If ever there were proof that exercising, and doing it on a regular basis instead of just when you feel like it or when you feel you have time to work it into your schedule, in other words, exercise as a way of life and a habit, like brushing your teeth in the morning, is vital to those of us that may suffer stress frequently in our lives.

Or if we have frequent stress because of our jobs or our livelihoods, it is vital that to maintain not only a working life without debilitating levels of stress and total lack of focus and ingenuity thanks to that stress, that we work out.

When I say I’m going to work out some stress and angst at the gym at my place of work, I mean it quite literally. I feel the stress melting off as I pedal faster on that recumbent bike or “run” faster on that elliptical machine or treadmill. When I’m stressed out, one of my most common side effects is shortness of breath. I feel like someone is standing on my chest and it becomes much harder to breathe at a normal pace when I’m under a lot of duress, and when I’m done working out, I literally feel like that weight has been lifted off of my chest.

Working out to prevent stress does seem counterintuitive, because you are actually putting stress on your body when you work out, but just sitting still actually places more stress on the body when you are filled with anxiety since you are not channeling that nervous energy elsewhere, it literally makes you feel like you’re going to implode.

I’ve experienced this myself so many hundreds of times that I know it’s real. I can see the difference in the way I look – healthier, a better color, more well rested, more spry, then when I am not working out, I look puffier, more tired, more haggard, and my skin doesn’t look so good – all biproducts of stress and a lifestyle that is full of anxiety.

Working out is truly a lifesaver for me when it comes to stress. It unwinds that telltale tightness in my body like nothing else, and I know that what I’m doing is good for my body because I feel myself growing stronger every day that I work out. It’s a great gift that we’ve been given, so I encourage everyone to take advantage of it – feel alive, and stress free!

We all know that a couch potato existence is no good for our health and overall longevity, but now there is even more evidence that shows that sitting for long periods of time, even if you do habitually work out, is not good for your health, and triggers dangerous chain reactions in your body that send signals to your heart and other major organs to stop working as effectively.

Your blood sugar and blood pressure may also be affected. This is for all people with desk jobs by the way, even if you do happen to work out periodically, since most people with desk jobs happen to sit for long periods of four or more hours at a time.

Think about how bad this is for your circulation. At least try to get up every hour on the hour and take a brisk walk to get those heart and circulatory functions going again, like you’re alive instead of a person on the brink of death, which is basically what sitting for long periods of time tells your body to do. It goes into a sort of conservation mode, so it slows the metabolism and other key functions that help you to maintain your health and keep your body running optimally.

I have had a desk job now for ten years. It was really hard for me to get used to this lifestyle because up until I started this job in my twenties, I was used to having very active jobs, like waitressing and restaurant work where you were constantly running your tookus off to get people things, set tables, run and grab food, make food, you name it, for customers.

When I started such an inactive job, I was really fidgety and found that I was exhausted at night on the way home, even though I had not physically exerted myself at all during the day. Sitting all day or the majority of the day has the opposite expected effect on your energy. It actually takes it away. You’d think you were “conserving” your energy by sitting all day, but what really happens is counterintuitive, you become more tired and less energetic and focused.

Sitting really is a no win situation. Sure, it’s something we all crave and like to do, but if you make this sedentary position the majority of your life, then you may pay the health price for it dearly.

I am a huge believer in the therapeutic benefits of massage. Not only massage, but touch in general. I believe that touch, particularly relaxing, premeditated, specific manipulation of the muscles type of touching, such as is done in professional massage, is extremely beneficial to the human body. Massage is especially good for working out muscles in people that exercise and may push them a little too hard one way or another.

I personally try to get one at least once a month, and I actually belong to a membership where I get one once a month for a fixed cost, and I love it In general, I get excellent massages and excellent service from this place of business, and have nothing but nice things to say about the establishment.

Of course, they can’t help all the massage therapists that you get, and of course, you may happen to get one once that just isn’t your style or generally does a really crappy job at manipulating your muscles and at relaxing you, which is the whole point of it. Their style may fit someone else’s taste, but it may not be for you at all. I had one such massage the other day. I booked double appointments, one for me and one for my sister, who was in from out of town.

Since I was booking them fairly last minute, and booking for two people, I wasn’t able to get any of the girls that I normally use. I actually, for the first time there, was assigned to a male therapist. Now, nothing against guys, I’m sure there are tons of very talented male massage therapists out there, but this massage experience was not good. First of all, he started the massage late, and also let me out early, ripping me off of about ten total minutes, which I wasn’t happy about since I like to enjoy every last second of my experience.

Second, he used way too much lubricant to massage. I’ve never had someone pause so much to re-oil or cream their hands. This made it so there wasn’t enough grip, and it ended up being more like one of those generic swedish massages where you don’t even feel like you’re getting any therapeutic benefit from it because it doesn’t cause any sort of releasing of pressure, which can border on pain and pleasure, it’s just a constant, boring, light massage.

I was glad that my sister got a therapist that worked for her, but I had to admit, a little peeved that mine was a total waste of time. For once I actually tipped the minimum, and I’m usually a really generous tipper, I just felt like he didn’t really try and he also cut my experience short, so I felt that deserved less “recognition” in the form of a gratuity.

So, I recorded one of the Bollywood dance workouts on Fit TV (also called “Shimmy”) and finally got up the nerve to try it. I forced my sister, who is actually a fitness enthusiast as well, but perhaps even more than me, to do it with me since she was visiting from California. I thought we could both feel completely clueless and uncoordinated together – what a fun sister bonding experience! And of course, uncoordinated we did feel when we did it.

The Bollywood belly dance style workout has three women in indian belly dance gear to follow. The music is filled with sitars and other ethnic sounds from the east, and the theme of the workout is to really let go, and shake things loose, but also to work up just a little bit of a sweat and help work out those tummy muscles. I thought this would be a very ab intensive workout (since the commercials for this workout say that it will give you envious abs), but it wasn’t really, I felt it more in my legs and my thighs, which I’m not complaining about since that’s where I happen to need most of my improvement.

The workout starts with a warmup that’s very unchallenging. You actually work on relaxing your jaw and your mouth as well. It was different, yes, but I just could tell that this workout wasn’t going to be challenging enough for me. The instructor has you going through a series of sensual, belly dancing types of moves, where you are shaking your butt and your legs a lot, and loosening up your neck muscles quite a bit as well, with head shakes that make you look like you are having a seizure – unless of course you are one of the undoubtedly professionally trained instructors, who happen to look elegant, and dare I say a bit sexy and wild when they do it.

My sister and I could not get through the first ten minutes of the workout without almost falling on the floor laughing at how ridiculous we looked, but we ended up getting through the half hour belly dancing bollywood workout, and I felt a little bit better when we were done, like my body was unwound. I’d compare it to the way my body feels after doing a fairly unchallenging yoga workout, relaxed, but not really “worked”, like I didn’t really burn many calories or seriously tone any muscles.

I’d say this workout is good to mix it up and throw in here and there, but to make it challenging enough as a routine part of your fitness regimen, you’d have to add more weight work and/or more aerobic activity to it.

It’s so funny sometimes how you hear about the latest fads, trends and fabulous finds in the world of fitness and self improvement. That’s kind of how I found out about the P90X workout program. I heard about it first on one Sunday when my husband was having his football buddies over, one of our friends said that he knew a couple of people who were doing this “P90X thing” and were getting totally shredded and ripped and lean by doing it.

Of course, my ears perked up, because who DOESN’T want to look that way, and I know that I can have some semblance of ambition when I really get going on a new program, especially if it gets results, even if it’s excruciatingly painful, which incidentally I’ve heard about the first few times doing this workout – but what isn’t painful that’s eventually worth it, I ask?

I’ve also seen numerous people doing the workout suddenly in the gym because there is a tv in the floor work room, so of course it’s piqued my curiosity even more. I know that it’s a multi part system that works specific muscle groups every time, and alternates a little bit of slightly aerobic activity with grueling muscle workouts that leave you feeling like a rubber band. Can’t wait to try it. I’ll let you guys know a full review and assessment once I’ve given it a shot. A few people that I work with are doing it and I’m going to jump in on some of the sessions.

It’s officially coming near the end of the first month of the new year (new decade, that is!), and I think that it’s time for us all to evaluate how we are coming thus far in our new year’s promises to ourselves when it comes to fitness. Even if you don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions, per se, you still have in the back of your head where you want to head in various areas of your life for the new year, and you wonder what the new year will bring for your personally, professionally and opportunity wise.

For me, I can tell you that my new year has started off right when it comes to working out. I promised myself that I would get the weight off that I put on over the holidays, indulging in the most delicious foods several days a week, that I normally only allow myself every once in a blue moon when I’m being my normal self and disciplining my eating habits. The good thing about doing this and only having the “bad” foods that taste oh so good only every once in a while as a treat is that you REALLY appreciate it all that much more when you actually indulge in that deli steak sandwich and french fries, ice cream, or big slice of pizza. You dig?

Anyways, I knew that the new year would be much more easy for me to work out regularly because one variable, the fact that the gym at work was closed for renovations for over a month, reopened at the beginning of January, allowing for me to get my much needed workouts in during the day instead of having to wait until I got home at 6:30 in the evening when it was dark outside, and the last thing I wanted to do was jump into a workout DVD, but the first thing I wanted to do was get dinner on.

Also, I think that as I have aged (I’m now 35 years old), and as my body has changed noticeably, I realize how important it is to keep up the working out and the eating right, because I realize that your body can change for the worse so much more easily with age. You have decreased secretion of the youth hormone which gives you more lean muscle mass and less body fat, and you have a variety of other factors and degeneration of healthy cells working against you, so it’s all that much more important to get your exercise in regularly.

So far, so good for me this year as far as my fitness level and goals go. How about you!?

I have suffered from the bronchial restricting disease called asthma for years now. I am 35 years old, and I had had the disorder for about 27 years now. It started when I was about eight years old. I remember my first asthma attack very clearly actually. I was at the outdoor YMCA, which was a great family retreat by where I grew up. It was on acres of wooded land, and it had a variety of amenities, including tennis courts, trailing, bike trails, and even a great little event cabin where you could come in, drink some hot cocoa and thaw out after doing some cross country skiing.

Oh, and the best part of course since my little sister and I were waterbugs, was the awesome outdoor pool and lounge area. Man, we used to go there all the time and just swim for hours and come home with golden brown skin. It was great. Then, when I was about eight, my mom, dad, sister and I were taking a walk there, and I was coming up a hill. I remember there was a lot of Queen Anne’s Lace growing at the time, and who knows, that may have even been what set off my attack.

I remember becoming extremely out of breath, and wheezing for the first time from the exertion of physical activity. It was actually quite distressing. I think that my mom thought I might have been faking it a bit, she said I was always a bit of a “Camille” when I was sick when I was younger, but I really was distressed and having a hard time breathing. I was taken to the doctors office and diagnosed promptly with asthma.

I was given a prescription inhaler, and at the time, I was also given some sort of oral medication, which I cannot remember the name of. I was told to stay away from certain triggers, but I was also told to keep on exercising, which I am grateful for. In fact, even today as an adult, I notice that my asthma only gets aggravated most during periods of sendentary lifestyle changes for me.

When I’m exercising and healthy, that’s when my asthma is kept at bay. So, it may seem like a bit of a dichotomy, but exercising can actually set off an asthma attack, but if you never exercise, this is even more likely to happen. In short, exercising is GOOD for asthma in the long term, and you will find you are actually more resistant to asthma when you are active.

My husband and I overkill on things sometimes, especially when it has to do with television and movies, which we both love to watch, but we’re picky about as well. We’re not the types to watch any old reality show that comes on just for the sake of zoning out, but we are always on the lookout for new movies and television ideas that will allow us to escape, but that will provide meaningful entertainment that is well acted and well thought out.

Hence, we BOTH have memberships to Netflix, and we both actually get the three a month deal too. Why? Well, because our tastes differ somewhat, and rather than haggle over what we’re going to rent for the weekend, I’ll rent the ones I want to see, and he’ll rent the ones he wants to see. So, if he has any weird stuff like old Batman tv shows or something that I’m really not into, or if I have a token chick flick that I know I’ll like but he’ll hate, then we rent them and we’re not put out that we didnt’ get what we wanted to watch for our prized weekends away from work.

One of the the things I’ve really enjoyed doing with Netflix is trying out new workout DVD’s before I buy them. For instance, that is how I learned that I loved the Jillian Michaels Biggest Loser DVD’s, so I went out and bought it after trying it out on Netflix. Also, Netflix has a lot of their workout DVD’s on demand, so you can watch them and try them out right at your computer without putting out the extra money to buy something that might just collect dust if you hate it.

I’ve wasted plenty of money of exercise DVD’s that were a total bust and that I hated and would rather run on a treadmill for an hour than do, so I can definitely appreciate the fact that their service allows me to shake it up and try new stuff all the time, at no extra cost other than the cost of the initial membership fees of course. It’s kind of like having your cake and eating it too – only it’s taking inches off your thighs – not putting them on

It seems like you could endlessly debate who in Hollywood has the “best” body. After all, it seems like everywhere you turn there is a bronzed, muscled, well toned babe or dude around every corner. Let’s face it, Hollywood types get paid to look great, and they don’t take that responsibility lightly in most cases. When they do, they also make headlines, but not the welcome kind.

Think of stars like poor Jennifer Love Hewitt, who really got chewed out just for looking normal in a bathing suit, or Jessica Simpson, who still looked smashing, but maybe put on a measly five pounds in an outfit on stage. These caused a virtual uproar because these poor girls weren’t ninety pounds soaking wet, talk about ridiculous! But there are some Hollywood stars that look great, no matter when they are photographed, and they are pretty consistently on top of their fitness.

Take for example, one of the most oft-cited toned Hollywood bods – Jennifer Aniston. She’s not too buff, but she’s always toned just right, and she’s thin, but she always looks really, really healthy, almost to a point of ridiculous, so she’s not setting a bad example by being anorexic looking. Then there is Jessica Alba, who has obviously been genetically blessed with long legs and torso, but also who is photographed frequently coming from the gym, and who toned up fabulously after having her first child. Bodies like that are enough to make you swear off chocolate forever.

Wait, no, I lied, I’d never swear off chocolate. But you get the drift, there are some people who just “get” fitness. They don’t seem to go too overboard with the weight thing, and yet they always look toned and fit, and thin of course, but never sickly or unhealthy. In the wake of the death of the beautiful Brittany Murphy, I think you’re going to see more focus on weight and weight issues in Hollywood.

I love that more realistic and healthy body types are being represented, and that actresses are getting great work that possess these types of bodies. It seems like they know the perfect balance between obsessing over one’s body and laying off of themselves and enjoying a slice of cake here and there. After all, how miserable do you think women like Victoria Beckham are, always counting calories and having to fit in a size zero? I don’t think that’s any way to live, I like food too much.

So, I was surfing through Netflix the other day, trying to find titles to add to my instant cue for workouts that I could just pop on my computer and do at my whim when my butt was feeling jiggly or I just felt like I really needed to get moving while I was sitting long hours at my computer. So, I happened upon one of those 10 Minute Solutions series DVD’s that I added and tried out last Sunday while I was having one of my episodes where I just felt I need a break from working and wanted to get my blood pumping and my muscles sculpted.

The 10 Minute Solution Rapid Results Pilates DVD is one that has five optional segments of intense pilates that are pretty rushed along so that you get maximum impact for minimum time suckage. Yes, I just said suckage – so what! Anyways, this is what I love. I love workout DVDs that really stick it to me, but that are shorter in duration. I’m the type of gal who will work my butt off and feel like I’m going to pass out for a half hour, rather than do a half butt workout that takes over an hour, if you know what I mean.

I for one feel that time is almost more precious than money except in a few rare cases, so anything that can give me similar results without taking up so much of my time, count me in. I’m sold. That’s exactly what the 10 Minute Solution pilates DVD promises, and it does deliver. I tried a few of the segments, and they really did make me feel like I got a superior elongating muscle workout that would make me more long and lithe in just a short period of time, plus you can pick whatever your target problem areas are each time you work out with this system, which I really like.

It’s got one segment for your arms and shoulder, which will leave your arms on fire but is great for toning and sculpting and elongating the muscle, one for your butt and thighs, which I love because it makes me feel like I actually got the right target spots for once, one for the belly and love handles, one for the overall body toning, and one that is designed to really stretch the body out. They are all great, and if you want a super workout for a half hour or under, I highly recommend it.