How to Really Get That Flat Stomach

Misconceptions and Myths
The first hurdle one must overcome when setting out to achieve a flat and firm mid section are the misconceptions and myths surrounding this area.

First and foremost to achieve a flat and toned stomach you must reduce the body fat covering the abdominal region. Spot reduction (reducing fat only in a particular area) is a myth. Generally speaking fat loss will occur on an all over body basis. Fat loss cannot be reduced in a particular area by just exercising the muscles in that region.

Secondly and perhaps related to the previous point, you do not perform abdominal exercises as the exclusive part of your training program to achieve results. Yes, you may be toning that muscle -which is important - but it is of little value with a large amount of body fat coving these muscles and limiting their usage. The main offender for promoting this misconception are the retailers which only focus on the trunk flexion movement - which produces muscular contraction in the rectus abdominis - and if this is done exclusively as your core training program it may produce injury due to a muscular imbalance.

Structure of the Core
An understanding of the structure of the mid section is required if you are looking to perform exercises in a suitable manner, without the risk of injury. There are four areas of focus.

The rectus abdominis is the most commonly thought of muscle in the core region, and often referred to as the six pack. This muscle is located at the front of the abdominal musculature, and performs the trunk flexion movement.

The oblique muscles play an important role in processing everyday and sporting movement. The obliques consist of the outer and inner layer of muscle performing rotation, lateral flexion and stabilisation.

Transverse abdominis is possibly the most important muscle in the mid section. Transverse abdominis produces stabilization of the mid section (an isometric muscle contraction - muscle contracts but does not lengthen or shorten) which is a vital role. If this was not in place we would be unable to sit erect, let alone produce movement.

The lower and central back is an area often forgotten in core exercise program prescription (especially in the gimmicks previously mentioned). This region consists of the lumbar spine and erector spinae muscles. If these muscles are not exercised due to too much focus on other areas there is a high chance of injury due to muscular imbalance.

The absolute bottom line is that there are no short cuts involved in achieving a lean and toned mid section. There are many gimmicks offering solutions, however they produce little to no results. Quite simply to achieve results with you training; you must do what's required.

By Gavin Stone 

Walk to Stay Fit

Walking is one of the easiest and most natural forms of exercise, which requires no coaching, nether practice. Anyone with healthy pair of legs can easily do it. In addition, it is safe, and can be done in almost any weather. There are multiple advantages of walking. Some of them are given below:
• Reduces cholesterol level
Regular walking helps you lower cholesterol levels, which can have an adverse effect on your heart. Also, it helps you lower blood pressure and enables you to manage it.
• Reduces risk of developing Diabetes
You can minimize the risk of developing diabetes as walking enables your body to lower blood sugar level and reduce the risk of developing heart problems. Walking is also beneficial for those, who already have diabetes.
• Helps in Weight Loss
You can control your weight gain if you walk regularly. If you walk 10,000 steps everyday, you can reduce more body fat levels as compared to other people in your age group, who are less active.
• Minimizes stress, boosts endurance
Regular walks helps you stay away from stress, depression, and anxiety. In addition, it enhances your physical strength and stamina. It also boosts your immunity system and helps you fight infections.
Here are few tips for walking
You should follow certain tips to enjoy maximum benefits of walking. Here are some of them:
• Wear comfortable shoes and use cotton socks to keep your feet ventilated..
• Wear loose, cotton clothing and dress as per weather conditions. If walking at night, or early in the day, wear dark colored clothes so that motorists can easily trace you.
• Perform some warm-up sessions before you start walking as it reduces the risk of muscular injury.
Remember, walking offers you numerous health benefits and is one of the most simple and easiest exercises. You just need to stay motivated and follow the tips described here to derive maximum health benefits.
By Jenny. 

Fitness - A Simple Solution For All Ages

My pediatrician is from the "old school" direct from Moscow. The reason we chose here is because of her holistic approach. Our kids have been on antibiotics twice in their 10 years of life (one is 4 and the other is 6). In our few conversations we always get to talking about lifestyle and fitness. One time she mentioned that families in Russia are starting to keep exercise apparatus in their homes. While this isn't unusual, what is unusual is where they keep it.
The latest trend is to keep the equipment where you live. In your living room or den. This way you just jump on the equipment (trampoline, gymnastic rings, low balance beam, pull up bar, etc.) whenever you get the urge. I though it interesting because it places a "matter of fact importance" on training rather than the ritualistic life style change we put on it normally.
We go to the gym, we go to the dojo. We have set side time and ritual for our bodies instead of letting exercise and health naturally into our lives, where we live.
This brought me to the following idea for my kids:basic fitness starts at home.
It doesn't have to be difficult or hard, just exists. The following routine is to be done whenever you feel the urge. Post it around the house and just drop into it whenever you feel the urge.
Don't worry about sets, time or anything. Just do it. This is a simple physical training circuit that we put together for kids ages 7 and up but it works for everyone. I do it.
The purpose was two fold. First, hit the core body strength and second to start instilling some good exercise habits. I should take them no more that 5 to 10 minutes. Form is better than quantity and they should be able to finish with little difficulty before moving to phase 2. Where we just change up the exercises.
PT for Kids ages 7 and up PHASE 1
- 20 Side Twists
- 5 Four-Count Forward and Back (Good Mornings)
- 100 Jumping Jacks
- 20 Judo (Hindu) Push Ups
- 30 Squats
- 40 Sit Ups
- 20 Push Ups
Whenever you feel the urge (post it next to the TV or computer).
Outside play for 20 minutes 2 to 3 times per week no matter what the weather. Don't dread doing something you should naturally want to do. We are all physical beings. Our bodies WANT this.
By Damian 

Maximize Time and Effort - The Effective Approach to Fitness

How to Maximize

Many trainers and fitness buffs will lift heavy weights then take long rests between sets. The theory is that the heavier the weight, the more muscle bulk will develop. And the longer the rest, the more repair has occurred to muscle tissue, which allows you to lift more in the next few sets. These extra reps and sets are thought to help burn more calories. Sounds good.

The problem is that this old-school method of weight training does not help cardiovascular health. There is very little benefit to lung and heart power. So now you will have to run the treadmill for those results. And this wastes time. And time is money, especially when paying a trainer!

Quality personal trainers will put into practice cutting edge methods of combining cardio, strength and flexibility training into single sessions while keeping the heart rate at optimal levels. I recommend wearing a heart rate monitor during the entire session, even when lifting weights. Why?

Because the best way to maximize time, energy and results is to work muscles, heart rate and lung capacity at the same time. In this way, you are not just resting for a few minutes to be able to do an additional rep of a weight set. On the contrary, it is your personal heart rate that dictates when to rest and when to begin again. And that time changes as your fitness level changes.

The goal of the workout is to give individual muscles a chance to rest while maintaining a consistently high heart rate. You will rest when your heart rate reaches 160 and then start up again when your heart rate drops to 130. (This varies per individual but is a good rule of thumb). This way your heart pumps more blood, you burn more calories through intensity, develop more endurance and leaner muscles.

A Streamlined Approach

When training a client, I will warm them up for 10 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer or stair master. To maximize time (to save them money and get the most out of each minute), I will review their personal nutritional journal with them during this period. We discuss diet, food combining, and ways to streamline their food habits for better results.

Next, I work them out for 45 minutes. To maximize results by controlling time, I pair up a machine and a manual exercise, like leg presses and dumbbell bicep curls. This method allows them to remain close to the machine and not "lose it" when the gym is crowded. I usually will have clients do three sets of each exercise and then move on to something else, like crunches and shoulder presses or leg curls and triceps extensions. In this way, one muscle rests while the other works. More importantly, the one thing that stays consistent during the exercise "switch" is the client's heart rate!

The workout is 55 minutes long. With a heart rate elevated for that period of time through resistance training, you receive cardiovascular benefit, strength, muscular endurance, toning and sculpting. It's also the biggest bang for your buck for anyone paying $65 or more per hour for a trainer.

The last 15 minutes of the session focuses on cooling down while stretching. Keeping muscles lean and limber is a huge part of health and wellness that is often neglected. It shouldn't be.

Cross Training Is Key

Aside from circuit training, cross training is essential for overall fitness. I generally advise clients not to do the same type of exercise two days in a row, and to always mix things up.

I suggest things like weights and body-weight resistance training one day, biking or running the next day, and Bikram hot yoga or Pilates on another day. The idea is to keep the body guessing by putting the primary strain on different muscles in different ways each training day. These different strains place different emphasis and requirements on the heart, lungs and muscle fibers, as isometric yoga training is different than range of motion weight lifting or martial art training.

In the end, the objective of any fitness program is to maximize effort and results while keeping a lid on time and money. The way to do this is by using a heart rate monitor, not resting between sets, using circuit training and mixing things up with cross training. Good luck

By Passeto 

How to Get Taller - My Top Five Tips By Sam Bell

Having been a small guy all my life, I have often wondered how I can get taller.

How could I increase my height and feel more confident. I have done lots of research on the subject,
from the start I wanted to avoid pills and medications as 99.9% of them do not work. I wanted to get tall naturally and find a safe way to do it.

After A few days of research, I came to the conclusion that the best, safest and most proven way to increase my height would be stretching exercises. I know it sounds strange ''stretching exercises'' But lots of people have gained an inch or two just from correcting there posture and implementing special exercises.

These are my five top tips on how to get taller.

1# Cycling

Cycling is a fantastic way to lengthen your legs, all you have to do is raise the seat of the bicycle three to four inches higher than normal. It may seem Harder to ride in this manner at first but you soon adapt to it. I am sure this exercise was one of the Main reasons I managed to gain 2 inches in height last summer.

2# Swimming

Swimming is an excellent growth maximizing activity, when done in the right way. All you need to do is, swim a few lengths in your local pool using the breaststroke technique. The breaststroke technique is a well known swimming technique, that maximizes your total body length. Learn how to Master this stroke and you will notice results.

3# You're Wardrobe

What we wear can significantly affect the way in which other people view us. Our clothes can make us look tall and small, I used to make all the wrong mistakes. Anything that is baggy or to big makes us look smaller, the most important thing when wanting to come across taller is to have well fitted garments . Our shoes can also give us and inch or two in height this can actually make us seem taller than we are.

4# Posture
Most the time we sit with our backs hunched, when on the pc or sat on the couch watching TV. This can cause your spine to slump making you even smaller. Always try to sit and stand up straight with your shoulders back. You can add up to an inch just by correcting your posture. You also instantly look and feel taller when you do this.

5# Hair Style

Our hair styles also affect the way we look, Short hair is the way to go if you want to appear taller. Short hair can make you seem longer and taller as the space between you head and shoulders becomes more distinguishable.

Would You Like to Have a Fit Body? How Do You Get a Perfect Fit Body?

Would you like to have toned thighs and legs, defined arms and shoulders, and six-pack abs? Most of us would love to have that perfect fit body. But how do you get one? Well, it requires work and a major lifestyle change for those of us who are not currently involved in an exercise program. The basic ingredients of a fit body include:
1 - A healthy diet. You cannot have a toned, fit body and continue to drink soda and eat potato chips. You must drink a lot of water and eat fruits and vegetables regularly. You also need protein, which can be found in yogurt, lean meats, and legumes.
2 - Cardiovascular exercise. This is one of the most important aspects of getting into shape. Cardiovascular exercise not only burns calories, but also exercises the heart. If you are new to exercise and are trying to lose weight as well as get in shape, cardiovascular exercise may be more important than if you are just trying to tone up. You burn calories and fat during these workouts, which helps you to lose weight. Either way, however, cardiovascular workouts can help you obtain a physically fit figure.
3 - Weight lifting. Everyone who is involved in a diet and exercise program should be lifting weights. Even if you are just trying to lose weight and are not interested in having a fitness body, you need to lift weights. Weight lifting will increase your resting metabolism so you will lose weight faster. Also, weight lifting is the only way to get strong, defined muscles. Don't worry women, you will not look like men if you lift weights. You will look toned, firm, and fit.
By Kwong 

3 Symptoms of Major Depression

How does major depression differ from depression? Major depression is classified as a person having 5 or more symptoms of depression in 2 weeks. This is accompanied by changes in sleeping or eating habits. For the three symptoms read further.
If symptoms are exhibited there are screening tests that can be done to further conclude the diagnosis of Major Depression. Nobody is immune from this, but it is reported that women are more prone to get this form of depression compared to men.
Three symptoms to watch for are 

1. Fatigue or Lack of Energy.
2. Trouble sleeping or the opposite to much sleep.
3. Withdrawn, remove themselves from social activities they otherwise would attend.

There is no need to expand on these symptoms, they are self explanatory. The causes can be anywhere from a small incident that triggers an extreme response up to a chemical imbalance that triggers extreme emotional behavior. In either case this is a very serious condition that requires attention.
The most extreme way of relief is suicide. As we know many people with depression have taken this route. Pills and drugs can temporarily calm a situation like this down, but long term the drugs can actually be more harmful. To further complicate the matter the health plans of today are trimming back benefits. They are also overloaded and can't always give the individual the care needed for a depressive condition.
If you rule out a chemical imbalance for the cause then you can look at the emotional side. Somewhere HOPE was lost in the persons mind. Depression and hope are opposites. Filling the gap when someone losses hope is depression. The longer this condition is allowed to go on the deeper the roots go.
It is imperative to attack this as early as possible.
By Ric Bai 

Why You Should Take Basic Steps to Understanding Depression

The aspect of being happy is to avoid depression. Sadly, clinical depression has been one of the biggest reasons why so many people have been devoid of happiness.
Being mentally healthy is a natural state. To achieve it, you have to believe that it is within the grasp of each one of us. To accomplish true happiness, there is a need for a judicious mixture of clear thinking, hard work, humor and self-confidence.
Take a harder look at the psychological support system and ask yourself, "Why do I need help to be happy and defeat depression once and for all?" Keeping neurotic behavior is easy only if you have the knowledge about your body.
Clinical depression is not an easy illness to comprehend, let alone to manipulate. However, if you have learned how to avoid clinical depression, the payoffs of safety and security will not be a transient thing any longer. It is possible that a depressed patient take steps to improve his mental condition and eliminate self-defeating behaviors.
Self-nullifying behavior can be highly irritating because it can interfere greatly in your goals. After all, many depressed patients have already lost their interest towards their favorite activities. Taking steps to understanding depression can strike you as being repetitious. It doesn't matter. In fact, being repetitious is a good sign of effective thinking and it is the most basic method to altering self-destructive behavior. You may keep failing to understand what depression can do to you because you are already depressed. Conversely, repeat this insight again, and repeat again until you are fully determined to know what depression can do to you.
By Jerry Jason MD 

Be Proud and Take Care of Number One

Proud, to be physically able to work! Maybe one day, though, we notice we're feeling frazzled. Perhaps we're feeling heartburn, headaches, and stress, or become physically ill. Suddenly we want to scream, pushing through our exhaustion as we pretend nothing's wrong.
Even when we're doing the work we love, we can experience burnout. If we don't listen to the signals of our bodies, we can become physically ill. Even a case of the flu is a signal that our natural biological rhythms are no longer in harmony.
If we're overworking ourselves, eventually exhaustion, anger, and resentment will set in. By taking good care of ourselves, we can stay healthy and retain our joy, fun, and excitement. Following are some simple suggestions for taking care of number one:
* Periodically ask yourself, "Am I breathing fully and deeply"? When we're in a hurry our breath becomes shallow, causing knots in our stomach and starving our body of its basic need for oxygen.
* Space appointments with yourself in mind. Include down time in your schedule, and keep that appointment as you would any other.
* Avoid popping pills to sleep. Instead, spend time at the end of the workday in stillness and silence. Watching the news will not help you sleep restfully! Quiet time will help your body restore the natural rhythms disrupted by a busy day.
* Walk, don't run with fists clenched and jaws strained. Move your body in a relaxed, fluid way.
* When eating, pause to enjoy the experience. Choose fresh fruits and vegetables whenever possible, and chew your food thoroughly to release tension in your jaws, to encourage proper enzyme intake, and to prevent acid reflux. Remember to drink plenty of pure, filtered water.
* Do nothing else while eating. Use this time to refresh and rejuvenate yourself.
* Eat healthful snacks and drinks, including some aromatic herbal teas and purchase some "real" food. Avoid refined foods with empty calories.
* If you think you need pain relievers, cigarettes, alcohol, caffeine, or junk food, question your own behavior. If you have "stuffed" hidden hurts and have taken on an addiction to numb your inner pain, you have piled one hurt on top of another. Decide you deserve better and make the necessary changes. Reach out for help if you need it.
* Be non-judgmental, for you see others through your own eyes. Seek and see only good; it will reflect who you are.
* Positive self-talk and an attitude of gratitude are good for the soul.
* Remember to schedule regular time for exercise, family, friends and hobbies.
* Trust yourself and life. Believe that only good is happening despite appearances. The greatest rainbows follow the worst storms.
* Set personal goals for staying healthier and be proud of keeping your promise - to yourself!
Our bodies speak in a language of feelings and sensations separate from our thoughts. Headaches might be telling us to rest, drink water, or change something that is making us unhappy. Sinus problems may indicate we are stuffing our emotions. Weak eyesight may be a sign of unhappiness about what we see in our lifestyles, or perhaps we are spending too much time in front of the computer or television.
Disease occurs when we lose contact with the body's underlying intelligence responsible for maintenance, healing, and repair. Unfortunately, the body must, at times, get our attention through pain, illness, and disease. By breaking our agreement with the body, we become ill.
In our rush and stress, has self-worth or spirituality become lost in the shuffle? Take the time to find peace and harmony within yourself. Healthy lifestyles are possible. They begin as we make the choice to nurture ourselves within so we don't compromise our health and happiness.
By Georgie 

Quick and Easy Way to Relax Instantly

Making a life free of any form of sickness is a thing of the mind hence the essence of this post, becoming free of sickness, diseases of any form of ailment begins in the mind, also developing perfect health and a fit body that can easily manage stress and will not be bordered by losing weight all start from here...  
Would you like to live a better life?  To bounce out of bed in the morning, walk with a spring in your step and wear the biggest smile on your face?    
Happiness is a choice, but many people today are consumed with negativity overload, and unfortunately the content is full of gloom. Isn't is refreshing to hear good news? Why go through life trying to live in the future when the present is waiting for your attention?
It is said that gratitude is the greatest emotion.  All too often people are reminded of what they don't have, or persuaded to feel less than whole that there life is lacking in what society reminds  'what you should have'. Take a step back and look around, begin to see with new eyes, what you have in your life that you can be grateful for.  Do you have a roof over your head? Is there a TV in your room? Are you loved by someone, even if they're far away?  
So many times the illusion of tomorrow, the 'I'll be happy when...' cheats the pleasure out of today. How many times do you worry about what may come rather than relaxing in the now? Children are great teachers and by watching a child play completely absorbed in participation, you'll witness the joy of the moment. Imagine if you were able to relax that way?    To take 'time out' and even for an hour, wallow in participation of that hour in mind and body. 
When I was a young woman and worked in the city, I'd take my lunch break outside in the nearby park. The noise was on some days was so loud yet I taught myself to shut out the city Hun completely because I wanted my awareness to be on the green of the leaves on the trees, and the journey of the ladybird climbing up my hand. You see, there is always choice, and no-one is completely embroiled into negativity unless the agree to be. Try to turn your thoughts to become grateful. The new blade of grass pushing through from under the soil doesn't know fear, it simply knows it's journey.   Likewise, know your journey and move forward as every day unfolds a new clue in the puzzle called life. Don't worry today about tomorrow, it hasn't arrived yet and the past is gone. 
Look only to the light in the distance, you're on the right path and gratitude reminds you that reassurance is not comfort but courage is the sustaining support required.
By Marqit Robson