December 12th, 2007 Milan
If you are just starting to exercise, try walking first to ease into a routine. If you are overweight, or haven’t exercised for awhile, walking is an easy, small impact way to get fit.
Running or walking a mile burns about 100 calories.
Walking very slowly won’t make you super fit, but it’s a great way to condition yourself to separate the time and mental space for exercise, and to prepare your body for running, if that’s what you want to do. Here is the simple plan from walking to running:
- Start slowly, for the first week, start off by walking every other day for 15 minutes
- Second week – add little speed to your walk
- Third week – walk every other day for 20 minutes, ad more speed
- Fourth and fifth week – try walking every day, and try walking for 20 then 30 minutes at a time
- Sixth week – try to run for a 1 minute after each five minutes of walking for total of 30 minutes – every day
- Seventh week -walk 5 minutes – run 5 minutes for total of 30 minutes every second day; only walk for 30 minutes the rest of the days; have a 1 day off if you wish
- Eight week – walk 10 minutes, run 10 minutes for total of 20 minutes every second day; only walk for 30 minutes the rest of the days; have 1 day off if you wish
- Ninth week – walk 15 minutes, run 15 minutes for total of 30 minutes every second day; only walk for 30 minutes the rest of the days; have 1 day off if you wish
- Tenth week – start running 20 – 30 minutes at a time every second day; only walk for 30 minutes the rest of the days; have a 1 day off
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December 10th, 2007 Milan
No! Women I train gain about 9 percent of muscle mass, enough to make an enormous difference in their strength. But they loose a corresponding amount of fat – and since muscle is denser than fat, they become trimmer. They don’t complain about looking unfeminine. On the contrary, they are delighted with their slimmer figures.
Women bodybuilders go to great lengths to produce those bulky muscles. They use extremely heavy weights, have lengthy intense workouts, and often take steroids and follow rigorous diets.
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December 7th, 2007 Milan
Beside building muscles and increasing strength, strength training has more benefits:
- Halts bone loss – and restores bone
Each year after menopause, a woman typically loses 1 percent of her bone mass – even more during the first five post menopausal years. Over time, she may develop osteoporosis, a condition in which bones become so porous they easily break. Strength training significantly enhances the bone density.
Our ability to stay in balance declines with passing years. Those who regularly weight train perform significantly better at balancing tests than sedentary people and those active but without regular strength training.
- Helps prevent bone fractures from osteoporosis
The improvements in strength , bone density , and balance have special significance for women because they dramatically reduce the risk of fractures from osteoporosis.
The stronger you are, the easier is to move.
People who weight train gain muscle mass and in the same time while loosing body fat they loose also inches.
Gaining muscle not only promotes aerobic activity, which burns calories, but also boosts metabolism. That’s because muscle is active tissue and consumes calories; stored fat, on the other hand, is inert and uses very little energy.
When strength training exercises are performed with maximum range of motion, they improve flexibility of the muscles.
Strength training makes you feel great. It gives you a positive feeling about anything you want to do.
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December 4th, 2007 Milan
Your body contains over two hundred bones, joined by cartilage and ligaments. Together they form your skeleton, the framework that supports and protects your muscles and internal organs.
When you touch your bones through soft skin, they feel as solid and unchanging as rock. But that’s just the outer shell. Underneath, bone tissue is porous and very much alive. Blood vessels run through it and at the center is bone marrow, where blood cells are formed.
Bone is made of calcium and other minerals – that’s why it’s hard. Like muscle, bone tissue constantly repairs and renews itself, though with bone this happens much more slowly. The process is called remodeling.
Remodeling is affected by many factors, but the three most important are:
- Estrogen and other hormones
Osteoblasts, the bone-making cells, are especially responsive to estrogen. So after menopause, when the ovaries produce less, bone formation slows down.
- Calcium supply and demand
Calcium is essential to many of the body’s behind-the-scenes chemical reactions, it’s needed for muscles to contract, to regulate blood pressure, and to control bleeding. If you don’t get enough calcium from your diet, your body is forced to draw on the supply stored in your bones.
Physical impact stimulates bone formation. That’s why walking is a better exercise for bones than swimming: When you float in the water, you barely touch bottom, but when you walk, your feet hit against ground. The tug of muscle against bone works the same way. This is one reason that strength training affects bone density. And the stronger your muscles, the more stimulation they provide.
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December 4th, 2007 Milan
If you want to loose weight, strength training with combination of cardiovascular exercise and flexibility exercises is the right way to do it . It not only helps take off pounds, it also trims and tightens. Here’s how to make it work:
- Adjust your food intake so you lose weight gradually, at a rate of no more than two pounds a week. People who try to speed the process usually lose muscle as well as fat, get fever nutrients, and, what’s more, they feel deprived and risk regaining the weight later on
- Do strength training to boost your metabolism. Of course, you’ll also get other benefits, including increased strength and bone density, and improved balance. This beats the side effects of diet pills
- Add aerobic exercise to burn calories and improve cardiovascular fitness. If you don’t enjoy aerobic activity – and it can be painful and unpleasant if you’re overweight – give it another try after a month or two of strength training. Don’t give up! It’s critically important for your health. You’ll probably find aerobics easier and more enjoyable when you’re stronger.
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December 1st, 2007 Milan
People who are physically active are healthier, happier, more productive, and live longer than people who are sedentary. Kate Lorig, R.N., Dr.P.H. in book “The arthritis help book, A tested self-management program for coping with arthritis and fibromyalgia” notes that this is true for everyone, including people with arthritis.
Arthritis is one of the most common reasons people give up or limit physical activities. We know that inactivity causes weakness, stiffness, increased pain, poor endurance, fatigue, and other problems that we used to blame on arthritis.
If you have arthritis, regular exercise and fitness have special benefits above and beyond the general benefits of improved health.
- Strong muscles that do not tire quickly help protect joints by improving stability and absorbing shock
- Good flexibility lessens pain and reduces the risk of sprains and strains
- Maintaining a good weight helps take stress off weight-bearing joints
- Regular exercise that moves the joints improves joint circulation and nutrition, decreases joint swelling, and keeps cartilage and bone healthy
- Higher energy levels, less depression and pain, and greater comfort doing daily activities are other advantages to regular exercise and fitness
By understanding physical fitness and exercise, you’ll be able to improve your health, feel better, and manage your arthritis, too.
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