Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Is it worth buying designer clothes for kids

Simply we love it, we like to wear and feel good about it. Somehow it seems to enhance our appearance and appeal a great deal. Our eyes are so conditioned that the people in designer clothing seem to look smarter and more energetic than those in modern regular outfits.

It is a straight forward decision in case of parents and elders; they go in for custom outfits even if they are a bit more expensive. But it is essential expense in the context of social living. But when it comes to making decision with regard to buying custom clothes for children we are confused and the decision swings between yes and no indecisively. Parents do want their children well dressed and presentable. Their smart looks among the kids of friends is a pleasure to watch. When appreciated by high-end society friends it is almost an achievement leading to the ascending steps of social recognition. But the utter uselessness of buying designer clothes for children too cross the mind because soon the children will grow and leave behind the costly designer clothes smaller in size as unusable. So it becomes a hard decision to make.

Some reasons to buy designer clothes

If the values of social standards weigh more than the value of money in your life, you should go for designer clothes for children.

If the parents have friends in the circle who notice what their children wear and evaluate, then it is imperative that they buy specially made clothes for their children even though they might feel the pinch of the expense a bit.

Above all there is one reason which makes most of the parents go in for designer clothes for their children. That is the magic of love, they want to see their children in the best set of clothes and they wish to provide their children with the best.

Some reasons for not buying high end clothing

One major reason for not buying designer clothes for children is the cost of them. They are surely very expensive when compared to non-designer fashion wear. In recent times as the cost of living has risen to touch the sky, for many parents it is not an appealing idea to go in for designer clothes for their children.

And the second deterrent faction is simply a biological reason. The way children grow in fast pace these days buying expensive high end materials is a risky affair. You wont know for how long the clothe would remain fit in size. When children out grow the size of their dress they abandon it as though they are something that the cat has brought in.

The reason parents easily could attribute to decide against kids suits is that the children are not aware whether they wear custom patterns or other fashion wear. And the children actually do not care what brand of wear they adorn themselves with.

The basis for a decision

In the ultimate analysis the decision to buy or not to buy personally designed clothes for children depends on the parents. If you wish to see them in designer clothes, go for it but be sure that to your children those are just clothing and they are going to use them as they use the clothes they wear at home because it does not matter much whether they are in modern outfits or some other.

But it is also an irrefutable fact that the present world is highly fashion conscious and fashion, social standards and social prestige go hand in hand and all complement and enhance each other supportability. And what you or your kids wear is actually the life-style statement you make, a statement that expresses your attitude about life. To be in the lime light of fashion is imperative in the present world.

Designer clothes are affordable

All the discussion about buying or not buying personalized clothing for children is because of its exhaustive price. Walking into any designer showroom makes you a bit jittery even if you have a million dollars in your pocket when you see the price tag. But this is no more the case with on line shopping.

You can now buy online the best of designer wear at cost that you can afford. The online shopping turns out to be less expensive because there are no overhead expenditure, no showroom cost and so on and all these benefits are shared with the consumer and so online shopping is less expensive.
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Causes and Risk Factors of Developing Joint Disorders

Joint disorders can occur because of a variety of different risk factors and causes. One of the most common joint disorders is temporomandibular joint disorder or TMJ? TMJ disorders are a group of different problems that are related to the jaw bone and joint. There are a lot of people who develop TMJ disorders and problems because of the constant use of the muscles and joints in the TMJ area of the face.

Causes and risk factors that are common in developing joint disorders such as TMJ include constant and habitual teeth grinding. This can include the clenching of the teeth which wears down the cartilage of the TMJ . A lot of people do not even know that they do this, and often people do this in their sleep. People who may be suffering from joint disorders and primarily TMJ disorders often complain for pain and dysfunction in the muscles used in the TMJ. Dysfunction of these muscles can present itself as a limitation of the movement of the jaw that can range from minor range of motion issues to severe range of motion issues. In some of the milder cases of TMJ disorders, hearing clicking noises is one of the major symptoms.

Other causes and risk factors that can increase the chance of developing joint disorders include: Modification of the surfaces of the teeth through either neglect of dental practices or some kind of accidental use, Speech habits that are innate or learned and result in thrusting the jaw, Excessive use of gum chewing or nail biting, Excessive jaw movements that are associated with different kinds of exercise, Repetitive unconscious jaw movements that is associated with brushing, The size of different foods that are eaten.

There is no doubt that the TMJ area is one of the most heavily used joints in the body, and while there are a lot of other joint disorders like arthritis, TMJ continues to be one of the most known kinds of joint disorders. Arthritis is a very common joint disorder that causes people who suffer from it a lot of discomfort and pain. While the causes and risk factors that lead to different types of arthritis are not completely known, some people are more prone to develop it than others. Some people, who develop various forms of arthritis, do so as they get older from constant use and strain of the joints in parts of their bodies. Repetitive motions are a big trigger for joint disorders, and people who perform a repetitive motion which constantly strains one particular joint can develop joint disorders and arthritis.

Some people experience differing degrees of joint disorders and arthritis and some develop it earlier in life that others. There can be hereditary factors that can cause a person to be more prone to developing arthritis and joint disorders and some forms of arthritis are more prone to family traits than others. Often people who are athletes, or who put a lot of stress on their joints develop some level of a joint disorder or arthritis in their lives.

People who suffer from joint disorders like TMJ often are those who have excessive grinding of their teeth and who overuse the muscles and tendons surrounding the TMJ joints that lead to joint disorders. Joint disorders are often found in joints in the body that get the most use or that have the most stress on them. Knees, hips, wrists and fingers are among the most common joints to cause problems for people and are often the site of a repetitive action that has occurred for many years. People may start to experience slight symptoms of joint disorders early on in life, and they often assume it will simply go away, but then can later develop further problems.

Joint disorders tend to affect the elderly more often due to prolonged stress but people are able to experience joint disorders at any age, and those who constantly put a lot of strain on a particular area of the body are more prone to developing arthritis and other joint disorders later on in life. Testing is often done to diagnose joint disorders in people of all ages to determine what may have caused the joint disorders to develop.


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Friday, July 11, 2008

Make Your Car More "Green"

If you have been to the pump lately it might be your wallet that makes you want to go more "Green" with your car then before. As it relates to the environment automobiles account for 20% of all greenhouse gases emitted into the air. How ecological friendly you handle your car is one of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Still the only way to offset your carbon footprint is to plant trees. Listed below are the Top 10 things you can do to make your car more "Green."

1. Buy a Hybrid Car or Green Car

Yes, it doesn't take rocket science to understand that if you buy a more environment friendly car you have reduced your carbon footprint. Hybrids now come in sedans, SUV, and luxury vehicles. If buying a hybrid right now isn't in your budget choosing a car with excellent gas mileage is going to make a big difference.

2. How You Drive

You drastically increase the fuel you consume and the emissions your car gives off when you accelerate quickly and stop quickly. Driving the speed limit and more smooth as it relates to aggressive driving through the city will save on your gas bill. Also, the more you can take care of all your errands in one trip is better than many short trips to the store.

3. Keep Your Car in Shape

Regular tune ups of your car will keep your car producing less greenhouse gases, using less gas, and prevents future trouble. It is estimated that if every American's tires were properly inflated to the right level we would save 3 billion gallons of gas every year.

4. Offset Carbon Footprint

You can plant trees to offset the greenhouse gases you are emitting each year. Planting trees is the only way to offset your carbon footprint.

5. Carpool

If you have been on the freeway during rush hour you see all the commuters driving by themselves. Not only will you drastically lower your impact on the environment by carpooling you get to go in the carpool lane, as well.

6. You Don't Need a Car for Everything

For short trips you can take your bike or walk. With cars we don't even think about the other ways we can travel; we just hop in our cars and off we go. Many store items can easily be carried on a bike with a backpack. Also, you can get an electric scooter to get places faster.

7. Drive Half Way

For some trips walking or your bike isn't the complete answer. Driving your car and then getting on mass transit or driving your car and then parking to then go on your bike both work. Many times if you are going during rush hour, driving until the traffic gets thick and then going on your bike will get you there faster than sitting in the bumper to bumper traffic.

8. Use Less AC

Using a windshield protector can reduce how hot your car gets allowing you to use less air conditioner in the car. Turn your AC on low instead of high uses less gas. Don't forget to park in the shade to also keep your car cooler.

9. Use the Web

With the easy access to the web these days you can have video conferences, send email, and buy your products online. A video chat can be just as good as a face to face meeting without using gas and your car.

10. Go without a Car

For those that are willing to take it on it can be done. You would be surprised with a change in thinking how it is possible for some to go without a car. Using physical transportation like a bike and mass transit can get you around. Also, for those that want to it may be important to live closer to work or the stores you need or making your work day virtual so your home is your office.


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Monday, June 30, 2008

Stay Motivated and Lose Weight by Training Like an Athlete

One of the challenges to people who are looking to improve their fitness is staying motivated until they reach their fitness goals. With about 9 in 10 people wanting to change their appearance (make that: lose weight) as their primary objective, getting all the way to the target weight and keeping those extra pounds off can prove to be much more difficult than some had originally bargained for.

One of the big obstacles that people face is the fact they have been out of shape for years when they decide to finally do something about their fitness, and once they do start working out, the fact that the results that they seek may take awhile and can feel like hard work will test their motivation to the limit. One of the big reasons people hire personal trainers is that, in addition to the education they can receive from a professional instructor, the trainer can create workouts that are consistently fun and engaging as well as an atmosphere of support. And this can keep a person taking on their fitness motivated all the way to the finish line.

As a personal trainer myself, I believe that one of the best tools to keeping a person really motivated all the way to their goal and target body weight is to set very specific guidelines as to what that goal is, and have the person working out be very excited about what reaching that goal can mean to them. If a person wants to lose 20 pounds, we will discuss in detail what losing 20 pounds can do for their life and how they will feel and be different when they get there. And we come back to this reason over and over again during the period of working toward that goal.

One thing that I found, though, in my career as a trainer is that frequently just having a goal about weight loss is insufficient to keep a person motivated all the way to the end. The reason is that the process of weight loss in a healthy way can be a slow one. Even if a person had a great week of training and eating well, their body may not have changed a lot anyway. That can leave them with a feeling of being unsuccessful, even though everything that they did that week was positive and will benefit them in the long run. So, I was left with the problem of having a person doing everything they need to be doing really well and actually feeling like they were successful even if they hadn't lost a lot of weight in a particular week.

The key is to get all people in the process of improving their fitness thinking like athletes, even if on a smaller scale than someone training for the Olympic Games. I believe that all people have the ability to experience their athleticism on some level, even those that have been out of shape for some time, and when they make a connection to their bodies that allow for this, they can get hooked on that experience and want more of it. They will see that improving their fitness itself feels good and can be fun on its own, and that it would be something they would enjoy doing whether they were losing weight doing it or not. Once a person gets to this level, the irony is that they will lose all the weight they want anyway because they are actually at a point where they will stick with the exercise.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to be a trainer in a couple of "weight loss" competitions sponsored by a local TV station here in Phoenix. Each of the two years that I participated, I worked with a person who was competing against three others to see who could make the biggest successful lifestyle change over a 5 month period. What the other trainers and I found over the length of the competition was that the people who ended up losing a significant amount of weight were the ones who got to the point that they realiozed that the weight loss was actually secondary in motivation to them feeling fit, athletic and healthy for the first time in a long time. All of the trainers worked with their clients using some techniques that were athletic in nature, similar to how an athlete on a sports team would train, with jumping and running drills, using medicine balls, playing basketball, etc. All of the successful participants said that once they realized they like feeling like they were athletes, they knew they would stick with the program for the rest of their lives.

I use the term "inner athlete" to describe this way of thinking, and I know that it works. Rather than having a client do just cardio, we may set a goal to have them do their first ever 5k road race in 3 months, and their cardio trains them for that in addition to helping them lose weight. Or they want to do a great hike in the coming summer, or their kids are now playing sports and they want to be able to play with them, so I do sports drills with them so they build the skills that any athlete at any age would want to have. These are the things that people like having whether they are losing weight or not, and the fact that this type of exercise helps them lose weight makes it all the better.


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Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Understand Your Metabolism and Unlock Your Weight Loss Results

Have you ever seen an ad for the next latest and greatest weight loss program or diet pill, only to see in fine print that this person also ate a balanced diet and did regular exercise? The other common complaint all the time is "I workout hard everyday and I don't lose a pound." Does this sound like you? The key to achieving health weight loss and keeping it off for a lifetime is understanding your metabolism.

When you think about weight loss you want to think in terms of a diet fitness program. The problem many people do is they only focus on one aspect which leaves them always falling short of their goals.

What is metabolism any way?

Your metabolism doesn't have to be confusing. Let's break your metabolism down in to two aspects. First, is your body's ability to break down food that you eat and convert it into energy or store it. You can store fat in your fat cells though you do store carbohydrates in your muscle cells to be used as energy later. The second is the rate at which your body produces energy, or do you have a fast or slow metabolism? The other key part to your metabolism is what you are burning for energy.

Your metabolism wants small amounts of food at regular intervals throughout the day. Typically every 2-3 hours is a good time to eat. This isn't eating the average American meal 5 times a day, more cutting your meal in half and eating that amount throughout the day. When we go longer than 3 hours between meals are body starts to store the food we do eat as fat, and can burn away muscle tissue for energy instead of using your food. When you eat 5 small meals a day you train your body to use fat as your main fuel source. A proper metabolism burns 70% fat as its main source of energy all day long. Just think while you are working sitting at your chair you are burning fat.

It is through exercise that we raise our metabolism up. The amount of calories we burn is not as important as the rate at which we burn calories. If burning 3500 calories worked than all the walkers at the gym would be the thinnest people. You typically see runners much thinner than walkers and that is because running burns calories at a greater rate and raises up your metabolism. You burn more calories by raising up your metabolism the entire day than you can in any workout.

Cardio interval training is considered one of the best ways of raising up your metabolism. Interval training is short burst of high intensity follow by short durations of low intensity and then repeated. People after doing an interval workout burn more fat as a source of energy for the entire day after than any other form of cardio. You only want to do one interval workout per week as over doing it creates over training and a drop in results.

Combining exercise and eating 5 small meals and you will unlock your weight loss potential. This not only the fastest ways to lose weight these habits work for the rest of your life to have more energy and keep the fat off your body.


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Friday, June 13, 2008

Stay Motivated and Lose Weight by Training Like an Athlete

One of the challenges to people who are looking to improve their fitness is staying motivated until they reach their fitness goals. With about 9 in 10 people wanting to change their appearance (make that: lose weight) as their primary objective, getting all the way to the target weight and keeping those extra pounds off can prove to be much more difficult than some had originally bargained for.

One of the big obstacles that people face is the fact they have been out of shape for years when they decide to finally do something about their fitness, and once they do start working out, the fact that the results that they seek may take awhile and can feel like hard work will test their motivation to the limit. One of the big reasons people hire personal trainers is that, in addition to the education they can receive from a professional instructor, the trainer can create workouts that are consistently fun and engaging as well as an atmosphere of support. And this can keep a person taking on their fitness motivated all the way to the finish line.

As a personal trainer myself, I believe that one of the best tools to keeping a person really motivated all the way to their goal and target body weight is to set very specific guidelines as to what that goal is, and have the person working out be very excited about what reaching that goal can mean to them. If a person wants to lose 20 pounds, we will discuss in detail what losing 20 pounds can do for their life and how they will feel and be different when they get there. And we come back to this reason over and over again during the period of working toward that goal.

One thing that I found, though, in my career as a trainer is that frequently just having a goal about weight loss is insufficient to keep a person motivated all the way to the end. The reason is that the process of weight loss in a healthy way can be a slow one. Even if a person had a great week of training and eating well, their body may not have changed a lot anyway. That can leave them with a feeling of being unsuccessful, even though everything that they did that week was positive and will benefit them in the long run. So, I was left with the problem of having a person doing everything they need to be doing really well and actually feeling like they were successful even if they hadn't lost a lot of weight in a particular week.

The key is to get all people in the process of improving their fitness thinking like athletes, even if on a smaller scale than someone training for the Olympic Games. I believe that all people have the ability to experience their athleticism on some level, even those that have been out of shape for some time, and when they make a connection to their bodies that allow for this, they can get hooked on that experience and want more of it. They will see that improving their fitness itself feels good and can be fun on its own, and that it would be something they would enjoy doing whether they were losing weight doing it or not. Once a person gets to this level, the irony is that they will lose all the weight they want anyway because they are actually at a point where they will stick with the exercise.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to be a trainer in a couple of "weight loss" competitions sponsored by a local TV station here in Phoenix. Each of the two years that I participated, I worked with a person who was competing against three others to see who could make the biggest successful lifestyle change over a 5 month period. What the other trainers and I found over the length of the competition was that the people who ended up losing a significant amount of weight were the ones who got to the point that they realiozed that the weight loss was actually secondary in motivation to them feeling fit, athletic and healthy for the first time in a long time. All of the trainers worked with their clients using some techniques that were athletic in nature, similar to how an athlete on a sports team would train, with jumping and running drills, using medicine balls, playing basketball, etc. All of the successful participants said that once they realized they like feeling like they were athletes, they knew they would stick with the program for the rest of their lives.

I use the term "inner athlete" to describe this way of thinking, and I know that it works. Rather than having a client do just cardio, we may set a goal to have them do their first ever 5k road race in 3 months, and their cardio trains them for that in addition to helping them lose weight. Or they want to do a great hike in the coming summer, or their kids are now playing sports and they want to be able to play with them, so I do sports drills with them so they build the skills that any athlete at any age would want to have. These are the things that people like having whether they are losing weight or not, and the fact that this type of exercise helps them lose weight makes it all the better.


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Thursday, June 5, 2008

Why Core Fitness is Important

If you've listened to the buzz around the fitness world lately or perused the latest workout books, you've probably heard the experts referencing core fitness in some shape or form. Traditionally, strength training has been dominated by exercises focused on isolating the muscles of the arms and legs. In fact, if you look at many of the weight machines that have become popular in modern gyms, you'll notice that they require you to sit or recline while you use them.

While these machines will effectively help you build the muscles that they target, the problem is that, in real life, we don't use our muscles that way. We lift a box from the floor to a shelf, swing a golf club, push our children on the swing set, or climb a rock wall. In fact, the vast majority of the things we do require all of the muscles in our bodies to function together and be coordinated through our mid-sections, or our "core."

While those activities may make the use of core muscles seem very obvious, this area, made up of the muscles of our midsection, are actually responsible for quite a few of the more subtle functions as well, including posture, balance and stability.

A weakened core will often result in poor posture and stability, yet we don't necessarily feel the results of it in areas that show us a direct cause and effect correlation. For example, poor posture, due to a weakened core, might allow our hips to slip out of alignment resulting in knee pain. In fact, quite a few of the chronic muscle and joint pain issues that Americans are suffering with today stem from a weakened core.

It is no wonder, then, that exercise science has taken a dramatic shift in recent years to include the core in strength training regimes. Now, rather than using a machine to first exercise your legs and then your arms, trainers are suggesting that their clients use free weights or bands to combine exercises such as a squat to overhead press. By linking the two, people are forced to transition the exercise movement through their core, and the core muscles in turn help to maintain good posture throughout the exercise. The end result is that we are exercising in a fashion that mimics the movements that we use in everyday life, while creating better posture and increasing our stability and balance.


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Friday, May 2, 2008

Zone Training for beginners to maximize workouts

Like Training programs that are based upon maximum heart rate, Anaerobic threshold (AT)-based training zones are relative to varying levels of intensity, each of which serves different training objectives. Each of these zones develops essential physiological functions that contribute to good health and improved fitness, especially the possibility of weight loss. So you should never limit your training to a single metabolic zone, although you may exercise predominantly in one zone for a given time in order to reach specific training objectives.

Except for rank beginners or people with health related limitations, all levels of intensity are appropriate to ensure maximum cardiovascular development and results. How much and how often you work in each zone will depend on your athletic goals and your current level of fitness (continue reading for a more detailed description of the zones and their primary applications).

Let's look at the volume of the different zones that should be performed weekly. As a rule of thumb, 60 to 65 percent of your total workout time should focus on Zones 1 and 2; 30 to 35 percent on Zones 3 and 4; and about 5 percent on Zone 5. But you need not incorporate all zones into a single workout. In fact, you'll get better results from designing a range of different workouts throughout the week - including long, easy ones in Zones 1 and 2, and shorter, tougher ones that occupy more time in Zones 3, 4 and 5.

ZONE 1: Warm-up Heart-rate range: 60 to 70 percent of AT.

Training objectives: Encourage blood flow and burn fat.

What's happening: This is almost a pure aerobic state, which you can maintain almost indefinitely without experiencing any rise in blood lactate.

Feeling: Comfortable to talk and breathe through your nose.

How long: 10-minute warm-up progressing to higher intensity zones for 45 minutes or longer. Depending on your fitness level, you may need to start with a shorter workout and build up to 45 minutes, or do several shorter workouts throughout the day.

Zone 1 basics: This is a good place to launch your fitness program if you are a beginner or returning to exercise after taking off several months or more. It develops basic exercise technique, endurance and an aerobic base. Ideally, if you are new to exercise, or returning to training after a long break, you should stay in Zone 1 for about six weeks before moving up in zones. Zone 1 is also a good place to recover from tougher workouts.

ZONE 2: Aerobic Development

Heart-rate range: 70 to 90 percent of AT.

Training objectives: Build aerobic efficiency and maximize fat burning at a higher caloric rate.

What's happening: A small rise in blood lactate occurs, yet the body can process it without buildup.

Feeling: You can still converse and may have the urge to go faster. Breathing deepens a bit.

How long: 30 minutes (beginner); 90 minutes or longer (advanced).

Zone 2 basics: Before developing your lactate tolerance or increasing your AT, you should fully develop your "aerobic base," and this is a great zone for moving that effort forward. Noticeable improvement in this zone generally takes about six weeks of consistent training. But don't worry: As you become more efficient and fit, you'll be able to work out faster in every zone. For fit people, Zone 2 is also a good place for active recovery.

ZONE 3: Aerobic Endurance Heart-rate range: 90 to 100 percent of AT.

Training objectives: Increase endurance. Here, you push your AT up to higher intensity by training your body to tolerate more lactate in the blood.

What's happening: As intensity increases, not all lactate produced in the cells can be shuttled back into the metabolic cycle. Lactate levels in the blood begin to rise and, with time, fatigue sets in.

Feeling: Breathing becomes noticeable, but not too difficult; conversation is restricted to short sentences.

How long: 20 minutes (beginner); one hour or more (advanced).

Zone 3 basics: Building endurance at your AT through long intervals (four to 10 minutes) at threshold range will help raise your AT and slowly develop your body's tolerance of lactate. This training adaptation also allows your body to burn fat more efficiently. The idea here is to rest between intervals with your heart rate recovering in your aerobic zone and then increase intensity again up to your threshold.

ZONE 4: Anaerobic Endurance Heart-rate range: 100 to 110 percent of AT.

Training objectives: Increase athletic ability by improving lactate tolerance. Here you're pushing AT and VO2 max (your body's highest ability to utilize oxygen), challenging the heart to work longer, and increasing cardiac output (more blood is being pumped with each stroke, thus requiring fewer strokes per minute).

What's happening: Your body switches into primarily using glycogen or carbohydrate to fuel its need for energy, and your blood-lactate levels dramatically increase.

Feeling: Breathing becomes heavy, difficult and uncomfortable. You may also experience "muscle burn" because of lactate buildup.

How long: Five minutes (beginner); 30 minutes (advanced).

Zone 4 basics: Run at an aerobic pace, then speed up or increase resistance until your heart beats at 110 percent of your AT range. Maintain this level for one to four minutes. Reduce the pace until your heart returns slightly below AT, but not completely back to the aerobic zone. Then repeat the interval.

ZONE 5: Speed and Power Heart-rate range: 110 percent of AT to MHR.

Training objectives: Increase athletic ability by improving neurological response, exercise mechanics, speed and muscle power.

What's happening: Your body is burning the last remaining fuel (glycogen) in your muscles and cannot sustain this maximum effort for more than a few seconds without succumbing to exhaustion.

Feeling: Extremely difficult and uncomfortable. You'll feel breathless and may hear pounding in your chest. You'll feel an intense desire to slow or stop.

How long: Typically several seconds.

Zone 5 basics: Your work here consists of sprints and very intense, short intervals (up to one minute). Although you can come in and out of Zone 5 several times during the course of a single workout, spending more than 10 percent of your total workout time in this zone increases your risk of injury. If you've done a significant amount of Zone 5 work, be sure to add recovery time (meaning a day or two of rest or working in Zones 1 and 2) before returning to Zones 4 and 5.

Progress Makes Perfect By using your AT as a marker for aerobic exercise, you can base your training on a highly individualized fitness parameter, without having to guess about percentages of MHR. This lets you take advantage of every exercise session, knowing you are making the most of your time and energy. And as your fitness improves, so will your AT - one of the best indicators of cardiovascular health, fitness and overall vitality.


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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Why Metabolism is Important

Read through any diet success story and you will see the true secret to that person's success. At some point, the person always integrated exercise into their plan. The same holds true the other way around. How many times have you heard someone say that they work out all the time, but just can't seem to lose those last ten or fifteen pounds?

The truth is, in order to achieve lifelong results, nutrition and fitness need to go hand in hand to optimize your metabolism.

What is Metabolism? Metabolism is the process your body uses to break down the food that you eat, convert it to energy, or store it. Your metabolism is based on several cues that you give your body by the way that you eat and the energy you use in your daily routines.

To achieve lifelong fitness, you need to raise your activity level to start burning more calories, while feeding your body the right amount of food to sustain itself. That means eating enough throughout the day to let your body know that there will be plenty of food around to sustain a higher caloric burn. Once your body acclimates to both of those signals, your metabolism will start to change. You will be burning more calories by increasing your activity level, but you will also increase the amount of calories you burn when you are not working out - while you work, watch television, and even when you're sleeping.

Understanding your metabolism is the reason that low calorie diets don't work. When you feed your metabolism your body burns more calories. A great example of this is on a weight loss network tv show that the people who won't follow their eating plan and kept eating less calories actually gain weight. Your body will burn fat as your main source of energy if you eat 5 small meals during the day balanced with the proper calorie range.

One thing to keep in mind is that the faster your metabolism gets and the more fat you burn the more you need to eat. This concept is one of the hardest for people to understand which is evidence why 60% of Americans are overweight or obese. Without increasing your calories as your metabolism increases you burn away your new muscle tissue for energy which keeps you staying at the same results no matter how hard you workout.


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Thursday, March 13, 2008

Staying Healthy While on the Road

Are you having trouble with travel related health problems? Want a vacation from your colds, flu, and other illnesses? You will perform much better for work, and have a lot more fun during pleasure vacations if you feel healthy while traveling. Here are a few tips for staying healthy and even achieving greater results while on the road.

Traveling can be a great way to get a rest from your normal routine and enjoy some new exercises. As a fitness trainer, I have found that on the road I typically have more time to workout if I chose to since I don't have the time with family and others as I do at home. Your traveling workout can become a time to get even better training sessions.

Get some sleep. In able to head of jet lag, try scheduling your east bound flights early and west bound flights late. This will ensure the least amount of disruption in your sleeping patterns, and in turn will preserve your travel health. Sleep is one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of fitness and weight loss.

Have produce handy. You can fend off gastrointestinal problems by having high fiber foods rather than stopping off at the fast food restaurants for burgers and fries.

Be germ conscious. It is no secret that planes are full of germs. Pack sanitizer and remember to wash up before eating.

Drink water. Planes create an arid environment that can dry out the mucous membranes, skin, and throat. Dehydration can also set in. Sports drinks can also replenish sodium and potassium that are lost in sweat.

Have extra vitamins on hand. Travel can be stressful, and extra vitamins will help to keep your immune system functioning at a high level.

This information certainly isn't breaking news, but it is amazing how many people are caught up in the business of being busy. Make taking care of yourself a priority at home and on the road. It will only serve you better when you need it most.

You can utilize fitness equipment that is easy to store in a suit case like resistance bands. Also, most hotels have a workout room. Even the smallest of workout equipment centers can allow you to get the workout you want.

For information about a fitness plan and supplements, consult with a personal fitness trainer and learn how a coach can help you get fit.


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Thursday, February 21, 2008

Key Strategies to Help Avoid Weight Gain over the Holidays

Are you one of the average Americans that experiences a holiday weight gain of 7 pounds between the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays, and then goes on to attempt to lose as much of the excess as possible over the next several weeks? Usually, the weight is not all lost and then the cycle is repeated the next year and so on until a significant overall weight gain has occurred. It is certainly better during the holidays to not put the weight on in the first place, rather than fight an uphill battle to repair damage done during such a short period of time year after year.

It is absolutely possible to avoid weight gain during the holidays, but it definitely takes a focused approach and some discipline. This includes both holiday exercise and food intake plans, and the need for exercise during the holidays is critical to keeping the weight off. Here are some basic strategies to keeping excess weight off the body during those festive holiday months.

Let's combine some initial ideas here into some food intake strategies that can help you feel full and avoid the temptation to overeat. They include, getting plenty of water intake and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. Water is the most important nutrient in the body, and being well hydrated year round is certainly important, as the body burns more fat when it is well hydrated. Water also helps keep the stomach felling full and naturally suppresses the appetite as a result. Cold water requires the body to warm it up, which naturally raises the metabolism slightly.

The same benefits apply to taking in a lot of fruits and veggies, which usually are a part of the party scene on a tray somewhere along with dips and a lot of other tempting finger foods nearby. Fruits and veggies have a lot of fiber and are naturally low in calories, especially vegetables, so the feeling of being full is so effective at curbing the appetite away from the really potentially damaging foods that can easily be overeaten if care is not taken.

The next very important thing that is a strategy is to make sure that you eat 5 small meals a day during the holidays. This keep you from going to a party starving and eaeting far too much of rich foods until you are full. If less than 5 small meals a day are eaten, the metabolism tends to slow, and the appetite once you get to a party tends to be at its highest. This is a recipe for an overeating disaster. Low metabolism from skipping meals plus overeating rich foods because you are hungry from not eating equals a lot of weight gain. If you eat frequently during the day, your appetite will be lower and easier to control and your metabolism will be at its highest, the perfect solution for not gaining weight. This also allows you to feel more satisfied on only one dessert serving, instead of the huge variety that usually populate the trays of holiday parties and tables everywhere.

Alcohol consumption is a huge potential contributor to weight gain because of the large number of calories present in alcoholic drinks. These calories are stored immediately as fat and need to be burned off later by the body, so it is vital to drink alcohol in moderation.

And finally, the exercise component: getting regular cardio and strength training in provides the benefit it always has: keeping our metabolism active and burning fat like a well oiled machine.

All these things add up to keeping your body at its leanest during the holidays, and are strategies that would be effective no matter the fitness level or age. Have fun and stay lean this holiday season.


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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Start a New Holiday Tradition

It can be very challenging to organize a group picture. Getting family coordinated for a photo to use on Christmas Cards can be frustrating and a hassle. Avoid the trouble of getting family organized by taking photos when your family is already gathering at Thanksgiving!

What better time for a photo session than when your family is already dressed up and in great spirits after a delicious meal. For great holiday card photos you can capture candid shots or have a neighbor take a large group photo. If you are planning on using a picture of just your immediate family on your holiday photo card you can still take advantage of the situation and have another family member take the picture. This is your perfect opportunity to not be the one behind the camera!

Christmas is a great time to celebrate and start new traditions. Why not start the fun early with the tradition of coming up with a creative holiday card photo? Here are some fun ideas to get you started.

Baby playing with lights

Put your child on a dark blanket and give them a lighted string of Christmas lights to play with. Make sure all lights are off and utilize only natural light. Snap away while your baby inspects the lights. (Disclaimer- Christmas lights contain some lead so do not let your child put them in their mouth and wash your child's hands thoroughly after you take your photo). What can this look like?

Stealing Santa's Cookies

Place an empty plate of crumbs near your child dressed in holiday attire. A guilty look on their face is perfect if you can capture it. The goal if to make the photo look like your child is "stealing" Santa's cookies. You can caption your holiday photo card to say "I'm sorry Santa". Or a similar phrase.

Naughty and Nice

Combine a photo of your child looking sweet and angelic with a picture of your child mad and upset (Moms, you know we all have one!).

Christmas wreath

Hold a wreath and let your child pear through the opening. This makes for a classic stunning photo.

Our Christmas Gift came early

This idea is perfect for a new baby holiday birth announcement. Place your baby on some wrapping paper with a bow and caption your card "Our gift arrived early this year".

Ho Ho Ho

Let your baby play in the bath with a Santa hat on. Make a beard with bubbles and snap away!

These are just a few ideas to get you started. Have fun capturing that perfect moment!


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