The Joy of Exercise

Now, you have a good start on your exercise program. You’re faithfully working those selected exercises three to five times a week. You’re starting to feel the muscles pull in and tighten.

Great!

We move ahead to the Second Step in the program, burning off some of that ugly fat. As we talked about before, the abdominal muscle exercises are not designed to burn off excess fat. They are to tone and strengthen the stomach muscles so you can have that hard, flat belly when the excess fat is gone. (more…)

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Tadasana is the foundation for all the other standing poses, so let’s begin at the foundation of our body, the feet.

The feet are not fixed to the ground; they move with and support the body each and every day. They need to be flexible and mobile, yet strong and firm, creating an unwavering solid platform for the body. If the feet are stiff or collapsed, our entire body may suffer from imbalances and misalignments. (more…)

While each muscle group is unique in its practical functions, all the muscles are stimulated in the same basic way. With weight training, the goal is much more than simply to move weight from Point A to Point B. (The same principle applies to isometrics.) The goal is stimulating, and thus increasing strength in, a body part by alternately shortening and lengthening: the muscle being primarily focused upon against the resistance of the applied load, be that, weight, the body, or static tension. (more…)

The mind-muscle link is a neurological pathway that is developed with experience in progressively contracting muscles during resistance exercise. Essentially, it is learning to feel the muscles work through a combination of strict form, mental concentration, and well-executed repetitions—all of which combine, in another of those synergistic systems, to create heightened outcome. To develop a muscle, it is essential to feel it work. (more…)

As I mentioned before, in the discussion of intensity in exercise, ground zero is this concept of positive failure, in which the last repetition you do in a set is the last one that you can possibly do without getting assistance or breaking good form. You must use a certain level of intense focus and physical effort to make sure that positive failure is truly all you can give, within the parameters given above. (more…)

Besides previous four primary factors (which mentioned on the my previous post), exercise exerts several secondary, indirect factors that help control weight. For some people, these indirect factors are even more important than the four direct factors. For example, exercise often decreases depression, which can be a significant factor in weight gain. In the early 1990s, I had a patient who suffered from depression, and who responded to it with food binges and subsequent weight gain. When she started to exercise, though, her depression lifted. This is not uncommon. Several studies have indicated that exercise is as effective for depression as antidepressants and counselling, because it increases levels of the neurotransmitters that dispel depression. When my patient’s depression cleared up, her food binges stopped, and she became slender and fit. On a few occasions she suspended her exercise programme, but when she did, she became depressed again. For her, exercise was very much like an effective pharmaceutical drug, because it improved the balance of her neurotransmitters. (more…)

You will probably never have the kind of body you want if you do not exercise. Diet alone will not do it.

A few of my patients who refused to exercise did reach their goal weights, but still didn‘t like how they looked. They were not very overweight, but their bodies were still flabby, puffy in places, and dimpled with cellulite. Their skin seemed to hang on them like a suit that didn‘t fit, and they just didn‘t have that shining spark of vitality that only exercise can ignite. Even these patients, though, were better off than most patients who refused to exercise. As a rule, when people have failed to exercise, they have failed to reach the weight they want. (more…)

Oxygen is the ignition factor in the burning of energy from the foods you eat. A good supply is always necessary for your body’s metabolic processes to take place efficiently. When your cells (particularly the cells of your brain) have an adequate supply, you feel well, have stamina, and don’t tire easily. If you tend to feel tired often, get depressed easily, or have trouble thinking clearly, it is likely that your body is not getting all the oxygen you need. In short, you are physically unfit.

Unfit people find themselves breathless after climbing stairs, lack concentration when they get involved in a demanding mental task, and are often too weary in the evenings to do anything but plunk themselves in front of a television set. They also tend to rely on stimulants or depressants such as alcohol to relax or to keep going. (more…)

In the last few years there has been a redefinition of what it takes to project success. Not only do you need to look smart but you must also look healthy. Being fit and ‘in shape’ has become a metaphor for being in control of yourself. The logic extends to being in control of your career and therefore successful.

Sedentary readers may be ready to flip to another section. ‘Spare me another lecture about losing weight, taking up jogging or pumping iron. I am too busy and, quite frankly, beyond it.’ But take heart; the experts no longer recommend vigorous, sweaty pursuits as the only way to tone- up but small changes to your sedentary lifestyle that can strengthen your vital organs (your heart especially), make you look more alert — and feel more energetic. (more…)