Health Tips for a Better Life

 

Cardio and aerobic exercises are helpful to get the stronger muscles as muscle is a key to increasing your fat burning even you are not exercising. The most common way to get stronger muscles is weight lifting but lifting weight requires joining or going to gym. There are effective way of burning quick weight is cardio and aerobic exercises as these are very helpful.

Cardio & aerobic exercises helps in

Cardio and aerobic exercises are helpful to strengthen the respiratory muscles and it results in smoother and unlabored breathing. These exercises are good for strengthening the cardiovascular muscles and it also improves the hearts pumping efficiency. It tones the muscles of all parts of body that results in improved blood circulation and reduced blood pressure. It increases the number of red blood cells in the body, which makes for improved transport of oxygen throughout the body.

If you follow the regular and disciplined aerobics, you can reduce the risks of having cardiovascular diseases. It is also helpful in lowering the risk of having other health problems such as respiratory diseases and osteoporosis.

Most common cardio exercises:

Walking – Walking is considered the most common form of cardio exercise. Walking is a low-impact exercise and it can be done just about anywhere. It is one of a few aerobics exercises that can actually be incorporated into your lifestyle. If you practice 15-30 minute walk around the mall, it makes you lose just as much calories as you would on the treadmill. You can increase your fat loss by increasing the speed of your walks.

Running or Jogging – Another, most accessible & easier cardio exercise is running or jogging. You can do it depending on your physical capacity. Beginners have to try speed walking first before progressing to jogging and then running. Like walking and running, jogging can be done in a lot of places like beach, park, in your neighborhood or at a track. It is a very natural activity for your body and you can easily adapt once you make it a regular exercise.

Aerobic Dance–Throughout the decades, aerobics dance exercises may have changed but it has not faded. People still prefer exercising to a thumping beat & aerobic dances are very effective yet fun ways of keeping the weight off while maintaining a trim and tone body.

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The grapefruit diet is one of the earliest known Hollywood fad diets. It first came to fame in the 1930′s when many stars used it. It became part of xerox lore, faxed from machine to machine, in the 1970′s. The Mayo Clinic, which is often credited as the diet’s creator, claims to have nothing to do with the unhealthy diet.

The grapefruit diet is essentially like the Atkins diet with the addition of a grapefruit before each meal. The diet only allows three meals each day, with no snacking in between meals. Supposedly a person on this diet could lose 10 pounds in only 10 days. It is also commonly claimed that a dieter might not lose any weight on the first four days but then 5 pounds would magically drop off on the fifth day. The claim that grapefruit contains enzymes that burn fat has never been proven.

In 2004 a scientific study determined that it is possible that the grapefruit diet helps people lose weight. Participants in the study lost 3.6 pounds on average in a 12 week span, eating one half grapefruit before each meal. Those who drank the serving of grapefruit juice at each meal lost just slightly less weight in the same period of time. Some people lost as much as 10 pounds in the 12 week study. Researchers attributed the weight loss to decreased insulin levels caused by eating grapefruit. But the weight loss may have also been due to increased levels of exercise.

The grapefruit diet works like this:

- Dieters must drink eight eight ounce glasses of water daily.

- Eat until full.

- Eat everything listed for each meal, do not skip foods, they are specifically formulated to help burn fat.

- Grapefruit is a catalyst that starts fat burning. Do not change the amount of grapefruit.

- One cup of coffee can be consumed at each meal.

- No snacking.

- Butter is OK.

- Do not eat desserts, breads, white vegetables, or sweet potatoes.

- Eat any amount of meat, salad and vegetables to make you full.

- Eating more will actually result in more weight loss.

- Skip two days between each 12 day diet period.

- Grapefruit with each meal is ½ or 18 ounces of juice.

Now you can go try the grapefruit diet.

The body has three cycles for providing energy during exercising. Each of this cycles demand energy from your body in a different way. However, only one of them is most effective in resulting to weight loss, hence the term weight loss exercises.

Phosphagen Energy Cycle

First is the phosphagen cycle. This is an energy cycle that does not depend on oxygen. It is anaerobic meaning “without oxygen”. In place of oxygen it uses a compound in the body called creatin phosphate.

The cycle makes energy for about 8 to 10 seconds only. Energy here is produced very fast as it takes only one chemical reaction to produce it. This is principally the energy cycle 100 meters sprinters use.

Glycogen-Lactic Acid Energy Cycle

The second cycle is the Glycogen-Lactic acid cycle. There about 12 reactions involved here to give energy. As a result it gives energy at a slower rate. In this case the cycle uses the immediate energy reserve of the body called glycogen. Glycogen is a simpler energy reserve than body fat that is stored in muscles for supply of energy in short notice. When in high demand the cycle can give energy for 1.3 to 1.6 minutes. This process is also considered anaerobic. It makes muscle tired and sore very quickly as it produces lactic acid.

Aerobic Energy Cycle

The third cycle is the Aerobic cycle. It uses oxygen and provides energy for extended periods of time e.g. for marathoner. The cycle is able to reduce the build up of lactic acid in the muscle allowing you to continue performing for a longer period. This is the cycle you usually use for daily chores. Here energy is provided by glucose in the presence of oxygen. Also fatty acids in the presence of oxygen can be used. This is what is called fat metabolism or fat burning.

It produces energy at much slower rate due to the greater number of chemical reactions that are required. This is the energy cycle that a weight loss exercise should target. Why, because it uses both glucose and fat as source of energy.

A good example is aerobics. Aerobics are physical activities that promote this third cycle, and involve a lot of breathing as you execute muscle movements. This includes jogging and walking. Indeed walking and hiking has been associated with 54% reduction in the risk of becoming overweight.

Apart from assisting in significant and healthy weight loss, exercises have even more benefits;

1.Exercising improves heart efficiency and improves blood circulation.

2.Reduces blood cholesterol levels.

3.It facilitates production of endorphins, the feel good hormones, resulting to a sense of well being

4.Relaxes muscle reducing bodily tension and maintains body flexibility.

5.Helps in controlling high blood pressure.

6.Assist in encouraging rest.

7.Normalizes perspiration and aids the elimination of toxic substances.

8.Improves mental capacity and agility due to increased and improved blood flow into the brain.

9.Increases self esteem and the sense of well being facilitating a good mood.

10.Exercising increases oxygen uptake by the body by up to 5 times. This good supply of oxygen is associated with reduced cancer.

American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR) in fact recommends physical activities including moderate exercising such as brisk walking for 30 minutes a day and vigorous activity such as jogging or walking a mile in 15 minutes.

However research is showing that it is the more vigorous exercising that is more beneficial for significant reduction of breast and colon cancer compared to moderate exercising. All in all it is the aerobic type that has the most benefits for increasing well-being

© Mark Kimathi writes about Weight Loss-Top 4 Reasons for Failure at Health-eMark.com and related topics like weight loss exercises.