Wellness: Not the Same as Fitness

Have you ever stopped to think about how to determine your current fitness and wellness levels? Does your doctor ask you each time you visit if you believe yourself to be fit and well? Probably not. Nor does he likely give you any method for determining where you're at for yourself.

There are fitness centers everywhere, most staffed with counselors who can test your fitness level. But what about your wellness level. Are they one and the same?

The fact is, being fit and being well are totally different conditions. However, both are essential to maintaining your health.

Your wellness rating depends on your immune system, including the vitamins, supplements and nutrition you intake. It's a fact that people who are fit can sometimes be unwell, and well people can sometimes be unfit. However, when you combine the two and use sound principles based on clean living, exercise and healthy eating, you attain a state of balance that helps you to maintain both fitness and wellness.

Many people don't take the time to completely understand the advantages of being both fit and well. We read and absorb the information we're given through the media and health organizations without ever questioning whether we're receiving the information we really need, or simply what is profitable for these companies to make available.

Fitness gyms need your monthly fees in order to stay in business, so they probably have no real concern about the condition of your immune system. Physical fitness is a condition of the body alone.

Hospitals and doctors need you as a patient in order to remain operational. They will tell you that you need to be fit and well, but often leave out important information that affect your wellness and, therefore, your ability to stay fit.

What about diet? What about vitamins? What role does our daily intake play in our health, wellness and fitness? The fact is, diet has more influence than you have been led to believe or understand.

Our body's ability to stay well is directly related to the nutrition you receive every day. The mind's ability to remain well is also a direct result of our nutritional intake.

For example, the human brain doesn't develop well without the necessary input of protein in our daily diet. No protein, no intelligence. If there is no intelligence, then none of the other states can be attained.

Spiritual input is another determining factor when establishing our wellness level. Spiritual reflection is a way to cleanse ourselves of the toxins of our daily life. Wellness encompasses our complete state of being, mind and health. It's a condition of the whole ... mind, body and soul.

So, for those who believe they are fit, it's also important to pay attention to your wellness as well. Finding the ideal balance is the best way to achieve a long and healthy life.

Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com-By: Nicky Pilkington

Total Fitness For The Body You Always Wanted

Total fitness is more than just strength and conditioning... It is the combination, compromise and fluid interaction between cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy and toughness

Fitness programs are usually split up into two categories... strength and conditioning.

However... Total fitness is oh so much more than that!

Many physical fitness programs work under the assumption that fitness can be broken down into different components and trained separately.

But what happens when sport, work or life challenges you with an activity that requires the combination, compromise and fluid interaction of physical abilities?

Can a body trained in a robotic fashion function as one complete, effective unit when called upon?

Total fitness is the ability to effectively use and integrate different physical abilities into a fluid and successful completion of a task.

So how do you train for total fitness?

By participating in a physical fitness program that trains the body to work as one complete unit and that understands all physical abilities must be trained to complement the others.

By using a wide variety of training methods, stresses and intensities to blur the lines between the training of the different physical abilities... you can create total fitness for the greatest amount of physical activities under the greatest amount of circumstances.

Sometimes physical abilities unrelated to strength and conditioning are neglected from physical training programs or completely absent.

This is a big mistake... because total fitness is what will provide the greatest amount of performance improvement for skills necessary in sport, work and life.

If you are seeking functional strength, superior conditioning and fitness excellence and your workout program is broken down into isolated strength and conditioning sessions... you should look into changing your physical training protocol to include the training of other physical abilities and the interaction of all the abilities.

And for those of you that view physical training as a means to improve appearance... here is a little tip.

There is no faster way to create the body that you want than training for functional strength, superior conditioning and fitness excellence.

You cannot trick your body into looking fit without actually being fit... and even if you could, why would you want to?

Train for a body that performs as good as it looks and you will create the body you always wanted... Train for total fitness.

Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com-By: Eddie Lomax

Gym Etiquettes - Workout Ethics In Gym

Are you annoying people when you go to the gym for your workout? You may not even know that you are annoying people with your bad gym ethics. When that is the case, it is embarrassing.

Some gyms will put up a notice of what do’s and don’ts but many do not. Gym etiquette is supposed to be common sense, but we all know that common sense sometimes is not so common. If you workout regularly at the gym, you would have come across inconsiderate and annoying people. Don’t these people have common sense? Of course they do, but it either did not occur to them that they are annoying you or they are simply inconsiderate and rude.

So before you unintentionally annoy other gym users and get yelled at, here are some gym etiquettes you must know. Observe these ethics and make your gym workout be an enjoyable experience not only to you but to others too.

•Good Housekeeping – Put back the weights where they are supposed to be after using them. By not stashing them into where they belong, you not only inconvenienced others having to look for the weights, you are also creating possible accident situations where people may trip over the barbells and other weights lying cluttered all over.

•Do Not Grunt Loudly – Some people grunt loudly because they are oblivious to the fact that others may want to concentrate on their lifts and do not want to be distracted by loud grunts. Others grunt to show off usually when lifting heavy weights. Either way, it is bad ethic.

•The Smart Aleck – Do not tell other people what to do even if their lifting form is wrong unless you are asked for your opinion. Dishing out unsolicited advice will simply bruise their ego. They will just think that you are trying to show off. There is an exception though. This is when poor lifting form may lead to injuries. Even then, do so only when their set is over and not to interrupt them when they are lifting weights.

•Hygiene – Keep yourself neat and clean at all times. Do not wear the same T shirt or socks you wore at your last workout. Being in an enclosed area, you may really stink.

•Chatting And Idling About – You may go to the gym for social reasons. So you go about making friends and chatting people up. What you do not know is that many people are unlike you. They go to the gym with just one thing in mind. Have a great workout and go home. So you are taking up their time. Furthermore, your chatter will also distract and annoy other people.

•Do Not Hog – Do be aware that the gym equipments are for all to share. When resting before your next set, do not rest on the machines or sitting on the benches. Others will want to use them while you are resting between sets.

•Use Clean Towel – If you are sweating profusely, wipe your sweat. It is unhygienic to have your sweat dripping everywhere. It is even worse when you use the weight stations and leaving your puddles on benches and seats. Clean up your sweat residue on the equipments all the time.

•Creating Excessive Noise – Have you ever been irritated by loud clanging of weights when people workout? Treat the weights and machines with tender loving care. Why damage the equipments and irritating other people at the same time. If you cannot control the weights, then the weights are probably too heavy for you anyway.

Be sensitive to others and when you are annoyed by certain unethical behaviors, make a mental note not to do the same thing. If only gym etiquettes are to be observed by all gym users, our workouts will be so much more pleasantly enjoyable. So, bear in mind your gym ethics the next time you head for the gym.

Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com-By: Chris Chew

Home Gym Equipment For Females

When you are setting up a gym in your home, you will need about ten basic pieces of equipment to make it successful. If you are setting one up for a male, you will probably want to make sure some of the weights are heavier to meet their needs. First, you will want a 50llb dumbbell set. A good dumbbell set which includes a set of 5llb, 8llb and 12llbs dumbbells. Dumbbells are essential in toning any body because they create lean, defined muscles which give you a sleek look as well as help burn more calories. You also are going to need a barbell set. Barbell sets are good to go along with dumbbell sets because they target different areas of the muscle, giving you an all around better workout. To help you with your weight lifting, you can purchase a pair of weight lifting gloves, which will allow you to have a better grip on the bar, as well as protect your hands from calluses.

Now that you’ve got all your weight’s set up, you are going to need something to work out on. If you’re budget allows, you can purchase a weight bench, which allows you to do exercises of all kinds. However, if you can’t afford to buy a weight bench, you can buy an aerobics step, which allows you to do many of the same exercises. You can also use an exercise ball to do your exercises on, which is very popular because they help increase balance, and core strength. After you are done your work out, you need to stretch, so a mat would be useful so you avoid rug burn, as well as bruising you’re spine. These are the basic necessities for any home gym, but if you find you’re self wondering what exercises to do after you’ve got you’re gym set up, you might want to purchase a workout book as well.

Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com-By: Bart Samuri

Whatever You Do, Don't Exercise!

You can't turn left, right, go forward, backwards, or even just stand still these days without someone telling you that you have to exercise.

Whatever happens, DON'T do it!

People talk about the many benefits of exercise, and indeed, the list seems very long, and it seems to touch pretty much every aspect of our lives. Let's examine this:

• Increases Energy: I can't imagine why anyone would want to increase their energy level. As if the world isn't already too full of caffeinated coffee and energy drink junkies, now we're being told to try to get MORE energy from exercise.

Don't do it people! Just try to make it through your long and boring lives with barely enough pep to get from point A to point B, and then drag yourself home every night and plop down on the couch for another brain-draining evening in front of the TV.

• Lowers Your Risk for Heart Disease: Heart Disease?!? Yeah right - this sounds like too many doctors weren't making enough money, so they came up with a general term that would cover everything from indigestion to breathing hard.

The fact that it kills more people in the United States than any other disease or condition combined is irrelevant. Your heart is in great shape! Keep eating potato chips, hamburgers, and fried shrimp. You'll be just fine.

• Cranks up Your Metabolism: What IS metabolism anyway? Everyone is talking about it, but I don't see it around anywhere. If it's so important to have a fast metabolism in order to burn off bodyfat, wouldn't someone have come up with a magic pill or special sauce that took care of this issue?

Stay up really late eating ice cream and washing it down with root beer. While your body turns every one of those calories into bodyfat, you can catch an infommercial that is sure to be selling "The Metabolism Master Blaster"!

• Helps You Lose Weight: Oh sure - here is another example of mass hysteria. If exercise is so good at making people lose weight, why is it that America is fatter today than it has ever been, even though there is a gym on every corner?

Seriously, being fat HAS to be healthy, or else everyone wouldn't be doing it! Go ask the owner of any fast food restaurant if they think that people are truly concerned about losing weight.

• Increases Self-Esteem: This must be why anti-depressant drugs are so rampant in our society today. Half of our teenagers are on Valium, and the other half have ADD. Marriages are breaking up left and right over emotional conflicts, and psychologists get paid big dollars to assure people that they are "OK".

Besides, overweight people must already have great self-esteem, because they are able to hide in their homes dying of bad health instead of feeling the need to go "be healthy" with the rest of the world.

So, in conclusion, I think we have demonstrated that there is a perfectly acceptable way to use logic to convince ourselves that we don't need to exercise. Let the members of the Health and Fitness industry keep selling their wares, putting together new products and facilities, and generally wasting their lives away.

The rest of us are smart and we will boycott this thing called "Exercise". As our stomachs grow larger, our backsides get bigger, and our clothes get smaller, we can take solace in the fact that we didn't get swept up by that whole "Health Craze"!

Hey - pass the chocolate cake covered in caramel and whip cream! I want a third piece of that while my french fries deep-fry for another five minutes and I catch the end of some completely unrealistic reality show!

Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com-By: Aaron Potts