Tag: strong bones

9 Benefits of Playing Tennis

woamn playing tennisMany folks are still not able to go into a gym, so we need to search for alternative ways to exercise. If you are wanting to do something other than using your home gym, running, biking or swimming, have you considered playing tennis? Here’s why you should pick up a racket today:

  • Availability – Tennis courts are readily available in most parts of the United States, as well as over parts of the world. If you don’t have courts in your neighborhood, you will likely find them in a local park.
  • Inexpensive– If you play at a neighborhood or city park, you will likely not a fee. Your only costs are a racket, tennis balls, and the time is takes for you to get to the court.
  • Play the game at any age – Tennis is a wonderful game at any age. It can also be easily learned at any age. Don’t let the fact that you’ve never played stop you from starting. Plus, if you have never played, you will likely find a partner who will happily “show you the ropes” on how to get started.
  • Social Distance – The nature of the game creates distance between you and your opponent, thus alleviating the concern of being too close and potentially spreading pathogens.

Those are the reasons why to pick up a racket, today. What are some of the benefits of playing tennis?

  1. Full body workout: Your lower and upper body are in constant motion
  2. Improved aerobic and anaerobic health: Get your heart rate up, increase your oxygen intake, and your body will begin to build a better cardio system, as well as more efficient muscles.
  3. Burns calories and fat: Playing tennis can burn between 400-600 calories an hour. For a comparison, I walked 3.5 miles, it took me an hour and 10 minutes, and I burned 390 calories. I could have burned more in less time.
  4. Improves bone health: I recently wrote about how exercise improves bone health, and since tennis is an overall body work out, it would obviously benefit bones through your body.
  5. Heart healthy: This one is self-explanatory; if you consistently raise your heart rate, you will build a stronger cardio system.
  6. Enhances flexibility, balance and coordination: Eye hand coordination is critical in tennis. You can develop your coordination, which will in tun develop your balance, which is an important thing to maintain as we age. And because the game entails movement, reaching, and stretching, your flexibility improves, which also helps you prevent injuries.
  7. Boosts brain power: Tennis requires you “to think on your feet”, make adjustments in split seconds, to develop strategies and ever-changing tactics. studies show that exercises that require a lot of thinking can improve brain function in ways that aid memory, learning, social skills, and behavior.
  8. Is great cross-training for other sports: The short speed burst associated with tennis translates well into cross training for other sports and a thus speed up your pace and endurance.
  9. Boosts mood: Exercise has been shown to improve your mental health, alleviating anxiety and depression, while improving self-esteem and optimism.

I hope this inspires you to pick up a racket and start playing. Let us know if you are regularly playing tennis and grab a partner to play a match with you.

And if you enjoyed this post, please leave a message below and subscribe to this site. We look forward to seeing you again soon.

And a shout out to the folk at Health Fitness Revolutions for these ideas.

#fitness #tennis #exercise #cardio #strongboones #workout #socialdistance #crosstraining #mentalhealth #calories #fat #aerobic #anaerobic #flexibility #wide-body

9 Ways You Can Strength Train At Home

Since many of us are still unable to go into a gym during this pandemic, I’m staying within the theme of how you can attain a complete workout without leaving your home.

In this post, I’ll be discussing strength training (also known as weight training or resistance training) because according to the Mayo Clinic, strength training will help you:

  • Develop healthy bones: By stressing your bones, strength training can increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
  • Build lean muscle mass: As we age, we lose muscle mass and it is replaced with fat. Building lean muscle mass also gives us more energy throughout the day.
  • Manage your weight: Strength training will increase your metabolism to help you burn more calories.
  • Improve your balance: Improved balance reduces the risk of falls, allowing you to maintain independence as you age and improving your quality of life.
  • Manage chronic conditions: Strength training can reduce the signs and symptoms of many chronic conditions, such as arthritis, back pain, obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
  • Sharpen your mental skills. Some research suggests that regular strength training and aerobic exercise may help improve thinking and learning skills for older adults.
  • Improve our mental wellbeing: Studies show that strength training reduces symptoms of depression and thus improves our sense of well being

To get started, you don’t need to break the bank buying equipment. There are a few pieces that would be helpful and you can find them at a major athletic retailer or online. If you enjoy bargain shopping, you maybe able to find some equipment in used but excellent condition. Here’s a list to consider:

  • an exercise mat
  • resistance bands or tubing
  • dumbbells
  • a kettlebell
  • a stability ball
  • a medicine ball

 

Bodyweight Exercises:

Lunges:

Lunges

A basic lunge works the muscles in your lower body, including your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.

  • Start by standing up tall, feet shoulder-width apart.
  • Step forward with your right foot, and lower your hips toward the floor until your right leg is at a 90-degree angle and your left knee is parallel to the ground. Make sure your front knee doesn’t go beyond your toes.
  • Lengthen your spine to keep your torso upright.
  • Hold this position for 5 seconds or longer.
  • Then step your right foot back to meet your left, and repeat this movement with your left leg.
  • Repeat 10 to 12 times, then rest briefly and do another set.

 

Squat To Overhead Press:

Squat to dumbbell overhead press

This exercise not only works your glutes and leg muscles, it also works the muscles in your core, back, and shoulders, as well as your triceps.

  • Stand with your feet slightly wider than your hips and your arms alongside your body.
  • Slowly lower your hips down into a squat position.
  • Press up to come back into standing and raise your arms overhead.
  • Return to the starting position.
  • Do 1–3 sets of 8–12 repetitions.

 

Planks:

Plank

Planks are an excellent exercise for improving your core strength and stability. This exercise can also strengthen the muscles in your back, chest, and shoulders.

  • Rest on your forearms and toes only, keeping your body in a straight line with your buttocks clenched and your abdominal muscles engaged.
  • Try to hold this position for 30 seconds. If that’s too hard, start with 20 seconds.
  • As you gain strength and fitness, try to hold the plank position for 1 minute or longer.

 

Pushups:

Pushups

Standard pushups work the chest muscles (pectorals), as well as the shoulder muscles, triceps, and abdominals.

  • Start in a plank position with your palms directly under your shoulders.
  • Keeping your back flat and bracing your core, lower your body by bending your elbows until your chest almost touches the floor.
  • Immediately push your body back up to the starting position.
  • Repeat 8–12 times. Start with 1–2 sets, and build up to 3 sets as you get stronger.

A less challenging version of the pushup can be done by putting your weight on your knees instead of your toes.

 

Free Weight Exercises

Dumbbell Shoulder Press:

Dumbbell Shoulder Press

This exercise targets the muscles in your shoulders and arms, and can also strengthen your core and chest muscles.

  • Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
  • Pick up the dumbbells and raise them to shoulder height. Your palms can face forward or toward your body.
  • Raise the dumbbells above your head until your arms are fully extended.
  • Pause in this position for a few seconds, and then bring the dumbbells back to shoulder height.
  • Do 1–3 sets of 8–12 repetitions.

 

Dumbbell Tricep Kickback:

dumbbell tricep kickback

This exercise works your triceps as well as your shoulder muscles.

  • Grab two dumbbells and hold one in each hand.
  • Bend your torso at a 45-degree angle, and bend your elbows so they form a 90-degree angle.
  • Then straighten your arms out directly behind you, engaging your triceps as you go.
  • You can either do one arm at a time, or both together.
  • If you’re a beginner, start with 1–2 sets of 8–12 reps, and build up to 3 sets as you get stronger.

 

Resistance Band Pull Apart:

Resistence band pull apart

This exercise works the muscles in your back, shoulders, and arms.

  • Stand with your arms extended out in front of you at chest height.
  • Hold a resistance band tautly with both hands. The band should be parallel to the ground.
  • Keeping your arms straight, pull the band toward your chest by moving your arms outward to your sides. Initiate this movement from your mid-back.
  • Squeeze your shoulder blades together, and keep your spine straight, then slowly return to the starting position.
  • Do 1–3 sets of 15–20 reps.

 

Hip Extension:

Hip Extension

This exercise works the muscles in your hips and legs. You’ll need a light- to medium-resistance band to do this exercise.

 

  • Loop the resistance band around both your ankles. You can use a chair or wall for balance.
  • Keeping a straight line in your body, pull your left leg back as far as you can, keeping it as straight as possible.
  • Slowly return to the starting position.
  • Complete 12 reps with your left leg, then repeat with your right leg.
  • Complete 2 sets on each side to start, and work up to doing 3 sets as you build up your strength.

 

Resistance Band Leg Press:

resistance band leg press

This exercise works your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and glutes. Like a leg press on a weight machine, this exercise makes you work against gravity.

  • Lie on your back and lift your feet off the ground.
  • Bend your knees, creating a 90-degree angle. Flex your feet, pointing your toes upward.
  • Wrap the resistance band around your feet and hold the ends.
  • Press your feet against the bands until your legs are fully extended.
  • Bend your knees to return to a 90-degree angle.
  • Do 1–3 sets of 10–12 reps.

 

You want to incorporate strength training like this into your routine at least three times a week. If yourself a day of rest between muscle groups and allow them to recover. A Monday, Wednesday, Friday plan for strength training can work well.

If your current exercise routine is primarily cardio focused, don’t stop the cardio, but modify the routine. For instance, if your normal cardio routine is an hour long, and your strength training is 30 minutes long, on the day you strength train, also do 30 minutes of cardio. You ultimately want to be shooting for 1 hour of exercise per day, 5 days a week. You may not be able to achieve this in the beginning, but that should be your goal.

Let us know how you a doing with incorporating these tips into your exercise routine.

 

Kudos to the folks at Healthline for these helpful exercise ideas.

9 Things That Can Weaken Your Bones

Skeletal and what damages itMaintaining a strong skeletal frame is important as we age for it will protect us from broken bones due to accidents, chronic pain, and arthritis. Most of us know that a healthy diet and exercise help us maintain healthy bones. So, what should we avoid that weakens bones? In this post we’ll explore 9 things that can lead to a weakening of your bones.

Too Much Salt

Salt removes calcium from the body, which can weaken bones. Here is the catch, you need some salt in your diet or else your electrical neural pathways won’t work properly. Find a middle ground and consume no more than 2,300 milligrams/day.
HINT: Breads, cheeses, chips, and cold cuts have some of the highest amounts of salt. If the food has been processed, it will likely have a high amount of salt.

No Exercise

We all enjoy a good television show, website, or a lazy day around the house. But if you always binge watch, spend hours on the computer, or every day is a lazy day, you are hurting your bones. Exercise strengthens bones, whether you are walking, running, lifting weights, gardening, or doing yoga. Allow your body to move against the resistant force of gravity, and your bones will be happy.

Your Only Exercise Is Riding the Bike

Bicycling is FANTASTIC for the heart and lungs and is also a great way to help you drop weight. BUT it is not a weight bearing exercise, which is what your body also needs. If you are an avid cyclist, keep on rolling, but consider adding a walk and or weight training to your routine.

Too Much Time Indoors

Your body needs sunlight as your body produces Vitamin D when exposed to the sun. In our modern society, we spend most of our time indoors, and thus we don’t receive the Vitamin D we need. Your doctor has likely talked to you about supplements. Another course of action is to spend at least 10-15 minutes a day in the sun. No one is saying you need to get a tan and risk skin damage, but some sun exposure is necessary.

Another Round of Drinks

Alcohol restricts your body’s ability to absorb alcohol. Limit your daily alcohol intake to 1 drink per day for women and 2 drinks per day for men.

Wheat Bran Cereal and Milk

Sounds odd, but 100% wheat bran cereal restricts the absorption of calcium in milk. That doesn’t appear to be the case in other items, like bread with wheat bran. So, consider a two hour separation between your wheat bran consumption and your favorite source of calcium.

Smoking

If you smoke, then stop. No surprise in that statement, and smokers know they should stop. Most of us know what smoking does to the heart and lungs, but what is does to the bones is that smoking restricts bone growth, and thus if you have an accident and break a bone, it will take far longer to heal than if you didn’t smoke at all. And for women trying to reverse bone loss, smoking will stop or greatly hinder your attempts.

Prescription Meds

Long term use of glucocorticoid medications, like prednisone and cortisone, can cause bone loss. You like use these anti-inflammatory drugs if you have rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, asthma, or Crohn’s disease.

Being Underweight

Being underweight, a BMI of 18.5 or less, means a greater chance of fracture and bone loss. Your doctor can best tell you I you are or are not underweight, so consult with him or her if you are concerned.

 

Thanks to the folks at WebMD for some of these ideas.  https://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/ss/slideshow-bone-wreckers

Before you go, if you enjoyed this post, check out our other posts featuring Health, Fitness, and Food. This blog is dedicated to providing the reader everything they need in order to be the everyday athlete that they are.

I hope you enjoy reading what we have to offer in this site, and please leave us a message below. And don’t forget to subscribe!