Guest Contributor

4 Enjoyable Exercises To Improve Your Cardiovascular Health

Whether you want to be proactive about your heart health, or you have doctor’s orders to change your lifestyle, there are ways we can all improve our heart health.

Some people have struggled with hypertension at ages as young as the twenties. While genetics certainly contribute, people can take charge of their heart health before it gets out of hand. With heart disease being the number one leading cause of death in the world, we should all take our cardiovascular health seriously.

There is no one size fits all to fitness, and for those beginning it is important to start slow.

If you have been sedentary for a while and are ready to make a change to better your health, it probably would not be a good idea to start by running a marathon first. Besides, that would be a very discouraging start. Instead, it would be best to start slowly. Of course, consult your doctor before beginning any exercise routine. They can help to determine your specific needs in a workout regimen. In addition, a doctor can check your blood pressure and cholesterol levels to get an idea of your overall heart health. If they discover increased blood pressure and higher levels of bad cholesterol (LDL), further testing may be done to analyze your heart health.

For example, a doctor may decide to run an electrocardiogram (ECG). ECG Interpretation can help to determine any problems with your heart such as arrhythmia, in which the heart beats irregularly. If a doctor determines that you are at increased risk for heart disease (e.g. high blood pressure), they may recommend exercise to help decrease that risk.

Here are a few exercises that can help you start improving your cardiovascular health.

Walking

Several several studies have shown that walking improves cardiovascular health by lowering blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart attack. This is a simple way to get into working out, especially for beginners. Walking is a non-intimidating way for anybody to start improving their heart health. For some extra motivation, find a walking partner so that you can encourage one another in your fitness journeys.

Swimming

Summer is a great time to cool off by jumping in the pool to go for a swim. Although if you’re up for it, there are plenty of year-round gyms where you can take a swim anytime of the year.

Swimming is a wonderful low-impact activity if you want to avoid being harsh on your joints. In addition, swimming is an awesome cardio workout that can burn up to 500 calories in an hour. This is a great activity that doesn’t have to feel like exercise.

Racquetball

If you’re the more competitive type, then maybe taking up racquetball to help get in some cardio is right for you. This sport is an awesome way to burn calories, improve your heart health, and lean into your competitive side.

Racquetball involves coordination, flexibility, and strategy. Several health clubs will lend you some equipment for the day to pick up a game and try out this sport. If you find that racquetball is for you, there are several leagues that you could get involved in as a recreational hobby. Not only would this be a great way to improve your heart health, but being involved in a racquetball league can foster friendships. This way, even when there’s not an official game to play, you could still pick up a game with a racquetball buddy.

Biking

Riding your bike is a great way to get outside and enjoy the weather. If you live close to your place of work, it could also be a way to save on gas money while getting in some exercise.

Biking is a low-impact activity that strengthens your heart and improves your lungs. If you want to keep cycling year-round, stationary bikes are a great option if you’re not up for biking in cold weather.

Here are just a few options to get started, so try them out and see what exercises you enjoy.

Staying active is a great way to prevent heart disease. For more information on preventing heart disease and the factors which contribute to heart disease, check out this New York Times article that explains why it’s important to stay physically active.

Racquetball: A Fun Sport That’s Also A Great Workout!

By Guest Contributor 3 Comments

Racquetball is an interesting sport, more so because it has the strange honor of both being old enough to be established, but young enough that it benefits from at least the beginnings of modern game design theory.

It is also a great way to stay in shape, and fun besides. But where do you begin if you want to start playing racquetball regularly?

Benefits of Racquetball

racquetball for fitness

First of all, you might be wondering what the benefits of playing racquetball are. Being a one on one sport that requires strategy, the social benefits are immense. But from a purely health stand point, racquetball is an excellent calorie burner. In a twenty minute game, you can expect to burn off 600 to 800 calories. It also greatly builds on your co-ordination, flexibility, and cardiovascular health.

To begin playing, you need a few pieces of equipment. The primary piece you need to have is a racquetball court, of course. These can be a bit hard to come by since they share little in common with a tennis court and other sports, but any dedicated sporting or racquetball institution should have one. Our local health club has one that you can use, however, it does mean you’ll have to cough up the normal membership fees in order to use the courts.

The other pieces are a bit more easy to collect, involving a racquetball, a racquetball racquet, and racquetball eye guards. You can play without the eye guards, but due to the nature of the sport it’s extremely inadvisable. Most health clubs will also require you wear eye protection for liability reasons anyway. You may also want to invest in a glove, as rather like golf your grip on your racquet is extremely important and can be enhanced.

You can find most of these pieces of equipment in any good sporting goods store, although some may require a more rigorous search with equipment experts like Yonex U.S.A. who specialize in racquetball supplies. I was able to find some affordable equipment at extremely affordable prices. You can fully equip yourself for less than $100, less if you try.

Racquetball Strategy

Strategy in racquetball can be quite nuanced. The floor, the walls, and even the ceiling can be legal targets for the opponent to bounce the racquetball off of depending on the timing, so a ball can come out of nowhere. As such, the best strategy is to take up the middle court to cover as much ground as possible. This can of course backfire, however, depending on your opponent’s skill level and the strategy they employ. Be open to changing tactics.

Alternatively, if you can get to know your opponents style, you can take a more effective approach and work to block or respond to his usual choice of hits. It’s all about knowing your own strengths, and finding out your opponents weaknesses and attacking accordingly.

Racquetball is a great social sport that involves a lot of exercise, strategy and fun. It can be daunting to get into, but if you do and enjoy it, you will have a life long passion.

Have you played racquetballl, and did you enjoy it? Tell us your thoughts!

How To Burn Fat While Keeping the Muscle

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For many people it’s difficult putting down the fork. The problems with obesity in America are at near epidemic levels and the healthcare industry is having a hard time educating and motivating the general public on the most effective way to combat this issue. It seems that more people too often take drastic measures to lose weight and often end up doing damage to their body. Often times the damage done isn’t apparent until later on in life. Crash diets can be really bad for the body and it’s important to know how to diet and lose weight while not losing muscle mass.

Muscle mass doesn’t just mean the tissue on your arms and legs. A lot of people don’t realize that the heart is a muscle as well and losing too much muscle mass and affect the strength of your heart and spell long-term effects on your heart and your health. There are many tips and exercises that will help you lose weight while keeping on the muscle lbs.

Stay Hydrated

Around seventy percent of the body is made up of water and it’s an essential component to living. People often see liquid deprivation as a positive in losing weight. This is a big mistake and common misconception. When you get dehydrated, you’ll not only be shrinking fat but muscle as well. Keeping hydrated will allow essential nutrients to your body while shuttling waste material out. It’s also the mechanism that allows the brain to differentiate between your body’s need for food and its need for water. It also ensures that when you eat, it’s because you’re hungry and not because you’re thirsty.

High Protein Diets

Many studies have concluded that when a person goes on a high soy protein diet that it increases the body’s ability to burn fat while maintaining muscle. The essential part of this diet was the low fat intake. Protein is what allows the body’s ability to build muscle but some high protein foods are also high in fat. Soy is not one of these. That’s why increasing your intake will allow you to reduce your waistline in short order and not sacrifice your body’s health.

Remember, just because you’re losing weight doesn’t mean that it’s a good thing. You may be throwing away important tissue that’s essential to your health. These are two good tips to getting into shape the right way. Not every method of weight loss mean a positive and sometimes, even if the number on the scale is going down, you’re actually doing more harm to your body than if you were to just stay heavier.

The Dumbest And Weirdest Diets

By Guest Contributor 1 Comment

The weight loss industry is one of the largest in the world. It caters to people, mainly in the West, who are desperate and willing to do almost anything to shed a couple of pounds. It’s the same in every language, whether the word is salud, gesundheit, or health, everyone’s after the same results: losing weight.

America leads the world in obesity rates, which has much to do with our increasingly sedentary lifestyle and propensity to drive everywhere. This has created a niche market and every few months a new fad diet pops up and promises the world. It’s usually a parrot of “total results with little or no effort”. For some reason people will believe anything and, as P.T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” It’s so very important to recognize predatory diets that play to our collective ego.

Fad or craze diets can appear like a great idea and some may even deliver real results at first but it’s also important to recognize how harmful some of them are. At any given time there’s something on the market touting it’s revolutionary technique that you’d be crazy not to try. For example,

The HCG Diet: This is a hormone that your body produces when a woman is pregnant. People are taking this hormone for 26 days while eating only 500 to 700 calories a day. You’re also not allowed to exercise whatsoever. This is one of the most extreme diets out there right now and, though you will loose weight, you’re likely to do some serious damage to your body. It should be enough of a red flag when the diet tells you to take hormone injections and you’re encouraged to not exercise. The body isn’t meant to sustain that level of change without having side affects.

There are other diets out there that are just as, if not more, harmful to the body but this hasn’t slowed down their popularity.

The Cleansing Diet and the Paleo Diet are another two perfect examples of a bad idea put into action. Everyone remembers the Atkins craze that swept up the nation several years back. It was popular for a while and then people learned that it was terrible for your body.

Back in 2009 CNN reported on a history of fad diets and some of the are bizarre to say the least. Some of the examples include the parasite diet that was hugely popular in the early 20th century. The nicotine diet was another plan that was devised by cigarette companies in order to sell more product There’s no limit to what people will believe and these are just a couple examples.

The past is strewn with examples just like the ones above. People are tricked, or convince themselves, that somehow there’s a new approach to an old idea. Nothing can supplant the efficacy of good diet and exercise and there’s nothing that’s better and more natural for your body than eating healthy and partaking in physical activity.

How To Create A Diet To Coincide With Fitness Goals

By Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Proper diet and exercise go hand in hand when trying to lose weight. However, I’ve noticed that for many dieters, creating a diet that fits their exercise regimen isn’t always an easy task. The U.S. is well known for giving in to fad diets and fast food, both of which don’t always yield the highest weight loss. To properly attain your fitness goals, you must plan accordingly just as you would for any goal, and there are a few easy steps that can help you create a diet to optimize your goals.

Determine Your Caloric Maintenance

First and foremost, when creating a diet to suit your fitness goals, you must determine your caloric maintenance. When I say “caloric maintenance,” I’m referring to the amount of calories your body needs to maintain your current weight. Calculating your current caloric maintenance will be the key to determining the amount of calories you may consume throughout your diet.

Calculate Caloric Goals

After determining how many calories you will need to maintain you weight, you need to decide if you would like to lose, maintain, or gain weight. If you choose to lose weight you will need to subtract around 500 calories from your caloric maintenance so that you can lose between 1-2 pounds weekly. If you wish to gain weight, you will need to add an additional 500 calories to your caloric maintenance amount. Always remember to factor in the intensity of your exercise regimen as well with calculating your caloric goals. Remember, eating too little or too much while exercising can greatly impact your fitness goals.

Create a Weekly Menu

By creating a weekly menu, you are making sure that your diet adheres to its caloric needs. When you don’t have a structured menu, you risk grabbing meals conveniently at local fast food restaurants or grabbing other high carbohydrate snacks simply to satiate your hunger. Each week I create an exciting menu for myself that will fit my caloric goals to optimize my fitness training.

Drink Plenty of Water

I believe one of the best ways to create a diet that optimizes your exercise regimen is by drinking plenty of water. Many dieters don’t drink enough water while exercising which can dehydrate the body and limit muscle growth and weight loss. Whole house water filter systems and other water purifying systems are a great way to promote drinking water as these systems provide clean, fresh water out of the tap at all times ensuring that you get your recommended 8 glasses a day.

What other tips can you give to folks looking to create a diet that fits their fitness goals?

Put You And Your Dog Through Fitness Boot Camp

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I‘m always on the lookout for workout routines that are a bit unique, or that don’t quite fit the mold. There’s a new fitness program that was recently introduced in select locations called Dog Boot camp. It’s an exercise program for dogs and their owners. As a dog owner myself, I love the idea!

The program is designed to where both dog and dog owner become active participants, allowing people, along with their canine workout partner, to get into shape while having the added benefit of teaching dogs valuable obedience training that will be a huge help on the home front.

Jill Bowers, the brainchild of doggy boot camp, launched the program along with the help of her sister Jamie. This veteran dog trainer has now become an expert fitness trainer that is helping people all over get into shape. Fitness is the key but with her program and with her many years of experience with dogs, she has crafted this unique way of exercise through adding in invaluable lessons for dog obedience in conjunction with an effective workout.

How It Works

This program is based in Los Angeles and there, during consultations, the owner is taught a series of commands that are designed to maintain a strict power and command structure. In this program, it’s important for the owner to maintain power and control over their dog during the entire process. This is essential for the dog obedience training as well as making for a smooth workout. The last thing a person wants is to end up spending most of their workout time with a dog that won’t listen. It can be chaotic and messy and nobody wants that.

So far the program has been hugely successful and the people who have applied these methods, devised by Jill Bowers, have found an increase of energy, loss of weight, better fitness and health, and last but not least, a healthy and obedient dog. Jill writes:

Bootcamp was naturally the next step for us because of the growing number of obese dogs and humans in America. Because the owner and dog are dependent on each other, we know how important good health is for both. Just like basic obedience is necessary to ensure a peaceful home environment. A tired dog is a good dog and a trained dog is an even better dog, so get your shoes on, grab a leash, and come play with us!

Bowers explains that it doesn’t matter what breed or how high-strung the animal. This workout promises results to those who work the program right. Dog health is just as important as human health and everyone wants to get into shape. This may be just the time to do it. Summer’s right around the corner and there’s tons of information and other similar programs available in your area that will help you and your dog get fit.

The Science Behind My Love For Running

By Guest Contributor 2 Comments

This is a guest post by Joe over at joetherunner.com. His site is about how running can change your life; make you a better father, husband, and friend. You can check out his site at the URL above, or by subscribing to his feed here.

My love of running started off like many long lasting and fruitful relationships; rather difficultly. You see I haven’t always had the fondness for the sport that I do now. In fact at first we hated each other. There was simply no mutual respect. I used running as a way to lose some much needed weight and running used me as a moving symbol of how not to run.

However, for one reason or another I kept at it. I did lose some weight but the best outcome of our new relationship was the respect I gained for the wonderful aspects of the sport that were hidden beneath the surface. After years of using running it has become my favorite tool to deal with grief, purge stress, stay lean, maintain a positive attitude, and boost my confidence; and there seems to be a genuine scientific explanation for it.

The Science Behind The Love Of Running

The most popular explanation for my near dependency on running stems from a runner’s favorite little compound – the endorphin. Produced by the pituitary gland endorphins are proven to produce a natural feeling of well being and pain relief, and even in name have a chemical relationship to the morphine family. And though they are proven to have very powerful effects on the human body, there has been some speculation over the notion that running produces enough of them to have a measurable effect.

However, in 2008 the New York Times reported on a study done by researchers in Germany. The published findings were that running does in fact produce a surge of endorphins in the brain. Backing up the study were leading scientists, who were not directly involved, also accepting the researcher findings.

I am glad the debate seems to be satiated, but to be honest I wish they would have come to me first. I don’t know if my personal experience would have been sufficient to warrant publication in neurological journals but I would have let them study the life changing benefits running has had on me, for a fee of course.

Here is what I have discovered. First, running has the ability to do all the things you have heard. It can alter your mood in the most positive ways and has lasting effects. I also attribute it to helping me establish healthy sleep patterns, not something I see mentioned in many discussions. Also, the harder you push yourself the more endorphins are released. This was proven by the same study referenced above and backed up by yours truly.

Not Only Running Can Give You The Runner’s High

It should be mentioned that running is not the only exercise that produces these benefits. It just happens to be the only one I know how to do well. My love of running came when I embraced it for its mental as well as physical benefits. Any fitness quest comes with it fair share of challenges; embracing exercise on multiple levels delivers much needed motivation for the bumps in the journey.

Have you experienced the release of endorphins, and the runner’s high? Tell us why you love running in the comments!