Run Training Blog

How To Eat Well On Annapurna Circuit Trek

2011-08-03T16:53:00.001-07:00

The Annapurna Circuit is a 23 day trek through some of the most amazing scenery in the world. Since you will be on the trail for most of those 23 days you will have to eat food that is indigenous to Nepal. Do not despair, while the food may not be fast—or processed like most westerners are used to it will be plentiful.

Not only will you get in better shape from hiking for 23 days you will also clean out your digestive system by eating healthy along the way. Food is not light, so instead of your porters carrying packs full of food you will be eating the traditional food of the Nepal people in the villages that you encounter.

The Annapurna Circuit is considered a "tea house trek," meaning there are villages with lodges and restaurants to eat and stay in along the entire route. You are expected to eat breakfast and dinner in the same lodge where you are spending the night. The price of rooms is relatively cheap because lodge owners tend to make more money on the food and drinks they are selling you than on the room where you are sleeping. With Himalayan Mountain Treks the price of the food and lodging is all inclusive.

The main staple of the Nepal diet is dahl bhat which translates as rice and lentils. It is consumed daily since it is inexpensive and good for you. Rice is more readily available at the lower elevations where the forests are lush. Along the way you will be treated to local vegetables such as cabbage, green beans, carrots, potatoes, greens, etc. Do not fret if you are not a vegetarian there are also choices of meat — chicken, fish in some areas, water buffalo and yak. The yak is in the bovine family so their meat is similar to beef. You will also be served eggs and rice for breakfast.

Once you reach higher elevations the scenery changes from rice paddies and green forests and gives way to the snow-capped mountains. At this point you will be served barley more frequently. For this reason, if you have any Gluten allergies, be sure to ask what is in the meals that you are served.

Along with the required gear to bring on the trip you may wish to pack in some snacks from home that are light weight and travel well. Snacks that you may bring are energy bars, trail mix, jerky, nuts, dried fruit, etc. You can also bring candy to satisfy your sweet tooth. Just remember to keep it as light as possible and to tip your porters well since they will be the ones carrying it.

Who knows, after your trip you may just give up processed food and stick to a healthier diet of rice and lentils, probably not, who can give up pizza.....

Himalayan Mountain Treks offers Everest Trekking including Mt Everest Base Camp Trek with over 20 years of guiding experience.

How Does Organic Food Affect Your Body

2010-07-29T07:41:00.000-07:00

Present day health conscious people are attracted more towards natural living fundamental, which includes organic foods as well. But, why do people prefer organic foods instead of conventional foods? How does organic ingredients affect your body? Organic products actually are specially grown food products, rich in organic ingredients, inculcated deliberately. Diets rich in organic health items give natural and fresh dose to the body, as compared to the pesticide inflicted non-organic foods, generally available in the market. Sometimes, conventional foods contain genetically modified organisms (GMO).

Problems associated with non-organic foods The following problems are commonly associated with non-organic products:

Low energy Levels

Low libido

Low motivation levels

Low metabolism Benefits of organic foods for the body Organic items provide not only mental and emotional benefits, but also the physical ones. Therefore, organic foods are fulfilling mentally, physically, and psychologically. Organic products do not contain toxins such as pesticides, antibiotics, additives, and nitrates that are mostly present in non-organic foods. According to an article in the Journal of Applied Nutrition, organic foods are nearly the best ones in the terms of nutritional quality.

Nutrients content of organic foods

Haves: Some of the rich nutrients, largely available in organic health items are:

Chromium - A micro-nutrient, found less in conventional food. Its deficiency may cause diabetes and atherosclerosis in adults.

Selenium - An antioxidant micro-nutrient, which protects from cancer, heart disease, and environmental chemical

Calcium - A mineral required for strong bones and teethes

Boron - This trace element prevents osteoporosis

Lithium - Good for the treatment of certain level of depression

Magnesium - Decreases the death rate, caused due to heart attacks and eases the symptoms of PMS

Vitamins - They are necessary for the body in limited supply for its proper functions and its protection against toxins. Vitamins A, B, C (antioxidant), and beta carotene (immunity booster & prevents lung cancer) are found well in organic foods

Have Nots: According to the researchers, organic foods contain less level of minerals, especially the following heavy metals:

Aluminum - Is responsible for the development of Alzheimer's disease

Lead - Has mental implications and can adversely affect children's IQ

Mercury - It causes neurological damage

Therefore, consuming organic produce is certainly a good idea and promise for good health and long lives, provided you follow the right diet patterns coupled with regular exercising! Organic products have health benefits for you and for the environment that makes long term differences.

Natures Organic Market offers discount prices on organic baby clothes, organic coffee, and more.

Why are organic and eco-friendly toys better for our children?

2010-01-18T13:05:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest gifts to mankind given by the creator is nature. Now it is our duty to protect this gift. If nature is not properly used and protected, we put ourselves and our next generation into peril. So use of nature and natural products should be made with wisdom. It is also true in the case of manufacture of toys.

Care of child:

It is the duty of every soul in this world to care for the child. He is our successor. The care of his health is of utmost importance. In order to make the child industrious, we provide him with many toys. Unfortunately many of these toys are made of materials like plastic, fibers, etc. which are chemical based products. These products are known to affect the tender skin of the baby. Attracted by the pleasing color of these toys, the toddler puts these products in his mouth and as a result he gets infected. These products are known to be storehouses of many serious diseases. So the child is laid down with serious ailments. His future is affected. Ultimately we have failed in taking proper care of the baby.

Remedy:

The remedy is to stop providing such toys which are manufactured using artificial materials like plastic, etc. Instead, replace these with organic and eco-friendly toys. They do not harm the child. These toys are manufactured using natural materials. They are as attractive as artificial toys. Advantages of organic toys:

As they are made of natural material without any artificial lining around them, they are totally safe for the child. Of course, they cost little more than their counterparts; artificial toys. But looking at the long range benefit, anyone will be willing to pay more. They are free from all sorts of toxic materials. They can be used for longer period of time. They can be repaired and reused. But in any form they are eco friendly. If there is a need to discard these toys, they can be put back on the road; nature will accept them. For example toys made of wood, cotton cloth, clay toys are all eco friendly; when they are discarded in the open, they in no way harm the nature or the neighborhood. But it is not so in case of artificial toys. There are many examples of many electronic gadgets yet to be disposed off because they cannot be thrown in the open for fear of causing environmental hazard.

Natures Organic Market offers discount prices on organic products like the best organic tea and more.

Should I hire a community association management company to help organize my community?

2009-12-16T12:36:00.000-08:00

The first question you need to ask does your Homeowner Association Board have extensive and practical experience in financial budgets, governance, community operations, and training for new board members. If you didn't immediately answer yes to each of those questions than a professional community association Management Company could be of service to your board. One more thing to consider is with your homeowner association board is not just do you have the experience, though do you have the time.

Unless your homeowner association board is made of fulltime board members which it probably is not, you have other responsibilities to your own business or employment that take priority for your time. This is why hiring a community management company is so important. That way you have a fulltime staff working to run your community.

One of the most beneficial items from using a professional community management team is operational budgets. The process of having a detailed and accurate budget for board members to make decisions from is crucial to community success. Since management companies with extensive experience have created many successful budgets the difference in accuracy is immense. With realistic budgets and planning your board members can feel confident that they are making the right decisions for their residents. Management services can guide board members through operational challenges that will arise no matter how detailed planning is. The biggest mistake most homeowner association boards make is a lack of a consistent communication process to updates and how the challenge will be solved.

When all community processes are handled by trained fulltime staff your community can run smoothly and it makes you look good for your residents. The reality is that most home owners only notice their association board when there are issues. The best boards are the ones that the residents don't even think about.

Have you ever been frustrated with new board members? Not that they are not bright and highly accomplished people, though they lack the experience of how your board and community works. Professional community management companies should have experience in how to train new board members into effective decision members that can contribute faster to their respected development.

The part that most residents notice the most is the up keep around the properties. Making sure that every person or business responsible is delivering can be overwhelming. The most effective community management companies have systems in place to organic and manage each community to keep property values and impressions up.

Just think if your homeowner association board is having any issues that professional community management could take care of. Less head aches and smoother management makes being on a association board more enjoyable and effective.

Parker Finch specializes in professional community management with online resident services for home owners.

Organic Nipple Cream for Breasts with Cracked, Dry and Sore Nipples

2009-11-04T07:57:00.000-08:00

organic breast cream for breastfeeding dry and cracked nipples

Best Protein Sources for Vegetarians

2009-11-03T15:36:00.000-08:00

Proteins are very necessary for human's health. The muscles of the body, hair, fingernails and many other body parts are made up of partially or wholly of protein. It is the common belief of the person that that the main source of proteins are only the non-vegetarian food substances. They think that vegetarian food normally lacks in protein. Now the question emerges, is their belief right? Well you can get the answer of this question by your own while reading this article on vegetarian protein food.

It is a fact that vegetarian food stuffs are also best in providing proteins and that too in high quantity. It is even revealed out of several surveys that those who are vegetarian are more healthy and fit as compared to those who are not. The only important thing to keep in mind is that the healthy vegetarian should take care to have adequate amount of protein in his diet for sure. It is worth to state that vegans require having more sensitivity regarding their body's protein requirements.

Here is a list of pure vegetarian protein food stuffs for vegans:

Spirulina:

It is rare and pure vegetarian complete protein that contains all essential amino-acids. It is 85-95 percent digestible and easy for body to assimilate and digest. You can enjoy spirulina in dressing or smoothies.

Bee pollen:

Bee pollen has approximately 40 percent of proteins and packed with vital vitamins and minerals. It is count as nature's super nourishing vegetarian protein food. Bee pollen has more proteins as compared to any other animal sources like beef, eggs, meat etc.

Soy products:

Cooked soybeans (1/2 cup) have 10 grams of proteins and tofu (1/4 cup) also contains same quantity of proteins. Soy products are involved in small quantum in Asian diets while they are completely new for west. Select best quality of organic tofu as well as unsweetened soy milks. Fermented products of soy are very easy to digest.

Legumes and Beans:

Cooked chickpeas (2/3 cup) have 10 grams proteins. Incomplete proteins are present in beans. This means you can make them healthier by cooking them with other protein rich vegetables. Eating grains and beans together is classic combination that provides complete proteins.

Dairy:

Dairy products are very rich in proteins. Raw milk straight from the cow has very high content of proteins. Thus, raw organic as well as fermented milk food products are far better than homogenized and pasteurized milk.

Process of homogenization breaks milk into very smaller particles. These particles cause lactose intolerance. Pasteurization mainly sanitizes milk but also kills its goodness too. The enzymes present in raw milk help in digestion.

However, if you have treated organic-milk as a last option then do not worry. Here are some guidelines to make proteins present in homogenized and pasteurized milk more digestible.

Eat yoghurt.

Warm the milk with some digestive spices like cinnamon, ginger and cardamom.

Cottage cheese would become more digestible when it added with little yoghurt.

Try sheep and goat products.

Protein powder:

Whey protein-powders are processed proteins. However, smoothie protein-powder is very fine to take as occasional snack or in breakfast. Quality is key factor for complete health. So, from above vegetarian protein food stuffs you can get high quality protein. If you require more proteins then switch towards several other things available as well. It is not that the above mentioned are only the protein rich vegetarian food. In addition there are several other sorts of vegetarian foods available that can provide you with right quantity of protein. Some other sorts of choices that are available for you are bee pollen, legumes, spirulina etc. Hence, from the above food stuffs you can have rich protein diet without any non-vegetarian food.

In addition, if you are concerned with the cost aspect, then too you need not to worry at all. It is so because if you would go for such sorts of foods then the best part is that you would get vegetarian food cheaper as compared to the non vegetarian food. So what's the deal in not going for vegetarian protein food? Also you are not required to worry about various problems or diseases than can happen because of eating poor quality non vegetarian food.

Being vegan is itself a special and better choice. Thus, take high protein containing vegetables and fruits in your diet with other vegetarian protein food in order to have protein as per your physical requirements.

LiveLeanToday.com offers great value on ephedra diet pills, protein powders, and more.

What does the Organic Label Really Mean?

2009-10-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the 'Organic' labels -the consumers can now spare themselves the trouble of going through the list of ingredients on a product's packet in order to decide whether it is organic or not. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has introduced a few national standards that need to be met before companies can use the term "organic" for their food items. Any product labeled 'Organic' assures that it is created without the use of artificial hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, bio energy, or irradiation. The farmers involved in the agriculture of organic foods are not only required to abide by certain water and soil conservation mechanisms, but also need to give a benign treatment to animals.

The Definition of Organic

It may be strange yet interesting to note that marking a food item as organic does not necessarily indicate that the food is healthful and nutritive. The USDA does not claim that food produced organically has more salubrious benefits than conventional food, but it does assure that such foods do not contain any pesticides or harmful chemicals. Therefore, the picky consumers, who pay a lot of heed to nutritional values of everything they eat, are still required to read labels attentively in order to decide how nutritious their diet is going to be. Another interpretation conveys that the term 'organic' does not mean 'natural.' All it means is that USDA has approved the food.

USDA's Steps towards Creating Organic Foods

These days, the USDA makes the use of state and private agencies in order to carry out inspections on food companies to certify them to market organic foods. However, all the farmers making less than $5000 through organic sales are exempted from the process of certification. They do however, have to comply with the latest standards of the government and be veracious about their claims for organic label. A fine, as large as $10,000, can be issued upon the companies and individuals, who try to label or sell a product, which does not meet the USDA standards.

The Benefits of Organic Foods over Conventional Foods

The best thing about organic foods is that they comprise of less amounts of minerals. Most of the other foods contain heavy metals, detrimental to our health in the end. These metals include aluminum, which is responsible for Alzheimer's disease; Mercury, which causes neurological damage; and lead, the mental implications of which are known to affect children's IQ adversely.

Therefore, in a world where nothing can be trusted for complete purity, the consumption of foods, certified as organic can certainly define your path towards a healthier lifestyle.

Natures Organic Market offers high quality organic skin care, organic coffee, and more.

How to Determine the Value of Your Gold Coins

2009-09-29T11:06:00.001-07:00

Gold has been mankind's most desirable asset for more than 3,000 years. It freely circulated as everyday money - except during times of great economic turmoil - from the time of the Ancient Greeks and Romans right up to 1933. Until that year, the value of the great majority of gold coins was the same as their face value. That meant a $20 gold coin could be freely exchanged for 20 one-dollar bills. And 20 one-dollar bills could be exchanged for one $20 gold coin. It was a two-way system that promoted a stable value for our money.

That era ended in 1933. As part of his effort to re-inflate our economy from the depths of the depression, President Roosevelt recalled all circulating gold coins. He had his Treasury Department melt them and send the newly formed ingots to Fort Knox for storage. Then Roosevelt revalued gold, in a series of steps, from its pre-1933 value of $20 to $35 per ounce.

The Market for Gold Coins Changes

Literally overnight, a $20 gold coin contained more than $20 worth of gold. Owners of the limited number of coins that survived the federal recall order, primarily collectors and overseas banks, wondered how to determine the value of their gold coins. Were they only worth their gold value, or would the government's efforts turn once-common issues into scarce and rare dates?

Today we know the answer to that question. The government's massive melting of our circulating $1, $2.50, $5, $10, and $20 gold coins created hundreds of rarities out of coins with original mintage that suggest easy availability. Here's one example: the Philadelphia Mint struck 2.9 million $20 gold coins in 1931, one of the higher mintage of the 1907-1933 series. Based strictly on its original mintage, the 1931-P should be easily available and not too expensive. Thanks to the government's melting, all 1931-P $20 gold coins are rare and extremely valuable.

Gold Coin Values Today

Speed forward to 2009. All U.S. gold coins minted before 1933 are worth FAR more than their face value, and many are worth FAR more than their bullion (metallic) value. That's true because the number of collectors of U.S. gold coins of the pre-1933 era has expanded tremendously. At the same time, the available supply of these coins has remained relatively unchanged. Because rare coin market values are set by the interaction of supply and demand, the long-term value of pre-1933 U.S. gold coins has shown a distinctly rising trend.

So how can you determine the value of your pre-1933 U.S. gold coins?

We live in an age of tremendous availability of information. Early in the last century, collectors and investors were content to determine their gold coins' value by following (and interpreting) auction results. In the late 1940s, publishers began offering a once per year guide book that listed values for every U.S. coin. Then monthly publications were introduced, providing ads and estimated market values. Then weekly coin newspapers, filled with articles, auction results, and market commentaries, were established. Today we have all of these sources, plus the information on the Internet.

All of these sources, when you know how to use and interpret them, are extremely valuable. All of these sources can help you determine the value of each gold coin you own. But none is perfect. Each has its own quirks and its own idiosyncrasies.

The single best way to determine the retail or wholesale value of your pre-1933 U.S. gold coins is to have your trusted adviser perform a professional review, this will provide your most dependable estimate of value.

Determine the Value of Bullion Gold Coins

Bullion gold coins, like American Eagles and Canadian Maple Leafs, are struck by governments for sale to investors through a network of distributors and wholesalers. They are minted in unlimited numbers, so scarcity is not a factor in determining their value. That means the value of gold bullion coins can be easily determined with reasonable accuracy on any day.

To determine the value of your gold bullion coins, you need to know their pure gold weight and the spot (or cash) value of gold. Determining a gold coin's weight is usually simple: the coin's design should state them. If it does not, contact your coin dealer.

Once you know your bullion gold coin's pure gold content, it's time to identify the market value for an ounce of gold. For today's value, contact your broker. Your broker provides up to the minute bid and ask prices for spot gold, as well as spot silver, platinum, and palladium.

Now you know the weight of your coin and the value of an ounce of pure gold. To learn your coin's pure gold value, simply multiply the two numbers. For example: you want to know the value of a half-ounce American Eagle gold bullion coin. You know the pure gold content (one half ounce) because it is stated on the coin. You locate gold's current market value, and find it is $950 per ounce. Multiplying one-half (your coin's pure gold contents) times $950 (gold's current market value) yields a gold value of $475 for your coin. Market premiums, distribution charges, and dealer commissions will vary and will affect your coin's value, so be sure to consider them when determining your coin's value.

American Eagles, the world's most popular gold bullion coins, are guaranteed for their content and purity by the United States government. Their value is primarily determined by the price of gold, which fluctuates throughout the day.

Contact ITM Trading Senior Analyst for how to buy Gold coins or more information on buying Gold for Investment.

What are the styles of a simple wedding dress

2009-07-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

While many brides would love to have a dramatic wedding dress, there are others who are uncomfortable with too many embellishments and would like to opt for a simple wedding dress. The problem these days is that the styles that are in vogue have too much detailing. They call for a whole lot of embellishments, lace, sequins and flounces, which may not be what you as a bride would want. If this is the case you need to go for the classic, simple and elegant sort of wedding dress.

In the current economic slump it makes sense to keep it simple. Many brides prefer to keep their wedding dress simple, not because of any constraints but simply because they see themselves as simple women. Simple does not mean un-trendy but simple does mean devoid of any kind of fuss. The simple wedding dress need not be unfashionable or dowdy. Of course it will not be having detailing. It will avoid layering, flounces, frills, ribbons, beading, crystal work, embroidery or any other fancy stuff. But then, perhaps you would not like to walk down the aisle wearing something that looks like rolls of lace and sequins wrapped around your body. You can achieve a classic, understated and chic effect with the right cut of the dress and the right fabric.

A simple wedding dress can be classy, feminine and elegant. Modern fashion is all-encompassing. Today's bride can choose from a wide range of styles to select the dress that is perfect for her wedding day. A simple style does not have to be dowdy. It can lay stress on the fabric of the garment, the cut and the fall. It can play with texture and color for the perfect look.

The traditional wedding dress has been white in color. Over the years brides have experimented with the white color and used cream, egg-shell, ecru and pearl. However in the recent years, brides have also started using non-traditional colors like purple, pink, and others for their wedding dress. If you do not want to wear white, you have a range of colors to choose from.

If you do not want to spend too much on your wedding dress, you can get yourself a simple gown (a prom dress would also do) and invest the rest of your money on classy jewelery. After all jewelery is a great investment, and the dress is worn only once. The main point to remember here is that the entire ensemble should be balanced. The dress should be simple yet elegant and the jewelery adds the sparkle. So chose your jewelery for the occasion with care.

Select the style and cut of your simple wedding dress carefully. For a tall slim figure a sheath is wonderful. This also complements a petite figure. Simple Silhouette is a style that accentuates the curves and is very elegant. Select a neckline and other details to emphasize the accessories and jewelery.

If you have a perfect hourglass figure, it can be accentuated with a two piece and corset style of dress. It can be very simple, with clean unbroken line, accentuating the waist. The Empire wasted wedding dress is ideal for a bride who has a fuller waist. Again this style does not need any lace or flounces. Even the layering can be minimized or done away with. This can be worn with heavy jewelery that takes away the attention from the body shape.

For a pear shaped figure, the A-line cut is a wonderful way to camouflage the full hips. It is figure hugging at the waist and bust and flows in simple lines over the lower body. Of course, you can browse the design catalog for the best way to style it. It can be with sleeves or with noodle straps. It could also be backless. You will be the best judge of the design suitable for you.

There is a wide array of fabrics to choose from. Select a fabric that is best suited for the style of your dream dress, keeping in mind the fact that you have chosen not to embellish it in any way. Silk is the traditional choice of brides. It is natural, strong and durable and has a shine. Silk today is woven with other materials to give you a wide variety of fabrics like duchess satin, shantung, Carmelle etc. You could also use velvet, Georgette, taffeta or even chiffon for your simple wedding dress. Keep in mind that the design of the dress is simple so the fabric and cut should be perfect to emphasize your beauty.

Bridal Online Store offers the most selection and best prices for wedding dresses and beach wedding dresses.

Causal Weddings the Latest Trend for Brides

2009-06-22T15:53:00.000-07:00

So, you are now engaged to be married. What kind of wedding are you going to have? The latest trend is for couples to go with more causal weddings then full productions. You may have decided that a more causal wedding is what you want to do, though the question is now what?

With young couples's busy schedules, causal weddings are a great idea. With the price a big production wedding can be a strain on new couples getting started in life. Causal wedding allow for a memorable and classy wedding which will still be day to remember.

Invitations

With today's basic graphic computer people can now make classic looking wedding invitations without shelling out the expense. Pick the paper you would like from the store and most basic software packages that comes with your computer has programs for designing invitations and making them personal to you.

Wedding Dress

The latest trend is classy and sexy wedding dresses without long trains. A causal wedding dress still can be just as beautiful with sexy v-necks and open backs. Online allows brides to get wedding dress at low prices.

Bridesmaids Dresses

What to make your bridesmaids love you more than ever. Instead of bright colored dress that they will never wear again nor want to, pick a dress from one of your favorite clothing stores. A classy summer dress can look beautiful and used again.

Flowers

Everyone stills wants flowers at your wedding. It is important to find the right amount of flowers based on the location for your weddings. Many people spend too much time thinking about the flowers which they will never remember in the end.

Reception

The reception is a time for your guest to visit and interact. Often weddings bring people together who haven't seen each other for some time. Most intimate places like a friends or family member's backyard or a personal friend's quite location allows your guest to interact. Many standard locations for weddings place everyone in special seats in a large room and lose the intimacy that your causal wedding can provide.

Music

With everyone having an IPOD or MP3 player, you would be surprised what a DJ your friends and family can be. Set your music player to a set schedule of songs and no one has to worry about the music all night. Working together with friends and family you can compile every song that you would want.

Bridal Online Store has the latest trends in casual wedding dresses and all your wedding dress selections.

How is organic coffee produced

2009-05-31T21:10:00.000-07:00

Organic coffee is becoming exceptionally popular do to its healthier benefits over traditional coffee. Plus, organic coffee is grown with eco safe farming practices.

For_Immediate_Release:

United States of America (Press Release) October 10, 2008 --
What is Organic in the first place?

In the contemporary world organic agricultural production means using traditional methods and materials which are least harmful the surrounding environment. Like Mother Nature for millions of years, the organic agricultural production methods keeps rejuvenating the nutritional richness of soil and sustains its fertility. In the organic agricultural production methods toxic and harmful chemical fertilizers and pesticides/insecticides are generally shun and at dire situations minimally used. Instead of them organic methods build biologically diverse agriculture to create the same effect naturally.

The meaning of Organic Coffee

Organic coffee means naturally shade grown coffee untouched by any harmful synthetic chemical and more importantly untouched by merely commercial and profit oriented methods that sacrifice environment leading to local ecological imbalance like severe deforestation, soil erosion and depletion etc.

Organic in the present profit oriented commercial situation of the world means ‘responsible living’, ‘protecting the earth for progeny’, ‘understanding the earth as a living system’ and ‘being knowledgeable about the harms of destroying any part of the eco system’ and so on.

‘Organic’ is the lifeline of future of the health of the earth and humankind.

The ‘real’ ‘natural’ and ‘actual’ coffee

In nature, coffee plants
grow under the shade of other trees without needing much direct sun light. Growing under shade trees also means the falling leaves of other trees in due course of time turn out to be excellent natural manure. The layer on layer of fallen leaves works as a blanket to keep the soil moisture protected and intact. The lower layers with moisture and humidity compost and this natural fertilizer keeps the soil nutrients remain in natural balance without being depleted. And the soil remains fertile.

The rich canopy of shade trees also remains the home for varieties of birds which live on insects which in turn are dangerous pests
of coffee plants. Due to the presence of large number of bird population, no need arises to use any harmful chemical insecticides. Thus, in the total absence of harmful chemical fertilizers or insecticides the pest controlling birds flourish and the environment remains naturally healthy and life sustaining and supportive.

The coffee grown in this natural environment is the actual coffee that enchanted the mankind through centuries with its taste and flavor.

source: FPR

The method of growing organic coffee

The natural and traditional method to start with involves inter-planting, which means, coffee plants planted along with other shade giving trees contrasting the commercially grown coffee under direct sun light without shade giving trees.

Secondly to allow the falling leaves of trees to compost to form natural fertilizer and to leave the fallen leaves without disturbing them to protect the soil moisture.

Thirdly by allowing the bird population to grow through avoiding felling of shade giving trees and the birds that live on small insects keeps the coffee plants bereft of pests. Birds are natural pesticide and insecticide provided by the nature and going along with nature is what organic method of growing coffee.

And finally through avoiding strictly the use of any chemical fertilizer, pesticide or insecticide the integrity of the natural taste and flavor of coffee is kept intact.

The last step of decaffeinating

For decaffeinating the organic coffee, it is essential to avoid using the commercially used chemical like methylene chloride or ethyl acetate which is considered harmful to human health and carcinogenic. And using such chemicals in the process of decaffeinating coffee beans actual corrupts the original taste and flavor of coffee.

To decaffeinating organic coffee, only certified organic decaffeination processes should be applied or it should be done by using just water to wash off caffeine using the much acclaimed and approved ‘Swiss Water Process’. This is the only accepted method for organic coffee to remain really organic and healthy.

Welcome Organic Coffee

Coffee thus produced under shade trees without the use of any harmful chemicals, be it fertilizer or insecticide and produced without harming the environment in any way like felling of trees leading to deforestation, and which results in soil erosion or depletion of natural nutrients of the soil and decaffeinated through right process is what organic coffee – the natural taste of coffee. And welcoming the organic coffee is a meaningful contribution you render to environmental protection and leave behind a healthy earth for our progeny.

For more information:
NaturesOrganicMarket.com

Visit our website: http://www.naturesorganicmarket.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=58

Do You have Symptoms of Fatigue, Shortness of Breath, or a Rapid Heart Beat?

2009-04-21T16:57:00.000-07:00

Let me know if this sounds like you? You experience frequent bouts of quick onset of sweating, a sudden rapid heart rate, or all of a sudden a shortness of breath. You may think that you are having a heart attack, though the real cause may be something you didn't expect.

If this sounds like you do you skip breakfast often? Thus once you skip breakfast your day goes by with off on bouts of fatigue and sluggishness that you fix with either trips to Starbucks or the vending machine. Quickly after eating the high sugar of gourmet coffees or snacks in vending machines you feel better though it doesn't last and a few hours later you are crashing again.

What is happening is a lack of small meals during the day is throwing your hormones out of balance. Too much insulin in your blood stream from constant bouts of low and then high blood sugar is causing your symptoms mentioned earlier. This process starts many Americans on the path to diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and high blood pressure. Who would have though it was all causes when you skipped breakfast?

Most Americans from not poor diet choices, but poor diet habits are living everyday with their hormones out of balance. What I mean by poor diet habits instead of poor diet choices is that most people may think they eat too much fast food or not enough vegetables, though it is the simple act not eating small meals throughout the day that causes the hormonal imbalances.

Your endocrine system (hormones) and your nervous system control your body's rhythm which allows you to prevent disease and live healthy. Most pharmaceutical drugs mast the symptoms people feel like depression or fatigue though the only way to make a cure is to get your hormones back into balance from your diet.

The key understanding how your hormone insulin works and what you can to get in back into balance.

1. Insulin is the key hormone that controls how much fat you store.

2. High insulin levels triggers your brain to crave high sugar foods.

3. Insulin puts stress on the brain which leads to type 3 diabetes or Alzheimer's.

4. Your body becomes resistant to the effects of insulin and that process is the cause of over half the cases of high blood pressure.

5. Insulin enhances the chance of cancer cells forming.

6. High levels of insulin have been linked to depression, panic attacks, anxiety, ADHD, and insomnia.

7. Insulin makes your blood clot faster which increases risk of heart attacks and strokes.

8. Insulin can lead to lower testosterone which causes infertility, acne, hair loss for both men and women, and sexual performance issues.

Top 10 Tips to Re balance Your Insulin

1. Eat a higher amount of whole foods that have not been processed like fruits, vegetables, beans, fish, chicken, and eggs.

2. Remove trans fats from your diet. There is no health benefit to any trans fats in your diet.

3. Eat more organic foods which don't use pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones.

4. Avoid high sugar foods.

5. Eat breakfast. If you are not in the habit; start with something. Just drinking coffee doesn't count for eating breakfast.

6. Eat 5 small meals during the day or every 2-3 hours.

7. Don't eat a large meal than go to bed. This is also solved by eating 5 small meals as you loose the ability to overeat.

8. Get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Lack of sleep will limit the affects of any amount of health eating that you will do. You are not able to catch up on the weekends.

9. Get at least 3 bouts of exercise in during the week. Cardiovascular exercise has been shown to support stabilizing your blood sugar.

10. Ten a few minutes to relax every day. High stress releases cortisol into your blood stream which amplifies the effects of insulin.

When you embark on balancing your hormones remember it is a lifestyle not a 90 day plan. The goal is that every action you take is an action that you can add to your life that you can continue. Any solution that is short term typically only causes more problems or at least different problems.

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Achieve a Beach Body Tips

2009-04-13T15:58:00.000-07:00

Having great physique, huge muscles, smart personality is something every men desires. As we all know that there are many gym and fitness center established to help people in building huge muscles. You must have visited a beach to spend some loving moments with friends and family. Beach is a place where a person likes to enjoy the touch of water. But due to an awkward and ugly physique many times you hesitate to open your clothes. You see several young boys roaming all around you in swimming costumes showing off their beach body. You must be wondering how they get a beach body. Let me tell you that even you can get a beach body. All you need is a proper diet and regular workouts. If you really desire to get a beach body then I can provide you some useful tips which can help you in making a beach body. Summer is somewhere near so I suggest that you should start making a beach body from today onwards so that you can also show your beach body and can enjoy the thrilling atmosphere of beach.

Let us discuss some of the factors through which you can get a beach body:

Firstly decide the time up to which you want a beach body as your workout and diet will be based on the time period in which you need a beach body. Make sure what will be your diet and what all will be your initial workouts to get a beach body. This is essential as through these you can build your muscles to get a beach body. You should also gain some basic knowledge about health and fitness so that you can prepare yourself in that way. The main areas of your body on which you have to pay special attention are chest, arms, triceps, biceps, shoulders and thighs. You can also perform workouts in order to build abs. In the initial stage you have to build up muscular arms, big chest and huge shoulders and after you succeed in getting them you can start with cardiovascular workouts to build up your key muscle groups.

A cardiovascular workout helps in burning the top layer of fat of your body. It is essential because by burning the top layer one can easily build huge muscles but for starting this workout one have to build good muscles. The key to get a beach body is weight training, correct nutrition and cardiovascular training. Many people perform the two building blocks properly that is weight training and cardiovascular training but fails in doing the third building block correctly that is proper nutrition. Because of improper nutrition the muscles fails to develop in a proper manner. It is well known that heavy weights are essential for building huge muscular body but for lifting huge weights strength is needed which is provided by proper nutrition. So in order to get a beach body you should pay proper attention to your nutrition. You should take in a proper diet, full of proteins and other essential macronutrients so that you can have the strength to lift heavy weights.

All you need to do is to make a correct nutritional plan so that your muscles and your body can get proper nutrition. This will help you in doing workouts in a proper manner. You can easily get broad shoulders and muscular arms and can also tone every muscle of your body. You will not even feel shy in opening your cloths on the beach as then you can show your beach body. To get a beach body you have to do all these exercises and make sure that you continue them as regular workouts is very vital in maintaining the beach body.

By doing regular workouts you will keep increasing you rate of metabolism which is essential for burning fat and calories. By doing these workouts you can easily maintain a fit and healthy body. You can even join a fitness centre or a gym in order to get best results. You can also consult a physiotherapist as he can advice you how to get a beach body in a more perfect way. You can also consult a trainer for performing different workouts. Make sure that you opt for a right workout for building a muscular body. Do not ever push yourself in completing a set or workout as you can cause yourself an injury.

So, start your workouts and training in order to get a beach body and pay attention on your diet as a nutritional diet is must to get a beach body.

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What is Organic Coffee and how is it Grown

2009-01-08T14:51:00.000-08:00

Organic is a new word used in the context of coffee, tea, cocoa and other food materials in recent times around local shops and super markets. Every year the word is being used by buying public more than the previous year and its use is growing year after year resulting in higher sale proportion of tea or coffee marked as 100% organically grown.

What is organically grown?

To simply put it, organic farming methods leave least or no harmful impact on the surrounding environment. Organic agricultural production systems are mostly traditional methods evolved through learning from nature. In the organic farming methods no synthetic chemical fertilizer or pesticide is used. So that organic production means natural, pure and healthy.

How coffee grows in nature

The coffee plant does not need much direct sun light and so it grows under the shade of large trees. The ground is never sprayed with any chemical insecticide or fertilizer and so the ground water remains pure and uncontaminated. From the canopy of trees leaves fall steadily and the ground is covered by fallen leaves layer on layer. The layers of fallen leaves work as a blanket and protect the moisture of the ground. The moisture in turn help the process of compost to turn the bottom layers of leaves into natural manure to nourish the land.

The thick foliage of shade trees over the coffee bushes house many varieties of birds and also attracts the migratory birds. The birds live on small insects and pests. So they work as natural pest controllers and keep the coffee plants healthy.

The coffee that grows in the shade of other local trees become original and pure in taste and flavor Organic Coffee.

The proposed plantation site is selected carefully. And if the site was being used to grow some other crop using chemical fertilizer or chemical insecticides, then a minimum period of three years are given as conversion years for the proposed site to get over the effects of the harmful chemicals.

After the conversion years coffee bushes are planted along with local shade trees. Care is given equally to the coffee bushes and shade trees and effort is put in to leave bird population to grow undisturbed.

The fallen leaves are left undisturbed to convert into manure to nourish the land and keep it fertile. The bird population effectively controls the pests and harmful insect and protects the coffee bushes. And finally for decaffeinating, approved processes are employed including the Swiss Water process. The coffee thus produced is organic coffee.

Organic vs. commercial production

Organic production methods along with producing coffee intend to protect environment. In this process of growing coffee, more and more trees are grown due to that local biodiversity is achieved. In this method, soil fertility and nutrients are sustained. No chemical pollution is created to harm the human health.

In contrast in commercial profit oriented method of growing coffee, the trees are felled and the cumulative effect is deforestation. Deforestation leads to soil erosion and severe depletion. The commercial grower cuts trees to allow direct sun light which increases production. As there are no birds to control pests and due to the absence of trees and its natural manure, farmers are forced to use chemical fertilizers and pesticides severely harming the environment.

Organic coffee - lifeline of future

Organic production process is eco friendly and helps to repair the environment spoilt by the greedy profit oriented approach of commercial growers of coffee through growing more and more shade trees.

Protecting environment locally helps to enhance the eco system. Rejuvenation and eco system alone can help the planet from disaster and help to sustain life on this planet.

Organic coffee is our responsibility, almost a human duty and life line to healthy future of mankind.

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Lean Out for Burning Fat During Cardio w/LiveLeanToday.com

2008-12-18T13:28:00.000-08:00

How to Make a Protein Shake

2008-11-11T15:13:00.000-08:00

Proteins are the basic building blocks of any living being. Proteins are made up of essential and non essential amino acids, both of which are equally important in building up the muscles and cells in a body.

There are many people who go for regular work outs. It becomes very essential in these kinds of people to have a proper amount of protein in their diet. Regular gym goers and people who regularly work out generally tend to go for protein supplements like energy bars or protein shakes.

The main advantages for going for a protein shake is to recover faster from the tiredness of work out, to maintain lean muscle due to consumption of proteins like whey protein which are low in fat and carbohydrates but rich source of proteins. It also helps in acting as a meal replacement therapy, in the sense that if you regularly take protein shakes in your meal you can easily skip that one time meal since the protein shake itself provides you with enough and more calories required for that particular time of the day.

There are different ways to make a protein shake, but the below mentioned will be the best and easiest way to make a shake for your balanced meal. The blender must be off when the milk is poured into the jar. The whey protein powder must be added to the milk and the milk and protein must be blended in the jar for about 15-20 seconds.

Once the milk and the protein powder are blended, the blender must be turned off and any fruit of your choice must be added. The fruits added may be bananas, raspberries, strawberries etc that would give a good and refreshing flavor to the shake.

The ingredients must then be blended nicely in the jar in medium speed or a greater speed so that all of them get mixed thoroughly and the fruits are completely bended with the milk. A tablespoon of virgin coconut oil can be used to give a coconut flavor to the shake. Coconut oil increases the metabolic rate and tends to help in achieving weight loss at a faster rate. It also helps in reducing certain risks associated with cancer and other cardiovascular risks.

Flaxseed oil can also be used in the shake due to different roles of flaxseed in daily diet. Flax seeds are rich in omega three fatty acids and hence play major role in reducing cholesterol, blood pressure and arthritis.

The shake is now ready to drink with a wonderful flavor of your choice. The shake must be had after 15-20 of your workout since it is in this time that the body requires protein to a maximum extent.

The protein shakes must usually be made with simple but strong flavors to mask the taste of the protein as such. The flavors can include fruity flavors like bananas, raspberries, strawberries etc or flavors like chocolate, vanilla, honey nut and crunch or roasted almonds.

The protein shakes prepared can be for various purposes. It can be used by some to gain weight or by some to lose weight. People who go for protein shakes for gaining weight tend to use 2% or whole milk with extra protein powder in the recipe mentioned since that would help in gaining weight.

People who are on a diet to lose weight tend to use skim milk in the recipe since that helps in building lean muscle.

People who are allergic to dairy products can use soy milk. Soy milk is also an alternative for people who tend to go on a low carbohydrate and cholesterol free protein shakes.

Care must be taken that the fruits used and the milk used must be fresh ones, since if not they might harm your body. Natural fruits or nuts whatever used must also be rich in protein since that would increase the energy you get from your shake. It is always better to go for natural flavors rather than using artificial or synthetic flavors since they may cause harm to the body at a later stage in life because of the synthetic chemicals used for flavoring.

Thus by using all the natural ingredients available in your fridge all the time, a great protein shake that would boost your body can be made.

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What is Organic Farming and is it Important

2008-10-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

Organic farming is a broad concept with extreme application. It is well appreciated on a large scale by the people as now with the help of it they can easily grow their own food. If you have a little bit of free time with you then you need not to face any kind of problem. You can prepare and serve good quality delicious food by doing organic farming at your home.

It is not true that organic farming is practiced at a small scale only. By having a trip of farming sector you can easily understand how much vast this sector actually is. This is not the case some time before. Few years back it was not a highly thriving and demanding sector but now the case has totally changed. It is now not limited to a small scale industry as day by day more corporate sectors are taking interest in this field. Large corporate farming is taking keen interest in the concept of organic farming. Continuous research is going on to find out the way by which huge fields of a single crop can be grown. No one can deny the fact that in the process of organic farming, pests are believed to be the major threat. Due to harmful impact on the biodiversity unnatural pesticides are not much preferred to use.

If you are going for the natural pesticides for controlling the pests then it is certainly an eco friendly approach but believed to be much expensive in contrast to unnatural ones. Some time before, due to expensive nature they were not much preferred in the process of organic farming. After the entrance of large scale industries with huge budget this can be achieved now very easily. Natural pesticides can be a good option when it is about the large scale organic farming but if you are going for it at your home or at a small scale in a separate piece of land then it is advisable to look for any other good option. This is because like other kinds of farming organic farming also requires the process of sowing, cultivating and harvesting. If you do not have proper arrangement of water for the purpose of irrigation then you require depending largely on the rain water. If you are concluding the process of organic farming at your home then irrigation is not a big issue but even at a small scale proper arrangement of water is very essential. If you do not have a huge budget with you then it can be a difficult work for you. You require investing a good amount on purchase of seeds, irrigation, fertilizers, harvesting, etc.

There is much debate till now on the use of unnatural pesticides in the process of organic farming. Several environmentalists and consumer protection organization have claimed that the use of unnatural pesticides not only damage the environment but also have an adverse impact on the quality of food. For killing the insects and pests these pesticides are used but they are not considered helpful after sometime. It is so because these insects as well as the pests easily get adapted to the effects of the chemicals involved in them and so these pesticides looses their worth. Sooner or later it damages the health of the final consumer who without knowing consumes a large amount of lethal chemicals and synthesized materials along with the natural food. Thus it is injurious for the health of the human being as well.

Thus there are several ways by which you can have your favorite vegetables as well as fruits and that too with the help of inorganic as well as organic farming. As there are several pros as well as cons of both it is up to you to decide the one that is best for you. You can make use of organic farming to turn your dreams into reality and the best part is it is already benefiting millions of people so you are not at all required to worry for it as well.

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Ephedra Plus Caffeine Ultimate Weight Loss Combination

2008-10-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

Chinese ephedra (ma huang) comes from the dry herbaceous stems of a primitive family of plants known as ephedracae. Three species of ephedra are grown in China and recognized in the pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic Republic of China and the Chinese material Medica. This herb is one of the oldest and most widely used Chinese herbs. Ma Huang has been used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine as a primary component of multi herb formulas that are prescribed to treat bronchial asthma, cold and flu, coughing, and wheezing, fever, chills, lack of perspiration, headache, and nasal congestion. It has, therefore, been no secret to the Chinese that there are a diversity of significant benefits to be derived from the other approximately 99% of ephedra plant that does not contain ephedrine alkaloids.

Thanks to modern science and proprietary nutraceutical know how, Hi Tech has now mastered the specifics of these beneficial ephedra constituents, which have been isolated, extracted, and standardized to create Hi-Tech's Thermo-Z brand of ephedra extract for its remarkable benefits in weight loss dietary supplements.

Ephedra + Caffeine: The Holy Grail of Weight Loss

The weight loss benefits of ephedra have been known for centuries. In fact, studies show that ephedra + caffeine can more than double the rate of weight loss compared to a placebo. Recent developments in the field of weight management have demonstrated the efficacy of using pharmacological agents, both instead of and in addition to, diet and exercises. Specifically, many studies have focused on the effects of increasing sympathetic nervous system stimulation in order to increase basal metabolic rates, thereby providing a long term therapeutic option for thermo genesis. Because low metabolic rate is a characteristic of being overweight, and sympathetic activity has been shown to increase this metabolic rate, a role for sympathetic stimulation in the field of weight loss has a well established physiological rationale. Unfortunately, however, the economic advantages of synthesizing and marketing these treatments have rapidly overshadowed the need for adequate research to assess their efficacy and safety.

Most of the early investigations on the use of ephedra, caffeine, and aspirin (ECA) combinations concentrated on the effects of ephedra and caffeine stimulate weight loss by increasing the sympathetic nervous system. Both ephedra and caffeine stimulate weight loss by increasing the sympathetic tone of various resting tissue beds, notably fat. It has been shown that both ephedra and caffeine (lesser degree) are capable of mimicking a sympathetic response when given alone. However, when given in combination, there is a synergistic increase in the level of thermogenesis, such that the stimulated levels are greater than the added sum of the separate effects of caffeine and ephedra given alone. The exact mechanisms of this enhanced action are still being researched.

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Anti Aging Bad Habits that Subtract Years from Your Life

2008-09-11T16:13:00.000-07:00

When you hear watch what you eat, most people always associate that with gaining weight. The reality is that the food choices we make may be taking years off our lives. Your nutrition plays a large role in the internal chemistry of your body. Which means how your bones grow, brain functions, the health of your skin, and pretty much every physiological process and organ function is all affected by the food we eat.

This may be alarming to some especially looking at what you are eating right this moment. The good thing is that you can do something about it. With reform to your nutrition intake you can add years to your life instead of subtract them away. So may even lose those unwanted pounds while you are at it.

It is important to understand that your body is in a constant state of motion. Everyday your body is rebuilding and repair cells and tissues. Where do we get the items to do the repairs? The answer is food. The food you eat is how your body gets the amino acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and more to do daily repairs and maintenance. Every physiological process needs ingredients from the food we eat to function or at least function properly.

That one donut isn't what we are talking about. Though is your breakfast only consists of donuts, you are probably lacking the nutrients your body needs.

Anti Aging Bad Habit #1 - Fast Food

You think it is the high calories of fast food that takes years off your life. The truth the big killer with fast food is trans fats. There is no health benefit from eating trans fat food.

Trans fat reduce your life span by more ways than is possible to write about. Two of the biggest is first they inhibit communication between your cells. Healthy fats increase the ability of neurons to send messages throughout your body and back to your brain. Trans fats just gum up the whole process. Second, trans fat affects your chromosomes. By creating excessive inflammation, trans fat frays your chromosomes like taking the cap off your shoe laces.

What to do about trans fat? Just avoid eating at fast food. There can be better healthier choices that are just as quick like a deli sandwich. Plus, look at the labels at the supermarket. Make sure the products you are buying are trans fat free.

Anti Aging Bad Habit #2 - Too Much Sugar

Living on refined and highly processed food items isn't the best for your body. Your body has a limited ability to breakdown sugar, so limited amounts of pure sugar are digested. High sugar intake overtime is one of the leading causes of diabetes. High sugar diets slow down the rebuilding process of your tissue especially in outward appearances like your hair. High sugar diets also create added oxidative stress which causes many of the internal issues associated with poor health of many Americans.

To fix the issue eat 5 small meals during the day. What eat more? That is right. Most sugar cravings are caused by low blood sugar from not eating. Then your body craves energy and we eat quick and simple sugar to fix our cravings. Eating 5 small meals is how your metabolism works so you will not only stop feeling the need to eat sugar you will also burn more fat.

Eating 5 small meals works to cure almost all bad habits. Once you skip a meal or have a large gap between meals your body will do something negative to survive which has long term consequences. During gaps in your meals your body will do things like burn muscle tissue for energy. Start eating a balance of fruits, vegetables, complex carbs, lean protein, and healthy fats with each meal, and you will see your bad habits become real anti aging nutrition.

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Exericise Squat Front Core to Shoulder Press

2008-07-31T12:22:00.001-07:00

Benefits of Online Personal Trainer

2008-07-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

Having an online personal trainer is fast becoming the preferred way to hire a personal trainer. LIVE was designed to offer everything that a person can get at a gym, online. An online personal trainer allows more flexibility with our busy and every changing lifestyles.

Online personal training allows for fitness to be performed on your time while still receiving the professional support and instruction that allows for successful weight loss and fitness performance.

Affordable Price

LIVE offers their online personal trainer programs for less than a gym membership. For only $9.95 you can have your own personal trainer. With the Live Lean program you can interact daily with your own personal trainer for less than one hour with a trainer. The best part, is that all LIVE plans include a dietician as well. You actually get a personal trainer and a dietician at this great value.

Workout from Anywhere

LIVE's online fitness plans can be performed anywhere. They are designed with manual equipment for you to workout at home or take your workouts to the gym. Also, because the workouts are online you can access them when traveling and still get your workout in. The exercises could even be performed in a hotel room!

Descriptive Instruction

People need to know how to do the exercises. Every exercise includes 3-5 photos of a real person performing the exercise, comprehensive description, and real person video with audio. No computer graphics, real people showing you how to perform every exercise. The best part is that the exercises can be downloaded to an IPOD or PDA and be taken with you.

Targeted heart rate training allows for every workout to burn optimal amounts of fat and calories. Never train and work hard with no results. With a specific heart rate zone each workout has a specific goal which challenges your metabolism to improve in the most effective way possible.

Personal Support

The most overlooked aspect of success results is support. Even Tiger Woods, the best golfer in the world, has a coach. So often having a professional coach is too expensive for most people. With online personal training you can have the support necessary to achieve your results at a price you can afford. No one is successful on their own.

When looking for an online personal trainer, important to find a program that offers a complete health, strength, cardio, and nutrition plan. A synergistic blend of the proper health aspects maximizes your ability to achieve your results in the fastest way possible.

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Exercise, Good Nutrition, Supplementation = Fat Loss

2008-06-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

We know here at LIVE that exercise is the most effective method for instantly boosting metabolism. When weight loss is desired, combining exercise, proper diet and use of appropriate supplements naturally leads to maximum metabolic efficiency and the greatest chance of results.

Both are absolutely essential. Effective diet which can include supplement intake should be your No. 1 priority. Here's why: Both your ability to exercise and your exercise results will naturally accelerate in the presence of proper nutrition. We tell the people that we are wokring with the 75% of your success will come from the nutrition side. Without proper diet, you won't be able to effectively access energy stores, nor will you be able replace nutrients lost during exercise. When that happens, metabolism declines. We have wonderful fat loss aids here at LIVE, like Yellow Subs, and we want you to take them when you are giving your body the best opportunity for results!

We deal with a lot of people who go to the gym almost religiously. Often, they spend hours working out, and still, over the course of months, they show little or no progress. Every day, they are there huffing and puffing - but they're still overweight in spite of their efforts. We also know people who work out far less and make amazing progress, and still others who maintain a healthy, lean look without even trying. Again, it can come down to the effective use of good diet with that exercise and the use of supplements that ensure the optimal delivery of nutrients for the goal, like Leukic by Muscletech.

Naturally, genetics are a key factor. But so is metabolism, and metabolism is inherently dependent on how you treat your body. If you attempt to exercise intensively without supporting your body's nutritional needs, you won't get very far.

Rest and relaxation, too, are every bit as important as action. Remember that under chronic stress or exhaustion, your body's nervous system (and thus your metabolism) suffers. Avoid compulsively long daily exercise routines. Instead, vary your workouts, including short, intense training sessions in the mix.

Many popular health gurus recommend moderate exercise, such as walking or gardening, as the best solution. Their reasoning is that moderate exercise puts less pressure on the body and the heart. Certainly, gentle exercise is good for you, and it results in less oxidation and fewer free radicals than intensive exercise, but it also limits the challenges you can approach and the level of fitness you can achieve.

I believe the best way to exercise is by providing your body with intense stimuli to which it will naturally adapt. Our body has the wisdom to adjust to physical strain by getting stronger and tougher. Through this adaptative process, the body improves it's own metabolic state.

Intense and short exercise intervals are also effective in pumping blood and oxygen to the entire body. Maximum oxygenation helps rejuvenate all body tissues and, again, this helps boost overall metabolism. A great Supplement that we sell that is perfect to help with short, intense bursts of energy is Cold fusion EX by LG Sciences.

If you haven't been exercising regularly and strenuously, don't try to force yourself to exercise with maximum intensity straight out of the gate. Instead, follow a constructive exercise routine in which you gradually increase intensity over a period of weeks or months. This is where the use of an online personal trainer comes into play.

Nourish your body, exercise intensely and get enough rest, and you can quickly reach a state of maximum metabolic efficiency. In this state, your body will efficiently burn body fat as fuel. Its base level of energy utilization will accelerate, and gradually, this will cause your body to naturally redesign itself.

When you reach maximum metabolic efficiency, you are literally re-creating yourself - at a cellular level - on an ongoing basis. Just because you weren't born with a super-fast metabolism doesn't mean you can't possess one. And just because you are carting around extra fat right now doesn't mean you have to keep it forever.

If you want to live in a young, vigorous, lean body, just give your body what it needs in order to reach a peak metabolic state: Eat well, exercise intensely, get enough rest. Most importantly, get to know your body from the inside out. Enjoy its power, respect its complexity, and it will repay you richly.

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10 Steps, Obesity, Overcome Your Personal Battle

2008-06-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

Fighting obesity can be difficult not only physically, but psychologically as well. Failed attempts at losing weight can take its toll on your body and mind and it is crucial to prepared mentally and physically in order to successfully lose weight. The LiveLeanToday.com programs and their support system focus not only on creating an excellent fitness program, but invest a lot of time working with clients on the psychological side of fighting obesity. The following is a set of steps, some in preparation and some to be used through out the program to ensure success.

1. Recognizing the programs that run you

What are the things that hold you back? What are the excuses you make? What are the behaviors you engage in that keep you from obtaining what you want? People always say "Commit to change." Well easier said than done. It's very difficult to commit to going somewhere when we don't recognize where we are or where we've been. I learned that programs are the hard wiring within you that drives your thoughts and actions. Programs certainly can't be changed overnight, but you can reflect on what hurdles you create that make it difficult for you to be successful with your weight loss goals. Lack of self confidence can lead to procrastination and excuses. This is a program that affects many. Recognize your programs, behaviors, and attitudes and you'll better understand where you've been and where you are. Then you can move forward and begin reaching your goals.

2. Commit

Do what you say you are going to do. Have a plan and commit to executing it. Make your goals realistic, focus on short achievements, and celebrate small successes along the way. Have a goal of consistency. Your plan should include committing to consistent activity. Make a goal to drink 8 glasses of water a day or have a goal of adding a vegetable to every dinner meal during the weekdays. Success in these short term achievements will reap rewards in your long term weight loss goals.

3. Support system

Success is easy to attain when you have people around you. Tell your family, friends, co-workers that you have a weight loss goal, and let them help. Work with a Personal Trainer or Registered Dietician and let them help. A support system can come in the form of encouragement, companionship, and accountability, and can make your road to weight loss success much more enjoyable.

4. Sensible goals

Know your body, and be honesty with yourself about what is real. If you haven't already, consult a physician regarding what is realistic. You can also test to rule out any obstacles medically related to weight loss such as under active thyroid or food allergies that could inhibit your weight loss.

5. Consistency

Most important to any exercise program is consistency. With a little consistency you can develop habits, and then you'll be less likely to regress. You will reach your weight loss goals faster when you stay on track and don't let your hurdles get in the way. This goes for your diet as well. It's ok to have a cheat day, but make it just one. If you are consistent, you will get results.

6. Use portion control

5 small meals a day is the best way to speed up your metabolism, regulate blood sugar levels, curb hunger binges, and ultimately lose weight.

7. Eat fiber rich foods

Foods that are rich in fiber tend to be filling; therefore people will feel full and not eat as much. Studies have also found that a diet high in fiber can reduce the risk of heart disease, digestive problems and diabetes.

8. Cut calorie dense foods

Foods that have a high content of salt, sugar and flour can also be densely packed with calories. Twizzlers have over 250 calories in a small package, a half order of pasta with Alfredo sauce has 680 calories at many Italian chain restaurants, and a bagel has over 300 calories without cream cheese or butter. High salt content is found in calorie dense, low fiber, processed foods. Too much salt can lead to elevated blood pressure and is also associated with hindering weight loss.

9. Have an activity

There is no better way to maintain consistency in reaching your health and fitness goals than having an activity. When you enjoy doing something, it isn't work anymore. Activities such as hiking, swimming, cycling, racquetball and rock climbing are great examples of activities that can add versatility to your fitness program.

10. Work Hard!

Losing any significant amount of weight is not easy. Any good program will have a nice mixture of high and low intensity workouts with rest cycles built in. But I have seen too many people going through the motions of a workout and they never even break a sweat. Your body will respond to the stimulus that you create and will respond to loads and intensity. To keep your body from hitting a plateau, you must constantly challenge your body and find new ways to create stimulation to adapt to. With constant stimulation and variety will come consistent results.

About The Author: Charles Carter, BS in Exercise Science is President of LIVE, llc of http://www.liveleantoday.com - visit the website for more information on weight loss, core fitness programs, optimal diets, and online personal trainer and dietician services. For more information on products go to http://shop.liveleantoday.com .

Flexibility Fitness Training to Strengthen Knee Injuries

2008-06-25T09:35:00.001-07:00

Why Metabolism is Important

2008-06-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

Read through any diet success story and you will see the true secret to that person's success. At some point, the person always integrated exercise into their plan. The same holds true the other way around. How many times have you heard someone say that they work out all the time, but just can't seem to lose those last ten or fifteen pounds?

The truth is, in order to achieve lifelong results, nutrition and fitness need to go hand in hand to optimize your metabolism.

What is Metabolism? Metabolism is the process your body uses to break down the food that you eat, convert it to energy, or store it. Your metabolism is based on several cues that you give your body by the way that you eat and the energy you use in your daily routines.

To achieve lifelong fitness, you need to raise your activity level to start burning more calories, while feeding your body the right amount of food to sustain itself. That means eating enough throughout the day to let your body know that there will be plenty of food around to sustain a higher caloric burn. Once your body acclimates to both of those signals, your metabolism will start to change. You will be burning more calories by increasing your activity level, but you will also increase the amount of calories you burn when you are not working out - while you work, watch television, and even when you're sleeping.

Understanding your metabolism is the reason that low calorie diets don't work. When you feed your metabolism your body burns more calories. A great example of this is on a weight loss network tv show that the people who won't follow their eating plan and kept eating less calories actually gain weight. Your body will burn fat as your main source of energy if you eat 5 small meals during the day balanced with the proper calorie range.

One thing to keep in mind is that the faster your metabolism gets and the more fat you burn the more you need to eat. This concept is one of the hardest for people to understand which is evidence why 60% of Americans are overweight or obese. Without increasing your calories as your metabolism increases you burn away your new muscle tissue for energy which keeps you staying at the same results no matter how hard you workout.

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Stay Motivated and Lose Weight by Training Like an Athlete

2008-06-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

One of the challenges to people who are looking to improve their fitness is staying motivated until they reach their fitness goals. With about 9 in 10 people wanting to change their appearance (make that: lose weight) as their primary objective, getting all the way to the target weight and keeping those extra pounds off can prove to be much more difficult than some had originally bargained for.

One of the big obstacles that people face is the fact they have been out of shape for years when they decide to finally do something about their fitness, and once they do start working out, the fact that the results that they seek may take awhile and can feel like hard work will test their motivation to the limit. One of the big reasons people hire personal trainers is that, in addition to the education they can receive from a professional instructor, the trainer can create workouts that are consistently fun and engaging as well as an atmosphere of support. And this can keep a person taking on their fitness motivated all the way to the finish line.

As a personal trainer myself, I believe that one of the best tools to keeping a person really motivated all the way to their goal and target body weight is to set very specific guidelines as to what that goal is, and have the person working out be very excited about what reaching that goal can mean to them. If a person wants to lose 20 pounds, we will discuss in detail what losing 20 pounds can do for their life and how they will feel and be different when they get there. And we come back to this reason over and over again during the period of working toward that goal.

One thing that I found, though, in my career as a trainer is that frequently just having a goal about weight loss is insufficient to keep a person motivated all the way to the end. The reason is that the process of weight loss in a healthy way can be a slow one. Even if a person had a great week of training and eating well, their body may not have changed a lot anyway. That can leave them with a feeling of being unsuccessful, even though everything that they did that week was positive and will benefit them in the long run. So, I was left with the problem of having a person doing everything they need to be doing really well and actually feeling like they were successful even if they hadn't lost a lot of weight in a particular week.

The key is to get all people in the process of improving their fitness thinking like athletes, even if on a smaller scale than someone training for the Olympic Games. I believe that all people have the ability to experience their athleticism on some level, even those that have been out of shape for some time, and when they make a connection to their bodies that allow for this, they can get hooked on that experience and want more of it. They will see that improving their fitness itself feels good and can be fun on its own, and that it would be something they would enjoy doing whether they were losing weight doing it or not. Once a person gets to this level, the irony is that they will lose all the weight they want anyway because they are actually at a point where they will stick with the exercise.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to be a trainer in a couple of "weight loss" competitions sponsored by a local TV station here in Phoenix. Each of the two years that I participated, I worked with a person who was competing against three others to see who could make the biggest successful lifestyle change over a 5 month period. What the other trainers and I found over the length of the competition was that the people who ended up losing a significant amount of weight were the ones who got to the point that they realiozed that the weight loss was actually secondary in motivation to them feeling fit, athletic and healthy for the first time in a long time. All of the trainers worked with their clients using some techniques that were athletic in nature, similar to how an athlete on a sports team would train, with jumping and running drills, using medicine balls, playing basketball, etc. All of the successful participants said that once they realized they like feeling like they were athletes, they knew they would stick with the program for the rest of their lives.

I use the term "inner athlete" to describe this way of thinking, and I know that it works. Rather than having a client do just cardio, we may set a goal to have them do their first ever 5k road race in 3 months, and their cardio trains them for that in addition to helping them lose weight. Or they want to do a great hike in the coming summer, or their kids are now playing sports and they want to be able to play with them, so I do sports drills with them so they build the skills that any athlete at any age would want to have. These are the things that people like having whether they are losing weight or not, and the fact that this type of exercise helps them lose weight makes it all the better.

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Zone Training for beginners to maximize workouts

2008-05-02T12:14:00.000-07:00

Like Training programs that are based upon maximum heart rate, Anaerobic threshold (AT)-based training zones are relative to varying levels of intensity, each of which serves different training objectives. Each of these zones develops essential physiological functions that contribute to good health and improved fitness, especially the possibility of weight loss. So you should never limit your training to a single metabolic zone, although you may exercise predominantly in one zone for a given time in order to reach specific training objectives.

Except for rank beginners or people with health related limitations, all levels of intensity are appropriate to ensure maximum cardiovascular development and results. How much and how often you work in each zone will depend on your athletic goals and your current level of fitness (continue reading for a more detailed description of the zones and their primary applications).

Let's look at the volume of the different zones that should be performed weekly. As a rule of thumb, 60 to 65 percent of your total workout time should focus on Zones 1 and 2; 30 to 35 percent on Zones 3 and 4; and about 5 percent on Zone 5. But you need not incorporate all zones into a single workout. In fact, you'll get better results from designing a range of different workouts throughout the week - including long, easy ones in Zones 1 and 2, and shorter, tougher ones that occupy more time in Zones 3, 4 and 5.

ZONE 1: Warm-up Heart-rate range: 60 to 70 percent of AT.

Training objectives: Encourage blood flow and burn fat.

What's happening: This is almost a pure aerobic state, which you can maintain almost indefinitely without experiencing any rise in blood lactate.

Feeling: Comfortable to talk and breathe through your nose.

How long: 10-minute warm-up progressing to higher intensity zones for 45 minutes or longer. Depending on your fitness level, you may need to start with a shorter workout and build up to 45 minutes, or do several shorter workouts throughout the day.

Zone 1 basics: This is a good place to launch your fitness program if you are a beginner or returning to exercise after taking off several months or more. It develops basic exercise technique, endurance and an aerobic base. Ideally, if you are new to exercise, or returning to training after a long break, you should stay in Zone 1 for about six weeks before moving up in zones. Zone 1 is also a good place to recover from tougher workouts.

ZONE 2: Aerobic Development

Heart-rate range: 70 to 90 percent of AT.

Training objectives: Build aerobic efficiency and maximize fat burning at a higher caloric rate.

What's happening: A small rise in blood lactate occurs, yet the body can process it without buildup.

Feeling: You can still converse and may have the urge to go faster. Breathing deepens a bit.

How long: 30 minutes (beginner); 90 minutes or longer (advanced).

Zone 2 basics: Before developing your lactate tolerance or increasing your AT, you should fully develop your "aerobic base," and this is a great zone for moving that effort forward. Noticeable improvement in this zone generally takes about six weeks of consistent training. But don't worry: As you become more efficient and fit, you'll be able to work out faster in every zone. For fit people, Zone 2 is also a good place for active recovery.

ZONE 3: Aerobic Endurance Heart-rate range: 90 to 100 percent of AT.

Training objectives: Increase endurance. Here, you push your AT up to higher intensity by training your body to tolerate more lactate in the blood.

What's happening: As intensity increases, not all lactate produced in the cells can be shuttled back into the metabolic cycle. Lactate levels in the blood begin to rise and, with time, fatigue sets in.

Feeling: Breathing becomes noticeable, but not too difficult; conversation is restricted to short sentences.

How long: 20 minutes (beginner); one hour or more (advanced).

Zone 3 basics: Building endurance at your AT through long intervals (four to 10 minutes) at threshold range will help raise your AT and slowly develop your body's tolerance of lactate. This training adaptation also allows your body to burn fat more efficiently. The idea here is to rest between intervals with your heart rate recovering in your aerobic zone and then increase intensity again up to your threshold.

ZONE 4: Anaerobic Endurance Heart-rate range: 100 to 110 percent of AT.

Training objectives: Increase athletic ability by improving lactate tolerance. Here you're pushing AT and VO2 max (your body's highest ability to utilize oxygen), challenging the heart to work longer, and increasing cardiac output (more blood is being pumped with each stroke, thus requiring fewer strokes per minute).

What's happening: Your body switches into primarily using glycogen or carbohydrate to fuel its need for energy, and your blood-lactate levels dramatically increase.

Feeling: Breathing becomes heavy, difficult and uncomfortable. You may also experience "muscle burn" because of lactate buildup.

How long: Five minutes (beginner); 30 minutes (advanced).

Zone 4 basics: Run at an aerobic pace, then speed up or increase resistance until your heart beats at 110 percent of your AT range. Maintain this level for one to four minutes. Reduce the pace until your heart returns slightly below AT, but not completely back to the aerobic zone. Then repeat the interval.

ZONE 5: Speed and Power Heart-rate range: 110 percent of AT to MHR.

Training objectives: Increase athletic ability by improving neurological response, exercise mechanics, speed and muscle power.

What's happening: Your body is burning the last remaining fuel (glycogen) in your muscles and cannot sustain this maximum effort for more than a few seconds without succumbing to exhaustion.

Feeling: Extremely difficult and uncomfortable. You'll feel breathless and may hear pounding in your chest. You'll feel an intense desire to slow or stop.

How long: Typically several seconds.

Zone 5 basics: Your work here consists of sprints and very intense, short intervals (up to one minute). Although you can come in and out of Zone 5 several times during the course of a single workout, spending more than 10 percent of your total workout time in this zone increases your risk of injury. If you've done a significant amount of Zone 5 work, be sure to add recovery time (meaning a day or two of rest or working in Zones 1 and 2) before returning to Zones 4 and 5.

Progress Makes Perfect By using your AT as a marker for aerobic exercise, you can base your training on a highly individualized fitness parameter, without having to guess about percentages of MHR. This lets you take advantage of every exercise session, knowing you are making the most of your time and energy. And as your fitness improves, so will your AT - one of the best indicators of cardiovascular health, fitness and overall vitality.

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Alpine Climbing and Fitness

2008-03-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

I have written before in this publication about indoor rock climbing and its fitness benefits. Now I want to turn my attention to the sport of "alpine climbing" and its variations, and how this activity can become a part of a fitness lifestyle that is truly in concert with what we call the "inner athlete." Another term for alpine climbing is simply "mountain climbing". Though most people would think of mountain climbing as something that would involve a very high peak and trekking through snow to get to the top, the purpose of this article is to show the value of participating even in less extensive climbs that test fitness and require some planning, but can be done in a short period of time or even over the course of an afternoon. As a personal trainer I was always looking for things that would effectively motivate my clients to adhere to a fitness program and reach their goals. Whether the goal was weight loss, building muscles, toning up their bodies or having more energy, I knew that the "Inner Athlete" that we mention frequently on our website exists in everybody, so it was up to me to find an activity that allowed a client's version of that inner athlete to come out. Training to get their body fit enough to climb a mountain was frequently the ticket. It is a very simple idea: get your body from the bottom of the mountain to the top, and once you are up there, enjoy the view and the fruits of your labor. A lot of clients were really intrigues by the idea, so we built their cardio programs and resistance training programs around it.

As I write this article, recently I have been riveted by the current Discovery Channel series "Everest, Beyond the Limit". The series follows the journey of a group of climbers led by a professional guide as they attempt to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain. In the series, viewers are treated for really the first time with EXACTLY what it looks and sounds like way up at those rarely traveled altitudes. In addition, a TV series has never before focused on the actual life these climbers lead as they spend almost 2 months on the mountain itself, getting used to the altitude and building the specific fitness required to achieve the summit. The hardship these people endure to reach their goal is almost beyond the understanding of most people, as the prolonged exposure to the increasing altitudes of Everest causes the climbers' minds and bodies to gradually shut down and stop working properly. It is enough to make even a pretty experienced fitness professional and adventurer like myself question the value of doing something that extreme to my body. Even having done some alpine climbing myself, including summiting Oregon's Mt. Hood (11,249ft) and Washington's famous Mt. St. Helens (8,364 ft), I still found it tough to imagine wanting to put my body through something so tortuous. The altitudes on the mountains I have climbed are only around 1/3 as high as those on Everest (29,035ft)

That's not what this article is about, however. Only a few thousand people in the entire world have ever stepped onto the summit of Everest, but virtually anyone can find a "climbing" adventure that suits their fitness and personality. The experience of the thrill of climbing is something that is realistically within anyone's means when actually trained for. Most people have just never really considered it possible or know where to start. Looking beyond the extreme nature that is present on Everest, the sport of "mountain climbing" can be participated in by almost anyone with a solid basic level of fitness. There some real and absolutely extraordinary fitness benefits that extreme climbers have achieved by the time they are done on Everest, and a version of those benefits are within the reach of "normal" people. These are people who may want the adventure of climbing a mountain to motivate them, but can realistically be achieved on a much smaller scale attainable by virtually anyone.

Physiologically, climbing is one of the most effective aerobic activities that can be performed. The steady state effort required to train for and perform climbs builds tremendous fitness in the heart and circulatory system. It is also typically low impact and easy on the joints which makes it an activity that virtually anyone can perform at some level.

Psychologially, climbing has a typically very simple appeal: getting to the top of a mountain feels good and is a very easy goal to define. "I made it to the top" is a very attractive thing to feel. Everybody wants to feel a sense of accomplishemnt in their lives, and too often our fitness success or failure is defined by the weight scale. All shapes and sizes of, people can climb, and the mountain doesn't care what size you are, it only cares if you made it to the top of it or not. So, best of luck in your climbing adventures, no matter at what altitude you finish!

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A Fit Body Burns Calories and Loses Weight- Pretty Simple

2008-03-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

A common strategy for people trying to lose weight is to focus on calories, so they make calorie burning the biggest aim of all their workouts, with the added goal of being in the "fat burning zone". See our new page on The 7 Steps to New Year's Weight Loss. People often do very long and repetitive cardio sessions — walking or jogging for an hour or more at a relatively low, even level of intensity. But this isn't necessarily the most efficient way to burn off unwanted fat, and it's certainly not the most effective way to achieve and maintain a strong, lean body over time.

To do that, you need to boost your metabolism, which regulates your body's ability to become (and stay) lean. And shifting your metabolism depends on improving your fitness and supporting your goal with good nutrition, which is 70% of your ability to get the results you want.

When your body turns food and oxygen into energy — something it does throughout the day, virtually all day — it burns calories. That process takes place in your cells' mitochondria, which need oxygen to burn those calories efficiently. So the more oxygen your body is capable of processing per minute (a function of your VO2 max — more on that in a moment), the more calories it can grind through on a given day.

In other words, being fit helps your body run more like a finely tuned machine — one that's naturally inclined to eliminate excess weight.

"People who have a higher level of fitness burn more calories even while at rest and asleep," Hyman says. Exact numbers are difficult to nail down because each person's resting metabolic rate is unique (based on muscle mass, age, genetics and even climate). Still, some experts estimate that fit, muscular adults can burn an extra hundred calories or more per day — while at rest.

It's important to note that in the course of their daily activities and workouts, fit adults can and do burn a couple thousand more calories daily than unfit, more sedentary ones.

And here's the beauty of it: Fit people are naturally more inclined toward activity and tend to exert themselves at higher levels. That's because exercise and activities of all kinds become easier as your fitness improves, and even intense levels of exertion become more comfortable. All of which makes calorie-burning activities a much more appealing proposition, thus further increasing active inclinations.

This is what's known as a "benevolent circle" (as opposed to a vicious one) — and the more fit you become, the more you can take advantage of its fat-burning effects.

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Cardio Threshold Training - Medium Intensity Days

2008-02-21T16:49:00.000-08:00

The Plan: The threshold workout or medium intensity workout is the #1 workout that most cardio athletes and enthusiasts miss in their programs. The goal of the threshold workouts is to work at the max at which your aerobic metabolism produces energy. Because you have another energy source called your anaerobic metabolism, you have the ability to train harder or faster than a proper threshold workout. Most people thinking that they need to be killing themselves to be getting a good workout never slow down enough to train their body effectively.

Your aerobic metabolism is the way your body burns fat and carbs as energy with the use of oxygen. The only way to optimally perform in cardio or endurance races, as well as, achieve your weight loss goals is to train your aerobic metabolism to be as fast as it can. The perfect workout for weight loss, 5k training, and running a marathon.

How do we find the proper intensity to train at? The only way to know for sure that you are training at the right intensity is through having your own personal heart rate profile. With Live Lean Today's online fitness plans, you receive your own heart rate zones to optimize each workout. Most people not watching their heart rate are way off to what they think their heart rate is to what it actually is.

Threshold workouts range from 15-30 min. in total session time. With Live Lean Today, your online personal trainer will work with you to create the right program and progression for your threshold workouts. If you can go longer than 30 min than we need to go faster. What is important is highest rate of energy and heart rate that you can sustain for the entire threshold workout.

The Results: Threshold hold workouts train your body to burn more fat and carbohydrates as energy. This is another way of saying you have a faster metabolism. As it relates to performance, with threshold training you create a faster pace. Especially, if you have found that you can't seem to increase your running pace, threshold workouts are needed in your program.

After effective threshold workouts, the biggest difference you will instantly feel is how much faster you perform at lower heart rates. Your heart rate profile will change as you progress and improve. This is why it is so important for a cardio expert to be monitoring your progress and making adjustments. You now have the ability to run faster for the same distances and times that were once a struggle.

Your weight loss results occur while you are resting. If you have ever said you wanted a faster metabolism than threshold workout are for you. Your body will burn more calories of fat 24 hours a day 7 days a week after your body improves from threshold workouts.

The Difference: Live Lean Today is the only online personal trainer program to have precise heart rate training programs to optimize your results. Training in the right heart rate zone makes each workout as effective as it can be. The fastest way to your results is through proper heart rate training and progression.

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Tips for a Great Halloween Photo Card

2008-01-29T10:20:00.000-08:00

Halloween photo cards are the perfect way to show of your growing children to family and friends. Here are some ways to capture the perfect Halloween photo.

1. Costume Photo

A snapshot of your child in their Halloween costume is a very popular choice for a Halloween photo card. What could be cuter than dressed up babies? To capture a great shot of a small immobile baby lay them on a solid colored blanket as a backdrop. This will ensure there are not distraction objects in the photo. For older babies and children shots taken outdoors work great.

2. Pumpkin Patch

Colorful pumpkins make a festive backdrop for Halloween photo cards. Make sure to snap lots of pictures as your child picks out the perfect pumpkin. This is also a great setting for family photos to be used on fall cards or a holiday photo card.

3. Face Paint

A unique idea for a Halloween photo card is to feature a photo after your child has had their face painted at a fall festival event. Close ups work best for this type of photo.

4. Fall leaves

If you live in a cooler climate rake up those leaves and let your child have a blast playing in them. These shots are great for both Halloween and Seasons Greetings photo cards.

Focus on the photo - Photo cards are becoming a popular choice for girl birth announcements, boy birth announcements, birthday invitations and other events. Holiday cards will be included in this trend this year. We are predicting that consumers will seek out collage photo christmas cards or cards that focus on one unique photo. We will be seeing more families choose a creative or artistic photo rather than a traditional family portrait.

Custom Cards - Stylish families will seek out a unique custom card vendor such as Addie Kate Creations to tailor their holiday card in their own unique vision. Cookie cutter designs offered by large realtors will be passed over in favor of a more unique look. Discerning customers are looking for a more personal experience and are seeking out vendors that create a custom holiday card to suit their taste.

Simple Messages - Long verses and text will be forgone in favor of short and simple phrasing. This year’s designs feature simple greeting such as “Peace, Hope and Love”.

Simplicity is key this year when it comes to the message on your holiday card.

Retro Design - You will find many cards that feature traditional elements with retro color schemes as well as modern characteristics on this years holiday card offerings.

Elegant and Simple - Elegance is always in style. This year there will be many consumers that opt for simple clean lines and an upscale elegant look.

Whatever idea you choose to incorporate, remember to take lots of shots and have fun!

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Achieve a Movie Star Body

2007-12-28T11:53:00.000-08:00

We watch TV and we see these amazing movie or music star bodies, and we are like how do I get a bod like that. Most people dismiss that they could never look like a movie star. Though very few people are blessed with the looks and body of Halle Berry, learning what it takes to have a movie star body will give you a hot body as well. Live Lean Today looks at the fitness and diet plans that create sexy bodies.

No matter whom you are if you want to look like a movie star than you have to exercise and eat healthy. If you want the magic pill; exercise and diet are it. Exercise builds the sexy tone lean muscles we like and your diet trains your body to burn fat and lose those love handles.

The movie star plan combines cardio and strength training with a balanced 5 small meals a day diet. What works for movie stars is exactly how Live Lean Today set up their fitness and diet plans. You don’t need expensive equipment or a lot of time. A few hours a day and some dumbbells and a stability ball will have you on your way to the new hot sexy movie star you.

Cardio Training has two major goals. The first goal is to train your body to use fat effectively as a fuel source. This allows your body to adequately burn fat on a daily basis. The second goal is to increase your metabolism so you burn more energy on a daily basis. Studies have demonstrated that people who do interval cardio training burn more fat while not exercising that doing other forms of cardio. Live Lean Today customizes your personal cardio program to optimize these results.

The best bodies have slender tone lean muscles and this is what strength training provides. The key to movie star looks from your strength training is to incorporate core training. Core training engages your abdominal muscles throughout the movements which burns more energy and develops nice looking abs.

lea newmanFive small meals may seem like a lot though it doesn’t have to be. Most people when switching from their current diet to 5 small meals eat fewer calories. When you eat throughout the day your cravings go away and your body starts to burn more fat that ever before. You know this is working because you will have more energy than ever before.

The last step to creating a movie star body is a personal trainer. Always on the news we here what the next celebrity trainer is talking about. You probably can’t afford your own celebrity trainer though with Live Lean Today you get all the benefits of a personal trainer and dietician for less than a gym membership. Live Lean Today is the only personal training website that allows you talk in real time to your own online personal trainer and dietician. Professional support is the key to overcome the weight loss and fitness challenges and personal trainers are the difference for movie stars to create their amazing bodies.

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How to Eat for Health: Fats and Oils

2007-12-04T11:57:00.000-08:00

Fats are an extremely important part of a healthy diet, and the essential fatty acids are named essential for a reason. They aid in just about every bodily function as they play a crucial role in cell wall function. Working as a transporter, they pass oxygen and nutrients through the cell wall and help to keep invaders and other foreign bodies out of the cell. Other functions performed include brain cell function, immune system, nervous system and hormone function.

So what is hydrogenation and what are the results of ingesting partially hydrogenated fats into your body? Well, hydrogenation is simply the process of heating an oil to the point where hydrogen bubbles enter, becomes attached to the fatty acids and form a solid in fully hydrogenated and more of a thick cream, or butter texture when partially hydrogenated. Hydrogenated oil has a high level of trans fats and these trans fats act within a cell in a confused manor and will keep nutrients out and let the foreign bodies in. Not only do these trans fats lead to obesity, but also are linked to disease such as diabetes and coronary disease (the leading killer in America).

Trans fats and partially hydrogenated oils can be found in a number of foods, and are used because they are a less expensive alternative to other cooking substitutes such as butter. Baked goods, potato chips, cookies, crackers, are just a few of the food categories that contain partially hydrogenated oils, the worst of which is partially hydrogenated soybean oil. This soybean oil is noted to negatively affect the thyroid function resulting in feeling sluggish, a decrease in energy and reluctance to want to exercise.

How much trans fat is bad? When you find out something can lead to heart disease and obesity, I wouldn’t take any chances and I would avoid any of it at all costs. Some reports have shown that .5g of trans fat is equal to approximately 1.5g of unsaturated fat in terms of how it affects your health. You won’t see this in the label of many products as .5 g can still be labeled as 0% trans fat due to federal law. But when you scroll down the ingredients, you might come across partially hydrogenated oil present in the first few lines.

The best way to avoid trans fat is to read your labels thoroughly. Avoid grocery shopping in the middle aisles for food and stay on the outskirts of the store where the fresh produce, dairy and meat are located. When cooking, choose to cook with virgin coconut oil, although high in saturated fat, and low on many health food lists, it is unaffected by heat, and it is metabolized differently than other oils as it will be burned as fuel and not stored into the fat cells. Fats are extremely important to our diet, but you can make healthy choices about fats by reading labels and learning about the different types of fats and how they affect the body.

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5 Foods for Instant Healthier Diet

2007-11-27T13:42:00.000-08:00

Have you ever said to yourself that "I want to start eating healthy?" Then only to figure out you don't know where to start. The first idea is often fruits and vegetables which are important though there is more to eating healthy. Live Lean Today has listed 5 foods that will work perfect for any person to add to their diet and it will become instantly healthier. You can plug these foods and more into you own online diet plan.

Cranberries

They earn super status for their ability to help fight off nasty urinary tract infections. About 10 ounces of juice a day does the trick. Plus, recent research shows that cranberries might also help fend off colds and fight stomach bugs, gum disease, and certain types of cancer. Add a little unsweetened cranberry juice to smoothies, and sprinkle some dried berries into cereal and muffin mix. Cranberries are great to add to any weight management program.

Walnuts

These nuts are rich in omega-3s, which help reduce inflammation and increase good cholesterol. They may even help with depression and reduce your risk of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Top your salad with 1/4 cup or try them in pesto.

Beans

The humble legume may prevent heart disease and help head off colon cancer. Rich in two heart-friendly phytochemicals, beans are packed with magnesium, potassium, folate, and fiber. Get a 1/2 cup five to six times per week by adding canned kidney and garbanzo beans (rinse and drain first) to salads, burritos, and dips.

Fish

Studies show that eating seafood rich in omega-3s at least twice a week could reduce your risk of heart disease. And the reports say women of childbearing age and nursing mothers can safely eat as much as 12 ounces of seafood a week if they avoid high-mercury swordfish, shark, tilefish, and king mackerel; albacore tuna should be limited to 6 ounces a week.

Tomatoes

Loaded with the antioxidant lycopene, tomatoes and cooked tomato products pack a big health punch (at 32 milligrams, 1 cup of spaghetti sauce serves up the day's recommended intake). Studies show that women with lycopene-rich diets can have as much as a 50 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer. The antioxidant can also lower your blood pressure and bad cholesterol, and may even reduce your risk of getting macular degeneration and a host of cancers.

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Food as Fuel to Stop Being Slugish and Tired During the Day

2007-11-19T10:36:00.000-08:00

Do you have a tuff time making it through the day without getting sluggish and sleepy? Does it ever happen to you that once you sit down it is so hard to get back up as your energy is zapped? If so it is more common than you might think, and you are not alone. Most likely the reason for your lack of energy is the food you give your body as fuel.

Your diet plays a vital role in your relationship with your feeling of being tired or full of energy. As most people always think they eat too much, it may actually be that you are not getting enough energy which causes your problems. More metabolisms are slowing down due to a lack of food as fuel throughout the day than overeating.

If you fall into the one of following categories you are probably not fueling your body to its adequate demands: cutting carbs and meals to lose weight, eat high amounts of fast food, eat from convenience stores and vending machines, or use caffeine like coffee to make it through the day. Each one of these habits creates a lack of energy for your body which either stores the food into your fat cells or burns muscle tissue for energy.

The problem lies in that once we start eating with these destructive habits, it creates a harmful cycle. Once you go to fast food for lunch for example, your blood sugar will spike and store you food into your fat cells. Now, around 2-3 pm you start to feel sluggish and starving so you go on a Starbucks run to get a "pick me up." Though because you didn't get your body proper fuel, when you get home you are completely starving and you over eat dinner (especially when you count all the snacking because you are starving before you get to dinner). For many people the cycle starts over again tomorrow. This same cycle happens with people who cut calories and carbs to lose weight.

Most people if you ask them know what to eat, so why don't we do it? It is just a matter of will power right? The answer lies deeper than that. Once you have a bad choice for the day your body will force you to make poor choices because of the negative physiologically going on inside.

The biggest key to getting your energy and metabolism back on track is breakfast. I know you have probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, though it is the truth. If you eat a sensible breakfast low in saturated fats and low in simple sugars, you can get your energy burning off on the right track. You will know it is the right track because you will feel hungry in 2-3 hours which is good. This means your metabolism is working and wants more energy to keep burning. When you fuel your metabolism you will train your body to burn fat as its major source of fuel.

Prepare ahead of time is the only way to ensure success. Pick items at the grocery store that you know will be something you can eat in your lifestyle for healthy snacks. You may need to bring your meals and snacks with you to work. Believing that you will be able to just make good choices at spur of a moment is false thinking.

Pick foods high in antioxidants. Antioxidants found in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains remove harmful toxins out of your body which can cause cellular damage and affect your health and energy. With greater stress comes greater build up of toxins in your body. I recommend taking an antioxidant supplement on a daily basis. It may keep you from creating metabolic syndrome from too many toxins in the body. Metabolic syndrome is the leading cause of heart disease, cancer, and strokes in this country.

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Heart Rate Training Optimizes Your 5k Training Program

2007-09-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

Are you looking for a 5k training program? When you start looking you see many program offering beginner programs and advanced programs. What is interesting is that most beginner programs are too many miles for the average beginner. The key to effective 5k cardio plans is for every person to have their own heart rate profile. With optimal heart rate training every workout will be optimized for the greatest impact for your results. Heart rate training is for advanced and beginners; the difference is the heart rate profile not using a heart rate monitor.

The most effective cardio workout for running faster races and burning fat is interval training. Interval training is short durations of high intensity followed by short durations of low intensity and then repeated. Most programs only offer interval training for advanced programs though effective programming is good for all levels. The key is a person's heart rate profile. The most advanced you are the higher heart rate you want to train at for your interval.

Each person has a different level of fitness associated by their heart rate. As you run the energy required needs a certain consistent heart rate produce the energy. The more fit you are the lower your heart rate is for a given speed. This is why heart rate training is so effective. By finding a person's targeted heart rate profile you can make sure each workout is training in the right zone to optimally improve your performance. Often, people's lack of results comes from not training hard enough, or very common with cardio runners is overtraining by running with too high of a heart rate on every workout.

What is important for your metabolism and race speed is the rate at which you burn calories not how many calories you burn. This is why walkers and people who run mile after mile seem to never achieve their results. The more calories you burn the more calories you need to eat to restore energy back to your muscles cells. It is challenging your muscles to burn more energy by going harder relative to your fitness level forces your metabolism to improve and than makes you fun faster and burn more fat. People after completing an interval workout burn more fat 24 hours after their workout than any other form of cardio or strength exercise.

Though the interval workout is important it isn't the only workout that makes an effective 5k running program. Two other key workouts is a threshold workout and a long day. The threshold workout is a medium intensity workout that almost no person does. The reason why is people can always go harder and there is this myth that you have to push yourself in every work to your max. The other reason is people go on their slow steady pace never picking up the pace for a shorter run. An optimal threshold workout is between 15-30 min. If you can last longer than 30 min. you should run faster. When you run at your threshold level you are at the max at what your aerobic metabolism can burn for energy. When you go harder your anaerobic metabolism is kicked in to produce the needed extra energy. A threshold workout trains your body to burn energy the most effectively utilizing oxygen. It is the best workout for creating a good race pace.

The long day is the last workout you need every week in your 5k training program. Having running session that go for slower speeds and longer durations trains your body to burn fat and increases effectiveness of burning energy while running. You only need to do one long day a week and spending hours doing cardio during every workout may be a key reason why you are no longer seeing results.

To truly see your results you want a program that creates a personal heart rate profile. The charts on most treadmills are not accurate and the doctors who came up with the charts admit they made them up as a best guess for insurance companies and were never supposed to use as training heart rates. The other major key as you continue to run is a 5k program that uses specific and multiple threshold and interval workouts. The workout that worked for the first month won't work for the second as your body needs a new stimulus. With proper heart rate profiles you will be running your first or fastest 5k in no time.

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Online Aerobics, Burning Fat Conveniently

2007-09-09T06:07:00.000-07:00

Aerobics online is fast becoming a very popular tool for exercising and getting in shape. It offers the opportunity to have professional guidance and programming combined with the convenience of working out on your time, and in your own home. Technology now allows for trainers and members to communicate to ensure the online aerobic fitness programs are executed correctly, consistently, and members can be held accountable for what they have done. Online Aerobic fitness can be accurately measured and monitored with a heart rate monitor. This tool provides specific feedback and allows you to communicate with your trainer about the program so you can reach your fitness goals.

In the past and still commonly done today, cardiovascular training is assessed by guessing intensity based on how you felt during a workout, and duration measured by time. This form of exercise while effective, still never truly allowed us to see the results of our efforts. Heart rate training, as a part of online aerobic fitness involves using a heart rate monitor to measure cardiac output, and the intensity and duration of your workout with specific data reports that can be charted to ensure progress.

Your heart rate is the measuring tool for cardiovascular training, and a heart rate monitor accurately records this data for every workout. Now imagine that you can transfer this data into a PC and email your results to a trainer. Now, no matter where you are, you and your trainer can communicate regarding your workouts, taking out all of the guess work. The result is measuring this specific data is improved cardiovascular fitness, endurance, stamina, rate of recovery and fat burning!

Online aerobic training plans can be specifically designed for individual needs. Those who want to lose weight can accurately measure their fat burning capability and optimize their results. Endurance athletes training for marathons and triathlons can improve race times and recovery. Athletes such as football players, soccer players and basketball players can maximize their VO2 capabilities and recovery so they will be the most well conditioned athletes on the field.

These online programs are designed by personal trainers and can be accessed through your own online account. Once your level of fitness is revealed and goals are established, online personal trainers can create cardiovascular conditioning programs for you to print or download into an IPOD. All you need to do then is execute!

Take the guesswork out of aerobic conditioning! Stop measuring your workouts by time and distance exclusively and start getting the results you want. Whether you are a sedentary beginner fitness enthusiast looking to lose weight, or an athlete wanting to get an extra inning out of your arm, you can find the right online program for you and optimize your results! Liveleantoday.com is the home for online aerobic and cardiovascular conditioning programs. There you can find an extensive array of online fitness plans that will help you optimize your results with an efficient and effective program.

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Build Your Own Fitness Home Gym

2007-08-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

If you are looking to build a home gym this year, there are some important criteria that should be taken into consideration. A good home gym offers versatility, the ability to have a few pieces of exercise equipment perform a wide variety of exercises. It must be durable and be able to handle the rigors of hard resistance training over a long period of time. Exercise equipment shouldn't take up a lot of space. There are many exercises you can do with your own body weight and a mat, so the home gym equipment shouldn't clutter up the workout space, nor be difficult to store. Finally it should be affordable. No one likes investing in a $1000 home gym just to use it as a coat rack or have it collecting dust in the corner within 3 months. This list of exercise equipment should offer solutions in each category listed above and it should provide a challenging and fun workout environment.

Exercise Ball

One of the most versatile pieces of exercise equipment, the exercise ball can be used in place of a bench for any supine or seated exercise. The exercise ball comes in a variety of sizes and depending on brand, is made of varying material. Because of the stress placed on a ball during a workout, it is important to look for a ball that is burst proof and it will not pop under you during a workout. To obtain the right size, a ball that sits with your hips and knees at 90 degrees is most likely what you should use for a majority of the exercises. For most, a 55cm or 65cm ball is sufficient. An exercise ball can be purchased for around $25-$60.

The exercise ball will provide an element of instability that cannot be duplicated by a bench; therefore you can improve core stability, and strengthen the integrity of your joints including shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles. The more stable you become, the stronger you will be and will drastically reduce the incidence of injury.

Dumbbells

A good home gym isn't complete without a few sets of dumbbells. 5-50lbs in increments of 5 will make a complete set for every type of exercise. Dumbbells are good for full body exercises that resist gravity. Exercises such as lunges, squats, shoulder press, bicep curl and chest press are just a few on the list of dumbbell exercises. They are durable, versatile, and a good set will last you a lifetime. A good set of dumbbells may cost $50-$100 for 3-4 sets of varying weight.

Foam Roll

A hard foam cylinder is used for self myfascial release, or self massage. A supplement to stretching, a foam roll can help to increase flexibility in a way that stretching cannot. In addition, it can help to relieve knots and adhesions within muscle tissue. If you don't like being sore after a workout, a foam roll can help to alleviate the soreness and therefore should be a staple item for your home gym. Invest $20 in a good foam roll that will take away your pain and soreness after a tough workout.

Xerdisc

The Xerdisc is an air filled rubber disc used for improving balance, and stability. The same exercises that you do while standing (ie..shoulder press, squat, bicep curl) can all be done while standing on an Exerdisc. Improving joint integrity and balance will allow you to become a more stable, stronger individual and the exercises are fun and challenging. It can also be used for ab exercises such as crunches, and anything you can do to make ab exercises harder has to be good! A quality Xerdisc may run about $40.

Xertube

Tubing comes in a variety of sizes based on the level of tension you want. Tubing can be used for most exercises in place of dumbbells and they will provide a variable tension. The plus side to using tubing is that you can gain resistance from a lateral position that dumbbells cannot provide. Exercises such as wood chops, torso twists, and pulling exercises like the bent row and lat pull are just a few that you can do with tubing that you can't get with other forms or resistance. Tubing is also safe for seniors looking to stay active as there is no risk of dropping the weight. Tubing is color coded in relation to the resistance it provides. I suggest 3-5 different tubes from thin to thick to give you opportunity to perform many exercises with small and large muscle groups. They are usually about $5-$8 a piece and can be used around doorknobs, in door jams and any other stationary post.

This exercise equipment should provide everyone from the novice to the advanced, a well rounded home gym that you can invest in for less than $200 total. The level of versatility, durability, and challenge that is provided by these pieces of equipment is unmatched by any single unit you can buy, and should give you years of workouts that can be changed and progressed as you continue to get into better and better shape. Consult with your personal trainer as to what exercise equipment may be best for your home gym.

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Understand Your Feet to Reduce Running Injuries

2007-08-08T17:15:00.000-07:00

We have all had some nagging muscles like our hamstrings, or discomfort in our side which we can run and train with. Though when the feet start to hurt, it can lay us up for weeks, months, or worse. Your feet and ankles are the foundation of your running and cardio program. When are feet are working correctly, they allows us to perform at our very best.

The two worse runner or jogger injuries are plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis. Both of these injuries can be cause by overuse, lack of strength, or lack of flexibility. Though your feet are tough and can take a lot, we have to understand how important they are to keep them healthy and pain free.

Your foot is important in both the landing of your steps and the pushing off as well. This is why getting the right shows for your feet are so important. If you land or push off poorly it can affect your entire chain from your ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders. Most running injuries can be attributed back to how people either land or push off.

When you land and your foot is stiff the stress can is one of the causes of shin splints. When we land with a loose foot, the effect is the runners' knees pointing inwards which causes many critical problems.

Plantar fasciitis prevents more runners from running than any other injury. The plantar fascia runs the entire length of the bottom of the foot. The two main reasons for this injury are overtraining and tight calves which put undo strain. Because so many cardio injuries are overuse they can be hard to notice until it is too late. The plantar fascia has poor blood flow which makes it slow to heal. Only rest will relieve the inflammation.

To prevent this injury it is vital that your build up your miles slowly and are on a good training program. Don't necessarily just follow your buddies program. Many cardio athletes are over trainers by nature and don't understand how they don't have to run in pain. If you have tight calves active flexibility training can start to alleviate the issues. Important for you to work on active stretching over static stretching.

The Achilles tendon, which runs up the back of the leg from the heal to the calf, is the other common body injured in runners. Overuse and rapid increases in mileage are the two main culprits that affect your Achilles tendon. Only rest will take away the effects of Achilles tendonitis. Getting a properly fitted shoe is one way to support this issue from not happening.

If you see the trend that overuse is always the main problem with running injuries. The reality is you don't have to do so many miles like most people think. With proper heart rate training, you can train with faster workouts which are less miles and less wear and tear on the body. Interval, tempo, and threshold runs are a bigger key to running success and are a lot less miles.

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Don't Run To Buy A Pair Of Running Shoes!

2007-07-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

The runner has to be very careful and has to consider many factors before selecting or buying a pair of running shoes. Some of the factors that has to be considered are

weight of the shoes
shape of the shoes
location where the runner plans to use the shoe
style of running
arch of the runner’s foot
budget provisions

It is always better to visit a store that specialises in selling running shoes. They are the best people to suggest and are very knowledgeable about the product they are dealing and will have great deal of information and will also suggest the runner which shoes are the best for him.

Many of these shops will have treadmills and video cameras set up and they will have the clients run on the treadmill and take video of their feet. This will provide a lot of information to the runner. The runner can screen the video clippings and see for himself how he is striking the ground while running and also whether he is over-pronating or under-pronating. The staff’s working in these stores is specialists in dealing with this product and will be able to guide the runner to make the best choice.

Some of the stores allow the buyer to take the running shoes outdoors and go for a short run while others have treadmill for trying out purposes.

If proper care is not taken when selecting the right type of running shoes, the runner may suffer physical discomforts like shin splints, tendonitis and plantar faciatis. When deciding on the runner shoe the amount of support needed in the shoe also has to be considered.

It is always better to visit a specialist shop before deciding on the runner shoe. They not only suggest the kind of shoe suitable for the runner but also recommend a shoe that will work for the life style of the runner.

Various types of shoes are available for different sports like marathon race, casual running or a sprint running.

Before deciding on the purchase take suggestions from people who run on a regular basis and use a particular brand of shoes and consider the feedback received from them.

Another important point to be considered is to use two different kinds of shoes - one for running and the other for everyday use. The main reason for this is that the foot tends to expand when running long distances.

If the right size and shoe is not chosen it may cause the skin under the toe nails to bruise which in turn will cause the toe nails to fall off. Finding the right shoe is definitely important for your health and enjoyment of the sport.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Victor_Thomas

Heart Rate Training Optimizes Your 5k Training Program

2007-07-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

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