Get a Jump on Fitness
According to Greg Campbell, author of The Joy of Jumping, "It strengthens your lungs, legs and wrists. It improves your circulation, firms up breasts, thighs and buttocks. It tones your muscles, improves your coordination, improves your skill at sports, reduces nervousness, increases endurance, and helps improve your hand and foot coordination." Jumping rope is an excellent means of achieving a total body workout while resisting the laws of gravity; it firms up body tissue, including the tissue around the breast as well as strengthening your pectoral muscles which support the breasts. It is the ultimate fat-burner, burning as much as 720 calories per one hour of concentrated jumping.
Aerobics expert Kenneth Cooper, MD conducted laboratory experiments and discovered that 10 minutes of jumping rope is equal to playing 18 holes of golf (without a motorized cart); jogging one mile in 10 to 12 minutes; swimming 350 yards in 6 to 8-1/2 minutes; or 20 minutes of continuous handball, basketball or squash. And jumping will help keep your arteries free of excess cholesterol. The results of a 1968 Harvard Step test, administered by Dr. Jack Baker was reported in the American Association for Health, Physical Education and Research Quarterly, which stated: "a 10-minute daily program of rope skipping is as efficient as a 30-minute daily program of jogging for improving cardiovascular efficiency."
We all strive to feel more energetic and apparently jumping rope is a wonderful way to achieve this. According to Dr. Kaare Rodhal, fitness expert and author of Be Fit For Life, "Five minutes of rope skipping a day, five days a week, improved the physical work capacity of a group of laboratory technicians by 25 percent in one month." Jumping rope also increases your capacity to process oxygen. Greg Campbell states that "eventually, you will be able to process at least twice the amount of air per minute as the unfit or untrained person. You will increase the capacity of your lungs to about 75 percent, as opposed to 33 percent that most of us use. Your blood vessels will become larger and more pliable, which causes a decrease in blood pressure." Boxers have always jumped rope as an integral part of their training. It is not only a great fitness exercise in itself, but an excellent warmup and training exercise for enhancing your performance in sports. It will improve your endurance, concentration, coordination, strength, mobility and agility as well as your oxygen-consumption ability.
ENJOY THE ADVANTAGES
You no longer need to make the excuse that you don't have time to get to the gym for a workout, you can't run due to the rain, or that your bicycle has a flat tire. Jumping rope requires only minutes a day, can be done at any time or place, with no expense involved. It should, however, be done on a soft surface, such as a carpeted area or on grass, or suspended wood flooring, rather than a concrete flooring. Any comfortable, loose clothing will do, but be kind to your feet and wear a pair of well-cushioned athletic shoes or aerobic dance shoes. A rope is easily tucked inside a briefcase, purse or suitcase, which you can use any time you have a few spare minutes.
For the best results, but a professional rope; they literally do not wear out, so the investment is made only once. A balanced and weighted rope is a good choice allowing you to turn the rope more easily and fluidly. The handles on these ropes are usually made of wood or plastic and are shaped for sure grip. The rope should be long enough so that when you stand on the middle of it, the ends will barely reach your armpits.
To achieve maximum benefits, jumping rope three times a week for 10 minutes in conjunction with other activities provides a well-rounded fitness program. Weightlifting, swimming and dancing are good forms of exercise to compliment your jump roping workouts. begin and end each jumping session with a good warmup and cool down. Spend a minute or two doing knee bends and stretches before starting to jump and an equal amount of time walking around the room after you finish.
JUMP INTO A ROUTINE
Paradoxically, jumping rope can relax you when you are overstimulated and provide you with energy when you are fatigued. Figure out for yourself whether jumping just before bedtime puts you to sleep or makes you feel wide awake. Your fatigue may be caused by emotional stress, in which case jumping will discharge tension while at the same time soaking up nervous energy. If you are attempting to lose weight, jumping before meals will curb your appetite.
Above all, make this activity one that you can enjoy. Jump to a lively beat. If the weather is gorgeous, take you rope to a nearby park--ask a friend to join you or get your entire family involved.
Welcome to the Land of nod
I'll bet you slept like a log last night. A recent survey shows that most of us get our best night's kip on Friday. Five exhausting days at the coalface, followed by a therapeutic dose of alcohol after work, virtually guarantees us a healthy portion of zzzz.
Tomorrow, things will be different. The weekend lie-in, a day's inactivity and a
substantial lunch will leave many of us tossing and turning through the small
hours. Sunday night is, according to new research this week, insomnia
night.
Most light sleepers simply curse when their alarm goes off on Monday and set off for the office, where they underachieve, argue with their colleagues and fall asleep at their desks. Others call in sick, roll over and try to nod off again before the snooze button kicks in. You may refer to super beta prostate for more added information.
A few, but enough to make my life miserable, make an appointment to ask me why they can't sleep. You might think it's a reasonable question, especially if
they're struggling to get by on three hours a night, but most people who can't
sleep as a result of something medical already know the reason why.
They'll tell me it's because of their painful joints or their menopausal sweats. They'll have figured out that passing urine five times a night means that their diabetes or their prostate problem could be better managed.
The bottom line is, if you need to ask me why you can't sleep, I'm probably not going to be much help. If your bedroom is too light or too dark, too hot or too cold, or too close to the local boozer, then nothing I can prescribe will make much difference.
If you can't sleep because your mother's ill, your dog has died and your daddy's in the jailhouse, I won't be able to do much apart from help you to compose a sure-fire country and western chart-topper.
If you're sleepless because you enjoy a midnight espresso, rely on a whisky and soda as a nightcap or your regular sleeping-pill dealer has moved on, then the solution is in your hands, not in my in-tray.
But before I can address any of these issues, I have to rule out a myriad physical and psychiatric diagnoses. We both know that it's a waste of time, but it has to be done.
So I'll ask you how long you've had the problem, whether you have trouble getting off or staying asleep. Do you yawn and feel drowsy or simply tired next day? I'll want to know if you have restless legs, a resting tremor or an itchy rash. I'll need to know how many hours a night you think you ought to be sleeping, whether you're particularly anxious or depressed - even whether you're counting sheep all night because you're worrying about why it is that you're counting sheep all night.
Only then can I advise you that sleeping pills aren't the answer. Which you knew, but you'll still feel miffed and will think about going down the road to that private GP who does as he's told.
If you stay with me, you'll endure a tiresome repertoire of explanations and reassurances. You'll stifle a yawn when I recommend going to bed and getting up at the same time and missing out on your afternoon nap in front of the TV.
Your eyelids will become even heavier as I outline drug-free strategies recommended by the experts - staying out in the sunlight for at least an hour each morning, devoting the afternoon to problem-solving and avoiding excessive audio-visual stimulation in the bed chamber. Sex with a regular partner isn't considered excessive or stimulating; they say it probably helps.
By the time I get round to a discussion of recent research - such as the study suggesting that the radiation from your mobile phone can keep you awake - and offer to put your name on the waiting list for cognitive behavioural therapy, you'll be dead to the world.
And you'll probably stay that way while your other half asks me, very quietly, if I can suggest anything for your snoring.
You can also read begin health now for helpful information on super beta prostate.
Tomorrow, things will be different. The weekend lie-in, a day's inactivity and a
substantial lunch will leave many of us tossing and turning through the small
hours. Sunday night is, according to new research this week, insomnia
night.
Most light sleepers simply curse when their alarm goes off on Monday and set off for the office, where they underachieve, argue with their colleagues and fall asleep at their desks. Others call in sick, roll over and try to nod off again before the snooze button kicks in. You may refer to super beta prostate for more added information.
A few, but enough to make my life miserable, make an appointment to ask me why they can't sleep. You might think it's a reasonable question, especially if
they're struggling to get by on three hours a night, but most people who can't
sleep as a result of something medical already know the reason why.
They'll tell me it's because of their painful joints or their menopausal sweats. They'll have figured out that passing urine five times a night means that their diabetes or their prostate problem could be better managed.
The bottom line is, if you need to ask me why you can't sleep, I'm probably not going to be much help. If your bedroom is too light or too dark, too hot or too cold, or too close to the local boozer, then nothing I can prescribe will make much difference.
If you can't sleep because your mother's ill, your dog has died and your daddy's in the jailhouse, I won't be able to do much apart from help you to compose a sure-fire country and western chart-topper.
If you're sleepless because you enjoy a midnight espresso, rely on a whisky and soda as a nightcap or your regular sleeping-pill dealer has moved on, then the solution is in your hands, not in my in-tray.
But before I can address any of these issues, I have to rule out a myriad physical and psychiatric diagnoses. We both know that it's a waste of time, but it has to be done.
So I'll ask you how long you've had the problem, whether you have trouble getting off or staying asleep. Do you yawn and feel drowsy or simply tired next day? I'll want to know if you have restless legs, a resting tremor or an itchy rash. I'll need to know how many hours a night you think you ought to be sleeping, whether you're particularly anxious or depressed - even whether you're counting sheep all night because you're worrying about why it is that you're counting sheep all night.
Only then can I advise you that sleeping pills aren't the answer. Which you knew, but you'll still feel miffed and will think about going down the road to that private GP who does as he's told.
If you stay with me, you'll endure a tiresome repertoire of explanations and reassurances. You'll stifle a yawn when I recommend going to bed and getting up at the same time and missing out on your afternoon nap in front of the TV.
Your eyelids will become even heavier as I outline drug-free strategies recommended by the experts - staying out in the sunlight for at least an hour each morning, devoting the afternoon to problem-solving and avoiding excessive audio-visual stimulation in the bed chamber. Sex with a regular partner isn't considered excessive or stimulating; they say it probably helps.
By the time I get round to a discussion of recent research - such as the study suggesting that the radiation from your mobile phone can keep you awake - and offer to put your name on the waiting list for cognitive behavioural therapy, you'll be dead to the world.
And you'll probably stay that way while your other half asks me, very quietly, if I can suggest anything for your snoring.
You can also read begin health now for helpful information on super beta prostate.