Archive for May, 2008

Worried with obesity? Want to try any weight loss product like thermogenics to reduce excess body weight? Then it is very important for you to get sufficient knowledge about these products before using.

Many weight loss products are available in market which claims to assist you in losing your excess body weight, provided if you take them in permissible limits.

However, it is very dangerous for you to use any product that can mainly alter your body metabolism.

Thermogenic compounds are the most popular and heavily marketed fat control products in fitness industry. These thermogenics mainly comprises of supplements containing xenedrine, caffeine and ephedrine and also other natural or sometimes artificially extracted stimulants, which are especially designed to speed up your body metabolism.

Thermogenic products which are mainly used for fat loss have been tested to be effective that mainly helps you in losing weight.

Is thermogenics use for weight loss is a safe option?

The stimulants which are used in thermogenic compounds are very effective in raising your body temperature and encourage your body in burning more calories. But, it is very essential for you to know that you can experience certain side effects with the use of thermogenics, provided if you don’t use them in permissible limits.

A new study of middle school girls shows that after-school programs, in addition to school physical education classes, may be one answer to reducing obesity in teens.

The just-released results of the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG) showed that moderate to vigorous after-school physical activity, in programs that can range from hip hop dancing to surfing, can modestly increase the amount of physical activity for young teenage girls, to the point that it could prevent excess weight gain of about two pounds per year.

The TAAG study found that programs which linked schools in six geographic regions of the U.S. with community partners (such as the YMCA or YWCA, local health clubs, and community recreation centers) increased time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity among the middle-school female students by about two minutes per day, or 80 calories a week. This finding occurred after three years of the intervention, but not after two years.

TAAG showed a reduction of 8.2 minutes of sedentary behavior in girls in the intervention schools. Furthermore, the best results were seen in programs offered between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays, which suggest that after-school programs are more effective than programs offered at other times, such as morning weekdays and weekends.

For millions of American children and teens playing sports, good nutrition is critical for maximum health, performance and normal growth.

Yet, with all the information available out there, it’s becoming harder than ever for a young athlete to filter truth from myth, and detangle the good from the bad and the ugly, says Amanda Leonard, M.P.H., R.D., a pediatric sports nutritionist at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

The Good

As a general rule, 20 to 30 percent of the calories in a young athlete’s diet should come from fat, 50 to 65 percent from carbohydrates and 15 to 20 percent from protein.

The Bad

Dehydration among children playing sports is common, especially in the hot summer months, but may go unnoticed in its milder forms, Leonard says.

To avoid dehydration:

• Before exercise, drink 4 to 8 ounces
• During activity, drink 4 ounces every 15 minutes
• After exercise, drink 16 to 24 ounces per every pound lost

The Ugly

The dietary supplements are not tested by Food and Drug Administration before they reach the market, so their benefits and safety are not verified independently. Pediatricians should always ask young athletes whether they take dietary supplements because some can aggravate pre-existing conditions. Creatine, for example, can cause kidney damage in a child with pre-existing kidney problems.

Tyrosine contains host of benefits to your body, which also acts as an important catalyst for many chemical processes that takes place in your body.

It is used in many health products these days. Deficiency of this supplement can result in weakness, loss of your body muscle, lower levels of protein, certain mood disorders and can also lead to liver damage.

L tyrosine is a non-essential amino acid, which means in the presence of other key chemicals, your body can produce its own amino acids.

The main dietary sources of tyrosine are derived from both animal and vegetable proteins. Some of the natural sources include fish, chicken, milk, banana, cheese, almonds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, avocados and also soy products.

Is there any prescribed quantity to take tyrosine?

The standard dosage of this tyrosine is 1000 mg when you need a physical or even mental boost. These supplements are usually taken 30 minutes before your normal meals and you can divide this dosage into 3 parts and can take 3 times in a day.

In order to convert these tyrosine into most important brain chemicals, they must be taken with multivitamin minerals, as the vitamins like vitamin B6 and vitamin B9 can help in the conversion of tyrosine into essential chemicals for brain.

Do you think strength training routine is something like running on a tread mill or riding a stationary bike regularly? If yes, then you are in a wrong impression of strength training.

Strength training routine is more about improving your resistance towards building muscle mass and also strength.

It is always recommended that every individual must practice regular strength training exercises.

If you find very less time for performing strength training exercises, then don’t worry as strength training exercise hardly needs to be performed only two or three times in a week with each session not lasting more than an hour, according to American college of sports medicine (ACSM).

For getting better results, an effective strength training exercise must be done for two or three hours in a week.

How beneficial is regular strength training program?

The most important benefit of a good strength training routine is if you develop regular strength training habit, you will be less prone to all kinds of health problems, which can be helpful for you to lead a happy life.

• A good strength training routine will help in your day to day activities around your house and also in your yard. It also keeps you independent in many ways, which is an essential aspect for older people.

Do you spend most of your time in front of computer? Then you might be experiencing severe stress in your shoulders.

Shoulder stretches can make you to feel good, if you are experiencing any stress in your shoulders, due to the lot of time spent hunching over computer.

Shoulder stretches also help you in your walking exercise that is in a good posture with shoulders bent back in a relaxed way with your chest open. Some of the important shoulder stretches are given here. Try to practice these workouts and notice the difference.

Simple workout for your neck:

You can perform this stretch for your shoulders at any time of your work to relieve from the stress in your shoulder. Take one of your arms and try to suspend it by your side. Now twist it, so that your palm is facing out, away from your body.

With the other hand, grasp your head and try to pull your ear towards shoulder. You can repeat the same procedure on the other side. Practice this stretch in slow and gentle way. Stop doing it whenever you feel discomfort.

A serious body builder depends on prohormones in regular training routine. These prohormones are mainly useful for building unparallel muscle mass and also offers you fat reducing capabilities.

However, these prohormones contributes to certain side effects in your body.

Before using these supplements, it is very essential for you to know about these side effects and certain ways to reduce these adverse effects on your body.

Know more about Potential effects of prohormones:

Gynecomastia (gyno):

This is one of the most fearful side effects of using androgen. Gynecomastia is a benign enlargement of the male breast. Gyno mainly occurs due to excessive levels of estrogen, which mainly aggravates with excessive fat in your body and also due to certain genetic factors.

If you are really concerned about this condition, then just try to avoid the use of prohormones, which are main agonists of estrogen compounds.

It is always important to keep a prescription of anti-estrogens with you and try to use them at the initial stages of gyno development such as large and very itchy nipples. If you still experience any symptoms of gyno in the initial few weeks of a cycle, then it is sensible to discontinue the cycle immediately.