Anabolic Steroids in Sport & Exercise

Anabolic Steroids in Sport & Exercise

way    January 25, 2021   

Anabolic Steroids in Sport & Exercise

Anabolic Steroids in Sport & Exercise

In most cases, people use anabolic steroids in sports and exercise. Sportspersons, including athletes, bodybuilders, footballers and others, who put a lot of stake in improved performance on the field, resort to frequent usage of the drug.

The same goes for those who wish to build muscles and cut down on body fat, thereby presenting themselves with well-toned physique.

Researchers have found that there is a growing tendency among youth to abuse anabolic steroids.

In sport and exercise the phenomenon is known to be happening for quite awhile. But there are cases where apparently well-built persons too use the drug, believing that without it they will look small and insignificant. 

In medical parlance, it is called muscle dysmorphia, which surprisingly is prevalent in both men and female, though to a lesser degree in latter's case. Even as anabolic steroids are known to cause less to grievous harm to health over short to long term of usage, what is equally true is that there are many myths surrounding its supposed ill-effect. One such is that anabolic steroids cause shrinking in penis and testicles. 

While that is true in short term, over long term the size returns to normalcy soon after exogenous androgen administration is halted. 

This is one reason why boys at tender age are never suggested to use the drug, for in their case the effect can be quite damaging. 

Be that as it may, the fact that the drug can boost muscle size and ability to perform well in exerting games would mean that the use of anabolic steroids in sports and exercise is not going to go away forever. 

To that extent, the role of agencies to control the abuse of the substances is important. And indeed that is the reason why the US Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004 has been enacted to ban selling and using anabolic steroid and pro-hormone without relevant medical prescription. To what extent the new act is able to check the abuse of anabolic steroids in sport and exercise, while not unnecessarily preventing genuine medical reasons, remains to be seen.

This Article is Originally Published here: Anabolic Steroids in Sport & Exercise

Anabolic Steroids in Sport & Exercise .

15 Muscle Building Rules For Skinny Guys And Gals! (Part 2)

15 Muscle Building Rules For Skinny Guys And Gals! (Part 2)

way    January 21, 2021   

 15 Muscle Building Rules For Skinny Guys And Gals! (Part 2)

15 Muscle Building Rules For Skinny Guys And Gals! (Part 2)

In part 1, I touched on general weight gain rules and reasons why you can't gain weight. Now it's time to get into workout specifics...

WORKOUT RULES

4. Stop listening to every ridiculous piece of advice you hear in the gym or read on a message board.

Recently a client of mine informed me that someone in the gym stated that he was training all wrong and he needed to train 5-6 days a week, and aim for more reps during his workout. Somewhere in the range of 15-20 reps per set.

The person giving the advice was quite confident about his recommendations, and he had an impressive physique that typically elevates him to the elusive "listen to me if you want to look like me" level in the gym. He was bigger than my client, so even though my client's "intellectual" mind knows that advice is absurd; his "unrealistic dreamer" mind took this information very seriously. So seriously that he changed his program and didn't inform me until a week or so later. This particular person had been making great progress on his current program, yet he allowed this one person’s comment to overshadow that progress and convince him that his program was inadequate. This is a mistake and it showed in his lack of further progress.

In addition, don't judge the validity of what a person says by how they look. Just because the guy is huge doesn't mean he is spewing pertinent advice for you. Many people that have big physiques are big despite of their training, not because of it. I know some huge guys that know very little about training and dieting correctly. They can do whatever and still gain muscle; unfortunately we are not that way, so we much approach things in a more intelligent way.

5. Workout Infrequently.

This is the most difficult concept for many to grasp simply because it involves less action, instead of more. When we get motivated and start a new program, it’s natural to want to do something. We want to train and train and train. Thinking all along that the more you train, the more muscle you will build. Unfortunately, this could not be farther from the truth.

More training does not equal more muscle growth. Understand that the purpose of weight training is to stimulate muscle growth. That takes very little time. Once that has been done, the muscle needs to be repaired and new muscle needs to be built. That only happens when you are resting. You do not build muscle in the gym, you build muscle when resting! If you never give your body any essential “non active” time, when will it have a chance to build muscle? Think about that.

Now, add in the fact that you have a difficult time gaining weight and the importance of rest increases. Individuals who are naturally thin and have difficulty building muscle tend to require less training and more rest.

6. Focus on Multi-Jointed Lifts.

Multi-jointed exercises are those that stimulate the most amounts of muscle fibers. Unlike isolation exercises which only work individual muscles, multi-jointed lifts work many different muscle groups simultaneously. For those needing to gain weight, this is ideal because these lifts put your body under the most amount of stress. This is the stress that will shock your nervous system and cause the greatest release of muscle building hormones. This results in increased muscle gain all over the body.

You can still do some isolation work; however it should not be the focus of your workouts, and should only come after your multi-jointed lifting is complete.

7. Focus on Using Free Weights.

Free weights are preferred over machines for many reasons, but most importantly because they allow the stimulation of certain supporting muscle groups when training. Stimulating these stabilizer and synergistic muscles will allow you go get stronger, and ultimately build more muscle faster. Yes, some can most likely still build large amounts of muscle using machines, but why make it more difficult if you already have a difficult time gaining weight?

8. Lift a weight that is challenging for you.

Building mass involves lifting relatively heavy weight. This is necessary because the muscle fibers that cause the most amount of muscle size growth (called Type IIB) are best stimulated by the lifting of heavy weight. A heavy weight as one that only allows you to perform 4-8 reps before your muscles fail.

Using a lighter weight and doing more reps can stimulate some Type IIB fibers, but again if you have a difficult time gaining weight, why make it more difficult? You need to try and stimulate as many as you can with the use of heavy weights.

9. Focus more on the eccentric portion of the exercise.

When you lift a weight, it can be divided into three distinct periods. The positive, the negative and midpoint. The concentric or “positive” motion usually involves the initial push or effort when you begin the rep. The midpoint is signaled by a short pause before reversing and returning to the starting position. The eccentric, or “negative” portion of each lift is characterized by your resistance against then natural pull of the weight.

For example, when doing push-ups, the positive motion is the actual pushing up motion. Once you have pushed all the way up, you hit the mid point. The negative motion begins when you start to lower yourself back down. Most would simply lower themselves as fast as they pushed up, but I recommend extending and slowing down this portion. Slowing down the eccentric part of the lift will help to stimulate more muscle growth. It actually activates more of the Type IIB fibers mentioned about in Rule 7.

10. Keep your workout short but intense.

Your goal should be to get in, stimulate your muscles and then get out as quickly as possible. It is not necessary to do large amounts of exercisers per body part trying to target every muscle and hit every “angle”. This should only be a concern of someone with an already developed, mature physique who is trying to improve weak areas.

If you have no pec, don’t concern yourself with trying to target inner, outer, upper, lower or whatever. Just work your chest. You should do no more than 2-3 exercises per body part. That’s it. Doing more than that won’t build more muscle, faster. In fact it could possibly lead to muscle loss. Long training sessions cause catabolic hormone levels to rise dramatically. Catabolic hormones are responsible for breaking down muscle tissue resulting in MUSCLE LOSS. While at the same time, long training sessions suppress the hormones that actually build muscle.

If you don’t want to lose muscle during your workouts, I suggest limiting your sessions to no more than 60-75 minutes MAXIMUM. Less if you can.

11. Limit your aerobic activity and training.

Honestly, I do not do any aerobic activity when I am trying to gain weight. This is mainly because it interferes with the important “non-active” time my body needs for muscle building and recovery. I do understand that people have lives and other activities that they don't want to give up, so it must be kept to a minimum. It won’t hurt your progress as long as you don’t over do it. If you find that you are doing more aerobic activity weight training, that’s overdoing it.

I also don’t recommend it because people tend do it for the wrong reasons. Many start aerobic activity because they believe it will help them to lose fat. While that is true, it won’t do so on a high calorie mass diet. To lose fat, you need to be eating fewer calories.

12. Don’t program hop.

Here’s how it usually happens. You’ve just read about a new exercise or workout that is supposed to pack on the mass. Now, even though you had already started another training program a few weeks ago, you are tired of it and really want to start this routine instead because it sounds better.

I call these people, “program hoppers”. They are very enthusiastic when starting a new program, but they never follow it long enough to actually see any results. They are easily distracted and love to drop whatever they may be doing to follow the latest "hot" workout or exercise.

My advice is don’t do it. This is a bad habit that never leads to a positive outcome. Understand that it takes time for any program to work. To be successful, you must follow your program consistently. Yes, there are many different training methods and interesting routines out there, but you can’t do them all at the same time and jumping around won’t allow enough time for any of them to actually be effective for you. Pick one that is focused on your current goal and stick with it. There will be plenty of time to try the others later, but NOT NOW.

• build muscle.
•  gain weight.
•  how to gain muscle.
•  mass.
•  weight gain program.
•  workout routine.

15 Muscle Building Rules For Skinny Guys And Gals! (Part 1)

15 Muscle Building Rules For Skinny Guys And Gals! (Part 1)

way    January 20, 2021   

 15 Muscle Building Rules For Skinny Guys And Gals! (Part 1)

15 Muscle Building Rules For Skinny Guys And Gals! (Part 1)

WHY CAN'T YOU GAIN WEIGHT? 

Though there may be many reasons why you may be thin, the most apparent reason is because of your genetics. If your parents are naturally thin or have a small body frame, then you will most likely have the same small body type. 

To some degree, your size can also be controlled by your metabolism. If you have a difficult time gaining weight of any kind (fat or muscle) then you most likely have a fast metabolism. That simply means that your body burns calories at a faster than normal rate. You must take this into account whenever you are considering a particular diet or training program. Is it geared towards someone with your metabolism and goal? 

Now as you know, there are many ways to train. Hundreds, thousands even. Some work and some do not, but for the specific goal of gaining weight, there are a few UNIVERSAL things that all skinny guys must do. 

Though much of the information I cover here is not as "magical" as you may like, I consider these rules to be the basics with regard to weight gain. These are not all of the answers, but they are definite elements that MUST be addressed in any successful weight gain program. 

You should be able to easily integrate these rules into your current program to make it more suitable for your particular body and goals. 

GENERAL RULES 

1.Get the proper information that pertains to your SPECIFIC condition and goals. 

The first big problem I find in most people is the lack of correct information. Yes you are motivated and doing things, but your effort is wasted on incorrect dieting and training information. Basically, skinny guys are taking advice from people who have never had a weight gain problem. Want to know how to gain weight? Then find someone who has walked your shoes. Someone who has been where you are. 

2.Set a specific goal and create a plan of attack. 

If you were to drive cross country to another city, would you just start driving randomly, or would you plan a route that would get you quickly and efficiently? 

Think of your plan as a road map and your goal as your destination. Without a plan and a specific goal you will be without focus and can easily get lost or side tracked. This happens more often than you know. I see many people in the gym just doing whatever, or just eating whatever -- no plan or specific goal. They wonder why they don't make progress. They have no focus. 

Having a specific program to follow allows you to take action each day. This action is focused on specifically getting you to your destination quickly. There is no thinking, debating or guessing. You just do it. A specific plan provides necessary daily structure that not only keeps you on the road moving forward, it also helps to develop good eating and training habits that will benefit you long after you have reached your destination. 

3.Have confidence in yourself and belief in what you are doing. 

Let’s face it; we live in a cruel world. Hate and jealously is everywhere. For most people who begin a fitness program to improve themselves, getting started will be half the battle. The other half will be staying motivated throughout the constant onslaught of negativity from others. A few negative words can do serious damage if you allow it. 

The most insulting things you hear may be from friends, co-workers and acquaintances at the gym. People hate change. It makes them insecure, because they suddenly discover there’s more to you than they were probably willing to admit. They fear that you may actually achieve your goal. It makes them look less “superior”. 

Once you have begun your plan, you must have faith and believe in what you are doing. Stay focused and avoid overly critical or negative people. If you have to, keep your business to yourself. When I first began my program, I stopped talking about what I was doing because I got tired of hearing things like “you can’t do that”, “that’s impossible”, “you’re wasting your time and money”. Funny thing is, now those people are constantly bugging me for advice. 

It’s your life. It’s your body. It’s your dream. Don’t allow your success or failure to rest in the hands of others. 

In Part 2 of this article, I will cover your workout rules and guidelines to MAKE SURE you gain muscle.

• weight gain program.
• mass.
• gain weight.
• workout routine.
• build muscle.
• how to gain muscle.
• Fitness.

Weight Loss Success Results from Finding the Right Balance of Calories and Exercise

way    February 22, 2018   

Weight Loss Success Results from Finding the Right Balance of Calories and Exercise

Weight Loss Success Results from Finding the Right Balance of Calories and Exercise

Weight Loss Success Results from Finding the Right Balance of Calories and Exercise

Weight loss is not just about changing what you eat, it's also about adding more exercise activities during your week. 

We need to change our eating habits, to stop eating the junk foods and highly processed foods and replace them with good, healthy foods.  You need to eat foods that supply you with all the nutrients that are required to keep our bodies healthy.  

Before making any changes, I recommend that you start a food and activity journal. In this, you not only write down what you eat, but where, when, and what you were feeling at the time. This will help you will see what triggers your hunger and what satisfies your appetite. What foods do you routinely shop for? What snacks do you keep in the pantry?

Once you start to see patterns in your journal, you're ready to start taking action. But keep in mind that deciding to reduce the calories, fat, saturated fat, and sugar in your diet is a big step, and trying to do that at the same time you endeavour to make a drastic change in your physical activity level, may be biting off too much change at one time. Which, sadly, can set you up for failure.  Instead of trying to make all the changes at once, I recommend that you set smaller, more realistic goals for yourself and plan to add in a new challenge each week.

Don't plan to starve yourself, either. This won't help you lose weight. It's much better to eat small, regular meals five or six times a day, so that the body never feels threatened and tempted to hold on to its fat stores.  Eating regular meals also helps to maintain your blood sugar at a constant level so that you don't start craving sugary food when your blood sugar levels drop.

Adding fibre to your diet -- such as whole grain cereals, legumes (lentils and beans), vegetables, and fruits -- can help you feel full with fewer calories.  

Another great tip: Prepare your meals and snacks at home. This is a great way to save money, eat healthy, and spend time with your family.  When preparing meals, choose low-fat/low-calorie versions of your favorite foods. 

Snacks can comprise simple of a piece of fresh fruit, cut raw vegetables, or a container of low-fat yogurt. These are portable and an excellent choice to tide you over until mealtimes. Take these snacks with you for a healthy alternative to chips, cookies, or candy.

As I mentioned earlier, weight loss success also requires that you increase your physical activity.  Aim for at least 30 minutes (adults) or 60 minutes (children) of moderate intensity activity for at least three or more days a week.  If you are just starting to be physically active, remember that even small increases provide health benefits. Check with your physician first, and then start with a few minutes of activity a day and gradually increase, working your way up to 30 minutes. If you already achieve 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a day, you can gain even more health benefits by increasing the amount of time that you are physically active or by taking part in more vigorous-intensity activities.

The balance of calories consumed against your activity level will either cause weight loss or gain. The more calories you eat, the more physical you need to be.  For example for every 100 calories you consume and not burn a day, you will gain about 1 pound in a month. That's about 10 pounds in a year. The bottom line is that to lose weight, you must reduce your calories and increase your physical activity.

Weight Loss Success Results from Finding the Right Balance of Calories and Exercise

It's Hard Enough To Stay Balanced Using The Treadmill. What He Can Do Is Too Cool

It's Hard Enough To Stay Balanced Using The Treadmill. What He Can Do Is Too Cool

way    January 17, 2018   

It's Hard Enough To Stay Balanced Using The Treadmill. What He Can Do Is Too Cool

It's Hard Enough To Stay Balanced Using The Treadmill

Getting myself to the exercise center to bounce on the treadmill is troublesome essentially consistently. 

It's a genuine battle. Be that as it may, for treadmill artist Carson Dean, bouncing on the treadmill is essentially as long as he can remember. What's more, when I say "bouncing," great, I'm not being figurative. Senior member, an expert artist, has made a significant name for himself with his treadmill exhibitions, and every one is by all accounts similarly as amazing as the following.

In fact, performing to the Bruno Mars song "Uptown Funk" is basically perfect. "Don't believe me, just watch!"

Try not to attempt this at home, kids, however next time I bounce on for my exercise, I will envision this is what's happening with really.

Physical Fitness Improves Brain Health

way    July 22, 2017   

Physical Fitness Improves Brain Health

Physical Fitness Improves Brain Health

Physical Fitness Improves Brain Health

Physical Fitness Improves Brain Health

Everyone knows that exercise is good for them. It contributes to weight loss and weight management. It’s good for your heart and your cardiovascular system. And it generally keeps you fit and healthier.

But did you know that exercise is also good for your brain? It can actually make you smarter. Not only that, but exercise can help prevent disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and depression. It can even increase your chances of recovering from a stroke or traumatic brain injury.

Exercise improves learning and memory.

It turns out that physical activity actually turns on hormonal support systems in your brain. The activation of these systems strengthens brain circuits that you already have and helps you develop new ones.

Exercise causes a rise in several growth factors in the brain that are responsible for helping brain cells survive and divide into new brain cells, or neurons. Only a couple of brain regions can produce new neurons and exercise increases the amount and rate of neuron production in these regions.

Exercise also increases the blood supply in the brain. In laboratory studies, exercise increased the number of blood vessels that supply several brain regions. This has the effect of improving nutrient delivery and waste removal from critical regions that effect mental function.

One of the brain areas producing new neurons is the hippocampus. The hippocampus plays a critical role in learning, memory and attention. Exercise induces new neuron growth in the hippocampus and improves performance on several types of cognitive tasks.

Exercise improves mental health.

Another important role of the hippocampus is in the response to stress. In fact, studies show that war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder have a smaller hippocampus. Stress actually damages the hippocampus and can cause neurons to die, the opposite of what happens when you exercise.

Folks that exercise regularly know that they are much more capable of handling stress throughout their day than they are when they don’t exercise. This is, in part, because exercise and stress have opposite effects on the hippocampus and exercise improves your ‘buffer’ to handle the stress.

Interestingly, anti-depressants work in a similar manner. Although, we don’t completely understand the exact mechanism of anti-depressant action, we do know that several classes of anti-depressants increase new neurons in the hippocampus. They do the same thing that exercise does!

Anti-depressant drugs activate the same growth factor systems in the brain that exercise activates. They also induce new neuron growth in the hippocampus, similar to exercise routines. Psychiatrists have known for a long time that patients experiencing depression respond much better to therapy if they combine it with regular exercise. In some cases, exercise alone is sufficient to alleviate depressive symptoms.

With so many kids and adults on anti-depressants today, I have to wonder what proportion of them could get off these medications with more physical activity. Of course, anti-depressant therapy is both beneficial and necessary for some folks. But the rate of prescriptions today, especially in kids, is out of control.

Exercise protects the brain from damage and disease.

Studies also show that exercise protects the brain from aging and injury. Older adults that regularly exercise perform better in cognitive tasks and have lower rates of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. They also recover stronger from strokes and from accidental brain injury.

One can argue that people that exercise have many factors in their lives that can contribute to these findings. For example, they smoke less, eat better, etc. However, studies in laboratory animals also support the idea that exercise is protective. Animals that are exercised are protected against traumatic brain injury in laboratory tests and don’t develop the extent of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease in model systems.

Studies also show that in addition to exercise’s protective role, it is a valuable therapeutic tool for brain function. Fitness training improves cognitive functions relative to planning, scheduling, task coordination and attention. Adults that exercise have more grey matter, representing more brain cells, than adults that don’t exercise.

Focus on the young family.

All of the beneficial effects of exercise are compounded by starting early in life. It’s kind of like compound interest in the bank. The earlier you start saving, the more money there is to earn interest in the end. Yet, unfortunately, schools are cutting physical education for budgetary reasons. Soccer moms must unite and get exercise back in our schools.

Inducing physically active behavior in our kids is crucial. Studies show that people tend to continue the lifestyles they are exposed to at an early age. Ignoring the value of physical activity now will make them more likely to do so as adults. In order for our kids to be cognitively active adults all the way through life, we must instill the importance of physical activity today. If we do not, we are doing them a huge disfavor.

Many of us as parents forget about looking far into our kid’s futures. We have so much to worry about in day-to-day activities that keeping our kids from premature entry into the old-folks home is not at the forefront of our minds. Unfortunately, 2 out of 3 adults age 65 or older don’t engage in any regular physical activity and are not getting the brain protection they could be.

The actions that we take with our kids now and the behaviors that we promote will have a huge impact on their life long success. Yes, once they are out of our homes they are their own people and can choose to live their lives how they want. Nevertheless, we have to give them the leg-up now to set them up for the successes they deserve.

Even if you are a new parent for the first time, please be aware that you are influencing many decades by what you deem important today.

Physical Fitness Improves Brain Health

• physical fitness

Exercising Benefits and the Fitness Ball

Exercising Benefits and the Fitness Ball

way    July 22, 2017   

Exercising Benefits and the Fitness Ball

Exercising Benefits and the Fitness Ball

Regular physical activity and exercise is essential in weight loss, weight control, and improved health. Different kinds of exercise offer various benefits. Cardiovascular or aerobic training primarily improves the heart and the lungs, weight training improves strength and flexibility, while stretching exercises improve mobility and coordination. In general, regular exercise may help reduce heart disease, cancer, certain types of diabetes, and other metabolic conditions. In addition, exercise may also improve brain chemistry and reduce anxiety.

Studies show that exercising and other physical activities promotes the release of endorphins in the human body. Endorphins, short for endogenous morphins are the body's natural pain killer, when released this substance gives moments of bliss and relaxation. Research show that people who exercise regularly have more energy and better self-esteem. These workouts should be done properly to avoid injuries and other unwanted effects. Improper weight training, over-stressing the back muscles, or failure to perform warm ups may cause lower back pain that may lead to serious back injuries.

Because of its physical and mental health benefits, many people have incorporated exercise in their lifestyles. However because of money constraints, certain individuals are not able to go to the gym or purchase the necessary equipments. One of the best options these individuals can consider is using a fitness ball, which has become popular among many health and exercise enthusiasts.

A fitness ball, also known as Pilates ball, stability ball, Swiss ball, and gym ball is made of elastic rubber which usually has a diameter of 14 to 34 inches. Instead of exercising directly on a flat surface, exercising with a fitness ball provides instability that create tension to certain muscle parts. These muscles gain strength as they try to maintain balance. With frequent training, these muscles may become stronger and gain mass overtime. In addition, fitness balls works effectively while causing  minimal strain or injuries. Many fitness experts reveal that fitness ball exercises, if executed wrongly may cause injury. Nonetheless, training on a fitness ball is one way of working out many hard-to-reach muscles. Adding a fitness ball in a fitness program may help surpass some difficult levels involved during exercise. Studies show that by simply sitting on the ball, stabilizer muscles are activated, these muscles are essential in improving one's posture.

Benefits of using an exercise ball include:

• Develop overall control and strength of the core body muscles

• Increase lower back mobility

• Increase abdominal and back muscle strength

• Improve balance and stability

• Get a deeper stretch and a better muscle workout

• Use other muscles to balance during training and get a better workout

• Take pressure off certain joints because the ball is soft and round

Regular exercise coupled with a nutritious diet are vital components of good health. Individuals who seek to improve their health should seek the advice of health professionals to maximize the effects of  exercise and healthy food regimen. Obtaining the right information from experts is important in improving one's health. Good health is a lifetime journey and is one of the components of a happy life.

Fitness and Gym

way    July 22, 2017   

Fitness and Gym

Fitness and Gym

Fitness and Gym

Fitness and Gym

Fitness is just as important as health, and in reality, fitness correlates directly with our health. If we are not taking care of our bodies, we get sick.

Before you start, there are a few things you will want to keep in mind. 

If you have been sitting around for a long time, you can't start with a full fitness routine. You will want to start slow and build your fitness level little by little. 

If you try to do too much at first, you will likely give up because it left you too sore or weak. Start by walking every other day. Walking is the best exercise you can do. It involves the entire body and you don't need any special equipment to walk. A good pair of shoes is nice but don't let your old shoes keep you from walking.

As always, check with your doctor before starting any fitness program. 

Check out the menu on your left for more fitness ideas.

Be Realistic

It would be great to be able to jump right into a hard workout, feel great, and see instant results. However, it is important to be realistic about several things. First, you need to understand that you more than likely will not (or should not) start out with a hard workout if you have not been in a regular exercise routine. Start out slow and do not set yourself up for failure by expecting miracles overnight. Getting fit takes time and with commitment, you will reach your goals.

Envision Success

Try to envision how great you will look and feel once you get in shape. If you can, find a picture of someone that has the same body type and pin it up where you can look at it every day to help you see the same results you too can reach with hard work and time.

Track Progress

Often when trying to get in shape, it seems like you are working hard and sweating, but getting nowhere. In actuality, things are happening, just not yet seen. Keep track of two things in particular. First, track your measurements. You will probably be surprised within only a few weeks at the progress made. Second, track your routines so you can determine what is working for you and what is not as successful.

Warm Up

Before you start your exercise routine you will need to get your joints warmed up. Do this by slowly stretching all the joints in your body. Repeat each stretch several times until you can feel the stiffness go away.

Cool Down

Just as warming up for exercise is important, cooling down after exercise is just as important. Once you have completed your workout, take five to 10 minutes to walk, or stretch to allow your body to cool down. This is very important for the muscles and joints and for the heart and lung.

Asthmatics and Sports

If you suffer from asthma, you already know that some sports should be avoided, depending on the severity. If you have trouble on a daily basis and love sports, be encouraged to know that some sports are asthma friendly and in fact, can be helpful in that they help make the lungs stronger. These sports include swimming, cycling, and fishing, walking, and canoeing. Again, check with your physician before getting involved with any sport if you have a health condition.

Diabetes and Exercise

Aerobic exercise can actually be beneficial for people with diabetes. This exercise increases the insulin sensitivity and when combined with good eating, can help restore a normal glucose metabolism. Before starting into a workout program, you need to see your doctor first to determine if there are any risks for coronary artery disease and that your blood glucose control is appropriate for exercise. Once cleared, you will feel better and see for you the benefits associated with exercise.

Get to the Gym

Working out at home is a good option and for some people, they are committed enough to actually make it work. However, for the majority of

people wanting to get into shape, the inspiration, competitiveness, and encouragement received from working out in a gym is the way to go. Although it will require a small investment, make the decision to find a gym that offers state-of-the-art equipment, qualified staff, and fun classes where you can enjoy working out.

Network at the Gym

Getting to the gym is a great way to get fit. However, there are other benefits to going to the gym. You will have the opportunity to expand your social ring by making new friends, all working to get fit just like you. This will provide needed encouragement, which in turn helps you to stay motivated.

Tight Muscles

In addition to a good aerobic exercise, you should add weight training in, which will help balance out the fitness routine and provide you with the best results. If you are not sure where to start, a professional trainer can help get you started on a healthy program.

Fitness and Gym