The Healthy Living Blog - Page 12 of 25

July 22, 2014 Exercise and fitness

Rules for Bulking Up

Want to put on some size? Keep reading.

Proper Program

Bulking up, putting size, getting big… These are all synonyms for hypertrophy or muscle growth. Training for hypertrophy requires a special type of exercise program to elicit the desired physiological adaptations. What you want is to stress the musculoskeletal system, forcing the muscle fibers grow in size and number. Keep in mind that it is different than training for strength gains for instance, which places the nervous system under stress and most adaptations happens in the brain and neurons. Therefore, a program designed to develop muscle mass relies more on training volume than on heavy lifts.

June 28, 2014 Motivation

Finding Your Inner Drive

Have you ever thought about what motivates you to exercise? I mean what makes you want to hit the gym floor for a smashing workout? The promise of results (losing 10 kg), external rewards (a new dress!), enjoyment (it is just fun!), or a person (my doctor told me to)? Motivation is defined as “a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way.” Simply put, it is what drives us to move forward or to keep going when things get tough. Do you know what motivates you to exercise?

June 1, 2014 Exercise and fitness Prevention

Proper Form: Practice Makes Perfect

Go to any gym and you will see a festival of bad form and poor exercise technique. People lifting too much weight with no regard for proper form. No wonder there are so many injuries among “lifters.”

Maintaining good posture is a fundamental part of any exercise technique. That’s because when you use correct form, stress is evenly distributed throughout the muscles, bones and joints, making you less prone to injuries. Besides if body structures are well-aligned, muscle recruitment is more efficient, which means that the most adequate muscles for the activity will be called into play, requiring less effort and energy to perform it.

But do you know what proper form is? Here are some tips for keeping good body alignment during any exercise.

April 1, 2014 Exercise and fitness Prevention

Reversing the Biological Clock

Exercise is the best anti-aging treatment. However, most individuals seem to prefer being sedentary and risk having many chronic diseases associated with age. Maybe it is because we are completely surrounded with too many so-called “easy ways to reverse the clock.” Botox, plastic surgeries, anti-aging lotions, you get the picture. Unfortunately, these quick fixes only work on the outside. What about the inside? Our heart, lungs, muscles, and bones – they too suffer the effects of aging. As we get older, we tend to lose muscle and bone mass, our flexibility becomes limited, the production of hormones declines, our cardiorespiratory capacity diminishes, and our cognitive function becomes impaired, among others.

The good news is that living an active lifestyle can make your body stronger and more resistant to the wear and tear of time. Regular physical activity contributes to maintain/build muscle and bone mass, keeps your heart and lungs attuned, and improves metabolic function and hormonal production all of which prevent many chronic diseases related to aging.

March 2, 2014 Habits and behaviors Motivation

Adjust your mindset

As a new year starts, millions of people make resolutions that they don’t believe they can accomplish. In the US, the number one resolution for 2014 was to lose weight (University of Scranton). Unfortunately, only 8% of people are expected to be successful in achieving their goals. Why these statistics are so pessimistic? Well, the truth is that most people want something, but few are willing to work for it.

Keep in mind that just because we write down a simple statement, it doesn’t mean it will magically happen, no effort needed. Therefore, if you really want to achieve your goals this year, it is time you change your approach.

September 24, 2013 Healthy eating

Save Your Children

Forget about kids’ menu. Chicken nuggets, French fries, grilled cheese are all poor nutritional options, training the child’s palate to accept artificial flavors and reject the taste of real food. Instead, give your children small portions of what you will have for dinner including vegetables, whole grains and lean cuts of meat. Remember that it is your responsibility to offer your kids new and exciting dishes which incite their curiosity and develop their ability to make smart choices in the future.

Carla Torres is an AIF Master Trainer based in Rhodes, NSW. Her mission is to promote exercise, proper nutrition and healthy habits as a way to empower individuals to make decisions leading to better quality of life.

March 27, 2013 Prevention

Prevention is the Best Medicine

Prevention is the best medicine – I’m sure you heard this before. An overwhelming number of studies have shown that our lifestyle choices are responsible for causing or preventing many chronic diseases. So why is it so hard to improve our lifestyle choices? Maybe it is because we don’t feel immediately threatened by any health issues. At least not right now. However, as we get older chances are that our body won’t be able to deal with all the abuses we do when we are younger.

As the years go by, it is more common than not to put on some weight. Then, we blame our metabolism; we convince ourselves that it is slowing down as part of the aging process and it is only natural to gain a couple of pounds, until they start piling up, and you end up overweight and miserable. Also, many will develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes, among others. And now, we blame our genes; it runs on the family, we say.

January 8, 2013 Exercise and fitness

Push-up 101

Push-up is an excelent body-weight exercise that doesn’t require any equipment and can be done anywhere. However, many people feel intimidated by it and end up missing the opportunity to work out many muscle groups at once in a few minutes.

December 20, 2012 Exercise and fitness

On the Road Mini Circuit

It is holiday time and many of us don’t have time to go to the gym. For those, I put together an exercise routine that doesn’t require any equipment, can be done anywhere (I did it barefoot on my office floor), and can be completed in 10 minutes (if this is all the time you have). It is a mini circuit composed of four exercises, challenging your whole body in a short period of time. However, if time is not an issue, feel free to repeat the circuit as many times as you’d like. Check it out.

December 17, 2012 Exercise and fitness

Functional Vs Traditional

Do you arrive at the gym and go right away to the cardio equipment? If that’s your case, you are not alone. Many women feel intimidated by the weight room and end up missing an important type of training. Strength training is a fundamental part of fitness as it builds lean muscle mass, improves bone and joint health, and gives your body that “toned” appearance you’ve always wanted. And even though, many of us still associate strength training with weight-lifting and bulky guys, that’s not the rule anymore. It is possible to gain strength without putting on a lot of muscle. Besides, there are more functional ways of training your body. In the table below I compared functional strength training with traditional weight lifting. If you are new to this type of exercise, I strongly recommend that you to find a competent trainer, who can design a balanced program to address your needs.