Fitness And Health Online

Read, read and read! Magazines are great and informative. They are colorful, fun and expressive. Information should be available, wherever you are. They are so precise and to the point. When it comes to a healthy body, it applies to both men and women. There are many types of health magazines available in the bookstores, newspaper stand, clinics or hospitals. Some magazines encourage the lazy people, while some are written to guide and boost the fitness freaks, as well as men who like to delve in the world of exercise and a healthy diet.

On the whole, these health magazines are beneficial for men to watch their diets and also their waistlines. In order to be a fitness freak and achieve the process, men need to follow a regime of exercise and a good diet. Health magazines also give them good advice in building muscles, and in increasing their protein intake.

Various other ideas on what type of food to eat, liquids to intake, and exercises to perform, is all covered in these health magazines. It tells in detail about exercise, and its benefits. In case you opt to exercise at home, then it will guide you as to how to go about it. It shows and explains different kinds of workouts that can be exercised at home, step by step. They make it sound interesting and exciting. Accompanied by a whole lot of illustrations of men with muscles, which is very motivating in a way.

There will be a lot of advertisements by companies who manufacture muscle building machines, exercise equipments, pricing, shipping/transport charges and discounts if any. If you have a friend who is a health freak, why don’t you subscribe to 2 or 3 health magazines, as a gift for him. It would please him pink and encourage him to exercise. They would give him so much information in an easy and concise way and not lengthy like a novel. Men are short of patience, so gifting them a health magazine instead of a novel is a great idea.

It also throws a lot of light on health issues, which men discuss and deal with, like colon or prostate cancer. Citing the symptoms, treatment, cures and also list of doctors or clinics that they can get in touch with, will help them identify and deal with issues that men are usually not comfortable talking about and giving them ample solutions and showing them the path to recovery.

Men who have lost their confidence, can regain the same. They feel better about their bodies and this brings about a change in their attitude. They soon realize that people around are actually noticing them. Good health, leads to a good life, but takes a lot of hard work. Sow that you may reap the benefits of being a fitness freak. Your curiosity for more sustained health should not be with just one health magazine but with many. And it could open up a whole new world of fitness for you.

Have you been putting on those extra pounds lately? Finding it difficult to release the stress you experience at work? Bored with the routine grind at the local gym? Well, here’s a novel way to tackle it all. Get groovy, dance your way to fitness, and fight all signs of stress, obesity and aging. Wanna know more? Just read on…

Dancing is a great form of exercise and can give you the benefits of a regular workout. Experts recommend dancing in order to burn calories, boost energy, improve circulation and tone muscles - which leads to increased strength, endurance and flexibility. In fact, dancing can help you to burn just as many calories as other traditional exercises like walking or downhill skiing. In addition, it helps you to relieve tension and stress, brightens your mood and serves as an outlet for your creativity. And, just in case you are looking forward to impress someone of the other sex, your might find your dancing skills come in very handy.

Any form of dancing, whether European or American, Indian or Arabian, has positive effects on your body. It works and strengthens the various muscles of your body, improving flexibility and agility. Regular dancing helps you to get rid of the extra cellulite that accumulates in regions like buttocks and thighs, helping you to achieve that perfectly toned look. Also, dancing can be great for the heart as it can boost your blood circulation and provide you valuable cardio-vascular exercise. The sweat that generates while dancing is also greatly effective in flushing out toxins from your body.

There are many dance forms that are popular with people for maintaining fitness. Of these, the most common ones are ballroom dancing, belly dancing, pole dancing, salsa and flamenco. Besides the general effects listed above, each of these dance forms have their unique advantages in boosting your health conditions. For example, ballroom dancing provides a heart pumping workout, besides improving your balance and flexibility. Being a fluid dance form, ballroom dancing also helps in enhancing your sense of grace and elegance.

Belly dancing, on the other hand, is good for balance and posture. Besides strengthening the back and the muscles of the pelvic floor, belly dancing helps in toning the hamstrings, thighs, abs and hips. The fast dance moves in belly dancing helps to give one a full body workout.

Pole dancing is perhaps the most popular of all fitness dances. Erotic and sexy, it is also a great way to work out all your body muscles and improve your agility. Pole dancing also helps in strengthening the muscles of the arms and the upper body in general.

Salsa, the popular Latin American dance, is both spicy and dynamic. With 80 to 140 beats performed in a minute, Salsa makes for some very active movements that help in burning calories, improving blood circulation and breathing. With the right partner, Salsa can actually be a source of unlimited fun!

Having said thus, it can be said that dancing helps us in keeping healthy in both mind and body. It helps us to remain positive and energetic even in the midst of a stressful life. So if you are looking for a way to unwind and relax without adding to your calories, we suggest you to enroll for a dance class. Put on you dancing shoes, and jive your way to a fit, healthy life. Staying fit was never more fun!

When you’re busy balancing work, kids, and home life in general, you might feel that there’s not enough time in the day for health and fitness. The word “exercise” just doesn’t seem to fit into your vocabulary. But there’s good news. With just a little daily commitment, you can achieve good health and fitness in no time without adding stress to your already busy schedule.

Start with Slow Exercise and Build Strength

Get started with slow, easy exercises that you can handle. Do about 20 to 30 minutes of exercise or activity each day or at least several times per week. Start with less strenuous activities and then work your way up to more strenuous exercises as you build muscle strength. This will improve your fitness and health without putting too much strain on your body, especially if you’ve been inactive for a while.

Some examples of low fitness activities you might try include walking, playing outdoor games with your kids (ball, tag, volleyball, badminton, flying a kite, etc.), walking the dog, mowing the lawn or gardening, housework, walking stairs, or riding a bike. When you want to have fun with your kids, opt for the park instead of the ice cream shop. Be mindful of physical activity in everything you do. This will help your kids get exercise as well without feeling pressured about it.

If you work outside the home, you can take walks during your breaks. Even a daily 15-minute walk can make a big difference!

Increasing Activity

As your body grows stronger, you might choose to add some aerobic exercise to your daily routine. Do this slowly and increase the intensity and time of your aerobic activity in short increments so you won’t overdo it. Aerobic exercise helps you burn more calories and improve heart health.

Some examples of aerobic fitness activities include fast walking or jogging, cycling, dancing, swimming, skating, skiing, step aerobics, or racket sports. You can also enroll in an aerobics class if you feel you’re ready to commit to it several times per week. Or, there are DVDs that teach you to do aerobic workouts at home.

Another way to increase fitness activity is to invest in exercise equipment such as a treadmill, fitness band, yoga mat, ab wheel, workout weights, row machine, or stationary bike. These allow you to workout in the comfort of your own home with the same results as outdoor fitness activities.

Pamper Your Muscles

Be sure to pamper your muscles a little before and after workouts. Do stretches before working out and then “cool down” afterwards to allow your muscles to relax. Also, take soothing baths after a workout or in the evening before bedtime to help your muscles and body to relax. This will make workouts more enjoyable and give you something to look forward to each day.

Supplement Your Diet for Better Fitness and Health

To enhance your fitness efforts, supplement your diet with nutritious items such as protein and amino acids or other vitamins and minerals. There are nutritional shakes, protein shakes, vitamin supplement pills, nutrition bars, and other items to enhance your diet as you increase your fitness activity. These will also enhance your overall health. Look for vitamins that are specifically designed for women.

As a busy mom, don’t neglect one of the most important tasks of all - taking care of your own health. With good health and fitness, you’ll be able to keep up with your kids and share activities with them like never before!

Kevin: Good evening, everyone. So Craig, you’ve been in the fitness industry for over 26 years and with that, I imagine comes a bit of wisdom. Why don’t you start with your story and how you’ve gotten to where you are now?

Craig: Sure Kevin. Well, first of all, I started out in the fitness industry as a personal trainer making $3.50 an hour.

Kevin: Wow.

Craig: So I’ve been in it for awhile and I grew through the ranks in the fitness industry to the executive level. I was the president of two of the largest fitness organizations in the United States. I was the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the largest chain of fitness clubs in the world operating in 11 countries. I also successfully owned and operated my own fitness company. I’ve visited 30 countries and evaluated health and fitness trends all over Russia, Asia, Europe. I’ve been to dozens of fitness conventions, purchased millions of dollars worth of equipment, supplements and other health and fitness related products and I’ve also had the ability to train thousands of health and fitness professionals around the world and help them to help other people improve their lives. So this really kind of led me to where I am today, which is to where I just got to the point where I want to do something more and that’s why I wrote my book The Big Fat Healthy Fitness Lie and founded the Fit Advocate website so that I could create a platform to protect and enhance the lives and health and fitness consumers.

Kevin: Now you just mentioned your book, The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie which I absolutely love. What is the big fat fitness lie. Let’s just lay it on the table.

Craig: Why mince words? Let’s dig right in. The lie is that there are these billion dollar industries out there getting richer while we get sicker and fatter and with all the so-called solutions available for losing weight and improving our health, we are literally in the worse shape in the history of modern civilization. There’s big profit in sickness and in fatness, and a lot of times people question that and they think, “Oh, well we live in the United States, we’re in great health and we have the best health care system” which is a complete fallacy. Here’s an interesting fact that people should be aware of, we’re approaching some 300 million people in the U.S. and we have every year 200 million diseases that are diagnosed for conditions that could be prevented with simple lifestyle changes.

Kevin: Wow.

Craig: And we spend in the United States, 270 billion dollars on 3.7 billion prescriptions written to, not to cure anything because there’s really very few cures in modern medicine, medicine is meant mostly to mask our symptoms. So taking into our bodies a lot of toxic chemicals and you know there’s so much confusion out there and misinformation about health and fitness. So there’s a huge opportunity, unfortunately, for people to make big money on the lack of knowledge that people have about how to lose weight, improve their health, get in shape and live better. So millions of people are out there paying thousands of dollars that have no chance of helping them achieve their goal and that’s really the big fat lie.

Kevin: And let me just ask you this, you’ve been on the other side, you’ve been a part of the industry that is making a lot of money in the fitness clubs and the organizations and everything. When did you suddenly say, “Hey, you know, maybe I need to educate people about this.”

Craig: Well, first of all I never felt that the club industry was a bad industry.

Kevin: Okay.

Craig: And in my book I still am a big proponent of joining a fitness center for the average person, there are, of course, some caveat of how to get a quality club. I have an article on the ten worst tricks for the fitness industry. So I try to expose the things that I think are bad but there’s also a lot of good too, but what I did notice while I was operating all of these clubs and trying to help people is that I would talk to thousands of consumers, face to face. For a big part of my career, my job was to get out there and help, work with people in the field, club operators, managers, sales people, fitness staff members, personal trainers, to talk to them about how to help people make decisions that are good for them and the guiding principle, of course was always don’t focus on making money, focus on helping people and you will make money as a natural result, as a natural bi-produce of helping people. That’s always been one of my guiding principles, but in speaking with all these consumers, you find that the average person spends thousands and thousands of dollars on products and services that have no chance of helping them. They spend hours and hours of wasted time on information that will never help them improve their health or change their lives. So I got tired, frustrated and really kind of outraged at all of the quick fix solutions that are out there that people jump from one to the other and without really understanding the true cause of why they’re in such poor health. So I wanted to try to educate them on all of the things, the lies the deceptions while also trying to give them simple solutions for how to improve their health, how to lose weight, how to get in shape, how to live better, how to feel better with no tricks and no gimmicks for the rest of their lives. That’s really what the big fat health and fitness lie is all about and that’s really what the Fit Advocate website is all about.

Kevin: And you take a different approach in your book as opposed to a lot of the other books that I’ve read about health and fitness and it’s related to addiction. You say addiction feeds this whole lie. What do you mean by this?

Craig: Well, many people live a self-inflicted toxic lifestyle that destroys their health and feeds this lie. So what do I mean by that? Well, the definition of toxic, first of all, is poison and in our society we are surrounded by poisons, in our air, it’s in our water, some of them we can’t avoid and many of them we can, however. A lot of these poisons, they’re not going to kill us today, but instead what they do is they slowly and quietly deteriorate and destroy our health.

There’s two specific types of poisons or toxins that I talk about that create these health problems. The first, of course is chemical exposures. There are thousands of untested chemical combinations in our food supply to improve taste, texture, color or to extend shelf life. There are low calorie, low carb foods laced with toxic sweeteners that has contributed to obesity and diabetes. We’ve been conditioned to believe that sodium fluoride, for example is good for our teeth. Yet it’s a known chemical waste bi-product of the aluminum and phosphate fertilizer industry. This chemical has been pumped into our water supply and put into our dental hygiene products for years but fluoridation has been flatly rejected by many developed countries because of the dangers and the lack of really any scientific evidence of any health benefit. Beyond that, we have toxic chemicals in our household products, our cleaning products, personal hygiene products. Fruits and vegetables have been treated with herbicides and pesticides. Chickens and cows are fed ground chicken and beef. Then pumped full of antibiotics to stave off disease from the horrific conditions in which they live and where they’re slaughtered. So we have all of those, you know, all of this chemical toxicity. That’s the first concern.

The second is the biggest toxic exposure which is related to stress, and people don’t realize this but as much as 80% of all disease is the result of stress and having had the ability to travel all over the world and visit, you know, I believe I’ve been to over 40 countries now, you find that we in America are the most stressed out country on the planet. We work more than any other activity other than sleep. Just think about our normal lives, we wake up every day and we’re running on empty from morning to night. We’ve got the pressures at work, at home, the challenges sustaining some sort of happy relationship with our significant others. We’ve got the demands of the kids, trying to pay the bills. We have all of the negativity in the news. We’re all trying to live the American dream which is predicated on financial freedom, but the truth is only a fraction of people out there actually ever realize the American dream and the rest of us are simply trying to get by, and, you know, we’re buried in a mountain of debt. All of these things add up to a lot of worry and stress and to cope with this stress, what do we do? We drink, we smoke, we take drugs, we over eat, we eat the wrong foods and we spend hours in front of the television or surfing the internet. All of these activities, unfortunately make us fat, lazy and out of shape, and what happens is this poor health that’s created from this self addictive lifestyle creates, and opens the door for these big fat health and fitness lies. One of them is companies that market, manufacture and market and sale products that have no chance of helping us and then, of course, the worse thing is when we look to synthetic chemical compounds, prescription drugs, as the first line of defense to handle our self inflicted health problems. So we really have a lot of issues that we have to deal with in order to be healthy, but people need to understand the basis of where it starts, the cause.

Kevin: Yes. How does someone take that sort of addiction or quote unquote addictive personality and turn that into fitness success?

Craig: Well the first thing they have to do is identify it.

Kevin: Yes.

Craig: You have to realize it. Here’s, here’s a fact that’s pretty important that people should know about, the number one reason that people give for not exercising regularly is that they don’t have enough time, okay. Yet the average American watches four and a half hours of television a day. So there’s an issue there with priority and people have to understand that time is the most important and the most valuable thing that we have because once it’s gone you can’t get it back. If you want to improve your health, you have to make time to do all of the things that are necessary to improve and enhance your health and your life and it’s not just exercise but it is one of the key components. So they have to first understand the issues and then have the right motivation and set the right priorities to get them to where they need to be.

Walking to get fit may not be enough say researchers from the University of Alberta, Canada. Scientists at the University of Alberta compared a program which included taking 10,000 steps to more traditional exercise programs and found those on the 10,000 steps a day were less fit. The question they sought to answer was: Is gentle physical activity enough to achieve fitness when compared to more intensive activities?

The answer to this question, says Dr. Vicki Harber, head of the research team is: “Generally, low-intensity activity such as walking alone is not likely to give anybody marked health benefits compared to programs that occasionally elevate the intensity.”

This is “sad” news for me as I barely fit into my schedule the 20 to 30 minute walk about every other day that I do now, although gut instinct has been telling me I probably need to do more this, just what to do more is still in question.

These researchers said their concern is that people may think that what matters most is the total number of daily steps accumulated, and won’t pay much attention to the pace or effort invested in taking those steps. That sort of fits the description of what I am doing for exercise. I much rather take a leisurely walk and increase the time I spend walking rather than increase the pace I walk at.

Dr. Harper said the 10,000 step program is great for getting people to become more active again. We just need to increase the effectiveness of those steps. One way of doing that is to increase the speed in which we take those 10,000 steps, something like taking lots of 200 to 400 more steps quickly. She feels we got to more than light exercise and move towards the inclusion of regular “moderate” activity, which also includes occasional periods of walking at a more vigorous level. Okay…..I will try that!

Not everybody may have this same attitude, however. It seems that the 10,000 steps program has gotten millions of couch potatoes worldwide to move around and this has been a great accomplishment. To tell some they are not achieving much with the 10,000 steps program and now they must do more intensely could result in some giving up completely. Some people feel what would really make an interesting study is to see a 2-year-study in which half the previously sedentary people did the 10,000 step program (I would definitely be in this group), while the other half did a more intensive one, and see how many in each group dropped out. At this point, I cannot say whether or not I would be one that would just give up completely. It is a little bit on the chilly side today, I don’t know if I will start this new routine today or wait until warmer weather appears……We all most usually have access to some kind of a mall and I do have access to an exercise center fairly nearby, it is just that I might start this new program later……

What is the 10,000 step program?

It looks as if most health care professionals are in agreement that if we walk 10,000 paces (steps) a day our health will improve. I know I am far behind. They also agree that walking 10,000 steps per day helps control weight management followed by a well-balance diet to improve health even more.

It looks as if there is a pager-sized device we can attach to our belts or something we are wearing, called a Pedometer. While we wear this Pedometer (sort of reminds me of a pace-maker attachment) it will record the number of steps we take based on our body’s movement. That does sound interesting and easy enough. I know I could never keep track with pencil and paper. If we wear the Pedometer all day, at the end of the day, we can know approximately how many steps we have walked that day. Keep in mind though, now we must intensify each step, and don’t give up.

The goal of taking 10,000 steps in a day is a rough equivalent to the Surgeon General’s recommendation to accumulate 30 minutes of activity most days of the week (which has been sort of my thinking and exercise routine, probably read this somewhere). It has been felt this should be enough to reduce risk of disease and help us to lead a longer, healthier life.

It is understood, however, that not everyone should start right out trying to get 10,000 steps a day. So instead a more comfortable, gradual approach has been presented. This is called the 20% Boost Program.

The first piece of equipment we need to purchase for the 20% Boost Program is again the “Pedometer.” I must buy one of these soon! I will pick up one of these when I go to Sears to purchase a small freezer (I just learned frozen fruits and vegetables are healthier than the so-called “fresh fruits and vegetables” on the grocery shelf.) For this, I have to purchase a small freezer to be able to store the variety I need. This will be the perfect time to look for a Pedometer. No doubt Sears will have one in stock.

Part II of this article will contain a summary of the 20% Boost Program.

This article is FREE to publish with the resource box.

Designing your own beginner fitness program is a project that could dramatically improve all aspects of your physical or physiological life. Many people have had success in dropping off lots of fat and at the same time acquiring good lean muscles. They’ve also been able to better their overall health.

The following are a few basic tips to start a fitness program that would suit a novice while at the same time trying to avoid the mistakes normally associated with one who’s just beginning to get his/her muscles and heart rate going. Observe that it’s vital to consult with your physician prior to commencing a fitness regimen particularly if you truly intend to religiously follow through with your program. Doing so helps you avoid any unneeded injury.

Start Slowly

As much as possible, don’t hurry. Begin in a slow, cautious way. Do not in any way do the same thing most beginning exercisers do: doing a lot in the shortest possible time. Remember that too much of something could make you feel sick. Relax and try to take your time. You will sooner or later learn to appreciate exercising and do it at your own pace.

Try not to feel competitive with others who might have been working out a lot longer than you have. Ease into the exercise mood. Try not to be a model for physical fitness in as little as a week. You have all the time in the world.

Think right - feel right

Attempt to visualize your body as it will be eventually. Envisage your ideal body doing things you want to do or have fun doing, be it in the company of friends or by yourself. Be realistic yet optimistic. Know your expectations and be prepared for whatever lies ahead. There is the mental phase where people need to prepare and will themselves to exercise.

Move Yourself

If you’re having trouble getting off your butt in the morning, start small. Start out walking at a pace that you can manage, and then jog slowly. You could then eventually ease into bicycling or some exercises that are lightweight.

There are exercises for beginners in most gyms. Don’t pressure yourself. That takes the fun out of working out. As much as possible, choose an activity you like and would not do more than twenty or thirty minutes, say, three or four times every week. After the third week, you could start increasing the length, intensity as well as frequency. Don’t jump way ahead. You could regret it.

On the whole, producing a fitness program for yourself as a beginner is reasonably easy. It’s in the application and the eventual as well as consistent follow through of all the activities in the program that could prove to be challenging.

It is always a good deal easier to sit rather than stand or move and work up a sweat. In the long-run however, it’s always a good deal healthier and financially more convenient being healthy than having to buy all the medications your body needs in its old age, when you could have easily exercised your way to healthiness when you were a lot younger.

Everyone wants a tip they can use when they start a fitness or weight loss program. Since most people start an exercise program after the holiday season, this page features some tips for your 2007 fitness workout. The most important fitness tip that you will get from anyone is to exercise. If you are just beginning a fitness routine, you start off slowly and work you way upwards. Always aim for the top, but you have to realize that if you havent been doing a lot of exercise, it will take time for you to get to the level you want to attain. Start with a basic level such as walking and ease your way into jogging and working out on a regular basis.

In addition to exercise you have to eat healthy foods, Make sure your diet contains a balance of different foods that include carbohydrates, proteins and fat. While you are counting calories, you will find that healthy foods contain much less calories than fast foods or junk foods, and choosing fruit as snacks helps you to lose weight.

Tips for becoming fit this year:

1. Exercise at least three days per week.
2. Do aerobic workouts
3. Start a strength training program
4. Stretch to increase the flexibility of your muscles
5. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
6. Set a specific time for your fitness workout.
7. Walk rather than drive short distances
8. Choose fruit rather than chips or bars as your snack
9. Bring your own lunch to work
10. Take the stairs rather than the elevator