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Exercise at Home: Get a Gym Body without Leaving Your Front Door
By Bree E. Underwood
It's easy to exercise at home and get a great workout doing so. There are also many benefits to exercising at home, such as saving time and money.
Get a Great Workout
When you exercise at home you can get in just as great of shape as you can when you go to a gym. There are a variety of different exercises that can keep you interested and can challenge your body, all while in the comfort of your own home. Even if you only have a small space to workout in, it is still possible to get your heart rate pumping -- all you need is to be able to move.
Benefits
Incorporating a regular exercise routine in your life has numerous health benefits. Controlling your weight, increasing your energy and warding off poor health conditions are among the many ways exercise can improve your life, according to the Mayo Clinic. Many people can fulfill fitness needs without ever leaving your front door. And in addition to the fantastic effects exercising has on your body, there are extra benefits that can help make your life easier when you choose to exercise at home.
One of the most common excuses people make for not exercising is that they don't have the time. When you exercise at home you'll save yourself the time it takes to make a trip to the gym. At home you can enjoy having more privacy -- so if you've wanted to learn belly dancing, but feel too embarrassed to dance in front of other people, just pop in a belly dancing instructional video and you're good to go. If you exercise at home you will also save yourself tons of money by not having to pay gym fees. The majority of exercising I do is in my living room, and I've had no problem being able to effectively lose weight and get stronger.
Workout Equipment and Tools
You can enhance your workouts by buying some equipment. Although it is not necessary, having some basic things such as free weights, a resistance band and exercise videos can go a long way towards keeping you motivated and can be purchased for less than thirty dollars. Equipment like a treadmill or a weight lifting system is great, but they do require space and a fair amount of money.
Cardio Workouts
There are plenty of cardio workouts for you to choose from. The massive library of workout videos is the best way to go when you exercise at home. There are so many different types, and in many cases you can learn something new, such as kick boxing or a dancing style that interests you. When I exercise at home, some of my favorite videos are dancing videos -- I've been able to improve some of my dancing skills and no one sees me looking silly while I'm attempting to learn. But you don't need to spend money on videos to do a cardio workout -- you can utilize the stairs or a step in your house. Switch up your movements by doing backwards leg lifts on alternating legs, or hop up onto the step to give yourself an added challenge. If you have a workout step or a balance ball you can exercise right in front of your television too. Another fun way to get your blood flowing is by simply putting on some of your favorite music and dancing right on the spot.
Strength and Resistance Training
Even if you don't own weights you can perform certain moves and use your body's weight to build muscle -- bench dips, crunches, squats, lunges and push-ups are great examples. With free weights or a resistance band you can do things such as bicep curls and chest flys. Yoga and Pilates can also help create a stronger body.
Tip
To maximize your time and get a really good workout, try doing circuit training. With circuit training you're combining your cardio and strength training workout into one. You can easily set up your own circuit in your living room. For example, perform a few different strength building moves with no rest in between each move and then do a few minutes of cardio (dancing, stepping, running in place, etc.). This makes up one circuit -- create three or four similar circuits to complete your workout (with about a minute of rest between circuits). Circuit training truly blasts calories -- according to Livestrong.com you can burn more than 600 calories an hour. As a busy mother of three, this is one of my favorite ways to exercise at home.
The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a doctor for advice.
The Flu Shot Question
By Olu Odebunmi
Health authorities and the mass media tell you to get the flu shot. But is there any evidence that the flu vaccine offers protection from the flu? The influenza season is upon us and the health authority’s advice is simple. Get vaccinated. Just a single shot will keep you and your family healthy and provide immunity from the flu.
The decision to have the flu shot should be entirely yours, but you need to make an informed decision, and to do that you should have access to as much information as possible pertaining to the subject.
How Effective is the Flu Vaccine?
Evidence suggests the flu shot does not provide effective protection against influenza, and contrary to what governments claim, does not protect "at risk groups" such as the elderly. The Cochrane Collaboration, an international, independent, nonprofit making organization, whose motto is "Providing evidence based health care," initiated an ongoing study in 2009 to examine if available evidence supported the alleged benefits of the flu vaccine.
The Cochrane study, titled " Vaccines for Preventing Influenza in Healthy Adults," headed by epidemiologist, Dr. Tom Jefferson, concluded flu vaccines have a modest effect in reducing flu symptoms and no evidence they prevent transmission, or complications such as pneumonia. According to the Cochrane foundation, over 200 viruses cause influenza and flu like symptoms such as headaches, runny nose, aches and pains, fever and coughs. They rarely lead to serious illness or death and it is impossible to provide a single flu vaccine to protect against these myriad viruses.
The Cochrane study found that in the highly unlikely scenario of the vaccine matching the predominant flu strains circulating that season, one in hundred people who got the flu shot developed flu symptoms compared to two in a hundred who did not get the shot. Hardly a ringing endorsement for the benefits of the vaccine!
A 2010 study by the Cochrane collaboration and Dr. Roger Thomas of the University of Calgary investigated whether the flu vaccine protects the elderly against influenza. Controlled trials gave the flu shot to healthcare workers who have regular contact with the elderly – the assumption being these workers have a similar flu infection rate as the general public. The study found giving the vaccine to these workers had no impact on the
incidence of the elderly developing flu, respiratory tract infections, or complications such as pneumonia.
What Goes Into the Flu Vaccine?
Here is a list of some of what makes up the vaccine:
- Mercury: toxic to the body
- Sucrose; table sugar
- Gentamycin: an antibiotic
- Triton X100: a detergent
- Formaldehyde: a carcinogen
- Egg protein: including avian viruses
Protection Without the Flu Vaccine
The government and their allies in the mass media tell you the answer to your health problems lies in getting a simple shot. It is strangely reminiscent of a line from "Comfortably Numb," the Pink Floyd song of the early 1980s ... "Just a little pin prick, there'll be no more aaaaah, but you may feel a little sick"...
The efficacy of the flu shot is highly questionable. If your immune system is already compromised through illness, the poisons and allergens in the flu vaccine are likely to burden it further.Real health, and protection from the flu and other viruses, and the ability to fight them off when they hit you, lies in strengthening and supporting your immune system with a diet of whole foods as close to their natural state as possible. Eat organic food without a cocktail of preservatives, pesticides, antibiotics, artificial sweeteners, and artificial enhancers. Eat healthy fats including organic coconut oil, virgin olive oil, and omega-3 essential fatty acids from flax seed and hemp seed oils. And of course, a variety of nutrient dense fruits and vegetables which contain disease fighting antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.
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