Exercise for the heart - general tips for people with heart failure

Yes, even those with heart failure can make measures to improve their condition naturally through exercise for the heart. If you have symptoms of heart failure which can vary from mild to severe, make sure you check with your health care professional before starting any form of cardiovascular activity. What is yourself evaluated everything first.

Here are some guidelines for the exercise for the heart for people suffering from congestive heart failure:

1. Not too approach of the isometric exercises like sit-ups or pumps. These types of exercises involve force your muscles against them or against a fixed object.

2. Ensure that any exercise you perform is balanced with rest and good rhythm.

3. Be sure to keep yourself hydrated throughout the year. It is highly essential for you to consume the water before you feel like alcohol consumption, especially during wet or hot days. Forget not, do not consume too much. Always keep in mind your health and guidelines of the practitioner as to the amount of liquid that you can eat each day.

4 Avoid interpreting any form of exercise outside during extreme weather events - if it is too wet, hot or cold. Extreme temperatures can affect the movement of your body, causing pain in the chest and what makes breathing difficult. High humidity will cause allows you to quickly become enough. You are better off with activities inside these days as walking in the Mall.

5 Avoid exercising in the mountainous regions. If this is necessary for you to tread in steep areas, be sure to avoid too hard and slow down when you walk to the top. As you, monitor your heart rate.

6. After the exercise, avoid the sauna or shower extremely hot and cold baths. These extreme temperature will stimulate the workload of the heart.

7. In any case that your exercise program was interrupted a few days (due to a vacation, bad weather or disease), be sure to ease gradually return to your routine. You can start with a level of reduced activity and increase slowly, until you're back to your normal routine.

Don't forget to contact your health professional if you experience the following symptoms:

1. The congested lungs

2. Water or fluid retention

3. Fast or irregular heartbeat

4.Fatigue, weakness and dizziness

As any other form of exercise, exercise for the heart should be done while keeping in mind safety precautions. Be sure to closely follow these tips.

Puneet wrote regularly on problems heart and therapy of non-invasive heart Ejection Fraction. He recommends natural therapy called Wrudved. If you need more help, or want to rejuvenate your heart, you connect to RejuvenateYourHeart.com.

Best weight loss exercise for great results

There is no better way to burn off calories but to sweat it out through exercise. It may be hard, but this is one hard work that will surely pay off. Simply allocating at least thirty minutes to an hour a day for exercise could help you shed off those pounds in no time. This article contains the best weight loss exercises that will help you achieve great results.

#1 Stationary bicycle / spinning – vigorous

Stationary bikes are almost like the real bike only that it won’t get you anywhere. This is perfect for people who prefer to stay at home or would like to do something else while burning off some calories. With this equipment, you do not have to worry about missing an episode of Oprah or Grey’s Anatomy as you workout. Furthermore, this is ideal for people who are not used to exercising and to people who are very overweight because it has lesser impact which makes it a knee and ankle friendly equipment.

This exercise could help you lose 500 to 1000 calories/hr depending on how fast you go and how much resistance you put in it. And since developing a rhythmic pace is easier with stationary bikes, you’ll have better chance of burning more fats.

#2 Elliptical trainer

If problems with your knees, hips, back, and joints prevent you from working out, an elliptical trainer might be the best option you have. It has little to no resistance compared to the traditional treadmills and stationary bikes.

Most elliptical trainers come with a handle that provides upper body exercise making elliptical trainer a very effective cardio exercise that allows you to burn 500 to 800 calories/hr. Again, this depends on how fast you go and the resistance you put on it.

For more information read: Elliptical vs treadmill

#3 Step aerobics – high impact

Step aerobics can literally bring your calorie-burning workout to the next level. It makes use of a step or a raised platform about four to twelve inches high where you step up and down while alternating the leg used. You can do step aerobics with a music to improve your leg coordination and to make it more fun. With this alone, you can burn as much as 600 calories/hr.

For people with advanced skills, you may use dumbbells to incorporate upper body exercise. This technique could help you burn up to 800 calories/hr, making it an excellent cardiovascular exercise that could get your heart pumping up to the fat burning zone.

#4 Running

Whether you use a treadmill or do the actual run outside, running is definitely a good calorie-burner. Like any other exercise, the amount of calorie burned depends on how fast you go. If you are running as fast as 12mph, you’ll be able to burn as much as 1,521 calories per hour; 1,224 calories/hr at 10mph; 918 calories/hr at 8mph; 783 calories/hr at 7mph; 684 calories/hr at 6mph; and 576 calories/hr at 5mph.

Although running may seem the best calorie burning exercise, running a constant speed of 12 mph per hour to burn 1,521 calories is almost impossible, not unless you are a professional runner. The same thing goes with other workouts; the amount of calories burned will always vary due to the inconsistent speed as well as the body’s ability to adapt.

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Build Physical Activity into your Daily Life

By Your Health Guru
Build Physical Activity into your Daily Life
Physical activity is any activity that burn energy through movement. Playing catch, walking and climbing are all physical activities. Some types of physical activity are unstructured . They are not scheduled or planned out. Running up stairs and cycling are all forms of unstructured physical activity.
Build Physical Activity into your Daily Life
Exercise structured physical activity. It is scheduled and organized. Going for 1.6-kilometre (one-mile) run five days a week exercise. Doing 50 sit-ups every morning or attending a swimming class tree times a week are forms of exercise.
Build Physical Activity into your Daily Life

All physical activity is good for body. Is uses the muscles and joints and strengthens the body. Its improves our health and burns energy. It even makes us feel good.
Build Physical Activity into your Daily Life
Why be active?
Build Physical Activity into your Daily Life
People are physically active for many reasons. Being active is fun. It is an important part of living. Some people have a goal. They may be trying to improve their health or way they look. They may be trying to get in better shape or develop a specific skill so they may be better at a sport. People shold be active every day.
Build Physical Activity into your Daily Life
Top Tips
Build Physical Activity into your Daily Life
Being healthy is not just about being active. Diet is also important to good health. People should drink at least eight glasses of water a day. The human body is about 60 percent water. Getting eight to ten hours of sleep a night is also important, especially while you are alive. Build Physical Activity into your Daily Life

Strength Training Programs

By Amy Pusey - Health.Tips.Net

It is one of the most common New Year's resolutions made every year. We promise ourselves that we will begin and maintain an exercise program to help us become strong and healthy. And then it happens, we start out so sincere in our intentions and diligent in our efforts, but slowly we digress to our less active lifestyles. Honestly, we know we are only hurting ourselves, but it just seems so hard to carry out our plans. For beginners, especially, starting a strength training program is quite difficult because you are not sure if you are performing the movements correctly, you do not know when you should progress to the next skill level, and it is just so darn exhausting being your own motivator.

If you are serious about beginning a strength training program, then your best bet is to either hire a personal trainer or find a friend already committed to a healthy routine that is willing to train and mentor you. The whole purpose of changing your lifestyle and undertaking a strength building routine is to build a solid foundation on which to successfully build a healthy life, so it makes sense to begin with the basics. The directive of basics training is to develop basic, functional strength, so that subsequent training levels can introduce more strenuous activities. This type of training aims to create balance, so all the major muscle groups are worked, as well as tendons and ligaments, and joints, which will help prevent injury further on in your program. The end-goal is to balance, or equalize, strength on both sides of your body. This is necessary because if you participate in certain sports, such as tennis, soccer, or baseball, you may notice that from repetitive actions one side of your body is stronger and has more muscle tone than the other side.

Core strength training has become a familiar term to many individuals. When beginning a basic strength routine, it is important to focus on your core muscles, which include the abdominals, lower back, hip area, and spinal column because when these muscle groups are weak you are more prone to injury, and placed in further jeopardy of injury as your routine becomes more strenuous and demanding. The best way for a beginner to start a strength training program is to focus on the following:

•The newbie to training should practice a basics routine for approximately 12 weeks, which helps prepare the body for more intensive training.
•The goal is to exercise the majority of the muscle groups, so it is beneficial to use a circuit training model, which will consist of: 8-12 types of exercises; each exercise completed in a set amount of time; the total circuit completed two times. This model should be followed 2-3 times per week, and as you progress you can include more demanding exercises in your circuit.
•Learn the purpose of varying equipment you may use in your routine. This may include resistance bands, dumbbells, medicine balls, or barbells. When you know why and how they are used in your program, you are more likely to perform your exercises correctly and safely.
•Be sure your program exercises are set up so that muscle groups are not concentrated on in consecutive exercises, but alternated to prevent being overworked. A popular formula for safe training is to focus on total body, then upper body, followed by lower body, and completed with core exercises.
In a last ditch effort to convince you that basic strength training is right up your alley, here are a few key reasons it is beneficial to you to begin one of these programs:

•Lower risk of coronary disease: helps reduce blood pressure and lower that bad cholesterol
•Faster metabolic rate: this translates to losing fat and gaining muscle mass
•Increase bone density: reduces brittleness of bones and the chance of Osteoporosis
•Improve balance: by maintaining flexibility and balance we reduce the risk of accidents, like falling
•Age gracefully: feel stronger and more alive, and with strength comes resiliency
•Feel better: improving the body will improve the mind, and that can mean better self-esteem

http://health.tips.net/Pages/T006367__Strength_Training_Programs.html

Breathe Deep - Drive Headaches Away

By Health Tips & Technics

RELAXATION exercises can help to relieve headaches, backaches and insomnia.

One of the simplest relaxation exercises is deep breathing, which will release endorphins (the body's very own painkillers) into our body.

Begin by breathing through your nostrils; inhale for five counts, silently saying the word "in" (concentrate on breathing deeply); fill your lower abdomen with air; count to five, and then exhale slowly, silently saying the word "out" as you let the air escape through your mouth; repeat this exercise for about two minutes; gradually you will be able to build up to ten counts or higher; increase your relaxation by imagining a peaaceful scene or by breathing in fresh air or pleasant smells.

Best ways to drive out Headaches

Headaches can be caused by a number of different reasons, and diet is only one area that could contribute. The most common causes of headaches are stress with associatd muscle tension, or hormones or medication or medical conditions like high blood pressure or water retention.

Ensure that you drink 6 to 8 glasses of water daily, and limit alcohol consumption to a maximum or abstain completely. Increase water intake if you are having alcohol.

Keep your blood sugars constant by eating regular meals, preferably with snacks in between, and limit intake of very sugary foods (e.g. sugar, jam, cool drinks, sweets, etc.) as these cause a rapid rise and resultant fall in sugar levels.

Eat high fibre foods to help keep blood sugar levels constant. Certain foods can trigger headaches. Dietary triggers are foods which are commonly found to trigger headaches or migraines in certain individuals.

However certain foods will affect different people differently, and you will need to identify which particular foods trigger your headaches. The most common trigger foods are:

Red wine, champagne and beer
Caffeinated beverages especially coffee, smart drinks, tea and carbonated beverges like
Coke
Cheese
chocolate and chocolate drinks
Peanuts and peanut butter
Foods containing Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) like packet or canned soups, sauces, instant pastas and Chinese foods. Foods high in other additives can also trigger headaches. avoid processed foods and learn to read labels on foods.
Salted and cured meats, dried meats, pickled herring and chicken livers may also be a problem.
Certain beans (broad lima, soya, lentils) and citrus fruits; avocados, raspberries and bananas.
In order to identify trigger foods, speak to a dietitian about keeping a food diary and doing exclusion tests.

http://www.healthtips.in/breathing_exercise_treat_headaches.asp

Exercise and Fitness

By Health Tips & Technics

Simple fitness exercises can help to have a fitter and healthy life. Stretching exercises can help in many ways in mainting a fitter body. Weight loss can be achieved by following simple effortless regular exercises. Medical breakthroughs can happen by regular meditation and exercising. Yoga and other workouts which can be performed easily are available in this website to keep you fit and healthy.

Health and Fitness can make all that difference in one's life. Healthy living is all that one needs and to achieve that we picked up the best of the articles from reliable sources and have presented here in an organized manner. You might not be able to spend your valuable time on complicated medications and diet controls, but. you can find articles to help you have a better living using simple and easy technics.

Ayurveda, a science in vogue practiced since centuries, uses a wide variety of plants, animal origin substances, mineral and metallic substances to rebalance the diseased condition in the sick. A few tips on simple treatment of life style diseases have been carefully picked for the visitors of this website. These tips can help reduce or control diseases like diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc.

http://www.healthtips.in/

Daily Exercise Suggestions

"To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first."
By Shakespeare, Henry VIII. Act I. Sc.1

Walk 10 Minutes a Day and Increase Your Fitness Level Old thinking was to work out in a sweat-filled gym for hours a day. No pain, no gain. New studies show that even short bouts of activity can increase your fitness level, especially if you're new at working out.

Park and Walk
Whenever you have an errand, park your car as far away as you can handle and walk to the store. At the mall, park at the farthest end and walk the length of the mall. Use every opportunity to walk. At the end of the day, it all adds up to better fitness.

Crunch in Bed
Before you even get out of bed in the morning, do 10 stomach crunches while lying flat on your mattress. Increase daily by one until you get up to 100. Think you'll never get there? Try it. You may eventually have to set your clock to wake up 15 minutes earlier, a small price to pay for a flatter stomach.

http://www.health-fitness-tips.com/features/daily-excercise-suggestions.htm

4 Secrets to A Flat Stomach

By Jesse Cannone

Do you want a flat stomach? I don't know a person who doesn't!

People spend millions, if not billions of dollars, each year in the quest for a flat stomach. Right now there are about 200 or more ab exercise devices out there. There's the ab do-it, the ab rock-it, the ab roller, the ab dolly, and so many more. You would think that with all of these amazing new products that most people would be walking around with that nice, lean mid-section they've always wanted. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

Most, if not all of these products, will do little or nothing to flatten your stomach. And that's because these exercise contraptions cannot eliminate the layer of fat that lies on top of your abs.

In order to be successful at thinning your waistline you must have a basic under standing of how the ab muscles function and how your body burns fat. The first thing that needs to be understood is the difference between fat and muscle. Fat is excess calories and is primarily stored in layers on top of muscle tissue. Muscle is made up of fibers that contract or shorten to produce movement. Fat cannot turn into muscle and muscle cannot turn into fat! However, you can lose muscle and you can gain fat. That's what happens to most people.

So if your goal is to thin your waist line and have a nice flat stomach, the first thing you need to do is decrease / eliminate the layers of fat that are on top of your abs. We all have a flat stomach; it's just some of oar's are covered by excess fat.

The most effective way of flattening your stomach is a combination of strength training (with a extra focus on mid-section), cardiovascular exercise (short, hard workouts), and stable blood sugar (keeps you from adding additional fat and makes it easier for the body to use body fat for fuel).

1. You must do some form of progressive strength training

The primary function of the ab muscle is to flex your torso forward. However, there are also muscles that flex your torso to the side and muscles that rotate your torso. Often times you see people on their ab roller every day doing hundreds of crunches or sit-ups.

If you want to effectively strengthen your stomach you need to incorporate the following types of exercises:

1-2 forward flexion exercises (crunch, sit-up, etc.)
1-2 side flexion exercises (side bends, side crunches, etc.) •
1-2 rotational exercises (trunk rotations, standing twists, etc.)
The abs, are muscles just like any other and should be worked at most 3 times per week. You also want to make sure you are training them progressively, working them harder each time.

2. Use short, hard cardio workouts to increase metabolism

Cardio workouts are important because they CAN, if done correctly, increase your metabolism for 4-24 hours or more! This means you are less likely to store any excess calories as body fat because they are more likely to be used by your elevated metabolism. Plus, you are more likely to burn off some excess body fat.

Below is a sample interval workout that can be done with just about any activity (walking, bicycling, swimming, stair climbing, etc.).

Warm up at easy pace 2-5 minutes
Perform 30 seconds of hard work (almost as hard as possible)
Perform 1 minute of moderate work (recovery time-catch breath)
Repeat this process 6-10 times
Cool down at an easy pace for 2-5 minutes

3. Stable blood sugar is the key

And most importantly, you must stabilize your blood sugar! This is by far the most important factor when it comes to burning away that excess body fat and keeping it off! To effectively stabilize your blood sugar you must feed your body frequently; like every 2-3 hours. The key is to give your body only what it needs at that time. Your body burns calories 24 hours a day, so, why would you only feed it once or twice a day? Give your body the fuel it needs: vegetables, fruits, nuts, berries, whole grains, and lean proteins (chicken, fish, lean beef, eggs, etc.).

Many people are too hung up on how much fat is in food, or how healthy of a choice it is. Calories are calories and it doesn't matter where they come from. If there's extra… where's it going? Yup, you guessed it… body fat!

This is not to say that what you eat is not important because it is, it just doesn't have that much of an affect when it comes to fat loss. Try to make healthy choices whenever possible, but don't feel like if you eat a cheeseburger it is guaranteed to be stored as fat.

4. Get the help of a professional

Unfortunately, most people don't know enough about the human body, nutrition, or effective exercise to meet their health and fitness goals. Ask yourself this one question, "Am I happy with my current progress or condition?" If you're not, you should consider getting the help of a qualified personal fitness professional. Don't depend on the information you get from magazines or from your local gym/ health club. A qualified fitness professional can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, and in less time than you would imagine.

If you are serious about your health and fitness goals, and you are ready for that flat stomach, I recommend you start implementing the 4 strategies listed in this article. These 4 strategies can help you take control of your metabolism and burn off that excess body fat and having you looking and feeling great! If you would like to receive more information on how to lose those love handles please call me at 240-731-3724 or e-mail me at jesse@achieve-fitness.com

About the Author
Jesse Cannone is a certified personal fitness trainer, post-rehab specialist, nutritionist, and a national fitness presenter. He is also the author of Burn Fat FAST and A Bride's Guide To Fast Fitness + Weight Loss in addition to many other popular fitness articles. He is known for his hard-hitting and to the point style and offers a great free email newsletter called Fitness Success News, which you can subscribe to at his website http://www.achieve-fitness.com/

http://www.healthcrazed.com/articles/flat-stomach.htm

4 Exercises to Sharpen Your Brain

By Dr. Maoshing Ni

Think of your brain as a muscle: It gets stronger with exercise. Your everyday mental tasks are like walking, but how about a real workout? Try these simple exercises to boost your brain power and clear away the fog of forgetfulness.

1. Use your non-dominant hand
Tackling new tasks improves brain capacity in younger people and has a restorative effect on mental faculties that are declining. Boost your brain power right now by performing everyday activities with your non-dominant hand. If you're right-handed, use your left hand to eat, drink, comb your hair, and brush your teeth. Try writing your name with your non-dominant hand or put your mouse pad on the other side of the keyboard.

Why does this work? The human brain starts declining after the age of 30 especially in women with each successive pregnancy. By exercising your brain through the use of non-dominant hand, you are stimulating the opposite side of the brain and activating blood flow, which slows down the brain aging process and improves mental capacity. Evidence from functional brain imaging shows that the process of neuroplasticity -- the brain's natural ability to form new connections -- can be enhanced by studying new things, especially hand-eye coordinated exercises like developing the use of your non-dominant hand and practicing visualization meditation. For an effective guided visualization that will also increase your years, check out Meditations to Live to Be 100.

Stimulating communication between the two hemispheres even helps physical balance. Mind-body exercises like tai chi coach people to use the right and left side of the body equally. Try switching it up in sports. For instance, in tennis, switch the racquet to your non-dominant side and play.

2. Work out your brain
You have to use it or lose it! You can work out your mind just like you work out your body. Mental exercises that will keep your brain fit include doing crossword puzzles, playing chess, or memorizing names, shopping lists, and phone numbers. When I was a young boy, to keep my brain function strong, my father had me memorize Tang Dynasty poetry. Every day I had to memorize a new poem and recite it back. Learn the words to a poem or a new song and repeat them back from memory. Set aside the calculator and add manually instead. Keep challenging yourself with tasks that are new to you.

Whatever mental exercise you choose, the key to success is to practice every day at the same time; you are developing and activating new neural pathways, and consistent cycles will keep the brain on track.

3. Move your fingers to improve your brain
Many people marvel that Asian children seem so intelligent. It could be because they use their fingers more frequently. They eat with chopsticks and at one time, they used to compute with an abacus in school. In fact, some studies have been done with children who use an abacus daily, and findings show that engaging the fingers stimulates nerve endings that go directly to the brain, increasing circulation. Take advantage of this by practicing motor activities that use your fingertips, like crocheting, knitting, and other arts and crafts where you are manipulating small parts. Try playing the piano or a stringed instrument.

Here is an exercise you can do anywhere, at any time. Put one finger on top of the one next to it, then try to stack the next finger on top of that. Or hold a pencil or pen between your index and middle fingers, roll it over until it's balanced between the middle and ring fingers, then again to between the ring finger and pinky. This exercise has a beneficial impact on brain health for anyone at any age, but especially for people in their 40s, 50s and beyond -- when signs of brain aging starts to set in.

Why does this work? A map of the brain shows that the nerve endings on your fingertips correspond to more areas of the brain than any other body area, except perhaps the tongue and lips. Therefore, finger exercise and movements can be useful in stimulating the neurons in the brain. The National Institute of Mental Health conducted experiments that showed finger exercises enlarged the capacity of the participants' brains, increased connections between neurons, forged new neural pathways, and increased circulation to the brain areas. The researchers concluded that finger exercise contributed significantly to brain plasticity, the ability of the brain to renew itself. Increased circulation means more oxygen and nutrients for the brain cells and decreased waste products that clog up the brain.

4. Stimulate brain acuity with self-massage
To improve concentration and memory try this self-massage that stimulates two easy-to-find acupressure points on your neck at the base of the skull. Cross your hands behind you with the palms cradling the back of your head, your thumbs in the grooves on each side of your neck, and your index fingers crossing one another below the skull, just above the thumbs. Sit in a chair, lean your head back, and let it rest against the pressure of your thumbs and index fingers. Slowly inhale deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth, letting your whole body relax. Do this for three to five minutes. You'll increase blood flow to the brain and at the same time relax the neck muscles, which often tense up in response to stress, constricting blood vessels in the area.

You can find these, and many other brain boosting tips in my new book, Second Spring. I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.

May you live long, live strong, and live happy!

--Dr. Mao

10 Great Exercise Ideas for Family Fitness

By Lynn Yoffee
Medically reviewed By Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH

Exercise doesn't have to be all about calisthenics. These activities help you make it fun!

Before our lives were so high-tech, family members were more physically active and got plenty of exercise naturally. Today, however, we go everywhere by car and sit for hours in front of the TV or computer. This sedentary lifestyle has been tied to obesity and a slew of related-health problems ranging from diabetes to depression.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that children who are consistently more active are likely to be healthier adults. And people who don’t exercise are at risk of developing high blood pressure, osteoporosis, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses. Sounds like a prescription to get moving — now!

Family Exercise: Shift out of Idle

"Childhood obesity is proportional to the amount of time spent watching TV," says George W. Shannon, MD, a family physician in Georgia who serves on the board of directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians. "TV should be limited to time after supper, to sit down and watch informative and educational channels such as PBS, the History Channel, or the Discovery Channel. Limit those TV hours."

Dr. Shannon also suggests limiting any other sedentary distractions such as sitting at the computer. "Put your computer in a common area so kids are not in their bedrooms for hours at a time," he says.

10 Great Family Fitness Exercise Ideas

Now that you've set the ground rules for sedentary activities, plan some family togetherness time. The idea is to get 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every day. So, how can you get your family moving in a way that's fun and doesn't feel like a punishment? Here are some easy ways to reach that goal together.
1.Walk to school. Lace up your walking shoes and join the kids for a brisk walk to and from school each day.
2.Check out physical participation video games. "I'm delighted with some of the newer action toys such as the [Nintendo] Wii games. People have the ability to play tennis, bowling, baseball, skateboarding, and snowboarding," Shannon says. "Kids love them. I'm generally trying to get kids away from the TV, but in this case, if they are swinging a bat or dancing, it's great."
3.Build strong bones. Be sure to include bone-strengthening exercise as well, such as hopscotch, jumping rope, gymnastics, or volleyball — any "weight-bearing" activity, one that you do standing up.
4.Take a tour of the park. Make going to the park a reward for a job well done, a good test grade, or anything that deserves a positive non-food reward. When you get there, play a fast game of Frisbee or pitch a ball.
5.Turn birthdays into an active adventure. Make your presents for birthdays related to activities. Plan a family ski or snow-tubing day trip or visit a nearby zoo. A bike makes a great gift for every family member, as does a basketball hoop in the driveway and a badminton net in the back yard. Make sure that Mom and Dad are included in the bike rides and pick-up games, too.
6.Get to the playground. Muscle-strengthening exercise doesn't mean just weight lifting. Take the kids to the playground to swing on the bars, climb a tree, or play tug-of-war.
7.Go to the head of the class. To learn a new activity, take a class together, such as martial arts, dance, or yoga — a favorite among hard-to-please teen girls.
8.Walk the dog. Treat your dog to daily walks that include the entire family.
9.Plant a garden. Whether you choose fruit and vegetables or just some pretty flowers, get the kids involved in an organic gardening project. They'll get some brisk exercise digging, planting, and weeding. Then the whole family can enjoy the fruits of their labor with fresh produce and cut flowers.
10.Follow your kids' lead. "This year I bought my granddaughter the Playskool Dance Cam because she loves to dance," Shannon says. "It takes a picture of a child dancing and puts it on TV dancing with cartoon characters. My basic words of advice are 'go with the flow.' If your child shows interest in some activity, such as dancing, encourage it and go with her to participate."

Last Updated: 02/04/2009
This section created and produced exclusively by the editorial staff of EverydayHealth.com. © 2009 EverydayHealth.com; all rights reserved.

Exercise tips for couples

By Anthony Stalter

I once had a girlfriend that asked me if I would train her if she signed up at my gym. Since she hadn’t exercised in years, I was generally excited that she was taking an interest in her health again and that she had asked me for help.

After two or three training sessions and one massive fight later, we never worked out again. That was also the last time I figure to help a lady friend out at the gym, but if you’re look for better luck than I had, Men’s Fitness.com offers these exercise tips for couples that want to work out together.

1.) Forget your own training.
"If you're trying to show off by demonstrating how much you can lift, you're going to have problems," says Rachel Cosgrove, a strength and conditioning coach and co-owner of Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, Calif. "She wants you to pay attention to her." This means concentrating on moves that she can do and enjoy (unless you want a dumbbell dropped on your foot).

2.) Say the right things.
Feed her compliments-and try to ensure that she processes them as such. "Don't say, 'Wow, your arms are getting so big,' or, 'You're looking really buff!'" says Cosgrove. "If a woman hears that, she might never come back with you to the gym." Instead, reinforce her work by telling her that her arms are really "toned," or that her legs are "defined."

3.) Know what she wants.
Her goals are to burn calories and fat, and get more "shapely." So take it easy on the isolation exercises, use lighter weights and higher reps, and keep her moving. "Women are multitaskers," says Cosgrove. "They want combination exercises, compound movements, and circuit sets." In terms of body parts, she's concerned with her legs, glutes, and-most of all-abs. "As much as guys love the bench press, that's how much women love ab work," says Joe Stankowski, a trainer of pageant contestants in Wilmington, Del. So grab a Swiss ball and crunch!

4.) Disguise the workout.
Women often fear weights, so hide weight training in moves like medicine-ball squats and med-ball overhead presses. You can also use those colored, plastic kettlebells for figure eights and swings. And here are always cable moves like wood chops. She will find these exercises more fun and less intimidating, and she won't feel like she's turning into the Incredible Hulkette.

An easy way to strengthen your ankles

By Anthony Stalter

Men’s Fitness.com details an easy way to strengthen your ankles for when you’re doing plenty of outdoor running this summer:

Problem: Tight calves and a weak tibialis anterior muscle (the one next to the front of your shin) are two of the most common causes of ankle injuries.

Solution: Ankle circles, which can stretch your ankles and strengthen your tibialis. Lie down, grab the back of one knee, and pull your leg to your chest. Begin making circles with your foot. Do 20 to 40 clockwise and then repeat the opposite way. Do these every day and strive for more circles at each session. Increase the effectiveness of the exercise by using a foam roller on your calves beforehand.

While it may seem too simple to be effective, ankle circles will make a difference right away. By bringing your tibialis into balance, you'll increase the potential for your calves to get stronger and boost the stability of the joint, lessening the likelihood that your ankles will roll out on you when playing basketball or any other vigorous sport.

New grip to boost bench gains

By Anthony Stalter

Men’s Fitness.com shows you how to perform the neutral-grip bench press to boost your gains on the bench.

The strongest, smartest lifters don't bench-press with their upper arms 90 degrees from their sides. They tuck their elbows in on the descent to get more power and reduce the risk of shoulder injury. Performing the neutral-grip bench press for eight to 12 weeks will help you get comfortable with the technique.

1) Grab dumbbells and lie back on a bench. Squeeze your shoulder blades down and together and arch your lower back. Position the weights at the sides of your chest with palms facing each other.

2) Press the weights straight overhead, keeping your wrists in the same position.

Why It Works
Pressing with the palms facing each other, rather than pointed toward your feet, will naturally cause you to keep your elbows close. Soon, you'll do it with the barbell, too. This takes excess pressure off your shoulder joints and increases your mechanical advantage, allowing you to lift significantly more weight.


Check out Men’s Fitness.com articles for more helpful workout tips.

Instant Ab Flatteners

By Lucy Danziger, SELF Editor-in-Chief - Posted on Fri, Dec 19, 2008, 1:36 pm PST

Achieving a toned, sexy tummy might seem like a pipe dream this time of year. Baggy sweaters abound, egg nog is served and Frosty the Snowman doesn't offer much in the way of flat-belly inspiration. But getting a sleek, sexy stomach is easier than you think. Spend just five minutes a day on toning your abs and you'll get an amazing middle.
We rounded up five of the most effective tummy toners around. Work three or four of these exercises into your routine (easing them in will minimize soreness). Do the number of reps indicated, resting one minute between moves. The only equipment you will need is a hand towel. Washboard abs, here you come!

Pike 90
Lie faceup; raise legs until perpendicular to floor, feet flexed. Lower right leg so it hovers 1 or 2 inches off floor and place hands lightly behind head. In this position, do 15 crunches, lifting chest toward ceiling and lowering. Switch legs and repeat.

Crunchy frog
Sit with knees bent, feet flat. Keeping legs together, raise feet several inches and bring knees toward chest. Wrap arms around knees without touching legs. Extend legs and stretch arms to sides, palms forward. Return to wrapped-arm position; repeat. Do 15 reps.

Tornado
Stand with feet hip-width apart, right leg in front of left, right foot turned out. Bend elbows and raise arms out to sides at shoulder level (like goalposts). In one motion, raise right knee to lowered right elbow. Return to start; switch sides and repeat to complete one rep. Do 15 reps.

Corkscrew
Lie faceup. Press legs together and raise them toward ceiling until they're at a 90-degree angle, with knees slightly bent and toes pointed. Raise butt and legs off floor using ab muscles; twist legs slightly to left. Repeat, twisting to right, for one rep. Do 15 reps.

Side arm balance
Start on floor on knees. Lean to left and place left hand on floor under shoulder; extend right arm up and to left, palm down. Straighten right legs out to right with foot on floor, resting on left knee. Hold for 5 breaths. Return to start; switch sides. Repeat twice per side.