Health and Fitness

The healthy approach to weight loss involves daily workouts, adequate diet and proper sleep. There is no role of over enthusiastic dieting and crash exercise. Mother Nature has so created our body that it can not withstand fast transformations.

Suppose, you are living a really sedentary lifestyle and someday you are requested to run 100 meters sprint. You will injure yourself, if you do not break any leg bones. You will be demoralized and it will put your level of fitness further back.

Dieting also demands slow and steady reduction in the amount you eat. The diet you consume calories will supply the required energy when you are doing any exercise schedule. If you starve, your performance in the work out program will also suffer.

Lifestyle modification

Simple modifications in your lifestyle will make a huge difference. Just follow these simple steps –

If you have a pet, take him outside for regular walking.

Add 30 minutes extra to your domestic work like gardening, dusting, cleaning etc.

Engage in any hobby that demands outdoor activity like hiking.

If travelling for a short distance like to the shop for a paper, use your feet.

If you can park your car at a distance from your destination. Take a quick walk from there.

Avoid sending e-mails to office colleagues. Go and personally meet him with a smile. Your PR (Personal Relations) will go up.

Runners Stitch What causes it? 

Are you an executive or living a sedentary life? Have you participated in sports activities with your office colleagues and felt pain over the upper abdomen?

You had a ‘stitch’.

Let’s see what stitch is all about. Classically, stitch is felt over the right upper abdomen. Sometimes it may also happen in the left upper abdomen. Or it may radiate to your back and limbs. Characteristically, stitch occurs to the novice person who takes part in exhaustive sports activities.

The stitch is caused due to insufficient blood supply to the main muscle of respiration – the diaphragm. During each inspiration, the diaphragm moves downwards and during each expiration it goes back upwards. Most of the abdominal organs are supported from the ligamental attachment from the lower surface of diaphragm. When running or doing any sort of exercise, the frequency of respiration increases.

The continuous to and fro movement causes the diaphragm to be fatigued.  Moreover, when we do exercise, there is an increased need for oxygen and other nutrients to our muscles.

If the oxygen supply to the diaphragm is less, it induces the nociceptors (pain receptors) present in the diaphragm – the stitch occurs. Stitches are most commonly felt over the right upper side due to the presence of the liver – the heaviest of all organs.

How Can you cure/relieve stitch?

You must bend over and try to touch your toes and put firm pressure over the pain areas. This will reduce the stitch. You must stop doing all activities while you feel any sort of pain as well.

It is better to ‘warm up’ your muscles before doing any kind of exercise.

Fast and Slow twitch muscle fibres 

Muscles are made of two types of fiber, these are slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibres.

The ratio of these muscle fibers is 50:50, muscles are made up of up to 100,000 different fibres.

The number of fibres in each of each muscle gets determined when the sperm gets fertilized in the womb in other words it is genetically determined. 

Activities like running and weight lifting would determine which particular type of muscle fiber gets developed.

Fast Twitch Muscles

Fast twitch muscle fibers work faster than the slow twitch muscle fibers (surprising). Fast twitch muscles emit more power, but the  drawback of this kind of muscle fiber is that it cannot emit energy for long periods of time.

Fast twitch muscles are used in  anaerobic activities such as sprint running and body building. Fast twitch muscles receive signals from the brain at a much faster rate and thus the action of these muscles fiber is faster. Fast twitch muscles remain in contraction for a very low period of time before they need to rest or fail.

Slow Twitch Muscles

Slow Twitch muscle fibers work slower. These kinds of muscle fibers are termed as type1 muscle fibers, and can withstand energy for longer periods of time. Slow twitch muscle fiber do not emit the same force in comparison with fast twitch muscles. Slow twitching muscles are useful for aerobic activities such as long distance running, swimming, biking and activities that need stamina. Slow twitch muscles are a kind of backup for the fast twitch muscles. The higher the repetition of the work the more the energy is expelled by the muscle.

Burn Fat by walking

When people think of losing weight through cardio exercise they usually think of running, the main problem with running or jogging as many people call it is its high impact and put lots of strain on the joints. The other problem with running is very few people can keep it up for very long when returning to exercise they run for about ten minutes then collapse, this doesn’t help them burn very much if any fat.

So what you need to do when your just starting your new exercise program is walk at a steady pace while pulling your belly in for 30-45 minutes 3 or 4 times a week and then you’ll burn more fat, as your cardiovascular fitness improves you’ll be able to start running.

Try and walk on gravel or sand because that will use your muscles more and burn more calories.