Sunday 27 September 2015
Friday 25 September 2015
Tuesday 22 September 2015
Thursday 14 May 2015
EXERCISES AT WORK!!
Try these stretching exercises at your desk -- or anywhere else -- to ease back pain and boost energy.
You may feel awkward doing stretching exercises at your desk. But right now, as you sit there at your computer, you are doing one of the worst things you can do to your body -- you're sitting still. And not only that, but the way you sit -- and type, and hold the phone -- may be wreaking havoc on your bones, joints, and muscles.
"People who sit at their computers for hours every day -- they're in for serious medical problems," says Sharon Hame, MD, associate clinical professor at UCLA's department of orthopaedic surgery. "We're seeing more things than carpal tunnel; those pains go up the arm to the elbow and shoulder and then translate to the neck and back. It's a huge problem."
In addition to carpal tunnel and other traditional ergonomic issues, new problems are cropping up, Hame says. "I saw a woman yesterday who had tennis elbow. She got it at work from the way she answered the phone and worked at the computer." The solution, experts say, is to break up your work by doing stretching exercises at your desk.
Relieve Back Pain With Stretching Exercises at Your Desk
Aches and pains, not to mention the weight gain that can result from hunching over your desk all day, are just the beginning. "People shouldn't be complacent about moving just because they're not obese," says Angela Smith, MD, orthopaedic surgeon at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and former president of the American College of Sports Medicine. "There are a lot of skinny people who, because they don't exercise for strength and balance, are osteoporotic fractures waiting to happen."So what can you do to ward off pain and stiffness and boost your energy and alertness? WebMD consulted orthopaedic surgeons and exercise specialists for 12 simple stretching exercises at your desk that will release tension from head to toe. They take only a few minutes. Set the alarm on your cell phone or computer to go off every hour to remind you it's time to get up and stretch.
The 12 Best Stretching Exercises at Your Desk
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Just stand up and sit down -- no hands
- You might have gotten a gold star in preschool for sitting still, but it just goes to show you (best sellers notwithstanding) that not all of us learned everything we need to know in kindergarten. "If you stand up and sit down (over and over) -- without using your hands -- it can be a challenge," says Smith. "Do it while you're on the phone; no one will know."
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Substitute exercise for sitting -- while you work
- Get rid of your desk chair and substitute an exercise ball, suggests Smith. "I used it for a while when I was having low-back problems; it was great," Smith says. "All day you are engaging all the muscles in the back, legs, butt, everything, to stay balanced."
- Hame knows one man who put a treadmill in his office and conducted all his business while walking. (He lost weight, too, Hame says.)
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Shrug your shoulders -- to release the neck and shoulders
- Inhale deeply and shrug your shoulders, lifting them high up to your ears. Hold. Release and drop. Repeat three times.
- Shake your head slowly, yes and no. You might as well amuse yourself while you do it to relax even further. Ask yourself silly questions: "Is your boss an idiot?" Move your head up and down, "Yes, yes, yes." Side to side: "No. No. No." (Shedding tension is as much mental as physical.)
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Loosen the hands with air circles
- Clench both fists, stretching both hands out in front of you.
- Make circles in the air, first in one direction, to the count of ten.
- Then reverse the circles.
- Shake out the hands.
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Point your fingers -- good for hands, wrist, and forearms
- Stretch your left hand out in front of you, pointing fingers toward the floor. Use your right hand to increase the stretch, pushing your fingers down and toward the body. Be gentle.
- Do the same with the other hand.
- Now stretch your left hand out straight in front, wrist bent, with fingers pointing skyward. Use your right hand to increase the stretch, pulling the fingers back toward your body.
- Do the same on the other side.
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Release the upper body with a torso twist
- Inhale and as you exhale, turn to the right and grab the back of your chair with your right hand, and grab the arm of the chair with your left.
- With eyes level, use your grasp on the chair to help twist your torso around as far to the back of the room as possible. Hold the twist and let your eyes continue the stretch -- see how far around the room you can peer.
- Slowly come back to facing forward.
- Repeat on the other side.
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Do leg extensions -- work the abs and legs
- Grab the seat of your chair to brace yourself and extend your legs straight out in front of you so they are parallel to the floor.
- Flex and point your toes five times. Release.
- Repeat.
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Stretch your back with a "big hug"
- Hug your body, placing the right hand on your left shoulder and the left hand on your right shoulder.
- Breathe in and out, releasing the area between your shoulder blades.
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Cross your arms -- for the shoulders and upper back
- Extend one arm out straight in front of you. With the other hand, grab the elbow of the outstretched arm and pull it across your chest, stretching your shoulder and upper back muscles.
- Hold. Release.
- Stretch out the other arm in front of you -- repeat.
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Stretch your back and shoulders with a "leg hug"
- Sit on the edge of your chair (if it has wheels, wedge the chair against the desk or wall to make sure it does not roll). Put your feet together, flat on the floor.
- Lean over, chest to knees, letting your arms dangle loosely to the floor. Release your neck.
- Now bring your hands behind your legs, right hand grasping left wrist, forearm (or elbow if you can reach that far), left hand grasping the right. Feel the stretch in your back, shoulders and neck. Hold.
- Release your hands to the floor again.
- Repeat three times or as often as it feels good.
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Look up to release upper body
- Sit up tall in your chair, or stand up. Stretch your arms overhead and interlock your fingers.
- Turn the palms to the ceiling as you lift your chin up, tilt your head back, and gaze up at the ceiling, too.
- Inhale, exhale, release.
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Substitute walks for email -- and don't eat at your desk
- Instead of emailing a colleague "and copying 25 people who don't want to be copied anyway," Smith says, "walk over to the colleague you really want to talk to." SOURCE >>READ MORE
Tuesday 21 April 2015
Loose Weight And Gain Muscles!
I covered this topic previously in the episode How to Lose Fat and Gain Muscle at the Same Time, but there’s been some new research since then, so today you’re going to learn exactly how many calories you should eat when you’re trying to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. Plus, I’ll give you the best fat-loss, muscle-building workouts to try.
Can You Lose Fat and Gain Muscle at the Same Time?
As we discussed in my first episode on this topic, it certainly seems counterintuitive that you can have the body in a “loss” state and a “gain” state at the same time. But it turns out that if you do the right things, this is actually possible. The strategies you need to use are:
Combining calorie restriction with weight training
Giving yourself specific days of the week to “re-feed” with higher calorie intake (also known as “calorie cycling”)
Avoiding excessive aerobic cardio, which breaks down the muscle you’re trying to build and can give you a “skinny-fat” look (learn more about that in my episode How to Avoid Being Skinny-Fat)
How Many Calories Should You Eat For Fat Loss and Muscle Gain?
So how fast should you lose fat if you’re trying to simultaneously gain muscle? This question was addressed in a recent study. In this study, changes in body composition, strength, and power were measured during a weekly body-weight loss of 0.7% per week (a slow reduction fat loss program) vs. a body-weight loss of 1.4% (a fast reduction fat loss program).
In the slow reduction group, total calorie intake was reduced by about 20%, but in the fast reduction group, calorie intake was reduced by about 30%. While both groups were able to lose fat, the only group that was able to both lose fat and gain muscle at the same time was the slow reduction group. So it turns out that if you undercut your calories too much on a fat-loss, muscle-gain diet, then you won’t be able to do the muscle-gain part. So if you’re currently eating 2,000 calories per day, you could safely reduce your calories by 20%, which would be 400 calories – putting you at 1,600 calories per day. If you eat less than that, you won’t be able to gain muscle.
But that’s not all. The study results also showed that the ideal rate of weight loss in a fat-loss muscle-gain program was 0.7% per week. So if you weigh 150 pounds, then 0.7% of 150 is .007 multiplied by 150, and comes out to a weight loss of 1.05 pounds per week. This may seem like a slow rate of weight loss, but remember – at the same time that you’re losing fat, you’re gaining muscle!
Should You Diet Or Exercise for Fat Loss and Muscle Gain?
Another recent review looked at the most effective techniques used by bodybuilders who were getting ready for a bodybuilding show. As an ex-competitive bodybuilder, I can attest to the fact that in those final weeks leading up to the pressure of posing on stage, there is an enormous emphasis on maintaining all the muscle you’ve worked so hard to build, while simultaneously losing as much fat as possible.
It turns out that bodybuilders who combined excessive aerobic exercise with calorie restriction were able to successfully lose fat leading up to their competition, but they actually lost more muscle compared to bodybuilders who instead focused on calorie restriction, without doing much aerobic cardio. This makes sense since high amounts of aerobic cardio is “catabolic,” meaning that it can break down muscle very easily. This is actually one of the strategies I used to transform myself from a 210 pound bodybuilder into a 175 pound triathlete – I combined high amounts of cardio with calorie restriction to actually eat up my muscle. As you can probably imagine, if I were trying to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, this strategy would have been a pretty bad idea!
A Fat Loss/Muscle Gain Plan
So what does a good fat loss and muscle gain plan look like? It’s actually fairly simple: Lift heavy enough weights to build muscle while at the same time avoiding lots of cardio, eating about 20% fewer calories than you’re used to eating, and shooting for a rate of weight loss of about 0.7% per week.
So for example, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, you could perform 5 sets of 5 repetitions of:
Squat
Overhead Press
Deadlift
Pull-Up
Bench Press
On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, you could do 20-30 minutes of high-intensity interval cardio, such as 10 sets of 30 seconds of hard bicycling efforts, with each effort separated by full recovery. You would use Sunday as a full recovery day.
On each day, you’d want to eat enough protein to be able to build muscle, while avoiding excessive amounts of sugar, starch, fried foods, and vegetable oils. So for example, you could have my world-famous green smoothie for breakfast, a large salad with nuts, avocadoes and olives for lunch, fish and roasted vegetables with wild rice for dinner, and a protein shake with a healthy protein powder and coconut or almond milk in the morning or afternoon after your workout. Of course, I recommend that you have one day on which you eat slightly more calories than usual – and for me, that means a bit of dark chocolate and red wine in the evening, or even one of my favorite indulgences – coconut ice cream! As long as you’re exercising and lifting weights, you can get away with this type of cheat every once in a while on a muscle gain and fat loss program.
Martial Arts Chest Workout(Bruce Lee's Chest)
The Bench Press: The most popular chest exercise in the world!Chest.JPG (51057 bytes)
Decline Press: Recently has gotten some press as being slightly more effective overall than Incline presses. If you are working out alone though, these can be difficult to do.
Incline Press: Supposedly focuses more on the upper chest.
Close Grip Bench Presses: Productive if done correctly, very damaging if not. The problem is, 95% of the time, these are NOT done correctly.
Dumbbell Press: Greater stretch at the bottom of the movement, but once you get to heavy weights, they are tough to get into position if working out alone.
Bent-Arm pullover: I find that these are actually great for working out the pec-lat muscle areas.
Decline Pull-Over: Allegedly causes a sharp delineation around and under the pectorals.
Dumbbell Flyes: Good finishing movement, I prefer Pec-Dec flyes.
Unilateral Cable Crossovers: Not bad if you can find this kind of set-up.
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