8 Ways To General Health And Fitness

It never fails but as soon as I wrote all my Weight Loss, Weight Gain, Fitness and Nutrition type of tips I had a few left over that couldn't really be placed into these categories. But as you will see they are right on the money for your general health and fitness and can be used in your everyday activities.

Lets take a peek:

What Is A Healthy Diet - A healthy diet satisfies two criteria: It contains enough fiber and a number of micronutrients including vitamins and minerals to maintain a healthy body. It is balanced in forms of fat, protein, and carbohydrates and micronutrients.

Don't Train With The Flu - This is one of the biggest exercise blunders you can make A number of temperature raising viruses, including the flu can affect the muscles. People often forget that the heart is also a muscle and can be weakened by the flu virus. Normally our hearts can cope with the strain of this, but exercising on top of an already weakened heart is potentially fatal. After a bout of the flu, you should wait at least 48 hours before exercising again.

Cool Down - When you do a strenuous workout the blood vessels in your muscles dilate to deliver more blood for the muscles to operate. The skin vessels also dilate to increase the heat loss from your body, which is why you get flushed after exercise. If you don't give your blood and skin vessels enough time to recover, and jump straight under hot water your skin vessels will dilate even further. Then your heart goes into overdrive trying to pump blood throughout the body. Ultimately you might notice symptoms like faintness, dizziness or at worst, you could even collapse.

Don't Eat Before Exercising - Always try to eat two or three hours before your exercise and not after that. If you do eat before exercise you can develop what is known as "dumping syndrome' where the blood supply that normally goes to your muscles during exercise is diverted to your gut. This means that you're not getting enough blood to your muscles, which can cause you to become lethargic and faint.

Try to Give Up Smoking - the best and easiest way to give up smoking is to replace it with another habit. Unfortunately, quitting has been associated with weight gain if you replace your cigarette habit with a candy or snack food habit. So replace the smoking with the habit of exercise!! Nothing tough or painful at first and build up to it. A five minute walk instead of a cigarette and aim to build it up slowly and easily.

Before, you will be fitter, you will be healthier and your body will be more you realize tight and toned. You will feel better in the morning, your breath will be worth being near again and fingernails, hair and skin will take on a much younger fresher look!! Of the people who die from lung cancer, 95% of them smoke.

Protein Power - Carbohydrates supply the sort of calories easily burned during cardiovascular exercise, but protein plays an important part in building muscle mass - or rather in not storing food as fat. "This is largely because the bulk of protein that is eaten will be used to build muscle". Further the average male will lose 500gms of muscle - not fat - every year once he stops regular exercise. While older men and women are usually touted as the beneficiaries of strength training so to are the young.

Planned Exercise - I suggest you start with 100 minutes per week of mildly puffing exercise be it 2x50 mins, 3x35 mins, 4x25 mins, 5x20 mins all of which produce the same results. Mix up your aerobic activities in the gym; use the treadmill, bike, climber or any other training gear available to you.

Keep A Training Log - Keep a training log for all your fitness requirements, keeping account of the reps you are using, how many sets, what weights you are using and also the date, time and where the workout took place is imperative for gauging your day to day progress. Also recording all cardio- vascular activities is just as important.

In conclusion, these general health and fitness might have been left to last but there are still right up there as far as your health and fitness is concerned.

Gary Matthews is the author of the popular fitness eBooks Maximum Weight Loss and Maximum Weight Gain. Please visit http://www.maximumfitness.com right now for your 'free' weight loss or muscle building e-courses.