Monday 24 June 2013
How Cardio Gets Rid of Cellulite
So far we've said that in order to get rid of cellulite you need to do some form of weight training and to increase the heaviness of the weight. The second thing I touched on was that the shape of the kettlebell forces you to use muscles that you normally wouldn't use with machine weights or dumbbells and barbells. The third thing you need to do to get rid of cellulite you need to do some form of cardio training. This will be the focus of this article.
So far we have established that we need to build muscle in order to burn fat and reduce that unwanted cellulite. We have also established that the shape of the kettlebell forces our bodies to use more muscles - literally meaning that we are getting stronger faster and burning more calories and body fat quicker. So is there a need to do cardio? Can we just do strength training exercises in order to get rid of cellulite?
Well the answer is yes and no. The great thing about cardio is that it burns a lot of calories during the workout. Simply doing strength training alone will not burn the same amount of calories as cardio during the session. Yet when the cardio workout is finished you literally stop burning any extra calories. So in order to continue, you need to do more cardio! If I had all the time in the world to walk and run and do other forms of cardio then this wouldn't be a problem! Although the question is, can cardio alone get rid of cellulite? In my own personal experience, there was a time of approximately 1-2 years where I completely stopped doing any weight training. I really thought weight training made me 'bulky' and if I wanted to lose weight I should just focus on cardio. So I switched my training sessions to walking, bike riding and the occasional running. During this time I actually gained weight and I noticed a considerable increase in my cellulite. What was going wrong? This was just prior to discovering kettlebells. I must also admit here that my diet was not the best at the time. So a poor diet combined with some cardio exercises caused me to gain weight and see an increase in my cellulite. When I started my training regime with kettlebells, I decided that it was time to clean up my diet as well. For maximum fat loss a healthy diet is also a must! OK, so with my kettlebells I was now doing weights and cardio combined - killing two birds with one stone so I no longer needed to spend 45 minutes on cardio and 45 minutes on weights, what I used to do at the gym. I was now exercising approximately 45 minutes 3x a week and I lost weight and saw definition that I never had before. The results were amazing. The great part was that I wasn't bulky I was starting to look lean and trim. The best part was that I could fit into clothes I never could before.
"But Fab you said 20mins 3x a week is all you need, you were training a lot more!" I hear you say. Since we are discussing the need for cardio in this article, I will briefly touch on this here, but to give it the justice that it deserves I will be writing another article to explain more thoroughly. So stay tuned for that. Call me crazy but I didn't believe that less is more. In fact I still believed that the more I exercise the stronger and fitter I'd become. So I even wanted to exercise 4-5 times a week with my kettlebell! I guess I could, if I really wanted to but I didn't need to. I found myself strapped for time further on in my training and reduced my exercise to 20 minutes 3x a week. This was just prior to my pregnancy and this time I got stronger and fitter and I was doing less. My body looked the best it ever had. That's all I'll say here and will go into detail on this later on.
So why is cardio alone not enough? The ideal solution here is to find a form of training that will increase your basal metabolic rate, the rate at which you burn calories when doing nothing at all. Doing hours of cardio alone is great at the time. As you can burn more calories during the session than just weight training alone yet when you leave the gym or the running track, the extra calorie burn usually stops there. Yet when you do weight training it can last from 24-48 hours after you've completed your exercise regime. Weight training continues to burn extra calories after the workout because the body needs to repair itself from that workout. This means that you can continue burning added calories without doing anything at all for the next 24-48 hours! Also the heavier you lift, the more calories you burn! So combining the two - cardio and weight training using the kettlebell as your tool is a form of metabolic training - literally increasing your metabolic rate at rest. This means that when you are doing nothing you are burning calories - major calories. To put it another way if you could run with a weight in your hand - you will significantly burn more calories than just plain running alone! And you will burn calories long after the run because of the added weight.
Sunday 23 June 2013
Your Blueprint for Healthy Living
Living healthy can be a challenge, especially when you don't know how to get started. These five expert tips will help you get on track to live a healthier, happier life.
The Top 5 Tips to Start Living Healthy Now
1. Exercise is by far one of the best things you can do for your health for many reasons. Exercise battles stress, a known cause of many of today's most prevalent diseases. It also reduces anxiety and jump-starts the feel-good hormones called endorphins in your body. It is one of the best things you can do for yourself. The most important part of exercise is finding something you love doing. It doesn't necessarily mean you need to sweat it out in a gym. People who enjoy the exercise they do are more likely to stick to it long-term than those who view it as a chore, so try out a bunch of different activities until you find the one that works for you.
And good news too, a study found that after just sixteen weeks of 30-40 minute exercise four days a week volunteers were sleeping better and had more energy throughout the day. So go hiking, play tennis, go on a walk, or take up a dance class.
2. Spend time in nature. It will boost your self-esteem according to research at the University of Essex in England. Just five minutes can do a world of good, and those first few minutes happen to be the most impactful. A study done in Japan even showed that people who spent two consecutive days in nature had increased immune functioning and their improved germ fighting defenses lasted for a week afterwards. One reason for this could be the airborne compounds that plants produce called phytoncides, which kill bacteria and fungi. This could be the best way for you to prevent a cold this year.
Too busy to hit a park or spend time in the yard? Even small doses count; just having a vase of flowers or plants around can do the trick.
3. Fresh fruit and veggies go a long way towards boosting your health. Try to go for whatever is in season like berries and corn in the summer and apples in the fall for example. They are packed with flavor, have fiber and have the added bonus of supplying water to your body. Fruits and vegetables are largely composed of water, making you feel full without packing in a lot of calories. They are also packed with nutrients and studies have shown that they can go a long way to preventing Type 2 diabetes. Most people don't actually get enough fruits and veggies in a day, so to make sure you are, try to fill half of your plate with fruits and veggies at every meal. If this sounds like too much at first, try starting out with one vegetable or fruit with each meal then work your way up. Some great ways to add more vegetables and fruits to you diet are as simple as adding salsa to your scrambled eggs or tomatoes and lettuce to a lean hamburger.
4. Take a break. Reserve a day out of the week or an hour a day for a little "me time". Do things you enjoy to break away from the everyday grind that can leave your head spinning and make your anxiety skyrocket. Taking a vacation is even better. A study done by the University of Pittsburgh found that people who vacationed at least once a year were 17% less likely to die from any given reason than others who never took a break. Do you think you are too busy to take a break? Think of it as an investment to your wellbeing, happiness and productivity. Are you long overdue?
5. Friendships are golden. Socializing and spending time with good friends leaves you better equipped to cope with life's challenges, and it's a great outlet for stress. It reinforces your support system, giving you stronger feelings of self-worth, security and emotional resilience. Plus, your friends' good habits can rub off on you too. Studies have shown that women whose close friends had healthy habits like exercise and eating healthy foods were more likely to take up those habits themselves. Watch out, unhealthy habits are just as likely to rub off on you too! When life gets busy, hectic social outings are among the first things people drop. One tip for maintaining a healthy social life is to involve friends in the activities and to-dos you have like shopping, errands, or going to a farmer's market together. Or exercise together. Still can't get around to it? Pick up the phone and call your friend.
Saturday 8 June 2013
Top Health Tips To Help Stay Healthy
It is a universal truth that nothing is more important than your health. That is why Health tips are very crucial for our healthiness. These tips help to get our body, soul and mind in perfect states. There are numerous tips out there to help improve our body strength, lose weight and stay healthy; these include:
- Lose Weight Sensibly: It is vital to lose weight sensibly as a sudden loss in weight can be harmful. You cannot just abruptly stop eating all those meals that have always appealed to you and expect that your body mechanism will smile at that. The process is gradual and must be followed if you desire to lose weight and stay healthy.
- Eat Fresh Vegetables and Fruits: Vegetables and fruit serve as fillers for the stomach. They help to keep you full and away from foods with high calories.
- Do not rush your meal, eat gradually: This will help you eat less and will help in weight loss.
- Keep a food Journal: On a food journal, honestly fill in all meals that you take regularly; this should include the sauces and condiments and all foods that have calories in them. From your journal, observe if it is possible to slash your meals and eliminate food items that you do not actually need.
- Exercise Daily: Take physical exercise at least thirty minutes daily. It is reasonable to include a day off every week.
- Integrate beans and other legumes into your eating plan for weight loss: These meals hold plenty of fibre and will maintain you longer throughout the day.
- Eat nuts: This has proven as a successful means to lose your weight. Just a nibble at a nut will revitalize your vigour for the rest of the day.
- Good Breakfast: Eating a good breakfast is one of the most optimistic things you can do if you really intend to lose weight. A good breakfast should include new fruit or fruit juice, a high-fibre breakfast cereal, yoghurt or low-fat milk, a boiled egg and whole wheat toast
- Take Ginger: The oil in ginger has made it a very helpful herbal medicine for nasal and chest congestion. Dish out two cups of hot water over 1-inch piece of peeled, grated ginger and steer for ten minutes. Add a pinch or two of cayenne pepper to the water and drink as desired.
These are just a few health tips to help you stay healthy. Keep in mind that staying healthy is a continuous process and should be done with consistency.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)