Circuit training provides one of the best exercise routines to build muscle, enhance heart fitness and burn off fat.

Those new to exercise routines would be forgiven for thinking that circuit training is about running or exercising around a track or circuit. In this case the ´circuit´ is a combination of a number of short, high intensity but different exercises performed one after the other and designed to achieve a specific fitness result.

It may be weight loss, endurance, muscle building, flexibility or all round physical wellbeing.

It is recommended that newcomers to circuit training should join a class supervised by an experienced instructor who will be able to assess the type and frequency of the short sharp exercise routines that will make up your circuit.

This may entail running round the gym, stopping to do ten push up then running a few more steps before ten sit ups then on to squat jumps and so on for up to ten or so different routines to complete the circuit.

The exercise routines can include all manner of exercise machines, weights, steps, anything that may be found in a well equipped gym or just simple routines without using any equipment.

For those that want to achieve a particular result, perhaps weight loss, building heart lung stamina or even for improving your judo or boxing skills, a circuit can be designed to meet those objectives without sacrificing the benefits that circuit training brings to all round body fitness.

In fact most fitness professionals recognise that a well thought out circuit training program is a great way to obtain and retain physical goals and is likely to maintain those levels better than other exercise routines and dietary regimes.

Gyms are not everybodies ¨way to go¨ so don’t be put off and think that circuit training is only practical in a gym.

All you need is a large enough space to lie flat out and stretch your arms and legs and some imagination to design your own combination of exercises. Just keep them short, with no more than 30-60 seconds between each and limit the circuit to no more than twelve, nine to ten is about right, making about ten to twelve minutes to complete.

After each circuit have a short rest and then start over maintaining the frequency and build up the number of circuits gradually as you feel the benefits. You will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly you can achieve your fitness goals if you stick to a regular circuit training routine.

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T´ai Chi Chuan is an ancient Chinese martial art. Usually referred to in its shortened version ‘Tai Chi’ it resembles a combination of Yoga and Karate. Slow controlled and graceful movements combined with breathing exercises and meditation improve coordination, strength and relaxation.

The following exercises may be adapted for those who lack full mobility but are able to sit and have upper body movement.

Try these two gentle exercises from a seated position that we detail below and see how you get on. There are several others that can be carried out, also from a sitting position, once you feel that you are making progress.

Exercise 1:

• Sit with the palm of your hands held together just above your lap opposite your solar plexus, as if praying, with your fingers pointing directly upwards.

• While taking a deep but controlled breath in and expanding your chest, raise your hands to their fullest extent above your head, still keeping the palms pressed together.

• Begin to exhale slowly as you part your hands, still keeping the arms straight lower them to either side of your body until they are horizontal.

• Keeping the arms fully extended push them back as far as is comfortable, using a circular motion if you wish.

• As you do this your back should arch away from the back of your chair.

• Return your hands to the prayer position in front of you.

• Repeat as many times as feels comfortable but we advise no more than five times initially until you get used to the exercise.

Exercise 2:

• Sit with the palms of your hands resting comfortably on your upper thighs.

• Inhale slowly and expand your chest as you fully extend and push your right arm straight upward, palm facing the ceiling while at the same time extend and push your left arm down, palm facing the floor.

• Control your exhalation as you slowly return your hands to their original position on your thighs.

• When you have finished fully breathing out, tense your tummy muscles and diaphragm and hold the position.

• When you have to take another breath lift your left arm up and push your right arm down.

• Build up from ten repetitions to start with.

• The more control you have over your breathing and movement the better these exercises will help you to tone up your arm and abdominal muscles, increase your lung power and help your waistline. Imagine that you are pushing or lifting against a weight that increases a little every time you work out.

Care in what and how much you eat is as important as exercise in keeping the body fit, healthy and looking good.

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Research has shown possible links between quality sleep and keeping slim and fit.

Obesity is an increasing problem in the developed countries of the world and some scientists think that the modern lifestyle of browsing the internet into the small hours, late night movies on TV, being hooked on video games amongst other modern day distractions are depriving people of normal sleep patterns resulting in the rise in the numbers of overweight people.

The body produces two hormones that affect our desire for food, ‘leptin’ that is produced in fat cells signals the brain that we are full while ‘ghrelin’ produced in the gastrointestinal tract tells us that we are hungry. It seems that one counterbalances the other.

Researchers believe that lack of sufficient and regular sleep, in other words quality sleep, can affect the balance between the two hormones leading to a desire to eat. Levels of ‘leptin’ fall while ‘ghrelin’ levels rise so that the less you sleep the more likely you are to overeat and gain unnecessary weight.

Eight to nine hours sleep is the average regular nightly requirement for most of us depending on our genes, significantly less may cause weight and health problems.

However it is not as simple as that because some people suffer from a sleep related ailment known as ‘apnea’.

Even though sufferers think that they have had a good 8-9 hours sleep, they may stop breathing for up to a minute and for up to a hundred times a night or more. The result is that those afflicted wake up tired and listless.

Apnea sufferers are more likely to be overweight although they have significantly higher levels of ‘leptin’. When their ‘apnea’ is treated they are able to lose weight despite their level of ‘leptin’ dropping.

The researchers think that this may be due to renewed energy levels and activity as a result of uninterrupted deep sleep.

Other studies suggests that the modern tendency to sleep less can lead to a variety of diseases such as colon and breast cancers, heart disease and diabetes.

However there is a strong body of opinion amongst researchers and medical experts who argue that despite the change in sleep patterns, people are living longer and healthier than ever before.

Our advice is to stick to at least 7-8 hours sleep every night and if you continue to wake up tired and with little energy and believe that you are overweight, go see your medical practitioner and talk to him or her about the possibility that you are suffering from ‘apnea’.

Better to be safe than sorry!

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snowboardingsnowboarding Believe it or not table tennis commonly known as Ping-Pong (a trademarked name) is the second most played sport in the world and is recognized as one of the worlds major sports.

It originated in the late 19^th century in England and its popularity rapidly spread throughout the world. Table tennis today is huge business in Asia.

Although you might think this isn’t what you had in mind when you began to think of an exercise regime, playing table tennis is very energetic and if you take it up regularly as a part of your regular work out it will help make the weight should roll off.

Advantages

• If you have a large enough space table tennis can be played indoors and all the year round if not you can play outdoors in an area sheltered from the wind
• Tables can be purchased that are weatherproof and can be folded up and stored.
• It is a very sociable game and joining a table tennis club can lead to a new circle of friends.
• The tables are not expensive and adequate bats and balls cost very little. No special clothing is necessary
• Playing singles or doubles with friends is fun and competitive which makes a change from the usual exercise regimes where you have no company and all too easily lose focus through repetition and boredom.

Disadvantages

• You can become hooked on the game as millions already have allover the world.

Definition of Table Tennis

The following is from the Encyclopedia Britannica

Game similar to lawn
tennis that is played on a tabletop with wooden paddles and a small, hollow, plastic ball. The object is to hit the ball so that it goes over the net and bounces on the opponent’s half of the table in such a way as to defeat the opponent’s attempt to reach and return it. Both singles and doubles games are played. A match consists of the best of any odd number of games, each game being won by the player or team who first reaches 11 points or who, after 10 points each, gains a two-point lead. Invented in England in the early 20th century, it soon spread throughout the world. Since the mid-1950s, East Asian countries have dominated the sport. It has been an Olympic sport for both men and women since 1988.

Useful Sites for followers of table tennis tournaments

International Table Tennis Federation

Table Tennis – usatt.org – The Official Web Site of USA Table Tennis

Watch this incredible video of two really rather good players and then try your hand at online table tennis

PlayTable Tennis on-line

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1. Slow Down Aging With Gymnastics For Geriatrics

Unless you take urgent action, your quality of life will deteriorate rapidly as you approach your sixties.

Keep fit routines have been shown to slow down the effects of aging and to promote health and independence as we advance into our senior years.

Gymnastics for geriatrics is an alternative to golf and taking the dog for walks, those familiar ’stand bys’ that crop up when elders are trying to persuade their loved ones that they are paying attention to their health.

More like paying lip service to avoid the consequences of their lack of focus on their fitness levels.

Of course there are many who continue to resist the lure of a golf buggy when they play their weekly round of golf so that they can persuade themselves that their 3-4 mile amble round the course with frequent stops is doing them the world of good.

Others also live in the land of make believe that they are keeping fit by walking the dog and throwing the occasional stick.

Forget all that, Fido can look after himself a lot better if his owner can run, and sometimes sprint, with him for a few daily miles!

Lets face it golf and walking the dog for some of us can be a non-starter.

Whether it is because we find golf frustrating and give it up because we seem unable to hit the ball with anything but a disastrous, and sometimes embarrassing, effect or simply find the game as boring as going for the same old walk every week end.

So what are the alternatives?

If you are fortunate enough to have a reasonable eye and reflexes, playing doubles tennis a couple of times a week against opponents who of a similar standard is a great keep fit and very enjoyable activity but it should be supplemented with other, less competitive, even solo, regimes.

We know of eighty plus year old tennis players who will have slowed down in both their physical and reflex reactions but can still give their twenty year younger opponents a good game and often beat them by using their guile and experience.

A word of warning, doubles tennis at local club level gives players plenty of time to think, it need not be the fast game as seen on the professional circuit. Do not be tempted to take up Squash or Racquets or similar.

Even if you have played in your youth these are ball games that trigger near instant reactions and that can result in heart attacks even amongst the fittest, so stay clear.

It is likely that tennis will not appeal to the majority of elders for a multitude of reasons so what should the oldies do?

The first thing to understand is that your comfortable home is also a well equipped gym ideal for performing a physical fitness regime that can help you stay healthy and independent, and slow down the signs of aging, both physically and visually.

An added bonus in these “credit crunch ” times is that it comes at no extra cost other than the will and desire to stay as young and as active as possible.

Keep that body moving with these exercises which use your household furniture as a free alternative to a costly gym and still get good results.

Stay young, keep fit and keep ‘Old Father Time’ waiting as long as possible.

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As an exercise, walking  is one of the obvious choices.

Why is walking beneficial?

• Helps flexibility and co-ordination.
• Helps control body weight
• Reduces body fat.
• Lowers blood pressure.
• Helps fight against osteoporosis
• Helps you to live longer and healthier.
• Thirty minutes a day of physical exercise, including walking, has been proven to increase life span by 1-3 years due to the improved cardiovascular function.
• Reduces your chances of catching a cold.
• Studies of walkers show that viruses and bacteria are attacked by natural killer cells which are increased.
• Walking can be done by anyone of reasonable health whether overweight or not.
• Walking at sustained speeds of 4-5 mph can be as beneficial as running and less stressful on the knees and ankles.
• Walking increases the blood flow to the brain and subsequently improves mental activities.
• Thirty minutes of walking can boost feelings of well being.
• Walking increases aerobic fitness.
• Walking up and down hills has been proved to lower blood sugar levels.

The above benefits must surely encourage people to take action and try to improve their physical and mental health.

Apart from the fact that it’s free, you can incorporate a walking routine into your life with very little extra effort.

• Walk to work or get off the bus at the stop before the office and walk the remaining distance.
• Walk up the stairs and DO NOT take the escalator or lift.
• Walk the dog just once more round the block.
• Go for a weekend into the countryside and just walk.

If you are serious about wanting to improve the quality of your life start a walking exercise program based on your own particular wants and abilities.

Invest in a strong pair of trainers or preferably walking boots and start strutting.

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Take a sport – any sport – and add to it an element of danger and a dash of speed, and rework it in such a way that the player will need volumes of energy, adrenaline that loves that element of danger, and a passion for acrobatic stunts, and hey presto, you have an extreme sport.

Once upon a time there was cycling (there still is), and then suddenly out of the blue an element of risk was added to it and BMX was born.

Similarly, conventional sports such as skating and boarding were modified and snowboarding and skateboarding became the norm of the day with the urban youth.

Any which way you look at extreme sports, you will realize that they are here because of the passion for excitement of today’s urban youth, who seem to have a penchant for flirting with danger.

The danger element in extreme sports comes from the introduction of speed and height obstacles in conventional sports, which have to be overcome by using advanced stunts and tricks.

Needless to say, these sports require the player to protect himself from physical injuries by strapping on special protective gear.

Why does anyone want to participate in extreme sports?

The people who participate in extreme sports do so because extreme sports in some way represent their urban culture, their way of life.

These participants, who are the youth, identify with danger and a fast-paced life and are not afraid to take on risks when they feel like satiating their adrenaline.

Extreme sports are one way of expressing individual feelings – because these sports are played on an individual level – and having fun while doing so.

Nowadays, extreme sports are being brought into the limelight even by major sports organizations.

In fact, snowboarding is now part of the Olympics! With time, many extreme sports-persons feel that more and more extreme sports will be validated by these sports authorities and then these sports will no longer be played for the “fun and slam-bang” feel – they will also be played to compete with other participants on an international scale.

Popular extreme sports

Here are a few types of extreme sports that are immensely popular with the urban youth:

Snowboarding: This is when Skiing meets surfboarding and skating. Participants have to descend from a steep snow-covered incline on a snowboard bound to their feet.

BMX (Bicycle Moto Cross (X)): This is cycling on earth-filled tracks that are packed with steep ups and downs. Oh yeah, the wheel width of the cycle used in BMX is about 20 inches.

Skateboarding: This extreme sport is basic in nature but very risky nevertheless. The participant has to display acrobatic stunts using just a skateboard. Participants normally show off their skills by skateboarding on railings or on very steep, specially constructed inclines.

Wakesboarding: This is when you strap on a single board on your feet and perform stunts as a boat pulls you around a water body.

No single sport mentioned above is played in a linear fashion. Every participant is expected to generate plenty of acrobatic razzmatazz by displaying signature stunts while performing the sport.

That was a little bit about extreme sports. Remember, extreme sports have originated from the feats of several unconventional and recognized but highly creative and daring individuals, but now they are getting into the mainstream sports activities.

Though it may take a few years for some extreme sports to be adopted into the mainstream, it will happen – and that is because extreme sports are hot and happening!

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The British Army has initiated a free fitness course designed to get people fit enough to join up as part time soldiers in only fourteen weeks.

Army’s fourteen week fitness course is based on using everyday objects that can be found in and around the home or office as gym equipment.

Although the idea is to encourage army recruitment, there is no reason why anybody, irrespective of age or sex, cannot take advantage of the course even if the last thing on their minds is to join the armed forces.

The BBC recently televised a short report on the army’s course that can be seen by going this website:  news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast/6243515.stm

There is a link on the website that will take you to the UK’s Ministry of Defence website or go direct to: www.armyfit.mod.uk/ where anybody can sign up for the fitness program for free.

Designed by the army’s own highly trained PTIs around the use of desks, chairs and even handbags, the course is a great way of regaining a trim body after the excesses of the Xmas and New Year festivities.

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Keep up to date with the latest miracle workout to hit the streets.

According to Tanya Becker, director of training in a New York City gym, if you go to her classes three times a week you should see a smaller waistline, shapelier thighs, better looking butt and a harder flatter tummy.

The classes are called Physique 57 and are a combination of strength training, stretches and cardio. Each set of exercises is done in intervals and this puts the body into a fat burning frame.

Upbeat music and lots of repetitions are essential.

If you don’t live in New York you can do a similar workout with Michelle Austin who is expanding her fluidity classes in gyms and spas all over  the USA. (See her interview in the video below)

Basically using a Portable Ballet Stretch Barre
and your own body weight you will be able to lose inches as well as pounds.

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Those wedges of fatty tissue that collect at the sides of the waist above the hips are popularly known as ‘love handles’ and with a little imagination it is easy to see the reason.

The problem is that love handles are not an attractive feature on either women or men and, of course, perform no useful function when making love.

You know that the more you can hold them in your hands the more noticeable and unattractive your love handles are becoming.

Even if you are only just beginning to notice a small bulging above your hipbone you should take immediate action.

The longer you delay the larger and more prominent your love handles will become and the harder it will be to lose them or to disguise them.

All routines that are effective in toning and trimming the body need self-discipline to achieve and maintain a satisfactory end result.

Although this is the number one priority it does not mean a life of total dedication, nor does it mean that you should not enjoy a good life style.

All things in moderation is the pathway that will remove those dreaded love handles while at the same time making you feel healthier, more energetic and restore your figure to looking its best.

First of all you must realise that your diet will have the most effect on the overall look of your body.

This is not so much a question of quantity, although that is an important aspect, but more about the quality of what you regularly eat.

At the top of the list is to eliminate or cut back drastically your intake of saturated fats.

All processed foods such as margarine, sausages; any tinned, frozen or packaged foods will have nutritional information printed so nowadays there is no excuse for not knowing what you are eating.

If in doubt just think about saturated fats as being solid at room temperature. Butter or the fat on cold meat and bacon are examples.

Watch your intake of carbohydrates as the body can turn them into fat if not burned off by exercise.

Remember to eat your five vegetables or fruit a day as these add trace elements and vitamins essential to the body’s healthy function.

The amount of food we consume daily will vary with every person.

Some will have a tendency to put on weight faster than the norm, others seem to be able to eat enormous quantities, including foods like French fries and sugary pastries and still remain wafer thin.

It all depends on each individual’s rate of metabolism, most often inherited.

Only you can best figure out the quantity of food you need to keep trim, and not feel bloated after a meal.

As a very rough guide three meals a day consisting of about three portions each meal combined with some exercise should not prove excessive.

A portion to suit you is more or less the amount of food that can be held in the palm of your hand.

Drink about four or five pints (2-3 litres) of water throughout the day to flush bodily wastes and keep the skin supple and moisturised.

Once you have established a diet that suits your ambition to get rid of your love handles you can quickly move on to a simple but effective exercise regime.

Put aside 30 -40 minutes four or five times a week to get the heart pumping harder, to burn off fat and trim up the muscles around you waist.

Running, cycling, using a step machine and aerobics are some of the cardio vascular exercises that get the heart rate up.

One of the most effective specific exercise to obliterate those love handles is side crunches. Also good for getting a flat tummy.

• Lie on the floor with your hands behind and supporting your head, elbows flat on the floor, knees together and bent.
• Starting from the waist keep your knees together and roll them to one side so that they touch the floor at the same time lifting your head from the floor assisted by your hands.
• Try to get your chin to touch the top of your chest or as near as you can without discomfort.

Start with 10-12 repetitions or less if this becomes uncomfortable and then change to rolling your waist and knees to the other side for the same number of reps.

You can build up the reps as it gets easier. For variety try a few regular sit up crunches. You will soon start to notice the effect on your obliques, the muscles underneath your love handles.

As they get toned up your tummy will become trimmer and the love handles will begin to disappear.

There are a number of other exercises to tone up the obliques, for example using a large exercise ball to support you as you stretch and bend sideways from the waist.
Always a good way to stay in control of your mind and body is to get a good nights sleep.

Eight to nine hours a night should come easily if you stick to your diet and exercise routine and allows your body and mind to rest and recuperate so you can face the day with renewed vitality confidence and enthusiasm.

Stick to this regime and your love handles can surely ‘Rest IN Peace’

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