Improve Your Quality of Life by 60%

Improving your quality of life is a very admirable goal!

In fact it's very simple.

A study from the American Journal of Medicine revealed that simply walking 3 times a week decreased the prevalence of dieing from heart disease by 60 percent.

As little as 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times per week can reduce the risk of early heart-disease-related death by 60 percent, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Department of Cardiology in New Orleans and published in the American Journal of Medicine. NaturalNews.com

To clarify, the study was performed on individuals that already had heart disease, in fact it was performed with people who were under going cardiac rehabilitation.

This is a very good sign, even for those who don't have heart disease.

Simply put, walking moderately 3-5 times a week has tremendous health benefits.

These benefits go far beyond heart health, also included are significant improvements of mood, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, osteoporosis, weight control, cancer, and the ability to live an independent and fulfilling life. Sciencedaily.com

To read the original article that started this blog post stop by Natural News and read it for your self.

Take charge of your life and add a simple routine like walking 3 times a week, you will thank yourself!

Improve You Brain Health in 3 Minutes a Day

I cam across an interesting video showing a simple exercise on how to improve your brain's ability to heal and function.

It comes from a book titled Superbrain Yoga, it's a simple and effective technique to energize and recharge the brain. It is based on the principles of subtle energy and ear acupuncture. This powerful technique is explained in Master Choa Kok Sui's latest book Superbrain Yoga. You can check out his website here.

This unusual exercise is used to improve mental health and acuity and has been going viral on the Internet lately. It was featured in a Los Angeles CBS News report that has an MD, a Yale neurobiologist, an occupational therapist, educators, and parents endorsing it. It is a simple routine, and it has created positive results for learning disabled and autistic children as well as older Alzheimer`s victims.

And it`s useful for any kind of brain fog or dullness, even emotional instability. It can improve memory and focus, and it`s even made some a little smarter. It seems to work for everyone regardless of mental condition.

Below is the video from the CBS news story


If you would like a brief description on how it works, check out this article found on Natural News.

Exercise Prevents Cell Aging

So the proof is in the pudding. I think most people knew that if an individual exercises regularly there are positive health benefits. It's pretty evident to see who has been committed and who hasn't.

But if you're like me, you enjoy reading some of the scientific evidence behind these assumptions. A recent article released by Live Science revealed that regular physical activity has an anti-aging effect at the cellular level.

That's a remarkable statement! A cellular level! That means the millions upon millions of cells that you depend on, but never think about, do a better job and live longer when you decide to exercise. I'm 100% certain that there is also a correlation between how much health is expressed by those cells compared to the consistency and amount of exercise performed.

Here are two paragraphs from the article, but I recommend reading the entire piece here.

The research found that intensive exercise prevents the shortening of telomeres — the DNA that bookends chromosomes and protects the ends from damage — much like the cap on the end of a shoelace.

The shortening of telomeres limits cells to a fixed number of divisions and can be regarded as a "biological clock." Gradual shortening of telomeres through cell divisions leads to aging on the cellular level and may limit lifetimes. When the telomeres become critically short, the cell dies.

Want to Avoid the Flu? Exercise!

I came across this article today and after reviewing it I knew this is something I wanted to share. The first line of the article states, "Regular exercise may help reduce the misery of the flu by boosting the immune system's response to the virus".

Intuitively I think you know that exercise does this, but it helps to be reminded of it once and a while.

Take a moment and read the full article posted by Reuters titled Regular Exercise May Help Battle the Flu.

The article is cautious to give a definitive answer, but there are many studies and reports that show the benefits of exercise and overall health.

If you can bear with me, stand up. Stand up and reach as high as you can , then reach down and touch your toes. Make sure to breath deep when you go up and breath out when you go down.

Try this five or six times!

How do you feel?

Do you feel alive? Awake? Energetic?

The point I'm trying to make is this; when you move your body and your spine moves with a good range of motion, your nerves will relay messages to your brain. Some of messages being sent can act like charging a wind up flash light.

Instead of the result being light, it is more health!

It's Never To Late To Start Exercising

This past week the British Medical Journal released a study reporting on exercise and decreases in all cause mortality. Even if you haven't previously exercised, starting and continuing an exercise routine will lower all causes of death.

The Study reported:
Men who increased their physical activity level from a low or medium level to a high level cut their all cause mortality level by 50%. After 10 years of follow-up their increased physical activity was associated with reduced mortality to the level equal with men who engage in high physical activity throughout their life.

The study warned the reader on one point. That increased exercise in the first half of the the 10 year follow-up did not yield any decrease in mortality. I'm interpret this to mean is it took awhile for the body to clean out all those cobweb's.

I found this study to be very informative, and now I can show someone that it's never to late to get started.

So even if you've fallen off the healthy goals horse , it's never to late to get back on.


"I am not discouraged; because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward"

- Thomas Edison

From all washed up to washboard abs

Today, there are more people than ever in pursuit of a better body, smaller waistline and the ever-elusive washboard stomach. We are constantly inundated with advertisements for pills, potions and powders guaranteed to bring you whatever you desire in terms of better fitness and a better body. Every day I see television advertisements for new scientific breakthroughs for supplements that will help you lose unwanted fat while eating whatever you want. While the promises that these products may appeal to our desire for quick results with little effort, the missing ingredient in the weight loss solution is simple. The best way to achieve washboard abs is to eat smartly and exercise correctly. Now hang in there for a little better description of this never-before-described concept because you may just find this simple concept a bit more complicated than it sounds.

Now I will save any discussion about eating smartly for another time and purely and simply review the basics for a weight loss, body-transforming workout. If you desire to change your physique or transform your body follow this very simple resistance-training workout. But before doing so you will need to temporarily abandon any long duration steady state aerobic activities. This means there is no room in your workout for 45-minute elliptical sessions or 60-minute runs. These aerobic activities performed at a relatively constant level of intensity will confuse your body and slow or prevent the goal of changing your body composition. I will address how certain types of aerobic activity can impede fat loss in another article. So let us move on to the specifics of the workout.

In this workout you will do a few very simple things. They must be done correctly. This workout plan leaves no room for your own ideas or changes. If you do change or alter the workout, do not get upset when you do not see the results. So here we go. The workout is based on the concept of continuously increasing your training volume and weight in a predetermined strictly measured time period. This concept was popularized by Charles Staley, a nationally known strength coach, and he described it as EDT training. You will begin with selecting 3 pairs of exercises to perform with each workout. You will have 3 workouts per week. You will initially utilize single joint movements and the simpler compound joint movements. This means you will use exercises like overhead press, seated row, knee extension, knee flexion, calf raise, bicep curl, bench press and others that fit this description. Do not attempt to use squats or dead lifts with his workout in the beginning. Each pair of exercises will be performed in alternating fashion and in a 15-minute session. Once the exercise is selected you will need to find out the maximum weight you can perform the exercise with for 10 repetitions with (also known as 10 rep max). You will take that 10 rep max weight for each of the exercises in the pair and perform alternating sets (perform 5 reps of one exercise then go to the next exercise in the pair and perform 5 reps) of 5 reps with as little rest as possible in a 15-minute time period. You will record and journal each workout by specifically noting the exercise, weight, reps performed and sets performed. I will give you an example. You may start with a first pair of v-bar seated rows and knee extensions. When you have determined your starting weight take your position at the equipment, set the watch timer for 15 minutes and begin. You will do 5 reps with the seated row at your weight, get up and go to the knee extension machine to perform 5 reps there. Then you will walk right back over to the seated row and start rowing. Continue with this for 15 minutes recording how many repetitions you get with each set. You can rest from 2-5 minutes between each pair of exercises (after the 15 minutes of training is up). After you do this with all 3 pairs and have trained for 45 minutes, you are done.

This workout requires that you increase the number of total repetitions performed for each exercise the next time you do it. You will be resting less between sets and working more. More work and less rest mean you are utilizing resistance training to build muscle that will burn calories. This workout will take on an aerobic element because you are not resting long between exercises. Your ability to increase your training intensity is critical and often a missing part of the average persons workout. When you train with increasing intensity each time, your body will not be able to accommodate or get used to your workout. When you have the body continually fooled you can expect to experience changes in your body composition. The more muscle you have greater your calorie burning capacity. You will notice significant changes in your body composition, as you become a fat burning machine.

Exercising Without Getting Results

What if I was to tell you that your workout was the main reason you were not getting the results you want. You may be working hard, sweating much and feeling sore all over but come to realize you have been at it for months and you are really not any closer to your training goals then when you began. Now I am assuming that you have a goal or reason for training. After all, without a destination for your vacation, how do you know where to go or even how to get there? This, for some people, is their biggest challenge. But let us really discuss how you could be exercising extremely hard but fail to get the results you want.
Let’s say your goal is to gain some lean body mass, muscle. I will cover three very common ways that you could fail at gaining lean body mass. The common thread among these three training mistakes is that they all involve having training techniques that are not congruent or in agreement with the training goal, increasing lean body mass.
The most obvious training faux pas can be realized when we consider the lack of attention your gym’s power rack receives in a day to day basis. There is the occasional guy doing standing barbell curls in the rack but rarely do you have to wait long to find it available. Consider this very important fact of muscle physiology. The greater the demand placed on the largest muscle systems of the body, the greatest response you will have from the body in producing anabolic hormones (the body’s natural hormones that drive muscular development) like growth hormone and testosterone. When you perform full body compound movements like the squat, deadlift and chin ups at the appropriate intensity and volume (amount of work performed) your body will respond by producing more muscle in response to the demand of your training. You cannot expect to create more muscle mass when exercising the smaller muscle groups with single joint movements like bicep curls and lateral dumb bell raises.
The next very common training mistake is one very few people realize that they are making, even when you ask them about it. Most people will tell you that they train hard. However, it’s been my experience that very few people are training at a high enough intensity to stimulate growth. When you consider that the body will only change or adapt when presented with an adequate physical stressor it makes obvious sense. The intensity with which each exercise is performed is a critical factor that cannot be overlooked. No matter what you selection of exercise, if you perform it at low intensity, you will never achieve your desired goal. However, if you are new to exercising, you may realize a bit of change or improvement in your physique even at a low intensity. This is generally limited and fleeting. This improvement in can be due to comparing a low intensity weight training program to no weight training at all. So consider this during your next workout. Are you exercising with enough intensity?
Now finally an overlooked weight training variable that is extremely underappreciated. Rest. Seemingly mastered by the masses this term has nothing to do with leisure and everything to do with that brief period of time with which you allow your body to recover from a weight training set. The rest period can be defined as the time you rest between sets of a particular exercise. It can be as short as 10 to 30 seconds or as long as 5 minutes. By manipulating your rest period you can challenge the body’s different energy systems and increase your potential for muscular hypertrophy (increased muscle mass). The biggest mistake with respect to the rest period is that most people rest too long. Rest periods that last longer than 1.5 to 2 minutes can diminish your potential for gaining lean muscle mass. Longer rest periods, like 3 to 5 minutes, can be valuable when training for strength but will not help you increase lean muscle mass. When you increase your rest period you decrease the over all level of weight training intensity.
So if we can wrap up with a brief summary here I think this article could assist you if your weight training goal is to increase your lean body mass. If we begin with the planning component of a good workout, then we should make sure to write down our exercises and select compound body movements (multiple joint movements) that will challenge the larger muscle groups of the body. Finally we shoulder remember the close relationship between shorter rest periods and increased intensity. Rest periods should be around 2 minutes or less and you should continually strive to push yourself to higher levels of intensity with each repetition you perform. If your time is as valuable as I believe it is, you owe it to yourself to make the most of it. Train hard but train effectively.