Via: WebMD.Com

As women age, the threat of gaining weight increases. There seems to be a solution to this problem. A new study shows women who are at a healthy weight already and get an hour of moderate activity every day can avoid gaining any unwanted pounds.

A lot of research has been done to show how to loose the weight. According to I-Min Lee, ScD, an associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, “there’s very little research on preventing weight gain in the first place.” Her study concluded the more active participants were the less likely they were to gain weight.

So, as you age and you want to maintain your weight just incorporate moderate activity in your day to day schedule. Moderate activity does not mean you have to run 10 miles per day. Here are some activities to consider: brisk walking, casual bicycling or ballroom dancing.

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Breaking up your fitness routine is hard to do. But it’s crucial for avoiding the bigger heartache of overuse injury, fitness experts say.

“People tend to do the same thing over and over again, without varying it, without taking adequate rest, without building slowly, and they end up with an overuse injury,” said Geralyn Coopersmith, national manager for the Equinox Fitness Training Institute.

“Tendonitis, bursitis, fasciitis, these kinds of inflammations are pretty much guaranteed if you don’t vary your training,” said Coopersmith, who oversees the training of 1,400 personal trainers in 48 Equinox clubs nationwide.

Yet she concedes that even clients who complain of nagging aches and pains are loath to change their routine.

“People get terrified. They’ll say, ‘The treadmill made me lose weight.’ Well, exercise made you lose weight. The treadmill was the modality. That doesn’t mean it’s the only way or the best way,” she explained.

“Most people don’t cross-train enough,” she said. “Maybe they’ve been doing yoga for years so their flexibility is great but ask them to hold a plank position and there’s no core strength at all.”

More than pain
For Adrian Shepard, fitness director for the recreation department at Butler University, over-exercisers can suffer more than pain or poor performance.

“Overall it’s a tricky thing to notice,” he said. “Some signs, like sleeplessness, apathy, depression and difficulty concentrating, may be associated with other conditions. You really have to focus on the big picture.”

Shepard says some young adults he works with at the Butler campus in Indianapolis are especially vulnerable.

“Most at risk are those training for an event or sport,” he said, “or those with a preoccupation with being thinner.”

He stresses the importance of consulting a fitness professional.

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Via: Diet.Health.com

If you are someone with a busy lifestyle that includes working, taking care of family and always being on the go, it can be difficult to find time to work out. When you manage to get a minute for yourself, all you may want to do is sit down and relax. Regardless, it is important to find time to exercise and become physically fit. Here are some tips to help you fit fitness into your life:

1. Change your perspective. Don’t think of exercise as something extra that you try to squeeze in your scheduled, but think of it as something which is necessary to live a full and healthy life.
2. Bribe yourself. Find a healthy dessert such as a smoothie or fruit salad and treat yourself after a good work out. If it is less than 100 calories you will probably burn it off within the first minutes of your routine.
3. Make it a “to do.” Having an organizer or a planner is extremely helpful when scheduling your work out. Your list of “to do’s” is your plan. Seeing what you have to do during the week will motivate you to stick to your plan.

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VIA: FITNESS.COM

 
Building good exercising habits can be a bit of a lifestyle change, but with these exercises it is plain to see that anybody can do them. You have no excuses to not create a more healthy lifestyle through exercise because you should not have to leave your house to do this. These exercises are going to make you feel much healthier and if you keep them up for a number of months, they should also bring down your stress levels to keep you emotionally healthy as well.

Squats

– Squats are a very effective exercise for trimming your legs and buttocks. They can give you lean muscular features as well. To start, practice getting out of a regular chair using your arms as little as possible. Provided you can do at least a few repetitions, you should be providing your body with some incentive to start growing muscle in your legs and buttocks. As your muscles begin to grow, they will be able to lift you from a seated position numerous times and you will really start to see some results. Squats are a part of every single workout I do.

Crunches

– Crunches are by far the best exercise you can do for your abdominal muscles without any equipment. They target the muscle group specifically and are quite effective at building mass and strengthening your abdomen. Crunches aren’t necessarily a walk in the park but once you begin to see results, you will realize that all the hard work is really worth it in the end. If you are just starting to do crunches and add some muscle to your midsection, don’t worry about getting your noggin all the way up to your knees. What is important when doing crunches is that you feel the stretching of your abdominal muscles and begin to feel them working after a few reps. As your muscles grow, you will be able to achieve much more muscle growth doing crunches.

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VIA: MENSFITNESS.COM

Pick Up the Pace

Six expert tips for getting the most of every running experience

Tip 1: GO OFF-ROAD
“Running on trails never gets boring,” says Dave Watt, executive director of the American Running association. His advice: Be sure to wear a shoe that has more grip or traction, and stick with trail-specific running shoes. Also keep in mind that running on trails is best while it’s still light out — there are no street lamps in the woods.

Tip 2: SHOW OFF
“If you’re running at night, reflective clothing is mandatory,” says Watt. You may be able to see cars coming, but they can’t always see you, so make yourself as visible as possible. And always face traffic when running in the road.

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VIA:  WebMD.Com

By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

Sept. 14, 2005 — If you do just one thing to fight fat, exercise might be the way to go, judging by a new study.

Consider the study’s results:

• Inactivity led to a buildup of fat deep inside the belly.
• Modest amounts of exercise held the line on deep belly fat.
• Higher amounts of exercise cut deep belly fat and fat around the waist.

The study appears in The Journal of Physiology. It took place at Duke University under the supervision of exercise physiologist Cris Slentz, PhD, and colleagues.

Deep belly fat (technically called “visceral fat” or fat surrounding organs within the abdomen) has been linked to health problems including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome — a cluster of risk factors that greatly increase the chance of developing these diseases.

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Outside activity for children is the best thing; being that we live in a society that is at its’ all time high for childhood obesity.  Running can have more than physical benefits for children as well.

Carol Goodrow, a teacher from Sturbridge, Mass. started incorporating running into her first and second grade classroom curriculum.  One strategy that she used included her math and geography classes.  The children would run outside, then have to come in and write about it.  By doing this she noticed that children that were reluctant to write prior to implementing this strategy now have no problems writing after their runs.  She also has learned that running can bring a parent and child closer together.

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You don’t have to be an athlete to be fit. Athletes reach a very high level of fitness. And people who take brisk half-hour walks every day reach a good level of fitness. Even people who can’t do that much can work toward some level of fitness that helps them feel better and have more energy.

What are the benefits of fitness?

Fitness helps you feel better and have more energy for work and leisure time. You’ll feel more able to do things like playing with your kids, gardening, dancing, or biking. Children and teens who are fit may have more energy and better focus at school.

When you stay active and fit, you burn more calories, even when you’re at rest. Being fit lets you do more physical activity. And it lets you exercise harder without as much work. It can also help you manage your weight.

Improving your fitness is good for your heart, lungs, bones, and joints. And it lowers your risk for heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some cancers. If you already have one or more of these problems, getting more fit may help you control other health problems and make you feel better.

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VIA:  Health.Com
By:  Kathleen Doheny/HealthDay Reporter

According to Health.Com, Cottrells tean found that the fitter the student, the better the test scores.  The study was conducted with 1,200 students, who’s physical fitness was assessed in the 5th grade and the 7th grade.  Standardized tests were used to evaluate each student in the following areas:  reading, math, science and social studies.

The study found that across the four academic areas, a child who was fit in the 5th grade and remained fit through the 7th grade had the highest scores on average.

The study results came as no surprise to Todd Galati, an exercise physiologist and spokesman for the American Council on Exercise in San Diego. ”These findings are in line with other studies that show similar correlations with increased fitness and higher test scores,” he said.

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