STRONG InCHRIST

Want a better work-out? Then don’t stretch beforehand, some experts say.

Many people take it for granted that they should start their exercise routines with some stretching on the spot, perhaps hoping it will loosen them up for their work-out. Most fitness experts now agree this kind of static stretching before exercise is not just counter-productive, but potentially harmful.

Traditional stretches, like when people bend over to touch their toes or stretch their legs on a fence, often cause the muscles to tighten rather than relax — exactly the opposite of what is needed for physical activity.

Experts say it is like extending a rubber band to its limit. When people stretch to the maximum, they are more likely to pull a muscle.

“We have developed this idea of static stretching at exactly the wrong time,” said Kieran O’Sullivan, an exercise expert at the University of Limerick in Ireland, who has studied various types of stretching and their impact on athletes.

When you stretch before exercising, your body may think it’s at risk of being overstretched. It compensates by contracting and becoming more tense. That means you aren’t able to move as fast or as freely, making you more likely to get hurt.

O’Sullivan said stretching helps with flexibility, but people should only do it when they aren’t about to exercise, like after a workout, or at the end of the day.

“It’s like weight training to become stronger,” he said. “You wouldn’t do a weight session right before you exercise, and you shouldn’t stretch right before either.”

In the last few years, several studies have found static stretching before playing a sport makes you slower and weaker.

And when experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention combed through more than 100 papers looking at stretching studies, they found people who stretched before exercise were no less likely to suffer injuries such as a pulled muscle, which the increased flexibility from stretching is supposed to prevent.

Instead of stretching, many experts recommend warming up with a light jog or sport-specific exercise, like kicking for football or a few serves for tennis. That type of light movement increases the heart rate and blood flow to the muscles, warming up the body temperature.

“This allows you to approach your full range of motion, but in a very controlled way,” said Dr. Anders Cohen, chief of neurosurgery and spine surgery at the Brooklyn Hospital Center and former physician for the U.S. Tennis Open. Cohen said elite athletes in all sports are increasingly ditching static stretching and using other warm-up techniques instead.

But the message has yet to trickle down to legions of joggers and recreational athletes. “This is classic, old-school stretching that has been done for generations,” Cohen said. “It’s going to be very hard to convince people to start doing something different.”

By MARIA CHENG, read entire article source.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


Peace & Blessings.

Do you ever think about why disease conditions are rising at an alarming rate and why children are getting disorders like cancer, diabetes, ADD, asthma and many others at younger and younger ages?

So what is the cause, could it be that the cause for every disease is similar? Let’s take a closer look.
There are several factors and many of these factors are in your hands, you can control them.

Disease – is any abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, or distress to the person affected.

* Heart Disease is the leading cause of death in America
National Center for Health Statistics
* Arthritis incidence expected to rise 40% as “Baby Boomers” age
Centers for Disease Control
* Autoimmune Diseases affect 1 out of 5 people in U.S.A. American Autoimmune Related Disease Association
* Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in U.S.A.
National Center for Health Statistics
* Multiple Sclerosis affects over 300,000 Americans
National MS Society
* Pharmaceutical Drugs account for 100,000 deaths and $136 billion in medical costs each year in U.S.A.
Time Magazine, January 15, 2001

Too many people are relying on their doctor to fix them, too many people are waiting for a symptom before they are concerned about it.
There are many people out there who do not exercise either due to motivational problems or ignorance of what is actually required in terms of time invested to achieve meaningful results. They rationalize for this by making excuses about not having enough time or not being able to afford a gym membership or exercise equipment.
This simply is not true.
The amount of training time necessary to dramatically improve ones physical condition is far less than what most people have been led to believe; at the most one hour to an hour and a half per week, and in many cases considerably less. There are few people, if any, who can not schedule 30 to 90 minutes of their time each week for something so important.

Can’t afford it?
Wrong. You can’t afford not to exercise. A mini trampoline is an excellent way to get your cells moving!
Who is paying the price for being sick?
You are, your family is, your friends, your co-workers, your neighbors and every other person you can think of.

Written by: Disease Education
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Peace & Blessings.

MELT AWAY FAT WITH MUSCLE- Your metabolism is a direct reflection of your muscle mass to fat mass ratio. A good resistance training routine will supercharge your metabolism in just 90 minutes a week. Simply do 3, 30 minute sessions a week. Cardio is great for over all health and burns fat while you are doing it, but when you do resistance training you build muscle and muscle burns calories even at rest, hence supercharging your metabolism.

BE SMART, WORK YOUR HEART – There are many conflicting opinions on cardio vascular exercise and a study to back up each of them. Some say do very short, very intense interval training and others endorse going slower but for a longer time period. I know people that get great results doing both. I think the best form of cardio is the form you will do on a consistent basis. Getting your heart rate into the fat burning zone is important and the best way to judge this is that you are exercising hard enough that you can barely carry on a conversation, in other words you can speak but just barely but not so hard that you are gasping for air in order to finish a sentence.

THE POWER OF FLEXIBILITY – Keeping your muscles flexible is very important especially as you age. Today with yoga, Pilates, etc there are many fun ways to incorporate this into your fitness routine both at home and in the gym.

YOU ARE YOUR BEST INVESTMENT – Everyone today is worried about their investment portfolios, their income, their home, business’s, jobs and tend to over look their greatest asset…. themselves. You can have the most incredible God-given talents, abilities and skills and the best education money can buy and still fall flat on your face, it happens every day. Action not assets is the key to an extraordinary life and by not taking care of yourself you are minimizing your greatest asset and your ability to take action. It is difficult to take action when you are exhausted. Also keep in mind that the same blood that flows through your body flows through your brain. Do you think you will be more aware and alert if the blood flowing through your brain is fat laden or if it is rich in oxygen and nutrients? Take care of your greatest asset by following some of these simple tips…

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Peace & Blessings.