Archive for the ‘Fitness’ Category

 
Strength, flexibility and stamina for the proper functioning of the human body are what seniors require to face the physical challenges of life. As you age you find more and more activities become increasingly difficult to perform. Many seniors become less active in society, not because of poor health or laziness but it’s more to do with the fear of falling or injuring themselves. Water aerobics is an ideal fitness activity for seniors because the buoyancy of water supports 90 percent of your body, yet due to its density provides enough resistance to promote muscle strength.

All fitness exercise sessions begin with a warm-up, which incorporates slow cardio and stretching exercises to get your blood pumping and your muscles working, preparing for the increased activity of your fitness exercise and finishes with a cooling down routine, where your limbs and other parts of your body are stretched and relaxed. According to estimations, you will burn between 500 and 700 calories in a 40-45 minute fitness water aerobics exercise session. 

Strenuous fitness exercises like running, jogging and bike riding have been credited with reducing cholesterol, high blood pressure and the prevention of heart disease. Walking on land burns 135 calories in half an hour while walking in deep water (for the same period of time) burns 264 calories.

Did you know that water aerobics has also achieved the same desired results? The natural buoyancy of water supports the body and relieves the stress on joints, tendons and ligaments. Water’s gentle support enables easy and effortless movements and can help seniors exercise their full body with low impact fitness exercise routines. With a water aerobics fitness exercise routine you can work within your own comfort zone, without any strain. This is the most common complaint by people performing land based fitness exercises.

Both your fine motor movements and your larger muscles and joints get a thoroughly good workout, because of the supportive nature of the water and its temperature of 82º F to 86º F, which also reduces the chance of any injury or falling. Try to use a salt water pool in preference to a chemical laden pool.

Over time as your confidence levels increase so will your desire to improve your strength, endurance, balance and flexibility with your fitness and health exercise routines. It will also help your brain and may help prevent dementia while the increased blood flow to your brain will help you think better.

Include activities you enjoy so you won’t view your fitness and health routines as a chore. You are more likely to make a commitment to good fitness and health exercise routines if you enjoy what you’re are doing and achieving.

If you suffer from arthritis or osteoarthritis you need water aerobics or swimming fitness exercises to eliminate the impact on your joints.  As the blood circulation increases it will help lubricate your joints as well as reduce or relieve your pain.

Fitness And Health Ideas believes seniors’ fitness exercises need to be kept simple, flowing and above all safe for all seniors irrespective of their fitness levels. You may prefer to start doing these senior fitness exercises listed below by yourself.

Two important points you need to consider:

A.    Fitness And Health Ideas impress upon you as a senior to make it your responsibility to discuss your exercise program with a fully qualified health professional (doctor) prior to beginning your fitness exercise routine.

B.    Fitness And Health Ideas impress upon you as a senior to make it your responsibility to make sure you don’t attempt any fitness exercises without people present in case of an health emergency.

Here are some amazing fitness and exercise benefits for seniors:-

* Provides a feeling of youthfulness

* Increases self confidence

* Can help to slow down or diminish the effects of chronic illness

* Increase flexibility

* Lower cholesterol

* Lower blood pressure

* Reduce inflammation

* Overcome depression

* Increase energy

In a senior’s fitness and exercise class you would not be expected to do movements like jumping, over stretching or anything complicated or jolting. You need smooth and easy flowing movements that are gentle on your joints but still raise and maintain your heart rate. The major reason for doing aerobic fitness exercises is to enhance your metabolic rate and burn calories, decrease body fat, increase your flexibility and build muscle strength, improve your immune system and promote bone density.

Even those in varying stages of recovery from ailments can experience improved health and faster healing with a water aerobics fitness and exercise routine.

The health benefits of water aerobics for seniors can be incalculable.

The amazing exercise benefits for seniors is well worth your effort and it is crucial you choose the correct type of exercise to suit your particular body and health limitations.

 Fitness And Health Ideas impress upon you as a senior to make it your responsibility to discuss your exercise programme with a fully qualified health professional prior to beginning your fitness exercise routine.

This article was written to help seniors over 55 years interested in a high quality Fitness exercise programme that focuses on the amazing exercise benefits for seniors and how to perform your exercise without injury.

Here are some amazing fitness and exercise benefits for seniors:-

* Provides a feeling of youthfulness

* Increases self confidence

* Can help to slow down or diminish the effects of chronic illness

* Increase flexibility

* Lower cholesterol

* Lower blood pressure

* Reduce inflammation

* Overcome depression

* Increase energy

You as a senior will need to start every Fitness exercise session with about 5 minutes of moving your arms backwards and forwards followed by jogging on the spot (this is called cardio exercise) because it gets your heart, lungs and blood pumping. Follow this with a number of slow easy stretching exercises for your arms, legs and back. Gradually increase the pace of your exercises. Be careful not to do too much too soon or you will injure yourself.

Once you feel sufficiently warmed up it will be safe to start your fitness exercise routine.  Every fitness exercise program will enhance your physical and mental well being. Physical activity will also help control your weight, it contributes towards healthy bones, stronger muscles and joints, relieves the pain of arthritis, reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression, and can decrease the need for hospitalizations.

Fitness exercises will help in rejuvenating your body, not make it worse. You may feel a little soreness, discomfort or fatigue this is normal. It is important that if you feel light headed, or you have shortness of breath, a quick severe headache, are sweating profusely, suffering with chest or stomach pains, or pains anywhere else, you must stop your fitness exercising immediately. If symptoms persist, contact your doctor immediately. If you have a condition that alters your heart rate, or are on medication that alters your heart rate don’t use your pulse to judge how fast your heart is or should be beating.

5 EASY STRETCHING AND FITNESS EXERCISES FOR SENIORS

Fitness And Health Ideas believes that fitness exercises for seniors, will help to extend your live and in addition, exercise can maintain your mobility, keep muscles strong, promote good balance, and combat frailty. Enhancing your fitness will also increase your metabolic rate and burn calories, decrease body fat, improve immune function and promote bone density.

This will only help if you do fitness exercises on a regular basis even if your work-out program only lasts for a minimum of 30 minutes per day,

Fitness And Health Ideas recommends, especially for older men and women over 55, these 5 easy stretching and fitness exercise.

1. Shoulder Rotation.

In this stretching and fitness exercise, you will need to lay down on something that is easily accessible and comfortable for you in a totally relaxed manner. The first part of the fitness exercise is to stretch your arms downwards. Gently stretch your hands open and maintain for a few seconds. For the next, stretch and fitness exercise lift both arms upwards and maintain this position for several seconds. This is a useful exercise to strengthen your shoulders.

2. Walking.

Fitness and Health Ideas consider this is a great form of exercise for seniors. Walking is easy for most people and is the most natural form of exercise. This can be performed just about anywhere indoors (walking on the spot) outdoors or even your local shopping mall. When you walk you burn calories, increase cardio fitness and retain strength in the legs.

Your physical and mental well being will improve with the right exercise. 

3. Balancing using a Table

In stretching exercises for seniors this is your easiest stretching exercise in the program. To perform this exercise safely what you need is a table or something heavy or solid to hang on to. You will need to stand close to the object you choose for support while trying to slowly balance on your toes. You need to perform this exercise slowly and cautiously when raising and lowering your body by bending your toes.

4. The arm Raised Exercise

You can relax as you do this exercise by sitting in a chair or on the edge of a bed. This is a great stretching and fitness exercise to strengthen your shoulders. Simply raise your left or right arm stretching as high as possible holding this pose for a few seconds then change arms, this exercise can be performed several times throughout your day.

5. The V shaped stretches

Maybe the hardest stretch and fitness exercise of all, depending on your physical, fitness and health levels. You will simply need to bend your body in the middle (waist line) and allow your head, shoulders, arms and hands to hang straight down assisted by gravitation so you can form as close as possible a v-type shape.

There was a point, a long time ago, when looking aged was a sign of your life experiences. However, this is no longer the case. Instead, it shows how little you have taken care of yourself throughout your lifetime.

It is a wildly held belief that 60 is now the new 40 and 70 is the new 50. If you maintain a fitness routine and eat healthily throughout your life then turning 55 and beyond need not seem like it is all down-hill from “here”.

 fitnessandhealthideas.com is your guide to a better healthy lifestyle.

The Wonders And Beauty Of Aerobic Exercises

By Fitness And Health Ideas

You are becoming more and more conscious about your physical appearance and you understand that obesity will affect not only your lifestyle and social life but also your total wellbeing.

 Because you are just getting started with your aerobics programme, you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed. Before you engage in any weight loss diet, product or program, make sure that you have a full comprehension of its effects and side effects. There are many ways to work out, and if you can manage a good fun filled workout program you are going to be a much happier and healthy person. It is also true that you need to have a workout routine in which your body is moving fast and your heart and lungs are forced to work harder than when you are at rest. This is called aerobic exercise, and it is something that is very important for you to understand

 Please don’t think you need to start at the top right away. Advanced aerobics is a goal you will need to work towards. This includes running in place and doing a series of movements that you might find very strenuous to start with. Also, it is unsafe to start anywhere other than as a beginner, because you might injure yourself and you may also run into problems. Therefore, you need to start from the beginning so you will obtain the maximum benefit from your fun filled aerobics workout routine.

 Beginning a simple aerobics fun filled program is extremely easy and something that you can start with in your own home. The main point of the exercise is to get your heart, lungs and blood pumping.

 Another great thing to do before beginning an aerobics program is to start walking or jogging on the spot. You can then start moving your arms up and down. The point of aerobics is to get your heart pumping, and the best way to do this is with movements, like jumping jacks, for as many repetitions as you can manage. This is the best way for you to begin your aerobic training, because you are able to work your way up from nothing and you can really get a healthy body as well.

 Music is a good motivator because it adds fun and enjoyment to your aerobic exercise programme. If you are a beginner the following Aerobic exercises could be suitable for you:

 REGULAR RAPID WALKING – is an excellent type of aerobic exercise for you. Fitness And Health Ideas believes you should try and work your way towards doing this simple exercise for up to 45 minutes 5 to 6 times per week.

 REGULAR JOGGING – You can do this simple and easy heart rate accelerator type aerobic exercise almost anywhere without attending a gym or your local workout centre. Walking or jogging on a treadmill in the privacy of your own home can be a huge help and it’s convenient too.

 STAIR CLIMBING – As a beginner you may find stair climbing difficult. The benefits for you are that 15 minutes of stair climbing will burn up the same amount of calories as jogging for 30 minutes, therefore you are not required to do it for long periods of time.

 BICYCLE RIDING – Unlike other physical activities that require strenuous movements you can have so much fun and enjoyment riding your bicycle with your girlfriend, friend or mate.

 DANCING – Another thing that sets aerobic exercise apart is the fact you can have a wonderful time with your partner and friends enjoying the local dance and providing you are prepared to let yourself sweat a bit you are also doing a great cardio and a calorie burning exercise.

 JUMPING ROPE – Aside from conditioning your heart and the lungs once you get into the rhythm you will be zeroing in on your best cardio exercise.

 SWIMMING – When one stands in water at chest level your body is near weightless. The natural buoyancy of water supports the body and relieves the stress on joints, tendons and ligaments. Water’s gentle support enables easy and effortless movements. When you swim you almost complete a full work-out routine because your legs and arms are both moving.

 HULA-HOOPS – As a beginner you can do simple aerobic exercises like hula-hoops almost anywhere and anytime to work your oblique’s which is a big problem for women.

 If you are an absolute beginner, Fitness And Health Ideas recommend that you check with your personal doctor prior to commencing any weight loss, diet or exercise program to make sure it is appropriate for you.

 Fitness And Health Ideas also strongly recommend you take the time to perform warming up and cooling down exercises before and after every exercise session.

 If you are motivated to begin aerobic exercises after reading this article, please contact us and keep us up to date with your progress. We wish you the best of health.

Fitness and Health Ideas to be precise is here to help you prepare the body for the physical necessities of daily life. Fitness and Health provides strength, flexibility and stamina for the proper functioning of the body.

WHY SHOULD I DO WATER AEROBICS

We all know that exercise such as running, jogging and biking has been found to reduce cholesterol and high blood pressure and prevent heart disease. Did you know that water aerobics can have the same desired effect.

This article emphasises the benefits of water aerobics. Aquatic exercise is becoming increasingly popular as water has been found to be ideal for muscle toning, is soothing and increases stamina, strength, flexibility and endurance. It is well known that our body weight is much less in water. Hence when one stands in water at chest level your body is near weightless. The natural buoyancy of water supports the body and relieves the stress on joints, tendons and ligaments. Water’s gentle support enables easy and effortless movements. Many people with arthritis, old age problems and post-operative recuperation walk several times up and down the pool, usually such pools are 4 ft deep only at any point or all points or through its length and breadth. Such shallow pools are zones of wonderful therapeutic cure. In winter the swimming pool is heated and in summer the pool is kept cool. Many patients come to recover from injuries and after surgery also.

Patients are required to do the exercises for the head, eye, mouth, shoulder, inner and outer arms, thighs, legs, ankle, feet, fingers and toes. In short, the exercises cover every part of the body from head to toe. Breathing exercises are also included. While land exercises aggravate orthopaedic problems, water exercises can be done without undue stress and muscle weakness.

Many of the elite sports personalities with injuries use water aerobics.

The quality of water is unique. It’s elasticity adjusts to variations in force or speed of movement at different joint angles thus providing a constantly changing resistance.

The fascinating and inviting qualities of water make the exercises smoother and more relaxing than hand exercises.

In water aerobics the combination of routine is limitless and there is something for everyone, even a non-swimmer.

Just standing in neck deep water stimulates circulation, there is a soothing effect on the muscles, the heart in fact recovers more quickly from exertion because it is not working against the force of gravity. The water exercise includes 15 minutes of warming up and ends with 15 minutes of colling down with ½ hour of jogging and exercises in between.

Water Temperature

Water temperature should be between 82⁰ -  85⁰. Water that is too warm can make you feel sick, where colder water can cause pain in stiff or arthritic joints. If you fear water, wear a flotation device and stay in the shallow part of the pool.

 Different Strokes

For calorie burning, stroke matters. A 123 pound woman swimming side stroke will burn 68 calories in 10 minutes while a 170 pound man will burn 90 calories. The same woman burns 95 calories with a slow crawl or backstroke and the man, 130 calories.

 The breaststroke eats up 91 calories during a 10 minute swim for the woman and 125 calories for the man.

 I can’t Swim

 People who haven’t learnt to swim can still do a variety of water exercises, including aqua aerobics, walking or jogging across a pool in chest deep water or running in place while treading water with flotation devices to keep you upright in the deep end of the pool. Lift your knees high, pump your arms back and forth. Devices such as fins, hand paddles and inflatable rubber mitts help strengthen your upper body or legs by increasing resistance against the water.

 A total body workout in water should include exercises for all major muscle groups. A typical warm-up and cool down can include shallow water walking with gentle arm movements back and forth.

 A combination of leg kicks and leg lifts can work the lower body, while arm circles and figure 8’s work the upper body, including shoulders, chest and back. Kicking laps across the pool holding on to a kickboard is a great conditioner and can be done by non-swimmers.

 Water workout – Swimming and Water Aerobics

 Aqua aerobics is particularly beneficial for pregnant women with the added load in their belly and the increase weight during pregnancy, most women find conventional forms of exercising quite difficult. Besides, there is a high risk of sustaining injury to hips, back and other parts of the body.

Check out  Fitness and Health Ideas for more informative and interesting articles.

Buzzle.com – Aqua Aerobics – Water Aerobic Exercises.

Fitness and Health Ideas to be precise is here to help you prepare the body for the physical necessities of daily life. Fitness and Health provides strength, flexibility and stamina for the proper functioning of the body.

Your heart is a muscle, or pump, and like every muscle in your body it needs to be exercised to grow and become fit, healthy and strong. Another important part of our body is the spinal cord, because it defines our posture and gives shape to our body. To keep this in good shape it can only be achieved through regular exercises.

All forms of aerobic exercises will strengthen your heart so it will pump more blood with each beat. High stroke volume is beneficial to your muscles which get more efficient at taking the oxygen out of the bloodstream. Your endurance will be greater because your muscles won’t run out of oxygen as quickly. You will be surprised at how good you will feel after a little exercise.

Your heart can circulate more oxygenated blood throughout your body with less effort and great efficiency which results in a slower heart rate. This happens because of an increase in the activity and number of enzymes that transport oxygen out of the bloodstream and into the muscle. Mitochondria inside the muscle increase in number and activity as they are the powerhouse of your cells because they do all the heavy duty work to keep you moving. The average fit and healthy adult heart pumps about 5 litres per minute along with oxygen and many other life sustaining elements circulating through your body.

Some of the benefits you receive from aerobic training include:-

(a)    Increase in heart size (your heart can grow by 20% in size);

(b)   Increase in blood volume;

(c)    decrease in resting heart rate (a good resting heart rate is below 70 bpm);

(d)   an increase in cardiac output due primarily to stroke volume;

(e)   an increase in oxygen capacity;

(f)     a reduction in blood pressure (excellent for reducing heart disease risk);

(g)    improvement in body fat levels (great for figure and health).

Fitness and Health Ideas believe using aerobic training has some excellent benefits for your heart, fitness, health and body.