Striving4Zen

The amount of sweat doesn’t always determine the amount of calories you are burning. Sweat is simply the body’s way of regulating body temperature but it doesn’t determine if you are burning fat. (Example: you may be sweating profusely while you are in a sauna but it does not mean you are burning fat.)

Labels: Calories, exercise, Rate of Perceived Exertion, sweat, toxins

Women in their late 30s can do much to improve their chances of getting pregnant. The fertility odds are workable: About two-thirds of women ages 35 to 39 can become pregnant within a year. Given these odds, women can take a number of steps to improve their fertility. Some are simple common sense: Stop smoking; reduce or eliminate use of alcohol and caffeine; maintain an appropriate weight; reduce stress. Even moderate alcohol use—as few as five drinks a week—can impair fertility. Likewise, consuming more than two cups of caffeinated coffee a day has been associated with lowered conception and increased miscarriage.

Naturopath Bonnie Nedrow, ND, LM, who teaches at Bastyr University near Seattle, encourages her midlife patients to focus on what they can control. "We are looking for optimal health, which is more than functional health," she says. "A woman's body will wait to make a baby until things are optimal." Nedrow gives each patient a hormone work-up, checking levels of progesterone, estrogen, thyroid hormones, and others. Then she advises them about cleansing the liver, which processes the majority of the body's hormones; balancing the diet; stabilizing menstrual cycles; and reducing both the woman's and her partner's stress levels.

A stable, predictable menstrual cycle is an important indicator of good reproductive health. "Many women have a long history of taking birth control pills," says Jana Nalbandian, ND, a Bastyr University colleague of Nedrow's. "When a woman decides she wants to get pregnant, her system is used to being regulated by hormones introduced into, rather than released by, the body. For certain women, it can take six months to a year for the body to regulate on its own."

A woman's weight also affects the regularity and effectiveness of her cycles. According to the Mayo Clinic, body fat levels that are 10 percent to 15 percent above or below normal can throw off a woman's reproductive cycles. Being overweight can mean estrogen overload. "We live in an estrogen-dominant world," says Nalbandian, pointing to the hormones used in meat- and dairy-products production, as well as the "estrogenic effect" of some pesticides. Because of these excess hormones, even women who aren't overweight may be at risk for estrogen overload and resulting fertility problems, Nedrow says.

Both doctors encourage their patients to avoid processed and sugar-rich foods and to replace them with organic, hormone-free, and pesticide-free foods. Nalbandian recommends eating beets, leafy greens, artichokes, and carrots to cleanse the liver and remove excess estrogen from the system. Nedrow suggests a daily serving of four ounces of fish, which is rich in essential fatty acids, to aid the digestive system. "Our grandmothers were right about cod liver oil," she says.

Women who are underweight also are at risk for menstrual irregularity and infertility. Women who adhere to intense exercise regimes share some of these risks. Strict vegetarians may experience fertility problems if they don't get enough vitamin B12, zinc, iron, and folic acid in their diets.

Luckily, most of these problems can be resolved through changes in nutrition. "If you are a fairly healthy 35-year-old woman with a healthy reproductive system," says Nalbandian, "you should be able to improve your chances of becoming pregnant simply through diet and lifestyle choices."

Additionally, Nalbandian advises using herbs to support the natural reproductive process, such as chaste tree berry (Vitex agnus castus) for regulating cycles, and herbal teas, such as raspberry leaf (Rubus idaeus), to tone the uterus. To move bile through the liver, she recommends dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale), a gentle, nontoxic cleanser. But because many herbs can contribute to miscarriage, once a woman becomes pregnant, Nalbandian warns, she must stop taking all herbal preparations until she consults her doctor.

Acupuncture may also be effective. Earlier this year, German researchers at the Christian Lauritzen Institute announced that acupuncture-treated subjects increased their success rate for in vitro fertilization by nearly 50 percent (Fertility and Sterility, 2002, vol. 77, no. 4). By relaxing the uterus, they theorized, acupuncture helps the uterine lining become more receptive to an embryo.

Full article

Labels: exercise, fertility, healthy diet, leafy greens, liver, pregnancy

You've just finished a tough workout. You're hot and sweaty so you reach for ... celery?

It's long been known that water-rich fruits and vegetables can contribute to your hydration needs. But recent research shows that beyond contributing to hydration, some fruits and vegetables may hydrate your body twice as effectively as a glass of water.

Water is cool, refreshing and calorie-free, but certain types of produce have a leg up on H2O. Why? Because they provide nutrients like mineral salts, amino acids and vitamins as well as hydration.

When exercising, your body can lose electrolytes through sweat. Replenishing lost electrolytes is the whole premise behind sports drinks. But certain fresh fruits and veggies can replenish your body, too -- without all the artificial colors and flavors.

Some top picks for hydrating foods:

• Watermelon. Rich in vitamin C, beta carotene and lycopene, the appropriately named watermelon is about 92 percent water.
• Cucumber. Cucumbers deliver a high water content as well as calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium.
• Celery. Crunchy celery is actually 96 percent water. It also provides sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, iron and zinc.

But don't ditch your water bottle just yet. It's great to incorporate healthful hydrating foods into your diet -- especially during the warmer months. But a good, old-fashioned glass of water has its place, too. And, let's face it, while a stalk of celery might be more effective for hydration, it just doesn't taste as refreshing as an icy cold glass of water.

Source

Labels: celery, cucumber, exercise, fruits and veggies, hydration, water, watermelon

There are at least six compelling reasons to add intervals to your workout, but don't go skimpy on the recovery portion. It's very important to the whole process.

Coach Jenny, over at Runner's World, likens the recovery period of intervals to sleep. You need sleep to repair your body and rest up for the next day, and you need a chill-out period for your body after pushing it through an intense interval so you can push yourself through another one.

Jenny explains it like this:

. . . the payoff comes when you invest in a proper recovery and run at the target fast pace (and not any faster), your body will adapt and you'll soon be capable of not only running faster with less effort, but the time it takes to recover will decrease as well.

When beginning interval training, use the recovery period to allow your heart rate, circulation, and breathing time to recover so you can attack the upcoming intervals with the same energy. If this means you need to walk between sets, that is fine. But as you repeat your interval training, you will notice that you don't need to run as slowly to recover, nor do you need the same amount of time. Just remember, this change doesn't happen overnight — it's a process.

Love it! Thanks Fit!

Labels: exercise, Holistic Health, interval training, running

Tai chi is often described as “meditation in motion,” but it might well be called “medication in motion.” There is growing evidence that this mind-body practice, which originated in China as a martial art, has value in treating or preventing many health problems.

Tai chi is easy to learn and you can get started even if you aren’t in top shape or the best of health. In this low-impact, slow-motion exercise, you go without pausing through a series of motions named for animal actions or martial arts moves. As you move, you breathe deeply and naturally, focusing your attention — as in some kinds of meditation — on your bodily sensations.

Tai chi differs from other types of exercise in several ways. The movements are never forced, the muscles are relaxed rather than tensed, the joints are not fully extended or bent, and connective tissues are not stretched. Tai chi can be easily adapted for anyone, from the most fit to people confined to wheelchairs or recovering from surgery.

Source

Labels: exercise, holistic healing, meditation, muscles, tai chi

Running is really tough on your feet and the muscles in your lower legs work very hard and absorb most of the shock. Ignore them and you can end up with cramped, achy, throbbing, or even numb feet, shins, or calves from running. The pain can be both bothersome and even prevent your from getting in a good workout.

Do your legs a favor, before you slip on your socks and sneakers, give your feet and lower legs a good rub down. Spend a few minutes on each leg's foot, shin, and calf. Knead your fingertips and the heel of your palm firmly into your muscles to bring blood to those areas, which will warm the muscles up. If the muscles are warmed up, they'll be less likely to ache. Plus, warming up your feet can help prevent injuries while exercising.

Source

Labels: exercise, how-to, living holistically, massage, running

From June through August, Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers will be open on Sundays from 1PM to 3:50PM. The cost is only $10, including skate rental.

After about 45 minutes, a 125-pound woman will torch close to 320 calories. (Calculate according to your own weight here.) If you're steady on your skates, bend your knees (à la a squat) to help tone your legs.

Sky Rink, Pier 61, 20^th St. and West Side

Great Tip!

Labels: activities, exercise, fun, ice skating, NYC, staying cool

Interval training is short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by longer periods of lighter exercise. We called wind sprints in high school, or what the Swedes call fartlek or “speed play.” While interval training was designed for maximizing performance in professional athletes, the average person can greatly benefit from it as well.

If you're over 30 years old, you should have a complete physical exam before starting an interval training program.

Benefits of Interval Training

• Improves overall fitness level or the ability to utilize oxygen. The more oxygen we use, the more calories we burn
• Increases post-exercise fat burning, and calorie expenditure even at rest or sleep
• Lets you exercise for less time while achieving greater fitness, weight loss, and brain health benefits.
• Naturally increases levels of brain-function-enhancing chemicals in your body.
• Improves insulin function, which promotes fat burning, muscle building and optimal brain function.

Source

Labels: exercise, fartlek, interval training

You've done a killer workout, and now you're hungry. You eye the Gatorade, but realize you should probably eat a proper meal, and wonder what exactly you should do both to fill up, and to be good to your body so it'll be good to you tomorrow.

Enter a team of sadistic University of Texas researchers. In their just-released study on "recovery" foods, these crazy fools made their test subjects work out for two hours, and then they promptly biopsied each of their subjects' vastus lateralis and fed them either a fancy power drink or old fashioned cereal with milk, yogurt and fruit. After two hours, they took another biopsy to determine how the old muscles were healing.

The results: Give it up for old fashioned cereal and milk. Turns out what your muscles want is a combination of protein and carbs, and cereal and milk, even chocolate milk, do a good job of delivering these. In the end, the Texans say that the down home recovery food are your most cost effective "whole food option."

Great tip!

Labels: cereal, exercise, Gatorade

When it comes to working out, all hours of the day are not created equal.

Check it out:

MORNING:
Best for: Yoga. Your ability to perform is lowest in the morning; better to keep your exercise less intense in the a.m. hours.
Going long: When your core temperature gets high, fatigue sets in. Your inner thermometer is lowest now, so you will take longer to overheat.

AFTERNOON:
Best for: Smashing the competition.
Time for the smackdown: Some moves requiring accuracy, like your tennis serve, are most precise around 2 p.m., when it's easiest to get energized and your focus is sharpest.
EVENING:
Best for: Getting strong. Your core body temp is highest in the early evening, so your muscles will warm up more easily and you can work harder.
Scoring: For the same reason, this is also when you have the most power to make explosive movements, such as those used in soccer or volleyball.

Source

Labels: exercise, Holistic Health, muscles, tennis, working out, yoga

Women who exercise beat breast cancer far more often than those that don't. Sort of common sense, but the numbers from a new study (via Reuters) are surprising:

Among 1,231 women with breast cancer who were followed for a minimum of 8.3 years, those who obtained about 4 hours or more of weekly moderate-intensity recreational activity over their lifetime had a 44 percent lower risk of death from breast cancer

The underlining is ours, to emphasize that what matters, it seems, are workout habits long-established. As Dr. Christine Friendenreich told Reuters: "Being physically active before a breast cancer diagnosis can improve survival after breast cancer...." And here's something else, for those with loose definitions of workout: "Occupational activity and physical household work such as gardening, housework, and do-it-yourself home repair did not confer benefits similar to those from lifetime exercise and sports activities."

Source

Labels: breast cancer, exercise, study

WebMD got the basics of Chi Running from Danny Dreyer, an ultra-marathon runner and author of the book Chi Running: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running.

Focus Your Mind: Your mind instructs your muscles to start working or relaxing. Your mind orchestrates the perfect run, starting out slowly, finding the perfect tempo, he adds. Your mind takes in the beauty of your surroundings so that you finish relaxed, and full of energy.

When you begin running, your mind must also push against the body's natural inertia. "Your body is like a dumb animal," Dreyer tells WebMD. "It will stay at rest until acted upon by an outside force like your mind. You have to train it."

Sense Your Body: Pay close attention to what your body is doing. Practice listening to any little nuances that you can detect. Feel your foot hitting the ground. Feel your posture.

Is your body moving in the way you intended it to? Is your movement easier or more difficult? Are there subtle changes you should make? As you begin running, you must develop body sense. Then you will become your own best teacher and coach, says Dreyer.

Breathe to Tap Into Chi: The more efficiently your body can take in oxygen, the easier running will feel, Dreyer explains. If you're not breathing deeply into your lower lungs, you're not getting as much air as you could -- a common problem when people begin running.

To belly-breathe, stand or sit and place your hands over your belly button. Now purse your lips as if you're trying to blow a candle out, and exhale, emptying your lungs by pulling in your belly button toward your spine. When you've blown out as much air as you can, relax your belly and the inhale will occur naturally. Practice breathing out for three steps, breathing in for two steps. Try matching your breath with your cadence.

Relax Your Muscles: Tight muscles can't get the oxygen they need. The cure is easy: Just relax! Don't take yourself so seriously. Drop your shoulders. Smile. Relax your glutes. Float like a butterfly... lighten up, says Dreyer.

When muscles are loose and relaxed, the oxygen carried in your blood can enter the muscle cells much more easily than if your muscles are tense. Keep telling your muscles, "Softer is better!"

Practice Good Posture: Your aligned body has a centerline that runs from head to foot. It is the "steel" that supports your body, which allows your arms and legs to relax. Running with your posture out of alignment creates tension and fatigue.

Stand in front of a mirror. Straighten your upper body. Then look down at your feet. If you can see your shoelaces, it's a good bet that your dots are connected in a straight line - perfect. Memorize how this feels. Practice it.

Start Slow: When you begin to run, take it gradually, says Dreyer. "Practice your posture. Really memorize what it feels like to have good posture. Feel yourself standing in straight line. Practice alternating do on one foot, then switch. Shift weight back and forth. Feel yourself keeping posture line straight while on one foot a time."

Then, it's time for a little jog. Connect with your posture. Feel your feet down at the bottom of your posture line. Start to jog slowly. When one foot hits the ground, feel it hitting at bottom of your posture line. Practice moving from one foot to the next, taking baby steps. Speed is not a factor here," Dreyer says. "That's the very last thing you should think about. You're working on form -- holding it little bit longer each time. Stretch that over a block, two blocks, three blocks. That's building distance, until you can hold your form over distance."

Thanks Fit Sugar!

Labels: belly breathing, chi flow, chi running, Danny Dreyer, exercise, posture, running, WebMD

Find out which of the city's courts is your best match.

• Starting April 4th, Central Park Tennis Center is open for business. Beginners can get a crash course with a semi-private lesson that costs just $30 per person for two people. 94th St. near West Dr., (212) 280-0205, MAP

• Night owls can now play after hours at Hudson River Park. The free courts are open until 12:30AM and operate on a first come, first served basis. (Time limit is one hour of play when there's a wait.) Pier 40 near Canal St., (212) 627-2020, MAP

• Diehard tennis devotees can hit the courts on rainy days. Atop Grand Central is the Trump-owned indoor space. Courts come at a price: $170 for one hour, but you'll get to enjoy one of the city's hidden gems. 15 Vanderbilt Ave., (212) 687-3841, MAP

Thanks Vital Juice!

Labels: exercise, NYC, tennis

They say it best:

Heartfelt Statement of Purpose....

A lot of us spend quite a lot of time working out. We run and swim, dance and kickbox. We lift weights and meditate and stand on our heads. We soak and steam ourselves, and drink coconut water. And it's good, and we wish we could do more. Sometimes we cry in yoga class, or punch the air at the end of a run, or smile quietly in dance class and vow to come back.

Social Workout is dedicated to celebrating those moments, and to helping more people have more of them. We worry that the deskbound, sleep deprived, over-served American body has it kind of rough, and -- outside of certain parts of California and New Mexico -- remains under-appreciated and under-expressed.

Hello "social" workout. We can't actually wake you up at 6:30am (yet), but we can guide you to an emergency spinning class on Saturday afternoon, and pass along intel about life saving personal trainers and/or surf-yoga retreats in Costa Rica. We might even be able to find you a workout buddy, or bring you together with the cutie on the elliptical. We can definitely help you download a workout podcast to your iPhone (for use on while traveling), and we plan to experiment recreationally on your behalf at the Vitamin Shoppe.

Whatever we do, we aim to do it online and with feeling, and to be nothing like the deathly, formulaic national "fitness" media. How many ways are there really to six pack abs?

SOCIAL WORKOUT

Labels: blog, cool new site, exercise, fitness, Social Workout

Muscle tissue is more dense than fat tissue, so it takes up less space. When you lose fat and gain muscle your body measurements will change, like waist circumference, even though your weight doesn't.

Muscle also requires more energy and therefore burns more calories than fat. Meaning the more muscle mass you have the faster your metabolism, which is great. If you're looking to lose weight, I think you should alter your goal to change your body composition. Keep on exercising and counting calories, since that is how you effectively lose weight. Make sure to keep your caloric intake above 1200 calories, because if you go under your body goes into famine mode and holds onto fat. Measure your progress by how your clothes feel and remember, the slower you lose weight — two pounds maximum a week — the higher the chances you will keep it off.

Thanks Fit!

Labels: exercise, Fat, metabolism, muscle vs. fat, muscles

Although the evidence is strong that dairy-product consumption doesn't prevent osteoporosis, simply eliminating dairy products does not ensure strong bones.

It pays to put some thought into keeping your bones healthy. Studies have shown that the following factors are helpful in building and maintaining strong bones:

• Getting plenty of exercise. Studies have concluded that physical exercise is the key to building strong bones (it's more important than any other factor). For example, a study published in the British Medical Journal that followed 1,400 men and women over a 15-year period found that exercise may be the best protection against hip fractures and that "reduced intake of dietary calcium does not seem to be a risk factor." And Penn State University researchers found that bone density is significantly affected by how much exercise girls get during their teen years, when 40 to 50 percent of their skeletal mass is formed.

• Getting enough vitamin D. If you don't spend any time in the sun (about 15 minutes on the face and arms each day is enough), be sure to take a supplement or eat fortified foods.

• Eliminating animal protein. For a variety of reasons, animal protein causes severe bone deterioration.

• Limiting salt intake. Sodium leaches calcium out of the bones.

• Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. They contain vitamin C, which is essential for building collagen, the underlying bonematrix.

• Not smoking. Studies have shown that women who smoke one pack of cigarettes a day have 5 to 10 percent less bone density at menopause than nonsmokers.

Source

Labels: bones, Dairy, exercise, fruits and veggies, healthy diet, milk, osteoporosis, strong bones, Vitamin D

Exercise at a glance

In a nutshell, exercise can:

• reduce your chances of getting heart disease. For those who already have heart disease, exercise reduces the chances of dying from it.
• lower your risk of developing hypertension and diabetes.
• reduce your risk for colon cancer and some other forms of cancer.
• improve your mood and mental functioning.
• keep your bones strong and joints healthy.
• help you maintain a healthy weight.
• help you maintain your independence well into your later years.

Labels: exercise, Health, healthy living, staying healthy

Researchers have recently found that the higher a person's body mass index, the more likely she is to develop breast cancer. Obese women are also more likely to live shorter lives and suffer a recurrence of their cancer, and may also get a more deadly form of breast cancer (inflammatory breast cancer).

On the flip side, a separate study has found that vigorous exercise (running, fast jogging, aerobics, bicycling on hills, etc.) can reduce the risk of breast cancer by about 30% in normal-weight women.

So the moral of the story is to exercise and try and keep your body weight down as much as possible. The ways in which exercise helps your health far exceeds the annoyance of putting on your gym shoes and pounding through an hour at the gym. It's important that we keep reminding ourselves of this from time to time.

Thanks FitSugar!

Labels: breast cancer, exercise, healthy living, Obesity, prevention

If you’re like most of us, you were taught the importance of warm-up exercises back in grade school, and you’ve likely continued with pretty much the same routine ever since. Researchers now believe that some of the more entrenched elements of many athletes’ warm-up regimens are not only a waste of time but actually bad for you.

The old presumption that holding a stretch for 20 to 30 seconds — known as static stretching — primes muscles for a workout is dead wrong. It actually weakens them. In a recent study conducted at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, athletes generated less force from their leg muscles after static stretching than they did after not stretching at all. Other studies have found that this stretching decreases muscle strength by as much as 30%. Also, stretching one leg’s muscles can reduce strength in the other leg as well, probably because the central nervous system rebels against the movements.

“There is a neuromuscular inhibitory response to static stretching,” says Malachy McHugh, the director of research at the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma at Lenox Hill Hospital. The straining muscle becomes less responsive and stays weakened for up to 30 minutes after stretching, which is not how an athlete wants to begin a workout.

The right warm-up should do two things: loosen muscles and tendons to increase the range of motion of various joints, and literally warm up the body. When you’re at rest, there’s less blood flow to muscles and tendons, and they stiffen. “You need to make tissues and tendons compliant before beginning exercise,” Knudson says.

A well-designed warm-up starts by increasing body heat and blood flow. Warm muscles and dilated blood vessels pull oxygen from the bloodstream more efficiently and use stored muscle fuel more effectively. They also withstand loads better.

To raise the body’s temperature, a warm-up must begin with aerobic activity, usually light jogging. Most coaches and athletes have known this for years. That’s why tennis players run around the court four or five times before a match and marathoners stride in front of the starting line. But many athletes do this portion of their warm-up too intensely or too early. And a number of recent studies have demonstrated that an overly vigorous aerobic warm-up simply makes you tired. Most experts advise starting your warm-up jog at about 40% of your maximum heart rate (a very easy pace) and progressing to about 60%. The aerobic warm-up should take only 5 to 10 minutes, with a 5-minute recovery. (Sprinters require longer warm-ups, because the loads exerted on their muscles are so extreme.) Then it’s time for the most important and unorthodox part of a proper warm-up regimen, the Spider-Man and its counterparts.

“TOWARDS THE end of my playing career, in about 2000, I started seeing some of the other guys out on the court doing these strange things before a match and thinking, What in the world is that?” says Mark Merklein, 36, once a highly ranked tennis player and now a national coach for the United States Tennis Association. The players were lunging, kicking and occasionally skittering, spider-like, along the sidelines. They were early adopters of a new approach to stretching.

While static stretching is still almost universally practiced among amateur athletes — watch your child’s soccer team next weekend — it doesn’t improve the muscles’ ability to perform with more power, physiologists now agree. “You may feel as if you’re able to stretch farther after holding a stretch for 30 seconds,” McHugh says, “so you think you’ve increased that muscle’s readiness.” But typically you’ve increased only your mental tolerance for the discomfort of the stretch. The muscle is actually weaker.

Stretching muscles while moving, on the other hand, a technique known as dynamic stretching or dynamic warm-ups, increases power, flexibility and range of motion. Muscles in motion don’t experience that insidious inhibitory response. They instead get what McHugh calls “an excitatory message” to perform.

Dynamic stretching is at its most effective when it’s relatively sports specific. “You need range-of-motion exercises that activate all of the joints and connective tissue that will be needed for the task ahead,” says Terrence Mahon, a coach with Team Running USA, home to the Olympic marathoners Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor. For runners, an ideal warm-up might include squats, lunges and “form drills” like kicking your buttocks with your heels. Athletes who need to move rapidly in different directions, like soccer, tennis or basketball players, should do dynamic stretches that involve many parts of the body. “Spider-Man” is a particularly good drill: drop onto all fours and crawl the width of the court, as if you were climbing a wall.

Controversy remains about the extent to which dynamic warm-ups prevent injury. But studies have been increasingly clear that static stretching alone before exercise does little or nothing to help. The largest study has been done on military recruits; results showed that an almost equal number of subjects developed lower-limb injuries (shin splints, stress fractures, etc.), regardless of whether they had performed static stretches before training sessions. A major study published earlier this year by the Centers for Disease Control, on the other hand, found that knee injuries were cut nearly in half among female collegiate soccer players who followed a warm-up program that included both dynamic warm-up exercises and static stretching. (For a sample routine, visit www.aclprevent.com/pepprogram.htm.)

You’re Getting Warmer: The Best Dynamic Stretches

These exercises- as taught by the United States Tennis Association’s player-development program – are good for many athletes, even golfers. Do them immediately after your aerobic warm-up and as soon as possible before your workout.

STRAIGHT-LEG MARCH

(for the hamstrings and gluteus muscles)

Kick one leg straight out in front of you, with your toes flexed toward the sky. Reach your opposite arm to the upturned toes. Drop the leg and repeat with the opposite limbs. Continue the sequence for at least six or seven repetitions.

SCORPION

(for the lower back, hip flexors and gluteus muscles)

Lie on your stomach, with your arms outstretched and your feet flexed so that only your toes are touching the ground. Kick your right foot toward your left arm, then kick your leftfoot toward your right arm. Since this is an advanced exercise, begin slowly, and repeat up to 12 times.

HANDWALKS

(for the shoulders, core muscles, and hamstrings)

Stand straight, with your legs together. Bend over until both hands are flat on the ground. “Walk” with your hands forward until your back is almost extended. Keeping your legs straight, inch your feet toward your hands, then walk your hands forward again. Repeat five or six times. G.R.

Full article in NY Times

Labels: atheletes, exercise, muscles, stretching, study, warm-up

We all know sitting at a desk all day doesn't burn up the calories. There are simple ways to exercise at work, like disappearing into a restroom stall to do some squats, but what about getting some cardio? To work out while on the job, you might have contemplated a treadmill desk, but the size of both the price tag and the desk itself prevents you from asking your boss to spring for one.

Here's another, much cheaper option — an under your desk, wheel-less, mini exercise bike. You can stow this model, made by by Stamina ($49), under your desk and pedal with your feet without your co-workers knowing. Or you can place it on top of your desk to conspicuously work your upper body. You can adjust the tension to make it easier or more difficult, and it also comes with an electronic monitor to time your workouts. There are even protectors on the legs to prevent it from slipping on the floor. What a great way to burn some calories while working or watching TV.

Thanks Fitsugar!

Labels: exercise, great idea, healthy living, innovative, Stamina