Breath is the basis of our life. In the hustle bustle of our lives we hardly get time to relax and take a deep breath. Add to that the pollutants and toxic gases that we breath-in. Together they make a healthy and peaceful life an illusion. Proper breathing can therefore, lead us to a state of inner peace.
Breathing Exercises for Relaxation
Start your day with Morning Breathing which helps relieve muscle stiffness and clears clogged breathing passages. This exercise is done standing.
Bend forward from the waist and bend your knees slightly. Let your arms hang on the side. Then while inhaling roll-up your body slowly, bring your head up the last. Hold your breath for sometime. Revert to the original position slowly, exhaling on your way down.
Complete Breathing calms the mind and the nervous system. Itcombines the abdomen, the middle and the upper parts of the chest in a wave like motion.
First, exhale completely. Now begin inhaling, letting your abdomen come out a little, filling the lower part of your lungs. Then expand your ribs, while drawing in your stomach until the top part of your lungs is filled.
While exhaling draw your abdomen in; then contract your ribs and finally lower your collar bone, to completely empty your lungs.
Rhythmic Breathing is an exercise that can revive the most exhausted body and can calm the most frayed nerves. To perform it sit on the ground cross-legged, hold your chest, neck and head straight. Take a deep breath like in complete breathing while counting to 6, hold the breath and count till 3; and then exhale counting to 6.
Alternate Breathing helps stabilize the mind and cures headaches. Sit cross-legged to perform this exercise and place your right thumb on your right nostril. Inhale from the left nostril count to 4, close the nostril with your middle finger and hold breath to count of 8. Exhale through the right nostril to a count of 8. Keep the fingers in the same position, inhale from right nostril counting to 4, hold the breath to a count of 8 and exhale from left nostril to a count of 8.
Take out just 15 minutes from your busy lives daily to practice these breathing exercises for relaxation and see the results for yourself.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Be Smart, Don’t Starve
More often than not you’ll be tempted to shed those extra pounds by starving yourself for a few days. What does it do for you? Yes, you’ll look slimmer, you’ll fit into dresses a size smaller and you may even earn a few compliments. But what happens next? Obviously, you gain back all that weight.
So what do you do to get the perfect figure? I suggest try these smart tips on effective dieting. Follow these simple guidelines to cut that ugly flab.
Foods that you must resist
You must avoid refined, processed and junk foods. These contain huge amounts of ‘empty’ calories that will leave you hungry soon after a whole meal. This means you end up eating a lot more calories than necessary.
Similarly, beverages like beer, alcohol and soft drinks too contain lots of empty calories that are fattening.
Flavored foods must be avoided as you keep craving for more of them. Like the popular advertisement goes ‘no one can eat just one’.
Simple carbs like sweets, pasta, bread; fruits like banana; vegetables like carrots must be replaced as they raise your blood sugar levels.
Foods that you must eat
High fiber fruits and vegetables like apple, leafy vegetables are a must. Your body uses more calories in digesting them than the calories they contain.
It is important to include a good source of essential fatty acid in your diet as they help in speeding up the metabolism rate.
If you crave for sweets try berries. They are low in calories, high in fiber and therefore excellent for weight loss.
Try to have six small meals in a day so your body does not get the time to store fat.
Eat slowly so you feel full sooner.
You should try and substitute stir frying by grilling as it keeps the natural sweetness of the food alive and means lesser calories.
Drink plenty of water
This is very important in an effective weight loss program. Water helps in preventing you from feeling hungry. In fact, cold water helps you in burning more calories. This is because body spends additional energy in bringing water to normal temperature.
These tips on effective dieting will be incomplete without one more suggestion. That is, indulge yourself in your favorite food once a week. After all that sacrifice, your taste buds do need a little pampering.
So what do you do to get the perfect figure? I suggest try these smart tips on effective dieting. Follow these simple guidelines to cut that ugly flab.
Foods that you must resist
You must avoid refined, processed and junk foods. These contain huge amounts of ‘empty’ calories that will leave you hungry soon after a whole meal. This means you end up eating a lot more calories than necessary.
Similarly, beverages like beer, alcohol and soft drinks too contain lots of empty calories that are fattening.
Flavored foods must be avoided as you keep craving for more of them. Like the popular advertisement goes ‘no one can eat just one’.
Simple carbs like sweets, pasta, bread; fruits like banana; vegetables like carrots must be replaced as they raise your blood sugar levels.
Foods that you must eat
High fiber fruits and vegetables like apple, leafy vegetables are a must. Your body uses more calories in digesting them than the calories they contain.
It is important to include a good source of essential fatty acid in your diet as they help in speeding up the metabolism rate.
If you crave for sweets try berries. They are low in calories, high in fiber and therefore excellent for weight loss.
Try to have six small meals in a day so your body does not get the time to store fat.
Eat slowly so you feel full sooner.
You should try and substitute stir frying by grilling as it keeps the natural sweetness of the food alive and means lesser calories.
Drink plenty of water
This is very important in an effective weight loss program. Water helps in preventing you from feeling hungry. In fact, cold water helps you in burning more calories. This is because body spends additional energy in bringing water to normal temperature.
These tips on effective dieting will be incomplete without one more suggestion. That is, indulge yourself in your favorite food once a week. After all that sacrifice, your taste buds do need a little pampering.
7 Exercises for a Firm Chest
Everyone desires a toned and beautiful upper body. But, the way to achieve it eludes most. But not anymore, for here are some exercises for firming chest that are not very time consuming.
Push-ups
1) Conventional style: Lie down facing the floor. Place your palms near your shoulders. Now in one go lift your body i.e. chest, shoulders, torso and hips, a few inches above the ground so your elbows are straightened. Then go down slowly, weight on your hands, elbows bent, until your body is just over the floor (not touching it). Now, come back up. Repeat this 6 times.
2) Pectoral push-ups: Lie down on the floor and rise up as in conventional style. The difference being that here you keep your forearms and elbows pressed to the ground. Repeat 5 times.
3) Inverted push-ups: Stand at an arm’s length from a wall. Place your palms on the wall in front of your chest. Slowly lower your chest towards the wall while bending your elbows and then move your body back to original position. Repeat 10 times.
Butterfly
Lie down facing the ceiling. Extend your arms out to the sides of your body. Hold weights in your hands (take 500ml plastic bottle of water as substitute) and raise your arms until you see a ‘V’ form in front of your face. Then revert to the starting position.
Chest Press
Lie on your back with arms extended over your chest, dumbbells in your hand and palms facing forward. Now while inhaling, lower the dumbbells, elbows bent, just above your chest. Hold for a second. While exhaling, go to the original position.
Triangle Posture
Stand with your feet wide apart. Extend your arms side wards. Inhale and bend down to the right side, right hand touches the side of your right foot, left hand pointing to the ceiling. Focus your eyes on the left hand. Exhale on your way to the original position. Repeat for the opposite side.
Push-ups
1) Conventional style: Lie down facing the floor. Place your palms near your shoulders. Now in one go lift your body i.e. chest, shoulders, torso and hips, a few inches above the ground so your elbows are straightened. Then go down slowly, weight on your hands, elbows bent, until your body is just over the floor (not touching it). Now, come back up. Repeat this 6 times.
2) Pectoral push-ups: Lie down on the floor and rise up as in conventional style. The difference being that here you keep your forearms and elbows pressed to the ground. Repeat 5 times.
3) Inverted push-ups: Stand at an arm’s length from a wall. Place your palms on the wall in front of your chest. Slowly lower your chest towards the wall while bending your elbows and then move your body back to original position. Repeat 10 times.
Butterfly
Lie down facing the ceiling. Extend your arms out to the sides of your body. Hold weights in your hands (take 500ml plastic bottle of water as substitute) and raise your arms until you see a ‘V’ form in front of your face. Then revert to the starting position.
Chest Press
Lie on your back with arms extended over your chest, dumbbells in your hand and palms facing forward. Now while inhaling, lower the dumbbells, elbows bent, just above your chest. Hold for a second. While exhaling, go to the original position.
Triangle Posture
Stand with your feet wide apart. Extend your arms side wards. Inhale and bend down to the right side, right hand touches the side of your right foot, left hand pointing to the ceiling. Focus your eyes on the left hand. Exhale on your way to the original position. Repeat for the opposite side.
Chair Aerobics: Exercising without losing the Cushy Comfort
Chair aerobic exercise is a form of aerobics in which the participant does the entire work out sitting on a chair. The target groups for chair aerobics mainly include senior citizens, people with mobility disorders and those who spend long hours doing desk work.
The chair aerobic exercises are normally designed to keep people functionally fit. The aim is to increase the heart rate of the participants to enhance their cardiovascular fitness. These exercises include posture control, stretches to impart flexibility and light weight-lifting to build and maintain muscular and joint strength.
Simple stretches and punches
All you need is a comfortable chair to practice these. For example: pumping arms in the air overhead five times each, then five times together; punching across the body ,alternating arms ten times each; seated jogging by lifting the feet and cycling in the chair. Neck roll can be done while staying-off ground and it can prove good for the heart. Leg lifts are another good example of chair aerobic exercises.
Benefits of Chair Aerobics
Diabetics can do a low-impact work out to build their functional capacity, improve their cardio-health and lower their blood sugar levels.
Elderly people can keep active and fit without the fear of losing balance and tripping over while exercising.
People can release their stress while working by taking a few minutes off and doing these simple exercises without leaving their desk.
Parents’ can get their lazy kids, who refuse to budge from the couch, to do these easy exercises. It will improve their child’s fitness, make him\her active and may even bring about a change in their lifestyle.
These exercises are extremely beneficial for pregnant women and ensure fast recovery for patients who’ve undergone surgery.
So don’t make excuses for shirking exercise. Adopt chair aerobics in your lifestyle to remain fit and healthy.
The chair aerobic exercises are normally designed to keep people functionally fit. The aim is to increase the heart rate of the participants to enhance their cardiovascular fitness. These exercises include posture control, stretches to impart flexibility and light weight-lifting to build and maintain muscular and joint strength.
Simple stretches and punches
All you need is a comfortable chair to practice these. For example: pumping arms in the air overhead five times each, then five times together; punching across the body ,alternating arms ten times each; seated jogging by lifting the feet and cycling in the chair. Neck roll can be done while staying-off ground and it can prove good for the heart. Leg lifts are another good example of chair aerobic exercises.
Benefits of Chair Aerobics
Diabetics can do a low-impact work out to build their functional capacity, improve their cardio-health and lower their blood sugar levels.
Elderly people can keep active and fit without the fear of losing balance and tripping over while exercising.
People can release their stress while working by taking a few minutes off and doing these simple exercises without leaving their desk.
Parents’ can get their lazy kids, who refuse to budge from the couch, to do these easy exercises. It will improve their child’s fitness, make him\her active and may even bring about a change in their lifestyle.
These exercises are extremely beneficial for pregnant women and ensure fast recovery for patients who’ve undergone surgery.
So don’t make excuses for shirking exercise. Adopt chair aerobics in your lifestyle to remain fit and healthy.
Water Aerobics: A Cool Way to Remain Fit
Water aerobics is a great innovation in the field of aerobic work outs. It allows you to remain fit and healthy without sweating and stressing your body. The variation from simple to advanced routines means that all age groups can take up water aerobics suiting their fitness levels.
The benefits of water aerobics are not just limited to those of a conventional aerobics routine. It has some additional advantages too. For instance, water reduces the effect of gravity on your body. Therefore, any stretching under water will cause lesser strain on your joints and will allow you a greater range of motion than it would on land.
Water provides greater resistance to your movements than air; therefore, you are likely to burn more calories when doing aerobics in water. This resistance will also increase your muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness.
The buoyancy provided by water will improve your balance, posture and flexibility, thereby reducing your capability for injury. Studies show that waist- deep water supports 50% of your weight and chest-deep water supports 90% of body weight. This makes water aerobics extremely beneficial for people suffering from arthritis, osteoporosis, joint problems or back pain.
Furthermore, water has a massaging effect on your muscles. This provides water aerobics with the power to release tension and stress built-up inside you muscles, making work out a soothing and calm experience.
Water aerobics combines a variety of body movements and dance routines, which can be accompanied by music. This makes exercising so much fun that you’ll not feel like stopping.
Even pregnant women can benefit from water aerobics’ low-impact routine. It will ease their labor period and delivery, help them recover and lose those extra pounds gained during pregnancy quickly. Of course, it’s important to consult your doctor before practicing it.
So the next time you feel like kicking, punching or dancing, do it in a swimming pool and enjoy the blissful after effects.
The benefits of water aerobics are not just limited to those of a conventional aerobics routine. It has some additional advantages too. For instance, water reduces the effect of gravity on your body. Therefore, any stretching under water will cause lesser strain on your joints and will allow you a greater range of motion than it would on land.
Water provides greater resistance to your movements than air; therefore, you are likely to burn more calories when doing aerobics in water. This resistance will also increase your muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness.
The buoyancy provided by water will improve your balance, posture and flexibility, thereby reducing your capability for injury. Studies show that waist- deep water supports 50% of your weight and chest-deep water supports 90% of body weight. This makes water aerobics extremely beneficial for people suffering from arthritis, osteoporosis, joint problems or back pain.
Furthermore, water has a massaging effect on your muscles. This provides water aerobics with the power to release tension and stress built-up inside you muscles, making work out a soothing and calm experience.
Water aerobics combines a variety of body movements and dance routines, which can be accompanied by music. This makes exercising so much fun that you’ll not feel like stopping.
Even pregnant women can benefit from water aerobics’ low-impact routine. It will ease their labor period and delivery, help them recover and lose those extra pounds gained during pregnancy quickly. Of course, it’s important to consult your doctor before practicing it.
So the next time you feel like kicking, punching or dancing, do it in a swimming pool and enjoy the blissful after effects.
Aerobic Dance the Fun Way to keep Fit
Whoever thinks that exercising is not fun has certainly not tasted Aerobic Dance yet. Here, dance moves are set to music and are sustained over a period of time to benefit health. The dance steps are a blend of jazz, disco and ballet.
Most exercise routines can get boring after a while, especially if you are the kinds who like to escape work outs. This is not the case with aerobic dancing. The primary benefit of aerobic dance I feel is that there is never a dull moment in it. You get carried away with the sway of music, forgetting to count time.
Studies have shown that aerobic dance is a good way to keep old people active and fit. Dance moves like side-stepping, lunges, knee bends and walking back and forth promote better balance, improve flexibility and leg strength. So the oldies don’t need to worry about losing their balance and tripping over.
Another benefit of aerobic dance is that it has different levels of intensity to suit your need and fitness level. Beginners and seniors can choose a low-intensity program while those with reasonable fitness levels, in need of strengthening heart and lungs can go for the intermediate program. The high-intensity level is for fit people who want a hard work out.
The craze for learning aerobic dance is spreading fast, since it provides this fitness conscious world a great way to burn calories and lose weight. It helps in stretching and building body’s muscles. Aerobic dance is extremely effective in lowering cholesterol, enhancing blood circulation and keeping the heart healthy.
If you’ve had a stressful day at office then aerobic dance is the best stress buster. It will rejuvenate you and give you the energy to do rest of the day’s chores efficiently and effectively.
So people, what are you waiting for? Put on your dancing shoes and try a little jig.
Most exercise routines can get boring after a while, especially if you are the kinds who like to escape work outs. This is not the case with aerobic dancing. The primary benefit of aerobic dance I feel is that there is never a dull moment in it. You get carried away with the sway of music, forgetting to count time.
Studies have shown that aerobic dance is a good way to keep old people active and fit. Dance moves like side-stepping, lunges, knee bends and walking back and forth promote better balance, improve flexibility and leg strength. So the oldies don’t need to worry about losing their balance and tripping over.
Another benefit of aerobic dance is that it has different levels of intensity to suit your need and fitness level. Beginners and seniors can choose a low-intensity program while those with reasonable fitness levels, in need of strengthening heart and lungs can go for the intermediate program. The high-intensity level is for fit people who want a hard work out.
The craze for learning aerobic dance is spreading fast, since it provides this fitness conscious world a great way to burn calories and lose weight. It helps in stretching and building body’s muscles. Aerobic dance is extremely effective in lowering cholesterol, enhancing blood circulation and keeping the heart healthy.
If you’ve had a stressful day at office then aerobic dance is the best stress buster. It will rejuvenate you and give you the energy to do rest of the day’s chores efficiently and effectively.
So people, what are you waiting for? Put on your dancing shoes and try a little jig.
Aerobic Exercises: The Way to a Wholesome Good Life
Oxygen as we know supports our life. Aerobics literally means ‘with oxygen’. While performing aerobics our body produces more energy and transports more oxygen to our heart, lungs, blood vessels and muscles. Regular aerobic work outs increase our body’s capacity to take in and deliver that oxygen. Therefore, it will not be too far fetched to suggest that aerobic exercises can be helpful in supporting and enhancing our life.
The benefits of aerobic exercises on our health are innumerable. To start with research has shown that men and women performing aerobics are at a lesser risk of developing cancer compared to physically inactive men and women. Aerobic exercises, a study claims, reduced fatigue in women undergoing cancer treatment.
Our unhealthy eating habits often lead to calcium deficiency which is a primary cause of Osteoporosis. This leads to low bone density making us susceptible to fractures. Aerobics by preventing bone calcium loss slows down the decrease in bone density.
By reducing blood pressure and reducing stiffness in blood vessels, aerobic exercises can help prevent cardiovascular diseases.
Since oxygen is used more efficiently during aerobics, our body’s rate of burning fat increases. This makes aerobic exercises an excellent way to lose weight and check obesity.
Furthermore, aerobic exercises can prove beneficial in increasing our endurance against diseases; they can reduce the risk of developing diabetes; they reduce stress by releasing the tension in our muscles and stimulating hormones. It has also been suggested that aerobic exercises have a positive impact on our cognitive functions. Exercising three or more times a week can reduce the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
I am sure this account of the benefits of aerobic exercises has tempted you to integrate one in your lifestyle. There is a vast variety to choose from like swimming, cycling, jogging, brisk walking, skiing, basketball etc. You can adopt one that will hold your interest in the long-run and help you lead a healthy and active life.
The benefits of aerobic exercises on our health are innumerable. To start with research has shown that men and women performing aerobics are at a lesser risk of developing cancer compared to physically inactive men and women. Aerobic exercises, a study claims, reduced fatigue in women undergoing cancer treatment.
Our unhealthy eating habits often lead to calcium deficiency which is a primary cause of Osteoporosis. This leads to low bone density making us susceptible to fractures. Aerobics by preventing bone calcium loss slows down the decrease in bone density.
By reducing blood pressure and reducing stiffness in blood vessels, aerobic exercises can help prevent cardiovascular diseases.
Since oxygen is used more efficiently during aerobics, our body’s rate of burning fat increases. This makes aerobic exercises an excellent way to lose weight and check obesity.
Furthermore, aerobic exercises can prove beneficial in increasing our endurance against diseases; they can reduce the risk of developing diabetes; they reduce stress by releasing the tension in our muscles and stimulating hormones. It has also been suggested that aerobic exercises have a positive impact on our cognitive functions. Exercising three or more times a week can reduce the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
I am sure this account of the benefits of aerobic exercises has tempted you to integrate one in your lifestyle. There is a vast variety to choose from like swimming, cycling, jogging, brisk walking, skiing, basketball etc. You can adopt one that will hold your interest in the long-run and help you lead a healthy and active life.
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