Global Healthy Life » Weight Training

Obesity causes | control

Author — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 13:17:08 +0000

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in India, with morbid obesity affecting 5% of the country’s population. Obesity in urban Indian women aged over 35 has become a serious concern for the medical fraternity. Sedentary city lifestyles, rich food, a lack of exercise and a gradual slowing down of the metabolic rate are playing havoc with the waist to hip circumference. A study reveals that in cities, specially in north India, over 50% women are overweight. While most women look at obesity as being a physically unattractive and cosmetic problem, what they overlook are the many related diseases:

High blood pressure/hypertension: 1/3rd of all cases of high BP are associated with obesity.

Heart disease: heart attack, congestive heart failure, sudden cardiac death, angina and abnormal heart rhythm is increased in women who are overweight or obese.

Osteoarthritis: obesity may be a major factor in the development of osteoarthritis, particularly of the knee.

Problems during pregnancy: the problem gets complicated as the child could fall prey to similar diseases and run the risk of coronary ailment.

Psychological disorders: Depression, eating disorders, distorted body image and low self esteem.

Taking small precautions at home itself can go a long way in keeping off the excess fat. One can start with the following:

Eat small portions

Chew well

Never eat and drink at the same time

Do not lie down and rest after eating

Eat 4-6 small meals per day

Drink sugar free beverages and avoid carbonated drinks. However, if a change in lifestyle does not render much change, one can always consider the option of bariatric surgery (only in case the person is morbidly obese).

Weight Training Exercise

Author — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:12:19 +0000

Weight-training exercises will also slow age-related functional degeneration again highlighting the outstanding anti-aging benefits of exercise. Traditionally, three 45-minute weight-training workouts per week (Monday,Wednesday, and Friday) is considered ideal. For optimum benefit, rotate weight training with other forms of exercise. It may take as long as 6 weeks to begin to see noticeable physical changes, but don’t despair. Stay with it because the beneficial and highly visible changes are well worth the effort. Some of the incomparable benefits include

1. Development of muscular strength, speed, and power

2. Visible and significant changes in body composition (the more
toned muscles we have, the more energy and calories we burn)

3. Improvement in posture

4. Increase in lean body tissue

5. Enhanced athletic performance

6. Repair and strengthening of muscles after injury

7. Increased metabolic rate, resulting in decreased body fat

8. Protection and maintenance of bone density to prevent osteoporosis

9. Decrease in pro-inflammatory, toxic abdominal fat

10. Improvement in self-esteem and sense of accomplishment

Another benefit of weight training and increased muscle mass is the decreased risk of type 2 diabetes. Muscle is metabolically active, enabling it to use blood sugar, which decreases the need for insulin, removing the burden on the pancreas.

But remember the other side of the coin: Overexercising is proinflammatory. Overexercising can trigger the release of cortisol, promoting unwanted weight gain (especially in the abdomen), break down muscle tissue, and accelerate the rate at which we age. Before starting a weight-training program (if you are completely new to this
form of exercise), consult your physician and/or professional trainer to make sure you are training at the right level, to avoid injury and to ensure that you are performing the weight training exercises correctly.

Benefits of Weight Training

Author — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:09:37 +0000

One of the seemingly unavoidable pitfalls of aging is unwanted weight gain. In fact, it is such a widespread problem that I made it the focus of my previous book, The Perricone Weight-Loss Diet, and also devoted an entire chapter to it in this book. This is not because of the aesthetics of being overweight—it is because excess fat is highly toxic
to the body and therefore highly aging as well.

Traditionally women tend to gain weight in their hips and men gain weight in their abdomen. However, as they get older, women are particularly subject to weight gain in the abdomen. And it often seems that no matter how carefully they control their diet, it becomes more and more difficult to lose this weight with each passing year. But there is good news on the horizon. According to a recent University of Pennsylvania study, weight training is especially effective in helping to eliminate central obesity, or excess fat in the abdomen.

Funded by the NIH, the study found that just two 1-hour sessions of weight lifting per week can bring down the chances of agerelated fat buildup in the abdomen. As we know, there are two types of fat: subcutaneous (under the skin) and visceral (found in the abdomen and surrounding our vital organs). Central obesity is visceral fat and is considered the most dangerous because it surrounds vital organs and is metabolized by the liver, which turns it into blood cholesterol. Visceral fat also puts pressure on the heart and the arteries, increasing the chances of heart trouble. In fact, physicians refer to this type of fat as “toxic fat” because it produces a veritable factory of inflammatory chemicals, increasing the risk for heart disease, strokes, and diabetes.

While the average woman will not be developing the large bulging muscles of her male counterpart, she will, however, significantly increase her strength and muscle tone. The actual shape of the body may also be significantly enhanced by weight training in women because of the changes that occur in the all-important ratio of fat to muscle.We know that muscle burns more calories than fat does and that increased muscle enables us to burn excess calories even while resting. But building muscle can also tighten and tone our bodies in ways that simple weight loss cannot.