Best Training Strategies

If you ever been to a doctor, the first thing they do is convince you to do low to moderate intensity aerobic training. This is also referred to as cardio. They suggest you do about 30-60 minutes of steady pace cardio for about 3-5 times in a week. They claim this helps maintain your heart rate at a moderate level.

Before you get involved in such a routine, consider some recent scientific research that gives concrete facts to prove such cardio workouts may not work that well after all.

Our bodies were designed to perform physical activity in bursts of exertion followed by recovery. According to the research study, physical variety is a key variable in your training. If you examine most sports, you will find that most of them go with this burst of exertion, or stop-and-go movement, as it is also called.

Another factor to keep in mind when it comes to varying your physical workouts is the effects to your body internally. Scientists have known for years that any excessive steady state endurance exercise that is anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour, only trains the heart rate at a specific level. You don’t get the heart fully involved.

This kind of workout causes muscle wasting, and can even create a condition in your body that can lead to chronic diseases. But if you do stop-and-go type movements, you will find that your body reacts to it in a better manner. Your body will be able to increase anti-oxidant production. Your body will also provide a more anti-inflammatory affect and your metabolic rate will increase. Also, stop-and-go training trains the heart to respond to and recover from a variety of demands and stress levels.

This is what you need. The kind of exercise that trains your heart to rapidly increase and rapidly decrease is the condition that will benefit you more fully. And it has another benefit. It is much more interesting to do and has a better success rate. This means those who used this method, did not drop out.

_______________________________________________

If you want to find a better way to exercise that will give you tremendous results, you need to pick up a copy of my e-book How to Create a Lean and Healthy Body Quickly. Once you do this, you will learn the right way to exercise and will get your body into peak physical condition in no time. Just go to www.prosecretstofatloss.com to  learn more.

Study better & have fun too! Yes it is possible to get better grades even if ones is of average IQ. In fact getting better grades has got do very little with your intelligence & IQ score.

This article may not help you immensely if you are reading this just a day prior to exam. “How to get better grades at school” is an ebook that may help you in that case. Here are friendly-tips to help any student get better grades at college & school:

3 tips on how to get better grades & have fun

Read only in 20 minutes bursts: Research proves that we tire after 20 minutes of study & the information stored & alertness levels reduce when to continue studying after that. Thus I strongly suggest that you take small breaks after every 20 minutes: have a cuppa , listen to a song, flex muscles etc. By dividing your 1 hour into 3 time zones, your brain’s performance peaks 6 times instead of two. Click here to get free copy of speed study techniques in your mail box

Record the answers in your voice: I had great difficulty in memorizing the French wine names. The fact that I had no knowledge of French didn’t help me either . I read these wine labels loudly & recorded then into a cassette player . I played this tape on my walkman ( Those were the days of walkman) repeatedly on the way to the college. By the time I wrote the beverage exam , those complex terms were a part of my subconscious memory .

Write & study: Writing an answer is as good as reading the same for seven times. This has got something to do with brain relaying signals to hand, then to eyes & back to brains errr… confusing ? You don’t need to understand this, just practice the above and see your marks soar. They say that faith can move mountains, we are just talking about improving grades here.

All the best

here are selected related articles from the net that you may enjoy:

Click here to read the latest research paper on jogging & walking…

Let’s look at some benefits of walking:

• Weight loss. (I say that walking & weight loss are directly proportional)
• Increased muscle mass
• Lower risk of cancer diabetes, cancer & stroke
• Improved cholesterol levels
  

I prefer walking to jogging because of the convenience. It is easier to walk for one hour than jog 30 minutes. I split the one hour to different time zones. Walk to the market/ park, climbing the staircase, conscious walking up & down the aisle during breaks, usually does it for me.

Here are some tips to get the maximum weight loss benefit from walking:

1. Beginners should focus on distance covered rather than the speed of walk. The walking speed can gradually be increased.
2. Swinging arms like race walkers (walking running) actually preserves energy (calories). Walk in way that comes naturally to you rather than aping the race walkers.
3. If walking on a treadmill, set it on an inclined position. There will be more treadmill calories burned this way.
4. Start & stop kinds of walk are best. This style expends more energy. In a continuous walk your momentum takes you forward instead of you making an effort. This extra effort resulting in more calories burnt.
5. Do not be tempted to keep longer strides. Shorter, quicker steps are the correct walking technique for weight loss. I call this method “calorie walking”.

As a parting gift here is a research paper that compares walking on treadmill & walking in water. http://ptjournal.apta.org/cgi/reprint/67/10/1501.pdf

Here are some related articles from web that you may enjoy:

The old theory of drinking lots of milk & eating soya daily may not be enough! Americans are known to eat a lot of calcium rich diet, despite this osteoporosis & the resulting back pain is a major health problem there.

Newer research methods have suggested change in dietary habits which is as important as calcium for our bone health.

• Eating alkaline food is better for bone as high acid environment leeches calcium out of bones.

( You can read all the research on this area here , especially the research by  Dr Bess Dawson-Huges here)

• Vitamin K is vital to bone health as it glues calcium to cells & bones. Vitamin K coupled with Vitamin D is great to increase bone density.
• Apart from calcium & vitamins our bones will thank us for taking L-lysine(amino acid) too. L-lysine acts as a net that connects collagen fibers. Collagen in turn, acts as a building block for tissues & bones.

Now comes the million Dollar question; How to input these bone friendly elements into our diet ?

Here are few friendly tips to provide relief from osteoporosis & thus relief from back pain. If these eating habits can be adopted at an earlier age, one can completely prevent osteoporosis.

1. Substitute sodas with fruit juices.
2. Get your proteins from tofu instead of meat & poultry
3. Spend your evening with wine instead of beer !
4. Replace your favourite snack “peanut” with “raisins”
5. Green leafy vegetables are a storehouse of vitamin K. This vitamin can be got from olive oil.
6. One can  get the all important L-lysine from beans, peas, soy, fishes ( cod & sardines), Parmesan cheese & fenugreek seeds.

One can still enjoy the good thinks & tastes in life without suffering from back pain.

Related articles from friendly-Tips:

Tips to relieve back pain ( I) &  Part II

You may also enjoy there related articles from the web

I am a big fan of Indian breakfast. Most popular Indian breakfast items are a combination of cereals & pulses. This combination provides carbohydrates & protein; both of which are important at the start of the day. To top this, these breakfast items are fermented too. Fermentation coverts carbohydrates & sugar into beneficial acids, thereby increasing the nutritive value of these breakfast items.

Despite these benefits I feel that certain changes can make these recipes even healthier.

A simple dosa is a combination of rice & urad dal. This can be made healthier by addition of soya powder , griddling with olive oil, using brown rice & adding some lentils to the above mixture.

Here are two power packed healthy Indian Dosa recipes:

Mixed Dal Dosa / Adai : Adai is a dosa made with a mixture of dals.

Recipe: ( serves four adults)

• 100 gms of split red gram dal (toor dal)
• 150 gms of split green gram dal (moong dal)
• 100 gms of Bengal gram dal (channa dal)
• 50 gms of urad dal (black gram dal)
• 400 gms of brown rice (brown rice is a much better source of unrefined carbs than polished rice)

Soak rice for 4 hours & the lentils for 2 hours. Grind the mixture into a thick paste. This batter needs to be fermented for 4 hours & refrigerated overnight. Herbs & spices like coriander, ginger, pepper / red chilli & cumin seeds can be added during grinding for additional taste.  Add salt according to taste & pour the batter into a thin pancake over a hot griddle. Use olive oil to moisten the griddle plate & enjoy the delicious healthy breakfast.

Green dosa / Pesarratu : This is a specialty from the state of Andhra Pradesh & simple to make too.

Recipe:

• 1 cup whole green dal ( whole moong dal )
• ¼ cup soya
• I cup finely chopped mixture of onions, ginger & coriander.
• Salt & green chilies as per taste.

Soak soya & dal for 4 hours. Grind the soaked mixture into a smooth paste . Add the chopped vegetables & herbs. Prepare the dosa in the same manner as Adai.  The batter needs to spend about 2 ½ minutes on the griddle.

Additional Friendly healthy recipe tips : Mixed vegetables can be added to almost any Indian  breakfast item to make it healthier. Some examples  are ; vegetable paratha  instead of aloo paratha, grated vegetable idly/ rava idly  or even vegetable poha !

Readers of this blog are encouraged to share their secret healthy recipe with other readers.

Here are some related articles from the web that you may enjoy

“Preventive maintenance is better than breakdown maintenance” – any good management school will teach you that. The statement is true for living healthy too. The good news here is that we can be our own maintenance engineer! Let’s look at some healthy living tip !

One just needs to monitor these 4 elements daily to be in the pink of health. I call it the “4 F’s”

Fiber:  Monitor your fiber intake. Eat a little more fiber than what you think your body needs. Just this one eating habit can keep modern ailments like diabetics & heart diseases away. Fiber also gives a feeling of fullness which makes us less likely to overeat. Breakfast is the best time to load your fibers. Good source of fibers are dry fruits, whole grains & vegetables.

Fluids : Enough has been written in this blog about the benefits of drinking water. One is advised to monitor the colour of urine. It should be clear & straw coloured. Strong odor or dark urine is an indication that you are not getting sufficient water. I will go to the extent of recommending you to keep a water alarm every hour as a reminder to drink water.

Fruits : A recent study established the fact that high antioxidant food  are also low fat foods. Other than being rich in antioxidants, fresh fruits keeps us healthy by reducing the risk of cancer, blood pressure & type 2 diabetics. This isn’t so difficult. It is recommended to eat 2 servings of fresh fruit daily. One serving equals 1 medium sized fruit or two small sized fruit. This fruits will also give the first 2 F’s; fiber & good quality water. That what I call hitting two birds with one stone !

Fun: You could be monitoring the above three & still not be in good physical shape. Then it’s time to exercise the vital organ of your body; your funny bone! Fifteen minutes of fun in a day is what you probably lack. Laughter is one infection I do not mind spreading. Laughter releases endorphins (The feel good chemical) this relaxes our body & may even relieve pain. A good laugh can relax our muscles up to 45 minutes. The most beneficial effect of laughter is that of reducing the stress hormone & increase in the immune cells, this in turn improves our resistance to diseases.

Here are some related articles from the web that you may enjoy:

I was shocked when the learned Guru told the audience “We normally confuse Thirst with hunger.” Here I was sitting to gain some insights on meditation & life skills but was given the weight loss secret in one simple line.

I confused thirst with hunger too. Now, whenever a craving for snack occurs, I check if I am really hungry or just thirsty. In most cases a glass of water is all it takes to control the craving.

We need a little more information before following this advice to the tee. If not monitored, even liquid diet can add up to a lot of empty calories! The best beverage to lose weight is water.  Water is a zero calorie diet that flushes toxins & helps in weight reduction. Drinking water during a meal may dilute the digestive juices, but drinking a glass of water 30 minutes before the meal ensures that we do not overeat. In fact most of us over eat a litter at every meal! More tips on water & weight reduction can be found by clicking here.

Most sweetened beverages have too much of calories. Even the fruit juice that we drink may be loaded with calories. Here are some terminologies that  packed drinks use to denote sugar in the pack:

• Glucose
• Fructose
• Sucrose
• Corn syrup

It is better to eat fresh fruits or make fruit juice at home. Aerated drinks are another source of empty calories. It is better to have sugar free carbonated drinks. We may also accumulate fat by our obsession for smoothies & tall coffees. Cafes have become a common place for socializing & also for adding on excess flab.

Here are some tips for variety in low calorie drinks.

1. Try sparkling water instead of colas.
2. Mix lemon slices & squeeze ½ a lemon into the glass of water.
3. Switch to green tea & herbal tea. Pinhead Gunpowder Green tea is a naturally sweet tea.
4. Cucumber juice is a great liquid snack idea.
5. Drink tender coconut juice.
6. Stock your fridge with water instead of canned beverages, spice up this water with addition of mint or ginger.

Many of us believe that fluids cannot make us gain weight. Beware!

Here are some related articles from the net that you may enjoy reading:

If love strengthens family bonds it is equally true that gifts strengthen bonds too. One of the biggest marketing gimmicks is the fanfare associated with Valentine’s Day-The day you dedicate to please your loved ones. Why cannot everyday be a valentine’s day? Doesn’t valentine’s year sound sweeter?

Dr. Gary Chapman, author of 5 Love languages says that gift is a major love language among many of us. Female readers of this blog are sure to nod in agreement.  I am in no way suggesting spending every day on gifts. Gifts can be free or cheap too. Thamas a Kempis wisely says “A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.”

Here are some friendly tips on inexpensive gifts:

• Gift your spouse a day off from homely chores.
• Use Picasa to insert beautiful quotes on your spouse’s picture & gift this to him/her.
• Handmade gifts convey your love much more than any purchased product.
• Post cards to your spouse/ kids. This is much better than sending emails or cooing over the telephone.
• Handpicked flowers can be hard to find in some metros. But don’t you just love challenges?
• Good old chocolate or ice-cream cones will work too. We all love to be kids again

Here are 5 expensive gift ideas:

1. Ask your spouse
2. Ask your spouse
3. Ask your spouse
4. Ask your spouse
5. Ask your spouse

Try this simple technique to test the gifting principle; give a gift every day for the next 7 days to your partner/spouse & see the difference in the way you are treated. You will not be surprised if you discover love again ooooohhha!

Wishing all the friendly-tip readers a happy valentine year!

In either of the above mentioned scenario, you classify to be called ‘Master Procrastinator’. I know that feeling because I was there too.

Here are certain power packed tablets just for people like you & me.

• Make bold statements in public:
  Assuming that you are delaying a big task for couple of weeks now, I challenge you loudly pronounce the completion date in front of your near & dear ones. They will either help you or ridicule you till the job is done. This is more powerful than it sounds. Let’s say that I make a LOUD commitment to readers of this blog that by 30^th of March 2010, Friendly-Tips will have 100 articles posted. Now my integrity is on line. You can check back on 30^th March to see if this tips works or not.
• Put “Post It” reminders everywhere:
  Post reminders on dressing table, mirror, fridge, vehicle, toilet door etc. Just imagine the pleasure of removing reminders from multiple locations just by finishing one task. Putting these reminders on drift area is a smart thing to do. My drift areas are television & computers, reminders on these screens will prick me the most. Reminders on mobile might work just as well for you.
• If all the tricks have failed to cure you of procrastination, I strongly suggest ‘Positive Motivation’. Write down the goals & dreams that are extremely important to you. I am sure that every time you procrastinate, you are drifting away from your dream in one way or another. If you are passionate about your dream you will let this happen & take the steps to act, however unpleasant this act may be.
  Here are some of the best chosen related articles from the web:

The causes of stomach ulcers are well known. Bad lifestyle habits like smoking, heavy drinking & long periods of starving releases excess acids into the system, thus causing ulcer. Scientifically speaking, when bacteria Helicobacter pylori infects the intestinal track, we suffer from ulcer. Uninhibited use of drugs like aspirin & other pain killers too are major causes of ulcer.

Here are some tips that will help the gradual healing of ulcer sores which have already penetrated the muscles.

• Drinking Aloe Vera juice three times a day is a simple home remedy for peptic ulcer ( Ulcer in stomach).
• “How you eat is more important than what you eat.” Eat several moderate sized meals at regular intervals. Avoid large portions of food & late night eating.
• Avoid or limit very spicy or excessively oily food. It is also advisable to limit caffeine intake. These foods create more acids in our body & slow the healing process.
• If you have any symptoms of acidity, QUIT SMOKING NOW !
  Related articles: