Vigorous Exercise Can Cut Breast Cancer Risk

Posted on October 31st, 2008 by

FRIDAY, Oct. 31 (HealthDay News) — Vigorous activity can reduce the risk of breast cancer by about 30 percent in normal-weight women, according to an 11-year U.S. study of 32,269 postmenopausal women.

For the study, vigorous activity was defined as heavy housework (scrubbing floors, washing windows, demanding yard work, digging, chopping wood) and strenuous sports or exercise, such as running, fast jogging, competitive tennis, aerobics, bicycling on hills, and fast dancing.

While vigorous activity reduced breast cancer risk in normal-weight women, it had no effect in women who were overweight or obese, according to study leader Michael F. Leitzmann and colleagues.

They also found that non-vigorous activity, such as light housework (vacuuming, doing laundry, painting, general gardening) and light sports or exercise (walking, hiking, light jogging, recreational tennis, bowling) offered no protection against breast cancer.

The findings were published in the journal Breast Cancer Research.

“Possible mechanisms through which physical activity may protect against breast cancer that are independent of body mass include reduced exposure to growth factors, enhanced immune function, and decreased chronic inflammation, variables that are related both to greater physical activity and to lower breast cancer risk,” the study authors wrote.

“An alternative explanation for the stronger apparent effect of vigorous activity among lean over heavy women is that heavier women may misreport non-vigorous activities as vigorous activities,” the researchers added.

Tags: exercise, Vigorous Exercise

Most adults get some exercise during the day: study

Posted on October 31st, 2008 by

By Amy Norton

Many adults may be meeting experts’ recommendations on exercise if all types of activity, from work and play, are counted, a study of Swedish adults hints.

Researchers found that among 1,470 adults ages 18 to 74, nearly two-thirds were meeting the goal of getting at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of the week.

That was with all types of physical activity measured, including physical labor at work, household chores and leisure-time exercise.

Past studies, in contrast, have often looked at a more limited definition of physical activity, such as recreational exercise alone, when gauging adults’ overall activity levels.

But it is not only dedicated exercise — like jogging or working out at the gym — that is linked to better health, according to Patrick Bergman of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, the lead researcher on the current study.

Therefore, he told Reuters Health, studies need to take a broader look at people’s activity levels. One person, he noted, may not be active during his free time but do heavy manual labor at work, while another may have a sedentary job but jog for exercise.

“In the long run, they could very well do an equal amount of physical activity,” Bergman pointed out.

For their study, published in the journal BMC Public Health, Bergman and his colleagues asked respondents how often, and for how long, they typically walked or engaged in moderate or vigorous exercise — whether at work, on the way to work, at home or during their leisure time.

Overall, the researchers found, 63 percent of the study participants were meeting recommended exercise goals.

Not all groups were equal, however. Adults younger than 35 were more likely than their older counterparts to be highly active and men were generally more active than women. Obese adults, meanwhile, tended to be underactive, with 59 percent falling into the least-active category.

Interestingly, Bergman noted, adults with relatively less education were more likely to be highly active than those with a college degree. That is contrast to past studies showing that more-educated people are more likely to exercise in their free time.

The finding could be related to the fact that this study measured not only leisure-time exercise, but physical activity at work as well, according to Bergman.

While a majority of the study participants were active, the low activity levels in some groups, including obese adults, show there is still room for improvement, Bergman and his colleagues write.

Getting more people off the couch, they say, will take broad “social-ecological approaches” — which, according to Bergman, essentially means making it easier for people to be active in their daily lives.

That could include making it simpler for people to walk or bike — by building more sidewalks, for instance — or giving them more parks and recreational areas.

SOURCE: BMC Public Health, online October 22, 2008.

Tags: exercise

How You Can Take Your Health and Fitness to a New Level With Hit Fitness

Posted on October 19th, 2008 by

HIT Fitness in the Spokane Valley, WA area is a growing trend

Hit Fitness , or High Intensity Training, is a fitness system built around a unique combination of science and sport.

Hit Fitness is definably an “alternative” way to personal fitness, but it is a method that is worthy of a look.

What Will I Really Be Doing In HIT Fitness?

Hit Fitness combines a unique combination of typical fitness along with sporting elements, such as the practice of Fencing or Kenpo.

Some of the activities that are included in Hit Fitness include:

*Fencing
*Kenpo
*Self-Defense
*Personal Fitness
*Other Sporting Activities

The types of activities that you participate in depends on the type of Hit Fitness Spokane program that you join.

Different instructors of the Hit Fitness way have different methods. Regardless of the methods that your fitness coach uses to teach you Hit Fitness, you will experience a unique exercise technique that will benefit your body more than a traditional fitness plan can accomplish.

Hit Fitness Sporting Events

Participating in sporting events in the Hit Fitness program is a big part of your training. The sporting events not only help you reach your fitness goals more quickly but can be used later on as well.

Sounds Fun. What Does Hit Fitness Spokane Concentrate On? Well, the Hit Fitness program is quite the unusual exercise system. The Hit Fitness program focuses on the following aspects of the fitness world:

Anaerobic Threshold Balance Body Composition Strength VO2 Max (maximal oxygen consumption)

Hit Fitness Anaerobic Threshold

A basic definition of the Hit Fitness Anaerobic Threshold is that it occurs when muscles “burn” glucose without the use of Oxygen. Anaerobic Threshold is ideal for those who need that short extra burst in their life. On the flip side, Anaerobic Threshold would not be ideal for a distance runner.

Hit Fitness Balance

Another important part of the Hit Fitness way is the aspect of balance. A majority of people who participate in the Hit Fitness exercise plan are athletes. These people require a great amount of agility and balance to succeed at what they do best. By having great balance, you can even increase the efficiency of your Spokane workout.

Hit Fitness Body Composition

Hit Fitness Body Composition is a way of describing the percentage of bone, fat, and muscle in your body. The Hit Fitness Spokane system puts a lot of attention on the aspect of body composition, as it is vital to balance the mass percentages of bone, fat, and muscle in ones body.

Hit Fitness Strength

Hit Fitness works with your overall body strength. Since the Spokane Hit Fitness way of exercise revolves around sporting activities, it is important to have strength as it will give you the opportunity to push your body to the next level.

Hit Fitness VO2 Max

What is VO2 Max? Basically, VO2 Max is another meaning for the maximal amount of oxygen consumption. It plays a very important role in Hit Fitness as your VO2 Max directly determines how physically fit you are. Each person has a different VO2 Max. The max can be included over time through Hit Fitness Spokane WA exercises.

So, is Hit Fitness Right For You? Spokane Hit Fitness is not right for everyone. If you are athletic, then you should definably consider the Hit Fitness way of exercise. If you are interested in starting on a Hit Fitness exercise plan, you should speak to your local fitness coach today to see if such a program is offered.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/how-you-can-take-your-health-and-fitness-to-a-new-level-with-hit-fitness-511882.html

Tags: fitness, health

Understanding the Deadlift Exercise

Posted on October 19th, 2008 by

When we think about the lower body and “the king of all exercises”, what comes to mind for most people is the squat or a variation of it. However, when we take a look at the pros and cons and the results gained from specific lower body movements, a better “go-to” exercise may in-fact be the deadlift.

Let’s take a closer look:

The squat, whether front-loaded, back-loaded, or with the smith machine is going to incorporate hip extension created by the glutes and the hamstrings, knee extension created by the quadriceps, and some plantarflexion created by the gastrocnemius and the soleus.

Now, whether you are a powerlifter, an athlete of some sort, are returning from a knee injury, or are a senior trying to prevent falls and osteoporosis, some form of the squat may be an important component of your training regimine.

Squats, when performed correctly, will help to stabilize the three major joints of the lower body and can also assist in improving the mobility and function around the hip joint.

If you can squat with good form and without pain, it will be instrumental in bringing you closer to achieving your fitness, sport, and life goals. However, in my decade of experience in working with clients and athletes, I have come to realize that the squat is not for everyone.

Whether it is because of injury, a lack of necessary mobility, or an inability to perform with correct technique, forcing, or attempting to force an individual to squat can be just like driving your car full-steam ahead into a brick wall. There’s just no point.

What I have found to be successful in body transformation, maximal strength enhancement, sport performance, and in minimizing the impact of lower back pain is a focus on correct implementation of the deadlift.

The biggest difference between the squat and the deadlift, where the squat is more of a “sit-down, stand-up” motion, the deadlift is a bit closer to the vision of “leaning over to touch your toes and then standing all the way up”. That may be the simplest definition, not to say that either are simple exercises.

If we take again, a closer look, with the deadlift, we have taken almost the entire knee bend out of the movement. This means that with less knee extension during the upward phase, there will be less quadriceps recruitment. This can be a key element for those that find discomfort from too much squatting and for those who are too immobile to perform the squat with the necessary range of motion to achieve the desired results.

If the focus is not on the quadriceps, where has it gone? Consider the deadlift almost exclusively a posterior chain exercise. We are thinking about the back of the body here. Everything from the calves, hamstrings, glutes, erector spinae, trapezius, and deltoids are active. If I could perform only one exercise for the rest of my life, this might be it!

Here’s how this carries over into sport performance and life function. The Big 4 sports in the United States all involve running or some sort of forward propulsion (skating). What we need for all of these is the ability to extend through the hip. Increasing the maximal strength of this movement as in the deadlift has a correlation to one’s ability to produce force with that same movement.

This doesn’t mean that you are going to carry your 1RM weight onto the football field and deadlift during plays. It means that the work you put in to your training is going to enable you to recruit or use your hip extensors more effectively at game speed.

The glutes and hamstrings are larger muscles than the quadriceps are, right? Would you rather rely on your quadriceps to carry you or the larger, stronger muscles of the posterior chain? We would obviously love to use all three major muscle groups, but this should help pinpoint where the majority of your focus should be.

When we think about body transformation, we think about the total recruitment of muscle. An exercise like the deadlift allows us to activate muscles throughout the entire body in very little time. That activation allows us to put on more lean muscle which will increase your metabolism and create the “looking in the mirror changes” that many of us are looking for.

As far as lower back pain is concerned, the deadlift and its variations, when performed with correct form place the lifter in an adequate position to recruit stabilizers and movers of the lower back with greater intensity than would say, a lower back extension.

That load and the calculated range of motion create a safe environment for the lower back and for the lifter. Whenever we use the deadlift in this fashion, the emphasis must be on proper technique with correct progression. There is no point in using a great exercise if the lifter doesn’t have the foundation to support it.

Take a look at your current program design and if you need to, seek out the help of a personal trainer for a refresher on your technique. Without fully understanding the difference between these two important exercises and the results that they will yield, you may be cheating yourself out of your best body yet!

Article source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Understanding-the-Deadlift-Exercise/400306

Tags: Deadlift, Deadlift Exercise, exercise

Health and Fitness Programs

Posted on October 17th, 2008 by

Health is the state of mental and physical well being of an individual. The science of medicine helps in maintaining health. However, it is also noticed that it is possible to maintain good health due to individual effort.

Fitness is important to maintain a healthy body. It is a phenomenon that helps a person look, feel and work to better. It also plays an important part in conducting bodily activities efficiently. Working out the heart, lungs and muscles of the body are all related to physical fitness. However, fitness activities differ from person to person. There are many factors that affect the fitness of a person. They range from age, sex, exercise and eating habits. Before an individual starts on a fitness program, it is necessary for him to evaluate a few things that affect his health and fitness. For a fitness program to give the desired result, it needs to be administered with care.

Activities to be incorporated in the fitness programs have to be decided after analyzing various components of fitness. Controlling weight is an important part of physical fitness. Muscle tone development is another aspect that is taken care of by fitness programs. A good fitness program suggests the best time for exercising. Exercises are adjusted according to the work schedules of the individuals.

Fitness programs also suggest diets for individuals. Eating habits are an important factor affecting health and fitness programs. A major advantage of following health and fitness programs is that these plans are suggested for long-term health unlike the weight loss programs that are short-term based. It provides improved health in terms of better performance of vital body organs. It also provides a sense of well being due to more energy and better stamina.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eddie_Tobey

Tags: fitness, health

Just Spare Your 5 Minutes for Fitness

Posted on October 17th, 2008 by

All we have to do for limited time we have but need to be more energy is by fitness. So we did not feel tired. This is just a couples minute exercises which is good and useful.(Do not take a break between each minute, just go right into the next)

Minute 1: march/jog around your house
Minute 2: jumping jacks (either high or low impact)
Minute 3: run up/down a flight of stairs
Minute 4: do squats, either standing squats or up against the wall. Keep your form in check!
Minute 5: dance around your house! Crank up the music and sweat!

Catch your breath, grab a drink of water and enjoy your energy! If you have more time, do it all over again.

I always find that a short burst of exercise gives me the energy I need to get me through my day. The next time you feel like you just cannot stay awake, try this out instead. You might be surprised by how GREAT it makes you feel!

Info from: http://www.5minutesformom.com

Tags: fitness

Physical fitness lessons is important in Education

Posted on October 17th, 2008 by

This story is about need to include lesson about Physical fitness lesson in Education in Mississippi, US. As you know this state in the fastest state compare with other state.

More depressing news on the homefront: It seems that a national study has determined that Mississippi is statistically the fattest state in the nation.

Most of us in professions related to health and wellness were not surprised to hear this news. It seems like every time one of these studies comes out, the same states are on the bottom (generally Deep South states like Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas), and the same states are on the top (northern states like Colorado, Minnesota or Vermont … brrrr).

If you believe the research, those of us in the Deep South must live in the most unhealthy, filthy, ignorant, disease-infested places in the nation.

When I was working in Louisiana, I once attended a meeting where a presenter listed a litany of things that the Bayou State was last in, mostly related to health and education.

One of my fellow professionals, tiring of this constant negativism, asked the researcher if there wasn’t anything that Louisiana was leading the nation in. “Sure,” he replied. “Syphilis.”

When we lived in Louisiana, we used to say, “Thank goodness for Mississippi, or we would be last in … (pick your statistic).” Now that we live in Mississippi, we say, “Thank goodness for Louisiana, or we would be last in … (again, pick your statistic).”

A friend of mine, upon hearing about our dire status as the most obese folks in the country, asked me point blank if there is any hope for us.

Why is all this research so hard on us? Well, things aren’t as bad here as some people might think if they read all those statistics, but the truth is that we probably are one of the fattest states in America. Why is that?

I think that there may be a connection between our health status and our education status, particularly in the area of health promotion. We need to do a better job of educating our children about diet and exercise. We need to provide physical education programs in our schools that will help all of our kids grow up more fit and healthy.

My wife once was asked to attend a conference in New Jersey that set some of the standards for the exam called the Praxis, a test that all teachers have to take to become certified. There were elementary teachers there from all over the country, and they all got together and discussed differences in education around the country.

When she got back, she asked me if I could guess what subject area the southern states were the most deficient in. Math was my first guess, then science and English.

All were wrong. She finally just told me. Teachers from all these other outstanding schools all over the country thought we were most deficient in health and physical education. Go figure.

There is no doubt in my mind that our state is already “working on the problem.” One example of this occurred in Clinton during early September.

Staff members from state Department of Education’s Office of Healthy Schools were on campus at Mississippi College conducting a workshop for area teachers and college students on how to incorporate healthy activities into the school curriculum.

These folks are dedicated to working toward ensuring that all schools in Mississippi are healthy places for our kids, and that we are teaching our kids to be healthy adults in those schools. They are to be commended.

Education is the answer. If we teach our kids how to be healthy, we can make significant strides in conquering this problem.

Then, maybe one day, we will lead the nation in something besides kidney stones.

Story: http://www.clintonnews.com

Tags: fitness, fitness lesson