senior citizens.

Rowing

This is not a traditional exercise for the elderly. No one thinks of a 60-and-over rowing team when they think of senior fitness. But, rowing provides a strenuous upper body workout, without the pump and grind of the gym. Rowing works the quads, the core, and even the leg muscles. It also adds the fresh element, essential to senior living. Getting a workout along the lazy shore of a local river can be quite charming.

Back Flips

Okay, maybe not. In fact, definitely not an exercise for the elderly. Stick to the first five.

Ultimately, have fun. Simple activities like dancing, golfing, gardening or even just a picnic can be a great way to keep the body active. Logging an hour a day at the gym isn’t a necessity so long as you get the blood flowing, a simple walk to the corner grocer may do the trick. The principles of fitness and senior fitness are the same; find enjoyable, fulfilling activities, choose a variety rather than a boring daily routine, and don’t be afraid to include others!

About the Author: Mark Sisson is a fomer professional triathlete who runs a popular health and nutrition blog, Mark’s Daily Apple. Check it out for more great articles and information on the Primal Blueprint, a revolutionary health plan using the principles of human evolution as the basis for modern, high protein, healthy living.

 
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Senior Exercise Fitness

10 Jun

At every part of your life, the most important thing that is stressed is fitness and proper nutrition. These two aspects will not only reduce your stress levels, but it will also help to maintain your body weight and posture.

As we age, if we do not do anything to protect our posture, we will find that our bodies will start taking shape on its own without our control. Here are a couple exercises that a senior can do to help increase their overall fitness.

Stretching is wonderful as it helps to reduce injuries and gives you a great warm-up before your activity. All stretches should be performed nice and slow. You can begin by getting a chair, sit straight back against the chair with both of your feet planted on the ground. Keep your shoulders back and your head forward and focus on the wall that is in front of you.

Raise up your arms and interlock your fingers. While keeping your body aligned, raise your body gently and then come back to the center slowly. Next, you would lean to the left and then alternate to the right. If these are too easy, then you can also do this stretch by standing up; just make sure to keep your balance.

Swimming is the number one exercise. It gets all body parts involved. If you are not able to swim, then there are many water aerobic classes that are available. Using water as resistance can also help to build and tone your muscles.

Another exercise that seniors have been doing for awhile is to jog. Many elderly people participate in marathons yearly. It really isn’t far-fetched. You just need have the proper training and start slowly (just like any other activity).

Whatever exercise you plan on participating in, always remember to strengthen your core muscles to avoid any possible injuries of the back or spine. Picking up groceries or grandchildren will be less of a struggle as long as you take proper care of your fitness.

Di’s latest interest is the elderly so come visit her website Walker With Seat which has lots of reviews and information about products for the elderly Walker Accessories.

 
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Ab Workout For Men

10 Jun

When it comes to working out, men and women usually have completely different needs, and therefore, follow different sort of workout routines. This is the same for abdominal workouts. Women usually just want to have nice, toned abs, and maybe a bit of a six-pack, but not enough of one that they look more muscular than feminine. Men on the other hand want to really work their abs to get an awesome six-pack, and the workouts they follow will be much different than their female counterparts.

Men’s Ab Exercises

If you are looking to get those awesome-looking six-pack abs, you are going to have to commit yourself to some hard work and dedication. A six-pack doesn’t come over night, and it can take months before you finally achieve your ultimate results. Of course, one of the best types of exercises to really work your abdominal muscles is the crunch, which really intensifies when you hold a weight. As your strength increases, increase the weight, to keep the muscles working hard.

If you really want to work your ab muscles, do your crunches with weights, but do them on an exercise ball. This will make your crunches or other exercises even more difficult, which will really shred those muscles. Don’t forget to keep on using the weights too, to get even more benefits.

Vertical leg lifts are also really great for working the abdominal muscles, and can be even more beneficial when leg weights are added to the equation. Strap on the weights, lay down on the floor with your arms straight beside you, and lift your legs, slowly, as far as you can. Hold them in place for a count of 10, and then slowly lower your legs back to the floor. Do at least three sets of 10 repetitions at first, and increase the reps and the weight as it gets easier.

Backward crunches will really stretch and tone those ab muscles. Lie flat on your stomach with your hands outstretched, just like Superman when he’s flying. Now, slowly raise your legs and arms behind you, and try to touch your fingers to your toes. Hold for a few seconds, and then lower your legs slowly back to the floor. Of course, you will need to do repetitions.

Doing the right exercises will really help you to get a six-pack, as well as get the rest of your body into terrific shape. It will take a bit of work, but soon, you will be ready to proudly show off your new six-pack, and will continue to work hard to keep it.
Article authored by Steven Jones with ExtremeHomeWorkout, your top site to grab the Insanity Workout.

 
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Posted in Fitness, Strength Training

 

Fads: Don’t Be Dazzled By Your Trainer

26 Dec


Pic: Darren131

Have you been hanging off one leg, from a tree, holding a swiss ball, ranting some motivational mantra whilst doing a reverse ab curl. Or have you jumped single legged from an unstable bench, onto a swiss ball, commando roll into a Pump class whilst doing a single arm pull with a theraband. OK OK not funny and totally unnecessary…but you get my point?

Fads are a part of the industry, theres nothing we can do about that. Really, theres nothing we want to do about it either. I mean, some fads turn into some great useful products or ideas. Take a look at the Swiss ball for example. When that first came out, it was overused. The idea exploded into gyms and trainers programs everywhere. There wasn’t one person who was exercising that wasn’t doing so on a Swiss ball. There were some pretty strange things being done at that Swiss ball too I must say. But now, years later, the crap has been sorted through. Swiss balls are used in programs effectively. They are a great tool, and have evolved well.

The problem is, there is a LOT of crap out there. You need your trainer to sort through it for you, not throw it all in your face. They are the ones with the knowledge and resources. Its unfortunate, but the Health and Fitness industry is a marketing business. There are a lot of people out there to make money. Bit of bling in a program or class, people get excited. Fair enough too, we are always looking for new ways to exercise, variety is the key and you sure as hell don’t want to get bored doing something that a lot of us are forcing ourselves to do anyway.

Some advice for you. Your program should be tailored to meet your goals. You can do as much fancy stuff if you want, but ultimately you want to reach that goal. Variety is a key. A good trainer will keep you interested, mixing up your training a little, BUT always focusing on the end goal. Variety doesn’t mean jumping on the first thing that is out there. When you are looking for a trainer, don’t get dazzled, don’t let them throw everything they have at you. Let them assess your goals, check out your level, put a plan in place, and away you go. There are many great trainers out there, but you have to remember, its a business, people want to make money…some go about it the right way and some don’t. Just keep your eyes and ears open.

 
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No Time to Exercise? Cut Your Workout in Half

21 Dec


Pic:Almighty Photography

Exercise is on your list of priorities…just maybe a little further down than it needs to be. You have so many things to do in a day how can you possibly fit exercise in? Once your schedule gets a little lighter you’ll be laughing you way to good health, right?

Lack of time is one of the biggest reasons people cite for not participating in exercise. Besides the fact that there are a million things you can do at home or at work, there are a few ways to cut your workout time down in the gym, but still get the benefits of your long workout.

Cut Down Cardio

What if you could do 45 minutes of work on the treadmill/ bike, or 15 minutes, and burn more calories? Sounds wonderful eh. It’s called Interval Training. Interval training can help you improve your cardiovascular fitness, increase your speed, improve your overall power, reach new exercise levels, and burn many more calories. There are so many examples of ways you can do Interval Training; I’m going to leave that for another post.

What is Interval Training?

Basically it means you do a period of hard work, and a period of easy work, and repeat. For example, you could do a 10 minute workout on the bike. Start with 2 minutes of spinning on an easy level, but reasonably fast, and then up the level, still spinning fast but also pushing hard for 1 minute. Alternate this a few times, and you will find you are left with a pretty hard workout and a lot more calories burnt. This is only one small example of interval training, you can change the level, incline, speed, time…everything. It allows you to work a lot harder in a smaller amount of time. Because you are pushing hard during the intense phase, you will burn more calories from that workout, get more fitness benefits, and have a raised metabolism for longer after the workout. Look out for a more detailed post on Interval Training in the near future for some more examples.

Slash Your Strength Training

A simple way to cut down strength training time is supersets. Supersetting allows you to do the same workout, work the same muscles and get exactly the same benefits as a normal workout. It also allows you to burn a few more calories, as you will be working more and resting less.

What is a Superset?

A superset is when one exercise is done directly after another, without a rest break. Wait, my trainer tells me I need to rest to get the benefits? Yes, you do. The trick is to superset different muscle groups. For example, you could superset an upper body exercise with a lower body exercise. Do a set of Bench, and then do a set of Leg Press. When you do your set of Leg Press, you are resting for the Bench, and vice versa. Another example, and probably an easier way to organize your program is alternating opposing muscle groups. For example, Bench, with Seated Row. Bench uses your Pecs, Triceps and Anterior Deltoids. Seated Row uses your upper back muscles (Rhomboids, Traps, Posterior Deltoids, etc). You will be resting the chest group when you do your Seated Row, and vice verca.

Supersetting your exercises is a way to basically cut your exercise time in half, but still get the same benefits from strength training. You need to take care that your are not exercising any muscles groups that are the same in your superset, this will lead to over training and over development of that muscles, and it will be way too fatigued to actually lift as much as it can. Check with your trainer to make sure you aren’t doubling up.

Now that you have no excuse for a lack of time at the gym, go and get to it, try some intervals training and supersetting.

 
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Posted in Fitness, Strength Training

 

Pain at the Desk? Ditch the Bench.

19 Dec

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Introduction

17 Dec

Welcome to Online Health Edge. Check out my Introduction page to get a longer spiel on why I started this blog. I want to get some good quality fitness information out on the web. There is a lot of available info and quite frankly, a lot of it is simply not correct. I hope you enjoy this site.

 
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Sauna

02 Nov

So is a sauna good for you? The pros are they are so relaxing and you leave feeling great. So the water loss in a sauna is a bit of an issue? But if you hydrate then you can negate that pretty quickly. Saunas are great for your health. You just simply feel so relaxed afterwards. A lt of people question the benefits of saunas for your health but we know better. The Europeans have it right, get on the saunas and relax. A stress free and relaxed like is a long and good one.

 
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