Posts Tagged ‘Fitness’

How fit you are can be judged by your heart rate during exercise and rest…

Resting heart rate or bradycardia refers to the number of times the heart beats per minute, when you are at rest. Normal range is 50 to 100, most people’s hearts beat 60 to 80 times a minute. Above 100 is considered a rapid pulse, called tachycardia. resting heart rate varies from person to person and over the course of the day, due to genetics and other factors. Heart rate is faster when you get excited, anxious, or angry or if you are in pain or fever. It rises temporarily if you smoke or drink a lot of alcohol or coffee. On the other hand, resting heart rate slows during sleep and tends to be lower if you are very fit.

In general, a slower heart rate is better than a faster one as faster rate puts more pressure and stress on your heart and blood vessels. In fact, studies have shown faster resting heart rates increases risk of heart disease and death from all causes, independent of fitness levels and other cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and being overweight.

A higher heart rate is linked to poorer outcomes in both healthy people and those with heart disease. Resting heart rate may be an even better predictor of premature death than cholesterol and blood pressure. Reducing heart rate is an accepted treatment goal for people with certain heart conditions, but it may also benefit people with hypertension and, preliminary research suggests may be even healthy people.

Heart rate during aerobic exercise raises your heart rate for at least 20 minutes. This enhances aerobic capacity – that is, the ability of your cardiovascular system to deliver oxygen to the body’s cells during exercise.
How long it takes to reach your target heart rate largely depends on how conditioned you are. If you are in poor shape, your heart rate will go up quickly with exercise. If you are in good shape, it will take longer. If your heart rate is naturally low, one has to overwork to get into the standard target zone; if your heart rate is high to start with, you may get into the zone too easily.

the length of time it takes for heart rate to return to normal is a good measure of fitness. The more fit you are, the faster the recovery. Heart rate drops most sharply in the first minute after you stop exercising, it should then fall about 20 beats a minute – a drop of less than 12 beats a minute is considered abnormal. This recovery heart rate is measured as part of an exercise stress test.

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What are different myths that surround fitness?

Avoid believing everything you hear. There are lots of myths in fitness that might cause injury and stop you from getting the best workout.

Myth 1: Even after you finish your workout, an aerobic workout helps to boost your metabolism.
It is true that the metabolism continues to burn at a slightly higher rate after finishing an aerobic workout, but the amount is too small to be taken into consideration.

Myth 2: Running on treadmill puts less stress on knees than running on roads.
Running impacts the knees as your body weight relies on the joints, which causes stress. It does not matter whether you run on a treadmill or on road. Reduce this impact by varying the workout instead of running for a long time at a stretch.

Myth 3: Swimming helps in reducing weight quickly.
Swimming increases lung capacity, tone your muscles and even helps de-stress you. It does not really help you lose many pounds. Swimming also makes you feel hungry and you end up eating more.

Myth 4: Sweating is a must while exercising.
It is possible to burn a number of calories without breaking a sweat. Light weight training or walking are also effective methods of workout.

Myth 5: Ab machines help to get rid of belly fat.
It helps to strengthen muscles around your middle and improve posture, only a strict diet and exercise regime will help you burn that fat. Follow a workout that includes both cardiovascular and strength training factors that will decrease your overall fat.

Myth 6: Pain is good while working out
Some amount of soreness is normal but searing pain while working out is not a good sign. An exercise should not hurt you while you are doing it.

Myth 7: Yoga helps relieve all types of backache
Yoga helps when your backache is muscle-related because the stretches and positions work to relax the muscles. but if your back problems are related to ruptured disc or some other similar problem, yoga is definitely not the answer.

How to stay cool in hot summers ?

Experts say, the temperatures recorded last weekend have been the highest in five years. Staying healthy during summer requires more than just eating the right foods. It is important to take care of your health to protect yourself against the heat. Also, make time to rest, relax and take a nap whenever possible. So enjoy a fun-filled and healthy summer with these natural health tips.
Fitness: A hot workout
• Avoid dark colours while working out as they absorb heat. Wear apparel that’s breathable. Give track pants a miss, wear shorts instead. Stop tying your sweat shirts around your hip, you are just trapping heat.
• While gymming, your feet sweat, so avoid wearing synthetic socks.
• Have a glass of water before you start as it takes time for fluids to get absorbed into the system.
• 21-220 celcius is the best temperature at which you should exercise.
• Best time to get your body moving is before 8 am or just after sunset.
• If you are working out outdoors, try and pace the intensity.
• Avoid steam and sauna as your normal body temperature is 370 degree C and a sauna will work adversely.
Health
• Headaches and migraines get precipitated by heat. Avoid walking in the sun or wear a hat.
• Those who do not sweat a lot are prone to heat-related exhaustion — manifested in fatigue, light-hotheadedness, etc. At an extreme level, it leads to a heat stroke or you may be paralyzed or unconscious.
• Skin allergies like psoriasis too get aggravated because of dehydration.
• Do not let your body dehydrate.
• Excess sun causes nose bleeds because of excess pressure of heat on the nostrils. Boils and sun burn are also common. The best way to counter them is drink plenty of fluids and avoid alcohol and smoking. Have instant energy boosters such as honey, electrolytes or glucose.
• Maintain immunity with fruits such as papaya and pineapple.
Diet: Eat cool
• Take electrol twice a day. Mix it with coconut water, khus sharbat or lemonade. This will replenish minerals lost due to excessive sweating.
• Have more succulent veggies that rehydrate — bottle gourd, turai, pumpkin, lotus stem and the like.
• Avoid oily and fried stuff.
• Adopt different cooking techniques — steaming, grilling, baking and roasting.
• Avoid coffee as cocoa activates sweat glands further leading to dehydration.
• Have poha, porridge, fruits or idli for breakfast instead of dosas and parathas. Khichdi with multi-grain dal, chaach and green chutney is a good option for lunch and dinner.
Clothing
• The obvious choice of fabric for summer has to be natural ones such as cotton, linen and its derivatives such as mul, voile, or bamboo fabric.
• Wear loose-fitting clothing, preferably of a light color. Cotton clothing will keep you cooler than many synthetics.

Beauty: Keep it fresh
• Kokum sharbat is the best way to beat prickly heat from the inside.
• To remove a tan, powder masoor daal and soak it in milk for an hour or half. Massage it over your body and let dry. Rub it off in circular motions. This bleaches and exfoliates your skin.
• Put papaya pieces through a mixer and massage the pulp into your hair, section wise. Rinse after two hours to get shiny, smooth hair.