Make Brain Training a Habit - Best Practices in Brain Training to Get More Out of Life!

Life is about memories. Capturing memories is not all photographs and videos. Celebrating life's memories is to remember and share those memories to people we meet and interact.

Scientists believe that the brain starts to decline at age 25. But we can do something about it. Brain cells develop throughout life. The brain has the lifelong ability to reorganize neural pathways based on new experiences.

Remembering details of life's memories entail the use of our brain. It is very important to keep our mind sharp and focused in order for us not only to remember important events in our life, but also to do complex tasks.

Even in the attainment of goals, brain training is a must. Success is also a product of brain power. To be able to control our thoughts, mental cognition should be improved. This fuels our will power.

Thus, training the brain should be a habit. It sharpens our cognition, keeping the brain quick and young.

To start developing the habit of brain training, one has to be willing to do it. Unless our brain is open and willing to learn, only then can we process thoughts and emotions.

My family and friends attest that I have good memory. Yes, I do remember bits and pieces of not only pleasant and milestones in my life, but also those of others! Pondering on this realization, I ask myself this question: "How do I do it?" Let me recall the "best practices" which I feel contributed to my "brain power".

o I start and end the day with Caffeine --- a cup of coffee in the morning, and a cup of tea before going to bed.

I pick coffee that is naturally rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants help to fight against free radicals, one of the main reasons of aging and memory loss. Coffee delivers a whole range of emotional benefits --- from stimulation to relaxation to refreshment. Soluble coffee is practically free of calories, with only 2kcal per cup. Drinking coffee at the start of day prepares me to take on tasks that require focused concentration. Coffee refreshes my mind during activities that demand prolonged alertness.

Tea on the other hand is known for its soothing and calming properties. Tea time for me is the ultimate stress break --- letting me stop, stretch and stimulate my senses. I returned relaxed, refreshed and ready to face whatever comes my way.

o Physical exercise also keeps brain healthy. Exercising at least 20 minutes, four times a week is a good practice. In my case, I alternate hiphop dance and yoga. Dancing I discovered, has a protective effect against Dementia, a significant loss of memory and mental function.

In a study that lasted two decades, researchers found people who danced more had less risk of developing dementia over the study period than people who danced once a week or less. The researchers believe that the increased blood flow to the brain may offer protections against brain diseases.

Before an exercise routine, it is good to do some "breath control". Inhaling and exhaling calms and centers to the self

o Reading useful materials and watching informative programs let us learn something new. Since learning is a lifelong process, the aforementioned activities will keep our minds fueled.

o Playing problem-solving games like puzzles, electronic games and analytical games also help.

o Watching our nutrition will keep us fit, at the same time feeds the brain. Brain food includes those rich in omega 3-fatty acids, antioxidants and brain-boosting supplements.

o Lately I found out about another "relaxation strategy" which I believe helps me to refresh my mind --- The Stillness Experiment, created by Stacey Mayo, founder of the Center for Balanced Living.

The Stillness Experiment is practicing "of being in the moment". When you are quiet and relaxed, you will be able to experience peace and will be able to discern wisely.

To know more of this experiment, you can visit this link -> stillnessexperiment.blogspot.com stillnessexperiment.blogspot.com

Lastly, live with expectations and challenges. As Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg, a neuropsychologist and clinical professor of Neurology at New York University School of Medicine puts it, "Use it and get more out of it."

Why Brain Training?
The brain needs care just like the body
New scientific research shows that we can improve the health and function of our brains with the right mental workouts. In a study funded by the National Institute of Health, scientists found that memory, reasoning and processing speed can be improved by brain training. Moreover, they found that cognitive improvements persisted for at least five years!
As seen on CNN, CNBC and FORBES: braintraining-games.org Brain Training Games and braintraining-games.org Brain Training Puzzles

Fitness Trends Come and Go

Did you ever wonder how something becomes a trend or a fad? Well, I am always intrigued when people begin to like certain things even though they don't really know anything about them. The truth is that it is very common for people to mistake popular things for valuable things. In this case I am referring to all the buzz around Pilates, yoga and Zumba, last year's crazes in fitness.

I'm not saying that these are not good ways to exercise, all exercise is good. The thing is that the promised fast results often never happen or when they do, they are short lived. So the question is why do these sports get all this attention, surely there must be something about them! Well the special thing about them is the great effort and ingenuity marketing departments invested in them. After all we have to keep in mind that they all promise pretty much the same thing: fast, efficient results with no effort - just fun.

Celebrity endorsements

Every time we hear that a particular celebrity does pilates or that yoga is the"thing" in Hollywood. We can't help making an opinion about it. We see celebrities promote these sports all the time on TV, there are shows and presentations. Ever seen a comparison between one of these "cool" sports and others, chances are you've seen at least one of those "before and after" commercials.

The truth is that actors can be paid to say one type of gym training did wonders for their shape, and its common practice to promote things in the best possible light in order to increase sales. But if you really want to be health, keep in shape and look good you really have to put in a little effort. The first effort is choosing what works best for you, to do this you must experiment and compare to see what is your king of fitness. It's very important to know why you want gym training, if you want to loose weight you should try one thing whereas if you want to relax you need something different.

Gym training is not fashion

Fitness is very important, that's why you should be well informed before beginning a new program. Sometimes it is very useful to have a personal trainer or instructor to keep you motivated and to recommend what you need. If you can, try to be a little suspicious about some of the things you hear or read because it pays off to choose rationally. So the next time you hear about the new trends in fitness, remember: results are what really matter.

Markku Parviainen - Taekwondo & Fitness coach - MP-Taekwondo akademi G?teborg SWEDEN - markkuparviainen.com markkuparviainen.com

Markku Parviainen has studied Taekwondo (WTF) over 30 years and was member of Finnish national team for 10 years. He has a Coaching degree from the Finnish sport institute and has coached the Finnish junior national team. He competed in over 100 tournaments and his best results were a Bronze medal in the European championship and numerous national and Nordic titles. His students have received medals in World championships and European championship games. Currently he lives with his family in Sweden and runs his Taekwondo School in the city of Gothenbourg.

Yoga Posture Basics That Are Easy To Do

Yoga is a very common style of exercise that is practiced by people all over the world. These exercises help to build strength and flexibility in our bodies by creating a balance. Yoga is derived from ancient India and is still going strong in its beliefs and practices. If you are just starting your yoga training or are curious about some basic postures for yoga, then perhaps this article will be of some benefit to you. We will discuss a few of the basic postures that are easy to do.

The first posture that we will discuss is called The Cobra. When doing this posture, we want to do this in easy stages. First we want to lie down with our forehead touching the floor, our face needs to be prone and our legs should be tight together and stretched back. Next we want to place our hands under our shoulders with our palms facing down. Once we have done this we want to inhale and raise your head back pressing your neck backwards. The next step is with the use of our hands we will push up our trunks until we have formed a beautiful arc that reaches from the lower part of our spine to the back of our necks.

Once we have reached this point, there is really no need to go any further, but if you feel that you can, then you can fully extend your arms. Beginning at the knees you can bend your legs and stretch your head as if try to touch your feet. Whether or not you can actually touch your feet with your head is not important as long as you can hold the posture and remain deep breathing. When coming out of this posture, we want to do this very slowly. Return to start position with our faces prone, then relax with your head to one side. This is the Cobra posture. Now all you have to do is repeat the steps.

The second posture of yoga that we will discuss is called the Bow. This posture is a more extreme version of the simple bow posture. Amazingly, there is an outstanding number of children who can easily do this posture easily almost immediately. As with the Cobra posture position, this one also we want to do in stages. First, let us lie face prone on our mats. For this posture, you may want to consider a padded mat, if you are a slim person with a neck that is thick. Now we are gonna inhale and bring our knees up.

Now that we have our knees up, we want to extend your arms back and while our fingers and thumbs are together, grab your ankles. Now that we are in this position, we are going to inhale and raise heads and our chest at the same time we are going to pull on our legs with our hands. This will lift our knees and thighs off of the mat. Now, we want to breathe normally all the while we are trying to raise our legs higher and our heads up. We are now bent into the Bow posture. With this yoga posture, we are balancing our body weight on our abdomens.

Once we have reached this final step, we can stop or we can continue to stretch your body a little further. To do this we need to move our hands down our legs, lifting them higher. Keeping our knees together, we want to pull back as much as possible. Now we want to hold position for a few normal breaths, then we will will relax and return back to our face prone positions with our heads to one side. We have now successfully completed the Bow posture.

The last posture position that we will discuss in this article is the Shooting Bow posture. This posture is also known as Akarna Dhanurasana. To start, we will sit with our backs straight and our legs extended. Now we want to extend forward and reach our feet with both our hands. We want to grab hold of our left foot with our right hand and using our left hand we will grab hold of our right foot.

While we inhale, we will bend the left knee and bring our left foot close to our chest across our body. We also want to make sure that our elbows are pointing up, while slightly twisting our body to the right. The left hand that is holding the right foot needs to stay tight and firm. While we are holding this position we will breath normally, then slowly release and relax.

Once we have completed this step, we will repeat the same steps for the opposite side. For beginners to yoga or this posture position, it will suffice to hold the now bent left leg with our right hand. Once you have done this a few times and it becomes easier to do, we will reach down and grab hold of our left foot with our right hand. Now we will continue to pull on our left foot, bringing it higher with each breath that we exhale.

These are just a few of the basic yoga posture positions that you do easily. They are perfect for the beginner yoga trainee and will help you train your body to be more flexible and stronger at the same time. By following these steps, you will start to create a balance in your body that can not be achieved any other way.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of my-personal-growth.com My-Personal-Growth.com, a site that provides information and articles for self improvement and personal growth and development.

Should Christians Practice Yoga?

Relatively new to the list of controversial health topics is the practice of yoga by Christians. Though its Hindu origins are widely understood and agreed upon, the Christian community offers conflicting opinions about yoga's spiritual relevance in the United States today. Those who simply view yoga as an effective way to improve flexibility and reduce stress are met with criticism by those whose stance rings loud and clear: the practice of yoga is spiritually dangerous and should not be taken lightly.

In the West, yoga has introduced itself to the American people as a secular, neutral practice. Yoga is known to improve physical fitness, reduce stress and help relieve chronic pain. The flexibility achieved through yoga reduces a person's risk for injury and can even elongate a person's figure. "America's Next Top Model" winner Eva Pigford claims that she grew two inches after intense yoga training. The deep breathing techniques associated with yoga are also linked to efforts in smoking cessation and migraine relief.

Yoga comes from the Sanskrit term for "yoke" or "union." Historically, the practice aimed to produce an experience of union with Brahman, the impersonal god of Hinduism. Prana is the Hindu label for universal energy, which through yoga is concentrated from the air and distributed throughout the body through various breathing techniques. Through hatha yoga and tantric yoga, prana is allegedly transferred from one individual to another. In other forms of yoga, the pinnacle of enlightenment is called "Kundalini arousal." In Hindu mythology, Kundalini is the serpent goddess who rests at the base of the spine and when aroused, travels up the spine to activate prana. Many adept at manipulating this force are commonly referred to in the United States as shamans, witch doctors or psychics associated with the pagan or occult world.

But yoga's Eastern roots are not the sole cause for controversy. Many Christians in opposition to yoga share the same opposition to any energy healing practice that holds the pantheistic view that everything in the universe is divine. Therapies such as Reiki, Quantum-Touch and Chakra balancing fall into this category. If man is divine, man is his own god and can heal himself. This view removes the separation between God and man, which Christians call sin. Without sin, man would be in no need of Jesus Christ, the Savior. It is the Christian belief that only through God's son Jesus Christ can a man be reconciled to God. The conflict between yogic ideology and Christianity by now should be quite obvious.

Where does this leave Christians who want the physical benefits of yoga without the potentially dangerous spiritual ramifications? Laurette Willis, a well-known author and speaker in the Christian community, left "New Age" practices and developed a deep breathing and stretching program called PraiseMoves, which many have labeled "the Christian alternative to yoga." Improved flexibility can come from any general but comprehensive stretching program, or through classes in gymnastics or ballet. Christians who feel "strong enough in their faith" to practice yoga without succumbing to Eastern religious influence are encouraged to research instructors before they begin a program, and to fully understand which form of yoga the instructor is teaching.

No matter where a person falls on the spectrum of belief, personal motives should be addressed. What void does yoga fill? For some, yoga is only exercise. For others, stress relief. To the Christian opposed to yoga because of its connection to energy healing, yoga is blasphemous and profane. It is the Christian belief that God offered the free gift of salvation through his son Jesus Christ and through Him alone comes healing and true peace. Accepting the free and eternal gift of salvation may not improve your physical flexibility, but for many Christians, the peace found through Christ is all the stress relief and enlightenment they need.

Natural Health from a Christian Perspective - aestheticsavenue.com aestheticsavenue.com

Eight Amazing Benefits of Teaching Yoga

Every challenging occupation yields some sort of satisfaction, but the fitness professionals industry had an amazing 85% job satisfaction rate according to an Idea Health & Fitness survey.

Job Satisfaction

In the same survey, 98% of those interviewed felt that "My work gives me a feeling of personal accomplishment." Lack of personal satisfaction is the most frequent reason why people leave a job. These statistics make it obvious that this is an extremely harmonious atmosphere to work in.

For many of us who worked in the corporate world and shifted into the health and fitness industry, the energy felt in a health club, ashram, or wellness center is similar to being on vacation. There's always something to do, but the job itself is very gratifying.

Rewards of Helping Family, Friends, Students, and Co-workers

Your self esteem improves as you find solutions for the pain management of others, ailments, fitness, stress management, positive thinking, etc.

The list goes on, as you continue your own journey of self improvement, but the feeling of gratification you get from helping someone find the right path, is beyond words.

You will always remember: That student who reaches their ideal body weight, the physically impaired student who finds that they, too, can live a better quality life, and the student who leaves your class without the headache or backache they came in with.

Your Own Health

As a practitioner of Yoga, you have become more aware of your daily ups and downs. You monitor your breath, posture, moods, diet, and exercise on a daily basis.

As a Yoga teacher, you are setting an example to your students and teaching them to live a quality life. This path will enable you to live longer and live better.

There is no Shortage of Work

When the working world is in the "9 to 5" mode, you have many opportunities with Corporate Accounts, The Fitness Industry, Senior Centers, Medical Centers, Referrals, etc. This is when you to teach them, with any free time you have.

Once I became totally self-employed, there were more daytime off-site Yoga teaching opportunities than I had time for in a geographic area that has many active Yoga teachers and studios. One of my best students, who became a Yoga teacher through our on-site program, inherited an area that I could no longer service due to time restraints.

The object is to contact them. This is where your post cards come in handy, if you don't have a personal referral.

Continuing Education

Yes, learning new things keeps your mind stimulated and healthy. You will never tire of subjects to study, explore, and investigate. There are so many facets of Yoga, that one life span, is just not enough time to learn it all.

It's not a race, but it is a journey. You will find friends, colleagues, and students who are on the same path. This makes giving, receiving, and sharing a wonderful thing along the way.

Time

You will have time to stop, think, breathe, relax, or meditate. You can always fill your plate beyond its limits, but you no longer have to.

You can determine whether or not you will be stuck in traffic during rush hour. You decide what hours you will work and what days you have off. You will come to the realization that your time is your own.

Independence

Everyone wants control of their own life, but very few achieve it. Being in business for yourself, can help you control your own destiny and that of your family.

Sure there are limits to what one person can accomplish, but it is better to try than to have never tried.

Success

No matter what you want, if you write down your short-term and long-term goals, you will make great progress toward them.

You should keep these goals in a place where you can see them daily and visualize yourself accomplishing your goals. You should be specific about time frames and ethical methods used to meet them. You can even use them in meditation.

Review your long-term goals at least once every season and every year. Review your short-term goals daily. You will see yourself make rapid success in this way.

Lastly, goals do not have to be material at all. For example: You may want to start teaching Yoga in a year, and the following year, get a part-time Yoga teaching position. This type of goal setting is realistic and beneficial to mankind.

That is the key - If you choose a goal that will benefit others, you will surely achieve it.

Paul Jerard, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center in, North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher.

yoga-teacher-training.org yoga-teacher-training.org

Bored of the Same Old Exercise Routine? Break Through Your Workout Rut With These Fun Fitness Ideas

If your workout routine consists of going to the gym and doing the same thing over and over again, you're probably not going to get the results you want.

The key to continuing making improvements is to change the workload. Your body will plateau after a certain point, because it adapts to the stress you put upon it. You have to put more stress on the body. Whether you work out with more intensity, or longer, or with more weight, you've got to do something harder than what you were doing before if you want your body to change.

If you're bored of the same old, same old at the gym, why not try one of these fresh new fitness ideas? Not only will they help you up the intensity of your workout, they may also help you bust through boredom and start seeing the physical changes you desire.

AntiGravity yoga

Sure, you've tried out a yoga class, and maybe even a hot yoga class or two. But the latest craze in yoga circles will sweep you off your feet - literally. Spun off from New York City acrobatic performance troupe AntiGravity, the AntiGravity Yoga workout is designed to increase overall health and physical agility while having fun.

The practice uses something called the AntiGravity Hammock along with some standard yoga moves (as well as a few from dance, Pilates and calisthenics). You perform the moves hanging from the hammock, letting you decompress tight joints and relieve pressure while aligning the vertebrae of the spine without strain. It even allows you to perform advanced yoga inversions without neck or back compression.

Crossfit

With Crossfit franchises popping up all across the country, people are drawn into the classes based on the premise that Crossfit's specialty is having no specialty at all. These intense classes combine cardio, strength training and endurance, allowing people to push their bodies to the limit.

No two workouts are the same, but each one consists of functional exercises (think pushups, pullups, deadlifts, overhead presses, skipping, squats, running) using equipment like dumbbells, kettlebells and skipping ropes. You might feel like puking after pushing your body to the limits in a workout, but you'll see results - fast.

Climbing

You might think indoor rock climbing looks easy, but once you start scaling that wall, it's anything but. The key is that it challenges you both physically and mentally. Not only do you need the strength to pull yourself up the wall, you have to plan the best way to get there.

The benefits of rock climbing include increased strength, flexibility, endurance, agility, balance, problem solving skills and mental control. The bonus to doing it indoors is that it's a safer, more controlled environment, making it appropriate for the whole family.

Jukari Fit to Fly

Created by Reebok and Cirque du Soleil, this workout will bring out the inner acrobat in anyone.

The hour-long workout uses a specially-designed piece of equipment called the FlySet. The workout is designed to give the sensation of flying, while at the same time strengthening and lengthening the body through cardio, strength, balance and core training.

The FlySet consists of a durable three-stranded rope fixed to the ceiling with a 360 degree swivel point at an adjustable length with two attachment loops. The FlyBar, a 4.5lb neoprene coated attachable steel bar, is placed through the two loops, which can be varied in height, to create an apparatus that strengthens and lengthens the body as you experience the sensation of flying during the workout.

And if flying isn't quite your style, consider trying Jukari Fit to Flex, a routine that uses resistance bands to improve strength and tone muscles.

Zumba

Love Latin dancing? Gyms across the country have started offering Zumba fitness programs that combine Latin rhythms and dance moves with aerobics and strength training. The routines feature interval training sessions where fast and slow rhythms and resistance training are combined to tone and sculpt your body while burning fat.

During a Zumba class, an instructor will take you through the routines, letting you wiggle your hips and perform dance moves while listening to infectious, pulsating music. If traditional workouts leave you bored and dancing is your style, be sure to check out a Zumba class and see if the Latin rhythms are more to your liking.

Alison Dunn is Editor of Primacy Life, a Canadian-based health, wellness and fitness website. Primacy Life is published weekly and covers important topics affecting Canadians everywhere. Visit Primacy.ca Primacy.ca today.

Yoga For Stress And Anxiety Relief

Today's lifestyles define the word, "stress." More than 19 million Americans suffer from some from of anxiety on a regular basis. Part of what contributes to the increase in stress, and anxiety, is that very few people know how to manage their stress.

Some of those, who know how to manage stress, fail to create a plan of action. In a nutshell, Yoga can provide the means to cope and reduce stress. Allowing stress to become chronic, or permitting anxiety to take over one's life, can be seriously detrimental to a person's health.

Stress can cause a variety of health problems. Existing conditions, illness, and ailments, are worsened, if they are allowed to thrive through stress. Anxiety and stress can lead to a paralyzed existence, or inability, to function.

The good news is that yoga works to loosen the tension in the mind, body, and spirit. Even the medical community has begun to recognize what yogis have known for hundreds of years.

The core goal of yoga is to reach a state of tranquility, completeness, and peaceful union, of mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. Is there a better way to calm your worry?

The methods of breathing, and focused meditation, draw your mind away from stressful distraction. Visualization during breathing, and the performance of yoga postures, plant your mind in a place of calm.

These practices are designed to give you a place to heal, a path to move forward, and the ability make progress. Without first allowing you a place to rest or heal, you cannot move forward from anxiety and stress.

There are several different types of yoga practices. Yoga styles vary in philosophy, approach, intensity, and format, but they all grant varying benefits on practitioners.

A calmer, slower, but physical type of yoga, is Hatha yoga; one of the nine main styles from India. This type of yoga is both designed to calm the student, and can be structured to meet the needs of anyone, of any age, or physical condition.

Hatha yoga also has several sub-styles, but all have the same three main focal points of controlled breathing (pranayama), postures (asanas), and meditation.

© Copyright 2008 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. aurawellnesscenter.com aurawellnesscenter.com He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

All About Hot Yoga

For fitness lovers, trying new things keeps exercise fun and exciting. Many people try yoga and they either like it or they don`t. Yoga is a different kind of exercise because it involves lots of stretching and calm breathing movements. For yoga fans, trying hot yoga takes it to a whole new level. It takes everything they know about yoga and turns it up a notch.

Hot yoga is also known as Bikram yoga. It is practiced in a room that is heated up to 105f with a humidity of forty percent. This type of yoga is guided by twenty-six postures and two breathing exercises following a ninety minute workout routine.

Hot yoga instructors must have training and certification in this area before they are able to teach it. There are currently over five hundred hot yoga studios worldwide and the Yoga College of India has trained more than 3000 instructors charging more than 9000 dollars each. With such a high demand for trainers, it is only natural that so many clinics are opening and yoga fans are crossing over.

Hot yoga involves exercising in hot room temperatures that induces sweating and in turn is thought to rid toxins and keep the muscles more flexible for the ultimate stretches and yoga moves.

It is thought that hot yoga can create deeper stretching and prevent injury, distress and release tension. It can stimulate and restore health to muscles and joints and organs. There are two components to the twenty-six exercises. These are; postures and breathing exercises. It is believed that only 50% of lung capacity is used at time, and that the lungs need to stretch out as well. Hot yoga works to stretch the body and lungs to their very max.

Hot yoga has been known to cause some severe symptoms in beginners who continue on later to become experts. It has caused; feelings of dizziness and nausea. It has also been associated with people fainting and passing out completely. It is advised that beginners take lots of breaks and keep hydrated.

The idea of total blood circulation is one of the benefits of this practice. It is believed that circulation is affected because of two processes called extension and compression. It delivers fresh oxygen to the joints, muscles and organs through deep exercising and breathing techniques. Heat in turn allows the heart to pump out fresh blood in reaction to the shortage of restricted blood caused by stretching and specific yoga moves. During these exercises, it is thought that infection, bacteria and toxins are released as blood volume is changed and rejuvenated.

There are some negative beliefs associated with this type of yoga. The heat and sweating can actually case more harm to the organs than good if a person does not keep hydrated. It can also lead to heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and injuries from fainting can be another result. Injuries can also be sustained to muscles and the back as in hot yoga muscles might stretch more than they should creating severe pain when all is said and done.

The best thing to do when trying hot yoga is gives it a cautious try. That means to go with an open mind and do what feels right to you. Always ask for your doctor`s opinion on the topic of hot yoga first before trying any class.

Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for polomercantil.livejournal.com Polomercantil

Insider Secrets to the Business of Teaching Yoga, Part 4

The authors, previously mentioned, have more than one motivational audio book out on the market - and this is only the "tip of the iceberg." Some of their stories will entertain you and give you insight to success. Every Yoga teacher, who succeeds, learns from past failures. It's less painful to learn from other Yoga instructor's failures and much less expensive, too.

If you brainstorm with successful Yoga teachers, or people in general, you will find many of them read or listen to inspirational material. They don't participate in, or listen to, much negative talk, and you can't afford to either.

As a Yoga teacher, you have to be positive when teaching every Yoga class. Your students will feel negative energy from you, and it is hard for any Yoga teacher to help others if he or she is "feeling down in the dumps."

Some negative thinkers will tell you to resign yourself to teach Yoga as a hobby. This is what each Yoga teacher should do if he or she doesn't believe in success. Forget about your dreams, and believe in doom and gloom. You learn worthless concepts like:

"That will never work."

"You have to be born with money."

"Life sucks and then you die."

Enough already! Stay away from these people, who want to shatter your dreams, of being a successful Yoga teacher, and believe in yourself. If you need more audio book or e-Book recommendations; send me an Email. When you develop a positive outlook, you will find yourself surrounded by positive people.

When each of us chooses to study Yoga, and then to teach Yoga; we learn about the many positive components of Yoga. Go back to the basics and cultivate prana. Practice positive meditation and positively visualize your future every day.

Eat a sattvic diet or eat as close as you can to sattvic. In truth, all Yoga teachers must "walk the talk." When we decide to become a Yoga teacher, we are supposed to be examples of good mental, physical, and spiritual health.

This does not mean we have to have perfect bodies, but all Yoga teachers should be in the best health possible. Otherwise, what kind of a message are we sending to the public at large? Being a good example of health is part of the job description if you decide to teach Yoga.

© Copyright 2006 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Become Enlightened on Making Money - 9 Tips For Yoga Teachers

You did it! You became a yoga teacher. Maybe you practiced for 2 years before taking your teacher training, maybe 20, but you came to the realization that you wanted to share your passion for yoga and for a better life with other people, and you took the steps necessary to teach. And then you realized just how hard it is to make money teaching yoga. How can you be an effective yoga teacher when you're stressed out about your business? Follow these 9 tips for success!

Tip 1: Attend Other Teachers' Classes.

Practicing with other teachers not only keeps you fresh and energized; it also gives you an opportunity to network and market yourself. The more students get to know you, the more they will come to your classes.

Tip 2: Introduce Yourself.

The next time you take a class with another teacher in your studio, ask them to introduce you as the teacher who gives the vinyasa class (or whatever it is you teach) on Saturday mornings (or whenever it is that you teach). You'll find that more people start to come to your classes.

Tip 3: More Practicing, Less Teaching.

The number one mistake that yoga teachers make when they start teaching is to allocate too much time to teaching, and not enough to practicing. The best yoga teachers teach what they practice. Without your own practice, what are you teaching?

Tip 4: Get Paid Per Head.

Getting paid per hour is fine if you never want to make money. When you get paid per head (per the number of people that attend your class), you have more control over your earnings, and you can do your own marketing - and have it pay off! The more people like you, the more you'll make.

Tip 5: Cancel low-performing classes.

How much is your time worth? If you have a class that consistently gets only a small number of people, cancel it and focus on the classes that bring in more people.

Tip 6: Split-Test Your Classes!

Split testing is a term that is often used in internet marketing. When you split-test, you test to see what works best, and you do more of it. For instance, let's say you teach two ashtanga classes, one at 10:00 AM and the other at 5:00 PM. You teach them exactly the same, but you consistently get more people at 5:00 PM. Cancel your 10:00 AM and start another class at 5:00 PM on a different day. Then, split test something else - perhaps the way you start class, the type of class you teach, how repetitive you are, and so on. Consistently do more of what works, and then try to make it work even better.

Tip 7: Advertise!

Carry around your business.educationeasy.net business card. Introduce yourself as a yoga instructor. Hand out your flyers and class schedules. Set up a web page with information on yoga, where and when you teach, your philosophy, and anything else you think people might want to know about yoga. Learn to market online - that's where most people look for information nowadays.

Tip 8: Make What You're Worth.

A huge mistake that many new yoga teachers make is to assume they should earn less than more experienced teachers. You have your own style, and many people will prefer your classes for variety of reasons, regardless of your experience. If you accept less than you deserve, you will end up feeling frustrated. You will never make more than you think you are worth. Decide how much you want to make, and stick to your goal.

Tip 9: Do Something Else to Bring in Money.

In certain areas, especially away from the city, it may be difficult for you to get many people to your classes. To keep your sanity, you may need to do something else to bring in money. A good idea is to start a simple online business that can make money for you while you focus on other things. Teaching yoga is much more relaxing when you know that you have other money coming in!

If you follow these nine tips, you should be well on your way to success as a yoga instructor. Here's to educating others on the road to enlightenment!

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About the author:
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Liane Carmi, a High School ESL teacher and yoga instructor, has joined entrepreneur Jay Kubassek of CarbonCopyPRO in his mission to create 100 millionaires by 2012. To get better-educated about starting an online business please visit better-educated.com?t=yoga Better-Educated.com

Yoga Dance Teacher Training: Can You Be Certified in Yoga and Dance?

In some ways, yoga complements dance perfectly. The flowing poses can be dancelike. Yoga also provides a way to loosen muscles tightened by doing a dance routine. But what if you want to teach both? Can you get Yoga dance teacher training?

Right now, there's no program I know of that teaches both at the same time. But if you are already a dance instructor and want to branch out into yoga, happinesslifetime.com yoga teacher training can get you certified and prepared to teach a yoga class.

One of the best forms of yoga suited for dance is vinyasa yoga. This is a form where you flow from one position to the next. It can be very dancelike.

There are a few ways to become certified as a Vinyasa Yoga teacher. Make sure that whichever method you choose is certified by the Yoga Alliance. This is necessary if you want to be able to teach in any of the major studios.

Studios will occasionally offer certification programs, but you usually need to be one of their students to sign up. Also, these spots tend to fill up quickly, so be sure to act fast. This training method usually costs about $2000 and takes a few months to complete.

You can also go on a yoga retreat to get certified. This is much more expensive, but it is a faster method. You can expect to pay $3000-$4000 plus travel expenses.

Finally, many people like to get certified through a home study course. This is done with the help of an instructor over the Internet at a much lower cost than the previous options. Usually, you can pay less than $500. One of the biggest benefits of this option is that you can study at your own pace.

If you are looking to become a Yoga Teacher then you need my FREE yogainstructorscoursecertification.com Yoga Teacher Training Guide ($47.00 Value). You'll learn how to get the best yoga teacher training possible that guarantees a high income, high student retention plus how to get lucrative corporate jobs and much, much more! Download it now for FREE for a limited time at yogainstructorscoursecertification.com yogainstructorscoursecertification.com

Montana Massage Therapy Schools

Montana massage therapy schools are found in several locations around the state. Local vocational and technical schools, as well as community colleges, four-year colleges and universities will often house massage therapy schools. Some offer simple certificates and others offer complete degree programs. There are also several massage therapy schools in Montana that are dedicated entirely to the teaching of massage therapy and preparing students for massage therapy careers.

The best massage therapists are concerned with promoting the health and well-being of others through natural healing. While attending one of the Montana massage therapy schools, students will study biology, chemistry, anatomy, physiology, pathology, and various styles of massage therapy. Students are taught to use a variety of techniques of massage for various purposes. Students learn how different massage styles can be used to soothe or stimulate energy, help clients recover from injury or illness, or loosen muscles to prevent a sports injury.

Montana massage therapy schools often teach both Eastern and Western forms of massage therapies. Western massage emphasizes stress management and wellness issues of physical health, reducing injury, and recovery from injury. Western therapies can include Swedish massage, kinesiology, hydrotherapy, sports massage, deep tissue massage, chair massage, reflexology, aromatherapy, and spa treatments that induce relaxation and reduction of stress. Western methods concentrate on healing of muscle and soft tissue, increased flexibility, renewal of energy, and knowledge of physical mechanics for prevention of injury.

Eastern massage therapies include total body, energy-enhancing forms of therapies that focus on overall wellbeing of the patient as a whole. Because Eastern massage therapy is holistic, students are taught to consider the entire patient--that is, mind, body and spirit. Styles of Eastern massage can include shiatsu, Tui Na, acupressure, Ayrvedic, Thai massage, and Jin Shin Do.

Some Montana massage therapy schools also teach the necessary skills for managing a massage therapy business. Graduates will be prepared for working in sports medicine clinics, physical therapy offices, naturopathic and pain management clinics, orthopedic and chiropractic offices, yoga centers, hospitals, nursing homes, and in beauty salons, spas, resorts, and even on cruise ships!

The state of Montana has no requirements or regulations in effect, but local jurisdictions may apply strict laws to massage therapists and massage therapy businesses. You can gain insight into regulations in the areas of intended practice by contacting local authorities before beginning a massage practice or accepting clients.

If you would like to know more about Montana Massage Therapy Schools [schoolsgalore.com/categories/1/montana_massage_therapy_schools.html], we invite you to visit our website today and pick several schools that match your professional goals. Submit a request for information to your selected schools, and you will soon have everything you need to begin a rewarding career in natural healing!

If necessary, you may wish to widen your search for massage therapy schools to include other states, such as:

- New Jersey Massage Therapy Schools

- Michigan Massage Therapy Schools

- Minnesota Massage Therapy Schools

- Connecticut Massage Therapy Schools

- Pennsylvania Massage Therapy Schools

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on SchoolsGalore.com.

Copyright 2007 - All rights reserved by Media Positive Communications, Inc.

Notice: Publishers are free to use this article on an ezine or website, provided the article is reprinted in its entirety, including copyright and disclaimer, and ALL links remain intact and active.

Michael Bustamante is a staff writer for Media Positive Communications, Inc. Find Massage Therapy Schools in Montana [schoolsgalore.com/categories/1/massage_therapy_schools_montana.html] and other states, such as schoolsgalore.com/categories/1/arizona_massage_therapy_schools.html Arizona Massage Therapy Schools, at SchoolsGalore.com, your educational resource to locate schools.

First Limb of Yoga- The Fifth Yama - Aparigraha

Aparigraha could be translated as, "Thou Shall Not Covet." Fair enough, but how do we accomplish this on this plane of existence? This is a material world, where we see, smell, or feel, sensations, and material. Many people feel their entire existence is based on acquisition of material goods and relationships.

How often have we heard the words, "trophy wife" or "boy toy?" The rich know the pitfalls of shallow relationships. Many of them trade their intimate, but shallow relationships, in, faster than the middle class can change their cars.

They even refer to this in terms such as: Swapping, trading up, upgrading, or trading in. When our "significant other" is equated with material, we will never find happiness. This is a lesson for all of us to learn and know by heart.

Can you put a price on a good family, happy children, good health, knowledge, or love? No, you cannot, because they are priceless, and all of these wonderful things are free. If we are wise in our judgment, we will never take them for granted, and we will see the pitfalls of shallow relationships.

The thrill of material acquisition is quite human, but it creates a culture of consumerism. Each week, there is some new material need or want, but gratification is temporary. We can see the same behavior in spoiled children.

Life is not about the acquisition of "things." It is much more important to enjoy your family, friends, health, intelligence, and common sense. These are the treasures we already have, and we do not have to pay for them. A laugh, a smile, or "a pat on the back," makes life worth living.

Patanjali, and many wise Yogis before him, knew Aparigraha was an important Yama. The desire for material, someone else's spouse, or someone else's property, can cause many wrongs and destroy family bonds.

© Copyright 2007 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. riyoga.com riyoga.com He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Yoga in Practice - Teaching Yoga With Humility

Yoga has similarities to many other philosophies in regard to humility. However, Gurus and Swamis traditionally chose their students. In fact, much like traditional martial arts students, Yoga students traditionally saw training with their teacher as a privilege. Prospective students would seek out a Yoga teacher, begging to be accepted for instruction.

Now, we have the age of entitlement. No matter how many signs you put up, cell phones ring off in Yoga classes. No matter how many rules you have, a small number of students continue to break old rules and create new ones. If you hand the studio policies to a new student, you may hear, "Why do you have so many rules?"

After all, you posted them on the web site, your bulletin board, and now you take time for the orientation of each new student. Why do you have to explain each "for instance?" Sometimes, you may ask yourself, "What was my main objective, when I decided to become a Yoga teacher?"

Back to reality: Most of us decided to teach Yoga because we felt the positive benefits of a steady practice. As a result, we wanted to share the gift of Yoga instruction with others. Creating rules about taking a bath, taking your shoes off, and how to be respectful to others, is not part of what Yoga teacher interns envision.

Then, one day, a new student shows up to class, but he may never have taken a bath in this lifetime. You may have read about this, but you have never been in the presence of an aroma like this before. Thoughts begin to run through your mind, and you are going to teach a class in ten minutes.

What exactly is that? You could speculate on how long that aroma has aged. What are you going to do? You have other students and this person is wearing "student repellant." This is surely a "lose-lose" situation. Do you have a rule made up for this?

This is one situation, of many, in which your Yoga teacher training may not have prepared you. Sometimes, you may have to turn a student away. There is no need for conflict, if a student is not a "good fit;" you have the right to refuse to teach him or her.

This is much similar to the way students "shop around," if they do not like something about you, or your classes. You can be assertive without being guided by ego. Develop your skills to lead, motivate, and direct Yoga students, with compassion and tolerance.

© Copyright 2008 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. aurawellnesscenter.com aurawellnesscenter.com He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive Free Yoga videos, Podcasts, e-Books, reports, and articles about Yoga, please visit: yoga-teacher-training.org/member-offer.html yoga-teacher-training.org/member-offer.html

The Restoration Solution - Practical Recovery Methods For a Busy Lifestyle

restore (r-stor, -str) v 1: return to its original or usable and functioning condition; "restore the forest to its original pristine condition" [syn: reconstruct] 2: return to life; get or give new life or energy; "The week at the spa restored me" [syn: regenerate, rejuvenate] 3: give or bring back; "Restore the stolen painting to its rightful owner" [syn: restitute] 4: restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken; "She repaired her TV set"; "Repair my shoes please" [syn: repair, mend, fix, bushel, doctor, furbish up, touch on] [ant: break] 5: bring back into original existence, use, function, or position; "restore law and order"; "reestablish peace in the region"; "restore the emperor to the throne" [syn: reinstate, reestablish]

Source: WordNet 2.0, 2003 Princeton University

"I've read so much about the importance of restoration, but to be honest, my life is crazy right now! How can I realistically fit this stuff in?"

Yes, that is a common dilemma and one of the primary reasons that restoration tends to be neglected by many in our society. Russian and Eastern European lifters actually plan for restoration in their periodization scheme. In North America, however, we concentrate so much on training that recovery gets overlooked. In fact, Russians do three semesters on massage and restoration (in Kinesiology or Physical Education courses.) Guess how much we do here?

If you guessed more than zero, try again!

So how can we apply some effective restoration methods such as contrast showers, stretching, soft tissue work, salt baths, electronic muscle stimulation, and massage in our everyday life. Well, here's the way I personally do it.

Contrast Methods

Seven years ago, I had a chance to spend some time with Dr. Mel Siff at his ranch in Colorado. He shared with me some secrets on advanced recovery techniques. Here are a few tidbits on contrast methods that I think you'll find interesting:

Always start with hot and end with cold (unless you plan to go to sleep afterward, in which case you should end with heat.)
The duration of each stimulus is 1-5 minutes, but here's the kicker ... apparently, the body will adapt to the duration so you must vary it each time.
The body should be almost completely submerged (Dr. Siff had an 8-foot deep Jacuzzi) and motion is desirable (particularly in the cold environment, e.g. swim.)
The temperature must be appropriate (hot should be very hot, i.e. up to 110 degrees F, and cold should be cold, i.e. as low as 60 degrees F.)
Repeat the process 3-4 times.

According to Siff, "it is not simply the temperature of a given modality, but also the level of difference between hot and cold temperatures, and the time spent at each temperature which determine how one should use contrast methods." He claimed that this strategy worked very well with Russian lifters and he also used it quite successfully with his American athletes.

Believe me, it does work quite well. After performing countless sets of Olympic lifts, I had the pleasure to experience Siff's lovely contrast bathing method with powerlifter, Dave Tate.

Picture Tate (a very big guy) and I (not quite as big!) jumping from an 8-foot deep Jacuzzi with handle bars on the side to hold you up (this allowed for complete submersion as well as decompression of the spine) to a swimming pool where we did a few laps. Might not sound like a big deal but consider that the Jacuzzi was set at 110 degrees Farenheit (yes you read that right) and the pool at 62 degrees Farenheit (in the winter, Siff used to get his athletes to roll in the snow!) Talk about contrast! And this was all done after midnight. Needless to say, we slept like babies that night!

Dr. Siff is no longer with us but his methods live on. Today, contrast showers have become a Sunday ritual for me.

For contrast showers, Charlie Francis recommends 3 minutes hot as you can stand followed by 1 minute cold as you can stand repeated 3 times to work best. This is performed once or twice per day. It is important to cover the whole body, though, including the head. Although in the past, Siff has pointed out that showers with shower heads located only above the body do not adequately heat up or cool down the lower parts of the body, not all of us own a deep Jacuzzi and pool so a shower will have to do.

This practice will make a big difference in your recovery. Trust me! The key is the level of difference between hot and cold temperatures as well as varying the time spent at each temperature. And for the most part, you should end with cold.

From The Bodybuilding Truth, here's a method that author, Nelson Montana, claims will naturally increase testosterone.

It comes from one of the forefathers of modern bodybuilding, Angelo Siciliani better known as Charles Atlas. Did you know that the excessive heat from a hot shower can lower your sperm count? In fact, the Aztec Indians used this as a form of birth control (don't ask). Anyway, Charlie recommends finishing off your shower with cold water. Allow the cold water to flow from the solar plexus onto the genitals. The belief was that these areas contain the highest concentration of nerve endings, therefore, the cold would stimulate the nerves, which in turn strengthened the entire nervous system. "Stimulate" is certainly the operative word here. I can attest to its effect since I've been doing this for some time now. It takes a little getting use to but it sure is an eye opener!

Stretching

At least once a week you should address the myofascial system. An excellent way to accomplish this is (...dare I say it...) yoga. Now do you have to necessarily put aside time to stretch? No, I don't think so. I think you can kill two birds with one stone. Why not stretch while watching television? The average American watches over four hours of TV each day. You can easily spare an hour of that time to stretch a bit.

A great way to restore collapsed arches and get a nice stretch for your quads, for instance, is to sit on your heels. This is part of the hero pose in yoga. See how long you can last. Practice other poses during this time and make watching television somewhat healthy and productive.

I personally have my cute blonde yoga instructor visit the studio once a week. Since incorporating a thorough warm-up before my workouts and practicing yoga once or twice a week, I have not experienced any injuries.

The yoga will help to improve flexibility and enhance recovery, but if there is another positive, it's relaxation. It never fails, when we finish our session and she puts me through her little relaxation phase, I am out! The second that happens, the GH spike is equivalent to that of falling asleep at night! Believe me, when you are running around all day long, you need a moment to unwind and I've found that yoga can help.

Now if you can't afford an instructor to come to your place, don't sweat it. There are a million videos/DVDs out there that will work just as well. Pick yourself up one and try it out.

Soft Tissue Methods

Usually once or twice a month, my friends Drs. Mark Lindsay, Bill Wells, and/or Jay Mistry (all chiropractors) drop by my facility to give me a treatment.

Mark is considered the athlete's secret weapon. Suffice it to say, he is a soft-tissue specialist extraordinaire with a number of tools in his toolbox including frequency-specific microcurrent (FSM), Erchonia cold laser therapy, active release technique (ART), myofascial release, articular pumping, muscle activation technique (MAT), proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF), active-isolated stretching (AIS), electrostim acupuncture, and the list goes on.

I've written about the value of ART many times. I've seen it clear up a number of nagging injuries in a single session. It can restore function, reduce (and even eliminate) pain, significantly improve flexibility (i.e. range of motion) and strength in just one session. In fact, it can even increase muscle mass. Bill is one of the best ART practitioners in Toronto.

Jay is also a great ART practitioner and an excellent acupuncturist. He often incorporates Graston technique in his treatment, which is always a "fun" experience!

Vlodek Kluczynski is an osteopath, physiotherapist and massage therapist in one. This guy is unbelievable. I visit him on occasion. His work tends to complement that of the practitioners mentioned above. One word of advice if you ever decide to experience a treatment from Vlodek, bring a small white flag and a popsicle stick to bite down on!

The point of listing all these guys is that you should be proactive and find a practitioner in your area that performs soft-tissue work. Don't wait until injury happens to visit one. Go as often as you can afford - once or twice a month should be doable for most people (many health-care plans will cover treatment as well - max out your limit if you can.) Not only will it improve your recovery and performance, but it will definitely reduce the likelihood of injury.

Salt Bath

Once a week (usually the night of a heavy leg workout) I sprawl out in our massive bathtub for around 20-30 minutes. I do this about an hour before I go to bed. Actually, I make a complete restoration soup out of it. The recipe involves Epsom salts, Celtic or tropical sea bath salts, a mixture of solution drops from the Garden of Life Clenzology kit, and finally an aromatherapy concoction of lavender and chamomile. I simply keep pouring everything until the "taste" is just about right!

Let's examine each ingredient separately for a moment.

1. Epsom salts (i.e. magnesium sulfate usp) - you want to dissolve at least 500 grams (equivalent to 2 cups or 500 mL) in a bath of hot water (the more, the better.) I say "at least" because if you can afford more, then do so. Also, "hot" means tolerable not "sear the skin" hot - the former will help you fall asleep (it's actually the cooling process once you get out that induces sleep); but the latter will require a trip to the hospital and perhaps some skin grafts?

When magnesium sulfate is absorbed through the skin, it draws toxins from the body, sedates the nervous system, reduces swelling, relaxes muscles, is a natural emollient, exfoliator, and much more. One word of caution though, do not take an Epsom salt bath if you have high blood pressure or a heart or kidney condition.

2. Celtic or tropical sea salts are not just for eating! Adding these salts to a warm bath will help to draw impurities out of your skin and invigorate the water and your body for that matter! Salt baths also help with aches, pains and sore muscles, such as those associated with arthritis, muscle injury, and weight training.

We've been favoring tropical sea salts lately because they have a slightly higher magnesium content.

Note: Try adding a pinch of tropical sea salts and squeeze half a lemon to your water. Drink at least half your body weight in ounces and you will notice a profound difference in your energy levels in mere days. It takes some serious discipline to drink that much water on a daily basis, but doing so can provide anabolic and anticatabolic effects. The water will help lubricate the gut; the sea salt will aid digestion (by stimulating HCL production); and the lemon will reduce acidity. All this will enhance recovery and improve performance in the gym!

3. Believe it or not, I also add "some" drops of the facial solution from the Garden of Life Clenzology kit to my concoction. Not only for the deep cleansing and purification benefits, but also because it provides key minerals to aid restoration. Dunking your face is optional!

4. Aromatherapy foam bath containing chamomile and lavender helps to relax the body, strengthen the spirit (it's true - my spirit now benches double bodyweight!), moisturize and cleanse skin, and promote a more peaceful slumber, but really, I just like playing with the suds!

You may not realize that the average skin absorption from bathing is much higher than oral ingestion (63% skin absorption in 15 minutes of bathing versus 27% oral ingestion for 2 liters of water consumed in the average adult.) I find that this really helps recovery, and it's great for your skin too if you care about that stuff. Again, you will sleep like a baby after this. That is the second time I've mentioned that phrase in this article. Where does it come from? Obviously, not from some one who has any kids!

I often combine salt bathes with cold-water showers for a unique contrast effect. We have a separate bathtub and shower in our ensuite so every once and awhile, I'll just hop out of the (hot) tub into a cold shower and back into the tub again. If you are really stiff, you can end with a cold shower.

Electronic Muscle Stimulation (EMS)

Two methods that I predominantly incorporate are a) the Kotts method 4-6 hours after a workout as a double split method (i.e. 10 sets of 10 seconds high intensity followed by 50 seconds of rest is Kotts' protocol used by Francis and others to promote strength gains of up to 20%), or b) the primary method I use is a low intensity pulsating fashion which gently massages the muscles (at low intensities, Siff and Verkhoshansky point out that EMS provides a "massaging" effect facilitating removal of waste products and delivering nutrition to the muscles through an increase in local blood supply) - usually the day after a body part.

When do I do this? Actually, I'm doing it right now while I'm typing on the computer. I'm on the computer at least an hour or two a day whether I'm checking my emails, reading or writing an article, or scoping some porn! The point is I'm making better use of my time accomplishing two tasks instead of just one. I am so busy these days myself - delegating a million things to a million people it seems - that time management is very important to me. Whether I'm listening to an audio book while driving, or stretching while watching TV (and spending some "quality" time with the family - ssshhh don't tell anyone) or EMS while on the computer, you get the picture...

Massage

Every Thursday afternoon, my massage therapist (ironically another blonde) comes over to work on me. Generally, this is a deep tissue massage and we concentrate on a specific area that may be ailing me or that was worked hard that week. If I've had a particularly stressful week, I'll just get her to give me a full body massage and I try to clear my mind of everything that's going on.

How about self massage? Well, if you want some neat suggestions, refer to Hartmann and Tunnemann's book, Fitness and Strength Training for All Sports.

One form of self-massage that is fairly easy to administer involves a deep stripping massage using a device called The Stick. Twenty moderate pressure strokes from origin to insertion with this tool will provide passive elongation/stretch, release toxins, and (you guessed it) aid recovery.

The true master of restoration is a guy by the name of Jeff Spencer and he is a huge advocate of The Stick. Spencer, for those that don't know, treated Lance Armstrong and the other members of United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team before, during and after each stage of each Tour de France victory. As he puts it: "You must build a toolbox for recovery. Nothing does it all!"

There are so many tools in Spencer's toolbox, but one that is very interesting involves earth-free electron transfer, which is a way to connect to the earth and recover. It's like magic really - tension in the system instantly normalizes as it restores natural cortisol rhythms and decreases the inflammatory response.

Do you need some expensive apparatus to enable earth-free electron transfer? Not really; taking your shoes off and standing on the bare earth has the same effect! In fact, the fastest method of recovery is to take your shoes off and walk on grass - do this directly after training to quickly quench all the free radicals that you produced during your workout.

Aerobics

Cardio which is a slang term for aerobic training can have many drawbacks including an increase in oxidative stress and premature cell aging; shuts down the immune system and increases the incidence of mononucleosis; lowers trace mineral levels; increases cortisol production; slows down metabolism over time; negates strength and decreases both power and speed scores, etc. etc. etc.

Holy cow, the list goes on really. The increased cortisol production alone can have several negative consequences such as decreasing T4 to T3 production; has a catabolic effect (i.e. breaks down muscle tissue for energy); it is an immune suppressor as well as an oxidant to brain; and the big one for most people is that it increases abdominal fat. It's enough to stress you out (pun intended!)

For a real in-depth discussion on this topic, attend the Energy System Training seminar held periodically by Olympic strength coach, Charles Poliquin. You will wait an hour in any parking lot for a closer spot after hearing what Poliquin has to say!

The theory behind using cardio (or more specifically, low-intensity steady-state aerobic activity) for restoration, though, is that the increase in circulation will accelerate oxygen and nutrient delivery to your muscles to speed up healing and recovery. According to Jeff Spencer, more rest is not better - you need nutrients to heal and you must pump the garbage out of the body with active recovery!

You know before I had kids, I would walk the dog for at least half an hour every night. It was actually quite refreshing (except in the winter!) and many articles were born during those strolls. At times I would run home because my mind was just filled with thoughts, but then I bought a Dictaphone to keep my heart rate in check. I could swear those walks really helped my recovery.

What about feeder workouts? Many experts have touted the benefits of low intensity strength training following high intensity work to enhance recovery. However, a recent study by Zainuddin et al. revealed that light concentric exercise has a temporary analgesic effect on delayed-onset muscle soreness, but no effect on recovery from muscle damage induced by eccentric exercise. Consider using one of the other restoration methods mentioned in this article instead.

Bottom line, an occasional walk may do the body and mind some good, but don't waste much time or energy on aerobic training or feeder workouts to enhance recovery between workouts!

Nutrition

This is a huge topic that gets discussed quite a bit so let me just touch on a few points to improve recovery.

It is crucial to take in some protein every 2.5-3 hours to maintain a positive nitrogen balance. The question is how do you this with a busy lifestyle? Well, most people will use the quick and convenient nutrition of protein bars or drinks to get it in. The problem is that many bars are loaded with binders and fillers, and they use inferior sources of protein. As far as powders are concerned, most of the top selling (heavily marketed) brands use cheap raw materials. Most people do not rotate their powders (i.e. whey, casein, egg, rice, pea, etc.) and consume this stuff several times a day, every day, which could lead to allergies down the road. But there is a simple solution...

We know that we have time to eat (and hopefully prepare food for) breakfast, lunch and dinner. Why not make double the portion of each that you'll divide over two meals? Voila, six solid meals that you can consume throughout the day. You can add a shake post-workout and you're covered.

The post-workout period is actually very important for recovery. This is where you want to target most of your high-glycemic carbs to replenish depleted glycogen stores, but most people overdo it! The average workout consumes about 200-300 calories. Let's assume that all those calories are used from carbohydrates. Well that means that we only need about 50-75 grams of carbs maximum post-workout (remember, there are 4 calories per gram of CHO.)

As mentioned above, the best carbs post-workout are high-glycemic. We use tropical fruits mixed with a fast-acting protein source like whey isolate or hydrosylate. An hour later, move to a slower releasing protein like casein and/or whey concentrate and use low-glycemic carbs.

Favor red meat (which is a stimulant) and eggs (which are high in tyrosine) in the morning. Chicken and tuna are excellent at lunch. And fish (which are higher in Omega-3's), turkey and dairy (which are both high in tryptophan) at night.

We tend to go higher in saturated fat and mct's in the morning (these are high energy fats such as butter or coconut oil as well as the animal meats), monounsaturated at noon (such as olive oil, olives, shaved almonds and avocados which are all added to the chicken/tuna salad), and polyunsaturated at night mainly in the form of Omega-3's (e.g. fish oil, flax seed meal/oil, chopped walnuts, etc.) which will improve insulin sensitivity that tends to decrease at night.

Green vegetables are favored throughout the day and fruits only post-workout as I discussed above and occasionally at night as the last meal of the day (e.g. a mixture of cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, chopped walnuts and mixed berries.)

Supplementation for recovery is another article for another time, but I won't leave you completely empty-handed. I'm sure you realize the importance of vitamins for recovery. Well, we have experienced excellent results with intramuscular water-soluble vitamin injections...more than oral ingestion...and even more than IV administration. Dr. Larry Baker, a competitive bodybuilder and medical doctor, has 4 versions that he has formulated with the aid of a compounding pharmacist. This stuff works! That's all I can say for now until we finish our experiments, but it's not often that you actually "feel" something from your vitamins.

For now, I'll leave you with a tip I picked up from Poliquin on what to look for when purchasing a multivitamin/mineral supplement. Scan the ingredient list for magnesium. If it ends in the suffix _ate (e.g. magnesium citrate) then it is good. Buy it. However, if it ends in _ide (e.g. magnesium oxide) then it sucks! The former are generally Krebs cycle intermediates and have a much higher absorption rate than the latter. Magnesium is a relatively expensive mineral. If they use the _ide form then it generally indicates that they use cheap raw materials. This is the form that you usually find in most drug stores.

Sleep

Last but certainly not least is sleep. Sleep is regulated by two entirely different systems - the sleep homeostat and circadian rhythms.

The sleep homeostat "functions like a drive that builds up during wakefulness in pretty much a linear fashion and is discharged when you sleep...The homeostatic pressure to sleep depends not only on how long you are awake but on how active you are while awake." (Marano, 2003) Two of the best methods to influence the sleep homeostat involve exercise and heating the body such as by taking a warm bath before bedtime.

When you do not get much sleep (which will happen occasionally on weekends), still wake up at the same time but catch up with a power nap. Naps should never extend beyond an hour or else you will enter REM sleep, which will adversely affect your sleep that night. It's best to take a nap after 8 hours upon awakening and for only 20-45 minutes. A trick I learned from Dr. Istvan Bayli is to simply soak the feet in cold water right after napping. The feet contain many nerve endings and this will perk you up in no time. Just in and out is all it takes.

The circadian rhythm, on the other hand, is tied to cycles of light and dark. Darkness causes the pineal gland in the brain to secrete the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin. Although bright lights or melatonin tablets can be used to affect the circadian rhythm, my favorite method involves tanning beds. Believe it or not, tanning beds are also useful to improve circadian rhythms and increase vitamin D production particularly in the winter not to mention give you a bit of color, which improves muscularity and enhances well-being. I like to "fake bake" once a week in the winter usually on a day I'm not training.

Another piece of advice I can give you regarding circadian rhythm is to go to sleep and wake up at the same time everyday. Set your alarm for both! Most people are watching television or on the computer during the time they should be sleeping. Once that alarm goes off, stop whatever you are doing and just go to bed. You can always continue the next day.

We should set our circadian rhythm around that of the sun - when it goes down, so should we. When it rises, again so should we! But most get to bed far too late and this will inevitably play havoc with many key hormones. It's been said a thousand times that every hour before midnight is like two hours after, so it is best to front-load your sleep before midnight.

Variety in restoration and training is important. Siff notes that "it is an important principle among the Soviets that intensive (i.e. near maximal load) training alternates with a wide variety of passive and active recuperation techniques...They caution against the use of only one relaxation technique (e.g. massage), since the body rapidly adapts to relaxation, as well as exercise techniques."

I have presented a number of practical restoration techniques in this article. Now go out there and recover!

References

Archangel Health News. August/September 2005 Health Newsletter.
Catanzaro, JP. Pop 'Em Out Muscles. T-Nation, 2002.
Catanzaro, JP. Stretching For Strengthening. T-Nation, 2004.
Chek, P. You Are What You Eat.
Fox, M. Healthy Water. Portsmouth, NH: Healthy Water Research, 1998.
Francis, C. Training for Speed. Australia: Faccioni Speed and Conditioning Consultants, 1997.
Hartmann, J, and Tunnemann, H. Fitness and Strength Training for All Sports. Toronto, ON: Sport Books Publisher, 1995.
Marano, HE. How to Get Great Sleep. Psychology Today Magazine, 2003.
Montana, N. The Bodybuilding Truth.
Mysteries of Sleep.
Poliquin, C. Biosignature Modulation and Energy System Training, 2003.
Poliquin, C. Protocols to Gain Maximal Strength and Muscle Size; Achieving the Ultimate Workout; and Customizing the Fat-Loss Approach for Clients, 2000.
Serrano, E. SWIS International Weight-Training Injury Symposium, 2005.
Siff, MC. Personal Communication, 2000.
Siff, MC. Supertraining Digest Number 1969.
Siff, MC., Verkhoshansky, YV. Supertraining 4th Edition. Denver, CO: Supertraining International, 1999.
Spencer, J. Recovery Strategies Used To Win the 2005 Tour de France. Advances in Sports Medicine Leading Edge Update, 2005.
Supertraining Forum.
Tate, D and Siff, MC. Supertraining and Westside Strength Camp, 2000.
Zainuddin Z, Sacco P, Newton M, Nosaka K. Light concentric exercise has a temporarily analgesic effect on delayed-onset muscle soreness, but no effect on recovery from eccentric exercise. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2006 Apr;31(2):126-134.

John Paul Catanzaro, B.Sc., C.K., C.E.P., is a Certified Kinesiologist and Certified Exercise Physiologist with a Specialized Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology and Health Science. He owns and operates a private gym in Richmond Hill, Ontario providing training and nutritional consulting services. For additional information, visit his website at BodyEssence.ca BodyEssence.ca or call 905-780-9908.

Check out John Paul's DVD, Warm-Up to Strength Training, for some powerful techniques to increase strength and improve performance. It has received a thumbs-up from many experts including Drs. Eric Serrano, Mark Lindsay, and Ken Kinakin as well as Olympic strength coach, Charles Poliquin. Visit StrengthWarmUp.com StrengthWarmUp.com for more information.

Basic Yoga Poses and Their Variations

1. THE COBRA

Try this in easy stages. Lay down, face prone, legs closely together and stretched backwards, your forehead on the floor. Place your hands, palm down, slightly below the shoulders. Breathe in and elevate the head, pushing your neck backwards, now use the hands to press the trunk up right up until you are bending in a beautiful arc from your lower spine to the rear of your neck. You need move no further than this. Nevertheless, if you are flexible enough, you can now straighten your arms completely, fold the legs within the knees and drop your head back to touch the feet. Even though the head goes nowhere near the feet, drop it back as far as possible and hold the pose with yoga breathing. Come from the pose very slowly, coming back to the face prone posture. Loosen up with your head to one side. Do it again.

2. THE BOW

This is a serious version of the basic bow. It's amazing how many kids can perform it immediately. Get it, once again, in simple stages. Lie face prone on the mat. If you're very slim use a good heavy, padded mat with this one. Breathe in and fold your knees up. Reach back with your arms and catch hold of your ankles, trying to keep fingers and thumbs all with each other on the outside. Breathe in and simultaneously elevate the head and chest, pulling at your ankles and raising knees and thighs from the ground. Breathe normally, seeking to kick your legs higher and lifting your head up. You are right now curved like a bow, controlling the load of your body on the abdomen. You can stop right here but if you're able to nevertheless extend further, then glide your hands down your legs, raise these higher, keep your knees with each other and pull back as much as you can. Hold for some normal deep breaths, then relax back to the face-prone position, head to one side.

3. THE SHOOTING BOW

In Sanskrit this is known as Akarna Dhanurasana and one leg is used like a shooting bow. Sit down with the two legs extended in front and back straight. Reach forward using both of your hands and hold your feet, catching the right foot using the left hand and the left foot with the right hand. Inhale, fold the left knee and draw the foot across the body, near to your chest, pointing the elbow upwards and turning your body slightly to the right. The left hand keeps firm and tight, having the right foot. Keep pose with normal breathing, release slowly, and relax. Repeat on other side. At first it is sufficient to keep the bent left leg with the right hand. As soon as this is effortless, stretch downward and keep the left foot with the right hand. Continue to pull on the left foot, raising it higher on every exhalation.

Yogafit has a lot of very informative advice in all aspects of yogafit.com/CTGY/yoga-dvds.shtml yoga dvd poses, training, and everything else. She also has a number of yogafit.com yoga teacher training meetups several times a year and is known yoga guru and mogul around the world.

Health, Fitness And Diet - Setting Goals To Get In Shape

If you feel that you do not look the way you did a few years ago, or feel the way you did chances are that you need to get into shape. I mean you need to plan a fitness routine that will get you on the road to health, fitness and general well being that brings with it a great looking body accompanied by high spirits.

Health and fitness have a way of making a person live life to the full. Healthy individuals are very high on self esteem and suffer fewer 'lows' than their unhealthy counterparts. However, it is not easy to maintain great health and fitness for every individual. For some it comes naturally, but then those people will definitely have a very healthy lifestyle that includes, a good diet, plenty of exercise and a not so sedentary lifestyle, I mean they burn off what they eat through the day.

So if you have been neglecting your health and body for the past few years, chances are that you are now contemplating a health, fitness and diet program to get back into shape. Thought the thought is good, is the plan fool proof? I mean, are you up to it mentally? Because if you are not, it is best you do not start something you cannot finish. Because as exercising goes the body has a way of gaining even more pounds if the person gives up on exercise after taking to it for a few weeks. So prepare yourself mentally for a thorough work out and then go for it.

Most people jump into a health, fitness and diet program with great gusto without giving it a second thought. The problem here is that once you start an exercise routine you must stick to it no matter what. Agreed that a fitness routing is tiring and boring but it has to be gone through. There are ways of making it exciting and fun. A good fitness instructor has all the tricks up his or her sleeve to make your exercise routine enjoyable. So sign up with a gym or fitness center and work closely with your training instructor to lose those excess pounds then change the routine to keep the flab at bay.

Including yoga and meditation is a good way of preparing yourself for a long fitness routine. This way you can meditate and program your self mentally to stick to the fitness program. Before you begin you must understand that your body needs as many months to get into shape as many years you have neglected it. So if you give up before that you are going nowhere with the program.

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Advanced Spiritual Energy Training Or Tachyon Technology, What Are Tachyons?

Matter is energy converted and energy is matter converted back. There's really nothing to difficult in understanding this concept. E=MC squared is the formula with E meaning energy, M meaning matter and C as a constant. Einstein gave us this formula and even school children with limited science background have heard of it. Tachyon energy is an entirely different matter. When scientist began to delve into the world of quantum physics, they hypothesized that there were particles of matter, which traveled faster than the speed of light. These are four momentum, meaning they have the three dimensional properties and add time-space continuum to it. This being the case, they should be able to travel backward through time.

Scientific studies now lean toward negating the usefulness since the tachyon fields, gathering of particles, are incredibly unstable. However, some believe the tachyon particles give energy that enables them to reach higher levels of communication with the unknown forces of the universe. People sell machines to produce the energy claimed to be tachyon. Almost cult-like followers swear to the effectiveness of the tachyon energy to reach a higher spiritual level. Is this a real effect or another plan to separate people from their money?

Since tachyons are particles, this presents the first argument against the existence of tachyon energy as a way to achieve higher levels. While matter and energy are one, they don't have the same name in each form. There are hypothetical particles named tachyon labeled by quantum physicists, not energy fields.

Those that sell and use tachyon energy cells swear by their effectiveness to reach higher peaks of psychic power and heal the body and mind. Is this just another effort to use "science speak" to sell products, some of which run in the thousands of dollars? While there is no proof these machines do anything of value, there also is no proof they don't. At one time scientists were overjoyed at the concept of the usefulness of tachyon particles to carry information. That was until they realized how unstable the particles were. Since then, the study of these particles dwindled.

You'll find websites that tell of tachyon energy and include the instability of the particle as part of the jargon. According to these sites, the tachyon's instability comes from zero point energy, the source of life itself. While the articles use a lot of scientific jargon that makes it seem logical, there still are no "unbiased" studies proving its effectiveness or existence as an energy form.

Should you invest in a high dollar tachyon unit? That is your choice, but there appears to be limited scientific research to indicate that it does anything to aid your internal energy levels. Rather than spend the money hoping for a quick way to reach higher levels of existence, consider training your body to tap into those energy fields and use powers you already have. The cost in most cases is much more insignificant and training in fields like yoga, provide additional health benefits.

Yoga and other types of training that involve meditation and mental focus increase your skills, rest your mind and body and provide for health benefits that include flexibility, renewed energy and often lower blood pressure. These are not quick fixes, but have scientific data that proves their effectiveness. Therefore, the choice is yours. Do you take a chance on an unproven theory or put your efforts into training your mind and body to reach higher levels of spiritual and psychic development?

"Conrad Raw is an expert on practical techniques for personal and spiritual development. He is a bestselling co-author with Wayne Dyer and Brian Tracy and is the author of "The Zensation Manual: Forbidden Secrets of Personal and Spiritual Development". TheMindWizard.com Learn telapthy Visit his website to get your free video course on how to activate your true potential. powerfullifebalance.com meditation course

Benefits of Yoga For the Stressy CEO

Yoga is one method of attaining the mental silence necessary for sanity. In the demanding world of business, too often the CEO of a company finds himself pulled apart by the needs of his company and others around him. While the use of the term is he, it is meant to include both men and women, as women break through the glass ceiling of corporate America more frequently today than ever. The CEO is more than just the head of a company. They are spouses, parents, lovers and most of all people that can fall prey to anxiety and bad health if they don't take the precaution of clearing the garbage and stress from their mind.

Yoga provides one outlet that doesn't just clear the stress away but also adds clarity to thought. The breathing techniques and meditative process of Yoga gives a technique to calm the stressed executive rapidly and leave a clean mental slate so new concepts, ideas and creative problem solving can take place.

A simple exercise that is the key to Yoga practice is belly breathing. Belly breathing can take place anywhere, but best accomplished in privacy. If you find yourself in a tight tense situation, close the door to the office for five minutes and request all interruptions be ceased during that time. Begin by sitting straight in a chair with the arms relaxed on the lap and feet flat on the floor. Slouching is not an option, so use your best posture. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Inhale deeply to a slow count of ten. Allow your stomach to expand so you can fill your lungs more thoroughly. Hold the breath for a count of ten and then slowly exhale to the ten count and use the stomach muscles to push out the last of the air in your lungs. Again, hold it and then refill the lungs with air in the same manner as before. Do the breathing exercise for the next five minutes and focus on nothing but your breath. You'll begin to find the stress fall from your body and your head clear.

While this exercise is effective in emergency situations, those that you believe will force your head to explode, it is also more useful when practiced on a daily basis in conjunction with other Yoga exercises. It helps the mind and the body to cleanse itself of the damaging effects of stress.

Yoga has other benefits besides just the elimination of stress, as if that isn't enough. Yoga can bring extra clarity to the frequent user. Often those that use the calming yoga practices find that they have not just increased clarity but also improved intuition and more creativity. Scientific studies show that stress reduces these factors and the additional oxygen from deep breathing and increased blood flow opens areas of the brain that were closed or overwhelmed or overshadowed by the mental noise of daily living. Once the brain quiets the mind can listen to the messages these areas provide.

Conrad Raw is an expert in practical techniques for personal and spiritual development. He is the author of "Forbidden Secrets Of Personal And Energetic Development." He travels the world to learn and teach and is the founder of greaterhumanpotential.com Greater Human Potential, a website devoted to bringing you easy to learn techniques to increase your human potential. Visit his website for a free newsletter filled with tons of great tips and advice on powerfullifebalance.com stress management

Strength Training Vs Cardio Workouts

If you have ever visited a gym or flipped through an exercise magazine, you have probably noticed the variety of workouts and workout ideas performed. Although there are now many different styles of exercise available, such as yoga and Pilates, there are still two main camps: strength training and cardio. Although you may prefer one over the other, both have benefits and drawbacks to your health.

When it comes to the workout room, which style of exercise will be better for your body: strength training via weightlifting, or a heart-pumping cardio regimen? Many people, especially women, are frightened away by the idea of weightlifting, but this does not always have to mean lifting huge, heavy weights to make you gain muscle. You can perform a strength training routine that relies only on small weights, or even no weights at all. You can use your body's natural weight to perform resistance exercises or use tools like exercise bands.

With cardio, you can choose between low-impact and high-impact routines. Most people believe that high-impact exercises like running are the best way to exercise your heart, but low-impact exercises can be just as effective if performed correctly. Swimming is a wonderful way to give your heart a workout without pounding away at the hard pavement.

Anyway, the two types of exercise styles have different benefits. Cardio burns more calories in the same amount of time as strength training. However, weight training causes a spike in your metabolism that can burn calories even after your workout ends. Additionally, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn while at rest.

If you are feeling stressed, cardio workouts are the way to go. Not only can you feel accomplished after racing a quick mile or swimming laps, but cardio workouts also promote the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that makes you feel happy. However, if you want to feel prouder about your body, try doing strength training. It makes your muscles swell slightly after the workout, which can make you feel attractive.

One major drawback of cardio is that it can damage your cartilage, muscles, and tendons if you participate it high-impact workouts. This can make you more susceptible to injury. On the other hand, strength training, specifically balance and core work, can reduce the risk of injury because it trains your muscles to make quick contractions, preventing things like ankle sprains.

Even if you are careful to exercise, you still need regular doctor's visits to help keep you healthy. To help you pay your medical bills, you should have health insurance. For the best healthinsuranceofcalifornia.com health insurance plan for you, check out the Catherine Michaels Insurance Services today.

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Cross-Training For Cyclists - Techniques to Improve Performance

Neal Henderson, coordinator of sport science at Boulder Community Hospital, told Bicycle Magazine (online version) that cross-training for cyclists is not only an option, it is mandatory step if one wants to avoid both boredom and injury in bicycling. Henderson is not alone in this belief. In fact, many professional cyclists today barely touch their bikes in the "off season" opting, instead, for the joy and benefits of cross-training.

Benefits of Cross-Training for Cyclists

The primary benefit of performing fitness activities other than cycling (cross-training) is that it provides the individual with the opportunity to exercise muscle groups that are not often used in cycling. This insures an overall body conditioning that cycling, alone, simply cannot provide. But there is, perhaps, an even greater benefit to cross-training for cyclists-the "joy factor."

No matter how much one loves cycling, say experts, boredom at performing the same activity can occur-boredom that can, ultimately, affect cycling performance. As Henderson told Bicycle Magazine, "It is physically and psychologically impossible to train on the bike at a high level year-round [without consequent "burnout" and potential risk of injury]." That is why it is so important for cyclists to choose one (or several) cross-training activities such as the ones listed below.

Cross-Training Activities for Cyclists

Cross-training for cyclists need not simply include the traditional choices of speed skating or cross-country skiing (with leg movements that are similar to those of cycling), say experts. Indeed, these three diverse cross-training activities are only an indication of the wide-variety of cross-training activities available for cyclists.

Running. This, the most popular of American fitness activities, will further strengthen the legs of cyclists. But unlike cycling, running frequently uses muscles other than those of the lower body. For instance, due to the brisk "arm pumping" of this activity, runners tend to develop the muscles of the arms and the shoulder, muscles that are largely ignored while riding a bicycle.

Swimming. There is little similarity between this sport and that of cycling, which is what makes swimming an its only benefit. Indeed, swimming has been proven to be a great method of cross-training for cyclists because the buoyancy of the water cushions the muscles and the joints, which minimizes the chances of injuries.

Yoga. This ancient physical and spiritual discipline has proven to be an extremely effective cross-training technique for cyclists. Yoga gently stretches and massages the muscles, increasing their elasticity, which also minimizes the risk of injury. In addition, faithfully performing the many and varied poses of yoga will make one a stronger rider and bestow much needed stamina.

More Cross-Trainers

In addition to these three types of exercise methods, cross-training for cyclists may include any (or all) of the following:

Elliptical Trainer -To increase leg strength
Rowing Machine - To provide an excellent full-body workout
Weightlifting - To isolate certain muscles groups, thus enhancing the strength of the rider, particularly on hills
...and many more.

Indeed, the number and types of exercises that can be used as cross-training for cyclists is limited only by your imagination. But all will provide sufficient amounts of physical conditioning while alleviating the boredom that sometimes plague frequent cyclists.

For more information about ultrafitnessdynamics.com cross-training for cyclists visit ultrafitnessdynamics.com ultrafitnessdynamics.com.