Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Warming Up and Exercises Before Bowling

Warming Up to the Game – Some Exercises Before Bowling

Although not an overly physical game, bowling still requires your body to move in ways that are not considered normal. The very nature of swinging the arm with a weight of the ball at the end and the sliding motion as you move towards the alley puts a considerable amount of stress on your muscles and joints.

It is good practice to do some warm-up exercises before bowling. This will make sure that your muscles are sufficiently warmed up and your joints loose enough for the activities you are about to perform.

Below are some pointers on how to get started even before you pick up that ball.

  • Neck and head
Tuck your head down towards your chest until you feel a slight pull on the back of your neck. Hold this for about 8 counts then reverse the direction, tilting your head back. Do this for the left and right side of your neck as well.

  • Arms
Take one arm and raise it above your head. Then bend it at the elbow, while your opposite arm holds it in place. The pull should be felt in the muscles at the back of your arm. Do the same for the opposite arm with eight counts each.

  • Shoulders
Place your right arm across your chest, slightly bending it at the elbow, which should be turned away from your body. You should be able to feel the pull at the shoulder joint and sustain it for eight counts. Do the same for the other arm.

  • Legs
Place one leg in front of the other and rest both hands on the thigh. Lunge into the front leg, feeling a pull in the calf of the other leg. Keep your back straight when doing this. Hold for eight counts and then switch.

  • Ankles
Standing up straight, place your hands on your hips (or hold on to something for balance) and raise one leg up, bending at the knee. Point your toes to the floor, and then rotate your foot to loosen up the ankles. Do this for about eight counts clockwise and then another eight in the opposite direction. Repeat for the other foot.

  • Back
Hold out both arms in front of you with palms facing outward, link your fingers together and make a pushing action away from your body. You should be able to feel the pull on the muscles in your back, particularly the ones just below your shoulders.

An adequate warm up routine will help ensure you that your body will not feel as much stress from your game. You will see results not only during the game, but also well after you are done playing the bowling game.
 

(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.This blog is offering many articles and tips to stay fit. )

Monday, November 12, 2012

Care For Body During Pregnancy

Being pregnant means following a healthy lifestyle is more important than ever. It’s crucial to understand what steps you can take to keep you and your baby in good health.
Prenatal care is one of the vital factors that ensure a smooth pregnancy. The first checkup should occur during the first 6 to 8 weeks of your pregnancy, when your menstrual period is approximately 2 to 4 weeks late. For women who are relatively healthy and have no complicating risk factors, you'll probably see your health professional every 4 weeks until the 28th week of pregnancy, then every 2 weeks until 36 weeks of pregnancy. After that you'll have an appointment weekly until you give birth through inducing labor or otherwise.

Nutrition

Proper nutrition is one of the best ways to enjoy a happy pregnancy. Because you’re eating for two, it’s doubly important to consume healthy foods and stay away from things that may harm your baby as it develops. When you’re pregnant, dieting and cutting calories is not a good thing - you will need to take in about 300 more calories a day to ensure you and your baby are properly nourished, especially as your pregnancy progresses. Caloric intake, however, can vary from woman to woman. For thin women, and women carrying twins, you possibly required to consume more than 300 extra calories. Or, if you are currently over-weight you might need less. No matter what, you will need to contact your health professional to determine what’s best for you.
Of course, pure calorie consumption is not the only goal - you need to make sure that what you eat is nutritionally sound. Nutritious foods contain the essential vitamins and minerals that contribute to a baby’s growth and development.
Although a healthy diet is fundamental to caring for your body during pregnancy, it’s actually quite simple to integrate healthy living into your daily life. Maintain a well-balanced diet by following basic dietary guidelines. Lean meats, fruit, vegetables, whole grain breads and low-fat dairy products are all essential to maintaining good health.
Real, healthy food will provide your body with much-needed nutrients. At the same time, during pregnancy certain essential nutrients are required in higher-than-normal amounts. For example, calcium, iron, and folic acid (folate) are especially essential in the diet of a pregnant woman. Although your doctor may prescribe vitamin supplements, your diet still needs to contain nutritious food to provide your body with most of its nourishment.
On a normal basis, women need 1,000 mg of calcium per day, but during pregnancy, calcium consumption should rise in order to keep up with calcium loss in your bones. You can get calcium from a wide range of food products, including low-fat dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt; orange juice, soy milk, and cereals that are fortified with calcium; dark green veggies such as spinach, kale, and broccoli; as well as tofu, dried beans, and almonds.
A pregnant woman requires 27 to 30 mg of iron per day because iron is used by the body to make hemoglobin, which is what helps red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body. A lack of iron leads to a dearth of red blood cells, meaning the body’s tissues and organs don’t receive enough oxygen. With a baby on board, women need to pay extra attention to their iron intake.
Iron is found in both plant and animal matter, but the body absorbs it more easily from meat sources. The following are some foods that contain a good amount of iron: red meat, dark poultry, salmon, eggs, tofu, enriched grains, dried beans and peas, dried fruit, leafy green vegetables, black-strap molasses, and iron-fortified breakfast cereals.
Many people have already heard about how important folate (folic acid) is for a pregnant woman. For pregnant woman, or those planning on becoming pregnant, it is recommended that you take 0.4 milligrams of folic acid every day. Many women choose to supplement their diet with vitamins in addition to any folic acid intake they receive from food.
It has been found that consuming folic acid 1 month before and during the first 3 months of pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects by 70%, which is why it’s considered so critical. The neural tube is formed during the first 28 days of pregnancy, which is usually before a woman even realizes she’s pregnant, and it eventually develops into the baby’s brain and spinal cord. Lack of sufficient nutrition, particularly a lack of folic acid, may result in a neural tube defect such as spina bifida.
To remain healthy while pregnant, it’s also key to drink plenty of fluids. During pregnancy your blood volume increases, so drinking plenty of water is the best way to avoid dehydration and constipation.
Exercise is a great way to feel great throughout an entire pregnancy. There is no reason to stop you exercise and other physical activity once you become pregnant; in fact, dietary guidelines suggest that you take 30 minutes or more each day to work out at a moderate pace.
During pregnancy, regular exercise prevents excessive weight gain, reduces problems such as back pain, swelling, and constipation, improves sleep, increases energy, promotes a positive attitude, prepares your body for labor and lessens recovery time after labor.
Proper sleep is another factor in maintaining health and comfort during pregnancy. Pregnancy can take its toll, and after a long day you will feel more tired than usual. As the baby grows bigger, it will be more difficult to sleep, but try to sleep as best you can - it will do wonders for how you feel!
Once you are ready to give birth and are considering inducing labor it is wise to consider all the advantages and disadvantages. Indeed, several authorities recommend you give informed consent before labor is induced. Of course, the baby is an important concern when considering induction of labor, especially the baby's ability to breathe once delivered.
Following a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, exercising, and drinking plenty of fluids are all important to your overall well-being during pregnancy. If you strive to eat nutritious food and maintain a positive attitude during the course of your pregnancy, the good moments will definitely outshine the difficult ones.


(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.This blog is offering many articles and tips to stay fit. )

Friday, April 27, 2012

Exercises To Relieve Chronic Back Pain

Using exercises to relieve chronic back pain is most definitely effective. Chronic back problems are ones that persist over a long period of time. This could be due to several reasons and can affect many different people. It is important for you to check with your doctor before taking on any new exercise program, especially if it involves a chronic back problem. Using exercises to relieve chronic back pain can help quite a bit but, if not done properly or when your body is not ready, it can worsen the situation.
When using exercises to relieve chronic back pain you stand to experience benefits far beyond that of just helping your back. You will be positively affecting your overall well-being. You should look to take on a couple different types of exercise, one being aerobic. The goal of aerobic is, of course to help strengthen your heart but it will also have an added benefit of helping you strengthen your back and lose weight. For many people who have chronic back problems, much of it can be remedied by losing weight. The extra weight one carries puts unnecessary stain on your back.
Another to consider when wanting to use exercises to help relieve chronic back pain is yoga. Yoga involves a lot of really positive stretching moves that has the benefits of stretching out your spine and strengthening your back. It promotes the overall health of your back. Really any kind of back stretching can be beneficial but yoga provides you with quite a few postures and movements that typical stretching does not. It requires a lot of concentration and can also help you on other levels. Yoga can help you with breathing and increase your balance.
An added benefit to using exercises to relieve chronic back pain is that it helps with your out look. Having chronic back pain for a long period of time can bring depression. This comes from having to endure pain for so long, having to miss out on life and being limited to what you can do. Many people who battle depression are told to get active, to find ways to move around and to exercise. If you have problems staying positive and can see it affecting other parts of your life, then exercise will help you on many levels.
It is important, to an extent, to get plenty of rest for your back but what happens if it gets too much rest is it gets weaker. The weaker it gets, the more pain you endure and the easier it becomes to get injured. Exercising on a regular basis will not only make your body stronger as well as all the other added benefits discuss earlier, it will help you remain mobile and may help to make you even more flexible. It will also help to shorten the amount of time it takes to recover in those moments that you hurt your back again and makes those moments further and farther between. Using exercises to relieve chronic back pain will work and will help not only take the pain away, but help keep it away.


Stretching exercises to relieve back pain can help overcome the day-to-day stress that our bodies undergo and the toll that it takes on our backs in particular. Depending on our occupation, we are forced to either stand or sit in one place for long periods of time. This poor posture and the constant compression of our spines can bring about not only short-term pain but long term problems. Correcting your posture and doing stretching exercises to relieve back pain will help remedy the situation. 
Another problem that people face is on the weekends over compensating for their lack of activity during the week by undergoing rigorous physical activities. While getting exercise is highly recommended and beneficial, it can also cause problems if your body is not ready for the endeavor. This can make your body, in particular your back susceptible to injury. Getting a little bit of exercise during the week can prevent this and also doing stretching exercises to relieve back pain.

Five stretching exercises to relieve back pain that you can do that take only about 15 –20 minutes a day will help your body recover from the stress we put on our bodies Monday through Friday. For these stretching exercises to relieve back pain you will need an elastic exercise band available at most department stores.

Low Back Stretch:
This is accomplished by sitting upright on the floor with your legs together and stretched straight out. Take the exercise band and wrap it around your feet holding on to both ends with your hands. “Climb” towards your foot using the band pulling yourself one hand in front of the other. Do this until you can feel the stretch going from your calves all the way to your spine and lower back. Hold this for 8-10 seconds breathing normally. Do this 3 times.
Quad Stretch:
Lay face down and wrap the elastic band around your toe pulling your leg towards your head. Once you feel your front thigh fully stretched, hold it for 8 seconds and then repeat two more times and do the same with the other leg.
Glutes and External Rotator Stretch:
Still laying with your back to the ground wrap the elastic band around one toe and straighten that leg, holding on to the band. Once it is extended then twist at the hip until that leg is on the ground, keeping your back as flat as can be. Hold this for the full 8-10 seconds repeating 3 times and then switch legs.
Groin Stretch:
Lay on your back with your legs almost in a split. Bend your left leg till your foot is flat on the floor. Wrap the elastic band on the right foot and gently pull with both arms. Hold this for another 8-10 seconds and then repeat 3 times. Then switch legs and do it all over again.
Hamstring Stretch:
Assume the same position as the External Rotator Stretch and instead of twisting at the hip, stay straight, with your leg straight up and pull gently back towards your head. This stretches the hamstring, which relives some of the tension from the back.
These exercises will not only make you stronger and a bit more flexible, they will also be great stretching exercises to relieve back pain.

(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.This blog is offering many articles and tips to stay fit. )

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Tennis Fitness : Tips from the Professionals

Tennis is one of the best and easiest sports to keep you fit. However, the general consensus is that too much of it or the use of wrong techniques can and do cause injuries. If you are a beginner you will do well to learn the basic techniques of the sport as well as the safety tips provided.

There are many injuries that can result from using the wrong techniques to play this kind sport. The injuries range from tennis elbow to more serious back or ankle problems. When starting out, play twice or three times a week at the most to give the body the time it needs to adjust. Do this for a month and then slowly step up the pace to four times a week and so on.

You need to alternate your court sessions with some gym sessions for all round fitness. If you can maintain a fit physique there is nothing to prevent you from playing the game well into your eighties or beyond. Tennis is a very popular sport for all ages and once a player gets hooked on the game, it is very difficult to give it up.

There are some very basic tips that should be adopted to stay fit for the game. Right at the top of the list is having the right tennis gear. It is not only the racquet that is important in terms of size, grip, balance, head size and weight. You also need to wear the right socks and shoes. There are specially designed tennis shoes that help to provide support for the ankles.

Once you have the right gear, you can then focus on taking lessons from a real professional who will be able to teach you the correct techniques to play the game. How you reach for the ball and swing your racquet is important. You could reach for the ball by using the wrong technique and end up putting too much strain on your back. Torn ligaments and muscles are common when players do not exercise the right game techniques.

Eating the right foods that provide the body with the complete nutritional requirements and staying hydrated are very important factors that contribute to keeping your body fit.

The body needs time to adjust to the movements of the game and the demands you make of it, so take it slow – do not go pushing your body beyond its natural limits. You can start out by playing only two days a week and gradually build up your strength to stay on the court for longer periods of time.



(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.)

Friday, January 20, 2012

Never Too Late to Start Exercising

It is Never Too Late to Start Exercising! The benefits of exercises are often only understood better only when you have reached a certain age. Children may not understand the necessity of exercising for their health, but they run and play because they enjoy doing so. As we get older this enjoyment seems to disappear as we take on more responsibilities and work long hours. Even then, many younger people do not take much notice of the health aspects of life. It is only when they become older and start to feel the bad effects of a poor lifestyle that they look back and realize what they have lost. Then suddenly they become more interested in having a healthy lifestyle.

So it you are in your forties with a lot of ailments bothering you, look into the past to find out all the causes for your present suffering. One of the important causes would be the lifestyle that you had adopted in your youth days. Ignorance shown towards the healthy eating habits and the regular exercises would be detrimental to the health of the individual in due course.

Those who work in industrial plants and the people who have a lot of manual labor in their lives will not have the same health problems. They could practice some mild exercise in order to streamline their efforts. Exercise is crucial for keeping your body healthy and your internal organs working properly, as well as your muscles and ligaments. Without exercise, the chances are that the bones will erode at a faster rate than otherwise. Exercise also is very simple and easy way to weight loss.

Having said so, one could imagine the plight of those individuals that sit in the air-conditioned rooms for hours together in a single place and continuously watch the bright screens of their personal computers. They have hardly even stepped out of the office for a lunch break or even a tea break. Spending years in this way is not advisable for anyone.

Enhanced working hours without any form of recreation and without any involvement in physical activities such as sports are to be avoided by one and all of us. That is why the people at the top levels in the organizations such as the CEOs could be found many a times at the golf clubs, tennis courts and the swimming pools. They know the wonderful benefits of exercising. They make it a regular practice to exercise after a hectic day at work or even before work. This is necessary to balance the sedentary way of life. You can find the work-life balance too if you get more organized and introduce exercise into your daily routine.

(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.This blog is offering many articles and tips to stay fit. )

Monday, January 09, 2012

Walking is a Beneficial Exercise

Why Walking is a Beneficial Exercise ? Everyone knows that exercising regularly is good for one’s health and it also keeps the weight issues at bay. However, not everyone follows this generally accepted rule. There are a number of reasons for this. The biggest one is that they cannot find the time to work out due to their busy work life. Well, the answer to this is that you must find time for yourself. Otherwise you will never be able to take care of your health. The minimum amount of time that one should spare for exercise is 30 minutes a day. This is surely not too much to ask for if one thinks about it in a rational manner.

One of the best forms of exercise is to go for a walk. Walking is easy for people of all ages. Be it young or old, everyone has the liberty to choose their own pace, speed and limit. Added to this there are a number of benefits of opting for it as a regular exercise.

The biggest and main benefit is that through walking you can exercise all the muscles of your body. That way, from a weight loss perspective all the trouble areas are covered. Those who can do arm exercise while they are walking can quite easily tone their loose muscles as well. One such form of exercise is the march past style walk in which arms are used as well. If you do not want to do this then you can select some slow arm exercises and do them while you are out on a walk.

As it helps work out all the body muscles, walking is quite beneficial for the heart as well. The heart remains healthy and active. This is a great benefit for those who have opted for walking as a regular form of exercise. This is also one of the reasons why heart patients are told to opt for walking as a form of regular exercise to prevent further damage.

The best time to take a walk is early in the morning. This is because at that time of the day the air is fresh. Walking at that time is going to ensure that you get the maximum of oxygen in your system. This factor adds to the benefits of other exercise that you are going to do. Also starting the day with exercise is going to energize you for the rest of the day.

(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.)

Thursday, January 05, 2012

Group Exercises versus Individual Exercises

The most common question that health experts get is - which type of exercise is going to benefit me the most? Group Exercises or Individual Exercises? Is joining an exercise group or class more beneficial compared to working out alone in your home?

There is no one right answer to these questions. All the results that are associated with the exercises are different in the different cases. One kind of exercise or form of exercise that helps one individual the most might not work for another person and vice versa. So the next question is - what should one opt for? The answer is that one should select the option that one is comfortable with and enjoys most.

Most people do not understand why it is said that one needs to enjoy the workout that they choose for themselves. The reason is quite simple. When you enjoy what you are doing, you don’t take it as a burden and you do it with a relaxed mind. This adds to the positive results that the workout is intended to provide. The relation between the mind and the rest of the body is a very strong one and what goes in your mind does have a strong direct effect on your entire body and personality. And if you do not like the exercise you will make many excuses to not do it.

One thing to consider is that people who like to meet other people and make friends should go for exercises in a class format or join a gym. There are classes for Pilates, Yoga etc so people can choose from any of those. That way, they will be working out and making friends as well. This something that they enjoy doing so they will get good results.

On the other hand, people who are more introverted can choose to work out alone. For this they can pick one type of exercise and do it in their homes. If one can afford to buy a treadmill for exercising or for that matter any other equipment that they want to use, they should get the machine and start using it. A lot of trainers give the option of personally going to their client’s home and working out with them. Again for those who can afford it, this too is a very good option.

These are not the only options that are available. The internet is a very good source of information at your disposal. Look for the exercise guides and you will come across a number of good ones. Select the one that you like and you are good to start your healthy lifestyle and enjoy its benefits.

(Note: This article is the opinion of the author and may or may not be substantiated by scientific fact.)
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