How to do a tricep stretch

Video: A great stretch the back of your arms.

A workout for your legs

Video: A fitness instructor demonstrates 3 different exercises to build your leg muscles.

Five Medication-free Strategies To Prevent Heart Disease

There are methods to help prevent heart disease other than leading a healthy life style. Heart disease is the leading cause of death yet it does not have to be a factor in your life. Here are five strategies to help protect the heart from heart disease.

1. Smoking or other tobacco products are one of the most significant risks for developing heart complications. No amount of smoking is safe for the heart. Medical studies have shown any form of tobacco products including smokeless tobacco and low tar or low nicotine

cigarettes are also very risky as well as second hand smoke. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals that are dangerous and harmful to the heart and body.

The chemicals hurt the blood vessels, making them narrow resulting in heart attacks. Smoking also makes the heart work harder when the vessels narrow, which then increases the blood pressure and heart rate.

Carbon monoxide is in cigarette smoke. It replaces the oxygen in the blood stream resulting in the higher blood pressure. Women that smoke and use birth control pills are at greater risks for having a heart attack of stroke compared to the women who do not smoke that use birth control. The risks increase for the smokers taking the birth controls when they are over the age of 35.

2. Regular activity reduces the risks of fatal heart disease. Combining the activity with a healthy diet decreases the risks even more. Physical activity helps to keep in control of weight that also reduces the risks of heart disease by avoiding becoming obese. The physical activity also reduces the risks of other health issues such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes as well as reducing the stress levels. Health guidelines recommend that the amount of physical activity for adults is 30-60 minutes at least four times a week. Simple acts of walking are one of the best ways to include physical activity daily to help reduce the risks of heart disease.

3. Eating a healthy diet helps to reduce the risks of heart disease. Limiting the fats in the diet while adding fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and low dairy products protects the heart. Learning to eat a healthy diet is more about the types of foods consumed compared to the amounts of foods consumed. Omega-3 fatty acids help in the prevention of heart disease and lower the blood pressure. Some fish are natural sources of the Omega-3 that are great for the body and heart. It can be found in flaxseed oil, walnut oil, soybean oil, and canola oil. Reduce the alcohol consumption to lower the risks as well.

4. Maintain a healthy weight with a Body Mass Index or BMI within the limits of the healthy range. Any BMI rate over 25 is considered unhealthy and increases the chances of heart disease and other health related problems. When using the BMI chart, remember that fat weighs threes time more than fat so you will have a higher rate even when muscular.

Get regular health screenings for high blood pressure and cholesterol. They can cause severe damage to the heart and lead to heart disease. The blood pressure rate should not be over 120/80 millimetres of mercury and the cholesterol should be within the range of 130.

Prevention pays off when wanting to avoid heart disease. Learning to live a healthy life style is one of the best methods to use to combat heart disease.

The Difficulty Of Being An Obese Teenager

An obese teenager can feel like high school is some sort of punishment. The teenage years are difficult enough with puberty, acne, dating and peer pressure. But add being an obese teenager into the mix and it can make the teen years pretty miserable.

High school is hard. First of all, there’s the coursework to worry about. High school is usually a huge switch from grade school and middle school. Everything is more difficult, and the homework amount can be enormous. But if you’re an obese teenager, that’s probably not the thing you hate most about high school.

High school and the teen years are the years when kids are turning into adults. And these years don’t bring out the best in everyone. There are always those kids who enjoy bullying other kids. There’s name calling and sometimes it escalates to physical violence.

The targets of these bullying kids are often those who are perceived to be easy targets and weak. Unfortunately, obese kids are often chosen as someone who can be picked on.

When a teenager is constantly picked on, that can make going to school each day feel like a certain type of torture. It can ruin a kid’s motivation to do well in school and make good grades. When you’re scared or embarrassed constantly by bullies, worrying about a test or getting an A seems far less important by comparison.

Aside from the very obvious humiliation that can come from being picked on, called names and bullied, being an obese teenager can be painful in more subtle ways, too.

The high school years are usually when the tradition of school dances starts, like the homecoming dance and proms. An obese teenager might miss out on these fun activities. While not every overweight teen sits at home, some might be embarrassed to ask someone to go to these dances.

Being overweight or obese, because of the bullying or the disapproval that might be obvious from some classmates, can cause low self-esteem. This is why some overweight kids avoid social activities that other kids enjoy.

A heavy teen who wants to go might not get asked because others perceive them as not being good enough because of their weight. Some might be embarrassed at the idea of others knowing that they asked a fat person on a date.

High school is usually when it’s required for kids to change into uniforms for PE class. This requires kids to change their clothes in front of their classmates, something than obese kids might feel very uncomfortable doing.

Sadly, this can cause or escalate bullying. And when a kid who might have self-esteem issues already is taunted and teased about their sized while they’re undressed, it can only make any lack of self-confidence and self-esteem even worse.

Fortunately, the teen years are an ideal time to find a good eating plan and lose weight. It’s much easier for an obese teenager to lose weight and get in shape than it is for an older person to do so.

4 effective bicep exercises

Video: A fitness professional goes through a workout that targets your biceps.

How Obesity Affects the Body

An obese person faces more health risks than a person of average weight. Being that overweight can cause issues like difficulty finding clothes that fit and even sometimes difficulty fitting into seats in places like airplanes and theaters. An obese person also is at much higher risk of things like heart attack and stroke.

An obese person is generally someone who is more than 40 to 75 pounds overweight. A person is considered morbidly obese if they weight 100 pounds or more what they should. Both of these conditions carry elevated health risks.

When you’re obese, your body is carrying more weight than it was designed to carry. This puts extra pressure on bones, muscles and joints. If you think about how much harder it is to carry a sack full of 50 pounds than it is to carry one with 5 pounds, it’s easier to see the burden put on your frame.

Because bones are strong and rugged, the extra weight takes its toll on the weakest part of your frame: the joints. Joints like hips, ankles and knees are at particular risk, because the weight of the entire upper body falls up on them.

Joints are naturally our bodies’ weakest spots because they’re the spots where the bones come together. The knees are at a particular risk in an obese person. The knee is a very complex joint that faces wear and tear with every single step we take.

When someone is obese, there’s much more pressure on the knees than normal. So each step puts twice, triple, sometimes four times the normal pressure or more on those joints. This causes the joints to wear out prematurely and is the reason heavy people often have trouble with their knees.

While hips joints and ankles are at this same risk, it’s the knees that generally carry the brunt of the weight and absorb the pressure, so this is where the injuries often appear first.

Aside from the extra weight on the frame and joints, all that extra weight puts pressure on the body’s systems, too. First of all, large amounts of body fat don’t just show up on the outside, but fatty tissue can form internally around organs.

And large amounts of body fat can actually crowd internal organs and put pressure against them. This pressure can cause the organs to start operating differently, and can interfere with normal bodily functions.

Because the extra weight requires more work of the body to keep going, often blood pressure is elevated and the heart has to work harder than normal. This can be a factor in heart disease, heart attacks and strokes.

Also, the extra weight generally means that the person’s diet is poor and too high in calories. This is a major cause of diabetes, which can damage blood vessels, eyes and nerves.

In some cases, people may lose their eyesight or a foot or leg to diabetes because of poor circulation. The good news is that once an obese person starts losing weight, diabetes and other conditions can be reversed.

Ab Stretch

Video: A personal trainer shows an effective stretch for your abdominal wall.

Simple Broccoli And Shrimp Recipe

Ingredients

2/3 cup chicken broth

1 tsp cornstarch

1 tbsp minced garlic, divided

3 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1 pound raw shrimp (21-25 per pound), peeled and deveined

1/4 tsp salt, divided

4 cups broccoli florets

2/3 cup water

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1 tsp lemon juice

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Lemon wedges

Directions

Combine chicken broth, cornstarch and half the garlic in a bowl; whisk until smooth.

Heat 1-1/2 tsp oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat.

Add remaining garlic and crushed red pepper. Cook while stirring for about 30 seconds. Add shrimp. Saut until shrimp are pink, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Add remaining oil to the pan. Add broccoli and a pinch of salt. Cook for 1 minute.

Add water, cover and cook until broccoli is crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with shrimp.

Add chicken stock mixture to the pan and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat, until thickened, 3-4 minutes.

Stir in basil and season with lemon juice and pepper. Add shrimp and broccoli; heat through. Serve with lemon wedges.

(Makes 4 Servings)

Heart Healthy Foods

When thinking about heart disease, we know that a change in diet is often needed. In today’s world of fast and convenient foods, people think more of saving time than saving calories and fat. If we can be just a little bit more conscious about what we are eating, then we can greatly reduce our risk of heart disease in the future.

One of the best ways we can change up our diet is by restricting our use of solid fats like butter, bacon, and gravies. These are known as Saturated and Trans fats. We often use these fats to help prepare the food we cook. Some great low-fat alternatives are olive oil, yogurt, and fresh fruit. Try to also be label-conscious and read the contents. Look for ingredients like polyunsaturated fats found in nuts and seeds and monounsaturated fats found in canola and olive oil. Be wary of the boxes labeled “reduced fat” though as they often still contain the bad fats.

Something else we can do is to choose meats that are lower in fat. Fish is always a healthy choice and most even contain the heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids our bodies need. These omega-3 fatty acids can actually reduce our levels of triglycerides. Lean cuts of pork, beef, chicken breast and turkey are also great choices. Beans and other legumes are a wonderful meat alternative, while still providing our bodies with needed protein. Soy and tofu have become popular in recent years also adding to the meat alternatives list.

The largest dietary change we can make is adding more fruits and vegetables. Many Americans do not even eat half of the servings the food guide recommends as it is not convenient. Fruits and vegetables are chock full of vitamins and minerals, the things we need each and every day.

Soluble fiber is often found in fruits and vegetables and is an excellent source for reducing our cholesterol levels. Fruits and vegetables have also been proven to help reduce heart disease. By snacking on these tasty treats, we are less likely to snack on something higher in fat.

It is easy to keep fruits and vegetables in the fridge ready for snacking as most just need a quick rinse in water and we can munch away. Sometimes even keeping vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower already cut up in the fridge or a bowl of fruit on the counter makes it easier for us to grab and go if we are in a rush.

Whole grains, as found in bread and pasta, are another great dietary change we can make to help our heart. Choosing 100whole wheat breads and pastas gives us the nutrients we need that we cannot get from other foods. We also need to be aware of our salt intake. Salt is a huge heart enemy resulting in higher cholesterol levels. Processed foods often have added salt, so by choosing fresher foods, we are cutting our salt intake.

By adding more of these foods to our diets on a daily basis, not only are we reducing our risk of heart disease, but an added side effect is weight loss!

Stretch for your hamstrings

Video: A trainer demonstrates an easy stretch you can do for your hamstrings.