Sunday, December 30, 2007

Ten Steps to Improve Your Fitness Health
The following are 10 steps to improve your fitness health. Even athletes who are incredibly fit may not be really healthy. They often tread a fine line between health and illness or injury.
1) Your health will improve if you minimize the number of tablets that you take. Paracetamol may seem okay, but you will be surprised how often a headache can be cured by drinking water, having something to eat or sitting in a quiet room.
2) Limit the number of supplements you take. Adequate amounts can in fact be absorbed by modifying the diet without the risks involved by taking a dietary supplement. Consult a professional dietician. Many sprinters and power athletes, for example, take creatine supplements because it gives them a legal edge. There is a risk, though, as it is possible that they have been contaminated by banned substances. This is a risk to your fitness health, and a risk financially if you are a professional athlete.
3) Take a complete day off from exercise every once in a while. It doesn't have to be every week, but doing extra training when you are tired may have a detrimental effect on your health and fitness. You become fitter and healthier through rest as much as exercise.
4) Listen to your body. As you are training it is easy to become preoccupied with the repetitions you are doing, or the time you've been exercising. Leave your watch at home and slow down or walk when your body hurts.

5) To improve your fitness health you need to eat a varied diet. Five fruit and vegetables a day should be your minimum target. Your health will improve if you eat at least five different kinds of fruit, then any vegetables will be a bonus.

6) You will improve your health and fitness by stretching more. Your muscles get shorter through exercise, and if you never stretch you will get injured. One method is to warm up slowly first, then spend several minutes stretching before the main workout. Stretch thoroughly after exercise as well.
7) You need to stay hydrated if you are exercising more. This means drinking water and sports drinks if you are sweating a lot. You lose minerals in your body while sweating. It is recommended to drink five glasses of water a day, but if you are working out you need to drink more than this. Don't get carried away, though, because it can be just as dangerous to drink too much as too little.
8) Exercise with other people. You will meet new friends, and your fitness will improve if you have other people to motivate you.
9) Don't become too competitive as this may harm your health. Motivation from other people is good, but you should only compete against yourself. Try too hard to keep up with someone else, and you could become injured.
10) Have fun! Your health and fitness will improve if you are having fun because you will stick to your exercise program.

Paul Reeve is a Personal Trainer, Presenter and Lecturer for Fitness Professionals, Sports Organizations, Sport Coaches, Corporate Organizations. Get FREE advice on treadmills from his Online Assistant team at http://www.treadmilladviser.com


Muscle, fitness and the stomach bulge
When it comes to muscle and fitness, all the men want washboard abs and the women want a nice flat tummy. Many believe you can spot reduce the belly and waist-line.
But the truth is, if all you do is exercise your abdominal muscles, you are sure to be disappointed.
There is more involved in protruding abdomens than weak muscles.
Your flabby stomach and poor muscle fitness may be accompanied by and contributed to by a flabby self-esteem. The more your self-image sags the more you lose control over your looks, fitness and health.
This emotional deficit causes many people to turn to food for solace. Naturally the more emotionally uplifting foods are the fats and refined carbohydrates. The more of these you eat the less good you feel about yourself so the more you eat and the fatter you get. It's a vicious circle.
If you try to halt the downward spiral by exercising only those muscles under the flab you eventually get more despondent at the futility of it.
A woman's fat stores are primarily located on the thighs, hips, waist and abdomen. As the fat thickens and the muscular casing around the abdominal cavity weakens from lack of exercise, the belly bulges more and more.
The internal muscles that keep the pelvis on an even keel give way under the strain, tipping the pelvis forward, and the tummy gets bigger still.
The constant pressure on the spine from all the weight in the front puts strain on the low back muscles, fatiguing and weakening them, leading inevitably to all kinds of low back problems.
This problem cannot be corrected by dieting along or spot exercising the stomach muscles. To flatten the stomach you not only have to strengthen the sagging muscles, you also have to rebuild your self-image, overcome your desire for fattening foods, and redesign your nutritional intake.
If you really want to reduce that big spot that leads the way wherever you go, attack it from 3 directions.
1. Reshape your body image.
Set aside a few minutes several times every day and tell yourself exactly how you want to look, shapely and lean. Concentrate on the desired image in detail and feel as though you already have it.
Your mind stores these images. Subliminally they reprogram your subconscious. Though you won't hear the messages, your body will. Something deep within you will stir the urge to begin a diet and to improve your muscle fitness with an exercise program.
When you consciously make the decision to acquire a flat stomach, your inner computer sets about making it so.
Once you are in control of your appetite you gain some pride in your accomplishment and begin to restore your self-esteem. A big fat belly and high self-esteem are incompatible.
2. Set up a sound nutritional program.
Eliminate all refined carbohydrates and reduce your fat intake to as low as possible. Cut out any foods in cartons, boxes, cans and jars. Shop from the fresh produce section of the supermarket.
Cook less and eat more raw foods. These are higher in fibre and lessen time in the digestion system, thus decreasing the absorption of any fat in the food.
Eat fowl without the skin. Eat fish which contains the essential omega fatty acids. Protein is also obtained from lean red meat which is also a good source of iron and B12.
Steam, bake and broil rather than fry.
3. Build your muscles and fitness
The midsection muscles crisscross to form a strong protective cage around the inner organs, and stabilize the whole trunk. If fat and flabby, these muscles will sag and distend the abdomen and impair the inner organs.
A good bodybuilding program is the best way to burn off your excess, unsightly fat and replace it with firm shapely muscle. Sit-ups and crunches alone won't get rid of that big gut. They are an important part of the solution but you must work every part of your body for overall fitness. Work out systematically at weights and aerobics for 20-60 minutes on as many days of the week as you can. Only by the diligent application of this three pronged approach will you reduce that pot spot and get that flat smooth tummy. And if you really want them and continue to work hard with this approach you can even develop washboard abs.


Abdominal Muscles and Topical Fat Loss
There are two groups of trainees: those who know what exactly it takes to reveal the abdominal muscles, and those who wrongfully think that abdominal exercises are actually what melts the fat in the mid section.
If what you just read surprises you in any way, bare with me for a few more paragraphs in order to find out how abdominal fat is NOT burned, how it IS effectively burned and what exercises stimulate the most the process of fat loss.
Why you can't directly use the fat from any spot you want:
The simple reason is fat has to be taken out of the fat cell and it has to enter the blood stream, from where it will be delivered to the working muscles.
You can NOT tell your body where to take the fat from. It takes it from everywhere. And since the most fat accumulates in the mid section (typical for both men and women) that’s why it seems to go away so slow.
Yes, it would be nice if a working muscle (as in working abs) could pull fat from the closest sites in the body. Here is another reason why this is not possible: there is a layer of tissue between the subcutaneous (under the skin) fat and the muscles underneath it. This layer does not allow any short cuts from the fat to the working muscle in proximity. The fat still has to enter through the general blood flow first.
Now that we got this straight let’s see how you should train effectively in order to reveal your six pack.
Three main conditions are involved: proper nutrition, proper resistance training and cardiovascular activity.
We are examining the training part of the equation, and that’s why I am not going to focus on nutrition here in this article. As to the resistance training, simply remember this:
Select basic multi-joint exercises, involving large muscle groups. Why? Because these are the exercises that positively affect your metabolic rate - they are very energy demanding during the workout, and they will also help you burn more calories for hours after doing them.
Such exercises are: squats, dead lifts, bench press, shoulder (military) press, etc. Make sure you always include one or more of them in your training routine.
The next, equally important thing you MUST do is cardio activity. This is what will actually burn the most fat.
You have two choices here: steady state cardio activity - the resistance is moderate and it doesn't change throughout the session; and high intensity interval training activity - you cycle all-out bouts with rest periods that are at least as long in duration as are the all-out periods. A good example for such cardio activity is the sprints, followed with walking.
The first type of cardio activity, described above, helps you use the fat for energy during the exercise, whereas the second type uses mainly carbohydrates during the session, but it has the ability to elevate your resting metabolic rate to where you burn more fat for hours after the activity is over.
"Well then what do I need abdominal exercises for?" you'd ask.
You definitely need them but not to loose the fat, covering the abs. You need them to better condition your abdominal muscles and even build size on them. Completed physique and proper body posture are the "side effects" from doing ab exercises.
Do ab work at least two - three times a week. Train them heavy like every other muscle group. Don't forget. You are striving to condition them and build size...

Resource Box:
Ivan Nikolov, a top five natural bodybuilder, shares with you his experience and knowledge about meal planing, nutrition and natural training. Visit his web site http://www.ivannikolov.com to learn more about what you need to know if you want to be a natural bodybuilder or simply look like one.
For more on proper training, meal planning and supplementation visit his "Articles" page.