Archive for January, 2010

Just Because It’s on the Internet Doesn’t Make it True

January 26th, 2010

Keeping fit is a challenge in it’s own right.  Exercise is hard to do and sometimes just hard to motivate out to get it done.  However, the benefits it reaps far outweigh the difficulties.

Many choose to forego the time consuming and expensive route of joining a gym and then having to travel to and from and wait for the equipment.  Instead these people choose to get their workouts in the privacy of their own home or apartment or condo gym.  I applaud those people being able to motivate without the energy of other people working out around them.  Heck, I happen to BE one of those people.

But if you are a ‘home workout’ maven like myself, how do you know you’re getting it right?  No gym employees, personal trainers or even other exercisers around you to learn from.  Getting your form correct is vitally important especially when you’re weight training.  If you aren’t careful or don’t know exactly what you’re doing, you could injure yourself… badly.

So, what do you do?  How do you keep yourself safe?

Well, the answer to all my prayers turned out to be the Internet.  Wow!  What a huge resource of great information there is on health and fitness on the internet.

You can tap into articles, great explanatory pictorial blogs, audio interviews … and MY absolute favorite:  instructional videos.  There are thousands of them on the internet.

You can find everything from how to do stretches to how to do proper form when lifting very heavy equipment like dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells and even your own bodyweight.

However, let’s get one thing very straight before you jump off and start watching videos and copying everything you see:  Just because it’s on the internet does NOT make it completely and 100% accurate.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s TONS of fantastic tutorials on the Internet.  But not ALL of them are as fantastic as others.

Just because ‘Joe with a Website’ has a swish-looking webspace doesn’t mean that he knows what he’s doing when it comes to doing a proper barbell squat, or lunge… or pushup for that matter.  I’ve seen some pretty bad videos out there demonstrating what is very harmful and dangerous form for some exercises.

And don’t be fooled by slick looking videos or polished surroundings in the videos.  If ‘Joe with a Website’ has a great looking video all that means is he probably rented space in a fancy gym, has a great cameraman, good technical knowledge or an entire production team and another one that knows how to build a great website to host said fancy video.  It does NOT mean he knows his stuff when it comes to exercise.

I mean, he MIGHT be awesome when it comes to proper form and technique with his exercises.  But the fancy video alone is not an indication he knows what he’s talking about.

So when you’re watching videos or looking at pictures to get your form right, make sure you view SEVERAL for EACH move you’re trying to learn.  Compare and contrast them.  Pay careful attention to how they explain themselves and you’ll soon learn who knows what they’re talking about and who’s a complete hack.

And if you’re still questioning who knows best, start frequenting forums or asking around to other fitness-minded people on the Social Networking sites.  It will soon become apparent who is good and who is not.  Usually the best will get recommended often and the most.

So be careful out there.  Learn as much as you can but learn from the best, not the worst.  Because when it comes to your health, doing it right the first time and avoiding injury is of the utmost importance.

Not everyone is an authority but Craig Ballantyne is. You can trust what you read in his Turbulence Training manual.

Jackie Burgmann is a Registered Weight Trainer and Registered Personal Trainer who also runs a popular fitness-oriented video blog using the pseudonym Girlwithnoname. Jackie stays in great shape by working out primarily in and around her home in the city and blogs about her challenges and successes with her fitness routines. She also manages an Online Fitness Coaching program and provides inspiration and tips for anyone else interested in getting in shape or working out.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/just-because-its-on-the-internet-doesnt-make-it-true-1787265.html

Relaxation trick: How to make black tea keep only the relaxing substances

January 26th, 2010

First, if you are not aware of the function of brain waves, I?ll explain it real quick so that you?ll follow what I?m talking about in this article.

Brain waves

The brain emits electrical impulses called brain waves. These are usually divided in to four categories: Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta. Beta will be dominating when you are stressed or when there?s a need of a very quick decision. When you let go of stress, feel good and are able to really relax, Alpha waves will be dominating. Theta is the state near sleep, and then Delta of course will be the sleep state.

L-Theanine and caffeine

Both black and green tea contains something named L-Theanine. L-Theanine has a relaxing effect by increasing the production of alpha brain waves. L-Theanine can therefore be used to get to a relaxed state without actually doing anything mentally to relax. This can improve sleep, relieve anxiety, help meditators get in deeper meditative states etc. It usually takes 30-40 minutes for the L-Theanine to produce this effect. Black and green tea also both contain caffeine which works against the relaxing effect by increasing the beta brainwaves. Black tea has more caffeine than green tea.

How to remove caffeine while keeping the L-Theanine

The trick is to remove the caffeine and keep the L-Theanine. You can do this with any ordinary black tea. It?s very easy!

The caffeine in black tea will be released in to the water in 30-60 seconds. The L-Theanine will start being released after a few minutes. So now you already know how to do it. Step by step instructions are always nice though:

1, Fill the tea cup/mug/glass with hot water and dip the tea for 30-60 seconds.
2, Remove the tea and empty the cup/mug/glass.
3, Fill up with new hot water and use the same tea.
4, Leave the tea in for a several minutes for the L-Theanine to release in to the water, or just keep the tea in the water while drinking it.

How much to drink

To get the real effects from this I recommend that you double or triple the amount of tea you usually have and drink two cups of normal or big size. To triple the amount of tea may sound extreme, but keep in mind that the caffeine and much of the taste is also removed from the 30-60 seconds of dipping the tea. So it will most likely taste like any stronger tea. The L-Theanine in itself doesn?t taste anything at all in these quantities. You can also get L-Theanine capsules in most countries now, but last time I checked it was a bit expensive.

Good luck!

/Marcus Knudsen. Inventor of Bliss coded sound – www.xphirience.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/relaxation-trick-how-to-make-black-tea-keep-only-the-relaxing-substances–1787545.html

Discover How to Cure a Mouth Yeast Infection Naturally

January 26th, 2010

Yeast infection, in the very first place, will never be a welcome guest to your body. This is even truer if it infects your mouth. Really, this can be a very irritating and painful experience. Therefore, you need to take every possible step just to eliminate this problem. Good thing that there are a lot of ways on how you can cure the mouth yeast infection or thrush using natural methods.

Now, there is no more need for you to spend so much money just to get rid of the infection. In fact, right at the comfort of your home, you can find a lot of natural remedies that are effective to help you out of this situation. So if you have this kind of problem, discover these natural ways on how you get rid of the yeast infection:

- Baking Soda. The baking soda is a good alternative to toothpaste when you are brushing your teeth. Though this sounds odd, this is seen to be effective and helpful in curing thrush. Since the regular toothpaste that you use can be too harsh for the sores in your mouth, it is practical and proper to find an alternative. So you need to make a solution of a small amount of baking soda with the right amount of water, which is enough to form a paste. To make this more effective, when your brush your teeth, use half a cup of water with a tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide to rinse your mouth. Also, it is good to note that you need to replace the toothbrush when the problem disappears to prevent chances of reoccurrence.

- Salt. This is a good cure for mouth yeast infection in cases when there is already a development of sores in the mouth. With this, you need to mix half a cup of lukewarm water and half a teaspoon of salt. Gargle using this solution. If you do this consistently, there are higher chances of getting rid of the infection quickly.

- Basil. The method here is the same as what you need to do with the salt. You need to gargle with some basil tea. You can make the tea by boiling three and a half cups of water and adding one and one-fourth teaspoon of ground basil. Let the water and the basil sit for around 30 minutes. Or, you can also sweeten the tea and drink two cups a day.

- Water. Since some of the food you eat can stay in your mouth and just encourage the formation of more yeast, it is best to always gargle with water right after you eat. The water must be boiled and then cooled before you can use it as a gargle. This is especially true and effective for babies who are still drinking milk.

So indeed, mouth yeast infection is always easy to handle if you just know how to act on getting rid of the discomforts it can provide. Therefore, it is but proper to be thankful to these natural cures for this problem. They will not only relieve you from the inconvenience but they make the treatment as financially painless as possible.

For a limited time you may download a FREE report on yeast infection remedies, before the price is raised back up to the original asking price of $39.95 USD… cure your mouth yeast infection.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/discover-how-to-cure-a-mouth-yeast-infection-naturally-1787643.html

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