* Best results with "aerobic exercise" * Best after weeks of regular exercise * Best benefits to those who are low fit to begin with * Best benefits for those high in anxiety to begin with
Reduced depression
* Best after weeks of regular exercise * Best when done several times a week * Best with more vigorous exercise * Best for those who are more depressed (needs more research)
If you already have diabetes and would like to get pregnant, your chances of having a healthy baby are good. But, it's important to plan your pregnancy and follow these steps:
* Get your diabetes under control before you get pregnant. Try to get your blood sugar under control three to six months before you get pregnant.
* Always keep your blood sugar under control during your pregnancy. Keep food, exercise, and insulin in balance. Talk with your doctor or a registered dietitian to help you follow a special meal plan. Remember, as your baby grows, your body changes, and these changes will affect your sugar levels. If your blood sugar rises too high, the increased sugar crossing into the placenta can result in a large, over-developed fetus with birth defects or an infant with blood sugar level problems.
* Be sure to get enough of the B vitamin folic acid, every day. Women with diabetes might be at increased risk for having a baby with a serious birth defect. Getting enough folic acid each day can help reduce this risk.
Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that begins during pregnancy and usually goes away after the birth of the baby. If you have gestational diabetes, this means that you have a high amount of sugar in your blood during pregnancy. This form of diabetes can be controlled through diet, medication, and exercise, but if left untreated, gestational diabetes can cause health problems for both you and your baby. If you develop gestational diabetes, your doctor will refer you to a registered dietitian who can help you with special meal plans to control your blood sugar.
A home-based diet and exercise program slowed the decline of physical function in older, overweight cancer survivors, new research has found.
The study participants included 641 people in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, aged 65 to 91, who were overweight and were long-term (five years or more) survivors of breast, prostate and colorectal cancer. Some were assigned to a control group, while others were assigned to a 12-month intervention program that included telephone counseling, mailed materials promoting exercise, improved diet, and modest weight loss.
The study, published in the May 13 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that duration of strength-training exercise and endurance exercise minutes increased in the intervention group but stayed the same in the control group.
The researchers also found that the average intake of fruits and vegetables increased by 1.24 daily servings in the intervention group and by 0.13 daily servings in the control group. Average daily consumption of saturated fat decreased by 3.06 grams in the intervention group and by 1.07 grams in the control group. Members of the intervention group lost an average of 4.5 pounds, compared to 2.03 pounds in the control group.
At the start of the study, the average functional score for all the participants was 75.7 out of 100, which is comparable with the midpoint score for men and women aged 65 or older. By the end of the study, functional scores had declined an average of 2.15 points in the intervention group, compared to a decline of 4.84 points in the control group.
"Future studies should not only assess the effect [of exercise and diet intervention] on health and well-being, but also should address cost-related outcomes, especially given that the economic burden associated with functional decline and loss of independence is exceedingly high," according to study author Miriam C. Morey, of Duke University in Durham, N.C., and colleagues.
Regular Physical activity(exercise) can help protect you from heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, no insulin-dependent diabetes, obesity, back pain, osteoporosis, and can improve your health, mood and help you to better manage stress.
Exercise increases your overall health and your sense of well-being, which puts more pep in your steps every day. But exercise also has some direct stress-busting benefits. - It pumps up your endorphins. Physical activity helps to bump up the production of your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. Although this function is often referred to as a runner's high, a rousing game of tennis or a nature hike also can contribute to this same feeling.
- It's meditation in movement. After a fast-paced game of racquetball or several laps in the pool, you'll often find that you've forgotten the day's dilemmas and irritations and concentrated only on your body's movements. As you begin to regularly shed your daily tensions through movement and physical activity, you may find that this focus on a single task, and the resulting energy and optimism, can help you remain calm and clear in everything that you do.
- It improves your mood. Regular exercise can increase self-confidence and lower the symptoms associated with mild depression and anxiety. This can ease your stress levels and give you a sense of command over your body and your life.
Exercise = less stress
Whatever you do, don't think of exercise as just one more thing on your to-do list. Find an activity you enjoy - whether it's an active tennis match or a meditative meander down to a local park and back - and make it part of your regular routine. Any form of physical activity can help you unwind and become an important part of your approach to easing stress.
Drinking too much alcohol can, over time, damage your heart and raise your blood pressure. If you drink alcohol, you should do so moderately. For women, moderate drinking means one drink per day. For men, it means two drinks per day. One drink counts as:
- 5 ounces of wine - 12 ounces of beer - 1 1/2 ounces of 80-proof hard liquor
Research suggests that moderate drinkers are less likely to develop heart disease than people who don't drink any alcohol or who drink too much. Red wine drinkers in particular seem to be protected to some degree against heart disease. Red wine contains flavonoids (FLAY-vuh-noidz), which are thought to prevent plaque buildup. Flavonoids also are found in:
- red grapes - berries - apples - broccoli
On the other hand, drinking more than one drink per day increases the risks of certain cancers, including breast cancer. And if you are pregnant, could become pregnant, or have another health condition that could make alcohol use harmful, you should not drink.
With the help of your doctor, decide whether moderate drinking to lower heart attack risk outweighs the possible increased risk of breast cancer or other medical problems.
Stretching, or flexibility, exercises are an important part of your physical activity program. They give you more freedom of movement for your physical activities and for everyday activities such as getting dressed and reaching objects on a shelf. Stretching exercises can improve your flexibility but will not improve your endurance or strength.
How Much, How Often
-Do each stretching exercise 3 to 5 times at each session. -Slowly stretch into the desired position, as far as possible without pain, and hold the stretch for 10 to 30 seconds. Relax, breathe, then repeat, trying to stretch farther.
Safety
* Talk with your doctor if you are unsure about a particular exercise. For example, if you've had hip or back surgery, talk with your doctor before doing lower-body exercises. * Always warm up before stretching exercises. Stretch after endurance or strength exercises. If you are doing only stretching exercises, warm up with a few minutes of easy walking first. Stretching your muscles before they are warmed up may result in injury. * Always remember to breathe normally while holding a stretch. * Stretching may feel slightly uncomfortable; for example, a mild pulling feeling is normal. * You are stretching too far if you feel sharp or stabbing pain, or joint pain — while doing the stretch or even the next day. Reduce the stretch so that it doesn't hurt. * Never "bounce" into a stretch. Make slow, steady movements instead. Jerking into position can cause muscles to tighten, possibly causing injury. * Avoid "locking" your joints. Straighten your arms and legs when you stretch them, but don’t hold them tightly in a straight position. Your joints should always be slightly bent while stretching.
Progressing
You can progress in your stretching exercises. For example, as you become more flexible, try reaching farther, but not so far that it hurts. You can use the Flexibility Daily Record to keep track of your flexibility exercises.
Both terms refer to the voluntary movements you do that burn calories. Physical activities are activities that get your body moving such as gardening, walking the dog, raking leaves, and taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Exercise is a form of physical activity that is specifically planned, structured, and repetitive such as weight training, tai chi, or an aerobics class.
Physical activity and exercise are both important and can help improve your ability to do the everyday activities you enjoy.
The bottom line? There are many ways to be active every day. Find something you enjoy doing, include it in your regular routine, and try to increase your level of activity over time.
Swimming is one of the most popular sports in world. World is surrounded by water and swimming is one of our great passions. As well as being fun, swimming is a great way to keep fit, stay healthy and make friends. Swimming is a healthy activity that you can continue for a lifetime. It is a low-impact activity that has many physical and mental health benefits.
Swimming for recreation
Swimming is a great recreational activity for people of all ages. Recreational swimming can provide you with a low-impact workout and it’s also a good way to relax and feel good. Common swimming styles in recreational swimming are breaststroke, backstroke, side stroke and freestyle.
Competitive swimming
Some people who enjoy swimming want to take it to a competitive level. This can provide the health benefits of a vigorous workout as well as the fun and thrill of competition. The main strokes used in competitive swimming are breaststroke, freestyle, backstroke and butterfly. The distances swum in competition swimming can vary from 50 meters in a pool to much further distances in open water.
Benefits :
60 years and over
- Excellent form of exercise, low impact activity, relaxing and increases muscle strength. - Important social aspects - 50+ sessions available at all sites - Also take advantage of other activities at including the Health fitness including aqua aerobics
Under 16's
- Excellent exercise and a good way of burning of energy - Improves confidence and is overall great fun - Generally improves participation levels in physical activity rather than sedentary based activities, helping to combat rising obesity levels amongst under 16's - Family cohesion - swimming is a fun and healthy way to spend time together as a family
Some general tips
Before you dive in: * Make sure you know how to swim. * Choose a safe environment. * Warm up and stretch your muscles and joints before entering the water. * Have plenty of fluids on hand and drink regularly. * Don’t overdo it if you’re just starting out. * See your doctor if you haven’t exercised for a long time.
To know if you are exercising hard enough and at a safe level, you will need to figure out your target heart rate. Your target heart rate can depend on the type of exercise you are doing.
Moderate exercise includes activities like fast walking, swimming, dancing, or water aerobics.
Vigorous exercise includes activities like jogging, aerobics, basketball, fast swimming, or fast dancing. This level of exercise is more intense.
To figure out your target heart rate:
1.Stop exercising briefly to take your heart rate (pulse). Take it within 5 seconds of when you stop exercising. We recommend taking your pulse at the wrist (as shown in the picture). You can feel your pulse on your wrist in line with the thumb. Place the tips of the index and middle fingers over the artery and press lightly. Do not use the thumb since it has a pulse of its own. Take a full 60-second count of the heartbeats, or take it for 30 seconds and multiply by 2. Start the count on a beat, which is counted as "zero."
2.Later, when you're back on your computer, using the calculator, figure out your target heart rate. The calculator will give your maximum and minimum heart rate. This is called your target zone. See if the number, you remembered as your pulse falls within this zone. Try to exercise in this zone.
You can also try using the talk/sing test to make sure you are working out at the right level.
* If you can talk while you are doing a physical activity, you are probably moving at a pace that is good for you. * If you are too breathless to talk, you should slow down. * If you can sing while you are doing a physical activity, you may not be working hard enough; so, you should pick up the pace!
You may be looking to measure your exercise success in pounds, or by how much weight you lose. If so, it is important to know that muscle weighs more than fat, so weighing yourself won’t tell you if you are fit. Being able to exercise in your target heart rate zone is a better sign of your fitness level. It is still important to be at a healthy weight for your age, which can be measured by your Body Mass Index (BMI).
The researchers also found that the average intake of fruits and vegetables increased by 1.24 daily servings in the intervention group and by 0.13 daily servings in the control group. Average daily consumption of saturated fat decreased by 3.06 grams in the intervention group and by 1.07 grams in the control group. Members of the intervention group lost an average of 4.5 pounds, compared to 2.03 pounds in the control group.
