Burn Fat To Lose Weight

Guide to Cardio Exercises

by Ark Agpalza

Below is some information regarding cardio exercises, the benefits, specific routines, and other resources.

Cardio training has recently gained lots of attention in the health and fitness world, and for good reason.

There are tons of benefits to cardio training, including:

- Increased heart and lung health

- Increased overall muscular and bone strength.

- Increased energy levels

- Increased ability to burn fat and overall calories

- Decreased risk of getting devastating diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers

I do both cardio and strength training. But if I had to choose between the two, I would choose cardio exercise because it can improve health in so many ways and prevent some of the most harmful diseases.

Follow these guidelines for doing cardio exercises.

1. Get your heart and breathing rate up. This is the essense of cardio training. You’re basically strengthening the muscles in your heart and lungs, which prolongs their health. You don’t have to kill yourself, but you can’t be too lax in your exercise either. A good place to start is at a rate at which you are breathing faster than normal, but are able to carry on a conversation without having to gasp for air in mid sentence.

2. Do activities that involve the large leg muscles. Because of their size and position in the body, the heart needs to work harder to increase the blood flow to them as they are moving. These exercises include power walking, hiking, jogging, running, dancing, swimming, and biking.

3. The best exercises are the ones that you enjoy (assuming they meet the first 2 requirements) doing. If you don’t enjoy it, there’s a great chance that you won’t even do it. And if you do, you’ll probably slack off. It can even result in some negative effects, like a laborous job that you wouldn’t like. By doing routines that you enjoy, there’s a far greater chance that you’ll do them on a long term, regular basis. You’ll also reap the psychological benefits of doing something enjoyable. Take a brisk walk in the park, or along the beach shore. Play with the kids. Play a sport that you like. Just make sure you like it!

4. Do cardio exercise at least 3 times per week, with a rest day in between each session.

5. Before each session, warm up by doing 5-10 minutes of light intensity activity. After you have warmed up, stretch your muscles.

6. Increase your activity to medium or high intensity and sustain it for 30 minutes. If you just starting out, go as long as you can, five minutes for example. Slow down your pace until you are ready for your next interval. Try make your increased activity interval longer every session.

7. After your session, cool down with 5-10 minutes of light activity, then stretch your muscles again.

Ark Agpalza has dedicated more than 10 years to the cause of healthy living, and is the author of the online publication Free Health and Fitness Tips.
For more health and fitness resources, visit Free-Health-and-Fitness-Tips.com
You may republish this article in its entirety and without changes to the original content on your own website as long as you provide a link to Free-Health-and-Fitness-Tips.com

Dieting, Exercise Have Same Effect on Body-Fat Distribution (HealthDay via Yahoo! News)
TUESDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) — Whether you eat fewer calories or burn them off through exercise, the effect on body composition and fat distribution is the same, a new study says.

The Fitness Cardio Secret That Propels Lance Armstrong

by Jim O’Connor

What is Lance Armstrong doing that you can do to improve your results?

Most people exercise to lose weight, focusing solely on that one single goal. But wait, it is not only about looking aesthetically pleasing, getting in those tight jeans, or losing ten pounds. It is really about improving your health, and human performance.

Each day when you are huffing and puffing on the treadmill, focusing vigorously on keeping yourself lean, have you ever thought about what physically is occurring in your body besides burning a bunch of calories?

For improved results, more people need to stop focusing solely on calorie burn, and start thinking about improving such fitness values as VO2 Max, or maximum oxygen uptake.

What exactly is your VO2 Max? VO2 Max is defined as the highest rate at which oxygen can be taken in and used during high intensity dynamic exercise. When you are exercising aerobically on your treadmill, each and every muscle contraction requires oxygen to break down the fats, carbohydrates, and protein; thus, providing energy (ATP) needed to fuel the muscles in order for movement to occur.

Humans, at rest, need 3.5 ml of oxygen, every minute, for each kilogram of body weight just to support the cellular activities in the tissues that keep us alive.

Now let’s get back to our treadmill. As you increase the speed or incline (intensity), more oxygen is required to transfer the oxygen through the blood and into the muscles. Due to increased intensity during your exercise session, more oxygen is required to initiate the energy releasing process.

Now let’s take the treadmill up to a speed and incline where you can no longer catch your breath comfortably. The intensity has increase significantly, but you have reached an upper limit on the amount of oxygen you can take in. This is your VO2 Max.

VO2 Max values differ from individual to individual. Factors such as age, health, activity levels, training programs, and genetics all affect VO2 Max. A sedentary person has a VO2 Max of around 20 ml of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute of exercise. A highly trained endurance athlete can have a VO2 Max of 70 ml/kg/min.

Now why does Lance Armstrong win all those bike races? Yes, he has a great training program, a great coach, and great equipment. However, his genetics for an endurance athlete are nothing short of astounding. Do you know his VO2 Max measures around 83-85 ml/kg/min, while an average person’s is around 40? For Lance, his success is attributed to a combination of great training, will, desire, and unbelievable genetic makeup.

A Super Human Lance:

1. Lungs - 2 times the capacity of the average person

2. Muscle - Accumulates less lactic acid and is more efficient at

removing it.

3. Heart - Is about 1/3 larger with a resting heart rate of 32 beats per

minute, and peaks around 200 beats per minute.

4. Body Fat - 4-5 percent before the Tour starts, while an average

person has 15-20 percent.

5. Food Consumption - Needs 6500 calories per day, and upwards of

10,000 per day when biking in the mountains during his 120 mile race.

Truly amazing!

How do you improve VO2 Max? Improvement is seen by progressively challenging yourself aerobically with consistent workouts at 60% to 85% of your maximum heart rate (220-age) for an extended period of time. The most important variable is to continue attempting to increase intensity levels of your workouts. Progressively overloading is the key; your body will adapt, and improve your VO2 Max as well as burn more calories for decreased body fat.

Now you ask, how can I measure my VO2 Max?

For the most accurate measurement, you can go into a hospital, or a University Human Performance Lab and get the test. You will generally use a treadmill or a stationary bike, and be given an oxygen mask to measure your oxygen exchange. You will also be connected with chest electrodes to measure your heart response. The main objective is to walk, bike, or run as the intensity is progressively elevated until it is not possible to go any longer. (You should be cleared or monitored by your physician before attempting a VO2 Max test.)

The easier. but not as accurate way, is to do an estimated sub maximal aerobic capacity test.

The following is one of the many tests that can be used.

Find a 400 meter track, bring a stopwatch, and walk/run as fast as you can go for 12 minutes. Keep track of the number of meters you have gone in 12 minutes, and use the following formula.

Distance Covered in Meters - 504.9 / 44.730 = Estimated VO2 Max

Here is a rough guide:

4-5 laps covered, your VO2 Max will be around 30.
5-7 laps covered, your VO2 Max will be around 45.
7-8 laps covered (2800 meters), your VO2 Max will be around 62.
8-8.5 laps covered (3200 meters), your VO2 Max will be around 67
9 laps covered (3600 meters), your VO2 Max will be around 70.

Learn to keep a close eye on your fitness values and try to continually improve them. Improvement will lead to great health benefits, and may result in your goal of decreased body fat (depending upon your nutritional habits.)

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Jim O’Connor, a celebrity Exercise Physiologist from Beverly Hills, California, is the editor of Wellness WORD Multimedia Newsletter, and the author of a popular ebook called Home Gym Shopping Secrets. Jim’s Passion is educating the public with proper scientific researched health and fitness information.
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Jordon and his Adventures with G.O.D.
get up off your fat butt and let’s move it out. We have a long trip through to Hell to burn in its fire for eternity.”
“No problem. Just make me

TheBojDotCom
as well, which burn fat most efficiently. Currently they are 30 minutes in duration. Come January 15th, they’ll be increased to 45 minutes, and possibly

20 Minute Cardio Workout

by ElmerFizz

The perfect workout routine is one that combines strength training and some form of cardio. The problem is, most people hate doing cardio and will make up any excuse not to do it. A popular excuse is not having enough time. This article, however, will show you how you can spend only 20 minutes on a cardio workout and still reap the benefits.

So first of all, why is it necessary that you add cardio to your workouts? Most people understand the benefits of strength training because it adds muscle and muscle makes you healthier, more lean and stronger overall.

But what are the benefits of cardio? Here is a short list that names just a few:

- it helps reduce stress - it burns calories which leads to weight loss - it makes your heart and lungs stronger - it reduces your risk of certain diseases - it reduces depression and increases confidence - it gives you more energy and helps you sleep better

To sum it up, adding cardio to your workout improves your health and well-being which leads to a better quality of life. Combine this with strength training and youre on your way to feeling great, fast.

So how can you reap the benefits of cardio in only 20 minutes per workout? Its called Interval Training and it can be applied to many different forms of cardio including boxing, running and biking.

The concept in a nutshell is shorter workouts, but higher intensity. This is accomplished by pushing hard for say two minutes and then slowing down for two minutes. If you repeat this cycle four more times then you have your 20 minutes. You could also do one minute hard, one minute easy and then repeat this nine more times.

Here is an example:

Interval training is perfect for running. If youre working out on a treadmill or running outdoors, its the same routine. Start out with a warm up jog followed by two minutes of a challenging pace. This wont be your all out because you have to maintain it for two minutes, but a pace that will be very hard for you. You then follow this with two minutes of either a walk or a very slow jog. Repeat four more times and youve got yourself an effective cardio workout in only 20 minutes.

This concept can be applied to many different forms of cardio: two minutes hard, two minutes easy, repeat four more times. Or one minute hard, one minute easy, repeat nine more times. As with any exercise program you should consult your health care provider. For a Very Informative FREE Health Newsletter please visit: www.healthybodysupplements.com

Youll get your blood flowing, your heart pumping and reap all the benefits cardio has to offer…all in only 20 minutes.

For More Information on Cardio/Heart visit: www.healthybodysupplements.com

qwerty
. . you burn your lawn instead of mowing it. (from POOHBEARLQ)
. . . in the third grade.
yo mama so fat she was flouting on the and

Spoonful of ginger fights flu (Everett Herald)
Take a sip of steaming ginger tea and feel it start to soothe. A tingling on the tip of your tongue quickly builds toward the back of your mouth. Your throat warms, you swallow, and that spicy warmth travels down to your stomach, like the trail of heat from a shot of Scotch, but with comfort instead of a burn or a buzz.

Dieting, Exercise Have Same Effect on Body-Fat Distribution (HealthDay via Yahoo! News)
TUESDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) — Whether you eat fewer calories or burn them off through exercise, the effect on body composition and fat distribution is the same, a new study says.

Rebounding To Better Health

by TK Healey

Ever heard of rebounding? Rebounding is a fun way to get great exercise using small controlled movements on a mini trampoline. By using a small trampoline and following a rebounding video, people of all ages can exercise on a rebounder. Rebounding is safe because your feet barely leave the surface and a stabilizing bar can be added which will help if you feel unsteady.

There are different types of rebounders on the market and some even fold for easy storage. Because of the size of these mini trampolines they can be used in your home or even easily transported to your office. Rebounding has been taking up in some of your most popular commercial gyms.

There a vast selection of videos to keep your rebounding workout exciting and new. There are special routines for people of all ages to make it more enjoyable. Some examples of rebounding workouts include first timers, basic, seniors, sports specific, dance, ballet, hip hop, Latin, core, yoga, abdominal, stretch and many other routines. You will never get bored with so many videos to choose from.

What makes REBOUNDING effective?

Rebounding provides many benefits to your body. It has been known to improve your circulation reduces stress, increase muscle tone, improve co-ordination and balance, increases energy. There is no strain on your joints. It simultaneously works all the major muscle groups, provides a calorie burning, cardiovascular, strength conditioning workout, incorporates simple, martial arts based movements in a coordinated way and builds stamina, strength and balance. If you do the techniques of rebounding regularly you will get results and have fun doing it.

REBOUNDING has been on national television shows such as The View with Barbara Walters, The Today Show and has been featured in such magazines as Fitness, Ace Fitness Magazine, and Fit.

Kids love it, adults and seniors love it too! Rebounding has become one of the most beneficial forms of exercise ever developed.

Bounce your way to feeling healthy. A fun workout that builds strength, cardiovascular capacity, and balance without jarring the body like other exercises.

TK Healey is the chief editor for SurfTilYouDrop a consumer based based website focusing on infomercial products. For more information regarding products you have seen advertised on television, product reviews, personalized searches, video clips and more visit www.surftilyoudrop.com today!

If You Can Balance Your Checkbook, You Can Lose Weight

by Eric Head

The process of losing weight and monitoring your food intake has many things in common with balancing your budget. Below, well take a look at some of the elements that are found in both. Sometimes, just being able to visualize the weight loss process in a new way can bring clarity and help you in achieving your goal.

Daily Metabolism = Daily Budget
Your daily metabolism is the amount of calories you are allowed to consume each day without gaining weight. For the average female, the typical daily metabolism is 2000 calories a day. For a male, the typical daily metabolism rises to 2500 calories a day.

It may be useful to think of your metabolism as your daily budget. It is the amount of money you are allowed to spend each day. If you go over this amount, youll have to borrow money and go into debt. If you spend less than your budget, then you will have money to save for purchases (eating food) or payment toward any existing debt (excess body fat).

Calories Consumed = Money Spent
Calories represent the amount of energy that is contained in food. The more calories that you consume over your daily metabolism, the more weight you will gain.

In our comparison, we can visualize calories as the equivalent of money. Each time you consume calories, you are spending money from your daily budget (metabolism). So the primary goal is to not overspend more than you are allowed each day, otherwise, you will go into debt (gain weight).

Your Excess Fat = Your Debt
The excess fat that you have is the result of overeating, consuming more calories than your daily metabolism has allowed.

There is approximately 3500 calories in a pound of excess fat. What this means is that if you are 50 pounds over weight, you have essentially consumed the equivalent of 175,000 calories over the amount you were allowed by your daily metabolism (over an extended period of time). As a result, you have created a debt of 175,000 calories of fat on your body.

The only way to get rid of this debt is to either decrease your spending to less than your daily budget (consume less calories than your daily metabolism)…or…to get a job and earn more income (exercise).

Eating Food = Making a Purchase
The more you eat, the more calories you consume.

In many ways, this is the equivalent of making a purchase. You do not want to spend more than what your daily budget (metabolism) will allow. Otherwise you will begin to accrue a debt (gain weight).

Not Eating Food = Earning Money
Each hour that you spend not eating, your body is hard at work burning the calories that you consumed from your previous meal. When your body finishes consuming the calories from that food, it then gets to work on burning the calories from the existing fat that you have on your body.

One way to picture this is that each hour you spend not eating, you are earning money for the purchases that you made earlier in the day (food consumed). If youve paid off all your purchases from the day, then you can begin paying off your debt (your excess fat).

Exercise = Earning Money
Exercise is the most important aspect of any diet. It is like earning extra money to spend each day. It allows you to spend more money on making purchases (eating food) or you can use the extra money to pay off your existing debt (your excess fat that you are trying to lose). This is why exercise is such a marvelous supplement to any diet. It allows you more freedom, because you have more to spend.

There are dozens of other similarities in losing weight with balancing a budget; however, these are the fundamental elements to focus on. The real challenge now is applying the discipline thats necessary to monitor your weight and make sure you dont over spend the calories that you are allowed each day.

Eric Head is a freelance writer and the webmaster at: www.articlebug.com
More health and weight loss related articles can be found at: www.articlebug.com/health/
chopcow@gmail.com

Metabolism and Eating Habits

by Michael Bens

The bodys metabolism is a unique process for each individual person. No two people metabolize food at the same rate therefore no two people have the metabolism. We all use our calories at different rates, with different results. Our metabolism, like our fingerprints is unique to each of us. But the need to understand and accommodate this metabolism is an issue that we all face.

The dictionary defines metabolism as the sum of all biochemical processes involved in life, or the sustaining of life. In application concerning our health, metabolism is related to the intake and use of food. In reference to the case in point it is our ability to utilize our food to the fullest extent. Some people have really high rates of metabolism. In other words, when they consume food, their bodies burn it up almost as fast as then consume it. Then there are those of use who use our food intake so slowly, as to not even notice that were burning calories. These people who burn quickly are often slim and trim, the people who burn more slowly are the people with a tendency toward obesity.

Right now, the greatest results in raising our metabolism come from exercise and building our muscle mass, while reducing our body fat. Adding more muscle to the body, in turn causes us to burn more calories, and this helps to elevate our metabolic rate. What determines our metabolic rate, as far as our genetics? Generally, we tend to inherit the same tendencies for metabolic rates, body frames, and other related body functions from our parents. All of this metabolic process is related to our calorie intake, our vitamin and nutrition needs, our thyroid and endocrine production, and how well all of these processes come together. For years, people have sought ways to raise the metabolic rate. If you can raise someones metabolic rate, you are then better able to control the burn of calories, especially for overweight or obese people. This would make the goal of better or improved health a much easier reality for those people. Efforts to date have produced very little results. There are foods that we can consume that naturally raise our metabolic rate, but not to a great extent. What we need is a way to directly alter the rate. We need to be able to raise our metabolism to a point where we can actually see a benefit. The only recourse we have in trying to control our body weight, metabolic burn and health is through our thorough understanding of the role food plays in our calorie consumption versus our calorie need, and control how much of the calories we take in. Our metabolism functions also depend on how well we have taken care of our nutritional needs. The process of burning calories and creating energy is a delicate one, and one which must be carefully tended, or it can become imbalanced. It is often through these natural imbalances that we tend to “inherit our metabolic rate. I believe through careful analysis, and attention to each persons unique needs, we could bring about a more natural balance of the metabolic burn vs. the calorie intake. To a level where optimal health and weight control are in equilibrium.

Authored by Michael Bens. For more great information on weight loss, diets, nutrition, and living a great healthy life style visit Gabae Weight Loss

Why Your Cardiovascular Workouts Might Be A Big Waste Of Your Time

by Jesse Cannone

What if I were to tell you that most if not all of the cardiovascular exercise you do was worthless? Well, guess what over 50% of the people who perform cardio in an attempt to burn fat are wasting their time hours and hours of it! Are you one of them?

Before you call me crazy, let me explain. Im not saying that cardiovascular exercise cant or doesnt burn fat; its just that most people are not performing the right type of cardio workouts. Before I get into the details, let me first cover some of the basics.

Just like anything in life, if you want to be successful you must do two things:

1. Know what youre doing (or learn); be knowledgeable

2. Have a plan (detailed/well thought out)

How Cardio Exercise Affects Your Body

Well, Im going to make sure that after reading this today you will be able to do both. So lets start with your knowledge. Its critical that you understand how your body works and what happens when you exercise.

The human body is constantly burning a mix of fuels or energy sources: fat and glycogen. Glycogen is energy stored in muscle cells that is primarily used during intense muscle contractions. Some examples of these intense muscle contractions would be strength training, running, hard physical work, etc. So basically, during low to moderate activity levels, your body first uses whats in the blood stream and then uses primarily fat.

When you are highly active you use more glycogen and less fat. You are probably wondering what all this has to do with you and your cardio workouts right? Well, it matters a lot!

There are different benefits of different level of activity. Let me explain to you the system use, why I use it, and why its the most effective. I recommend three basic level of cardiovascular exercise:

Level 1: Long easy workout (ex. walking 60 minutes

Level 2: Moderate intensity / moderate time (ex. fast walk 45 minutes)

Level 3: Short, hard workout (ex. running 20 minutes)

NOTE: It doesnt matter what activity or piece of equipment you choose. All that matters is that you get to the desired level.

Lets talk about what happens at each of the three levels. When exercising at the Level 1 pace, your body burns more colonies from fat, HOWEVER the total number of calories is small. In order for you to burn a lot of body fat at the easy level you would need to do it for hours at a time! Not too practical is it? This is not to say there arent benefits because there areits just not the best choice when it comes to fat loss. The primary benefit is increased blood flow and circulation, which means youll feel better, youll recover more quickly, and youll be healthier in general.

Ok, lets talk about Level 2 now. At this level you burn more calories but less are from fat. Moderate work will result in a larger increase in metabolism than the easy Level 1 and will last 2-6 hours in most cases. You also get the benefits of increased blood flow but you also have to remember that its a bit more stressful than Level 1. The main benefit, or I should say possible benefit is increased endurance (cardio/respiratory) IF your workouts are progressive (challenge the bodys systems to work harder over time nearly each workout if possible).

Last but not least Level 3. At this level you burn the most calories per unit of time. You also burn less fat during the workout, but the plus side is you deplete muscle glycogen which means youll be les likely to store new fat because any excess calories will be stored in the muscles instead. This typed of workout also results in the largest increase in metabolism, which will generally last 4-24 hours or more.

The Level 3 workout is by far the most effective when it comes to fat loss for four reasons:

1. Burn more calories in less time

2. Largest increase in metabolism that lasts the longest

3. Helps to add and maintain muscle tissue

4. Depletes muscle glycogen which means youre less likely to store new fat

So whats your goal? As you can see there are benefits at each level and how often you perform each workout should be based on your goals. You can get the benefits of all three but you must be cautious in how you structure your program. Here are some general guidelines to follow:

If your primary goal is:

Fat loss

1-3 Level 3 (10-20 mins)

1-2 Level 2 (20-30 mins)

1-2 Level 1 (40-60 mins) Optional

Endurance

1 Level 3 (10-20 mins)

2-3 Level 2 (20-40 mins)

1-2 Level 1 (40-60 mins)

General Fitness

1 Level 3 (10-20 mins)

1-2 Level 2 (20-30 mins)

1-2 Level 1 (40-60 mins)

So to recap, you really need to know what your goals are, and what levels you need to be at and how often. On the following page is a chart that gives you the heart rate zones for all 3 of the workouts based on your age.

NOTE: If you are on blood pressure regulating medication you should first consult with your doctor and reduce the numbers by 10 each. If you are not currently exercising or have not exercised at the different levels before I advise you build up your intensity slowly.

If you would like more information on cardiovascular exercise please give me a call. You reach me at 240-731-3724 or by emailing jesse@achieve-fitness.com

Heart Rate Based Cardiovascular Exercise Guidelines

Jesse Cannone is a certified personal trainer and author of the best-selling fitness ebook, Burn Fat FAST. Be sure to sign up for his free email course as it is full of powerful weight loss and fitness tips that are guaranteed to help you get the results you want. www.guaranteed-weightloss.com
info@guaranteed-weightloss.com

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Angina - The Pain Is In The Heart Itself

by Michael Russell

A pain originating from the heart muscle itself is called Angina. This occurs when the blood vessels taking blood to the heart (coronary arteries), become partially blocked with fatty plaques caused by atherosclerosis (heart disease). The blood flow is only sufficient when the heart is at rest, but during activity, when the heartbeat can increase from 75 to 190 beats per minute, the heart muscle cannot get sufficient blood flow in it and causes mild to severe pain. This is why angina is brought on by exercise but will subside when the activity stops and the person rests. Angina will become worse over a period of time and less activity will provoke the pain. If the angina suddenly worsens and you experience symptoms even while at rest, the cause could be a blocked artery resulting in a heart attack. If this occurs, seek medical assistance immediately. Angina is not easy to diagnose from symptoms alone, as other conditions such as indigestion, show similar signs.

Signs and symptoms

Pain can be mild or severe
The pain is most often described as heavy, crushing, tightness and choking
Pain originates from the center of the chest, can radiate up the neck and down the arms. Most often it is the left arm.
Shortness of breath
Perspiration

There are no specific tests for angina, but your doctor will probably begin by asking three simple questions. What causes the discomfort? What does it feel like? What helps to ease the pain? The doctor may also suspect possibly angina if there are other cardiovascular risk factors such as - smoking cigarettes, family history of heart attacks, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, age and diabetes. The doctor will perform a physical examination on the patient paying special attention to the heart and any abnormal sounds or beats.

Routine tests include an electrocardiogram (ECG), blood pressure measurements, blood and urine tests and a chest X-ray. The doctor may require during the ECG the patient walks on a treadmill (exercise bike) while hooked up to a machine that records the heart’s electrical activity. The level of exercise is slowly increased until the patient feels pain and there is a change to the ECG pattern. Further tests may include a coronary angiogram. This entails a fine tube inserted into your heart via an artery in your groin. A special dye is then inserted into the arteries clearly displaying any narrowing (blocked) arteries on the X-ray images.

Angina responds well to drug treatment. The most common drugs used to treat angina are the following:

Nitrates - These drugs come as fast-acting sprays or tablets that are placed under the tongue to ease the pain during an angina attack. Long-acting tablets taken daily reduce the need for the sprays.

Beta-blockers - These tablets lessen the workload of the heart by allowing it to beat slower and less forcefully than usual. These tablets prevent pain and slow down the gradual worsening of angina.

Calcium antagonists - Helps to dilate the arteries allowing more blood flow through them. They lower blood pressure; reduce the heart’s workload to help prevent pain.

A standard treatment is a low, daily dose of aspirin to prevent anymore atheroma from building up in the heart arteries.

Once an artery has become blocked or narrowed by plaques of atheroma, there are two levels of intervention needed for reinstating blood supply to the heart muscle. The intervention chosen will depend on how badly the artery is blocked or narrowed. 1) Angioplasty - This procedure is performed only when the arteries are not completely blocked. A fine tube (catheter) is inserted into the heart. On the tip of the tube is a tiny balloon, which is then inflated and deflated a few times to squash the plaque and widen the artery. This procedure is performed under local anesthetic and is carried out on an outpatient basis. 2) Bypass surgery - This procedure is carried out only if the arteries are completely blocked or very narrow. A new route for the blood supply is made using a bypass graft. For the bypass graft, surgeons have two options - they either use an existing artery that lies within the chest or they use a piece of vein removed from the leg.

Sometimes a person may have up to four blockages to bypass. Bypass surgery is performed under local anesthetic and can take from three to five hours to complete the surgery. Today it has become one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Heart Disease

Aerobic Benefits and History

by Jamie H Snodgrass

Aerobic Benefit:

The word aerobic means with oxygen. Researchers consistently recommend that regular physical activity with healthy eating habits is the most efficient way to keep yourself fit and control your body weight. Aerobic activity helps you to control or reduce your weight by using excess calories that otherwise would be stored as fat. Everything you do uses the calories including sleeping, digesting food and breathing. Any physical activity to what you normally do will use extra calories. So doing regular aerobic exercise gives you a sense of positive attitude that helps to counteract stress. Aerobic activity increases the bodys production of endorphins.

Benefits of aerobics:

* The heart works more efficient and becomes more stronger

* It helps to control your weight.

* Reduces the risk in developing diabetes, obesity and any heart disease.

* There is an increase in good cholesterol and decrease in bad cholesterol.

* It increases endorphins.

* Increases the bodys ability to take in oxygen and makes you breathe faster.

* It helps to reduce and control the body fat.

* Improves the body muscle strength and flexibility.

* Improves the quality of sleep that freshens you early next morning.

* Helps to avoid chronic diseases like heart disease and hypertension.

* Aerobics increases the resistance fatigue and gives you more energy.

* Improves your mood and reduces depression, stress and anxiety.

* It avoids overheating.

* Aerobics pumps the blood faster and more forcefully.

* Helps in prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

* Builds the muscular strength and makes your body more flexible.

* Helps to reduce blood pressure.

* Prevents from certain types of cancer also.

In short aerobics burns your fat. Aerobics makes you live longer and live healthier and happier.

It builds up a positive attitude in you and changes your perception of looking towards life.

Regular aerobic exercises will force the heart to gradually enlarge and it is important to always target your heart rate.

Here safety is first:

Vigorous aerobic routine can cause sprains and injuries. So never neglect the pain and immediately consult your doctor. If you have any medical concerns the consult your doctor and then start the routine. If a problem like dizziness, vomiting, back pain or any other arises consult your doctor and then continue the aerobic activity.

Aerobic history: Origin of the way ending in a fit and healthy world

Aerobics is nothing but a system of exercises to help prevent coronary artery diseases which was first put forwarded by a physician called Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper in San Antonio air force hospital in Texas. Shortly after the publishing of coopers book about the exercise system, Aerobics in 1968, a person known as Jackie Sorenson developed a series of dance routines known as the aerobic dance to considerably improve the cardiovascular fitness. In this way aerobic dance and other form of exercises gain existence and made its way cautiously among the masses all over United States and many other counties and that too in a very short span of around two decades. The number of aerobics participant in the US alone raises from an estimated 6 million in 1978 to 19 million in 1987. Thus from the above lines one can easily see the tremendous popularity of aerobics among the people around the world.

Something about sportaerobics

Howard and Karen Schwartz are the two persons who developed a very new and competitive sport known as sportaerobics in the year 1983. Their group organization called the sport fitness international holds the credit of organizing the first national aerobic championship in the year 1984. Sportaerobics at the beginning, started featuring competition in four categories namely individual male and female, mixed pairs and trio which have the facility to include any of the three athletes. In the year 2002 the competition was upgraded to a group of six athletes. The judgment of the competitors is done on a one minute, forty-five seconds routine done to music. Judges choose two criteria namely the artistic merit and the technical merit with an overall 10 pints each. In 1996 sportaerobics is formally adopted as a Gymnastique discipline.

Growth of aerobics since the early years

Aerobics since the day of its introduction is growing at a tedious pace. All sorts of people are finding aerobics to be convenient and helpful in maintaining a fit and healthy body structure. Today the present scenario is such that every person in between a heavy work schedule makes out atleast half an hour to work out either in the gym or in the home. Every one today stress on the need to stay healthy and hence aerobics and all its form of exercises are rapidly gaining popularity.

Jamie is the author of other Aerobics Tips located at Health Information Also check out our Health Blog for other health tips. Please stop by and sign up for our free health tip news letter.

10 tips to weight loss

by rebook srs

Weight Loss Tip Stretch your meals out. Dont eat too fast. Your stomach, mouth and brain are all connected and it takes twenty minutes of chewing before your stomach signals your brain that you are full. To feel full and successfully lose weight on any weight loss program, you need to eat slowly for twenty minutes or longer. Weight Loss Tip Drinking eight glasses of water a day is important to your health, your normal diet and will help lose weight. Water is necessary for the metabolism of your stored fat. Weight loss cannot occur without an active metabolism which requires large quantities of water. Weight Loss Tip The more positive your self-esteem, the better you feel about yourself, the faster and easier it will be for you to lose weight. When you are self-confident, you are better able to take charge of your life. Weight Loss Tip If you go on a fat free or low fat diet, you also cut out much of the taste of the foods you eat. Add the flavor back with herbs and spices. Strong flavors such as vinegar, garlic, chili powder, cayenne, curry powder, rosemary and tarragon can be used to doctor up any food you are eating. Weight Loss Tip Increase your metabolism by as much as forty percent by using hot and spicey foods. Research has been done that shows spicey foods can increase your metabolism. For double duty, give up fat filled mayonnaise for mustard and add hot peppers to your food for greater flavor and increased metabolism. Weight Loss Tip Negative emotions will also interfere with your weight loss program. Its difficult to stay motivated to lose weight when you feel bad. Overeating often accompanies negative emotions such as depression, anxiety, fear, guilt and anger. Try to keep a positive attitude throughout your life. Weight Loss Tip To lose weight faster, reduce your intake of caffeine. Caffeine leads to an increase of insulin in your body which retards the burning of your stored fat.This is a simple chemical reaction in your body that you can change. Reduce your caffeine intake by 50% and see what happens. Weight Loss Tip Incease your intake of fiber rich foods. They will help fill you up faster and will help all the food you eat pass through your digestive system more easily. Weight Loss Tip Exercise is probably the most important key to increasing your metabolism and burning off excess fat. Research shows that you burn more stored fat for energy when you do aerobic exercises on an empty stomach than on a full stomach. Research also shows that you burn more stored fat when you exercise late in the day rather than in the morning. Put it all together, and the best time to exercise to lose body fat is in the late afternoon/early evening after dinner. Second best is in the morning before breakfast. Weight Loss Tip Never skip a meal. Your first meal after waking starts your metabolism. Your metabolism then speeds up for about eight hours and then starts slowing down until you go to sleep when it goes to low until you wake and eat and start the cycle again. If you skip breakfast, your metabolism doesnt get started until lunch time. Youve just missed three or four hours of fat burning time. When you skip meals during the day, your metabolism also slows down. Weight loss through the burning of stored fat is all about eating enough of the right kinds of foods so you stay full and your metabolism stays as high as possible. Try to eat five to six small meals throughout the day.

For more information visit www.geocities.com/diet4slimming/diet.htm

The author is a deit specalist for the past 10+ years. For more information visit ” www.geocities.com/diet4slimming/diet.htm”

foods that burn fat
ALL foods contain calories and when you eat more but burn less, then fat deposits increase. No matter how healthy you eat, it is just possible that your calorie intake increases.

Exercising Over 50: How to Begin

by Keith Edwin Renninson

When it comes to exercising past the ages of 50 or 60, many people look at gyms, yoga studios, and health clubs with trepidation. Often, this reaction is a result of fear; fear of looking out of place, not knowing what to do or how to do it; price can also be a major consideration.

Unfortunately, this seems to be the time when many people seeking to improve their physical conditioning say the heck with it and just take a nap or watch a movie and eat another cookie.

Years ago, the options for these same somewhat determined would-be-over 50 exercisers were to workout at home. They would buy magazines on: physical fitness, books on aerobics, calorie counting, muscle building, running or yoga; then came exercise videos.

Today, there are daily fitness programs on cable. These programs cover the gamut of yoga, chair exercises, aerobics, aerobics with weights, and Pilates. The problem is you have to be ready to workout when the TV program airs, which may or may not fit your schedule.

Deciding what type of exercise program is right for you is often a daunting task for the un-initiated as well. For those who are too over-weight and out-of-shape to begin with, running is probably out of the question. Bicycling may be difficult as well.

One smart alternative to get started is to purchase a generic, aerobic chair or seated exercise video. This will allow the newbie to break-in slowly, stay motivated, and progress at their own speed.

Seated exercises are a great way to add aerobic conditioning to your daily routine, avoid damage to any joints, increase your metabolism to lose weight and accomplish the rest of your daily tasks with renewed energy.

Many of these videos will offer beginner, intermediate and advanced programs to allow for steady progress to greater fitness.

To get started:

∑ Check with your physician before beginning any exercise program.

∑ Start out slowly at a pace you can repeat several days a week.

∑ Steadily increase your participation from one or two days a week, to three and ultimately four. Resting in-between workout days.

∑ If something hurts, either dont do it or do it slower, or easier and allow your body to become accustomed to the new demands you’re placing on it.

∑ Drink enough of water to replace what you lose sweating and to flush-out toxins. This is a wonderful way to detoxify the body, burn calories and gain strength and energy all at the same time.

∑ Eat a sensible diet, reducing calories and you will see quick results.

Re-evaluate your progress every 30 days so you dont settle into a comfortable routine; the body needs to be challenged to improve.

Once you can complete an exercise program with ease, celebrate your accomplishment and move up to the next level. This could include: standing or step aerobics, cycling, swimming, jogging, weight lifting, etc.

The most important things are: to start, be kind with yourself, if you find the exercises difficult to perform, dont be discouraged, be encouraged and proud that your have taken the first step at improving your life. Be persistent, consistent and brave.

Keith Edwin Renninson is co-owner, along with Jeffrey Forman, of Golden Years Videos, LLC a production company dedicated to filming exercise videos for anyone over 50 or those of any age rehabilitating from an accident or illness.
Renninson is an avid exercise enthusiast. Now in his late 50s, he still races bicycles in the Cat 4 55+ class and regularly skis the black diamond runs in Colorado where he lives. For many years a bona fide gym rat, Renninson loves to lift free weights and use exercise machines.
You can contact Renninson or read more about his company and their videos at: www.goldenyearsvideos.com