Tuesday 19 June 2012

Strength Training: A Must For All


 
                                                                                                                                                                              
Have you been shying away from strength training? Do you think you are too old to start a strength training program? Reverse that thought because strength training is what your body needs to combat the loss of strength, muscle and bone mass that comes as you age.

No matter how young or old you are, you should engage in regular strength training exercise. This you can do in the gym or at home making use of little equipment. Hand weights, dumbbells, resistance band and even your own body weight can be used as resistance during strength training program.
Here are some ways strength training can make a difference in and add more quality to your life.

Helps Increase Calories Burn

Strength training increases the metabolic rate of the body, causing it to burn more calories throughout the day. This aids weight loss significantly.

Improves Your Balance And Stability

This decreases your risk of fall accidents because the more resilient and stronger your muscles are the sturdier your balance.

Increases Your Ability To Carry Out Your Day To Day Activities

The stronger your muscles, the easier for you to carry heavy loads, move things around and many more.

It Helps To Build Muscle Strength

From research, adults lose between five to seven pounds of muscles every decade after age 20. This you can prevent by strength training. You can also rebuild lost muscles by engaging in strength training.

It Decrease Your Risk Of Osteoporosis

Studies have shown that consistent strength training can increase bone density as well as prevent osteoporosis, which is a disease that affects inactive and aging people as there bone density reduces causing brittleness.

Strength training can help you feel younger each day. Start with one set of each exercise of about 10 to 15 repetitions and increase to 2 and then 3 sets as you improve. Taking it slow and steady, have about 30 second to one minute rest in between each exercise.
Always warm up and stretch before embarking on the main exercise. You also stretch after each exercise. Use weights that are heavy enough for you to feel the muscle working and the difficulty increases as you get to the last repetition. The weight should equally be light enough for you to do the last repetition without pain or breaking proper form. Stop whenever you experience pain.

Your age, work or schedule must not stand between you and strength training because of the benefits you derive from it. Always remember to consult your doctor before engaging in any form of exercise program.






                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   











Tuesday 12 June 2012

Exercise For Diabetes



Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are the most common known types of diabetes today. Type 1 diabetes also known as adolescent diabetes occurs as a result of the body stopping to produce insulin. While type 2 diabetes which is usually diagnosed in older people occurs either as the body stop to produce enough insulin or the person becomes resistant to his or her own insulin.

Irrespective of the form of diabetes you are suffering from, the major problem is that your body will lose the ability to adequately utilize sugar. This results in the increase of your blood sugar level due to your body’s difficulty in transporting sugar into the cells and out of the blood stream.
Exercise, proper diet and medication are all ways to lower your blood sugar level.

Exercise is a very important part of diabetics’ management for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes as it helps to maintain insulin sensitivity, increase the use of glucose by muscles and prevent the accumulation of excess weight.
To prevent type 2 diabetes, you have to consider complimenting regular exercise with vitamins and herbs that can help prevent insulin resistance as well as proper weight control.

Exercise also helps to minimize other complications of diabetes. Aside lowering blood sugar levels and maintaining insulin sensitivity, exercise also help improve circulation throughout the body. This is one of the greatest benefits of exercise to diabetic individuals as most diabetic patients tend to have poor blood flow to their lower areas and feet.
Exercise will help to prevent and minimize some common diabetes complications such as heart problems, high blood pressure, circulatory deficiencies and many more.

Exercise should be part of your daily routine if you are diabetic. Always exercise at a slow and regular pace. Exercise can help you get your life back on track and head you towards the healthy life direction no matter the form of diabetes you are suffering from.
You are advised to see your doctor before starting any exercise program especially if you have any health issue.   

  


Friday 8 June 2012

Benefits Of Exercise To Heart-Health

Research has shown that exercise improves heart-health and body health generally. It is also a proven fact that you don’t need to exercise all day to reap the health benefits of exercise. Heart-healthy benefits of exercise can really make so much difference in your life.
The following are some of the benefits of exercise to your heart health.

Lowering Of Blood Pressure
According to a study by The National Institute of Health of America, a regular exercise of about 30 minutes of moderate activity for five days a week can reduce blood pressure (with approximately 10mmHg). The blood pressure lowering effects of exercise can be observed between one to three hours after a single 30 – 45 minutes workout according to The American College of Sports Medicine.

Improvement Of Cholesterol Level
Regular exercise help improve cholesterol level. It increases HDL which is good cholesterol and decreases LDL which is bad cholesterol. Studies have shown that improvement in cholesterol levels are related to the amount of exercise activity and not the intensity of exercise. This means that the more time you exercise per week the more your cholesterol level will improve.

Strengthening Of The Heart
Exercise strengths the heart allowing it to beat more efficiently, thereby helping in the prevention and treatment of high blood pressure.

Prevention Of Type II Diabetes
A recent study shows that the combination of physical activity and weight loss has a very powerful effect on preventing the onset of type II diabetes in high-risk individuals.

You may be wondering how long and at what intensity you will workout to achieve these heart-health benefits of exercise. You can achieve most of these health benefits of exercise through a moderate intensity of physical activities. According to experts, a minimum of 30 minutes, five (5) days a week physical activities are recommended. Maintaining a healthy heart should be one of your top most priorities if you want to stay active and healthy.