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Movement That Matters: Exercise With a Greater Purpose
You've seen the commercials Ive fallen and I cant get up! While this has been a topic of many jokes and late-night comedy skits, the reality is falling is a very real danger for many people. Too often falls can lead to broken bones, hospitalization, and sometimes life-threatening illnesses due to being confined to a bed while recovering. A less extreme, but still real situation is when a person lacks the leg strength to get out of a chair. Or someone who throws out their back just picking up a child or the groceries from the trunk of the car. Did you know that this is not inevitable? With consistent and effective exercise, you will maintain your daily activities without injury well into your sixties, seventies, eighties, and beyond. You may have heard the buzzwords functional training and core training mentioned in the latest fitness magazines. While these terms sound complicated, they are really terms for the most effective and exciting system of strength training being used today. Functional training strengthens your body for the everyday movements it has to perform. This could be any type of movement, whether for a sport, your job, or just picking up your kids. Most injuries occur in the course of our everyday lives. Strengthen your body for these activities and you will sustain less injury. Functional training also improves balance. This is essential for preventing falls. A combination of strength and balance will give you the confidence to move through your day with ease! Core training works on strengthening your core, your abdominal and low back muscles. Just as a house needs a foundation to build upon, so does your body. Work on the core first and every other exercise you add will be more effective and make you stronger. Many functional training exercises incorporate core training. There are also exercises that isolate the core for maximum benefit. Core training is the idea behind Pilates and is also used in yoga. You can incorporate both types of training into your regular workout with equipment such as stability balls, medicine balls, elastic tubing, slides, and dumbbells. Some exercises require no equipment at all! Several videos and guides on the market can teach you many of these exercises. You can also hire a personal trainer for a few sessions so you can learn the proper techniques. These methods are more effective than traditional gym strength training machines because more muscles are used and the body becomes more coordinated and strong as a result. Machines do play an important role, however. As a new exerciser, you may not have the strength or coordination necessary for functional training. I recommend a combination of basic core strengthening and the use of machines to develop basic strength before starting the more complex functional and core movements. One of the best and simplest functional exercises is the squat. We use this motion all day long getting up from a chair, or picking an object up from the ground, as examples. Learn to squat properly and do it consistently and you will remain strong, independent, and less prone to injury. A great core exercise for beginners is one you can do anytime, anywhere. While sitting or standing, pull your navel towards your spine. Concentrate on performing this movement without flattening your back it is important to maintain proper posture. This strengthens very deep abdominal muscles that are responsible for protecting your back. Try this exercise while driving when you stop at a red light, perform 10 repetitions. Your abdominals will thank you for it! Think about it, do you walk around during the day doing leg extensions? What about abdominals crunches on the floor? While these exercises work targeted muscles and are good accessory exercises, functional exercises create a stronger, healthier body that will be protected from injury and provide a higher quality of life. About The Author Gillian Hood-Gabrielson, MS, ACSM is the president of Flexible Fitness, a nationwide coaching practice offering health and fitness solutions for your busy lifestyle including Fitness Coaching by Phone, Intuitive Eating, and monthly motivational seminars. She can be reached at 866-618-8814 or by email at gillian@flexiblefitnessforyou.com. To receive our free report, I Hate Exercise Too! and our newsletter, please visit www.flexiblefitnessforyou.com.
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news News Corp exec becomes chief of Germany's Premiere (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp's chief financial officer for Europe and Asia has been named chief executive of German pay television group Premiere, following the resignation of Michael Boernicke, Premiere said on Wednesday. News Corporation to redevelop London Wapping site (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is to redevelop its Wapping site in London, moving all its UK businesses, including News International, Harper Collins, MySpace and Dow Jones, under one roof. DeJesus, Royals sad at Sweeney news (MLB.com) DeJesus, Royals sad at Sweeney news Tribune blames Google for damaging news story (Market Watch) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tribune Co. said Wednesday that the mistaken online publishing of an old news story that cratered UAL Corp.'s stock price earlier this week was because of a repeated technology failure at Google Inc. UPI NewsTrack Entertainment News (UPI) Chesney nominated for 7 CMAs ... Hoffman: I'm not playing Penguin ... 'RocknRolla' No. 1 at U.K. box office ... Jessica Simpson stops song on 'GMA' ... News from United Press International. DailyMe: News tailored to your individual tastes (The Christian Science Monitor) Column: Custom news websites come and go, but this one gets it right. Get the latest news in racing (Daily Racing Form) In order to read Daily Racing Form's free daily news stories it is required that you have a DRF.com free membership. If you do not have a DRF.com free membership, please register here . You will NOT need to be logged in to read each day's free news stories. Newport News police in standoff with man, possibly armed (The Virginian-Pilot) NEWPORT NEWS Newport News police are involved in a standoff with a man inside an apartment who may have a gun, police said. A detective went to an apartment in the 500 block of 19th Street to try to serve a warrant on a suspect, said Officer Lou Thurston, a police spokesman. AIS adds news video to services (Bangkok Post - Thailand's English news) Advanced Info Service (AIS) is introducing real-time news video clips over mobile phones, aiming to make its news content services a flagship source of non-voice revenue. Kyodo News agency says three inmates executed (AP via Yahoo! Malaysia News) Kyodo News agency says three death-row inmates have been executed in Japan. Site: news - Google News New Voices in Congress Will Change the Tone of the Democratic Majority - New York Times
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for exercise Fort Jackson terror exercise canceled (The State) Army officials have canceled a training exercise at Fort Jackson testing soldiers? ability to deal with dozens of injuries after a terrorist attack. Forecasts calling for thunderstorms and lightning Wednesday prompted the cancellation because much of the activity was supposed to take place in open fields at the base, a spokeswoman for the Army said. Dozens of mock casualties were to be ... Santa Clara County plans emergency responder training exercise (San Jose Mercury News) A large-scale, multi-jurisdictional emergency response training exercise is planned for Thursday at the DePaul Medical Center in Morgan Hill. Many with 'fat' gene may need exercise (UPI) MIAMI, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- More than half of all people of European descent have one or two copies of a "fat" gene variation, but lots of exercise may help, researchers say. Aerobic exercise for the wheelchair-bound (EurekAlert!) ( University of Texas at Austin, Electrical & Computer Engineering ) Simple exercise machine makes it fun for wheelchair users to fight high obesity, diabetes and heart disease rates. In Ramadan, Jordan TV campaign urges holy month observers to try healthy eating, exercise (AM New York) AMMAN, Jordan (AP) _ The public-service TV ads deliver a cheerful, yet pointed, message to Muslims observing Ramadan's traditional dawn to dusk fast: "Don't overeat" when night comes. "Exercise and stay healthy." Canadian ships arrives to exercise with Indian Navy (Islamic Republic News Agency) India - Canada - Navy Exercise Two Canadian warships will be visiting Indian waters for four days from Wednesday and carry out an exercise in the sea off the Chennai coast on Saturday. Community-based exercise organizations can help prevent diabetes (New Kerala) Washington, Sept 10 : A study conducted at the YMCA has shown that community-based exercise organizations can help in preventing diabetes. Training exercise on Whittington Drive (The Peterborough Examiner) The Peterborough Lakefield Community Police Service Emergency Response Team is conducting a training exercise in the area of Whittington Drive. This is a training exercise only and the public is not at risk. Exercise Tips for Success (Carteret County News-Times) (ARA) - Everybody knows that exercise is good. Doctors have told us for years that exercise can help us lose weight, look better, feel better, and even sleep better. However, exercise sounds like work, and many of us claim that we just don't have time to add more work to our daily lives. Wearable Fitbit automatically tracks your exercise routines (Engadget) Filed under: Misc. Gadgets , Wearables Although the world already has a set of headphones that encourages you to work out , the newly announced Fitbit is just a hair more sophisticated. Designed to be worn or carried around in a spare pocket, the personal tracker is about the size of a standard flash drive and includes a built-in motion sensor to keep tabs on "exercise intensity ... Site: exercise - Google News Ask the Trainer: Add exercise to your efforts to stop smoking - Sheboygan Press
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