Most Heart Attacks are Preventable

It is now established that arteriosclerosis is reversible and that most cases of heart attacks are preventable (Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy, published online June 15, 2010). Most heart attacks occur in people with known risk factors:Plaques caused by cholesterol:Fatty plaques are covered by a fibrous cap that shields the fat inside from the bloodstream. Rupture of this cap releases fats from plaques into the bloodstream. The released fat causes clots that block the arteries to cause a heart attack. Heart attacks are not caused by plaques causing progressive narrowing of these arteries. Since the bad LDL cholesterol causes plaques to form, and the good HDL cholesterol prevents plaques from forming and rupturing, people with high...

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Weight Loss Motivation

Weight loss motivation usually begins when you have become motivated to improve in other areas of your life. I'm not a psychologist, but I am a human. I know that when I am "messed up" in other areas of my life, it can sometimes be hard to exercise regularly and lose weight or maintain weight. Its also easier to eat those fatty "comfort foods" that pack on the pounds quickly.I'm guessing you're not too much different from me. Are there other things in your life hindering your motivation to lose weight and burn fat. Some things that limit us are:1. Fear of setting goals because of fear of failure. According to experts, setting low goals or no goals means you don't have to live up to high expectations. 2. When you have tried everything...

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Sculpt Your Body With Bodyweight Workouts

Sculpt your body better with bodyweight workouts! You can do bodyweight strength workouts and bodyweight cardio workouts at home, at the park or anywhere you want. No gym membership is needed! Burn body fat like crazy with bodyweight workouts! Bodyweight workouts use natural body motions that don't limit your natural range of motion like machine lifting does. And, doing bodyweight exercises at full speed will burn even more fat and calories! Tired of doing the same old cardio workout? The answer to your boredom with cardio is an intense bodyweight cardio workout! You will be too challenged...

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Mountain Climbing Requires Core Strength

If you want to be a mountain climber, you need massive amounts of core strength and muscle endurance....so says my friends Brian and Jackie, who finished successfully climbing to the summit of Mt. Ranier! I'm not going to argue with them! I'm impressed---congrats, you two! All movement begins with the core and many injuries can be traced to a weak core area. WE KNOW THE SAYING---YOU'RE ONLY AS STRONG AS YOUR "WEAKEST LINK." Well, this saying definitely applies to your body. Many people work certain favorite body parts when exercising. In and of itself, this is not a bad thing. But for your...

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Sitting is Hazardous to your Health

Researchers at the University of South Carolina found that men who spent more than 23 hours a week watching TV and sitting in their cars had a 64 percent greater chance of dying from heart attacks than those who sat for fewer than 12 hours a week (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, May 2010).Many of the men who suffered heart attacks also exercised regularly. Their exercise programs did not protect them from the heart attack-causing effects of sitting in cars or while they watched television. This month, a review of the world's literature shows that exercise may not protect you from the life- shortening effects of prolonged sitting (Exercise and Sports Sciences Reviews, July 2010), and many studies show that animals (rats and mice)...

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Burn More Fat With Challenging Exercises

If you want to burn more fat, do more challenging exercises! Challenge yourself with exercises that test your balance, coordination, strength and flexibility! This might require that you put that old favorite workout on the shelf and try something new! If you do, I guarantee you will burn more fat and lose more weight!Try some of these challenging exercises:1. Incorporate many one-legged exercises such as power step ups, single leg squats, single leg good mornings, single leg medicine ball exercises, etc. These types of exercises are more intense than two-legged exercises.2. Include exercises...

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Why Back Surgery Fails So Often

Researchers from Duke University show that back pain is usually caused by a person's immunity attacking the disc in the same way that it attacks invading germs, not by a broken disc pressing on a nerve (Arthritis & Rheumatism, July 2010). They found that people with back pain associated with damaged discs have high levels of Interleukin-17, produced by your immune lymphocytes and known to cause asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.The natural history of back pain from "disc disease" usually starts after you hurt your back. You often appear to recover after several weeks or months of pain. However, the back pain can recur any time later, even many years after your original back problem.The bones of your spine are separated...

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Bodyweight Strength Workouts Burn Fat

Bodyweight strength workouts burn fat and allow you to use natural body motions. You don't need exercise machines! Machines limit your natural range of motion. Try doing a squat on the Smith Machine and see how natural that feels.To be fair, machine workouts can be beneficial for beginners. But, even beginners should not stay with the machines for too long. Why? Because machines also stabilize your body for you. You need to develop strength that allows your body to stabilize itself. Also, no two people have the same exact motions.Enter in bodyweight strength exercises. These types of exercises...

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Keep Fat Burning Enzymes Active

Keep your fat-burning enzymes active by standing and walking more during the day. Research proves that when you sit, your fat-burning enzymes basically shut down....when you stand during the day, those fat-burning enzymes go to work for you! If you have a sit-down job, try to stand as much as you can during the day and take walking breaks and lunches to activate those fat-burning enzymes! Any activity is good to go along with your regular workouts.....those burned calories add up!A "stand up" exercise will give you more strength benefits. Example: work your hip abductors standing up instead of...

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Burn More Leg Fat

Burn more leg fat with a good leg fat-burning circuit.Bodyweight leg circuits are a tried and true method to burn more leg fat, increase strength/endurance and improve heart health. Since this workout is circuit-style, you also get the benefit of a great cardio workout. Do each exercise (10-12 repetitions) one after the other with little or no rest between exercises. Rest 2-3 minutes and do the circuit 2 more times. Here is a good bodyweight leg circuit program:--Bulgarian split squats--Step ups (with knee high platform)--Squat jumps, Depth Jumps (set 2), Tuck Jumps (set 3)--Reverse lunges--Side...

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Sodas with HFCS and Caffeine May Be Best Drinks for Endurance

The limiting factor in endurance racing is the time that it takes to get enough oxygen into muscles to burn food for energy. Anything that reduces oxygen requirements allows you to race faster. Sugar stored in muscles, called glycogen, requires less oxygen than fat or protein. Anything that helps you keep sugar in muscles longer gives you greater endurance.A study from Georgia State University shows that drinks that contain both glucose and fructose burn more carbohydrates than those containing only glucose, and allow cyclists to ride much faster over 60 miles (International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, April 2010).Most soft drinks are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Both HFCS and conventional sugar (sucrose)...

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Burn Your Belly Fat!

Who doesn't want to burn belly fat? Burning belly fat is not complicated if you follow a good workout routine and meal plan! Of course, this is easier said than done, right?First, don't focus on your belly fat! Focus on burning total body fat with full body circuit strength training and short, intense cardio sessions. Your strength training sessions should be about 40-50 minutes (3 times a week) and your cardio sessions should be about 20 minutes (3-4 times a week). Your strength training workouts will include core exercises like planks, bridges, ab curl ups, back extensions and mountain...

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Weight Loss With Good Health

If you have weight loss, fat loss and good health, you're in a great place! Just continue to eat right and work hard to stay there!Quick weight loss implies that it's something that probably won't last! Health should be stressed before weight loss and beauty! It does you no good to look great if your body is a total wreck and unhealthy!Optimal health involves making lifestyle changes to improve your:1. health2. fitness3. energy levels4. quality of lifeWe are living longer on this earth so quality of life is important! The "quick weight loss lifestyle" is narrow minded when you compare it to the "optimal health lifestyle!" Quick weight loss leads to slowed metabolism, a weaker immune system, hormonal imbalances, loss of lean mass, increased...

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Glycemic Index, Glycemic Load and Glycemic Response

Being aware of the glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) of certain foods can help you control your glycemic response and body fat. The glycemic index is a numerical index that ranks carbohydrates based on their rate of glycemic response, or their conversion to glucose within the human body. The Index uses a scale of 0 to 100, with higher values given to foods that cause the most rapid rise in blood sugar. Pure glucose is the reference point and has a GI value of 100. A low-carb diet is not necessary. You are better off eating the right kinds of carbohydrates at the right time. Your body depends on carbohydrates as a primary fuel source (especially during intense workouts). For instance, after a tough workout, a post-workout drink...

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Swim Times Improve With Power Training

Your swim times can improve with speed and power training. Shorten those swim workouts!With runners, they must train fast to become faster. Current research shows that the same is true for swimmers. Long swim training sessions actually inhibit power development.Physiologist Dave Costill says: “Most competitive swimming events last less than two minutes. How can training for three to four hours a day at speeds that are markedly slower than competitive pace prepare the swimmer for the maximal efforts of competition?”To optimize strength and power, swimmers need to follow an exercise program out...

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18,000 Calories per Day in Race Across America

You need to take in large amounts of food when you exercise for more than a few hours, otherwise you will slow down and eventually have to stop. In the Race Across America, four cyclists alternated shifts as a relay team and completed the race distance of 2800 miles in 6 days, 10 hours and 51 minutes. Each rode up to 10 hours per day in approximately one hour shifts. Even though they cycled only a quarter of the time and distance, they each burned an average 6,420 calories per day, compared to the average for North American men of a little over 2000 calories per day. They ate and drank as much as they could but were able to take in only 4918 calories/day, for a deficit of 1503 calories per day (International Journal of Sports Medicine, July...

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Misleading Weight Loss Advertisements

Advertisements that promise quick weight loss without diet or exercise are misleading. Wouldn’t it be nice if — as the ads claim — you could lose weight simply by taking a pill, wearing a patch, or rubbing in a cream? Too bad claims like that are almost always false. Doctors, dieticians, and fitness experts agree that the best way to lose weight is to eat higher quality calories and increase your physical activity. Here, then, according to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) are the 7 most misleading claims made in Weight Loss Ads: "LOSE WEIGHT WITHOUT DIET OR EXERCISE!" Achieving a healthy weight takes work. Take a pass on any product that promises miraculous results without the effort. Buy one and the only thing you’ll lose is money. "LOSE...

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Obesity Study Is Misleading

A study on obesity is misleading, if you believe the numbers. This obesity study was reported on in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It is true that you can make numbers say whatever you want them to say. Mathematically, the numbers are correct according to the way the research was performed. But, they did not reveal the whole truth about obesity and its effects on your health. The research claims that your chances of dying from cancer or heart disease does not increase if you carry up to 25 extra pounds. The study DID NOT consider all of the relevant factors. DON'T BELIEVE THESE RESULTS. Here are the basic methodologies the researchers used to compile their results and my assessment: 1) The study was based...

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Fat-Burning, Speed-Based Workouts

Fat-burning, speed-based workouts give you maximum benefits in minimum time! One 20-minute, speed-based workout will burn tons of calories and fat---during and after your workout!Speed-based workouts don't have to be "running only" workouts. But, running sprints are usually included in a speed-based workout. Working out at a fast pace has been proven to shape and sculpt your body better because these type of workouts activate your bulkier, shapely fast twitch muscle fibers. If you are going to use a fat-burning, speed-based workout, you need to learn correct running mechanics! Many people...

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Use Your Muscles or Lose Them!

If you don't build muscles, you will lose muscles. It doesn't matter if you're 40 years old or 75 years old.Exercise and fitness will help you to increase the range of movement, increase lean muscle, strengthen bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, improve your ability to do everyday activities, improve health, help prevent accidents, injuries, and sickness, and speed up rehabilitation.Resistance training helps women tone, shape and strengthen muscle fibers, minimizing the "fatty marbling" within the muscle that results in flabby, weak muscles. In addition, not only will you increase lean muscle mass and overall body tone, but the benefits of exercise also include increased metabolic rate and increased bone density.Women who exercise on a regular...

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Do Summer Exercise With Quality Footwear!

Please do your summer exercise with quality footwear! Do I even need to say NOT TO EXERCISE WITH CHEAP SHOES! Based on what I see at health clubs, alot of people exercise with cheap shoes!Do you have feet that are flat, low-arched or high-arched? Then, you need quality footwear to protect and support your feet! You might even need insoles to support your feet. Also, you need footwear that supports your activities. Are you a runner, tennis player, basketball player, soccer player, raquetball player or lacrosse player? Buy the footwear that you need! I love the "old school Converse sneakers" but you might not want to run a marathon using those sneakers!Due to the science and technology that goes into making quality exercise footwear,...

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Weekend Warriors' Exercise And Injury Prevention

If you're a weekend warrior, you need to exercise to prevent injuries and win those games for bragging rights! If you just show up for your game on the weekends without preparation, you will blow out a hamstring or pull a quad muscle (or worse injury). Begin your training by getting your body in general condition to play your sport. Full body strength training (3 days a week) and interval cardio (2-3 days a week) sessions will get your body ready for more intense training to follow. Do this training for 2-3 weeks. You would then progress to do basic plyometric exercises like squat jumps and cone hops. Plyometric exercises help you to increase power. Traditional barbell and dumbbell strength exercises do not allow you to move at the speeds...

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The Biggest Loser, The Healthy Way

Be the Biggest Loser, the healthy way! Health is more important than weight loss. Don't lose your health and self respect trying quick weight loss tactics. Check out this video about a former Biggest Loser television show contestant who experienced major weight loss (and disappointment):Your goal should be to be the biggest fat loser. Losing huge amounts of weight can be gained back quickly if you don't build muscle mass. Build muscle, burn fat, speed up your metabolism and lose weight (and keep it off)!So, here are some tips to help you achieve your best health and fitness:1. Make a commitment TODAY to a lifestyle of health and fitness! Without this commitment, you will eventually go back to short-term solutions like quick weight loss!...

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