denz Recreational » physical activities

Best Morning Exercises with Dumbbells

Denz — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 03:24:58 +0000

Good morning exercise appears to be fairly simple, but in fact, it is a challenging exercise that requires a good deal of strength in your lower back, abs, glutes and hamstrings. This exercise is most often performed with a barbell, but you can use dumbbells instead. Using dumbbells will increase the muscle activation in your shoulders and arms.

Stand with your feet hip-width apart and pointing straight ahead while holding a dumbbell in each hand. Draw your navel in toward your spine, and contract your abdomen to stabilize your spine.
Bend your arms and draw the dumbbells up to rest on your shoulders. Keep your elbows wide and your palms facing forward.
Keep your legs straight and your back flat as you hinge forward at your hips, and lower your torso parallel to the floor while keeping the dumbbells glued to your shoulders. Pause for one count.
Return to the starting position without releasing your abdominal. Pause briefly and repeat 10 to 12 times.

Few Strategies to Stay Active

Denz — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:11:47 +0000

It is now a trend that obesity along with Type 2 diabetes is becoming major health issues in the western world. This is due to various causes, primarily large volume- high fat content- fast food, also the increase in digital entertainment. Tackling these issues is about lifestyle changes from what most have become accustomed to, in both a fitness (activity) and nutritional perspective. A lot of us are in the quest of improving fitness and lifestyle and fitting the activity into their busy schedules. Whether it be work, study or family there is always time to fit activity into your schedule; here are a few simple strategies:

Lunch hour walk - it does not take 60 minutes to consume your lunch, so use the remaining 30-40 minutes to complete a brisk walk. On a scale of 1-20, look to work at an intensity of 12-13.
Household chores - why not kill two birds with the one stone, so to speak? Complete those dreaded household chores while also gaining some benefits in fitness. Don’t just mope through it, move at a fast pace which keeps your heart rate at 60-70% of its age predicted maximum, which can be calculated by subtracting your age from 220.
Gardening - many people already see gardening as exercise, however like housework this is only the case if you make it! Once again, look to keep your heart rate at 60-70% of its APMHR. This can be easily accomplished by fast a paced walk when mowing, or digging three holes when you usually dig two.
Walk a round of golf - motorised golf buggies are a terrible invention. If you find walking boring then why not try a game of golf. A standard size golf course will measure 5500 to 6000 meters, however by the time you follow your ball, and walk from tee to green you will cover around 10km. The key to this is to complete the 18 holes in less than three hours (with no motorises golf cart) regardless of group numbers and age, if you cannot accomplish this then you are walking to slow, no excuses!
Sex - various studies have shown that sex in the standard position with a partner for 20 minutes will burn around 45 calories; this will increase with time and type. The figures dramatically rise if the act is conducted on the floor of a phone booth, which results in approximately 270 calories being burned.
Physical entertainment - instead of watching a rented DVD, night on the town or an evening at the movies try more physical forms of entertainment. This can include activities such as: ten pin bowling, horse riding, backyard cricket, paintball or an afternoon at the beach.
Playing with the kids – toddlers can be an active bunch. Keep them happy and amused by playing games such as hide and seek, tag or catch me if you can. Kids rarely get sick of wanting to play, see if you can keep up!
Bike riding - although bike riding is a form of fitness training in itself, it has the added advantage of being a form of transport. Try riding your bike to work once per week or depending on distance every day. Not only will you be limiting environmental damage, but you will be taking another step or pedal- towards greater health and well-being.

positive side effects of exercise

Denz — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:48:41 +0000

If you want to lose weight then you must exercise. Not only will exercise speed up your results, it will have a positive impact in many other areas of your life. You shouldn’t be afraid of exercising, simply because your body will adapt to it, as long as you don’t overdo it. Take it slowly at first and as you adapt to exercise, you will be more physically prepared to increase what you do. Weight loss is just one positive side effect you receive from exercising, exercise will also:

Give you more energy. Make you fitter and stronger. Increase your ability for utilizing more oxygen. Increase your confidence and improve your self-esteem. Release endorphins in your brain which makes you feel happier. Help you live longer People around you will start looking up to you. Strengthen your heart. Lowers the risks of diseases and other ailments. Strengthen your immune system. Boost your metabolism so it works more efficiently. Improve your posture. Make you look and feel more attractive. Improve your self-image. Improve your ability to cope with stress. Help you to look and feel younger. Compensate for the natural muscle loss that occurs with age.

With all these additional benefits it would seem crazy to avoid exercise, but so many people do, and do not realize the major benefits that they are missing out on. Many people will find exercising difficult when they first start but remember that this is completely normal. What makes it hard is that your muscles need to get used to being used in ways that they are not accustomed to. This is what causes the aches and soreness the day after an exercise session. At first glance this may seem a bad thing but in reality it is a good thing because you are waking up muscles that may have been asleep for a long time.

Of course your muscles are going to complain when you first start using them, this is because they are being taken out of their comfort zone. Your muscles will become used to what you are doing and improve themselves to cope. They do this by becoming stronger and by increasing their endurance capabilities. When you first start out, just do enough exercise so that you are pushing yourself just a little beyond what you think are your limits. For the first few days you might feel a little sore, but if you continue doing the same amount of exercise, the soreness will stop after a week or so. It stops because your muscles have adapted and when this happens it is time to do a bit more exercise. Your muscles will keep on adapting by becoming fitter and stronger, and you just keep repeating the process.

The hardest part of exercising is the first few weeks. It can be difficult because you are making your body do something it is not used to, and it needs time to adapt to this new lifestyle. Your body likes continuity and it doesn’t like any sudden changes. The good news is that if you do something often enough your body will not have any choice but to change. Always remember that in the beginning; never overdo it because doing more than you can cope with is going to result in you giving up. Just do enough so that it is going to test you a little. After a few weeks things will become easier, and then you can increase in slightly larger steps because your body will have come to terms with what you are doing.

Avoid comparisons with other people when exercising, if it’s testing you, then that’s good enough. You will be exercising in way that is going to be challenging for you, it doesn’t matter what anyone else can do. Regardless of how much exercise you start with, always keep in mind that if you continue, the improvements will come, it cannot be any other way. Another thing to remember is that whatever you are doing today is more than what you were doing a few weeks ago, so you are already improving.

One final tip is that you should try not to think of exercise. If you spend too much time thinking about it, it will start to play on your mind during the day. You will get to the stage where you have talked yourself out of doing it, because you have been thinking how hard it is going to be. Try to avoid thinking about it and just do it when the time comes. Most people spend more time thinking about exercise than spending time actually doing any, which really makes no sense at all.

boost child confidence and happiness in sports

Denz — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 02:01:01 +0000

Primarily, sports parents need to keep in mind the importance of helping their young athletes lead balanced lives. Do they have the time to play with friends and pursue other interests? Or are their identities only defined by their role as athletes? You don’t want your kids to judge their self-worth solely on whether they score points or play on winning teams.

It’s also important to let the child lead you. You don’t want your child to play sports to fulfill your dreams. When kids play only to satisfy their parents, they often feel pressured. It’s difficult to play freely and intuitively. What’s more, they generally drop out of sports, and then miss all its great social, emotional and physical benefits. We’re not saying you shouldn’t be involved at all in your child’s sports experience. It’s all about striking a balance. Once your child decides to play sports, you’ve got an important role to play as sports parents.

You should take charge of finding an appropriate coach and team for your child. It’s a good idea to support the coach and team as much as possible by bringing snacks or organizing the parents. What’s more, you should learn all about “mental game” strategies that will help your child boost confidence and happiness in sports. Some of these strategies include:

Setting manageable goals instead of communicating high expectations
Focusing your child’s attention on the process of execution in the here and now instead of worrying about results, rankings, and statistics
Helping kids take responsibility for their confidence instead of leaving confidence up to chance-and how well they play at the beginning of a game
Helping kids learn how to let go of mistakes
Encouraging young athletes to stay composed during crunch time so they can contribute to the team instead of tightening up and playing scared
Encouraging kids to play freely and intuitively rather than playing scared and being afraid of making mistakes.

simple ways to burn calories

Denz — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 06:22:06 +0000

Research has shown that swapping sedentary habits, such as watching television, for pretty much anything that doesn’t involve sitting down can make a world of difference. Most people don’t realize that a little extra effort can yield great results. The experts explain how to take every opportunity to flex your muscles, boost your heart rate, and eat foods that yield maximum fullness for minimal calories. Just don’t tell anyone.

Do things by hand - wash your dishes, vacuum, or cook dinner. We consider it a luxury to have tasks done for us, but doing some of these for yourself takes considerable energy.
Eat lightly and often - for most people, the body uses up more energy digesting smaller meals every few hours than by eating the same number of calories in two or three sittings.
Laugh - It burns up to 50 calories if you laugh for 10 to 15 minutes per day.
Don’t eat late at night - it can interrupt sleep and may induce you to skip breakfast — bad for your metabolism.
Drink more - dehydrated people experience a drop in their metabolic rate. Drinking water throughout the day caused metabolic rates to increase by about 30 percent in a German study. The goal: eight cups a day.
Sleep well - a poor night’s sleep causes people to choose less-nutritious foods, according to a study at the University of Pennsylvania. Another study showed that sleep-deprived people simply move less.
Cook your own food - it’s often healthier, and by the time you’ve made a meal and cleaned up, you’ve been on your feet a half-hour more than you would have waiting for takeout.

Safe time to exercise outdoors

Denz — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:45:59 +0000

No doubt how important to watch the temperature, but the most relevant number you need to know before heading outdoors is the heat index, which takes humidity into account and represents how hot it feels.

The risk of muscle cramping and heat exhaustion rises as the heat index climbs above 90. Although less serious than heat exhaustion, cramping is dangerous, especially when you’re dehydrated. When you start cramping and don’t have enough fuel in the tank, which can lead to something more serious, like pulling a muscle. When the index is higher than 100, heat stroke also becomes more likely. It’s really important to modify your exercise routine when the index is that high.

Scaling back the duration or intensity of your workouts once the hot weather hits. It takes about two weeks to get acclimated to exercising in the heat (especially if you’re not in top shape to begin with), he says. When it’s really hot out, it’s a good idea to take breaks more frequently, exercise in the shade whenever possible, and wear breathable and light-colored clothing. Exercising in the heat is safe if you use common sense and follow some basic rules. Thus, as long as you’re not working too hard, well rested, hydrated, and nourished can tolerate pretty tough conditions.

Keeping in Shape and Gaining More Confidence in Martial Arts

Denz — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:24:40 +0000

There are many various forms of exercise that people use to keep in shape. One way to keep in shape and gain more confidence is by doing martial arts. You will find many different types of martial arts are available to those who are interested in this discipline. To help you out with the learning process of martial arts there are academies and dojos where you will have a chance of learning different styles and forms of martial arts.

In the academies you will get to learn different techniques and weapons use of the many forms of martial arts. While you can learn more about this ancient form of fighting it is best to experience this learning with a qualified and trained instructor.

With the help of these individuals you can make sure that your training progress at a rate that your body will be able to work with. You will also be shown the right movements so that you don’t cause yourself any serious injurious. Now most of these academies can be geared towards teaching one type of training.

For this reason it is best if you see which martial arts form you would like to learn. Once you have made a decision about the unarmed fighting that you want to learn you can think about where you will get this training. You will find that some forms of martial arts are considered as being more popular than others.

You can look at the enrollment form of different classes in a martial arts academy to see which ones have more people in them. At the present karate is considered as being quite a good martial arts discipline to learn about. Even in this form of fighting you will find sub disciplines. Some of these martial arts are ones that we have heard about.

For instance you will find that Tae Kwon Do is one such martial arts that people take part in. Judo, Ninjitsu, Tai Chi are just a few of the other well known forms of unarmed fighting. You will find that many of these martial arts are inspired by legends who keep the flames of these art forms alive just by their names. For instance we have all heard of Bruce Lee.

This Kung Fu master has taught and acted in numerous martial arts movies. As a result many people who have seen the grace and fluid movements have been moved to learn a particular form of fighting. As a result of this desire to learn martial arts even by the young at heart you will find that this ancient form of fighting is still going strong.

Tips to Make your own Fitness Plan

Denz — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:36:12 +0000

All of us know that developing a fitness that works for your own individual needs can sometimes be an overwhelming task. However, when you break down the components of a fitness plan you’ll be able to start slowly and come up with a fitness plan that works for you.

One of the first things that you need to do is determine where you are with your fitness level. If you’ve been inactive for a long period of time you’re not going to be able to jump into a fitness plan that is too strenuous and tiring. You’ll need to start off slowly, perhaps by doing some walking for 30 minutes each day.

You should take some time to book an appointment with your doctor so that you have a complete checkup before you start on a fitness plan. If you’ve been moderately active you can incorporate other fitness activities into your daily routine. Try biking, swimming, hiking, lifting weights, or yoga. The list is endless when it comes to increasing your physical activity.

Another part of your fitness plan is paying attention to what you eat. Make changes to your diet so that you’re consuming the amount of calories that your body needs while at the same time getting the vitamins and nutrition that is recommended. Reduce the amount of sugars and refined flours that you eat. Trim the fat from the meats that you eat and choose leaner cuts.

You can substitute chicken or fish for meat at least a couple of times a week. If you smoke you should take the necessary steps to quitting. Talk to your doctor so that you get the help that you need to succeed. Don’t try to do everything overnight since studies show that permanent lifestyle changes take time. Make small changes in your physical activity and your diet, and you’ll soon be on your way to a fitness plan that meets your lifestyle.

found an interesting sports site

Denz — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:33:08 +0000

There are lots of things we can do during summer. The options range from going on vacation, start a cooking lesson, start to play sports and so on. From sports alone there are already team sports, leisure sports, and individual sports. But, it is much better to play a particular game especially if you know some information about it like its basics, history, benefits, how it is done and so much more.

Just like me, I have been looking around the web for the perfect sports website. This way I will get some idea of what sports I will try. Good thing I found a Sports Directory that provides a carefully selected sport and leisure websites which have high quality content, are full of fascinating facts and figures and won’t make you fall asleep at your desk.

Indeed, it is interesting to find well-written information on my chosen sport or shall I say hobby. It gives you the edge over other players who know little about it. And, it gives you the confidence to answer a question when somebody asked you about the sport.

Well, I’ll start to read the information about the Ashtanga. What is it? Try to visit the site so you would know it. It’s in the leisure sport section.

good endurance and shaping-up exercise

Denz — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:44:12 +0000

You might want to look good for summer. So, try to do some barbell exercise. It may sound a little late for this summer. There is no perfect time, but to do it now.

Barbell Exercise is a good endurance and shaping-up exercise, hitting the biceps at different angles. It is like three exercise that have been rolled into one.

This exercise should be done following a very strict form. The key is to use lighter weights so you won’t get out of proper form.

Start off with feet shoulder width apart. Hold a barbell or dumbbell in each hand with arms down on your sides and palms facing up. Perform seven lower halfway curls from the starting position (curl up your arms until they are parallel to the floor, and then lower the barbells or dumbbells down to starting position). Do seven upper halfway curls from the parallel floor position (curl up your arms all the way up, and then back to the parallel floor position). Finally, do seven full curls from starting position all the way up.

Repetition: Do three sets. You can use alternative weights.