A friend of mine recently started working out with a personal trainer and brought up that since she informed her trainer that she really only wants to get long, lean muscle, and not bulk up, especially not through her legs or thighs, her trainer suggested that they work more on repetition of the exercises she gave to her and not on the actual weight being used.

This means that the weight being used, if any, would be minimal, and there would instead be more repeats of the exercise performed rather than more weight added. I know that this is definitely true when working on the arms, since women typically do not want to bulk up on their arms, but want instead a nice definition and to get rid of that “lunch lady arm” syndrome.

I remember being told by a personal trainer that I should use very light weights on my arms, and perhaps only build up to five pounds on each arm at the most if I wanted to maintain a sleek and muscled look, almost sinewy, without bulking up more like a man would bulk up in the arms. I did follow that advice one time and I did end up building up a nice definition in my arms and shoulders, without bulking up and getting too puffed out looking, which was definitely not my goal since my flabby arms and triceps were always one of my major concerns.

She did also say that diet played a big part in that, and that if you want to maintain that long, lean look you have to focus on eating only lean proteins and limiting your bad carbs because they played a role in water retention, which takes away from that lean look and the muscles showing through the skin. If you want to get long and lean, I’d suggest starting off with very light weights, say maybe one pound on each arm, and just doing a done of repetitions, say maybe twenty on each arms instead of ten, then working your way up, slowly, to the five pound weights.

We’ve all been there. Even us die hard exercisers who make sure we get a workout out in at least 5 days a week, or we start to feel as if something is amiss from our lives, or our stress levels immediately go out of control. We travel and take a week’s vacation, maybe longer, maybe shorter, and we completely stop working out.

Now this is fine if we’re being active and hiking through the jungle or climbing steep mountains, or maybe jet skiing or doing some other sort of rigorous, fun outdoorsy sport that definitely counts as exercise, but what about if you’re just chilling out, enjoying the beach and piling in the sugary margaritas or other naughty alcoholic drinks, and also eating fattening, naughty foods?

Well, it’s really important to continue working out in some fashion when we travel. This is especially true because not working out, combined with the other things we tend to do that are bad for us while on vacation, will inevitably result in us feeling cranky and tired and thus not enjoying our vacation as much as we should.

Not only that, but a lot of people report that when they go on vacation they tend to get “irregular”, meaning that they get constipated, and this often is from the fact that you are not moving around enough to loosen everything up enough, and thus everything is not moving right along as it normally does, and you’ve also most likely changed your eating habits temporarily, as most of us tend to do while we’re on vacation. And usually for the worse.

We have a routine that we are in when we are at home. Maybe we make sure we have fresh fruits and veggies around while we’re at home, but this tends to be out of our control when on vacation, and we are faced with choices that stop us up and are not lending themselves to high energy, or a good mood to boot.

Working out, maybe takign a workout DVD or some small exercise equipment you can use in your hotel room, will help energize you for the day to come and help you enjoy your vacation to the fullest. You are also less likely to get sick, get headaches and all the other fun things that come with not working out sometimes. The only time I can honestly say that I exercised like I should have and also ate healthy foods somewhat was when I took a vacation to Costa Rica with my sister.

Because the best food there is beans and rice, we ate that heavily and did not eat a whole lot of meat. If we ate protein, it was fish, which is a lean, energizing protein. We also ate a lot of fresh fruits, which helped energize us for out physically strenuous activities. Heck, strenuous sometimes there meant just walking a mile because the heat and humidity was so intense it was like walking in a sauna. I think it’s the only vacation where I actually lost a few pounds instead of gaining.

We just took a very long walk last night, since it was a hot summer night (yes, we are already getting those blistering hot days here in Ohio, you just never know what you’re gonna get!), and it ended up being a lot later than we wanted when we were finishing up the last leg of our walk, around 9:30.

The sun had begun to really go down in the sky and it was approaching total darkness by the time we reached our driveway. The problem was, we got lost and had to find our way back (we’re still relatively new to our neighborhood and were unfamiliar with the side roads, and ended up a long ways from our house), so we ended up travelling in the dark, which is a big no no for safety, as I’m sure you’re well aware.

We also were wearing dark clothes, so it was hard for cars to see us when we ended up on a semi busy roads where the speed limit was 45 - which means people go 55 to 60 mph, you know. Had I known we were going to be out late, I would have at least worn lighter clothes. In fact, many joggers shorts and pants include luminescent stripes or numberings of some sort so that joggers caught out later at night have relective properties so that cars travelling down the road can see them and properly swerve to stay well out of the way of hitting them.

Another part of safety when walking around neighborhoods, especially on busy roads where people tend to drive faster, is to stay well over to your left so that you are out of harms way if a car veers out of control or something happens where they suddenly swerve. We’ve all heard the horror stories, even of people just going out to get their mail, or crossing a busy street, who get hit and killed instantly by drivers who either aren’t paying attention or are simply careless and reckless, or perhaps they really genuinely did not see the person.

Safety is always first when jogging or walking around the neighborhood - it’s probably better that you stick to quiet side streets where the speed limit is 20, but I realize sometimes it’s impossible to avoid the busy roads, especially if you get lost!

I’m not exaclty how widespread this problem is, but I have virtually flat feet. This means that I have a very weak, and almost nonexistent arch in my foot. This can lead to a lot of soreness in the back and spinal alignment problems if it’s not taken care of properly, and also can present problems in balance when working out.

We just got a Wii Fit in fact for our Wii gaming system, and it’s only furthered my conviction that my balance is extremely weak, even with yoga and balance exercises, and it’s only strengthened my resolve to improve it so I can stand straight more easily and have less posture and back problems throughout my life.
One of my favorite tools for getting a lift under my arch are those gel inserts that you can buy at your local drugstore. They basically create an artifical arch, and hence more support, underneath the middle part of your foot so that you can walk more easily and also balance better without stressing your feet out as much, or more importantly, your back.

If you buy the arch support gel inserts, don’t go cheap . I’d go with a brand you know like Dr. Scholl’s or some similar comparable brand name, since it’s your posture and your spinal alingment we’re talking about here. You really want to make sure that you get the right size too. Make sure you don’t buy an arch support that is too high up if you have only a slightly flat foot, because that can also throw you off further than if you didn’t have one at all.

Another thing to consider is whether your shoe will fit the arch support correctly. Generally, only close toed and sneaker shoes will work, if you don’t want the inserts to show too much or be conspicuous. Some arch supports I’ve used are so intrusive that I can barely tie my tennis shoes with them in, so that’s why I also caution against buying ones that are too thick. It can really put a lot of pressure on the top of your foot if you buy the wrong size, so it’s imperative to get it right. If necessary, visit a podiatrist and have one professionally fitted, it will be worth it.

We need to get more exercise in this country than we currently do. Most of us think of joining a gym and rigorous workouts with jogging or weights. The fact is that it does not have to be that complex or expensive to become more fit. The simple act of walking for about 30 minutes per day can make a remarkable difference in your health.

Walking is enjoyable and can be done anytime of year. If you can’t afford to join a fitness club with an indoor track, you can join a walking group that walks regularly at your local indoor malls. The buddy system works well to keep you motivated instead of relying on an indoor treadmill.

When starting a walking program, you can start out gradually. The recommended goal for a walking fitness program is 10,000 steps per day. You can start with 6,000 steps per day broken into 2 sessions at 3,000 steps each. This way, you won’t be discouraged if you’ve been sedentary and are not accustomed to walking long distances.

To gauge how many steps you have taken in a day, you can invest in a pedometer. They are easy to find and inexpensive. The cost for a pedometer ranges from about $10.00 to $60.00 and you can purchase one in the middle cost range for about $20.00 that should work well for you. You can find pedometers in most sporting goods stores.

To reach your goal of 10,000 steps a day, there’s a couple of small ways you can get there. If you have a dog, walk it several times a day. Stairs steps count too, so you can climb stairs instead of taking escalators or elevators. When shopping, don’t look for the nearest spot and instead park a little further away.

The benefits of taking 10,000 steps a day are many. Your cardiovascular health will improve and weight control will be easier. Your general mood will be brighter as regular exercise wards off mild depression. Even the risk of certain cancers are diminished from an exercise regimen. Overall health care costs will be lowered since your general health should improve.

There is almost no better butt toner than taking the steps any time you can. Whether you’re at work and work a couple floors up, like I do, or you’re running errands of any sort of out and about at a place that happens to have stairs and elevators both, you should always opt to take the stairs.

You may think that just taking the stairs every conceivable time you can would not have a huge impact on the size and tone of your rear end, but cumulative effects of exercise do end up having a huge (no punt intended) impact on our rear ends, our cardio fitness, and our energy levels and ability to process oxygen through our lungs.

This further helps with the oxygenation of the blood, which provides energy and adds to the stamina we already have. Before you know it, if you’re taking the stairs every day that you can, and at every opportunity, you will be improving your cardiovascular health and endurance, and helping to sculpt, lift and firm that butt of yours, as well as even possibly helping with some cellulite issues, since taking the stairs increases blood flow, which theoretically should help with cellulite reduction.

I get into work early, so another side benefit I’ve found to taking the steps over the elevator is that it wakes me up and gets me ready for the day. I feel invigorated by taking those couple flights of stairs, whereas if I don’t and I take the elevator, I’m still groggy and tired when I get up to my desk. Taking the steps is a great way to start the day on a good note, get the circulation going to the brain, and help to condition that butt!

I just gardened again yesterday. And no, we’re not talking the leisurely, occasional weed picking and planting some small flowers sort of gardening, but a major overhaul of a very overfilled, weeded flowerbed in our front yard that has Japanese maples and a variety of other small trees in it which spread their leaves everywhere, making it necessary to clean the bed once every few weeks.

On top of that, I had to pull out whole sections of very strongly rooted weeds and bulbed flowers and plants that had spread beyond control and needed to be thinned out. When it was all said and done, I had pruned, pulled and tugged about 12 large plants, and had three very large piles of throw away stuff to prove it. I was wiped out, but most of all I was concerned about my back, which is sensitive to begin with, and definitely can get thrown off by vigorous gardening and all that bending, stooping and pulling, which your back isn’t used to.

So, I’ve learned that to protect my back, I don’t bend over from the top down any more, instead I really try to use my leg strength to help me bend far enough down to be able to get leverage to pull certain weeds and plants out. I also make sure that if I crouch, I’m doing it so that my back isn’t bent in any uncomfortable way.

I also went out and treated myself to new ergonomically designed shovels, rakes, and trowels so that I didn’t have to awkwardly handle any of this type of equipment, which was designed so that a smaller person such as myself wouldn’t have to grip the handle way up high but instead in my center core where my power is, instead of using my back. You can find a lot of this ergonomically designed gardening stuff at Target, and probably Home Depot and Lowes would carry similar items as well.

There are a lot of people, like myself, who are naturally blessed with great circulation. Some people, like my boyfriend for example, have really great circulation, and they can walk around in the wintertime indoors in shorts and a tshirt, while I’m struggling to stop shivering in a sweatshirt and sweat pants and socks.

When people generally stay pretty warm all the time, it usually means that either they have some extra weight on them, or that they have exceptional circulation, which means their blood circulates through their body very efficiently. It circulates to their arms, legs, and their extremities, so they rarely experience cold hands or feet, and they even stay pretty warm during periods of inactivity.

For me, part of the reason I work out in the first place is to improve my circulation. Half the time I wonder what my circulation would be like if I didn’t like exercising, if I was a couch potato who moved around minimally and sat like a bump on a log all the time.

out, the movement of it and the fact that cario workouts get your heart rate up, are excellent for people with bad circulation, and for people with good circulation, but they provide that additional benefit to those of us with poor circulation because it gets our blood pumping into areas of the body that need it more and are less prone to get the blood flow they need, such as the fingers, toes and feet, and for me, even my nose gets cold a lot.

Increasing circulation is one of the reasons I also use our new infrared sauna, because everytime I get in I know it’s making my heart pump more blood to all areas of my body, increasing my heart rate, and yes, warming my extremities from the comfy dry heat. Exercise and saunas alike are thought to decrease the likelihood of circulation related complications, like heart disease, heart attacks and possibly even strokes because they keep the blood moving and prevent disastrous clots from forming.

I just love working out because I feel so exhilerated afterwards, and my whole body feels warmed up and ready to go, as opposed to stiff and cold, like I feel on those days when I just don’t want to get off the couch and start moving. It’s a self perpetuating feeling on those days, and I know that once I get moving I’ll kick the coldness and the stiffness away.

Back pain and back injuries are extremely common as a source of work absences and in the more severe form can cause early disability for many Americans. There are precautions that you can take to minimize the risk of injury to your back and decrease the chance of living with chronic back pain. When you are in a seated position for an extended period of time, such as on an airplane or in your car, tuck a little pillow behind your lower back. This will support the curve of your waist which will leave your joints and muscles in a more relaxed position.

Use 2 pillows when you sleep at night. If you sleep on your side, use 1 pillow for between your knees thus keeping pressure off your back. For those that sleep on their back, put a pillow under your knees to diminish pressure to your hips. Try to avoid sleeping on your stomach since this arches your back and causes trouble.

Choose the chairs you sit in carefully. Low soft chairs and couches are tough on your back as you throw yourself forward to get up, increasing the possibility of wrenching your back. Avoid twisting your back when you transfer groceries from the cart to the car. Keep your hips and shoulders parallel.

Twisting your back for transferring puts seven times the force on your spine. Worktables should be keot at a height that’s beneficial to your back. Your worktable should be no more than 4 inches below your elbows when standing. For a seated position, your worktable should be at elbow level. This will keep you from bending over while working.

When packing suitcases, don’t overstuff one and carry it on one side of your body. Instead, evenly distribute into 2 bags and carry one on each side to avoid straining one side of your back. Lift properly to avoid back injuries. Keep your legs apart slightly and bend your knees and hips. Keep what you’re lifting close to your body. While lifting, take a deep breath, exhale and tighten your abdomen muscles to decrease stress on your back. Stay active to keep all of your muscles more toned . Inactivity will make you more likely to suffer from back pain and injuries.

Exercise seems to be a debate whenever someone is in an altered state from what their “normal” is. It’s no different for expecting moms. One time you hear that exercise should be strictly limited, and more and more now though, you are hearing that exercise not only benefits the mom, but it also benefits the baby in her womb. We are talking moderate exercise though here, not any kind of contortionist, heavy lifting and heavy cardio work type of exercise.

The benefits that early results are showing on moderate exercise for a fetus is that it benefits the unborn baby’s cardiovascular and neurological development, helping things work better like the blood pressure, the heart rate, and the peak function of all internal organs at the time the child is still in the mother’s body.

They tested this theory by testing babies that were exposed to exercise while in the mother’s womb vs. mothers that didn’t not exercise with child, and they found that the babies who had moms who moderately exercised while pregnant with them had better autonomic responses, which means involuntary bodily functions as we discussed previously, such as heart rate, breathing and blood pressure as well as organ function.

Experts are claiming the because of these findings on how well regulated a baby’s heartbeat is in the womb, exercise may be a way for mothers to be to increase the chances their child will have a healthily functioning heart and other organs. I could definitely see how this would logically benefit the child, especially since it seems there are several crucial stages where a mother to be and her child share the same chemistry and often the same reactions to certain foods etc.