Weight Debate

You are doing moderate-intensity aerobic activity when you are working hard enough to raise your heart rate and you break a sweat. One way to tell is that you will be able to talk, but you won’t be able to sing the words to your favorite song. Walking fast is an example of activities that require moderate effort.

The walking calculator shown below calculates how many calories you have burned while walking depending on your weight and how many miles you have walked. Studies have shown that heavier people burn more calories when they are exercising than lighter people. Read more about Why You Should Walk for fitness.

Walking Tips… read more »

Choosing a physical activity that you love to do will make it easier to stick with it. Give your body the benefits of physical activity while you are having fun!! Some for kids, some for adults, and some for both kids and adutls, here are a few ideas to get your body moving…

1. Acrobatics
2. Aerobics
3. Archery
4. Badminton
5. Ballet
6. Baseball
7. Basketball

8. Baton Twirling
9. Bicycling

10. Bodyboarding – sometimes called Boogieboarding.
11. Bowling read more »

To get health benefits from physical activity, you have to include activities that make you breathe harder and make your heart and blood vessels healthier, like aerobic activities. Dancing is a great aerobic activity.

Dancing has a lot of benefits for your health, and it’s fun!! Dancing may help you to:

• Improve your flexibility, coordination, and agility.
• Tone your muscles.
• Make your bones stronger and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
• Make your lungs work better.
• Make your heart stronger.

read more »

You should talk to your doctor before you start being physically active:

• If you have high cholesterol.
• If you have high blood pressure.
• If you have a personal or family history of heart disease.
• If you have a chronic disease or if you have risk factors for a chronic disease, such as diabetes or asthma.

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Some people are afraid to be physically active after they have had a heart attack. The good news is… regular, moderate physical activity can

• Help reduce a persons risk of having another heart attack.
• Improve a persons chances of survival.
• Help a person to perform everyday tasks more easily and to do so without chest pain or shortness of breath.

If you have already had a heart attack, it is very important for you to talk with your doctor. read more »

Tai chi is an ancient Chinese martial art practice that was used as a means of self defense. Over time, many people started practicing Tai chi for many health benefits. Tai chi is not usually an aerobic activity, but it offers numerous health benefits and is an enjoyable way to get in shape and stay in shape. Some health related purposes are:

• To help improve overall wellness.
• To help improve balance and decrease the risk of falls.
• To help improve physical condition.
• To help improve muscle strength.
• To help improve cardiovascular fitness.
• To help improve flexibility.
• To help improve relaxation.
• To help improve coordination.
• A way to deal with tension and stress.
• To help ease pain and stiffness, for example, from osteoarthritis.
• To help improve sleep.
• To help enhance the immune system.
• To help reduce high blood pressure.

Tai chi is a gentle, calming, mind-body practice that is based on shifting the body through a series of slow, relaxed movements that flow rhythmically together into one graceful gesture. read more »

You are doing vigorous-intensity aerobic activity when you are breathing hard and fast, your heart rate has gone up quite a bit, and you are not able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath.

Running is an example of an activity that requires vigorous effort.

The running calculator shown below calculates how many calories you have burned while running depending on your weight and how many miles you have ran. Studies have shown that heavier people burn more calories when they are exercising than lighter people.

read more »

Knee problems are very common and can occur in people of all ages. There are many diseases and types of injuries that can affect your knees. Some of the most common causes of knee pain include:

• Overuse of the knees – bursitis, tendonitis.
• Poor exercise habits such as not warming up or cooling down or inadequate stretching.
• A strain, sprain, torn ligament or cartilage.
• A fracture or a dislocated kneecap.
• Osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease), rheumatoid arthritis, and other types of arthritis.
• An infection.
• A problem somewhere in the body, such as a pinched nerve, which can cause pain that is felt in the knee.

Simple exercises that strengthen your muscles, increase your mobility, and improve your balance can ease knee discomfort and reduce knee strain.

Strengthening muscles around the knees improves support to the joint which takes stress away during everyday activities like climbing stairs, and good balance provides stability in your knees to reduce stress to the joint.

Strengthening the muscles at the front and back of your thighs are known to help with knee pain. Research is also looking at strengthening the muscles on the sides of the hips, called abductors, to lighten the pressure on knee pain.

Help Ease Knee Discomfort

• Walk on flat ground.
• Cycling indoors or outside.
• Tai Chi – a series of flowing, low impact moves.
• Walking or jogging in water.
• Pool aerobics.
• Swimming.

Simple Exercises to Ease Knee Pain
Towel Stretch – stretching:

• Lie on the floor on your back.
  Bend both knees.
  Bring one knee toward your chest and place a towel behind the knee.
  Gently pull the towel toward you, until you feel a slight stretch in the back of your thigh.
  Hold for 30 to 60 seconds. Release. Repeat on your other leg.

Wall Squat – stretching:

• Stand upright with your back to the wall, and your body touching the wall.
  Slowly slide your body down the wall as far as you can without pain, until you are in a sitting position.
  Look down to make sure you can see your toes. If you can’t see your toes, slide back up and place your feet farther out from the wall.
  Hold for 30 to 60 seconds. Repeat twice just once a day.

Tandem Stance – balance:

• Stand facing the kitchen sink with your hands on the edge of the sink and your knees together.
  Place one foot directly in front of the other as if walking on a tightrope.
  Lift your hands from the sink and try to balance in the tightrope position for one minute.
  Switch feet positions and repeat. Do this once a day.

Before you start any exercise program, get your doctor’s OK, and ask if you need to see a physical therapist.

People who have hands-on physical therapy, where the therapist moves your joints for you, may also cut discomfort when combined with exercise. Research has shown that people who have hands-on physical therapy along with strengthening, stretching and aerobic exercise were much less likely to need knee replacement that those who only exercised.

Some people need to take pain medicine to stay active and control knee pain.
If arthritis causes serious damage to a knee or there is incapacitating pain or loss of use of the knee from arthritis, joint surgery may be considered.

Did you know that too much belly fat is harmful to your health?

The fat deep inside your belly is called omentum fat and it grows around your vital organs. The omentum is a fat storing organ in your abdomen located inside the belly that hangs underneath the muscles in your stomach. That’s why men with beer guts still have firm bellies – their fat is underneath the muscle.

As you age, you lose muscle, especially if you are not active. Without muscle mass, the rate at which your body burns calories slows down.

If you eat more than you should and don’t get enough physical activity, you gain weight, and usually for most people a lot of the weight gain goes around their belly. Building muscle burns more calories than body fat, even when you are sitting still.

Extra fat in your belly can push down on your stomach, making it easier for acid and food to be pushed back upward (out of your stomach) into your esophagus and cause heartburn or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Drinking too much alcohol can increase belly fat, giving you the beer belly gut.

The more belly fat you have, you increase your risk of:

• Heart disease
• Stroke
• Type 2 diabetes
• Some types of cancer
• Low levels of the good cholesterol – high-density lipoprotein (HDL)
• Insulin resistance
• High triglycerides
• Metabolic syndrome
• Sleep apnea

You double your risk of having fat around your abdomen if you have certain genetic traits, and the more of these traits you have, the greater your risk for a pot belly.

Abdominal obesity, waist circumference greater than 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men, is strongly associated with decreased lung function.

Get Rid of Your Belly Fat
There’s no way around it… the answer remains the same…

• Reduce the amount of calories you consume each day.
• Eat healthier foods that contain fewer calories.
• Increase the amount of physical activity you do – The Department of Health and Human Services recommends adults get 2 and 1/2 hours a week of moderate aerobic activity or 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity, plus strength training.

Sit ups help to make your abdominal muscles stronger, but it will not reduce your belly fat. You need to lose weight and exercise.

Just doing crunches by themselves can make the rectus abdominis muscle (large muscle in the front of the abdomen) bugle out, you need to work the internal and external oblique muscles of the abdominal region too.

Remeber… losing extra pounds can help you feel better and lower your risk of health problems.

Stretching is important to help loosen and lengthen your muscles. Stretch gently after you warm up your muscles with an easy 5 minute walk, and again after you cool down. When doing the stretches below, do not bounce or hold your breath when you stretch. Perform slow movements and stretch only as far as you feel comfortable.

Side Reach >>>
Reach one arm over your head and to the side. Keep your hips steady and your shoulders straight to the side. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat on the other side.

<<< Wall Push
Lean your hands on a wall with your feet about 3 to 4 feet away from the wall. Bend one knee and point it toward the wall. Keep your back leg straight with your foot flat and your toes pointed straight ahead. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat with the other leg.

Knee Pull >>>
Lean your back against a wall. Keep your head, hips, and feet in a straight line. Pull one knee to your chest, hold for 10 seconds, then repeat with the other leg.

<<< Leg Curl
Pull your right foot to your buttocks with your right hand. Stand straight and keep your knee pointing straight to the ground. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat with your left foot and hand.

Hamstring >>>
Sit on a sturdy bench or hard surface so that your left leg is stretched out on the bench with your toes pointing up. Keep your right foot flat on the floor. Straighten your back, and if you feel a stretch in the back of your thigh, hold for 10 seconds and repeat with your right leg. If you don’t yet feel a stretch, lean forward from your hips until you do feel a stretch.

Source from win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/