Top 12 Yoga tips to remember

1. The best time for practicing Yoga is in the morning. It is the only time when the mind is calm, and fresh and the body movements can be performed with considerable ease and vigor.
2. Never attempt to practice yoga while under the influence of alcohol or drugs (including prescribed drugs) which may alter your ability to stay alert to your physical capacities and could result in injury.
3. To practice Yoga you must choose a place which is calm, quiet, ventilated, dust free, moisture free and distraction free.
4. Before starting Yoga, you must clear your bowels and bladder; clean your nostrils and throat of all mucus. You must also drink a glass of lukewarm water.
5. Like all other work outs you must begin with easy poses, thereafter you can advance to the tough ones. Be systematic.
6. Listen to your body, and if you feel burning sensations or otherwise injury, stop. Don't wait for the teacher's instructions.
7. Yoga must energize and not cause weariness and depression.
8. You must take breaks in between if a particular step or exercise proves tiring.
9. Your diet should be a balanced and you should eat after an interval of 4 hours. The quantity of food should be such that it satisfies your appetite. Over eating and fasting should be avoided.
10. Yoga clothing should be loose and as comfortable as possible. Form-fitting cotton/Lycra pants and shirts are the best.
11. While performing Yoga your breathing should be long and deep. You must remember to keep your mouth close and inhale and exhale only through the nose.
12. You should always keep a Yoga mat made of some comfortable materials.

Do It Yourself Home Gym

You have been thinking of setting up a home Gym for a long time, but the high cost of home Gym machines is stopping you from doing it. Don't worry here are some ideas for you to start a Home Gym with minimum expenditure. This DO-It-Yourself Gym is as effective in enhancing your Fitness as any other home Gym Machines. It helps in training and increasing  Flexibility, Cardiovascular endurance and Muscular Strength. You can find the required items easily in your local sports shop.

Rowing.

This can be done with the help of the exercise bands. Sitting on the floor with your legs extended, loop elastic band under arches of feet and hold the ends in each hand. Start with arms extended forward. Keeping your back straight and shoulders down, pull your elbows back slowly, contracting shoulder blades. Hold for 2 seconds; release slowly. Repeat. Start with easy resistance and gradually increase the difficulty. If you feel that the band is stretched too much try using a band with higher resistance. Keep the band at its normal width so that it doesn't cut into your hands, feet, or ankles. After stretching the band, release it slowly, but not completely. Wrap the band securely around your hand or foot so it won't slip. When an exercise requires that one end is fixed, choose an object that won't move, such as a pole or heavy piece of furniture.

Jumping Ropes or skipping

You must have seen Professional boxers jumping ropes while they train, that's because it helps in increasing cardiovascular endurance. Skipping or Jumping rope is great exercise for adults as well as kids. All you need is a rope and good shoes to start. But first read on these instructions.

As a way to build cardiovascular endurance, jumping rope can be as good as jogging, but is lesser in impact, since you should jump only a little off the ground. It helps improve coordination, speed, and agility. If you engage in a sport that requires bursts of speed and power such as tennis or basketball, jumping rope can be particularly beneficial. It burns a lot of calories by working out the muscles in the legs, shoulders, chest, and forearms.Always Check the rope length before starting, it should not be to short neither too long. As a rule the handle of the rope should come till your armpit. Wear shoes which have good support. It's best to jump on wooden floor, as found in gym, but a lawn or a mat works well, too. Concrete is too hard and increases the risk of injury, but if your shoes are good enough you should be able to jump anywhere.

While jumping land with your knees slightly bent. Keep your posture erect, shoulders back, and abdomen tucked in. Slow down if you get too tired. Jumping rope can elevate your heart rate very quickly.

Elastic or TheraBands

Elastic exercise bands are the best bet for you to begin strength training. They've been used by physio-therapists for years. These are also known as therabands. These are cheap, portable, and versatile, these long, wide bands provide the resistance you need to work your muscles. They often come with booklets to make your work easy. They are supplied in eight colors and each colored band have different level of resistance. These can also be cut in required sizes and attached to a fixed object. You can choose the band depending on the resistance you want. You can strengthen and tone all your major muscles with them.

Physio-Balls

The big therapy ball—also called a physio-, Swiss, or gym ball—has been used for long time in Switzerland. Now these balls can be seen in gyms and physiotherapy offices. Unlike the medicine balls these are filled with air and relatively soft and, they cushion you as you stretch. They come in different sizes, for people of different heights. For instance, a 65-centimeter (about 24-inch) ball is recommended for those between 5'8" and 6'. Inflated with a simple pump.

Exercises like strengthening, stretches on the ball, warm-up and cool-down can be performed using them. Ball exercise are ideal when there is need to perform exercise of multiple muscle groups. For instance, by simply sitting and bouncing on the ball, you work your hamstrings, quadriceps, abdominals, and back muscles. Add arm movements, and you also get an upper-body workout. The main benefits of physio-balls are they help in improving your coordination, balance, and posture.When you sit on the ball, as you would a chair, your thighs should be parallel to the ground. Don't wear pins or objects that might puncture the ball. Make sure you have enough room so that if you lose your balance you are not injured. If you are older and/or have poor balance, start off with someone who will stand alongside you and make sure you don't fall off the ball.

Medicine balls

For a different kind of ball workout, try medicine balls. Leather versions used to be popular among trainers and athletes in the older days. Today these weighted balls, dubbed "plyoballs" or "body balls," are usually made of polyurethane and/or vinyl.

What you do with a medicine ball is called plyometric exercise. This involves stretching a muscle (as when you squat before you jump to shoot a basket) and then contracting it suddenly or "explosively" as you jump. You can hold the ball above your chest to make your sit-up routine more strenuous. Or substitute it for hand weights while doing aerobic dance. Or play toss or keep-away with one or two partners. Plyometrics can help in building muscle strength, thus increasing power. In the beginning use a small, lightweight ball. Vary your workout to avoid overuse injuries or soreness. For advanced or intense plyometric exercises, consult a trainer.

Stretching - Trunk

Today i will be presenting you the last article on stretching. Hope you are gaining positively from the exercises. Before concluding i want to say that don't ignore any precautions as discussed in last articles and follow the correct procedure while performing them.

Chest Stretch
stand and interlock the fingers behind the back.Lift the arms behind the back so that they move outwards and away from the body.lean forward from the waist . Maintain this position for 10 to 15 seconds . Bend the knees before moving to upright position.

Upper Back Stretch
Stand with the arms extended to the front at the shoulder with the fingers interfaced and palms facing outwards. Extend the arms and shoulder forward. Hold this position for 10 to 15 seconds.

Backward Bending (Extension)
Stand up straight with your feet shoulder width apart. Keep your knees as straight as possible. Place your hands on your back firmly at your waist level. Bend backwards at your waist keeping the knees as straight as possible. Hold for few seconds. Return slowly to the upright position.

Side Bending
Stand up straight with your arms at your sides and your feet shoulder width apart. Now Bend your trunk to one side, by lowering your shoulder Run your hand down the outside of your thigh. Hold for seconds. Slowly straighten up and repeat to the opposite side.

Abdominal stretch
This Stretches the abdominal muscles and also arm muscles. Stand and extend the arms upward and over the head. First interlock the fingers with the palm turned upwards, now stretch the arms and slightly back. Hold this position for 10 to 15 seconds.

Neck Stretch
Stand with the back straight and feet shoulder width apart. Place the hands on the hips and then roll the head slowly the left, making a complete circle with the path of the head. Do this three times in each direction

Stretching - Upper Limbs

After the prank of first April, lets continue our session which we left earlier. In this post i will be telling you important stretching exercises of the upper limb and the shoulder . There are pictures included for easy understanding of the steps.

Shoulder Stretch:
The shoulder stretch, as the name implies stretches your posterior shoulder muscles. In a standing position, bring the first arm across your chest while using your second arm to pull it towards your chest. You should feel this stretching your shoulder muscles. After 15-20 seconds of stretching your first shoulder, switch arms.




Triceps Stretch:
This triceps stretch is also done in the sitting position. Bring your first arm up and place the palm of your hand down the center of your back with your elbow in the air. Place your other hand on your elbow and gently hold in place as you stretch your first arm. After a stretching of 15 to 20 seconds switch your arms.



Biceps Stretch:
Stand tall, feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Now hold your arms out to the side parallel with the ground and the palms of the hand facing forward. Rotate the hands so the palms face to the rear, stretch the arms back as far as possible. You should feel the stretch across your chest and in the biceps.

Stretching - Lower Limbs

Let's start our stretching session from lower down the body that is the lower limbs. I am only going to consider the important muscles which are: hamstrings(muscle at the back of the thigh), quadriceps(front thigh), gastonemius(calf muscle).

Hamstrings:
This is the muscle which often gets injured.To stretch it lie on the back, supporting the thigh behind the knee with the hand or with a towel, slowly straighten the knee until a stretch is felt in the back of the thigh, trying to get the bottom of the foot to face the ceiling, one leg at a time . Hold the position initially for 10 seconds, and gradually work up to 20-30 seconds.

Quadriceps:
For the quads stand on one leg while holding the other leg behind . Pull foot toward thigh and buttock. Hold for six seconds, then relax for five seconds. Change to opposite side and do exercise with other leg. Repeat twice for each leg.




Gastronemius:
Stand in a walking position with one leg stretched straight behind you and the other leg bent in front of you. Using a wall or chair for support, lean forward and down until you feel the stretch in your back calf. make sure that both feet are pointing straight ahead and that your heels stay on the floor the whole time.

Make sure that you hold the stretch position for 15 to 20 minutes for effective stretch. In the next post i will tell you about the stretching of arms and the shoulder.

Stretching - Introduction

I have seen many people stretching during workouts just for the sake of it, They twist their arm and legs quickly in some weird manner and start with their exercise. They forget that stretching is as important as the main exercise. One thing you should remember that stretching is not same as warm up! It is very important that you perform the general warmup before you stretch. A warmup exercise helps in increasing your core body temperature by one to two degrees. It is not a good idea to attempt to stretch before your muscles are warm.

In the next few posts i will show you how stretch your important muscles in the most effective manner. I will discuss stretching techniques, effects and its implication to fitness by dividing the body in three parts Upper limbs, lower limbs and the trunk. But lets first start with explaining stretching and why every one keeps talking about it.

Stretching is a general term used to describe any maneuver designed to increase the mobility of the soft tissues and increase the ROM (Range of motion) of the joints by lengthening the soft tissues (muscles,tendon,ligaments etc)

Benefits:
-reduced muscular tension,
-increased range of motion of joints,
-enhanced flexibility,
-improves coordination,
-increases body temperature and heart rate,
-increased blood flow to muscles,
-increased levels of glucose in the blood.

All this helps in making the body ready for the upcoming intensive exercise and prevents muscle injury or soreness.

Types:
The two commonest types of stretching are Static and Ballistic. In stretching the muscle and the soft tissues are just stressed to the point where there is a mild stretch of the muscle and it is kept stretched for few seconds. whereas in Ballistic method a rapid, forceful and bouncing stretch is applied . It is not recommended by experts so we will not talk about this.

Duration and Time:
As stated above stretching should be only done when the muscles are well warmed up. Another frequently debated point is how long one should stretch a muscle. From the various source material available, it seems to be anything from ten to sixty seconds (or even several minutes). Many researchers recommend thirty to sixty seconds. A compromise would seem to be about twenty seconds, however children and people whose bones are still growing should take care.

Contraindication:
-If a bone blocks motion.
-One has had a recent fracture of a bone.
-An infectious process in or around a joint is suspected or known.
-There is sharp, acute pain with joint movement or muscle elongation.
-One has had had a recent sprain or strain.
-There is a loss of function resulting in a decrease of range of motion of joints.
-Osteoporosis.

Remember proper breathing control is important for a successful stretch. Proper breathing helps to relax the body, increases blood flow throughout the body, and helps to mechanically remove by-products of exercise.

Keep reading for more posts on stretching.....

Robot Trainers

Now is the time to say good bye to your Personal trainer and hire a robot , yes you heard it right a robot to assist you in your Training.

Doctors at the Harvard Medical School have invented a robot which can help in strength exercises in patients having weak muscles. the device is a lightweight elbow brace that employs an EMG sensor that sits on the surface of a user's bicep or tricep muscle, depending on desired motion.The studies showed that patients gained a significant movements with the robot arm and there where no compilations. The researchers are improvising on the robot to make it more portable, user friendly and comfortable.

Right now it is used only for paralyzed stroke survivors but may be in future it can be used by normal individuals, who knows........

Fitness and Diet

The first thing which a person often tries to control while following a fitness regimen or is trying to loose weight is controlling his diet. Fitness is very much related to a sound body and mind. Diet and fitness go hand in hand, you can not leave out proper diet to achieve a required level of fitness. According to Dr David Bull, a medical specialist on the BBC's Watchdog Healthcheck programme...

Regardless of how much training you do or how dedicated you are, unless you give your body essential nutrients, you will not perform to the best of your ability.

So fitness is required for a healthy living and to achieve this you should have a proper diet and exercise.

A good diet should provides all the nutrients to the body like carbohydrate,protein, vitamins, minerals and yes fat also. If the person is involved in activities which require endurance such as football,tennis etc carbohydrate should form the basis of the diet for that person. on the other hand if the person is into activities which require strength or is into bodybuilding protein should be the main source of nutrient.Your diet should also contain a good mix of all the vitamins and small quantities of fats and minerals too.

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