| • Overview |
| • Accupuncture |
| • Ayurveda |
| • Exercises |
| • Homeopathy |
| • Massage Therapy |
| • Naturopathy |
| • Yoga |
| • Aromatherapy |
| • Bach |
| • Color |
| • DHEA |
| • Gem Therapy |
| • Hypnotherapy |
| • Magneto Therapy |
| • Music Therapy |
| • Oxygen Therapy |
| • Reiki |
| • Alternate Therapy Quiz |
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EXERCISE
Aerobics Walking Skipping Cycling Swimming Exercise
makes the body release chemicals called Endorphins, which make you
cheerful and fight depression.
Lack
of exercise can leave you feeling low and depressed, because of
lower level of Endorphins. Regular exercise, therefore, keeps you
in a good mood
Exercise
is the most suitable form of improving physical capabilities and
managing weight. People all over the world have recognized the value
of exercises and more and more people are coming forward to get
dividends from these activities.
Exercise
keeps you happy and healthy and also gives you psychological satisfaction
of being in good shape.
AEROBICS
Aerobic exercise burns
fat and calories, helps you to lose weight, strengthens your heart
muscle, increases your ability to use oxygen and relieves stress.
It is important for everyone to get aerobic exercise at least three
to five times per week for 20 to 60 minutes.
To
keep your exercise routine fresh and fun, vary your activities whenever
possible. Aerobic exercises are very effective in strengthening
the heart and lungs, strengthening the organ's ability to contract.
Stronger contractions mean an improved, stronger blood flow, in
turn making a body better equipped for exercise. It is also a good
aid for loosing weight. As beneficial as aerobic exercise is, however,
it's not enough to add muscle and shape to your body.
Not
all sport activities provide an effective aerobic workout. If you
participate in a sport where the action is not continuous, or where
players are often substituted in play for short periods of time,
you may need more aerobic activity to balance out your fitness routine
or to achieve weight loss.
Aerobic
sports include cycling, hiking, running, and tennis.
An
aerobics class will improve cardiovascular endurance, flexibility,
muscular endurance, muscular strength, coordination and balance.
A
typical aerobic class should have the following format: Warm-up
(5-10 minutes): Marching in place and step-touches are common. The
warm-up will also include stretching exercises to increase muscle
flexibility and prevent injury.
Aerobic
segment (20 to 50 minutes): Common exercises include knee lifts,
light jogging, leg kicks, lunges, grapevines, calisthenics and/or
various dance movements.
Cool-down
(5 to 10 minutes): Gradually reduces the heart rate and decreases
blood flow to the muscles. The cool-down involves slower, less intense
movements of the large muscles. It is also important to perform
stretching exercises during the cool-down.
After
the aerobics session, the body needs time to recover and grow. Alternating
days and staggering intensity of workout can aid in your overall
development and prevent injury. Paying attention to your body's
messages -- soreness, tension, aches -- can help you figure out
when to work and when to rest.
WALKING
Is the cheapest, easiest
and most convenient form of exercise for all age groups, and can
be easily adopted if one has the Will-to-do-it. It accounts for
more than half the body muscles and joints, exercises, spinal cord,
shoulders, arms, feet, heart, lungs and brain.
Walking
helps cultivate relationships, makes one forget worries, and eases
the mind. It aids digestion, stimulates the brain, and helps the
blood flow evenly throughout the body.
Pre requisites
for walking:
How to Walk:
Walking
helps in burning calories. It takes 3500 calories to gain or loose
one pound.
Following
table shows how walking affects the calories:
Running
is good form of Exercise for people of all age groups, including
children and those in the older age group. It involves almost all
the muscles and strengthens them. It has a salubrious effect on
the heart and multifarious advantages.
Those
who have adopted it seriously have not only been able to lose weight
upto 10 to 12 kilograms in 12 week's time, but have also been able
to run a half marathon, that is, 22 kilometres at a good tempo.
SKIPPING
Skipping is the ideal
form of exercise at home. A rope of medium thickness about 9 ft
long is enough. The ends of the rope are stitched or a knot at the
ends to increase durability.
If
the rope touches the feet while one is skipping, it means the rope
is too short, if it touches the ground, it is a bit too long
For the purpose of weight management, the skipping exercise should
be done for a longer period of time with a hop in between-one skip
and one jump in a rhythm.
Skipping
strengthens the muscles of the legs, abdomen, back and arms with
its circular rhythmic movement.
It
is used for developing many other conditional qualities in addition
to endurance, like agility, speed and throwing and jumping power
etc.
4 Week Sample
Programme for Skipping
The
skipping programme, when undertaken in the house should be at a
place where the height of the ceiling is more than 10 feet above
the ground level. There should no hinderance from any quarter while
the exercise being done.
Beginners
can skip continuous for 30 to 90 seconds depending upon their capability.
This can be done 3 to 4 times with a proper lapse of time in between.
The rest period can be reduced slowly as the skipping capacity improves.
As one improves, the time for continuous skipping improves along
with the number of sets during a training programme. A sample-training
programme is detailed in Table 16.2 to start with.
A Sample Skipping
Programme
People
who face problems in adopting other forms of exercise because of
weak joints and excess body weight can take on cycling as a suitable
form of exercise.
CYCLING
Not only does cycling
give one an opportunity to enjoy nature in the outskirts of the
city, it also involves all the muscles of the legs and strengthens
then. The muscles of the upper body and arms are only used to maintain
the correct position when cycling. Thereafter, it is advisable to
add some exercises for the upper body and arms along with the cycling
programme.
Cycling
at full speed on a busy road is risky. A circular road with a few
openings should be chosen.
Beginners
should be careful when taking on a cycling programme. The first
few days of cycling can be taken on only for adopting the body to
the new regime. This will help in you becoming familiar with the
route and the environment. It can even be included into the daily
routine. One may use it to get to work or to perform household duties
of fetching the required groceries from the market, depositing telephone
and electricity bills etc.
Cycling
in a leisurely manner may not be of much use. The pulse rate must
be brought to the training zone to attain the maximum benefit from
exercising. The distance must be measured to calculate the estimated
speed.
One
of the best ways to measure speed is to measure the outer length
of the front wheel of the cycle and measure the total distance by
measuring marking the wheel with a thread and then multiplying the
total rounds of the wheel to know the distance. Now distance is
divided with time taken to know the speed.
Do
not cycle at full speed at the start. Adapt your body to the rhythm
for a few minutes before starting the work out.
Calculate
the distance as under e.g.
IR = 2.16m
Total Round
x2.16m = Total distance covered.
The
following programme should be adopted for weight management.
Calories
Burnt by Cycling in an Hour
SWIMMING
This is one of the
most important exercises, where the entire body gets complete stimulation
and every muscle is stretched and the stamina is also improved swimming
should be learned by a an instructor and one should adapt the style
they feel comfortable with e.g.: free, frog, butterfly and back
stroke.
Calorie Burner
Aerobics
Calories
per 10 min: Moderate-50; Moderate high-75; High - 110.
Benefits:
Can be done anywhere. Good for body composition and cardiovascular
fitness.
Considerations:
High impact aerobics may cause leg injuries. Low impact aerobics
may not raise heart rate. Difficult to measure week-to-week progress.
Cycling
Calories
per 10 min: 5.5 mph-40; 10mph-70; 13 mph-110; 18 mph-145
Benefits:
Strengthens leg muscles. Good for body composition and cardiovascular
fitness.
Considerations:
Cycling in traffic has risks. Good bicycles are expensive. Most
people pedal too slowly to derive good benefit.
Climbing stairs
Calories
per 10 min: 7" riser: 30 steps/min 1 at a time: 110 40steps/min
1 at a time: 140; 40 steps/min 2 at a time: 190
Benefits:
Good for body composition and cardiovascular fitness.
Considerations:
Too strenuous for some people. Very boring.
Yoga/stretching
Calories
per 10 min : 40 or less
Benefits:
Excellent for improving flexibility. No equipment required.
Considerations:
No improvement in cardiovascular fitness, reduce body fat or improve
muscle endurance and strength.
Walking
Calories
per 10 min: 3 mph - 50; 4 mph - 60; 5mph - 95; 5.5 mph - 110;
Benefits:
Good for body composition and cardiovascular fitness. Low injury
rate and very safe.
Considerations:
Takes longer than other activities to improve cardiovascular fitness
and derive the full benefit. Does little to condition muscles of
upper body and waist.
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