In a national study by fitness experts across the country, those that increase their leg training have tremendous boosts in bench press and other areas. The legs naturally release more testosterone to help boost other areas of the body. We have all seen that one guy in the gym with a huge upper body  and slim ” chicken legs ” below the waist. Leg days are just as important if not more than the upper body.

Here is a brief list of leg training workouts to help increase size and strength of glutes, calves, hamstrings, and quads.

a. Squats – Squat by holding the bar to the front going down as low as you can. Behind the head squats going down 90 degrees slowly, then popping up will increase speed and leg training.

b. Lunges- Will increase size and strength of Glutes, Quads, and Hamstrings.

c. Step-ups

d. Leg Press

e. Elliptical Training

The glutes are one of the largest muscles in the body and more often than not go unrecognized by many athletes. ” To not train them is irresponsible” says muscle and fitness.com. Leg Training is more than just training your legs. You train your core and other vital areas during leg training days. So don’t skip leg training its important! It may not be the funnest exercise or muscle to workout but its important.

Leg Training- Don’t Forget Leg Day is a post from: True Fitness Fanatic

We humans have hectic lifestyles and that takes a toll on our health. If we were to compare the consensus then we would be complaining of a common ailment and that is back pain. This is one of the most common reasons to take a day’s leave in every work space. In most of the cases, we are aware of causes of these complaints, which is either having a wrong posture while sitting on the chair or limited movement. The stress of work and home causes a hectic lifestyle which harnesses the back muscles. Many among us work in the front of computers for long hours and bad sitting posture and an uncomfortable chair can only worsen your situation. To increase productivity in both work and home and to reduce the back ache you can follow these easy tips-

1. Maintain Good Posture

Doing household chores or office chores is not easy, and if you are juggling between both the areas then life only gets a tad difficult. Posture is very important when doing all your day to day chores, be careful on how you stand and sit. The right method always assures that you keep lower back pain at bay. The spine is an important part of your body and if it is not positioned or aligned in the right manner your back pain is bound to reoccur time and again. The back muscles are relaxed when you do not slouch and maintain the right arch of the back.

2. Follow an Exercise Regime

Suggestions of medical practitioners have been overlooked in most cases on how to lower neck and back pain thanks to the workload we have today. The doctors have been advising us to take time out and do regular work outs for four to five minutes every few hours but we lack to understand its importance. Every human is aware of the importance of good health in their lives. Being fit is only a great step in maintaining a healthy frame of mind and better physique. or so nevertheless we just overlook. Maintain a good and balanced regime of physical activity reduces back ache and relaxes muscles. Begin with an activity you like, swimming, walking,yoga exercises, jogging and increase the minutes and endurance in the later stages when you are comfortable.

3.Have a Healthy BMI

In the United States, being overweight is like an epidemic and if you want to be active and increase productivity your body should be fit. Being overweight and having a high BMI only puts your health at risk. Carrying extra weight only puts stress in the lumbar area, lower back and causes strain to the hip area. Follow an exercise regime you will stick to along with a nutritious and fibrous diet plan. With these simple tips you will reduce the chances of straining the lower back.

On a final note, any sort of pain can be very difficult to bear and can cause stress in your relationships and limit your productivity in office. Make healthy changes, use ergonomic products to make a lifestyle change. Always remember-‘Prevention is better than cure’, hence it is important to realize its importance before it is too late.

About the Author: Mary Smith has been freelancing as a guest writer for a few years. “I like to share my opinions and connect with like minded individuals online about various topics.” She enjoys doing research on health and fitness issues and recommends use of ergonomic chairs for better posture. Mary is also passionate about fitness, finance, real estate, writing and home and garden.

Top Three Tips to Reduce Back Pain is a post from: True Fitness Fanatic

For exercise, try low impact cardiovascular activities such as walking, spinning or stepping; before you begin, it’s a good idea to know your target heart range so you can avoid hurting yourself.  (Heart rate monitors are great self-monitoring devices but can be a bit expensive.)  Max heart rate is calculated for men to be 220 minus your age; for women 226 less your age.  This is your max heart-rate and you won’t want to be anywhere near it, which is why it’s important to learn.  Most exercisers looking to lose weight will want to be anywhere from 65-85 percent of that max heart-rate.  Fortunately, good heart health can be achieved through low impact workouts with heart rates much lower than that range; the recommendation for most people is between 50 and 75 percent.  To begin, set your target heart rate goal at 50 percent, with a long term goal of reaching that 75 percent.  Walking outdoors or on a treadmill is a great low impact exercise but make sure you’re not walking too slowly.  Interval training helps build cardiovascular health and essentially works by adding intervallic changes to your workout such as hills or modifications in speed.  Think of these intervals as the hear equivalent of adding more weight to the bar.

Yoga is another fantastic low impact workout for building cardiovascular health and while some of the positions such as crane or bird of paradise may seem daunting, yoga offers positions for every level and most instructors will be happy to work within your needs and abilities.  Again, keep an eye on your heart rate, especially as the added heat in many yoga classes might increase your heart rate without your knowledge.

Exercise isn’t the only way to strengthen your heart and plenty of opportunities exist outside of the gym.  A good diet is tantamount to good heart health; all the exercising in the world won’t matter if your diet is all fast-food and calorie-clogging desserts.  Avoid processed foods like enriched flour and bleached rice.  Instead, move your carbohydrates to whole grain foods like multi-grain pasta & bread and brown or wild rice.  Next, make sure you up your intake of fruits and vegetables; the lessons your mother tried to impart on you as a child were sound, and fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of sugar and fiber that have been linked to weight loss as well.

Of course, diet refers to things other than eating and the next step might not be everyone’s favorite but will significantly affect your heart in a positive—if not the most positive—way: stop smoking and cut down on the alcohol intake.  Cigarettes harden the walls of your veins and arteries, resulting in increased blood pressure and a higher risk of arteriosclerosis—the mortal enemies of good heart health.  Alcohol can also lead to high blood pressure; if you have to drink, try to switch to red wine.  The polyphenols in red wine, such as resveratrol, have been linked to decreasing blood pressure and strengthening blood vessels.

About the Author: Steven Madison’s work as a personal trainer has led him to study human heart models and the cardiovascular system in general. He believes a healthy heart is the key to a longer life.

Increasing your heart’s strength without rigorous cardiovascular activity is a post from: True Fitness Fanatic

Diabetes contributes to a great deal of deaths each year, which means it is vital for a person with diabetes to manage his or her condition.

One way to regulate diabetes health is to take prescription medications. Although this is oftentimes a physician’s first means of treatment, it is not always the most effective or safest. For example, the popular diabetes pill Actos contributes to cardiovascular problems and increases the risk of bladder cancer. Because of these serious side effects, many users have contacted an Actos lawyer.

For those who are looking for other means of controlling diabetes, diet and exercise are healthy alternatives that can reduce or eliminate the need for pharmaceuticals. The American Diabetes Association recommends that a person with diabetes stay active. This contributes to better diabetes health in two different ways. First, diabetes is more common and can worsen due to being overweight or gaining weight. By exercising, one can help to maintain a healthy weight or lose weight if needed. The second way exercise affects diabetes health is that it assists the body in burning carbohydrates, which break down and enter the bloodstream as glucose. The National Institutes of Health states that fitness can decrease glucose levels without medication.

A person with diabetes also may benefit from the effect that exercise has on the heart muscle. Exercise, in particular aerobic exercise, strengthens the heart, which is oftentimes one of the organs negatively impacted from diabetes. Moreover, exercise aids in reducing stress. When a person is stressed, hormones are released, which can elevate blood sugar levels; therefore, exercise can help prevent spikes in blood glucose levels due to stress.

The most important element of successfully controlling sugar levels through fitness is just staying active. A person does not have to run three miles every day to control diabetes health. The American Diabetes Association says that the main goal is for individuals with diabetes is to participate in activities they enjoy doing, even if that means gardening.

Elizabeth Carrollton writes about defective medical devices and dangerous drugs for Drugwatch.com.

Using Fitness as an Alternative Solution to Diabetes is a post from: True Fitness Fanatic

I don’t even care about basketball all that much, but after watching this I sincerely wanted to start playing.  Why? because this video is freaking inspiring.

So it got me wondering what about this video is so inspiring and motivating.  I think I can identify a few things.  And I think in doing say we can better remember them, which will in turn help to keep us motivated all the time.

Be Attractive

I am a dude, but I can admit those guys probably have ladies chasing them around.  Playing basketball doesn’t make you attractive, but exercise does.  It is a fact, people who exercise more are considered more attractive than those.  So by exercising to become the best athlete on earth, these two men inadvertently were also becoming more attractive.

Become better

I want to be better at the stuff I do.  I want to produce the most impressive work.  This egotistical sense of being, is actually healthy.  Competition is a great motivator.  Don’t deny yourself healthy competition.  Feed off of it, but don’t let it eat you alive. If that makes sense.

Have Passion

These two dudes illustrate a great deal of passion.  If they were working that hard at design or writing or painting or something, the video would have been just as inspiring. You know why because their passion would still have shown through.  When you have passion for something in your life, that passion over flows into every other facet of life.

Talk about Motivation is a post from: True Fitness Fanatic

The cost of running is a post from: True Fitness Fanatic

The study participants were 123 middle aged adults and with three months of yoga sessions helped in losing a small amount of weight. During the said period, the blood sugar levels of these individuals remained steady throughout the three months. Comparatively, non-yoga participating diabetics registered blood sugar increases during the same period.

The conclusions were reported in journal Diabetes Care. The study though does not propose that yoga replace other forms of exercise for people suffering from Type 2 diabetes.

According to Shreelaxmi V. Hegde of the Srinivas Institute of Medical Science and Research Center in Mangalore, India, losing weight through more vigorous exercises would be better in managing type 2 diabetes. This kind of diabetes is often related to obesity and lifestyle habits.

Sixty of the participants took yoga classes several times a week and found that their Body Mass Index lowered from 25.9 to 25.4. BMI is Body Mass Index, the relation of weight to height. A person with a BMI between 25 and 30 is considered overweight and any higher would be considered obese.

Hegde added, “In our study, the effect of yoga on BMI (Body Mass Index) and blood sugar control was marginal.” She added, “But, it should be noted that yoga controlled the blood sugar levels which otherwise rose in the control group.”

It was also noted that the study found signs of oxidative stress declined in the yoga participating group. Oxidative stress refers to a situation where levels of reactive oxygen species or “free radicals”. Free radicals are byproducts of energy use in the cell that in turn damages the cell. It is believed that long-term oxidative stress contributes to the development of chronic diseases in the individual.

The team further found that participants’ blood oxidative stress levels of the yoga participant group lowered by 20 percent. While the significance is not yet clear, the long-term decline may eventually help the individual reduce the risk of developing diabetes complications. These complications may be cardiovascular diseases, renal disease, neural damage and blood vessel damage. To find out the long-term effects, further studies need to be done.

According to the researchers, yoga helps curb oxidative stress through the stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system, the part of the nervous system that serves as a brake against the sympathetic nervous system. The yoga practiced in the study is a gentle form that used movements suited for individuals with health problems such as heart disease.

Thus, before undertaking yoga as part of the management regimen for diabetes, the kind of yoga needs to be reviewed. There are yoga classes that are actually vigorous workouts and the best ones for elderly diabetics would be those specifically designed for older individuals and those suffering from chronic medical conditions.

Bobby Castro is the online editor at the Diabetes Forum, where he has published a number of articles about diabetes treatment and many other topics.

Diabetes and Yoga Exercises is a post from: True Fitness Fanatic

Before considering the use of exercise to reduce lower back pain, it may be necessary to consult with your doctor to ensure that the exercise regimen you’re thinking about following won’t make your condition worse. Using the wrong types of exercises to treat your back pain can actually make the condition worse, instead of better.

Exercises Recommended for Treating Back Pain

Exercise can be effective both for treating lower back pain in the short term and for helping to prevent it in the future. The following are some of the forms of exercise most frequently recommended for individuals suffering from lower back pain:

• Partial crunches – lying flat, bend your knees and place your hands behind your head or crossed over your chest. Using your stomach muscles, slowly lift your shoulders off the floor while keeping your lower back on the ground. Hold for a second, then slowly lower your shoulders again.
• Press-up back extensions – lie face-down on the floor. Position your hands under your shoulders. Slowly, push with your hands so that your shoulders lift off the floor, until you can put your elbows under your shoulder. Hold the position for a few seconds before slowly allowing your shoulders to descend.
• Side bends – stand straight, with your feet should-width apart and your arms hanging by your sides. With your right hand touching the outside surface of your right thigh, slowly lower your right shoulder as far as you can, bending at the waist without straining. Hold this position for several seconds before slowly returning to your original, upright position. Repeat on both sides.
• Knee to Chest – lie flat, facing up. Bend your knees and keep your feet flat on the floor. Slowly, bring your right knee to your chest, keeping your back flat on the floor. Hold this position for 30 seconds, then lower your leg. Repeat on both sides.

These exercises can significantly reduce pain in the lower back. Other exercises, such as aerobic workouts and pilates, may alse be effective at accomplishing this goal.

About the Author

Eric Ormsby is a guest blogger who writes for many different clients, including New Jersey workers’ compensation lawyers. As one of the most common causes of workers’ compensation claims, he knows a good deal about the causes and most effective treatments for back pain.

Guest Post-Best Exercises for Lower Back Pain is a post from: True Fitness Fanatic

We can’t deny the fact that the increasing popularity of yoga has led to the development of new forms and techniques. The rise of hot yoga and its claimed benefits is a perfect example of this. It is publicized by passionate hot yoga devotees who are expressing their love of the program of their guru. If you have only recently heard of hot yoga, you might be thinking “why is it performed in warmer conditions and how this is better for our bodies”.

Over the years, people have realized the benefits of hot yoga, and so it has seen growth in popularity. Do you think that you’d like to lose fat, release some stress, improve your energy, and clear your mind? If you said yes to any of those questions then your answer is hot yoga. Now the question what is hot yoga?

Hot yoga was founded by the renowned Yogi, Bikram Choudhury. It is also known as Bikram’s Yoga, and Fire Yoga, is a sequence of yoga postures performed in a heated room. The room temperature is 90-100 degrees. However, classes take place in studios where the temperature is set at 90-105 degrees Fahrenheit (or 41 degrees Celsius). Classes are usually an hour and thirty minutes and they comprise poses and breathing exercises. It is the purpose to encourage perspiration that helps eliminate toxins from the body.

Let’s get to the point of this article, what are the hot yoga benefits? Now we will explain some of the benefits of hot yoga. Practitioners of hot yoga believe that there are many benefits of hot yoga that increases energy, decreases stress, detoxifies the body, improves blood circulation, strengthens the immune system, promotes mental clarity, focus, and weight loss. It is also amazingly effective in improving your flexibility, increasing the lubrication of your joints, tendons and ligaments.

Helps You To Lose Weight

By using this type of yoga, you will notice it causes your pulse rate to rise which causes your body to work harder. This causes your body to burn off unwanted fat and calories to provide it with the energy.

Helps people with high blood pressure, asthma, depression, arthritis, obesity.

Improves Mobility

In performing in the hot yoga room your muscles are much warmer so they become much more flexible. It is another benefit of hot yoga.

Because of this warm environment, it allows the muscles to stretch more easily.

Improved Immune System

One of the hot yoga benefits you may not have learnt when you were asking a person what is hot yoga is that this type can help to improve your immune system. By increasing your body’s core temperature it can be done, which then causes a fever like environment to develop in your body.

To Conclude

All over the world this type of yoga has recorded studies that confirm the benefits of yoga. In India, studies have shown that asthma attacks have been prevented by practicing yoga. In the University of Pittsburgh, researchers have found that light yoga routines can be as effective as weight lifting workouts for burning fat.

Modern scientists think that yoga works well because it makes a balance between your nervous and endocrine systems, which both have an effect on other parts of your body.

There are some additional psychological, and biochemical hot yoga benefits. The psychological benefits that are a decrease in blood pressure, respiratory rate, and pulse rate, sleep improvement, weight reduction, body immunity, and posture. And for biochemical you’ll have lower levels of glucose, sodium, and cholesterol. So it is essential for all.

Author Bio

Thanks For reading! My name is Reece Groves and you can find be blogging over at home workouts. I am a 22 year old fitness fanatic and gym addict, and my blog is all about looking for great workouts.

The Benefits of Hot Yoga Over Normal Yoga is a post from: True Fitness Fanatic

In high school, I ran cross country and I found that I really enjoyed running if I looked for ways to have fun. Here are some of my tips for making a run more exciting!

1. Always run with friends! How can you have a fun run if you are off on your own, with no one to talk to and nothing to focus on but your own thoughts about how much your body is hurting? It’s impossible. For me anyways. Some crazy people actually LIKE running alone, but I do not fall into that category. In fact, if I don’t have a friend there to push and motivate me, I won’t get very far at all! I usually end up walking for part of the run without someone by my side. So friends are good, not only for keeping you entertained, but also for ensuring that you finish your workout.

2. Run at the right time and place. My favorite time to do our cross country workouts was at 6 am, and we did them at that time every weekday during the summer. No, I am not a morning person, and I complained my head off getting ready to go running that early, but the benefit to our team running that early is that there wasn’t any traffic out then, and the weather was perfect. Living in a fairly small town, we could run in the middle of the road most of the time. It was also really cool to watch the sun come up in the mornings, while running. I would recommend that if you do run this early that you wear clothing that won’t leave you freezing. I couldn’t do it without my trusty ear warmers.

3. Be creative. When you go out running on your normal routes, do things to make them more fun. Try and figure out a way to get through the fence to check out the watertank with your school mascot painted on it. When you run past sprinklers, alter your route at any cost to run through them. Army crawl up a hill. When your friend forgets her running shoes and has to run barefoot, join her barefoot. (Obviously not recommended for every run, but one barefoot run won’t kill you. Unless you step on a rusty nail. Or run across shards of glass.) Okay, use your judgement on this. But we made so many fun memories because of the crazy things that we did, and we all made it through high school alive. So have fun!

4. Find a motivator. Our cross country coach was a doctor, and he made this drink called Exceed. Now y’all won’t believe this. But that drink was the single most influential motivator for me. I still don’t know how to make this drink. Coach would never tell us. But if I had to guess, I would say that it pretty much was really salty Gatorade. And I am dead serious when I say that it tasted disgusting UNLESS you had just finished a hard work out. Then it tasted like sweet, sweet necter. Since I don’t know how to make Exceed, I would tell you to find something cool and refreshing to be your motivator. A slushie, ice cold juice, whatever it is that makes you drool. Have it all ready in the fridge before you start your run. During your last mile, you won’t think of anything else.

5. Slow and Steady. I was not a very fast runner-at all! But my coach always told me that if you stay true to your running form, it doesn’t matter how fast you are going. So even if you are “running” slower than you can walk, don’t stop the running! Keep it up and you will grow to love running, and won’t have the urge to walk nearly as often.

Emma Green is a student from Southern Utah. She is passionate about dogs, health, and food storage. You can visit Emma on her blog or on Google+. Feel free to contact her with any questions about Health or Food Storage at emmagreenie@live.com
 

Guest Post: Five Simple Ways to Make a Run More Enjoyable is a post from: True Fitness Fanatic