Fitness

The actions of the stomach and the actions of the hip flexors are closely related. While the abdominals strictly curl the rib cage and the pelvis toward each other, exercises that don’t completely isolate the abdominals often include the front…
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One aspect of Asian martial arts that caught the attention of people in the United States during the post-World War II era was the fact that many of the arts featured blows with the open hand. Contrary to Western boxing,…
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The American Fitness Professionals & Associates organization touts outdoor exercise as an important part of your exercise routine. Participating in outdoor exercise can help you reconnect with the natural world, improve your fitness, integrate your mind and body, and rejuvenate…
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1. Go With a Beginner Wrist Support When you go to buy bowling wrist supports, you can always start with a beginner wrist support and see how it works with your throw. If you see improvement in the way you…
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What do lifting a heavy barbell, returning a tennis serve, jogging on the treadmill and bending down to pick up your kid all have in common? They all use your core muscles. The muscles in your core help stabilize your…
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1. Healthy Holiday Barbecue Nothing makes Father’s Day, Independence Day or a weekend pool party more fun than a barbecue–and we here at LIVESTRONG.COM want to share some of our tips and recipes to make your holiday barbecue a healthy…
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Workout DVDs offer an alternative way to exercise at home without the gym. You can find workout videos for almost any genre of fitness. Some examples are kickboxing, strength training, Pilates and even yoga. They are a great way to…
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Although it makes sense to look for the cause of your knee pain in your knee or around your shin if it hurts that may not be the right approach. In an article in the “National Strength and Conditioning Association…
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Vary your arm program to tone and strengthen your shoulder, bicep and triceps muscles by incorporating a change the amount of resistance, a change in the type of resistance you use and how much volume (the total number of reps…
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Resistance bands don’t just lend themselves to creative applications–they demand them. “Conventional” resistance band exercises require you to tie knots in the bands, shut the bands in doors or loop them around sturdy pieces of furniture. Yet there’s a lot…
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Regular physical activity can have a positive affect on your child’s physical, mental and social development. Fitness plans, if process-oriented, can give your child self-confidence, expand her social network and yield important health benefits. According to the American Academy of…
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Overview Weight loss only occurs when you expend more calories than you consume. Therefore, it does not matter what method or tools you use for physical activity. As long as you are moving, you are burning calories. However, free weights…
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Skiing not only gives the skier the adrenaline rush of speeding and slaloming down a mountain, but also provides a challenging workout. To get the most enjoyment from your time on the slopes, incorporate skiing exercises into your workouts to…
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Pelvic tilts exercise your pelvic floor and gently stretch your back. Pelvic tilts are particularly beneficial to women who are recovering from childbirth or who are over the age of 65. Having a strong pelvic floor—the network of muscles and…
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Stability balls have been an effective exercise tool for men and women. Men especially can design a total body routine with use of a ball. The stability/physio ball is an excellent apparatus for adding instability to torso (abdominal/lower spine) stabilization…
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The abdominal vacuum exercise is also called a stomach vacuum. This exercise targets the transverse abdominis muscle of the stomach. The transverse abdominis muscle compresses the abdominal viscera, which are the contents of the stomach. The muscle supports the spine…
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Playing youth sports can give a youngster a sense of purpose and direction in life. It can also help the individual get healthy by exercising and improving overall conditioning, learn about team play, make friends and have fun. When young…
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Overview Punching hard objects, such as an opponent’s jaw, can easily damage the delicate bones in the hand. To prevent injury, boxers wrap their wrists and hands to provide additional support underneath boxing gloves. Worn alone, boxing wraps protect the…
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With all the gadgets on the market that claim to whittle your middle in two minutes a day, knowing how to best sculpt and tone your abs can sometimes be a little confusing. Your obliques are the abdominal muscles that…
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Abdominal exercises on a decline bench allow you to increase intensity for a variety of exercises. When you do abdominal exercises on a decline bench you use resistance due to gravity to make the exercise more challenging. Paul Check of…
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The abdominal muscles stabilize your torso and allow for motion at your waist. The three major muscles of the abdominals are the rectus abdominus, oblique abdominals and transverse abdominals, which run along the front of your abs, the sides of…
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Overview Women can benefit from using supplements to gain muscle mass. Just like men, they can use natural supplements to accelerate their muscle-building. Natural anabolic substances enhance muscle performance without the hormonal effects that drugs such as anabolic steroids have…
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Getting to a gym on a regular basis can be expensive and time-consuming, but working out at home also can be tough if you have limited space. Small exercise equipment, such as a treadmill or a stationary bike, can help…
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Interval workouts on the treadmill can be monitored in detail, helping you to improve your walking and running performance in small increments. Walk, run or do a combination of both in very short or long time periods with a quick…
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The main abdominal muscles consist of the rectus abdominis in front and the external and internal oblique muscles on either side. These muscles work together to flex your spine forward and side to side. Your oblique muscles also function to…
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A “six pack” stomach is an undeniable sign of athleticism, because it requires both low body fat and high muscularity. Besides being a sign of physical fitness, having six pack abs means they are muscular enough to bulge around the…
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1. Lengthening Your Legs Always stretch warm muscles. A quick five minute march in place or some brisk walking should be enough to get your muscles ready for stretching. Once your legs are good and warm, you’re ready to stretch…
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Pulled hamstring muscles often hamper athletes as well as occasional weekend warriors. A hamstring pull can range in severity from a partial tear of the muscle to a complete tear, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS). If…
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1. Keep Poultry Healthy Chicken, turkey and other poultry are staples of American cooking. Poultry is relatively inexpensive and so versatile that there seems to be no end to the recipe possibilities it offers. Poultry is also lower in cholesterol…
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According to the American Heart Association, regular endurance activity improves your fitness level and exercise capacity and helps protect you from cardiovascular disease. HealthGuidance.org defines cardiovascular endurance as your ability to perform sustained physical activity, using your larger muscles, while…
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