So, you have made the decision to get started exercising. Congratulations, that's a big first step. But, have you decided how you are going to begin your exercise routine? Will you be joining a gym or health club or will you be working out at home? Which is best? With all the differences it can sometimes get confusing, so let's take a quick look.
Exercise At Home
No doubt, exercising at home offers up several distinct benefits.
- You can exercise when it's convenient for you. There is no having to go work out during a certain set of hours.
- It's less expensive. Health club membership can get expensive in a hurry. Add in the high price of gas and you can spend a nice chunk of change every month.
- You are exercising by yourself and not in front of a large group of people. You don't have to be concerned with how you look.
- You do not have to wait on someone to finish using a machine before you can get on it.
Exercising At The Gym
Going to the gym or health club also has its share of positive benefits as well.
- The selection of weights and equipment is enormous. You'll find the newest work-out machines.
- You'll have a wide variety of ways to exercise. From swimming in the pool, to playing basketball in the gym, a club offers up a variety that is hard to find at home.
- A club will have various types of exercise classes you can join and stay motivated. It's also a great opportunity to meet new people and have some fun.
As you can see, there are numerous advantages to exercising at home or the gym. There is no best one. The best advice is to sit down and make your own list of pros and cons that affect you personally and then come to a good decision based on your answers. Either way, the key is to simply get started.
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By the way, you can find out more about Exercising At Home Or The Gym as well as get 101 Every Day Tips To Lose 10 Pounds by visiting http://www.101TipsToLose10Pounds.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Terry_Edwards
Saturday
Health Club Secrets -- 5 Monster Tips For Choosing a Health Club
With the New Year coming in, people by the droves put their New Year's resolutions in gear. For many health clubs, the month of January marks the easiest time of the year to entice and underdeliver the hopes and desires of the unsuspecting public.
Now, of course, that'll never happen to you...will it?
For the type of person that continually gets wrapped up in the "deal of the day," it most certainly will. Most people have no idea what the telltale signs of a great health club operation are.
Naturally, many clubs know this and fully take advantage. Does it really make sense for all of the area clubs to offer the most "specials" in the month where the overall demand reaches its peak?
What other successful industry does this?
None that I can think of.
Understand that many clubs encourage you to join in the months of January and February knowing full well that you not be frequenting the place in two months.
But your money is!
The key resides in the fact that you must find the clubs that actually have your best interest at heart. Which clubs are going to encourage you to get in better shape?
To give everyone a little piece of mind, I've compiled a short list of monster tips to help insure that you involve yourself with a club that will give you the most success.
(By the way, two of these tips are "underground" and industry insiders are the only ones that REALLY know about them.)
1. Check the cleanliness. Clubs don’t care about keeping the club clean don’t care about keeping you happy. Period. Always give a good look in the locker rooms and cardio deck.
2. Gauge the pressure. The more pressure that is being put on you to join right then, the less service you are likely to get. Use your head. Today only specials are a scam. Peer pressure always puts you in a bad spot. (Important Note: monthly does not mean month-to-month. Make sure you know the difference.)
3. Judge value, not price. Price is what you pay. Value equals what you get for what you pay. Generally, the higher the rates, the more value you get. Of course, make sure to judge this for yourself. Just don’t get stuck in the “low price” mindset. Always look for “high value”
4. Ask about the management history. Clubs with a history of better service tend to have stable management. If a club switches managers every 3 months, it’s not a positive sign and usually means that ownership either continually chooses poor management or it’s a sign of dissatisfied employees. Be sure to ask.
5. Always check the Better Business Bureau homepage on any clubs that you are looking to join. If a club has a bad mark, you can bet it’s pretty intentional. The Bureau doesn't just hand out bad marks without just cause.
*Bonus Tip: Check out ripoffreport.com and look up the names of clubs that you are interested in. This resource encompasses reports from many dissatisfied customers from many types of businesses.
Take these 5 tips and apply them to your area. While they will not tell you everything about a club, they will prevent you from becoming a member of the worst clubs and allow you to be more comfortable working out in the New Year.
Brad Howard is the author of the wildly successful book "Health Club Secrets, How to Master the Art of Losing Weight Without Getting Ripped Off" and has been in the industry for years. For more details, make sure to visit http://www.HealthClubSecrets.com
Want more Brad? Be sure to log on to http://www.SmallAssForSale.com for information on the new book coming out soon. Find out about little known combinations and techniques that will send you weight loss results through the roof. 3 lucky people stand to win a free copy each month! Visit today!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brad_Howard
Now, of course, that'll never happen to you...will it?
For the type of person that continually gets wrapped up in the "deal of the day," it most certainly will. Most people have no idea what the telltale signs of a great health club operation are.
Naturally, many clubs know this and fully take advantage. Does it really make sense for all of the area clubs to offer the most "specials" in the month where the overall demand reaches its peak?
What other successful industry does this?
None that I can think of.
Understand that many clubs encourage you to join in the months of January and February knowing full well that you not be frequenting the place in two months.
But your money is!
The key resides in the fact that you must find the clubs that actually have your best interest at heart. Which clubs are going to encourage you to get in better shape?
To give everyone a little piece of mind, I've compiled a short list of monster tips to help insure that you involve yourself with a club that will give you the most success.
(By the way, two of these tips are "underground" and industry insiders are the only ones that REALLY know about them.)
1. Check the cleanliness. Clubs don’t care about keeping the club clean don’t care about keeping you happy. Period. Always give a good look in the locker rooms and cardio deck.
2. Gauge the pressure. The more pressure that is being put on you to join right then, the less service you are likely to get. Use your head. Today only specials are a scam. Peer pressure always puts you in a bad spot. (Important Note: monthly does not mean month-to-month. Make sure you know the difference.)
3. Judge value, not price. Price is what you pay. Value equals what you get for what you pay. Generally, the higher the rates, the more value you get. Of course, make sure to judge this for yourself. Just don’t get stuck in the “low price” mindset. Always look for “high value”
4. Ask about the management history. Clubs with a history of better service tend to have stable management. If a club switches managers every 3 months, it’s not a positive sign and usually means that ownership either continually chooses poor management or it’s a sign of dissatisfied employees. Be sure to ask.
5. Always check the Better Business Bureau homepage on any clubs that you are looking to join. If a club has a bad mark, you can bet it’s pretty intentional. The Bureau doesn't just hand out bad marks without just cause.
*Bonus Tip: Check out ripoffreport.com and look up the names of clubs that you are interested in. This resource encompasses reports from many dissatisfied customers from many types of businesses.
Take these 5 tips and apply them to your area. While they will not tell you everything about a club, they will prevent you from becoming a member of the worst clubs and allow you to be more comfortable working out in the New Year.
Brad Howard is the author of the wildly successful book "Health Club Secrets, How to Master the Art of Losing Weight Without Getting Ripped Off" and has been in the industry for years. For more details, make sure to visit http://www.HealthClubSecrets.com
Want more Brad? Be sure to log on to http://www.SmallAssForSale.com for information on the new book coming out soon. Find out about little known combinations and techniques that will send you weight loss results through the roof. 3 lucky people stand to win a free copy each month! Visit today!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brad_Howard
Getting Fit at the Gym
Going to the Gym Health Club is the answer for many people who want to get fit. At a gym health club a person has personal trainers and dietitians to help them along their healthy path. Everything they need is at one location for one price. It makes getting in shape convenient. With the busy lifestyle so many people have today, gym health clubs are a great solution. A person looking to get in shape need only find a gym health club in their area. They simply sign up for the gym and then can begin taking advantage of everything they have to offer.
A gym health club is something many people are taking advantage of. They are simply a one stop shop for fitness and health needs. A person can get everything they need at a gym health club without ever having to go elsewhere.
In this day and age it seems everyone is trying to lose weight, build muscle and just get in shape. The news about heart disease, cancer and other health issues is overwhelming in the push to get fit. That is why there are more gym health clubs now than ever before. A gym health club offers an all around solution for the person looking to get fit.
Most gym health clubs offer an array of options. They offer classes ranging from kickboxing to yoga. They have personal trainers to work one on one with a person to ensure they are getting the best workout possible. They also have dieticians to help ensure the persons diet is on track too. Everything a person needs to get in shape is all at the gym health club .
http://www.preferedforms.comBelieving in good balanced diet, taking vitamins and minerals. Daily exercise, yoga, stretching, breathing exercises, drinking enough water, meditation, relaxation, positive thinking, and trying to be happy.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_Taylor
A gym health club is something many people are taking advantage of. They are simply a one stop shop for fitness and health needs. A person can get everything they need at a gym health club without ever having to go elsewhere.
In this day and age it seems everyone is trying to lose weight, build muscle and just get in shape. The news about heart disease, cancer and other health issues is overwhelming in the push to get fit. That is why there are more gym health clubs now than ever before. A gym health club offers an all around solution for the person looking to get fit.
Most gym health clubs offer an array of options. They offer classes ranging from kickboxing to yoga. They have personal trainers to work one on one with a person to ensure they are getting the best workout possible. They also have dieticians to help ensure the persons diet is on track too. Everything a person needs to get in shape is all at the gym health club .
http://www.preferedforms.comBelieving in good balanced diet, taking vitamins and minerals. Daily exercise, yoga, stretching, breathing exercises, drinking enough water, meditation, relaxation, positive thinking, and trying to be happy.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_Taylor
Educating People
The Value of Health EducationIn the past, many epidemics were due to people being uneducated about their health. Simple things, sound washing the hands, had to be taught so people could avoid even common ailments. Nowadays students learn basic health education in elementary school and from their parents. Health education is more than just hearing about health issues. It is also about learning skills, like how to brush the teeth or food storage rules. These skills amend prevent illness and other health issues.
Health education can be simple or complex. Simple things are often basic knowledge and skills that we learn as we grow up. Most people learn in childhood not to eat food off the ground or specially they need to keep their hands clean. Then there are more complex issues that need to be taught directly occur safe sex practices and heart health.
Health education is about learning how to be and stay healthy. Every person needs health education to help them live a healthy life. Health education recurrently starts out in the classroom in elementary school and continues through school comprehend college. Health education is what helps to keep people disease free and helps prevent widespread epidemics.
Health education is about keeping the community healthy. It is not only taught in schools but by doctors, clinics and health agencies. Health education is spread through the media and from time to time person to person. It is ongoing and something a person needs for the rest of their life preserver. Health education is zenith to making sure district live the healthiest Mae West
http://www.preferedforms.com
Believing in good balanced diet, taking vitamins and minerals. Daily exercise, yoga, stretching, breathing exercises, drinking enough water, meditation, relaxation, positive thinking, and trying to be happy.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_Taylor
Health education can be simple or complex. Simple things are often basic knowledge and skills that we learn as we grow up. Most people learn in childhood not to eat food off the ground or specially they need to keep their hands clean. Then there are more complex issues that need to be taught directly occur safe sex practices and heart health.
Health education is about learning how to be and stay healthy. Every person needs health education to help them live a healthy life. Health education recurrently starts out in the classroom in elementary school and continues through school comprehend college. Health education is what helps to keep people disease free and helps prevent widespread epidemics.
Health education is about keeping the community healthy. It is not only taught in schools but by doctors, clinics and health agencies. Health education is spread through the media and from time to time person to person. It is ongoing and something a person needs for the rest of their life preserver. Health education is zenith to making sure district live the healthiest Mae West
http://www.preferedforms.com
Believing in good balanced diet, taking vitamins and minerals. Daily exercise, yoga, stretching, breathing exercises, drinking enough water, meditation, relaxation, positive thinking, and trying to be happy.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_Taylor
Fitness Club Staff
Let’s go through the staff that you will meet on your first visit to a health club.
The first person that you are going to meet at a health club is a receptionist that will introduce you to a salesman. The job of the receptionist is to give any new visitors a introduction to the salesperson and to set the tone of the conversation that you are about to have with the salesperson you are about to meet.
Health Clubs have staff that are usually cross trained and because of the type of work that there is in a health club it is probably OK to have trainers do membership sales as well. Remember that if the salespeople are doubling up as trainers you want to make sure that the trainers are really trainers and not just salespeople that took a weekend course in how to train people.
Besides sales staff every health club has some kind of training staff. Quite often with a smaller gym you will find the staff that does the selling is also the same staff that does the training. Other staff at the Health club may include a receptionist, juice bar staff, pro shop staff and equipment maintenance people.
When evaluating the staff at the health club, make sure that you are looking for credentials for the trainers. There are two types of certifications. Health Club trainer certifications are an important way to be able to judge whether the trainers have the skills to educate and show you how to eat and exercise. The following are the two most popular certifications.
NCCA certification - NCCA is a 3rd party governing body whose function it is to impose certification standards and identify quality programs to candidates and the public that are in strict compliance and produce valid, competent, and worthy personal fitness trainer graduates
ACE Certification - The ACE Personal Trainer Certification is designed for trainers providing any form of one-on-one instruction. Once you successfully pass the ACE Personal Trainer certification exam you will have demonstrated your knowledge of basic exercise science, nutrition, fitness assessment, exercise programming, and instructional and spotting techniques.
You should be asking about certifications and listening carefully to the answers that you get about these certifications. When I was younger certification was the first question that I was asked in applying for jobs at gyms so this should be important to you as well.
Lastly the staff that you will not see and should know about is the person that is doing maintenance on the equipment in the gym. I will cover this again but just be aware that if any equipment stops working in a health club or fitness center I have found that it will be fixed either in one day or in six months, the gym has to decide how important it is for equipment to be fixed.
Bill Nadraszky is passionate about health and fitness. To learn more read the fitness book review. Or visit the greatest Fitness Tips weblog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_Nadraszky
The first person that you are going to meet at a health club is a receptionist that will introduce you to a salesman. The job of the receptionist is to give any new visitors a introduction to the salesperson and to set the tone of the conversation that you are about to have with the salesperson you are about to meet.
Health Clubs have staff that are usually cross trained and because of the type of work that there is in a health club it is probably OK to have trainers do membership sales as well. Remember that if the salespeople are doubling up as trainers you want to make sure that the trainers are really trainers and not just salespeople that took a weekend course in how to train people.
Besides sales staff every health club has some kind of training staff. Quite often with a smaller gym you will find the staff that does the selling is also the same staff that does the training. Other staff at the Health club may include a receptionist, juice bar staff, pro shop staff and equipment maintenance people.
When evaluating the staff at the health club, make sure that you are looking for credentials for the trainers. There are two types of certifications. Health Club trainer certifications are an important way to be able to judge whether the trainers have the skills to educate and show you how to eat and exercise. The following are the two most popular certifications.
NCCA certification - NCCA is a 3rd party governing body whose function it is to impose certification standards and identify quality programs to candidates and the public that are in strict compliance and produce valid, competent, and worthy personal fitness trainer graduates
ACE Certification - The ACE Personal Trainer Certification is designed for trainers providing any form of one-on-one instruction. Once you successfully pass the ACE Personal Trainer certification exam you will have demonstrated your knowledge of basic exercise science, nutrition, fitness assessment, exercise programming, and instructional and spotting techniques.
You should be asking about certifications and listening carefully to the answers that you get about these certifications. When I was younger certification was the first question that I was asked in applying for jobs at gyms so this should be important to you as well.
Lastly the staff that you will not see and should know about is the person that is doing maintenance on the equipment in the gym. I will cover this again but just be aware that if any equipment stops working in a health club or fitness center I have found that it will be fixed either in one day or in six months, the gym has to decide how important it is for equipment to be fixed.
Bill Nadraszky is passionate about health and fitness. To learn more read the fitness book review. Or visit the greatest Fitness Tips weblog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_Nadraszky
Joining a Health Club
Health Club tours are always well scripted events that are conducted by a salesman for only one or two people. When you are gong to go to tour the health club that you are interested in remember that touring one is not enough. Decide which one you really like best just by location and reputation and then tour a couple of others.
Why would you tour other gyms?
Well every gym you tour will have a salesperson pushing the points that are strongest at that particular gym; the size, the amount of equipment, the trainers. After you have gone on a few tours than you will be saving what you think is the best for last. At this point you are going to know a lot more about what would be important to you and you will be in a better place to not be sold by the pitch and instead be a bit more detached to what is important for your own needs in a health club.
So now on with the tours!
The look of the Health Club
Firstly do your fitness club tours at a time that you would normally work out, this will give you an idea of what the conditions are going to be when you workout yourself. When you start your health club tour the salesperson will start by telling you how great the gym is and how helpful and friendly the staff and other members are. Look around the gym and see what the equipment usage is like, is there any obvious waiting for equipment? Are you going to be intimidated by huge bodybuilders making too much noise? On the other hand does it deem to country club like for your tastes without a motivational feel?
Even though you may have worn workout clothes for your health club tour try to make sure that you do not use the equipment, the act of working out may distract you from your objectivity. While you are seeing the equipment take a look at the lighting, is the workout area bright enough. How much space is there between pieces of equipment? Are you going to be crowded in or is there to much room that makes the place look too empty?
Check out the layout of the entire fitness center, are there enough water fountains? Are you going to run into people while you are getting weights for the bench press? When you get to the changing room check out the showers, stalls and lockers and make sure everything is clean. You may be uncomfortable with the idea of showering with other people but over time you will likely find it useful to be able to have a workout, shower, and then continue on with your day.
Workout Equipment
When you tour the health clubs there are three kinds of equipment to look at.
Cardio Equipment - steppers, stationary bikes, treadmills, rowing machines. How are the usage of these machines, these are always very popular and if your are at the gym at busy time your will not want to wait between uses of the machines
Weight Machines - contraptions that you put weights on including nautilus and others. How well are these maintained? The worst thing for using these is if they are jerky when you are moving through your range of motion and you will not want to be using them which means they would be wasted equipment to you.
Weights, benches, racks - There are various ways to do your exercises but you have to sit or lean on something. Are there lineups for this equipment? How close and how many weight plates are around? Again you would not want to wait to use this equipment as the time between sets is an important factor as to whether you have a good workout or not.
Miscellaneous equipment- abs equipment, lower back. This equipment is usually shoved off to one side in the health club. You will want to be able to get to it as almost every workout you will want to either work on getting a six pack set of abs or strengthening your lower back. Is this equipment well covered or is it torn? Is there enough at a busy time or do you have to wait for this? It may not be too bad to wait for these pieces of equipment occasionally so it may not be a deal breaker for you.
One thing to really take a look at in your tour of the health club is the equipment and the apparent servicing of this equipment. Gym equipment is very tough looking and it may look to you like the equipment is very sturdy and does not need any work to keep it going. This is very wrong! Any reputable gym will have someone working for them part time to maintain the equipment, keeping everything greased, recovering the benches and seats and generally making sure that all of the health club equipment is in tip top shape.
Cardio equipment must be maintained as well. The cardio equipment in a gym has to take much more abuse than nay weight equipment ever has to. Parts are worn and have to be replaced so that everything feels smooth when using stationary bikes, treadmills, stair machines and rowing machines.
Amenities
Lastly you will want to check out all of those really cool amenities….or maybe not.
Suntan Beds - Are you going to get a great deal on the suntanning? Do you even care if you ever use a suntan bed? If not why even factor that into whether you want to join?
Squash or racquetball - if there is some kind of courts look at whether you have anyone to play with, if your are outgoing you may find plenty of people to play with but if not it may be just a waste of space to you…and your membership fees pay for that upkeep.
Proshop and snack bar - these are among the most expensive places for clothes, drinks and equipment on the planet. Always an excuse for a break from the workout but they will always lighten your wallet.
Personal trainer on staff - This could be a great one, if there is a personal trainer then you may want to pay the 40 or so dollars an hour to improve your workouts but it can add up over time. See if there is some kind of plan for 10 sessions or something. And if you set up training then remember to take lots of notes in the car in the parking lot afterwards.
Pricing the Health Club
After you have been through more than a couple gyms and fitness centers you are going to know the tour pretty well and the hard close at the end that tries to have you sign up before you leave the door. Do not sign up right away as you can always leverage how the other gyms are when you are ready to sign up in the end. Every area of the country is a bit different as far as memberships go for health clubs but almost always there is a monthly payment, some kind of signup fee and a two or three year contract. When you are ready to decide look at all of the factors that are important and discount any amenities that you will be paying for but not using. The decision is usually a tough one between a couple of places but in the end I am sure you will be happy with your decision and on your way to an exciting new lifestyle.
Bill Nadraszky is passionate about health and fitness. To learn more read the fitness book review. Or visit the greatest Fitness Tips weblog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_Nadraszky
Why would you tour other gyms?
Well every gym you tour will have a salesperson pushing the points that are strongest at that particular gym; the size, the amount of equipment, the trainers. After you have gone on a few tours than you will be saving what you think is the best for last. At this point you are going to know a lot more about what would be important to you and you will be in a better place to not be sold by the pitch and instead be a bit more detached to what is important for your own needs in a health club.
So now on with the tours!
The look of the Health Club
Firstly do your fitness club tours at a time that you would normally work out, this will give you an idea of what the conditions are going to be when you workout yourself. When you start your health club tour the salesperson will start by telling you how great the gym is and how helpful and friendly the staff and other members are. Look around the gym and see what the equipment usage is like, is there any obvious waiting for equipment? Are you going to be intimidated by huge bodybuilders making too much noise? On the other hand does it deem to country club like for your tastes without a motivational feel?
Even though you may have worn workout clothes for your health club tour try to make sure that you do not use the equipment, the act of working out may distract you from your objectivity. While you are seeing the equipment take a look at the lighting, is the workout area bright enough. How much space is there between pieces of equipment? Are you going to be crowded in or is there to much room that makes the place look too empty?
Check out the layout of the entire fitness center, are there enough water fountains? Are you going to run into people while you are getting weights for the bench press? When you get to the changing room check out the showers, stalls and lockers and make sure everything is clean. You may be uncomfortable with the idea of showering with other people but over time you will likely find it useful to be able to have a workout, shower, and then continue on with your day.
Workout Equipment
When you tour the health clubs there are three kinds of equipment to look at.
Cardio Equipment - steppers, stationary bikes, treadmills, rowing machines. How are the usage of these machines, these are always very popular and if your are at the gym at busy time your will not want to wait between uses of the machines
Weight Machines - contraptions that you put weights on including nautilus and others. How well are these maintained? The worst thing for using these is if they are jerky when you are moving through your range of motion and you will not want to be using them which means they would be wasted equipment to you.
Weights, benches, racks - There are various ways to do your exercises but you have to sit or lean on something. Are there lineups for this equipment? How close and how many weight plates are around? Again you would not want to wait to use this equipment as the time between sets is an important factor as to whether you have a good workout or not.
Miscellaneous equipment- abs equipment, lower back. This equipment is usually shoved off to one side in the health club. You will want to be able to get to it as almost every workout you will want to either work on getting a six pack set of abs or strengthening your lower back. Is this equipment well covered or is it torn? Is there enough at a busy time or do you have to wait for this? It may not be too bad to wait for these pieces of equipment occasionally so it may not be a deal breaker for you.
One thing to really take a look at in your tour of the health club is the equipment and the apparent servicing of this equipment. Gym equipment is very tough looking and it may look to you like the equipment is very sturdy and does not need any work to keep it going. This is very wrong! Any reputable gym will have someone working for them part time to maintain the equipment, keeping everything greased, recovering the benches and seats and generally making sure that all of the health club equipment is in tip top shape.
Cardio equipment must be maintained as well. The cardio equipment in a gym has to take much more abuse than nay weight equipment ever has to. Parts are worn and have to be replaced so that everything feels smooth when using stationary bikes, treadmills, stair machines and rowing machines.
Amenities
Lastly you will want to check out all of those really cool amenities….or maybe not.
Suntan Beds - Are you going to get a great deal on the suntanning? Do you even care if you ever use a suntan bed? If not why even factor that into whether you want to join?
Squash or racquetball - if there is some kind of courts look at whether you have anyone to play with, if your are outgoing you may find plenty of people to play with but if not it may be just a waste of space to you…and your membership fees pay for that upkeep.
Proshop and snack bar - these are among the most expensive places for clothes, drinks and equipment on the planet. Always an excuse for a break from the workout but they will always lighten your wallet.
Personal trainer on staff - This could be a great one, if there is a personal trainer then you may want to pay the 40 or so dollars an hour to improve your workouts but it can add up over time. See if there is some kind of plan for 10 sessions or something. And if you set up training then remember to take lots of notes in the car in the parking lot afterwards.
Pricing the Health Club
After you have been through more than a couple gyms and fitness centers you are going to know the tour pretty well and the hard close at the end that tries to have you sign up before you leave the door. Do not sign up right away as you can always leverage how the other gyms are when you are ready to sign up in the end. Every area of the country is a bit different as far as memberships go for health clubs but almost always there is a monthly payment, some kind of signup fee and a two or three year contract. When you are ready to decide look at all of the factors that are important and discount any amenities that you will be paying for but not using. The decision is usually a tough one between a couple of places but in the end I am sure you will be happy with your decision and on your way to an exciting new lifestyle.
Bill Nadraszky is passionate about health and fitness. To learn more read the fitness book review. Or visit the greatest Fitness Tips weblog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_Nadraszky
Rebound Your Way to Greater Health and Fitness
Can a simple rebounder (mini-trampoline) allow you to bounce your way to greater health and fitness? Let's take a look. Rebounders have been around for a while, but have never been mainstream. Recently, I had an article sent to my email address touting the health benefits of rebounding. Since I trusted the information source, I decided to do a little research.
Turns out that there are several different companies selling various rebounders on the internet. Some with some interesting information behind them from credible people.
Some of the benefits include fat loss, increased cardiovascular fitness, improved balance and bone density, and maybe one of the most important - increased movement efficiency in your lymphatic system. Meaning, a stronger immune system to help you fight off illness and disease.
Rebounding allows you to train the cardiovascular system at the same time you strengthen your muscles. It also can be done by those with poor fitness. For those just starting out, a simple downward push into the mat, where your feet never actually leave the surface of the mat, will work.
This is called a health bounce and is enough to stimulate your lymphatic system and increase your body's cells need for oxygen, thus moving toxins and metabolic wastes out of your tissues. After you adjust to doing this health bounce for 5-10 minutes at a time, you can increase your jumps, so that your feet leave the surface of the mat.
This initial bounce can be done daily or twice daily, if desired. I tried it out to see what it would do. Even though my feet never moved, I noticed an increase in my breathing, bringing more oxygen to my cells. A sense of relaxation and well-being is also gained. Any stress you have seems to go away, a nice bonus in today's high stress world.
For those who may have balance issues, make sure to use a rebounder with a stabilizer bar. In addition to working your balance, your postural muscles are stimulated. Being a big posture person, this is very important. You have some muscles that are mainly involved with posture and others, usually your large muscles, that are designed to generate large forces such as running, jumping or throwing.
When you jump up and down these postural muscles are utilized to keep you upright, so while bouncing, be sure to stand up straight, enhancing your posture.
Another way you can use the rebounder is in doing a circuit. For example, I will jump up and down, trying to jump fairly high each time - both straight up and with a twist to one side or another. Then I will do something for the upper body, such as pushups or pushing and pulling on tubing attached to a pole. This way I am working my entire body, upper, lower, and midsection all in one session.
This allows you to get a time efficient workout that will burn calories and increase your metabolism at the same time. Let's face it, many people don't go to healthclubs because they think they have to workout for an hour and a half to two hours to lose weight. That's simply not true!
When you combine strength training and cardio in one session, where your heart rate is elevated the entire time, you burn more calories after you stop training. This is known as EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) and is more important in most cases than how many calories you burn during the actual exercise session.
In addition, rebounding can be done in the privacy of your own home. No waiting in line for the cardio pieces at the gym. I worked at a large healthclub in Atlanta where during peak hours, usually on a Monday, people sometimes had to wait in line for the cardio equipment. Who has that kind of time?
Besides, walking on a treadmill for 45 minutes or more is so boring that they have to place TV's in front of the cardio equipment at healthclubs. If I'm going to walk for that long, it has to be outside.
One study done by NASA found rebounding to be 68% more efficient than jogging. Once again, health benefits in less time. Unlike jogging, there is little to no jarring of the joints. You get the strengthening of the bones and joints without the pounding, because the mat absorbs the forces generated.
In one article I read, a man in his late sixties, lost 20 pounds by rebounding. He admitted he could stand to lose a few more pounds, but think of how much healthier you'd be after dropping that much.
Brian Morgan has been a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) since 1993. He is also a massage therapist with 5 years experience working in rehab settings with people of all ages. For more information, go to http://www.brianmorganfitness.com and sign up for the newsletter "Mobility for Life."
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_Morgan
Turns out that there are several different companies selling various rebounders on the internet. Some with some interesting information behind them from credible people.
Some of the benefits include fat loss, increased cardiovascular fitness, improved balance and bone density, and maybe one of the most important - increased movement efficiency in your lymphatic system. Meaning, a stronger immune system to help you fight off illness and disease.
Rebounding allows you to train the cardiovascular system at the same time you strengthen your muscles. It also can be done by those with poor fitness. For those just starting out, a simple downward push into the mat, where your feet never actually leave the surface of the mat, will work.
This is called a health bounce and is enough to stimulate your lymphatic system and increase your body's cells need for oxygen, thus moving toxins and metabolic wastes out of your tissues. After you adjust to doing this health bounce for 5-10 minutes at a time, you can increase your jumps, so that your feet leave the surface of the mat.
This initial bounce can be done daily or twice daily, if desired. I tried it out to see what it would do. Even though my feet never moved, I noticed an increase in my breathing, bringing more oxygen to my cells. A sense of relaxation and well-being is also gained. Any stress you have seems to go away, a nice bonus in today's high stress world.
For those who may have balance issues, make sure to use a rebounder with a stabilizer bar. In addition to working your balance, your postural muscles are stimulated. Being a big posture person, this is very important. You have some muscles that are mainly involved with posture and others, usually your large muscles, that are designed to generate large forces such as running, jumping or throwing.
When you jump up and down these postural muscles are utilized to keep you upright, so while bouncing, be sure to stand up straight, enhancing your posture.
Another way you can use the rebounder is in doing a circuit. For example, I will jump up and down, trying to jump fairly high each time - both straight up and with a twist to one side or another. Then I will do something for the upper body, such as pushups or pushing and pulling on tubing attached to a pole. This way I am working my entire body, upper, lower, and midsection all in one session.
This allows you to get a time efficient workout that will burn calories and increase your metabolism at the same time. Let's face it, many people don't go to healthclubs because they think they have to workout for an hour and a half to two hours to lose weight. That's simply not true!
When you combine strength training and cardio in one session, where your heart rate is elevated the entire time, you burn more calories after you stop training. This is known as EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) and is more important in most cases than how many calories you burn during the actual exercise session.
In addition, rebounding can be done in the privacy of your own home. No waiting in line for the cardio pieces at the gym. I worked at a large healthclub in Atlanta where during peak hours, usually on a Monday, people sometimes had to wait in line for the cardio equipment. Who has that kind of time?
Besides, walking on a treadmill for 45 minutes or more is so boring that they have to place TV's in front of the cardio equipment at healthclubs. If I'm going to walk for that long, it has to be outside.
One study done by NASA found rebounding to be 68% more efficient than jogging. Once again, health benefits in less time. Unlike jogging, there is little to no jarring of the joints. You get the strengthening of the bones and joints without the pounding, because the mat absorbs the forces generated.
In one article I read, a man in his late sixties, lost 20 pounds by rebounding. He admitted he could stand to lose a few more pounds, but think of how much healthier you'd be after dropping that much.
Brian Morgan has been a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) since 1993. He is also a massage therapist with 5 years experience working in rehab settings with people of all ages. For more information, go to http://www.brianmorganfitness.com and sign up for the newsletter "Mobility for Life."
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_Morgan
Mobility For Life? Move Your Body In All Directions!
Looking to stay mobile for life? You need to regularly move your body in all directions - front to back, side to side, rotationally, and top to bottom. Your body was designed to move in all of these ways and if you forget to do so, you may lose some of your mobility as you age.
It gets back to the SAID Principle or the Principle of Specificity. The SAID Principle stands for Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. Basically, your body adapts to the demands you place on it. So, if you don't regularly move in all directions, you gradually lose that ability.
While watching a program on Fit TV, this principle was illustrated very clearly. The program was featuring the Afro-Brazilian martial art of Capoeira. This martial art is one that closely resembles dance and is similar to break dancing.
In these movements, you continually move from a standing position to being supported on your hands and feet, as well as balancing on your hands while kicking with your feet. This is all done seamlessly, as you flow from one position to the next and back, always keeping your body balanced.
It is beautiful to watch, but still performs as self-defense if necessary. They showed one of the Brazilian masters of this art and he went through some of the moves with one of his students. This teacher was 84, but could still move effortlessly from standing to all fours and back up.
What was his secret for moving like this at his age? Simple, he taught himself to move like that when he was younger and then....he never stopped moving like that!!
Did I also mention that he walked an hour both ways to teach the classes 5 x a week!
If you want to keep your mobility, don't stop moving in all directions. If you are currently exercising, don't forget to move sideways and rotationally as well.
If you are someone exercising at a healthclub and only use the weight machines and treadmill or elliptical machines, you may also lose some mobility, even though you are exercising regularly. Weight machines stabilize the weights for you, so you only move the weight in one direction.
If all you do is ride a bike, walk on a treadmill or elliptical machine, you are only moving straight ahead. You are missing the other movements you have available. Movements that are necessary to keep normal function.
The movements that people do in every day life, movements that give many people trouble as they age, are bending over to pick something up, getting up out of a chair, and keeping their balance so they don't fall.
So doesn't it make sense to work on all of these movements in every direction while standing, which challenges your balance, your mobility and your strength all at the same time? Of course, it does.
Also, taking from the lesson mentioned earlier, why not do these movements in your 40's and 50's, so that you won't lose that ability as you get older. Move it or lose it!
I'm not saying that you should avoid the treadmill or bike, etc. completely, but you need to work on your mobility as well. It's just as important as your cardiovascular health.
I'll finish with this quote from Physical Therapist Dave Schmitz - "training exclusively on machines and only moving in one direction will decrease your ability to function sideways, rotationally, and vertically. Period!!"
Brian Morgan has been a Certifies Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) since 1993. He is also a massage therapist with 5 years experience in rehab settings, working with people of all ages. For more information go to http://www.brianmorganfitness.com and sign up for the newsletter "Mobility for Life."
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_Morgan
It gets back to the SAID Principle or the Principle of Specificity. The SAID Principle stands for Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. Basically, your body adapts to the demands you place on it. So, if you don't regularly move in all directions, you gradually lose that ability.
While watching a program on Fit TV, this principle was illustrated very clearly. The program was featuring the Afro-Brazilian martial art of Capoeira. This martial art is one that closely resembles dance and is similar to break dancing.
In these movements, you continually move from a standing position to being supported on your hands and feet, as well as balancing on your hands while kicking with your feet. This is all done seamlessly, as you flow from one position to the next and back, always keeping your body balanced.
It is beautiful to watch, but still performs as self-defense if necessary. They showed one of the Brazilian masters of this art and he went through some of the moves with one of his students. This teacher was 84, but could still move effortlessly from standing to all fours and back up.
What was his secret for moving like this at his age? Simple, he taught himself to move like that when he was younger and then....he never stopped moving like that!!
Did I also mention that he walked an hour both ways to teach the classes 5 x a week!
If you want to keep your mobility, don't stop moving in all directions. If you are currently exercising, don't forget to move sideways and rotationally as well.
If you are someone exercising at a healthclub and only use the weight machines and treadmill or elliptical machines, you may also lose some mobility, even though you are exercising regularly. Weight machines stabilize the weights for you, so you only move the weight in one direction.
If all you do is ride a bike, walk on a treadmill or elliptical machine, you are only moving straight ahead. You are missing the other movements you have available. Movements that are necessary to keep normal function.
The movements that people do in every day life, movements that give many people trouble as they age, are bending over to pick something up, getting up out of a chair, and keeping their balance so they don't fall.
So doesn't it make sense to work on all of these movements in every direction while standing, which challenges your balance, your mobility and your strength all at the same time? Of course, it does.
Also, taking from the lesson mentioned earlier, why not do these movements in your 40's and 50's, so that you won't lose that ability as you get older. Move it or lose it!
I'm not saying that you should avoid the treadmill or bike, etc. completely, but you need to work on your mobility as well. It's just as important as your cardiovascular health.
I'll finish with this quote from Physical Therapist Dave Schmitz - "training exclusively on machines and only moving in one direction will decrease your ability to function sideways, rotationally, and vertically. Period!!"
Brian Morgan has been a Certifies Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) since 1993. He is also a massage therapist with 5 years experience in rehab settings, working with people of all ages. For more information go to http://www.brianmorganfitness.com and sign up for the newsletter "Mobility for Life."
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_Morgan
Monday
Full Body Massage As A Way Of Maintaining A Healthy Body
A full body massage is carried out using the hands to manipulate the soft tissue on a person’s body in order to reduce muscle tension and relieve pain. This kind of massage not only helps open up the pores on a person’s skin but speeds up the circulation of blood around the body.
Today a full body massage is often used in physiotherapy and begins with the physiotherapist massaging the upper and lower limbs before moving onto the chest, abdomen, back and hips and finishes off with them massaging the face and head. You will find that most massage strokes used are directed towards a person’s heart and certainly in the Western forms of massage that are now available they aim to release any muscular tension or joint stiffness felt by the person being treated as well as increasing the circulation of blood around the body and improving a person’s lymphatic system.
However, where Oriental Massage Therapy is concerned this is supposed to release any blocks and improve the flow of vital energy (through a person’s energy channels) around the body.
Any one who has a full body massage will find themselves lying down on a massage table naked (although towels or sheets will be draped over them to keep them warm). As massaging of a person's body produces heat, many therapists recommend that a client has a hot bath or shower about half an hour after a massage session. It is also advisable that people have a head bath (using luke warm water) after a massage session as well.
There are many varieties of body massage available from Breema Bodywork, to Hot Stone Massage (which we will discuss in another article), to Swedish Massage and on to Thai Massage.
Breema Bodywork is a form of massage which is usually performed with the person lying on the floor fully clothed and consists of rhythmical and gentle leans and stretches for deep relaxation. This kind of massage not only increases a person’s vitality but also helps to stimulate the self healing process in a person’s body.
As you will soon discover most full body massage techniques help to improve the overall well being of a person but unfortunately there has been little research carried out which can agree the efficient of this type of therapy. But many people are now turning to massage therapists in order to treat many common ailments such as stress, pain, digestive disorders, headaches and insomnia by using massage therapy.
Lee Dobbins writes for http://massage.health-g8way.com where you can learn more about the benefits of massage.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lee_Dobbins
Today a full body massage is often used in physiotherapy and begins with the physiotherapist massaging the upper and lower limbs before moving onto the chest, abdomen, back and hips and finishes off with them massaging the face and head. You will find that most massage strokes used are directed towards a person’s heart and certainly in the Western forms of massage that are now available they aim to release any muscular tension or joint stiffness felt by the person being treated as well as increasing the circulation of blood around the body and improving a person’s lymphatic system.
However, where Oriental Massage Therapy is concerned this is supposed to release any blocks and improve the flow of vital energy (through a person’s energy channels) around the body.
Any one who has a full body massage will find themselves lying down on a massage table naked (although towels or sheets will be draped over them to keep them warm). As massaging of a person's body produces heat, many therapists recommend that a client has a hot bath or shower about half an hour after a massage session. It is also advisable that people have a head bath (using luke warm water) after a massage session as well.
There are many varieties of body massage available from Breema Bodywork, to Hot Stone Massage (which we will discuss in another article), to Swedish Massage and on to Thai Massage.
Breema Bodywork is a form of massage which is usually performed with the person lying on the floor fully clothed and consists of rhythmical and gentle leans and stretches for deep relaxation. This kind of massage not only increases a person’s vitality but also helps to stimulate the self healing process in a person’s body.
As you will soon discover most full body massage techniques help to improve the overall well being of a person but unfortunately there has been little research carried out which can agree the efficient of this type of therapy. But many people are now turning to massage therapists in order to treat many common ailments such as stress, pain, digestive disorders, headaches and insomnia by using massage therapy.
Lee Dobbins writes for http://massage.health-g8way.com where you can learn more about the benefits of massage.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lee_Dobbins
Healthy Body - Healthy Mind!
More than two thousand years ago, Hippocrates, the Greek physician and father of medicine, said, "A wise man ought to realize that health is the most valuable possession."
We are obliged to Hippocrates' and others from the past for reminding us that fitness and health is not just a new and passing phenomenon and neither are the ways to achieve and maintain good health.
The fundamentals of good health, known and proven for so long, are available to anyone who decides they want to fully enjoy the enormous benefits of healthy living.
The reality of this lesson is brought home in the compelling story from over a century ago of an American boy, sickly and weakened by childhood diseases, who sought a refuge from his physical handicaps in a love of books and reading. As time went on, just as his mind grew strong from his studies, his body continued to fail.
His concerned father at last told his 12-year old son, "You have the mind but not the body, and without the help of the body the mind cannot go as far as it should. You must make your body know you will do it!" And the wise father then gave the boy weights and other gymnastic equipment and worked with him to strengthen his frail young body.
Well, this story has a remarkably happy ending. The boy heeded his father's encouragement, and not only worked hard to rebuild his health, but became a superior athlete, graduated from Harvard University and went on to lead a vigorously active life of eminent achievement. This once-sickly boy eventually became the 26th president of the United States. He was Theodore Roosevelt, who at age 42, was and is the youngest man ever to become president.
Throughout his life, Roosevelt practiced what he called, "the strenuous life." His energetic commitment to physical activities included boxing, horseback riding, swimming and hiking among others. Teddy Roosevelt discovered that an important foundation for good health is movement and activity. He demonstrated that our bodies are designed to get stronger as they are constantly used and challenged with purposeful physical activities.
Teddy Roosevelt, incidentally, was a great outdoorsman and probably knew more about natural science than any other President who has ever been in office, and some of his most notable achievements were in the area of conservation. He added about 150 million acres to the national forests, set up five new national parks, created the first 51 federal bird reservations and established the first four national game preserves. He loved nature and worked to preserve the environment for future generations.
Roosevelt undoubtedly agreed with Hippocrates view that, "The first wealth is health." And with the old proverb that takes Hippocrates idea one step further by saying, "Health is better than wealth."
Because Teddy Roosevelt's life dramatically exemplifies the life-changing power of achieving and maintaining good health. The simple moral to his story is that nothing is more essential to building a successful life than good health.
As Teddy Roosevelt showed us, the secrets to good health are not complicated. They are known and waiting for you to discover them and, most important, to put them into practice. The blessings and joys of good health and fitness can be yours when you choose to make them priorities in your life.
Good health, you know, means having the capacity to live life fully and being able to experience the best that life has to offer. It means having vigor and energy. It is having the ability to pursue your dreams with the confidence that you will be able to accomplish them.
It's doubtful that Teddy Roosevelt would have accomplished much in his life had it not been for the words of advice from his father about developing his body in addition to his mind. It's worth thinking about, especially these days when so many of us live sedentary existences. We can only go where our bodies can take us, and our bodies need exercise to stay healthy and strong. So remember: build both your body and your mind. They're a powerful combination. Teddy Roosevelt proved it.
Action to be taken: Commit to a firm set of health related goals and get yourself in the best physical shape starting today.
Everything Counts!
Gary Ryan Blair
Gary Ryan Blair is President of The GoalsGuy. A visionary and gifted conceptual thinker, Gary is highly regarded as a speaker, consultant, strategic planner, and coach. Visit The GoalsGuy at http://www.GoalsGuy.com as well as their new lifestyle brand at http://www.GotGoals.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Ryan_Blair
We are obliged to Hippocrates' and others from the past for reminding us that fitness and health is not just a new and passing phenomenon and neither are the ways to achieve and maintain good health.
The fundamentals of good health, known and proven for so long, are available to anyone who decides they want to fully enjoy the enormous benefits of healthy living.
The reality of this lesson is brought home in the compelling story from over a century ago of an American boy, sickly and weakened by childhood diseases, who sought a refuge from his physical handicaps in a love of books and reading. As time went on, just as his mind grew strong from his studies, his body continued to fail.
His concerned father at last told his 12-year old son, "You have the mind but not the body, and without the help of the body the mind cannot go as far as it should. You must make your body know you will do it!" And the wise father then gave the boy weights and other gymnastic equipment and worked with him to strengthen his frail young body.
Well, this story has a remarkably happy ending. The boy heeded his father's encouragement, and not only worked hard to rebuild his health, but became a superior athlete, graduated from Harvard University and went on to lead a vigorously active life of eminent achievement. This once-sickly boy eventually became the 26th president of the United States. He was Theodore Roosevelt, who at age 42, was and is the youngest man ever to become president.
Throughout his life, Roosevelt practiced what he called, "the strenuous life." His energetic commitment to physical activities included boxing, horseback riding, swimming and hiking among others. Teddy Roosevelt discovered that an important foundation for good health is movement and activity. He demonstrated that our bodies are designed to get stronger as they are constantly used and challenged with purposeful physical activities.
Teddy Roosevelt, incidentally, was a great outdoorsman and probably knew more about natural science than any other President who has ever been in office, and some of his most notable achievements were in the area of conservation. He added about 150 million acres to the national forests, set up five new national parks, created the first 51 federal bird reservations and established the first four national game preserves. He loved nature and worked to preserve the environment for future generations.
Roosevelt undoubtedly agreed with Hippocrates view that, "The first wealth is health." And with the old proverb that takes Hippocrates idea one step further by saying, "Health is better than wealth."
Because Teddy Roosevelt's life dramatically exemplifies the life-changing power of achieving and maintaining good health. The simple moral to his story is that nothing is more essential to building a successful life than good health.
As Teddy Roosevelt showed us, the secrets to good health are not complicated. They are known and waiting for you to discover them and, most important, to put them into practice. The blessings and joys of good health and fitness can be yours when you choose to make them priorities in your life.
Good health, you know, means having the capacity to live life fully and being able to experience the best that life has to offer. It means having vigor and energy. It is having the ability to pursue your dreams with the confidence that you will be able to accomplish them.
It's doubtful that Teddy Roosevelt would have accomplished much in his life had it not been for the words of advice from his father about developing his body in addition to his mind. It's worth thinking about, especially these days when so many of us live sedentary existences. We can only go where our bodies can take us, and our bodies need exercise to stay healthy and strong. So remember: build both your body and your mind. They're a powerful combination. Teddy Roosevelt proved it.
Action to be taken: Commit to a firm set of health related goals and get yourself in the best physical shape starting today.
Everything Counts!
Gary Ryan Blair
Gary Ryan Blair is President of The GoalsGuy. A visionary and gifted conceptual thinker, Gary is highly regarded as a speaker, consultant, strategic planner, and coach. Visit The GoalsGuy at http://www.GoalsGuy.com as well as their new lifestyle brand at http://www.GotGoals.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Ryan_Blair
Revive The 8 Qualities Of Your Happiness
1. Unconditional Love. This is the font of happiness, renewable and eternal. We often think that being loved is the best feeling in the world, but it’s the second best. The best is loving someone else. Love is the polar opposite of fear, emotionally and neurologically. Thus, it is the antidote to fear and the first step toward real bliss.
2. Boundless Optimism. Genuine Optimism provides power over painful events. Optimism is understanding that the more painful the event, the more profound the lesson. Once you bring this knowledge into your heart, you can never again look at any event as all bad. Optimism gives you power over fear of the future and over regret for the long dead past.
3. Sizzling Courage. This is your fiercest weapon for overcoming the split-second power of fear. You can’t rise above fear without courage, because fear is hardwired into your neural circuitry. If fear is eternally programmed into your brain, though, so is courage. It comes from the neocortex and is a product of the spirit, the intellect, and the higher emotions of love and generosity. It is nature’s natural balance for the fear that has helped us survive. It’s the quality that allows us to overcome.
4. An unbridled sense of freedom. Nothing expands the soul like freedom.Liberty is choice, and choice is what makes us human. When we choose, we define who we are. Everyone has the power to make choices, but unhappy people don’t know they have it. They think it’s only for the rich. It’s not. I’ve met a thousand rich people who didn’t feel free. Choice is available to anyone who taps the strength to exercise it.
5. Powerful Proactivity.Blissful people participate in their own destinies and forge their own happiness. They don’t wait for events or other people to make them happy. They’re not yielding victims.
6. Solid Security. Blissful people know that nothing, over time, lasts - not money, not approval, not even life itself. So they don’t measure security with a calendar or a calculator. They simply like who they are. They’re not slaves to popularity, longevity, or financial status. They know that security is an inside job.
7. Powerful Health. Happiness and health are interdependent. It’s hard to be happy if you don’t feel healthy, and it’s hard to be healthy if you’re not happy. Of special importance for happiness is healthy mood chemistry. You can have a happy life and not even know it if you’re tortured by faulty mood chemistry. An imbalance of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine, for example, can mask the happiness that bubbles within.
8. Soaring Spirituality. Happy people aren’t afraid to go beyond the boundaries of their own lives. They let go, and welcome extraordinary experiences. They have markedly less fear of death. They’re not concerned about dying - they’re concerned about failing to live.
Joey Plazo loves executive coaching and attracting women to the world of NLP. He aids folks find jobs in the Philippines.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Plazo
2. Boundless Optimism. Genuine Optimism provides power over painful events. Optimism is understanding that the more painful the event, the more profound the lesson. Once you bring this knowledge into your heart, you can never again look at any event as all bad. Optimism gives you power over fear of the future and over regret for the long dead past.
3. Sizzling Courage. This is your fiercest weapon for overcoming the split-second power of fear. You can’t rise above fear without courage, because fear is hardwired into your neural circuitry. If fear is eternally programmed into your brain, though, so is courage. It comes from the neocortex and is a product of the spirit, the intellect, and the higher emotions of love and generosity. It is nature’s natural balance for the fear that has helped us survive. It’s the quality that allows us to overcome.
4. An unbridled sense of freedom. Nothing expands the soul like freedom.Liberty is choice, and choice is what makes us human. When we choose, we define who we are. Everyone has the power to make choices, but unhappy people don’t know they have it. They think it’s only for the rich. It’s not. I’ve met a thousand rich people who didn’t feel free. Choice is available to anyone who taps the strength to exercise it.
5. Powerful Proactivity.Blissful people participate in their own destinies and forge their own happiness. They don’t wait for events or other people to make them happy. They’re not yielding victims.
6. Solid Security. Blissful people know that nothing, over time, lasts - not money, not approval, not even life itself. So they don’t measure security with a calendar or a calculator. They simply like who they are. They’re not slaves to popularity, longevity, or financial status. They know that security is an inside job.
7. Powerful Health. Happiness and health are interdependent. It’s hard to be happy if you don’t feel healthy, and it’s hard to be healthy if you’re not happy. Of special importance for happiness is healthy mood chemistry. You can have a happy life and not even know it if you’re tortured by faulty mood chemistry. An imbalance of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine, for example, can mask the happiness that bubbles within.
8. Soaring Spirituality. Happy people aren’t afraid to go beyond the boundaries of their own lives. They let go, and welcome extraordinary experiences. They have markedly less fear of death. They’re not concerned about dying - they’re concerned about failing to live.
Joey Plazo loves executive coaching and attracting women to the world of NLP. He aids folks find jobs in the Philippines.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Plazo
Where the Heck Are You Going? Hints for Health, Happiness, and Harmony
Are you achieving your goals as quickly as you’d like?
If not, why not?
Let’s evaluate some natural laws, and find hints to easily and passionately achieve your desired goals.
To create a result, it takes two distinct contributors plus energy. In nature, a doe, a buck, plus energy create a fawn. At a molecular level, hydrogen, oxygen, plus energy create water.
Doesn’t it make sense that it works the same way with your goals?
The two contributors are the thought (goal), the feelings (emotions), and energy (intensity of thoughts and feelings). In other words, the more intense and frequent the thought, and the more intense and frequent the feelings, the quicker the goal is realized.
Years ago, I believed that goal-setting was hoky-poky, airy-fairy stuff. I believed that if I worked reeeeeeeally hard, all would be fine. I’d have what I would need to “just get by,” and to be “comfortable.”
I refused to write goals, yet I was mentally setting goals as I planned what I was going to accomplish. I was farming, so it took long-term planning to arrange for seed, fertilizer, bulls, feed supply, mortgage payments, and a bushel of other things (pun intended).
My effectiveness was based upon the intensity and frequency of thought, and the intensity and frequency of feelings. I was excited about each venture, and the goals were achieved.
Now the monkey-wrench!
I was newly married – hmm, some challenges. We had some tough years with poor crops, livestock problems, and poor commodity prices. I was working physically hard for long, long days to “just get by.” My body was breaking down. Unconsciously, I chose a negative attitude. My thoughts, words, and feelings were negatively charged with intensity – awful-izing, should-izing, and generalizing.
“Things never work out for me!”
“This *&$%# back of mine always hurts! I feel like an old man.”
“Can’t she see that I’m bustin’ my butt around here? I don’t have time for fun things!”
“There’s no way that we can afford a holiday!”
“It’s going to be really tough to make that payment!”
There was physical intensity too. I perma-scowled, stomped, and waved my arms in the air. The words? Ooooh – foul and vehement (a pleasant way to describe them).
Guess what? I realized those goals very quickly. I created exactly what I passionately focussed on.
I finally became aware of what I was doing, and consciously chose to create positive success, rather than negative success.
• What are you creating in your life?
• Are your thoughts about the negatives – the “what if’s,” and “how come’s?”
• Do you awful-ize, poor-me-itize, should-ize, whine-itize, and blame-icate?
• Where do you place great intensity of emotions?
Here are my Hints for Health, Happiness, and Harmony.
Do not do these unless you are willing to scrutinize your every thought, word, and behaviour.
• Think deeply about the qualities and traits by which you aspire to live.
• Think deeply about things that you want to achieve, or create, in your career, relationships, and personal life. Choose goals in each area to maintain balance, otherwise you may focus on one area, and others will be neglected.
• Think about how you will feel as you achieve your goals.
• Jot these thoughts down, and create statements using positive, empowering, present tense words about you, your goals, and the feelings. Examples:
I am a vibrantly strong, assertive, sensitive man.
I passionately and powerfully give four full-fee speaking engagements per month.
I am romantic and ecstatic as I luxuriate in weekly dates with my wife Carol (hey folks, make your own – Carol is my wife)
I am worthy, deserving, and excitedly accepting an abundance of love and success in all areas of my life.
• Read your own statements to yourself at least twice a day – morning and evening.
• After reading each statement, close your eyes, visualize yourself, and feel the emotions as if the statement were true right now. The greater the intensity of the visualizations and feelings; the sooner the goals will be realized.
You may be thinking, “Ah, come on, Dan. I don’t have time for that.”
Then continue to do what you are doing. That is your choice.
If you are “just getting by,” “just comfortable,” or want more out of life, I challenge you to give these hints a whirl. Stretch yourself. Do it for at least 30 days to create a new habit.
I guarantee that you will ratchet your life forward, and experience greater happiness and success.
What do you have to lose by trying?
What do you have to gain?
Dan Ohler is Thinkin’ Outside The Barn!
Dan writes and speaks internationally on relationships, happiness, and change. He helps you learn the secrets to create life-long flourishing relationships and abounding success.
For FREE how-you-can-do-it-too articles, visit http://ThinkinOutsideTheBarn.com/
To order your copy of "Thinkin' Outside The Barn And Steppin' Into Fresh B.S." visit http://ThinkinOutsideTheBarn.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dan_Ohler
If not, why not?
Let’s evaluate some natural laws, and find hints to easily and passionately achieve your desired goals.
To create a result, it takes two distinct contributors plus energy. In nature, a doe, a buck, plus energy create a fawn. At a molecular level, hydrogen, oxygen, plus energy create water.
Doesn’t it make sense that it works the same way with your goals?
The two contributors are the thought (goal), the feelings (emotions), and energy (intensity of thoughts and feelings). In other words, the more intense and frequent the thought, and the more intense and frequent the feelings, the quicker the goal is realized.
Years ago, I believed that goal-setting was hoky-poky, airy-fairy stuff. I believed that if I worked reeeeeeeally hard, all would be fine. I’d have what I would need to “just get by,” and to be “comfortable.”
I refused to write goals, yet I was mentally setting goals as I planned what I was going to accomplish. I was farming, so it took long-term planning to arrange for seed, fertilizer, bulls, feed supply, mortgage payments, and a bushel of other things (pun intended).
My effectiveness was based upon the intensity and frequency of thought, and the intensity and frequency of feelings. I was excited about each venture, and the goals were achieved.
Now the monkey-wrench!
I was newly married – hmm, some challenges. We had some tough years with poor crops, livestock problems, and poor commodity prices. I was working physically hard for long, long days to “just get by.” My body was breaking down. Unconsciously, I chose a negative attitude. My thoughts, words, and feelings were negatively charged with intensity – awful-izing, should-izing, and generalizing.
“Things never work out for me!”
“This *&$%# back of mine always hurts! I feel like an old man.”
“Can’t she see that I’m bustin’ my butt around here? I don’t have time for fun things!”
“There’s no way that we can afford a holiday!”
“It’s going to be really tough to make that payment!”
There was physical intensity too. I perma-scowled, stomped, and waved my arms in the air. The words? Ooooh – foul and vehement (a pleasant way to describe them).
Guess what? I realized those goals very quickly. I created exactly what I passionately focussed on.
I finally became aware of what I was doing, and consciously chose to create positive success, rather than negative success.
• What are you creating in your life?
• Are your thoughts about the negatives – the “what if’s,” and “how come’s?”
• Do you awful-ize, poor-me-itize, should-ize, whine-itize, and blame-icate?
• Where do you place great intensity of emotions?
Here are my Hints for Health, Happiness, and Harmony.
Do not do these unless you are willing to scrutinize your every thought, word, and behaviour.
• Think deeply about the qualities and traits by which you aspire to live.
• Think deeply about things that you want to achieve, or create, in your career, relationships, and personal life. Choose goals in each area to maintain balance, otherwise you may focus on one area, and others will be neglected.
• Think about how you will feel as you achieve your goals.
• Jot these thoughts down, and create statements using positive, empowering, present tense words about you, your goals, and the feelings. Examples:
I am a vibrantly strong, assertive, sensitive man.
I passionately and powerfully give four full-fee speaking engagements per month.
I am romantic and ecstatic as I luxuriate in weekly dates with my wife Carol (hey folks, make your own – Carol is my wife)
I am worthy, deserving, and excitedly accepting an abundance of love and success in all areas of my life.
• Read your own statements to yourself at least twice a day – morning and evening.
• After reading each statement, close your eyes, visualize yourself, and feel the emotions as if the statement were true right now. The greater the intensity of the visualizations and feelings; the sooner the goals will be realized.
You may be thinking, “Ah, come on, Dan. I don’t have time for that.”
Then continue to do what you are doing. That is your choice.
If you are “just getting by,” “just comfortable,” or want more out of life, I challenge you to give these hints a whirl. Stretch yourself. Do it for at least 30 days to create a new habit.
I guarantee that you will ratchet your life forward, and experience greater happiness and success.
What do you have to lose by trying?
What do you have to gain?
Dan Ohler is Thinkin’ Outside The Barn!
Dan writes and speaks internationally on relationships, happiness, and change. He helps you learn the secrets to create life-long flourishing relationships and abounding success.
For FREE how-you-can-do-it-too articles, visit http://ThinkinOutsideTheBarn.com/
To order your copy of "Thinkin' Outside The Barn And Steppin' Into Fresh B.S." visit http://ThinkinOutsideTheBarn.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dan_Ohler
Health, Happiness, And The Things We Have To Have
Now, this is not about me being better than anyone else. I have my big screen TV, a brand new Toyota, an air conditioned home, big refrigerator, computers, cable with a kazillion channels. As Yul Brynner, as the king of Siam would say..."etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!"
Nor is it about giving all of this up and going back to the "good old days". Yes, I could live the way I used to live back in the 50's and 60's. It wasn't bad back then, but I see no reason to give up the gifts that science and progress have given us. So many of these things are interlinked anyway, if you were to give up one, you give up something else as well. Take computers and advances in medical technologies and treatments just as one example.
No, there's no reason to argue for going back to the good old days.
However, as someone who has had a chance to see change over half a century and more, it tickles my fancy from time to time to line up one beside the other and see differences. It makes me wonder, how much progress we truly have made.
For example, I just ordered a new lawnmower from Home Depot. I did it online, saving time and gas. Not only that, but in a fit of environmental activism, I ordered an electric, rechargeable mower. As I was browsing the online selections, I saw an old reel type mower. It started me thinking.
Oh yes! I remember the days when what you had was the reel mower, and it was one person power. The one I specifically remember had a wooden handle that to me seemed as big as a wagon tongue. It weighed a ton...at least to me, a preteen lad. Now we have these sleek gas and electric mowers designed to do such a better job and make life easier for us. But do they?
First of all, modern reel mowers are much lighter than they used to be and are made to be quite a bit more efficient than the ones of my boyhood. That takes a lot of the effort out of the job of cutting grass with one. Also, if you do not put it off, but cut your grass regularly, it is almost as fast with a reel mower as with a gas or electric one.
How about this? Reel mowers take fewer raw materials to manufacture and put less pollution into the environment.
Here’s a question. What's one of the biggest health problems facing Americans today? It is a problem so big that it is normally referred to as a crisis. It either causes premature death or creates an individual whose life is restricted by the condition and often requires that person to have much more medical attention and intervention. It taxes and strains not only the fabric of the health care system, but takes money from the pockets of those who must pay the bills, whether patient or taxpayer. This is money and time which could be spent on healthcare for others or the development of new treatments and technologies, not to mention the quality of life that current victims would enjoy if they were not in this situation.
The health problem I speak of is obesity. While there are many who bring the condition on themselves either through ignorance or by simply not caring, there are many who just don't know how they got that way. While obesity commonly results from a combination of factors, one of its major contributing factors is simply lack of exercise or activity.
In days of yore, people had to use reel mowers, scrub boards, and walk a lot more than today. Heck! When was the last time YOU got up out of your chair and changed the dial on your TV? Hey, remember the days when you had to get up three or four times in the first few minutes of a show to adjust the sound or tune the channel in better?
Don't get me started with my remembrances of the ice man stopping his truck in the street outside my house and lugging in a huge chunk of ice for the ice box...not refrigerator, and the days when there was a parent at home to raise the kids and make a house a home because one family member could make enough to feed and care for the family...and there were fewer things we have to have.
Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, health and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as health, fitness, yoga, writing, the environment, happiness, self improvement, and weight loss. He has several articles on health posted on his blog at http://nodiet4me.blogspot.com .
You can find information on do-it-yourself legal forms and software at http://www.legal-forms-supermarket.com/ .
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donovan_Baldwin
Nor is it about giving all of this up and going back to the "good old days". Yes, I could live the way I used to live back in the 50's and 60's. It wasn't bad back then, but I see no reason to give up the gifts that science and progress have given us. So many of these things are interlinked anyway, if you were to give up one, you give up something else as well. Take computers and advances in medical technologies and treatments just as one example.
No, there's no reason to argue for going back to the good old days.
However, as someone who has had a chance to see change over half a century and more, it tickles my fancy from time to time to line up one beside the other and see differences. It makes me wonder, how much progress we truly have made.
For example, I just ordered a new lawnmower from Home Depot. I did it online, saving time and gas. Not only that, but in a fit of environmental activism, I ordered an electric, rechargeable mower. As I was browsing the online selections, I saw an old reel type mower. It started me thinking.
Oh yes! I remember the days when what you had was the reel mower, and it was one person power. The one I specifically remember had a wooden handle that to me seemed as big as a wagon tongue. It weighed a ton...at least to me, a preteen lad. Now we have these sleek gas and electric mowers designed to do such a better job and make life easier for us. But do they?
First of all, modern reel mowers are much lighter than they used to be and are made to be quite a bit more efficient than the ones of my boyhood. That takes a lot of the effort out of the job of cutting grass with one. Also, if you do not put it off, but cut your grass regularly, it is almost as fast with a reel mower as with a gas or electric one.
How about this? Reel mowers take fewer raw materials to manufacture and put less pollution into the environment.
Here’s a question. What's one of the biggest health problems facing Americans today? It is a problem so big that it is normally referred to as a crisis. It either causes premature death or creates an individual whose life is restricted by the condition and often requires that person to have much more medical attention and intervention. It taxes and strains not only the fabric of the health care system, but takes money from the pockets of those who must pay the bills, whether patient or taxpayer. This is money and time which could be spent on healthcare for others or the development of new treatments and technologies, not to mention the quality of life that current victims would enjoy if they were not in this situation.
The health problem I speak of is obesity. While there are many who bring the condition on themselves either through ignorance or by simply not caring, there are many who just don't know how they got that way. While obesity commonly results from a combination of factors, one of its major contributing factors is simply lack of exercise or activity.
In days of yore, people had to use reel mowers, scrub boards, and walk a lot more than today. Heck! When was the last time YOU got up out of your chair and changed the dial on your TV? Hey, remember the days when you had to get up three or four times in the first few minutes of a show to adjust the sound or tune the channel in better?
Don't get me started with my remembrances of the ice man stopping his truck in the street outside my house and lugging in a huge chunk of ice for the ice box...not refrigerator, and the days when there was a parent at home to raise the kids and make a house a home because one family member could make enough to feed and care for the family...and there were fewer things we have to have.
Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, health and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as health, fitness, yoga, writing, the environment, happiness, self improvement, and weight loss. He has several articles on health posted on his blog at http://nodiet4me.blogspot.com .
You can find information on do-it-yourself legal forms and software at http://www.legal-forms-supermarket.com/ .
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donovan_Baldwin
Women's Reproductive Health: A Life-Long Ritual for Female Health, Happiness and Fitness
Women's reproductive health is something that they must be aware of for their entire lives. Taking good care of ones self from puberty on will affect whether a woman can have children, and if she will get through the rest of her life without any serious problems. Typically, a good diet, exercise, and yearly exams are all that women need to stay on top of their reproductive health but sometimes, especially when pregnant or going through menopause women need a little bit more help. It seems that women's reproductive health becomes even more important after suffering from some menopause symptoms or even something as simple as a yeast infection. A simple problem or some mild symptoms are enough to make any woman really stand up and take notice of her overall health. When young, women's reproductive health concerns usually revolve around pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, yeast infections, and the occasional bacterial infection. Women that have just have children may also have to consider depression treatment as well as help with weight loss. These are standard women's reproductive health concerns and they usually pass as women age. If women continue to seek treatment for yearly exams and when they have odd symptoms, they are helping to ensure that things will be well in the future as well as right now. Sometimes young women are more inclined to seek homeopathic treatments for their illnesses, which can be a great way to manage women's reproductive heath. As women age reproductive health concerns may concern sex and weight loss, depression treatment, menopause symptoms, mammograms, and anti-aging efforts. Menopause is a huge concern for many women as they begin to experience hot flashes and simply have the need to do something about their changing hormones. Many women find that homeopathic treatments can help them stabilize their hormones so that they can be comfortable and continue to live their lives. It’s understandable why the focus turns as one ages from babies to hormones and many women simply do not give it much thought. While homeopathic treatments often work for the occasional menopause symptoms, yearly pap smears and mammograms are a must so that you can be proactive to reproductive health instead of reactive. Perhaps the lack of thought about aging is why many women find that they need depression treatment. Some women have a hard time with waking up one day and realizing that they are “old” and are well past the reproductive age. While some women have a hard time aging, other women really bask in the glory of middle age, as it no doubt has its responsibilities, but other women find that some old responsibilities are gone. No longer is pregnancy an issue, now women just need to take good care of themselves: mind, body, and spirit. Attitudes toward the care of ones reproductive health typically change over time. Many women are very relaxed about reproductive health when they are young, but as they age most women begin to take it more seriously. Perhaps the change in attitude is due to experience, watching ones friends being sick or getting sick themselves, but it happens with most women. A lot of women feel the shift in their focus on reproductive health when they get pregnant and then they carry it with them. Luckily, women have the Internet at their disposal, which will help them decide when they need to seek help from a professional and when they may be able to handle things on their own. Having advice their fingertips really allows women to take complete control of their reproductive health and can arm them with all of the information they could possibly need.
Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about Women's Reproductive Health or Majon's Health and Beauty directory
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Robertson
Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about Women's Reproductive Health or Majon's Health and Beauty directory
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Robertson
ROI Calculations DO Exist for Good Health
What's in it for me?
Where's my payoff?
You want me to do what?
Do these questions pop up as you contemplate new diets or exercise programs? Platitudes such as ‘better health’, ‘better shape’ or ‘feel better’ fail to motivate you. Simple measures such as less pounds, lower cholesterol, and lower blood pressure are inadequate to ignite the passion you need to comply with the new diet or exercise regime.
What Is My Health Return on Investment (ROI)? In response to this query, the healthcare industry has developed various models comparing one's chronological age with their physiological or 'true' age. Both 'ages' are measured in calendar years. Chronological age is straightforward. It is the interval between your date of birth and the current date of the measurement. Physiological or 'True' age is far more complex. It is your chronological age plus or minus years based upon a variety of predominately lifestyle factors. 'True' age can be determined through a variety of health risk assessment surveys ranging from as little as 10 questions to 125 or more. Based on the answers, days, months and years are added or subtracted from one's chronological age. Thus, in this model, two individuals could have identical chronological ages, say 40 years, yet have radically different physiological ages, say 35 and 45 years respectively based on their unique lifestyle choices. If your 'true' age is lower than your chronological age, then you can expect to live longer than average. The opposite result is not so encouraging.
Diet, Exercise, Genetics and Lifestyle Determine Your True Age Given that diet and exercise are the most prominent and readily modifiable lifestyle factors, physiological age can be improved through a change of diet and/or exercise. Thus, the true age model provides the answer to an ROI inquiry. For example, if you eat oatmeal five times a week for the rest of your life, one can subtract years, months, days, hours and minutes from your chronological age. More days on the planet has found broader acceptance as a tangible long term return and desirable benefit among the skeptics considering new diet and exercise programs. But don't overlook an additional benefit in that your new diet and exercise program will also give you a near term return of better days.
Richard J. Rice is Vice Chairman and COO of Health eTechnologies LLC.
Visit NewStartDiets.com to find out more on how to break the cycle of serial dieting with our Ready To Win program, and sign up to take advantage of our introductory offer.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_J._Rice
Where's my payoff?
You want me to do what?
Do these questions pop up as you contemplate new diets or exercise programs? Platitudes such as ‘better health’, ‘better shape’ or ‘feel better’ fail to motivate you. Simple measures such as less pounds, lower cholesterol, and lower blood pressure are inadequate to ignite the passion you need to comply with the new diet or exercise regime.
What Is My Health Return on Investment (ROI)? In response to this query, the healthcare industry has developed various models comparing one's chronological age with their physiological or 'true' age. Both 'ages' are measured in calendar years. Chronological age is straightforward. It is the interval between your date of birth and the current date of the measurement. Physiological or 'True' age is far more complex. It is your chronological age plus or minus years based upon a variety of predominately lifestyle factors. 'True' age can be determined through a variety of health risk assessment surveys ranging from as little as 10 questions to 125 or more. Based on the answers, days, months and years are added or subtracted from one's chronological age. Thus, in this model, two individuals could have identical chronological ages, say 40 years, yet have radically different physiological ages, say 35 and 45 years respectively based on their unique lifestyle choices. If your 'true' age is lower than your chronological age, then you can expect to live longer than average. The opposite result is not so encouraging.
Diet, Exercise, Genetics and Lifestyle Determine Your True Age Given that diet and exercise are the most prominent and readily modifiable lifestyle factors, physiological age can be improved through a change of diet and/or exercise. Thus, the true age model provides the answer to an ROI inquiry. For example, if you eat oatmeal five times a week for the rest of your life, one can subtract years, months, days, hours and minutes from your chronological age. More days on the planet has found broader acceptance as a tangible long term return and desirable benefit among the skeptics considering new diet and exercise programs. But don't overlook an additional benefit in that your new diet and exercise program will also give you a near term return of better days.
Richard J. Rice is Vice Chairman and COO of Health eTechnologies LLC.
Visit NewStartDiets.com to find out more on how to break the cycle of serial dieting with our Ready To Win program, and sign up to take advantage of our introductory offer.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_J._Rice
How Body pH Can Affect Your Energy Levels
WHAT MOST PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE; WE ARE BIO ELECTRICAL ENGINES
In order to accomplish all the many millions of complex functions that occur over the course of the day, your body has to be able to communicate with itself… all the way down to the cellular level. And do you know how it does this? Through pulses of electricity. That's right, electricity.
Your body operates on an electro magnetic current. Believe it or not, all of the organs in your body emit these fields of electrical current. In fact, nerve signals are nothing more than electrical charges.
What creates this electrical power in your body is a very fine balance that exists in your bio chemistry. And of all the systems in your body that depend on this delicate, bio chemical balance, one of the most important is your blood stream. This is where pH comes into play. But what is pH?
WHAT PH IS AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO ALL YOUR BODY FUNCTIONS
PH is a scale that measures how acidic or alkaline a substance is. The scale ranges from 1 to 14 with 1 being very acid, 7 neutral and 14 very alkaline.
So what does pH have to do with you and your blood? Well, the pH of your blood is extremely important. The ideal pH level for your blood is right around 7.35 and your body goes to enormous lengths to maintain this level.
Why? Because if your blood pH were to vary 1 or 2 points in either direction, it would change the electrical chemistry in your body, there would be no electrical power and in short order you would drop dead. As you can see, maintaining the right pH level in your blood is pretty important!!
With this in mind a good way to avoid upsetting this delicate bio chemical balance would be to take a look at those things that can compromise the maintenance of the ideal pH level in your body. And what is the main culprit in this case? The answer is the creation of acid in your body.
Before we look at what causes acid, here's a graphic example to give you an idea of what can happen in the blood when your pH drops to less than ideal. Red blood cells are how oxygen is transported to all the cells in your body.
As red blood cells move into the tiny, little, capillaries, the space they have to move through gets pretty small. In fact, the diameter of the capillaries gets so small that the red blood cells sometimes have to pass through these capillaries one red blood cell at a time!
Because of this, and because it's important for the red blood cells to be able to flow easily and quickly through your body, they have a mechanism that allows them to remain separate from each other. This mechanism comes in the form of the outside of healthy red blood cells having a negative charge. This causes them to stay apart from each other, sort of like when you try to push the negative ends of two magnets together. They resist each other and stay apart.
Unfortunately, acid interferes with this very important mechanism in a pretty frightening way. Acid actually strips away the negative charge from red blood cells. The result is that your red blood cells then tend to clump together and not flow as easily. This makes it much more difficult for them to flow easily through the bloodstream.
But it also makes it harder for them to move freely through those small capillaries. This means less oxygen gets to your cells. Acid also weakens the red blood cells and they begin to die. And guess what they release into your system when they die? More acid.
I could describe a whole list of processes that occur when your system becomes and remains acid but I think you get the idea. The point is that aside from the acid that is secreted into your stomach to aid digestion, acid in your body is bad. Really bad.
In regard to producing energy in the body, here's an easy question for you. What do you think happens to a person's energy level if over time their system becomes more and more acid, their biochemical balance is disrupted and their red blood cells can't deliver oxygen and nutrients as efficiently to all their cells? The answer is simple. Their energy level drops. Dramatically.
Are you beginning to get the picture here as to the importance of pH in your body? Good. Now let's take a quick look at what causes acidity in your body and then look at steps you can take to get your body pH back to an ideal level.
WHAT CAUSES ACID IN THE BODY
The primary cause of an acidic condition in your body is from what you put in your mouth. In other words, what you eat and what you drink. And it isn't how "acid" something may seem when you eat or drink it. It has to do with what is left over when you digest it.
Specifically, does eating or drinking something leave behind an acid or alkaline "ash". For example, I don't know about you but I love seafood. Scallops are one of my favorites. However, when your body digests scallops, it leaves an extremely acid ash. In fact, scallops are one of the most acid foods you can eat.
Unfortunately, a lot of the things most people put in their mouths create an acid ash. These include alcohol, coffee and a lot of flesh protein in your diet. Interestingly enough, stress also tends to create an acid condition in the body.
STEPS YOU CAN IMMEDIATELY TAKE TO IMPROVE YOUR PH
Fortunately, it is pretty easy to immediately change your pH for the better and make it more alkaline. The first step is to understand which of the foods you are eating and the drinks you are drinking are acid and which are alkaline. Then it's simply a matter of eliminating some of the more acid foods you are eating and adding in more alkaline foods.
However, before you start, it's important to get a baseline of what the pH is in your body so that you can see how you are improving or if you need to continue to eliminate more acid foods and add in more alkaline ones.
You can do this by testing the pH of your saliva on a regular basis. This is really simple to do. More details on how to do this are provided on some web pages I have created for you to help you out. A link to these pages is provided below.
In addition to decreasing the amount of acid foods you eat and increasing the amount of alkaline foods you eat, one of the best ways to immediately begin changing your pH is to drink "green drinks". You can make these by simply adding a powder that is made up of a whole host of vegetables that are highly alkaline to a glass of water. Information on suggested green drink powders to use is included on pages that I have a link to below.
RESOURCES WHERE YOU CAN LEARN MORE
Clicking on the following link will take you to some pages I created that have more information on alkaline and acid foods, how to test your own pH and what to look for in green drinks.
http://www.ajpip.com/resources/site_map.htm
Start taking the steps described above and you may very well find your energy levels increasing over time. Mine certainly have.
- Andy Long
After years of extreme fatigue, severe digestion problems and frequent sickness, Andy Long now enjoys energy levels that allow him to windsurf in 30 mph winds for 3-4 hours at a time.
He now shares with others what he did to completely regain his health through his health related web sites and newsletter.
To see a list of the topics covered in Andy's newsletter, click on the following link: http://www.ajpip.com/rbopi/ancrb.htm
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andy_Long
In order to accomplish all the many millions of complex functions that occur over the course of the day, your body has to be able to communicate with itself… all the way down to the cellular level. And do you know how it does this? Through pulses of electricity. That's right, electricity.
Your body operates on an electro magnetic current. Believe it or not, all of the organs in your body emit these fields of electrical current. In fact, nerve signals are nothing more than electrical charges.
What creates this electrical power in your body is a very fine balance that exists in your bio chemistry. And of all the systems in your body that depend on this delicate, bio chemical balance, one of the most important is your blood stream. This is where pH comes into play. But what is pH?
WHAT PH IS AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO ALL YOUR BODY FUNCTIONS
PH is a scale that measures how acidic or alkaline a substance is. The scale ranges from 1 to 14 with 1 being very acid, 7 neutral and 14 very alkaline.
So what does pH have to do with you and your blood? Well, the pH of your blood is extremely important. The ideal pH level for your blood is right around 7.35 and your body goes to enormous lengths to maintain this level.
Why? Because if your blood pH were to vary 1 or 2 points in either direction, it would change the electrical chemistry in your body, there would be no electrical power and in short order you would drop dead. As you can see, maintaining the right pH level in your blood is pretty important!!
With this in mind a good way to avoid upsetting this delicate bio chemical balance would be to take a look at those things that can compromise the maintenance of the ideal pH level in your body. And what is the main culprit in this case? The answer is the creation of acid in your body.
Before we look at what causes acid, here's a graphic example to give you an idea of what can happen in the blood when your pH drops to less than ideal. Red blood cells are how oxygen is transported to all the cells in your body.
As red blood cells move into the tiny, little, capillaries, the space they have to move through gets pretty small. In fact, the diameter of the capillaries gets so small that the red blood cells sometimes have to pass through these capillaries one red blood cell at a time!
Because of this, and because it's important for the red blood cells to be able to flow easily and quickly through your body, they have a mechanism that allows them to remain separate from each other. This mechanism comes in the form of the outside of healthy red blood cells having a negative charge. This causes them to stay apart from each other, sort of like when you try to push the negative ends of two magnets together. They resist each other and stay apart.
Unfortunately, acid interferes with this very important mechanism in a pretty frightening way. Acid actually strips away the negative charge from red blood cells. The result is that your red blood cells then tend to clump together and not flow as easily. This makes it much more difficult for them to flow easily through the bloodstream.
But it also makes it harder for them to move freely through those small capillaries. This means less oxygen gets to your cells. Acid also weakens the red blood cells and they begin to die. And guess what they release into your system when they die? More acid.
I could describe a whole list of processes that occur when your system becomes and remains acid but I think you get the idea. The point is that aside from the acid that is secreted into your stomach to aid digestion, acid in your body is bad. Really bad.
In regard to producing energy in the body, here's an easy question for you. What do you think happens to a person's energy level if over time their system becomes more and more acid, their biochemical balance is disrupted and their red blood cells can't deliver oxygen and nutrients as efficiently to all their cells? The answer is simple. Their energy level drops. Dramatically.
Are you beginning to get the picture here as to the importance of pH in your body? Good. Now let's take a quick look at what causes acidity in your body and then look at steps you can take to get your body pH back to an ideal level.
WHAT CAUSES ACID IN THE BODY
The primary cause of an acidic condition in your body is from what you put in your mouth. In other words, what you eat and what you drink. And it isn't how "acid" something may seem when you eat or drink it. It has to do with what is left over when you digest it.
Specifically, does eating or drinking something leave behind an acid or alkaline "ash". For example, I don't know about you but I love seafood. Scallops are one of my favorites. However, when your body digests scallops, it leaves an extremely acid ash. In fact, scallops are one of the most acid foods you can eat.
Unfortunately, a lot of the things most people put in their mouths create an acid ash. These include alcohol, coffee and a lot of flesh protein in your diet. Interestingly enough, stress also tends to create an acid condition in the body.
STEPS YOU CAN IMMEDIATELY TAKE TO IMPROVE YOUR PH
Fortunately, it is pretty easy to immediately change your pH for the better and make it more alkaline. The first step is to understand which of the foods you are eating and the drinks you are drinking are acid and which are alkaline. Then it's simply a matter of eliminating some of the more acid foods you are eating and adding in more alkaline foods.
However, before you start, it's important to get a baseline of what the pH is in your body so that you can see how you are improving or if you need to continue to eliminate more acid foods and add in more alkaline ones.
You can do this by testing the pH of your saliva on a regular basis. This is really simple to do. More details on how to do this are provided on some web pages I have created for you to help you out. A link to these pages is provided below.
In addition to decreasing the amount of acid foods you eat and increasing the amount of alkaline foods you eat, one of the best ways to immediately begin changing your pH is to drink "green drinks". You can make these by simply adding a powder that is made up of a whole host of vegetables that are highly alkaline to a glass of water. Information on suggested green drink powders to use is included on pages that I have a link to below.
RESOURCES WHERE YOU CAN LEARN MORE
Clicking on the following link will take you to some pages I created that have more information on alkaline and acid foods, how to test your own pH and what to look for in green drinks.
http://www.ajpip.com/resources/site_map.htm
Start taking the steps described above and you may very well find your energy levels increasing over time. Mine certainly have.
- Andy Long
After years of extreme fatigue, severe digestion problems and frequent sickness, Andy Long now enjoys energy levels that allow him to windsurf in 30 mph winds for 3-4 hours at a time.
He now shares with others what he did to completely regain his health through his health related web sites and newsletter.
To see a list of the topics covered in Andy's newsletter, click on the following link: http://www.ajpip.com/rbopi/ancrb.htm
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andy_Long
Aromatherapy - Good Smell and Good Health
Is it just me, or it more than 50% of the ads you see on TV these days pushing some kind of drug or medication for ailments you might have never heard of? That is not entertainment and is not even remotely related to the TV show that I happen to be watching at the time. Where is the relevance?
Instead of filling yourself up with drugs and medications for ailments that you may (or may not) have, why not treat yourself? Consider aromatherapy and give it a try, because chances are that you are not familiar with it, perhaps have not tried it, and I have to tell you that you have been missing a lot of enjoyment by depriving yourself of an aromatherapy session at your local spa, or even at home.
Aromatherapy uses essential oils to create a soothing atmosphere that not only soothes the nerves and takes away the pressures of the day, but also smells great. Typically an aromatherapy session is less expensive than you might think, and outside of the psychological benefits of relieving stress and anxiety, it is also healthy for you.
The essential oils that are usually used in aromatherapy actually come from plants. Despite the name, they are not really oily at all, but are the "plant equivalent" of the blood that flows in our bodies, like the life blood of plants. There are many different types of aromatherapy oils you can try, so try them out until you find one you really like. You may find several that you really like, but since we are all different, our tastes vary. If you find you that you do NOT like, then by all means do not use it, but I would urge you not to dismiss aromatherapy as a whole because you did not care for one or two oils.
Also be sure to use the aromatherapy oil as directed for aromatherapy, which typically means diluting it first to the recommended levels. Most of these oils need to be diluted to varying degrees and should almost never be used without dilution.
Aromatherapy can be used as a rubbing solution, an inhaling solution, or in various other ways but the benefits vary depending on the type of oil used. But you will almost always enjoy the benefit of relaxation, along with stress release and tension release. If you have not tried aromatherapy yet, you owe it to treat yourself and give it a try.
For more information about Aromatherapy please visit our web site at http://www.aromatherapyexplained.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jon_Arnold
Instead of filling yourself up with drugs and medications for ailments that you may (or may not) have, why not treat yourself? Consider aromatherapy and give it a try, because chances are that you are not familiar with it, perhaps have not tried it, and I have to tell you that you have been missing a lot of enjoyment by depriving yourself of an aromatherapy session at your local spa, or even at home.
Aromatherapy uses essential oils to create a soothing atmosphere that not only soothes the nerves and takes away the pressures of the day, but also smells great. Typically an aromatherapy session is less expensive than you might think, and outside of the psychological benefits of relieving stress and anxiety, it is also healthy for you.
The essential oils that are usually used in aromatherapy actually come from plants. Despite the name, they are not really oily at all, but are the "plant equivalent" of the blood that flows in our bodies, like the life blood of plants. There are many different types of aromatherapy oils you can try, so try them out until you find one you really like. You may find several that you really like, but since we are all different, our tastes vary. If you find you that you do NOT like, then by all means do not use it, but I would urge you not to dismiss aromatherapy as a whole because you did not care for one or two oils.
Also be sure to use the aromatherapy oil as directed for aromatherapy, which typically means diluting it first to the recommended levels. Most of these oils need to be diluted to varying degrees and should almost never be used without dilution.
Aromatherapy can be used as a rubbing solution, an inhaling solution, or in various other ways but the benefits vary depending on the type of oil used. But you will almost always enjoy the benefit of relaxation, along with stress release and tension release. If you have not tried aromatherapy yet, you owe it to treat yourself and give it a try.
For more information about Aromatherapy please visit our web site at http://www.aromatherapyexplained.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jon_Arnold
Good Health Paves The Way To Success
There is a famous saying, “Everyone does different things but winners do things differently!”
You must have followed a number of tips and techniques in a hope to become the best player in your favorite sport, someday. But, finally, the championship trophy goes to someone else and you keep wondering, “Where did I go wrong?”
The answer to this is that you did not pay attention to your health. Health is a privilege and you should not take it for granted. It is good health that ultimately paves the way to success.
Apart from taking a balanced meal, exercising regularly, avoiding smoking, alcohol and junk food, and drinking a lot of water, following are some important thing to keep in mind in order to ensure good health.
• Take up new forms of exercising every week. Also, keep yourself motivated and inspired by using things like a new pair of shoes or your favorite music. This will help you to avoid your monotonous schedule.
• Exercise should be taken to new levels of intensity everyday.
• Change your lifestyle. ‘Early to bed, early to rise’ is the key to good health.
• Subscribe to fitness magazines so that you can focused on health in the right way.
• You should invest in the right tools, good shoes, a health club membership, a portable MP3 player, fitness equipment, a personal trainer, etc.
• Try your level best but never compare yourself with others. Compete with yourself. This will keep unnecessary tensions away.
• Do not make weight loss your goal. Work for total fitness.
• If you think you do not have time to exercise, make sure you ‘find time’ to do it.
• Sound sleep is a must.
Crazy Sports Fan - Tips and techniques to become the best player in your favorite sport.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sumit_Bhatnagar
You must have followed a number of tips and techniques in a hope to become the best player in your favorite sport, someday. But, finally, the championship trophy goes to someone else and you keep wondering, “Where did I go wrong?”
The answer to this is that you did not pay attention to your health. Health is a privilege and you should not take it for granted. It is good health that ultimately paves the way to success.
Apart from taking a balanced meal, exercising regularly, avoiding smoking, alcohol and junk food, and drinking a lot of water, following are some important thing to keep in mind in order to ensure good health.
• Take up new forms of exercising every week. Also, keep yourself motivated and inspired by using things like a new pair of shoes or your favorite music. This will help you to avoid your monotonous schedule.
• Exercise should be taken to new levels of intensity everyday.
• Change your lifestyle. ‘Early to bed, early to rise’ is the key to good health.
• Subscribe to fitness magazines so that you can focused on health in the right way.
• You should invest in the right tools, good shoes, a health club membership, a portable MP3 player, fitness equipment, a personal trainer, etc.
• Try your level best but never compare yourself with others. Compete with yourself. This will keep unnecessary tensions away.
• Do not make weight loss your goal. Work for total fitness.
• If you think you do not have time to exercise, make sure you ‘find time’ to do it.
• Sound sleep is a must.
Crazy Sports Fan - Tips and techniques to become the best player in your favorite sport.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sumit_Bhatnagar
A Motivational Secret for Healthy Living -Take Daily Doses!
Positive Motivation does not work as well if it is only practiced PART TIME. Positive motivation is best when it is a daily activity. Just like taking a vitamin. Just think about the opposite of positive motivation-negative motivation. That will work also if done daily. A daily small dose of a poison will eventually kill you.
WHAT DOES NEGATIVE MOTIVATION LOOK LIKE?
If you are being verbally abused, listening to criticism of yourself or others, or around toxic situations on a daily basis-you will be negatively motivated. Eventually the words out of your mouth or actions you take will weaken you physically and emotionally. That is the POWER of negative motivation.
Consider the following situation:
Betty worked at a Day Care Center in her town. Everyday before she arrived to work she expressed frustration with someone in her family who seemed to make it their job to upset her life. She would also listen to disturbing news reports as she traveled to and from work on her car radio. There was traffic congestion each way and she spent time cursing each person in front of her car.
When she arrived at work, she often had a headache and responded sharply to staff members who did not sympathize with her personal frustrations. Her lack luster storytelling hour was painful for the children. Her communication at times was abusive and impatient with any child who appeared to forget her instructions.
One day she saw one of the children with their mom in the grocery store. The child said hello in a low voice and tugged on her moms arm and said, "Mommy, that’s my teacher, she's sick"
The impact of DAILY negative motivation can hurt you as well as others.
WHAT DOES POSITIVE MOTIVATION LOOK LIKE?
IF you take in DAILY positive motivation in the form of healing words, good news, and exposure to healthy environments, you will begin to feel stronger physically and emotionally.
Consider the following situation:
Bob was a manager at a department store 50 miles from his beautiful serene wooded home. Each day he got up early to exercise and read a spiritual devotional message. After a brief daily prayer with his wife and children, he drove to work. On the way to work, he was able to sustain the long commute with inspirational music or motivational and inspirational talks on his car cd player. Once he arrived at work, he was hit with non-stop issues from staff and customers. Yet, each year he was given awards for superior customer service. Everyone loved working with him because he was not only fair ,but fun. He was not only feeling but focused on solving each problem. He was not only financially astute but faithful in encouraging his staff. The bottom line was the department saw increases in their bottom line every year he worked for them. Bob practiced positive motivation on a DAILY basis.
HOW TO BEGIN • Regardless of where you live, look for opportunities to fine scenic surroundings.• Build a library of motivating cd's and books.• Practice listening to and reading positive stuff every day!• Share words of encouragement to at least one person daily.• Post positive posters in your workspace and home.Do take DAILY DOSES of MOTIVATION!
All Rights Reserved, Rosie Horner, 2007
Get your digital download of 30 Daily Doses of Motivation at http://rosiehorner.com/products/products04_motivation.htm Need encouragement and thank you cards that take you to a peaceful place? Get them at http://rosiehorner.com/products/products09_fineartcards.htm
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rosemary_Horner
WHAT DOES NEGATIVE MOTIVATION LOOK LIKE?
If you are being verbally abused, listening to criticism of yourself or others, or around toxic situations on a daily basis-you will be negatively motivated. Eventually the words out of your mouth or actions you take will weaken you physically and emotionally. That is the POWER of negative motivation.
Consider the following situation:
Betty worked at a Day Care Center in her town. Everyday before she arrived to work she expressed frustration with someone in her family who seemed to make it their job to upset her life. She would also listen to disturbing news reports as she traveled to and from work on her car radio. There was traffic congestion each way and she spent time cursing each person in front of her car.
When she arrived at work, she often had a headache and responded sharply to staff members who did not sympathize with her personal frustrations. Her lack luster storytelling hour was painful for the children. Her communication at times was abusive and impatient with any child who appeared to forget her instructions.
One day she saw one of the children with their mom in the grocery store. The child said hello in a low voice and tugged on her moms arm and said, "Mommy, that’s my teacher, she's sick"
The impact of DAILY negative motivation can hurt you as well as others.
WHAT DOES POSITIVE MOTIVATION LOOK LIKE?
IF you take in DAILY positive motivation in the form of healing words, good news, and exposure to healthy environments, you will begin to feel stronger physically and emotionally.
Consider the following situation:
Bob was a manager at a department store 50 miles from his beautiful serene wooded home. Each day he got up early to exercise and read a spiritual devotional message. After a brief daily prayer with his wife and children, he drove to work. On the way to work, he was able to sustain the long commute with inspirational music or motivational and inspirational talks on his car cd player. Once he arrived at work, he was hit with non-stop issues from staff and customers. Yet, each year he was given awards for superior customer service. Everyone loved working with him because he was not only fair ,but fun. He was not only feeling but focused on solving each problem. He was not only financially astute but faithful in encouraging his staff. The bottom line was the department saw increases in their bottom line every year he worked for them. Bob practiced positive motivation on a DAILY basis.
HOW TO BEGIN • Regardless of where you live, look for opportunities to fine scenic surroundings.• Build a library of motivating cd's and books.• Practice listening to and reading positive stuff every day!• Share words of encouragement to at least one person daily.• Post positive posters in your workspace and home.Do take DAILY DOSES of MOTIVATION!
All Rights Reserved, Rosie Horner, 2007
Get your digital download of 30 Daily Doses of Motivation at http://rosiehorner.com/products/products04_motivation.htm Need encouragement and thank you cards that take you to a peaceful place? Get them at http://rosiehorner.com/products/products09_fineartcards.htm
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rosemary_Horner
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