Keeping Fit is A Daily Battle

Three steps to sleeping soundly — with great tips on how to wake early!

It is outlined on the article 3 tips to conquer insomnia - exercise, wake up early, and just go to bed. These are simple and practical tips, but it works! I used to exercise in the evenings, after that my body aches on the muscles that I have exercised. I just lie on the bed, and before I know it, I am sound asleep. Note that before I had insomnia too, eventhough I’m already in bed, I just could not sleep. As an alternative, you may opt to wake up early and exercise early in the morning, having the same effect of being tired in the evening to have a good night sleep.

Add to the benefit of exercise is it’s relaxing effect on our mind. I have covered before in my previous article that exercise makes us feel good. After a workout session, I usually experience a sense of well-being - because I feel good about myself. Eventhough I don’t have the trimmest body in the world - in fact, I’m far from that - I felt good since I know I have exercised for that day and won that ‘battle’ to keep fit. That ‘accomplishment’ gave me a sense of satisfaction - in turn gave me more reason to rest, relax, and sleep better.

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What can be more pathetic than knowing that even at death, obesity can be a problem? This is what crematoriums in UK have been experiencing, since wider bodies could not fit “standard” furnaces and they have to be shipped out to other crematoriums that could accommodate them. Chilling news about obesity, right?

Standard coffins range from 16 to 20 inches. However, increasingly coffins anywhere up to 40 inches are being ordered to fit larger bodies. Around 430,000 choose to be cremated in Britain each year.

Now this is not to frighten overweight people, but I thought sharing this would somehow put a “negative” motivation to exercise and keep fit. I was motivated then to lose weight because of impending health problem - hypertension - before I started to exercise. I am now enjoying good health since I overcame hypertension by regular exercise. Check more information about losing weight here and get motivated to overcome obesity and overweight problems.

Let’s get moving and be energized!

Very neurotic men die sooner than those who mellow down.

People with a heavy dose of neuroticism do not handle stress well, and are often anxious and moody. Such negativity has been linked to increased mortality in a number of studies headed by Purdue University psychologist Daniel Mroczek.

In the study by Dr. Mroczek, those who increased over time in neuroticism was a ticket to an early grave. In other words, these men–all middle age or older to begin with–did not grow old gracefully. They likely got more and more stressed, worried or fretful, and this downward spiral increased their risk for dying, mostly from cancer and heart disease.

The good news is that men with a fretful temperament, if they managed for whatever reason to calm down a bit over time and handled stress well, had survival rates similar to those of emotionally stable men.

What can be advised to all of us then: Be cool!

Here are some tips to stay cool and how to handle stress:

1. Give yourself a break. Remember to take time out for family, fun and relaxation. All work and no play makes Jack a neurotic man, and die younger

2. Eat healthy food, exercise, and get plenty of sleep. It helps to workout and exercise, not only physically but also emotionally. I find myself being in a relaxed state of mind, while running in perspiration. Science has proven the release of the “relaxing” hormones like endorphins during exercise.

Fitness machines. Learn More.

3. Talk things out. If you’re worried or under pressure, share it with a close friend, family member, professional counsellor, or clergy man.

4. Set realistic goals for your life, and watch how you will spend your resources. Live within your means. Sometimes money matters and overspending keeps the stress level too high.

5. Do something for someone else; it will help get your mind off your own troubles. Volunteer around the house or in the community.

6. Learn new skills, just like painting, or even blogging! Keep your mind stimulated and active. It helps me de-stress by writing this blog about stress.

We recommend that you train with full body workout, but obviously since you are reading this, you need to concentrate on your abs. This abs workout program will produce quick gains on building abs fast.

You have 2 choices for beginner abs workout - With Free Weights or Using Machines:

(Note that the illustrations/instructions on these exercises are provided on abs exercises)

2. With Machines

Equipment to be used can be cable or other workout equipment for abs. The above can be replaced with equivalent exercise in other equipment.

Abs Workout for Beginner Instructions:

1. Do the complete exercise routine 3 days a week. Wait at least 48 hours between sessions to allow enough recovery time for best development.

2. To warm up, do some aerobics (at least 5 minutes) and then perform one set of 6 reps with a light to moderate load. This minimizes the chance of muscle strain.

3. After warmup, find a starting load that is difficult to lift 8 times. This may take some experimenting on your first day. Once you have identified that load, you will use that load until you can do it for 12 reps easily.

Remember to perform the concentric or lifting phase of each exercise as quickly as possible, while performing the eccentric or lowering phase much more slowly.

4. After a few sessions, and you find that you can lift the load easily up to 12 reps, that is the time to add on more weight. Add at least 5 lbs. from your starting heavy load, and do 8 reps again.

5. Continue on adding more reps for each session until you can do 12 sessions easily while doing each exercise with proper form. Then add again more weight on next session and drop down to 8 reps. Continue doing this until you have completed 12 weeks of the program.

More about building abs are discussed in this excellent book The Truth about Six Pack Abs . I actually referred to this book and got vast improvement in building my abs.

Let’s set one thing straight: exercising only your abs won’t rid you of your “love handles”. You will need a combined aerobic and abs strength routine to do that, in addition to nutritional diet. This is discussed in Building Abs Fast. Treat your abdominal muscles like your biceps, don’t overdo the reps, but concentrate on strengthening the abs and do regular high-intensity aerobic exercises.

There is a common misconception that there are upper and lower abs muscles. But the rectus abdominis is actually one large muscle. You can, however, choose exercises that mostly train the upper or lower area of the one muscle. For example, this crunch - abs on incline bench - work your upper abs at 90 to 100 per cent, while pelvic lifts work them at only about 30 percent. If targeting the lower abs, however, those figures are approximately reversed.

Proper form of Doing Abs on Slant Board:

1. Hook your feet under the pad and sit on the slant bench with your torso upright.

2. Lower your torso backward until it is almost parallel to the floor. This would mean about 3/4 down; don’t go full down lying on the incline bench.

3. Return to the upright position by bending at the waist. Concentrate to target on your abs muscles.

Bodybuilder Frank Sepe demonstrates in workout video how to properly do Abs on the slant board.

For many women, the correlation between sex and snoring is one of those annoying facts of life: no matter when passionate encounters occur, men always seem to fall asleep immediately afterwards. Although women sometimes feel sleepy after sex, the phenomenon does seem more pronounced in men. What is it, then, that spirals them into the land of nod?

Have you ever wondered why? The most obvious fact is exhaustion after sex. But why men are generally more exhausted? It is obvious again that Men always do ALL the work.

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Bench Press is a classic workout to develop a well-defined chest. It also works your deltoids and triceps. For safety, it is best to have a spotter or a training partner to help you with the weights.

Developing a muscled chest requires that you also build up your triceps and front deltoids. The three work as a unit.

You can build up your chest muscles by doing chest presses on an incline bench, a flat bench, or a decline bench. These angles will target your upper, middle, and lower pectoral muscles, respectively.

Bodybuilder Frank Sepe demonstrates on workout video how to properly do the Flat Bench Press.

Dumbbell Bench Press Instructions and Tips:

1. Lie flat on a weight bench with a dumbbell in each hand, your arms fully extended and perpendicular to the floor. The ends of the dumbbells should almost touch. Your feet should be flat on the floor and your palms should face your feet.

2. Slowly bend your elbows and lower your arms straight down until the weights are just above the sides of your chest.

Your elbows should be no lower than your ears. Pause for a second, then slowly raise your arms back up again. Keep the weights under control: Don’t arch your back or let the dumbbells bounce.