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22 May 2009.

Rebuild Your Body - Fit tips

1. Write down your primary goal. Be specific: Whether you want to lose 20 pounds of fat, gain 10 pounds of muscle, or complete your first triathlon, give yourself one major objective for 2006 and put it on paper.

2. Schedule your first three workouts. Plan the date, time, and place of each session in Outlook or your day planner. You'll be less likely to allow meetings or social events to interfere with your workouts. Be sure to block off a big enough chunk to account for any time needed to change your clothes, shower, or travel to the gym -- the forgotten factors that doom workouts.

3. Create a workout log. Provide space to record the number of sets and repetitions and the amounts of weight you use, as well as the duration and distance of your cardio session, and your total exercise time. This will give you tangible numbers to improve on with each workout.

4. "Most men do the exercises they like first and save the ones they know they hate for last," says Steve Lischin, NASM-C.P.T. "Toward the end of a workout, they either put little effort into these exercises or just skip them entirely." Performing your workout in the opposite order can give muscles you tend to overlook (such as your hamstrings) the attention they deserve. And saving your favorites for last can help you recharge when your energy level is in decline.

5. Struggling to do one more crunch? Skip it. "I'd rather see you do 20 good reps than 30 crappy ones," says Shawn Arent, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., an exercise scientist at Rutgers University. Your abs, like any other muscle, grow in response to increased stress, not continual stress. Instead, do them well. Three keys to the proper crunch: Focus on lifting your shoulder blades off the floor, not pulling your head up with your hands. Pause at the top of the move and lower your body slowly. Keep your abs tight throughout the exercise.

20 November 2007

Do I need to see my doctor before I start FITNESS?

In order to begin your exercise program safely and effectively, answer the following questions to the best of your knowledge, and follow the directions at the end of this section. If you are unsure of any answer, it is recommended that you see a doctor to accurately determine the safety of beginning an exercise program. If have been told by a physician that you have any cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, or metabolic disease such as diabetes, obtain permission from your doctor before beginning or changing your exercise program.

Are you a man over 45 years old?
Are you a women over the age of 55? Or, are you less than 55 years old and past menopause, but not taking estrogen?
Has any male family member died of a heart attack before age 55? Or, has any female family member died of a heart attack before age 65?
Do you smoke cigarettes?
Has a doctor ever told you have high blood pressure? Or, has your blood pressure been measured more than once at greater than 140 over 90? Or, do you take high blood pressure medicine?
Has your doctor ever told you that you have high cholesterol? Or, do you know if your total cholesterol is greater than 200? Or, is your HDL cholesterol less than 35?
Do you consider yourself physically inactive at work and during your leisure time?

If you answered "yes" to more than one of these questions it is recommended that you see a doctor before pursuing a vigorous exercise program.

1 Oktober 2007

The wide world of yoga

You don't have to be a particular religion, shape or size to benefit from the 5,000- year-old discipline of yoga

Yoga's recent popularity in the West can be attributed to its many forms that can be easily adapted for any age or ability. Each individual will get something different from yoga. For some, it is a great stretch or workout, while for others, it's a chance to unwind, get in touch with their bodies and meditate.

'Yoga works every part of your body, ensuring immense physical benefits as well as developing feelings of inner calm and well-being,' says Swami Satchinanda, Chairman of the Education Committee for The British Wheel of Yoga, the governing body for yoga in the UK. Most recreational yogis (people who practise yoga on average once or twice a week) benefit, both mentally and physically, once they have discovered a class that suits them. In looking for the type of yoga that is right for you, keep the following in mind:

Find a method that suits your body type and your lifestyle
Remember each yoga method has the same ingredients but in slightly different quantities
Always work at your own pace
Find a teacher who suits you

However finding a yoga class is not always as easy as it seems. Lucy, a 25-year-old legal assistant, was attracted to the concept of yoga, but put off by the classes she attended. 'I kept trying different things. First I went to my gym and then to a class in a church hall. Neither of them worked for me. I didn't like the teachers. In one, they did the whole class using the Sanskrit words for the positions. I didn't have a clue what they were talking about.' Lucy finally found a class she liked via word of mouth. 'A friend told me about an Iyengar yoga centre where a precise, more technical style of yoga is practised. I went once and was hooked.'

Six slim-down strategies

Using your workout time more efficiently can often make the difference between a successful weight loss regimen and one that goes nowhere. From bouncing up and down on a pogo stick to sneaky karaoke sessions, use these strategies to make it count:

Walk the walk

It may not burn calories that quickly, but slow and steady is the way to go for a lot of us. For every mile you walk you'll burn about 100 calories, nearly the same as you would if you covered the same distance at a run. True, you'd go further faster if you picked up the pace, but you're also likely to tire sooner and get injured more often.

Put a little bustle in your muscle

Increasing your workout intensity a couple of times a week builds muscles, burns more calories and boosts your metabolism. If you're a walker, warm up first and then do six or more cycles of two minutes of running or fast walking, alternated with two minutes of moderately paced walking. Finish up with a cool down. You can apply this type of workout pattern to swimming, cycling, rollerblading or any other type of exercise activity. Overdoing a high-intensity workout invites injury and burnout, so limit this strategy to two workouts a week at the most.

Break it up

The number one excuse for not working out: no time. However, this reason becomes obsolete if you split up your workout time into two, three or even four mini-workouts daily. Research shows you?ll burn the same amount of calories whether you do your workout all at once or in bits and pieces. For instance, you can do a brisk ten-minute walk before work, climb your office stairs for ten minutes at lunchtime and dance to your favourite music for ten minutes while you're cooking your dinner.

Get sneaky

Slipping in an activity that you might not necessarily consider to be 'exercise' can help rack up your daily calorie burn total. Don't believe it? Some examples: window-shopping for ten minutes burns 35 calories; a quick run through your garden to pull weeds burns 60 calories; lugging your toddler around the house for five minutes burns 40 calories; foregoing an escalator and walking up one flight of stairs burns 16 calories; and singing 'We Are the World' at a karaoke bar burns off 20 calories. You get the idea.

Fun Run

Running is one of best types of exercise out there and can help to fight the flab and even delay the dreaded ageing process. So what are you waiting for?

Some people take up running to get rid of those last few unwanted pounds, while others use it as a way of achieving more drastic weight loss. As many as 60 per cent of us start running to keep our weight under control, which is just as well as running is second only to cross-country skiing when it comes to burning calories. Sitting in front of a computer all day does little for your posture. It also makes muscles and bones weaker. Running lengthens the skeleton and places demand on the muscles and bones to keep it healthy. It is also thought to encourage the secretion of the human growth hormone which some celebrities inject in a bid to retain a youthful look.

Running also helps to fight disease by encouraging the production of lymphocytes (white blood cells that fight disease) and reduces the chances of getting a stroke or heart disease by strengthening the heart and lowering cholesterol levels. It also increases the 'good' cholesterol which limits the risk of blood clots and maintains the elasticity of the arteries as they expand during running.

As well as the considerable health benefits, there are also social benefits. Running often has its own community and culture and anyone taking up running can become part of it. New members of all abilities and ages are welcome and the camaraderie between like-minded people can be invaluable.

A bit of healthy competition between friends can be the difference between incorporating running into your daily routine, or giving up at the first hurdle. Non-runners often won't understand your interest or routine, so being able to meet up with people who know what you're going through during training is one of the most useful benefits.

Anty-ageing exercises

Age: 20-30's

Your exercise priorities
You main aim during this stage is to prevent the loss of your cardiovascular fitness. Specifically, women in childbearing years benefit from postural exercises as well as core abdominal stabilisation and pelvic floor exercises.

Specific exercises
Perfect abs and belly stability.

What it does
It puts a stop to troublesome lower tummy bulges and supports your back, preventing back pain.

What you do
To really flatten that lower 'jelly belly' you need to target the deep transverse abdominal muscle, the one you are contracting when you lie on the floor to do up your jeans. To help you do this, go on all fours and pull your belly button in to the spine up towards the ceiling as much as possible.

Test how good you are at this by lifting opposite arm and leg off the floor and challenge yourself further by closing your eyes. Hold for between 5 and 10 seconds. You need to try and be as still as possible.

Stop: Thinking 'I'm young so I don't need to bother'. Artherosclerosis (the 'furring' of your arteries) starts as early as your late teens, and osteoporosis is sometimes known as 'the young person's disease with an old face'.

Age: 30's to 40's

Your exercise priorities
Women need to kick-start resistance training to gain stress-busting strength and endurance and keep their metabolism revved up. At this age both men and women need to commit to getting physically active on a daily basis.

Specific exercises
Compound strength exercises that engage a number of muscle groups, increasing calorie expenditure and bone density, such as the 'four-point lunge'.

What it does
Shapes, strengthens and lengthens the whole of the thigh. Great exercise to start with as it stretches as it tones and addresses virtually all the muscles in the thigh. Furthermore, the large number of muscles used in this exercise burns extra calories.

What you do
Stand on the floor, a low bench or bottom stair. Extend one leg back with a large stride so the leg has only a slight bend at the knee, lower the back leg knee towards the floor, straighten the leg and bring the extended leg back to the start position. This takes four counts. Change sides and repeat.

Age: 40's-50's

Your exercise priorities
Stop 'middle-age spread' and get into good exercise habits.

Specific exercises
Master good abdominal techniques and get results from your abdominal exercises. Mastering the rib-hip connection will have a huge impact on helping you to keep your midriff toned. Combine these abdominal exercises with daily cardio exercise such as brisk walking and you are on to a winner.

The rib-hip connection
For an instant, smaller, trimmer waistline. To master the 'rib-hip connection' lie on the floor with your knees bent, place your hands around your rib cage with finger tips in towards your breast bone.

As you take a deep breath in, feel your rib cage expand. This is how most people start their tummy exercises. Stop! By doing this you will get a bigger waist!

To combat this, as you breath out, imagine you are wearing a corset which needs to be tightened up. As you drop down you will have engaged your internal oblique muscles, which will help you regain a 'pinched-in' waist. Try to feel relaxed and comfortable in this position. Engage the rib-hip connection before doing any abdominal exercise.

Exercise: Belt pulls
First, put on a snug-fitting belt. Come onto all fours with your hands under your wrists and your knees under your hips. Start with your abdominals relaxed and you may find your tummy is touching your belt.

Now, keeping the back straight, firmly draw in the abdominal muscles so you create space between your tummy and your belt. You should be able to slip your fingers in between your belt and your tummy. Hold this position for 30 seconds breathing smoothly throughout. Relax for 10 seconds and repeat five times.

Exercise: Moving dead bug
Start in the 'dead bug' position, lying on your back, hands directly over your shoulders and knees bent at a 90-degree angle to engage your abdominals. Slowly lower the same leg and arm towards the floor, keeping the same distance between the hand and the knee. Gently 'kiss' the floor with your heel and slowly lift the arm and leg back up to the starting dead bug position.

Top tip : Keeping the same distance between the arm and knee is crucial in this exercise to help you imagine you have a large beach ball between them.

Tips for every age

Stop beating yourself up for not being able to find 60 minutes all in one go. Instead, adopt a workout wedge approach to your exercise, 'wedging' it in convenient blocks of time. Studies show benefits are still achieved even in bouts of 10 minutes.
Stop lulling yourself into a false sense of security thinking you are already physically active. Chances are your activity levels may be more related to how busy your brain is (with all the different commitments you may have with your family, social and work life) which does not necessarily translate into a physically active body.

6 September 2007

High Blood Pressure

Also called: HBP, HTN, Hypertension

Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Each time your heart beats, it pumps out blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is highest when your heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. When your heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic pressure.

Your blood pressure reading uses these two numbers, the systolic and diastolic pressures. Usually they are written one above or before the other. A reading of

120/80 or lower is normal blood
140/90 or higher is high blood pressure
120 and 139 for the top number, or between 80 and 89 for the bottom number is prehypertension

High blood pressure usually has no symptoms, but it can cause serious problems with such as stroke , heart failure , heart attack and kidney failure . You can control high blood pressure through healthy lifestyle habits and taking medicines, if needed.

6 September 2007

Exercise for Seniors

There is a fountain of youth. Millions have discovered it - the secret to feeling better and living longer . It's called staying active . Finding a program that works for you and sticking with it can pay big dividends. Regular exercise can prevent or delay diabetes and heart trouble. It can also reduce arthritis pain, anxiety and depression. It can help older people stay independent.

There are four main types of exercise and seniors need some of each:

Endurance activities - like walking, swimming, or riding a bike - which build "staying power" and improve the health of the heart and circulatory system
Strengthening exercises which build muscle tissue and reduce age-related muscle loss
Stretching exercises to keep the body limber and flexible
Balance exercises to reduce the chances of a fall

6 September 2007

There are 1,440 minutes in every day. Schedule 30 of them for physical activity!

Regular exercise is a critical part of staying healthy. People who are active live longer and feel better. Exercise can help you maintain a healthy weight. It can delay or prevent diabetes, some cancers and heart problems.

Most adults need at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least five days per week. Examples include walking briskly, mowing the lawn, dancing, swimming for recreation or bicycling. Stretching and weight training can also strengthen your body and improve your fitness level.

The key is to find the right exercise for you. If it is fun, you are more likely to stay motivated. You may want to walk with a friend, join a class or plan a group bike ride. If you've been inactive for awhile, use a sensible approach and start out slowly.

6 September 2007

Listen to your body

Sports can be a great way to get in shape or stay that way. Having a specific goal can be a great motivator. Physically, you need strength and endurance. Your training will vary with your sport. You would not train the same way for pole vaulting as for swimming. You might, however, cross train. Cross training simply means that you include a variety of fitness activities in your program. Research shows that cross training builds stronger bones.

Remember to listen to your body. If you frequently feel exhausted or you are in pain, you may be overdoing it. Injuries can be the result. And be sure that you use your body and your equipment safely. What you eat and drink is also important. Water is the most important nutrient for active people. Drink it before, during and after workouts.

6 September 2007

What it takes

Medical spas that operate under the full-time supervision of a licensed healthcare professional or alternative-therapy practitioner. Comprehensive wellness and preventive care is provided that may adhere to traditional Western medical concepts, complementary/alternative philosophies, or a combination of the two (known as integrative medicine). Spa treatments are incorporated into wellness programs as an effective way to rejuvenate and reduce stress.

These establishments offer a less symptom-based approach to healthcare than you'll find at most conventional doctor's offices. By emphasizing the links between mind, body, and spirit and/or identifying and addressing health risks before the onset of illness, medical spa practitioners aim to give guests the tools to achieve lasting well-being.

6 September 2007

Day Spa and Salon Spa visits offer a simple, flexible way to incorporate spa into your everyday life. Soothing massages, beautifying facials, and rejuvenating body wraps are just a few of the heavenly spa treatments that provide a healing break from your everyday routin.

There is no simpler way to treat yourself than a visit to a day spa. Soothing massages, beautifying facials, and rejuvenating body wraps are just a few of the heavenly spa treatments.

But day spas offer even more than top-notch services. In a world increasingly cluttered with noise and stress, day spas provide a space of calm where men and women can fulfill their need for tranquility. Calming spa music, aromatherapy candles, and relaxation areas are among the many features that day spas use to further health and relaxation.

6 September 2007

In the future you will be able to read articles, writings by our healthcare professionals, guests opinions as well as private stories about wellness, fitness, sport, health and spas on this page. If you have any comments please get in contact with us at: premier@danubiushotels.com

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