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An Exercise Program is Not Some Frivolous Pastime

An Exercise Program is Not Some Frivolous PastimeBy Carolyn Hansen

Many people view exercise as some frivolous pastime; something that they do if they have time left over, after they have done all of the other things that they place so much importance on.

Our modern or contemporary technology driven society doesn't help. Most of us simply aren't required to physically do that much any more over the course of the day. We are all very busy - busier than ever - however unfortunately we move in a few simple repetitive ways. We sit a lot, in our cars, at our jobs, and back home on the couch.

Our bodies are designed to be highly active, to hunt and gather food, avoid predators and to survive in difficult situations. We have been made to be strong, to walk, run, lift and climb. Our bodies were not designed to sit around in chairs or sit behind a computer screen all day and a television screen at night. We were meant to move, not be dormant.

When we finally get up out of our chairs and attempt to use our bodies in a "functional" manner, pain, stiffness and injury often result. Why? Obviously, somewhere along the line, the machine broke down as basically, we are engineered for a lifestyle we no longer maintain. This same prosperity that makes us a wealthy society is slowly and surely corroding our bodies and minds.

We often don't become fully conscious of the loss of our physical functioning until something dramatic happens and draws our attention to it. Often it takes an injury, having to be off work, chronic pain, or having to give up an activity that we really love (not the same as infatuation) for us to wake up and take notice.

Some of us wake up and begin exercising and taking an active role in our functional fitness. Some of us do not know what precisely what we need to do. We may see and feel the changes to our bodies as we get older, however don't realize there is a way to stop it.

Without exercise, all of the essential elements of functional fitness will decline as we get older; it is our inactivity and not the accumulation of the years that is to blame. The older you become, the more you need to exercise if you wish to keepeverything working properly.

What we are after is a functional body that can move freely, is strong and doesn't hurt. A body that allows us to easily participate in a variety or diversity of activities, one that allows us to do all the things we enjoy and want to do for as long as possible.

You can and should be able to not only maintain however also improve your physical abilities over the course of your lifetime. You can be stronger and fitter in your forties, fifties, sixties and even seventies than you are/were in your twenties and thirties.

Your health and fitness is your own responsibility, and it's time to take that first step on your own path to the greatest you. Your local gym or health center can get you started on a proper exercise program that includes at least 60% strength training exercise.

Just as a diet of junk food leads to more health problems down the road, a diet of inactivity leads to more movement problems down the road. An exercise program is something that we all need to do as a form of preventative medicine and is an essential ingredient for maintaining a healthy body and mind.

These sobering facts should make us sit up and take notice and spur us all into action.

Carolyn Hansen has worked in the Fitness Industry for over 30 years. Currently the co-owner of 2 Fitness Centres in Northland New Zealand. A National Champion Bodybuilder with over 25 years competition experience. Enjoys writing health and fitness articles for local newspapers and magazines. If you want a second odds to right the wrongs you have committed against your body, you can be rejuventated. You can regain vitality, muscular strength, endurance and a higher quality of life. Go to http://www.over50looking30.com for a FREE Report "I've Found the Fountain of Youth"- Let Me Show You Too!

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Keep Your Moving Parts Moving With Strength Training

Keep Your Moving Parts Moving With Strength TrainingBy Carolyn Hansen

It has been proven over and over again, without exercise the essential elements of our functional fitness will decline as we get older. Much of this loss of physical function we used to accept as being natural and an inevitable result of the "aging process". But we now understand it to be the not positive result of a sedentary or inactive lifestyle.

The Answer - What we need to do. Firstly, we need to stay strong. Muscle and bone loss through the years can leave us much weaker that we think. The strength of our muscles is what allows us to walk, bend, lift, stretch and perform everyday movements and activities. Muscle strength holds up our skeleton, supports and protects our spine and joints. There is no substitute for restoring and maintaining muscular strength throughout our entire lifespan. And we need to give a proper exercise program that contains strength training exercise priority in our lives to keep it that way.

We need to keep our flexibility. With lack of use our body conspires to leave our joints and muscles stiff and rigid. Stiffness contributes to joint pain, arthritis, injury and disability. Moving our joints through their full ranges of motion on a frequent and regular basis helps keep our joints lubricated and able to move. Full ranges of movement do not mean shuffling around all day or using the few repetitive, limited movements that have become common for most inactive people. We have to restore and maintain the movement of our joints with a proper exercise program. If you have a moving part, you must move it!

We need to maintain proper posture. There is one template where our bodies function most efficiently and economically, keeping bones and joints in correct alignment so our muscles are used correctly. When we deviate from this alignment it causes problems such as the uneven wearing of joint surfaces that result in degenerative arthritis and joint pain.

A slouching, slumping, out of line body will eventually be a hurting, painful body and one that can no longer do all it is capableof. To maintain proper posture, you need to have adequate muscle strength and muscle flexibility.

We need to stay very active. Our bodies live and thrive on movement, however many of us often curtail and limit movement just at the time in our lives when we need it most. Cars, machinery, personal skills all work greatest when used regularly - it is the same with our muscles and joints. A proper exercise program is what is needed to use them as much as possible, to put them through their paces on a frequent and regular and consistent basis to keep them strong and youthful.

This exercise program must contain at least 60% strength training exercise. There is absolutely no substitute or any other way around this. No other type of exercise can duplicate what is needed to strengthen muscles and keep joints, bones etc strong and healthy. This is the fuel needed to prevent a host of muscle and joint problems in the years to come.

When we lose or relinquish our physical activity, our world becomes smaller and there will be fewer options for us to enjoy our life with. You do have a choice about this; make sure it is the right one.

Carolyn Hansen has worked in the Fitness Industry for over 30 years. Currently the co-owner of 2 Fitness Centres in Northland New Zealand. A National Champion Bodybuilder with over 25 years competition experience. Enjoys writing health and fitness articles for local newspapers and magazines. If you want a second odds to right the wrongs you have committed against your body, you can be rejuventated. You can regain vitality, muscular strength, endurance and a higher quality of life. Go to http://www.over50looking30.com for a FREE Report "I've Found the Fountain of Youth"- Let Me Show You Too!

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Strength Training Complies With the Definition of Exercise

Strength Training Complies With the Definition of ExerciseBy Carolyn Hansen

The definition of exercise states - Exercise is a process whereby the human body performs work of a demanding nature, in accordance with muscle and joint function, meaningfully loading the muscular structures to inroad their strength levels to stimulate and encourage a growth mechanism.

The basic essence of exercise assumes a purpose of achieving physical improvement. If the activity does not promote that physical improvement - primarily correlated to increased muscular strength - then it is not considered proper exercise.

The most important ingredient in any effective exercise program is demanding muscular work. The muscular system is the front line of the human body as only muscles have a direct physical function and effect fitness. Any program, method or protocol devoid of high intensity work involving loading of the muscles, regardless of how well designed and implemented will fail to produce meaningful benefits.

We could define being "fit" as being strong as muscles provide the only truly productive factor in human movement. Each and every single movement of our body depends on muscle strength, from very simple to very complex. We need it to be able to eat, talk, walk, move and breathe.

Muscles are very unique. They have the ability to relax, contract, produce force and are metabolically active. This means that the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism (how fast your body burns calories) (amount of calories your body needs) at rest and during exercise. We can survive without endurance, speed, stamina and flexibility, however we cannot survive without strength. Very often we forget about its necessary importance.

To be effective an exercise or workout program need only focus on strengthening the muscles in a concentrated manner. This will support the body's systems then the heart, lungs, bones etc will join in to maintain the effort.

Strength training exercise is the only activity that properly satisfies the Definition of Exercise and thereby is the only true exercise. All other activities (i.e. walking, running, cycling, swimming,etc.), often construed as exercise by the media, general public and health/medical professionals do not satisfy the definition of exercise. These activities qualify as recreational physical activities and are not considered a necessary component of a proper exercise program.

Perhaps the most damaging as well as the most understood concept in fitness today among, health centers, gyms, researchers and the general public is the confusion of proper exercise and recreational activities. Although a most basic and important concept it is rarely acknowledged or applied in any area of fitness or medicine. People are being led to believe all they need to do is find an activity they enjoy and have "fun" doing it.

Well listen up, an activity that is fun to perform however does not meet the necessary requirements of meaningfully loading of muscular structures does not qualify as proper exercise. Yes, fun and enjoyable pastime activities and recreation do carry some healthful physical benefits, and do overlap to some degree however; these cannot stimulate and encourage the multitude of physical changes that only proper exercise can stimulate. Only when you acknowledge and accept these facts will you truly benefit from proper exercise.

Carolyn Hansen has worked in the Fitness Industry for over 30 years. Currently the co-owner of 2 Fitness Centres in Northland New Zealand. A National Champion Bodybuilder with over 25 years competition experience. Enjoys writing health and fitness articles for local newspapers and magazines. If you want a second odds to right the wrongs you have committed against your body, you can be rejuventated. You can regain vitality, muscular strength, endurance and a higher quality of life. Go to http://www.over50looking30.com for a FREE Report "I've Found the Fountain of Youth"- Let Me Show You Too!