myabssecret.com

While the end result will lie in the child’s own talent and determination to succeed, parents and coaches can contribute to children’s athletic efforts by these top 10 lessons for young athletes:

1. Correct fundamentals ought to be inculcated at a young age so that they become a habit that is lifelong.
2. Practice is not what makes perfect; rather it is perfect practice that makes perfect so a knowledgeable coach is of paramount importance.
3. Even for young athletes, strength training is of utmost importance. Age appropriate strength training is a must.
4. Let it be fun. To keep one motivated, interested, and to reach potential, the training should be fun and engaging.
5. It is important for the athlete himself to be receptive to coaching rather than being some sort of know-it-all.
6. There should be balance in the life of the athlete, so that over training and over playing won’t lead to burn out.
7. Honest and truthful evaluation of skill and progress are very important.
8. Overcome defeats and bad performances, by looking forward and erasing the bad memories.
9. Maintain a positive and confident outlook, because this can be the key to success.
10. The player should continue to play as long as he or she enjoys it; rather than quitting at another’s say so.

It has been a concern for a while now that rising obesity levels in the US has meant that a requisite number of applicants who are fit enough to apply for positions in the military are not available.  And now this problem of unfit and overweight recruits is being addressed by the army, with the help of their new physical training program.

The old regimental style exercises such as sit ups, long runs are not as much in evidence. Rather there is an emphasis now put on other styles of exercise such as Pilates and Yoga.

The aim of this new program is twofold – one it seeks to reduce injury and prepare soldiers better for actual combat in rough terrain. Secondly, it seeks to address the big problem facing the army; that of poor fitness and overweight recruits.

As it is with the general populace, so it is with army recruits; according to Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, today’s soldiers are “not in as good shape as they used to be.” The problem of having to reject applicants for being overweight has been a problem for quite a while, but it has now worsened, with more of the youth becoming overweight.

It is the junk food and the long hours of TV viewing that have produced a generation of privates who have less strength and endurance than was the case before.

Increasing stamina is important not only for athletes who want to perform better and for longer durations; it is also as important for the average individual, since it will help build overall fitness, improve immunity, strengthen the body and help to fight tiredness.

Working on building stamina and endurance becomes even more important as we age and find that we aren’t able to accomplish all that we could earlier.

Here are some workouts that can help you build stamina and endurance and even help you live longer, healthier lives:

Weights or Resistance exercise:

While cardio exercises are all very well for core strength development, resistance exercises have to be the most effective.

You can use machines, free weights or your own body weight to improve your musculature and enhance the cardiovascular system. These can greatly improve your stamina.

Hiking:

Hiking can be as strenuous as you want it to be. You can begin by going slow and slowly building up your stamina going for longer hikes with longer durations. You can also increase your stamina by changing the topography of your hike – the steeper the gradient the more intense your workout and the more you build up your stamina.

Heading for the outdoors can be invigorating, however if this is not possible, climb stairs. Stair climbing, like hiking, is an excellent way to improve stamina and endurance.

Bikram Yoga:

This is not just some new fad work out; it can be a grueling cardio workout. It is ninety minutes of sustained effort in a heated environment (110 degrees constant which is one of the important components of this) makes you sweat and can really help to build up endurance and stamina.

Stretch:

Stretching is important not just for becoming more flexible and reducing possibility of injury. When muscles are more agile and limber, they are able to perform better, for longer durations – this is what helps build endurance and stamina.

Cross Train:

By mixing up your exercise routines and incorporating lots of different elements you can help to build endurance. Play a contact sport one day, swim the next and go for a jog on the third. Constantly challenging your body to do different things for sustained periods can help to build its stamina and endurance.

Have Sex:

Believe it or not, having sex is one really effective way to build stamina and endurance. Not only does it do that, it increases a person’s vitality, and keeps them younger for longer – helping live a longer, healthier life.

An increasing number of celebrities are catching on to Yoga and are realizing the many benefits for health, fitness and wellness that can come from Yoga.

In turn they are able to inspire others to adopt Yoga as part of their lives. Among the recent celebs to swear by Yoga is Kim Kardashian, who is now showing us how she uses Yoga to keep in shape.

For her shapely, sexy and flexible self, she gives credit to yoga. She claimed that it was yoga that got her bikini body ready to show off. She demonstrated the yoga moves and stretches that she does to keep limber and in such fabulous shape.

She also revealed that watching what she eats and regular sessions at the gym help to keep her bikini ready. As with a majority of celebs, she is busy tweeting about what she does, which can also be an inspiration for so many:  ’Great workout this morning! What about you guys? I feel so lazy if I don’t get a workout in.’ she tweets!

And as for the voluptuous curves, she is proud of those, ‘I embrace my body the way it is, as every woman should,’ says she.

Proper diet and exercise always go together. Inseparable as they are, their benefits can be maximized if both are practiced together.

Why is it important to eat a proper diet and exercise regularly? Can one exist without the other? Here are some incredible benefits that you can get from having these two activities incorporated in your daily life:

1. Achieve and maintain an ideal and healthy weight. Eversince, we were taught that proper diet and exercise helps us maintain a healthy body weight and leaner muscles.

Once achieved, you are able to gain more energy. You will be more efficient both in the office and at home and you can achieve more because of your increased energy levels.

2. Reduces risks of developing heart diseases. Studies show that  running, briskwalking and jogging makes the heart become stronger and larger allowing it to pump more blood at its maximum level. They are also some of the best exercises that can lower cholesterol level and build stronger hearts. Meanwhile, a heart healthy diet is the first step in preventing heart-related diseases.

3. Helps build and maintain healthy bones and muscles. Osteoporosis strikes women who are not very much engaged in proper diet and exercise. Of course, you do not want to walk around with a stooped back, right? Well, now is the time to start going on a diet and regular exercise. In doing weight bearing exercises, bone density can be increased by the tension it creates in the muscles.

4. Anti-depressants. Running and other forms of exercises always give us a certain kind of high, isn’t it? They reduce feelings of depression and anxiety. Why would they even call it as the best anti-depressant for nothing!

Exercise is a known natural remedy for depression and other anxiety-related illnesses because of its effects on neurotransmitters in the brain. They are the same chemicals that trigger the kind of moods, appetite and even libido a person has. In fact, exercise alone has been shown as an effective treatment for depression in a majority of cases.

5. Improves self-esteem. Don’t you look like a real knockout with all that fats in place? Thanks to proper diet and exercise. You have become the person you want to be…healthier, sexier and stronger. Now, that’s what we call self-esteem. Exercise alone can have lots of physical and psychological benefits.

If  it is combined with the right diet, the result is a beautiful you – inside and out. Following a routine physical activity and consuming the right foods are connected to enhancing your mental vigor, acuity, creativity and imagination. Put all of them together and the result is a truly confident you.

The secret to looking young and feeling good all the time is not something that can be bought from an upscale clinic. It is something that lies from inside of you and just waiting to be unleashed. How do you do it? Proper diet and exercise will definitely show you the way.

Take your thumb and stretch it back to try and touch your wrist. If you are able to accomplish this easily and painlessly, then you are probably hyper-mobile or double jointed.

Hyper mobility or double jointedness is actually nothing but higher levels of elasticity among the muscles, ligaments and tendons that surround a given joint.

It is only natural that hyper mobile people who enjoy greater mobility and flexibility enjoy activities such as yoga, dance, etc, since they are probably good at this.

However, this same quality of hyper mobility that facilitates certain stretches, holds and positions, could possibly result in injury. This is because a person who is double jointed, may likely take their joints to the end of their range and possibly even beyond that point, making it likelier to result in injury.

People with hypermobility also tend to have a problem of proprioception – this means that one cannot tell where one’s joints or limbs are in connection to one another, once they move out of sight.

These factors could cause a range of injuries, ranging from prolapsed discs, sprains, and dislocations to joint pain, tendonitis and bursitis. So it is advisable for those who are hypermobile to consult a therapist to see what are the best kinds of exercises for them.

Many fitness trainers and experts advise that exercise routines be cycled or rotated appropriately and for the best benefits. This means that you keep changing or tweaking your exercise routine in a way that gives optimum benefits. Here are some of the main benefits of cycling or rotating your exercise routines:

Helps train the different muscle groups:

By doing different kinds of exercises you can make sure that each part of your body and each one of its muscle groups is brought into play. So if on one day of the week you do weights for the upper body, you could give those muscles a rest the next day by going for a bike ride or a jog.

Doing different exercises and cycling them will ensure that no part of your body remains un-toned or flaccid and that your muscles develop proportionately throughout your body.

Keeps you interested and keeps boredom at bay:

One of the things that can really hinder your fitness goals is the setting in of boredom or ennui. This can lead to lack of motivation and ultimately sabotage your goals.

So by mixing it up, you retain your interest in your fitness goals and help yourself to keep it fresh.

If one month in the gym doing the same old thing is something that you find completely boring, replace that with an hour of riding the bicycle – this offers a great change and is literally a breath of fresh air for you.

Also you can help to keep yourself motivated by trying something completely new. You can join a dance class for instance; which can be a most enjoyable workout. Or you can start a new hobby or a sport – if your neighbourhood has a team you can try to get onto it, or you can start to learn kayaking or rowing or sailing if that is conveniently located close to home.

Help in losing weight:

Doing the same thing over a lot period of time is not only boring for the mind, it is also boring for the body as the muscles get used to a particular kind of workout.

The body may reach a plateau and the muscles may stop responding to the same exercise or reach their threshold of development. To once again kick start weight loss you can make a change that, in a sense surprises the body into losing weight.

While very acute exercise will cause muscular pain, a new study has found that long term exercise will actually help lower muscular pain.

According to a study carried out at the Middleton Memorial Hospital in Madison, Wis. and the University of Wisconsin, researchers examined veterans of the Gulf War to test their hypothesis.

As many as hundred thousand veterans have reported chronic musculoskeletal pain after their return.

The subjects of the study were asked to rate their levels of pain in the study, and it was found that acute exercise regimes tended to exacerbate the pain levels, but when exercise was performed consistently over longer periods, then it was seen to actually reduce this chronic pain.

The findings of this study will be significant in that they will offer clues to clinicians and others to make informed decisions about people with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

They will be better advised to prescribe the amount of exercise as well as the kind of exercise and its frequency that should be practiced to get the best results in terms of pain reduction and management.

It is always wise to have complete information about any fitness supplement that you plan to use since there can be questions about their safety and efficacy.

Researchers from The Consumer Report recently narrowed it down to 12 supplements that one should be avoiding and the reasons why these supplements should be avoided:

Aconite

This is usually prescribed to reduce joint pain, inflammation and gout and to help with wounds. However it can result in side effects such as vomiting, nausea, palpitations, respiratory seizure, and even death.

Bitter orange

This is used for reducing allergic reactions and nasal congestion and to help with weight loss. However it can cause irregular heartbeats, heart attack, fainting and stroke; and even death.

Chaparral

This is thought to help lose weight, and help reduce inflammation and infection. It is also use for treating cancer and as means for detoxification. However it is known to cause liver and kidney problems.

Colloidal Silver

This can help with Lyme disease, Rosacea and other fungal infections. It is also used to combat food poisoning, psoriasis and chronic fatigue. However it can cause the skin to discolor (develop a bluish tint), cause kidney damage and also neurological problems.

Coltsfoot

It is used for allergies, asthma and respiratory tract related problems but is known to cause arrhythmia, heart attack and stroke; and even death.

Comfrey

It is used to reduce excessive bleeding during menstrual periods, and chest pain. It is also used as cancer treatment, but ironically may cause cancer as well as liver damage.

Country Mallow

This is used for respiratory problems and or weight loss; but could cause arrhythmia, heart attack and stroke; even death.

Geranium

It is supposed to reduce arthritis, osteoporosis, pain, infections, and even heart disease and HIV and cancer. However this could cause kidney damage and death.

Greater Celandine

This is used to treat indigestion and IBS as well as to detoxify the body. However it could cause liver damage.

Kava

This is used to reduce anxiety but could cause liver problems.

Lobelia

It is used by people wanting to give up smoking and those with respiratory problems. It could be toxic however and overdose could cause low blood pressure, increase heart rate, coma and death.

Yohimbe

This is an aphrodisiac and is also used to keep diabetes in control and for chest problems. At regular doses it could cause high blood pressure and elevated pulse rate. At higher doses it could cause severe low blood pressure and other heart problems.

In this generation where most foods are ordered, taken out and pre-packed, can we say that we are giving our children nutritional foods to eat? Are you not alarmed at the increasing rate of obesity among children in the United States?

Healthy eating among our school children should be on top of our priorities. Giving them nutritional foods to eat must come first. However, do we really know what to give them? Here are some helpful tips on your different food choices:

• The lesser the sugar, the better. If you intend to give your  kids nutritional foods to eat, then you should stop feeding them with cookies wrapped in foils, ice cream, juices on tetra packs that scream nutritious. These foods are loaded with so much sugar which translates into calories.

• Put a halt to salt. Too much salt is not good for the health. It increases one’s risk for heart diseases. Thus, if you are on the lookout for nutritional foods to eat to give your children, never consider buying potato chips and anything that is junk. They come in cans too.

• Processed food should be assessed. Watch out because most of the American families have processed foods on their tables especially during breakfasts. Sadly, hotdogs, hams, bacons and other processed foods are never healthy. These are not the kinds of nutritional foods to eat that must be served on your dining tables. They have lots of chemicals and preservatives on them.

• Quality protein should be in. Growing children need all the protein that they can get. These nutritional foods to eat are found in turkey, chicken, fish, soya products, tofu and legumes. Of course, there must always be a variaton of sorts.

• Breakfast power up. Breakfasts must never be missed. It is in fact the most important meal of the day. Load up on a lot of carbohydrates from whole grains, cereals, pasta and oats. Remember, not everything that comes from a cereal box is healthy. Again, check the label and look for one which has less sugar and salt content.

• Freshen up. Fresh fruits and vegetables are essentials and must haves in your fridge and tabletops. Why settle for a pizza delivery if they can get their snacks straight from the fridge? Serve sliced fruits and raw vegetable sticks with a low-fat dressing on the side. They are more flavorful and healthy.

• Be creative. Children love eating foods that look good to the eyes. Put that creativity into action and whip up simple menus with smiley faces out of oranges. Probably, you can have garden salads with slices of carrot flowers and brocolli trees. Serve fruit smoothies instead of concentrated juices.

• Set an example. Children imitate what they see. If they see you gobbling down a bowl of mixed vegetables, most likely that they will too.

Well, there are a hundred and one ways of serving your children nutritional foods to eat. All it takes is a little effort and a dab of love to make the most nutritious meals.