Health Tips

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Archive for the ‘backache’ category

Swimming : A cardiovascular Workout, and what are its benefits

July 16th, 2010

Swimming, a low aerobic exercise is a very good form of exercise and is suitable for every age group. Swimming is considered to be a healthy and relaxing activity. It helps in toning up your muscles. It simultaneously helps to improve cardiovascular system, muscular strength, flexibility, posture and endurance. The cardiovascular system in particular benefits because swimming improves your body’s use of oxygen without overworking your heart. While swimming, you continuously moving your arms and legs thus upper and lower body strength is improve. About 30 to 60 minutes of exercise at least three days per week is needed.

Health Benefits of Swimming

- It helps to maintain the blood pressure and cholesterol of the body.
- Risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes is decreased.
- Flexibility of the body is increased.
- Swimming after breast surgery is an excellent means of exercising all the major muscle groups.
- Swimming is good for asthma patients.
- Swimming can help pregnant women strengthen their abdominal and shoulder muscles because they are most affected while carrying a baby.
- Being a full body workout, it is an excellent calorie burner and hence good for people craving for weight loss.
- Normalize breathing, cooling mind and stimulating circulation.
- It increases hunger.
- It strengthens ab and back muscles.
- A stronger heart and enhanced physique or figure.
- It improves the capacity and endurance.
- Walking and jogging in water have similar benefits to walking and jogging on land but with lesser injuries.
- Lap swimming can be done using different strokes and is an option for fitness exercise.
- Slow movements are done and held for a period of time after warm up and after each workout.

Bacteria, germs and other disease-causing microorganisms found in ocean water, lakes and chlorinated pools so take precautions while swimming.

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Posted in Aerobics, Asthma, Blood Sugar, Cancer, Diabetes, Diet, Exercise, Swimming, abdomen, backache, benefits, health

Tags: Activity Aerobic Backstroke benefits Body Cardio Cardiovascular Exercise Healthy Muscles Pleasant Relaxing Swimming Toning water Workout

Relaxation Exercises : Progressive Relaxation

July 8th, 2010

Progressive relaxation will help to relax the entire body. It will help you to create a mental image of this relaxed state that can be recreated instantly whenever it is needed.
This exercise can be done while lying in bed, face up and arms at your sides.
- Make fists with both hands. Clench your fingers although not so tightly as to be uncomfortable. Your wrists should feel tight and even in the forearms. Hold this tension for few seconds and then relax. You will feel heaviness and limp in your hands.
- Like in the previous example, make your fists tensed again, such that the muscles start quivering. Now relax. This should make your hands feel more warm and heavy, and this would extend to your lower arms.
- Now concentrate on your upper arms. Focus on your biceps, making them tense, and your hands should remain relaxed and heavy. Quivering will start, and then relax again. Now do this again, tense, hold and then relax.
- Now that you have a hang of this, this process of tensing, hold, relaxing should be done for as many muscle groups as possible. Once you are done with your arms, do the same for stomach, buttocks, thighs, calves, feet, chest, shoulders, neck, jaw and eyes.
- Once you have started doing this a couple of times, one of the prime advantages you will learn from this is being able to get relaxed. Without doing much of these relaxing, you will be able to easily distinguish between muscles that are tensed or relaxed, and be able to focus on the tensed muscles.

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Posted in Exercise, Hot water therapy, backache, cure, health, hot

Tags: Action Chronic tension Exercises hot Hot water Hot water therapy Injury Muscle Muscles Nerves pain Progressive Relaxation Therapy Treatment water

Helpful Hints for avoiding problems…

July 7th, 2010

Prevention is better than cure. People get careless when their back is not hurting and they start doing all the things that they should not do to avoid back ache.
Precautions that you should take are :
- Your neck is best ruined when you hold the phone between your head and shoulders to avoid using your hands. Use a mouthpiece or else get a speaker phone to avoid this situation.
- People who say that in order to lift something, always bend your knees and crouch down to pick up something from floor level are not wrong. You should avoid leaning over from the waist to grab it. It creates a stress on the lower vertebrae.
- Driving for a longer time and in a wrong posture can create bad back ache. Take frequent breaks to get out and stretch. Keep your knees elevated and for that keep your seat as far forward. Keep doing neck exercises and shoulder lifts while you drive.
- Do not continue sitting in the same posture for longer periods. Take breaks to exercise and stretch your neck and upper back. Place a stool to elevate your knees and feel comfortable. You will feel comfortable if the lower part of your buttocks or lower back are pushed against the back of the chair.
- If the body is not prepared for active sports, then you should avoid playing active sports over the weekend. If you are planning to play a cricket match over the weekend with a gang of friends, spend a few extra minutes with the routines for the whole week preceding the get-together.
- Always turn to either of your side with knees close to the edge of bed to get up instead of keeping the legs flat on the bed, and straining the muscles of your lower back.

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Posted in Cervical, Exercise, Hot water therapy, Relief, Stretch, backache, cure, health, hot, neck, pain, stress