Thursday, February 10, 2011

Tip of the day for the rest of your days...


I guess this tip is sort of a part 2 from my last one regarding stretching. 
So how does one stretch properly without hurting themselves but also benefit from it as well?

It's easy. 

First, do a little warm up to get the blood flowing through your muscles, tendons and ligaments. Never stretch your muscles cold. You'll just end up hurting yourself. 

Second, do NOT bounce your stretches. What I mean by bounce is the action you do when you're trying to stretch beyond your limit by pulling back slightly and pushing forward into the stretch repeatedly. This will cause little micro-tears in the muscles and once again you'll just end up hurting yourself.

Third, when you stretch you want to push yourself to your limit and maybe even just beyond. In order to do this there are two simple tips:

1. When you've reached your limit and you want to stretch beyond your limit, relax the muscles slightly you are trying to stretch (staying in your stretched position) and then continue stretching. It's natural for the body to tense up when it feels a bit of pain, so that's why relaxing is key here. 

2. How do you relax? While you're stretching, inhale down into your diaphragm (very important) and as you stretch beyond your limits, exhale. This will aid in the relaxation and loosening of your muscles.

Voila! Easy as low fat, low sugar pie. You'll be hitting up the rhythmic dance floor in no time!

Ps. Keep it real. Flexibility is vital for maintaining a healthy body, but take your time with it. It's not worth overstretching and hurting yourself.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Tip of the day for the rest of your days...


So let's say you decide to head to the gym after years of sitting in front of a computer. What do you do first? 

What you do NOT do first is static stretching before a workout.

Why? Stretching is as much as a workout as lifting weights, running, plyometrics etc. So before you do any sort of exercise you need to warm up. You can do this by starting with a light jog. What this does for you is gets blood flowing through all your extremities into the large muscles that are going to be used for your workout. The blood will warm up your muscles and nourish it with the oxygen it's going to need. This was a common practice when I used to do Tae Kwon Do and let me tell you, it has really protected me from serious injuries especially with all the high flying kicks and splits. =_=

Now, I know this may sound like common sense, but I've seen it many times in the military, police physical examination (he got injured as the physical test began), the gym etc. People think stretching their shoulders, biceps, back, thighs and calves before picking up a 30 pound weight is warm up. What they don't realize is that, every time they stretch before warming up, they're putting strain on their cold muscles and creating micro tears in the muscle tissue. When this happens and you reach for a weight, you are more prone to muscle, ligament and tendon strains and tears. There's nothing worse than injuring yourself first day at the gym. 

So what's the tip of the day? Warm-up with a light jog and get your heart rate going, stretch and then proceed with your workout.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Tip of the day for the rest of your new years resolution days...


PART II - Change your diet!

I'm sure we all know people who complain about their weight and how much they "exercise" but continue to pig out and eat whatever they want. You know the saying, "You are what you eat" and the saying could never be more truer.

I want you to think about this... Other than air and water to survive, what's the next most important thing? Food. Duh. We eat food everyday because we NEED food to live. So if food is that important, then why put so little thought into it and stuff yourself with junk? Also, if food is that important, then it MUST be doing something to and for your body. What you eat and how it gets digested and processed is directly affecting your insides and mirrors on the outside.

So the tip of the day is to change your diet. I cannot stress it enough. Working out everyday but eating unhealthy will do nothing for you and obviously you won't see any results.

You can try all the fad diets all you want, but you need to change the number of calories you intake daily, the kinds of food you eat, when you eat etc. Stay away from processed foods. Eat your greens and fruits. Cut-down on refined sugar products. Also, no need to fully cut out carbs or fats. Just eat them in moderation. You need a little bit of everything but at the same time too much of a good thing is not a good thing, so find balance

Last tip, if you crave fast food or other junks, please set one day or one meal a week to be your cheat day/meal. To have a cheat day is absolutely necessary psychologically and also physically. However, do not binge. Get a control your cravings before they control you! It's been about 10 months since I had a soda and 1 year and 3 months since I've had a piece of candy and I'm going on strong. So once you get the hang of it junk food will look, well, like junk.