Fitness

Why Stretching Is So Important

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Stretching is important to keep the muscles well circulated and healthy, too many people neglect it – myself included. Most days we spend in the same posture, sitting at the desk all day. If we do not stretch we make or muscles short and tight. Wich will lead to health problems like a stiff neck and shoulder or a headache and a sore back. Stretching increases your blood flow and flexibility, wich makes it more comfortable to perform physical activity. Stretching will also improve your posture. If we don’t stretch regularly we will increase the risk of aches and pain, caused by short, stiff muscles. It only takes few minutes each day to stretch.

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How to Gain Optimal Health – step by step!

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English: A picture of a collection of healthy ...

Are you determined to improve your health but you don’t know where to start – then you should read this. Here I’m going to summarize for you the best ways to gain your optimal health and reach your goals. Do you have what it takes to improve your lifestyle? If you follow these steps your health will improve gradually. You will notice the difference, not only will you look better, but also feel better about yourself.  It’s all up to you!

Every food we eat contains calories. The calories you consume in cannot exceed the amount of calories the body uses up. Many find it helpful to write down their daily diet in a food journal.  CalorieKing is a website which logs the calorie amounts for food you’ve eaten. You can put your recipes into this Calorie Count tool and then you will see how many calories each recipe contain. If you are not sure how many calories you require, then you can use this Calorie Calculator. The calorie calculator can be very useful for weight management.

  • Set your mind on it! You need to make a decision and be determined  YOU CAN DO IT!
  • Set reasonable goals for the week. Just take it week by week. Set goal for each week that help you reach your long-term goals. You can’t do it all at once, but you can add, little by little, good habits to your daily routine.
  • Drink 8 – 10 glasses of water each day. Other fluids count too, like green tea, milk and juice, but water is the best because it’s so clean from all chemical that it helps your body to flush out toxins. Eliminate soda and sugary drinks such as sports drinks and alcoholic beverages.
  • Exercise for at least 30 minutes each day. Walking, running, cycling and swimming are great to improve your endurance and burn calories. Exercising will give you muscles, which boosts your metabolism and helps you burn more calories.
  • Eat healthy, meat, poultry and fish with vegetables. You should eat vegetables and fruits every day. Remember you can’t gain weight from eating fruits and vegetables.
  • Healthy snacks. You should have things like small carrots, tomatoes, grapes, apples and bananas to eat when you feel need for some snack.
  • Keep daily food and exercise journal. This helps you to keep track of what you consume and exercise each day. Weight in at the end of the week and write it in the diary. This way you will see the result for each week.

Good luck to you on your way towards healthier lifestyle – gaining your optimal health.

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How to Change Everyday Situations into Exercise

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The cross trainer can be used to warm up muscl...

In everyday life it can be very difficult to find time for regular exercise. How can you find time to exercise for thirty minutes a day when you have so much to do already? Now there is no excuses left. If you don’t find time to exercise then you can use everyday situations to stay on track. Remember that you can split that 30 minutes into more sessions which you might find more manageable.

Housework can get your heart pumping and increase your blood circulation. Turn your housework into exercise by putting more effort into them. Clean the house, wash the car, sweep the sidewalk or patio with a broom, gardening –  all those activities can increase your daily exercise activity.

Watching TV. You can stretch while watching TV, do push-ups, sit-ups or lift light weights while you watch.

Fidgeting is one form of physical exercise that makes the body burn more calories. All of that spontaneous physical activity – the wiggling, shifting and pacing actually burns calories.

Exercise in the morning. If you wake up twenty or thirty minutes earlier than usual, then you can squeeze in some sit ups, a brief walk, jog or some weight training into your daily routine.

Increase your physical activity. Try to use every situation that you can to increase your physical activity. Use the stairs instead of the elevator and park the car further away the entrance so that you have to walk further. Walk fast towards the entrance instead of slowly. Those extra steps counts.

Use your lunch hour. Perhaps you could take a few minutes walk during your lunch hour. Walking is great for the heart, it relieves stress and helps to manage weight gain. You will also feel more refreshed and content with yourself afterwards. This will increase your effort at work.

Playing with your children can burn calories. This will not only give you some quality time with your kids, this can also be a great way to exercise. You can take them for a bike ride in the park or play some games requiring physical activity, for example basketball or play tag with them in the yard or you can even play exercise video games.

It doesn’t matter which form of exercise you choose or if you do it in sessions or not. Just remember – a little is better than nothing.

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