The Importance of The Fibonacci Numbers in Fitness Training

Things do not change we change. ?Henry David Thoreau The following article is a chapter from my new book, The Da Vinci Fitness Code. Professor Stanley Plagenhoef, one of my greatest mentors, introduced me to the Fibonacci number series in the early 1980 s. He encouraged me to think of those numbers in the ideal relationship of health and fitness. I took his advice and bought books that spoke of the Fibonacci numbers, and the link between those numbers and The Golden Mean Ratio. The first and best book I ever bought is titled, The Curves of Life, written by Theodore Andrea Cook, ISBN 0-486-23701. The publisher is Dover Publications in New York. Interestingly, this publication mentions on its title page, that the book includes special relation to The Manuscripts of LEONARDO DA VINCI.

Performing Potentially Dangerous Gym Exercises

How do you know that the exercises you are performing are safe? Found below are some potentially dangerous exercises with suggestions on how they should be done correctly or avoided completely. Sit-up Traditional abdominal exercises such as the sit-up, incline sit-up and hip-raises are exercises that are used to train the obliques and the upper and lower abdominals. They are performed by first anchoring the feet on an abdominal board which prevents you from sliding back then raising your shoulders up towards your feet, tensing your abs at the top of the movement. Slowly lowering your shoulders back down and then completing the movement again. The dangers of performing this movement are the shearing forces on the vertebrae and spinal discs when you have a flexed and rounded spine. In this position, the pressure is mostly placed on a very small area of the disc area, which can cause small ruptures.

Benefits of Aerobic Exercise

The real benefits of aerobic exercise are achieved by increasing your heart rate and breathing hard for an extended period of time. During this aerobic activity your body produces more energy and delivers more oxygen to your muscles. Your heart beats faster and increases the blood flow to your muscles and then back to your lungs. Aerobic means with oxygen and your body s aerobic system is your heart, lungs, blood vessels and muscles. The benefit of aerobic exercise is based on how well your body can deliver oxygen to your muscles and use it for energy. Regular aerobic workouts increase your ability to take in and transport that oxygen and improves your aerobic capacity. A good aerobic exercise program can help you live a longer, healthier life and enhance your well being.

Attention, Ladies!

Building those impressively sleek shoulders takes a great deal of raw grind but once you sport a shapely set, you ll quickly be separated from the rest. If you like to wear bikinis or summer dresses that reveal your upper torso, shoulder training is ideal in sporting a sexy physique. Here are some toning exercises designed to shape those delts: ALTERNATING DUMBBELL RAISES: Standing straight with your feet shoulder-width apart, take a pair of dumbbells into your hands and hold them down at your sides. Make sure that the dumbbells are of a manageable weight. Bending your knees slightly, slowly raise one arm, twisting it so that your palm is facing down. Stop when your arm is straight out in front of you at shoulder level so that it forms a right angle with your torso.

Flattening Your Stomach in Four Easy Steps

You look at it every day and wish it would just go away that little pouch below your belly button that keeps staring back at you. You do crunches, sit ups, the works, and yet there it is just hanging around. There are all sorts of cute names for it: snack pouch, spare tire, love handles, and the list goes on. All you know is that you want it gone. The American Council on Exercise calls the bicycle one of the most effective ab exercises out there. This exercise is one of many that should be completed as part of a lifestyle change which includes both diet and exercise. Just doing ab exercises all day will not get rid of the excess fat that you have around your waistline. The following four areas of diet and exercise will help you gain the toned, flat stomach that you are craving.

Diet and Exercise - Without Going to the Gym

Exercising and dieting are tasks that are very difficult for many of us, but usually just the thought of it that makes us queasy. There are some simple ways to get out and get fit, and you just might enjoy yourself too. Some people like to get up and head to the gym every morning, before most of us are even out of bed. We all know that even a little exercise will be good for us, but we just don t have the time or the motivation. Gym memberships can be a very expensive cost. Find ways to get fit, no matter how. A gym membership is not the answer for a lot of people, but that is no excuse for laziness. Exercise equipment is right under your nose just find something that works for you.

Aerobic Training

How to start your aerobic training program: Consider first setting your goals for sometime in the future make sure they are realistic. Start easy, be kind to yourself. Many of us start out joining a gym and telling ourselves that now we will train every day! Six out of ten people going to gyms drop out in the first month. That s a staggering 60 of the people. The numbers are just as high for those that buy exercise equipment and don t use it. So you need several ingredients, not necessarily in order of importance, but because you want to be successful in your training. 1. Desire or motivation that is from who you are, not to get something. 2. Energy: This means you need to start thinking about eating better.

Developing a Fitness Attitude

Exercise is Not a Four Letter Word It s obvious that the word exercise has more than four letters, but many of us will agree it sounds like a four-letter word. Indeed, many people feel so negatively about exercise, experts often advise using the term physical activity instead. No matter what you call it, moving your body is critical to feeling and staying well. And to achieve and maintain healthy weights, it s key. The sticking point generally comes when we try to do it. Regardless what Nike says, there s a bit more to it sometimes than just doing it. So here s Green Mountain s take on how to keep going when you just don t want to do it. Focus on feeling good. That may mean rethinking your goals.

Get Fit From Home!

Things Around The House Don t feel that just because you don t have any weights at home, that you can t get a GREAT workout! Try using these items for the corresponding exercises. Change them around to increase or decrease the resistance to make it the perfect workout for YOU! Backpack Swing- Take a backpack and fill it with books. this is nice because you can add or take out books based on your needs. Stand holding bag in front of you with straight arms. Let the bag swing down between your legs and behind you a bit. Bend the knees naturally. Swing the bag forward and up, keeping arms straight until bag is overhead. Play with where you hold the bag to make sure you have control of it, especially when overhead.

The Importance of Stretching Exercises

Muscles and connective tissues shorten over time and that results in less flexibility. If your muscles have gone some time without being used, they tend to become weaker and quite stiff. The risk of injury is greatly increased when you start to use those muscles suddenly. If you are doing regular stretching exercises to lengthen and strengthen your muscles, injury can be easily avoided. A pulling sensation is normal while you re doing stretching exercises. It can be mildly uncomfortable but if you are experiencing pain then you are probably over extending your muscles. If this happens then you will need to reduce your stretch to maintain comfort. Of course you can push yourself to stretch further but do so gradually and with much consideration for your pain threshold. A common mistake that many people make while doing stretching exercises is to bounce into the stretch.