Running for God’s Glory

Richard Hopkins, founder of christianrunners.org, talked with me about his plight from obesity and an unhealthy lifestyle to developing an organization of runners who use their gift to the glory of God while reaching out to a stagnant world…all through running. Read more in LiveLiving Christian Health and Wellness eMagazine at www.liveliving.org

How to Combat the Effects of Growing Old and Weak

The dumbbell fly exercise is a great way to firm up those chest muscles. Age and gravity can wreak havoc on the body and your shape. Resistant training is one effective way to preserve muscle and strength. This type of exercise can combat the effects of growing older and weaker.

Step 1. Grab a pair of dumbbells and lie on a flat exercise bench. (You can also lay on an exercise stability ball which will recruit more stabilizing muscles, thus increasing the intensity of your workout.) Keep your feet on the floor for better balance and keep your low back on the bench during the exercise move.

Step 2. Hold the dumbbells at arm’s length above your head with your palms facing each other.

Step 3. Now lower the dumbbells as far as possible on the sides, bending your elbows slightly. Avoid going below the plane of your body as this may cause extra stress on your shoulder joint and could cause injury.

Step 4. Bring your arms / dumbbells back to the starting position squeezing the chest as in a bear hug. Repeat this move 8-12 times for 2-3 sets.

Things to remember: Breathe out when you bring your arms back to the starting position. Make sure you pick a weight that you are able to control.

Calm the Internal Chaos

Nothing could be healthier than eating a nice portion of fish with some steamed veggies and rice, right? Last Saturday that’s exactly what I had for dinner, but it was not the dining experience I was expecting. I had eaten about seventy five percent of my meal while constantly ignoring the funny taste of the fish. Suddenly I had an overwhelming feeling of nausea, my abdomen began to swell and I could hear the groaning from my stomach. Uh! I instantly realized what was happening and regretted ignoring that unusual taste. I told my friend was done eating and needed tea. Lots of very hot tea! The tea actually helped to calm the internal chaos of my digestive system.

It would be great if we could believe that the meat we eat was always clean, free of antibiotics, poisons and hormone affecting chemicals. Unfortunately that is not always the case.

So how do we make the meats we eat safer?

1. Organic meat is guaranteed to be free of artificial chemicals, hormones and antibiotics. Generally speaking, organic meat will cost about 30% more than that which is mass-produced. Organic meat is raised under natural traditional conditions instead of an environment of restricted space, low cost feed, or speeding growth.

2. Lean meat is another option. If organic is too expensive lean meat is an alternative that be less likely to hold toxins. Toxins usually accumulate in fatty tissue.

3. Steak and joints are better alternatives than buying cheap meats. Cheaper meat products such as beef links, sausage patties, hot dogs and steak pies are low quality meats that are loaded with sodium nitrates and other chemicals and fillers that are not healthy.

Star Gazing 101: Getting Started in Your Own Backyard

The most important thing to remember about stargazing is to have fun learning about the night sky.Read more in LiveLiving Christian Health and Wellness eMagazine at www.liveliving.org

The Two for One Special: How to Also Get Your Waist to Look Tiny

Everyone desires to have the tapered waist or should I say the “V” shaped body where your shoulders and arms are beautifully rounded and accented with a tiny waist. One way to achieve this look without ever doing a sit up is by training your latissimus dorsi muscle. It is the back muscle that gives you the “V” shape look that most people desire. The latissimus dorsi (the back) muscle is not only a wonderful muscle to work for your figure but also a great muscle to train to give you a strong support for your back, thus warding off poor posture and weakness due to the many long hours of sitting in front of a computer.

The exercise, the dumbbell straight arm pullback, works the latissimus dorsi and the abs as you need to keep them tight to stabilize your spine in the exercise position. It’s a two for ONE special!

Here is how:

Step 1: Stand with your feet hip width apart, knees slightly bent and hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides. Bend forward with a flat back until your torso is parallel or nearly to the ground. Allow your arms to hang straight down from your shoulders, palms facing behind you.

Step 2: Maintain your bent-over position and pull your abs tight with an isometric abdominal contraction, the vacuum exercise. In this position, move the weights rearward and up toward the ceiling in an arc, arms straight. At the top, your arms should run beside your torso, parallel to the floor, and your palms should be facing the ceiling. Return slowly to the starting position. Breathe out as your arms raise and in as you return your arms to the starting position.

Do 8-10 reps with a heavy weight or 12-15 with a lighter weight. Make sure the weight is heavy enough to challenge you but not so heavy that you hurt yourself. Do not use momentum to get your arms to your side.

Caution: Do NOT allow the weights to flop back down to the starting position. Control the negative, eccentric contraction, of the move to prevent injury and to give the latissimus dorsi an extra burn.

The Fast Track to Fitness Success

Lack of progress in meeting our fitness goals many times is not related to our training. Approximately eighty percent of our nutrition regimen could be the key. Eating junk food or not consuming enough of the right nutrients can hinder our progress. Consumption of foods such as French fries, burgers, and soda will keep our six packs covered up for a long time. Not eating in regular time intervals with some consistency will cause our metabolism to plummet. Before assuming training methods have failed, we should look at our nutrition plan. Chances are with some changes in that area we will see positive results rather quickly.

God’s Fingerprints

We are at the center of God’s heart. He reminds us of that regularly by providing a beautiful night sky filled with His fingerprints. Read more in LiveLiving Christian Health and Wellness eMagazine at www.liveliving.org

Stepping Up Your Workout!

Literally, I am talking about adding step ups to your workout. If you hate doing squats and feel that squats are causing you knee pain, then, you can substitute the Step Up exercise for the squats. On the other hand, if you are trying to get in a quick circuit workout and want to increase your heart rate with each set then add 2 minutes of continuous step ups at the end of the circuit before your rest period. Step ups are a great way to work on your quads, butt, and hamstrings and can be done in a variety of ways:

Here is how:

1) Starting Position: Stand with your feet parallel about hip width apart while holding dumbbells in your hands with palms facing inwards. Pull shoulders down and back.

Do not shrug your shoulder upwards.

2) Upward Phase: Slowly step up to place your right foot on a platform, placing your foot firmly on the deck while keeping your torso upright and aligning your knee over your second toe. Push off with the trailing (left) leg to raise your body onto the platform placing that foot alongside your leading (right) foot. During this transition, your torso and your right tibia (shinbone) will move slightly forward past vertical, but try to avoid excessive forward movement. You should choose a platform that is at least to the height of your knee. The lower the platform the easier the exercise will be, the higher the platform the harder the exercise will be.

Addition to the move: Once your trailing (left) leg is off the floor and your leading (right) leg is straight you can pull your left leg towards your chest stopping at 90 degrees of hip flexion in hip on the left leg as in a marching position.

3) Downward Phase: With the weight of your body on your leading (right) foot, step backwards to place the trailing (left) foot on the floor in its starting position. Allow your body to lean slightly forward during the step-down movement. Load your weight into your trailing (left) foot and step off the platform with your leading (right) foot, returning to your starting position. Repeat for the opposite side.

You can always add a bicep curl with the dumbbells you are already holding once you have completed the step up on the platform. Slowly lower your hands back to your side before stepping off the platform with your trailing (left) leg.

Three Reasons to Eat Breakfast

Just like clockwork I have breakfast at the same time every morning. On the few occasions I missed my first meal of the day I was faced with much regret as time passed. First I would experience a headache. It would be the kind of headache that feels like its pounding right up against your forehead relentlessly. Then next my ability to concentrate would gradually unravel minute by minute. Finally all patience would exit with my concentration and it would be a mad search for just something that would nip that hunger pain and terrible headache in the bud. After experiencing that a few times I learned to appreciate starting the day with a good breakfast.

Three reasons to eat breakfast:

1. Blood sugar levels drop dangerously low after the body has gone long periods of time without food. A morning without breakfast could lead to experiencing headache, shakiness, weakness, lack of focus, and reduction of brain function.

2. Missing breakfast can result in a charged up appetite at mid-day or cravings for sweets. This is the body’s way of signaling that it needs glucose since there has been no nourishment. Highly refined sweet foods provide glucose very quickly however they are laden with fat and have few nutrients.

3. Breakfast is an opportune time to start loading nutrients in the body for the day. Charge the body with some fuel from a bowl of oatmeal, for example, which is loaded with fiber and aids in lowering LDL blood cholesterol.

Are You Listening?

Visit LiveLiving Christian Health and Wellness eMagazine at www.LiveLiving.org to listen in on an interview with Phil Wickham.