More Abs to Practice

Let us know if you try any of them.  We want to know what is good, bad, helpful or boring.

Double-leg abdominal press

When you're comfortable with the single-leg abdominal press, try the double-leg abdominal press:

• Lie on your back with your knees bent (A). Keep your back in a neutral position, not arched and not pressed into the floor. Avoid tilting your hips. Tighten your abdominal muscles.
• Raise your legs off the floor one at a time so that your knees and hips are bent at 90-degree angles. Rest your hands on top of your knees (B).
• Push your hands against your knees while using your abdominal muscles to pull your knees toward your hands. Keep your arms straight. Hold for three deep breaths.
• Return to the start position and repeat.

Double-leg abdominal press variations

To work your core muscles more completely, try variations of the double-leg abdominal press:

• Opposite hands on opposite knees. Place each hand on the opposite knee, toward the inside of the knee (A). Your arms will cross over each other. Push your hands against your knees while pulling your knees toward your hands. Hold for three deep breaths. Repeat.
• Hands on outside of knees. Place your hands along the sides of your knees (B). Use your hands to push your knees inward. At the same time, create resistance by pushing your knees away from the center. Hold for three deep breaths. Repeat.
• 
  

Segmental rotation

Segmental rotation is another way to exercise your core muscles:

• Lie on your back with your knees bent and your back in a neutral position. Tighten your abdominal muscles.
• Keeping your shoulders on the floor, let your knees fall slowly to the left (A). Go only as far as is comfortable. You should feel a stretch, but no pain. Hold for three deep breaths.
• Return to the start position. Repeat the exercise to the right (B).
• 
  

Quadruped

This core exercise is called the quadruped:

• Start on your hands and knees. Place your hands directly below your shoulders, and align your head and neck with your back (A). Tighten your abdominal muscles.
• Raise your right arm off the floor and reach ahead (B). Hold for three deep breaths. Lower your right arm and repeat with your left arm.
• Raise your right leg off the floor (C). Tighten your trunk muscles for balance. Hold for three deep breaths. Lower your right leg and repeat with your left leg.
• For added challenge, raise your left arm and your right leg at the same time (D). Repeat with your right arm and left leg.

Modified plank

This core exercise is called the modified plank:

• Lie on your stomach. Raise yourself up so that you're resting on your forearms and your knees. Align your head and neck with your back, and place your shoulders directly above your elbows. Tighten your abdominal muscles.
• Create resistance by pressing your elbows and your knees toward one another. Neither should move from their positions on the floor. Hold for three deep breaths.
• Return to the start position and repeat.

Modified plank variations

Try these variations on the modified plank:

• Lie on your stomach. Raise yourself up so that you're resting on your forearms and your knees. Align your head and neck with your back, and place your shoulders directly above your elbows. Tighten your abdominal muscles.
• Raise your right arm off the floor (A). Hold for three deep breaths. Repeat with your left arm.
• Raise your right leg off the floor (B). Hold for three deep breaths. Repeat with your left leg.
• For added challenge, raise your left arm and your right leg at the same time. Repeat with your right arm and left leg.

Side plank

The side plank challenges your stability and works the muscles along the side of your body:

• Lie on your left side, raising yourself onto your left forearm (A). Place your left shoulder directly above your left elbow, keeping your shoulders, hips and knees in alignment. Rest your right arm along the side of your body.
• Tighten your abdominal muscles. Hold for three deep breaths. Repeat on your right side.
• For added challenge, balance on your left hand. Raise your hips off the floor and extend your right hand toward the ceiling (B). Hold for three deep breaths. Repeat on your right side.

Superman

This core exercise, called the superman, can help you strengthen your lower back:

• Lie on your stomach with a rolled towel or a small pillow under your hips to support your back. You might also use a folded towel to support your head. Tighten your abdominal muscles.
• Raise your right arm off the floor (A). Hold for three deep breaths. Lower your right arm and repeat with your left arm.
• Raise your right leg off the floor (B). Hold for three deep breaths. Lower your right leg and repeat with your left leg.
• 
  

Source:  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/core-strength/SM00047&slide=6

Abs to Try

Here are 6 ab routines you can try at home.

Core exercises build abs and other core muscles

Core exercises strengthen your core muscles, including abs, back and pelvis. Why bother with core exercises? Strong core muscles make it easier to do most physical activities.

You can do core exercises on a carpeted floor or mat. Breathe freely and deeply during each exercise. Focus on tightening your deepest abdominal muscle — the transversus abdominis — during each exercise. This is the muscle you feel contracting when you cough.

Repeat each of the following core exercises five times. Gradually build up to 10 to 15 repetitions as your strength improves.

Abdominal crunch

Abdominal crunches are a classic core exercise:

• Lie on your back and place your feet on a wall so that your knees and hips are bent at 90-degree angles. Tighten your abdominal muscles.
• Raise your head and shoulders off the floor. To avoid straining your neck, cross your arms on your chest rather than locking them behind your head. Hold for three deep breaths.
• Return to the start position and repeat.

Bridge

To work various core muscles in combination, try a bridge:

• Lie on your back with your knees bent (A). Keep your back in a neutral position, not arched and not pressed into the floor. Avoid tilting your hips. Tighten your abdominal muscles.
• Raise your hips off the floor until your hips are aligned with your knees and shoulders (B). Hold for three deep breaths.
• Return to the start position and repeat.
• 
  

Single-leg abdominal press

The single-leg abdominal press is another popular core exercise:

• Lie on your back with your knees bent (A). Keep your back in a neutral position, not arched and not pressed into the floor. Avoid tilting your hips. Tighten your abdominal muscles.
• Raise your right leg off the floor so that your knee and hip are bent at 90-degree angles. Rest your right hand on top of your right knee (B).
• Push your hand against your knee while using your abdominal muscles to pull your knee toward your hand. Keep your arm straight. Hold for three deep breaths.
• Return to the start position and repeat using your left hand and left knee.
• 
  

Single-leg abdominal press variations

To work your core muscles more completely, try variations of the single-leg abdominal press:

• Opposite hand on opposite knee. Push your right hand against your left knee while pulling your knee toward your hand (A). You'll be pushing and pulling across the center of your body. Hold for three deep breaths. Repeat using your other hand and leg.
• Hand on outside of knee. Place your left hand along the side of your left knee (B). Use your hand to push your leg inward. At the same time, create resistance by pushing your knee away from the center. Hold for three deep breaths. Repeat using your other hand and leg.

found at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/core-strength/SM00047&slide=1

EPA Will Mandate Tests On Pesticide Chemicals
Goal Is to Gauge Risk to Humans, Animals

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 16, 2009 

The Environmental Protection Agency for the first time will require pesticide manufacturers to test 67 chemicals contained in their products to determine whether they disrupt the endocrine system, which regulates animals' and humans' growth, metabolism and reproduction, the agency said yesterday.

Researchers have raised concerns that chemicals released into the environment interfere with animals' hormone systems, citing problems such as male fish in the Potomac River that are bearing eggs. Known as endocrine disruptors, the chemicals may affect the hormones that humans and animals produce or secrete.

"Endocrine disruptors can cause lifelong health problems, especially for children," EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said in a statement. "Gathering this information will help us work with communities and industry to protect Americans from harmful exposure."

Testing will begin this summer and will focus on whether these chemicals affect estrogen, androgen and thyroid systems. The tests eventually will encompass all pesticide chemicals.

Pesticide industry officials said they had anticipated the move, which was set into motion in 1996 by the passage of the Food Quality Protection Act, and they planned to cooperate on the matter.

"It's been a long time coming," said Jay Vroom, president and chief executive of CropLife America, a major trade association. "For pesticides, we think the likelihood is extremely low we'll have any concerns come to the surface."

Just this month, the EPA rejected a petition from CropLife America that would have changed aspects of the agency's Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program in an effort to reduce the costs and time requirements associated with the new testing. But Vroom said the EPA indicated in its April 3 letter that it would take into account several industry concerns, including leaving open the possibility of sometimes using computer modeling rather than relying exclusively on laboratory animal testing.

"That's an encouraging sign," he said, adding that it appeared the agency would be willing to lower the number of lab animals required for testing.

Linda Birnbaum, who directs the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, said the program represents "a more organized way to look at" how human exposure to pesticide chemicals could affect such things as bone growth and brain development.

"This is a good beginning," Birnbaum said, adding that scientists need to examine how different hormone disruptors might interact or accumulate in the human body. "It's very important to know: Can certain chemicals, especially chemicals that are out there that people are exposed to, impact our hormone system?"

Although researchers have observed the most visible effects of these chemicals in animals, Birnbaum said it is likely that some humans, depending on their particular sensitivity, could experience similar problems.

"I think it's unrealistic that humans are going to be immune," she said, adding that the studies need to determine dosage, "how much of these chemicals do you need for cause and effect?"

Linda Phillips, who manages the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program, said that it will take about two years to obtain data from the two-tier program, and that it then could take the agency another year to make a final determination about the chemicals' effect on hormone disruption.

Vroom said pesticide manufacturers are "very confident our products will come through with flying colors." He added: "If we do learn something about our products that raises a cause for concern, our industry will be at the table, ready and willing to step forward and take action to mitigate risk."

Source:  The Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/15/AR2009041501960.html

You Are What Your Animals Eat
by Jo Robinson

In my investigation into pasture-based farming, I've stumbled upon an alarming state of affairs: few animal scientists see any link between animal feed and human food. "Feed animals anything you want," say the experts, "and it makes no difference to their meat, milk, or eggs." Because of this mindset, our animals are being fed just about anything that enhances the bottom line, including chicken feathers, sawdust, chicken manure, stale pizza dough, potato chips, and candy bars.

Here's a glaring example. A 1996 study explored the desirability of feeding stale chewing gum to
cattle. Amazingly, the gum was still in its aluminum foil wrappers. Wonder of wonders, the experts concluded that bubblegum diet was a net benefit—at least for the producers. I quote: "Results of both experiments suggest that [gum and packaging material] may be fed to safely replace up to 30% of corn-alfalfa hay diets for growing steers with advantages in improving dry matter intake and digestibility." In other words, feed a steer a diet that is 30 percent bubblegum and aluminum foil wrappers, and it will be a more efficient eater. With a nod to public safety, the researchers did check to see how much aluminum was deposited in the various organs of the cattle. Not to worry. The aluminum content was "within normal expected ranges." As always, there was no mention of the nutritional content of the resulting meat.

When I first read the bubblegum studies, I assumed that no one would actually feed bubblegum to their animals, despite the positive outcome of the research. Then a professor of animal science
drove me by a Beechnut gum factory in upstate New York where dairy farmers bought truckloads of bubble gum to feed to their cows.

The view from the other side of the fence is just as sobering. Most experts in human nutrition are equally blind to the feed/food connection. To them, beef is beef, eggs are eggs, and milk is milk.

Thus, when the USDA says "eat less red meat," the edict applies to all red meat, whether it's a fatty steak from a grain-fed cow, or a lean steak from a grass-fed cow with its invisible bounty of omega-3s, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and CLA.

I've spent the past four years trying to forge the missing link between animal and human nutrition. It's been tough going, especially when it comes to pasture-raised animals because virtually all the studies focus on feedlot animals. To fill in the gap, I've searched through yellowing journals published before the advent of factory farming, pieced together small studies financed by farmers, and combed through the research from Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand—parts of the world where animals are still kept home on the range.

Finding the amount of vitamin E in grass-fed meat has been one of my biggest challenges. I began the search when I learned that grass has 20 times more vitamin E than corn or soy. Given the magnitude of this difference, I reasoned that meat from grass-fed animals must have an extra helping of vitamin E.

At long last, I located one American study that broached the subject. The impetus for the study came from disgruntled Japanese buyers who complained that American beef spoiled more quickly than Australian free-range beef. Knowing that vitamin E helped prolong shelf life, the American researchers investigated the amount of vitamin E in the two types of meat. Lo and behold, they discovered that the meat from grass-fed cattle had three to four times more vitamin E than feedlot beef, thanks to all that vitamin E-rich grass.

Now, what did the researchers do with this finding? True to form, they began studying how much synthetic vitamin E to add to synthetic feedlot diets. I doubt that it even occurred to them to investigate pasture-based ranching.

Why this lack of interest in the natural model? Much of our animal research is funded by commercial interests—specifically the grain, chemical, pharmaceutical, farm equipment, and meat-packing companies. Together, these vertically integrated behemoths have a multi-billion dollar stake in perpetuating factory farming. The USDA, meanwhile, aids and abets the feedlot industry by focusing virtually all of its efforts—and our tax dollars!—on tweaking the system. For example, the USDA Meat and Animal Research Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, is more willing to spend $100,000 researching how quickly feedlot manure seeps into the water table than to spend a similar amount of money investigating pasture-based ranching, the holistic model that keeps the contamination from happening in the first place.

What will it take to draw more scientific attention to pasture-based ranching? Pressure from an
enlightened public. And what will it take to enlighten the public? The national media.
I have a fantasy how this might happen. First, a prominent media source such as "60 minutes" or The New York Times will decide to spotlight pasture-based farming. Building on this ground-breaking work, an award-winning TV producer will create a documentary that deepens the discussion. The program will conclude—as it must—-that raising animals on pasture is better for consumers, the animals, the environment, and small farmers. Before long, dozens of news shows, newspapers, and magazines will follow suit.

As the momentum builds, grassfarming will become the talk of the town. Serving organic meat won't win points in Los Angeles anymore unless it's grass-fed as well. Meanwhile, Ted Turner will stop sending all of his bison to feedlots to be fattened like cattle, and by 2005, his "Turner Reserve Grassfed Bison" will be the thing to serve at celebrity gatherings. Propelled by this groundswell of interest, private and government institutions will finally devote more time, money and energy to exploring pasture-based farming.

Will grassfarming ever become the darling of the media? Only time will tell. But even if the media misses the boat, the good news about grassfarming will keep spreading on the grassroots level, one satisfied customer at a time!

References:
Wolf, B. W., L. L. Berger, et al. (1996). “Effects of feeding a return chewing gum/packaging material mixture on performance and carcass characteristics of feedlot cattle.” J Anim Sci 74(11): 2559-65.
© 2005 Jo Robinson, Eatwild.com. This article may be reprinted in full provided it is accompanied by this credit line.

Source: http://eatwild.com/

How to Do Interval Training

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

Introduction

To tap into a new, higher level of fitness and fat burning, try an interval workout. The combination of aerobic and anaerobic training will give a real boost to your health and make the rest of your workouts seem easier.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Steps

1

Step One

Begin with 5 to 7 minutes of low-intensity work in your exercise mode. For example, walk or jog lightly to start.

2

Step Two

Stretch the major muscle groups, paying particular attention to the lower body.

3

Step Three

Exercise at a higher intensity for 10 minutes. Let your body continue to warm up and get ready for the workout to come.

4

Step Four

Start cycle 1: Exercise for 3 minutes at a pace you could maintain for the entire workout. Then for 1 minute push yourself hard, with a short burst of activity that you couldn't do for longer than a minute.

5

Step Five

Recover for 30 seconds or longer, but keep moving, and let your breath return to a normal workout level.

6

Step Six

Understand that the cycle is 3 minutes aerobic/recovery and 1 minute anaerobic (3-to-1).

7

Step Seven

Complete eight cycles, the first four becoming progressively harder, with the hardest cycles being four and five, then decrease the intensity with cycles six, seven and eight.

8

Step Eight

Keep moving for another 3 to 4 minutes or until you feel your heart rate coming down.

9

Step Nine

Stretch the major muscles again, this time more deeply and for 20 to 30 seconds.

Tips & Warnings

• Always use the first 30 seconds of the aerobic portion to recover and literally catch your breath.
• Think of the cycles as going up and down a mountain - as they ascend, it's hard and there's not much oxygen at the top, then the descent gets easier.
• Note that 1 minute may be too long for a beginner, so try shortening the anaerobic (without oxygen) cycles - even 10 seconds is an effective way to start.
• Notice that your heart rate is going way up and then way down; it should peak and valley quite a bit during interval training.
• Plan to interval train only once or twice a week.
• Allow for 48 hours of recovery between each session. It's OK to exercise during the 48 hours, but avoid strenuous exercise and anything high-impact.
• Drink lots of water.
• Please consult your physician before attempting this or any other strenuous physical activity. Listen to your body.
• This advice is not intended to substitute for advice from a physician, physical therapist or personal trainer.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6013_interval-training.html

April 8, 2009

Study finds 1 in 5 obese among 4-year-olds

Filed under: Health Education, Physicians — admin @ 7:18 am

side note: We believe that education, not just for our youth, but for adults as well, is the key in reversing the ever growing trend of obese children. We need to teach people how to eat properly, the benefits of a regular exercise program and the links between too many diseases to list and obesity. I watch The Biggest Loser on NBC, and I’m always amazed by how many meds each of the contestants gives up as they lose their weight. I’m not a fan of reality TV, but that show has a good, positive message. Anyone can lose the weight, you just have to look at it, not as a diet, but as a shift in the way you live your life.

By LINDSEY TANNER
Google News
AP

CHICAGO (AP) — A striking new study says almost 1 in 5 American 4-year-olds is obese, and the rate is alarmingly higher among American Indian children, with nearly a third of them obese. Researchers were surprised to see differences by race at so early an age.

Overall, more than half a million 4-year-olds are obese, the study suggests. Obesity is more common in Hispanic and black youngsters, too, but the disparity is most startling in American Indians, whose rate is almost double that of whites.

The lead author said that rate is worrisome among children so young, even in a population at higher risk for obesity because of other health problems and economic disadvantages.

“The magnitude of these differences was larger than we expected, and it is surprising to see differences by racial groups present so early in childhood,” said Sarah Anderson, an Ohio State University public health researcher. She conducted the research with Temple University’s Dr. Robert Whitaker.

Dr. Glenn Flores, a pediatrics and public health professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, said the research is an important contribution to studies documenting racial and ethnic disparities in children’s weight.

“The cumulative evidence is alarming because within just a few decades, America will become a ‘minority majority’ nation,” he said. Without interventions, the next generation “will be at very high risk” for heart disease, high blood pressure, cancers, joint diseases and other problems connected with obesity, said Flores, who was not involved in the new research.

The study is an analysis of nationally representative height and weight data on 8,550 preschoolers born in 2001. Children were measured in their homes and were part of a study conducted by the government’s National Center for Education Statistics. The results appear in Monday’s Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Almost 13 percent of Asian children were obese, along with 16 percent of whites, almost 21 percent of blacks, 22 percent of Hispanics, and 31 percent of American Indians.

Children were considered obese if their body-mass index, a height-weight ratio, was in the 95th percentile or higher based on government BMI growth charts. For 4-year-olds, that would be a BMI of about 18.

For example, a girl who is 4 1/2 years old, 40 inches tall and 42 pounds would have a BMI of about 18, weighing 4 pounds more than the government’s upper limit for that age, height and gender.

Some previous studies of young children did not distinguish between kids who were merely overweight versus obese, or they examined fewer racial groups.

The current study looked only at obesity and a specific age group. Anderson called it the first analysis of national obesity rates in preschool kids in the five ethnic or racial groups.

The researchers did not examine reasons for the disparities, but others offered several theories.

Flores cited higher rates of diabetes in American Indians, and also Hispanics, which scientists believe may be due to genetic differences.

Also, other factors that can increase obesity risks tend to be more common among minorities, including poverty, less educated parents, and diets high in fat and calories, Flores said.

Jessica Burger, a member of the Little River Ottawa tribe and health director of a tribal clinic in Manistee, Mich., said many children at her clinic are overweight or obese, including preschoolers.

Burger, a nurse, said one culprit is gestational diabetes, which occurs during a mother’s pregnancy. That increases children’s chances of becoming overweight and is almost twice as common in American Indian women, compared with whites.

She also blamed the federal commodity program for low-income people that many American Indian families receive. The offerings include lots of pastas, rice and other high-carbohydrate foods that contribute to what Burger said is often called a “commod bod.”

“When that’s the predominant dietary base in a household without access to fresh fruits and vegetables, that really creates a better chance of a person becoming obese,” she said.

Also, Burger noted that exercise is not a priority in many American Indian families struggling to make ends meet, with parents feeling stressed just to provide basic necessities.

To address the problem, her clinic has created activities for young Indian children, including summer camps and a winter break “outdoor day” that had kids braving 8-degree temperatures to play games including “snowsnake.” That’s a traditional American Indian contest in which players throw long, carved wooden “snakes” along a snow or ice trail to see whose lands the farthest.

The hope is that giving kids used to modern sedentary ways a taste of a more active traditional American Indian lifestyle will help them adopt healthier habits, she said.

Associated Press

Article from:  http://mymedicalmalpracticeinsurance.com/news/?p=10

Interval Training for Weight Loss

Source: intervaltraining.net

Do you want to lose weight, more specifically fat?

Do you feel paralysed after failing time and time again to lose those extra pounds?

Don’t you just get hopping mad when you do a ton of exercise and you really don't lose any weight at all? You may try and fool yourself that it’s ok but every time you look in the mirror, it doesn't lie. Are you finding it harder and harder to be motivated because you are starting to feel a little hopeless?

Well If I can show you a way to lose all your fat in weeks, are you willing to spend no more than 20 minutes three times a week achieving this? What would it mean to you if you could walk around in your costume and feel fantastic about it?

By the time you finish reading this article, you will know how to consistently lose 2 pounds of pure fat every week so you can actually fit into those fantastic clothes you just bought. You are about to discover a type of exercise that causes a chain reaction in your body to burn fat…a LOT of fat, for hours...…but first let’s talk about what doesn’t work.

Skip to the programs

interval training for weight lossFor years, we've been told low-intensity aerobic exercise is the best method for burning off our extra body fat. Research also indicates that the lower the intensity of the exercise the more percentage of fat is used as fuel for muscles, so in low intensity aerobic activity the body operates in a ‘fat burning’ zone which burns more fat than at higher intensity. Unfortunately according to modern research, this just doesn't seem to work very well.
In fact tens of experiments have all concluded that aerobic exercise does nothing for large scale fat loss.

So unfortunately, like you, there are thousands of people trying desperately to lose weight by doing some work on the treadmill or something similar. And for the most part, all of these people are not going to lose any fat. (If you want some proof go look at a local fun run, these people are fit but are they shape you want to be?)

Not too many benefits for all that work… So what to do? Well, there is an exercise routine that apart from speedy fat loss has a multitude of benefits which include:

* Losing at least two pounds per week and I am being conservative with this figure…
* Getting a toned, athletic look - don’t just lose weight, mould your body into a shape that will be turning heads;
* Tons and tons of energy - Imagine having energy for a full exciting life, you will have more energy than you know what to do with;
* Super fitness - having a lot more cardio endurance and fitness than the guy who spend two hours on the treadmill each day;
* Chase away disease - this exercise does wonders for lowering blood pressure and staving type 2 diabetes away; and
* Automatically as you body loses weight, you will become aware of extra energy and vitality

How would you like it if you had dozens of people desperate to find out your weight loss super secret while they still were failing? Get used to it, it will happen a lot.

And think now what will you do with that new toned body, take it to the beach, buy new clothes or shake it on the dance floor.

Ok, enough trying to motivate you, the secret to this wonderful metamorphosis is a type of interval training called High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Study after study has proven the incredible fat burning effects that HIIT can have on the body, in fact in the first bit of research that set interval training as the benchmark for fat loss; the participants lost 9 times as much fat as those doing standard aerobic exercises.

Skip to the programs
It works so well because of a process called EPOC

interval training for weight loss 3EPOC occurs in the body after intense exercise drains muscles of their inbuilt energy source. This has to be replenished in the body, and it can take up to 48 hours to happen. During this time your body has no alternative but to draw and burn up your fat reserves. So for the next two days while you sit at work, watch TV or have that peaceful nap, your blood cells are rushing around that belly or those thighs, grabbing as much of the fat as it can and taking it away to use it as energy, without you having to do much...

And EPOC is only the immediate benefit; over time your body’s ability to convert energy directly into the muscle increases. The muscles ability to store energy increases so your demands for fat release go up, and interval training starts convincing the body to funnel new energy to the muscles instead of sending them to your fat stores. All of this increases the more you do interval training, so as you can see the better you get at this, the more of a fat burning machine your body turns into.