Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Personal Training: Relieve your Tight Hamstrings through your Feet by Anders N W Lindgreen


The most common muscle in need of lengthening and resulting in injuries in that I come across in my personal training clientele are the hamstrings. Your hamstrings are the big chunk of muscle on the back of your thigh and it’s comprised of three separate muscles called biceps femoris, semi tendanosis and semi membranosis. In performance our hamstrings assist our gluteus muscle (the bum) in walking, running and sprinting (e.g.). It is also what stops us from slipping all the way when we lose our footing on slippery surfaces. So, how do we lengthen these babies? Well, the conventional stretches I’m sure you are all aware off, but what about doing it through your? Let me explain.

Feet and Hamstrings

Your entire body and all its muscles are covered by a bodysuit going from your forehead down to your feet. Most muscles also attach to this suit and imbalance in tension or length will pull and cause pain or discomfort, possibly on a whole other location on your body. A lot of tension is gathered underneath are feet, and this tension is many times the reason for our hamstring tightness, which may have nothing to do with the hamstrings at all. To trial this, bend forward and reach down as far as you can and remember how far you got. Now get two golf balls, take your socks off and place one golf ball under each foot. Press down on the balls with your feet while you roll it around, making sure you cover the entire sole of your feet and do so for two minutes. Do the test again and if you got further, this is something you should look at.

Keep doing this exercise for five minutes every day and see if it gets better, if not or only slightly, visit a massage therapist with myofascial expertise (just ask if it isn’t obvious in his or her credentials). Myofascia is just a fancy word for the “bodysuit”. There is no point spending all that time stretching the hamstrings if the fascia is the issues and vice versa. A word of caution though, myofascial release or treatment and be really painful if you happen to have a lot of tension built up inside it, but the soles of your feet however is more often a wonderful and pleasurable experience to have treated, which can almost make the long-term benefit more of a positive side-effect by comparison.

Vegetarian Fat Loss - 7 Tips to Lose Fat for Overweight Vegetarians by Laura Ng


Weight gain, doesn't happen overnight. You must have adopted wrong eating habits in your vegetarian lifestyle that make you become overweight. Now you need to lose fat, not just losing weight, as a vegetarian. Here are the 7 vegetarian fat loss tips for you. Apply them wisely and you should notice some difference in your weight and shape in the next 10 days.

Vegetarian Fat Loss Tip 1 - Keep Your Stomach Un-empty

One of the effective tips to lose fat is to avoid starving your stomach. When starved, your stomach will act like a ferocious "vacuum cleaner". It'll suck it in any food that comes in with all its might. As a consequence, you absorb more calories than you need when you keep it hungry for some time.

Feed it something the moment it feels hungry and it'll become as docile as a little kitty. It'll just absorb what your body needs, leaving unwanted calories out. Bottom line - never skip a meal.

Vegetarian Fat Loss Tip 2 - Eat More to Lose Fat as a Vegetarian

Break your larger vegetarian meals into 3 smaller meals + 2 snacks. This will keep you metabolically active throughout the day without starving your stomach. So long as your stomach doesn't go empty, and when you need more energy for more physical activities, your body will turn to your fat storage for energy source. You burn fat.

But bear in mind, no high-sugar, high-salt, high-fat "junky" vegetarian food.

Vegetarian Fat Loss Tip 3 - Increase Your Vegetable Intake

Vegetable carries high fiber content that makes you feel full easily so you won't overeat. And it takes more calories from your fat storage to break down than its low caloric content. That's why vegetarians who eat lots of veggies find it easy to lose belly fat.

Vegetarian Fat Loss Tip 4 - Stop Eating When 70% Full

Eating too full can easily trigger metabolic disorder, which leads to weight gain instead of weight loss. So, keep your stomach at 70% satiation for the main meals and 30 - 40% for snacks.

Vegetarian Fat Loss Tip 5 - Eat Slowly

It takes about 10 - 20 minutes (at times, 2 - 5 minutes) for your stomach to tell your brain its satiety level, so slow down your eating speed to give your stomach sufficient time to send signal to your brain. You'll lose weight easily with this little technique.

Vegetarian Fat Loss Tip 6 - Avoid Drinking Too Much Water

Don't blindly follow the myth about drinking 8 glasses or 2 liters a day. Some people get water poisoning by drinking that amount. No one knows better than yourself on how much you need daily. Check the color of your urine. Clear or pale yellow means you're having enough fluid in your body for proper hydration and optimal fat-burning response. Increase your water consumption when it turns yellow.

Vegetarian Fat Loss Tip 7 - Get Quality Sleep

If you want to lose fat the vegetarian way, eating the right vegetarian fat loss diet covers only 50% of the effectiveness. You need to get enough quality sleep too for your metabolism to run at full tank.

7 Weight Loss Tips to Help Vegetarians Lose Weight in 7 Days by Laura Ng


How you effect your weight loss in vegetarian style is almost similar to that for non-vegetarians. It's just that you have less toxins and bacteria (from dead animals) to deal with, which makes it easier for you to initiate and achieve weight loss as a vegetarian. Without further ado, let's get right down to the 7 weight loss tips for vegetarians now so that you can quickly get some positive results in the next 7 days or so.

1. Skipping Meals Don't Help

Don't skip any meals especially breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal in the day to help jumpstart your metabolism and burn fat off your belly, thighs and buttocks effectively. Of course, the rest of the meals are important too to boost your metabolism so that you can continue to burn fat throughout the day.

2. Eat More to Lose Fat

Take 5 vegetarian meals a day instead of only 3, but in smaller portion sizes. You should eat in this manner - breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner. Your snack portion should be smaller than your main meals. The reason for doing this is to prevent your stomach from starving because when hunger pangs strike, your metabolism will slow down, which affects burning of fat.

3. Begin Healthy Weight Loss with Nutritional Vegetarian Diet

You won't lose weight if you eat lots of processed vegetarian foods that contain high amount of sugar, sodium and unhealthy saturated fats. Whole natural food like fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains and nuts should become the staple in your vegetarian diet for weight loss.

4. Give Your Stomach Some Space

Leave your stomach 70% full. You won't feel so slow and sluggish when at this satiety level. But remember to eat slower than usual as it takes about 10 - 20 minutes for your stomach to register satiety with your brain. This is one effective weight loss tactic for vegetarians.

5. You Need Plenty but Not Excessive Water

Water is as important for vegetarians to lose weight as for others because water stimulates metabolism. Drinking too little water can cause dehydration. But drinking excessive water can lead to hyponatremia. So, drink just enough for proper body hydration and optimal fat loss.

6. Burn More Fat with Interval Training

Get down to interval training instead of cardio. Interval training with a low-high-low intensity workout pattern will burn more fat since your body will remain metabolically active post interval workouts. For even better result, do it in the morning.

7. Optimal Weight Loss Occurs to Vegetarians Who Sleep Soundly

How many hours of sleep do you need? You should know better than anyone else. Some people need only 5 hours of sleep to feel revitalized and perform at their peak. What about you? Sleep the number of hours you need, not necessary to follow the general 8-hour sleeping rule. However, that's a good way to help you get started.

Admittedly, making weight loss effective for vegetarians is not easy as it requires you to exercise more discipline and consciousness of what you eat and do than undertaking a meat diet, but it's not difficult too once you get the hang of it. Keep to the correct vegetarian weight loss diet and healthy habits even after 7 days to help you achieve more fat loss.

Paramedic to RN – The Evolution of the Paramedic by Jamey Perkins


In the late 1960’s a new breed of medical professionals was born. Paramedics began to hit the streets providing care to patients in the field that was never before available prior to arriving at a hospital. Throughout the years, Paramedics have gained vast amounts of knowledge and honed their skills to near perfection, through their unparalleled dedication to improving the quality of their education and expanding upon the course curriculum.

These days, skills of a Paramedic on the street are virtually unmatched. Their decision making skills under pressure save the lives of the sick and injured on a daily basis, and the hands on treatments they provide are done with an effortless precision. But, is that enough for a group of medical professionals that have continually improved upon their abilities for so many years?

Welcoming New Challenges Through the Paramedic to RN Program

Although a Paramedic has shown his ability to make a positive impact on the outcome of early treatment of pre-hospital patients, they are now looking to add more valuable tools to their skill set and knowledge base. Paramedics are accepting the challenges of stepping out of the ambulance and into long term health care by entering the complex field of nursing, and the Paramedic to RN program does just that.

Due in parts by the shortage of nurses in America, Paramedics now have the ability to expand their career and educational advancement. As a result, the benefits to patients are being seen on a widespread basis. Not only can these caregivers provide quality long term care, but they also have the first hand experience and skills to react quickly and efficiently during an emergency situation inside long term facilities. Graduates of the Paramedic to RN program are finding new careers in emergency rooms, extended care facilities, intensive care units, and even the offices of physicians.

The new age of education and the demand for more long term health care providers is allowing Paramedics to continue their evolution in medicine. The Paramedic to RN program is creating a new breed of health care professional that has the experience and proficiency of working with patients from the time they first became sick or injured, and continuing that quality care throughout the long term care of the patient.

The advantages to both the patient and to the Paramedic industry are obvious. The Paramedic to RN program is not only creating a new avenue for paramedics that had found themselves in a career without much room for advancement, and more qualified health care professionals are being introduced into a system that has been struggling to fill available roles.

The Paramedic to RN program seems to be the next logical step in the evolution of the Paramedic. Entering into the program now will make a huge impact upon the health care of the nation and the extension of an already proven group of health care professionals. This program and other options like the Paramedic to RN Bridge are available for those in EMS at http://www.publicsafetydegrees.com/paramedic-to-rn.php

Corporate Fitness: Exercise for Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance by Anders N W Lindgreen


If you are interested in recommending a healthier lifestyle to your team or perhaps even a professionally tailored corporate fitness program, it doesn’t hurt to be aware of exercise and its importance. Not only for your own education, but to make more informed choice about providers, their philosophy and making sure that your crew get as much bang for your buck (or their) as possible.

Cardio vs. Resistance Training

The simple answer is, you need both. Cardio training burns more energy than resistance training does, but builds little muscle tone. Resistance training burns less energy while exercising, but it builds muscle tone, which increases the amount of energy you spend while resting or moving. It also increases your bone density (making your bones stronger!).

It Is About Intensity

Higher intensity exercise (intervals, sprints, resistance training with little rest etc) gives you an additional benefit to the above. Such activity creates a recovery surge in your system that elevates your energy expenditure for up to 36 h. Not bad!

A great way get started are paced hill/stairs walking (low impact) or finishing your gym routine in half the time (without sacrificing form). Your intensity will increase with steeper and longer hills/stairs as well as decreasing the recovery you have in between.

It Is About Progression

When doing any type of training, resistance training in particular, it is very important to challenge yourself to become stronger. The simple reason is that our bodies have no reason to adapt, whether it be muscle tone, weight loss or weight gain, if we don’t give them a good enough reason to. Strive to become a little stronger every session, to add more weights or more repetitions than your last session and try to finish your gym workout as quickly as possible.

If you find it hard to progress, ask a trainer to assess your technique and see if there are improvements to make. If you have used the same exercise for a long time your body might have simply adapted to it and it is then time to exchange it for something else.

It Is About Daily Activity

The easiest way to keep your weight under control is to buy a pedometer and make sure that you get at least 10.000 steps every day. All the steps you do during the day counts and depending on your line of work there very well may be need for a relaxing walk in the evening.

Always Listen to Your Body

With any exercise advise the most important thing is that you listen to your body. You can blast through your comfort zone, but never work through pain. If you have medical considerations, always consult physician first. It is very unlikely that they would advise you against physical activity, but they may give you a few key guidelines to follow.

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