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Thursday, March 6, 2008

How to Walk for Weight Control

Weight is determined mostly by the balance of calories - how many you burn vs. how many you eat each day. To lose weight, you need to increase your activity to burn more and/or eat fewer calories each day.

Calories and Weight

A pound of fat equals 3500 calories. To lose 1 pound a week you will need to expend 3500 more calories than you eat that week, whether through increased activity or decreased eating or both. Losing 1-2 pounds of fat a week is a sensible goal, and so you will want to use the combination of increased activity and eating less that will total 3500 calories for 7 days.

How You Burn Calories

Your weight x distance = energy used walking. Time does not matter as much as distance. If you speed up to walking a mile in 13 minutes or less, you will be burning more calories per mile.But for most beginning walkers, it is best to increase the distance before working on speed. A simple rule of thumb is 100 calories per mile for a 180 pound person.

Note About the Calories Chart
You burn more calories per mile at very low speeds because you are basically stopping and starting with each step and your momentum isn't helping to carry you along. Meanwhile, at very high walking speeds you are using more muscle groups with arm motion and with a racewalking stride. Those extra muscles burn up extra calories with each step. Running may burn more calories per mile as there is an up and down motion lifting your weight off the ground as well as moving it forward.

Ankle Exercises

Use these exercises to increase ankle range of motion after injury.

All exercises (except The Alphabet) should be performed in sitting with your legs fully extended, knees straight, out in front of you.

Dorsiflexion
1)Pull your foot back toward you (while keeping knees straight) by moving your ankle. Continue until either discomfort is felt or you can no longer pull your foot back.
2)Hold this position for 15 seconds
3)Return to neutral position
4)Repeat above steps 10 more times

Plantar flexion
1)Push your foot forward away from you (while keeping knees straight) by moving your ankle. Continue until either discomfort is felt or you can no longer bend your foot forward.
2)Hold this position for 15 seconds
3)Return to neutral position
4)Repeat above steps 10 more times

Inversion
1)Turn your foot inward by moving your ankle.

Continue until either discomfort is felt or you can no longer turn your foot inward.
2)Hold this position for 15 seconds
3)Return to neutral position
4)Repeat above steps 10 more times

Eversion
1)Turn your foot outward by moving your ankle. Continue until either discomfort is felt or you can no longer turn your foot inward.
2)Hold this position for 15 seconds
3)Return to neutral position
4)Repeat above steps 10 more times

The Alphabet
1)Sit on a chair with your foot dangling in the air or on a bed with your foot hanging off the edge
2)Draw the alphabet one letter at a time by moving the injured ankle and using the great toe as your "pencil."

  1. Introduction
  2. Range of Motion Exercises - Non Weight Bearing
  3. Isometric Strengthening Exercises
  4. Resisted Strengthening Exercises
  5. Semi Weight Bearing Exercises
  6. Full Weight Bearing Exercises
  7. Balance Activities

How To Make Your Lat Exercises More Effective!

If you opt to do the Lat Pulldowns Behind the Neck, be sure not to drop your head forward or hunch your upper torso forward in an effort to touch the bar to the back of your neck. If you find yourself doing this, generally it will mean that the exercise poundage is too heavy. There are a couple of techniques you can apply o this exercise or any exercise for a particular muscle group which will keep you from using too heavy a weight and having to cheat your way to a completed rep. If you want to make each set of lat exercises 200% more intense, you can do so by:

  1. Performing 3-5 second contractions and extensions. Both the contraction and extension of the resisting movement should take 3 to 5 seconds on each and every rep in the full range of the muscle action. It is a very good idea to do super low reps from time to time at the rate of 10 seconds in the contraction phase and 5 seconds in the lower phase.

  2. Total Stop Pauses. On each and every third rep, stop the rep at some particular range of the movement. If you can't, then the poundage is too heavy.

Exercises for acquiring incredible thickness and density in the middle back would include those movements in which the elbows are allowed to travel back, behind the plane of the upper body. These exercises include Barbell Bent Over Rowing (Always pull elbows higher than leveled flat back arched position.) and it's variations. Seated Horizontal Long and Short Pulley Rows with Handles, and Leverage (T-Bar) Rowing. With these particular exercises, there is a slouching effect which is caused by a phenomenon known as flexion-relaxation especially when the body is bent over and not supported. Ideally, the upper body should be kept at a high angle of flexion during rowing motion type exercises.

Another situation that will cause a slouching forward effect while rowing is if the lumbar region is pre-fatigued from previous lower back exercise such as the Close grip "Sumo" squat dead-lift. Therefore, to maintain proper exercise form, it is a very good idea to adapt the interdependency of muscle group principle where you work the lats, and middle back at the beginning of your exercise program and then finish off your back routine last by working the lower lumbar (Erector Spinae Group) with deadlifts and hyperextensions etc.

I have talked to quite a few bodybuilders and they have told me that they just can't get the proper stimulation and pump from their lat exercises. After watching them, I can see why. Most bodybuilders use their biceps too much when doing lat work and should learn to pull with the lats exclusively, bending the arms only when they have top. This can be accomplished very efficiently by using a "false" or thumbless grip, Conway Lat Straps, Power straps or Joe Meeko Power Grips.

These items will take direct bicep action out of the movement (by keeping the palms high on the bar) and allow for more pure pulling with the strength of the lats only. Another way to arouse lat width and thickness is to arouse lat width and thickness is to hold each contraction for a count of six seconds on perhaps every third rep (on Lat Machine Pulldowns, hold the bar at the base of the neck for six seconds), while mentally visualizing yourself squeezing an apple between your rotated shoulder blades.

One of the tricks to force the lats to do more work is by performing what is called scapular rotations. Larry Scott, two time Mr. Olympia describes this rather unique exercise in his new best selling book Loaded Guns. This book can be purchased at: www.biophase.com.

I will now outline a few back training programs for unlocking the Secrets to Rapid Development for strength, width and thickness.

Tips To Improve Your Prone Hyperextensions

Prone Hyperextensions would be another strategy I would suggest using for the lumbar region also while keeping the following commands in mind:

  1. Slowly arch (non-ballistically) up to where your shoulders are level with your pelvic girdle and down to a 60� angle from a horizontal position to the floor.
  2. Hold the terminal point of contraction statically for 5 to 30 seconds.
  3. Lower slowly at a rate of 5 to 30 seconds.
  4. Keep the back flat, especially at the beginning of this exercise and never allow it to round forward.

Some excellent exercise selections for the long fibers of the upper lats include the classic pullups and lat pulldowns. On these particular exercises, taking a shoulder width grip on the bar tends to use more of the biceps of the arms but will develop the lower fibers of the lats, while a wider than shoulder width grip will activate the upper lat fibers maximally while using less of the bicep muscles of the arms.

Pullups for many bodybuilders (especially those who weight over 175-pounds) or those who have bodyweight fluctuations from day to day) can become a complicated process because the upper torso must maneuver around the fixed bar. The opposite effect is experienced using the free floating lat bar.

The (late) Vince Gironda, "The Iron Guru", keyed in the bodybuilding world many years ago regarding maximum stimulation of new lat growth and width when he strongly suggested (Vince didn't suggest, he told us) doing pullups to the chest or sternum area. Vince's theory regarding this was and is to this day that the lower the position of the bar, be it the fixed pullup bar or floating free lat bar, relative to the chest or neck, the greater the stimulation on the lat muscles.

It takes quite a while to master the patented Gironda pullup to the sternum so while a bodybuilder is working that exercise to perfection, he (or she) can do Lat Pulldowns where the bar touches the sternum or low pec line. Remember that the upper body is inclined back at 30 degrees from vertical, high arched chest, and try to drive the elbows into the sides of the ribcage. A secret is to keep the elbows out to the sides to activate more lat and less bicep action.

Developing Great Lats

For a great many bodybuilders, proper feel and technique in performing lat work comes later on in their training. Unfortunately for most it is much later. Although thickness is obtained, the width and flair of the lats lag behind. The problem is due to not employing the correct technique in performing the various movements used to widen the lats. The technique is not really natural in nature and requires understanding, and a great deal of practice to master.

The biceps come into play heavily while performing any movements for the back, especially the lats. You cant work the lats without the biceps becoming involved to a very large degree. The secret is to limit the involvement of the biceps as much as possible. Most beginners use almost only bicep strength in performing lat exercises and this limits the results they can expect to receive. The biceps, forearms, and grip must be secondary muscle actions while performing lat movements... not foremost.

The hands must be viewed as hooks or cups that hook the bar. The mind must be focused on the back executing the movement and not pulling with the biceps. For most, this is difficult to do in the beginning as you cannot ignore the fact biceps are pulling muscles and used in any pulling movement. Mind visualization and practice are required in order to perform lat exercises properly for maximum benefit.

Although this technique is to be used on all back and lat movements, let me describe it using the bent over row as an example. Assume the bent over row position. Hands on the bar about shoulder width apart, your feet slightly wider than shoulder width. Keep your knees lightly bent throughout the movement. Bend over at the waist with your upper torso slightly more than parallel to the floor. Now focus on your arms and hands being nothing more than hooks on the bar. Concentrate full on your back and start the movement with your lats, not your arms. Try to make your shoulder blades touch one another.


Bent Over Barbell Row.

Your focus must be on the lats doing the work, not the arms. The only way for most bodybuilders to properly perform lat work is to practice form and technique with very light weight. Once you have mastered the technique you can then begin adding weight to your exercises. Many bodybuilders use weights that are far too heavy for performing lat movements correctly. Poor form on lat exercises only places you at higher risk for injury and prevents you from working your lats the way they should be worked.

Chins are the absolute hardest movement to perform properly. Next are bent over rows. Both are excellent lat movements and allow for varied hand spacing to hit all aspects of the lats. You should continue to practice all lat movements using light weights without worrying about anything except your form. So that you will not feel using light weights counter productive to your training, I suggest you follow this giant set routine.

You will have to use light weights to make it thorough and it will give you plenty of practice. After following this giant set for about six weeks you should have the movements down pretty good and can advance to heavier weights and fewer movements per workout.

Begin by thoroughly warming up the lats. I suggest you perform chins for two sets of ten reps. If you are unable to do ten chins dont worry about it and every two sessions try to add one more repetition. Chins are difficult for most and I would not worry about the total number of reps you can actually perform. Just keep working on them. Since this is the warm-up movement, allow yourself about two to two and a half minutes between sets and the start of your workout.

The following movements are to be performed one right after another with no rest in between exercises. Once you have completed all the exercises in the order listed, this will constitute one giant set and you are to rest for two minutes before moving on to your next giant set. Remember; focus on form and not how much weight you can lift. This routine is designed to help you achieve the feel for working the lats.


Accupuncture

........According to the Hindu philosophy, the life force that governs the human body is the basis of every living and non-living entity . This force called "Prana" is continuously circulating along the channels of our body.This 'Prana' which is called 'Chi' in Chinese philosophy controls both universe and human body .

........Everything in this Universe belongs to the five elements i.e. wind, fire, earth, metal and water. These five elements have their two cycles -
1. Constructive
2. Destructive

........Constructive cycle is in harmony which is a balance state of the Universe, and an upset in balance results in natural calamities. A disharmony in balanced state, similarly brings diseases.

........The aim of this therapy is to bring a balance in the body and thus cure any type of disease.
Method - This treatment is carried out by needles, seeds, grains and magnets.
........There are basically two types of treatment in this therapy.

1.Physical
........In physical treatments grains , needles and magnets are placed on certain points of the body that results in immediate relief.

2.Metaphysical
........This is harmonising the five elements by diagnosing in which organ the bioenergy is deficient or excess. And then by means of magnets, seeds and/or needles these organs can be balanced and diseases can be eliminated.
The treatment in this therapy is very safe and there is absolutely no side effects.