Magnetic Therapy What Is It?

Magnet therapy involves the use of a magnetised device placed on or near the body to either facilitate healing or relieve pain.
The magnetic products available today come in many types. They can be attached to the skin, worn as jewellery, placed in your shoes, or slept on. Arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, insomnia and headaches are among the list of ailments for which many people claim can benefit from magnet therapy. Although no one is sure how magnets work, supporters claim that they can have a profound effect on the body, particularly in the area of pain relief.

The use of magnets for medical purposes is not new; the ancient Greeks believed that natural magnetic rocks had therapeutic powers. In the sixteenth century a Swiss-born alchemist and physician, Philippus von Hohenheim, purportedly used magnets to draw illness from the body. Over the past decade, magnet therapy has become increasingly popular, especially among professional athletes who use it for aches and pains. Nearly 80 touring golf pros now use some form of magnetic therapy for help in relieving, muscle soreness, back pain, arthritis, and other ailments. Even so, magnet therapy remains controversial. Scientists have only recently begun the scientific research needed to persuade most mainstream doctors to add magnets to their medicinal arsenals, although the British National Health Service (NHS) has recently (March 2006) recommended doctors to prescribe magnetic knee wraps in preference to drugs.

How Does It Work?

The theory behind magnet therapy is that the fields produced by magnets can affect the functioning of individual cells in the body and improve the working of the nervous system and various organs. Exactly how the magnetic fields do this is unknown, but there are several theories. Some say that the electrical current created by magnets interrupts the transmission of pain signals in the nerves. Others claim magnets increase blood flow to an area, boosting the flow of oxygen and other nutrients, thereby reducing pain and swelling.

What You Can Expect

It is believed that magnets must be placed precisely to have an effect (they work best when placed over a body area that has some degree of intact circulation). Therefore it is best to do magnet therapy under the guidance of a therapist or doctor who is experienced in its use. However, many people choose to use magnets on their own.

If you are trying magnets for arthritis or other types of pain, you may be advised to purchase small magnetic devices that can be secured to the body elastic bandages, or Velcro.

Depending on how much pain you are experiencing, you might be advised to keep the magnets in place for as little as five minutes or to wear them for a number of hours every day for several weeks. If you are trying magnets to help with insomnia, your doctor may advise using a magnetic pillow or mattress pad.

Health Benefits

Magnetic therapy is most often used for pain, usually of the muscles, joints and back. Magnets have also been used to relieve post-surgery pain. Some suggest that magnets can reduce stress, as well as relieve insomnia and treat migraine. Others even claim that magnetic therapy can fight infection and improve central nervous system disorders, such as seizures. While research has shown that magnet therapy can indeed relieve pain, there is little solid evidence proclaiming its use for other ailments.

One study, published in the American Journal of Pain Management in 1999, showed that magnetic foot insoles were shown to be effective in reducing foot pain in those with diabetes.

How To Choose a Practitioner

Magnet therapy may be practiced by a therapist or doctor, or it may be self-administered. It is best to work with an experienced practitioner who is knowledgeable about the therapeutic use of magnets.

Ria has been an holistic practitioner since 1990 and she has trained in many fields such as cranio-sacral therapy, shiatsu, reflexology, reiki, aromatherapy, Bach flowers, crystal healing, psychotherapy, counselling, fytotherapy, TT and nutrition. Ria focuses on the underlying causes of disease rather than treating symptoms alone. She has been a certified therapist since 1996 and has developed an extensive practice dedicated to creating total wellness and self-empowerment based on the body, mind, soul connection.

Tips for Building Muscle and Burning Fat

Here are a few tips for building muscle and burning fat that will help you get started:

(1) Walk on a treadmill that is inclined perhaps 10-20 percent for about 45 minutes is a great form of long duration cardiovascular workout. You should do this up to three days each week, on the same days as you do your weight training exercises. The other 2-3 days of the week you should do your short duration HIT cardio workout. This might be a short outdoor sprint or run, or an intense workout on a cycle or treadmill.

(2) Keep your workout creative and varied so you don't get bored. You might, for example, jog or cycle slowly for four minutes, then sprint at an all out pace for 20 seconds and then do a minute of jogging for about 10 sets and then cool down with another four minutes of slower jogging.

(3) Train with an intense desire to work hard. You have to work each set until you literally can do another repetition in good form.

(5) If you do not challenge your body it will not adjust by building muscle or burning fat.

(6) You do not want to risk burnout so you should take a week off from training every 8-12 weeks.

(7) Your workouts should be kept short. Don't do a weight lifting routine that takes over an hour.

(8) Give your body time to recover from your weight training efforts. You will not be able to add new muscle if you over train.

(9) As you grow stronger your body will need more time to recover between weight training sessions.

Put together a program that includes these tips for building muscle and burning fat and you will be on your way to a body that has more muscles and less fat.

For the fat burning secrets of the worlds best bodybuilders and fitness models, please visit http://www.burn-fat-build-muscle.info/

Jacked for Summer

Summer Training Program

Tired of getting sand kicked in your face! Want Biceps like a real man? Let me show you how to get jacked for summer! Although you will not build all that much of ?real muscle? in 6 weeks or so, you can condition and firm your muscles and add blood flow enough to appear ?jacked?. The firmness and added blood flow will give you the appearance of ?bigger muscles?. It is not that I want you to stop at that; I wish all of you would continue weight training to slowly add real muscle mass progressively over the years. Weight training is great for you, certainly underestimated by many health ?experts?, and has great positive externalities. You will look better, sexier, and your general state of health will be substantially improved. This program will quickly get you jacked for summer and, more importantly, may start you on a more serious program of weight training that will yield fantastic long-term results along with a marked improvement in physical health!

Some Basic Concepts:

Starting Out:
A very basic and simple point: don?t kill yourself! If you haven?t been inside of a gym in years, or especially if you don?t know what the inside of a gym looks like, please don?t kill yourself! Start slow the first week. Use light weights and take it easy for the first two sessions. If I had a nickel for ever time I saw some idiot going gun ho the first day and then being barely being able to move for the next two weeks, I would be up about $100,000 by now! The first week go real slow and light. One session, rest a day, another session, then rest two days. The second week every other day for three sessions, then rest two days. The second week start going a little heavier. The third week on go harder and exercise every other day. Rest every other day and eat well. Good rest and good nutrition are as important as the workout; you need to know this!

Reps and Poundage:
Start very light to condition your muscles for the first few sessions. It?s not that you have to be too wimpish either, just use some good judgment. If you are sore the next day then it will slow you down for the next few sessions. So you don?t gain anything by overdoing it; you lose precious time! After the first week you can get into some heavier weights. Use enough weight so that you can do about ten reps without killing yourself. You don?t want to be too easy either; so ten reps at that weight should exhaust your muscles. Remember an essential point: if you don?t feel the exhaustion on the particular muscle after a particular exercise then you did not properly work the muscle!

Supersets and Alternates:
A very important lesson to understand! This is an advanced technique, which will go a long way to get you jacked in a short amount of time! A ?superset? is simply two or more sets of different exercises done back to back with little or no rest in between. Once you understand how to work this idea into your program, you will be impressed with the effectiveness in giving your muscles a great overall workout and a tremendous pump. ?Alternates? are simply supersets which somehow involve opposing muscle groups. Supersets of alternates are great in doing arms!!! Superset bicep exercises with triceps. Do a set of curls, take a brief 15 - 20 second rest to catch your breath, then immediately do a set of triceps. Take a longer 60 - 90 second rest then repeat. Do this for three to five supersets. This works really well for arms.

Arms

The arm, biceps in particular, are what many people think of when the think of muscular development. Arms are important but of course not all important. In bodybuilding you should strive for a good all around build. We will focus on three areas of arm development: biceps, triceps, and the forearm.

Biceps

1. Curls:
This is generally the best exercise for jacked up biceps, but there are several variations to know.

Alternate Dumbbell curls: You can do these standing or sitting. I recommend the seated variation because it tends to reduce the tendency of swinging your arms to raise the weight and of bending the back to swing the weights. This is a method of ?cheating? which is not recommended. Sitting, therefore, reduces the tendency to cheat in the lift. Pick up the dumbbells with each hand and sit on a flat bench with your back straight. With palms facing inward, lift one dumbbell toward your shoulder. As you lift, turn your wrist gradually toward the front so that when you reach the top position, your palm is facing directly at your shoulder. This gradual turning of the wrist gives the forearm a workout as you work the bicep. After you reach the top, slowly lower the arm back to the relaxed position, again turning the wrist in the process. Remember: let you bicep do all the work, don?t swing the back and don?t try to use momentum is swinging the weights. As you bring the weight of one hand toward its lowest position, begin to raise the other weight. Do this alternately for the desired reps and for the desired sets.

Barbell curls:
This essentially works the same muscles. So why do both? Because each different exercise involving the same muscle group will put a slightly different stress on the muscle. The muscle adapts according to the principle of adaptive stress. I intend to discuss this principle in a future article - I hope you will look for it! Suffice to say for now that any progress made in weight training is due to the body?s ability to adapt to stresses put on it by external forces; in the gym as well as in nature. By purposely stressing the body in a particular way we are able to achieve a certain result. In other words, we lift heavy weights and the body adapts by becoming bigger and stronger.

Stand in front of a straight bar with feet a little less than shoulder width apart. Bend to lift to bar. REMEMBER: always bend the knees when lifting heavy weight to ease the strain on the lower back!!! With palms facing forward, grip the bar - this is what is known as a ?curl grip?. Slowly straighten your legs, lifting the bar ?with your legs?. Now, standing with your back straight, lift the bar using your biceps only. Be careful not to swing the weight or bend the back. Lift slowly then hold for two seconds, lower the bar slowly keeping your back perfectly straight! Do this for the desired reps and for the desired sets.

Preacher Curls:
Now for the advanced stuff! Start these the third week into the program. In order to do these you need to have what is known as a curl bar, a shorter slightly bent bar used for curls. You also need what is known as a preacher bench. This is a small seat with slanted padding in front and a small slot in front of the padding to rest the bar. Most gyms have these in the fee-weight room. If you don?t have access to one you can skip this altogether. Load the bar with the desired weight and place it in the slot in front of the bench. Pick up the bar from the seated position or if you cannot reach it stand then sit. Rest your arms on the front padding while holding the weight. Now slowly lift the weight until your biceps are fully flexed. Hold for two seconds, and then slowly lower the weight. Repeat for the desired reps and for the desired sets. Preacher Curls are great because it is very difficult to cheat by swinging your body or by using ?body English?. Do enough of these and I guarantee your arms will be jacked in no time!

Triceps:

Tricep Extensions:
For this exercise you will need a Universal machine or a machine specifically made for this exercise. Most gyms will have one or the other. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart at the machine with the desired weight loaded. Grip the handle. Keep your back straight and your arms at your side. Now pull the weight by bending your elbows until your arms are fully extended. Let your triceps do all the work! Hold for two seconds. SLOWLY return the weight by raising your forearms again at the elbow. Please remember: the upper arms stay rigid and motionless at your side, move only your elbows! That way you isolate the triceps in the exercise. I have seen too many people do this incorrectly! Do this for the desired reps and for the desired sets.

Scull Crushers:
Don?t let the name scare you! For this you need the curl bar again. Lying on your back on a flat bench with the weighted bar on the floor by your head, reach down and grip the bar with on overhand grip and bring the weight directly over your head with your arms fully extended. Now, keeping you upper arms pointing upwards, bend your elbows bringing the weight down toward your head. The bottom position should bring the bar about a half-inch above the bridge of your nose. Now extend your elbows back to the top position While doing this exercise, you should keep your upper arms reasonably straight, though you may bend them back slightly In the bottom position. Repeat for the desired reps and for the desired sets.

Forearms:

Wrist-curls
This can be done with either dumbbells or a long barbell. Although I mostly do them with dumbbells, I recommend you use both methods. It is a good thing to generally mix your program from time to time to prevent your body from becoming too conditioned to a single routine. Sitting on a bench lift the dumbbells or barbell off the floor with a curl grip. Resting your forearms on your knees, perform curls with your wrist. With palms facing upward simply bend the wrist as far as you comfortably can. Repeat for the desired reps and for the desired sets. Alternate and superset this exercise with the one below.

Wrist Twists:
Knell in front of a flat bench resting your forearms on the bench with a light dumbbell in each hand, your hands with the dumbbells hanging off the opposite edge of the bench. Now simply twist your wrist from side to side repeatedly until they are exhausted. Do this exercise first, then take a short rest and go immediately to a set of wrist curls. After a longer rest repeat this superset a few more times.

So much for the arms. Follow this program and by the sixth week in I guarantee you will be noticeably jacked! Keep in mind, of course, that we have only discussed arms. We still need to get into the proper way to train other parts of the body. I do intend to get deeper into these maters in future articles. Please watch for my next article for some great tips on doing shoulders, pecks and back.

written by Roger LeBlanc, all rights reserved you are free to redistribute this article provided you do not alter the article in any way.

please visit my websites for more info products at Digital Health Products

also at Roger's Health Blog

Strengthen Your Back With Taijiquan

There are a few traditional exercises which you can still do to strengthen your back, namely, sit ups, cross sit ups, leg raises and back extensions. However, many who eventualy develop the 6 pack, or the front abdominal muscles, may not be able to demonstrate co-ordinated spinal control. As always, the rule of them of thumb is to do these exercises in moderation. Having a strong back will improve your spinal stability. This stabilisation is achieved by working on your deeper trunk muscles. Hence, we need to turn our attention to exercises that require the control of deep abdominal muscles and good mind-body co-ordination.

So, how do we train up our trunks for starters?

This is quite simply done. You don't even need the gym. And you can improve your posture and back alignment this very moment, wherever you are!

Just imagine a string pulling you up from the central tip of your head, like those puppets. This can be a powerful visualization if you have the discipline to enforce it throughout the day.

Then, sitting where you are, do a head roll a couple of times, and rotate your shoulders a couple of times. You will find the tension considerably reduced. Finish off by stretching your arms up over your head, gripping your hands together at the apex.

Right. Next question. For those of us who want to take back strengthening a step further, where do we go from here?

You will likely find that Taijiquan (Tai Chi or Taiji) can address this rather satisfactorily,if not, effectively, for most of us.

Most Taijiquan styles require you to develop an upright posture when practicing the forms. You can do this easily if you focus your eyes on a level. Try not to look down at your feet or the ground, you won't find any gold there. For every movement you learn, you will have to find your best postulation, without hunching, slouching and the like. In effect, you get training in centering, or finding your center of stability.

By constantly monitoring the uprightness of your posture for each move, you are essentially building up your trunk muscles. When you train up strong and stable trunk muscles, they help provide a stable frame allowing our arms and legs to move more efficiently, thereby reducing the risk of injuries. This is very much the case in Chenjiagou Taijiquan which emphasizes the trunk/waist area as a central pivot and force center. The stronger your trunk muscles, the more efficiently you are able to transfer force between your upper and lower limbs. As your efficiency increases, you can generate more power into each stroke, each movement that is executed.

In Chenjiagou Taijiquan, you will learn to maintain a stable trunk as you execute each movement, by keeping the posture as upright as possible relative to the ground. By focusing and adhering to this requirement, you will find that you need to draw upon collective muscles all throughout the lower abdominal area, whilst ensuring that you do not automatically tense your shoulders in order to keep the stance. You won't be able to do all this in a magical instance, of course. It is through regular training, by trial and error as you practice to find your most comfortable posture, you will discover your optimal body position for each movement. You will know when you have found the best angles because you will be able to hold a postulation effortlessly! That is also when all your body lines are connected in a continuous, unbroken flow.

A daily dose - alright, for those who can't make it everyday - a regular dose of Chenjiagou Taijiquan practice will help you to develop your own proper breathing technique that is co-ordinated with your movements. When you have eventually found your own breathing rhythm, you will not get breathless during your practice. Taijiquan can be a wonderful art which trains segmental control. The routines have been created so that you practice along progressive stages. Each stage focuses on a different area of the human body, such that you will benefit from total body conditioning. The routines require spinal flexibility at the trunk, segmental control of the spine (precision), a continuous flow of movement and centering (through balancing on foot centres).

With persistent, proper training and feedback from a qualified instructor, you should be able to transfer this control into your daily functional tasks such as standing, walking and other sports activity. You will find your body automatically seeks to adjust itself into an optimal position for easy balance. I think we all agree that this is an extremely valuable reflex to nurture.

Watch a short demo of Chenjiagou Taijiquan, the 5 Element set now.

Jasmine Bu
20th Generation Chenjiagou Taijiquan Disciple. I'm also a mother of 2 kids.

Do stop by my website at The World of Taijiquan if you would like to learn more about how to re-balance your internal body systems whilst getting healthy.

Body Massage for Relaxation Health Improvement and Sensual Pleasure

By massaging your friend or living partner and let him or her do the same to you, you will both get emotionally closer to each other, and both get several health benefits. Massaging will benefit the mental state of the person you work on, the muscular condition, the blood circulation and the lymph drainage. However, what you want to achieve, will determine the exact technique you use.

Massaging across the muscle fibres

This type of massage is very good for relaxing tense muscles and a stressed mind.

You perform this massage by rubbing or gripping across the direction of the muscle fibres or across tendons. You take one area after the other. You begin by massaging each area lightly, superficially and slowly to warm up, and then proceed by massaging deeper, firmer and more swiftly.

According to the size and conditions of the area you treat, you can use different types of manipulation. You can use a couple of fingers at a small area, or to reach deep into a tense point You can rub with all your finger tips or with the palm of your hand at greater areas. To get a harder effect, you can use your finger knuckles.

Massage along the muscles fibres

This type of massage will give the following effects: Stiffness will be reduced or cured, and the muscles will gain in mobility. The muscles will get better blood supply and drainage. The muscles will get a better drainage of tissue fluids into the lymph system, and thereby swollen muscles will normalize. These effects will in turn make tired muscles faster regain good condition.

By this massage you stroke along the direction of the muscle fibres, and always in the direction of the blood stream towards the heart.

Also now you take one area after the other, but try to reach the whole length of a muscle or muscle group at each stroke. Also by this massage, you begin massaging at each area lightly, superficially and slowly to warm up, and then proceed by massaging deeper, firmer and somewhat faster.

Also by this longitudinal massage, you can press down and stroke with your finger tips, with all your fingers, or grip around a muscle or muscle group with your fingers.

Massage with an electric massager

Most electric massage devices are vibrating up and down. This vibration mostly gives the same effect as the massage across the muscle fibres. If you also stroke with the device head along the muscle in the direction of the blood stream towards the heart, you will simultaneously also achieve the effects of longitudinal massage.

Combining the massage with stretching

The effects of the massage can be increased by also stretching the limbs and body parts of the person you work on. Stretch in the natural movement directions of the limb or body parts until you reach some resistance. Do not stretch hard to go beyond the resistance point. However, by holding the limb some time at the resistance point will often cause the limb to relax, and then you can go some way further.

How hard should you perform the massage?

Tired and stiff muscles are often tender and aching. Working at a tender point will always cause some temporal pain. However, if you use the right degree of firmness, the effect of the massage should cause an immediate release of pain and tenderness when you have finished working at a point. You should never work so hard that the pain is felt nearly unbearable, or so hard that pain remains after the massage is finished. If you do so, you can hurt or aggravate already existing tissue damage.

To achieve the right firmness you should monitor the reactions of the person you work at and listen to his comments. You should also never perform a massage on an area with a distinct inflammation or a distinct injury.

Use of massage oils

By applying a massage oil or ointment at the area you work at, you ease the massage work and increase the effects of the massage. Your fingers glide more easily upon the skin covering the area. The blood supply of the skin and muscles will be stimulated. You get a sensual and exciting scent on the area and in the air. Ingredients in the oil will ameliorate muscular ache and pain. According to the composition of the massage oil, there will be different stimulating effects upon the muscles, for example faster regeneration of tired or hurt muscle tissue.

Massaging for mutual joy and pleasure

You can use each of the two main techniques, but you let the pleasure of the person you massage decide the technique, the area you massage and the firmness of the massage. Usually gently touching and caressing will be the right manner.

Also your own pleasure shall decide. Do not work so hard that you get tired out yourself, and the person that you give the massage should be willing to repay you by doing the same favour to you.

Knut Holt is an internet consultant and marketer focusing on health items. TO FIND anti-aging supplements, medicines against acne, eczema, rosacea scars, wrinkles, other skin problems and natural medicines against heart disease, hypothyroidism, hemorrhoids, depression and other common health problems, PLEASE VISIT ==>http://www.panteraconsulting.com/salg2.htm

This article is free to reprint with the author's name and link.

Strengthen Your Back With Taijiquan

There are a few traditional exercises which you can still do to strengthen your back, namely, sit ups, cross sit ups, leg raises and back extensions. However, many who eventualy develop the 6 pack, or the front abdominal muscles, may not be able to demonstrate co-ordinated spinal control. As always, the rule of them of thumb is to do these exercises in moderation. Having a strong back will improve your spinal stability. This stabilisation is achieved by working on your deeper trunk muscles. Hence, we need to turn our attention to exercises that require the control of deep abdominal muscles and good mind-body co-ordination.

So, how do we train up our trunks for starters?

This is quite simply done. You don't even need the gym. And you can improve your posture and back alignment this very moment, wherever you are!

Just imagine a string pulling you up from the central tip of your head, like those puppets. This can be a powerful visualization if you have the discipline to enforce it throughout the day.

Then, sitting where you are, do a head roll a couple of times, and rotate your shoulders a couple of times. You will find the tension considerably reduced. Finish off by stretching your arms up over your head, gripping your hands together at the apex.

Right. Next question. For those of us who want to take back strengthening a step further, where do we go from here?

You will likely find that Taijiquan (Tai Chi or Taiji) can address this rather satisfactorily,if not, effectively, for most of us.

Most Taijiquan styles require you to develop an upright posture when practicing the forms. You can do this easily if you focus your eyes on a level. Try not to look down at your feet or the ground, you won't find any gold there. For every movement you learn, you will have to find your best postulation, without hunching, slouching and the like. In effect, you get training in centering, or finding your center of stability.

By constantly monitoring the uprightness of your posture for each move, you are essentially building up your trunk muscles. When you train up strong and stable trunk muscles, they help provide a stable frame allowing our arms and legs to move more efficiently, thereby reducing the risk of injuries. This is very much the case in Chenjiagou Taijiquan which emphasizes the trunk/waist area as a central pivot and force center. The stronger your trunk muscles, the more efficiently you are able to transfer force between your upper and lower limbs. As your efficiency increases, you can generate more power into each stroke, each movement that is executed.

In Chenjiagou Taijiquan, you will learn to maintain a stable trunk as you execute each movement, by keeping the posture as upright as possible relative to the ground. By focusing and adhering to this requirement, you will find that you need to draw upon collective muscles all throughout the lower abdominal area, whilst ensuring that you do not automatically tense your shoulders in order to keep the stance. You won't be able to do all this in a magical instance, of course. It is through regular training, by trial and error as you practice to find your most comfortable posture, you will discover your optimal body position for each movement. You will know when you have found the best angles because you will be able to hold a postulation effortlessly! That is also when all your body lines are connected in a continuous, unbroken flow.

A daily dose - alright, for those who can't make it everyday - a regular dose of Chenjiagou Taijiquan practice will help you to develop your own proper breathing technique that is co-ordinated with your movements. When you have eventually found your own breathing rhythm, you will not get breathless during your practice. Taijiquan can be a wonderful art which trains segmental control. The routines have been created so that you practice along progressive stages. Each stage focuses on a different area of the human body, such that you will benefit from total body conditioning. The routines require spinal flexibility at the trunk, segmental control of the spine (precision), a continuous flow of movement and centering (through balancing on foot centres).

With persistent, proper training and feedback from a qualified instructor, you should be able to transfer this control into your daily functional tasks such as standing, walking and other sports activity. You will find your body automatically seeks to adjust itself into an optimal position for easy balance. I think we all agree that this is an extremely valuable reflex to nurture.

Watch a short demo of Chenjiagou Taijiquan, the 5 Element set now.

Jasmine Bu
20th Generation Chenjiagou Taijiquan Disciple. I'm also a mother of 2 kids.

Do stop by my website at The World of Taijiquan if you would like to learn more about how to re-balance your internal body systems whilst getting healthy.

Body Massage for Relaxation Health Improvement and Sensual Pleasure

By massaging your friend or living partner and let him or her do the same to you, you will both get emotionally closer to each other, and both get several health benefits. Massaging will benefit the mental state of the person you work on, the muscular condition, the blood circulation and the lymph drainage. However, what you want to achieve, will determine the exact technique you use.

Massaging across the muscle fibres

This type of massage is very good for relaxing tense muscles and a stressed mind.

You perform this massage by rubbing or gripping across the direction of the muscle fibres or across tendons. You take one area after the other. You begin by massaging each area lightly, superficially and slowly to warm up, and then proceed by massaging deeper, firmer and more swiftly.

According to the size and conditions of the area you treat, you can use different types of manipulation. You can use a couple of fingers at a small area, or to reach deep into a tense point You can rub with all your finger tips or with the palm of your hand at greater areas. To get a harder effect, you can use your finger knuckles.

Massage along the muscles fibres

This type of massage will give the following effects: Stiffness will be reduced or cured, and the muscles will gain in mobility. The muscles will get better blood supply and drainage. The muscles will get a better drainage of tissue fluids into the lymph system, and thereby swollen muscles will normalize. These effects will in turn make tired muscles faster regain good condition.

By this massage you stroke along the direction of the muscle fibres, and always in the direction of the blood stream towards the heart.

Also now you take one area after the other, but try to reach the whole length of a muscle or muscle group at each stroke. Also by this massage, you begin massaging at each area lightly, superficially and slowly to warm up, and then proceed by massaging deeper, firmer and somewhat faster.

Also by this longitudinal massage, you can press down and stroke with your finger tips, with all your fingers, or grip around a muscle or muscle group with your fingers.

Massage with an electric massager

Most electric massage devices are vibrating up and down. This vibration mostly gives the same effect as the massage across the muscle fibres. If you also stroke with the device head along the muscle in the direction of the blood stream towards the heart, you will simultaneously also achieve the effects of longitudinal massage.

Combining the massage with stretching

The effects of the massage can be increased by also stretching the limbs and body parts of the person you work on. Stretch in the natural movement directions of the limb or body parts until you reach some resistance. Do not stretch hard to go beyond the resistance point. However, by holding the limb some time at the resistance point will often cause the limb to relax, and then you can go some way further.

How hard should you perform the massage?

Tired and stiff muscles are often tender and aching. Working at a tender point will always cause some temporal pain. However, if you use the right degree of firmness, the effect of the massage should cause an immediate release of pain and tenderness when you have finished working at a point. You should never work so hard that the pain is felt nearly unbearable, or so hard that pain remains after the massage is finished. If you do so, you can hurt or aggravate already existing tissue damage.

To achieve the right firmness you should monitor the reactions of the person you work at and listen to his comments. You should also never perform a massage on an area with a distinct inflammation or a distinct injury.

Use of massage oils

By applying a massage oil or ointment at the area you work at, you ease the massage work and increase the effects of the massage. Your fingers glide more easily upon the skin covering the area. The blood supply of the skin and muscles will be stimulated. You get a sensual and exciting scent on the area and in the air. Ingredients in the oil will ameliorate muscular ache and pain. According to the composition of the massage oil, there will be different stimulating effects upon the muscles, for example faster regeneration of tired or hurt muscle tissue.

Massaging for mutual joy and pleasure

You can use each of the two main techniques, but you let the pleasure of the person you massage decide the technique, the area you massage and the firmness of the massage. Usually gently touching and caressing will be the right manner.

Also your own pleasure shall decide. Do not work so hard that you get tired out yourself, and the person that you give the massage should be willing to repay you by doing the same favour to you.

Knut Holt is an internet consultant and marketer focusing on health items. TO FIND anti-aging supplements, medicines against acne, eczema, rosacea scars, wrinkles, other skin problems and natural medicines against heart disease, hypothyroidism, hemorrhoids, depression and other common health problems, PLEASE VISIT ==>http://www.panteraconsulting.com/salg2.htm

This article is free to reprint with the author's name and link.

MuscleTesting and Applied Kinesiology: Uses and Tips on How to Use it

Muscle testing is an empowering energy technique that most anyone can use to better their health. Muscle testing functions as a subconscious lie-detector test and is used by challenging any muscle of the body. Over the years I have answered numerous questions about muscle testing, how it is used, how to make it more accurate, how people misuse it, and what things to pay attention to. This is the culmination of all those questions. Before using muscle testing, meditate or pray to become a clear channel and leave your ego out of the answers. Intention is everything in the world of healing.

You obtain better answers from your muscle testing by asking better questions. For example: Do I have permission to ask this question? Is this something I should let go of or participate in? Can I share this information? Am I asking the right question? Is there anything else I should be asking? And, will this be reasonable and in alignment with my morals and values?

Always ask yes or no questions?be clear and present when asking. Ask only one question at a time.

In Healing Work I use muscle testing for: Doing body scans for disrupted energy, testing for vanishing twins, to determine which disease is most plausible from a list of rule outs, for doing chiropractic adjustments on animals or figuring out where to place spot magnets, to determine the best treatments or healers to use, for emotional clearing work, to ask which flower essences, herbs, supplement, crystal and foods to combine for relaxation, immune building, serenity, and health. Muscle testing can also be used to test amounts.

Using Muscle Testing for Allergy testing: It?s useful for asking what side effects or benefits are being caused by a particular drug and in testing which flower, bulbs, grasses, shrubs, trees, molds and mildews or pollens you are allergic to.

Some fun and different ways to use muscle testing: Use it to test who is visiting from the other side, for backtracking the core cause of death, to choose which clothes to wear for best health or to look the best in an interview, and to pick the perfect gift or card for someone you love.

For Organizing Things: If goals and accomplishing tasks are important to you, muscle testing can be most helpful in prioritizing tasks and in determining how much time to spend on each item.

For Pet Health: Muscle testing can be used to communication with your animals. Ask your pet which foods they like and which will help their health, which name they would like to be called, or if they would like a companion. In my veterinary practice I use muscle testing to determine what the best antibiotic is to send home and for determining which foods to use in creating a personalized raw food diet.

I use muscle testing for nutrition and dieting by testing which emotions trigger the cravings for certain foods, to test which ingredients a person is allergic to and for asking the amounts of raw fruits and vegetables that would be best for the body.

For Spiritual Issues, muscle testing is used to: test the number of past lives or the number of lifetimes you have spent with someone, to track past lives, to ask whether someone is in your soul-pod, in tracking down spiritual lessons to focus on with a person and for tapping into the Akashic records.

In Helping with Environmental Issues, it can be used for: finding and clearing energy vortexes in a house, dowsing to find water, minerals, and the best places to build.

For learning purposes, muscle testing can be used to test the percent truth of a book or chapter, to test the truthfulness of a newspaper article, theory, or paper. I often use muscle testing to determine which books to purchase, or which topics to study next.

In Plant Healing muscle testing can be used to communicate with your yard, your garden and individual plants. Yes, plants talk too. I use it to figure out where to plant individual plants and to ask where the plant wants to be and if it is happy where it?s at, when to water, or what a plant needs to be healthier (more sun, water, soil, micronutrients, fertilizer, drafts, etc.)

Dr. Denice Moffat is a practicing naturopath, medical intuitive, and veterinarian working on the family unit (which includes humans and animals) through her phone consultation practice established in 1995. She has a content-rich website at http://www.NaturalHealthTechniques.com and free monthly newsletter. For many other healing techniques you can do at home, see Dr. Moffat's techniques page at: http://www.naturalhealthtechniques.com/HealingTechniques/healingtechniques1.htm

Understanding More about Pain Management

Pain management is a problem with which contemporary medicine has been grappling for some time. There is nearly always a trade-off: you may not feel the pain, but you remain dependent upon chiropractic treatments, painkillers or massage, stupefied by muscle relaxants, or toxified by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) -- or worse: physically impaired by neuro-surgical interventions and injections of neurotoxins that take away the natural capacities of an intact nervous system. Meanwhile, the tissue inflammation and damage to joints, no longer being reported to you by pain, continues to develop. There is an effective alternative, new and radically different from conventional approaches.

Viewpoints about Pain

Whereas nearly everyone recognizes that chronic pain is a sign of something wrong, modern medical science has little to offer for certain kinds of pain -- notably musculo-skeletal pain and headaches. Medical science thinks almost entirely in terms of intervention -- either surgical or chemical (drugs); it overlooks the body's natural self-regulating mechanisms, which sometimes go awry and cause the pain to begin with -- two examples being headaches and back pain.

This potential to change how ones body functions has to do with conditioning. Perhaps fifty percent of musculo-skeletal pain comes from an excessively tight muscles -- the result of injury and prolonged stress (long term emotional tension). Muscles go into contraction during pain and stress. This state of contraction cannot effectively be controlled by drugs or countered by surgery because it has to do with a brain-level reaction. This kind of brain-level reaction is discussed in greater depth in another article.

Once this kind of reaction pattern forms, as during prolonged periods of healing, it tends to persist, sometimes for decades, unless and until the person does something deliberate to change them; these tensions do not heal because there is no damage. The neuromuscular system is functioning quite well, but in an aberrated way!

It is for that reason that chemical and physical interventions are ineffective: the person does not have a medical problem; they have a conditioning problem.

More Details

Let's be more specific: How can tight muscles create pain?

Ever lifted something heavy for more than a few seconds? Don't your muscles start to burn? Imagine what muscles must feel like when contracted 24 hours a day! And more: consider what tight muscles cause in the joints they cross: compression. Might not relentless compression cause joint pain? What about nerves trapped between tight muscles and bone: ever had a pinched nerve?

That mechanism accounts for a long list of familiar complaints: back pain, muscular pain, headaches, scoliosis, TMJ, carpal tunnel syndrome (in many cases), tennis elbow (medial epicondylitis), knee pain, foot pain, and certain other conditions.

Next question: What is the universal response to shock or injury? When you get hurt what's the first thing that happens. You tighten up, don't you?

Might that not explain the pains and stiffness of aging? -- more opportunities for shock and/or injury as time passes?

So, A Conditioning Problem, Not a Medical Problem

Because of the recognized hazards of drug dependency, physicians are sometimes reluctant to prescribe even painkilling drugs and prefer to tell the patient to get used to the pain.

In extreme cases, however, the neurosurgeon steps in and cuts nerves, or the orthopedist replaces a joint (sometimes necessary and successful at alleviating pain, sometimes, not). Cortisone may be injected to reduce inflammation or botulism toxin injected to paralyze muscles. These kinds of measures often miss the point: the person is in pain because they are too tight; joints degenerated because of too much muscle-induced pressure; and muscles are too tight because the brain has become conditioned to hold them that way.

In that case, answer is not surgery or drugs; it is to change the conditioning by which a person holds themselves too tight -- a process that falls more into the realm of learning than of medical intervention.

Deal With the Problem As It Is.

To change the tension level of muscles requires more than stretching or massaging; it requires a learning process that affects the brain, which controls the muscular system. Such a learning process is referred to in some circles as somatic education. Somatic education systematically uses special movement training techniques to improve awareness and control of the muscular system. Significant results come relatively quickly, and when they do, the benefits are second nature and require no special attention in daily life, other than a brief, morning-refreshment routine to purge out the accumulated effects of daily stresses.

A system of sensory awareness and movement education (brain training), Hanna Somatic Education?, has been developed that restores freedom from numerous forms of musculo-skeletal and stress related pain.

For a list of conditions helped and how they are helped, click here. For more articles and information on self-help programs, click one of the links shown on this page and, upon arrival at the page, look for PURCHASE in the blue navigation bar at top. Free previews of programs are available from that page.

Lawrence Gold served for two years on staff at the Wellness and Rehabilitation Center of Watsonville Community Hospital, California and for two years as part of the Novato Institute training team for new practitioners. As part of the team, he presented Hanna Somatic Education at Esalen Institute at Big Sur, California.

Maturing Well Instead of Aging Poorly

One of the signs of aging is chronic pain and stiffness in various areas of the body and restrictions of various movements. By the time people reach their thirties, many have these restrictions. According to popular opinion and medical science, that is to be expected. Popular opinion and medical science don't say why it is to be expected, except perhaps to blame (without an illuminating explanation) our genes. While bodily changes are linked to our genetic destiny, there is another factor, one which is within our power to control.

This article provides an illuminating explanation as to why pain and restriction often appear with aging -- and what you can do about it. The illuminating explanation has to do with a common, seemingly innocuous condition underlying the movement restrictions of aging in nearly all persons -- the accumulation of muscular tension. By preventing tension from accumulating now, one can prevent the damage that leads to poor aging later; by eliminating accumulated tension, one can reclaim much of the physical grace and comfort one had years earlier.

THE OBVIOUS SIGN OF DECREPITUDE

How can you tell an aged person at a distance? It's by their posture, isn't it? Posture is a habitual way we have of moving and positioning ourselves, using the muscular system.

Much has been said in recent years about osteoporosis -- loss of bone density -- being responsible for changes of posture. While that is true in some cases and to varying degrees, muscular tensions have much more to do with the postural changes of aging than does osteoporosis. The posture of aging reveals muscular tensions that a person has accumulated and may have carried for years.

Along with postural changes, the mythology of aging has two key features: pains and stiffness.

Is it possible that chronic muscular tension alone can create the pains and stiffness of aging?

SOURCES OF PAIN AND STIFFNESS

When muscles get tight and stay tight, they cease to be elastic; they restrict movement. That sense of restriction is what people call stiffness, and it exists quite apart from the effects of arthritis.

Those same muscles, held tight for days, weeks, and years, get tired, sore, and prone to spasm. That feeling of muscle fatigue and soreness produces much of the chronic pain of aging. The effects of muscle tightness on joints is another factor that adds to pain and stiffness; tight muscles pull bones together at joints, creating pressure.

Most people are sore to the touch in one place or another -- not because they are old, but because they are tight, and their muscles, overworked.

The problem exists, however, not in the muscles themselves, but in the brain that controls them -- why is why massage and stretching provide only temporary relief. Muscles obey the brain, and if the brain says, contract, muscles contract -- massage and stretching notwithstanding.

There is nothing wrong with people's brains, however, and they don't need medication or a brain-scan; they need to learn -- or relearn -- to relax. They need to break their tension habits, formed over a lifetime.

People go through their lifetime of experiences doing either one of two things: tensing or relaxing. Think back to an earlier time in your life when you were in a new and possibly stressful situation -- one that you knew might last a while or that lasted longer than you expected. Notice how you feel when thinking about it. Are you tense, or relaxed? Can you tell? How were you, then? Did you manage your tension or did you turn your attention to more important things? Did you get used to your tension? If so, you probably lost some of your ability to relax. Over a lifetime, did you get more flexible, or more stiff? That's how you know, and that's one way a person's brain gets conditioned to maintain a level of tension.

Another way is through a physical injury. When we get hurt, we guard the injured part by pulling it in and out of action. The event of injury may make such an impression upon us that we may (and many people do) continue to guard the injured area in memory of the injury for decades. Thus forms a tension habit that leads to accumulated tension, pain, stiffness, and sometimes joint damage -- arthritis. Even without arthritis, accumulated tension adds drag to movement and makes it more difficult; people feel tired all the time, old.

Even physical fitness programs can lead to chronic tension. Many kinds of fitness training emphasize strength and firming (tightening) up. Rarely do they teach a person to relax. More often, they teach a person to stretch and warm up, which is not the same as teaching relaxation. So many fitness programs (or at least the way some people do them) cause them to form tension habits.

So, it's not so much our years as the tension habits we form over those years that determine whether we develop the pains and stiffness of aging and lose that part of our youthfulness.

A WAY BACK TO MORE YOUTHFUL COMFORT AND MOVEMENT

The pain and stiffness of aging start out as temporary tensions that become learned habits. Those habits can be unlearned.

The odd thing is that our tension often seems to be happening to us -- rather than something we are doing. Much of it exists below our threshold of consciousness. We're used to it; we don't notice it. So, the first step to breaking a tension habit is to become conscious of it. Only then can we stop tightening ourselves up.

Somatic exercises effectively break the tension habit. The word, somatic, means self-sensing and self- controlling -- the way you sense and control chewing. There are a number of systems of somatic exercises that accomplish this goal.

Somatic exercises improve posture, make you feel younger, improve flexibility, and ease or eliminate chronic pains. They pain spontaneous movement without pain possible, again.

The clinical form of Hanna Somatic Education clears up especially painful or persistent problems.

Either way, you gain freedom of spontaneous movement without pain, better coordination, more complete relaxation, and more strength guided and helped by the coaching of a somatic educator.

Improvements are stable and require minimal upkeep -- a few minutes of somatic exercises as part of ones daily regimen. Once a problem has been resolved, those exercises can keep you comfortable and supple for a lifetime.

So, if you thought pain and stiffness are the inevitable result of aging, consider the possibility that you can forestall or reverse those effects and decide whether it's worth the effort to you to do it.

Lawrence Gold, bio page
BRIEF:
Lawrence Gold served as Associate Instructor with the Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training and for two years he was on staff at the Wellness and Rehabilitation Center of Watsonville Community Hospital, California.

He has written and published advanced handbooks of practice for professional practitioners and movement therapists, and self-care instructional programs for back pain and general health, for the general public.

Illustrated instructions for somatic exercises are found in The Magic of Somatics (For a free preview, send email to (POINT AND CLICK:) free preview

See also: Somatics : Reawakening the Mind's Control of Movement, Flexibility, and Health (Perseus Books); available in several languages.

Running on Empty

A sexy pair of legs moseys its way down a soft, vacuumed carpet, around a bend, and through a long, narrow aisle.

Suddenly, these shapely stems, which are encased in bright spandex, dissolve into a jungle of many others, instantly blending into the vibrant surroundings like chameleons. The long row of gams seems endless. They?re shaking, they?re baking, they?re working like jackhammers - together in harmony ? as if they were all drilling for oil.

The machines drown out the booming disco racket from the overhead speakers. All you hear, aside from the constant hum of machinery, is metal on metal, minus the smear of grease.

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.

The stunning blonde attached to these legs peers down at a dark screen. At first, it looks like she?s about to indulge in a game of Pac-Man or Donkey Kong, but in actuality, her ensuing fun is of a much different variety. This woman is about to work out.

After punching in a few keys as if it were tax time, her hips slowly begin to grind, and just like that, the fun has begun.

Needless to say, the year is 1999 and what once was accomplished with such basic simplicity has now entered the world of hi-tech devices and advanced microchips.

To a new patron, who just wandered through the door, it all seems a bit pretentious as he peers over the motoring array of Stairmasters, steppers, treadmills, and stationary bikes.

The observer smirks and chuckles, knowing well that, not so long ago, for the goal at hand, two legs and an old pair of Nikes were all that was required.

However, the art of running seems a forgotten trade, not just for the random observer, but for the fitness public in general. For the mainstream crowd looking to foil the flab (and perhaps partake in the social aspects), a nice, honest jog through the park loses out to a sweat-session on the stairs any corporate day of the week.

Yet, one fact remains, the same fact that has survived both the tests of time and the endless evolution of technology. Nothing will whip you into shape faster and more effectively than a good, primitive run.

Aside from the fresh air that expands your lung capacity, something you can?t get at an indoor gym, running continues to stand as the leader in conditioning, fat burning, and keeping your heart rate up. Just compare the three miles down Main Street with the same distance on the rubbery conveyor belt of a treadmill. The difference in the way you feel is astounding.

But one such concept factoring in the demise of running is the belief that it is a muscle man?s worst enemy. Reports that running will chisel away on that hard-earned beef have been relentless. Thus, the running fad has come to heel a bit, almost seemingly limited to the hard-core crowd.

The experts say that the ideal method, however, to avoiding such a tragedy is to jog lightly for the first twenty minutes and then upgrade to a more vigorous pace thereafter. After the twenty-minute segment, the body generally kicks into the fat-burning business as opposed to the muscle-consuming business. Remaining at a steady, moderate pace (say 70 percent), and ditching any hopes of becoming the next Jesse Owens would seem the most logical approach, especially for new runners.

Besides, doesn?t a nice stroll along a quiet country road amid the birds and the tress sound somewhat appealing? Doesn?t it beat gaping at the sweat-drenched back of the guy on the Stairmaster in front of you?

If this is you, then perhaps it?s finally time to leave those noisy treadmills and squeaky stationary bikes behind ? far enough behind to choke on your dust.

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Body Massage for Relaxation Health Improvement and Sensual Pleasure

By massaging your friend or living partner and let him or her do the same to you, you will both get emotionally closer to each other, and both get several health benefits. Massaging will benefit the mental state of the person you work on, the muscular condition, the blood circulation and the lymph drainage. However, what you want to achieve, will determine the exact technique you use.

Massaging across the muscle fibres

This type of massage is very good for relaxing tense muscles and a stressed mind.

You perform this massage by rubbing or gripping across the direction of the muscle fibres or across tendons. You take one area after the other. You begin by massaging each area lightly, superficially and slowly to warm up, and then proceed by massaging deeper, firmer and more swiftly.

According to the size and conditions of the area you treat, you can use different types of manipulation. You can use a couple of fingers at a small area, or to reach deep into a tense point You can rub with all your finger tips or with the palm of your hand at greater areas. To get a harder effect, you can use your finger knuckles.

Massage along the muscles fibres

This type of massage will give the following effects: Stiffness will be reduced or cured, and the muscles will gain in mobility. The muscles will get better blood supply and drainage. The muscles will get a better drainage of tissue fluids into the lymph system, and thereby swollen muscles will normalize. These effects will in turn make tired muscles faster regain good condition.

By this massage you stroke along the direction of the muscle fibres, and always in the direction of the blood stream towards the heart.

Also now you take one area after the other, but try to reach the whole length of a muscle or muscle group at each stroke. Also by this massage, you begin massaging at each area lightly, superficially and slowly to warm up, and then proceed by massaging deeper, firmer and somewhat faster.

Also by this longitudinal massage, you can press down and stroke with your finger tips, with all your fingers, or grip around a muscle or muscle group with your fingers.

Massage with an electric massager

Most electric massage devices are vibrating up and down. This vibration mostly gives the same effect as the massage across the muscle fibres. If you also stroke with the device head along the muscle in the direction of the blood stream towards the heart, you will simultaneously also achieve the effects of longitudinal massage.

Combining the massage with stretching

The effects of the massage can be increased by also stretching the limbs and body parts of the person you work on. Stretch in the natural movement directions of the limb or body parts until you reach some resistance. Do not stretch hard to go beyond the resistance point. However, by holding the limb some time at the resistance point will often cause the limb to relax, and then you can go some way further.

How hard should you perform the massage?

Tired and stiff muscles are often tender and aching. Working at a tender point will always cause some temporal pain. However, if you use the right degree of firmness, the effect of the massage should cause an immediate release of pain and tenderness when you have finished working at a point. You should never work so hard that the pain is felt nearly unbearable, or so hard that pain remains after the massage is finished. If you do so, you can hurt or aggravate already existing tissue damage.

To achieve the right firmness you should monitor the reactions of the person you work at and listen to his comments. You should also never perform a massage on an area with a distinct inflammation or a distinct injury.

Use of massage oils

By applying a massage oil or ointment at the area you work at, you ease the massage work and increase the effects of the massage. Your fingers glide more easily upon the skin covering the area. The blood supply of the skin and muscles will be stimulated. You get a sensual and exciting scent on the area and in the air. Ingredients in the oil will ameliorate muscular ache and pain. According to the composition of the massage oil, there will be different stimulating effects upon the muscles, for example faster regeneration of tired or hurt muscle tissue.

Massaging for mutual joy and pleasure

You can use each of the two main techniques, but you let the pleasure of the person you massage decide the technique, the area you massage and the firmness of the massage. Usually gently touching and caressing will be the right manner.

Also your own pleasure shall decide. Do not work so hard that you get tired out yourself, and the person that you give the massage should be willing to repay you by doing the same favour to you.

Knut Holt is an internet consultant and marketer focusing on health items. TO FIND anti-aging supplements, medicines against acne, eczema, rosacea scars, wrinkles, other skin problems and natural medicines against heart disease, hypothyroidism, hemorrhoids, depression and other common health problems, PLEASE VISIT ==>http://www.panteraconsulting.com/salg2.htm

This article is free to reprint with the author's name and link.

The Ultimate Muscle Meal Plan

With this article, I just wanted to share with you one of my special muscle meal plans that I love. Surprisingly, it actually comes in the form of a salad, but it is killer!

I know the ladies will love this idea, but for all of you guys out there that think eating a salad makes you less of a man... Well, you haven't tried my ultimate salad on roids yet!

Keep in mind that this salad is not low in calories. It's not low in fat. It's not low in carbs.

And guess what...that's the whole point! It's not low in anything, but it sure as hell is HIGH in everything under the sun that's good for your body... just about every vitamin, mineral, antioxidant, and phytonutrient on the planet! And that means your body will receive all the nutrition it needs to maintain optimal hormonal balance, function at it's highest capacity, keep your appetite satisfied for hours, and prevent any unwanted cravings.

Keep in mind that last point... when you fill your body with all of the nutrients it needs on a daily basis, you pretty much totally eliminate cravings! This happens because your body is satisfied and doesn't need to crave any more food, because it has all of the nutrients it needs.

I've experienced this myself. Years ago, I used to crave sweets ALL THE TIME. But now that I eat the balanced diet that I do these days, I can't say that I've had a craving in at least 5 years! No joke.

Alright, here's the special muscle meal plan recipe:

The Ultimate Muscle Salad

approx 1-2 cups spinach leaves
approx 1-2 cups mixed leaf lettuce
shredded carrots
1/2 of a ripe avocado, diced
2 hard boiled eggs, diced (preferrably organic, cage free)
3 Tbsp chopped pecans
1/4 cup dried cranberries
top with homemade dressing made of balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and Udo's Choice Oil Blend (3/4 of total liquid should come from the vinegar)

Mix it all together and you've got one delicious and ridiculously nutritious salad. For an extra shot of antioxidants, wash it all down with some homemade iced green/white/oolong tea lightly sweetened with the natural sweetener Stevia or a little touch of raw honey.

Alright, now let's look at the approx macronutrient breakdown:

Prot: 23 g., Carbs: 48 g., Fiber: 12 g., Fat: 45 g., Calories: 650

Now before you throw your arms up in disgust and call me crazy for recommending such a high fat, high calorie meal, keep in mind to scale back the portion sizes for your own caloric goal. The portions above are simply the portions that I use considering that my maintenance caloric intake is around 3000 calories/day. If your maintenance is 2000 calories/day, then scale back the portions accordingly.

Also, I don't care about the high fat content of this meal... because every last gram of the fat in this meal is VERY healthy... from the pecans, the olive oil, the Udo's oil, the fresh avocado... and yes, even the fat from the eggs is good for you!

How about the carbs? Well, out of a total of 48 grams, you've got 12 grams of fiber. That's a pretty good ratio. Also, the healthy fats and protein in this meal will slow down the carbohydrate digestion, giving you a healthy glycemic response and steady controlled blood sugar.

Alright, so you're probably also wondering why there isn't a larger amount of protein. After all, protein is all the rage with bodybuilders, right. Well, actually 23 grams isn't too shabby, especially considering 14 grams of that comes from the highly bioavailable protein from the hard boiled eggs. Also consider that this meal has a whole lot of healthy fats, which increases the utilization of your protein. This happens because your body does not need to use your protein for energy, and can instead use it for muscle building or maintenance, and all of the other various functions that amino acids are needed for in the body.

Overall, with this meal plan, you've got a great mix of healthy fats, good fibrous carbs, quality protein, and a huge diversity of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other trace nutrients.

Follow this link for more ideas on killer fat loss and muscle building programs.

Michael Geary (CPT) is a recognized Fitness Expert, owner of http://BusyManFitness.com, contributing writer for Muscle & Fitness Magazine, and author of the internationally-selling book, The Truth about 6-Pack Abs ?2004-2006.

Strengthen Your Back With Taijiquan

There are a few traditional exercises which you can still do to strengthen your back, namely, sit ups, cross sit ups, leg raises and back extensions. However, many who eventualy develop the 6 pack, or the front abdominal muscles, may not be able to demonstrate co-ordinated spinal control. As always, the rule of them of thumb is to do these exercises in moderation. Having a strong back will improve your spinal stability. This stabilisation is achieved by working on your deeper trunk muscles. Hence, we need to turn our attention to exercises that require the control of deep abdominal muscles and good mind-body co-ordination.

So, how do we train up our trunks for starters?

This is quite simply done. You don't even need the gym. And you can improve your posture and back alignment this very moment, wherever you are!

Just imagine a string pulling you up from the central tip of your head, like those puppets. This can be a powerful visualization if you have the discipline to enforce it throughout the day.

Then, sitting where you are, do a head roll a couple of times, and rotate your shoulders a couple of times. You will find the tension considerably reduced. Finish off by stretching your arms up over your head, gripping your hands together at the apex.

Right. Next question. For those of us who want to take back strengthening a step further, where do we go from here?

You will likely find that Taijiquan (Tai Chi or Taiji) can address this rather satisfactorily,if not, effectively, for most of us.

Most Taijiquan styles require you to develop an upright posture when practicing the forms. You can do this easily if you focus your eyes on a level. Try not to look down at your feet or the ground, you won't find any gold there. For every movement you learn, you will have to find your best postulation, without hunching, slouching and the like. In effect, you get training in centering, or finding your center of stability.

By constantly monitoring the uprightness of your posture for each move, you are essentially building up your trunk muscles. When you train up strong and stable trunk muscles, they help provide a stable frame allowing our arms and legs to move more efficiently, thereby reducing the risk of injuries. This is very much the case in Chenjiagou Taijiquan which emphasizes the trunk/waist area as a central pivot and force center. The stronger your trunk muscles, the more efficiently you are able to transfer force between your upper and lower limbs. As your efficiency increases, you can generate more power into each stroke, each movement that is executed.

In Chenjiagou Taijiquan, you will learn to maintain a stable trunk as you execute each movement, by keeping the posture as upright as possible relative to the ground. By focusing and adhering to this requirement, you will find that you need to draw upon collective muscles all throughout the lower abdominal area, whilst ensuring that you do not automatically tense your shoulders in order to keep the stance. You won't be able to do all this in a magical instance, of course. It is through regular training, by trial and error as you practice to find your most comfortable posture, you will discover your optimal body position for each movement. You will know when you have found the best angles because you will be able to hold a postulation effortlessly! That is also when all your body lines are connected in a continuous, unbroken flow.

A daily dose - alright, for those who can't make it everyday - a regular dose of Chenjiagou Taijiquan practice will help you to develop your own proper breathing technique that is co-ordinated with your movements. When you have eventually found your own breathing rhythm, you will not get breathless during your practice. Taijiquan can be a wonderful art which trains segmental control. The routines have been created so that you practice along progressive stages. Each stage focuses on a different area of the human body, such that you will benefit from total body conditioning. The routines require spinal flexibility at the trunk, segmental control of the spine (precision), a continuous flow of movement and centering (through balancing on foot centres).

With persistent, proper training and feedback from a qualified instructor, you should be able to transfer this control into your daily functional tasks such as standing, walking and other sports activity. You will find your body automatically seeks to adjust itself into an optimal position for easy balance. I think we all agree that this is an extremely valuable reflex to nurture.

Watch a short demo of Chenjiagou Taijiquan, the 5 Element set now.

Jasmine Bu
20th Generation Chenjiagou Taijiquan Disciple. I'm also a mother of 2 kids.

Do stop by my website at The World of Taijiquan if you would like to learn more about how to re-balance your internal body systems whilst getting healthy.

How to Gain Muscle Naturally... No Steroids Necessary.

Wondering how to gain muscle? There are many fads, gimmicks and quick fixes to be found, but there is really only one healthy way to gain muscle mass. You don't need to be gifted with great genetics or use potentially dangerous illegal hormones or steroids. The how to gain muscle question has a relatively simple two-step process: 1) increase your caloric intake, and 2) workout. This combination will provide the desired results.

Don't be embarrassed to look in the mirror! You CAN have the body that you strive to achieve. When you first begin thinking about how to gain muscle, the first instinct may be But I don't want to gain fat. Losing fat and gaining muscle mass are two different objectives, and are tackled in two different ways. At this point you have to realize that dieting and exercising to lose weight is different than dieting and exercising to gain muscle.

In gaining muscle mass, the caloric intake must be increased. You have to take in more calories that your body is used to: take in more proteins and fats-your body has no choice but to gain weight. While nutritional supplements may be utilized, this should NOT be used as a substitute for a healthy diet. The increased calories are then offset by working out with weights in order to achieve the increased muscle mass you desire. This workout will stimulate growth by overloading the muscles. The combination of caloric building blocks (which help rebuild and repair muscle tissue) along with the increase workout.

If you are among the millions who constantly try to gain weight and build muscle mass, remember that a firm commitment, the proper diet, and a good weight-training regimen are the best ways to succeed in reaching your goal. A muscle mass building diet includes plenty of protein and enough calories to promote weight gain.

A good place to start is to multiply your current weight by 18. This number will give you a rough idea of how many calories your body needs in a day to bulk up. If you are extremely active, play sports, or have a faster than average metabolism, you may need to increase your caloric intake even more. A muscle building diet requires a lot of effort on your part. It's not easy to consume enough calories in three meals per day. A good suggestion would be to eat several small meals each day rather than three large ones.

Protein is a critical element in any mass building diet. Ideally, you should eat one and a half grams of protein per pound of body weight. While this seems like a lot of protein, spread over several small meals each day it will be a lot easier to meet this goal. Fish, poultry, eggs, and lean red meat are excellent sources of protein. Lots of fresh vegetables and simple carbohydrates combined with plenty of protein should allow you to meet your calorie quota each day. The best muscle building diet is a combination of consuming adequate calories and the proper types of foods.

Michael is a former skinny guy who gained over 20 lbs of muscle. He attributes most of his muscle building success to the information about how to gain weight he learned from http://www.fastmusclegain.com

Magnetic Therapy What Is It?

Magnet therapy involves the use of a magnetised device placed on or near the body to either facilitate healing or relieve pain.
The magnetic products available today come in many types. They can be attached to the skin, worn as jewellery, placed in your shoes, or slept on. Arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, insomnia and headaches are among the list of ailments for which many people claim can benefit from magnet therapy. Although no one is sure how magnets work, supporters claim that they can have a profound effect on the body, particularly in the area of pain relief.

The use of magnets for medical purposes is not new; the ancient Greeks believed that natural magnetic rocks had therapeutic powers. In the sixteenth century a Swiss-born alchemist and physician, Philippus von Hohenheim, purportedly used magnets to draw illness from the body. Over the past decade, magnet therapy has become increasingly popular, especially among professional athletes who use it for aches and pains. Nearly 80 touring golf pros now use some form of magnetic therapy for help in relieving, muscle soreness, back pain, arthritis, and other ailments. Even so, magnet therapy remains controversial. Scientists have only recently begun the scientific research needed to persuade most mainstream doctors to add magnets to their medicinal arsenals, although the British National Health Service (NHS) has recently (March 2006) recommended doctors to prescribe magnetic knee wraps in preference to drugs.

How Does It Work?

The theory behind magnet therapy is that the fields produced by magnets can affect the functioning of individual cells in the body and improve the working of the nervous system and various organs. Exactly how the magnetic fields do this is unknown, but there are several theories. Some say that the electrical current created by magnets interrupts the transmission of pain signals in the nerves. Others claim magnets increase blood flow to an area, boosting the flow of oxygen and other nutrients, thereby reducing pain and swelling.

What You Can Expect

It is believed that magnets must be placed precisely to have an effect (they work best when placed over a body area that has some degree of intact circulation). Therefore it is best to do magnet therapy under the guidance of a therapist or doctor who is experienced in its use. However, many people choose to use magnets on their own.

If you are trying magnets for arthritis or other types of pain, you may be advised to purchase small magnetic devices that can be secured to the body elastic bandages, or Velcro.

Depending on how much pain you are experiencing, you might be advised to keep the magnets in place for as little as five minutes or to wear them for a number of hours every day for several weeks. If you are trying magnets to help with insomnia, your doctor may advise using a magnetic pillow or mattress pad.

Health Benefits

Magnetic therapy is most often used for pain, usually of the muscles, joints and back. Magnets have also been used to relieve post-surgery pain. Some suggest that magnets can reduce stress, as well as relieve insomnia and treat migraine. Others even claim that magnetic therapy can fight infection and improve central nervous system disorders, such as seizures. While research has shown that magnet therapy can indeed relieve pain, there is little solid evidence proclaiming its use for other ailments.

One study, published in the American Journal of Pain Management in 1999, showed that magnetic foot insoles were shown to be effective in reducing foot pain in those with diabetes.

How To Choose a Practitioner

Magnet therapy may be practiced by a therapist or doctor, or it may be self-administered. It is best to work with an experienced practitioner who is knowledgeable about the therapeutic use of magnets.

Ria has been an holistic practitioner since 1990 and she has trained in many fields such as cranio-sacral therapy, shiatsu, reflexology, reiki, aromatherapy, Bach flowers, crystal healing, psychotherapy, counselling, fytotherapy, TT and nutrition. Ria focuses on the underlying causes of disease rather than treating symptoms alone. She has been a certified therapist since 1996 and has developed an extensive practice dedicated to creating total wellness and self-empowerment based on the body, mind, soul connection.

Drinking Your Pain Away

Twenty years of research has shown Dr. Batmanghelidj what nature has always known: that water is critical to life. So critical, in fact, that the lack of water--or dehydration--actually produces most of our chronic pains and ailments. He reveals the exciting news . . . it is possible to treat and prevent pain for free!

Finally . . . a natural element that can counteract those agonzing degenerative diseases! If you are concerned about the negative effects that prescription and over-the-counter drugs have on your body, please read this report in its entirety and consider obtaining more information on the subject. It can change the way you look and feel.

Seventy-five percent of Americans are dehydrated. Instead of consuming life-giving water, we reach for a cold soda or high-sugar juice (and this is after our morning coffee, which also depletes our bodies of necessary fluids). Unfortunately this has taken a serious toll on our health-care structure, for our natural drought management system dictates that when we do have a water shortage certain parts of our bodies are forced to go without water. This is why a blood test is a poor diagnosis for whether or not someone is dehydrated: for obvious reasons, the blood is the last remaining area from which water is taken.

Dehydration is evident. It can be seen in frequent headaches, muscle pains, cramping, heartburn, dizziness which increases upon standing, dry skin, inability to produce tears, poor short-term memory, poor digestion, constipation, nosebleeds, and, lastly, dry mouth. A surprising fact is that thirst is actually a very poor indicator of your need to drink water. The less water you drink, the less often you will feel thirsty; dehydration shuts off our thirst perception, so to speak.

Dr. B happened upon some information that is so little known that it isn't even publicized in medical textbooks: the role of histamine. Histamine is basically a chemical messenger messenger that is in charge of drought management in the body. Not surprisingly, it is more active when we are dehydrated and makes itself be known through aches and pains that we cover up with medicines. Also not surprising is the fact that most if not all of the medications that we take are antihistamines. What are we doing? Dehydrating ourselves more and more . . .

As far as hydrating and back pain go, water is a major component of cartilage. It follows then that if we dehydrate ourselves, the cells in our cartilage will shrivel up and eventually be worn away. Not only that, but without adequate fluids, the body can't move toxins through the body which causes them to accumulate in the joints--a condition known as osteoarthritis. Even if you don't have arthritis, chances are good that your back pain is from dehydration, for another common symptom is muscle spasms.

A brief explanation of why cartilage breaks down: water is the lubrication for the cells in the cartilage. When you don't provide enough fluid, the cells are no longer able to glide over each other and the friction becomes very abrasive (like rubbing a piece of granite against some chalk). It is easy to see why water is so important to our joints.

While it is true that most back pain is related to strain, injury, or overuse, pain can still be the result of a lack of fluids. The cells need copious amounts of water to flush out the acid particles created by the increased work or stress that caused the strain. When dehydrated, the acid builds up and sends out pain signals--cries for water . . . not motrin.

Incurable diseases have fallen prostrate before the power of water. The Mayo Clinic told an elderly gentleman who had suffered for over thirty years from arthritis in his spinal column that there was no hope for him. He lived in such excrutiating pain that it was impossible for him to stand; as a matter of fact, he resembled a comma (in his words). One year after consistently hydrating himself he was pain free--and not only that, but he had lower blood pressure too!

Here are some interesting facts about hydration:

--even mild dehydration slows down metabolism by as much as 3%
--lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue
--drinking just 5 glasses a day reduces your risk of colon cancer by 45%, breast cancer by 79%, and bladder cancer by 50%
--a glass of water before bed stops midnight hunger pains (but you might have to get up to use the restroom!)
--cold water is absorbed faster than warm water
--drinking 6-8 glasses/day improves memory and concentration
--in 37% of Americans the thirst mechanism is so weak that it's usually mistaken for hunger

Your joints are not the only area of your body that are negatively affected by lack of water. There is one very important area, that should strike you even if nothing else does--your brain. This all-important organ is made up of 85% water! And unfortunately for us, when we deprive ourselves of water it is one of the first places that the body automatically squeezes fluid from. When water, the messenger of the brain, is reduced, we suffer from headaches, poor short-term memory, dizziness, poor balance, and general fogginess. Indeed, migraines can often be treated successfully with improved hydration.

How much water do you need? A good rule of thumb is to divide your body weight by two: for example, a 160 pound person should drink at least 80 ounces of water a day. Obviously more should be consumed if you exercise or live in a hot climate. And while water is the basis for many other drinks including coffee, soda, juice, and alcohol, there really is no subsitute for it by itself. All of those drinks contain substances that are detrimental to your overall health and wellbeing.

Dr. Howard Flaks of Beverly Hills has this to say about the subject:

As a result of not drinking enough water, many people encounter such problems as excess body fat, poor muscle tone and size, decreased digestive efficiency and organ function, increased toxicity in the body, joint and muscle soreness (particularly after exercise) and water retention.

So go ahead. Drink to your health!

Brianna Stanley has turned her passion for health and wellness into her business. To learn about the Freedom Project's simple 3-step process visit: http://www.miniofficeoutlets.com/stanley

Strengthen Your Back With Taijiquan

There are a few traditional exercises which you can still do to strengthen your back, namely, sit ups, cross sit ups, leg raises and back extensions. However, many who eventualy develop the 6 pack, or the front abdominal muscles, may not be able to demonstrate co-ordinated spinal control. As always, the rule of them of thumb is to do these exercises in moderation. Having a strong back will improve your spinal stability. This stabilisation is achieved by working on your deeper trunk muscles. Hence, we need to turn our attention to exercises that require the control of deep abdominal muscles and good mind-body co-ordination.

So, how do we train up our trunks for starters?

This is quite simply done. You don't even need the gym. And you can improve your posture and back alignment this very moment, wherever you are!

Just imagine a string pulling you up from the central tip of your head, like those puppets. This can be a powerful visualization if you have the discipline to enforce it throughout the day.

Then, sitting where you are, do a head roll a couple of times, and rotate your shoulders a couple of times. You will find the tension considerably reduced. Finish off by stretching your arms up over your head, gripping your hands together at the apex.

Right. Next question. For those of us who want to take back strengthening a step further, where do we go from here?

You will likely find that Taijiquan (Tai Chi or Taiji) can address this rather satisfactorily,if not, effectively, for most of us.

Most Taijiquan styles require you to develop an upright posture when practicing the forms. You can do this easily if you focus your eyes on a level. Try not to look down at your feet or the ground, you won't find any gold there. For every movement you learn, you will have to find your best postulation, without hunching, slouching and the like. In effect, you get training in centering, or finding your center of stability.

By constantly monitoring the uprightness of your posture for each move, you are essentially building up your trunk muscles. When you train up strong and stable trunk muscles, they help provide a stable frame allowing our arms and legs to move more efficiently, thereby reducing the risk of injuries. This is very much the case in Chenjiagou Taijiquan which emphasizes the trunk/waist area as a central pivot and force center. The stronger your trunk muscles, the more efficiently you are able to transfer force between your upper and lower limbs. As your efficiency increases, you can generate more power into each stroke, each movement that is executed.

In Chenjiagou Taijiquan, you will learn to maintain a stable trunk as you execute each movement, by keeping the posture as upright as possible relative to the ground. By focusing and adhering to this requirement, you will find that you need to draw upon collective muscles all throughout the lower abdominal area, whilst ensuring that you do not automatically tense your shoulders in order to keep the stance. You won't be able to do all this in a magical instance, of course. It is through regular training, by trial and error as you practice to find your most comfortable posture, you will discover your optimal body position for each movement. You will know when you have found the best angles because you will be able to hold a postulation effortlessly! That is also when all your body lines are connected in a continuous, unbroken flow.

A daily dose - alright, for those who can't make it everyday - a regular dose of Chenjiagou Taijiquan practice will help you to develop your own proper breathing technique that is co-ordinated with your movements. When you have eventually found your own breathing rhythm, you will not get breathless during your practice. Taijiquan can be a wonderful art which trains segmental control. The routines have been created so that you practice along progressive stages. Each stage focuses on a different area of the human body, such that you will benefit from total body conditioning. The routines require spinal flexibility at the trunk, segmental control of the spine (precision), a continuous flow of movement and centering (through balancing on foot centres).

With persistent, proper training and feedback from a qualified instructor, you should be able to transfer this control into your daily functional tasks such as standing, walking and other sports activity. You will find your body automatically seeks to adjust itself into an optimal position for easy balance. I think we all agree that this is an extremely valuable reflex to nurture.

Watch a short demo of Chenjiagou Taijiquan, the 5 Element set now.

Jasmine Bu
20th Generation Chenjiagou Taijiquan Disciple. I'm also a mother of 2 kids.

Do stop by my website at The World of Taijiquan if you would like to learn more about how to re-balance your internal body systems whilst getting healthy.

Simple Steps To Bulging Biceps And Horseshoe Triceps

It?s no secret that every serious lifter out there desires an impressive pair of strong, muscular arms. Who wouldn?t be happy with tall, peaking biceps sitting on top of rock-hard, horse-shoe-shaped triceps? Who wouldn?t love to have a pair of ripped, well-developed guns forcefully bursting through the sleeves of their shirt? While developing muscular arms is usually at the top of many peoples? agenda, the reality is that the majority of lifters out there have a very poor understanding of how to properly train their arms for maximum gains. In order to gain the proper insight into effectively stimulating arm growth, we must first recognize three basic truths:

1) Relatively speaking, the biceps and triceps are small muscle groups.
2) The biceps receive heavy stimulation during all basic pulling movements for the back.
3) The triceps receive heavy stimulation during all basic pressing movements for the chest and shoulders.

What do these 3 points tell us about effective arm training? The most important thing for you to realize is this:

For maximum gains in muscle size and strength, the biceps and triceps require only a very small amount of direct stimulation!

So why is it that every time I enter the gym I see the same misinformed people, week in and week out, slaving away on endless sets of bicep curls and tricep extensions?

It?s very important to understand that the biceps and triceps receive a very large amount of stimulation from all of your chest and back training. In fact, a lot of the time when you reach muscular failure on a chest or back movement, it is actually your biceps or triceps that give out first! Couple this with the fact that your biceps and triceps are already small muscle groups to begin with and it becomes quite clear that direct arm training is of minor importance.

Remember, your muscles do not grow in the gym. The work that you accomplish as you train with weights is merely the ?spark? that sets the wheels of the muscle growth process into motion. The real magic takes place out of the gym while you are resting and eating, as this is the time when your body will actually be synthesizing new muscle tissue. Because of this, it is vital that you do not overtrain your muscles. You must always make sure to provide them with sufficient recovery time if you want to see impressive results. Overtraining can actually make your muscles smaller and weaker.

If you?re looking to achieve serious arm growth, you must stop placing so much emphasis on direct arm movements. Forget about performing endless sets of concentration curls and tricep pressdowns. Strong, muscular arms are mostly a product of heavy chest and back training. If you are able to accept this basic truth and place the majority of your focus on building up the muscle size and strength in your major muscle groups, you will prevent yourself from overtraining your arms and will therefore yield greater overall gains in bicep and tricep size.

This is not to say that no direct arm training is necessary, just not very much. Here is a sample arm routine that you can use as a part of your program:

Barbell Curls ? 2 sets of 5-7 reps
Standing Dumbbell Curls ? 1 set of 5-7 reps

Close-Grip Bench Press ? 2 sets of 5-7 reps
Standing Cable Pushdowns ? 1 set of 5-7 reps

Take all sets to complete muscular failure and focus on progressing each week by using slightly more weight or performing an extra rep or 2.

If you can incorporate this way of thinking into your arm training, you will achieve arm size beyond anything you previously thought possible!

Sean Nalewanyj is a bodybuilding expert, fitness author and writer of top-selling Internet Bodybuilding E-Book: The Truth About Building Muscle.
Learn how to build maximum muscle mass in minimum time by visiting his website: http://www.MuscleGainTruth.com/

Weight Training 101

Weight training is the foundation of your fitness program. A well planed and properly executed program will add lean muscle to your body, thus giving you a more prominent shape as well as increasing your metabolism. In other words you will look better and burn more calories at rest. Adding lean muscle mass is not the only benefit, you will also be strengthening your joints and increasing your bone density. This may prevent the onset of such conditions as osteoporosis and arthritis.

A well planed program starts by determining your training split. This is the number of days per week that you will be working out (at least 3 ) and the combination of body parts that will be trained on each day. Keep in mind, each muscle of the body should be worked once per week. There are exceptions to this rule, including the abdominals and the calf muscles. These are comprised of a different muscle fiber type and may be trained more than one time a week. A beginner program may consist of three days of weight training dividing the body as follows;

DAY 1 CHEST, SHOULDERS, TRICEPS
DAY 2 BACK, BICEPS, FOREARMS
DAY 3 LEGS ( QUADS, HAMSTRING, CALVES )

*CARDIO AND ABDOMINAL TRAINING TO BE PERFORMED AFTER EACH DAY. THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE, PLEASE NOTE THAT MUSCLES MUST BE TRAINED IN ORDER OF SIZE ( LARGE TO SMALL )

The next step is to establish the sets and repetitions for each exercise. Each exercise should be done three times (sets) allowing for one warm up set per body part. While training for mass or thickness , 6-10 repetitions should be used for each working set, 10 being the most you are able to do with proper form. If the primary focus of your training is size reduction,12-20 repetitions should be used. As a general rule the abdominal and calf muscles will respond better to lighter weights and the higher repetition range. keeping a training log will enable you to track your progress and effectively change and increase the intensity of your program.

Two important aspects of weight training are form (technique ) and proper breathing. Unlike cardio training, weight training movements should be done slow and deliberately focusing on the muscles being targeted by the exercise. The standard for breathing is to breathe in on the ecentric (negative) portion of the movement and to breathe out on the concentric (positive) portion. Failure to breathe properly can increase your blood pressure causing light headedness and headaches.

Rest is another consideration in your program. The body does the majority of its recovery while you sleep. An effort to sleep 7-8 hours a night should be made to allow you to recuperate and recharge. We also recommend taking at least one day off per week from all forms of exercise. Over-training is a serious condition and once realized can set you back weeks in progress.

In order for muscle growth to take place your body must be in an anabolic state. When there is a positive nitrogen balance in the blood your muscles are primed for growth. A positive nitrogen balance is achieved by consuming amino acids every 2 to 3 hours throughout the day. A complete chain of aminos is available in any protein derived from an animal source or from protein supplements. While consuming non-animal protein sources you can take an amino acid supplement.

John Mott is a certified personal trainer and fitness enthusiast. He is also a regular contributor to http://bulletprooffitness.com a free information site which encompasses all aspects of fitness.