Fitness - Discover Yourself

Be number one with yourself

Today, television screens dish up sports bacon sizzling hot. Speed merchants zip across on winged feet. Tennis tycoons serve aces with pungent power. Swimmers splice and explode through water like turbo­powered fish at an Olympic meet. It's not just sport, but life out there, as superhumans battle for records and recognition. Medels hang around athletic necks trumpeting the triumphant Number One note.

The message in those medals is for every one of us. Fitness is round the corner, just a few calories away. Fitness echoes its muscular melody from the pulse of our wrists. It's time to grab at the medals of health and stand firm and strong on the pedestal of life. There is as much satisfaction in being Number One with oneself.

We are all born with our quota of fat cells. They are the constant factor that keep us from being honed down to our skeletal skin-and-bone selves. In times of famine, they provide energy. But, on the other hand, we needn't act like famine is eternally dogging our heels. There's no need for that surplus fat to be stored.

if you're into a sedentary lifestyle, change it. Here's what happens when you don't exercise. Since you are not burning off enough calories, those ever accommodating cells spread and store the excess fat. But unlike a tanked-up ship that sails the sea to use its fuel, you don't. On the other hand, a grounded ship would rust and if you continue to fill its tank with fuel, it will overflow. That's exactly what happens to an overeating, non ­exercising human. The overflow is the unseemly bulge. The rust is seen in different ways - tiredness, not looking forward to the day, low spirits, poor health.

But then, aren't fat people jolly folk always laughing at everything including themselves? Except for a few, most get into the ha-ha sphere because that's the only way they can cope.

Group therapies have shown that almost all fat people admit to putting on a facade. What they are doing, in essence, is switching on a self-defence mechanism. By laughing at themselves, they pre-empt the jokes against them by others. Their laughter is their fortress.

Psychologists have discovered that many overweight people are so due to various insecurities plaguing them. They eat to satisfy a certain gnawing emptiness inside.

The feeling of emptiness could be due to some vaguely perceived, but not entirely understood, unfulfilled desires. It could be for larger things - like identity, or creative satisfaction, power, for a meaningful role in society, or for recognition.

In Attitudes, a television programme, two fat women admitted that they deliberately put on weight to get attention. One said, "Every time I overeat and gain inches, my husband buys me a new dress."

In short, the hunger is not for food. It may sound like a peculiar reason to remain fat, but insecurity is the biggest plague of modern times. Sometimes such people go in for crash diets, with, predictably, no or very little effect. They find themselves getting increasingly snappish and moody. They feel deprived and let down. They even feel that they were happier when they were fat. So it's back to food and more food to put the laughter back in their lives. Or so they feel.

What fat people need is fire in their minds. A strong, powerful self-image that grips them and makes them lay less emphasis on food and appearance. It's when the self-image takes over insecurity that they will find the motivation to get into fitness.

The best way to break this vicious cycle is to start exercising. This feeds the fire in the mind and makes them eat less, starting a more fulfilling cycle. As they burn more calories than what they take in, witness what happens in the body: The nervous, endocrine and circulatory systems function smoothly together as a team and release fat for energy. The nervous system jets out fat from the cells, the circulatory system picks it up and carries it to the liver. The liver converts it into energy which in turn is used by the muscles. The result: loss of weight. Simultaneously, muscles get strengthened and the person feels tauter and healthier.

This way, the self-image gets a boost. And as the Number One feeling grows, the world seems a brighter, more secure place. The message is complete. For, a healthy life itself is a medal.

How You Can Grow Physically, Mentally and Spiritually - Daily

Morning:

What do you want to be first thing in the morning? Energetic Fresh. Vibrantly alive. You can be all these and more - because the key to them lies, in your hands! What you need to do is start your body's energy cycle that lasts for the entire day. And how do you rev up this energy cycle which means, you create- use-up-create energy constantly? By two simple ways - exercise, and eat (when you must) the right food.

The best breakfast you can treat yourself to is exercising. Walking or jogging or cycling or swimming or inchstepping, for 20 to 42 minutes awakens you like nothing else does. It stimulates your insides by working on your muscle tissues, relaxes your digestive tract, rids your body of wastes, gives you more punch than the caffeine you get from your morning cuppa.

Eating in the morning does not really help your energy cycle. You will know why later in this chapter. But, if you must eat, go for fresh fruits and sugar-free fruit juices. Your body can digest them with ease. Thus, the energy cycle generated by exercising does not get used up for digestion and you are free to use it for more important jobs.

Aha! you might say, these guys promised us that we have to make little changes to make big differences. Do they call these little changes? Why, I've never exercised in the morning! And as for drinking fruit juice instead of coffee... forget it! Wait! Don't tune off. We are talking of an ideal situation here. If you can switch to this state without feeling any pangs, you'd be into your energy cycle almost with a snap of your fingers!

But what if you are used to eating a hearty breakfast? What if the thought of eating fruit in the morning makes you squirm? What if you don't feel ready to face the day without your morning cuppa? Here is where that tiny change waltzes in, Have your morning cuppa without sugar. If you cannot cultivate a taste for your unsweetened beverage, use a sugar-free sweetener, but try to wean yourself out of this habit gradually.

If you feel unfinished without sinking your teeth into your toast, continue to do so. Just substitute the butter with a delicious herbal spread, You can pile onions, coriander leaves, ginger, garlic, salt, lemon juice into your mixer and churn out this mouth-watering chutney. Spread it over your slice and crunch away! If you are into dosas or parathas prepare them without oil or ghee. And you can use the same fat-free chutney as an accompaniment. Coconut as a base for your herbal spread is avoidable since it increases your cholestrol. It is far healthier to use onions.

Afternoon: If you haven't had time for exercising, here is your opportunity to do so. Your lunch hour is your own. You could go for a 42-minute walk. Or swim if you have a pool handy. If your office has a gym, use the walker or stationary cycle. If you have your own cabin, you can inchstep. Keep jogging shoes, socks and a mat permanently in your cabin.

Once again, the ideal lunch would be a soup and a nice luscious salad or a medley of vegetables with a fat-free masala - eaten with oil-less rotis or bread. Wash it down with fresh buttermilk or chaas.

If you cannot do without your thali, have hot steamed rice (without ghee) and a fat free sambhar or dal with your sabzi cooked in an oil-less masala. A void pickles and papads.

Most of them have excess oil and salt. For dessert, sink your sweet tooth into a nice juicy fruit.

If you eat out regularly, try and inculcate these hints into the chief's menu. We are sure a good restauranteur would want to please his regular customer.

Tea-time: Your tea should be sugar-free, and if you enjoy a snack with your evening cuppa have idlis or cream crackers. The humble idli is an ideal health food. You can even put sprouts into its mix before steaming. And, of course, the accompaniment should be the oil-less sambhar or the herbal chutney we've already mentioned.

TV-time: In the evening, while watching television, you can inchstep or pedal on your stationary cycle. If you like snacking, crunch on cucumber fingers. Instead of eating fried farsan or peanuts (they contain high cholestrol), you could make your own TV snack. For example, mix vegetables with sprouts and a few roasted channas, sprinkle them with chaat masala and squeeze a fresh lemon. Or spread chutney on a cream cracker, place a sliced tomato over it, sprinkle with sprouts and chaat masala, and place a tiny sprig of coriander or mint leaves as a garnish. Salted biscuits are not recommended for obvious reasons.

Dinner. Your night thali can be similar to your afternoon one - steamed rice, fat-free dal, a sabzi cooked in an oil-less masala, a chutney and fruit. If you enjoy onion bhajiyas, dip them in their batter and grill or bake them, Don't fry them.

Pre-dinner appetiser. Perhaps you are used to imbibing alcohol before dinner. The healthiest way would be to give it up. Relax with a glass of buttermilk. Or fresh fruit juice. If that is not possible, don't exceed two small pegs of your favourite. Beyond that, it's just not worth risking your health.

Initially, preparing such meals may appear an onerous task. But that is only because you are not used to it. In time to come, you will realise that oil-less cooking is far simpler and quicker than the oily way. It involves churning out the masala in your mixer and cooking your vegetables in it, or boiling the dal with the seasoning such as mustard seeds, curry pata, etc. By following such a fatless and sugar-free lifestyle daily, you can splurge once in a way when you are out at a friend's place or at a restaurant.

On such occasions, you will be surprised how full you feel on food cooked in oil-for by then, your system will be tuned to healthy eating.

By adopting the simple principles mentioned above, you will be aiding your body's energy cycle. You will enjoy your meals even as you continue to lose weight.

Your exercising ensures excess fat-burning, while you are not putting fat or sugar into your body. You can compare this fitness lifestyle of exercising and healthy eating to blinking. Blinking comes naturally to you. Only by putting weight on your eyelid, will you make it difficult for yourself to blink. Similarly, by not exercising and overeating, or eating the wrong food, you put pressure on your body system. By getting into the fitness lifestyle, you are leaving your body free to 'blink' away in its natural energy cycle.

Fitness - Rewrite Your Stars

And you can give your body - and yourself - the opportunity by believing in yourself. Believe that you are special. Help yourself and this belief by allowing fitness to sing through you. How many times have your eyes been drawn to the words: Know yourself through your stars?

Ah, how such a headline tickles your curiosity, beckons and seduces you' in its wily clutches! It is irresistible. It is a treasure chest divided into 12 neat compartments to pigeonhole people according to the star signs they were born under. Packaged by cosmic psychologists, they help us poor, miserable human beings to 'know' what we are.

So, an aquarian believes he has a far-sighted understanding of human behaviour and relations. A piscean sees himself as a poet with a musical ear. An arian: creative and spiritual. A taurean: energetic and business ­minded. A geminian: practical and realistic. A cancerian: independent and painstaking. A leon: self assured, a born leader. A virgo: understanding and sympathetic. A scorpion: dignified and reserved. A sagittarian: bold and optimistic. A libran: highly imaginative, avoids arguments.

It's fascinating, isn't it? To delve into oneself and see the image that's been so conveniently built up. But it's self defeating too - in this format. It's isolationist. You pick up all the stray strands and tie yourselves into knots. What you may fail to realise is that if, for example, a capricornian keeps behaving like a capricornian, he will continue to encounter the same problems.

The fact remains that each of us possess all these qualities, and more. It's just that we have allowed only a stream to trickle through instead of that vast waterfall of powerful energy locked into our personality. It's been confirmed by a scientist who reports that the average man uses only twenty percent of his brain power.

But, it's human weakness to underestimate oneself - the result of self ­ignorance which, in this case, is not bliss, but distress. Non-belief in oneself is like slamming a door.

It isn't difficult to sort yourself out. Just sit down for a few minutes and ask yourself: why on earth should I not believe in myself? You will find that there is no reason. It's only you. Your perspective of yourself. Even the most timid, most self-effacing person has gone through one glorious moment when he has experienced a sudden, sharp feeling of happiness, of knowing that he has everything, that he can do anything. Then, it's gone. Why? Because just for that instant, the veil of non-belief lifted and a chink of sunshine peeped through before timidity took over and dropped the veil once again.

The trick is to hold on to this chink of sunshine and allow it to widen, until you are flooded with light. Down the ages, sages have seen 'the light of self-realisation'. But because it doesn't happen to every one of us, it's been packaged as a cosmic experience, a visit from god, etc.

But you need not become a rishi to unlock the sunshine within you. Being fit will automatically do it for you. Exercising and eating right picks up all the loose untidy strands within you and meshes them together to serve you at an optimum level. This sharpens your sense of appreciation of not only the outside world but the limitless potential within you.

Remember, nobody can appreciate you the way you can.

Others only mirror what you project. So, if you are awed by this Goliath world, see yourself as a David. Unconquerable. Standing at the epicentre of the universe, as Dostoievski puts it: "a citizen of eternity". Listen to the words of Dr. Alexis Carrel, a Nobel prize-winning scientist: "Man is made on the scale of the terrestrial mountains, oceans and rivers." It is you he is referring to.

We know of a highly placed executive. Once, he was on drugs - a defeated, hollow shell of a man. But while at a meeting where the discussion ranged from the eternal man, god, life, he suddenly came alive. He told us. "I don't know what it was, but I felt light, as though if i flapped my arms like wings, I would be able to fly!" The veil of non-belief in himself, had indeed, lifted. He has not let it fall back.

It's like a professor of psychology put it: "The average man fails because he does not learn to find and consolidate his powers. For example, the rays of the sun falling upon a piece of paper have little effect. But if they are drawn by the magnifying glass to focus on the paper, they create an intense heat to burn a hole in the paper."

Fitness is the magnifying glass that allows the rays of the sun to pass through it and into you. This way you will recreate you own world. Be in control of yourself, your actions, and in doing so, you'd have rewritten what is in the stars.

Fitness - Your Body Can Sprout With Energy

For years you have been eating pulses such as moong, chowli, channa, masur, etc. You probably soak them overnight in water before cooking them the next day. It is a good practice because soaking them in water makes them less gaseous. Interestingly, we Indians have always followed such healthy practices without really knowing why except that we learnt them from our parents. The west has discovered these means only recently!

Soaking is only the beginning. You can take it one step farther once you realise what the mighty pulse contains. It is literally pulsing with energy! It is Nature's energy treasure chest packed with proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. And the best way to free this healthy treasury is to sprout the pulse. You are already aware that your body needs glucose to make it energetic. When you sprout a pulse, you help it to break down all the treasures it contains into easier-to-digest components. Thus, starch turns into glucose, proteins into amino acids, And since you have already done half the work of breaking it down for your body, it sings with instant energy when fed with this digestible fuel. It's like the process of refining crude oil into petrol to be used as fuel­energy for your car.

Sprouting enhances the pulsing-with-life-quality of the moong, for example. It destroys or neutralises potentially hazardous acids-e.g. phytic acid - that may otherwise retard the release of vital minerals for your body; it breaks down saturated fats into free-flowing fatty acids; it converts proteins into amino acids that generate hormones and build up your muscle tissues; and facilitate easy bowel movements. Sprouting is a pre­digestive process. By giving your body pre-digested, food, you help it to use its energy in absorbing all the nutrients, including vitamins instead of using that same energy in breaking down the 'crude' pulse and refining it.

When you eat sprouts, you are easing your body's functions, just as a busy cook may find it quicker to use pre-cooked food.

What can you sprount? Almost any pulse, grain or seed.

Pulses: moong, channa, peas, soyabeans, chowli, masur, matki, etc.

Grains: wheat, maize, ragi, bajra, barley, etc.

Seeds: methi, coriander, pumpkin, mustard, til, etc.

Easy sprouting: If you need a measure of how much you should sprout, calculate approximately one-fourth cup of pulses per person. Wash thoroughly to remove any chemicals, and then soak them overnight in water in a large vessel so that they have ample scope to expand. The next morning, drain the water and rinse them in a large strainer - the kind you use for your tea. Keep them moist in the vessel. Rinse them this way every day. They will begin sprouting on the third day. Now, you can even store them in the refrigerator, but continue rinsing them daily in the strainer. Some pulses like channa may take longer to sprout than say, moong. So as to ensure that you always have them handy, you can turn a comer of your kitchen into a mini-sprout farm. The best way to eat them is in their raw sprouted form. You can have them in salads, as garnish over soups and sabzis, with parathas. Or you can make your own special bhel by adding to them, boiled potatoes, raw onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves and herbal chutney.

By now, you must be enchantingly bewildered! Here you were thinking that we would finally lead you to a diet. When, going by what we've written before, we seem to be encouraging you to eat more often! You are dam right, we are! It is healthier to eat more meals of the right kind than to leave long gaps. This way you are encouraging your body to become more energetic and ensuring that it has plenty of the right fuel to help you exercise and bum excess fat. You are also ensuring that fat never creeps back - because where all along you had helped fat to reach victorious heights, now you are stopping it from invading your muscle-tissue country! Now, you are an ally of your body's smart cells and, believe us, they are great friends!

Feed Your Body's Smart Cells

Call us romantics. But do you know what we like to think? That every time a warrior in the Mahabharat shot an arrow from his bow, it was not to kill. Rather, it was a metaphorical act - to trigger off a quiverful of new ideas and let them cleave through the air thick with outdated notions. It was to allow clean, invigorating thoughts to shaft through the excess 'fat' and generate fresh, positive energy into the field of life. To restore, to rejuvenate, to bring back a balance, a rationality, to make new patterns of peace with a surging vibrancy into an almost-forgotten art called living.

So, when we write about how carbohydrates give you energy, proteins build your muscle tissue, about why fats are stored for life-survival situations, it is not to drive you into an eating laboratory where you measure out in test tubes the required quantities to be swallowed like medicine. It is to allow the arrows of health-filled facts to sink into your mind, to give you new perceptions, to show you how your body treats the food you eat and how it extracts the maximum nourishment for itself. To tune you into your inner receptors and awaken your mind and spirit, so that with this awareness you gather all these strands of information and insights and shape them to suit your individuality and taste.

So that you are entranced enough to bring little changes into your eating habits. Little changes that neither annoy nor disrupt your daily life. Little changes that make big differences. Little changes that ultimately reap immeasurable benefits over a lifetime.

You can do it by appealing to the smart cells in your body. For, these smart cells generate a continuous cycle of complex actions and reactions. They act as a think tank in your body and bless it with a natural ability to crave for food that maxi mises its efficiency and reject that which minimizes its capabilities. These smart cells are the genius that keep you alive.

These cells are not difficult to please. They do not expect you to peer at labels and calculate the mgs or mls that are good for you.

All they expect you to do is to eat a wide variety of natural, wholesome food. And to simultaneously synchronize it with the taste that is mapped on your tongue.

You can start your great exploration into, the wonderland of food by forgetting such terms as 'carbohydrates, proteins, etc. They are only alphabets of a language called Nutrition. You don't need to recite your alphabets daily to read a book. Besides, in this life-sustaining book of nutrition, there are only a few words that are easy to understand, to remember and inculcate into your daily vocabulary of living.

They are:

Fresh vegetables
Cereals
Pulses
Fresh fruits

They are the sinews of your fitness philosophy.

They activate and nurture your body's smart cells. They are found in great abundance in the supermarket of Nature and all you have to do is to select a wide range and store them in your larder and refrigerator. You don't need butter or ghee or sugar - they only retard your smart cells by smothering them. Thus limiting or arresting your growth potential. Instead, if you eat nourishing foods and exercise, you can reach heights ­physically, mentally spiritually - that you had never dreamt were possible earlier. Not only because you increase your efficiency, but because, this way, you maintain it. And as you develop a greater under- standing, you will find a shift in your thoughtscape. For, you will want to eat to live, to derive the best from life. You will realise that all along, you were living to eat and erecting barriers to your growth.

Bodyweight Training Is Best Way To Burn Fat & Build Muscle

Bodyweight training is one of the best ways to burn fat and build muscle. Unfortunately, most people think (or are led to believe) they should have a room full of equipment or an exclusive gym membership in order to better their physique. They completely overlook the fat burning and muscle building ability of bodyweight training. I trust this article opens your eyes to the possibilities of using the gym you were born with!

Heads up: at the end of the article I'm going to explain to you one exercise that simultaneously builds muscle and burns fat.

It's happened to all of us at one situation or another (even me). We look in the mirror one day and we observe we are softer and fatter. While we weren't looking in the mirror, our muscle tone and power has decreased, and our waistline has enlarged. This is when most would say, "It's time to hit the gym".

Now, just a moment. I concur, it is time to do something about your build. But signing up for a membership at a gym does not have to be the answer. As a matter of fact, you can begin burning fat and increasing muscle mass right away to improve your physique.

As we take a closer look, keep in mind all of the useful and important information that we have learned so far.

Let me show you how bodyweight training can improve your physique in as little 15 minutes a day...

Instead of going to the gym, you may or may not end up going to, begin by adding a bodyweight workout program to your daily schedule. Come on, it is painless to find 15 minutes to workout. And 15 minutes is all you need to do to begin increasing your general confidence and looking better. Clearly, I'd like to see you workout even more, but let's keep it easy at 15 minutes for now.

So, you get up in the morning and do 15 minutes of bodyweight calisthenics. By the way, you'll find this more invigorating than swilling down a dozen donuts cup of coffee. Do this every day. Yes, every day, and you will see improvements in your appearance within a few weeks.

Now, I can hear some of you say, "I thought you were only to workout every other day, or 3 times a week!"

This is correct, if you are trying to increase your body weight and muscle rapidly, such as a professional bodybuilders that wants increase his weight for competition. Bodybuilders need that extra day to mend from the vast amount of training they achieve. But you are only doing 15 minutes of bodyweight exercise. This allows you 1,440 minutess to mend between bodyweight training sessions. This is more than enough.

Now, if you do this every day for a week, you do 1 hour and 45 minutes of working out. Do you think 1 hour and 45 minutes will begin to increase your muscles and burn off mega fat? You bet it does!

Now, for the skeptics that think bodyweight exercising is too "painless", or that you can't get a great muscle building, fat burning workout in 15 mintues, remember, I promised to show you a exercise that you can start doing right away.

Here is how you do it...

Stand under a chin up bar with your feet shoulders width apart and arms at your sides. Bend your knees and squat down, place your hands on the floor in front of you. Kick your feet back so you are in the up right position of the push up. Execute a push up. Jump your feet forward under your body... then explode up and grab the bar with palms facing you. Execute a chin up. Drop down and repeat.

Do this for a few minutes and your entire body will feel it, from your muscles to your hearrt and lungs, and you burn a lot of fat. Try to do as many as you can for a full 15 minutes, and I promise you'll have a new appreciation for bodyweight exercise.

I hope this article has opened you eyes to the fantastic possibilities of bodyweight training. If you need to strenghten, tone your muscles and burn fat, begin altering your physique right away with your own bodyweight. Make a consistent effort every day and you'll meet your goals.

Fitness - Your Smart Cells Clock

You could have learnt at your grandmother's knee that a healthy body is one that gathers food, digests what it requires and throws out the waste. It is a simple philosophy drawn from common sense. If you look around you, you will see that Nature has organised our planet to perfection. We have days and nights for all earthly creatures to work and sleep, animals who prey on other animals, animals that eat plants, the four seasons. Our entire world functions in cycles, Since we are Nature's children, our bodies too ought to be working in similar rhythms. For years, scientists and psychologists researched and analysed - trying to figure out if we functioned in a set pattern. After all, women have menstrual cycles. So, was it possible that the human body operated in some' kind of health rhythm blueprinted by Nature?

And sure enough, they stumbled on to a great discovery.

Our smart cells had a biological clock which they followed with precision! They had optimum time-spans for the bodys three functions - taking in and digesting food; absorbing and using the fuel; ridding our body off its wastes. What stunned these researchers was that the tireless smart cells could manage all three functions at the same time, but cannily also concentrated on one function more intensely during a certain period. And the marvellous smart cells living cycle ,slowly came to light just as a photograph emerges from a negative, in this way:

Noon to 8 p,m. : eating and digesting

8 p.m. to 4 a.m. : absorbing and using

4 a.m. to noon: eliminating wastes.

It was one more feather in the health expert's cap. Until then they could tell us what we should eat - Now they knew when we should eat to optimise our body's efficiency.

Common sense showed the way - that we could eat only when awake. But the living-cycle theory explained why if we stayed off food, our hunger would rise and then diminish even if we didn't eat.

That is because the body system would switch to the next function.

Common sense dictated that it was during sleep that our body-having nothing else to e expend its energy upon- used the time to rejuvenate and rebuild itself. The living cycle explained why a good night's sleep is far more refreshing than an afternoon nap. That is because the smart cells operate best in absorbing and using food at night.

And it was the living cycle that finally explained how the smart cells set aside a certain time for ridding the body of wastes.(Which is we have a furry tongue in the morning and also need to empty our stomachs soon after waking

After a late night of partying and feasting, have you woken up with a dull feeling? That is because you've eaten at a time when the body wants - to busy itself in absorbing and using the food. Instead, you've sent it off its normal track and forced it to 'eat' and digest - throwing its natural living cycle out of gear. Since its eliminating time has been postponed, you may find yourself constipated!

It figures from the timings of the natural living cycle that breakfast is not necessary to start the day. It is a time when the smart cells are busy vacuuming and cleaning up your insides. However, if you do feel hungry due to an old habit, eating fresh fruits or drinking fresh fruit juice would satisfy your hunger. Since the body can digest them easily, you don't tie up its energy in digestion.

According to health experts, the digestion of food demands more energy than running or cycling! Which is why, after a heavy meal, you feel sleepy. Your smart cells engage them - selves in the digesting process, using all their energy, leaving you with very little for doing anything except sleep. They also require loads of energy to clean up your system.

Obviously, you don't want your day's energy to be diverted purely for digesting food and eliminating wastes, important through they are for your health. Hence, constantly feed your smart cells with high-energy, fatless and sugar- free food like vegetables, fruits and sprouts to enable you to have tons of energy left over for your work and leisure.

Fitness - Is Non-Vegetarian Food Unhealthy

If you are a pure non-vegetarian, you will probably raise a hue and cry at the thought of turning vegetarian! But the truth is that meat of any kind is tough on your smart cells. If Nature intended you to be a non-vegetarian, she would have equipped you with claws, and sharp pointed teeth to tear into any flesh; given you acidic saliva to digest the animal protein; a round stomach with the capacity to produce plenty of hydrochloric acid, fewer intestines to shorten the process of digesting the meat so that you could expel it before it putrefies inside; a liver that could dispel more uric acid than it does.

Instead, we have hands with moveable fingers that can delicately pluck and peel fruits; blunt teeth and molars that crush and grind; alkaline saliva to digest plant protein; a stomach that produces small quantities of hydrochloric acid; more intestines that hold on to the food and give time for your smart cells to extract the required nutrients, a liver that can expel small amounts of uric acid.

Look around at your circle of friends. If you find one of them is suffering from gout, you can be sure he is a heavy red-meat eater. You can almost bet that he eats salami or sausages for breakfast, a steak for lunch and meat for dinner. Then, one day, after a leisurely weekend of imbibing an overdose of scotch-on-the-rocks and liberal helpings of cold cuts as hors d' oeuvres, and a plate piled with Mutton Moghlai, he would have slept feeling well-dined and content. Only to be jolted awake with his big toe pounding with pain. The gout had struck!

What happened? His prolonged meat-eating habit had put an overload on his liver. The excess uric acid had no place to go in his system, so it turned into crystals and settled in the joint of his big toe - and, pow! (What does his doctor recommend? To stay off meat and eat only vegetables, at least until the inflammation recedes.)

The onset of gout is only one side of the unhealthy coin. Meat is so high in indigestible fat content that it clogs up your arteries and can lead to a heart problem. It gives you no energy because though it contains carbohydrates, its also has undigestible animal protein and a high content of fat. That's the reason you feel heavy after a meaty meal. In fact, your smart cells sweat working overtime to digest the meat and use up all the carbohydrates and energy in knocking the meat into digestible shape!

Meat also has neither fibre nor healthy plant protein. The animal protein is tough on your smart cells and turns toxic - turning your insides into mess. You get indigestion, bad breath and a heartburn. The toxies load your immune system and also make you vulnerable to disease.

Lastly, look at your mental make-up. When you see a plump goat, do you get that predatory gleam in your eye that makes you stalk and kill it? Or if you've been to a sea-food restaurant which has a large aquarium filled with lobsters and are asked to pick one for dinner haven't you turned away with a shudder? Okay, you might argue, I don't see the live specimen when eating it.

Of course, you don't. You are just habituated to eating meat. But, remember, ultimately meat is dangerous to your health. However, if you just cannot do without it, we suggest avoid red meats - beef, mutton, pork ­completely and go in for lean meats like chicken and fish. This way, at least you won't be overstraining your smart cells while satisfying your taste buds. Even a chicken cooked in an oil-less masata, however, has enough fat to knock your smart cells out and make you put on weight. So, cook your chicken curry the previous day and refrigerate it overnight. The next afternoon skim the thick layer of fat that has coagulated on the surface and then heat it before serving. This way, at least, you are reducing your fat intake, Along with your non-vegetarian dish, pile your plate with plenty of vegetables so that you don't gorge on the meat alone. And eggs? They are not really worth including in your meals, for the yolk is high in fat and cholesterol. Which means that eating only the white albumen is best. In any case, they contain enough sulphur to strain your liver and kidneys. So, if you must. have an egg only once in ten days so as not to 'eggsasperate' your taste buds!

The culture of eating cooked food is deeply embedded in us. But we cannot ignore the value of raw foods. Make sure that your thali has plenty of salad and sprouts. For, the time taken by the body to digest and absorb various foods is:

13 hours - raw vegetables, fruits, sprouts.

24 hours - cooked vegetables and pulses.

72 hours - non-vegetarian and fried food.

Next to the - raw state, steaming is best. So is boiling, provided you do it in minimum water. Deep frying damages the nutritional value and the oil makes you fat, and raises your blood cholestrol level. Finally, the word 'vegetable' springs from the Latin vegetus meaning fresh and full of life. It is what our scriptures called pranic shakti, meaning life-force, depicting strength and energy.

Do ring in these little changes in your lifestyle. The two Es - exercising and eating right - will promote more than health. When you feel good about yourself, you will enjoy healthy relationships, a richer life. Fine-tune your mental dynamics. Don't ask yourself "Will this taste good?" Rather, ask, 'Will this taste good to my body's smart cells?" In that question lies your best answer.

Your Fitness Lifestyle in a Nutshell

The idea is that you should have in your corner, a certain minimum level of fitness for the daily requirements of life. And, if you have taken heed and acted on it, you are already - or well on the way to getting - fit.

This is your fitness lifestyle at a glance.

Aerobics

Abdominals

Sensible eating and drinking

Weight-training

To elaborate briefly:

Aerobics: To obtain maximum cardiovascular benefits, lose tat and maintain your weight within acceptable healthy levels, aerobics, should, " be done five times a week. Each activity needs to be done at a certain pace within the required time-span. When you begin scoring 60 aerobic runs per week, you will be in the aerobically fit zone. Which means, your heart will be stronger and more efficient, you will lose excess fat and have a better body.

Abdominals: Excess fat, poor posture or slack muscles in the stomach exercises should be done at least three times a week to insure you against them.

Sensible eating and drinking: Fatless, sugar-free, low-salt food ensures that you maintain your weight-loss. It also protects your arteries from getting clogged by cholesterol which can lead to heart diseases, It is also an insurance against diabetes. Healthy eating habits should be a natural part of your normal lifestyle. Dieting should be avoided.

You should eat the food that gives you energy.

To shatter the myth that 'health food' is tasteless, we have devoted an entire section to demonstrate that it can be delicious and satisfy your taste-buds. Try out these recipes and create your own too.

Alcohol consumption should be zero or kept to an absolute minimum.

Weight-training: is partly health-oriented, partly for 'looking good' purposes. It strengthens your muscles and makes you strong enough to meet your daily needs. It increases the density of your bones which reduces the risk of you getting a fracture say, from a fall. It makes your joints more flexible so that you are less prone to catches or other injuries.

It also shapes certain stubborn spots like the thighs, arms, 'love-handles' at the waist, etc. by firming the muscles in those regions.

This is the fitness lifestyle in a nutshell. Aerobic and sensible eating are the foundation; abdominals the guarantee and weight-training the insurance with a premium.

The pay-ofts are tremendous.

You shed years from your life as you move around more briskly and with a lighter step.

You rarely feel fatigued at the end of the day. Your mental and physical reactions to stress are minimised. You learn to relax, and sleep better. Your temper is on a longer leash and you may regard humorously certain situations which had earlier made you snap. Your relationships improve because of your calmer moods. Even your consultations with your doctor turn into a cosier conspiracy where you and she/he are engaged in the common pursuit of tackling your medical problems that have sprung up. And all through this runs the thread of satisfaction - of achieving a sense of well-being, of being in control.

The fitness lifestyle does not make any great demands on you. All it asks is:

make time to look after your health.

keep your weight to reasonably healthy levels.

give up smoking - if you are a smoker.

Everything else is purely motivational, to inspire the spark in you. To inform, in the hope that knowledge aids you in making a start. So that you step out stronger, surer, healthier. And to make that beginnings, there is no time like now.

What Should Be Your Ideal Weight

Frankly, that would be difficult to pinpoint with hundred per cent accuracy as it depends on your build and bone density. However, it is nice to have 'the ideal weight' as a goal to strive for. Which is why we have given a weight-chart for Indian men and women. Use it only as a reference point and not as an absolute bible. The main thing is that you should feel energetic and joyously alive all the time.

How fit are you?

Your state of health and fitness, however, does not begin and end with our weight. How much you weigh is one more milestone on the road to health. This section of the chapter has been carefully designed to awaken you to your optimum potential- physically, mentally and spiritually.

Initially, medicine came into being when people fell ill. Something was required to make them feel better and, if possible, cure them. Slowly, the face of medicine took on a different hue. Knowing that cures were available, people began to be rather complacent. The small voice of reason that said, "prevention is better than cure" was somewhat lost in the act of swallowing pills and undergoing surgery.

Somewhere in this race for pacemakers, however, the insistent voice continued to speak out. And world over, a new awareness crept in which redefined life not as mere existence, but living. Where health was seen not as an absence of diseases, but as a positive state of wellness. And where illnesses were viewed as the effects of a certain lifestyle, the result of this new thinking made such people believe that taking responsibility for their health lies more in their hands than with the family physician.

Take the example of a friend of ours - a typical, urban executive who makes a living out of creative confusion. He is always living on the edge ­running late for an appointment, invariably scrambling to find a file, even as the telephone is stuck to the shoulder as a physical extension. By day, he chases future contracts before finishing existing commitments. By night, he chases highballs thinking that they can "unwind" him, since work flies at him like angry hornets disturbed from their hive. Thus, his professional life is akin to a one-handed juggler trying to keep four balls in motion.

In short, our friend is the kind of chap who makes the Tolstoy hero - out to claim all the land he can walk on - look like a stay-at-home. He is worse on his rare days off - haring off to a club, tearing off for a play, entertaining entertainment without end. Sure, the man has a lifestyle. But the basic question remains: where is life? Is it any surprise that his medical bills are as high as his petrol bills?

That brings us back to the fundamental question raised by the new awareness.

Who is responsible for this man's health? He himself, with his chosen lifestyle, or his doctor?

The prevention-is-better-than-cure banner can now be raised on the pillars of health bringing us to the seven key habits that most of us learnt at our mother's knee:

Daily exercise
Balanced meals
Weight control
No smoking
Moderate or no alcohol
Adequate hours of sleep
An even temperament.

Ask yourself. Can you honestly say that you subscribe to every one of these seven homilies? As an extra pay-off, we have found that fitness promotes a serene as well as an optimistic outlook releasing powerful healers like laughter.

Make no mistake. Life is not a lifestyle. Life is for living. Living should be an art combined with the science of healthy knowledge to make life a continually uplifting experience.

Since your health and fitness begin with yourself, we present a personal survey, a questionnaire that helps you find out how fit you are. Since every one of us is different from others, it was not possible to come up with a standard fitness survey. After all, we vary not only in age and gender but also have different kinds of body frames, bone density. Some of you may be exercising, some may have once exercised, some may never have. The variables are too diverse. However, the best thing about fitness is that you don't have to compete with anybody but yourself. In the privacy of your room, you can set your own standards and try and improve upon them. In short, you have to measure up to your own expectations.

This personal survey has been designed to help you gauge your general fitness. To derive the maximum benefit from it, you should answer it now and repeat it after three months and, once again, after another three ­month interval. For, if after reading this book, you do launch into your own exercising programme and eat sensibly, we have no doubt that you will see a steady progress in your fitness and health.

As you will see, one of the questions refers to your resting pulse rate. This is because your pulse rate tells you how fast your heart is beating while at rest. Later on, we shall explain the joys of pulse-rated exercises. To answer this question, you will have to take your own pulse rate. It is easy. Use your index and middle finger - never your thumb which has its own beat to take your pulse. Place the two fingers either on your wrist below the thumb or at your neck below your jaw. You will feel your pulse throbbing. Use a watch with a second hand and count the beats for ten seconds. Multiply that number by six. That is your pulse rate per minute.

Example:

No. of beats/10 seconds = 11

11 x 6 = 66 beats/minute = resting pulse rate.

This survey is divided into three parts.

Personal: Part I is your personal record that will, in time to come, provide you with proof of how your fitness lifestyle has benefited you.

Exercises: Part II is designed to show you how physically fit you are to meet your daily needs. Through this, you will know which areas need improvement. When you do these exercises, be sure that you are not straining yourself. Even if you cannot do some of them, they will give you an insight into your physical fitness. If in doubt, check with your doctor before you embark on these activities.

General: Part III consists of twenty-two self-assessing questions covering a wide field. For fitness and health do make a positive difference to your outlook and how you conduct yourself in dealing with situations. Please note that you can participate 'only in Part III without answering Part I or Part II and still get a fair idea of where you need to improve.

Fitness - Know Yourself

"You've not exercised unless you've exerted yourself to the point of sweating and panting." It was one of those careless, over-the-shoulder remarks thrown at a cocktail party by a self-possessed young woman. A petite teen-aged girl reacted with a dainty grimace which said, "No way! I'm not about to join the sweat brigade!" Another nodded knowingly. "How about dieting?" asked another, interestedly.

It's unfortunate, but most people believe that at the end of a workout, you should be spewing perspiration, your -tongue should be hanging out, your legs should be trembling with exertion - and then only will you benefit from exercising. Rubbish! These myths are built up by those suffering from fitomania - an obsessive craze for fitness. Mixed with this craze is also the sense of importance they derive, the boost to their ego that they and only they can achieve such superhuman levels. They say it with such self-pride and utter confidence that it's no wonder that their listeners run a mile from exercising.

The fact is that each of us has our own individual requirements. Unless you plan to compete in the Mr. or Miss Universe stakes, or in the sports arena, there is no need to go overboard on exercising.

Why do most people need to be fit? You could be an executive, a housewife, a student, a teacher a self-employed professional. But whether you are intermittently or always on your feet, at your desk or in a travelling job, an average, normal day of work can be an exhausting experience. It requires almost all your energy to cope with the volume of your day's work. As dusk falls, you feel like a limp sock just managing to sip at your glass of scotch, changing the channel on your TV set or fixing your night meal. Some of you may wish you had more energy to do all the other things you wanted to do after your working hours. Others may take it philosophically, saying to themselves, "There's only so much I can do. So be it."

Yet, haven't you secretly envied your colleague who clocks extra time hours productively? And then races to the station to catch the last train home? Or the live-wire who having cooked for an entire party, out-boogies the best? While such people seem to find a voracious enjoyment in varied activities, why is it that you feel like a walking energy crisis whose power batteries have been drained?

That is exactly the reason for you to be fit you need that extra energy. If you are fit, you will have a larger reservoir of energy than if you are unfit. If you are fit, you will utilise only about 60 per cent of your energy capacity for your day's work. The remaining 40 per cent will be there, bubbling inside you, for other interests.

That is only the tip of the iceberg. If you are fit, you will be healthier and recover faster from any illness that may befall you. Overall, you will have a clearer mind and be able to deal with any situation that crops up without feeling that old tiredness creeping through your bones.

So, basically, you need to be at a level of fitness that will enhance the quality of your waking hours. To make it easier for you, here is a list of what you don't have to do to get and stay fit.

You don't have to exercise until you are ready to drop. Over-exercising has never helped anybody - not even an athlete.

You don't have to starve yourself or your taste buds by gazing sadly into a bowl of boiled vegetables. There are a host of delicious healthy foods you can safely tuck into which we have dealt with in later chapters.

You don't have to go on an extensive guilt trip if you miss one day of exercising or occasionally eat something you shouldn't have eaten. You can get right back on the fitness track a few hours later or even the next day.

You don't have to spend a paisa more than you want to. However, in case you do go in for a pair of good walking/jogging shoes or some exercising equipment that you fancy, think of all the medical bills you would be saving in the future. After all, isn't it better to invest a little in your health today, than a massive amount in your illness tomorrow?

And last but not the least:

You don't have to feel that achieving fitness is an impossible task. Believe us when we say that it is eminently achievable and enjoyable. For you will do only as much as is required to increase your energy level and enhance your life.

Why do we always stress on your individual-requirement? None of us is made from the same mould. Each of us has his own outlook, his own problems, own conditions, his own capacities. We differ from one another even physically.

In fact, we would broadly divide body types into heavies (mesomorphs), twiggies (ectomorphs) and soggies (endomorphs). Heavies are those large-boned, muscled guys who adore pushing themselves beyond their limits. Perspiration is their milestone, competition their god. They scoff at those mere mortals who walk for fitness. And they are not satisfied unless they instantly cool their hot, sweaty bodies with ice-cold, freezing pinpricks from a shower. It is these heavies who usually become physical-training coaches and since they view twiggies and soggies from their lofty, spartan pedestal, they have no patience with them.

Twiggies are those thin, wiry chaps with tons of nervous energy vibrating through them. They can't sit in one place and being so activity-oriented, they over-exert themselves as they follow the trainer's instructions and often end up exhausted and, perhaps, even fall sick.

Soggies, by their very appearance of plumpness and their laid-back attitude, are the trainer's target. He wants to prod them out of their complacence, re-shape them like they were clay. And, invariably, the soggies pay up their fees, attend for a day or two, then find excuses not to return to their work-out sessions.

Most books with those tempting titles on how to be fit in 'three weeks and so on are written by the heavies who want to hammer in their views into the 'flabby' minds of the soggies.

Worst of all is the way physical exercise is dealt out as a form of punishment in educational institutions. We remember a teacher who made " you touch your toes all through his period because you hadn't submitted your homework. The victimised student felt humiliated as he presented his backside through that excruciating half hour to his tittering classmates. There was also a physical instructor who, if a student showed lethargy, would order him to run a number of laps around the field. While such punishments may have been seen as character-building exercises, the fact remains that the pupils grow up seeing physical exertion as a self ­punishment or vice versa.

It's such experiences that make people eschew exercising and instead go on a dieting binge which, in itself, doesn't really help. Their militaristic nature also puts off civilians. In fact, years ago, we remember asking a colonel why the army 'kicked around' their juniors. "We don't" replied the amused army man. "But the men must learn to toe the line, snap to attention and follow commands without questions. When a general issues' an order at a crucial time, the jawan has to do it instantly for it could make the difference between winning or losing a war."

Such 'snap to' techniques, however, are wholly unnecessary for the average person or even the athlete. The world of fitness is neither a circus nor the undisputed arena of the heavies. In fact, exhaustion is an alien element in fitness.

The image of tyranny is false and should be discarded along with your daily rubbish in the dustbin. Exercising is an undemanding friend who wants to unfold a better, healthier world for you. You can choose your own level of fitness - a few kilos to be shed, a fairly flat stomach and, most important of all, the healthy, glowing feeling that vibrates through you. Put the last one as the primary point on your fitness barometer. True fitness will make you enjoy your work and leisure to their fullest. And that means exercising to the right degree - a normal, no sweat level.

How To Get Six Pack Abdominals!

I have been receiving tons of questions in regards to burning fat around the midsection and how to get 6-pack abs...

I will be straight to the point with you about how to get six pack abs.

It�s a 3 step process.

The first step is to take control of your metabolism.
The next step is to eat supportively
The final step is to complete a full body workout that is geared towards working as many muscles at once as possible.

Let�s break that down a bit more.

Step one: Take control of your metabolism
The way we do this is to stabilize your blood sugar levels. If your blood sugar levels are stable than the hormone that releases fat or liberates fat from your body is able to work. That is good news. On the other side of things, if you have an unstable blood sugar level then a hormone called insulin will work and insulin job is to stabilize your blood sugar. It does so by trapping the excess sugar and storing it as fat.

So if you are able to limit, not restrict, and simply limit your sugar intake to a reasonable amount you will notice that your body will be able to burn fat more efficiently.

Part 2 of the process is to eat supportively. Alot can be said about eating supportively. In fact people have written hundreds of books about supportive eating. Basically supportive eating is really simple. It�s eating meals that will support your lifestyle and will enhance your quest for building lean muscle mass. This will involve eating a lot of proteins and cutting back a little bit on the carbs and fats. Again I must warn you: DO NOT COMPLETLY LAY OFF THE CARBS OR FAT. It is so important to note that because carbs are where your body gets its energy from. If your body has no carbs to resort to for energy, your body will then resort to your muscles as energy and in effect eat away at your muscle (you grow weaker). Not good. So make sure you eat supportively.

The third step in this fat loss process is to follow workouts that will build you lean muscle mass and will shed fat. That sounds simple but yet it can be so difficult. I will be up front and honest with you. The majority of workouts that I see in magazines that promise 6 pack abs in 6 weeks or less are just a bunch of lies that get you to buy the magazine.

Six pack abs only become visible when your body fat is below 9% in males and 18% in females.

If you are able to understand that, then this next nugget of information will really make sense.

If your goal is to get down to 9% body fat, then it is obvious that you should build some muscle. The best and most efficient way to build muscle is to workout and do full body workouts. Full body workouts will incorporate as much muscle and therefore provide you with the greatest probability of gaining lean muscle mass.

Once you have added a few pounds of muscle and shed a few pounds of fat you will be able to see your six pack abs.

Fitness - The Mystique of Metabolism

Blood vessels play an important role in metabolism too. You must have read this mystical word - metabolism - in almost any fitness article or book. What does it mean? It means transformation or change. Your body has two kinds of metabolism. One: the transformation of food, which is burned by oxygen, to become energy. Two: the transformation of food into forming new tissue.

To give you an example of how it works: your car runs on petrol which is transformed into energy which makes the vehicle run. Similarly, food is fuel for your body and oxygen transforms it into energy to enable you to 'run'.

Your body needs carbohydrates, proteins and fat food to keep its metabolic equilibrium.

But, if you overeat, the balance of the body gets upset. It can only transform a certain amount of fat for energy. If you pour in more fatty food than it can take, it overflows like your vehicle would if you put more petrol than its tank can hold. This overflow goes into your blood and, unfortunately, has strong staying power. Your blood vessels are the possessive types and refuse to let go of that extra fat. And they become even more possessive if you are the sedentary sort who does not exercise. The fat gets deposited on the inner walls of your arteries as extra cholesterol which resist the blood-flow.

If you have been exercising daily, your efficient metabolism will dissolve that fat from your bloodstream within two to four hours. If you have not been exercising at all, the fat remains in your bloodstream for a longer time-span as long as ten hours. Chances are that in those ten hours you will eat again at least once. And over the days, weeks, months, years, you have un-metabolised fat filling up your blood. And slowly, the body which began as a healthy mechanism at ease, becomes unbalanced and is uncomfortable and not at ease. This is how a person gets a disease ­meaning dis-ease or not at ease.

To prevent this from happening or even to correct the imbalance of your body, your doctor tells you to eat fatless food and exercise. So that as your body's system gets trained, the metabolism revs up and begins to burn off that extra fat. If he or she asks you to stop smoking, it is to stop you from inhaling carbon monoxide and to allow oxygen to circulate freely through your body enabling the purifying process to take its own natural course.

Sedentary people who land at the doctor's dispensary, however, quite often do not seem to understand the importance of exercising. Since swallowing a pill makes them feel better they are convinced that the pill is their saviour. They couldn't be more wrong. The pill is a temporary suppressant of their symptoms. Exercising - depending upon the illness ­provides the long-term and permanent cure.

What is the co-relation of fat and muscle? Fat is the fat man in your system, while muscle is the lean guy. If you do not exercise, fat spreads itself gleefully all around making the poor lean muscle shrink further into himself. But when you begin exercising the muscle has to move. As the oxygen pours in, he perks up and starts flexing himself. As he gets more toned up, he claims his territorial rights by using his oxygen-filled 'breath' to burn off his foe - fat. As the fat begins to burn, the lean muscle takes its place. And your skin tautens where previously it had bulged with fat.

And your heart? He is your body's best friend - working twenty-four hours a day. Whatever indignities you pile on him, the poor chap keeps pumping away valiantly. He is the centre of the entire oxygen-process. He draws in oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it all through your body. And it is this steady pumping action that also pushes the waste carbon dioxide towards the lungs to be expelled.

When the fat-clogged arteries do not allow blood to flow freely through them, he obligingly pumps faster to try and get as much oxygen to your body as possible. But, this fast-motion is bad for him and you. However, when you exercise, and your arteries clear up, allowing free blood flow, your heart can pump slowly and efficiently and transmit oxygen to every part of the body without straining himself. In short, he is strained when he has to try and pump the diminishing blood with more strokes. Whereas, he is in his element when he can pump more blood with fewer strokes.

Your pulse communicates to you how fast or slow your heart is beating.

Your resting pulse rate:

Take a watch with a seconds hand and sit still for about five minutes. Then, place your index and middle finger on your wrist or below your jaw and begin counting the beats. Count for ten seconds and then multiply that number by six, to give your beats per minute. If your heart pulses at the rate of 70 (or below) beats per minute, it means you are in a healthy condition. Above 70 means you should exercise to help lessen the strain on your heart.

For example, if your pulse rate is 80 beats per minute, it means it is beating at 10 extra beats per minute to keep you going. In a day, it is doing 14,400 beats more than it is geared for. Is that fair? Is it healthy? of course not! It is time to get into the fitness lifestyle immediately! Even if your heart is going at 70 beats per minute, exercise will ease it even more. Plus, the stronger it is, the more energy will you have, the more efficient will you become.

After all, what is exercising? It is your love affair with your heart. As we said earlier, your heart is a great guy. As you warm up, he responds immediately. By beginning your warm-ups you are complimenting him by acknowledging his importance. And as you exercise, he hums and thrums with appreciation. He is willing to do anything for you after that first warm rush of blood that makes him beat faster. All through your exercising routine, he will be with you, a happy companion keeping pace with your every move. With him beating in rhythm to your time and movements, you will feel like doing even more. And finally, as you cool down, he will be throbbing out his joyous message to you. That was great, he purrs, let us do it every day! You cannot resist such enthusiasm for your own well­being, can you?

The History of Pilates

A new craze has swept through the world of physical fitness. Pilates is all the rage, but there is really nothing "new' about this form of exercise.

In recent years, the Pilates Method has experienced an explosion of popularity across North America, Asia, and Europe. Developed in the early 20th century by German national Joseph Pilates, the Pilates Method is a relatively simple form of physical fitness.

Originally named "The Art of Contrology", the basic concept of Pilates was using the mind to control the muscles. From there, the idea evolved into a more complex exercise program, with great attention paid to the core postural muscles. It is believed that these core muscles help keep the body balanced, as they provide support for the spine.

As World War I raged on, Joseph Pilates was one of a group of German nationals placed under forced internment in Lancaster, England. As a trained nurse, Mr. Pilates was investigating ways to rehabilitate bed-ridden victims of the 1918 influenza epidemic.

Amassing all that he had learned in those twenty years of self-study, Joseph Pilates applied his vast knowledge of yoga, Zen and ancient Greek and Roman physical regimens and created a series of movements that could be practiced within the confines of this controlled environment. He taught these movements and concepts to his fellow camp members and devised the original system of exercises, now known as "mat work". This initial exercise regimen of "contrology" was successfully performed by many of Pilates' fellow WWI detainees in the cramped quarters they shared.

Of course, there is much more to the Pilates Method than just a combination of physical movements. The program was built on the belief that physical health needs mental health, and vice-versa. That's why to so many people, the Pilates Method is actually a system of total body conditioning. These are movements and physical practices that strengthen the body while emphasizing proper alignment, concentration, precision, centering, control, breathing and flowing movements. Today, many years later, those same principles provide the basis of the modern Pilates Method.

Physical exercise was always an important element of Mr. Pilates' original concept, but this aspect was different than traditional exercise regimes. Instead of performing each exercise with a series of repetitions, Joseph Pilates developed a program of precise movements that required form and control. More than 500 of these very specific exercises were developed for the Pilates Method. The movements used most frequently came to be known as the Pilates 'mat work' exercises. This is a series of callisthenic motions that are performed on a padded mat, with no additional weights or apparatus.

Joseph Pilates followed up the development of his initial mat work exercises by designing five major pieces of unique exercise equipment. These, he claimed, would provide optimal results. The two components of the Pilates Method are often taught and practiced individually now, but the original Pilates Method combined both equipment exercises and mat work.

Most of the exercises involved in the original Pilates Method were developed to create an awareness of the neutral alignment of the spine. These exercises would strengthen the deep postural muscles that support the spine's natural alignment, playing a vital role in preventing or alleviating back pain.

Gravity Pilates is a relatively new development in the modern Pilates Method. People who practice gravity Pilates believe that the abdomen, lower back and buttocks make up the body's "powerhouse". When these areas are strengthened and supported, the rest of the body can move about more freely.

Many people seeking physical fitness and rehabilitation use modern Pilates. While it is a popular exercise program of choice for fitness buffs and Hollywood's elite, the Pilates Method is also used by physical therapists as a rehabilitation exercise. Those practicing Pilates use their own bodies as "weights" to train their bodies and increase strength and flexibility.

There is nothing "new" about the new Pilates Method trend, but the program continues to gain popularity as more and more people discover its many benefits.

Get a Tight Tummy in Just 3 Steps

In this day and age, a lot of things have changed from how they used to be, which can be new and exciting for most.

It has been very overwhelming all of the tons of questions that I get every day in regards to burning fat around the stomach and how to get 6-pack abs...

It's my objective to be as clear as I can and teach you step by step how to lose stomach fat and see those muscles in your midsection.

It's actually quite simple to get sexy six pack abs. All you really have to do is be consistant in following what I call the 3 Step Process That Will Shed Fat From Your Stomach and Tone Your Tummy!

The first move is to take dictate of your metabolism.

The next move is to eat endorseively

If you feel that you haven�t learned anything new thus far, there is a whole new realm of information in the rest of this article.

The finishing move is to completed a rounded body exercises that is geared towards running as many muscles at once as promising.

Let�s smash that down a bit more.

meacertain one: Take dictate of your metabolism

The way we do this is to steady your blood sugar equals. If your blood sugar equals are string than the hormone that releases fat or liberates fat from your body is able to work. That is good rumor. On the other feature of stuff, if you have an unstring blood sugar equal then a hormone called insulin will work and insulin job is to steady your blood sugar. It does so by trapping the glut sugar and storing it as fat.

So if you are able to bound, not control, and easily bound your sugar intake to a reasonable quantity you will perceive that your body will be able to burn fat more effectively.

Part 2 of the treat is to eat endorseively. Alot can be said about intake endorseively. In detail people have printed hundreds of books about endorseive intake. mainly endorseive intake is truly austere. It�s intake meals that will endorse your lifestyle and will enhance your quest for edifice trim muscle load. This will occupy intake a lot of proteins and wounding back a little bit on the carbs and fats. Again I must advise you: DO NOT COMPLETLY LAY OFF THE CARBS OR FAT. It is so important to tinge that because carbs are where your body gets its energy from. If your body has no carbs to option to for energy, your body will then option to your muscles as energy and in outcome eat away at your muscle (you grow weaker). Not good. So make certain you eat endorseively.

The third move in this fat beating treat is to trail exercisess that will shape you trim muscle load and will shed fat. That sounds austere but yet it can be so strenuous. I will be up front and open with you. The manhood of exercisess that I see in magazines that guarantee 6 pack abs in 6 weeks or excluding are just a bunch of mendacity that get you to buy the magazine.

Six pack abs only become evident when your body fat is below 9% in males and 18% in females.

If you are able to understand that, then this next piece of information will truly make substance.

If your goal is to get down to 9% body fat, then it is apparent that you should shape some muscle. The best and most effective way to shape muscle is to exercises and do rounded body exercisess. satiated body exercisess will incorporate as greatly muscle and thus impart you with the best probability of ahead trim muscle load.

Once you have added a few pounds of muscle and shed a few pounds of fat you will be able to see your six pack abs.

Holiday Fat, Cervical Spondylosis, and Avoiding Back Pain in the First Place

Gaining weight will hurt your back. Putting on pounds during the holidays will likely turn into back pain. A whopping 60% of people surveyed said that it takes them 10 months to lose the weight they put on during the holidays. Nearly 13% of people surveyed said they simply give up on losing the weight after February. Most people can't lose the holiday fat until the next fall, which they then immediately put it back on as the holiday season starts again. This offers little relief from the strain put on the back from weight gain.

As the spine struggles to carry the extra weight, it can become overworked. When you are carrying around extra pounds it increases the chance of back injury. If you do injure you back, it will make it much more difficult to lose that holiday weight, which is a bad cycle that feeds back into the chronic back pain. Physician's know that being overweight can lead to compression fractures, degenerative disc disease, and spondylolisthesis.

Spinal Arthritis

Spondylosis is arhtritis of the spine. Spondylosis accounts for a huge number of hospital visits each year. Spondylosis is a degenerative condition of the spine and can hurt the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions of the back.

The form of spondylosis that affects the spine's facet joints is called osteoarthritis. Spondylosis (spinal osteoarthritis) is a degenerative disorder that may cause loss of normal spinal structure and function.

Spondylosis can be seen on MRI scans of the spine as a narrowing of the normal disc space between adjacent vertebrae.

Cervical arthritis is another name for cervical spondylosis. The main symptom of cervical spondylosis is progressive neck pain. With cervical spondylosis, the spinal canal may narrow causing compression of the spinal cord and nerves to the arms.

Bed rest wearing a neck traction may be needed if your pain from cervical spondylosis is really bad. Cervical epidural block might be beneficial in cervical spondylosis, especially if an inflammatory component is present.

Cervical spondylosis is also treated with anti-inflammatory drugs. Manual therapy (massage, mobilization, manipulation) may provide further relief for patients with cervical spondylosis.

Avoid Back Pain in the First Place

You may be able to avoid back pain by improving your physical condition and learning and practicing proper body mechanics.

Keep your back strong:

Exercise. Aerobic exercises will increase muscle strength in your back and allow those muscles to function better.

Walking is an exercise that might help, swimming is even better. Consult with your doctor about what activities work best for you.

Increase flexibility and build muscle strenth. Weak abdominal muscles are one of the leading causes of back pain, so work those abs. Increasing flexibility in your upper legs and hips helps align your pelvic bone and will make your back feel better.

Start dieting. Being overweight strains your back muscles. By losing weight, you will prevent future back pain.

Watch your posture:

Use good posture when standing by maintaining a neutral pelvic position.

Use a good posture when sitting by having a chair with lower back support. You may need to place a rolled up towel in the small of your back to maintain your back's normal curve.

Maintain good posture when lifting by bending at the knees. Hold the load as close to your body as possible. Get someone to help you if the load is too heavy.

Sleep correctly. Get a firm mattress. Use a cervical neck pillow.

Did You Know that Stomach Fat Can Kill You

In this day and age, a lot of things have changed from how they used to be, which can be new and exciting for most. However, did you know that the great bulk of people in this day and age have extra fat on their abdominals? The first thing that most people think of is that their surplus abdominal fat is basically nasty, is covering up their abs from being evident, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body.

However, what most people don't grasp is that surplus abdominal fat in particular, is not only nasty, but is also a hazardous threat issue to your wellbeing. Scientific studies has plainly determined that while it is unhealthy in general to have surplus body fat throughout your body, it is also particularly hazardous to have surplus abdominal fat.

There are two types of fat that you have in your abdominal region. The first kind that covers up your abs from being visible is called subcutaneous fat and lies directly beneath the skin and on top of the abdominal muscles.

The second type of fat that you have in your abdominal area is called visceral fat, and that lies deeper in the abdomen beneath your muscle and surrounding your organs. Visceral fat also plays a function in giving certain men that "beer belly" appearance where their abdomen protrudes excessively but at the same time, also feels kind of hard if you force on it.

Both subcutaneous fat and visceral fat in the abdominal region are major health hazard factors, but science has revealed that having extreme visceral fat is even more hazardous than subcutaneous fat. Both of them deeply multiply the threat your chancing of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, assorted forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

Part of the basis that visceral fat is particularly hazardous is that it apparently releases more inflammatory molecules into your system on a consistent basis.

If you worry about the condition of your life and your loved ones, dropping your abdominal fat should be one of your TOP priorities! There's just no way around it. Moreover, a side result of finally getting rid of all of that extreme hideous abdominal fat is that your stomach will flatten out, and if you lose enough stomach fat, you will be able to plainly see those sexy six pack abs that everybody desires.

So what gets rid of mega abdominal fat? Is there actually a REAL solution beyond all of the gimmicks and hype that you see in ads and on commercials for "miracle" fat loss products?

The first thing you must understand is that there is absolutely NO quick fix solution. There are no pills or supplements of any sort that will help you lose your abdominal fat faster. Also, none of the gimmicky ab rockers, rollers, or ab belts will help get rid of abdominal fat either. You can't spot reduce your stomach fat by using any of these worthless contraptions. It simply doesn't work that way.

The ONLY solution to consistently lose your abdominal fat and keep it off for good is to combine a sound nutritious diet full of unprocessed natural foods with a properly designed strategic exercise program that stimulates the necessary hormonal and metabolic response within your body. Both your food intake as well as your training program are important if you are to get this right.

I've actually even seen a particular analysis that separated thousands of participants into a diet-only group and an exercise & diet combined group. While both groups in this analysis made good development, the diet-only group lost significantly LESS abdominal fat than the diet & exercise combined group.

Now the important thing to realize is that just any old exercise program will not necessarily do the job. The majority of people that attempt getting into a good exercise routine are NOT working out effectively enough to really stimulate the loss of stubborn abdominal fat. I see this everyday at the gym.

Most people will do your typical boring ineffective cardio routines, throw in a little outdated body-part style weight training, and pump away with some crunches and side bends, and think that they are doing something useful for reducing their abdominal fat. Then they become frustrated after weeks or months of no results and wonder where they went wrong.

Well, the good news is that I've spent over a decade researching this topic, analyzing the science, and applying it "in the trenches" with myself as well as thousands of my clients from all over the world to see what works to really stimulate abdominal fat loss. I want to help you succeed in finally getting rid of that extra abdominal fat that is not only UGLY, but also DANGEROUS.

Don't waste another day allowing that nasty abdominal fat to kill your confidence as well as contribute to your risk for MAJOR diseases.

The only grounds on that most people bomb in their fitness goals is that they have good intentions at first to adopt a new lifestyle, yet after a few weeks or months, they abandon their good intentions and fall right back into their old bad habits that gave them the excess body fat in the first place.

Get the solution to rid yourself for life of this abdominal fat obstacle by reading more details in the free report below.

Cardio Kickboxing -- Fun While Chiseling

Ever wish that you could kick your stress to the curb and achieve a celebrity-sculpted physique? Cardio kickboxing offers stress-relieving benefits and incredible physical benefits.

Even red-carpet lean machines have joined the millions of people around the world who swear by cardio kickboxing. Magic Johnson, Pamela Anderson, Shaqille O'Neal, and Carmen Electra are all hooked on cardio kickboxing. There are many forms of this type of intense workout, including the hugely popular Tae Bo exercise routines.

If you've seen a cardio kickboxing session, you've probably been left thinking that such intensity could only result in pain, injury, exhaustion and a bucketful of sweat. You could be right. If you can endure the ache and exhaustion, however, you will see incredible body-chiseling results.

A cardio kickboxing routine is a mixture of aerobics, boxing and martial arts. Picture the dance-like grace and high energy of an aerobics class, blended with the thrill of martial arts, and then topped off with some tough-as-nails boxing action. It all adds up to a fun and beneficial form of exercise. Your muscles will become toned and strengthened with cardio kickboxing, but there's more; this kind of exercise can also increase your balance, flexibility, speed and coordination while it sharpens your reflexes.

Nothing relieves stress quite like a cardio kickboxing session. When it feels as though the weight of the world is on your shoulders, and you just can't manage the pressures of your professional or family life, take a time out and kick it up a notch. Take the healthy break you deserve, and treat your self to a fun alternative to your typically boring exercise routines.

This is hard work without question, but it is definitely hard work that pays off. Cardio kickboxing can burn as many as 1,000 calories per hour. If you're constantly covering your bulging tummy, saggy arms or dimpled thighs, try burning through that fat with a cardio kickboxing workout.

There are countless benefits to a cardio kickboxing workout, but there are also some important downfalls to consider. The real and serious potential of injury is the most important negative to keep in mind. Be sure that you know how to complete the moves, and be careful to protect yourself from possible injury. To get the greatest benefits while avoiding the potential dangers of cardio kickboxing, take the time to discuss the exercise program with your doctor or health practitioner. This is essential if you suffer health problems or have undergone orthopedic surgery.

After you've met with your doctor and received the go-ahead, you'll need to find a qualified cardio kickboxing instructor. Look for certification through a qualified fitness organization. Once you and your instructor are ready to being, follow his or her lead and exercise at least three times a week, or as advised by your exercise team.

Attitude is everything when taking on any new challenge. Be prepared to succeed, but don't set yourself up for disappointment. You're not going to walk out of your first class with a butt like Carmen Electra, or kicking butt like Jackie Chan. Success will take time and effort, but you will achieve it.

Cardio kickboxing is more than exercise; it's also dedication, motivation, commitment and seriously hard work. Not one other single form of exercise or martial arts delivers the same kick-ass benefits that you can achieve through cardio kickboxing. You'll beat stress, lose fat, shape your body, tone your muscles, burn through calories, regulate your heart, bust out of monotony and gain the skills and confidence you need to defend yourself. Wow, cardio kickboxing is one serious package. No wonder the world's hottest celebrities and most powerful athletes name cardio kickboxing as their exercise of choice.

Don't be afraid of the hard work. Focus on the results and try cardio kickboxing. Go ahead and sweat by the bucket. Feel your body respond and your muscles grow. Stretch a little. Box a little more. Kick high. Kick really high. Cardio kickboxing will give you the health and energy you need to bring out the dynamo in you.

Just How Deadly IS Excess Abdominal Fat?

It is so sad to look outside and see nothing but fat overweight Americans. Well to be honest, most of the world is now begining to become overweight. Isn't just sad that over 60 % of our populations are carrying around too much fat on their stomachs? I really wish that America would wake up and smell the coffee. Serously today more than ever are Americans at risk for obesity related diseases. In the next few minutes I want to share with you how deadly stomach fat can be and how you can lose stomach fat in 10 weeks.

First we need to come to an understanding that stomach fat is nasty to have but it is also scientifically proven to be unhealthy. Now that we got that fact clear we can begin our lesson on how to get rid of deadly stomach fat.

In your abs there are two different types of fat. The first kind that covers up your abs from being visible is called subcutaneous fat and lies directly beneath the skin and on top of the abdominal muscles. This is the fat that you see when you stand naked in front of the mirror.

The second type of fat that you have in your abdominal area is called visceral fat, and that lies deeper in the abdomen beneath your muscle and surrounding your organs. Visceral fat also plays a function in giving certain men that "beer belly" appearance where their abdomen protrudes excessively but at the same time, also feels kind of hard if you force on it.

Science shows that both types of fat are very harmful to our health but it is clear that visceral fat takes home the cake when it comes to being the most unhealthy. Both of them deeply multiply the threat your chances of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, assorted forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

One of the major reasons that visceral fat is much more deadly than subcutaneous is that it seems to release more inflammatory molecules into your body on a consistent basis.

If you do not take action today there very well may not be a tomorow. How much do you enjoy spending time with your loved ones? I hope you value that time and invest into your health by eliminating extra fat from your body.

So what gets rid of all this nasty belly bulge? Is there actually a REAL solution beyond all of the gimmicks and hype that you see in ads and on commercials for "miracle" fat loss products?

The first thing you must understand is that there is absolutely NO quick fix solution. There are no pills or supplements of any sort that will help you lose your abdominal fat faster. Also, none of the gimmicky ab rockers, rollers, or ab belts will help get rid of abdominal fat either. You can't spot reduce your stomach fat by using any of these worthless contraptions. It simply doesn't work that way.

The ONLY solution to consistently lose your abdominal fat and keep it off for good is to combine a sound nutritious diet full of unprocessed natural foods with a properly designed strategic exercise program that stimulates the necessary hormonal and metabolic response within your body. Both your food intake as well as your training program are important if you are to get this right.

I've actually even seen a particular analysis that separated thousands of participants into a diet-only group and an exercise & diet combined group. While both groups in this analysis made good development, the diet-only group lost significantly LESS abdominal fat than the diet & exercise combined group.

Now the important thing to realize is that just any old exercise program will not necessarily do the job. The majority of people that attempt getting into a good exercise routine are NOT working out effectively enough to really stimulate the loss of stubborn abdominal fat. I see this everyday at the gym.

Infact if we were to take a visit to my gym right now I can almost gurantee that we would see atleast 20 people who have been starving themselves, running hard for hours on the treadmill and working out like a monster while doing tons of crunches. However I am sure that these same 20 people will be frustrated due to lack of results.

Well, the good news is that I've spent over a decade researching this topic, analyzing the science, and applying it "in the trenches" with myself as well as thousands of my clients from all over the world to see what works to really stimulate abdominal fat loss. I want to help you succeed in finally getting rid of that extra abdominal fat that is not only UGLY, but also DANGEROUS.

Don't waste another day allowing that nasty abdominal fat to kill your confidence as well as contribute to your risk for MAJOR diseases.

The only grounds on that most people bomb in their fitness goals is that they have good intentions at first to adopt a new lifestyle, yet after a few weeks or months, they abandon their good intentions and fall right back into their old bad habits that gave them the excess body fat in the first place.

Get the solution to rid yourself for life of this abdominal fat obstacle by reading more details in the free report below.

Stomach Liposuction Information For Great Shaping

Stomach liposuction uses suction to remove fat and reshape the contours of the abdominal area. Stomach liposuction is the most frequently performed liposuction, equally popular with men and women. In fact the stomach area is the most common body area treated by liposuction surgery. Stomach liposuction is the most frequently performed liposuction, equally popular with men and women. One reason that stomach liposuction is so common is that abdominal fat is especially resistant to diet and exercise. Because stomach liposuction involves fewer complications and less postoperative pain, it is quickly replacing the “tummy tuck. Many men and women have an upper abdominal or lower abdominal area of excess fat, and some have both.

In this method, the stomach fat is numbed gently using a dilute solution of local anesthesia, and the fat is extracted using very small surgical instruments called microcannulas. Since, microcannulas remove a controlled amount of fat with each pass through the area being sculpted, they produce a smoother result than traditional liposuction using larger instruments.

What are the benefits of abdominal liposuction?

Abdominal liposculpture flattens the abdomen, reduces upper and lower tummy bulges, and stimulates skin and tissue tightening. Most patients see a reduction in overall "jiggliness" and stomach circumference. After the procedure, the abdomen is smaller, clothing fits better, and the stomach area is in proportion to the overall body contour. For male patients, abdominal liposculpture can restore a lost "six-pack" and for women the procedure can bring back the sleek stomach they had in their youth. Because up to 10 liters (well over 2 gallons!) of fat can be removed, the results of abdominal liposculpture can vary from natural to very dramatic.

Abdominal fat deposits can be extremely resistant to diet or exercise.The tendency to accumulate fat in the abdomen ( stomach area )may be inherited, and this fat is often especially resistant to diet and exercise. Many patients become discouraged at having lost unwanted pounds without seeing a flatter abdomen. A common complaint is that exercise is just "making my stomach flatter", or after months of exercise and overall improvement there has ben no change in the waistline. Tumescent stomach liposuction allows large areas to be treated without significant invasion, using small instruments called cannelas. Tumescent stomach liposuction usually requires only a local anesthetic, greatly reducing side effects and risks.

If you choose bypass surgery, here's what you need to know:

* It's not a quick fix or a “walk in the park.” This drastic alternative includes pain, hospitalization, and high risk factors.
* You must change your eating habits after the surgery and keep them for life. Absolutely no more overeating.
* You might or might not lose all the weight you want to lose. On average, a person loses 60 percent of their excess weight. So if you're 100 pounds overweight, you could expect to lose 60 pounds.

Many people wonder if they need a tummy tuck instead of stomach liposuction. A tummy tuck is an invasive procedure and carries a much higher risk than minimally invasive liposuction. The risk of death from a tummy tuck procedure is real; whereas, there have been no deaths and very few complications reported in liposuction using local anesthesia only

Fitness - Tune Yourself Into Mental Dynamics

You might ask, "what on earth is mental dynamics?" If you accept that every one of us has a limitless, inherent power, you will also accept that that mighty power will never be exploited or used unless you make it work for you. It is that immeasurable spirit of making it work that we term as mental dynamics.

Each of us is born with an individuality, a uniqueness, a bent, a talent. Each one of us uses that talent in the course of a lifetime. Each one of us attains fulfillment through that talent. And each one of us sees in that fulfillment our individual growth. That is our mission.

That growth is an like an ever-expanding mural on which we sweepingly paint all the spoils collected during our mission. We learn to conserve, to tone down. It is when we put all these experiences into our mental dynamo that it whirls into a ball of concentrated energy and pours out in a gush to suffuse and enhance our lives.

It is a never-ending process. It touches every aspect of our life. And it makes anything we do work for us. That is the power of mental dynamics.

From indifference-to fascination

Initially, you may be indifferent to exercising if not thrown off by it. But the first lesson for tuning into mental dynamics is to keep your eyes and mind open, See what it has done for others and let that knowledge drip into you drop by drop until it forms a pool of understanding.

Look with open eyes at the cardiac patient next door. After his long period of confinement, you will see him back on his feet. Every morning he rises with the sun to get ready for his daily walk. By the time you are sleepily picking your milk bottle from your doorstep he is already back from his walk, face flushed with ruddy health, opening his door. He is clad immaculately in white shorts, T-shirt, socks and walking shoes. Dimly you realise that he takes deep pride in his new activity. His son or daughter may tell you how he never misses a day whatever the weather and gripes when they advise him not to exert himself because he has a cold.

If you allow yourself to think about it, you will realise how his fitness has changed the tone and tempo of this once-cardiac patient. If you dwell on that thought you will be irresistibly drawn towards it. And as you become more familiar with the subject, its charm will - slowly steal over you until you are completely captivated. Now, you won't see an old man defeated by his heart disease. But a man rejuvenated, buoyantly marching to the fitness tune, defying the march of time, blowing the bugle of health. You are seeing him with new eyes and an awakened mind.

If you talk to him, the odds are ten to one that he would be extremely articulate about his wise, good doctor who advised him to walk. And what walking has done for him. How it has given him a new lease on life. Listen to this man who is so much wiser after his frightening encounter with illness. In his words you will find the vital, lifesaving principles underlying fitness. And you will be totally fascinated.

Flexing Physical and Mental Muscles

If you have never exercised earlier and are a beginner to aerobics, your fitness diary may read:

Monday: Jogged for 10 minutes. Whew!

Tuesday: Body aches all over, Didn't jog today.

Wednesday: Still stiff. No jogging.

And so on.

Let us help you to flex your mental muscles on this physical condition. These minor aches and stiffness may persist for a few days. They are not to be moaned over, but to be celebrated. They are the heralders of good news trumpeted by your body.

They are telling you that your muscle groups, dormant all these years and rusty' due to disuse, are moving, are expanding contracting, 'are coming alive.

If you listen to your body, you will know that it is not telling you to stop exercising. Rather, it is urging you on to continue so that those formerly unused muscles can adapt, become more pliable. So that you stimulate the release of the synovial fluid - the body's lubricant which when drawn out, flows into your joints making them more flexible, more supple.

Your body is excited and asking you to go on so that it can regain the natural grace you were born with, It wants to become more flexible, more supple, so that your movements become brisk, more graceful. It wants you to rid it off any excess fat that may be depriving it of its natural birthright.

Your body's message comes loud and clear - exercise even if you are sore. So, what should you do? Swallow a painkiller? Rub balm on the sore points? No, if you do, your aches will be numbed or temporarily disappear. And in that span if you exercise too ,vigorously, you could injure your muscles since you cannot judge how sore they are.

Use those aches to measure how gingerly or slowly you should proceed. In fact, whether you have muscle soreness or not, start slowly, For example, if you choose walking as your aerobic activity, don't step out over-briskly.

For the first few minutes, walk at your normal pace. This stimulates blood to flow slowly into the muscles and warm them up until they are ready for a little more intensity. Then, increase your speed, if you are sore, proceed slowly. Your pulse rate may not reach its aerobic target zone on that day. It doesn't matter. Regard these first few days purely as conditioners.

If you experience a dull ache in the lower back, it could be due to poor posture. Improve your posture by following the tips in the next chapter ­How to flatten your stomach. The ache will disappear after a few days.

If any of your joints; are sore - your knees, your ankles, your hip joints, ­treat them tenderly. Walk slowly, never jog on a sore joint. These aches will disappear too as more synovial fluid is released and your muscles get conditioned.

But, don't let a little ache or stiffness stop you. You can rub balm at night before going to bed.

You may think that once you've finished your walk or jog you can fling yourself on the nearest bench and relax. Don't. Your muscles need cooling down as much as they need to warm-up. While you were walking briskly, your muscles were demanding more oxygen and receiving it. They were pumping blood vigorously, But they do not halt with your sudden halt. They continue to work at the same high level, If you stop abruptly the blood rushes on and could pool in your extremities.

This could make you feel light-headed or faint. To avoid this discomfort, lessen your pace, stroll around for a few minutes. This gives your muscles time to adjust to the slower pace and cool down. Now, you can sink into that seat.

People who experience light-headedness attribute it to ''weakness due to over-exertion." And to avoid this "weakness", they walk slower, or not at all the next day. It's not weakness they are experiencing, but a faintness brought about by over-warmed muscles still working at a swift pace. A cool-down as we have suggested leaves you fresh, not fatigued after your workout.

Though we have taken walking as an examples, the slow-start and slow­ finish principle should be followed for all aerobic workouts.