Pilates Exercise

Pilates exercise is an art, an art to teach, to learn and to perform with the right amount of patience. It's a blend of fitness, yoga and physical therapy. Pilates exercise teachers don't improvise, they have attended training courses that have lasted years. They are the ones who personally prepare their body and mind in order to fully enter the mentality of Pilates exercise. A good Pilates teacher is a personal trainer of Pilates exercise and follows you in every Pilates exercise and the movement it creates.

This article is all about pilates exercise and how to make you more and more aware about this topic. I could also have taken the easy way to writing this article but I desisted from it because the primary objective of writing this article about pilates exercise was your satisfation. And after reading this article, you can yourself feel it.

Pilates exercise has become very popular in the last decades and its workouts have benefitted all kinds of people in the past and continues to do so today. You don't need much to improve your quality of life with Pilates exercise just three times a week for about half an hour and the first evident results can be seen starting within just four weeks. Pilates exercise defines and tones muscles and works on your body alignment, through the abdomen, pelvis and regulates your breathing too.

Just a few words now on who invented the Pilates exercise program.

Joseph Pilates invented Pilates exercise during the 1900's. The intent of Pilates exercise was to aid those who were sick and forced to stay in bed for a certain amount of time, not being able to move body parts and use their muscles. Pilates exercise was designed in such a way that it will provide maximum output from a sleeping position from minimum input.

Following in his footsteps, many therapists thereafter used the technique of Pilates exercise to patients alleviating the pains and the suffering of those who have certain problems in moving their body parts giving them temporary and in some cases permanent relief.

One of the most common accessories to help perform Pilates exercise is the Pilates ring created to help those who cannot perform Pilates standing or are bed ridden. The Pilates ring works on desired body areas from a sitting, sleeping position. It can be used on the arms, legs, buttocks and back with ease.The Pilates ring is a power tool, which is used even by those that are able to perform standing exercises. The results will not take long to appear when exercises done three times a week for 30 minutes.

Here are a few tips to help you handle Pilates exercise in the best of ways.

1. Don't practice Pilates exercise without consulting a physician first.

2. Pilates exercise is easy to learn you can and stay in shape in the comfort of your home with a number of choices such as, online specialized sites, professional DVDs featuring lessons for beginners as well as advanced users and books.

3. Use Pilates exercise at least three times a week, trying to follow the exercise pattern, that is best for your needs.

4. Pilates exercise is useful especially when practiced early in the morning, providing you with energy and the right mood for the rest of the day.

Last but not least, eating right and exercising with Pilates exercise regularly will help you to keep you in shape, live a longer life and give you the right balance needed to face everyday. So try Pilates exercise as your daily routine and you will see how your body and mind will benefit from it.

By: A F

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

AF a man who likes to exercise and who has the passion for writing and likes to express his emotions through the net. Visit winsor-pilates-workout.com/

Fitness Programs

There are many fitness programs available these days all promising to be one of the best available & the ideal one for you. There is no fitness program available that is the best for all. You are an individual with different needs, wants & lifestyle so there cannot be a fitness program that is ideal for all.

Every fitness program has its pro’s & con’s & it’s up to you to decide which one is best for you, after all you need a fitness program that you know you are going to enjoy, that way you will stick to it & reap the full benefits.

So which fitness program is for you ? Will you choose one of the well known ones such as Pilates, Step, or Aerobics (in one form or another) or will you go for one of the many celebrity fitness programs. The choice of fitness program is yours & yours alone make sure you pick the one for you. To help you here is a quick overview of some of the fitness programs available.

Pilates Fitness Program
Developed by Joseph Hubertis Pilates as far back as the early 1900’s, Pilates is based upon developing & improving body posture & flexibility of movement originally using the resistance of springs. Pilates can be practised using specially designed equipment or performing exercises based on the Pilates system simply on a mat. Pilates has spawned many different versions which are available today. Pilates fitness programs are available on video or DVD to use with or without equipment, for you to follow at home or you could try your local gym to see if they run classes there.

Step Fitness Program
Step is basically a form of aerobic exercise involving stepping on & off a step quite often to music. You can follow this fitness program from a video or DVD at home using a simple piece of equipment or in a group at your local gym or recreation centre.

Aerobics Fitness Program
Aerobics is a fitness program in numerous different formats but basically involves lots of movement such as arm raises, leg raises, kicks, stretching, lunging, bending etc to music. The type & frequency of movements should depend upon your current level of fitness. The fitness program can again be followed at home using a video or DVD or at classes in your local gym or recreation centre.

Article Source: http://www.articlewheel.com/

John Mac is the owner of fitnessdiethealth.com a website aimed at people looking to improve their fitness diet & health & for information about fitness programs.

Weightlifing Proves To Beat Cardiovascular Training In Fat Loss

Is cardiovascular exercise or weightlifting the most effective for losing body fat? This is a very common question I hear almost on a daily basis. Many fitness enthusiasts feel cardiovascular, or aerobic activity is the most effective training method to lose body fat. Exercisers feel the lower intensity aerobic activity, which utilizes a greater percentage of fatty acids for fuel, will burn more body fat. It seems to make sense, but is this really true?

Clients always want to know if they should avoid weight training programs altogether and pursue the alleged fat burning aerobic training. Many people firmly believe that lower intensity cardiovascular training will help them lose body fat at a greater rate than with just weight training exercises alone.

Let's take a closer look at which exercise regimen, weight training or aerobics, is the best system to lose body fat.

Aerobic or cardiovascular training is performed with high volume, and low intensity exercise training. Oxygen is required in the process; and the training session can last for more than twenty minutes, all while continuously exercising at a high heart rate.

The benefits resulting from aerobic or cardiovascular training is an increase in cardiovascular function, and a decrease in body fat from the extra calorie burned.

However, with positives, there can also be negatives. There are a few things lost when training aerobically. First off, over time, a decrease in strength from muscle breakdown can occurs. This decrease in strength results from a decrease in muscle mass, power, speed, and anaerobic capacity.

On the other hand, with weight training programs, there is a significant increase in muscle tissue, metabolism, strength, speed, power, and anaerobic capacity. There is also a slight increase in cardiovascular function.

Now why do so many fitness participants feel cardiovascular or aerobic exercise is far superior for body fat loss? I believe it is quite simple; they are listening to individuals who are not considering the true physiology of the situation. However, one thing they do understand is the preferred fuel utilized during low intensity aerobic exercise is from fat. Therefore, many feel if a larger percentage of fatty acids are consumed for fuel, a greater fat loss will result. But is this really correct?

As a matter of fact, fat is the primary preferred fuel utilized during sleep. Thus, wouldn't the best exercise to lose body fat be sleep alone? Not so fast!

In my opinion, exercising at a low intensity aerobically, with a goal for maximum fat loss, is the greatest myth for losing body fat.

Fat loss myths run wild in the world of fitness and nutrition. Please do not let myths like this destroy your deserved results. I recommend you clear theories with a qualified professional before you accept them. You owe it to yourself!

Here is a fat loss workout example that will help you understand which type of training is best to lose body fat. On Monday, you decide to walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes at a very comfortable 3.3 miles per hour pace. The results of your cardiovascular training session include a calorie burn of 300 calories, where a high 60% of the fuel is supplied from fatty acids. Now, on Tuesday, you decide to run on the treadmill for 15 minutes at a very high intensity level of 6 miles per hour with a 7% incline grade. Your heart rate was registered at 85% of your maximum heart rate, and you burned 350 calories in those 15 minutes with a greater percentage of sugar burned than fat. That leaves you with a greater caloric burn of 50 additional calories resulting from exercising at a higher intensity for only a 15 minute duration. This will, over an extended period of time, lead to greater overall fat, and weight loss compared to the 30 minute, lower intensity cardiovascular training session.

Now to lose body fat, it simply isn't true that lower intensity, longer duration exercise, which burns a greater percentage of fatty acids, is far superior in overall fat loss compared to higher intensity, higher calorie burning strength training, or cardiovascular training.

With that said, the most effective, and efficient way to lose body fat is through a higher intensity training program like weightlifting because of the higher calorie burn, and the elevated metabolism from the added active, fat burning muscle tissue. The added metabolically active muscle tissue burns calories at a rate of 24 hours per day. It is much more important to think about the amount of calories expended during an exercise session versus the percentage of fat or sugar used as preferred, primary fuel.

Now I'm sure you agree weightlifting can be a more effective fat loss exercise program, but the ultimate fat burning exercise regimen is to combine weight training with higher intensity cardiovascular workouts. The best way to implement this training session is by performing your strength training routine first immediately followed by your cardiovascular training regimen.

Losing stomach fat can be easier if you are on the proper exercise program. Many feel lower intensity cardiovascular training is best for fat loss. However, according to the caloric burn of higher intensity weightlifting, this is the most efficient way to lose fat. Follow this advice, and fat will begin to melt off.


-
Jim O'Connor is an Exercise Physiologist, and Managing Partner of Wellness Word, LLC, a health and fitness marketing firm. For free access to Jim's Wellness Word Multimedia fitness, and bodybuilding newsletter visit http://www.wellnessword.com .

*** Attention: Ezine Editors/ Website Owners ***
Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your eZine, Blog, Autoresponder, or on your website as long as the links, text, and resource box are not altered in any way.

Jim O'Connor - Exercise Physiologist/The Fitness Promoter

Copyright (c) - Wellness Word, LLC
9461 Charleville Blvd. #312
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
1-866-935-5967





Author's Bio

Jim O'Connor is an Exercise Physiologist, and Managing Partner of Wellness Word, LLC, a health and fitness marketing firm. For free access to Jim's Wellness Word Multimedia fitness, and bodybuilding newsletter visit http://www.wellnessword.com.

Green Tea's Benefits To Cardiovascular Health

Most of us know that one of the leading contributors to heart disease is high cholesterol. And, we’ve all been told to limit our saturated fats to help lower our cholesterol levels. But, what you may not realize is that simply drinking green tea you can help reduce the effects of the cholesterol in your diet, and reduce your risk of heart disease, too.

Cholesterol comes in two forms. HDL cholesterol or (high density lipoproteins) is what we refer to as “good cholesterol”. HDL cholesterol carries bad cholesterol away from the heart and deposits it to the liver where it passes out of the body.

HDL cholesterol protects you from hear disease, so we want this cholesterol level to be high. You can raise your level of HDL cholesterol by using good fats like olive oil and nuts in your diet in place of saturated fats.

LDL cholesterol (low density lipoproteins) is “bad cholesterol”. This cholesterol circulates in the blood. When too much of it is present, it oxidizes, becoming hard. Then it sticks to the walls of your arteries.

This is what is known as arterial plaque. This is very dangerous because it constricts these arteries, restricting blood flow. Narrow arteries are more susceptible to blockage, particularly from a blood clot.

One particularly interesting study was conducted to evaluate the benefits of drinking green tea to cardiovascular health, particularly related to the reduction of LDL cholesterol.

This study evaluated 12 healthy men, who ranged between 28-42 years of age. Each participant drank 600 ml of green tea every day for four weeks. Their blood was taken before the test began, two weeks into the test and again at the end of the four weeks.

Several measures of the blood were taken. Overall LDL levels were measured, along with the oxidation activity of this LDL cholesterol. The anti-oxidant activity and the levels of cell adhesion were also measured.

The study showed that drinking green tea did not lower overall cholesterol levels in the blood, nor did it show an increased level of anti-oxidant activity. However, it did show a significant decrease in the amount of LDL cholesterol that was becoming oxidized, and a lower level of LDL adhesion to the body’s cells.

This represents important information for those trying to prevent heart disease. While drinking green tea doesn’t rid your body of the bad cholesterol, it does seem to prevent it from oxidizing and turning into plaque. Without the oxidation process, the cholesterol doesn’t harden and stick to the arterial walls, causing constriction.

We know that the danger of LDL cholesterol is in the fact that it hardens into plaque and narrows the walls of our arteries. If we can prevent this process, we eliminate the danger that LDL cholesterol brings to our health.

While we’re not certain why green tea has this effect, we suspect that it’s related to green tea’s high level of anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants are known to fight free radicals that are created in the body as a by-product of our digestive process.

Free radicals also go through an oxidation process as part of doing damage to the body, so we know that anti-oxidants have the power to interrupt the oxidation process of free radicals. Therefore, it stands to reason that the anti-oxidants in green tea are the reason that it is able to interrupt the oxidation process of LDL cholesterol, too.

It’s certain that we need to do more research on this subject. It’s also certain that research of this sort on humans will take years to complete in such a way that we have irrefutable conclusions. Most of the research that has been performed to date has been on laboratory animals, with only a few tests on humans. And, conclusive human studies will take years to perform, if we wish to have an understanding of the long term effects.

In the meantime, however, drinking green tea has no downside. Green tea is refreshing and healthy. And, while it does contain caffeine, the caffeine content is significantly lower than that of coffee and black tea, so it is usually well tolerated, even by those who are caffeine sensitive.

There are many ways to enjoy green tea. Brew if for drinking hot, or chill for a refreshing cold drink. There are green tea supplements you can take, and there are even recipes containing green tea so that you can put it in your favorite foods.

As time goes on, it’s highly likely that we will discover more and more benefits of drinking green tea. The research that has already been conducted has shown that green tea may have many potential benefits, including preventing many forms of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease in addition to heart disease. However, while we’re waiting for those results, there’s no harm in getting a head start on your health!

-
About Author:
Marcus Stout is President of the Golden Moon Tea Company. For more information about tea, green tea and wu long tea go to http://www.goldenmoontea.com

Article Source: http://www.BharatBhasha.com
Article Url: http://www.bharatbhasha.com/health.php/56910

Can Weight Training Reduce Cardiovascular Risk?

When you think of improving your cardiovascular fitness, aerobic activities such as walking, jogging, swimming or cycling usually come to mind. Surprisingly, research has shown that weight training may have also some positive cardiovascular benefits.

There are many different ways to lift weights. For example, during circuit training, you move through a series of weight stations with little rest. Circuit training has been shown to be an effective cardiovasuclar conditioning activity. The weights are usually light to medium and there is a stronger aerobic component to this workout.

Where heavier weights are lifted with longer rest periods, physiological effects are primarily exerted in the muscle. Muscle plays a large role in sugar and fat metabolism such as cholesterol. Weight training has, indeed, been shown to improve lipid profiles as well as balance insulin responses. Both are desirable for a healthy heart.


Weight training is the single best exercise for reducing body fat, another risk factor. Resistance training breaks down muscle tissue which can take a day or two to repair itself. The repair process can raise your metabolism 24-48 hours after you lift. You also put on lean muscle mass which is more metabolically active than fat. The more muscle you have the higher your metabolic rate will be all day long.

In order to improve a system like your heart and blood vessels you must stress the system. Lifting a hard set of weights will leave you breathing hard and your heat beating fast. Short stress periods like this are what make your heart and lungs get stronger. Doing the same old aerobic routine at the same pace will only maintain your current cardiovascular fitness, not improve it. (If you have any health problems or are a beginner, check with your doctor before trying any hard lifting).

Before you throw away your Nike's, "aerobic" exercise still has it's place in heart healthy fitness routines. The rules have just changed a little bit. Instead of doing long, easy to moderate sessions, shorten them and interval train. Interval training means hard/recover. You might try one minute hard and two minutes recover or easier. Studies show greater fat loss and increased cardiovascular fitness with interval training. (Again, if you have any health problems or are a beginner, see your physician before starting a program with high intensity exercise).

The best exercise precription for those who have cardiovascular fitness as a goal is to cross train. Cross training means participating in more than one type of activity. Not all the research is in on how much and what type of exercise is best. Both weight lifting and aerobic exercise are beneficial to a healthy heart in different ways. So why not vary your program, try both, and reap the unique benefits of each.

By: David Rolin-5744

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com


Dr. Lanny Schaffer is the President of The International Fitness Academy. For more cutting edge fitness information go to www.aerobic-exercise-coach.com