How To Prevent Exercise Injuries During Your Fitness Routine

This article provides some great tips on how to prevent injuries during exercise. If you have been sedentary for some time and want to begin a new fitness routine, read this article first.

Some mild pain or muscle discomfort when you first starting out a new fitness routine is normal; nothing to worry about. But if you suffer persistent pain on your back, neck or knee joints, you should consult an expert and check if you're performing the routines correctly. Your technique may be wrong, you may be trying to do too much, too soon, or you may have a medical problem that should be addressed.

So, do pay attention to all these symptoms to make sure that you avoid serious workout injuries. A good workout routine is designed to keep your body fit; not damage it. As muscles are used and stretched somewhat beyond their usual range, lactic acid, micro-tears and other physiological changes occur; this process test and build stronger muscles.

You should work on any vigorous fitness routine slowly. Different individual has different pace; it will depend on your age and experience in prior exercise or fitness routines. Make sure that you always get your muscles warm-up and limber before starting your fitness routines. Insufficient warm-up could result in muscle strains and injuries. Over-strectching or extending the muscles too much could also cause serious injuries.

Warm-ups should take about 15 minutes; start with a slow and gradual stretching to get the joints lubricated and muscles relaxed and limber. You can also do gentle jogging in place or jumping jacks to get the cardio and lung systems ready. Don't ignore warm-ups; the lack of warm-ups could lead to stretched or torn cartilage that takes a long time to heal.

Over-exercising can also lead to injuries. If you have been sedentary for a while, don't go crazy and run five miles to make up for loss time. Doing do can cause pulled muscles and stress fractures. Also, if you've been injured in a vigorous sports before, make sure that the injuries heal fully before restarting any exercise programme.

If you haven't been exercising for some time, before starting an exercise programme, you should visit your GP for a physical check up. Start building up your exercise gradually, and be aware that everyone is different, what might be easy exercise for one person, may be too vigorous for another. Every person committed to fitness will want to push him or herself to achieve excellence. But an attitude that leads to overdoing it can be counter-productive to your health.

If you're starting a completely new exercise programme, seek advice or guidance from an expert. Incorrect use of exercise techniques can also lead to injuries. For example, if you don't know how to use a weight machine, don't be embarrassed to ask the instructor. It's better to be safe than sorry.

One of the main reasons people give up on workout or exercise is due to injuries. So, please take care and stop exercising if you feel pain and learn to recognise the signs of over-exercise and exhaustion.

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Evaluating And Buying Fitness Equipment

The right criteria to use for evaluating fitness equipment might surprise you. If asked, quality might leap to mind. Or budget, or safety. All those and more are important. But the most important criterion of all is represented by the question: will you use it?

That's not just a question about your personal motivation or commitment to fitness. Not in this case, anyway. It's a question about whether the gear will do what you want and need, so you'll be motivated to continue using it.

Quality is a must for that purpose, even though it's only a starting point. Any ad claims that imply 'results without effort' are just a con. There's no such thing. Even if there were, it wouldn't be any fun anyway. A large part of the zing that comes from working out is exactly the effort you put out to get the result. Not only do those electric ab exercisers not work, they're boring.

Those devices are a good example of another important thing to watch out for. Any ad that says you can get spot reduction of fat or develop only one set of muscles is simply misleading.

The body only preferentially reduces fat more in one area than another such as around the waist if that's where the majority resides. Of course, if you reduce body fat it will be most obvious where the largest section was stored. Burn enough calories and the body will go after stored fat to make up for an energy deficit. So, the results will be the most visible in areas where the body got most of that stored. How could it be otherwise?

Also, whenever you use one set of muscles you can hardly avoid using another. So, the moral is: beware of hype that insists you have to get this or that piece of gear in order to work muscle X. There is always more than one way to develop and always some overlap in how equipment develops your body.

Reviews of equipment are important. If other people are satisfied, probably you will be too. But beware of glowing testimonials that, like those ads, promise more than they could ever deliver. Before and after photos with captions that tout the results gained from using item X are suspect. Your results - because of your unique effort, body type and other factors - can differ widely.

When considering costs, be sure to consider all the costs, not just the advertised price. What sounds like a great deal may not be so great when you include shipping, taxes or other add-on amounts.

Look into the warranty and return policies. If you have to return a piece of gear, paying for return shipment is normal. But look out for re-stocking fees that can run as high as 15%. A 30-day return policy is fairly standard, but not universal. The equipment still may be worth the price. You have to judge on a case by case basis in light of your personal circumstances.

Once the item has passed all those tests, you can judge whether this particular piece of equipment is going to meet your workout goals. Will it help you reduce weight, or build strength or develop cardiovascular health? Will it be fun to use while you meet those goals? A lot of home fitness gear will do all those things and do them well. When you find one that will, buy it.

Home Gym Workout Equipment

Today, luckily for those concerned about fitness, there is a wide range of quality workout equipment that is both affordable and really useful. Sure, there is hype. There is gear that could never live up to some advertising claims. But those are the exception. Most offer great value for years of use.

Treadmills are popular and still gaining ground. Elliptical trainers, once suspect, have now firmly proven their worth. A rowing machine is a much more common item in a home gym than ever before. You can fool some of the people some of the time. But the widespread popularity of these items is no accident. They deliver.

Even simple dumbbells or free weights - relatively inexpensive and simple to use - continue to deliver good value. They provide a range of motion unequaled by anything else. The weight can be gradually increased as you improve, or scaled back when need be, say after an injury or when they're used by more than one person in the home. Resistance bands can also build strength and improve joint health, and are available in a range suitable for different individuals.

Weight machines take the values achievable to the next level. While they can be pricey, those who own them clearly think the money is well spent. They offer a variety of stations that permit a range of exercises in a safe, fast and easy to use setting. A weight machine will be a valuable addition to the home gym for years.

Several other items typically found in the complete home gym likewise continue to deliver value because they're perfect for low-impact exercise. Stair steppers or climbers, aerobic riders, stationary bikes or spinning cycles, and more provide a great cardio workout and burn calories as they strengthen and tone.

Pilates equipment has more and more come to be included among this group, too. As the range of Pilates exercises increases, the need for equipment grows. To get the most out of your home gym, you'll want to include things like a magic ring, a Pilates ball or even a reformer.

To measure the results you get, a few fitness accessories are always helpful. Some, such as a heart rate monitor, are often included as part of a treadmill or elliptical or other equipment. Those available as stand alone items are sometimes lower cost and more accurate, though.

When you go to outfit your home gym you'll have to consider a variety of factors. Cost is always a concern. But sheer price means little without considering quality and safety and other important aspects.

The most important criterion, though, may well be just how much enjoyment and value you get out of your home gym workout equipment. After all, if you don't use it, it isn't doing you any good.

Luckily, but not accidentally, much of the gear that is on the market today is high quality, long lasting and reasonably priced considering how long it lasts. They're also a great deal considering how much good they do for your health, self-esteem and overall well-being.

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Best Oblique Ab Exercise | Best Six Pack Abs Workouts

When most people think six pack abs, the best exercise for obliques, and losing belly fat, they think about long boring cardio workouts and hundreds of crunches. Fortunately, that isn't what it takes to get a beach body belly and sexy oblique muscles.

In fact, there are many exercises better and safer than crunches. After all, crunches involve spinal flexion (rounding forward), and research shows spinal flexion can lead to herniated discs.

This information has lead me to a long and exhaustive search for safe and effective ab training.

Last week I stumbled onto a new study supporting my "ab crunch ban" and my preference for exercises such as the Side Plank. In this study, researchers examined six common ab exercises performed by 120 subjects to see how hard the muscles were working.

When compared to other common ab exercises, the Side Plank and the classic Abdominal Crunch exercises both resulted in the greatest change in muscle thickness for the Transverse Abdominis and Internal Oblique muscles, meaning they were contracting the muscle more than the other exercises.

However, because the Side Plank does not involve spinal flexion and because it builds abdominal endurance (previously found to be associated with less low back pain), the Side Plank exercise wins this head to head battle hands down and is the best exercise for oblique muscles.

If you are looking for a new move to add to your total body fat burning workout, do a 15 second Side Plank hold per side if you are a beginner. For advanced core strength, hold for 45 seconds per side.

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