Archive for November, 2010

Cardiovascular Fitness for Oxygen Delivery and Muscle Endurance

So what exactly is cardiovascular fitness? Cardiovascular fitness is the ability of your cardio respiratory system, specfically heart and lungs, to perform oxygen delivery efficiently so that tissues and muscles get the required amount of oxygen for prolonged physical work.

Your tissues and cells need oxygen to produce energy just to survive. Therefore, your cardiovascular fitness, or oxygen deliver capability, is vital since cells cannot survive nor function without it.

Your ability to deliver oxygen depends on several parameters, like heart rate, cardio output and stroke volume. An inefficiency in any of these can cause irreversible damage to tissues, particularly those in your brain.

Your cardiovascular fitness is also affected by muscle endurance. Muscular endurance is the ability of your muscles to remain actively working for a prolonged period. It’s through participation in most cardio exercises that helps build muscle endurance, for instance running, jogging, walking and cycling.

In addition to muscular endurance, strength is an integral part of cardiovascular fitness. Strength is defined is the maximum force possible your muscles can exert. Your muscle strength can be improved gradually via exercises such as weight lifting, resistance training and power sprints.

There are several major health benefits of cardiovascular fitness. A timely benefit of enriching your oxygen delivery is weight loss because muscle endurance activities burn calories.

Your participation in weight bearing activities to enhance your cardio fitness simultaneously strengthens your skeletal system, resulting in the beneficial reduction of risk for arthritis, osteoporosis and other joint or bone diseases.

If you suffer from diabetes, improved oxygen delivery and muscle endurance may help alleviate certain symptoms, potentially reduce the amount of medication you take for it and possibly slow the progression of your disease. Furthermore, if your cardiovascular system is fit, then the chances of you suffering a heart attack or any other heart disease dwindles.

Meditation: A Stress Relief Remedy

Today, you could say many lives are not peaceful, but rushed through in a state of urgency. Stress and depression are common health conditions, even in those under the age of majority. Meditation is an ideal remedy for stress relief.

Meditation is a discipline where your mind enters the deepest recess of consciousness, away from all stress and worries. The mind and body are trained to focus on the internal world rather than the external.

The term meditation has got a very wide spectrum. It’s concept of cultivating the inner consciousness has developed from religious practices in the entire history of all major religions, be it the yogis in Hinduism, the Sufis in Islam or the Kabala Jews.

There are thousands of meditation techniques and you can use any one of them to achieve the desired result. However, all these meditation techniques can be broadly divided into two categories.

The first is insight oriented techniques (Zen based forms), wherein the technique of meditation basically emphasizes an awareness of you mind onto all the sensations of the body. You sit quietly and observe all your surroundings, for instance all sights, smells and sounds, yet not get lost in any of them. You let the sensations flow without interrupting them with thought nor worry. This helps achieve a calm and controlled state of mind, free from any prejudices, judgments or stress.

The other category for stress relief remedy of medication is concentration oriented techniques (Hinduism based form). This technique of meditation concentrates your attention to a single object or image, usually your breathing pattern, shutting down all other sensory perceptions. The aim of this type of meditation is achieving a detached frame of mind, free from all the illusions of the world. Once the mind is focused at one point, it becomes more tranquil, aware and less stressed.

Irrespective of which technique or style of meditation you use, the health benefits are are profound, some of which include:

  • assists in alleviating pain
  • plays a vital role in relieving stress & depression
  • fitness of your mind ~ making it more aware & receptive
  • improves concentration & makes you a more complete person
  • chemical & physical changes improve metabolism, heart rate & respiration

Meditation is a very personal practice involving focus of mind and body at one focal point. It’s a state of bonding with yourself without any external involvement.

Meditation will also help calm you for peak performance of competitive sports.

To Be Fit With Stamina, Strength and Endurance

When someone says they’re fit, what does that mean? Does it simply mean free from any physical problems? No. Being fit does not only mean the ability to engage in physical activity, but a very wide spectrum of overall and holistic well being.

Fitness is defined as the state of good health, acquired through physical activity and adequate nutrition. Being fit does not only encompass the physical, but also refers to living fit emotionally and mentally too.

Your body is a machine which has to be kept adequately fueled and well lubricated to keep it running perfectly. The fuel of the body is nutrition contained in the food you consume that provides strength to work hard because of its nutrients, like proteins and carbohydrates.

You can gain the most benefit from the fuel of food through exercising regularly. Exercising keeps excess fat in check and maintains cardiovascular fitness, all the while increasing your strength, endurance and stamina. Staying fit is also essential for maintaining good health because exercise keeps your body functioning properly via the use of muscles.

So to be fit with stamina, strength and endurance you must consume a healthy diet and exercise regularly. Eating a suitable diet containing all the necessary nutrients provides your body with all the raw material it needs to be fit.

Carbohydrates and fats provide energy while vitamins and proteins build your body’s defense against disease. Exercising regularly maintains the bio chemical functions and keeps all the tissues and muscles working well.

The simplest forms of exercise can be very beneficial, especially for building up stamina. Running, jogging or simply walking increases the stamina gradually.

Benefits of staying fit are:

  • helps fight off numerous health issues related to obesity
  • slows down the ageing process, therefore keeps you feeling younger
  • ensures your life is more enjoyable because you have stamina, strength & endurance

To be fit you also must pay attention to the fitness of the mind and soul. Keeping your mind free from stress allows for efficient and improved decision making. And positive emotional well being acts as a force to push you toward achieving your goals.

So, to be fit with stamina, strength and endurance should be your primary concern. And let everything else flow from there.

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