Health Tips:Making the Best of a Crowded Gym

11月 24th, 2008 Shaka

Entertain and Events Tips >> 2008 Tips >> Health Tips


Health Tips:Making the Best of a Crowded Gym

What’s the most common New Year’s resolution? To lose weight and get in shape! So before you go to the gym for your power workout, remember that gyms are usually most crowded during the early morning hours before work and in the evening, when many people head to the gym from work. While the easiest solution is to go to the gym during off-peak hours, that’s not always realistic for many people, especially if you work 9-5. January is another problematic time of year for gym-goers because many people are working on their New Year’s resolutions to get fit. The first six weeks of a new year is a notoriously crowded time at a gym. During this time, you can choose to skip the gym and work out elsewhere. Exercise outside or use fitness DVDs at your home.

If you’d rather brave the gym, many facilities offer sessions with personal trainers, some are even complimentary when you sign up. If you go to the gym during peak hours, try setting up a session with a personal trainer during that period so you are more likely to work out instead of stand around waiting for free equipment.

Try something new. If you usually run on the treadmill, but there is a free elliptical trainer, try it! If you’ve considered taking a yoga class and there happens to be one starting as you arrive at the gym, sign up and see if you’ve found a new exercise for the new year.

If you’re joining a new gym and know you’ll be there during peak hours, pay attention to whether machine time limits are enforced by gym employees. A typical time limit on most machines is 30 minutes.

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Health Tips:Martha Says…Tips For Keeping Your Veggies Fresh

11月 24th, 2008 Shaka

Entertain and Events Tips >> 2008 Tips >> Health Tips

Health Tips:Martha Says…Tips For Keeping Your Veggies Fresh
We can’t all shop like the fashionable French ladies who stroll by the market every night on their way home. Between the kids calling, traffic jams and the significant other held up at a meeting, the majority of us find time to go grocery shopping once a week before the family wakes up.

In many cases, you end buying more than you need and spending more than you can afford. What’s worse, you don’t end up using all your perishable food and it goes bad - and brown - in the fridge. Here are some tips straight from Martha Stewart’s daily television show on ABC for keeping your vegetables fresh for days:

Lettuce: To keep a head of lettuce crisp for days, Martha suggests taking the lettuce apart, washing it, and spinning it very dry. Wrap the lettuce in a paper towel and a place the bulk in a plastic bag in your refrigerator. If you’re feeling ambitious and want to try to hang on to that head of lettuce a few extra days, Martha says to follow the above steps, but keep the head in tact.

Mushrooms: Mushrooms are water-base vegetables, so to ensure they go don’t soggy and moldy in your fridge, Martha says to plae them on a plate with a paper towel on top of the plate. Never put the put mushrooms in plastic bags.

Potatoes: If you’re potato starts to sprout, it’s time for a new potato. But there are ways to keep your potatoes lasting longer. Martha says to keep potatoes in a dark, cool place to ensure some extra days. In fact, the same rule applies to onions, garlic and shallots. And of course, Miss Martha has a decorating tip to boot: placing the potatoes, onions, shallots and other out-of-the-fridge vegetables in a bowl in the kitchen not only reminds you cook the food, but it makes for a nice decoration.
good in the kitchen, too!

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Swiss Ball Tips:Sitting on an Exercise Ball

11月 21st, 2008 Shaka

Balance Tips >> Swiss Ball Tips

Swiss Ball Tips:Sitting on an Exercise Ball
Sitting on an exercise ball creates the opportunity for “active sitting.” Active sitting will occur naturally as you subconsciously adjust your core muscles to find and maintain the best possible position for your body. Using a Swiss ball as a chair, therefore, will strengthen the core muscles, improve posture, and increase resistance to injury and repetitive strain.

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Swiss Ball Tips:Perform free weight exercises on a Swiss ball for a more challenging, deeper work-out

11月 21st, 2008 Shaka

Balance Tips >> Swiss Ball Tips

Swiss Ball Tips:Perform free weight exercises on a Swiss ball for a more challenging, deeper work-out.
Many free weight exercises, particularly those that work your upper body, can be performed while sitting or lying on a Swiss ball. The instability created by the Swiss ball makes the exercises more difficult, thus also exercising the deep torso muscles that are important for maintaining a good posture.

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Swiss Ball Tips:Swiss balls are great tools for physical therapy, exercise and everyday activities.

11月 21st, 2008 Shaka

Balance Tips >> Swiss Ball Tips

Swiss Ball Tips:Swiss balls are great tools for physical therapy, exercise and everyday activities.
Swiss balls, also known as exercise balls, gym balls, sports balls, therapy balls or body balls are elastic rubber balls usually 22 to 34 inches in diameter. Swiss balls provide a comfortable yet unstable surface that encourages the user to engage his or her proprioceptive organs, balance, and core muscles during activities involving the Swiss Ball.

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Swiss Ball Tips:Why Is It Swiss?

11月 21st, 2008 Shaka

Balance Tips >> Swiss Ball Tips

Swiss Ball Tips:Why Is It Swiss?
The exercise ball was originally used for physical therapy. Swiss physical therapists started using it to train balance and reflexes in 1965. It quickly spread to other places and other therapy situations, where it was called the Swiss ball. Because of its versatility and low price, the ball soon moved into the fitness area, where it was called an exercise ball or fitness ball, among other names. But it remains an invaluable physical therapy tool.

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Ski Training Tips:Balance training can build the lateral stability that is important to controlling speed while skiing

11月 21st, 2008 Shaka

Balance Tips >> Ski Training Tips

Ski Training Tips:Balance training can build the lateral stability that is important to controlling speed while skiing.
Having “quick feet” and good control over your lower body movements is how you prevent your skis from taking you for a ride. Lateral movements are an important control mechanism during skiing (as well as other sports, such as soccer and basketball), and many injuries occur during lateral movements. Therefore, it is important to build lower body stability and flexibility to ski effectively and safely. You can build this stability through balance training; using a Bongo board is a great way to develop lateral range of motion and coordination. Another excellent ski training tool is the pro fitter trainer which simulates the motion of skiing. Quick lateral movements can be ingrained by placing a pillow on the floor and hoping sideways from foot to foot while maintaining a balanced upper body. Other training regimens to develop lateral stability include lateral hops and obstacle courses that incorporate changes of direction.

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Ski Training Tips:Balance and coordination are the cornerstones to good alpine skiing

11月 21st, 2008 Shaka

Balance Tips >> Ski Training Tips

Ski Training Tips:Balance and coordination are the cornerstones to good alpine skiing.
The point of skiing is to make it down the hill – preferably, remaining on your feet! Without balance and coordination, you will fall down a lot, making the experience less fun and more dangerous. Balance training using such tools as balance boards, Bongo boards, and Swiss balls will help you develop your balance – as well as improve your range of motion and core strength. Other activities that will help you develop your balance in dynamic settings include inline skating, trail running and jumping rope.

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Ski Training Tips:Balance is a key area on which skiers must focus for complete training

11月 21st, 2008 Shaka

Balance Tips >> Ski Training Tips

Ski Training Tips:Balance is a key area on which skiers must focus for complete training.
In preparation for a fun and safe ski season, athletes should focus on balance and coordination, flexibility, strength, endurance, and speed. Functional training incorporating balance training will help skiers with the first four, and developing those will positively affect your speed. Moreover, coordinated, strong skiers are less likely to fall and sustain an injury that could cut the season short.

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Ski Training Tips:Strength training builds athleticism and helps to prevent injury

11月 21st, 2008 Shaka

Balance Tips >> Ski Training Tips

Ski Training Tips:Strength training builds athleticism and helps to prevent injury.
Functional strength training is the counterpart to flexibility training; flexibility training will help you to increase your range of motion, and strength will make sure your can control that motion. Many avid skiers use traditional strength training and concentrate on isolating and developing their quad muscles. Not only does this neglect the opposing hamstring muscles, but it will create an imbalance in how your leg muscles work together. Therefore, use functional training to develop your core strength and stability, then develop your quads, hamstrings and calves to create the full suite of muscle power you will need for a great ski season.

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