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Posts Tagged Exercise
Few commercialized areas of science are so filled with myths as that focused on weight loss. Everyone wants a simple, safe, no-willpower solution. Someday, we may actually get one. For now there are no magic cures. But there are quite a few myths that need to be exploded.
In generations past, exercise was believed to be mostly for the younger set. It was even believed that older people couldn’t increase muscle mass or strength if they wanted to. Studies at Harvard and elsewhere have now firmly put that myth to rest.
Exercise for the over-50 crowd is decidedly healthy. As people age, several changes occur that exercise can help slow or reverse. Metabolism slows, leading to increased fat accumulation. Artery passageways often narrow, leading to higher blood pressure and lowered flow. Bones become thinner and more porous, a condition known as osteoporosis. Muscles and skin lose tone.
Exercise after surgery can be part of recommended physical therapy, or a return to pre-operative routines. In either case, done properly, exercise will help create flexibility, improve balance - by strengthening muscles that help stabilize joints - and keep the cardiovascular and other systems functioning well.
When and how you can begin exercise routines after major surgery will vary with the type of treatment you had. Most physicians will recommend at least a week, sometimes 6-12 weeks, of recuperation before even attempting regular routines. Consult your physician.
Exercise throughout the entire nine months is healthy for most women - provided they exercise (pun intended) the proper caution.
Mild exercise, of types appropriate to the various stages, will help keep the circulatory system healthy, increase pelvic muscle tone and strength, and help to smooth out mood swings. Done right, you can lessen the severity of backaches, keep joints flexible and firm, and improve sleep.
Mild exercise helps release endorphins, which can help elevate mood. Proper strengthening and toning of the back, buttocks, and thighs helps improve posture and relieve backaches. Daily stretching keeps joints well-lubricated with synovial fluid. Moderate working out burns up some of that anxious energy, leading to more restful sleep.
Most people will try a hundred different fad diets, at least as many nutritional supplements and even all sorts of wacky alternatives. But, getting them to exercise can be a real challenge.
Nevertheless, it’s an inescapable fact that proper diet has to be accompanied by an age-appropriate, regular exercise program - if the goal is good health and an attractive body. Diet is essential, but exercise is its essential partner. Diet provides the proper fuel, but exercise uses that fuel to generate health and fitness.
There’s no need to become a fitness fanatic, but there are several simple exercises you can begin today. Start a daily stretching routine of at least 10 minutes before doing any vigorous training. A 20-minute walk every other day is a great beginning for those not used to exercise.
Few subjects in health or diet ever get put to a final rest. Present studies often contradict earlier ones, until no one knows what to think. One of the few areas that almost all serious studies seem to agree on is the relationship between exercise and the immune system.
No reputable researcher will claim that exercise will repair a weakened or diseased immune system. Nonetheless, a broad spectrum of studies confirm that moderate exercise can help sustain and strengthen it, even when the effects are indirect.
Individuals under 20 are naturally more flexible, have higher metabolic rates and more energy than those older. But they, too, need to exercise (in appropriate ways) to avoid injury and build strength and endurance, avoid obesity and stay fit.
Particularly today, when there are so many electronic alternatives, young people may exercise less than they should. It’s during the formative years that individuals lay the groundwork for what later become healthy or poor habits.
Women are the major consumers for weight loss programs and diets. Men tend to focus more on exercise. But either topic is, and should be, popular with both sexes. Men, too, need to concern themselves with proper diet and nutrition as part of a rounded program of weight loss and health.
Particularly with the onset of middle age, diet becomes a greater concern for men. Calorie needs are typically highest in the mid-20s and taper off about 2-4% with every passing decade. For an average-sized male (say, 5 ft 9 inches and 170 lbs), the average number of appropriate calories per day, 2500, reduces to 2200-2350.
Aristotle helped define the standards of fitness 2,500 years ago when he taught that a thing that suits its purpose well is fit. Fortunately for us, the cardiovascular system, lungs, skeleton, muscles, endocrine system and all the other amazing components of the body function for our purpose: to live well.
Exercising aids fitness in numerous ways, each involving one or more of those systems.
By Gregg Gillies
Summer is a great time to easily burn extra calories and finally lose the weight you’ve been wanting to get rid of for a long time.
Forget the stationary bike, the elliptical trainer or the treadmill. Get out of the gym and into the fresh air. Take advantage of the fat burning weather by participating in great outdoor cardio activities like tennis, basketball, walking, jogging, swimming, road biking or in-line skating.
You’ll find that participating in exercises like this won’t even feel like working out. You’ll enjoy yourself, the time will fly by, and you’ll most likely burn more calories than if you were sitting on a stationary bike in the gym.
So .. 2008 will be my 3rd attempt at getting back into shape ... I want to use this blog as both my personal diary to getting back into shape, and also post a lot of relevant articles about fitness, weight loss, and general health stories. For all of us "Battling Obesity" - Let's Get Fit! More ..
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