5 Exercises That Improve Your Flexibility

Guest Post by Melissa.

Is it really possible and safe to get flexible fast? A big YES! But, how do you start? Here are five of the best exercises you should try to improve your flexibility!

As we age, our bones become weaker and prone to breakage. By properly managing durability and bone strength by means of exercise and diet, we can keep our bones stronger for a longer period of time and protect them against potential diseases like osteoporosis.

One way of keeping healthy bones is through flexibility exercises. These will help you boost muscle strength, lessen joint pain, improve balance and maintain bone thickness. When done properly, you can be able to perform physical activity and regular tasks. Tai chi, Pilates, yoga and stretching are just some examples of flexibility activities.
Not able to touch your toes? Suffering from stiff hips or sore back? Learn the best flexibility workouts - all without foregoing size or strength!

1. Walking

Brisk walking proves to be a good exercise to increase flexibility. It is a stress-buster, helps boost heart rate as well as works the lower body muscles. Aside from that, walking is low impact and helps joint health, which makes it perfect for beginners. Take a long step to stretch your hip flexors. And if you want to stretch your calf muscles, it is best to walk uphill. You may vary your walking exercise to take your joints through their complete range of motion, which eventually increases your overall flexibility.

2. Yoga

When it comes to the best exercises for increasing flexibility, yoga is always included in the list. It is an Indian meditation technique that helps reduce and anxiety and stress as well as improves balance. Among the perfect yoga exercises for maximizing flexibility and strength are Bakasana, Uttplutih and Navasana. You can take a class from a community center or local gym. DVDs and online lessons are also a good start to practice yoga.

3. Tai Chi

Tai chi boasts a long list of health benefits that can make the most of at all ages. Researches highlight the rare benefits of tai chi as an effective home exercise alternative to promote well-being and health. It is believed to be a perfect form of exercise for people with chronic pain or any conditions that restrict more dynamic exercise. Often times, it minimizes stiffness and chronic pain. Also, it helps improve coordination, strength and flexibility as well as conditions the body. When practiced on a regular basis, tai chi can improve the quality of your sleep. In spite of aging, this type of exercise can guarantee excellent results, as long as done properly.

4. Resistance Training

Also known as weight training or strength training, resistance training builds the anaerobic endurance, skeletal muscle sizes and strength. It makes use of an external force to encourage contraction of muscles. This eventually results in increased muscle size, tone, endurance and strength. Generally, resistance training is carried out with the use of resistance bands, dumbbells and other resistance equipment. Many have proven that this exercise is great at increasing the mineral density of our bones, which is important in preventing ageing-rated diseases (e.g. osteoporosis, osteopenia) and reduce in bone mass. In order t maintain improvement, it is suggested to vary the resistance training program every 6 to 8 weeks.

5. Body Weight Training

Theoretically, body weight exercises denote to calisthenics. It is a simple, effective and cheap way to boost body strength and enhance flexibility and balance. What makes body weight training more preferred by many is that you don't need a device or extra equipment to carry out this exercise. Even those with busy schedules can perform it during the break. Simply push or pull yourself up with your body weight. As easy as that! Wall sits, stair climbing, chair dips, pushups and lunges are some of the best examples of this form of exercise. Weight-bearing exercises help increase our body's bone fortification to protect our skeletal frame. This is vital for preventing bone loss, falls and fractures.

How much stretching do you need?

Stretching exercises are good to perform three to five times in every session. Stretch in a smooth and slow manner into the position you feel comfortable. For those who are not used to stretching yet, hold the stretch for around ten seconds. You'll find stretching easier if you do it more often.

How about those who are recovering from a stroke or cardiac event?

After a heart attack or suffering from a cardiac event, you may feel scared doing some sort of exercise. Regular physical activity, however, can help minimize the chances of experiencing another heart attack. To ensure your overall health and safety, it is best and necessary to seek the help of a doctor. They will prescribe exercises that will best suit to your body needs.
Doing exercise and physical activity after stroke can improve upper arm strength, walking ability and cardiovascular fitness. So, if you've had a stroke or heart attack, talk with the doctor before conducting an exercise habit to ensure you are following an effective and safe physical activity program.

In order to have a safe stretching, breathe and relax normally. Make it slow and smooth, not vivacious or jumpy. This will cause tightened muscles, which may lead to injuries. When doing a straight position, do not lock your joints, instead, keep them slightly bent.

Having a good flexibility is crucial to avoid injury. Aside from athletes, individuals can also benefit a lot from the flexibility exercises towards a strong, healthy body. Increasing flexibility is not necessarily a hard thing to do, however, patience is highly suggested. You need to keep at it until you achieve your goal. But of course, combining it with hydration, nutrition and lifestyle choices is a much better step.

By doing these easy-to-follow, effective exercises, you are sure to feel the flex benefits your body needs! You can also do these exercises along with your family or friends and together, aim for a healthy body!

References:
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00310
https://startsat60.com/health/big-issues/bone-health/five-exercises-to-strengthen-bones-and-ward-off-osteoporosis
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/fitness/news/a29049/best-exercises-for-your-body/

Author's Bio: Melissa is a young and energetic writer, a mom to a sweet little boy, and a fur-mom to two perfect pooches. Before becoming the Associate Content Director for projectfemale.com, she was a journalist specializing in topics related to women in politics and policy affecting women.

Three Frequently Asked Questions: Stump Shooting, Different Elevations, Obstacles

Below are three frequently asked archery questions related to shooting in the wilderness:

"I heard there is something called Stump Shooting. What is it?"

Stump Shooting is the act of shooting at old rotten stumps of trees - rotting tree trunks. The rotting stumps make excellent targets in the woods because they are so soft your arrows go in and come back out easily, without damaging your arrows.

The beauty of stump shooting is that you can wander around in the woods, look for stumps that make great targets - and then practice shooting at it from different angles, different distances, and even different elevations. As an activity it is truly a fun one.

Learn more about Stump Shooting: An Archer's Guide to Stump Shooting


"Do you aim differently when aiming downhill or uphill at a target?"

At short distances, no, not really. While it may seem like a target is further away because of the angle, the amount of time the arrow is in the air makes little or no difference whether you are shooting at a target from an upward or downward angle - what really matters is how much gravity effects the arrow during its flight. While it is true that the arrow would go slightly faster downhill and slightly slower uphill, at short distances the differences is so negligible that it makes really no difference.

At longer distances - extreme heights and such - then you can see a huge difference in terms of where you need to aim.

I can recommend shooting at different heights and practicing aiming uphill and downhill so you can perfect your form and get better at aiming upwards and downwards.

Regardless of the height, the arrow is only in the air for 20 yards of distance - thus gravity effects it the same.

"What is the best way to deal with obstacles in the way when you are trying to shoot?"

There is not one single answer to this, but rather multiple answers. The "best way" really depends on the circumstances and the obstacles.

In some situations kneeling might produce better results. In others you might actually want to get more elevation to shoot over an obstacle. Or you might decide to move sideways to get a clearer shot from a different angle.

I recommend practicing all three so you get really good at figuring out how to solve the problem.

So the long winded answer I guess is "Practice everything and you can do everything."

I don't like the word "Superfood"

Earlier today I removed all references in a guest post to the word "superfood" and replaced it with "useful food" or similar wording.

I made this change because I find that word "Superfood" to be problematic, because it tends to imply that the food is somehow special or magical. While it is true that many foods have special properties or have lots of specific nutrients or minerals, that trait of being useful in some way is pretty much universal of all vegetables, fruits, berries, nuts, etc.

I also find that people in the food industry have a tendency to use the word "superfood" in the same way some people use the words:

• new, or new and improved
• exceptional
• free, or hassle free
• easy, or very easy
• perfectly honest
• results, or get results
• sex, or sexy
• love
• discover
• guarantee
• health, or healthier
• now, or immediately
• best, or better
• save, safety or safe
• proven (Really? By whom?)

These advertising clichéd words are a problem within the food industry because they are being used to sell you on a product - and their usage annoys me and feels dishonest to me. This includes variations on the word like Superfruit or Super-Veggie.

With the word "Superfood" they basically just stuck the word Super on front of the word Food, and then used it as an advertising word to try and sell people on the concept that the food they are promoting is somehow special.

When you go to Wikipedia and look up superfood, here is the first paragraph:

Superfood is a marketing term used to describe foods with supposed health benefits.^[1][2] The term is not in common use by dietitians and nutrition scientists, many of whom dispute that particular foods have the health benefits often claimed by their advocates. Catherine Collins, for instance, the chief dietitian at St George's Hospital in London has stated that "[t]he term 'superfoods' is at best meaningless and at worst harmful... There are so many wrong ideas about superfoods that I don't know where best to begin to dismantle the whole concept."^[3]

 So clearly I am not alone in my assertion that the word Superfood is possibly harmful to the people who are tricked into thinking that various foods are "magically special".

I fully recommend reading the full Wiki entry on the topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfood

Use of the word Superfood is also ever expanding. It is theoretically possible for people to use it to describe junk food.

"Look at our new high sodium potato chips! It is a superfood chockful of sodium and electrolytes! Great for replenishing after you exercise!"

See my point? All potato chips are high in sodium and potassium - which are technically useful to replenish sodium and potassium.

But do you actually need to replenish if you are done exercising? No. You don't. Your body will naturally replenish those things over time through your regular diet. Bananas and potatoes are both high in potassium. If you really needed more potassium, you could get it from a baked potato, banana, plantains, or various other foods.

A common example of a "superfood" used by the food industry is blueberries, despite being very average when compared to various other foods. So while blueberries are good for you, don't believe everything you read about their greatness.

5 Fruits that help you Slim Down

5 Fruits That Will Help You Lose Weight

Guest Post by Melissa.

Editor's Note - I removed all references to the word "superfood" and replaced it with "useful food" or similar wording. I find that word to be problematic, because it tends to imply that the food is somehow special or magical. While it is true that many foods have special properties or have lots of specific nutrients or minerals, that trait of being useful in some way is pretty much universal of all vegetables, fruits, berries, nuts, etc. I also find that people have a tendency to use the word "superfood" in the same way some people use the words "new and improved", "exceptional", "hassle free", "perfectly honest", etc. As a result I have gone through the following guest post and removed any word I feel is unnecessary words designed to sell you on a product.

There is a myriad of ways to shed off your unwanted pounds and get back into shape.

Not all diets and slimming solutions, of course, are bound to work. Some might even leave you feeling hungrier and more miserable than ever.

The truth is, when it comes to weight loss, there are no shortcuts. If you really want to lose weight and keep it off, it’ll take commitment to a lifestyle change. This means eating more nutritious food, sticking with healthier food choices, and totally junking the junk food.

Moreover, to prevent further weight gain and support your weight loss goals, you’ll also need to include exercise or some form of physical activity in your plan.

When it comes to diet and weight loss, a boost in your daily fruit intake has proven beneficial as well.
Here are five fruits that you can incorporate into your daily diet to help you cut back on a few pounds.

Good Fat? Maybe, but overeating Avocados is still Fattening.

1. AVOCADO

Avocado has grown increasingly popular among the health-conscious over the years, for good reason.

Considered an useful food, avocado contains a variety of vitamins and minerals: vitamin K, folate,
vitamin C, vitamin B6, and potassium, to name a few, are all present in this fruit.

Avocado is also high in fat-- the good kind-- as it contains the same sort of fatty acids found in
olive oil, which makes it "heart friendly". This pear-shaped fruit can lower cholesterol levels,
prevent certain cancers, and protects the eyes.

Editor's Note - It is possible to become fat by eating too many avocados. Avocados have a bad rep amongst the vegan community because far too many vegans have become addicted to avocados as a source of energy/fat and end up gaining weight instead of losing any. I have known many vegan friends who ended up putting on weight because they got addicted to eating avocados every day, so be forewarned.

Compared with other fruit, avocado is loaded with fiber. Fiber helps speed up the metabolism
by burning fat and boosting your energy. This means avocado can help you feel full and satiated
longer, and thereby curbs your appetite.

Adding avocado to your diet is easy. One of the most popular recipes that requires avocado is
guacamole-- but if you don’t have the time to whip some up, you can always just mash the fruit
and spread it on your toast like butter, and you’re good to go.

2. WATERMELON

Watermelon is a fruit that you can eat while drinking it, or drink while eating it. Depending on
how you munch on it, you can even treat half of your face to an amusing wash as well.

This is because watermelon is about 92% water. This gives the fruit a refreshing feel that is
perfect for summer picnics and beach getaways.

Distantly related to cucumber, pumpkin, and squash, you can be sure that watermelon is likewise packed with nutrients such as Vitamin A, Vitamin C, beta-carotene, antioxidants, and amino acids.

A two-cup serving of watermelon has about 15-20 milligrams of lycopene, a phytonutrient
known to promote healthy reactions in the body that can prevent heart, bone, and certain
cancers.

Let your watermelon fully ripen so that you get redder flesh. That way, you can optimize its
lycopene concentration. But don’t be quick to discount the rest of the fruit. The fruit is also rich
in fiber, which helps promote bowel movement. The white part near the rind is known to have
an amino acid that promotes better blood flow and circulation.

Since this fruit is devoid of fat, a serving equivalent to a cup will have only about 40 calories.
That means you can snack freely on it without the guilt. Use watermelon to make smoothies, juice, or
add it to a bed of greens to jazz up your salads.

3. APPLES

An apple a day does keep the doctor away. Or so the saying goes. And since it is such an amazing fruit, apples also keeps the extra pounds at bay.

Like the watermelon, the apple consists mainly of water. If you eat something that is water-rich,
chances are you will feel fuller. This puts off your appetite, thus reducing your cravings.
But that’s not all. Apples are low on the calories but high in fiber. A medium-sized apple, for
instance, only has 95 calories but its fiber content is 4 grams, which accounts for about 16% of
the recommended daily fiber intake for women, and 11% for men. This means apples are good
for your metabolic rate.

The nutrients in the apple can help with blood sugar control, mental health, and Alzheimer’s
disease, and can reduce the risk of mouth, ovarian, throat, and breast cancers with daily
consumption.

There are a lot of recipes and uses for the apple. But the easiest way is just to snack on it in
between meals-- peel included, since most of the nutrients are found in the skin.

4. GRAPEFRUIT

Grapefruit is one of the more popular weight-loss fruits. With colors ranging from white, yellow,
pink, and finally to a fully ripe red, its flavor varies from sour to sweet as well. It is a highly
nutritious fruit with low-calorie content.

Eating half a grapefruit each day ensures that you get all the health benefits that come with this
useful food. Grapefruit has an enzyme that helps kick-start your metabolism. Through a physical
activity like regular exercise, this enzyme is activated and transforms your body’s stored sugar
and fat into energy.

If you have tried all means to break up with your cellulite and you still have not been able to do
so, grapefruit just might do the trick. The bromelain in the grapefruit is known to crush cellulite
build-up. Grapefruit also contains antioxidants that neutralize carcinogens and flavonoids that
lessen the risk of ischemic stroke.

Grapefruit is best enjoyed as an alternative to desserts that are bad for you. It can be added to a
salad or used in a smoothie or a juice. You can also use grapefruit as an essential oil or seed
extracts.

A mixed bowl of berries and fruit.

5. BERRIES

Completing the list of weight loss- friendly fruits is the berry family. Helping you feel fuller longer for fewer calories, berries are also an antioxidant.

Editor's Note - Okay, so technically strawberries are not really berries because they are not part of the berry family - strawberries are part of the Rose family. But oranges, lemons, grapefruit, watermelons, tomatoes and avocados are technically member's of the berry family. Go figure. So if you were paying attention that means that 4 of the 5 "fruits" listed above are actually berries.

• Raspberries are great for improving the metabolism and reducing total body fat, especially the
• deep-seated belly fat.
• A handful of blueberries can help regulate the insulin level for enhanced blood sugar control.
• Blackberries are loaded with fiber, keeping you from feeling hungry.

Aside from their weight loss properties, various types of berries also aid in enhancing brain function, effectively managing diabetes, maintaining healthy bones, lowering blood pressure, and preventing urinary tract infection.

These berries can be eaten as they are or combined with other fruit to make a healthy smoothie. One of the best ways to enjoy them is through their infusion in water.

Set your fitness journey in motion by having your fill of these amazing fruits each day. But remember to always pair your fruit intake with the right diet, regular exercise, and a healthy lifestyle.

Sources

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jobe/2011/360257/
http://www.stylecraze.com/articles/fruits-to- eat-to- lose-weight- quickly/#gref
https://www.livescience.com/46019-watermelon- nutrition.html
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/266886.php
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/12-proven- benefits-of- avocado
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/270406.php
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/avocados-and- weight#section5
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/267290.php
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-apples- affect-weight
https://draxe.com/grapefruit-benefits- weight-loss/
https://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Ways-Grapefruit- Can-Help- You-Lose- Weight-26331222
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-benefits- of-grapefruit
http://www.shape.com/blogs/weight-loss- coach/summers-secret- weight-loss- weapon
https://www.livestrong.com/article/540540-does- eating-berries- help-you- lose-weight/


Author's Bio: Melissa is a young and energetic writer, a mom to a sweet little boy, and a fur-mom to two perfect pooches. Before becoming the Associate Content Director for projectfemale.com, she was a journalist specializing in topics related to women in politics and policy affecting women.

How I used personal training to help my infant son roll, crawl and walk faster, Part One

By Charles Moffat, Toronto Personal Trainer.

Okay so my infant son Richard is roughly 3 months and 2 weeks old, and he is already rolling over from his back to his belly, and vice versa. He did his first complete roll yesterday and did several more today.

Now to be clear, being able to roll over by himself is a huge stepping stone for a baby. The normal ages for rolling over, sitting up, crawling, standing up, and walking are as follows:

Rolling Over - 4 to 6 Months
Sitting Up - 4 to 8 Months
Crawling - 7 to 10 Months
Standing Up - 9 to 12 Months
Walking - 9 to 15 Months

Call me impatient if you wish, but I have become determined to help my son reach the various milestones slightly faster than other babies. (For context he said "Daddy" back on August 31st, when he was just 2 months and 1 week old - and he was 2 weeks early popping out of his momma, so clearly he is also impatient to do everything in a hurry.)

Every day I get my son exercising. But the exercises he does differ from what most parents normally do.

#1. Tummy Time

Usually such exercising is referred to as "Tummy Time", which is included in what he does. Tummy Time is typically laying the baby on his or her tummy so they can practice lifting their head up.

Tummy Time is important for building neck and upper back muscles, in addition to arm muscles, leg muscles, abdominal muscles - all muscles your baby needs to start building.

Tummy Time is an exercise that all babies should be doing, every day. So it is strongly recommended parents take the time to have their babies do 10 to 30 minutes of Tummy Time per day.

#2. Assisted Rolling

In addition to Tummy Time I also help my son to roll over - to the point that he can now roll over onto his side - and from his side to his belly - all by himself.

We accomplished this by doing the following:

• Assisted rolling by helping him move his arms and legs into the correct positions for rolling over and then helping him push himself onto his side, and eventually on to his belly.
• Laying him on his side so he can practice rolling on to his back or towards his belly, unassited

Now that he can roll himself under his own power he is less vulnerable to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). A common cause of SIDS is a baby suffocating on something because they were unable to roll away from the object they were suffocating on. Even being able to perform a half-roll on to their side could end up saving their life.

#3. Assisted Sitting Up and Assisted Sit Ups

This I accomplish by placing him in a sitting position and supporting his back and chest with one hand. As he gets better at it however I have started removing the hand supporting his chest, and even switching to having both hands holding his wrists instead of his torso - this way he still gets support if he needs it, for safety reasons, but otherwise is practicing holding himself upright in a sitting position.

I find you have to kind of steer him using his wrists and arms because his lack of balance will cause him to leave forward or to the sides more often.

The second part of this is holding his hands and helping him to perform a basic Sit Up. He starts from a laying position, holding his wrists I help him into a sitting position - maintain that sitting position - and then help lower him back down into a laying position. I repeat the Sit Ups 10 times before giving him a break.

#4. Assisted Standing

Using my hands under his armpits to support him, I lift my son into a standing position. I then reduce the amount of pressure I am using to support him, forcing him to exercise his leg muscles in order to maintain standing.

Doing this exercise every day, I find it allows my son to build stronger legs so that he is now able to stand for longer periods with very minimal support (mostly for balance and safety purposes) from myself.

Sometimes I will also help him by supporting his hands instead of his arm pits, so he is more under his own power.

#5. Assisted Squats

Since his legs are getting stronger every day, I have also started helping him to do squats. Squats builds his leg muscles even faster than standing does. The method is similar to the assisted standing above, but I reduce the amount of pressure I use to support him so that he is forced to either stand on his own or is reduced to a squatting position and then he has to use his own power to stand back up again.

He hasn't reached the point like the baby below has with the squatting and lifting weights, but nevertheless.

 Your End Goals

The ultimate goal of all of these exercises is to improve the survivability and strength of your baby.

If your baby can roll over by themselves that is a very important step, but being able to sit up independently, crawl away from danger, or even stand and walk away from danger - those seem like important skills to me.

As my son gets older I will also be making sure he learns how to swim and a variety of other useful skills.

Doing all of this in a supervised manner is safer in my opinion.

Doing the things mentioned above may seem like "no brainers" to some people, but I am also applying personal training concepts to his exercises, things like:

1. Repetition - He does every exercise 10 times or more, or for at least 10 minutes.
2. Exercising Daily - He exercises every day, even when Papa is tired or busy we still make time to do the exercises.
3. Do Every Exercise - We don't skip any exercises. 10+ minutes of Tummy Time, 10 Rolls, 10 Minutes of Sitting, 10 Sit Ups, 10 Minutes Standing, 10 Squats. Total time - About 35-45 minutes.
4. Break Times - So he doesn't get exhausted.
5. No Exercising on a Full Tummy - Want to see the baby spit up? No? Then wait at least 30 minutes after feeding before doing any exercises.
6. Nap times are also good, not just for baby, but for everyone.

As your child grows they are going to be exercising constantly. Remember to hydrate and feed them regularly. Sleep. Nap. Rest breaks.

Avoid too much TV, computers and cellphones. If it feels like they are watching screen too often, it is time to go outside.

Remember to have fun outdoors!

Don't Expect This To Happen