The Mind Is A Powerful Tool

Strong abdominal muscles are crucial for a healthy back. The large lower abdominal muscle, the transverse abdominus, that runs across the base of the abdomen and wraps all the way around to the back, supports the spine, but it is a muscle that is hard to tone. When it sags as fat accumulates in the abdomen, it pulls your spine forward or sideways, a major cause of back pain. This lower abdominal is the muscle that contracts when you give a hearty belly laugh, are mildly constipated, sneeze, exhale hard, and grunt excessively, like tennis champion Maria Sharapova. For strength training place greater emphasis on correct form, tightening all muscles, holding longer, and allowing for recovery. Muscles that support the shoulder blades and upper spine become overstretched by slouching. They can be contracted and toned in the same way. I do mine while waiting at traffic lights! Holding tension and contraction can also be achieved with isometric activities that strengthen muscles by using tension bands, pushing or pulling hands against each other or against a stationary object. Your muscles contract when you lift a weight, but you may also contract them by simply imagining you are lifting a weight or by pushing against some solid object while holding still. The mind is a powerful tool. You can actually strengthen muscles by willing and visualizing your muscles to contract. You can also achieve a result similar to that of lifting weights by voluntarily contracting those muscles that would have had to contract if you were actually lifting that weight.

It Isn't Gonna Be Easy

The advantage of these exercises is that you can do them anywhere, anytime. The benefit depends on how hard you try and how long you hold the contraction. You will find that exhaling as you contract helps a lot. Identify your pelvic muscles when you urinate by contracting around your rectal area to interrupt your urine flow. You can also do short, repetitive squeezes that last only two seconds. For instance, while stopped at traffic lights is a great time to contract abdominal muscles, while exhaling hard and slowly. The idea is that you contract hard, hold as long as you can, and relax completely. You can also get a great deal of benefit through tensing up parts or all of your body and holding the tension. If you ever feel cold, contracting your muscles in this way warms you up in a flash. They are very energizing and can be done anywhere, with no equipment. Feeling sleepy during a meeting or a talk? As you can see, there are a wide variety of options you can choose from to strengthen your muscles and energize yourself throughout the day, literally anywhere, with no facilities or equipment required. The Optimal level of the Health and Fitness Pyramid provides the level of health and fitness that allows you to enjoy participating throughout your life in your favorite sport as an adult or to be sought out by your classmates and enjoy team sports as a child.

More Than A Dream

But, most of all, this level of fitness is all you need to stay in top health even if you slip up at times. Unsupervised, these are most likely to result in injury. Endurance activities, in particular, if overdone with zeal, may backfire even in young, fit, and healthy persons. Structured fitness programs such as those in a gym are based mainly on aerobics and strength training, with a little balance and flexibility training thrown in. For even greater effectiveness, you must always increase their intensity. The primary advantage of going to the gym is that its very structured approach helps maintain motivation, especially for those who can afford a personal trainer. However, there are downsides. A typical gym program will miss out on working most muscles in your body. Then, too, many people find it hard to set aside the time, and may consider it expensive or embarrassing. And the benefits are lost very rapidly once you stop. However, much like dieting, few do persevere. Handheld free weights are the most commonly used form of weight training.

Feel A Whole Lot Better

Get smart about your workouts. It is highly advisable to begin by doing these exercises only with appropriate supervision, because you may injure yourself if you do exercises with handheld weights incorrectly. It is very important that you keep your body in an evenly balanced stance. Remember to allow time for recovery after these exercises. Recently, wearing all his protective gear, he was enjoying a beautiful spring day with a bike ride on a familiar country road. Seemingly out of nowhere he was hit from behind by a car. Wayne was severely injured and rushed to the nearest hospital, where scans and subsequent surgery showed unexpected advanced osteoporosis of the vertebrae. Doctors told him he was a lucky man for two reasons. First, his vertebrae crumbled on impact instead of severing or damaging the spinal cord. The injury that was fully expected to leave him a paraplegic was avoided. A synthetic protective sleeve placed around the spinal cord did the rest. Second, Wayne now knows he has osteoporosis, a condition that would most likely not have been diagnosed until he was older and it became much more severe. Wayne is gradually returning to his usual, active life. Although osteoporosis has long been recognized in young female distance runners, it has been attributed to eating and menstrual disorders. Much to my surprise, I later learned that osteoporosis of the spine is increasingly observed in young male athletes as well. The causes are still being investigated, one promising theory being the loss of calcium in perspiration. Handheld weights are those dumbbells you can buy at any sporting goods store for $20 or less. Begin by trying the exercises with various weights until you find the weight that challenges you but does not force you into a bad posture, such as raising your shoulders or stooping forward. There is an incredible array of machines now available to target various muscles. As with weights, supervision and performing the exercises correctly are extremely