"What SPF should you be using?
A. 15
B. 30
C. 30+
Answer: B. Dermatologists used to recommend SPF 15, but most now say that going higher provides a crucial margin of error. 'If you don't apply enough sunscreen -- and most people don't -- then an SPF 15 will be only a 6 or 7,' says Andrew Kaufman, MD, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. 'If you don't use enough of an SPF 30, it may only be equivalent to a 15.' Sunscreens with SPF over 30 also have a place, says Kaufman, especially for very sun-sensitive patients (including those with certain diseases like lupus), anyone who's had or is at high risk of skin cancer, and those on medications -- certain antibiotics, antidepressants, birth control pills and hormone therapy, retinoids, and natural remedies such as St. John's wort -- that make skin more susceptible to burning."
info. from Prevention.com
Friday, April 27, 2007
Planning Your Fitness Program
You need to establish a plan of attack for your training regime.
Unless you know what you are going to do next, you are liable to start floundering around and miss workouts or worse still, give up altogether.
The best way to decide on a training process is to prepare a program that is not only designed to achieve the results that you are after, but also to fit in with your lifestyle.
If you devise a fitness program that is complimentary to your lifestyle then you are more likely to continue doing it and getting the benefits that you require.
If you work particular hours at a job, then you need to know that you will have the free time to exercise without it encroaching on other aspects of your life.
Once something becomes difficult to maintain, it is unlikely that you will continue to do it for any length of time.
While you might like to have a gym membership and workout for 2 hours every day, that might not be possible with your other commitments and rather than doing nothing at all you can still benefit from something more convenient that you can do regularly.
You might only have the time for a half hour walk every second day and that is OK because you are still getting exercise and it is adding to the quality of your life.
Any exercise is better than none at all.
To get the best out of your exercise, whether it is walking or lifting weights it is a good idea to record your progress.
Mark down each time you trained and what results you got from it.
Time your walks and see if you can do the same walk in less time or walk further in the same time.
Record how much weight you are lifting at the gym and how many repetitions you can achieve and then see if you can better those marks when you return.
Constant improvement no matter how small can lead to major changes over the course of a year.
Unless you know what you are going to do next, you are liable to start floundering around and miss workouts or worse still, give up altogether.
The best way to decide on a training process is to prepare a program that is not only designed to achieve the results that you are after, but also to fit in with your lifestyle.
If you devise a fitness program that is complimentary to your lifestyle then you are more likely to continue doing it and getting the benefits that you require.
If you work particular hours at a job, then you need to know that you will have the free time to exercise without it encroaching on other aspects of your life.
Once something becomes difficult to maintain, it is unlikely that you will continue to do it for any length of time.
While you might like to have a gym membership and workout for 2 hours every day, that might not be possible with your other commitments and rather than doing nothing at all you can still benefit from something more convenient that you can do regularly.
You might only have the time for a half hour walk every second day and that is OK because you are still getting exercise and it is adding to the quality of your life.
Any exercise is better than none at all.
To get the best out of your exercise, whether it is walking or lifting weights it is a good idea to record your progress.
Mark down each time you trained and what results you got from it.
Time your walks and see if you can do the same walk in less time or walk further in the same time.
Record how much weight you are lifting at the gym and how many repetitions you can achieve and then see if you can better those marks when you return.
Constant improvement no matter how small can lead to major changes over the course of a year.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
The Benefits of Resistance Training
People of all ages can get substantial benefits from including resistance training into their exercise regime.
Even elderly people can find noticeable improvements in their health.
By adding resistance training their muscles will become stronger and this will help them with balance, which becomes all-important as they age.
By becoming stronger elderly people also become more independent as they will be less likely to rely on others.
Research has also shown that resistance training improves bone density and this is an important aspect of good health for people of all ages.
Bones are constantly 'growing' as with all parts of the body, however this process slows down as we age.
Resistance training helps to address this aging process by maintaining good bone density.
Post-menopausal women are particularly prone to problems relating to bone density as their hormones change and they can benefit considerably from resistance training.
Along with proper nutrition, resistance training is one of the most effective methods of reducing fat.
And along with fat reduction you can expect a leaner body.
Muscle burns fat so any program that increases your muscle mass will help to burn the fat.
You are effectively burning fat to feed the muscles.
Research has also proven that resistance training has many other beneficial effects for your health from lowering blood pressure and lowering your heart rate while at rest.
This will obviously reduce the risk of heart disease quite considerably.
The additional strength that can be gained from resistance training serves to help anyone lead a more active lifestyle.
With the added benefits of strength, fat loss, balance and the ability to slow the aging process, there is nothing quite like it to help you live longer and be happier along the way.
It doesn't need to be something that rules your life, as even a little bit of training will benefit you, however, doing it consistently will result in a better return for the time you invest in your health.
Click here now for more info. on resistance training.
Even elderly people can find noticeable improvements in their health.
By adding resistance training their muscles will become stronger and this will help them with balance, which becomes all-important as they age.
By becoming stronger elderly people also become more independent as they will be less likely to rely on others.
Research has also shown that resistance training improves bone density and this is an important aspect of good health for people of all ages.
Bones are constantly 'growing' as with all parts of the body, however this process slows down as we age.
Resistance training helps to address this aging process by maintaining good bone density.
Post-menopausal women are particularly prone to problems relating to bone density as their hormones change and they can benefit considerably from resistance training.
Along with proper nutrition, resistance training is one of the most effective methods of reducing fat.
And along with fat reduction you can expect a leaner body.
Muscle burns fat so any program that increases your muscle mass will help to burn the fat.
You are effectively burning fat to feed the muscles.
Research has also proven that resistance training has many other beneficial effects for your health from lowering blood pressure and lowering your heart rate while at rest.
This will obviously reduce the risk of heart disease quite considerably.
The additional strength that can be gained from resistance training serves to help anyone lead a more active lifestyle.
With the added benefits of strength, fat loss, balance and the ability to slow the aging process, there is nothing quite like it to help you live longer and be happier along the way.
It doesn't need to be something that rules your life, as even a little bit of training will benefit you, however, doing it consistently will result in a better return for the time you invest in your health.
Click here now for more info. on resistance training.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Getting Started With Healthy Exercise - Fitness Training
QUOTE: I told my doctor I get very tired when I go on a diet, so he gave me pep pills. Know what happened? I ate faster.
- Joe E. Lewis
*********************************
One of the hardest parts of any fitness program is getting started.
It is so easy to just sit around doing nothing and it takes some degree of motivation to get started exercising.
Many people find that joining a gym gives them the motivation they need to get started and follow through with regular workouts.
The reality is that most of the people who join gyms never complete their membership.
Gyms actually base their costing on the fact that the majority of people will never use their membership regularly.
Why is this so?
There are many reasons why people don't exercise regularly and that can range from inconvenience to boredom.
When you are deciding what to do to lift your level of fitness it is wise to honestly think about your personality and where your strengths and weaknesses lie.
If you are a person who can motivate yourself then a home gym might be the best solution as it will offer the convenience of allowing you to train whenever you like and you won't need others to motivate you.
If, on the other hand, you find it difficult to motivate yourself then a membership at a gym might be a better solution.
Paying for the membership might be all that is needed to ensure that you will attend classes and often we can get motivated by those around us and challenge ourselves to improve and compete with others in the gym.
Alternatively, you might be a person who prefers to go for a run or a walk rather than lift weights.
No matter what you are capable of doing, there is only one action that you need to take however small that might be initially and that it to get started with some form of fitness training sooner rather than later.
Fitness will add to your overall well-being and the more exercise you do the fitter you will become and the more likely you will be to continue with a fitness program.
There is never a better time to get started than right now.
- Joe E. Lewis
*********************************
One of the hardest parts of any fitness program is getting started.
It is so easy to just sit around doing nothing and it takes some degree of motivation to get started exercising.
Many people find that joining a gym gives them the motivation they need to get started and follow through with regular workouts.
The reality is that most of the people who join gyms never complete their membership.
Gyms actually base their costing on the fact that the majority of people will never use their membership regularly.
Why is this so?
There are many reasons why people don't exercise regularly and that can range from inconvenience to boredom.
When you are deciding what to do to lift your level of fitness it is wise to honestly think about your personality and where your strengths and weaknesses lie.
If you are a person who can motivate yourself then a home gym might be the best solution as it will offer the convenience of allowing you to train whenever you like and you won't need others to motivate you.
If, on the other hand, you find it difficult to motivate yourself then a membership at a gym might be a better solution.
Paying for the membership might be all that is needed to ensure that you will attend classes and often we can get motivated by those around us and challenge ourselves to improve and compete with others in the gym.
Alternatively, you might be a person who prefers to go for a run or a walk rather than lift weights.
No matter what you are capable of doing, there is only one action that you need to take however small that might be initially and that it to get started with some form of fitness training sooner rather than later.
Fitness will add to your overall well-being and the more exercise you do the fitter you will become and the more likely you will be to continue with a fitness program.
There is never a better time to get started than right now.
Why Exercise?!
Why Exercise?
A totally resonable question - and one that I ask myself sometimes when my alarm goes off and I want to stay in bed!
But, if you really want to treat yourself well - you'lll want to exercise because of the many benefits.
The benefits of exercise can actually give you more 'life' to your life.
You'll enjoy:
Better sleep
Increased energy
Increased metabolism (which is great for losing weight or maintaing weight)
A healthier immune system
Reduction in risk of disease
Stress relief
A better attitude
And...more brain power! (It actually helps your brain work better and makes you smarter).
So, instead of reaching for that alarm clock, reach for your exercise shoes and have a great day!
A totally resonable question - and one that I ask myself sometimes when my alarm goes off and I want to stay in bed!
But, if you really want to treat yourself well - you'lll want to exercise because of the many benefits.
The benefits of exercise can actually give you more 'life' to your life.
You'll enjoy:
Better sleep
Increased energy
Increased metabolism (which is great for losing weight or maintaing weight)
A healthier immune system
Reduction in risk of disease
Stress relief
A better attitude
And...more brain power! (It actually helps your brain work better and makes you smarter).
So, instead of reaching for that alarm clock, reach for your exercise shoes and have a great day!
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Welcome to Healthy Exercise!
Hello friends,
Healthy Exercise is a blog created to gather information on a variety of healthy types of exercise.
I love doing research and as I find out what types of healthy exercise works best for people, I will post the information here.
Keep in mind, I'm not a doctor (or even a nurse!), so be sure to ask a qualified doctor in your area for advice on what type of exercise is best for you.
Healthy Exercise is a blog created to gather information on a variety of healthy types of exercise.
I love doing research and as I find out what types of healthy exercise works best for people, I will post the information here.
Keep in mind, I'm not a doctor (or even a nurse!), so be sure to ask a qualified doctor in your area for advice on what type of exercise is best for you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)