Health, Fitness, Weight Training, Smoking and Drinking

Weight training makes a person healthy, fit and strong. It is not just for people who want to build muscle, but for everyone who likes to stay fit and keep the excess weight off. If you want to get in shape or stay in shape you can walk, run or cycle every morning, play sports with friends, but if you want to have muscles and look lean, then lifting some weights either at the gym or at home is your best bet.

People go to the gym for many reasons. e.g:

Fitness

To lose a few pounds if they are overweight.

Health, Fitness, Weight Training, Smoking and Drinking

To gain a few pounds (of muscle) if they are underweight.

To get fit and Healthy.

To get strong.

The most effective exercise plan for most should have some cardiovascular work and mostly weight training exercises. This helps burn calories and increase the muscle to fat ratio better than cardiovascular work alone.

Some Benefits of Weight training;

1. It is the best way to maintain and improve ones health from a variety of diseases and premature death.

2. It makes a person feel better and increases ones self confidence, prevents depression, anxiety
and gloom.

3. A weight training lifestyle helps a person live longer than an inactive person.

4. It instils discipline into a person, making other things in life easy.

5. It makes one stronger physically and mentally.

To start: one should consult a physician to get the go ahead and then get into it gradually.
Getting stronger, fitter, healthier Week by week building up more endurance will be of great benefit to you.

Aim for 3 or 4 days a week working out, this is sufficient no matter what your goals are.
Maintain a reasonable diet.

You could consult with a professional to get an excellent eating plan to match your goals and gym
activities.They will evaluate you based on your needs, and recommend a diet plan.

A good diet should have nutrients from all the food groups.

This is made up by 3 basic groups.

The first is carbohydrates.The energy source. The food that a person consumes should have vitamins, minerals and some fiber. A lot of this comes from oats, rice, potatoes, cereals and breads, and also from vegetables and fruits since these have chemicals, enzymes and micro-nutrients that are essential for a healthy diet.

The Second is Protein. The building blocks of muscle and essential organs.This comes from fish, chicken, red meat and dairy. Protein is broken down in the body to form amino acids for repair and
growth of new cells.

The third is fat. The enemy, according to most.There are 4 types of fat: Saturated (the bad) from animals, the more animal fat you consume the higher your blood cholesterol will rise, increasing the risk of a malfunction in the body.Should be taken in small quantities.Sources are: Beef, dairy, coconut oil.

Polyunsaturated (the good) Comes from plants, reduces blood cholesterol.

Sources are: nuts,fish, safflower oil, seeds, corn oil and sunflower oil.

Monounsaturated (the best) also comes from plants, raises the good cholesterol.

Sources are: Avocado,

olive oil, olives, nuts, canola oil and peanut butter.

Hydrogenated fatty acids (the ugly) This is relatively new, the effects are unknown, it is believed that they behave like saturated fat (the bad) causing blood cholesterol levels to rise.

The consumption of fats (the good fats) is important for our health. They are used in the production of hormones and other activities.We do need some fat, but do limit the bad.

A great way to help your efforts in the gym is to give up some detrimental habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol. Smoking damages the lungs and dramatically increases the risk of lung cancer along with other diseases. Excessive drinking has also been shown to causes major diseases.
These two habits are definitely not worth having around.

The best thing one can do for themselves is to quit any destructive habits they have and get into that gym, start pumping some iron and look forward to greater Health and Fitness.

Health, Fitness, Weight Training, Smoking and Drinking

Darren O Connell - has over 20 years experience in Muscle Growth, Health, Fitness, Fat loss and Nutrition - http://www.explosivemusclegrowth.com
http://www.flab-u-loss.com For more information on Weight training, Health, Fitness and Nutrition visit: http://www.explosivemusclegrowth.com

Physical Fitness and You

Physical fitness is to the human body what fine-tuning is to an engine. It is not a race, it's a pursuit. In its most general meaning, physical fitness is a general state of good physical health. It is a foundation for a long and successful life.

Physical fitness is usually measured by periodic tests measuring strength, endurance, agility, coordination, and flexibility. Physical fitness is the capacity of the heart, blood vessels, lungs, and muscles to function at optimum efficiency.

Fitness

It has two meanings -- General fitness (a state of health and well-being) and specific fitness (the ability to perform specific aspects of sports or occupations). Physical Fitness is important, even on bed rest.

Physical Fitness and You

A general-purpose physical fitness program must address the following essentials:

Cardiovascular Fitness: It is the ability of the circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen to muscles during continuing physical activity.

Regular exercises enable more blood to be pumped with each stroke of heart.

Flexibility Training: Stretching increases the range of motion of a joint. It improves suppleness.

Strength Training: Strength training is the use of resistance to muscular contraction to build the strength, and size of skeletal muscles.

Muscular Endurance: Endurance is the ability to exert for a long period of time. In humans, it is usually used in aerobic or anaerobic exercise.

Body Composition: In physical fitness, body composition is used to describe the percentages of fat, bone and muscle in human bodies.

Fitness

Fitness, most importantly cardio-respiratory fitness, has been directly correlated to the mortality rate. Fitness can be described as a condition that helps us look, feel, and do our best.

In previous years, fitness was commonly defined as the capacity to carry out the day's activities without undue fatigue. These days, physical fitness is considered a measure of the body's ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities, to be healthy, to resist diseases, and to meet emergency situations.

Many sources also cite mental and emotional health as an important part of overall fitness. This is often presented in textbooks as a triangle made up of three sub-sections, which represent physical, emotional, and mental fitness.

Physical fitness involves the performance of the heart, lungs, and muscles. And, since what we do with our bodies also affects what we can do with our minds, fitness influences to some degree qualities such as mental alertness and emotional stability.

People normally prefer walking for fitness activities followed in order by: swimming, fishing, bicycle riding, camping, golf, bowling, exercise equipment, hiking, hunting, aerobics, calisthenics, jogging, and tennis. Women prefer fitness-related indoor activities and men prefer outdoor sports.

The top level of physical fitness tends to mesh physiology and psychology. The exercises improve function of the muscular and skeletal systems, enhance circulation, augment energy and elevate overall individual levels of fitness. The level of physical fitness can be influenced by regular, systematic exercise.

As energy depends on nutrition, proper nutrition is important to physical fitness. If diet is not adequate, the fitness level will drop. Overweight, underweight, and weak individuals will have below average fitness levels.

Exercises

Exercise that doesn't raise your heart rate to a certain level and keep it there for 20 minutes won't contribute significantly to cardiovascular fitness. It is better to select exercises that involve total body involvement.

Such exercises improve and maintain fitness most effectively -- e.g. Running, swimming, golf, dancing, cycling, and brisk walking. The correct exercises will help you decrease body fat and increase or maintain muscle mass.

By performing many different exercises for a low number of repetitions, the muscles are strengthened, elongated and toned without creating bulk. Total concentration on the body during each exercise emphasizes movement quality, coordination and breath.

Health

Healthy people have more active and more interesting life. Physical fitness can also prevent or treat many chronic health conditions brought on by unhealthy lifestyle or aging.

To stay healthy it's important to participate in physical activity. Even those of us who haven't always led active lifestyles, increasing our physical activity now will help us live longer & healthier lives.

To live a full and healthy life, exercise must be a part of it. It is the ability to endure, to bear up, to withstand stress, to carry on in circumstances where an unfit person could not continue, and it is a major basis for good health and well-being. A physically fit body has less chance of acute health problems and chronic disease.

Major Benefits of Physical Fitness:

o Feel fresh

o Reduce chance of heart attack & stroke

o Reduce the chances of developing adult onset diabetes

o Reduce chances of being overweight

o Manage stress efficiently

o Experience more energy

Physical Fitness and You

Do you want to learn more about the current topic & other related articles? Visit http://www.health-fitness-wellness.com for practically useful information on health & healthy lifestyles.

Pradeep Mahajan is a health enthusiast. He researches, studies & writes on health & fitness topics.

You can reprint this article provided it is not changed and you include the author's web-site address.

8 Key Training Principles For Fitness and Sports Training

The 8 Training Principles are research-based guidelines that can help you accelerate your training progress and optimize your results. Knowing how to apply these principles gives you an educated basis on which you can make informed decisions about designing your fitness or sports training program. The principles can also help you evaluate the merits of fitness equipment and personal training services.

All of the principles complement each other. For best results, they should be applied in concert throughout every phase of training.

Fitness

1. Principle of Specificity suggests that your body will make adjustments according to the type of training you perform and in the very same muscles that you exercise. How you train determines what you get.

8 Key Training Principles For Fitness and Sports Training

This principle guides you in designing your fitness training program. If your goal is to improve your overall level of fitness, you would devise a well-rounded program that builds both endurance and overall body strength. If you want to build the size of your biceps, you would increase weight loads on bicep curls and related exercises.

2. The Principle of Overload implies that you must continually increase training loads as your body adapts over time. Because your body builds and adjusts to your existing training regimen, you must gradually and systematically increase your work load for continued improvement.

A generally accepted guideline for weight training is to increase resistance not more than 10% per week. You can also use percentages of your maximum or estimated maximum level of performance and work out within a target training zone of about 60-85% of maximum. As your maximum performance improves, your training loads will increase, as well.

3. The Principle of Recovery assets that you must get adequate rest between workouts in order to recuperate. How much rest you need depends upon your training program, level of fitness, diet, and other factors.

Generally, if you perform a total body weight workout three days per week, rest at least 48 hours between sessions. You can perform cardio more frequently and on successive days of the week.

Over time, too little recovery can result in signs of overtraining. Excessively long periods of recovery time can result in a detraining effect.

4. The Principle of Reversibility refers to the loss of fitness that results after you stop training. In time, you will revert back to your pre-training condition. The biological principle of use and disuse underlies this principle. Simply stated, If you don't use it, you lose it.

While adequate recovery time is essential, taking long breaks results in detraining effects that may be noticeable within a few weeks. Significant levels of fitness are lost over longer periods. Only about 10% of strength is lost 8 weeks after training stops, but 30-40% of endurance is lost in the same time period.

The Principle of Reversibility does not apply to skills. The effects of stopping practice of motor skills, such as weight training exercises and sport skills, are very different. Coordination appears to store in long-term motor memory and remains nearly perfect for decades. A skill once learned is never forgotten.

5. The Principle of Variation implies that you should consistently change aspects of your workouts. Training variations should always occur within ranges that are aligned with your training directions and goals. Varying exercises, sets, reps, intensity, volume, and duration, for example, prevents boredom and promotes more consistent improvement over time. A well-planned training program set up in phases offers built-in variety to workouts, and also prevents overtraining.

6. The Principle of Transfer suggests that workout activities can improve the performance of other skills with common elements, such as sport skills, work tasks, or other exercises. For example, performing explosive squats can improve the vertical jump due to their common movement qualities. But dead lifting would not transfer well to marathon swimming due to their very dissimilar movement qualities.

7. The Principle of Individualization suggests that fitness training programs should be adjusted for personal differences, such as abilities, skills, gender, experience, motivation, past injuries, and physical condition. While general principles and best practices are good guides, each person's unique qualities must be part of the exercise equation. There is no one size fits all training program.

8. The Principle of Balance is a broad concept that operates at different levels of healthy living. It suggests that you must maintain the right mix of exercise, diet, and healthy behaviors. Falling out of balance may cause a variety of conditions (e.g., anemia, obesity) that affect health and fitness. In short, it suggests all things in moderation.

If you go to extremes to lose weight or build fitness too quickly, your body will soon respond. You could experience symptoms of overtraining until you achieve a healthy training balance that works for you.

For fitness training, balance also applies to muscles. If opposing muscles (e.g., hamstrings and quadriceps in the upper legs) are not strengthened in the right proportions, injuries can result. Muscle imbalances also contribute to tendinitis and postural deviations.

Keep these 8 Training Principles in mind as you design and carry out your fitness training program. They can help you make wise exercise decisions so you can achieve your goals more quickly with less wasted effort.

8 Key Training Principles For Fitness and Sports Training

Dr. Denise K. Wood is an educator and sport and fitness training consultant from Knoxville, TN. She is the creator of [http://www.womens-weight-training-programs.com]

Dr. Wood is an inspirational motivator with an extensive toolbox of training techniques based in science and delivered to accelerate the learning curve. She has trained a wide range of clients from beginners with special needs to Olympians. Her mission: Teach sound principles, inspire life-changing actions.

Dr. Wood is a former track and field champion with extensive international experience. She was mentored by world-class Olympic lifters and a former Soviet coach. As a graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee during the peak years of her athletic career, she coached many elite athletes in the field events and strength training. She has held many national positions in Olympic Development and with USA Track and Field.

As a career educator, Dr. Wood has been recognized for her work as an outstanding professor in the exercise sciences and research/statistics. Her experience with clients in physical therapy, allied health fields, and corporate fitness has further broadened her knowledge of human performance.

Dr. Wood earned her B.A. from Montclair State University in Health and Physical Education with teacher licensure, and both her M.S. and Ed.D. in Exercise Science from The University of Tennessee. Her areas of concentration were Motor Learning, Social and Psychological Aspects of Sport, and Research Design and Statistical Analysis. Dissertation topic: The Effect of Two Free Weight Training Programs on Selected Closed Motor Skills. She is a professional member of the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, and the American Society for Training and Development.

Fitness Gym

Fitness gyms are a great addition to your work-out regimen. A fitness gym is a great way to keep in shape while using some of the best, cutting-edge equipment on the market today, and lots of fitness gyms will offer packages and membership deals designed for busy people.

Licensed trainers are available for individualized workouts and some fitness gyms have masseuses on hand. Home Work-Out Too often, many people sign onto a contract at their local fitness gym and realize they have just signed their life away for a year. However, some people like the setting of a fitness gym with all of the latest exercise equipment and classes.

Fitness

The trick here is to find that fitness gym that caters to the goals you are trying to reach. For example, there are some fitness gyms that are same gender, and there are some that have trained clinical physicians working there. Some fitness gyms have more of an emphasis on classes, while there are some that focus more on weight lifting.

Fitness Gym

The best option is to actually test out each fitness gym for a session or two, and ask the other members what they like best about the gym. See if you can sign up on a month to month basis instead of a contract, so that you are not paying an arm and leg to your fitness gym.Whatever your choice may be there is more opportunity these days than ever before for anyone to have the health benefits of a fitness gym whenever that may be at home or at a club.

For more info about this Article click here

Fitness Gym

He was born in a family that respect a lot being healthy and having good physical Fitness, so it encouraged him to study about Fitness and all related topics.

Physical Fitness For Basketball

Everybody very well know that basketball is game which requires high degree of movement, and the players should be physically fit to have a control over the game. Most of us like to be a professional basketball player, but we drop the idea when we think about the fitness which is required for playing the game. But that is not a good thing to drop your dreams. Getting physically fit is easily achievable by anyone as explained below.

There are two types of modes in which the fitness is measured for a basketball player.

Fitness

1. Cardio respiratory
2. Anaerobic/Interval

Physical Fitness For Basketball

• Most of the experts wish that anyone who wishes to play this game should possess a fairly high level of aerobic fitness before they begin.
• Whenever the players get trained, the important part they look into is strength conditioning and plyometric training.
• We should be fit to consistently show improvement on both strength and power during the game. Normally players undergo the strength and power training to keep them physically fit during the course of the game.
• Normally a basketball player should possess excellent endurance. These players are normally expected to repeat multi high intensity and that too with very minimal rest periods.
• For Aerobic fitness, we can jog or run for a long distance at a slower speed without getting too tired. This fitness is completely for going longer at higher intensities before your legs and body slowdown. This is more important when you play the entire game. Finally, drinking water makes you more fit by overcoming dehydration problems. It is always good to have 1 liter of water in a empty stomach once you get up.

So it is always going to be the regular and routine exercises along with the good habits can make you the fittest to play this game. All the best.

Physical Fitness For Basketball

If you like to be really fit to be basketball player, learn more on fitness of basketball. Good luck.