Fitness

Overview Flattening your stomach and getting that ripped six-pack look around your midsection doesn’t happen by doing hundreds of crunches per day. That’s a common misconception of beginners. In fact, it takes a healthy diet and a full-body exercise regimen…
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When looking for ways to lose weight and gain muscle mass, there are many tips you can utilize to help achieve your goals. The key to success is having a basic understanding of nutritional information and exercise physiology. By putting…
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Fat on the hips, or “saddlebags,” is a common fitness problem for women. According to Jorge Cruise, best-selling fitness author and writer at Prevention.com, body fat is commonly stored on the hips because of genetics and hormones in women. However,…
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Overview When people have red, irritated eyes, they often take over-the-counter (OTC) eye drops for instant relief. While the drops can make your eyes look and feel better, frequent use over a long period of time may aggravate the problems….
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The chest and abdomen compose a large amount of your upper body, and excess fat is hard to ignore when it appears in those areas. To help reduce this fat, you can do muscle-building exercises in conjunction with fat-burning exercises….
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The upper tummy contains the upper part of the rectus abdominis muscle which starts right below your chest. To flatten this area of your body, you need to do upper ab exercises while simultaneously burning fat. If you just do…
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For women training to be boxers, or those already competing in the sport, strength training should be focused for the female body-type rather than following a strength-training routine for male boxers. In their textbook “Exercise Physiology: Energy, Nutrition and Human…
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Overview According to the Mayo Clinic, practicing yoga has many potential health benefits, including stress reduction, increased fitness, the management of chronic health conditions and weight loss. Even those suffering from injury or illness—or people who are just living a…
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There is almost an infinite variety of workouts when it comes to a five-day workout plan. Each individual person has different needs and limitations that determine the workout. Beginners with no limitations perform three whole body workouts that are on…
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Swiss balls, sometimes called stability or fit balls, are a versatile tool with which you can perform a wide variety of exercises. To get the most from your Swiss ball exercises, get the right-sized ball for you: sit on the…
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Overview Muscular strength is the maximum amount of force your muscle can generate in a single rep and is typically measured with the one rep max (1RM) bench press test. Muscular endurance is the ability of your muscle to contract…
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Everyone wants that toned, flat stomach so popular in today’s culture. To get that attractive “V” shape, it is important to regularly exercise your abdominal muscles, the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis and internal and external obliques. These muscles help protect…
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Overview Crohn’s disease, an autoimmune disorder of unknown origin, causes inflammation in the lining of the digestive tract. Signs and symptoms include abdominal pain and cramping, diarrhea, blood in the stool, ulcers, reduced appetite and weight loss, fatigue, fever and…
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The butt contains a three-part muscle group consisting of the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. In your quest to enlarge your posterior side, you need to target this muscle group with weight training exercises. You can use free…
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Overview Lifting weights, also commonly referred to as resistance or strength training, is a method of conditioning which safely and effectively stimulates physical changes within the body. Lifting weights involves the use of external resistance to progressively increase your ability…
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Overview Exercise bikes are a natural choice for home cardio training because the pedaling motion is already familiar to many. You may encounter a dual-action bike that has movable handles, letting you tone your upper body as you pedal, but…
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For women, strengthening the stomach or abdominal muscles can be a huge feat, particularly after bearing children. Your abdominals may have been weakened and stretched or may simply lack tone and strength. Fortunately, those muscles can be strengthened and toned…
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Agility is a combination of strength, coordination and balance. Athletes also develop speed as an aspect of agility, but for seniors concerned with maintaining independence or avoiding a potentially disastrous fall, strength, coordination and balance remain the most important factors….
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Exercises for your lower back can help strengthen and stretch muscles and ligaments to better support the spine. This helps to decrease back pain and prevents injuries. According to the National Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma (NISMAT), a…
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The stability ball is an effective tool to incorporate the core into training. The ball acts on a act-and-react principle in which the instability of the ball results in the muscles contracting to try to create stability. This process increases…
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Congratulations you’re a new mom! If you’ve had a cesarean, your recovery may take some time. A C-section is a major procedure that requires a complete incision in the lower abdomen. Gillian Fletcher MCSP, an obstetric physiotherapist in the U.K.,…
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Poor posture and holding stress in the shoulders can lead to tension in the neck, headaches, pinched nerves and shoulder pain. Yoga helps to release neck tension by bringing awareness to posture, strengthening abdominal muscles to improve body alignment, and…
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1. Physical Therapy and Hip Joint Pain Physical therapists are trained professionals that know how the body moves, and so they can help you overcome hip joint pain. Frequently hip joint pain comes from improper movement. Improper movement and muscle…
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According to Vern Gambetta, director of Gambetta Sports Training Systems, muscular endurance is your ability to perform work for a long period of time. This is not quite the same as aerobic exercise where the exercise is done continuously at…
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To engage the entire abdominal area, you must isolate three major muscles: the upper rectus abdominus, the lower rectus abdominus and the obliques. The abdominals are often referred to as the core, and are responsible for stability, balance and holding…
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Having rounder and higher buttocks requires that you improve your posture, reduce some body fat and increase muscle definition and strength in them. When training your hips, be sure to integrate them with the rest of the body since your…
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The knee is the most likely part of the body to get injured while skiing and accounts for approximately 45 percent of all ski-related injuries, according to the Sports Injury Clinic. The knee joint is composed entirely of ligaments but…
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Women can perform body toning exercises in the convenience of the home using body weight and an exercise band or tubing for resistance. The American College of Sports Medicine encourages you to keep exercise simple and convenient by doing body-weight…
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Overview Increasing muscle density means achieving a defined, “hard” look that so many bodybuilders and trainees covet. Muscles typically appear dense when your body fat percentage gets around 10 percent to 12 percent. This will vary depending on the individual….
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A step platform is an effective tool to add a variety of exercises to your cardio routine. Alternating the patterns of how you step will keep your attention and work new muscles to help you achieve more physical gains. Do…
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