It’s a no brainer that exercising will have an effect on your body, but what about your mind? There is a connection between having a fit body and your mental health, something that people are starting to understand and enjoy. Keep reading to learn more.

The Body

The body responds to stimulus in the form of exercise. At first, you might feel like you are aching all over from just walking around the neighborhood. If you have lived a sedentary life up until now, the muscles are not accustomed to being taxed in this way so they get sore.

Over time, the muscles will grow and get stronger in response to regular exercise. The benefit? Well, your body will look more toned; you can increase your aerobic capacity (you won’t be huffing and puffing when you walk or run) and lose weight. Staying in shape is one possible key to living a longer, healthier life. We all want that.

As your body slides into a state of fitness, you will feel confident enough to take on new challenges. Building a stronger, more fit body is a lifelong process with great fringe benefits.

The Mind

Have you heard of the “runner’s high”? It is a feeling that starts in the mind with the release of endorphins, the body’s natural mood enhancers. But, that feeling isn’t limited to running. It’s a by-product of exercise and getting fit.

Within the realm of mental illness these days, people are looking for alternatives to traditional medications. Too many side effects lead them to natural paths to boost mental clarity.

Exercise is certainly a way to do that. Through regular exercise, the body releases endorphins. It could be a way of the body applying a pain reliever so you can keep on working out. Either way, your mind reaps the benefits of the presence of those endorphins.

Getting fit can increase your mental focus. This can help reduce stress levels. With a clear head, you might be able to find solutions to your pressing problems a lot easier.

What leads to depression and other mental issues? It could be weight. It could be other health problems. When you exercise, you shrink your risk factors for heart attack, stroke, obesity and more.

Getting fit makes you want to get even fitter. When you see that you sleep better (which reduces stress), can think more clearly and are losing weight, you are more likely to stick with that program to see more results.

The same goes for the mental aspect of fitness. You gain confidence in yourself that translates into a bolder you who is not afraid of new challenges. And it’s all because of the mind/body connection you have cultivated through exercise.

Are you looking for ways to increase your positive mental health? Try working out.

Have you noticed that there are certain times of the year when gym memberships spike? At the start of the year, at the start of summer and going into fall, gyms run ads to try to encourage people to sign up. For many of us, we start out with the best of intentions and then taper off. The membership just ends up being a waste of money.

For others, a gym membership is a luxury they just can’t afford. Here are some ideas to help you get and stay fit without the help of an expensive gym membership.

Do It Yourself Body

The body is the best tool for getting in shape. Even without equipment, you could lose weight and slim down in no time with some discipline and effort. Here are some handy ideas for those who need help but don’t want the hassle or expense of a gym membership.

* Walking – Walking is the best overall exercise. When you walk, you work every muscle group of your body and your heart and lungs. Pumping your arms gets the heart rate and breathing up so that you begin to move from an aerobic phase to a fat-burning phase. As you feel more confident, you can speed up your program for added benefit. Walk with a friend to keep you both accountable and working harder.

* Running – This is a step up from walking. Running works the same muscle groups, only harder. Those who have run for a time say that they experience the runner’s high. It is the release of endorphins that spur you on to good feeling and a faster pace. Running clubs are everywhere and for a small fee, you can run in various places on different terrains with others and also enter races.

* Dumbbells – These are free weights that can be used to build muscle in your home. Tons of exercise videos on the market can walk you through the proper form of different exercises such as military presses, squats, lunges and deltoid lifts. For women who want to get toned, higher repetitions and smaller weights will help you achieve your goal. The heavier the weight, the more bulky the muscles you will form.

* Exercise videos – With DVDs and videos you can learn to master everything from Pilates to yoga to kickboxing, all in the privacy of your home. They pay for themselves in no time and can be used no matter what the weather. You don’t have to leave the house, so all you have to worry about is your self-motivation. If you want to try a lot of different ones inexpensively, sign up for Netflix, try the workouts you like, and buy the ones you like best.

*Yoga -Yoga uses very little special equipment and mainly uses the body to stay slim, with long lean muscles. some varieties of yoga also emphasise breathing, such as Kundalini yoga. You can start at home with programs on the TV or DVD courses.

* FitTV – This popular cable TV channel runs fitness programs ranging from low to high impact and from yoga to belly dancing. They also have great health and cooking programs. Tape a few of the workouts and change up your workouts so you won’t get bored.

Are you looking for a way to get started keeping fit but don’t want to join a gym–or can’t afford to? Hopefully these ideas will get you started on the right track for little cost.

If you are interested in Pilates, but are not sure where to start, why not consider the Stott Pilates DVD series.

This great series has full workouts, and ones which concentrate specifically on problem areas, like your core.

They are clear and easy to follow at home, and don’t require a ton of equipment to get the most of your workout.
To see a selection of top selling Stott Pilates DVDs, click here:
Stott Pilates DVDs

A recent heath Q and A column in one of the newsletters I get concerned me, because it indicated that caffeine could be used to enhance performance before, during, and after a workout.

I was concerned because it stated you could have the equivalent of 3 cups of coffee prior to exercising. Now, it may be just because I am sensitive to even one mouthful of coffee, but it seems to me that what this would do to your heart rate would be rather alarming.

So yes, if you’re feeling a little sleepy late in the afternoon, instead of taking an over-the-counter stimulant, you can have a caffeinated drink and get a little pick-me-up. A cup of coffee might help with that too, or the essential British cup of tea. You might want to consider, however, if it is the caffeine giving you the pick me up, or just having a break and a hot drink.

If you’re planning on working out, you may wonder about caffeine and exercise. Is it a good idea to mix the two?

Caffeine is a stimulant, pure and simple. It is quickly absorbed into the body and begins to lose effectiveness after one to two hours.

Stimulants increase your heart rate and blood pressure, and release glucose into your blood stream. This may explain the extra energy you feel when you have caffeinated drinks.

Scientists also explain how caffeine increases the level of dopamine in your system, which activates the reward center of your brain. In short, caffeine makes you feel good.

The stimulant effect may make you feel more awake and more energetic for a short time, but will it affect how well you perform if you participate in sports or exercise?

Skiing is a great sport for the whole family too, young and old. You can do cross country-skiing at any age provided you have the right equipment.

Many families love taking a ski holiday together for the change of scenery and the beauty of nature. Even walking in the snow, or snowshoeing, can give your legs a great workout.

A trip to the mountains may be sounding terrific just about now, but you need to take precautions and plan before you go. If you normally live closer to sea level, you’ll want to be aware of the danger of developing ski sickness, also called altitude sickness, if you are planning a trip into the mountains or higher altitudes over 5000 feet.

Symptoms of altitude sickness include having headaches, being nauseated, fatigued, not having an appetite, not being able to sleep, and vomiting. It is caused by climbing to an elevation without giving your body the opportunity to adjust. The quicker you ascend a mountain, the worse the symptoms may be. It’s best to take your time reaching your skiing destination, particularly if you’re new to the sport.

In addition, high altitudes can dehydrate the body very quickly, so drink plenty of fluids (not alcohol) and check the color of your urine to be sure it is not too yellow or dark, a sure sign of dehydration.

It doesn’t matter if you’re skiing the slopes or cross country skiing. Both activities will get you out of doors and help tone your entire body.
People who have had prior knee injuries may want to give cross country, or Nordic, skiing a try first. This is non-jarring and less taxing on the knees. The important thing to remember is that if you’ve never skied before, neither activity is one to rush into.

All of the benefits of skiing aren’t physical, although they are some of the most compelling. What about the benefit of being outdoors instead of cooped up indoors? Not to mention the psychological benefits of a lovely outdoor setting in the winter.

There is no reason anyone should have to stay indoors when the temperatures dip, so long as they take the right precautions. Bundle up, get the skis ready, go outside and enjoy the crisp clean air. Then hit the slopes or the cross country ski trail and enjoy the beauty of nature as you ski to keep fit.

For many of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the winter weather is already on the way. If you’re usually active during the warmer months, you may be looking for something to do during the winter months to keep you active.

Have you considered the benefits of skiing – not only as an activity to enjoy, but also as a means to keep you in shape during cooler weather?

One of the biggest benefits of skiing is that it is a full-body exercise. You will work out every major muscle group from head to toe. It gives you an excellent cardiovascular workout while strengthening your heart. Skiing also improves the circulatory system and releases oxygen to the muscles.

Did you know skiing can help regulate your cholesterol? Exercise helps a skier burn fat and lose weight, and helps regulate the HDL (good) cholesterol which affects the LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Downhill skiing is what usually comes to mind when we think winter sports, but cross country skiing is a great workout with a lot less risk involved in terms of injury.

As with any exercise, taking time to properly warm up will keep you from getting injured. You’ll also want to stretch all of your muscles before skiing since all of them will be in use. Pay particular attention to the leg muscles, and your knees, as they will take the brunt of the activity. Proper warming up and stretching may help you avoid tearing a ligament or spraining something. Don’t forget to stretch after you’ve finished skiing to help minimize any pain you might feel.

You will also want to make sure that you are wearing proper clothing to protect against extreme temperatures, frostbite and windchill.

Fitness is big business in America now, and around the world. People spend millions of dollars each year buying fitness and exercise products, taking out expensive memberships to gyms, and more.

But, you can get in shape a little at a time without spending lots of money on gadgets that may or may not work. Here are five ways to do that.

Fitness is important to everyone. Making exercise a family affair keeps everyone moving and healthy. Also, it seems less like work when you have a partner who is striving for the same goals, who can share with you and encourage you every step of the way.

So here are five things you can do every day to stay fit, without spending a fortune, with or without friends and family:

1. Walk, walk, walk.

You can walk thought the neighborhood during the evening after dinner. In the morning, walk with your kids to school if you don’t live more than a mile away. Park your car further away from home or the stores to force yourself to walk.

Walking is one of the best overall exercises for your cardiovascular system and to build a strong core. In the age of cars and other public transportation, we forget that we can still use our own two feet to get around.

2. Use an exercise video/TV program at home. Chance are, you have calbe TV, and so can have access to FIT TV, which broadcasts all sorts of fitness programs, from yoga to cardio to kickboxing to bellydancing. Or, get a cheap monthly membership to NetFlix. You will be amazied by the array of DVDS they have, and you will certainly be able to find some you like that you will want to buy, and will definitely never get bored.

It seems that every fitness trainer in the universe wants to make a video. You can learn everything from Pilates, kickboxing, yoga, tai chi and step aerobics to ball workouts and strength training in the privacy of your own home. The best thing about a DVD is that you can stop it when you get tired and use it at 5:30 in the morning or the same time at night.

3. Buy a set of dumbbells or waterbells.

You will invest some money in order to shape up, but you recoup your expenses in no time. A good set of dumbbells include a one, three, five and eight pound weight. For men, go up to fifteen pounds. Strength training is important for bone and muscle health as well as a quicker metabolism. Work one or two different body parts each day to work your entire body in a week for just pennies a day.

Water bells can be packed flat when you travel and filled with water when you get to your destination, and can carry up to 16 pounds in weight on each waterbell if you fill them full.

4. Use that bicycle.

Confess-you have a bike you have not used in years! Or you really want one but have not got round to buying it yet.

A decent bicycle that fits your needs for riding in the park or through the neighborhood will cost you less than $100. Use your bike to get a daily workout. Add a child seat on the back to take your little one along. Instead of driving, bike to the store. It is faster than walking and works those leg muscles.

5. Have a ball.

Again, most people have a football, soccer ball, baseball and so on around the house. If not, they can be purchased for relatively little money. Give yourself and your kids a daily workout by playing a game. Quick high impact moves build bone mass and keep your weight down. You’ll have so much fun that you won’t even think of it as exercise, or notice that you’ve been playing that touch football game or dodgeball game.

Staying in shape helps ward off disease, and increases your life expectancy. You can keep your body fit and healthy and your weight down with these free or inexpensive methods. You can pursue fitness alone or with your family using all of these suggestions as well, making fitness for the whole family a way of life every day.

Have you ever felt that you were losing your touch at something? Maybe your movements have become less and less skillful?

You can learn to move with renewed purpose and understanding of your body using the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education.

The Feldenkrais Method was developed by a Russian named Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais. He was somewhat of a renaissance man, being a physicist, an educator, a martial artist and a mechanical engineer.

Feldenkrais was actually his own test subject for the method that bears his name. When knee injuries hindered his ability to walk, he used his knowledge to teach himself to walk again.

The Feldenkrais Method teaches you to move with purpose, instead of automatically. It teaches you how to be mindful of all your movements, and to then try to perfect them. In this way, movement is combined with knowledge to make each and every thing we do easier, and with greater range of motion.

Range of motion is something often talked about with strength training. The muscles are challenged more when the entire muscle is engaged during the lift and the return. It takes focus to keep the tension in the muscle on the return when you want to just let it drop.

The basis of the Feldenkrais Method is to learn new ways of moving that use less energy. Who wouldn’t want to learn to do things more efficiently? This is one part of the equation on movement.

Learning to function better within the body translates into every area of your life. This method is helpful to people who suffer from arthritis, back pain, shoulder and neck pain, knee pain, as well as those who are physically fit but want to be even more mobile and efficient in their movements.

The Feldenkrais Method involves two steps: Awareness Through Movement® and Functional Integration® lessons. Awareness Through Movement involves the teacher verbally instructing students on how to move their body in different ways.

You begin with basic movements that you learn as a child and build upon these with increasingly more complicated movements, each requiring thought from the student.

The next step is Functional Integration. During this part of the lessons, there is a point where touch is introduced into the equation. Students are instructed to lie down on a table and perform movements with the verbal and physical assistance of the teacher.

The touch is never intrusive and the teacher doesn’t push the student beyond their limits at the time. As each goal set is achieved, students gain confidence to continue to improve their overall dynamics and range of motion.

Thanks to this method of training, people have learned to move without pain for the first time in years, and to do things they haven’t been able to do because of limited mobility as a result of illness or aging. The Feldenkrais Method teaches people to use their body to their fullest potential through purposeful movement no matter what your age or physical condition.

This diet plan is based on eating according to your blood type.  According to the originator of this plan, Peter DíAdamo, how you need to eat depends on what is inside your veins.  Here is how the Blood Type Diet works.

According to the book, “Eat Right 4 Your Type” by Peter DíAdamo, different blood types have different nutritional requirements.  Changing what you eat to fit that parameter will help you to lose weight and get healthy.

Here are the four blood type groups:

* Blood Type A – Anyone with this blood type needs to eat more vegetables and fish on a daily basis.  Eating red meat is not recommended and dairy should be ingested in moderation.  Your digestive system is sensitive.  Only light exercise is recommended for Type A people.

* Blood Type B – You have a strong immune system.  Unlike Type A blood, it is recommended that you eat red meat and dairy products.  Eating vegetables and fruits in quantity and a little fish is okay.  Stay away from the chicken with this blood type.

* Blood Type AB – Your immune system is somewhat strong and you have a creative mind.  For you, a combination of the foods to be eaten for Types A and B is acceptable.

* Blood Type O – You love to exercise and are most likely lactose intolerant.  Type O dieters eat a diet with plenty of protein and few carbohydrates and dairy products.  Avoid foods high in carbohydrates and dairy products.  Vigorous exercise will also do you well.

The diet describes how the blood can explain things that happen inside your body.  What foods you like, donít like, your allergies and what foods cause you to lose weight are all determined by your blood type.

The diet is strict in that dieters have to pay close attention to everything that they eat and drink.  In his book, Dr. DíAdamo lays out what types of foods are to be eaten for each blood type.  Your list of forbidden foods varies but can be long.  For those who are constantly on the go, fixing recipes can be time consuming.

The diet recommends exercise when your blood type is in favor of it.  Unless you have Type O, exercise will be light.  Also, the plan encourages taking vitamin supplements in addition to eating certain foods. Since most people are Type O, they will be sorry to hear that!

It has not been scientifically proven that those who use the Blood Type Diet lose weight because of their genetics or the fact that they are making healthier food choices. 

Eating a well-balanced diet that is full of the nutrients you need, will help the body repair itself, boost the immune system and help you to live a longer, stronger and healthier life.

Who says that exercise has to be grueling or boring?  More and more people are getting into the dance craze.  Dancing is a way to let loose and have fun while learning a new step or remembering steps that you knew a long time ago.

Dancing can be used to get regular physical activity into your daily routine.  Exercise keeps the body younger for longer.  Muscle mass increases and bone health improves.  Because you have to learn and remember the different steps of the dance, your brain is also getting a workout that builds new synaptic pathways and increases brain power.

Ballroom dancing is just one form of dance but it combines different dance techniques.  It features dances done by partners and can be slow or fast depending on the type of dance you are performing.  Modern ballroom dancing includes Latin dances, as well as American-style dancing that features a lot of dips, turns, and quick movements.

Dancing has many benefits for the body, mind and spirit.  First of all it is a low-impact form of exercise that provides a weight-bearing component.  You can strengthen your bones and muscles as you twirl.  The entire body gets a workout.  Doing many of the steps requires certain positions for the arms and legs which mean the abs are engaged the entire time.

Over time, you develop stamina as you get used to the movements and the time it takes to complete the dancing class.  Well-conditioned muscles are more flexible and give a slender look to the body.

So what are you waiting for?  Keep the mind young, the body firm and the spirit high with a little ballroom dancing.