Archive for September, 2009

Learn Fitness Exercises That Can Be Performed In 10 Minutes Or Less

Most people understand that exercise is important for their overall health and well-being. However, many complain that they just don’t have enough time in their schedule for exercise. With the fast paced lives that most of us lead, it’s understandable that most of us are time starved and without the proper time for exercise.
However, exercise is essential to our health, so it is important to understand that even a brief amount of exercise performed on a regular basis can go a long way to improve your life.
10-15 minutes of exercise performed 3-4 times a week will do a lot to improve every aspect of your physical health. No special equipment or props are needed. In fact, a number of exercises can be done in the morning while you are still in your pajamas. Some routines may be so easy that you may be tempted to think that they are not doing much good as all. However, if performed properly on a consistent basis, 10 minutes of exercise can get you in shape.
Here are a few exercises that you can do in just 10 minutes to improve your total fitness health.
1 Minute Back Stretch
- Sit with your legs straight out in front of you and your back straight.

- Place your right palm flat on the floor behind you as you twist your head and shoulders so that you are looking over your right shoulder.

- Make sure that you keep both buttocks flat on the floor.

- Hold for 15 then do the other side.
Repeat twice.
1 Minute Back Scratcher
- Sit with your legs stretched out in front of you and your back straight.

- Stretch your right arm and bend it at the elbow as if you are going to scratch your back between your shoulder blades.

- Reach your left arm behind your back to touch or hold the fingers of your right hand.

- Hold this position for 30 seconds.

- Repeat on the other side.
The best time to learn about fitness,fitness exercises is before you’re in the thick of things. Wise readers will keep reading to earn some valuable fitness,fitness exercises experience while it’s still free.
2 Minutes of Sit Ups
- Lie flat on the floor on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.

- Place your palms on your hips and run them up to your knees, pulling yourself up by your stomach muscles.

- Do as many of these sit ups as you can in 2 minutes.
5 Minutes of Step Ups
- Find a step of about 6-8 inches of height. Step up with your left foot.

- Raise your right foot to join it.

- Take your left foot off of the step and then your right foot to join it.
Repeat For 5 Minutes
1 Minute of Press Ups
- Lie on your stomach.

- Bend your arms at the elbows and place both hands flat on the floor with your thumbs at shoulder level.

- Keep your toes flexed and on the floor.

- Push on your palms to raise your upper body.

- Your back and shoulders should be flat and your buttocks should not be sticking up.

- Fully extend your arms but do not lock them.

- Now slowly lower your body back on to the ground and repeat as many times as your can in 1 minute.
Congratulations! You have just completed 10 minutes of exercise that did a lot to increase your cardio-fitness, helped to maintain the strength in your arms, shoulders and legs, and increased the flexibility in your joints. If you don’t have a lot of time to work out, try performing these exercises for 10 minutes 3-4 times per week, and you will see and feel a great difference.
Those who only know one or two facts about fitness,fitness exercises can be confused by misleading information. The best way to help those who are misled is to gently correct them with the truths you’re learning here.

Getting Started With Your Fitness Program

Are you thinking about starting a fitness program to improve your overall health and shed a few extra pounds? Good for you! Here are some excellent tips for getting started with your fitness program.

Starting a fitness program is the best thing you can do for your overall health and as soon as you have your Doctor’s okay you can get right into all that physical activity which can help reduce chronic disease as well as improve your balance and your coordination.

Start by assessing your current fitness level. You probably have at least a rough idea of just how fit you are. You need a baseline to start with so your fitness scores can be compared for gain. You should record your pulse rate before and after you complete your mile walk, how long it takes you to walk that mile, how many pushups you did at one time, your body’s mass index or BMI, and the circumference of your waist. Once you have this information recorded your fitness program is ready to go.

Next you need to design your own personal fitness program. Start by determining your fitness goals so what it is you want to accomplish – lose weight, improve your cardio function, or perhaps run a marathon. Think about what it is you like or dislike when it comes to exercise and activities. Plan to start light and then build as your ability gets better. That’s the best way to avoid injury and do remember to spice it up a bit so that your workouts have lot of variety so you won’t get bored.

Now you need to assemble any exercise equipment you have purchased for your fitness program. Perhaps you purchased one of those all in one machines, or maybe it was just a treadmill. At any rate you will want to get it all assembled so that you can start your workouts and be on your way to a healthier you.

Once you are ready to get started you will need to start slow and gradually be build up. Make sure your warm up is adequate so that everything becomes easy. Depending on where you are will depend on what type of exercises you incorporate into your workout and for how long you workout will be. That’s what your personal fitness program is all about.

It’s best to break things up if you need to. Remember shorter more frequent sessions also work very well and it is much easier to fit 10 minutes of exercise into your busy day than it is 30 minutes. That 10 minutes means 3 short and quick sessions. It’s that easy to get your fitness program into your busy day.

Try to be creative with your workouts because you are much more likely to stay at it when your program is interesting and not boring. It’s hard to stay enthusiastic about the same exercises in your fitness program when you have to do them day in and day out.

Make sure that you are listening to your body. Shortness of breath, dizziness, or nausea means you need to take a break from your fitness program immediately. If you have pain in an area reduce the amount of exercise for a bit to give it a change to heal.

It is very important to monitor your progress because otherwise you have no way of knowing if your fitness program is working for you. You also don’t know when you should make things easier or harder.

Now that you’ve created your own personal fitness program you have no excuse to get busy.

Health Benefits Of Spirulina

Spirulina is a variety of blue-green algae that has remained virtually unchanged since it first appeared on the earth more than 3.5 billion years ago. So named because of its helix or “spiral” shape, Spirulina has gained prominence as nature’s green “superfood” because of its rich concentration of perfectly balanced amino acids (protein), fiber, vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients.

Spirulina is also naturally “pumped” with vitamins, especially the carotenoids like beta-carotene, essential fatty acids (EFA’s), the important fatty acid gamma linolenic acid (GLA), digestive enzymes, minerals and the richest plant source of vitamin B12. Spirulina is the “must have” green food- a complete protein with all eight essential amino acids present. Its 60% protein content is four times greater than beef (18%)! In our society, where the concept of complete protein is meat and dairy, it is very reassuring to know that greens like Spirulina can provide all the high quality protein and other nutrients needed.

A single serving of Spirulina contains 45% of your daily value of vitamin B12. That’s good news and reassuring for vegetarians, many of who are incorrectly led to believe that eating animal food is critical to getting this essential blood building vitamin.

Spirulina also helps with a variety of other ailments. DNA repair, cholesterol, and communication between cells are all helped with just a little bit of this supplement.

One of the main benefits stands to gain is the improvement of immune system. There have been many studies conducted that have shown that spirulina greatly helps to increase not only red blood cell production, but also the activity of the cells of bone marrow. Even T cells and macrophages have been increased.

Other studies conducted by Japanese scientists have shown that the growth of herpes virus, measles, and influenza have all been stunted by spirulina. Polysaccharides, phycocyanin and beta carotene are the active components of spirulina, which work to improve the immune system.

Spirulina also manages to fight bacteria such as E.coli and encourages the growth of good bateria in order to ensure that our bodies function well.

Another great attribute of spirulina is that it detoxifies one’s system well. A study revealed that spirulina actually helps decrease the toxicity of certain other drugs on one’s kidneys.

It also works to increase good cholesterol and reduce bad cholesterol for those who have ingested just a few grams of it a day. Of course as with any other sort of supplement or drug, one should always consult their physician before taking taking it in order to avoid a possible allergic reaction.

Give spirulina a try. I believe you will find that it will improve your health and support your efforts at healthy living.