Power Walking Superb For Fitness

Do you have a spring in your step? Does life feel so good that you cannot wait to get out of bed in the morning?

With the sedentary lifestyle so many of us lead nowadays, the chances of feeling like this are a little on the minus side. Hours of sitting at computers, driving to work and then watching TV at home, all lead to being overweight, having posture-related aches and pains and a general feeling of sluggishness.

These physical symptoms lead to mental sluggishness too. So we are trapped in this cycle of lethargy, draining us of our vital energy.

In order to lignite that vital spark, we need to break this cycle and the way to do it is...exercise. Exercise should not an optional extra that we fit into our lives when we feel like it, it needs to be an essential part.

Body and spirit are inextricably linked, so to achieve a healthy mind, you must firstly have a healthy body.

In order to make exercise an ingredient of our everyday lives, something that we will stick at, it needs to be fun. It needs to be enjoyable, challenging, motivational, have variety, achieve the desired results and suit your body and lifestyle.

One of the most natural forms of exercise is walking. Walking is an aerobic exercise that will not only increase your cardiovascular strength, but improve your posture as well.

Whereas any form of walking is beneficial, the most powerful is...Power Walking.

There are numerous benefits to be gained from power walking and some of them are:

Cardiovascular fitness is improved and thus the risk of coronary disease and strokes is reduced.

Mental well-being is improved resulting in a reduction in anxiety, stress and tension.

Muscles are toned and strengthened.

Helps to reduce body fat and manage your body weight.

Boosts energy and improves your self esteem.

The above are just a few of the physical and mental benefits to be gained from power walking. One benefit that deserves special mention and is often overlooked, is that if you walk with friends, it is socially enjoyable. This ensures that your power walking exercise is fun and not an activity that has to be endured.

Power walking is a low cost form of exercise. No special clothes or equipment are necessary to be able to participate.

However, there is one item that I would strongly recommend and that is a good pair of walking shoes. Each time your foot hits the ground, it is subjected to two and a quarter times your body weight, so the purchase of walking shoes is a wise investment.

So, muster your friends, grab your walking shoes and power walk yourself to new levels of physical and mental well-being.

Get Off The Couch

By: Adrian Barrett

Regular exercise makes you look better and feel better. It is
that simple. Movement is a sign of life. Stagnation is a sign of
something you might contemplate while passing a cemetery. If you
want to feel radiantly alive in mind and body, get off the couch
and begin to move. Regular exercise, no more complicated than
walking, can restore health to all your muscles, bones, glands,
organs and cells. Inactivity is one of the major causes of
disease but activity is life.

Action is one of the laws of our being. Why not resolve right
now to take charge of your health and your life? You owe it to
yourself and you are worth the effort. If you do not believe so,
read and meditate on the Eighth Psalm. It is one of the most
beautiful in the entire Books of Psalms.When weather permits,
walk out of doors, by the beach, the ocean, the lake, or in a
park away from pollution, noise and commercial distractions.
Window shopping is not exercising. In foul or inclement weather
it might be necessary to walk through a large mall or around an
indoor track, but always remember that exercise in the open air
is essential.

As often as you can, head for the sea, the mountains, or the
lakes and get moving. You will add years to your life and will
be aiding in the battle to prevent disease, atrophy and
disintegration.

Exercise in the open air is just as important for those who are
well as for those who are ill. Impurities are expelled from the
skin and lungs when circulation has been quickened by vigorous
exercise.

The great British physician, Dr. Edward Johnson of London,
writing as far back as the nineteenth century, maintained that
the lungs and skin were the most important organs appointed to
expel waste matter from our systems. Vigorous exercise can
result in the expulsion of up to two pounds of useless waste
matter per day. Yet the sad truth is that these two bodily
organs remain comparatively idle in most people. Man, who was
created in the image of God is today a poor physical specimen
for the most part.

Oh, we have great athletes with amazing physiques and skills,
but take a look around the next time you pass a donut shop or
get caught on the cookie isle in the grocery store. We now live
in a society where hundreds of thousands of people are too fat
to fly on a commercial airplane.

Regular vigorous walking is the best solution for diseased
bodies. It increases the peristaltic action of the intestinal
tract. The motions of walking cause all of the internal and
digestive organs to swing, stimulating their function.

You might experience some pain in your muscles because they are
being reinvigorated after long disuse. Nature will bring them
back to life. There are today many good exercises known to
produce satisfactory results if performed properly and
regularly. Yet for most people, walking is best. When one begins
to walk, sickness begins to go. There is no good reason why man,
with his superior intelligence, should be at the low end of the
scale of creatures in the matter of strength, health, and well
being. So put on some comfortable clothes, lace up those good
walking shoes and get moving.

About the author:
© 2006 -- Adrian Barrett -- To learn German or to learn to speak German
online, please visit this website.

5 Top Tips For Building Muscle At Home

By: Darren MacLeod

I have always believed that you have a much better chance of
reaching your fitness goals if you join a gym and get advice
from a professional trainer or coach. However, many
MuscleandStrength.com readers do not have the time, money or
desire to join a gym and prefer to workout at home. I believe
that working out home has a its disadvantages, but the one huge
advantage it does have is...you don't have to leave the house!

If you are one of these people that plans to workout at home
then this article is for you! Like I just mentioned, you will
have a far better chance of achieving your goals when you join a
gym but it is possible to get into shape and build muscle
without leaving your home with limited equipment.

So here at my top 5 tips for building muscle at home:

1) Don't waste your money on "miracle" gym equipment Getting in
shape takes time, motivation and hard work. If you are not
willing to put in those three things then you may as well not
start. Avoid gym equipment that says "get in shape in 5 minutes
a day", or "flatter abs in 14 days". These types of equipment
are a total waste of money! You can literally do hundreds of
exercises just using a set of dumbbells and a barbell, and these
happen to be some of the cheapest pieces of gym equipment. If
you are unsure of what equipment best suits your needs you
should consult a fitness professional (see tip 5).

2) Wherever possible, use your bodyweight If you have limited
equipment, bodyweight exercises are your friend. You can
potentially pack on a huge amount of muscle without ever lifting
a dumbbell or barbell. Good bodyweight exercises to do at home
include chin ups, wide grip pull ups, dips, bench dips, push ups
and bodyweight rows.

3) Plan your diet around your workouts If you have the
flexibility of working out at home then you also have the
ability to plan your meals around your workouts. Diet makes up
70% of the building muscle process so you can see how important
it is. Make sure you eat a good serve of complex carbohydrates
about one hour before your workout and a nutritious meal
containing protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals within
1 hour of finishing your workout. You should spread your meals
out evenly throughout the day. Eat six small meals throughout
the day instead of three large ones. This promotes a fast
metabolism and limits fat storage.

4) Avoid distractions One of the problems with working out at
home is getting easily distracted. If possible, set up your gym
equipment in an empty room with a stereo so you can focus on
working out and not what's happening around the house. A friend
of mine who has a home gym told me he often used to put his
favorite bodybuilding DVDs on while he was training to keep him
motivated. This is an awesome tip to stay motivated at home.
Another tip would be to try and workout when no one else is home.

5) Consult a fitness professional I recommend this for people
who are new to weight training and home workouts. Even if you
have trained in a gym before, working out at home is much
different and a fitness professional with working out at home
experience should be able to help you out. In addition to
helping you with your home gym setup, he/she will be able to
plan a good routine and give you some tips to maximize the
equipment you've got. You should be able to get all the help you
need in one or two sessions so it shouldn't break the bank!

These are just a few important tips for those of you working out
at home. If you are serious about workout out at home for the
long term, I would recommend that you pick up a few more basic
pieces of equipment. These include an adjustable bench, weight
rack (this can be used for bench and squatting) and a good range
of dumbbells and weight plates.

If you have any more questions about working out at home head
over to the forum on MuscleandStrength.com, our members will
happily help you out with some free advice. Well, good luck with
your home workouts and thank you for reading this article. See
links below for further information.

About the author:
Learn how to build muscle, gain weight and shape up by reading
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Better eating ... easy as 1, 2, 3

By: Matt Hodkinson

I'm sure you have noticed that there are people out there who
seem to be able to eat what they like, as often as they want,
and never seem to put any great amount of weight on. These
people have energy by the bag-load, rarely display any signs of
sickness, and portray an image of confidence in everything they
do. By the same token, there are many people who starve
themselves at every given opportunity, have tried every diet
from Atkins to South Beach, yet still manage to pile on the
pounds. These people often suffer from frequent illness, almost
non-existent levels of energy, and an inherent lack of
self-esteem.

The roots of people's eating behaviour can often be attributed
to their upbringing, and the system of eating taught to them by
their parents and family members. Wasn't it often the case that
you were told to finish all the food on your plate, as it was
rude to leave those morsels, lovingly prepared over a hot stove?
This way of thinking has caused many people to follow a path in
their eating habits, which has a detrimental effect on the way
their body handles food. We all know deep down that the portions
served in many restaurants and cafe's are way too much, but we
still do our level best to finish every last bit.

The only way out of this cycle is to re-train your body and mind
in they way they handle hunger and satisfaction. There are 3
simple steps you can take to improve your eating habits forever;
each will have its own benefits on your body, but when used
together, they can form the system for substantial weight loss
and increased levels of energy and self-esteem.

Step 1 - Eat when you're hungry

Your body is a finely tuned machine. It has benefited from many
centuries of evolution in dealing with the functions and rigors
of daily life. Your body will tell you when it needs fuel.
Firstly, learn to recognise when your body is telling you to
eat. Do not mistake this for other messages; sometimes,
dehydration can cause a feeling of hunger, so take a glass of
water whenever you feel those pangs, and wait half an hour. If
you're still hungry after those 30 minutes have passed, then
eat. This doesn't have to conform to your preconceptions of
mealtime. If it happens in mid-afternoon, then satisfy that
hunger. Even a small snack will often satisfy that craving.

Step 2 - Don't drink when eating

Drinking with meals has a confusing effect on the body. Alcohol,
whilst containing many hundreds of calories in itself, also
blurs your judgement. All of a sudden, those desserts look
great, and you couldn't possibly go without one. No amount of
regret will make up for those kinds of slip-ups. Only hard
exercise will rid you of your guilt! If you feel thirsty at
mealtimes, sip water. Don't fill up on liquids, as your hunger
will return sooner than it should.

Step 3 - When you're full, stop!

Eat slower. As well as increasing the metabolic rate of your
body, and its ability to digest food and burn as energy, this
also allows the satisfaction messages from your stomach to reach
your brain. Between mouthfuls, put your hands down to the sides
of your plate. Don't be tempted to put any more food on your
fork until you've slowly chewed and swallowed what you already
have. Don't rush to finish what's on your plate; when you're
full, you're body will have these pauses in eating to tell you
when it is so. As a by-product, you'll gain an improved sense of
taste, which will give you a better appreciation of food, and
reduce your desire for fatty and salty meals. You may even find
that some of your "favourite" foods, or guilty pleasure, begin
to taste bad. You shouldn't feel sorrow at this. Your body is
steering you to those foods which provide it witht he most
energy and wellness ingredients.

Try it today. In just a few weeks, you'll feel more energy, will
see improvement in your complexion and body shape. All this will
bring new levels of self-confidence your way. Good luck!



About the author:
Matt Hodkinson is a beneficiary of the nutrition advice he has
accumulated in 5 years of study. Check out more weight loss
articles at his site: www.showmetheweightloss.com