Sunday, April 6, 2008

What is the Best Exercise for Weight Loss?

It is a common misconception that aerobic exercise tones and firms muscles. Actually it accomplishes very little toning and firming. Resistance exercise (weight training) is where real toning and firming of muscles occurs.

Doing both aerobics and weight training is the optimal way to lose more fat and gain more muscle. If you are trying to lose weight, studies show that weight loss increases by 56 percent with aerobic and strength exercises combined.

Muscle may weigh more, but when you increase your muscle composition, the body is able to burn more fat, even when you are resting, because your metabolism is higher. A pound of muscle will use 350 to 500 calories per week to survive, while a pound of fat only needs about 14 calories per week. New studies have shown that building muscle helps your body fight disease better, too.

Strength training benefits everyone, no matter what age or sex, and is becoming recognized as an important component of fitness. Research is indicating that the muscle loss found in elderly people doesn’t come from age, but lack of activity. Even a young person who doesn’t get enough exercise can lose muscle mass and strength. Strength training, such as lifting weights or performing weight-resistance exercises, as little as twice a week can help maintain or increase muscle mass.

Strength training involving several sets of multiple repetitions using moderate weights will not result in huge muscles. Instead it builds bone mass and increases the metabolism, as well as toning and firming the muscles, giving a leaner look.

It is very important to do both aerobics and strength exercises. The aerobic exercises help your heart and lungs get stronger and help your body utilize oxygen more efficiently, which in turn helps with strength training and overall fitness. The strength exercise helps develop muscle, reduce body fat and maintain bone mass.

Aerobic Exercise is a type of exercise that elevates the heart rate and breathing for a continuous sustained period. This overloads the heart and lungs and causes them to work harder than at rest.

There are many options to choose from today. Bicycling, aerobic dance, swimming, walking, and stepping are all examples of aerobic exercise. Which ones to chose depends on your physical condition, your history, your interests and your goals. Many experts believe it is better to alternate between 2 or more types, to get a better workout.

There are two main types of aerobics- high impact and low impact. It is better to alternate between high impact aerobics (which are harder on the body and may cause more damage) and low impact aerobics, such as walking and swimming. This is called cross-training, and helps reduce the chance or injury and overuse of certain muscles.

You will want to perform aerobic exercises at least 20 minutes a day for at least 3 to 4 days a week. If you are trying to lose body fat, or your physical condition is very good, then you may want to work longer at it. Try exercising up to 40 to 60 minutes 5 to 6 days a week.

Remember there is no real need to go overboard. Moderate intensity is almost always better, and is more enjoyable. low to moderate intensity is an especially good idea when starting out after a layoff or recovery from illness or injury, or if you are significantly overweight.

Warm-up and cool down is important to reduce discomfort and the chance of injury. Warm up by starting slow and gradually build up to your top speed. Then slow down again at the end of your workout.

The whole idea behind aerobic exercise is to get up and get moving! Find something you enjoy doing that keeps your heart rate elevated for a continuous time period and get moving to a healthier life.

This is an excerpt from the ebook The Enzyme Health Diet Plan by Dianne Ronnow. Copyright 2005 by Mohave Publishing. All rights reserved.

The Enzyme Health Diet Plan is a FREE e-book that can be found on the Enzyme Health website at Enzyme-Health.com

For information about a new safe and very effective diet patch that is safely helping thousands of people lose weight, go to http://PowerDietPatch.com now!

This article may be freely copied as long as it is not modified and the resource box accompanies the article, together with working hyperlinks.

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Golf Instruction, If You See Someone Teaching This Move, Run!

It was just yesterday that I was at the range with some friends with a video camera taking pics of their swings and generally messing around with trying to get them to quit with the over the top move.

Man, every where I go I see this over the top thing and there just doesn't seem to be an easy fix, even when the fix is easy.

Any way as we were doing our thing, I noticed a family down the range a ways. There were two young boys in their early teens or less. The father, mom was sitting on one of the benches and it appeared that grandfather was there too.

Nice picture. I love it when young kids show an interest. They had decent swings for beginners.

I noticed that Dad was giving advice on their respective swings. And he seemed to know something about it. Not bad, I thought.

Until Dad and grandfather started talking about the takeaway move.

Dad was more than a bit adamant that you should take the club away low and very long. That you should get tremendous separation from your body. And that you have a very late wrist cock of your right hand.

While Grandfather was saying that he thought an early wrist cock and a good shoulder turn was not only easier, but made much more sense to him.

Dad was very very insistent. Grandfather was much more passive. Then the conversation started to include the boys who were hitting balls.

Dad gave them a drill to do.

You put a ball behind your club head on the ground, and on your takeaway you push the ball back with the back of your clubhead as far as you can before you begin to lift the club up into your back swing.

Neither of the boys could hit the ball while doing this.

And it is no wonder. Dad has it wrong big time.

Here is proof.

Mike Wier and Chris Dimarco are only two examples of PGA professionals that use an early wrist cock to start the swing and to get into a great pattern of early angles.

As opposed to very few PGA players who work on a big extension and separation on the move away.

This idea of a big separation and large extension is a formula for developing a poor weight shift and it is a timing nightmare. That's the reason the young boys couldn't hit the ball using this idea.

It often( the move) will pull the golfer out over the outside of his right foot making returning to the left side virtually impossible.

The result, here's a surprise, poor to no weight shift and an over the top move in order to make contact. This of course results in a big left to right ball flight or a SLICE!

It may appear to be a good idea because some PGA players do it. Not as many as there used to be doing, but still some do. It takes an exceptional athlete to accomplish this on a regular basis and the advantage is out weighted by the poor result for most of us.

So all you Dad's out there, here is some great advice.

Listen to Gandpa, he knows best. He knows a lot more than you think. He just doesn't want to be loud about it.

An early establishment of the right wrist angle is a good move. It sets the angles and then you just turn your shoulders.

When you do it right, and every one can, you will hit the ball as if by magic.

Setting angles early in the golf swing is one of the four magic moves. To learn more about the little know four magic moves and to get a free look at the first one click here: http://www.ebooksbestbuy.com/golf

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