Using Bosu Balls for Abdominal Muscles

Place one Bosu ball with the flat surface up and another Bosu ball with the flat surface on the floor a few feet away from the first one, on a vertical line. Place your hands on the handles of the first ball and your toes on the center of the other ball. Keep your arms straight and do not lock your elbows. Do the wedge exercise in this position, keeping your back and hips on a straight line. Hold for 20 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds. Repeat until fatigue.

To make the exercise harder, raise each leg (one at a time)a few inches above your hip level and hold for 20 seconds. Repeat for the other leg. Rest for 10 seconds. Repeat until fatigue.

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on http://www.Authorhouse.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. 

Body Vibration Machine

This Reuters article claims that the body vibration machine increases flexibility and speed for seniors. New York Sports Club on 76th Street and First Avenue in Manhattan ahs one. It reminds me of such machines in cartoons.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/17/us-body-vibration-elders-idUSBRE90G0Z320130117

Training Insights

Here is a New York times article that adds ot the "evidence" of how important the mind-body connection is, this time in terms of mental distinctions leading to workout shifts that make a difference in fitness and performance.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/training-insights-from-star-athletes/?ref=health

Free Weights on a Bosu Ball

Turn a Bosu Ball "upside down" so that you stand on its flat side. Use free weights for biceps curls and other upper body exercises. You will use your abdominal, leg and glute muscles as stabilizers to balance, and so advance your workout routine.

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on http://www.Authorhouse.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. 

New Study on Belly vs Lower Body Fat

Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism

"How belly fat differs from thigh fat -- and why it matters
Unlike men, women tend to store more fat on the hips and thighs than in the belly. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism helps explain fat distribution differences by determining how belly and thigh fat differ genetically. This research might shift common thinking about fat -- rather than focusing on how to banish belly fat, perhaps we need to tip the balance in favor of heart-friendly fat in the lower body."

http://scienceblog.com/59068/how-belly-fat-differs-from-thigh-fat-and-why-it-matters/

Why?

   Happy New Year everyone! Many of you may have resolutions to get more fit or lose weight. An important question to ask is "Why?", as I was reminded by an article in Boost Your Willpower in the January 2013 issue of Yoga Journal. Yoga teacher and Stanford psychology professor Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D. said that any time you try to change something to fix it, it does not involve accepting what is true now, and does not work.

    

      As I have written in older blog posts, start with loving your body first. Your body gives you so much and allows you to do so much each day. Love and appreciate it. It's beautiful.

      Make the changes you want to make for health. See, by connecting with yourself through exercise, what weight, food, etc. feel best for you. When are you at your healthiest and most energetic? Do not do it to please others.There will always be someone to comment negatively about your fitness level or look anyway, probably projecting their feelings about their own self.

     

      Ask yourself why you want to be stronger or lose weight. The essence of this needs to revolve around a higher level of health, and, a greater quality of life or higher level of living life with vitality and ease.

      Not doing the above will result in not being happy and healthy, at least as much as you can be, and yo-yo dieting or fitness.

Israel's Fashion Industry's Campaign Against Anorexia

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0104/Israel-tells-underweight-models-to-gain-weight-or-get-off-the-runway