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Flexibility is a component of all types of movement — from everyday activities to the most rigorous exercises. Being flexible helps you stay mobile and avoid injury. Yet flexibility training often gets lost in the shuffle or pushed to the bottom of the list after cardio and strength training. Its goal is to increase your range of motion — how far you can reach when, for instance, you bend from side to side, or raise your arm overhead to grab an item from a high shelf. Flexibility is best achieved through static stretching, which are stretches you ease into and hold for 10 to 30 seconds while inhaling and exhaling — no bouncing, no holding your breath. As you start a stretch, focus mentally on the muscles you’re targeting. Extend just to the point of discomfort; you shouldn’t feel any pain. Here are three moves that target the lower body. For your hamstrings, sit on the floor with your legs straight in front of you. Think of your hips as a hinge and, with a straight back, lower your chest toward your thighs until you feel the stretch in the backs of your thighs. Repeat 3 to 5 times. For your hips, stand up straight, facing a sturdy chair or table in case you need it for support. Raise the heel of your right foot… read on >

Ballet dancers are known for their sleek, sculpted look, in part the result of hours spent exercising at the ballet barre. While not everyone can dance the Nutcracker or Swan Lake, classes in “barre” are now widely available and wildly popular. Some follow classical training, which is often slow and methodical, while others are inspired by it. The technique involves very focused repetitive movements done holding onto the barre, which can be freestanding or anchored to a wall for support. Barre work enhances posture, muscle tone, balance, flexibility and coordination. The exercises tend to work four muscle groups: arms, abs, glutes and thighs, but in a true barre class the focus will be on just one of these at a time. There are lots of options for finding barre workouts. Many professional dance studios now offer classes to the general public. Local dance studios originally designed primarily for children have started to add adult classes in the evenings and on weekends for moms, and even dads. Specialty studios, like the popular Pure Barre and the Bar Method, are opening in locations across the country. It’s important to evaluate the classical dance training of instructors as well as the quality of a studio’s equipment. There should be at least two different sizes of barres available to accommodate varying heights. And ask for a rundown of the… read on >

If you’re not yet familiar with the fitness approach called cross-training, it might sound like hard work. But it’s really just a way to add variety to your exercise routine by alternating activities. You’ll avoid boredom and boost your fitness level as well as protect against overuse injuries, which are more common when you do a single workout or sport. Reasons to cross-train: The combination of exercises adds up to a true total body workout. Your muscles learn to adapt to new types of fitness activities more quickly. Using different muscle groups helps you avoid injury. If you do suffer an injury, you may be able to still perform one of your favorite activities. With cross-training you can make sure all muscle groups are used over the course of each week. For instance, if you bike every day, swap a day or two with walking or using the elliptical to get in weight-bearing exercise. Or add swimming to give yourself a full body workout. You can apply the same concept to your strength training routine. Alternate using free weights with weight machines or taking Pilates classes, which develop the core muscles. Mix up your flexibility workouts, too, by alternating between yoga and tai chi, for instance. You can even cross-train during individual workouts — switch from one activity to another after 15 minutes if doing… read on >

If you’ve ever come home from a brisk walk feeling reinvigorated, you’re not alone. Research shows that this is just one of many benefits of exercising outdoors. Working out in a natural environment can also be more physically challenging, making your body work harder and bringing greater fitness results. This happens when, for instance, you’re walking, hiking or running on natural terrain, which can vary in evenness and require more exertion than on a flat surface, such as a treadmill. According to the American Council on Exercise, other outdoor factors, like wind resistance, actually enable you to burn more calories. If, on the other hand, the wind is at your back, pushing you along a bit, you engage certain muscle fibers needed to develop strength and definition. One study found that people get a variety of psychological boosts from building up a sweat outdoors. Participants were in a better mood and had more energy and less stress afterwards. They simply liked doing the same form of exercise more when they did it outdoors, in nature. There are also benefits from the social interaction of exercising outside with a friend or in a group — the enjoyment you feel makes it more likely that you’ll plan more outdoor workouts. If you have children, exercise with them to show them that fitness activities are fun. Family hikes… read on >

If you have high blood pressure, hitting the gym may be as helpful as taking drugs to lower your numbers, researchers say. There’s “compelling evidence that combining endurance and dynamic resistance training was effective in reducing [blood pressure],” according to the authors of a new report. The British researchers stressed that it’s still too early to recommend that people toss their antihypertensive meds, and exercise instead — there’s not yet been a head-to-head trial of drugs versus exercise for blood pressure. But comparing the numbers from hundreds of blood pressure trials involving either exercise or medication suggests they have the same benefit, said the team led by Huseyin Naci. He’s a health policy researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science. For now, one U.S. expert said, exercise should be considered an “and” rather than an “or” when it comes to treating high blood pressure. “Exercise is a pillar in the foundation of treatment for hypertension, but for those patients that require drug therapy, exercise is not a replacement for medication,” said Dr. Guy Mintz. He directs cardiovascular health at the Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. The new research was published online Dec. 18 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. In the study, Naci’s team analyzed data from 197 clinical trials that assessed the effects of structured workouts on… read on >

Walking is not only a great first exercise, it can also be a forever exercise. Here are some ideas to show you how to take it to the next level. Making walking more of a challenge enables you to burn more calories and raise your working heart rate. You can do this by working out on a treadmill with an incline setting and wearing a weighted vest. You can start with either one to scale up or combine both ideas for a greater challenge. According to the American Council on Exercise, wearing a weighted vest is a great option if you’re relatively new to exercise because it won’t feel as difficult as ramping up your speed, for instance. If you choose a vest that weighs about 15 percent of your bodyweight, you can burn 12 percent more calories when walking at 2.5 miles per hour — an easy pace. You can achieve a slightly higher calorie burn by wearing a vest that’s just 10 percent of your bodyweight if you walk on a treadmill at that speed and at an incline with a 5 or 10 percent grade. To ease into the combined approach, walk for 5 minutes at a flat or 0 grade, then 5 minutes at 5 percent grade, followed by 5 minutes at 10 percent grade. Finish up by going back to… read on >

Mom was right when she said no swimming for an hour after lunch. Even though it takes energy to work out, it’s important that exercise doesn’t interfere with digestion. Like Goldilocks, you need just the right amount of food. Eat too much and you might feel sluggish rather than energized. Eat too little, and you may not have the stamina to work out effectively. Experts suggest that your pre-workout fueling be personalized to your needs, such as how long your workout will be and whether you’re restricting calories to lose weight. Timing is also very important. If you’ve eaten a full meal, you should wait 3 to 4 hours before exercising. Remember that a healthy meal includes carbs such as whole grains or legumes, non-starchy vegetables, fruit, lean protein like chicken, tofu or fish, and some healthy fat. If you’re trying to lose weight, fill half your plate with vegetables and fruit and a quarter each with lean protein and whole grains or legumes rather than white potatoes or pasta. Fueling Timetable: If eating a large meal: Eat at least 3 to 4 hours before exercise. If eating a small meal: Eat 2 to 3 hours before exercise. If eating a snack: Eat 1 hour before exercise. Of course, it’s not always possible to perfectly time meals to exercise, especially if you train first thing… read on >

Just as there are diet plateaus, you can hit the wall with exercise, too — no longer seeing results from your efforts and then losing motivation. According to the experts at the American Council on Exercise, a plateau is often a sign that your body has adapted to the specific workout you’re doing and needs a new stimulus to move to the next level. So the first step is to shake up your routine. For instance, if you’ve been steadily walking on a flat treadmill, add an incline. If you walk outdoors, switch to hiking. Also, engage other muscles by alternating with another type of cardio workout than your norm. However, make sure that cardio isn’t the only type of fitness activity you’re doing. If you haven’t stepped up to strength training, it’s time to tackle it. Keep in mind that lifting weights isn’t your only option — you can train with weightless resistance bands or even your own bodyweight (think push-ups and chin-ups). But if it’s your weight training routine that’s stalled, it could be time to switch to heavier weights, more complex lifts or even higher-tension resistance bands. As counterintuitive as it might sound, too much training can backfire and prevent progression. Also, be sure that you’re allowing enough recovery time between strength training sessions. That means at least two days, the time… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Of course, you should quit smoking. But poor diet, being overweight and not getting enough exercise also are risk factors for developing cancer, the American Cancer Society says. Being overweight or obese raises your risk of cancers of the breast, colon, esophagus, pancreas and kidney, the cancer society warns. When it comes to food, the cancer society suggests eating smaller portions of high-calorie foods; eating fruits, veggies and legumes over other types of food; and avoiding unnecessary sugars and saturated fats. Watching what you eat will help control your weight, as will getting enough exercise. The society cites guidelines recommending at least 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise, or 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise.

A particular brain wave may help diagnose concussions in high school football players and predict when it’s safe for them to return to play, new research suggests. Delta waves are markers of brain injury and perhaps healing. They tend to decrease with age, but researchers found increased levels of these low-frequency waves in the brains of high school football players after a concussion. Levels declined only after symptoms eased, the researchers observed. “There’s debate right now in the science literature over whether that indicates damage or if it’s a healing response to the damage,” said lead researcher Elizabeth Davenport, an assistant professor of radiology at University of Texas Southwestern O’Donnell Brain Institute in Dallas. “The jury’s out on whether or not it’s healing or just a kind of distress signal.” Concussions are a form of brain injury caused by a blow to the head or violent shaking of the head and body. Davenport suspects delta waves might be a sign of the brain cleaning and repairing itself after such an injury. They might also be a sign of the brain’s connecting cells, axons, being torn apart, she said. These two activities might not, however, be mutually exclusive. As the brain heals, delta waves disappear, Davenport noted. “What we’re really hoping for with this is that it becomes a part of the toolkit that doctors have… read on > read on >