Tag: exercises

Relaxation Exercises After Heart Surgery

23 September, 2010 (16:43) | Heart Diseases | By: Health news

A research was carried in 1960s by Harvard cardiologist, Dr Herbert Benson, which states that the physiological changes can be brought about by implementing some relaxation techniques, such as muscle relaxation, exercises, deep breathing and yoga. This sort of relaxation techniques are often a part of therapy programs and angina management programs. It is not always possible to have access to such programs, if it is hard to get any program, you can learn these techniques yourself as they are easy to learn and make use of them to keep yourself calm and relaxed after a heart surgery. Some of the well known muscle relaxing and tensing techniques and methods are given below for your convenience:

  • Find any quiet corner in your home, where no one will disturb you. Stay there for about ten minutes undisturbed. Loosen any tight clothing, remove your shoes and better to hook off your phone.
  • Now lie down or simply sit at ease. You can use cushions to support your back in order to relieve any pains or aches. If you close your eyes softly, you will far better and relaxed.
  • Next thing is to relax your muscles. Starting from feet, going up to rest of your body and pay special attention those areas or muscles which you think are under stress. Relax each group of muscles in the same way.
  • Don’t get distract by your unwanted thoughts. Simply observe them and let them go like clouds in the sky. No need to ponder over them.
  • Starting from your toes, clench them, do the same with your thighs, ankles, abdomen, arms, shoulders and chest. Screw up your face and scalp and let them relax for a while in a quiet corner.
  • Spare some time to focus on your breathing. Breathe from your abdomen instead of your chest. Place your hand on your abdomen while breathing to check whether you are breathing from abdomen or not. When you inhale it will expand and relax when exhale.
  • After getting a state of being relaxed, stay there for few more moments. Then get up slowly and you are ready to do your daily chores.
  • The important thing is to get familiar with the situations when you feel like tense, only in that way you will be able to tempt the relaxation response quite swiftly. Observe the tense moments carefully and make it a habit to the tense moments of your life, like tapping your fingers or foot, hunching your shoulders, clenching your teeth and frowning etc. only in this way you can make a conscious effort to stay relax.

    Relaxation is by no means sitting idle in the house and doing nothing. Physical activities are as important as like any other techniques to keep your heart healthy and in best working environment. Relaxation helps to lower the blood pressure and is therefore important for heart and its functions. Always look for different techniques and exercises that best suit you to relive your tensions.

    Three Simple Exercises

    10 September, 2010 (23:01) | Back Pain | By: Health news

    If you are suffering from lower back pain, all you need is exercises to help strengthen your back muscles and make it much stronger. These exercises should not be rushed, because it will not do your back any good, therefore you should take your time while practicing the exercises. You should stop if you feel uncomfortable when doing any of the exercises and let your back relax for a bit. Before doing these exercises try to stretch your back.
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    Exercise One – Lie on the floor and position your lower back pressed against the floor. Cross your arms and put them onto your chest. Now lift your head and tuck it into your chest, you should make sure that your back is still flat against the floor. Try tightening the muscles in your abdomen while your head and shoulders are lifted off the floor. You can hold this position for ten to fifteen seconds or until you feel uncomfortable. Now relax and repeat this exercise another four times. You can continue with the length of time you are holding the position or you can gradually increase the length of time you are holding the position for, and also gradually increase the number of repetitions.

    Exercise Two – You start by lying on your back on your bed, then gently bend one knee and slowly start to move this towards your chest. Ensure that while you are doing this, you are pressing your lower back against the mattress. Try to hold this position until you start to feel it becoming uncomfortable. Now relax and lie down again, repeat this exercise with your other knee. As soon as you are through with one repetition, you should repeat the same thing on both knees another four times. Once you get more experienced you can increase the number of sets that you do.

    Exercise Three – Lie down on your back and position your arms relaxed by lying down beside your sides. Try to keep your knees flat on the bed or floor and bend your knees. Your lower back should be pressed firmly against the floor and you will observe that your hips should start to rise. Make sure you hold this position for ten seconds and then relax. Repeat the exercise several times; gradually increase the length of time you hold the position for, so that eventually you are holding for one minute.

    There are techniques to permanently cure your lower back pain. These techniques should be methods of physical and mental re-education to reduce habitual and unnecessary tension in all your activity through awareness of balance, posture and movement. It should also show you how to identify the cause of your pain.

    Key Exercises For Lower Back Pain

    7 July, 2010 (23:05) | Back Pain | By: Health news

    The aim of these exercises is to help you overcome back discomfort and help in the prevention of back pain. Strong backs do not get injured nearly as often as weaker backs. Stretching alone will not help you if your back is not strong so it is important to do regular exercises for lower back pain.

    If you purchase some weights all of these exercises can be done in the comfort of your own home. It is important that before you undertake any exercise programme however, that you get cleared by your doctor particularly if you suffer from chronic back pain or have recently undergone surgery. These exercises are aimed at making the spine stable and they will make it stronger if done regularly; generally it is recommended that you try to work out at least 3 times per week.

    Start with 15 reps at a time for each exercise; you can build up the number of sets as you become stronger and more stable. When doing these exercises, in order to activate the transverse abdominal muscles you need to pull in your belly button to the spine. People have a tendency to distend or push out the belly button when they exert force, this has an adverse reaction to core stability, so remember pull in the belly button, suck in those abs and hold but don’t forget to breathe!

    OK for the first exercise lie on the ground, keeping the pelvis relaxed, but exaggerating the curve in the lower back by bringing the belly up towards the ceiling, making the contraction nice and hard by exaggerating the curve however the opposite movement is where the exercise comes in to play. Tilt your pelvis back towards your head as you suck your belly button down towards your spine, then tilt back towards your knees and then back towards your head. Repeat. This is the key exercise to start with if you have an acute episode of back pain but only work to your pain tolerance. This exercise aims to increase the range of motion and also by bringing the pelvis back it will help to relax the muscles by taking the pressure off the discs.

    To take this exercise to the next level, as before make the contraction nice and hard by exaggerating the curve in the back, lift the pelvis off the ground towards the ceiling into the bridge position, supporting through your shoulders. When you are in this position it is important to keep your body nice and hard by contracting your abdominal muscles and your pelvic floor muscles as you move into the plank position by kicking the right leg straight out,the knee must be in the same plane as the knee of the balancing leg. Keep your stomach tight and avoid twisting or slouching. Maintain the plank for ten seconds keeping nice and strong then bring the extended leg back down, alternate and extend the other leg straight out. By taking the balance point away the small muscles of the lower back will have to contract hard in an effort to stabilise the spine.

    Next, lying on the ground, engaging the core, arms outstretched to the side, palms up, lift both feet off the ground bending the knees at a 90 degree angle to the hips, keeping the core still and the knees and heels together, rotate first to the left side and then to the right. The idea is to keep your shoulders down and your head still looking straight up all the time.

    To progress from this exercise, in a similar position, extend your knees away from your chest a little further and continue to rotate from side to side maintaining your core stability.

    Now still lying flat on your back in the starting position, engaging the core, lift your head up off the ground as you extend your left hand diagonally to the right leg as that leg comes high off the ground to meet the hand, then head, hand and leg go back down to the starting position, then alternate opposite hand with opposite leg again lifting the head off the ground as the cross extension occurs. Alternate, repeat.

    For the next exercise again in the starting position, lift the left leg high off the ground towards your chest assisting with your arms to pull all the way as you lift your head off the ground to meet your knee. Alternating right leg, left leg, this exercise will stretch out your hamstrings and lower back.

    OK time to get up. Standing before a low bench or table if you are doing these exercises at home, gently squat by bending the knees keeping the head and chest up, rotate, extend arm and reach across to the opposite side of the bench and back up to the standing position, then squat, rotate and reach with the opposite arm to the opposite side of the bench. It is really important that we do not hunch over for this exercise, make sure to bend the knees but keep the body upright in the extension.

    Next getting a dumbbell approx 8-10lbs in weight, standing upright, feet close together, dumbbell in left hand, elbow fully bent, tilt body down to the same side as the one you are holding the weight, then back up extending arm straight up above the head. Do not push the arm over the head or tilt to the opposite side; arm comes up and straight next to the head. Do 15 reps and then alternate weight to other side and repeat.

    When using weights for some of the exercises,if it is too easy with the chosen weight, increase the weight 5lbs at a time until you get to the point that it is challenging on the last rep.

    Next, holding weight in both hands above the head for the next exercise, tilt from side to side, keeping core engaged and head central to arms. Head moves with the tilt i.e. don’t let your arm fall on to your head. Head must be in the middle as you move from left to right. One rep equals left to right tilt.

    For the next exercise holding a load in one hand only, core engaged, tilt again from left to right, you don’t need a load in each hand for this exercise, so tilt down to one side, back up and over to the other side, keep chest up and take your time. The aim of this exercise is to work your quadratus lumborum and your obliques. The QL connects the pelvis to the spine and it is a common source of lower back pain. The aim of this exercise is to make this area of the back nice and stable.

    Finally an exercise for posture that you can do in the sitting position, sitting nice and tall, suck your belly button in, posture erect, bring your head back and down almost creating a double chin, roll your arms back, keep your shoulders down and pinch your shoulder blades together, hold for one minute. This exercise can be done during the day for one minute every half hour as part of your daily routine at the office or home.

    By practising these general exercises over a period of time you will build up the strength necessary to live a normal life free of back pain. The key is though to focus on the core abdominal muscles as much as possible and get used to thinking about them and activating them before you go about your regular activities like gardening of vacuuming or lifting the children.

    Weight Loss Tips

    27 April, 2010 (14:55) | Weight Loss | By: Health news

    In today’s world, almost everywhere you look people are looking for weight loss tips. Weight loss has become the primary objective of those who are going to the gym. They want to lose weight and they want it NOW. Luckily, there are some weight loss tips that will make this process a great deal easier, ensuring that you can succeed without feeling like you’re putting your body through torture.

  • Calorie Intake
  • The first couple quick weight loss tips are number one, be sure that your calorie intake is not too extreme. Think about it. Put yourself on a starvation diet and you are just asking for a rebound binge. Sure, you may have great will power and will be able to withhold for a few days, but you will soon cave and when you do, chances are you’ll eat a vast quantity of food in response to starving for so long.

    If your caloric intake is too low to begin then where will you go when you hit a plateau? For example, a male will be far more successful starting with 2800 calories and dropping 200 calories every 2 weeks as he evaluates his progress instead of starting at 2000 calories and only having one direction to go – starvation which will eventually turn off his metabolism and stall his weight loss progress.

  • Gradual Progression
  • Secondly, keep in mind current “nutrition level.” Do you really need a bodybuilder pre-contest diet or do you just need to start with the basics? If you begin with a meal plan that is too extreme then you will not be able to follow it and regardless of how well the diet is designed, if you aren’t able to stick with it, it isn’t going to work very well. My favorite line of mine is, “The best diet that works is the one that you follow.” Adopting a more gradual nutrition approach, just like your training, would help with your adherence levels, which would then translate to you being better able to maintain it. One of the best weight loss tips I gave a client who was eating 2 double cheese burgers a day was to start eating one double cheese burger! Why didn’t I recommend he eat a steamed chicken breast instead since that is the superior choice? The steamed chicken breast, obviously the mores superior choice would be too much of a change and not create adherence and eventually failure.

  • Celebrate With a 10% Meal
  • Another few fast weight loss tips are that you should always be incorporate a “victory meal” to reflect your accomplishment and progress. If you have gone a few weeks without any cheat meals and are dropping consistently then kick back and have a beer or do something that is “rewarding” – just don’t get too carried away and don’t get back on track. You won’t sabotage weeks of dieting with one “victory meal” as long as you don’t adopt a mindset that this celebration represents an “ending.” The key is to not get carried away and to use this as a reward, refocus and get ready for another 4-8 weeks of hard training and dieting. Consider a “celebration meal” every few weeks and then get back on track!

  • Smart Exercise Program
  • Next up, when selecting the exercise program you’ll go on, again, be sure not to choose something that’s overly extreme. Too much cardio can actually hinder your results, so you’ll want to avoid that as much as possible. Three to four sessions a week along with a properly planned out diet should be plenty to get you seeing results. If you are having to do hours a day in order to just lose a pound, something else is off with either your diet (most likely) or your weight training program.

  • Clear The Clutter
  • Finally, the last quick weight loss tip to keep in mind is that before starting any diet program, you should rid the house of any foods that could be problematic. If the food is not readily available, it makes it sort of hard to eat it. Consider you home a “haven” and that it’s one thing to have slip ups occur outside of your home but not inside of your home where you can control what is coming in and out. Sabotaging your own weight loss success, in your own home, is embarrassing.

    By clearing yourself of the problem foods before you start, you overcome a huge obstacle already.

    Replace these ‘bad’ foods with ones that are much healthier and will still taste good, so when you do get hungry, they are what you reach for rather than the old foods which caused your weight gain in the first place.

    Exercises For Sciatica

    8 April, 2010 (20:17) | Back Pain | By: Health news

    Sciatica is due to a nerve root problem in the lower back area, which in effect causes slight to severe discomfort in the right or left leg. Low back trouble happens in folks from ages thirty to 50 years old. The sciatic nerve starts in the backbone and is in charge of the movement of the muscles in the back of the knee and the lower leg.

    Sciatica occurs when this nerve experiences pressure or damage. There are ways to reduce the pain it leads to and one is to do exercises for sciatica. Sure, bed rest is good, but the regular movement that exercises will give your muscles will strengthen them and help you fight the agony the sciatica causes.

    Sciatica exercises involve generally stretching and buttressing that target the lumbar region muscles. Stretches ensure that the muscles experiencing the pain are released from their tenseness. They make your muscles more flexible. Strengthening your muscles will make sure that you’re giving your back its much wanted adequate support.

    One can perform lumbar region stretches. To do this, you want to lie on your stomach and extend the muscles of your back, and repeat the whole exercise for ten times. Core strengthening exercises can also help in reducing the pain of sciatica. The body’s core- the stomach, pelvis, and back muscles-is one’s center of gravity.

    Doing so will improve your posture, which is explicitly related to the sciatica. To feel the maximum effect of core reinforcing as your low back stiffness exercise, you have to do it at least three times a week. Hamstring exercises which involve the three posterior thigh muscles also reduce the pain you’re feeling in the leg by stretching the muscles and making them limber.

    Yoga is also a good way to get exercises for sciatica, but if you have certain medical conditions, yoga isn’t for you. If you seek this sort of sciatica exercise, make efforts to consult with experts first before attempting.

    A great way to treating sciatica is continuous sciatica exercise specifically targeting the areas that has to be strengthened and stretched, to build the muscles that cause low back stiffness.

    The movement that you require will depend on the scale of agony you’re experiencing, so if it is really intense, make sure to check in with a pro therapist, to be certain you are getting the right sort of treatment.