Exercise For Teenagers

It does, however, help to learn about the different ways you can exercise so you can have fun, reach your goals and avoid injuring yourself. The great thing about fitness for teens is that just about any activity that gets you moving will work.

You should try to get vigorous exercise in for about an hour a day at least 3 days a week, and regular, more moderate activity during the rest of the week. Vigorous aerobic fitness includes sports like football, tennis, soccer, volleyball, basketball, etc.

It also includes brisk walking, running, cycling, swimming or chasing an annoying sibling. Always make sure you are wearing the proper protective gear for whatever activity you choose and try for this level of activity at least 3 times a week.

Muscle-strengthening is a type of training that helps you build muscular strength and endurance. It can involve unstructured activities like using playground equipment or climbing trees.

It can also include structured strength workouts with exercises like squats, pushups or crunches using weights, machines, or your own body weight. Always work with an adult, coach, trainer or other expert before you start lifting weights to make sure you know the right exercises to do and how to do them correctly.

You may already lift weights if you are playing a sport but, if not, you can add this type of activity 2 to 3 days a week, with at least a day of rest in between. Aside from participating in a sport or other activities like running or riding your bike, you should also include regular activity into your day.

This means limiting how much time you sit at the computer or video game. This can include active games, taking walks, wrestling with your friends, or tossing a ball in the backyard.

This is something you can do every day, especially on the days you are not doing harder, more structured workouts. Power lifting is a type of training that involves explosive lifting, often focusing on how much you can lift at one time.

This type of training is not recommended for teens because it is difficult to use good form and the body may be stressed too abruptly, causing injury. Exercising too much can also lead to injuries, overtraining and, for girls, a change in menstrual cycles that could lead to bone loss.

It is sometimes hard to know how much is too much, since everyone can tolerate a different amount of fitness. However, exercising several times a day or for several hours is probably too much on anyone.

Following the guidelines and exercising about an hour a day is a good place to start. While it is fine to have goals to improve your body, we can’t always control what we can change.

If you want bigger muscles, that’s something that happens after puberty, although you can always build strength at any age. If you want to lose weight, fitness and a healthy diet are important, but don’t expect dramatic weight loss overnight.

Permanent, safe weight loss is a slow process and trying to speed it up with unhealthy diets or excessive exercise often backfires. If you are into sports, you probably have practice, games and other activities to keep you busy.

If not, you may have to be creative about fitness, especially if you haven’t had a chance to practice different activities to find what you like and what you’re good at. Ask your parents if you can go to the gym with them or if there is a local community center where you can exercise.

Create a new routine where you walk, in-line skate, or run every day when you get home from school. If you don’t want to exercise outside by yourself, ask your friends or a family member to go with you or use a fitness video in your own bedroom.

Do some chores like raking leaves or sweeping the driveway can actually burn calories while making your parents happy. You can also take the dog for a long walk.

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Exercise Tips For The Office

If you are like most people, you spend the better part of your day sitting at a desk where you may not change positions for several hours. Unfortunately, this is a Monday through Friday job where you work ten plus hours a day.

This equates out to at least 40 hours a week where you are sitting a desk, not really moving your body. This can make you very lethargic, and make it difficult to be active outside of work.

Though this is what your job requires of you, there are some things you can do in your office chair that can help you burn a few calories. This will benefit your overall health and hopefully make your office experience less dreary.

If you have trouble staying fit while at work, there are some office exercises that will get your body moving throughout the day. Each one entails movements that are meant to stretch and strengthen your body without requiring you to run up and down the stairs of the building.

Please keep in mind that these exercises are not meant to take the place of tradition strength training, but are rather are an aide to help keep your body moving while you are sitting at a desk for hours at a time. You should still participate in strength and cardiovascular training while you are not at work.

The thing you can do is to stretch out your wrists and arms. For your wrist, extend one arm in front of your body with the palm facing away from you and grab the fingers with your other hand.

Gently pull the fingers towards you to stretch the forearm, holding the position for 20 to 30 seconds. You then repeat the same stretch with the opposite arm.

For your wrist and forearm, press your hands together in front of chest, with the elbows bent and parallel to the floor. Gently bend wrists to the right and left for 10 repetitions.

For a lower back stretch, you should sit tall and upright, and place the left arm behind left hip. Gently twist to the left, using the right hand to deepen the stretch, holding for 20 to 30 seconds.

You can repeat this stretch for the left size of your body as well. For your lower body, you can do the hip flexion.

This requires you to sit tall and upright with the abs in while you lift the left foot off the floor a few inches, knee bent. Hold this position for 2 seconds, lower and repeat for 10 repetitions on each leg.

The leg extension requires you to sit upright with the abs in while extending the left leg until it is level with the hip, squeezing the quadriceps. Hold this position for 2 seconds, lower and repeat for 10 times for each leg.

For the inner thighs, place a towel or firm water bottle between the knees as you sit up tall with the abs in. Squeeze the towel or bottle with your knees, release halfway and squeeze again, completing 10 repetitions of slow pulses.

There is also a chair squat that you can do at your desk. Start by sitting on your chair, and then slightly stand up so that your hips are just hovering over the chair, arms out for balance.

Hold this bent position for 2 to 3 seconds, then stand all the way up and repeat for 10 repetitions. You can also do a one leg squat in you chair so long as it is a stable one.

Take one foot slightly in front of the other and use your hands for leverage as you push up into a one-legged squat. You should be hovering just over the chair and keeping the other leg on the floor for balance.

Lower and repeat the movement, only coming a few inches off the chair for 10 repetitions for each leg. To work on your upper body, you can do a front raise to triceps press.

For this you sit upright with the abdominals tucked in and a full water bottle in your left hand. You lift the bottle up to shoulder level, pause, and then continue lifting all the way up over the head.

When the arm is next to the ear, bend the elbow, taking the water bottle behind you and contracting the triceps. Straighten the arm and lower down, repeating for 10 reps on each arm.

Pregnant Woman’s Exercise Plan

Whether you were always fit or not, every woman should consider an exercise program while pregnant. After consulting your baby doctor, you should put together a program that works for you. Your body will be going through a lot of changes during the course of a pregnancy, it would be best to be prepared.

Your first step in an pregnancy exercise program is to decide how much you want to accomplish with the program. Are you continuing with a program that you had in place before you were pregnant? Is this a new exercise program that you have put in place just for your pregnancy? Answer this question and you will create a pregnancy exercise program.

The first part of any exercise plan is a stretching program. Gentle stretching exercises for your neck, shoulders, hips, arms, and legs should be done on a daily basis to keep your body limber. In addition, you should start a breathing program early on.

The exact stretching exercise for pregnancy can vary.

Pregnancy is a good time to begin a low impact exercise program. Yoga enthusiasts are always looking for new recruits. The program includes the breathing and stretching exercises that are part of an exercise plan. A pregnancy Yoga program will get your muscles limber and your breathing in order. It should also allow you to clear your mind and relax. Other traditional low impact programs such as Pilates and Tai Chi also are perfect when modified for pregnancy. Let your instructor know that you are pregnant.

Two of the most traditional exercises also should also be incorporated in a pregnancy health plan. A daily walking program will stretch out the muscles. Try power walking around your neighborhood.

Without much planning you can do this everyday. Swimming exercises are a comfortable way to stretch out muscles.

What about more active exercises during pregnancy? If you enjoy an active lifestyle, and your doctor agrees, you should be able to continue this active lifestyle during the first and part of the second trimester. And don’t forsake your trips to the gym. A jogging and tennis (not Wimbeldon) are fine. Limit away from more active exercises that could lead to accidents even when you are not pregnant (Anything that involves skates or horses). If you chose an active plan, make sure that you scale back your schedule prior to pregnancy.

There is no simple way around it: pregnancy is a grueling physical experience. A good pregnant woman’s exercise plan, like any similar experience, can make this easier. Stretching, low impact exercise, even more active exercises can help make you stay throughout.

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Want To Get Fit? Get Yourself Into an Exercise Routine

Article by Protica Research

How often have you heard someone – maybe even you – complain that they have gone on a diet, and even lost a bit of weight, but don’t think that they look any better and still don’t have a lot of energy? This is probably because even though they’ve stuck to their diet, they haven’t been exercising as well, which is extremely important if one really wants to lose weight.

If you’ve been on diets that didn’t work very well, maybe you weren’t getting enough exercise. So maybe you should try it just one more time? And this time, put a bit more effort into it and get some exercise. Create a special exercise routine for yourself, especially if you have particular areas of your body that you would like to work on.

Setting Up an Exercise Routine

If you aren’t used to exercising at all, you should start off with relatively simple exercises. Set aside a certain time period every day to do stationary exercises at home. And if you have an exercise bike or a treadmill, add it to your routine for a better cardiovascular workout, not to mention for strengthening and shaping up your legs and buttocks. You might even want to add in a few weight training exercises as well, to really get your muscles toned.

When creating your exercise routine, remember to include exercises that work all your muscles, and make sure that you’re able to do the movements properly. Don’t be too physically demanding at first, especially if you have physical limitations. You might want to find a trainer or other fitness professional to help you create your routine, especially if you are a beginner. This way, you’ll be certain that the exercises you are doing are going to benefit you and help tone up those problem areas on your body.

Make Your Exercise Routine a Part of Your Work Day

You may think that you don’t have enough time to exercise, but once you set up a routine that works for you, you should have no problem finding half an hour to an hour a day for exercising. And you can even create a routine that works around your schedule. If you’re a morning person, you can always get up an hour early to exercise. Or you can go to the gym on your lunch hour or even after work for an hour or two. If you work in an office building, instead of using the elevator, use the stairs for a great cardiovascular workout, especially if you have many flights to climb. Find ways to build exercise into your day.

One important part of your exercise routine should be stretching. You can even do this at your desk while you are at work. In fact, it’s often recommended that you take a few minutes every hour or so to do some stretches in order to avoid the risk of repetitive injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome. You can do arm and back stretches while sitting in your chair, and if you have a little bit of space you can stand up and stretch out those legs.

If you’re a stay-at-home parent, there are plenty of ways to build an exercise routine into your daily activities. You can take your young children to the park in the morning and play tag and other games that involve running. Or, take your baby out for a stroll around the neighborhood. When your older kids get home from school, go out and play some basketball or soccer with them.

These are all great ways to get exercise, and because they are so much fun it won’t even seem like you’re exercising at all. You can even turn your housework into an exercise routine. Do deep knee bends and stretches while vacuuming, sweeping, and mopping. Reach high to clean windows and high shelves. Run up and down the stairs. Be creative and you will find all kinds of ways to exercise while doing housework, making it a lot more fun.

Make Good Nutrition a Part of Your Exercise Routine

But it’s not enough to exercise to lose weight. You need to follow a healthy diet too. You need to learn about nutrition, and why you need certain nutrients in your diet. For example, did you know that protein is necessary for the health, growth, and recovery of our muscles and other soft tissues, and that it provides a natural source of energy?

If you’re going to be dieting and exercising, you’ll need to make sure that you are getting plenty of low calorie, protein-rich foods in your diet to make sure your muscles are healthy and that you have enough energy to get through your day. You might even consider using protein supplements.

Do a little research and you’ll find that there are a number of different types of protein supplements available. Which one is best for you? If you’re trying to lose weight, try a low calorie liquid protein shot such as Profect, by Protica. It provides 25 grams of protein in every serving, but only has 100 calories as well as no carbohydrates, fats, or cholesterol. And Profect also provides many other vitamins and nutrients. For more information, visit the website at http://www.protica.com.

Exercise Tips for Weight Loss

Article by Alex Semenik

So you’ve managed to start that diet and even lost a few pounds-good for you! The exercise tips for weight loss I discuss will help you maintain your desired weight. What often happens with a weight loss plan is you hit a plateau. Despite your best efforts to stick to your diet, progress has slowed or stopped altogether. This can be quite frustrating, but one way to keep losing pounds is to incorporate exercise into your routine. Studies consistently show that any successful weight loss program needs to include regular exercise. Here are five exercise tips for weight loss to get you back on track.Take up Weight Training

We are not talking about getting you into the next bodybuilding contest. Focus on exercises that build muscle and boost your metabolism, which translates into burning calories more efficiently. One study of a group of women who did weight training as well as dieting lost 44 percent more fat than the women who only followed the diet.Get Out There and Move

While improving your muscle tone is important, that doesn’t mean you should skip doing aerobic exercise as well. Exercise tips for weight loss should include a routine that keeps you moving as well as builds muscle. There are many kinds of exercise that get your heart rate up: walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, tennis…get creative as long as it gets you moving.Find Something You Enjoy

The biggest hurdle to maintaining a good exercise program is to find an exercise you enjoy. So if you hate jogging, this is not the sport for you! An important exercise tip for weight loss is to try different sports until you figure out which ones you are most likely to keep doing. Better yet, don’t just stick to one exercise, but mix it up to keep you interested.Try to Make Exercise Part of Your Daily Routine

If it is possible to get exercise during your commute to work (or anyplace you need to get to regularly), you can increase your odds of doing it regularly. By walking or cycling to work, you turn your commute into your workout! If you take the kids to the playground regularly, get there by bike or by walking. Try to make something you do everyday into an opportunity to get in some exercise.Get an Exercise Buddy or Group

Even if you follow all the exercise tips for weight loss you can find, you won’t get results if you don’t exercise regularly. So don’t go at it alone! Find a partner, or better yet, a few companions, and you can all help each other stick to a routine. Think about it, even when you are studying at College, you had a study buddies and they were of so much help, yes, they will give you the necessary motivation to get some exercise in and lose those extra pounds.

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