Building strength involves working your muscles against some degree of resistance, such as lifting a weight. But it isn’t just sufficient to lift a weight only once, instead, you need to work the muscles to their maximum capacity, and this does mean performing each movement several times, or in other words, repetitions. This is known as challenging the muscles. By raising the weight or the number of repetition, you actually increase the challenge.

Weight lifting isn’t the only form of resistance training. In fact, every time you sit down or stand up, you work by carrying your body weight against gravity. Other examples include tensile resistance, such as the pull you feel walking in an ocean or in a deep mud.

Water offers considerable resistance and swimming is an ideal form of strength exercise as well as improving stamina.

Although muscles grow larger in response to strength training, it doesn’t mean that you will gain a body builder’s physique, which in fact takes many hours of specialized training and dedicated effort. You will however, be helping yourself to a fitter, stronger body with firmer muscles and less body fat.


Keep your body ready for action and also prepared for strenuous or weighty tasks by regularly exerting your muscles. Strength and endurance training not only tones and conditions your muscles, but it also improves your fitness level.

Strength is the ability to lift, lower, push or carry an object of such mass, weight or resistance that the effort involved can only be sustained for a short time. For example, you need muscular strength to lift a heavy suitcase into the boot of a car, or to unscrew the tight lid of a jar or to push a piano.

Endurance, on the other hand, can be considered as the ability to sustain a level of activity for extended periods, such as carrying heavy shopping home or digging the garden. Improving muscular strength and endurance will provide important benefits to both your health and your quality of life.

On average, men and women are at their strongest when at the age of 30. After that, muscle mass and strength in the body, tend to goes into a steady decline unless people do something about it and make strength exercises an important part of their lives.

Regular resistance exercises can reduce and even reverse the steady decline in strength with age; no matter how old or unfit you are when you start.

As per the scientists at John Hopkins University at United States of America, an older adult who has been doing strength exercises for more than 15 years are as strong as or stronger than 20 years old guy who has been inactive. Studies conducted at a nursing home showed that even 80 and 90 years olds could double their leg muscle strength and improve daily activity levels by 35 percent after just 10 weeks of strength exercises. Just as aerobic exercises boost the heart and lungs, so strength exercises build up muscles. Unless muscle is regularly used, its tone diminishes and it becomes weaker. Unfit muscles always tire easily, and are prone to injury and limit the amount of activity your body can take. A Small amount of thought and effort can save your muscles.


Endurance Training

in Endurance, Muscles @ 2:57 am by Healthy Body Healthy Mind

Muscular endurance refers to a muscle’s ability to work repeatedly for an external period of time. Endurance is needed for tasks that do not pose much of resistance challenge but require repetitive movements for example, the repeated brush strokes required when painting a ceiling or a wall, the arm movements involved when polishing a car and the leg power used when climbing long flights of stairs, actually all require muscular endurance. The ability to maintain a good posture throughout the day, whether sitting, standing or on the move, is also dependent upon muscle endurance.

In order to build endurance, you need to do exercises that require the muscles not only to overcome moderate resistance but also to continue doing so for an extended period of time. In other words, while strength training involves heavier weights but fewer repetitions, preferably continued over 20 minutes. Before you start regular strength and endurance exercises, it might help to gauge your current level by doing the abdominal curl test (explained below) so that you can pinpoint and make a note of your improvements. Your abdominal muscles help you to maintain your posture during various physical activities and thus are good indicators of overall muscular fitness.

 

Abdominal Crunch Test And Abdominal Muscle Strength Rating Chart

 

The abdominal curl (or crunch) test is a good way to help you determine as how strong you are and also it determines your current level of muscular ability. As far as doing an abdominal curl is concerned, lie on your back with your shoulder resting on floor and your arms by your sides. After that lift your shoulders and head off the floor so that hands slide forwards towards your knees and then carefully lower your head and shoulders back to floor. Keep in mind that you have to breathe out as you curl up and breathe in as you come down. Do as many as you can in 1 minute and then compare the results with the standards given below.

 

 

In Women:

 

Age           Very Fit           Fit             Average          Unfit

 

40-50 35+ 31-35 24-30 Less Than 23

51-60 30+ 26-30 20-25 Less Than 19

60+ 25+ 21-25 15-20 Less Than 14

 

 

In Men:

 

Age                             Very Fit                   Fit                   Average          Unfit

 

40-50              39+                 35-39              29-34              Less Than 28

50-60              34+                 30-34             24-29              Less Than 23

60+                  29+                 25-29              19-24              Less Than 18

 

 


The Most Effective Way To Lose Weight.

in Recommended @ 5:27 pm by Healthy Body Healthy Mind

It is not hard to get slim, all you have to do is to eat right and do regular exercise. Sometime you could also cheat a little bit

What does it mean for eating right? It means eating the right food at the right time. Skipping meal is a no - no for diet. You should eat at least three meals a day. If you could, try to eat six small meals - three bigger meals and three snacks. Also you should not eat food high in oil, sugar, salt and carbohydrate. The ideal meal should include green leaf vegetable, lean meat and whole wheat grain.

Exercise is easier than you think. It is not necessary for you to sign up for the health club or buy expensive equipment. Two session of thirty minute walk can strength your heart and burn fat. If you want to loss fat fast, you will need to build muscle by doing weight. Strength training and cardio is the best combination of exercise.

At last, if you have weak will to eat health and exercise regularly, you can get some extra help. Some diet pill like lipo 6 can help you burn fat fast. Lipo 6 is one of the most effective diet pills I have ever seen on the market. This personal tried lipo 6 himself and successfully loss some weight.

You can read his review on how he loss weight using lipo 6 here.


Stamina Building: Switch Over The Energy

in Exercise, Fitness, Health Guide, Stamina @ 3:14 pm by Healthy Body Healthy Mind

It is very important that exercise is sustained because of the time that is taken before the energy in the body switches from the initial anaerobic energy production systems to the aerobic system. However if you can manage only 10 minutes at a time before tiring, simply try doing it two times a day. There is no point trying to step up the pace before you are ready. No doubt you need to push your body to get fitter, but attempting anything unrealistic can result in injury or discourage you from continuing.

It’s better to start off by walking for 20-30 minutes at a fast pace with which you feel comfortable. Ideally, walking fast would make you breathe harder but still enable you to talk out loud. Unless you know how to monitor your pulse, it would be hard for you to judge the effort you are putting in. You can make a good estimation by gauging the ease with which you talk. Exercise to build stamina needs to be challenging if they are to be effective. Once your current level of activity seems easy, you should start to raise the effort involved. For example, first you increase the distance you usually walk, then you can step up the pace and later perhaps you can include a slight incline in that route. A treadmill can be very helpful in achieving it. Over a period of time, let’s say 10-20 weeks), you may feel fit enough to jog part of the way.

Level 1:
You can talk and exercise at this level indefinitely. Aim to improve it.

Level 2:
You can exercise and still talk in a breathy way. This is the lower level.

Level 3:
You are more breathless but can still talk at this level. This is top level.

Level 4:
You are uncomfortable talking at this level of exercise. You should avoid until you get really fit.

Level 5:
You find it impossible to talk. Only trained athletes should attempt this level.

 

Over a time, as you get fitter you will find that you perceive your level of exertion as moderate (Level 2 or 3 as mentioned above) even though if you now exercise harder. This shows that your heart, lungs, blood circulation and muscles are actually adapting to the exercise you do, by becoming stronger and more effective. Perhaps surprisingly, you will find that you also perspire more freely. However this is natural. It actually shows that your body’s temperature regulating system is working more effectively and efficiently to dissipate the heat you generate when you are exercising.

You can make walking and jogging more enjoyable by choosing a right place to perform your activities. Parks, gardens are not only good for health but also are attractive thus motivating to perform well. Also try encouraging a friend or a partner to come with you. Exercising with a friend has the added advantage of providing mutual support.

 

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The Importance Of Oxygen In Stamina Building

in Exercise, Fitness, Health Guide @ 6:27 am by Healthy Body Healthy Mind

Stamina building activities are sometimes also referred to as aerobic exercise. Here aerobic literally means “with oxygen”. It refers to all forms of sustained, moderate exercise including walking, cycling and jogging, not just aerobic step and aerobic dance classes.

We usually tend to think that all activities or exercise we do involves oxygen. However this is not the fact. The physical activities such as weight lifting and sprinting are actually the anaerobic exercises, literally meaning “without oxygen”. This is because it takes several minutes for the heart and lungs to circulate blood to the muscles along with oxygen. If the physical activity is very intense, then there is not much time available for the oxygen to be produced and the muscle have to perform without it. In other words they perform anaerobically. Instead they draw upon energy from the existing carbohydrate supplies in the muscles through a chemical transformation process. Muscles cannot work for very long this way. If you are able to sustain any specific exercise for let’s say a period of 20 minutes, it is evident from it that muscles are working aerobically. Similarly to aerobic exercise, regular anaerobic exercise increases the body’s ability to access and utilize energy.

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Pump Up Your Body

in Exercise, Fitness, Health Guide, Heart, Lungs, Stamina @ 2:46 pm by Healthy Body Healthy Mind

Your body makes various physiological adaptations if you perform regular stamina-building exercise. The heart muscle becomes stronger and the pumping capacity of the heart also increases. This allows more blood to be pumped around your body per heart beat. Now because of the fact that heart beats more effectively and efficiently, it beats less often. All those people who start a programme of regular exercise in their daily routine will notice that their pulse becomes slower even when they are resting and the pulse gets back to normal rate more quickly after they exercise.

Check your condition by measuring your resting pulse rate early in the morning, before getting out of the bed. If it is above 100 for a woman or above 90 for a man, it’s time to see your doctor before starting your regular stamina exercises. The doctor may advise against certain activities.

Regular stamina-building exercise also increases and expands the lung capacity. Thus, allowing more oxygen in and removing waste carbon dioxide more rapidly, so that you do not get out of breath as quickly. Blood flow also improves through the lungs and around the body. It thus enables more freshly oxygenated blood to reach the muscles, organs and tissues throughout the body.

To achieve the benefits, the heart, lungs and circulation must work harder, little by little, over a period of weeks and months until they, and you, are healthier and fitter than when you started out. Physical activity exercise sessions that can be sustained for at least 20 minutes (ideally a little longer) and done at a moderate level are the key components. Health and fitness experts generally recommend a minimum of 30 minutes of sustained, moderate physical activity at least three times a week.

 

 

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Having the determination to achieve your aim is one of the keys to a happy and successful life. Keep on your toes and be prepared for all that life throws at you by building up your physical stamina.

Studies show that more than 50 percent of adults in Western countries do little regular stamina-building exercise, and 25 percent are not physically active in any way. The more sedentary you become in your daily life, the less stamina you have, and this has serious implications on your health.

Stamina ensures, for instance, that you can climb a large flight of stairs without puffing or pausing for breath half-way up or probably run down the road for a bus if you are late for an appointment. There are other names for this ability, including endurance, cardiovascular fitness and aerobic capacity, but they all mean the same thing - that the heart, lungs and circulation are working effectively and efficiently.

While all aspects of fitness are important, improving stamina will have the most immediate and dramatic effects on your health.

“A Harvard University study demonstrated that people who expend 6300 kilojoules (1500 calories) a week through the stamina building activities, such as long distance walking, running or cycling, live the longest.”

Sustained, moderate stamina-building exercises burn fat and so help you to shed that extra weight when combined with a weight reduction diet.

However, if you have been inactive for a while, then check your condition by measuring your resting pulse rate early in the morning, before getting out of the bed. If it is above 100 for a woman or above 90 for a man, it’s time to see your doctor before starting your regular stamina exercises. The doctor may advise against certain activities.

As far as choice for exercise is concerned, Walking and jogging are not the only kinds of stamina building exercises. Cycling, swimming, dancing and step aerobics are also effective, provided they are sustained for 20 minutes or until mild fatigue sets in. Skipping is another simple form of exercise with major aerobic benefits. You can also combine a range of aerobic exercises, such as step-ups and star jumps, into a 20 minute routine to do at home.

Lastly, try to have a companion join you in your workouts. Exercising with friends is fun and keeps you motivated and enthusiastic.


Look Good. Get Those Unwanted Hair Removed

in Good Looks, Hairs, Skin Care @ 6:52 am by Healthy Body Healthy Mind

Most of the men and women in western countries spend hours and hours in plucking, shaving and waxing unwanted hairs to look good. There are however no techniques to actually prevent the hair from growing back, although we have electrolysis and diathermy which actually weakens the regrowth of the hair, after which hair growth may cease after some regular treatments. People can also opt for any method of hair removal as per their needs and expenses.

For most of the people hair removal means an at-home treatment with a razor, wax or a depilatory cream. After using any of these products it is however of utmost importance that you moisturize the area thoroughly with a mild cream. It is also advisable that they should not use deodorants or other irritants on your skin after shaving or waxing. If you are using a depilatory cream, always follow the instruction written on the packaging for the best results.

Now get those hair removed and look good and confident to take over the world.


Building Your Fitness Levels

in Exercise, Fitness, Health Guide @ 2:27 pm by Healthy Body Healthy Mind

If you’re new to exercise, start slow and steady and build up the required intensity gradually. The benefits of exercise starts from the word go. So in no case would you ever require to push yourself. A healthy level of exercise can make you breathless but still you’ll be able to talk. Try chatting with your friends while performing if you exercise with your friends. And if you don’t have anyone to talk to, then sing a song or count to ten, loud and clear. Exercising will never leave you gasping for air.

If you have some medical condition, such as heart or lung disorder, high blood pressure, diabetes, infections or even a spine or joint ailment, then it is advisable to seek your doctor advice before starting regular exercise. Also, seek an advice from your qualified fitness instructor, to adjust your exercise sessions as per your personal needs.

No matter what exercise you plan to do, it is necessary that you always start with a gentle warm up routine and finish with a cool-down session. The amount of time you need on warming up actually depends on the activity you are preparing for. In general, a warm up exercise should last for 10 minutes and should normally include some aerobic exercises to raise the heart and breathing rate, and then also include stretching out your body so as to increase the suppleness of the joints and muscle flexibility.

A cooling down routine involves activities similar to that of warm up exercises, except for the fact that it lasts for half the time as in warm up exercise. During the cool-down exercise, you gradually reduce the intensity. It allows your breathing rate and heartbeat to slow down gently and prevents the blood from pooling into the veins, which if not done, can cause dizziness. The warm up and cooling down exercises also prevents any post exercising aches, stiffness or soreness, which particularly happens to those who are new to regular exercise.

The main reason for warm up and cool-down exercise is to prepare your body for more activities. But if you don’t find much time for long exercising sessions, even then warm up exercises are worth doing for their own sakes. They will get your heart and lungs working harder and limber up the joints and muscle so that you feel livelier and fitter. These exercises, when done in routine, also reduce the risk of injury, such as strained joint or muscles. So as I mentioned before, Play It Safe!!!!