Losing Stubborn Pounds
During any exercise and diet regimen, losing the first few pounds is often very easy. That’s good because it’s a great motivator when you see results right away. But as you lose more, the rate of loss, and the speed with which you see visible effects, slows down. It’s hard to keep going when you aren’t seeing the benefits.
But don’t lose heart. It’s natural that initial efforts at a certain level will get you only 80% of the way there. The other 20% is going to come harder. That’s just the way things are. There are techniques that can help you get that last 20% – and, more importantly, keep 100% of the results over the long term.
Sometimes the difficulty in shedding that last 10 or 20 pounds can be loss of willpower. After achieving so much, it can be easy to say ‘that is good enough’. If so, that may be ok. You may validly choose to reevaluate your goals and decide that it truly is good enough.
But beware of long term effects.
One long term effect is the difficulty of maintaining staying power for other goals. If you develop a habit of giving up before the job is complete, it becomes that much more difficult to stick with it the next time. On the upside, if you do go that last mile, the positive morale boost is a great reinforcer.
The other possibility in giving up too easily and too soon can be a greater difficulty in keeping the weight off. The earlier you let go of your original goal without achieving it, the more likely you are to gain at least some of that weight back. Sticking with it helps keep those hard earned results permanently.
There are physiological reasons as well why that last 20% can be tough. Some bodies just reach a natural plateau. It can be just a stopping point on the way to a higher peak, however. It’s difficult to know for sure unless you keep climbing.
You may have slacked off of the length of exercises, or it may just require a longer period to get the same results. By analogy, it’s easy to scoop peanut butter out of a full jar, but getting those last bits is harder and takes longer.
If you’ve been doing cardio 30 minutes a day, three days a week, you may need to extend it to four or five days. That’s usually preferable to extending the length of the workout. You can begin to get close to the injury zone if you work yourself too hard during a given workout. But, you can up it to 45 minutes with minimal risk, if you judge that you still have that much more to give.
You may need to increase the intensity, at least for a while. Getting the heart rate up from 65% to 75% of maximum is one possible way. Here again, be careful of overdoing it. You don’t want to achieve those weight loss goals at the cost of serious risk to your overall health.
You may have to try some new exercises. Muscles adapt. Trying some new ones works those that may have been getting less than the most strenuous workout while you were achieving that 80%.
Keep at it until you hit your final desired goal, then keep it steady. Long term results require a permanent lifestyle change.
Leg Exercises
What kind of leg exercises you do will, of course, depend on your goal. Are you trying to build massive thighs or heart-shaped calves? Do you want to build strength, increase running endurance or improve balance and flexibility? Are you a weight-lifter, a jogger or a ballerina?
Naturally, not all goals are mutually exclusive. Building strength can combine well with improving balance, for example. Having toned, strong leg muscles helps keep joints stable and improves appearance.
Remember that any strenuous exercise should be done only after a warm-up period that includes stretching.
Spinning
One of the best exercises for toning and strengthening leg muscles is ‘spinning’, using a stationary bike. Using an ordinary bicycle is good too, but the exercise is less controllable and involves a lot of other muscle groups.
A 15-minute spin will help tone the calves, hamstrings and quads, improve joint flexibility and (sometimes) reduce cellulite and fat. It’s also a great cardiovascular activity so you get two for the price of one when you spin.
Knee Exercises
If you want something a little less vigorous, say you only want to help strengthen the knee, here are a couple of options.
This first one is really good for those who suffer from conditions such as chondromalacia patella. That’s a roughening of the cartilage underneath the knee cap, sometimes as the result of the bones not sitting properly in the ‘V’ of the knee joint.
Sit in a chair, back straight but not tensed. Your leg should be bent at 90 degrees, the thigh parallel to the ground, the lower leg vertical. Tense the thigh, hold for 5 seconds then release. Switch legs and repeat. Do 10 reps for each leg. Easy, huh!
Be sure to breathe normally during the exercise.
Another exercise does a little more to build strength in the muscles that control bending at the knee.
Sit up straight and breathe normally, then cross your legs at the ankle. Push forward with the rear leg and back with the front leg. (A little tricky at first, but think about it!)
Switch legs by reversing the direction of the cross. If the right leg was in front, move it to the rear. Repeat the exercise 10 times for each position.
Calf Burns
Now for something a little more strenuous.
Depending on your balance and the surface you’re standing on, you may need to do this on a mat or carpet, or on a wooden floor. Avoid using a cement or metal floor.
Stand up straight, heels together, toes slightly apart. Make sure you are well-balanced.
Lift the heels, balancing on the balls of your feet. Imagine a string attached to the center of your head pulling you up. Hold for 5 seconds, then lower slowly. Repeat 10 times. Over time, as you build strength and balance, increase the length of time you’re on the balls of the feet.
Vary the action by bending slightly at the knee while you still have the heels raised. This will bring the thighs (quadriceps or ‘quads’ and hamstrings) as well as the buttocks into play. Straighten up, then lower the heels. Repeat 10 times.
Among the many health benefits of strong, flexible legs there is one that is especially important for the older crowd. Many falls lead to broken hips, one of the leading causes of severe health problems for the elderly. A long-term practice of keeping the legs in shape will help prevent this later in life.
Fitness-Keeping Fit as You Age
It’s a commonplace observation that as you age you have to work harder to keep the pounds off and to stay fit. One major reason is the inescapable biological fact that metabolism slows as we age. Inescapable for now, at least, until medical technology finds some safe way to alter it.
Genetic research into aging is trying, in a way, to do just that. Several studies in the last two decades have pointed to hints about precisely what causes aging. If they get sufficient knowledge of the subject, there is some hope of altering the situation.
Until then, there are several things a sensible person can do to stay trim, flexible and within a healthy weight or body fat percentage range. At any age, diet and exercise are the twin partners required to achieve those goals.
For some, working out an hour per day every day – a five mile run, a long swim, hitting every station on the weight machine – is still feasible. Others will have to adjust their routine to what is realistic for their own circumstances. Don’t ignore the signals that will help guide you to do that. Mild discomfort is to be expected, especially the day after a vigorous workout. Extreme pain is a sign something is wrong.
There are dietary changes that will be needed, too.
As we age there’s a greater temptation to indulge in tasty, but high sugar, high fat foods. We see it as a reward for all the years of hard work and dietary discipline. Unfortunately, we pay a higher price later in life for those than we did in our 20s or 40s.
An occasional dessert is actually healthy, both for your state of mind and the sugar and fat. Both are essential compounds in moderation, though simple sugars are preferable to complex and unsaturated fats are preferable to saturated. Sugar is essential to generating the energy needed for all biological processes. ‘Good’ fats help regulate hormones, neural processes and other vital activities.
Staying active is equally as important as the proper diet. A good walk helps keep the cardiovascular system in working order. Mild stress on the muscles and joints keeps them lubricated and firm. Both muscle mass and bone density reduce dramatically in sedentary individuals.
Studies show that a sedentary 65 year old will have (on average) only 60% of the aerobic capacity of a 30 year old. Those who do no strength training lose muscle mass equivalent to seven pounds per decade. But those statistics are not written in stone. Exercise can help improve them tremendously.
Studies at various universities carried out for 25 years show that runners who continued to train kept almost all their capacity of 20 years previous. Those who engaged in resistance training maintained muscle mass equal to that of ten years earlier. Use it or lose it.
A person who has been idle, but suffers no debilitating disease, can reverse their odds. Start slow and think long term. Pain from overdoing it is one of the leading causes influencing people not to stick with it. Take long walks, then work up to more vigorous activities under the guidance of a professional.
Live a long and healthy life, not just a long one.
Fitness-Fluids and Fitness
Body fluid level is an important component of keeping it in top condition for best performance.
As a person exercises, the internal body temperature rises. That triggers the body to release internal fluid to the outside through millions of sweat glands and via heightened respiration. As the high temperature sweat evaporates off the skin, it takes heat with it, cooling the body down again.
That internal temperature regulatory system is vital to health, but losing too much fluid can also produce problems. High activity can cause a person to lose three quarts or more of fluid per hour. As the amount of fluid lost increases, performance decreases.
Excessive fluid loss strains the cardiovascular system as well, which can lead to dizziness, muscle cramps and even heat stroke, in extreme cases.
Professional guidelines recommend regular replacement of both water and electrolytes (sodium, potassium and others) by drinking a sports drink before, during and after a workout. The right amount will vary with body weight and type, tendency to sweat, external temperature and other variables, but here are some rough figures.
Drink about 18oz (0.53 liter) a couple of hours before beginning your workout, then another 10oz (0.3 liter) about 15 minutes before starting your warm-up. Drink at least 30oz (0.89 liter) every hour you work out, then – after a cool-down period of a few minutes – another 20oz (0.59 liter) after the workout.
Caffeine-containing drinks should be avoided when re-hydrating since they have a diuretic effect. Consuming alcohol, too, is a bad idea for at least a couple of hours after a strenuous workout. Apart from the high amount of calories most alcoholic drinks contain, the alcohol can disrupt the smooth rate of cool-down as the body temperature changes.
Beware of sports drinks that have high amounts of sugar. You don’t want to put back all those calories you worked hard to burn, and too much sugar can unbalance cardiovascular regulation after vigorous exercise. That means, go easy on both soft drinks and concentrated fruit juices. Even diet soft drinks have excessive carbon dioxide, which is less than ideal for best recovery.
Look for drinks that replace magnesium (~100 mg per liter), as well as sodium and potassium. Both sodium and potassium are essential elements for proper heart function. They help regulate cellular electrical activity.
Isotonic drinks are designed to closely match the body’s natural concentrations of needed minerals, vitamins and enzymes. That makes them easier to absorb and excellent replacement fluids.
Maintain overall health, avoid medical problems and maintain peak performance by proper fluid regulation.
Fitness-Flexibility Training
Flexibility training involves performing a series of exercises that help maximize range of motion and muscle stability. The benefits are improved blood flow in the muscles and lower risk of injury.
There are three basic types of stretching exercises that help accomplish these goals: static, dynamic and Isometric/PNF.
Static stretches are the most traditional type, encompassing the more or less standard ‘pull to maximum end point, hold for five or ten seconds, then release’ group of exercises.
Static stretches should form part of every 10 minute warm-up routine. Every major muscle group should be given a gentle pull, hold and relax. This helps improve the circulation and readies the muscles for more vigorous activity, while decreasing the risk of tears or tendon stretching.
Dynamic or ballistic stretches are more controversial, since they involve stretch with added momentum or even using weights. They are potentially harmful and that risk-factor is one of the major elements behind the controversy. At minimum, you should seek out a knowledgeable trainer before engaging in this form of flexibility training.
As one example, rest one knee on a ball and slowly rotate the ball away from the body, giving a very moderate bounce at the maximum point. Lunges, performed by moving one foot ahead, kneeling slightly with the back straight and bouncing gently, would be another.
PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) involves a combination of passive and isometric exercise. Apart from having a fancy technical name and associated acronym, PNF actually has several useful features that should motivate individuals to investigate its value.
Performed properly, under the guidance of an experienced fitness professional or devoted amateur, PNF can maximize range of movement and best prepare the body for more strenuous exercise.
Several exercises involve using a partner. The muscle group you want to work is stretched under tension, then contracted for several seconds, and your partner applies resistance to inhibit movement.
For example, stretch your arms out and slowly move them behind you, then contract the biceps, triceps and shoulders. Have the partner gently pull your hands together a little past the 180 degree mark as you attempt to pull your arms back to 180 degrees.
As another example, lie on your back on a comfortable surface. Raise one leg vertically and have your partner grab your foot. Your partner then presses the foot gently backward until you feel tension on the hamstring (the muscle on the rear of your thigh). You then contract the muscles as you attempt to move your leg back down, with your partner resisting the movement.
These examples are to serve only to give a general idea of the exercises. PNF exercises should only be attempted after you have received proper, hands-on training. Done incorrectly they can lead to muscle sprain or joint damage.
Whatever your workout routine, be sure to precede it by good flexibility exercises. That will maximize your performance during the more strenuous part of the total workout.
Fitness-Exercising During Pregnancy
Exercise throughout the entire nine months is healthy for most women – provided they exercise (pun intended) the proper caution.
Mild exercise, of types appropriate to the various stages, will help keep the circulatory system healthy, increase pelvic muscle tone and strength, and help to smooth out mood swings. Done right, you can lessen the severity of backaches, keep joints flexible and firm, and improve sleep.
Mild exercise helps release endorphins, which can help elevate mood. Proper strengthening and toning of the back, buttocks, and thighs helps improve posture and relieve backaches. Daily stretching keeps joints well-lubricated with synovial fluid. Moderate working out burns up some of that anxious energy, leading to more restful sleep.
Three exercises in particular are appropriate for most soon-to-be mothers: swimming, spinning and pelvic strengtheners.
Swimming is a great cardiovascular exercise and has the added benefit of easing the back and leg burden during later stages. Most women enjoy the (all too temporary) relief during those final months. Keeping the cardiovascular system active helps regulate the endocrine system and keeps muscle tissues full and joints flexible.
Swimming has the added benefit of working nearly all the muscles and joints in a low-impact way. Knees get a break from the higher stress of carrying additional weight and breathing exercises can be done while wading, in between laps.
Spinning, provided it isn’t done too strenuously, can be a terrific exercise up until the last two months or so. The cardiovascular benefits are similar to swimming and the legs as well as stomach and pelvic muscles can get a really good workout. That benefits fitness overall, while helping to keep legs in shape to prevent falls. It also helps two particular muscle groups that will be needed during delivery.
A 10-minute routine on a stationary bike is plenty, keeping in mind that you should stop at the first sign of bleeding, fluid loss, dizziness or intense pain.
‘Kegels’ are a commonly recommended exercise – and for good reason. They help develop those very specific muscles that aid in giving birth.
To find the right muscles to focus on, pretend you’re trying to halt urination in the middle of elimination. Squeeze those specific muscles for a few seconds, then relax. During the exercise, avoid tightening the legs or stomach. That will help isolate the right muscles you need to zero in on. Remember to continue to breathe normally, in and out slowly and regularly.
Before beginning or continuing any exercise routine once you know you are pregnant, be sure to have a long talk with your physician. Many of them are rushed, but be firm and get the answers you need in order to stay fit in a safe way.
Stop immediately any activity that produces heart palpitations, back pain or light-headedness. Don’t concern yourself with weight loss during pregnancy, just keep fit in order to maximize your overall health and mental well-being.
Fitness-Exercise to Control Diabetes
Many factors contribute to the onset of diabetes, including genetic predisposition and diet. But exercise can help reduce the odds of getting and the severity of this disease.
Diabetes comes in two types, Type I and Type II. In either case, the body has difficulty regulating the level of blood glucose. Glucose is the primary source of energy for the body’s activities.
One basic reason is the inability to produce the proper amount of insulin, a hormone that helps transport glucose to the cells. In Type I diabetes the body can’t produce adequate insulin, so the loss has to be made up from the outside, usually via injection. This is the more serious type and control of the condition requires obtaining medical advice.
In Type II diabetes, individuals produce insulin, but it’s less effective in performing its role as a transport aid. This is the type that is more likely to occur as we age. The kidneys become less efficient and we tend to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle. We sometimes worsen our odds by being more indulgent about food. The long term effects add up.
Type II can be controlled with diet and exercise and with careful self-monitoring under the care of a physician, the effects can be minimal.
Exercise helps increase insulin sensitivity. It also reduces body fat, which helps regulate the amount of glucose needed and used. Weight training helps by increasing the metabolic rate, reducing body fat. At the same time, it increases the use of glucose used by muscles and improves the ability of muscle tissue to store it. All those help achieve the preferred glucose level.
Get professional advice and start any new program slowly, particularly if you have not been active habitually. Pain from doing too much too soon is one of the leading factors that discourages people from continuing a program. Also, the body needs time to adjust to changes in hormone level, metabolic level and thus glucose and insulin levels.
Be sure to warm up for five to ten minutes at minimum. Easy stretches and low-impact, low heart rate exercise help get the muscles infused with blood and joints limber. Take care not to exercise when it is too hot. Heat stroke (from too high an internal temperature and lack of fluid) is a risk, and more so for those who are older.
Humidity levels are a factor to consider, as well. The body’s ability to regulate internal temperature is made less efficient when the moisture content of the air is high. The heat doesn’t travel out of the sweat and off the skin so readily. On hot and/or humid days, wear loose fitting clothing and reduce the time and vigor of your routine.
Walking is a great way to get started. Try to walk on grass rather than concrete or asphalt, but with good shoes you do either. An hour per day every day is best, but even 20 minutes three or four days per week will help.
Persistence is key. Reducing the odds of getting diabetes, or controlling it once you have it, require permanent lifestyle changes. But the benefits are not only the absence of a debilitating disease, but a healthy body and improved mood.
Fitness-Exercise Is Good For The Young
Individuals under 20 are naturally more flexible, have higher metabolic rates and more energy than those older. But they, too, need to exercise (in appropriate ways) to avoid injury and build strength and endurance, avoid obesity and stay fit.
Particularly today, when there are so many electronic alternatives, young people may exercise less than they should. It’s during the formative years that individuals lay the groundwork for what later become healthy or poor habits.
Kids will usually become quickly bored with routines designed for adults. But the activity doesn’t have to involve organized group sports, either. A gentle jog with an adult, a tennis game, swimming, golf, martial arts, bicycling, dancing, gymnastics and many other sports are enjoyable for the younger crowd.
Kids are usually sensitive to anything that appears inconsistent or hypocritical from adults. Be prepared to follow your own advice and exercise with them. That also helps parents share quality time with their kids outside the house and during activities that benefit both. Parents get the added benefit of monitoring to ensure that the kids are exercising in a safe and proper way.
Like any routine, if it produces pain – even the day after – the individual is less likely to continue. Keep it simple and build up the difficulty and length gradually. Kids are more flexible, but they too need to warm-up and gently stretch before engaging in vigorous exercise. A few minutes of static and dynamic stretching will help avoid injury.
Exercise routines should take into account the age group of the individual child.
Children from about 4-7 should focus primarily on developing basic physical skills, such as coordination and balance. These are the years when motor skills, eye-hand coordination and other things adults take for granted are still fluid. Children take to these activities naturally, as well. Jumping rope, hopscotch and other simple activities help guide the development of these skills.
From the age of 8 or so, exercises can become more vigorous in order to keep that active metabolism from turning food into fat. Here again, though, adults need to guide kids in order to build good habits and avoid injury. Weight machines are almost always a bad idea for pre-teens, for example. They’re risky and unnecessary.
Gymnastics, by contrast, helps build on those basic motor skills learned earlier while developing strength, balance and keeping the endocrine system active and healthy.
For teens, the field is wide open. They have the basic bone and muscle structure that gives them the potential for high performance activity in a wide variety of activities. But here, too, the possibility of injury remains for those who don’t get the proper guidance.
Teens are inclined to roughhousing and rebelliousness. Give them an outlet that directs all that energy and independence to the achievement of positive goals – fitness, endurance, high scores.
Fitness-Exercise and the Immune System
Few subjects in health or diet ever get put to a final rest. Present studies often contradict earlier ones, until no one knows what to think. One of the few areas that almost all serious studies seem to agree on is the relationship between exercise and the immune system.
No reputable researcher will claim that exercise will repair a weakened or diseased immune system. Nonetheless, a broad spectrum of studies confirm that moderate exercise can help sustain and strengthen it, even when the effects are indirect.
The role of exercise in helping to lower stress – and the subsequent beneficial effects on health – has been widely studied. Here the studies are less clear, contradicting one another in some details. But overall the conclusion is the same: moderate, regular exercise helps the immune system by moderating the effects of stress.
Most studies carried out over the last 30 years agree: a continual high level of stress has a number harmful effects on overall health. People who experience high stress get more colds, suffer more digestive tract problems and have more frequent bouts of fatigue. Part of the latter is indirect, since it tends to lead to lowered amounts of restful sleep.
Regular exercise helps relieve stress. It does so directly, by providing an outlet for, and consuming much of, the nervous energy produced by stress. It also helps indirectly by shifting one’s focus away from the external factors producing the stress.
Exercise can help the cardiovascular system, which in turn improves blood flow, carries away toxins from muscles and organs, and helps keep the kidneys and endocrine system working well. It helps remove germs and circulate antibodies.
All those promote a healthy immune system by lessening the body’s susceptibility to disease, while increasing the robustness of the immune system itself.
Exercising increases the body temperature slightly. This, as anyone who has suffered from a cold knows, is the body’s natural response to colds, flu and other diseases. The increased temperature helps kill the infecting organisms.
A study at the University of Colorado, Boulder suggests that moderate exercise helps prevent colds as well. It showed that individuals are less likely to get sick after stressful situations when they had engaged in a regular program of moderate exercise. Those that began exercise only on the same day as the stressor didn’t enjoy those benefits.
The study was carried out on rats, but one of the reasons those mammals are used is the similarity in some systems, and their responses, to humans.
Exercise programs, undertaken consistently and correctly, help improve body image – that’s one of most individuals primary goals in making the effort, after all. That improved body image often leads to higher levels of confidence and relaxation in social situations. That in turn helps reduce stress and enhance the immune system.
Whether the effects are direct or indirect, exercising can help you support and enhance your immune system. That leads directly to better overall health.
Fitness-Exercise After Surgery, For Women
Exercise after surgery can be part of recommended physical therapy, or a return to pre-operative routines. In either case, done properly, exercise will help create flexibility, improve balance – by strengthening muscles that help stabilize joints – and keep the cardiovascular and other systems functioning well.
When and how you can begin exercise routines after major surgery will vary with the type of treatment you had. Most physicians will recommend at least a week, sometimes 6-12 weeks, of recuperation before even attempting regular routines. Consult your physician.
Most people will want to perform some kind of toning exercises and probably induce some weight loss. Most surgery reduces the metabolic and activity level – leading to weight gain and flabbiness.
Be sure to keep well hydrated, no matter what form of exercise you perform. This is helpful in order to keep the endocrine system functioning properly and aids the process that keeps joints lubricated.
Take it slow and return to your pre-operative level gradually. Here are some specific exercises for two different types of surgery. Again, consult your physician first.
Breast Surgery
About a week after surgery, you’ll still be experiencing discomfort. But recovery will be aided by some simple arm exercises. Perform steady breathing during the following:
Lift the arm on the operative side and simulate hair brushing and eating. Do a few reps at most the first few times. Raise that same arm above the heart for an hour, two to three times per day in order to reduce swelling. With the arm raised, gradually open and close the hand, building up to clenching a tennis ball as the discomfort decreases. Alternately bend and straighten the elbow.
After a couple of weeks you may feel fit enough to perform the following exercise.
Hold a broom handle (with the broom cut off), in both hands with your palms up, arms outstretched. Lift above the head and hold for a few seconds, then lower the broom handle to the pelvis. Repeat several times.
Hysterectomy
In these exercises, you’ll work the abs, pelvic, and back muscles. As with any routine, be sure to get the advice of your doctor before beginning.
Lie on the floor, knees bent, hands behind your head. Press the small of the back gently into the floor, then more firmly. Don’t try to work ‘through the pain’.
Raise your head and shoulders slightly off the floor, paying attention to the contraction of the abs. Take care not to move the chin toward the chest. Then slowly lower the head and shoulders back to the floor. Repeat several times.
Lift the hips, hold for a few seconds, then lower them. Do 10 reps. Then, alternate with the abdominal exercises. Roll over onto the knees, making sure you have some knee pads or carpeting to soften the point of contact.
Slowly raise one arm and the alternate leg. Alternate. Right arm out, left leg out, then, left arm out, right leg out. Hold each for a second or two, switch and repeat 10 times.
Again, don’t try to exercise if you feel intense pain as distinguished from mild discomfort. Take it slow, building up strength over time.
