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	<title>The Fitness Monkey &#187; Exercise</title>
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	<description>Getting Fit and Healthy</description>
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		<title>10 Things You Should Know About Stretching</title>
		<link>http://thefitnessmonkey.com/10-things-you-should-know-about-stretching</link>
		<comments>http://thefitnessmonkey.com/10-things-you-should-know-about-stretching#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:02:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Claire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exercise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fitness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flexibility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stretching]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[workout]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thefitnessmonkey.com/?p=30</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Before fitness training, one must give importance to doing warm-up or stretching exercises to prevent accidents or to enhance the output during the training.  There are also a number of precautionary measures and tips to serve as guidelines when doing fitness exercises.  Here are some of them.
1.  To increase your flexibility and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Before fitness training, one must give importance to doing warm-up or stretching exercises to prevent accidents or to enhance the output during the training.  There are also a number of precautionary measures and tips to serve as guidelines when doing fitness exercises.  Here are some of them.</p>
<p>1.  To increase your flexibility and to avoid injuries, stretch before and after workout.  Almost everyone knows that stretching before workout prevents injuries during the exercises, but only few people know that stretching after workout, when muscles are still warm, can increase flexibility.</p>
<p>2.  Hold your stretching position for more than 60 seconds to increase flexibility.  While holding your position for 20 seconds is enough for warm ups, holding each position for at least 60 seconds will develop the body&#8217;s flexibility.</p>
<p>3.  Do not go into a stretching position then immediately return to the relaxed position, and do it repeatedly.  This is more appropriately termed as bouncing while in a position.  When stretching, hold that position for several seconds, and then slowly relax.  You may do this exercise repeatedly this way.  Bouncing or forcing yourself into a position during stretching can strain or damage some joints or muscles.</p>
<p>4.  Work slowly in increments instead of immediately proceeding to doing the hardest exercise or position.</p>
<p>5.  Make sure that you have stretched or warmed up all muscle groups.  For some people, even if they have strong bodies, they tend to neglect the neck when working out of stretching.  Stretching the neck muscles can be as simple as placing the palm of one&#8217;s hand against the front of the head and pushing it.  Then, do the same to the sides and the back of the head.</p>
<p>6.  Stretch regularly to continually increase your range of movements and your level of flexibility and strength.</p>
<p>7.  Workout considering only your capabilities and not of others.  Do not force yourself to do exercises that you are not yet capable of just because there are people who can do it.  Increase your limits slowly.  Listen to your body.  There are days when your body may be too tired that you may have to consider reducing your range of motion.</p>
<p>8.  Learn to rest.  Rest in between sets and stations to make sure that the body has enough time to recover its energy.  Also, it is advisable that you don&#8217;t work the same muscle groups consecutively for two days.  The muscles grow during the period when you rest and not when you are working out.</p>
<p>9.  Do aerobic exercises to strengthen your heart.  Aerobic exercises are those physical activities that much oxygen for fuel.  This includes cardiovascular exercises such as skipping rope, running or swimming.</p>
<p>10.  Music may help you when you want to train for longer periods or to increase your intensity.  You can use mp3 players, CD players or lightweight am radio receivers for this.  Just make sure that you brought your headset with you so you wouldn&#8217;t disturb people who don&#8217;t prefer music while exercising.</p>
<p>Apart from preventing injuries and increasing one&#8217;s limit, it is also said that stretching is good for a tired body and also for a stressed mind and spirit.</p>
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		<title>Better Work Outs</title>
		<link>http://thefitnessmonkey.com/better-work-outs</link>
		<comments>http://thefitnessmonkey.com/better-work-outs#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:32:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Claire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exercise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fitness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gym]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[routines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[workouts]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thefitnessmonkey.com/?p=28</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[1.Stop and Go
If you play a sport that requires a full sprint, remember that a full sprint strains the muscles of the lower body. To combat this, do stop-and-go exercises. For example, run 30 meters at about 80 percent of your effort, slow to a jog for five to 10 meters, then run again for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>1.Stop and Go</strong></p>
<p>If you play a sport that requires a full sprint, remember that a full sprint strains the muscles of the lower body. To combat this, do stop-and-go exercises. For example, run 30 meters at about 80 percent of your effort, slow to a jog for five to 10 meters, then run again for another 30 meters. Repeat this process five times.</p>
<p><strong>2.On bended knees</strong></p>
<p>Almost 3 out of four ACL injury occurs when players are landing or turning. If your knees are bent instead of straight, the risk of injury is greatly reduced according to a report in the JAAOS (Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons).</p>
<p><strong>3.Cool down</strong></p>
<p>Heatstroke is not something that can be easily cured like headache. To avoid it, stay cool and hydrated. Be sure the combined temp an humidity is less than 160. This is according to Dr. Dave Janda of the IPSM.</p>
<p><strong>4.Get the proper equipment</strong></p>
<p>Badly fitting gears or ill sized equipment can be a cause of  training injuries. The extra money spent on proper equipment goes a long way. </p>
<p><strong>5.Do it the right way</strong></p>
<p>Bad technique is just as bad as, well, bad equipment. Seek advice from pros and trainer, this advice are invaluable to your exercises or training.</p>
<p><strong>6.Go West (or whichever direction)</strong></p>
<p>If you&#8217;re playing or training in multiple directions, your warm up should also. Move sideways, backward, forward and all the motions you might be doing. This allows your body to be prepared.</p>
<p><strong>7.Have yourself filmed</strong></p>
<p>The camera doesn&#8217;t lie. Show your video to a person well verse in your training, so he can give a critic of your fitness regimen.</p>
<p><strong>8.Loosen the shoulders.</strong></p>
<p>Even a slightly injured rotator cuff can shut down the function of a shoulder. You might want to include stretching to protect your rotator cuffs.</p>
<p><strong>9.take An early dip</strong></p>
<p>Schedule your swimming sessions early. The less people in the pool means less of everything in the pool.</p>
<p><strong>10. Protect yourself</strong></p>
<p>Wearing custom-fitted mouth guards reduces the risk of  injuries by as much as 82 percent, according to a study at UNC at Chapel Hill. Plunk out the cash for a custom-fitted mouth guard and it&#8217;ll last for years including your smile and teeth.</p>
<p><strong>11. Smooth out your tendon</strong></p>
<p>Inquire about ultrasound needle therapy. These procedure is minimally by using ultrasound to guide a needle. The needle smoothens the  bone, breaks up calcifications, and fixes scar tissue. Thirteen out of twenty patients saw improvement, and the session takes only about 15 minutes of your time.</p>
<p><strong>12. Buy your running shoes after work.</strong></p>
<p>Shop in the evening, the feet are swollen after a day of work. It approximates how your feet will be after three miles of running.</p>
<p><strong>13. Do off road running.</strong></p>
<p>If the surface is unstable, it trains the ankles to be stable.</p>
<p><strong>14. Know where you&#8217;re going.</strong></p>
<p>Whether its biking, or skiing, be sure to have a dry run down any path first. A lot of injuries can be avoided when you&#8217;re familiar with the route taken. </p>
<p><strong>15. Train hard.</strong></p>
<p>Anxiety reduces your peripheral vision by three degrees and slows the reaction time by almost 120 milliseconds, according to an article of the Journal of Sports Sciences. When the going gets difficult, the veteran athlete rely on skills they&#8217;ve trained for and practiced. It keeps them cooler under pressure, widening their vision so they can see react much faster.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Benefits of Cardio Interval Training</title>
		<link>http://thefitnessmonkey.com/benefits-of-cardio-interval-training</link>
		<comments>http://thefitnessmonkey.com/benefits-of-cardio-interval-training#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:51:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Claire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exercise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cardio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fitness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gym]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heart]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[training]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thefitnessmonkey.com/?p=9</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In a long-term study of the health of the people of in the United States, the U.S. Public Health Service documented the chances of developing heart disease among various groups in the population. Long before the any symptoms appeared, epidemiological research could identify high-risk groups.
Among the highest risk factors are male sex, age over 35, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In a long-term study of the health of the people of in the United States, the U.S. Public Health Service documented the chances of developing heart disease among various groups in the population. Long before the any symptoms appeared, epidemiological research could identify high-risk groups.</p>
<p>Among the highest risk factors are male sex, age over 35, cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, high levels of certain blood fats, and a family history of cardiovascular disorders.</p>
<p>Other researchers have added to this list another risk factor: the compulsive, hard-driving, highly anxious personality. The greater the number of severity, the greater the person’s overall risk.</p>
<p>These threats to the heart can be divided into two main categories: those beyond individual control, such as age, sex, and heredity, and those that can be controlled, avoided, or even eliminated. Among those in the second category are what cardiologists call “the triple threat.” These are the high blood pressure, cigarette smoking, and high cholesterol levels in the blood.</p>
<p>If you smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, your risk of having a heart attack is twice that of a nonsmoker. If you smoke, have hypertension, and eat a diet high in fats without any exercise at all, your risk is five times greater than normal.</p>
<p><strong>The Healthy Heart</strong></p>
<p>If these risk factors endanger the heart’s health, what enhances its well-being and improves its odds of working long and well?</p>
<p>Obviously, quitting cigarettes and eating a low-fat diet will help. The next best thing you can do for your heart’s sake is to give it what it needs: regular exercise or a complete cardio interval training.</p>
<p>The heart is a muscle, or, more accurately, a group or “package” of muscles, similar in many ways to the muscles of the arms and legs. And just as exercise strengthens and improves limb muscles, it enhances the health of the heart muscles as well.</p>
<p>Since World War II, several large-scale statistical studies have evaluated the relationship between physical activity and cardiovascular disease. One well-known survey compared 31,000 drivers and conductors of some bus companies. The more sedentary drivers had a significantly higher rate of heart disease than the conductors, who walked around the buses and climbed stairs to the upper level.</p>
<p>The why and how behind these statistics were bet explained by classic experiments with dogs whose coronary arteries were surgically narrowed to resemble those of humans with arteriosclerosis. Dogs who were exercised were had much better blood flow than those kept inactive.</p>
<p>The exercise seemed to stimulate the development of new connections between the impaired and the nearly normal blood vessels, so exercised dogs had a better blood supply to all the muscle tissue of the heart. The human heart reacts in the same way to provide blood to the portion that was damaged by the heart attack.</p>
<p>To enable the damaged heart muscle to heal, the heart relies on new small blood vessels for what is called collateral circulation. These new branches on the arterial tress can develop long before a heart attack — and can prevent a heart attack if the new network takes on enough of the function of the narrowed vessels.</p>
<p>With all these facts, it is now boiled down to a single question: What should be done in order to prevent such dilemmas?</p>
<p>Some studies showed that moderate exercise several times a week is more effective in building up these auxiliary pathways than extremely vigorous exercise done twice often.</p>
<p>The general rule is that exercise helps reduce the risk of harm to the heart. Some researches further attested the link between exercise and healthy heart based from the findings that the non-exercisers had a 49% greater risk of heart attack than the other people included in the study. The study attributed a third of that risk to sedentary lifestyle alone.</p>
<p>Hence, with employing the cardio interval training, you can absolutely expect positive results not only on areas that concerns your cardiovascular system but on the overall status of your health as well.</p>
<p>This particular activity that is definitely good for the heart is a cycle of “repeated segments” that is of intense nature. In this process, there is an interchange periods of recuperation. It can both be comprehensive activity and moderate motion.</p>
<p>Consequently, the benefits of merely engaging into this kind of activity can bring you more results that you have ever expected. These are:</p>
<ol>
<li>1. The threats of heart attack are lessened, if not eliminated</li>
<li>2. Enhanced heart task</li>
<li>3. Increase metabolism, increase the chance of burning calories, therefore, assist you in losing weight</li>
<li>4. Improves lung capacity</li>
<li>5. Helps lessen or eliminate the cases of stress</li>
</ol>
<p>Indeed, cardio interval training is the modern way of creating a healthy, happy heart and body.</p>
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