The heart of the gardening for weight loss program is the hand tiller. This simple, yet effective, tool is used so extensively in the garden that it single handedly can be the only tool you may need to lose weight quickly and safely. Its purpose for the garden is to turn the soil, thereby breaking the soil apart and removing any unwanted vegetation.
Re-turning the soil in your garden is going to need to be done enough to keep out unwanted vegetation that you will always have an excuse to go perform this moderate cardiovascular exercise. Simply push the hand tiller into the soil and turn. Do not push all the way into the ground the first time you use the hand tiller in soil that is covered in grass. Tear up the top layer of grass and then sink the hand tiller more deeply. This provides not only moderate cardiovascular exercise, it also provides strength and endurance training for your chest, arms, abs and lower back.
Start this exercise slowly and build your way to turning the soil more and more quickly. Also, knowing the dimensions of the area you choose to garden is helpful. You may not want to turn all the soil in your front or back yard. A little forethought will help in this area.
Gardening is the moderate cardiovascular exercise that feeds itself. This means much more than because I garden as moderate cardiovascular exercise I grow my own food. Certainly, the nutritious foods produced in any garden are a major benefit for those that eat them. Nevertheless, what is meant by the statement, ”Gardening is the moderate cardiovascular exercise that feeds itself.”, is that envisioning the outcome, a healthy, thriving, bountiful garden, of the work that provides nutritious food, that is being done will provide the motivation to continue to do the work. For many, it provides much more motivation than trying to see a skinny self while riding a spin bike.
Start your moderate cardiovascular exercise through gardening slowly. Work until you feel tired, then work five more minutes. Then drink some water. Then turn some more dirt. And so on. Continue until you have worked at least thirty minutes. Do this every other day and you will be losing weight quickly and safely. Do this everyday and your weight loss goals will be met rather speedily.
For more information on starting a garden from popping seeds to nutrient enrichment to harvesting tips visit Americas Number One Gardening Blog.
Are you tired of gimmicks? Are ready to drop excess body fat now? Then Crosstrainer is for you! Crosstrainer is the most comprehensive fitness program available—a perfect balance of exercise and nutrition. Crosstrainer was designed by the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Association and is backed by members of the armed forces, police and fire departments. For this and many other reasons, the Crosstrainer system is used throughout Canad and the United States with amazing results.
Fitness is all about you and Crosstrainer incorporates more personal factors and provides more exercise and training options than any other program. If you have the commitment, Crosstrainer has the capacity to help you meet your fitness goal.
Fitness Features:
Personal Information
Start with five easy to complete forms including Heart Rate and Training Zones. Use the convenient on-screen timer to measure your heart rate at rest, Crosstrainer calculates target heart rate ranges at increasing levels of activity. It is easy to calculate your own personal fitness program with the Crosstrainer!
Exercise
Fitness experts recommend a combination of aerobic and strength training activities for maximum fitness. Crosstrainer includes both training modules with specific recommended activities and detailed tracking mechanisms.
Strength Training Module: Crosstrainer offers a list of workouts. Choose your category and then choose your workout type. For example, select Strength, and then pick from a long list of workouts targeting specific areas of your body or just try Get Huge. Crosstrainer displays a list of specific exercises in the main screen complete with muscle group, set, reps, and weight if applicable. Not sure about an exercise? Click on its name to see a photo showing proper form and written instructions.
Cardio (Aerobic) Module: Look at these as activities. Start by selecting your category just as you did in the Strength Training Module. And, everything counts: from playing with children around the house to surfing, soccer and scuba diving. Enter a wealth of details for each activity. Crosstrainer will calculate your pace and calories burned.
Nutrition
Move on to Nutrition and set up your diet. You can customize the number of meals and snacks to reflect your eating schedule. You’ll find an exhaustive list of foods and corresponding nutrients to easily record and track your consumption.
Bonus Features
Adapt popular diets into your nutrition plan: Select Atkins, Carbohydrate Addicts, Macrobiotics, Protein Power, Weight Watchers or The Zone.
Recipe book with a selection of recipes including diabetic, low carb, and low sugar. Add your own too.
Water Bar in the Nutrition module lets you track water consumption and measure against your goal.
Strength training workouts to complement specific sports like football, golf and skiing.
Find the perfect workout? Share with other Crosstrainer users by clicking the web button. Others can easily download it directly into their Crosstrainer program.
Exercise & Nutrition:
Ease of Use:
Crosstrainer is well designed to make navigation easy and intuitive. See your monthly calendar, activities, goals, personal watches and wellness alerts all on one page. Each module is consistent and thorough. Use the summary function to generate reports and graphs to better analyze your progress and easily compare results when you modify your regime.
Help/Support:
Crosstrainer has several help resources available. The help/ support area can be truly helpful. If you have a question, use the online form. Crosstrainer support is responsive and helpful. Also, share your progress with other Crosstrainer users in the online user forum. There is a helpful FAQs section and the user forum is searchable.
Summary:
Crosstrainer is the most comprehensive program for athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and anyone that just wants to be in the best shape possible!. Designed by experts, it offers a solid, tested approach to fitness with the right balance of nutrition, exercise and motivational tools. Take your fitness to the next level with this well designed program and be the athlete your body wants to be!
Gardening As An Exercise Program To Drop Excess Body Fat
When seeking to drop excess body fat or to simply keep in shape, an exercise program is essential. For many, however, simply going to the gym is not an option. Nevertheless, a simple and rewarding exercise program can be found in your own backyard.
Gardening as an exercise program to drop excess body fat can be rewarding in many ways. Using a hand tiller, such as the one shown below, will not only provide strength training to your arms, chest, abs and lower back it also provides low impact cardiovascular exercise as well. Gardening includes all these benefits plus the addition of providing healthy and nutritious fruits and vegetables for you and your family.
Gardening is an exercise program that feeds itself, pun intended. As you see your garden develop, you will become more motivated to work in the garden. The more work you do in the garden, the healthier you and your plants will be. The healthier the plants are, the more and bigger they will produce. The more they produce the more you want to do in the garden….Simply envisioning the rewards brought about through gardening can often be enough to get moving in the garden for many people.
There is always something to do in the garden, from germinating seeds to weeding to harvesting. The first activity you may start may not necessarily be exercise, germinating seeds for example. However, it will often lead to vigorous activity, preparing the soil for planting.
Another fact that may occur, providing you have enough land, is that you will have enough surpluses to sell, thereby feeding your wallet as well! Local farmers markets are ideal places to sell your surplus produce. Or, you could set up a roadside fruit stand, as was once popular.
Many however, freeze or can their surplus for later use. Whatever you decide to do with your produce, the fact will remain that the exercise program found in gardening combines with a healthy diet will help you to achieve the body that desire to have.
For tips on how to start your own garden and more visit America’s Number One Gardening Blog. There you will find information useful to gardeners of all skill levels.
Swimming for exercise is an excellent idea to improve your cardiovascular health. The significant point for your health is getting exercise, not just getting wet. Not only is swimming for exercise excellent for cardiovascular health, it is also great for weight control, muscular function and flexibility. Despite this, it is not as useful as walking or running in preventing osteoporosis and building strong, healthy bones as walking or running.
Swim laps using backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly or freestyle for aerobic conditioning as the sidestroke is too easy for significant value in cardiovascular health. To actually see any benefit, however, you must be able to swim for at least twenty minutes without stopping. At first you may not be able to do this. If this is the case for you, then swim until you feel out of breath and rest for a minute. Then, swim again until you feel out of breath. Continue this until twenty minutes have elapsed. You will be able to swim for twenty minutes straight in short order exercising in this fashion.
When swimming for exercise, your heart rate will not increase as much as it would exercising on land. Therefore, your heart rate will not be an accurate measure of the intensity of your workout. Swim at a steady pace that is quick enough to cause you to feel pleasantly tired, although not entirely exhausted, when you exit the pool.
Swimming for exercise will benefit people of any age; it is of particular benefit to the elderly and those with physical handicaps. Most every community has swimming facilities. The local college gym, the local YMCA or YWCA, the city recreation department and public schools in your area are great places to start looking for facilities if you do not have your own pool.
Use these guidelines when you start your swimming for exercise program. If you cannot swim very well try walking as quickly as you can in water that comes at least waist high but no more than the middle of you chest. Start by swimming approximately fifty yards and rest when you feel out of breath. When you are ready, swim one hundred yards then rest for a minute. Then swim another one hundred yards. Gradually increase the distance you swim. Set your goal at swimming seven hundred yards in eighteen minutes. Use the breaststroke, the butterfly or the backstroke for optimum health benefits.
Aerobic conditioning has been shown to slow many changes that are associated with aging. These changes include but are limited to decreased work capacity, an increase of body fat and loss of lean muscle tissue. Additionally, it also reduces the risk that elderly people have of stroke and heart disease and it associated problems. It will improve the health of people of any age. Swimming for exercise is an ideal way to get aerobic conditioning as it exercises many muscle groups at the same time and is extremely low impact so has very low risk of injury. Everyone can do this. Good health to you.
Many people are unaware that walking for exercise is thought to be the best form of aerobic exercise. An estimated 65 million men and women are walking for exercise. There are a variety of reasons for this. Some have previous injuries that preclude them from strenuous forms of exercise. Others want to get the health benefits from walking for exercise while avoiding the gym.
Cardiovascular fitness is strengthened by walking. Walking increases endurance, strengthens muscles in the lower body and burns fat..Walking for exercise also helps to reduce stress. That means, if you have a stressful meeting, you can take ten minutes to walk a bit and reduce the stress caused by the meeting. In addition to the other health benefits.
A study of nearly 3,000 men aged 71 to 93 showed that those who walked approximately two miles a day had half the risk of heart attack than those that only walked a quarter mile a day. The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health conducted a study that showed women that started a walking program ten to fifteen years previously were more likely to stay active and had fewer documented cases of heart disease than women that were less active.
Treadmills are a good idea in using walking for exercise. A treadmill will keep you moving at a regulated pace, many have a readout that approximates the number of calories burned by walking at that pace for that amount of time. Treadmills also cause less impact on your knees. Furthermore, treadmills allow you to exercise in a climate controlled environment. This will allow you to exercise when the weather will not allow you outside and avoid the pollution that may be encountered outside.
Waterwalking, such as in a pool or at a lake or beach, is an excellent exercise. The resistance added by the water increases the intensity of the workout. Additionally, the water provides extra support to lessen the risk of injury during your workout. Walking two miles an hour in thigh high water burns the same number of calories as walking three miles an hour on dry land.
Race walking, known as striding in its non-competitive form, you will keep your lead foot on the ground as your other foot pushes off the ground. The knee of the front leg will remain straight as the body passes over it. Walking in this manner keeps one foot supporting the body at all times. This greatly reduces the impact per step; subsequently the injury rate is very low.
Walking quickly, approximately 5.5 miles an hour, can be as good a workout as running 6.5 miles an hour. A study conducted by the University of Colorado compared people race walking with those running. Everyone exercising at the same intensity made comparable gains in their cardiovascular fitness. During this study, the runners missed an average of 11 days of exercise due to injury, while the walkers averaged only one and a half days lost due to injury.
The following are some guidelines to follow to help you in using walking for exercise:
Walk slowly for five minutes to get body warm before accelerating to your workout pace.
Maintain good posture. Stand erect, with your eyes focused in front of you. Pull your stomach in.
Walk using the heel-toe method. Your heel should touch the ground before your toes touch the ground. As you push off with your trailing foot, lift your knees as high as you can.
Swinging your arms back and forth will help you to burn five to ten percent more calories and provide a muscle toning workout for your upper body as you walk.
End your walk in the same fashion that you started it; decrease your pace to a stroll to help your body to cool.
Walking for exercise is the ideal way to keep yourself healthy without spending a fortune on a gym membership or on home exercise equipment. You can do it! Good health to you.
Even if you spend most of your time behind a desk or some other sedentary activity, most people can safely start a moderate aerobic exercise program. It is recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine that men over age 40 and women over age 50 and any person that has risk factors get a complete medical examination before beginning an aerobic exercise program. Older and more sedentary individuals should increase the duration and intensity of workouts more gradually than younger, more active individuals. The overall risk associated with exercise at a moderate intensity level is far lower than that of a more intense workout.
Most people do not get in their cars and immediately race to 65 m.p.h. or better, and you should avoid doing the same with your moderate aerobic exercise program. Your cardiovascular system needs to be prepared for your workout. Blood flow needs to be increased to the lings and the temperature and elasticity of your muscles need to be elevated to help you avoid injuring yourself. Walking around briskly for approximately five minutes is one way to do this. Your body will be able to more easily make the transition from resting to exercising.
People are often taught to stretch during their warm-up period, however, there is little empirical evidence that says it is actually needed unless the exercise includes moving joints beyond their normal range of motion. Studies suggest that stretching is of more usefulness if used to increase range of motion and should be performed during the cool down portion of your aerobic exercise program.
It is recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine that the target heart rate is reached for twenty to sixty minutes during your moderate aerobic exercise program. This can be in one session or two to six sessions of no less than ten minutes over the course of the day. The target heart rate is between 55% and 85% of the maximum heart rate for an individual. The maximum heart rate is typically 190 beats per minute.
After you have reached your target heart rate and held it for awhile, you will want to have a cool down period. The worst thing you can do is simply stop, you can put your heart at risk if you do this. Standing or sitting after your aerobic exercise program can cause blood to pool in your legs. To avoid this, you should keep moving, although at a reduced pace. This will help to keep the necessary amount of blood flowing to your heart. Optimally, you walk at a comfortable pace for five or ten minutes at the end of your aerobic exercise program. After this period of walking is when you should perform your stretching.
Be certain to keep yourself hydrated during your aerobic exercise program. The length and intensity of your workout will determine if you need to replace fluids during your routine. It is advised by the American Dietetic Association that you drink two cups of liquid, preferably water or sports drink, two hours prior to exercising. Two cups is sixteen to twenty ounces. You should drink another two cups fifteen to twenty minutes before your exercise session. If you exercise outside and it is hot and humid, you should drink smaller servings, four to six ounces, every fifteen minutes as you exercise. After completing your moderate aerobic exercise program, it is a good idea to drink two cups for every pound of body weight lost. For this reason, you need to weigh yourself before and after exercising. Avoid drinking energy drinks.
In the beginning, you should start slowly. It is recommended that your target heart rate is 55% percent of your maximum heart rate if walking. If you do not want to buy an electronic heart monitor you can use this rule of thumb: If you can sing as you walk, you are walking too slowly; if you cannot talk as you walk, you are walking too quickly.
You should increase your workout intensity and/or duration in a gradual manner. An example might be increasing your walking time five minutes every two weeks until you reach sixty minutes. You can also increase your pace. Your target heart rate should be your guide. By this point it may be necessary to purchase an electronic heart monitor. However, by this point, you should be able to know if you are raising your heart rate sufficiently.
After you are able to exercise at your target heart rate for twenty to sixty minutes three to five times a week, there is little or no added benefit from pushing even more. As a matter of fact, there seems to be only increased risk of injury from trying to work harder at this point. Instead of trying to raise your target heart rate you can add ankle weights and carry small dumbbells.
A Moderate aerobic exercise program can be started by most anyone. If you use your head for more than consuming calories, then you will be able to easily start your own program. Other posts concerning specific aerobic activities will follow soon. You can do it! Good health to you.
Most people realize that cardiovascular exercise, or aerobic exercise, can help efforts to lose weight. However, there are more benefits to be had with cardiovascular exercise. Some gerontologists even say that aerobic exercise is the closest thing to an anti-aging pill that we have. Many of the changes that are associated with aging can be stopped and even reversed with cardiovascular exercise. Some of these changes are loss of lean muscle mass, increased risk of heart disease and stroke and a lowered capacity to perform physical work.
There are also a number of benefits to be had by younger members of society. The following is a list of some of these benefits.
Improved blood flow and cholesterol levels.Aerobic exercise has been shown to lower total cholesterol levels and low-density lipoproteins (LDL), which is cholesterol you do not want. Cardiovascular exercise is also known to raise high density lipoproteins (HDL) levels, this is the good form of cholesterol. Blood levels of cholesterol drop an average of 24%.
Lowered risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack. People that do not perform aerobic exercise are twice as likely to experience a heart attack and die from coronary heart disease. A sedentary lifestyle is major risk factor of coronary heart disease, as well as smoking, hypertension, high blood cholesterol levels and obesity.
Decreased blood pressure.Cardiovascular exercise has been shown to reduce blood pressure in as many as 66% of the individuals that perform it.
Healthier blood vessels.Aerobic exercise helps improve the functioning of the endothelium, the specialized tissue that lines the inside of blood vessels. This may be linked to an improvement in the endothelium’s ability to produce nitric acid, which helps blood vessels relax and contract more efficiently. Improperly functioning endothelium is believed to be the underlying cause coronary artery disease.
Lowered risk of blood clots. It has been found that cardiovascular exercise helps reduce the accumulation of blood platelets, whose natural function is to cause blood to clot when there is damage to the vascular system. Studies have also shown that men that exercise have increased blood flow and less constriction in their coronary arteries than their counterparts that do not exercise.
Greater bone mass and lowered risk of osteoporosis.Aerobic exercise helps in maintaining bone health and decreases the likelihood of bone injury as a result of weakened bones.
Helps manage weight and prevents obesity. The dangers to those already at risk for diabetes and hypertension are compounded by as little as five pounds of excess fat. Gallbladder disease, certain forms of cancer, osteoarthritis and increased rates of heart disease are other dangers that come with excess body fat.
Enhanced athletic ability. Performance is enhanced by elevated levels of fat oxidation and reduced accumulation of lactic acid. Lactic acid is a by-product formed during the breakdown of glucose. Lactic acid causes muscle fatigue.
Greater sense of well being, higher energy levels and more self-confidence. Increases in neurotransmitters, chemicals that allow cells to communicate with each other, such as serotonin and beta-endorphin play a part in this. Symptoms of depression can be improved with mild cardiovascular exercise, especially with those that suffer from chronic illnesses like coronary heart disease.
These and other benefits are to be found in aerobic exercise. Before beginning any exercise program, you should consult your doctor to avoid any potential dangers. Good health to you!
Most people think of this exercise as one for the upper body, that is why it is a surprising to learn this exercise can be a weight loss exercise. This weight loss exercise is none other than the simple push-up. Although this weight loss exercise may not actually result in reduced weight, it will strengthen your upper body and, using the techniques discussed in this post, tighten your midsection. With the reduced waistline that comes with a tighter midsection, it will seem as though you have lost weight.
There are three critical areas that must be observed in order for push-ups to be of use as a weight loss exercise. The first of these is having the proper form. The most common mistakes made when doing push-ups are going to fast, only performing partial range of motion and not keeping your body straight and rigid.
You should not try to rush through you push-ups. Rather, you should try to take three seconds to go from the up position to the floor and back to the up position. You need to really feel the muscle group you are intending to work as you do your push-ups.
Making certain you perform the full range of motion will ensure your entire muscle group will get the full benefit from your push-ups. Also, not going through the full range of motion will shorten the length of your muscles, which will prevent you from being able to go through the full range of motion in the future if weight loss exercise is performed incorrectly for too long.
You should keep your elbows at a 45 degree angle from your body. This will help target the correct muscle groups as you exercise. Inhale on the way down, lowering your body all the way to the floor. Do not rest on the floor, instead, hold yourself there for a moment, about one second. Then push yourself up, exhaling as you go up.
People typically think of push-ups as an upper body exercise, however, by changing your technique somewhat you can exercise different muscle groups, including your abs. An understanding of the way the abdominal wall is structured may be useful. The transverse abdominus is similar to a sleeve that holds your gut in place. The internal and external obliques are on top of that. Next is the rectus abdominus. You probably know this as the six pack. The lower pelvic muscles are the bottom of this and on top is the diaphragm.
While holding yourself off the floor, pull in your bellybutton. Your bellybutton is directly attached to the transverse abdominus. By pulling in your bellybutton you are working the deep inner transverse abdominus muscle. Next try performing a Kegel squeeze. Women are probably more likely to be familiar with this term than men. To perform a Kegel squeeze, draw up your lower pelvic muscles and hold them in this position. Doing this will help you to concentrate on your abdominal muscles. To concentrate on your rectus abdominus, point your chin down to your toes as you pull in your bellybutton.
These techniques are very effective. They will help you build the foundation for the classic six pack. To be able to fully gain the six pack look, however, you will need to reduce body fat. Men need to reduce body fat to nearly 6% to get the six pack look. Women need to reduce body fat to 9% to achieve the six pack look.
The video on this page will help you as you learn the proper technique for using push-ups as a weight loss exercise.
Once you can do twenty repetitions for two or three sets you will be ready to move to the next level. Advanced techniques to help you build muscle as you get stronger using push-ups as a weigh loss exercise will follow soon. You can do it. Good health to you!
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