Natural Health Cures and Home Remedies

A recent study by National Institute on Aging shows that active seniors are 70% likely to live longer. This should serve as an important reminder for Couch Potato lifestyles that some of the retirees of baby boomer generation may adopt.Drop that remote: try walking up to the TV to change the channels.

Instead of watching TV, walk to your car, take a walk in the park, work in your garden, even wash dishes, fold your laundry but do something with regular activity. Simple Yoga poses will be a great way to get started if you can handle them.

This again brings into light the value of exercise for healthy living.  Even if you fear the dreaded routine of exercises, just any reasonable activity is better than not activity at all. You can do some simple exercise, but at regular frequency.
Government now recommends a minimum of 30 minutes a day of moderate activity, such as brisk walking. However, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 1 in 3 men and 1 in 2 women over age 75 are not physically active at all.

The new study, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association , did a complete study of 300 men and women and found that the least active group was three times as likely to die.

The researchers also found that an average older person, would burn the necessary calories to stay healthy by doing about hour to hour and half of household chores, or any other volunteer work that doesn’t involve just sitting in one location.

If you are younger or middle aged you need to do much more than that.

This study is important because it provides credible evidence that everyday simple activities may be beneficial.

What is exercise ? exercise is any planned physical activity that is structured, and is repetitive for the purpose of conditioning and toning any part of the body. Exercise helps improve general health and allows individuals to maintain fitness and is a very critical component of any good physical rehabilitation  program.

A good and long term Exercise regimen acts as preventive measure for not only treating coronary heart disease , osteoporosis but also helps reduce weakness, may prevent further worsening of diabetes, help reduce obesity , and reduce depression and keep it in check.

Exercise Safety Precautions:

Before beginning any exercise program, complete evaluation by a physician is very important.  This is necessary to rule out any serious strain or possible muscle injuries and to pinpoint potential health risks.

Once health and fitness needs are planned, and any of the physical movement limitations for your safety  are identified then you can start the exercise program. In all cases your exercise program must be under the health care professionals supervision. This is really important especially when you are performing exercise for alleviating symptoms or it is used as a part of rehabilitation. Stop the activity if you feel any symptoms such as dizziness, excessive shortness of breath, nausea. You should also consult your doctor at the first sign of chest pain during your exercise.

There are many types of exercises:

To increase or maintain joint function : range of motion. These exercises improve the movement of a specific joint. The three types of range of motion exercises are categorized as passive, assisted active or active depending on the contribution by the person performing the exercise.

Improve cardiovascular system:  Cardiac Rehabilitation

Muscle strengths : Strengthening exercises to provide strengths to the appropriate groups. These exercises are intended for muscle strength and mass , bone strength, and to increase the body’s overall metabolism. Strength training stimulates the growth of proteins. There are three key types of strength training exercises – isometric, isotonic and isokinetic

Isotonic : Muscle contraction with joint movements: Isotonic exercise have  movement of the joint along with muscle contraction. Weight training with dumbbells is one of the most common isotonic exercise..

Isokinetic : Calisthenics is also another example of isotonic exercise. These would include push-ups, and sit-ups. These exercises use the body weight as resistance. These exercises can be performed on open air with no additional equipments necessary.

Isometric : A simple example of isometric exercise is pressing your palm or leg against the wall. In these exercises the muscles contract and allows strengthening of particular muscle or muscle group. These types of exercises can be performed without any special equipment.

If you and your physician and the trainer consider you as physically fit then it is important to do all range of exercises rather than focusing on only one muscle groups. Create a proper complete body strengthening program and pay special attention to various muscle groups such as the gluteals, quadriceps, lateral thigh, hamstrings and calves. You may also want to consider weight room exercises such as squat, step-up.

A good exercise program not only benefits your health but also your psychological and emotional happiness. not only extend into the areas of physical health, but also enhances overall well-being.