How to get fit and healthy

Obesity is recognized as a disease since 1997 by WHO. The increasing number of obese people around the world obliged WHO to take measures against this new burden.

In 2005, the estimated number of obese persons was about 400 million adults and 20 million children. It touches developed countries in particular but is on an increase in the developing nations too. This disease can have a lot of other health effects as well.

How is that explained? We can find food 24/7 and unless checked, it leads to snacking of particularly sweet and fatty foods. A lot of people criticize the role of television in the growth of obesity, as it provokes inactivity and calls to consume more. Contemporary societies are sources of stress and food unbalances to add to it all.

Obesity can lead to different diseases like high cholesterol levels, hypertension, or rheumatic fever. Death occurs often before time. The discrimination is a real problem too because obese people can’t continue to work, and start to find themselves useless.

Governments try to check this phenomenon and launch some programs in school and television advertisements.

Solutions however, lie in habits: you have to eat balance meals with vegetables and fruits, and avoid sweets. Practicing some kind of sport is essential to stay fit and preserve a good health. Snacking is prohibited if you are obese. Healthy eating has to be a part of education for your children.

Show them you can be an example by walking to school, taking the stairs and indulging in sports. You can do a jog every day, even if it’s short, it’s always efficient. Your heart will work better and your body will delete the too much sugar. Organize swimming outings with your friends; you will protect yours joints by using your muscles and losing weight! Go hiking; it could be a good mean to relax on a weekend and discover nature.

Your body will use some calories to adapt your internal temperature to your environment.

Cycling is a free, easy and eco friendly mean to fight obesity too. It will help you avoid cardiovascular problems. Dance with your partner, you will use all your muscles and release stress.

Today, Asthma is a common disease that affects many people. The number of people affected by Asthma is now increasing all over the world. In the United States, over 22 million Americans have asthma.

So, what exactly is asthma? Asthma is a chronic, inflammatory respiratory disease that makes patients to find difficulty to get air in and out of the lungs. When a person is affected by asthma, the breathing tubes (alveolar tubes) become sensitive and inflamed. The muscles around the airways tighten and become narrow, thus making it difficult to breathe fresh air in and exhale air out.

The most common symptoms of asthma are wheezing, constant coughing, and chest tightness during the cold weather and shortness of breath.  Things like smoking, pollen, environmental pollutions, etc can trigger asthma.

Well, how can you treat asthma? Breathing exercises have become a very popular solution to reduce Asthma. Researchers from the UK University found that breathing exercises reduces the severity of asthma and improves quality of life with the help of anti-inflammatory medication treatment.

Effective breathing exercises commonly followed are:

• Pranayama (A Breathing exercise in Yoga)

• Buteyko (A Russian method of breathing exercise)

Pranayama: The regular practice of Pranayama helps us breathe deeply from the stomach. Pranayama is the art of breath control.  The word ‘Prana’ signifies’ breathe’ and ‘yama’ means ‘control’. Thus, the word Pranayama can be understood as “Control of breath”. There are four stages of breathing in pranayama.

1. Inhalation

2. A pause before exhalation

3. Exhalation

4. A pause before inhaling again

Repeat these four steps fifteen to twenty times. With the regular practice of Pranayama you can reduce asthma disease.

Buteyko: Buteyko exercise will reduce and control asthma and other respiratory disorders. In Buteyko techniques, you must inhale through the nose (not mouth), and exhale for as long as possible. You can repeat the process for 5 to 10 minutes and achieve better results.

Aerobic dance is a perfect way to keep fit while having fun. Dancing is one of the aerobic trainings that improve the efficiency of the aerobic energy-producing systems that can improve cardio-respiratory endurance.

The benefits of the aerobics include muscle building, fat burning, weight loss, enhances blood circulation, lowers cholesterol levels and many more. It ensures healthy heart and also it strengthens lungs.

Many dance forms like disco, jazz are used in the exercise. Stretching the body in a routine way on music will help in improving muscular strength while relieving the stress.

It offers different courses of dance to enable people to regulate blood pressure for people suffering from low BP and high BP.

At present, where everyday activities such as work or perform domestic work are such an important part of our lives, the hands play a key role, because these are the main tools we use in the development of those already mentioned, which is why in this article we will make a big emphasis on some exercises for hands and wrists that can help keep them in excellent physical condition and give some recommendations to avoid problems that might hinder the performance of his hands in the various activities where these are necessary.

The exercises for hands and wrists are based on the implementation of certain exercises with both aerobic and anaerobic base, with the aim of strengthening some parts of the same to avoid the appearance of certain factors that may cause temporary or permanent injury, which may hinder the carrying out some work.
Today the hand and wrist exercises are widely used by people suffering from some problems such as arthritis or carpal tunnel, which are apart from suffering painful, very steady, so hand and wrist exercises have meant a great source treatment for them.

It is now used for exercises hands and wrists as: Stretching Exercise: This is based on stretching your arms completely and then take your fingers and pull your hand back up to the minimum point of pain, with the aim to achieve a good hand elongation.

Relaxation exercises will be made with the aim that both hands as the wrists to attain an optimal muscle distencionamiento; these are based on stretching your arms and then let your wrists hung; after that is to perform the following type pendulum movement upwards and down.

Strengthening Exercise: consists of placing his hand on a surface that can lift, so that the index finger can lift slightly this surface, this exercise is very useful for increasing the strength of the muscles of the hand.

Exercises to strengthen the tendons: these are made with the help of an elastic rope, the exercise has placed the rope on both wrists and then try to separate them with all the force possible during the time that most resist, with the purpose that the tendons are required to ensure full and acquiring greater strength.

The Pilates: this novel technique gymnastics meets all the activities required to work all components of the hands and wrists, then work with pulleys and weight make these maintain an optimal level of exercise, making the strengthening of the muscles of the hand whole, which is why the exercise is probably more advisable to avoid the appearance of some ailments manuals.

Although there are many more exercises that can be done to strengthen the hands and wrists, these are the most useful and recommended by experts.

In short, the importance of the hand and wrist exercises lies in the prevention of physical problems in the future, so there is no longer an excuse for failing to practice these important exercises every day.

Author is webmaster of and read more articles on Fitness and Exercise on this website.

Article Source:

These days, it seems like we’re all working longer and longer hours. You see your co-workers more than you see your spouse or your family. And since you’re working so much, you probably don’t have time to work out as much as you used to. Well, what if you could get some exercise at work?

Exercise physiologists have said that improving your heart rate variability (your heart’s ability to go from resting to excited) can help you live longer and ward off heart disease and other ailments. And while it’s important to fit in regular workouts at home or at a gym (experts recommend 30 minutes of motion 3-5 days a week), you can still supplement those workouts with some quick activities at work. Our bodies weren’t designed to sit still for hours on end. The best way to lose weight is to get up and MOVE! So try some of these exercises:

- One minute of jumping jacks

- Quick marching or running in place for one minute

- Jump rope for one minute (with or without the actual rope)

- Sitting down, pump your arms up in the arm repeatedly for 30 seconds, and then rapidly tap your feet on the ground for 30 seconds (like the football drill)

- Bring some energy drinks to work. Sip one during the afternoon and it’ll give you the boost you need to get through the rest of your day and do the rest of these exercises!

- Shadowbox for one minute

- Walk around the room or the office as fast as you can for two minutes

- Do lunges down a hallway or around your office (if it’s nice outside, try the parking lot)

- If your building has stairs, take them! Try taking two at a time for an extra burn.

These are quick, easy exercises that will help get your heart rate moving without breaking a sweat. If you can fit some of these into your day, it’ll really help prevent back pain, headaches, and listlessness, and it’ll probably increase your productivity!

For an extra weight loss boost, try a shake with whey protein powder for lunch 2 or 3 days a week instead of going out. Whey protein is packed with vitamins and nutrients that will help balance out your body and keep you in tip-top shape.

Natasha Lee has been studying alternative medicine and health for over ten years. She loves to write to help others, especially in the area of quick weight loss which can be accomplished safely. She has found several herbal remedies that have been effective in her journey to better health, without the dangerous side effects that medications can cause. She is particularly passionate about hoodia for weight loss. Other interests include exercise, yoga and meditation.

Article Source

“The best six doctors anywhere, are sunshine, water, rest, air, exercise and diet.”

The importance of good health cannot be overlooked. With good physical health come a stronger, more resistant body and a fit mind too. Overall fitness leads to happiness, and hence a healthier, more satisfying life. Adopting a healthy lifestyle is something that more and more people are trying to achieve, as the awareness of the necessities of good health expands. Everybody knows that it is important to exercise, but most people think “exercise” means going to the gym. With the ever increasing swiftness of life, a lot of us don’t find the time to do such things. Or, if we’re not overweight, we simply assume we don’t need any exercise.

Exercise is for everybody – young and old, think and fat. The human body requires 20 – 30 minutes of continuous exercise, at least 3 times a week. Exercise, in any form, tones your body, burns the excess fat, makes your body a lot more resistant, and makes you a happier person. It keeps your heart healthy, and helps prevent many diseases, apart from helping you feel good about your body and yourself.

Here are some simple ways to exercise, if you think you don’t have the time to go to the gym, or get a trainer, or go jogging!

Walk! Walk everywhere you can. If it’s just a few minutes away, walk up the distance. Don’t take your car everywhere! Walking is the best form of exercise, and many times, you don’t even realize you’ve exercised. If you find walking by yourself boring, find some company. If you don’t like it anyway, try some music.

Take the stairs. At home, at work, at the mall, avoid the escalator/elevator and take the stairs. Climbing stairs increases heart rate, and is just one of those easy ways to try and stay fit.

Get cleaning. Working around the house is a brilliant, hardly ever noticed way to exercise all those lazy muscles in your body. If you need inspiration, get some music on and clean away. Vacuuming, gardening, mopping, cleaning up windows, painting your fence and everything else you do around your house will help. All you have to do is start doing it.

Indulge in a sport. Sports are excellent, for body and mind. Swimming, tennis, basketball, volleyball, or even running around playing with your dog, release stress, relax your mind, and give your body the exercise it needs.

Cycle. Cycle to wherever you can. Apart from toning your muscles and forcing your body to work, you also save on fuel.

Use your TV for some exercise. While you’re watching TV, get some exercise done. A few simple stretches, or easy yoga exercises, or simply dancing away is going to be of immense help.

The more you exercise, the better you are going to feel.