Young athletes are physically developing, from early childhood to late adolescence. This means they have different capabilities for, and adaptations to, exercise and for this reason, young athlete training programs should not be just scaled down versions of adult training programs.  (READ FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE:)

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Losing weight can be accounted to the calories that your body burn. Keep in mind that if you want to lose weight, you should burn as much calories in the least amount of time. In order to accomplish this, you must engage in sports and recreational activities that are sure to do the job. Here are the 5 sports that will help you lose weight.

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Fitness is essential for everyone. A healthy mind leads to a healthy body. Contemporary lifestyle often results in overeating and improper diet. Obesity is increasing among many people. Obesity leads to many problems. Heart problems, immobility, clothing problem, diabetes etc are common problems fat people face. However the awareness about obesity and its ill effects are increasing among the masses.

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Health Day News reports that a recent study of seniors found that exercise can boost the longevity and quality of life for the “oldest old.” Those who exercised four hours or week or more tended to live longer and experienced fewer declines in their ability to perform tasks.

The research included almost 1,900 people born in 1920 and 1921 who were assessed at ages 70, 78 and 85. Those who did less than four hours of physical activity per week were considered sedentary, while those who exercised about four hours a week, did vigorous activities such as swimming or jogging at least twice a week, or those who got regular physical activity (such as walking at least an hour a day) were considered physically active.

The researchers found that 53.4% of participants were physically active at age 70, 76.9% at age 77, and 64% at age 85. Compared to those who were sedentary, physically active people were 12% less likely to die between ages 70 and 78, 15% less likely, to die between ages 78 and 85, and 17% less likely to die between ages 85 and 88.

Dr. Jochanan Stessman and colleagues at Hebrew University Medical Center and Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem said, “Despite the increasing likelihood of comorbidity, frailty, dependence and ever-shortening life expectancy, remaining and even starting to be physically active increases the likelihood of living longer and staying functionally independent.”

Article Source: Health And Fitness Journal

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This holiday season don’t be trendy – avoid the Seasonal Seven (the average weight most Americans gain between Thanksgiving and New Year’s). That’s one trend you don’t want to participate in!

I know what you are thinking – the holidays are a time for fun and indulgence. You don’t want to think about fitness during that time. You want to enjoy yourself. Don’t worry! The festivities don’t have to be eliminated or avoided. You can have a fabulous time while also maintaining your weight and your fitness regimen.

The secret to achieving a holiday season that is both full of fun and also includes fitness is found in moderation. There are two typical approaches to the seasonal festivities: 1) throw all healthy habits out the window and indulge in every guilty pleasure 2) starve and binge approach (for example, you eat nothing all day long to allow yourself to overindulge in party food). Of course, neither approach is successful at maintaining a healthy, fit lifestyle throughout the holiday season.

As mentioned above, the key is found in moderation. With a moderate approach both to what you eat (or don’t eat) and how much exercise you do (or don’t do), you can avoid packing on extra weight AND also partake in all the fun of the season. So this season, get a head start on the New Year instead of starting January with extra pounds to lose.

Here are some tips to help you:

Create a plan ahead of time. Before the holidays sneak up on you, create a plan for incorporating fitness and good nutrition into your daily routine. Evaluate your holiday schedule and then determine how much time you will realistically have available to devote to working out and/or eating healthy meals.

Don’t put your fitness goals on hold until the New Year. If you can’t exercise as often during this time period as you normally do, adjust appropriately. Don’t use the excuse that since you don’t have time for your full workout you just won’t workout at all. Instead accept your limited availability and simply reduce the frequency and/or duration of your exercise. It’s much better to cut your fitness time in half than to completely eliminate it.

On the day of a party, be sure to eat regularly all day long. If the party is in the evening, eat breakfast, lunch and a snack before hand (just as you would on any other day). Once you are at the party, go ahead and indulge in some of the fun, delicious foods. Since you have eaten meals earlier in the day, you probably will find that you aren’t tempted to go overboard and eat everything in sight. However, if you starve all day long attempting to save up all your calories for the party, you will be so famished by the time it begins that it will be difficult not to overeat.

Schedule your workouts. Mark them on the calendar and set-aside time to complete them. Consider them as important as any other appointment or event you have marked on your calendar.

When at a party, start by eating some of the healthy offerings. For example, vegetable sticks (without dip), fruit pieces, plain chicken pieces, etc. Then move on to some of the less healthy (but yummy) offerings. You will be less likely to overindulge on these foods if you have already filled-up on some of the healthier items. Yet, you will not feel deprived or unsatisfied.

On days that you really lack motivation or simply do not have time for your complete exercise routine, commit to do just 10 minutes of exercise. You’ll probably end up doing more than that once you get started. Even if you only end up completing 10 minutes, that is still a lot better than zero minutes.
When presented with a large variety of food options, it’s tempting to want to eat everything. Rather than eating one large slice of chocolate cake or a huge plate of meatballs, select a sampling of bite size pieces of several of the desert or appetizer offerings. This way you get the enjoyment of trying many different foods without overeating.

Exercise at home. You’ll be more inclined to follow-through on your exercise commitment if you don’t have to drive somewhere to do your workout. Plus, you won’t waste any time on driving, parking, the locker room or waiting to use equipment. Working out at home requires very little equipment (even can be equipment-free) and is quite inexpensive.

Avoid wasting calories on alcoholic beverages. The average alcoholic drink contains 150-200 calories per glass. Indulge in just 2-3 drinks and you’ve drunk the equivalent calories of an entire meal. If you partake in these beverages, choose wisely. For example, instead of having a full glass of wine, try mixing half a glass of wine with sparkling water or with a diet cola. This will help cut your calories in half.

When running errands or shopping, be sure to pack some healthy snacks to have on-hand. Then after you work-up a big appetite, you won’t be tempted to grab something at the mall food court or the fast food restaurant on the way home.

Hopefully these tips will help you find a balance between staying fit and also enjoying the fun of the season. Remember, moderation is the key.

Have a great holiday season!

by Brian Grasso, YCS, CMT

The key ingredient to working with pre-adolescent and early adolescent athletes is providing global stimulation from a movement perspective.  Younger athletes must experience and eventually perfect a variety of motor skills in order to ensure both future athletic success and injury prevention.  Developing basic coordination through movement stimulus is a must, with the eventual goal of developing sport-specific coordination in the teenage years. Coordination itself, however, is a global system made up of several synergistic elements and not necessarily a singularly defined ability.

Balance, rhythm, spatial orientation and the ability to react to both auditory and visual stimulus have all been identified as elements of coordination.  In fact, the development of good coordination is a multi-tiered sequence that progresses from skills performed with good spatial awareness but without speed to skills performed at increased speeds and in a constantly changing environment.  As Joseph Drabik points out, coordination is best developed between the ages of 7 – 14, with the most crucial period being between 10 – 13 years of age.

As with anything else, an important issue with respect to coordination development is to provide stimulus that is specific (and therefore appropriate) for the individual.  Prescribing drills that are either too easy or too difficult for the young athlete will have a less than optimal result.

An interesting note, as I have suggested in past articles, is that there appears to be a cap with respect to coordination development and ability.  Younger athletes who learn to master the elements associated with good coordination (balance, rhythm, spatial awareness, reaction etc), are far better off then athletes who are not exposed to this kind of exercise stimulation until advanced ages.  The ability to optimally develop coordination ends at around the age of 16.  This validates the claim that global, early exposure is the key from an athletic development standpoint.  Again, global coordination will serve as the basis to develop specific coordination in the teenage years.

Once again, it is important to mention that coordination development is a process that encompasses years of exposure and is based on DIVERSITY and VERSATILITY.  Young athletes cannot be pigeonholed into sport specific stimulus at a young age and expected to vault into the ranks of elite athletics.  As the motto of my company says, ‘You Can’t Become a Champion Until You Become An Athlete’.

Furthermore, it is important to understand that coordination-based exercises must be introduced during the preadolescent ages.  Adolescence is not an appropriate time during which to begin elements of coordination training.  As strength, speed, height and body mass change significantly during these years, it is much more prudent to reinforce already known movements rather than teach new ones.  Herein lies the art and understanding of developing a young athlete.  Coaches, trainers and parents must accept the fact that developing a healthy and successful athlete is a journey or process that encompasses several varying degrees of stimulus, all of which build on top of the other.

Coordination training, for example, is introduced during the pre-adolescent ages while nervous system plasticity is high and movement habits have not yet been ingrained as permanent.  The scope of coordination training changes during the adolescent ages, during which physical growth alters the young athlete’s previously mastered movement habits.  At this time, refinement of movement should take precedent over learning new movement-based skills.  In post-adolescence, coordination training can once again be taken to new heights.

One point to consider about coordination is that genetic pre-disposition plays a significant role.  Less coordinated children will likely never exhibit the tendencies of naturally coordinated children regardless of training.  That is not to say that improvements cannot be made, however – quite the opposite.

Here are three basic principals of coordination training –

1. Start young – coordination improves as a result of learning and mastering new movements.  Start young athletes off early with coordination-based exercises that challenge their abilities (within reason).  The more coordination a young athlete has, the more ability he or she will display at any perspective sport.
2. Challenge young athletes on an individual and appropriate level – Some youngsters have good balance while others display good rhythm.  The key to successful coaching is to undercover what elements of coordination each athlete requires and develop drills/exercises that most suitably target the weaknesses.
3. Change exercises frequently – young athletes learn quickly in most cases.  Be sure to challenge them physically and intellectually with new exercises often.

The following list provides some basic exercises that you can use with your young athletes to help develop elements of coordination –

• Multi-directional forms of running, jumping and skipping
• Single leg balancing games
• Mirror games (mirroring each other’s movements)
• Known exercises starting or finishing in new positions (start sprints from belly or one knee; end with hands up or on all fours)
• Opposite arm circles (right hand circles forward, left backwards)
• Simultaneous arm and leg circles
• Jump in place with 180 or 360 turns while in flight
• Balance exercises on a low balance beam
• Cross step-over running or carioca
• Somersault to balance (somersault to standing one legged balance)
• Skipping A, B and C’s
• Obstacle running (place hurdles directly on floor and have athlete run over them)

Remember, coordination includes elements of balance, spatial orientation, rhythm and various other traits.  This list reflects exercises to improve several of those elements.

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ORLANDO, FLA. — A new study raises fresh concerns about Zetia and its cousin, Vytorin — drugs still taken by millions of Americans to lower cholesterol, despite questions raised last year about how well they work.

In the study, Zetia failed to shrink buildups in artery walls while a rival drug, Niaspan, did so significantly. Zetia users also suffered more heart attacks and other problems although the numbers of these events were too small to draw firm conclusions.

Zetia “has been on the market for about seven years and we still haven’t proven that it improves clinical outcomes,” said Dr. Roger Blumenthal, preventive cardiology chief at Johns Hopkins University. The new results will be “very influential” in getting more doctors to turn to Niaspan, he said.

He wrote an editorial accompanying the results, which were presented Sunday at an American Heart Association conference and published on the Internet by the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study is too limited to warrant changing practice, heart experts said. Patients also should not stop taking any heart medicine without checking with their doctors, they warn.

Statins such as Lipitor and Crestor have long been used to lower LDL, or bad cholesterol, and are known to cut the risk of heart problems. Nevertheless, many statin users still suffer heart attacks, so doctors have been testing adding a second medicine to further lower risk.

One they are trying is Niaspan, a slow-release version of niacin, a type of B vitamin that raises HDL, or good cholesterol. Another is Zetia, which lowers bad cholesterol in a different way than statins do, by blocking its absorption in the gut.

Vytorin is a pill that combines Zetia with a statin. Both are sold by Merck & Co. of Whitehouse Station, N.J. Niaspan is made by North Chicago, Ill.-based Abbott Laboratories. All three of these drugs cost between $3 and $4 a day, though niacin has been sold as a cheap generic for decades. The heart association advises consumers against using over-the-counter vitamin versions in place of prescriptions, though, because they may have purity and potency issues and other risks.

The new study was sponsored by Abbott, and several study leaders have been paid speakers or consultants to the company or to rival drugmakers.

Researchers enrolled 363 people with heart disease or a high risk for it who had been taking statins for six years on average. Many were from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where study leader Dr. Allen Taylor formerly worked.

Half were given Niaspan and the rest, Zetia. Researchers stopped the study in June, after 208 participants had been on the medicines for 14 months, because one group was faring much better than the other.

Ultrasound images of neck arteries showed that Niaspan shrank buildups by about 2 percent, while Zetia had no effect on this even though it lowered bad cholesterol as expected.

There were two heart attacks, heart-related deaths or other heart-related problems in the 160 people given Niaspan, and nine among the 165 on Zetia.

“It should be better for the arteries and it wasn’t,” Taylor said of Zetia. “The drug wasn’t operating as you otherwise would expect it to,” raising concern that its effects are not fully understood, he said.

Merck’s research chief, Peter Kim, said the study and number of heart attacks and other problems are too small to be conclusive. More than 25,000 people are in studies testing Zetia now, and independent monitors have found no problems that would lead them to stop the trials.

“We stand behind the safety of this drug,” he said.

Kenneth Frazier, Merck’s president of global human health, said: “The question is, how important is the study?” Shrinking plaque is no guarantee that heart attacks will be prevented, and not all studies have found a correlation, he said.

However, the difference in plaque that Niaspan made in this study “is precisely the same as the difference” that earlier studies found from statins, which are now known to save lives, said Dr. James Stein of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a leading researcher on imaging artery buildups and in the past consulted for Schering-Plough Corp., which used to market Vytorin with Merck.

Dr. Sidney Smith, a former heart association president from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that for people with newly diagnosed cholesterol problems, “the foundation is still statins.” The new study “affirms the benefits of niacin” and makes it the next drug to add if people need more help, he said.

Dr. Anthony DeMaria, a past president of the American College of Cardiology from the University of California at San Diego, said the study “doesn’t quite put the nail in the coffin” for Zetia, but pushes it way down on the list of things to try.

Last year, a large study found that the combo pill Vytorin was no more effective than Zocor alone, a statin now available as a cheap generic. In August, Merck and Schering-Plough agreed to pay $41.5 million to settle lawsuits claiming they delayed unfavorable study results on the drugs because they would hurt sales.

The drugs remain blockbusters: Vytorin had nearly $2 billion in sales in the United States in 2008; Zetia, more than $1.5 billion, according to IMS Health, a health care information and consulting company.

However, that’s down substantially: Zetia prescriptions fell 22 percent, from nearly 16.5 million in 2007 to less than 13 million in 2008. Vytorin fell 24 percent in that time, from about 22 million in 2007 to 16.5 million in 2008. Vytorin sales were down another 36 percent in the first half of this year.

Niaspan has been gaining but lags far behind — 5.8 million prescriptions in 2008, up 11 percent from 2007.

Its main drawback is a prickly hot sensation called flushing that many people find intolerable. The extended-release version is supposed to minimize this, but a third of study participants still suffered it. The problem tends to go away with longer use and can be blunted by taking the medicine with aspirin, at bedtime, or with a low-fat snack, doctors say.

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Cardio Doesn’t Work…

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You Can’t Lose Belly Fat With Crunches & Sit-ups…

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The 32nd Sun Trust Richmond Marathon is near to start again in Chilly. Jynocel Basweti, defending champion, and Mohammed Awol are the most favorite runners of the race. The total length of the race is 26.2 miles and a running brawl is expected between these two athletes through slick streets of Richmond.
Basweti who belongs to Kenya won last year’s race with a time of 2:22:22 and Awol followed him with a time of 2:20:20.

The coordinator of the race, Mr. Thom Suddeth, said that it would be impossible for Awol to win the race without competing Basweti. Basweti is 9 years younger than Awol and he looks in a better position than he was last year.
On the other hand, women will also give hard times to their competitors. Two runners, 39 years old Ilona Baranova (Ukraine) and 24 years old Divina Jepkogei are the most favorite runners for the women’s marathon.
Jepkogei has made a new world record of women by winning the Mississippi Blues Marathon with a time of 2:46:00
The weather conditions are good. Temperature is around 50.

“As a runner, obviously, you’d rather be chilled than hot,” Suddeth said. But if today’s forecast is inaccurate, he said — if the cold rain lingers — the more than 5,100 runners in the marathon “might have some temperature-management and body-management issues to deal with.”

The winner of the race will get $2500 each man and woman.

Source:http://news.puggal.com/richmond-marathon-11802/