I cannot believe I did not post this years ago! I saw it in an aerobics class today at a New York Sports Club. Grab a bar with a weight that will give you a workout and no pain. Bars(not barbells) come in eight, 12, 16, 18, or 22 pounds, usually. Keep it behind your waist, holding it with the palms of your hands facing back. Stand with legs shoulder-width apart. Relax your shoulders. Your knees ares slightly bent for balance. Bring the bar up with both arms about two inches away from your hips. Go back to starting position. Repeat for four sets of ten repetitions.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Simple, Effective Core Exercise
You can do this while a) sitting on the floor with legs crossed before you; b) sitting with legs straight before you; or c) sitting on the floor with legs open in "second position", as they say in dance. Your arms are relaxed, folded before you or on your sides, hands on the floor. Keep your head and spine aligned and back straight. Inhale. Exhale and bring your core as close to the floor as you can, your head and spine aligned and spine long. Inhale and go back up to starting position. Do five sets of ten repetitions slowly.
You can add a twist to the right ad then to the left each time you return to the starting position. You exhale on each side, and inhale in the middle position.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
You can add a twist to the right ad then to the left each time you return to the starting position. You exhale on each side, and inhale in the middle position.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Gyrokinesis
I have been taking Martha Graham modern dance classes on and off for two years. I know I have to loosen up my hips, so that I can raise my leg higher and hold it longer in different directions. There is always another level to reach. As I posted in earlier posts years ago, just put in what is missing, without beating yourself up that you are not good enough. It is a spiritual experience to know that you are excellent and just bring it up to the next level.
I know I have not been taking my own advice stretching more, as flexibility is one of the major components of fitness. I need to increase my hamstrings', and as I found out today, calves' flexibility. I can just stretch every morning or night, and in front of the television -- easy! As I also knew, I need to work out my lower back more to balance how much I work out my abdominal muscles at the gym and with the Martha Graham technique.
Gyrokinesis can be done on the mat, as I did today, or on machines. It is like Pilates in that it strengthens the core. But it concentrates more on the spine, and seems to engage more movement. The mat movements are similar to Graham ones. I tried out two machines. Rotator cuffs and the pelvis ball and socket joint are used a lot. The machines include ropes and weight. Where I went, in SoHo in Manhattan, machine lessons are $75.00 an hour. I thought that I will use ankle weights and do leg circles to loosen up and strengthen those pelvis joints!
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
I know I have not been taking my own advice stretching more, as flexibility is one of the major components of fitness. I need to increase my hamstrings', and as I found out today, calves' flexibility. I can just stretch every morning or night, and in front of the television -- easy! As I also knew, I need to work out my lower back more to balance how much I work out my abdominal muscles at the gym and with the Martha Graham technique.
Gyrokinesis can be done on the mat, as I did today, or on machines. It is like Pilates in that it strengthens the core. But it concentrates more on the spine, and seems to engage more movement. The mat movements are similar to Graham ones. I tried out two machines. Rotator cuffs and the pelvis ball and socket joint are used a lot. The machines include ropes and weight. Where I went, in SoHo in Manhattan, machine lessons are $75.00 an hour. I thought that I will use ankle weights and do leg circles to loosen up and strengthen those pelvis joints!
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Rockefeller University Study on Ghrelin Hormone
Scientists at Columbia and Rockefeller Universities identified cells that time the release of a hormone that makes animals anticipate food and eat even if not hungry. This has implications for the treatment of obesity and is the culmination of decades-old research.
Rae Silver, head of the Laboratory of Neurobiology ad Behavior at Columbia University ad Helene L. and Mark N. Kaplan Professor at Barnard College, Joseph LeSauter, senior scientist at Barnard and Donald W. Pfaff, at Rockefeller University show that these cells release the hormone ghrelin that “tells” the brain to eat. The hormone is controlled by circadian rhythms set my mealtime patterns. Research was done on mice.
The anticipation of food is synchronized wit metabolic cycles. Ghrelin triggers food-seeking behavior. Mice that lacked ghrelin receptor foraged for food later and less often than those that had it. The studies had shown that people given ghrelin were voracious. Pfaff said that if you eat all the time, ghrelin levels will not be well-controlled, so it is best to eat at regular intervals. Ghrelin is the only known natural appetite stimulant made outside the brain. It is a promising target for drug developers. Most appetite drugs focus on satiety.
I believe that for most, exercise and diet works, and you do not need drugs. This is interesting, because ewe can see how individual genes, which may different for ghrelin and ghrelin receptor abundance, and eating patterns, which can be changed, influence obesity.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Rae Silver, head of the Laboratory of Neurobiology ad Behavior at Columbia University ad Helene L. and Mark N. Kaplan Professor at Barnard College, Joseph LeSauter, senior scientist at Barnard and Donald W. Pfaff, at Rockefeller University show that these cells release the hormone ghrelin that “tells” the brain to eat. The hormone is controlled by circadian rhythms set my mealtime patterns. Research was done on mice.
The anticipation of food is synchronized wit metabolic cycles. Ghrelin triggers food-seeking behavior. Mice that lacked ghrelin receptor foraged for food later and less often than those that had it. The studies had shown that people given ghrelin were voracious. Pfaff said that if you eat all the time, ghrelin levels will not be well-controlled, so it is best to eat at regular intervals. Ghrelin is the only known natural appetite stimulant made outside the brain. It is a promising target for drug developers. Most appetite drugs focus on satiety.
I believe that for most, exercise and diet works, and you do not need drugs. This is interesting, because ewe can see how individual genes, which may different for ghrelin and ghrelin receptor abundance, and eating patterns, which can be changed, influence obesity.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Swiss Ball: Two Hamstrings Exercises
Reverse bridge:
Lie down on your back with a medium-size Swiss ball below your ankles. Your knees are 90 degrees. Push the ball away and toward you, back to the starting position. Do five sets of ten repetitions.
Reverse Leg Curl:
Do the above with your hips not touching the floor for the whole motion.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Lie down on your back with a medium-size Swiss ball below your ankles. Your knees are 90 degrees. Push the ball away and toward you, back to the starting position. Do five sets of ten repetitions.
Reverse Leg Curl:
Do the above with your hips not touching the floor for the whole motion.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Swiss Ball: Hamstrings
Get a medium-sized Swiss ball and place the small of your back on it. Your feet are on the floor, legs at a smaller than 90-degree angle. Relax your arms and upper body. Lift your thighs by straightening your legs. Your back will move back over the Swiss ball. Balance and keep it behind you back. You will notice that you are using your hamstrings. Your knee angle is now over 90 degrees. Do five sets of ten repetitions. Get some water. you may be dizzy. ;)
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Cable: Pectoralis Major Move
Place the hook where you can attache a handle to the cable to the uppermost or one of the highest holes. Stand with legs shoulder-width apart and grab the handle with your right hand. Bring the handle (and thus cable) across your chest and then your hip to the lower part of your left hip. Do four sets of ten repetitions. Repeat with the right hand. This exercise may use slightly different pectoralis major muscle fibers than the one on the previous blog post.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Cable: Pectoralis Major and Anterior Deltoid Move
Go to the cable machine. Put the hook to connect the handle (not sure of the name!) at the bottom-most hole. Put a handle on the hook. Stand with legs shoulder-width apart. With your right leg close to the cable, grab the handle and bring it in one smooth motion from your right leg across your hip, across your chest, to your left shoulder. Go back to the starting position without locking your elbow. Do four sets of ten repetitions.Turn around and repeat with the next arm. This time, bring your left hand across our hip and chest to your right shoulder.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Swiss Ball: Abductors
Here is a fun, subtle way to target various leg abductor muscle fibers:
Get a medium-sized Swiss ball and place it between your hip and leg, between you and the wall. Stand with legs shoulder-width apart. Squeeze your leg against the Swiss ball, which is squeezed against the wall. Repeat for ten sets of ten repetitions.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Get a medium-sized Swiss ball and place it between your hip and leg, between you and the wall. Stand with legs shoulder-width apart. Squeeze your leg against the Swiss ball, which is squeezed against the wall. Repeat for ten sets of ten repetitions.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Book Fat History by Peter Stearns, historian
I ran into this book by the Law of Attraction or as it says in the Bible, "Ask and you shall receive." Peter Stearns is a historian who believes that morality, fashion, religion and media have all influenced pressure to be very thin and a disgust or hate in fat. He compares attitudes and fat trends in the United States and France. While images are getting thinner, people in both countries, especially in the United States, are getting fatter. Children in the United States are heavier than those in France. Fat is a morality issue in the United States. In France it is mostly an aesthetic issue. They eat slower with smaller portions. They don’t snack as much.
As sexuality opened up and women had fewer children, he writes, Americans needed something else to judge people on...and that was weight. If you are fat, you are irresponsible and have no self-discipline.
I can see both sides. There are clearly too many heavy people in the Unites States. At the same time, I think we need more images, especially of women, that have some fat. Health magazine covers don't only need to show women with very little body fat. Models don't need to all be very tall and thin, or heavy when it comes to plus size. What happened to all the medium-size fit people? Perhaps people think they will never meet a very skinny standard and give up diet and exercise. Perhaps most people don’t want to be very thin.
Obese people should not be judged too heavily either. Others that are thin may have a drinking problem, or may not be able to work or study with discipline, etc. We cannot assume we know everything about someone based on weight. Perhaps there is a backlash like what teenagers experience: “You can’t make me”, etc. If we have compassion for overweight people and for ourselves if we are overweight, and set goals that we are committed to without applying so much significance like a whole character judgment if we reach them or reach them quickly, we will actually help others , happy ourselves, and reach our goals.
I believe that, for most, being too thin or heavy does not work. A balance of "thin", fat and muscle is best for most. If you have any questions about the book, let me know. I may write more at another time.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
As sexuality opened up and women had fewer children, he writes, Americans needed something else to judge people on...and that was weight. If you are fat, you are irresponsible and have no self-discipline.
I can see both sides. There are clearly too many heavy people in the Unites States. At the same time, I think we need more images, especially of women, that have some fat. Health magazine covers don't only need to show women with very little body fat. Models don't need to all be very tall and thin, or heavy when it comes to plus size. What happened to all the medium-size fit people? Perhaps people think they will never meet a very skinny standard and give up diet and exercise. Perhaps most people don’t want to be very thin.
Obese people should not be judged too heavily either. Others that are thin may have a drinking problem, or may not be able to work or study with discipline, etc. We cannot assume we know everything about someone based on weight. Perhaps there is a backlash like what teenagers experience: “You can’t make me”, etc. If we have compassion for overweight people and for ourselves if we are overweight, and set goals that we are committed to without applying so much significance like a whole character judgment if we reach them or reach them quickly, we will actually help others , happy ourselves, and reach our goals.
I believe that, for most, being too thin or heavy does not work. A balance of "thin", fat and muscle is best for most. If you have any questions about the book, let me know. I may write more at another time.
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician.
My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
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