Staying fit can be quite a chore. Making the time & mustering energy to attend a gym or even to use home exercise equipment can be challenging, and what do we have to show for the time we spend (besides the knowledge that we’re staying healthy)? That’s why you may find that, rather than exercising for the sake of exercise, you prefer to work in your yard. It’s a fun and fulfilling way to keep active and keep your house and yard looking its best.

Many seniors will hire neighborhood youngsters to perform their yard work for them. Others prefer to get outside and do it their self. Doing your own yard work not only allows you to get a light, enjoyable workout, but you can also make sure the yard looks exactly the way you would like it to look. In addition, you derive a great deal of personal pride and satisfaction from doing the work yourself.

Nothing compares with the simple pleasure of working out of doors. Whether surrounded by the warmth of the summer sun, the changing leaves of fall, the crisp air of winter or the blossoming flowers of spring, working outdoors connects us with nature and supplies us with a deep and abiding feeling of well-being.

No matter what the season, there’s work to be done in the yard. With the coming of spring, it’s time for a trip to the lawn and garden section of the local store. There you can pick up grass seed, fertilizer, soil and mulch and seeds for your garden. If your arthritis is acting up, you may enlist the aid of a neighbor or member of your church for help in moving the heavier bags.

It’s a joy to listen to the birds return while you walk slowly behind your fertilizer spreader while clearing the ground and turning over the soil in your garden beds (You can also add compost collected the year before). Later, when the threat of a late-season frost has ended, it’s time to plant the seeds. Purchase a gardening stool to sit on as you work in a particular place. This helps keep the ache out of your knees and back.

During the long summer months, you can mow your lawn (Try a self-prepared mower to avoid too much strain), and water and weed your garden. Besides getting out of the house, and providing you with much needed exercise, it’s rewarding to watch your lovely flowers and vegetables grow out of the earth and to their full size.

Fall is a time of harvesting vegetables, raking leaves, and cleaning up the yard in anticipation of winter. You will find it also helps to apply a high potassium fertilizer just before the winter sets in. You can also reseed thin or bare areas.

During the winter months, keep the sidewalk clear of snow with frequent sweeping. Accept help from the neighbors when the snow gets too deep or the sidewalk is icy it’s consistantly important to avoid overexertion. Friends in the south have the pleasure of maintaining flower gardens year round, planting cool weather seeds for the winter months. Such are the joys of living in southern states!

In order to keep the workload light, try and make a point of getting outdoors each day. Your daily walk approximately the yard will always turns up some task that needs doing, from picking up fallen sticks and branches, to pulling out weeds. This daily inspection means that you get out every day, and don’t enable the work to pile up!

For those of us who need a helping hand in the yard, the United Way supports a number of local volunteer agencies that will send a strong back to your aid. In this way, we seniors need not shy away from yard work in general for fear of the one or two tasks we may not be able to accomplish on our own. Ask about these programs at your neighborhood senior center, or call the United Way.

By diligently performing daily maintenance, yard work presents a great exercise for seniors. Not only does it provide an opportunity to keep muscles and joints flexible, but it also gives the exercise a sense of purpose. An attractive lawn, lovely flowerbeds and delicious vegetables are the rewards for this type of exercise. I highly recommend yard work as exercise for my senior friends.

When it comes to working out, looking good isn’t the main priority. Fitness is about challenging your body to be stronger and better, so worrying about how you look is superficial to your ultimate goal. Your exercise clothes still matter, though, just not for the typical reason. In olden days people worked out in whatever old thing was handy, regardless of what the garment actually was. In the last ten years, however, clothing manufacturers have made surprising strides in creating workout clothes that are not only attractive but functional as well. Rather than getting sweaty in a cotton t-shirt, you can now choose to wear a moisture-wicking shirt that absorbs your body moisture as you work out so your skin stays comfortable. Women no longer have to worry about breast strain during exercise thanks to the sports bras that support and enclose the breasts while absorbing moisture and preventing chafing. The choices for workout clothing now seem approximately endless and it can be difficult to assess which pair of running pants is better than the other. This brief guide will explain a few methods for picking out the perfect workout outfit for you.

Pants/Shorts: Think about your needs first. Do you need a pocket for your keys or identification? If so, many manufacturers make clothes that feature small pockets that zip up to prevent your items from falling out. What about your preferences? Do you like pants that fit your legs closely or loose, sweatpants-type trousers? Think about your own personal likes and dislikes.

The best type of exercise pants and shorts are those with an elastic waist to prevent any mishaps with waistbands. Material should be flexible with an absorbent quality to remove sweat from your skin. If you prefer shorts, the fabric should fit comfortably between your legs so you don’t experience any chafing.

Shirts: Plain cotton t-shirts are fine for days when you’re not so concerned about moisture remaining near your skin (i.e. hot or chilly days) but the latest offerings of high-tech workout shirts not only sucks the moisture away from you but it works overtime to keep your body properly ventilated. Look for fabrics that have some stretch to enable you maximum comfort during exercise.

Sports bras: The best sports bras being made now are multi-taskers: they wick away moisture, keep your upper body cool, provide comfort and support for breasts and don’t dig in or make you uncomfortable. Even better, clothing manufacturers have finally caught on to the fact that women don’t come in regular sizes only. Many lines offer half sizes to provide the perfect fit for maximum comfort. Additionally larger sizes are becoming more readily attainable for larger-breasted women.

Underwear: Believe it or not, lines of sports underwear are being marketed to the everyday athlete. The underwear is made from a unique moisture-wicking fabric that has a snug fit and comes in multiple styles. For exercisers who prefer to remain especially dry, this is probably a good choice.

Jackets and windbreakers: Look for styles that zip in the front rather than pulling overhead, which can be difficult to manage while running or walking. Clothing should be made from soft breathable fabric that reduces moisture while providing warmth for the body. The best styles will have both inside and outside pockets for keys, identification and more. Newer jackets have storage pockets on the arms for MP3 players and Ipods. A recent trend in outdoor sportswear and fitness clothing is treating clothes with Scotchgard® to increase the repellence of water and keep the wearer drier than ever before. Most high-end retailers will carry water-repellant workout wear but the trend is filtering down to lower markets as well.

Socks: The right socks are an essential part of any workout. Exercising without a protective layer between your foot and the shoe can lead to irritation and strain on the foot. Newer socks cut down on the amount of moisture on your foot and often have extra padding in strategic places to help support the feet better than ever. Some lines of socks are created to correct specific problems like over-pronation, though these tend to be more expensive. The typical cotton socks are acceptable but they must fit your foot comfortably and not irritate or allow any sliding.

Workout gear has advanced light-years away from the spandex of the eighties and today’s exercisers should take advantage of the innovations that can make fitness more comfortable and appealing.

Thirty minutes of brisk walking per day is not only enough to help you feel better, it is enough to prevent obesity and a host of other diseases. Walking is beneficial as a form of exercise. It is one the most basic and easiest forms of exercise. The only equipment required is sturdy shoes, comfortable clothing, and ambition. Walking is an aerobic exercise that tones your heart and lungs. It is most helpful to engage in walking three to 6 times a week for thirty minutes per session. Any type of walking, though, can improve health. However, outdoor walking is not feasible in all parts of the country due to climate, road conditions, and personal safety concerns. Mall walking is an excellent way to engage in this helpful activity.

There are a number of benefits to mall walking. Malls are not subject to the weather. It is possible to enjoy year round comfort in a mall without precipitation, wind, or temperature. Additionally, malls are relatively protected places. Stores and the mall itself employ security personnel to ensure the safety of their patrons. Also, malls are automobile traffic free which means that busy intersections won’t interfere, and you won’t be breathing any automobile fumes. Moreover, malls are also typically litter free so there aren’t any worries about broken glass or trash on the path. Further, restrooms, water, and refreshments are invariably nearby. Walking in the mall will also give you a head start when the stores open, which can be particularly helpful during the vacation season. Lots of malls encourage the practice of mall walking though clubs, price reductions, and health screenings. Some malls even offer rewards programs like mugs every fifty miles. Mall walking can also encourage friendships. Talking with other walkers is easy and fun.

There are also some drawbacks to mall walking, though. It can get rather boring, as walking for any length of time means seeing the same stores. It can also be a little tempting at times, as malls are packed with junk food stands. One other drawback is that the floors are typically concrete which can be harder than asphalt. Mall walking is also not conducive to a fast pace. Speedier walkers may find they are better off on an indoor track.

There are several things you can do to keep mall walking more interesting. Friends help everything, so walk with a friend. It’s an excellent opportunity to catch up with each others’ lives and chat for an extended period of time. Watch for bargains at stores. Mall walking supplies a unique opportunity to notice things like great sales before most other patrons. If you’re not walking with a friend, you should try listening to music. Make a tape, cd, or mp3 of your favorite music and bring along your media player. You can groove to all of your favorite tunes while you watch the scenery float by. It can also be helpful to use the time you spend walking to clear your head by thinking, dreaming, and planning, not just plotting the list of housework tasks you must finish when you get done walking. As odd as it may sound, try playing games as you walk. Create your own version of “I-Spy,” or invent other mind games to keep yourself busy. You are likely to be more motivated if you schedule a favorite activity after you walk. Try to have a cup of coffee with another walker, or schedule something else you enjoy. Perhaps one of the most important things you can do is to establish goals for yourself. Decide when and how to build the prevalence, persistence, and magnitude of your exercise routine. It is important to check with a doctor before beginning any exercise program, but there are a number of health circumstances that can make exercise unsafe. If you have been inactive for more than six months, you have any cardiovascular problems or you have a history of cardiovascular problems in your family, you take medication regularly, you have a lung condition, you have flexibility issues, or you have an untreated injury, it is absolutely necessary to be cleared by your doctor, even for something as basic as mall walking. Your doctor may suggest some routine tests before he deems it safe for you to begin exercising regularly. He may also suggest modifications to your exercise plan to meet your wellness needs. No matter his suggestions, only your doctor can assist you with the correct choices regarding your needs.

Losing weight can be a frustrating business, especially when you’re going it alone. Stepping on the scale & seeing that same hated number appear again and again is approximately enough to drive a person batty. Maybe you’ve been doing all the right things: exercising regularly, watching your diet, maybe you’re even using some weights every once in a while, but it just isn’t enough. The change that you want to see is too slow in coming. Before you give up and give in, here are a few ideas about why you may not be losing weight. Quite often there’s a hidden culprit that can be identified if we are willing to take a close look at ourselves.

You’re exercising” just not hard enough.

This may be a hard one to swallow. Surely, you think, if I am moving then that is enough to drop some pounds! That absolutely depends on how intensely you are moving. If walking is your workout but you’re just strolling through the neighborhood, then don’t expect to see any drastic change. In order to actually start burning calories, you must increase your heart rate until it reaches between 75-85 percent of your maximum heart rate. How do you find your maximum heart rate? There are several free calculators available on the Internet for public use, but the general formula is to subtract your age from 220 to find your absolute maximum heart rate. For a thirty-2-year old, the maximum heart rate would be 188. Calculate 75-85 percent of that and the answer is that the ideal heart rate range for a 32-year-old is between 141 and 160 beats per minute. Keep your heart rate within your target range and you’ll burn calories.

Food keeps sneaking into your mouth.

Many times the day can get so busy that you don’t have time to go out for lunch, so you have a handful of MandMs from your colleague’s candy jar. You get home late and have to start dinner for the kids, sampling the pizza rolls as you do so. Finally the day calms down enough for you to spend some peaceful time with yourself, so you decide to have a treat of rich chocolate ice cream. When you finally attend bed, your stomach is growling and you think, I haven’t eaten a thing today! Did you actually not eat a thing? No. The trouble is you ate all the wrong things and you weren’t thinking when you did it. Unconscious eating is one of the biggest enemies of weight loss. Too often our lives are so busy that we forget to stop and actually consider what we are about to eat. Being wrapped up in other issues can lead to being wide open to answer the call of temptation with an emphatic yes. Take steps to correct your unconscious eating. Buy a food journal and make a daily commitment to write down everything you eat”everything! Before you put food in your mouth, stop and ask yourself what you are eating and if you really want it. Oftentimes people eat food that they don’t really want simply because it’s available. Promise yourself to monitor every bite of food you take and you increase your odds for success.

You’re secretly very, very thirsty.

When your body is dehydrated, it sends out signals to the brain. Unfortunately, these signals frequently get crossed and the brain ends up telling you that your stomach is empty. Since the signal said that the stomach was empty, you attend get a snack (probably unconsciously) and another calorie-laden, sugar-full goodie slides down your throat. Stop this case of crossed wires by keeping your body adequately hydrated. Drinking water is one of the easiest of all dieting tricks. Simply fill up a plastic bottle and take it with you everywhere you go! Despite the simplicity of this many people skip water. Some say they honestly dislike the taste of water while others dread having to take multiple trips to the bathroom. If you don’t like the way water tastes in your mouth, use one of the new flavored mixes offered by companies like Crystal Light. You simply pour the powder into the water, shake or stir, and drink. The powders come in a variety of flavors including lemonade and peach tea. For the ones who want to stay out of the bathroom, your urine output may increase the first few days that you drink additional water but fortunately your bladder will soon become accustomed to the extra demand and treat it as nothing special. In a week or less you will be back to a normal schedule.

Try one of these three tricks in your schedule this week as an experiment” just see if it makes a difference. Incorporate all three and within two to three weeks you will see and feel a wonderful change in your body.

Staying fit is tough, especially when you are nursing an injury or struggling with joint pain. Low impact exercises, like biking or swimming, reduce impact on joints & ease the body through a workout. When considering the alternatives among low impact exercise programs don’t overlook the advantages of performing your entire workout in water. In a pool, your body feels lighter. This phenomenon is known as buoyancy. The water actually holds you up, creating a safe environment for people of all fitness levels to exercise. In between exercises, you can relax, letting the water support your weight and relax your muscles

In addition to providing a great low-impact exercise environment, working out in the pool can prove for more relaxing and refreshing than a regular, sweaty workout session.

Exercising in the pool also allows you to beat the heat, as the temperature of the water will help keep your body temperature down. This means you can workout in comfort and avoid any health risks associated with overheating.

The other primary benefit of working out in water is resistance. Essentially, any movement through the water requires you to push water out of the way. The water “pushes back,” in a sense, adding resistance to each of your movements. This resistance is exactly the same a lifting weight and helps strengthen muscles, ligaments, and bones.

Although exercising in the water doesn’t necessarily require any equipment, a number of products have become accessable for working out in water in recent years. These products add to the effectiveness of the workout by adding support and resistance while you exercise.

Support belts are available to provide a little extra flotation (taking additional weight off of you knees and ankles). In addition, these belts provide lumbar support for your back and give you additional vertical balance.

A product that adds extra resistance to a water workout routine are water dumbbells. These function much like regular dumbbells, allowing you to perform all kinds of exercises with a little extra resistance.

Water dumbbells come in several varieties. The first are simply plastic coated versions of the dumbbells you are already familiar with. The dumbbells can be submerged in water and simply add weight as you perform your exercises. Another variety of water dumbbell floats in the pool, they are typically covered in EVA foam which is soft, non-abrasive, and won’t irritate your skin of catch on your clothes. The handles are padded for extra comfort.

The floating variety of water dumbbells come in all shapes and sizes. Rounded dumbbells typically add resistance by increasing in size the larger the dumbbell, the more resistance you experience as you pull them across the surface of the water. An alternate method for increasing resistance is available in triangular dumbbells. By turning the dumbbell, the leading surface can be alternated between the tip of the triangle (for less resistance), and the flat face of the dumbbell (providing more resistance).

Barbells provide an alternative to the 1-handed dumbbells. These barbells are much like the one’s you’re used to seeing in the weight room and are used to add weight to exercises involving the back, shoulders, chest, and triceps (the back of the arm). They typically come in the EVA foam coated variety and float on the surface of the water.

A third type of dumbbell has paddle-wheel shaped fins on the end. A similar product is the “water fan.” In addition to adding weight, these products have plastic fins on the end that spin as they move through the water. The paddle-wheel and the fan allow water to pass over or through them slowly, providing additional resistance to your exercises. Other products for adding weight to the workout include weights that strap onto the wrists and ankles, providing additional weight for aerobic workouts in the water.

If you’re looking for an alternative to the hot, sweaty workouts available on land, consider exercising in the pool. Besides keeping you cool and comfortable, water workouts lower the impact on your joints and muscles, allowing you to exercise safely and lowering the risk of muscle strain and damage to your joints. If you want to get the most out of your workouts, consider obtaining water dumbbells. They add to the effectiveness of your exercises by increasing the resistance of your movements in the water.

Walking has easily become the most popular form of exercise. It is also the only form of exercise for which the rate of participation does not decline as 1 ages. In fact, in a recent national survey, the highest percentage of regular walkers as a group was that of men 65 years of age & older. Because walking is the lowest-impact form of exercise we can perform, it is now considered the slowest as well as surest method for obtaining physical fitness.

Because walking was once considered too easy to be thought of as actual exercise, many did not see the action as having the additional impact of improving physical fitness. However a study now clearly shows that walking, especially if done briskly and regularly, is an excellent form of exercise. Consider some of the following data regarding walking as an activity for the purposes of creating physical fitness.

First walking burns approximately the same amount of calories per mile as does running. Though seen at first as impossible, people have begun to understand that the key is that it simply takes longer to cover the mile while walking than it does while jogging. Walking, however, is of course much less stressful on the body, particularly in regards to the pummeling effects on a person’s feet, ankles, and knees when involved in long distance jogging. Recent research indicates that a brisk walking pace of 4 miles per hour, the equivalent of one mile every 15 minutes will burn the same number of calories as jogging at a pace that covers the same distance in 8 1/2 minutes.

Although increasing walking speed will not burn significantly more calories per mile, a vigorous walking pace will actually produce more dramatic conditioning effects on a person. The key point here is the person’s initial fitness level. A person in poor shape will receive significant benefit from a slow speed of walking. However, someone in better shape will either need to walk faster or farther to improve their current conditioning level. A positive impact of increased pace or longer walking distances is the residual benefit of that exercise. Because such a work out pace increases a person’s metabolism rate, their rate will remain elevated after the work out is complete resulting in the burning of additional calories.

Among the most attractive aspects of walking is that almost everybody can do it. Nobody needs to take lessons to learn how to walk. In addition, all you need to do to become a more serious walker is walk faster, increase your distance and walk more often. Walking can be done almost anywhere and the variety of options available is one of the things that make walking such a practical activity. You can consider the mall, the neighborhood or easy hiking trails, with the weather dictating a choice on a given day. Most importantly, walking doesn’t cost anything – there are no club fees, no equipment to buy, and no lessons to be taken. Your only required equipment is a comfortable pair of shoes and clothing to match, items that of course can be worn at other times.

Because of its low impact nature, walking is now considered more effective than running and other more highly-touted activities when it comes to weight loss. The reason is because walking is virtually devoid of injury potential and because it has the lowest dropout rate of any form of exercise.

If you need some statistics to help you understand why walking is good for you, try the following. Just thirty minutes of walking a day reduces Cardiovascular Heart Disease by 30 to 50%. In addition, the more active you are now, the less likely you are to die in the next 11 years. So if you want the surest form of health improvement with the least likely form of injury or setback potential, then consider walking as your form of exercise. Since walking for exercise can be done to get you from one location to another, can be done alone or with a partner for the purposes of socialization and can be done at any pace for any distance, its easily the most attractive form of exercise for everyone. The person just starting a new exercise routine as well as the veteran participant that has already developed a fundamental level of fitness will enjoy walking as a form of exercise.

Physical fitness allows the body to perform to its full capacity. Fitness helps us appear, feel, & act to our full potential. Exercise is essentially the capability to complete everyday responsibilities energetically and actively, with energy remaining at the end of the day for appreciation of other activities. Fitness means being able to handle situations where the average individual might fail. It is the core of excellent health. Physical fitness affects the entire body including the heart, lungs, and muscles. It also involves emotional well being. If your body feels good, your mind does too. Exercise, though, doesn’t have to be a chore. Integrating it into your daily life can make physical fitness a fun and rewarding activity to look forward to.

The first step to integration is to make physical fitness a priority. People are very good at contradicting themselves. Many people say they’d like to exercise, but they continually choose not to. one reason for this contradiction is the impractical ideas people have about exercise. People believe a number of lies about exercise including the concept that exercise might help them lose weight fast, change the body extensively, or that keeping the motivation to exercise will be simple. These lies only make sticking with an exercise routine more difficult.

One thing you can do to combat this problem is to design a plan. First, set a reasonable exercise goal, and list the steps that you will need to take in order to reach that goal. Next, set small goals that might help you reach your big goal. Then decide to force yourself to follow through no matter what the excuses are. You may find it easier to do this by holding yourself responsible through a daily exercise journal or an exercise buddy. Try following your progress each week. At the end of the week, sit down and decide what worked, what didn’t, and what you should consider doing different next week. Remember to reward yourself. We thrive on positive reinforcement, so a reward for working out even though you were tired is a good way to get into the habit of working out. It is, though, equally important not to beat yourself up if you feel you must miss a session. There are going to be times that exercise cannot be your priority, and it’s important to remember that consistence is the key to good health. Setting a workout schedule will help your success.

There are also several tips to including exercise in your daily routine. First, try to get up a little earlier in the morning and do a quick workout whether it’s walking or basic calisthenics. Second, when you get to your destination, whether it is work or the grocery store, try to park further away from the entrance than you normally would. This will force you to walk a bit further. Next, if you have to take an elevator, try taking the stairs instead. Even if it’s just One flight, it can help raise your heart rate a bit. Also, if you have to sit for a long period of time, it might help to spend a few minutes each hour stretching or walking around. Save a few minutes before your lunch to take a quick walk or do a quick round of weight training. If afternoon is your sleepy time, when you begin to feel lethargic, take a walk to a friend’s house to sit and say hello for a moment.

Spend your afternoons in the garden. Mowing, weeding, and gardening are great ways to get exercise without even realizing it. Clean the house. Vacuuming and dusting can also be a way to sneak in some workout time. While in the car or sitting anywhere, you can strengthen your abdominal muscles by slowly pulling your stomach toward your back and holding it for five seconds. While you are waiting for dinner to finish cooking, try some light strength training in the kitchen. Grab some light weights and do a few curls while you are waiting for that oven timer to go off. It’s also a good idea to plan leisure activities that involve exercise. Spend an evening dancing instead of seeing a movie. Take a walk through the botanical gardens. Go golfing. Before you hit the sack at night, try mentally planning some formal workout time into your schedule the next day. It may help you stick with the routine.

You’re moving along, having a great time getting fit, when all of a sudden you twist your ankle or heft the weight the wrong way. What do you do when you receive an injury from exercise? The first rule is, don’t panic! The vast majority of exercise injuries turn out to be simple & fast healing, so the odds are on your side. There are some specific steps to take for different injuries, so it’s important to read through the following and be prepared for any accidents or injuries that may decide to come your way. Take steps to make yourself aware of appropriate treatment and you just may prevent a serious injury.

By far one of the most common injuries of all exercises is the twisted ankle. Whether you are walking, running, or rollerblading, sometimes it just takes a moment of slipped concentration or stepping on an unexpected object that throws your balance off, even if just for a second. Unfortunately that second is enough to soundly wrench your ankle and send you stumbling to the ground. While your pride may be wounded, it’s probably your ankle that hurts more. If you are in a safe area, remain seated on the ground and assess the situation. DO NOT REMOVE YOUR SHOE! The number one rule for twisted and sprained ankles is to never remove your shoe until you are in a area that you can stay for several hours. If you take your shoe off and the foot swells up, you may be forced to walk over some unpleasant ground before reaching a place to rest. Leaving the shoe on also offers a small measure of support for walking. Gently probe your ankle with your fingers, making sure that nothing is broken. If you are confident that the injury is nothing more than a twist, get to your feet and try to walk a few steps. If you are unable to do so, locate someone to help you. On the other hand, if your foot is able to bear some weight, head back to your home to take some preventative action. Even if you think your ankle is fine, you should take at least a few hours to recover.

Once you are home, follow the R.I.C.E. plan: Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Find yourself a comfy place to spend the next few hours, then have a seat and place your foot on several stacked pillows to minimize the amount of blood flowing to the foot. If swelling occurs, it will trap blood in the vessels in the foot and create more pain for you. Whether or not you see swelling, place an ice pack on the ankle for approximately 15 minutes. The ice will help constrict the blood vessels to lessen the pain. You may want to use a compress during the icing to force swelling down. Enable yourself at least 2 days of rest to provide maximum recovery time to your ankle. Rushing back out to exercise is only paving the way to future injury.

Another common exercise injury is tendonitis in the elbows or wrists, brought on by weight lifting. You may be perfectly fine one day and feeling shooting pains the next, because tendonitis can be subtle and remain fairly hidden until the moment you pick up an object the wrong way. If you notice some pain but exercise anyway, you’re only aggravating the situation. Your first move to treat tendonitis should be to cut back on your weight training. Go down to a lower weight or, if the pain is severe, stop training altogether. Allow your body several days to make a healing attempt on the injured tendons. If needed, use ibuprofen for pain and try to keep track of when you feel pain and what brought it on. After several days of rest, your pain may subside. When that happens, don’t immediately go back to your previous weight. Instead, begin with a much lower weight to test your arm strength. If no pain appears, then gradually increase over the next several weeks. If the pain returns, try another few days of rest. Some people do eventually have to resort to surgery to correct tendonitis but that should be used only as a final option. Many former weightlifters now use other methods of strengthening like Pilates, resistance bands, and others. You can maintain physical strength without the use of weights.

One final common injury that occurs during exercise is a dog bite. This is a serious wound and should not be taken lightly. If you are following your exercise route and encounter an unfriendly dog, take some simple steps to defuse the situation. Avoid looking him in the eyes since dogs consider that a threat. Turn sideways and slowly move away, getting some kind of object between you and the dog if possible. Do not make fast movements that might agitate the dog. If you see that the animal is going to attack, drop to the ground, roll yourself into a ball and cover your head with your arms. In most situations help arrives within minutes. Fast-moving exercisers like runners, joggers, rollerblader’s, and bicyclists are far too frequently targets of dogs, so keep an appropriate distance between you and any dogs as you go about your workout.

Knowing a few simple steps to preventing and treating injuries may save you hours of pain and distress later on, but don’t let the fear of injury deter you from fitness! The most terrific way to avoid injury is to have a strong, healthy body and that requires exercise!

When you make the decision to challenge your body and run your first 5K race, ideally you already run at least 3 to four times per week and have no trouble running one to two miles without resting. The best programs for this type of runner are geared towards preparing you gradually and are typically scheduled to require almost nine to twelve weeks. If you are an absolute beginner with no experience but still exercise regularly, allow yourself at least 6 months to adequately prepare for the 3.one-mile race by first getting accustomed to running and then moving on to training. Newcomers to exercise and running should allocate six to nine months to ensure enough time to become aerobically fit and conduct an appropriate training schedule. You should never simply sign up for any kind of competitive race if you aren’t in good shape. Trying to run a race without any kind of preparation will lead to breathlessness, frustration, and incredibly sore muscles the next day.

For those of you who fit the bill for beginning training for your first 5K race, here’s the deal: good programs are made up of easy runs for endurance, speed runs to increase agility and pace and hilly workouts to build lower body strength. Rest days are scheduled in as needed. Most schedules should be fairly flexible, allowing you to exchange workouts for days when you feel you need a break. Allowing your body plenty of rest is vital to a successful training program because if you wear your body out, you will be unable to participate. Equally important is keeping tabs on how your body feels” do you feel any pain as you run? If you ever feel anything beyond normal muscle fatigue or have recurring pains in your feet or legs, stop your program and get checked out by a medical professional. You won’t do yourself any favors by running through pain and doing so may lead to serious damage” instead, get it checked out and treated and you’ll be back in peak condition sooner rather than later.

In addition to a regular running schedule, good preparation programs also include weight-training to help build up your muscles. Running for 3.One miles requires a lot from more muscles than you might think and it’s important to be as strong as possible. When your muscles are better developed they can better support your body and increase your stamina. Since the body is essentially held up and together by the intricate muscular network, the stronger that network is, the better! Look for a weight-training plan that focuses on legs and core to build the best support.

Many people are curious about the proper diet for the training program. Most trainers do not recommend any specific regimen for race training other than to maintain a healthy diet including essential components like protein, vegetables, and, yes, even fat. Fat is a necessary part of every diet in order to maintain a healthy body but make sure you eat the right kind of fat. Saturated fats like those found in junk food are not the right kind and can seriously detract from your health. The best diet for everyone is well balanced with foods from all major groups but a focus on vegetables and protein as well as low fat and low-sodium. To make sure your diet has enough of the proper vitamins and nutrients, try using some of the free diet assessment tools available on the Internet. Many websites offer these useful calculators as part of an overall program to track your progress, and that can be helpful for the runner who needs to monitor more than more area of his preparation.

While running will be the major part of your plan, you should consider some other tools that can assist you in reaching your goal. Keeping an accurate record of your workout schedule as well as your diet can help you pinpoint areas that need work as well as areas that have improved. Tools to consider include training logs, which can be found at most major sports stores and tracking applications for your PDA. Your PDA manufacturer probably offers a program for aquire on the company website or you can visit an online retailer of PDA applications to find the one that best fits your needs.

Training for and completing a 5K run can be an exhilarating and fulfilling experience. Allow yourself plenty of time so you can prepare in the best fashion possible” when you cross that finish line, you’ll feel like a million bucks!

You’ve heard the stories: weight training makes women look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, exercising on an empty stomach burns more calories, & more. While some fitness myths make sense on the surface, deeper examination proves these stories are simply made up and have little or no basis in reality. Let’s tackle Five of the most common myths and check out the real story behind them.

1. No pain, no gain” Perhaps the most common myth out there is this 1 that says if you don’t feel pain when you exercise, you’re not doing it right. The truth is absolutely opposite: exercise done right should never be painful and professional trainers recommend that you stop your workout at the first sign of pain. The logic behind “no pain, no gain” says that you can’t expect good results without sacrificing something” twisted at most terrific, downright sadistic at worst. Exercise should be something you enjoy or else you very quickly become disillusioned and drop it entirely. While an intense workout may create slight discomfort, it should never get to the point where you are in actual pain.

2. Training with weights bulks women up” Few women want to look like professional bodybuilders, so this myth scares thousands of female exercisers away from weights every day despite scientific evidence to the contrary. The physiological differences between male and female bodies decree that men have a higher percentage of muscle throughout the body; thus men tend to increase bulk with weight lifting. On the other hand, female bodies have a higher percentage of fat to assist with childbearing and have less muscle to build and bulk up. Weight training for women is aimed at producing stronger muscles that can take more stress and bounce back better than ever.

3. Exercising on an empty stomach burns more calories” This one seems like it should make sense since exercise burns calories and an empty stomach has no calories to burn. It seems like you would be ahead of the game! Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Your body needs energy to run, so when you exercise on an empty stomach the body has to find fuel somewhere else. The body tries to provide energy while looking for it at the same time and can get overwhelmed, resulting in the risk of dizziness or even fainting in extreme situations. The smartest choice is to have a small snack about ten to fifteen minutes before working out. Carbohydrates are the best source of energy, so have a small slice of toast or a banana.

4. Crunches are the best way of firming up the stomach” Too many videos and articles send the message that hundreds of crunches are the best way to correct a jelly belly but fail to take into account that most saggy abs are because of excess fat, not weak muscles. Simply doing crunches alone strengthens the abdominal muscles but doesn’t address the layer of fat over the muscles. You may see your stomach appear to grow larger since the muscles are gaining strength underneath the fat layer. The best strategy for getting firm abs is simple: burn fat and strengthen abdominal muscles at the same time. By using a two-pronged approach, fat that covers muscles is burned and the muscles are firmed at the same time, accomplishing your goal and giving you strong, sleek abdominal muscles.

5. Protein will help build muscles” Protein can do great things for your health but it won’t help you increase your muscle strength. Too much protein in your diet can lead to unintended health risks such as kidney strain or dehydration. Extra protein also packs extra calories into your diet that can result in extra pounds” decidedly not what you want. The best source of fuel for weight lifting is carbohydrates” easily digestible by the body, carbs provide fast, consistent energy for the body and enable you to continue lifting weights longer. That alone is what builds strength, not the specific kind of food you eat. Provide your body with the right kind of energy to use and you’ll be able to build muscle better.

There are many more myths about health and fitness, but the best defense against false information is education. When you are confident that you know the right plan for your body, spotting myths become easy.