Fitness - Benefits of Exercise for Children

For children, exercise means playing and being physically active, such as during gym class at school, soccer practice or dance lessons. Everyone can benefit from regular exercise. A child who is active will:

• Feel less stressed
• Feel better about themselves
• Be more attentive in school
• Keep a healthy weight
• Build and keep healthy bones, muscles and joints
• Sleep better at night

In addition, regular exercise helps kids handle the physical and emotional challenges that a typical day presents whether that means running to catch a bus, bending down to tie a shoe, or studying for a test.

Fitness

Parents should encourage their kids to do a variety of activities so that they can work on the three elements of fitness, being: (1) endurance, (2) strength and (3) flexibility.

Endurance

Endurance is developed when someone regularly engages in aerobic activity. During aerobic exercise, the heart beats faster and a person breathes harder. When done regularly and for continuous periods of time, aerobic activity strengthens the heart and improves the body's ability to deliver oxygen to all its cells. Examples of aerobic activity include: basketball, bicycling, soccer, swimming and running. In kid language, endurance is like "running away from the kid that's 'it' during a game of tag."

Strength

Improving strength doesn't have to mean lifting weights. Push ups, stomach crunches, pull ups, and other exercises help tone and strengthen muscles. Children also incorporate strength activities in their play when they climb, do a handstand, or wrestle. In kid language, strength is what is needed to "cross the monkey bars."

Stretching

Stretching exercises help improve flexibility, allowing muscles and joints to bend and move easily through their full range of motion. Kids find opportunities every day to stretch when they try to get a toy just out of reach, practice a split, or flip over the couch. In kid language, flexibility is what is necessary for "bending down to tie your shoes."

Thirty to sixty minutes of exercise each day is enough to strengthen bones and muscles and prevent children from gaining too much weight. Parents can set a good example by being active themselves. Exercising together can be fun for everyone. Competitive sports can help kids stay physically active. Walking or biking to school, bowling, dancing and swimming are other fun ways for kids to get exercise.

Fitness - Benefits of Exercise for Children

Hilary Basile is a writer for MyGuidesUSA.com. At MyGuidesUSA.com (http://www.myguidesusa.com), you will find valuable tips and resources for handling life's major events. Whether you're planning a wedding, buying your first home, anxiously awaiting the birth of a child, contending with a divorce, searching for a new job, or planning for your retirement, you'll find answers to your questions at MyGuidesUSA.com.

Find tips and resources on exercise and fitness programs, exercising with health conditions, children's fitness, and more at http://fitnessandexercise.myguidesusa.com

The Best Lat Workout

Though many bodybuilders and other weight lifters love to train their chest, biceps, and other "mirror" muscles, nothing makes a physique more impressive than a huge back. Wide, thick lats and traps give the body that powerful look that lets people know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are truly strong. Here is the best lat workout for building this monstrous back.

1. Barbell Rows

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Most people like to start their lat workout with pull-ups or some other vertical pulling movement, but I prefer to do a heavy movement like the barbell row when I'm fresh. The barbell row, next to the deadlift, is the best builder of thickness and width in the middle and upper back.

After warm-ups, do two main work sets. One of these should be very heavy, about 6-8 reps, and with some slightly "sloppy" form. The second should be a little lighter, with the reps in the 12-15 range, and with a little bit stricter form. Use a belt and wrist straps if you need them.

2. Parallel Grip Pull-ups

While many people advise bodybuilders to focus on wide-grip pull-ups in their lat workout to build a wide back, I have found the close, parallel grip to work well for this purpose. It's counterintuitive that a close-grip movement would build width, but I have found this to be the case with my back workouts.

Your back should already be warmed up from the rows, so just do a couple of warm-up stes of 3-5 reps to stretch your lats a little more. When you're ready for your work sets, you can either add weight to yourself with a pull-up belt or use your own bodyweight.

Your degree of fatigue and strength on pull-ups will determine how much weight, if any, you can add to your body. If your lats are already very fatigued from the barbell rows, and you can't do very many pull-ups with even body weight, do the pull-down with a close-grip DD handle.

3. Chest-Supported Row

Chest supported rows offer many of the same muscle-building benefits to your lat workout as barbell rows do, but they keep your form strict and your lower back out of the movement. For this reason, it is one of the best all-around back exercises, though not quite as beneficial as free weight rows.

There are many varieties of chest-supported rows. There are some that are simply a long t-bar handle for holding plates and a chest pad, while some are more complex plate-loaded or cable-stack machines. My favorite is the Hammer Strength variety, but you can use whatever is available to you.

You can also do this exercise one arm at a time, depending on the machine you are using. Whether you do one-armed or two-armed rows, work up to 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps. Make sure you keep your form tight and range of motion relatively long.

4. Machine Pull-down

At this point in the lat workout, your upper back will be pretty fatigued. However, truck through the next exercise to really give your lat width a boost. There are many different machines that take you through the pull-down movement, so again, pick the one you like best. Personally, I like to use the one that puts your hands at an angled under-hand position.

You have already done three exercises at this point, so your lats will be very fatigued. However, they can take a lot of punishment and keep going strong, so work up to 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps, just like you did with the chest-supported row. Pull through the pain, and reap the benefits of your hard workout.

5. Seated Close-Grip Cable Row

This last exercise in your lat workout is optional, but I think it can give your back, as well as your grip and forearms, a good boost in muscle mass. Use the rowing station at the cable stack, and attach a close-grip DD handle. The movement is pretty self-explanatory, just like the other rows you have done. Use your own judgment and feel for your lats to determine how much body English you should use in the movement.

Though you should use straps as much as you need for the previous four back exercises, you should try to avoid them here. Put some chalk on your hands, and grip the DD handle as hard as possible while rowing. Your grip will probably fatigue before your back does, so do 2-3 sets of 15-20 reps to hit your forearms and lats as hard as possible.

The Best Lat Workout

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Eating 3 Meals a Day Helps to Keep You in Shape

If you are a health conscientious person, then you will probably know that eating three meals a day is very important. Most people will make the mistake of eating one or only two meals a day. This is one of the biggest mistakes that you can possibly make. Your body is a perfect mechanism that is tuned to fine perfection. Hence, it requires a constant input of energy and nutrients three times a day. Here are some reasons for why you should eat 3 meals a day to keep in shape and to stay in good health.

Most people think that by reducing your meals to only twice a day (or worse once a day), they will be able to lose weight. In actuality, nothing can be further then the truth, because of the fact that your body has a special feature that it carries since the Ice Age. Because of the Ice Age, human bodies have been reconditioned against the scarcity of food, by lowering the metabolic rate in order to conserve energy and nutrients.

Shape

Hence, this allows for a special way for your body to reduce its energy output in times of extreme duress. Therefore, when you reduce your daily meal into only one meal, then this will cause your body to react by reducing the metabolic rate and thus conserving energy (calories). In fact, this will upset the metabolic balance in your body and you may find it difficult to lose weight and stay in shape.

Eating small meals frequently has been shown to be the best answer when it comes to eating. Of course, eating three balanced meals is usually the best solution. Breakfast is perhaps the most important meal of the day, as the body uses breakfast as a focal point after 10 to 12 hours of hunger after your last dinner. Hence you should make sure to eat a hearty breakfast that is balanced with proteins and fruits.

You can also eat a strong lunch as your body will need the energy to keep up its daily activity. However, physicians recommend that your supper should be construed of light foods and it should be generally made up of vegetables, lean proteins and fruits. Eating dessert after a heavy dinner is generally not recommended by doctors.

Once you get into a routine of eating three well balanced meals a day (with a hearty breakfast, strong lunch and light dinner) you will soon see that you will feel leaner and healthier. Of course, this is a lifelong process that needs to be kept up every day for the rest of your life.

Eating 3 Meals a Day Helps to Keep You in Shape

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Why Should You Not Be Ashamed Of Adult Fat Camps?

This is because most of our routine today does not involve any exercise. Most of our work is automated and most of us have jobs that involve sitting in front of a computer on a desk. As such we do not get to do much physical activity we tend to put on weight. This leads to us going out of shape. Also contributing to this is our diet. Long gone are the days when our diet would be nutritious home cooked food. This day and age we don't have the time to sit down for a wholesome meal. Most of our daily food consists of fast moving junk food that is deep friend and consists of enormous amounts of calories and fats. These do not get used by the body due to lack of physical activity and eventually end up getting stored in our body.

Therefore we tend to grow fat. Obesity is one of the leading problems in the world today and all these are factors that lead to obesity. Also there are many problems that come with obesity. Apart from the very obvious getting out of shape, obesity will increase our cholesterol levels that can lead to many problems. Fat deposits in our body reduce the flow of blood that leads to the decrease in the supply of oxygen. Excessive fat in our body can lead to high blood pressure and many such cardiac related problems that might be fatal. Therefore it is imperative that you start taking preventive measures now and make sure that you take care of your problems before they get out of hand.

Shape

This is where adult fat camps play a part. Fat camps are nothing to be ashamed about, especially if you look at today's fat camps. These camps are held in exotic locations with facilities that would put any spa or Jacuzzi to shame. There are many facilities in these camps that would work out well for adults who are looking to lose weight fast. The best way to work out in these camps is to get the help of your personal trainer. You will have a personal trainer for yourself who would help you regulate your diet and also motivate you to work out harder. This way you can stay in shape and eat the right food.

There are many group activities that you can take part in as a part of a fat camp. You can make sure that your days don't go waste as you lose weight and get back in shape and improve the quality of your life. With all the spa Jacuzzi and sauna treatments that you receive at your adult fat camp, it would remind of you nothing like the stereotypical idea of fat camps that are propagated. Take control of your life and enroll yourself in one right now!

Why Should You Not Be Ashamed Of Adult Fat Camps?

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Hip Replacement Exercises - Pre & Post Surgery Hip Exercises

A diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the hip generally progresses to the likelihood of requiring a hip replacement in the near future. As the degenerative condition advances, it causes a decreased range of motion, pain, muscle weakness, gait changes, and tight muscles. Specific exercises designed for hip arthritis can help maintain range of motion at your joint, prevent loss of muscle, stretch muscles that will become tight, and lubricate the joint to decrease stiffness and pain. In addition, performing exercises prior to surgery will speed up your recovery post operation.

Goals of a Hip Arthritis Exercise Program - Pre Operation:

Exercise

There are two main goals to target with a pre operation hip arthritis exercise program. One is strength of the gluteal muscles and the other is to maintain range of motion by working within your pain free range. There are exercises that work both of these goals simultaneously. The gluteal muscles are extremely important to strengthen pre operation because they comprise the stability of the joint. Ironically, arthritis causes pain, decreased range of motion, and therefore less weight bearing which all contribute to atrophy, or shrinking, of the gluteal muscles. Therefore, it is paramount to actively engage in specific strength exercises that target these muscles. Although strength and range of motion are highlighted as the priorities here, cardiovascular or aerobic conditioning is also extremely important. Usually due to pain and decreased range of motion, both walking and overall activity are reduced drastically which negatively lowers an individual's aerobic capacity. Using stationary bikes or participating in water classes are excellent non weight bearing options to keep your cardiovascular conditioning strong.

Hip Exercises Post Surgery

There are a series of exercises your physiotherapist will guide you through immediately post operation. They will guide you through an exercise program that will be safe with the goal of returning you to full function in daily activities. This program will last up to 6 to 8 weeks post operation. A lot of patients stop the exercises once they are discharged or released from the supervision of their physiotherapy. It is imperative that you continue hip strengthening exercises in a progressive format for at least one year post operation. Patients that have continued with an exercise program consistently for a full year post operation, receive amazing results in functional ability.

Goals of Hip Arthritis Exercise Program - Post Operation:

Follow the exercise program guidelines given to you by your physiotherapist for the first 6 to 8 weeks post operation. The post operation exercise program varies from the pre operation program on three aspects which include the following: range of motion stretches have to be modified to follow restrictions that protect your joint from dislocation, strength exercises will progress to weight bearing, and one leg balance exercises along with gait retraining become a priority. Post surgery, the goal of your exercise program should be to progressively advance your strength exercises, when your body is ready, from isolated muscular endurance exercises to dynamic, functional exercises. Again, the most important muscles to strengthen post operation are your gluteals. Your exercise program should also include quadricep strengthening and core stability exercises. When you are selecting exercises, it is highly advised to select unilateral or one limb exercises in order to make the strength equal across limbs.

The journey your muscles have endured from the pre surgery pain through the operation leaves them tight and contracted in a shortened position. Therefore, stretching is equally important to include in your post operation exercise program. Often the hip flexors, hamstrings, and quadriceps will be tight post operation and need to be stretched. The very exciting aspect of the post operation exercise program is that you are pain free and therefore can gradually increase your cardiovascular training time and intensity to your pre arthritic conditioned level.

When you are disciplined at consistently keeping up with your exercises and gradually progress through incremental stages of exercises, you will notice huge improvements in your cardiovascular, strength, flexibility, balance, gait, and overall functional ability. The importance of engaging in a regular, consistent exercise program both pre and post hip operation will impact your full recovery greatly. A hip exercise program is the best single action you can take to encourage a highly successful return to function post surgery.

Hip Replacement Exercises - Pre & Post Surgery Hip Exercises

Jody Kennett has specialized working with Joint Replacement clients pre and post hip replacement surgery for over a decade. She has a background in Kinesiology and is an A.C.E. Advanced Exercise Specialist. She gained knowledge and expertise with joint replacement exercises by leading and building a Joint Replacement Exercise Program that ran 6 classes of 12 participants. As she saw the incredible benefits her participants gained through exercise and realizing how specialized this program was, she created an instructor training manual and course. Most recently, she has created detailed eBoks on exercises for both hip and knee replacement designed to educate the patient. To find out more details on exercises or hip and knee replacement exercise programs visit:
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