Archive for December, 2008

How To Stay Active & Physically Fit

Being active does not mean you have to visit the fitness club and walk on the treadmill for an hour or sweat to an aerobic workout tape. You do not have to suffer from sore muscles or try to stick to an impossible exercise regimen in order to be healthy and maintain physical fitness. You can find ways to incorporate physical movement into nearly everything you do.

TIPS ON STAYING ACTIVE

If you have children, find activities that the whole family can enjoy. Being active is much more fun if you can involve the whole family. Try hiking, biking, basketball, roller-skating, or walking through the zoo.

Spend some quality time with your children by playing outside with them. Play on the swing-set, play ball, jump rope, or race them to the corner! Include them in activities like washing the car or walking the dog.

Instead of taking the kids out to dinner and/or a movie, go to the local swimming pool or park. The whole idea is to focus on fun, not boring exercise.

If you are on vacation or spending a day at the lake, instead of stretching out on the beach and reading a book, take a swim, rent a boat, or go water skiing. Run through the sand.

Turn off your TV and hide the remote. Replace your TV time with an enjoyable walk, play with your kids, or work in your garden. Gardening is excellent exercise and provides a terrific range of movements for your body.

When you do watch TV, hide the remote and change the channels by hand. Can you even remember when you actually walked over the TV set to change the channels?

Learn how to play a sport like tennis or golf or take dancing lessons. Learn how to scuba dive. Treat yourself to an exercise class. Take a friend.

The next time you go shopping, park at the far end of the parking lot and walk, or better yet, park the car a few blocks away. If your destination is close to home, forget the car and walk. NEVER use drive-thru windows.

Whenever you are in a building that uses elevators, take the stairs instead. Walk as quickly as you can. Stair climbing is a wonderful strengthening exercise for your legs.

Instead of sitting down and taking a coffee break at break time, take a few trips walking up and down the stairs, or up and down the hall ways in your office building. You can sit down at your desk after your break.

When you finish shopping at the grocery or the mall, carry your bags out to the car in the parking lot without using a cart. (Remember, your car is parked at the farthest end of the parking lot.)

Put more vigor into your house-cleaning chores. Stretch out your arms and legs as much as you can when you dust those high places. When you vacuum, switch hands every so often to give both arms a workout and take long lunging steps to stretch out your legs.

Get rid of the riding lawn mower. Use a push mower. When you mow, move at a quicker pace than usual. The extra exertion will give your heart a good workout.

Rake your leaves the old fashioned way. Use a rake. If you have children, pile up the leaves and jump in. Rake them up again!

As you can see, there are many ways to incorporate movement into your everyday life. Try to see how creative you can be. The rewards will be a healthier, happier you.

Posted by Best Gyms on December 31st, 2008 No Comments

Essentials For Exercise Equipment

In today’s world, fitness and healthy living is something extremely popular and gravely taken issue. With the fitness equipment industry growing so vigorously, it is of little wonder that today one has such a wide range of home fitness equipment. There are many different types of home fitness exercise equipment available for you to choose from, therefore it is not a frustrating or difficult process, take a small amount of time and effort in order to learn about the different types of home fitness exercise equipment that are available to you. From the fitness equipment entailing rigorous workout, to those that are luxurious, no- sweat means of workout, like the vibrating belt, there seems to be a home fitness equipment to match everyone’s needs.

What are the Different Types of Home Fitness Exercise Equipment?

Some factors to consider before you buy any type of home fitness exercise equipment, is if you think you will use that piece of exercise equipment regularly. After all, there is certainly no point in spending the money on a piece of exercise equipment if you know that you probably won’t be using it all that much also be clear abut what type of exercise you are interested in doing. Once you are clear about your preference out of the broad categories of weight lifting or cardiovascular, you can narrow the list down further. Some home fitness equipment that focuses on developing cardiovascular include treadmill, stationary bike, spinning bike, elliptical trainer, stair stepper and a bit of step aerobics.

You need to assess your own fitness level and your goals, and if the piece of equipment that you are about to purchase will lead to these goals. Therefore always make out a plan before you do any capital purchase, as many of these equipment can be expensive. It does not make any sense if you were to pick up a piece of equipment that cost hundreds of dollars and not use it.

Check for quality, as you do not want to spend money on anything of poor workmanship especially a piece of exercise equipment which, if not made to perfection, could cause you serious injury. Check also for the fit, especially if you are considering purchasing a piece of equipment that you have to wear. This is especially true for the tummy shakers or other similar types of machines that can come in sizes.

Lastly is price, take time to find your own best deal, because you will be the one using the equipment so you have to be comfortable in picking up the bill. Some second hand stores do sell very well maintained equipment and sometimes your neighborhood gym could be selling well maintained equipment. These usually go for a very low price. The perfect value for money!

The Different Types of Health Fitness Equipment

From treadmills and stationary bikes to stair climbers and elliptical trainers, there are so many different types of health fitness equipment available in the market that one is truly spoilt for choice. However, the health fitness equipment you buy should be determined by your own specific workout requirements as well as your own personal choice.

Why Treadmills are one of the Most Important Pieces of Health Fitness Equipment

Treadmills incorporate the act of walking and yet add many benefits onto the already incredibly beneficial and advantageous form of exercise. Such as the fact that often times when people are running outdoors they get bored, especially if they like going for particularly long runs. Running is a favorite with many people, for being one of the most enjoyable forms of workout that also rapidly burns calories and strengthens the muscles.

With a treadmill, you are able to do other things while you’re working out, such as running, watching television, even working on your laptop computer.

This not only adds a good entertainment factor, but also gives efficiency, as more things can get done while working out. Another of the most primary reasons that the treadmill is one of the most important pieces of health fitness equipment is because it is so convenient. A treadmill allows you to run even when the weather is bad or when the gym is closed, and you can also exercise whenever you want, during whatever time is most efficient for you.

Choosing the Right Home Fitness Equipment

Choosing the right home exercise equipment is no easy task. As each new year brings about a blitz of new models to choose from, ranging from the truly simple to the intense and calorie burning hyped models.

Always ask yourself before making the decision about which equipment for home fitness training to purchase, what is you goal. In other words, you have to determine you aims before you can accomplish any training. Plan in advance your results then pick up the best equipment to help you reach your goals.

Posted by Best Gyms on December 30th, 2008 No Comments

Aerobic Exercise: A Natural Pain Killer As Well As Many Other Health Benefits

Ask yourself what is one of the best things you can do for your health? An excellent answer to this question is a goal of 30 minutes a day of aerobic exercise. The benefits are numerous and range from heart disease prevention to stress reduction. Exercise is definitely one of the best things you can do for your health.

Aerobic exercise is a type of movement such as walking and bicycling that can get your heart pumping and increase your oxygen intake. It can help you live longer and healthier. It can also help you prevent and manage chronic health conditions.

When you are fit your body more efficiently takes in and uses oxygen to sustain movement more efficiently. Regular aerobic exercise releases endorphins, your body’s natural painkillers. As you continue a regular aerobic exercise program your body gets stronger and more efficient.

In addition aerobic exercise can help prevent certain diseases and conditions that include:

•Coronary artery disease
•High blood pressure
•Improves blood fats; Exercise increases the concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol) and decreases the concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the “bad” cholesterol) in your blood.
•Reduces your risk for stroke and developing some cancers that include breast, colon, prostate and endometrial cancer.
•Reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
•Wards off viral illnesses.
•Can boosts your mood
•Can relieve chronic muscle pain.
•Builds strong bones.

Some other benefits of a regular aerobic exercise routine include:

•Increase your stamina
•Manage your stress
•Improve your sexual performance
•Stay active and independent as you get older
•Maintain your mobility

Regardless of your age, weight or athletic ability, aerobic exercise is good for you.

The key to developing an aerobics exercise routine you will continue is to find activities that you enjoy and can do regularly. Try to add variety and increase your motivation by trying different types of aerobic activity like dancing, running, walking, bicycling, swimming, playing tennis. These are just a few of the aerobic exercise routines that can help you achieve the health benefits from aerobic exercise.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is not intended to replace the medical advice of your doctor or health care provider. Please consult your health care provider for advice about a specific medical condition or before you begin any kind of exercise program.

This article is FREE to publish with the resource box.

Posted by Best Gyms on December 29th, 2008 No Comments

Aerobic Exercises - Worth Doing Or Not?

Some people use aerobic exercise as a warm up exercise before they move on to their real workout such as lifting weights, using dumbbells and stuff like that. What they don’t realize is that doing these other exercises without combining it with some sort of aerobic exercise they will not be able to get the full benefits such as the muscle strength required to lift those dumbbells or other heavy weights. Lifting weights without using regular aerobic exercise may also affect the flexibility of your body. Aerobic exercises are usually geared to strengthen muscle and endurance and also improve flexibility for better body movement. Without these three important attributes you will not be able to benefit fully from any exercise program you chose.

In weight training which is basically a form of isotonic exercise (meaning same, strength, distance), the muscles are used to push up or pull the weights, whether they are dumbbells or barbells and can be adjusted to meet the required amount of weight that you may require and are easy to grip. Some forms of weight training exercises do not use isotonic exercises because the muscle force varies as the joint moves through the motion, but the force remains constant.

There are two basic types of exercises, strength training Exercises and aerobic exercises. Aerobic exercises increases your heart rate through rapid movement of large muscles. The two type of aerobic exercises are: Weight-bearing – such as walking jogging or skipping, this sort of exercise is where muscles will work against the force of gravity. The other is Non-weight-bearing – gravity is non existent in this type of exercise, these are exercises such as swimming or riding a bike. Strength training exercises are used mainly to increase the tone, power and efficiency of the muscles by toning isolated muscles against resistance.

When you compare different exercises with aerobic exercise you find that aerobic exercises offer a wider range of exercise to suit your specific needs, unlike other exercises that are basically designed for one particular purpose. Also aerobic exercises can be used in the treatment of a wide range of aliments such as heart problems, diabetes and arthritis to name a few. So to elaborate on the topic of aerobic exercises versus the rest, it would be fair to say that aerobic exercises stands out way in front of other exercises, and are practiced worldwide.

Posted by Best Gyms on December 28th, 2008 No Comments

Aerobic Fitness: Keeping Yourself In Top Condition

So what does mean “fitness” and what stands for “aerobic” after all? Under the word fitness we should understand the state of wellbeing of a person. Your physical fitness is formed by a set of many different body capabilities like endurance, strength, flexibility, and coordination. Fitness is not only the physical health, but also mental health of a person along with self awareness and emotional satisfaction. So now we see that in general fitness is a state when mind, body and soul are in touch one with each other and what is more - souls do fit the bodies and live in harmony.

The term aerobic along with the exercise was invented by K. Copper from the U.S. Air Force in 1969. All his thoughts were documented in his book called “Aerobics”. All the data from the book became the baseline for all aerobic fitness programs that are based on oxygen consumption equivalency.

Talking about the term “aerobic” I can say that it is the most important factor of physical fitness. The origin of this word is Latin and the meaning is following: “aero” means oxygen (air), and “bic” is for bio (life). So any physical activity that requires the intake of oxygen could be called aerobic exercise. All aerobic fitness exercises must maintain increased heart rate and that is why such activity is almost the same as cardio exercises. There are also obvious reasons for this: exercises strengthen lungs and heart, increase cardiac capacity and use body fat and carbohydrates and the fuel (energy source).

Of course there are a lot of types of aerobic fitness exercise. All of them build up your endurance and stamina. Forms of exercise include the following: running, swimming, cycling, long distance skiing, power walking, rowing, use of different exercise machines (bikes, treadmills, and others). Actually all aerobic fitness exercises must be performed at high level of intensity and for a long time period. That is why running is considered as aerobic fitness exercise, but sprinting is not. Regular aerobic fitness exercise gives you a lot of health benefits. They are united in a group called “aerobic training effect” and give your body the following: strengthen muscles that are involved in respiration, strengthen heart muscle (that improves blood pumping efficiency), increase the number of red blood cells in the organism. In addition jogging or rope jumping may stimulate bone growth and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. The digestive system is fed more regularly and is cleaned more effectively.

Because of the very close connection between the mind and the body, mental fitness may now be seen to be in many ways equivalent to physical aerobic fitness. People that are in good aerobic condition tend to be more optimistic, more self-confident; more determined and, generally, have a higher energy level and of course a greater lust for life.

The group of aerobic fitness exercise may be divided into two major sub-groups – pre-choreographed aerobics and freestyle aerobics (exercise is linked to dance and choreography).

Posted by Best Gyms on December 27th, 2008 No Comments

Burn Body By Aerobic Or Cardioworkout

Body burns calories at a faster than normal rate. The Limitations of the 2 Types of Cardio Workouts Once you get your heart rate up to the correct level, the low intensity cardio workout will burn body fat. Exercise improves your metabolism and increases the number of calories your body burns each day, which is necessary for weight loss.

Several scientific studies have found that this fatty acid promotes lean body mass while helping to burn body fat. Reason 3: Drinking water BURNS EXTRA calories When you drink water, your body burns extra calories. Sustaining 30-50 g daily carb intake on a long run makes your body burn proteins.

Doing cardio first thing in the morning on an empty can tap into fat stores and keeps the body burning calories at a high rate for about an hour after cardio is finished. So do exercise and keep your body moving to burn body fat and lose weight, but also be aware of your body’s natural limitations. ;gives you vital nutrients and vitamins;makes you slimmer, by jump-starting your metabolism (how quickly your body burns energy), which is slow after relative inactivity at night.

Do Light Resistance training before An Aerobic Or CardioWorkout During the first 20 minutes of any exercise the body will not burn body fat, instead your body will burn glycogen (a source of energy for the muscles)Basically, you have to do a minimum of 20 minutes worth of light resistance training or weight lifting. That is the secret to maintaining a perfect dietary plan - eat less fat than your body burns everyday. You will burn body fat while keeping that hard earned muscle.

Water The amount of water in an individual’s system can have dramatic effects on it”s ability to metabolize and burn body fat. Well, another reason is that for every kg of muscle gain , the body burn an additional 50-80 calories per day. Remember that the body burns the essential fatty acids not for energy, but for special functions necessary for good health and survival.

What if I told you that the ONLY place on your body that you can burn body fat for fuel is your muscles. Our body burns calories 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Increasing your metabolism means your body burns calories at a higher rate.

Because the treatment of burns depends on the type of burn body has faced. These wonder-foods can increase the number of fat calories your body burns - they’re like little diet-helpers, stimulating your metabolism. In order to build new muscle, you must eat more calories than your body burns off, creating what is called a caloric surplus.

Therefore exercise first thing in the morning before breakfast to maximise the opportunity to burn body fat. Weight training can help you add muscle (big muscle for guys, shapely, toned muscle for women), burn body fat (and do so faster and more efficiently than aerobics), get fit, feel great, and look even better.

Posted by Best Gyms on December 26th, 2008 No Comments

An Effective Exercise Routine For Beginners

Let’s start with this very important rule: NEVER OVERDO THE FIRST FEW SESSIONS. Many beginners to exercising fall for this trap, especially when they do not have qualified trainers with them. They get overly excited and lose patience. They try to produce in two weeks what often takes years to accomplish.

They begin by going all out right from the start doing as much as they can. The next day, their joints and muscles lock up in pain. Then, they get discouraged, stop exercising for a while and give it up altogether. Workouts should start out smooth and easy.

Here is a warm-up routine to do 1 set of before every workout, but doing 3 sets of these alone can be a pretty good workout; particularly if you are a beginner.

LEG STRETCH
Lean over deeply on your left foot while your right leg is stretched out to your right side. Maintain balance.
Slowly, raise yourself with your left leg to a standing position.
As you stand, spread your feet wide apart.
Repeat this for ten counts.
Do steps 1 to 4 again; this time, alternate the legs’ position (left becomes right, and vice-versa).
This exercise warms up your legs, calves, and abdomen.

LEG SQUAT
Stand erect, chest out, with your buttocks protruding and your stomach in. Put your hands straight out in front of you. Relax.
Do squats by bending your legs to lower your body. Bend your legs until your upper legs (thighs) are parallel to the ground and you are in a squatting position. Keep your body erect as you squat.
Then raise yourself as you straighten your legs back to a standing position.
Do around 5 to 10 squats. Inhale deeply as you go down. Exhale as you stand up.
This exercise warms up your leg muscles, calves, and the muscles in your abdomen.

TRUNK TWIST
Stand with your feet about 3 feet apart. Relax.
Place your hands behind your head with your elbows out to the sides.
Very slowly, twist your body to your right without moving your legs or feet. Try to twist to your right as far as possible. Your face and body should be facing your right side while your legs remain steady. Then hold on to this position for 10 seconds.
Do the same to your left side.
This exercise warms up your legs, back muscles, and abdomen.

ARM ROTATION
Stretch out your arms to your sides. Keep them level with your shoulders.
Simultaneously rotate both arms to the front. Do this 20 times each rotation.
This exercises your shoulders, arms, and back muscles.

ARMS PRESS
Bring your right and left palms together. Have all fingers and palms pressing each other in front of you while pointing the fingers upwards.
Simultaneously push one palm against the other as hard as you can. Keep pushing for 5 seconds. Relax. Then push again for 5 seconds.
Do this ten times. Exhale as you push, and inhale as you relax.
Then press both palms in front of you while having their fingers pointing in different directions one set of fingers pointing to your left, the other set to your right. If your left fingers point to the right, your left hand should be under your right hand.
Push both palms against each other, the left palm pushing upwards, the right palm pushing downwards.
Exhale as you push, and inhale as you relax. Do this ten times. Then change the positions of your palms (left over right) and do the same procedures.
This exercises your forearms, arms, shoulders, and latissimus muscles (the muscles at the sides that give your body a V shape).

NECK PUSH
Gently move your head to your right side while your right hand gently pushes back against it. Do this once.
Gently move your head to your left side as your left hand gently pushes back against it. Do this once.
Gently move your head backwards as your left or right hand gently pushes back against it. Do this once.
Gently bow your head to the front as your right or left hand gently pushes against your forehead. Do this once.
This exercise strengthens your neck muscles. Never do neck rotations.

PUSH-UP
Do slow push-ups from 10 to 15 counts.
This exercises your arms, chest, shoulders, part of your abdomen, and part of your back muscles.

JOGGING
Jog in place for 3 minutes.
Then jog in place a lot faster for 2 minutes.
Then jog in place with a normal pace for another 3 minutes.
This exercise gives you a good leg and calf warm-up. This also serves as aerobics for your lungs and heart.

There! That ought to do it. After doing the above warm up exercises for some time, you should be ready start doing regular weight training and cardio workouts. Then just do 1 set of these exercises to properly warm up before you start each workout.

Posted by Best Gyms on December 25th, 2008 No Comments

Fitness Programs

Fitness is a state of the human body that allows it to function up to its full potential. It is the ability to do regular jobs without any strain, while being alert and energetic enough to endure any stressful activities. It is basically a condition wherein, all the major parts of the body, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, bones and muscles are in proper working condition. There are four aspects related to physical fitness: cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, and muscular endurance and flexibility. Fitness programs are the path to having a healthy body. They are the perfect way to incorporate exercise into the daily routine. Fitness programs, when followed religiously, are a remarkable way to counter several diseases, even in old age. Fitness programs need a lot of commitment and hard work.
There are several stages in incorporating a fitness program into your daily routine. The first thing is to check your present health condition to determine what kind of a program would suit you. This requires a basic health check up of blood pressure, diabetes-check, and a full work over for any suspected diseases, and past injuries. Also, consider your family history. Are you prone to heart attacks, strokes, arthritis, and other ailments? A major aspect in physical fitness is the body’s composition, which indicates the makeup of the body in terms of the ratio of lean mass to fat mass. Lean mass is comprised of muscle, bone, vital tissue and organs. Fat is fat.
Fitness programs take all these physical conditions of the person into account. The ideal exercise regime for a person will suit his/her body type. This is also contingent upon one’s objective be it weight loss, physical strength, or others. Fitness programs are composed of several kinds of activities such as: aerobics, aquatic exercises, golf, walking, skipping, jogging, swimming, bicycling, running, skiing, or playing sports like tennis and squash.
Fitness program should be chosen to suit your fitness level. They should be enjoyable, with realistic goals, and should fit well with your lifestyle. Some people may not see immediate results. Depending on the program as well as their body type results may vary. However, patience is very important. Choosing more than one type of exercise would also make it interesting. You can opt for an instructor for special kinds of fitness programs or for group fitness programs. People with disabilities need to follow fitness programs consistently.
There are many professional fitness centers that have sophisticated equipment to suit all kinds of people and their fitness needs. These centers have professionals and medical specialists who would be able to offer advice about the best kind of fitness program to take up. They provide customized workout routines, nutrition plans, personal trainers, and expert guidance to make the results last.

Posted by Best Gyms on December 24th, 2008 No Comments

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic (also called cardiovascular exercise) exercise requires continuous, smooth, rhythmic movements that strengthen your heart and lungs. This type of movement works large muscle groups and causes you to breathe more deeply.

This forces your heart to work harder to pump blood and emits carbon dioxide and other waste products. It also causes your body to burn a higher percentage of calories from fat.

Participating in aerobic exercises can be fun because there are so many choices available. Some examples of aerobic exercises are:

*Walking

*Aerobic dance

*Swimming

*Bicycling (inside-stationary bike)

*Ice, Roller or In-line skating

*Cross-country skiing

*Running or Jogging

*Water aerobics

*Stair-climbing

*Elliptical training

*Rowing

If you are hesitant to start an exercise regimen, check with your doctor to see what exercises would work best for you. One of the most popular aerobic exercises is walking. It is simple, effective and can be done inside or outside.

Participating in a daily aerobic exercise program provides many advantages. One of the primary benefits of regular exercise is how it can help reduce your risk for many diseases and conditions.

Aerobic exercise can reduce your risk of the following:

*HEART DISEASE: The number one benefit of a regular exercise regimen is reducing your risk of heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States.

*STROKE: Exercise reduces your chances of having a stroke by decreasing the build-up of plaque in your arteries. Plaque build-up in blood vessels is the cause of strokes.

*CANCER: Exercise reduces your risk of developing certain types of cancer such as prostate, colon, and breast.

*HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE: If you have high blood pressure, it can be lowered naturally by regular exercise.

*DIABETES: Aerobic exercise helps control your weight, decreasing your chances of being overweight, which in turn reduces your chances of developing diabetes.

*HIGH CHOLESTEROL: Regular aerobic exercise lowers your bad cholesterol and raises your good cholesterol.

*OSTEOPOROSIS: Weight-bearing aerobic exercises, like walking, can reduce your risk of osteoporosis and its complications by building strong bones.

*OSTEOARTHRITIS: Low-impact aerobic exercises, like swimming, bicycling, and water aerobics, can keep you fit without placing excessive strain on your joints. This contributes to healthy joints and reduces your risk of osteoarthritis.

*FIBROMYALGIA: Aerobic exercise encourages the growth of capillaries in your muscles. This enables your body to more efficiently transport oxygen to your muscles and remove waste products.

Aerobic exercise can help:

*DEPRESSION: When you exercise, your brain releases a chemical called endorphins, easing the tension associated with anxiety, and the despondency of depression.

*INCREASE YOUR STAMINA: Aerobic exercise may cause you to feel tired during and immediately following the activity. However, the lasting effects will be increased stamina and reduction of fatigue.

*EXTEND YOUR LIFE: The many benefits of following a regular aerobic exercise regimen to your health and well-being will obviously contribute to longer, healthier life.

Regardless of your age, fitness level, or weight, you should begin an aerobic exercise program today. The benefits for you and your health far exceed any hesitations you may have or excuses you may use.

Posted by Best Gyms on December 23rd, 2008 No Comments

Good Exercises For Varicose Veins

Varicose veins are unattractive and painful at times. Causes stem from hereditary issues and overweight problems. Of great concern are varicose veins caused by circulatory problems - consult a doctor should you develop them.

Varicose veins are preventable. Maintaining healthy body weight and doing exercises help lessen their emergence - appropriate exercises can be the best preventative and defensive strategy against varicose veins.

A good exercise is walking - minimum of thirty minutes per day. It will contribute to improved lower body circulation, muscular ability and maintain healthy veins. Wear good, supportive shoes and start slowly with a walking program. Injuries can result if any exercising program is started too quickly, can strain muscles and cause discouragement of continuing exercising.

Another great and beneficial exercise type is swimming regularly which improves circulation through the entire body while also strengthening it and building muscles where necessary. Lower body circulation is improved through water aerobics and running in the pool.

There are certain things that can be done to improve blood drainage from veins at day’s end or after exercising, like lying on your back on the floor while either raising and placing your legs directly against a wall or on the seat of a chair for two minutes or longer. By elevating the legs to a level higher than that of the heart, blood drains from swollen veins.

You can elevate the legs by sitting in a recliner and tilting the feet higher than hip level. Try lying on your back, arms along your sides or beneath the buttocks, then raising your legs and pedaling as though riding a bicycle - an excellent exercise to lower pressure and increase blood flow in the veins.

Another exercise is to lie on your back on the floor, bring one knee up to chest level (holding your leg up with your hands behind the knee) and move the foot down, up and rotating at the ankle. Alternate this maneuver with both legs.

Standing stationary for lengthy periods and strenuous activities increase the chances of varicose veins developing. Strenuous cycling or jogging and high impact aerobics should be avoided as it can increase blood pressure and result in varicose veins getting worse while also limiting drainage of blood from the veins.

Should standing for lengthy periods be unavoidable, then keep shifting, moving and bouncing on the toes numerous times each hour to help circulation. Also try taking frequent walks. At home, after a long day, raise your feet for no less than one hour in order to drain the blood from the leg veins.

Posted by Best Gyms on December 22nd, 2008 No Comments