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Sunday, 21 August 2011

Better Yourself With Yoga And Pilates

By Adriana Noton


Practicing yoga and pilates is a great way to improve a person's health. Both forms of exercise focus on the mind-body connection in addition to strengthening the body. Many people have found relief from a number of conditions by incorporating these two types of exercise into their normal routines.

Regular exercise combined with good nutrition helps maintain a healthy body weight. For optimum nutritional value, eat foods that are in their whole form, not processed. Each meal should have a complex carbohydrate, lean protein, and fresh fruits and vegetables. It's imperative to maintain a healthy body weight in order to reduce the risk of several conditions. Being overweight increases the risk for diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, back pain, cancer, and much more.

Exercise has also been proven to be an effective way to deal with stressful situations and emotions. Some people take stress and use poor habits like binge eating, drinking alcohol, using nicotine, or even drugs to deal with it. These products will only mask the true feelings. Exercise is a healthy way to deal with stressors and work through them.

Many people today feel they are overworked and therefore overstressed. The problem is when a body is exposed to constant sources of stress, it begins to defend itself by releasing cortisol. When too much cortisol is produced, fat begins to accumulate in the belly region. This is a harmful fat that can contribute to the development of dangerous conditions like heart disease and diabetes.

The mind-body connection that comes from these forms of exercise has been shown to help improve mental clarity, memory, and an overall sense of tranquility and well-being. By focusing on breathing and form, one can perform the different positions and moves efficiently. This produces better results.

Having a healthy self-image is another sign of good health. People who work out regularly tend to have a better sense of self-worth. Feelings of confidence can lead to a more enriched life because confident people are more apt to be open to try new things and experiences. This leads to a healthy cycle of feeling good!

The two components of exercise are cardiovascular workouts and building muscle mass with strength workouts. A workout is considered cardiovascular when the heart rate is elevated which will burn calories. A strength workout focuses on building muscle. This will increase the body's ability to efficiently burn calories on a sustained level.

Some people may think only athletes need to work on building muscle. This is a myth! Everyone at every age should do exercises that build their muscle mass.

Both yoga and pilates incorporate the body's own weight resistance to sculpt long, lean muscles. They both also focus on the core, which is the body's powerhouse. The idea is a strong core will in turn produce a stronger body as a whole. Concentrated, fluid movements will help a person achieve the healthy body they have been looking for.




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