|
| ||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
The good news is that fitness experts now say you don't need to do your daily 30 minutes of exercise all at once. You can break it up into smaller periods throughout the day - a five minute brisk walk to the bus stop in the morning, for instance, a 20 minute walk after lunch and a 15 minute walk in the evening after work. As long as you accumulate 30 minutes of moderately brisk exercise during the day - preferably every day - you'll be healthier for it. Depending on your lifestyle, there are a lot of different ways to fit periods of walking into your day - walking the dog, walking to the shops, taking the children for walks, or walking with them to school, walking with friends, walking along the beach or in the park, or even joining a walking club. People who walk regularly, remember, lower their risk of heart attack and stroke and are less likely to develop diabetes in middle age. People who are more active also have a lower risk of colon cancer. Regular walking makes it easier to control weight, helps you sleep better and even makes you stronger - this helps prevent osteoporosis, the bone thinning disease which affects many women after menopause. Walking is also a great way to relax. People who've worked hard all day often say that the last thing they need at the end of the day is a walk - it will only make them feel more tired. But the opposite is true - a walk usually makes you feel more, not less, energetic. To get the health benefits of walking, it's important to do it briskly. But that doesn't mean walking so fast that you feel uncomfortable. Find the pace that suits you best. You should still be able to talk compfortably as you walk. Some tips to remember: Wear light, loss fitting clothing and well-cushioned flat-soled shoes. If you walk in the dark, wear light coloured clothing so motorists can easily see you. Wear a hat and sunscreen and use sunscreen SP15+ on exposed skin. It's best to avoid walking in the hottest part of the day. If you breathing becomes uncomfortable, slow down or stop. Avoid walking immediately after meals and don't walk if you have a fever or bad cold. It helps to "warm up" your muscles before you start walking briskly - you can do this by walking around slowly and moving your arms for about five minutes Think BIG but start small. Begin with something simple like a walk at lunchtime. Remember, you don't have to push yourself to the limit. It's never too late to start, and if you can't make the full 30 minutes most days, remember - some activity is better than no activity as far as health is concerned. Before getting started, see your doctor if you haven't been active for some time, have a history of heart disease or chest pain, have diabetes, are very overweight, are a smoker or have high blood pressure. Types of Excersises Resistance exercise — also called strength training — increases muscle strength and mass, bone strength and your body's metabolism. It can also help you maintain or lose weight and improve your body image and self-esteem. Adequate muscle strength is what enables you to do such daily activities as climbing stairs, getting in and out of bed and carrying the groceries into the house. Resistance training increases muscle strength by putting more than the usual amount of strain on a muscle. This increased load stimulates the growth of small proteins inside each muscle cell that play a central role in the ability of the muscle to generate force. Methods for resistance training include free weights, weight machines and calisthenics. When using free weights, dumbbells and bars stacked with weight plates, you are responsible for both lifting the weight and determining and controlling your body position through the range of motion. If you use weight machines, the machines allow you to lift plates, but the machine dictates the movement that you perform. Calisthenics, such as chin-ups, push-ups and sit-ups, use your own body weight as the resistance force. A newer form of resistance training called resistance tubing involves the use of an elastic band that provides resistance to the active muscles. Opinions differ as to what is the best type of resistance training program. In general, the best way to build strength is to lift weight in three sets of eight to 12 repetitions. Lifting a lighter weight for more repetitions will build endurance and tone. A resistance workout usually involves a number of different exercises (often on weight machines that are designed for this purpose) that focus on different muscle groups. Normally the exerciser does one to three sets of each exercise (a set can be anywhere from eight to 15 repetitions and takes about one minute to complete). A typical session lasts about 30 minutes. If you do two or three resistance workouts per week, you may notice an increase in the strength and size of the exercised muscles. These increases come from the enhancement of various chemical processes in the muscle cells. The greatest improvement will come in the first several months of regular training. Regular weight training exercises can boost your cardiovascular health by improving your levels of high-density lipoprotein, or HDL (good cholesterol). Resistance training can also have a beneficial effect on your body composition. Because muscles burn more calories than fat, a greater muscle mass will increase your metabolic rate, burn more calories and reduce fat tissue. Resistance training stresses bones as well as muscles and helps increase bone mineral content and prevent osteoporosis. Most important for older people, resistance exercise is the best way to combat the gradual loss of muscle mass that occurs as we age (beginning at age 35 or so). Studies have found that men and women in their 70s and 80s can dramatically improve their strength, mobility and agility with just 10 weeks of strength training. Many doctors now routinely prescribe two or three sessions of resistance exercise per week for their elderly patients. Researchers have developed some evidence that indicates resistance training may be better than aerobic exercise alone for improving self-esteem and body image. One explanation for this improvement may be that the feedback from weight training is immediate. You can easily detect progress in muscle growth and improved muscle tone. In this type of strength-training exercise, your muscles contract, but your joints don't move and muscle fibers maintain a constant length. The exercises are typically performed against an immovable surface — for example, pressing your palm against a wall. Isometric training is effective for developing total strength of a particular muscle or group of muscles. It's often used for rehabilitation because the exact area of muscle weakness can be isolated and strengthening exercises can be administered at the proper joint angle. Isometric strength training is not ideal for sports training, but it has many useful purposes. This kind of training can provide a relatively quick and convenient method for overloading and strengthening muscles without any special equipment and with less chance of injury. The specificity of the training response is less than ideal for most sports activities that require dynamic rather than static muscle action. Isotonic And Isokinetic Exercise In isotonic exercise, a body part is moved and the muscle shortens or lengthens. Although sit-ups, push-ups and pull-ups are isotonic, lifting free weights, like dumbbells and barbells, is considered the classic form of isotonic exercise. Isokinetic exercise uses a machine that controls the speed of contraction within the range of motion. Cybex® and Biodex® machines provide this kind of workout, but these machines are generally used by physical therapists and not readily available to most people. Strength-training not only builds your physique, it can also help boost mood, thinking and overall cardiovascular health. But before starting a strength-training regimen, as with any other exercise program, it may be best to have a medical exam to rule out any possible underlying health problem or any existing conditions that could be aggravated. A simple strength-training program can take as little time as 15 minutes, twice a week. The payoff is impressive: By lifting weights, you'll help prevent age-related decline in muscle mass (which tends to start at around age 35), prevent osteoporosis (thinning of the bones), increase your rate of fat loss and enhance your mobility, making it easier to participate in aerobic exercise and other sports. A note about the weight of your weights: If you're working out in a gym, ask a certified personal trainer for advice on how much you should lift. In general, your weights should be heavy enough so that you have some difficulty completing the final one or two repetitions in your set. Below are some exercises that many experts believe should be part of a regular strength-training program. Level 1 Start your strength program with these four exercises (two for the lower body and two for the upper body): Dumbbell squat (lower body) — or leg extension machine Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand with your feet flat on the floor, shoulder-width apart, and your arms down at your sides. Keeping your head up and your back straight, slowly lower your hips until your thighs are parallel with the floor. Then return slowly to starting position, still keeping your head up and back straight. Repeat eight to 12 times. Dumbbell lunge (lower body)— or leg curl machine Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand, with your arms down at your sides, and your feet slightly less than shoulder-width apart. Looking directly ahead and keeping your left leg straight, take a long step forward with your right leg, bending your right knee so that the knee is lined up directly above your right ankle. Distributing your weight equally on both legs, bend your back leg until your knee is almost touching the ground. Then push slowly off your right foot, stepping back into your starting position. Repeat eight to 12 times, then switch legs and repeat. Lie face up on a flat bench, with your feet flat on the floor, and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Extend your arms and then lower them to starting position against your chest (your elbows should point out to either side). Slowly push the dumbbells upward together, until your arms are fully extended and the dumbbells are directly above your chest. Repeat eight to 12 times. Dumbbell row (upper body) — or lat pull-down machine Holding a dumbbell in your right hand, rest your left knee on a low bench, and place your left (free) hand down flat in front of your knee on the same bench. You should be leaning forward so that your back is horizontal, and your right foot should be flat on the floor, with the right knee slightly bent. Lower the dumbbell so that your right arm is fully extended and slowly pull it to your chest, then return slowly to starting position. Do eight to 12 repetitions, then switch sides and repeat. Level 2 (four additional strength exercises) Dumbbell curl (upper body) — or bicep machine Holding a dumbbell in each hand, stand comfortably with your arms down at your sides. Slowly bend your arms, curling both dumbbells up to your shoulders, then slowly return to starting position. Keep your head up and your eyes looking straight ahead at all times. Dumbbell triceps extension (upper body) — or triceps machine Holding a dumbbell in your right hand, place your left knee on a low bench, and place your left hand in front of it, flat on the bench. Hold the dumbbell with your palm facing inward and your right elbow slightly bent so the weight is at hip level. Keeping your right shoulder still, slowly straighten your right arm, then slowly return to starting position. Repeat eight to 12 times, then switch arms and repeat. Dumbbell shoulder press (upper body) — or overhead press machine Holding a dumbbell in each hand, sit on a bench or a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Position both dumbbells at shoulder level, with your elbows pointing downward. Then slowly press both dumbbells upward, until your arms are straight but not locked (think of squeezing your shoulder blades together as you lift). Then return slowly to starting position. Repeat eight to 12 times. Dumbbell deltoid raise (upper body) — or lateral raise machine Standing comfortably with a dumbbell in each hand, hold your arms at your sides so that your elbows are bent at right angles, with your palms facing downward. Slowly raise both dumbbells until your upper arms are parallel to the ground. Then slowly lower your arms to starting position. Repeat eight to 12 times.
|
|||||||
|
||||||||
