Home Workouts For Busy People

Can Stretching Help Relieve Muscle Pain?

2011-10-01T03:59:00.000-07:00

Editorial Comment: Here is an article that gives some handy tips on using stretching techniques to help relieve muscle pain. These tips focus mainly on muscle pain associated with a lack of muscle use. If you lead a mainly sedentary life style then these tips can help relieve the pain and allow to get on with life. I also recommend using a good topical pain cream to assist in this process.

My favorite pain creams are:

The Benefits of Stretching - Relieve Muscle Pain

By Dianne M. Buxton

There are many benefits of stretching, but many exercisers choose to learn it specifically in order to relieve muscle pain. Repetitive movements at work, at home, can cause an over exerted condition in the muscles, if the muscles are not otherwise strengthened, stretched, and relaxed properly. Easy and correct stretches done after work, or a workout, can help keep the muscles in good form, and prevent aches, pains and injuries. If you have little time or energy after a day's work, you can add an exercise or two to your routines, bit by bit.

One benefit of stretching is coaxing out the muscle tension that is caused by too little movement. Sitting at a desk all day with few breaks is probably the most common. Working at a computer involves tiny repetitive motions, yet overall stillness of the body.

Sometimes movement deprivation is made worse by poor posture, which leads to shallow breathing and decreased circulation in the legs and arms.

A poor office chair can be replaced, cushioned, placed at a different level, however you need to modify it.

There are easy and not-to-noticeable stretches you can learn that stretch the sides of the neck. This is an easy tilt of the head sideways, keeping the shoulders level. You can add resistance to this movement in a specific way, to increase the stretch. Then, turning the head a little to the side, then tilting it, creates a delicious stretch down the neck into the upper back area.

It is easiest to learn this watching a proper demonstration, and that is what I would recommend.

Another easy exercise to do at your desk, is stretching the forearms and wrists. Running a small rubber ball around the palms of your hands, and fingers relieves tension in all those tiny hard-working typing and mouse muscles.

You will need to get away from your desk (and you should stand up and move around every hour if possible), and find a small space to do side bends, and front of the chest stretches. You can use your office chair for hamstring and hip area stretches. It is difficult to describe these in detail in this format, and I encourage you to visit a site that offers you a visual learning aid to relieve muscle pain and get the benefits of stretching.

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To Lose Belly Fat, Do I Need to Give up Dairy Sugar?

2009-07-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

To lose belly fat, do I need to give up dairy sugar? NO! Dairy products are extremely healthy and altering or processing them to remove sugars is a bad thing. I have attached an article by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist that talks about saturated fats but in it he also talks about dairy products and their health benefits. I especially liked the point made about the Masai tribe of Africa and their diet of raw whole milk. Our bodies are made to function best when eating raw whole foods. So regarding the question, "to lose belly fat, do I need to give up dairy sugar", I think this article goes a long way in making a case against.

Good luck in your fat loss efforts and I hope this article helps. Enjoy!

Healthy Saturated Fats? Yes, You Heard Me Right!
By Mike Geary

I’ll preface this article by saying that it will help if you have an open mind and accept that some of these facts are a slap in the face to politically correct nutrition in this day and age where fats are admonished by many doctors, health "experts", the mass media, etc. To start, eating an adequate supply of healthy dietary fats is vitally important to your overall health. Fats are one of the main components in all of the cell membranes throughout your entire body. If you eat enough healthy natural fats, your cellular processes will proceed normally. On the other hand, if you eat man-made, heavily processed, chemically altered fats (damaged fats) that are found in most processed foods, your cellular function will be impaired as these damaged fats become part of your cell membranes, the body will have to work harder to operate correctly, and degenerative diseases can develop. In addition, healthy dietary fats are essential for optimal hormone production and balance within the body and are therefore essential for the muscle building and fat burning processes. Other important functions that dietary fats play in a healthy body are aiding vitamin and mineral utilization, enzyme regulation, energy, etc.

I cringe every time I hear so called "health experts" recommend restriction of dietary fat, claiming that a low-fat diet is the key to good health, weight loss, and prevention of degenerative diseases. Restriction of any one macronutrient (protein, carbs, or fat) in your diet works against what your body needs and can only lead to problems. All three basic macronutrients serve important functions for a lean, healthy, and disease-free body. As Dr. Mary Enig, Ph.D, and one of the leading fats and lipids researchers in the world, notes in several of her books and articles, there is very little true scientific evidence supporting the assertion that a high fat diet is bad for us. For example, if these so called "health experts" that admonish fat are correct, and a low-fat diet is the solution to good health, then why did traditional Pacific Islanders who typically obtained 2/3 to 3/4 of their total daily calories from fat (mostly from coconut fat), remain virtually free from heart disease, obesity, and other modern degenerative diseases (that is, until Western dietary influences invaded)? Also, why did traditional Eskimo populations, consuming up to 75% of their total caloric intake from fat (mostly from whale blubber, seal fat, organ meats, and cold water fish), display superior health and longevity without heart disease or obesity? Why did members of the Masai tribe in Africa remain free from degenerative diseases and maintain low body fat percentages on diets consisting of large quantities of raw whole milk, blood, and meat? What about the Samburu tribe of Africa, which eats an average of 5 times the quantity of dietary fat (mostly from raw whole milk and meat) as overweight, disease-ridden Americans, yet Samburu members are lean, healthy, and free of degenerative diseases? What about traditional Mediterranean diets, which are known to be very high in fat (sometimes up to 70% fat), and are also well known to be very healthy?

These examples of high fat diets and the associated excellent health of traditional populations around the world go on and on, yet it seems that many doctors, nutritionists, and government agencies still ignore these facts and continue to promote a diet that restricts fat intake. Well, the problem is that the good fats (the natural unprocessed health promoting fats) have gotten mistakenly lumped together in nutritional advice with the deadly processed fats and oils that make up a large percentage of almost all processed food that is sold at your local grocery store, restaurant, deli, fast food joint, etc. These deadly processed fats are literally everywhere and almost impossible to avoid unless you know what to look for and make smart choices in what you feed your body with. Take note that I’m not recommending following a super high fat diet. Active individuals that exercise on a regular basis certainly also need adequate supplies of healthy carbohydrates for energy and muscle glycogen replenishment as well as good sources of protein for muscle repair. The above examples of the high fat diets of traditional populations and their corresponding excellent health were simply to prove the point that you don’t need to be afraid of dietary fats as long as you make healthy natural choices and stay within your daily caloric range to maintain or lose weight (depending on your goals). Following is a list of some of the healthiest fatty foods (some will surprise you!) as well as some of the deadliest fatty foods to try to avoid at all costs:

The Healthy Fatty Food Choices:

• Coconut fat: Coconut fat is approximately 92% saturated fat, yet surprisingly to most people, is considered a very healthy natural fat. The health benefits of coconut fat lie in its composition of approximately 65% medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). Specifically, about 50% of coconut fat is a MCT called lauric acid, which has very potent anti-microbial properties helping to enhance the immune system. Also, MCTs are more easily utilized for immediate energy instead of being stored as body fat. Coconut oil is also an excellent cooking oil for stir-frying, etc. since saturated fats are much more stable and do not oxidize like polyunsaturated oils when exposed to heat and light, which creates damaging free radicals. The best sources of healthy coconut fat are organic coconut milk, virgin coconut oil, or fresh coconut.

• Extra virgin olive oil: Olive oil is approximately 71% monounsaturated, 16% saturated, and 13% polyunsaturated. Choose “extra virgin” olive oil, which comes from the first pressing of the olives and has higher quantities of antioxidants. Unlike most other oils on supermarket shelves, extra virgin olive oil is not extracted with the use of harmful industrial solvents and is one of your healthiest choices for liquid oils. Try making your own salad dressing by mixing a small amount of olive oil with vinegar. This is healthier than most store bought salad dressings, which are usually made with highly processed and refined (chemically damaged) soybean oil extracted with industrial solvents.

• Dark, bittersweet chocolate (>70% cocoa): The cocoa bean is a very concentrated source of antioxidants and responsible for part of the health benefit of dark chocolate. The fat portion of the cocoa bean (cocoa butter) is a healthy natural fat, composed of approximately 59% saturated fat (mostly healthy stearic acid), 38% monounsaturated fat, and 3% polyunsaturated fat. I’ll limit the description of healthy chocolate to ONLY dark bittersweet chocolate with >70% cocoa content. Most milk chocolates are only about 30% cocoa, and even most dark chocolates are only about 55% cocoa, leaving the remainder of those products composed of high amounts of sugar, milk fat, corn sweeteners, etc. Look for a quality dark chocolate that lists its cocoa content between 70%-80%. A dark chocolate with cocoa content in this range will contain mostly cocoa and very little sugar. Keep in mind that although dark chocolate can be a healthy treat, it is still calorie dense, so keeping it to just a square or two is a good idea.

• Avocados or guacamole: The fat in avocados (depending on where they’re grown) is approximately 60% monounsaturated, 25% saturated, and 15% polyunsaturated. Avocados are a very healthy natural food that provides many nutrients, fiber, and healthful fats, while adding a rich flavor to any meal. Try sliced avocado on sandwiches or in salads or use guacamole in wraps, sandwiches, or quesadillas.

• High fat fish such as wild salmon, sardines, mackerel, herring, trout, etc.: Just about any fish or seafood are good sources of natural omega-3 polyunsaturated fats, but the higher fat fish listed above are the best sources of omega-3’s. Due to the radical switch to a higher proportion of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats like soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, etc. in our food supply during the middle of the 20th century, the average western diet is currently way too high in omega-6’s compared to omega-3’s, which wreaks havoc in your body. This is where good omega-3 sources like high fat fish, walnuts, and flax seeds can help bring you back to a better ratio of omega-6/omega-3.

• Nuts (any and all - walnuts, almonds, peanuts, cashews, macadamias, etc.): Nuts are great sources of healthy unprocessed fats as well as minerals and other trace nutrients. Macadamias, almonds, and cashews are great sources of monounsaturated fats, while walnuts are a good source of unprocessed polyunsaturated fats (including omega-3’s). Try to avoid nuts that are cooked in oil. Instead, choose raw or dry roasted nuts.

• Seeds (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds): All of these seeds are great sources of natural unprocessed healthy fats. In particular, flax seeds have received a lot of attention lately due to their high omega-3 content. However, keep in mind that omega-3 polyunsaturated fats are highly reactive to heat and light, and prone to oxidation and free radical production, so freshly ground flax seed is the only way to go. Instead of using the store bought ground flax seed, you can buy whole flax seed and use one of those miniature coffee grinders to grind your own flax seed. Try grinding fresh flax seed into your yogurt, cereal, or even your salad. If you’re using a flax oil, make sure it’s a cold-pressed oil in a light-proof refrigerated container, and use it up within a few weeks to prevent it from going rancid. NEVER cook with flax oil!

• The fat in organically raised, free-range animals: This is where most people have been misinformed by the mass media. Animal fat is inherently good for us, that is, if it came from a healthy animal. Human beings have thrived on animal fats for thousands of years. The problem lies in the fact that most mass produced animal products today do not come from healthy animals. They come from animals given loads of antibiotics and fattened up with hormones and fed un-natural feed. The solution is to choose organically raised, free-range meats, eggs, and dairy. At this time, the price is still a little higher, but it is worth it, and as demand grows, the prices will come down.

The Deadly Fatty Foods:

• Hydrogenated oils (trans fats): These are industrially produced chemically altered oils subjected to extremely high pressure and temperature, with added industrial solvents such as hexane for extraction, and have a metal catalyst added to promote the artificial hydrogenation, followed by bleaching and deodorizing agents…..and somehow the FDA still allows this crap to pass as food. These oils aren’t even worthy of your lawnmower, much less your body! They’ve been linked to obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and more. Even small quantities have been shown in studies to be dangerous. If you care about your health, check the ingredients of everything you buy, and if you see partially hydrogenated oils of any kind, margarine, or shortening, protect yourself and your family by choosing something else. The FDA has mandated that all food manufacturers have to show the quantity of trans fat on all labels by January 2006.

• Refined oils: Even if the oils are not hydrogenated, most oils on your supermarket shelves are refined, even most of the so called “healthy” canola oils. Even most refined oils still undergo the high temperature, high pressure, solvent extraction, bleaching, and deodorizing processes. Anything labeled vegetable oil, soybean oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, safflower oil, and even many canola oils have been damaged by this refining process. This damages the natural structure of the fats, destroys natural antioxidants, creates free radicals, and produces a generally unhealthy product. Take note that the explosion of heart disease in the middle of the 20th century coincides quite nicely with the rapid increase in the use of hydrogenated and refined oils in the food supply at that time.

• Anything deep fried: including tortilla chips, potato chips, French fries, donuts, fried chicken, chicken nuggets, etc. All of this crap doesn’t even pass as real food in my opinion!

• Homogenized milk fat - Milk fat is a very healthy fat in its natural raw state. Traditional populations around the world thrived in perfect health while consuming huge quantities of raw, non-pasteurized, non-homogenized, full fat dairy products. Once again, food processing ruins a good thing by pasteurizing and homogenizing milk fat, rendering it potentially dangerous inside the human body. Unfortunately, you will find it almost impossible to find raw milk in the US unless you personally know a farmer. Check out realmilk.com for more info on the benefits of raw milk and to find out if it’s available near you. As an alternative, cultured dairy products like yogurt have at least had beneficial microorganisms added back to them making them better for you. Realistically, since you probably won’t find raw milk, sticking to skim milk is the best option. If you use butter for cooking, cultured organic butter is the best option.

I hope this article has shed some light on the truth about dietary fats and made you realize their importance in a healthy diet. Visit my website below to find more free fitness articles and bonuses for stopping by.

Visit http://truthaboutabs.com/Training-and-Nutrition-Articles.html to receive your own personalized metabolic rate calculator as well as 4 of my secret hard-body workout routines - both FREE, with no purchase necessary.

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Cardio Workouts At Home

2008-12-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

Good Cardio Workouts you can do at home can take many different forms. Consider some different methods to very your cardio workout routine and make them more effective. Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist and Certified Personal Trainer, has put together some great variations in the article below. Give it a read and see what you think!

Cardio Workouts At Home - Discover a More Effective Way To Train for Fat Loss and Heart Health!

Cardio Enthusiasts - Discover a More Effective Training Method for Fat Loss and Heart Health!

By Mike Geary

It is common to hear fitness professionals and medical doctors prescribe low to moderate intensity aerobic training (cardio) to people who are trying to prevent heart disease or lose weight. Most often, the recommendations constitute something along the lines of "perform 30-60 minutes of steady pace cardio 3-5 times per week maintaining your heart rate at a moderate level". Before you just give in to this popular belief and become the "hamster on the wheel" doing endless hours of boring cardio, I'd like you to consider some recent scientific research that indicates that steady pace endurance cardio work may not be all it's cracked up to be.

First, realize that our bodies are designed to perform physical activity in bursts of exertion followed by recovery, or stop-and-go movement instead of steady state movement. Recent research is suggesting that physical variability is one of the most important aspects to consider in your training. This tendency can be seen throughout nature as all animals demonstrate stop-and-go motion instead of steady state motion. In fact, humans are the only creatures in nature that attempt to do "endurance" type physical activities. Most competitive sports (with the exception of endurance running or cycling) are also based on stop-and-go movement or short bursts of exertion followed by recovery. To examine an example of the different effects of endurance or steady state training versus stop-and-go training, consider the physiques of marathoners versus sprinters. Most sprinters carry a physique that is very lean, muscular, and powerful looking, while the typical dedicated marathoner is more often emaciated and sickly looking. Now which would you rather resemble?

Another factor to keep in mind regarding the benefits of physical variability is the internal effect of various forms of exercise on our body. Scientists have known that excessive steady state endurance exercise (different for everyone, but sometimes defined as greater than 60 minutes per session most days of the week) increases free radical production in the body, can degenerate joints, reduces immune function, causes muscle wasting, and can cause a pro-inflammatory response in the body that can potentially lead to chronic diseases. On the other hand, highly variable cyclic training has been linked to increased anti-oxidant production in the body and an anti-inflammatory response, a more efficient nitric oxide response (which can encourage a healthy cardiovascular system), and an increased metabolic rate response (which can assist with weight loss).

Furthermore, steady state endurance training only trains the heart at one specific heart rate range and doesn't train it to respond to various every day stressors. On the other hand, highly variable cyclic training teaches the heart to respond to and recover from a variety of demands making it less likely to fail when you need it. Think about it this way -- Exercise that trains your heart to rapidly increase and rapidly decrease will make your heart more capable of handling everyday stress. Stress can cause your blood pressure and heart rate to increase rapidly. Steady state jogging and other endurance training does not train your heart to be able to handle rapid changes in heart rate or blood pressure.

The important aspect of variable cyclic training that makes it superior over steady state cardio is the recovery period in between bursts of exertion. That recovery period is crucially important for the body to elicit a healthy response to an exercise stimulus. Another benefit of variable cyclic training is that it is much more interesting and has lower drop-out rates than long boring steady state cardio programs.

To summarize, some of the potential benefits of variable cyclic training compared to steady state endurance training are as follows: improved cardiovascular health, increased anti-oxidant protection, improved immune function, reduced risk for joint wear and tear, reduced muscle wasting, increased residual metabolic rate following exercise, and an increased capacity for the heart to handle life's every day stressors. There are many ways you can reap the benefits of stop-and-go or variable intensity physical training. One of the absolute most effective forms of variable intensity training to really reduce body fat and bring out serious muscular definition is performing wind sprints.

Most competitive sports such as football, basketball, racquetball, tennis, hockey, etc. are naturally comprised of highly variable stop-and-go motion. In addition, weight training naturally incorporates short bursts of exertion followed by recovery periods. High intensity interval training (varying between high and low intensity intervals on any piece of cardio equipment) is yet another training method that utilizes exertion and recovery periods. For example, an interval training session on the treadmill could look something like this:

Warm-up for 3-4 minutes at a fast walk or light jog;

Interval 1 - run at 8.0 mi/hr for 1 minute;

Interval 2 - walk at 4.0 mi/hr for 1.5 minutes;

Interval 3 - run at 10.0 mi/hr for 1 minute;

Interval 4 - walk at 4.0 mi/hr for 1.5 minutes;

Repeat those 4 intervals 4 times for a very intense 20-minute workout.

The take-away message from this article is to try to train your body at highly variable intensity rates for the majority of your workouts to get the most beneficial response in terms of heart health, fat loss, and muscle maintenance.

Visit How to Get Six Pack Abs to receive your own personalized metabolic rate calculator as well as a free training & nutrition bonus e-report that will change the way you think about fat loss and abs.

Michael Geary is a Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer, and author of the internationally best-selling book, The Truth about Six Pack Abs, with readers in over 150 countries. For those looking for fast but effective workouts, see out Home Dumbbell & Bodyweight 4-Minute Workouts

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Body Building Exercise Mishaps That Can Cause Back Pain

2008-12-04T12:45:00.000-08:00

“Bodybuilding Sins” That Cause Back Pain and Missed Workouts

by Jesse Cannone, CFT, CPRS and Steve Hefferon, CMT

Part I of II

It’s one thing for someone who sits at a computer all day and never
exercises to have back pain, but for a bodybuilder, someone who
spends hours and hours each week pouring everything they’ve got into
building muscle, it should be criminal!

The reason we say this is because, if you are going to spend so much
time, money, and energy trying to build the “perfect body”, you have
to make sure that you not only look good, but also feel good…

We’ve identified what we call “Bodybuilding Sins” that lead to back
pain, sciatic pain, and other injuries… read em and take action now
if you are serious about bodybuilding and are fed up with your back
pain.

Because there is so much information to share with you, we’ve broken
it down into a series of 5 articles, each covering a different
component of how back pain affects bodybuilders.

Here’s a breakdown of the articles to look for:

1. Article #1 - Choosing The WRONG Exercises (below)
2. Article #2 - Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum
Results
3. Article #3 - Targeted Stretching
4. Article #4 - Targeted Exercises
5. Article #5 - Rest, Recovery, and Injury Prevention

Article #1 - Choosing the WRONG Exercises

Get ready, this is gonna hurt! The exercises most bodybuilders
focus on the most, are the ones that cause the most problems…
hopefully, you’re different J

But before we share with you what those exercise are, let’s
talk real quickly about what bodybuilding is…

The goal of bodybuilding isn’t to get as big as you can, or at
least to us it isn’t and shouldn’t be, but to build a balanced
body that is as strong as possible in every way. For example,
while being freakishly big may get people’s attention, it
serves you no purpose at all…

while on the other hand, what if you were not only big, but
also extremely strong and powerful, lightning fast, flexible,
and agile enough to kick ass if needed?

So many bodybuilders build massive amounts of muscle yet are
so unbelievably weak and inflexible… for example, we know a
guy who can bench press over 350 lbs but can’t do a measly
50 push-ups!

The point is, the exercises you choose and how you perform
them not only determine how big, strong, and flexible you are,
but also affect how your body functions and whether or not you
suffer from aches, pains, and injuries like back pain and
sciatic pain.

Ok, here they are… the exercises that create the most
problems and are most likely to lead to back pain:

1. Bench Press

2. Leg Extension

So, any of your favorites on this list?

While there are others, these are the two that cause the most
damage.

There are several reasons why these exercises made our list of
the “worst bodybuilding exercises”. First, both of them target
areas that already tend to get worked a lot in everyday life
and often times are overdeveloped…

and by focusing so much on these exercises you end up creating
muscle imbalances, or worsening existing muscle imbalances,
which pull your bones and joints out of their normal position…

and this leads to uneven pressure and wear and tear on your
muscle, ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints and will sooner
or later lead a break down or injury.

For example, chronic overuse of the bench press, coupled with
little or no exercises targeting the upper back, leads to an
overdevelopment of the chest and a lack of strength and
development in the upper back…

This all too common combination leads to what we call “Turtle
Back”. You know what we’re talking about, when the shoulders
are pulled so far forward, lats are as wide as barn, and from
behind, their back looks like a giant sea turtle shell!

This “Turtle Back” posture can create neck, upper back, and
shoulder pain and injuries faster than you can pop an Advil!

Plus, how many times during your day are you forced to lie on
your back and push up a bar loaded with weights? There are so
many better exercises for chest development that not only
stimulate more muscle, but also build more usable strength.

Now let’s talk about the fabulous thigh builder, the leg
extension…

Not only does it place an unbelievable amount of strain on the
knee joint, but it also will quickly overdevelop the quads,
which are already getting far more work than their counterpart,
the hamstrings.

An imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings, which is
also extremely common in bodybuilders, is a key contributor to
back pain. This imbalance is easily identifiable by what people
often call “Bubble Butt” or “Ghetto Booty”.

So hopefully you can see how important it is to choose your
exercises wisely. We strongly recommend you cut out these
exercises, or at least cut back on using them and add in targeted
exercises for the opposing muscle groups and targeted stretches
for those tight, overdeveloped muscles.

The key to eliminating back pain, or any other ache, pain or
injury for that matter, is to bring your body closer to balance…

What good is muscle if you can’t use it? How many more workouts
are you going to miss because of back, neck, or shoulder pain?
How much bigger and stronger could you be if back pain and other
injuries weren’t ruining your training?

Just imagine how bad things will be 10, 20, or 30 years from now
if you don’t make changes to your training now… but don’t take
our word for it, ask some of the older bodybuilders who are
paying the price now... you can spot them easily at the gym
because they limp around trying to find something they CAN do.

Click here for Part II of "Bodybuilding Sins":

“Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum Results”

What Is BMI - Body Mass Index

2008-11-30T18:47:00.000-08:00

Body Mass Index Definition

Body Mass Index Definition
By Elizabeth Morgan

The body mass index (BMI) is the relationship between the height and weight of an individual, which directly correlates to the body fat contained within the body and can be an indicator of the health risks the person faces. It is measured as BMI = body weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared.

The BMI percentile is another helpful statistic. It compares the person’s BMI to thousands of other people in same reference sample, so as to enable a comparative study of that person’s health with respect to the rest of the population within permissible constraints. For example, if a boy is 8 years old and his BMI falls at the 60th percentile, that means that 40% of 8-year old boys have a higher BMI and 60% have a lower BMI than that child.

The body mass index is a useful statistic that determines the degree of healthiness one enjoys. The BMI assesses your weight in relation to your height. A healthy BMI for an adult generally falls between 18.5 and 25. If the BMI is more than 25, the individuals are probably classified as overweight, and if it is 30 or higher, one is considered obese, and 40 or higher, extremely obese.

Being obese puts tremendous strain on one’s heart and can lead to serious health problems like diabetes, heart disease, high-blood pressure, sleep apnea, varicose veins, and other chronic conditions. More than 350,000 lives are lost each year in the US alone due to such health complications.

It is worth noting that the BMI cannot be the sole dictator of one’s health condition, and health professionals usually have an arsenal of tools to help aid them in health- related consulting, prognosis, and diagnosis.

Body Mass Index provides detailed information about body mass index, body mass index definition, body mass index for teens, and more. Body Mass Index is affiliated with Creatine Monohydrate.

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Quick Workouts For Busy People

2008-11-28T05:13:00.000-08:00

Killer Outdoor Workouts in 20 Minutes or Less

Finding good outdoor workouts that combine back fat exercises, belly fat exercises and ab exercises can be difficult. Certified Fitness Trainer Mike Geary has some good ideas in his article I have posted bellow.

Killer Outdoor Workouts in 20 Minutes or Less
By Mike Geary

I've got just a quick tip today to help get you started on your summer beach body. With summer right around the corner here in the US, the weather is starting to warm up and people are flocking outside after being cooped up all winter.

Now that it's getting nice outside, why not take some of your workouts outdoors, instead of the stuffy old gym? Your workouts also don't have to be long drawn-out 2-hour events in order to get a great metabolism boosting, muscle sculpting workout.

Here's an idea for an outdoor workout that literally takes me 10-20 minutes, but has me drenched in sweat and pumped up by the end...

There's a little playground and a softball field at the end of my road. So on a nice day, if I decide I just want to get a real quick outdoor workout in, I run over to the field, spend a couple minutes limbering up, and then... depending on how I feel, do about 10-20 minutes of the following exercises with almost no rest in between:

-50, 75, or 100-yard wind sprints

-hill sprints (if you have a hill nearby)

-pushup variations

-walking lunge variations

-bodyweight squat variations

-box jump, squat jump, or lunge jump variations

-pullups on the playground monkey bars

-mountain climbers on ground

Sometimes I'll rotate through all of these exercises and sometimes I'll just pick a couple of them and just keep alternating. Whatever I choose, I keep the rest periods very short (10-30 seconds at most) so that the intensity stays as high as possible. This really maximizes the fat burning hormonal response and metabolism boosting response you get from these workouts, given the brief duration of the workout.

Believe me, if you do this at a high speed clip, you'll get a killer workout in as little as 10-20 minutes, and then you can get back home and get on with your life.

Even if you're not in super shape right now, you can just take it at a little lower intensity to ease yourself into it. It's worth it! Working out in the outdoors and breathing in the fresh air definitely has a stimulating effect, and some studies I've seen have indicated that you possibly burn more calories exercising outdoors compared to indoors. So give it a try!

Visit http://truthaboutabs.com/freenewsletter.html to receive a free copy of the innovative ebook, Training & Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body, as well as your own free personalized metabolic rate calculator.

Michael Geary is a nationally dual certified personal trainer, and author of the internationally-selling The Truth about Six Pack Abs ©2004-2006. More Lean-Body training and nutrition tips can be found at my blog at http://truthaboutabs.blogspot.com/.

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Things You should know about belly fat loss

2008-11-06T05:44:00.000-08:00

Before you try to lose belly fat, there are a few things you should be aware of...

Everyone seems to be looking for that One magic ab workout that will help them lose belly fat quickly. They all have the same idea that ab workouts alone will be the key to their fat loss problem. Everyone has at least some belly fat and losing it can be very difficult.

It is important that you take action now to lose belly fat as soon as possible.

The health risks associated with belly fat are many and serious. The amount of abdominal fat that you carry is a good indicator of your risk of heart disease. Visceral or omental fat can cause increased cholesterol which raises the risk of a heart attack or stroke. It can also trigger an increase in triglycerides that can raise the risk of damage to the pancreas.

And now for the good news...

The good news is that belly fat can be lost fairly quickly with the right kind of strategy that isn't only focused on the abs. The problem isn't that ab workouts don't help. In fact, Ab workouts will tone the muscles very quickly. However, if you want to lose belly fat, You need to think in terms of your whole body. Belly fat is basically just stored energy. Your body stores fat first in your belly and then spreads it out to other parts such as your back or butt. Why? Because your body will work to maintain a good center of balance and that's the key to knowing why it's so hard to get rid of. Your body must start storing fat in the central core region because without good balance you will not be able to move properly. Imagine trying to stand up with a 20 pound weight on one of your arms.

Losing fat, therefore, will work just the opposite of gaining fat. You will begin to lose fat in the outer regions first and the belly will always be the last fat to disappear.

To Lose Belly Fat as quickly as possible you should focus on a whole body workout. Working the more muscle groups in the body will cause a greater metabolic increase and fat burning response from your body. The best workouts will integrate cardiovascular, resistance (weight) training, back fat exercises and abdominal workouts into one well rounded training program. A good workout can be done quickly. Just 20 to 30 minutes a day can show you impressive results.

You should also combine your exercise program with a healthy, balanced, nutritious diet. I'm not talking about fasting or calorie restriction here. I'm talking about eating the right kinds of food at proper interval to feed your bodies needs and help it burn fat. Eating smarter and more naturally will automatically filter out all the junk you've been storing in your trunk speeding up your weight loss.

Lose Belly Fat Fast With These Important Fat Loss Principles

2008-10-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

2 Vital Secrets to Lose Belly Fat Fast

By Mike Geary

Do you struggle to lose belly fat? I bet you're thinking that you've tried every technique in the world to try to lose your stubborn belly fat, but it just never seems to budge... right? I'm sure you see TONS of commercials and ads making all kinds of miracle claims that you can lose your belly fat overnight with their magic pill or wildly-hyped snake-oil supplement. How about all of the bogus infomercial gadgets out there claiming you can reduce your belly fat in a matter of days just by strapping some worthless "ab-belt" around your waist, or sizzle away the stomach fat by using their patented "ab-roller-rocker" do-hicky.

Come on now! I hope you've been insulted by all of these fraudulent marketers and the gimmicks and scams that they are pushing down your throat by trying to get you to believe that a belly-fat reduction miracle is possible overnight.

So let's get past all of the scams and gimmicks and get right down to the hard science and reality behind what techniques and strategies really do help you to lose your stubborn belly fat and keep it off for life!

The First Principle...

1) The first important principle we'll discuss is how you structure your workouts. In order to stimulate fat-loss from your stomach, you need to stop wasting so much of your time doing all kinds of abdominal exercises, back fat exercises and hundreds of reps of crunches, leg lifts, and torso twists in the hopes of "spot-reducing" your belly and love handles.

I'm sure you know by now if you've read any reputable fitness publications over the last decade that spot-reduction DOES NOT occur. It's a myth that just won't seem to go away. The truth is, you don't lose belly fat by doing exercises that target the stomach area. Unfortunately, even though most people by now do understand this (or at least they should), they still spend WAY too much of their training time trying to target the stomach with tons of abs exercises.

Now don't get me wrong, a certain amount of abdominals exercises are great and they do help to strengthen your core and help you maintain a healthy back. But the fact is that direct abs exercises should only be a small portion of your workout routines. The majority of your time should be spent focusing on multi-joint exercises that work the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, chest, and back.

Now that is one of the REAL secrets for ridding yourself of that sloppy belly fat for good. Focusing on big multi-joint exercises for the largest portions of your body greatly increases your metabolic rate both during the workout, and for 24-48 hours after the workout. In addition, this also stimulates an increase in fat-burning hormones within your body. You simply don't get this type of metabolic and hormonal response by wasting most of your time with "abs-pumping" exercises.

Want to lose belly fat... Well, get your butt under a barbell and do some squats, do some deadlifts, some lunges, step-ups, some back and chest work. It doesn't matter per se if it's barbells, dumbbells, or even bodyweight exercises... the focus needs to be on big multi-joint exercises at a high intensity. That means no 5-minute rest periods between sets while you flap your gums with half of the people at the gym. Losing your belly fat for good requires some focus and intensity in your workouts! Anybody who tells you that you can do it while sitting on your couch watching TV with some "ab-belt" strapped to you, or doing only 2-minutes of crunching with your "ab-rocker-roller" is flat out lying to you!

The Second Principle...

2) The second important principle to rid yourself of that flabby belly revolves around your nutrition. The first thing you need to realize is that "diets" only work against your body in your effort to lose the stomach fat. You see, if you follow any of these fad diets like low-carb, or low-fat, or the grapefruit diet, the soup diet, or anything else that restricts 1 or more of the macro-nutrients (protein, carbs, and fat), most of the time you will actually lose lean muscle and lower your metabolic rate. This only makes you fatter in the long run, when you start to eat normal again!

I could go into all kinds of details, but essentially you are messing up processes related to your hormonal balance in your body, the muscle glycogen process, insulin, blood sugar, etc., and this stops your fat loss dead in its tracks!

It's important to stop falling for the fad diet gimmicks, and understand that as humans, we are meant to eat a balanced diet full of a diverse array of foods from healthy natural sources of carbohydrates, proteins, AND fats. This gives your body all of the macro-nutrients as well as all of the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and enzymes that your body needs to run as a well-oiled fat-burning machine!

I could go on and on with dozens more strategies for losing your belly fat fast, the natural way, but this article can only be so long, so see below to download a free report detailing some of my best fat-loss strategies for helping you to flatten that belly and uncover those hidden abdominals of yours.

If you're interested in discovering over 27 more of my secret training and nutrition strategies for helping you to FINALLY lose all of that stubborn belly fat fast, grab your FREE e-report at How to Lose Belly Fat Fast

Michael Geary (CPT) is a recognized International Fitness Expert, contributing writer for Muscle & Fitness Magazine, and author of the internationally best-selling book, The Truth about Six-Pack Abs. If you're interested in fast but effective workouts go to Fast Fat Loss Home Workouts

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Geary http://EzineArticles.com/?Lose-Belly-Fat-Fast-with-2-Vital-Secrets-to-Real-Fat-Loss&id=306905

Turbulance Training

2008-10-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

What Is It?
Turbulence Training by Craig Ballentyne
"What is Turbulence Training?" Well according to Craig, its the combination of resistance training and interval training used to boost your metabolism so that your body burns calories and fat between workouts. He says, "Cardio doesn't boost your metabolism after exercise. Only strength training and interval training do that - while you work, sleep, and eat - your body will be shedding fat."

Craig's unique system of bodyweight exercises, dumbell exercises, and interval training can all be done at home, with minimal equipment (if you are really strong, it might help to have a chinup bar).

Who Is Craig Ballentyne?
I've come across Craig Ballantyne's name many times in popular fitness magazines such as Men's Health and Men's Fitness, and even in Oxygen and Shape magazines. So the program is clearly put together by a trusted fitness expert. I've also talked to Craig about his training and education background, Craig's experience goes back to the mid-nineties, in both the gym and in the research lab. He's actually led research trials on sport supplements, strength training, and cardiovascular training. Plus, Craig has been a strength coach and has worked with hundreds of clients in thousands of training sessions.

Hear what Jillian Michaels from "Biggest Loser" has to say about Turbulence Training

What Can Turbulence Training Do For You?

Turbulence Training promises fast fat loss results for men and women who don't have a lot of time for exercise. The workouts promise maximum results with only three workouts per week.
Turbulence Training is perfect for busy men and women who want to burn fat in the comfort of their own homes without spending a lot of money on equipment or space on exercise machines.
The Turbulence Training system is best for burning fat without sacrificing muscle - so you end up lean, defined, chiseled and toned.
Craig has put together a 6-week introductory program, and a 4-week intermediate program in addition to the 16-week advanced training phase (PLUS, the Turbulence Training program comes with a massive amount of bonus workouts for muscle building, bodyweight only, advanced fat loss, and even a female specific bonus).

Product Specifications:

Product Type: Downloadable PDF files
Price: $39.95
Return Policy: 8 week no questions asked

>>>>>Visit the Official Turbulence Training Website