Be Healthy and Relax

Archive for the ‘Exercises’ Category

Isometric Exercises are a fantastic way to work muscles while in a stationary position. It does not need increased oxygen production because it is done only for a few seconds, which involves static contraction of muscles. It doesn’t require extreme joint rotation and is the best for those who have muscle problems, heart problems or various health problems regarding health.

Here are some Isometric Exercises that Build Strength and Size:

Isometric bicep exercise

This exercise can be easily performed while at work as you’ll only need to be seated by your desk.

Start with your hands underneath your desk with your palms up. Keep your elbows tight and tucked in against your sides. Now push upwards with your palms and hold for 10 seconds or a count of 10. You can repeat this exercise 2 to 3 times.

Isometric push up exercise

Acquire the regular push-up position, with your arms fully extended, and then lower yourself gradually to about the halfway position. Now be in this position for 10 seconds or to a count of 10. Don’t hold your breath, always remember to breathe. Repeat this exercise two or three times.

The Plank

This exercise is good for abdominal improvement. Lie down flat on the floor. Gradually raise the body so you are resting on your toes and forearms. Keep the back flat and the abdominal muscles tight.

• Hold the position for 10-30 seconds.
• Repeat the exercise 3 times.

Isometric Calf exercise

Stand close to a wall on one foot and touch the wall lightly for balance, if necessary, but do not let yourself to rest against the wall.

• Rise up onto your toes.
• Hold the position for 10-30 seconds.
• Change feet and repeat the exercise for the other calf.
• Repeat the exercise 3 times on both calves

Isometric Shoulder exercise

Stand with the feet shoulder-width apart and the knees slightly bent. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand and lift the weight out towards your side until it is at shoulder length and your arm is parallel to the ground.

• Hold the weight for 10-30 seconds in this position.
• Repeat the exercise 3 times.

One can do these isometric exercises without the aid of any equipment, this is a big plus point for them. These simple, yet effective exercises have been proven to increase strength by up to 5% per week when performed correctly and regularly.

“If finding time to workout seemed difficult enough throughout the day, how could I ever think working out in the morning would be easy?!”

This was the thought that ran through my head over and over after I had many of my athletic friends hound me to workout with them in the morning. As being a person that never preferred waking up early unnecessarily (and thinking that exercising could take a back seat until later in the day), this wasn’t an idea that I really wanted to wrap myself around. I could sure wrap myself around pillows and a nice large bed at an early hour, but hitting the asphalt outside didn’t sound quite appealing.

For years I have told myself I would never be the type to wait for the crack of sunlight so I could rush outside and take in the sweet smell of the morning dew. Sure I loved the smell and weather of the morning out here in San Diego, I didn’t want to experience the turmoil that came along with it. When waking early in the morning, the only thing that I could dream for was a steaming brew of coffee; how would I be able to replace this with a love to run and exercise? After a seemingly endless amount of attempts by my buddies to get me out in the morning, I did it.

After dragging my feet as my friends, almost forcefully, pulled me from my warm house and out onto the cold streets, I felt very relieved, but I just didn’t want to admit it. Fessing up and telling them that this workout thing actually felt refreshing would feel like defeat for me! Sure, the workouts in the morning felt pretty sluggish for the first few minutes, but my body eventually came around and everything started functioning normally, and almost better at times. As I continued with these morning routines, I stumbled upon various benefits that came along with it. Check out my 10 top reasons why I continue to join those early birds almost each and every morning…

1. Spend some energy in the morning, but gain a whole bunch throughout the day. I feel a major drop in energy during the days that I don’t workout in the morning. I know it sounds crazy to think that using the little amount of energy you have in the morning will pay you back in ten-fold later in the day, but believe it!
2. You’ll eat less and lose more. Early working out will help keep your appetite down while your body also speeds its metabolism rate. Once again, it sounds like this idea wouldn’t work, but it does. You’ll definitely want to refuel after a workout, but you won’t get the urges to snack like you once had.
3. The body keeps working after you’ve stopped. Long after you’ve taken your shower and started the next part of your day, your body keeps on burning calories. Depending on the intensity of your workout, the body could keep working calories off for 24 hours! This is definitely a sweet deal anyone can’t afford to pass up.
4. Better sleep with less hours. Before, I felt that when I would get less than seven hours of sleep, my body would stay groggy from the beginning of the day and throughout. As I began routinely exercising, I began sacrificing an extra hour of sleep, but it wouldn’t affect me. In fact, the mixture of losing a bit of sleep in exchange for a good workout only made those hours of sleep that much better and beneficial.
5. No more being cranky! Exercising is notorious for clearing the mind and setting yourself in the right direction. Why not start each and every day this way?? With a good run or workout in the morning, everything else in the day will becoming much easier to deal with. Whatever you’ve dreaded at work or in school will become almost meaningless because you can see through it to much better things. You’ll now wonder why that cranky lady at work (we’ll just call her Karen) has never picked up morning exercising!
6. It gives me a normal routine. I set my time to just about the same time each and every day. With this method I have given myself something to look forward to and another accomplishment to defeat. This makes getting out of the house so much easier, almost to the point of not even thinking what you’re doing. It’s been scary at times when I wake up a minute before my alarm clock. It almost seems like my body and mind are just waiting to jump out of bed, dying to hit the road!
7. Set those clothes out. Before any morning workout, I set what I’ll need out before I go to bed. I believe this instills in your mind a commitment to yourself that you will head out and exercise. At times this has been the only thing that kept me from hitting the snooze button. I almost feel guilty knowing that I’ve taken the effort to gather my clothes if they are not going to be used.
8. The commitment will spread. If you have trouble making deadlines at work or in your personal life, a simple daily morning exercise might be a good trainer for you. Since you’ll be sticking to roughly the same time each morning (and not hitting the snooze button for extra time), you’ll see that making those once dreadful appointments and meeting times won’t be so bad.
9. No one’s on your case in the morning! At this early time you better not be getting calls left and right from people that want to take up your time. The early morning time is one of the fews parts of the days that I feel free from distractions of others. Many times, escaping the pressures of work for an hour at lunch feels nearly impossible. If it’s not work, it is the ranting of the kids or other people wanting to hang out with you. Get it done in the morning and feel free for the rest of the day!
10. It just feels great! This might not be simple to say when first starting out, but once in the routine, you’ll love it. The weather is awesome in the morning, there always seems to be a fresh scent in the air, the birds are normally the only sound around, and you’ll be the only one out there! There’s not much more to love other than that.

Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think!

What a week guys, what a week. It has been about a week since my last post, but tons have happened over here in San Diego. Thousands of lives have been changed forever from the tragic fires all over the county, and Matt and I have been right in the middle. Luckily, both of our houses and communities were saved, but we were threatened throughout most of the week with evacuations as the fire was creeping in only miles away. Check out Matt’s post from the other day about it all. There’s also a ton of incredible pictures he took from some of our nearby communities. Since the fires began, along with the endless reports of people’s homes being destroyed, the local news has shown a great fear for breathing the air outside. Throughout most of last week the dense smoke somehow avoided my neighborhood, but later rolled in as the winds shifted. The reports have said that even though sometimes the smoke isn’t fully visible, the ash and soot is still flying around and being inhaled by us all. I guess whatever goes up must come down, right?

Lately, I have been feeling the urge to begin running and cycling on a better schedule. (This past month has been insane and my routines have been all thrown off.) I have been seeing quite a number of people walking and running outside, like normal in my neighborhood. After seeing this, and having not smell smoke for the past few days, I figured some exercise outdoors wouldn’t be such a bad idea. My buddy, Jason and I went on a 20 mile bike ride on Saturday and felt great throughout. Luckily, I have faired well after the fact, but Jason, my girlfriend, and a few other friends that have done the same, have not shaped up so well. They have all complained about sore throats and an overall gross feeling.

Some of us are more sensitive than others when it comes to air quality, I guess. I am not sure about my friends, but many times people with underlying respiratory diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, or emphysema can be easily affected. Sometimes we do not know of these diseases until we experience a problem from a situation such as this. There are some ways to more safely exercise in such conditions, if need be. This can also be used in cities with constant poor air quality. Here are a few tips:

• If you have any indoor location to workout, try and complete it there.
• Workout early in the morning or later on at night. This is typically when the wind will die down so not so much air pollution will be kicked around.
• Try to avoid any heavily trafficked roads where car smog can affect you.
• If you can exercise at a pace where you’ll only need to breathe through your nose, do it.
• Avoid any kind of smoke you see: cigarette or wildfire!
• Ask your doctor if your body is even capable of exerting itself in such a demanding exercise.
• STOP working out if you begin to cough or have any struggle breathing.

The moral of the story: No one should really be out there exercising in conditions when they know there is a possibility of polluted air entering the lungs. Use common sense before you take that step out of the door to start your workout. Each person will be affected differently in such conditions, but even if it isn’t immediate, even the most healthy person will experience some long-term effect if done on a routine basis. Be smart out there!

P.S.: I really feel bad for the health-nuts that live in Los Angeles!