Don't Take Muscle Loss for Granted - Live Longer, Get Stronger with Training

Beginning as early as age 30, your muscle mass begins to decline. 
As years go by, you may begin to look soft or flabby. These changes can start as early as your 30s, but most people see the more differences in their 40s and 50s. Unless you do something about it, you will lose about 1 percent of your lean muscle mass per year after age 40.
It doesn't have to happen. Only 30 percent of muscle loss is due to aging. The other 70 percent is up to you to maintain. Even if loss has begun, this percentage can be regained through strength training.
If you want to start a program, get your doctor's OK first. Consider scheduling time with a certified trainer or physical therapist who can help you design a routine, especially if you are a beginner or have health issues.
At the start, take it slow. The goal is to gradually and consistently improve over time. Always begin with five to 10 minutes of gentle exercise to warm up your muscles.
  You can do strength training at home or in the gym. Consider using:
 * Your body weight to do exercises such as push-ups, sit-ups, leg squats, or side and back strengthening exercises.
 * Resistance tubing, which can be found at sporting goods stores and department stores.
 * Free weights, such as barbells or dumbbells. Start with light weights.
 * Weight machines.

Mayo Clinic studies show these to be some of the benefits:
Stronger bones. Strength training increases bone density and reduces your risk of osteoporosis.
Weight control and fat reduction. Muscle burns calories, making it easier to reduce body fat and control your weight.
Fewer injuries. You will have better balance, coordination and agility. Your joints will be more stable and will be able to give muscles a greater role in absorbing stresses on joints. 
Less back pain. Strengthening the lower back muscles is a proven way to ease back pain.
Better brain activity. Studies show that strength training and exercise improve cognitive function. 

The Benefits of Adding Yoga to a Training Routine

Yoga training can be of enormous benefit to anyone persuing a fitness regime. Yoga tones and strengthens your body uniformly, unlike some fitness training regimens that can lead to overdevelopment of particular muscle groups. Yoga excersizes, meditation and postures also improve your balance, strength and overall flexibility, making you more capable of pursuing a weight loss regimen.

The Physical Benefits of Yoga

Performing yoga postures regularly offers a number of physical benefits, including:

• Increased flexibility
• Increased lubrication of joints, ligaments and tendons
• Massaging the body's internal organs
• Detoxifying the body
• Toning the muscles

For more information on the benefits of yoga - as well as the types of yoga practices that are best for weight loss, check out the full article at fitday.com.

~Noah

Upgrade Your Abs Exercises

If your belly refuses to flatten, your workout is probably stale. Upgrade your favorite exercises with these tweaks and revisions. Plan on putting these moves into practice and get ready to experience transformed abs.


Check out the full article on Yahoo! Shine - pretty good ab exercises to try.


~Noah

Starting a Running Program

Running is one of the best things you can do to quickly increase your fitness level.  It provides a great cardio workout, and burns fat faster than just about anything else you can do.  The problem for most of us is... where to start?

Starting with a walk/run program where you are walking more than you are running, then gradually ramping up the ratio to increase the running time is the best way to get started - and the least intimidating.

There is a great article on Runner's World that gives an 8 week program to do this - I highly recommend that you check it out and give it a try.  You may even find that you enjoy running!

~Noah