The Path To Fitness And Health

Walking towards health and fitness is not really the hard arduous job that everybody seem to think it is. When you really think about it, the hard part is often the start. Afterwards, everything else will be easier once you really get the hang of it. All it takes is discipline and commitment.

Below are some tips on how to get a head start on your road to health and fitness. Read each one and you’ll realize that it is actually easier to undertake. You just need to take the first few steps.

1. Start small If your favorite dish is something that your doctor asked you to avoid, there is no sense in skipping it altogether and then binging on the dish when you can’t take the abstinence anymore. Take moderate steps towards the goal.

If you eat the dish everyday, try to cut down on your consumption and make it just three times a week. IF you have managed that, cut down further and make it once a week. That way, you are able to still enjoy the food and not increase your craving for it.

2. Plan modestly Set goals for yourself but that does not mean that you have to kill yourself to get it and when you don’t you’ll also kill yourself. Setting too high goals will often only lead to disappointment and frustration. When you plan, make sure that you can do it. How will you know?

Be realistic. You know what you are capable of. It is better to set goals for yourself that you know you can do. Accomplishing them will give you a sense of achievement that will make you more confident and more willing to continue with your task.

3. Have a buddy Sharing the aches and pains as well as the joys of accomplishment with a buddy will help make the process easier and more bearable. In fact, people with a buddy when doing a self-improvement project are better able to stick with their plans than those who are doing the projects alone.

This is because when you have a buddy with you, he or she acts as a support system that will help keep you on track and prevent you from giving up. Besides having a friend with you experiencing the same things makes the process more fun and more enjoyable.

4. Have discipline This is one of the few things that will make or break your plans to finally live a healthy lifestyle. In order to really stick to the plan, you need to develop self-discipline especially when it involves things that you really want to do or things that you are used to doing.

Temptations along the way will be many and you need to be prepared to face all that!

5. Do it for yourself A lot of people start to live a life of health and fitness when they are trying to get a new guy to notice them or when they want to impress a lover.

Although these are valid reasons, sometimes, they are not enough to see you through the entire process. It is better that you do it for yourself because you want a healthier and better you than do it for other people’s approval. After all, the only approval that you will ever need is your own.


Charles

Why Muscles Get Sore

People begin to complain more of pain in their joints and muscles as they grow older. Simple chores like bending over to pick up the morning news paper make them wince as they seem to stiffen up with age.

Such pain can grip so fiercely that they are sure it begins deep in their bones. According to a Johns Hopkins Medical School research, the real cause of soreness and stiffness is not in the joints or bones, but actually in the muscles and connective tissues that move the joints.

The frictional resistance generated by the two rubbing surfaces of bones in the joints is negligible, even in joints damaged by arthritis.

Flexibility is the medical term used to describe the range of a joint’s motion from full movement in one direction to full movement in the other. The greater the range of movement, the more flexible the joint.

If you bend forward at the hips and touch your toes with your fingertips, you have good flexibility, or range of motion of the hip joints. But can you bend over easily with a minimal expenditure of energy and force? The exertion required to flex a joint is just as important as its range of possible motion.

Different factors limit the flexibility and ease of movement in different joints and muscles. In the elbow and knee, the bony structure itself sets a definite limit. In other joints, such as the ankle, hip, and back, the soft tissue—muscle and connective tissue—limit the motion range.

The problem of inflexible joints and muscles is similar to the difficulty of opening and closing a gate because of a rarely used and rusty hinge that has become balky.

Hence, if people do not regularly move their muscles and joints through their full ranges of motion, they lose some of their potential. That is why when these people will try to move a joint after a long period of inactivity, they feel pain, and that discourages further use.

What happens next is that the muscles become shortened with prolonged disuse and produces spasms and cramps that can be irritating and extremely painful. The immobilization of muscles, as researchers have demonstrated with laboratory animals, brings about biochemical changes in the tissue.

Here are some other factors trigger sore muscles:

1. Too much exercise

Have you always believed on the saying, “No pain, no gain?” If you do, then, it is not so surprising if you have already experienced sore muscles. The problem with most people is that they exercise too much thinking that it is the fastest and the surest way to lose weight. Until they ache, they tend to ignore their muscles and connective tissue, even though they are what quite literally holds the body together.

2. Immobility

Sore muscles or muscle pain can be excruciating, owing to the body’s reaction to a cramp or ache. In this reaction, called the splinting reflex, the body automatically immobilizes a sore muscle by making it contract. Thus, a sore muscle can set off a vicious cycle pain.

First, an unused muscle becomes sore from exercise or being held in an unusual position. The body then responds with the splinting reflex, shortening the connective tissue around the muscle.

This cause more pain, and eventually the whole area is aching. One of the most common sites for this problem is the lower back.

3. Aging and inactivity

Connective tissue binds muscle to bone by tendons, binds bone to bone by ligaments, and covers and unites muscles with sheaths called fasciae. With age, the tendons, ligaments, and fasciae become less extensible. The tendons, with their densely packed fibers, are the most difficult to stretch.

The easiest are the fasciae. But if they are not stretched to improve joint mobility, the fasciae shorten, placing undue pressure on the nerve pathways in the muscle fasciae. Many aches and pains are the result of nerve impulses traveling along these pressured pathways.

4. Spasm theory

In the physiology laboratory at the University of Southern California, some people have set out to learn more about this cycle of pain.

Using some device, they measured electrical activity in the muscles. The researchers knew that normal, well-relaxed muscles produce no electrical activity, whereas, muscles that are not fully relaxed show considerable activity.

In one experiment, the researchers measured these electrical signals in the muscles of persons with athletic injuries, first with the muscle immobilized, and then, after the muscle had been stretched.

In almost every case, exercises that stretched or lengthened the muscle diminished electrical activity and relieved pain, either totally or partially.

These experiments led to the “spasm theory,” an explanation of the development and persistence of muscle pain in the absence of any obvious cause, such as traumatic injury.

According to this theory, a muscle that is overworked or used in a strange position becomes fatigued and as a result, sore muscles. Hence, it is extremely important to know the limitations and capacity of the muscles in order to
avoid sore muscles. This goes to show that there is no truth in the saying, “No pain, no gain.”

What matters most is on how people stay fit by exercising regularly at a normal range than once rarely but on a rigid routine.

A good stretching and warm up and cool down routine is important to an effective exercise program.

Charles

Caring For Dry Skin

It is hard to ignore dry skin. Dry skin gives one a bad appearance as the upper layer of skin show signs of cracking. Some of the main causes of dry skin are: too much exfoliation, dry climate and treatment of other skin problems.

Dry skin could just be the inherent of one's nature. Whatever the causes are, caring for dry skin is important and easy to accomplish.

Dry skin care starts with moisturisers, the most effective remedy for dry skin. Generally, moisturisers are classified under two categories based on the way they treat dry skin.

Category 1- includes moisturisers that provide dry skin care just by preserving the moisture within the skin. Vaseline would be one example of this. These moisturisers are inexpensive and are readily available, even at grocery stores.

Category 2- includes moisturisers that work by drawing moisture from the environment and supplying it to the skin. This is a very effective way of dry skin care in humid conditions. The moisturisers that provide this type of care are called humectants. For proper dry skin care, you must use a non-greasy type of moisturiser. Humectants fall into this category. The ingredients of humectants include propylene glycol, urea, glycerine, hyaluronic acid.

Dry skin care is not just about using moisturisers, it is also about using them properly. The best skin care procedure would be to cleanse the skin before applying the moisturiser. You can make the application more effective by applying the moisturiser while the skin is still damp after the cleansing. Make sure that you use soap-free products, especially on your face, neck and arms.

Exfoliating helps in dry skin care by removing dead skin cells. However, don’t exfoliate too hard. Skin care products should also provide some type of sun protection. Avoid too much sun exposure. Use a good sunscreen lotion before going out. A lot of moisturisers provide sun protection too, along with dry skin care.

There are natural skin products that provide dry skin care in a natural way without the use of synthetic chemicals. These skin care products supply lipid enhancements to the skin, hence enabling moisture retention within the skin.

Another important factor for skin care is the temperature of the water you use for showering or for washing your face. Use warm water, as water that is too hot or too cold can cause dryness.

Dry skin care is also about being gentle with your skin. You should avoid harsh detergents and alcohol based cleansers. Also, after a face wash, do not rub your towel on your face, just pat gently to soak the water off.

Dry skin care is really simple for anyone who is willing to take it seriously.

Don't forget to wash behind the ears!

Charles