Zumba Fitness: Making Exercise Fun.

Is fitness fun for you? Do you find yourself motivated? Do you dread the treadmill? Yes, then maybe your fitness needs to be redefined. Fitness should be fun, so that it lasts. Although diet, nutrition, hydration and a workout plan are crucial, the most important ingredient to fitness is fun.
 

Getting workout drilled into your daily routine is no doubt challenging, leaving you hung up with a hundred excuses not to do it. When it is fun, you’re more likely to find enjoyment in it. The fun in an exercise distracts you from the pain. A game of Frisbee or intramural soccer makes the exercise more fun. The pain is perceived less when you focus on the fun.
 

Zumba is a dance fitness program using primarily Latin Dance moves. Based on the principles of resistance training& interval training this workout system leads to increased caloric output and complete body toning. 

 

The dance moves are based on a variety of Latin styles including meringue, pop, reggae ton, cumbia, mambo, salsa, salsa ton, flamenco, rumba, and calypso. Squats and lunges are also included. Both slow and fast rhythms are involved so Zumba enthusiasts receive a variety to beat the boredom and increase agility and muscular involvement.

Why dancing is Popular? 
 

Dancing is fun, so people are more likely to stick with it.

The attention is shifted from duration of workout as one is left enjoying the dance moves.

You're not in the same spot, doing the exact same thing, thinking about working out and watching the clock, dreading the next five minutes. It really is like a party, all the time.

The abs or core gets a fantastic workout.

Zumba is based on the philosophy of HIIT. Interval training is an athletic training system that combines short bursts of intense activity, called intervals, with periods of lower intensity, or rest periods. By alternating the two throughout your workout, your body is forced to exert more effort than it normally would during a steady, continuous workout of moderate intensity. For example you can exchange 45 minutes on a recumbent bike, reading a magazine, with 15 minutes of interval workout.

With dance workouts you're working the whole body. While training on one sport or doing workouts with weight machines, you're using the same muscles every time.

 Getting Started
 

Warm up with simple steps at a moderate pace to get your heart beating and blood flowing through your muscles. Remember to start with easy moves, and then go to the advance moves. Once you get used to the basic moves the more advanced moves will become easy. Avoid twisting and jerking motions, as well as high-impact moves, to begin with. Move on even planes of motion, forward, backward and sideways. Do the merenge. Followed by salsa and cumbia performed at a variety of paces to a wide range of salsa music. Get intense with reggae ton a modern type of dance equivalent of hip-hop. Cool down with simple steps at a moderate to slow pace. Stretch your calves and hamstrings with gentle static stretches, and breathe in a few deep, slow breaths to end your Zumba session. Pat yourself on the back for burning plenty of calories while having a whole lot of fun. Don't forget to put on your dance sneakers or aerobics shoes.  

Benefits of Zumba 

1.  Improved Cardiovascular Health
2.  Weight Loss
3.  Improved Co-ordination
4.  Improved Mood
5.  Relieve Stress
6.  Release Toxins from the body

Some dance styles are much more strenuous than others. For example, a fast-paced jazz class will burn more calories than a slow and graceful lesson in ballet. Choose a dance class that gets you up and moving! 
 

Health tip # 22


It may stress u out just to think about exercising,once u actually start working out,you'll experience less stress in every part of ur life.

Why is Exercise Important?

Have you ever heard the expression "use it or lose it"? It's true! If you don't use your body, you will surely lose it. Your muscles will become flabby and weak. Your heart and lungs won't function efficiently. And your joints will be stiff and easily injured. Inactivity is as much of a health risk as smoking!

Helps Prevent Diseases 
Our bodies were meant to move -- they actually crave exercise. Regular exercise is necessary for physical fitness and good health. It reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases. It can improve your appearance and delay the aging process.

Improves Stamina 
When you exercise, your body uses energy to keep going. Aerobic exercise involves continuous and rhythmic physical motion, such as walking and bicycling. It improves your stamina by training your body to become more efficient and use less energy for the same amount of work. As your conditioning level improves, your heart rate and breathing rate return to resting levels much sooner from strenuous activity.

Strengthens and Tones 
Exercising with weights and other forms of resistance training develops your muscles, bones and ligaments for increased strength and endurance. Your posture can be improved, and your muscles become more firm and toned. You not only feel better, but you look better, too!

Enhances Flexibility 
Stretching exercises are also important for good posture. They keep your body limber so that you can bend, reach and twist. Improving your flexibility through exercise reduces the chance of injury and improves balance and coordination. If you have stiff, tense areas, such as the upper back or neck, performing specific stretches can help "loosen" those muscles, helping you feel more relaxed.

Controls Weight 
Exercise is also a key to weight control because it burns calories. If you burn off more calories than you take in, you lose weight. It's as simple as that.

Improves Quality of Life 
Once you begin to exercise regularly, you will discover many more reasons why exercise is so important to improving the quality of your life. Exercise reduces stress, lifts moods, and helps you sleep better. It can keep you looking and feeling younger throughout your entire life.

How Often Should I Exercise?

The benefits of any exercise program will diminish if it's disrupted too frequently. A "stop-start" routine is not only ineffective, but can cause injuries. Being consistent with exercise, therefore, is probably the most important factor in achieving desired results.

People often assume that more is better. Wrong! Doing too much too soon or performing intense exercises on a daily basis will have deleterious effects, such as muscle/tendon strains, loss of lean tissue, and fitness-level plateaus.

If you are a beginner, start off slower than you think you should. Three days per week is realistic, safe and effective. If you are experienced, do cardiovascular (aerobic) exercises such as walking, jogging and bicycling for no more than 200 minutes per week with no more than 60 minutes per session.

Weight training should be done no more than three times per week targeting the same muscle groups. Exercise the same muscle groups on non-consecutive days because muscles need adequate time to recover and cannot be effectively trained if they are tired or sore.

Many people forget to stretch or make the excuse that they don't have the time. Flexibility is important, so make the time! Stretching can be done every day, but stick to a minimum of three times per week in order to reap the benefits. When the body is warmed up, such as after a workout session, perform five to 10 stretches that target the major muscle groups. Hold each stretch for 10-30 seconds.

Health tip # 20


Brown rice is much healthier to eat than white rice that’s because brown rice undergoes far less processing than the white variety. With brown rice, only the outer hull is removed, preserving many of the nutrients and fiber. Cooked with vegetables, this healthy rice dish will satisfy your appetite and can be enjoyed for lunch, snack of dinner.

10 Steps To Help You Avoid Losing The Thrill


What's your excuse for not making it to the gym on a consistent basis? Locker room too smelly? Music volume making your ears bleed? Feeling intimidated by buff bodies crowding the free-weight area?

Most people start off strong with an exercise program, and then within a few weeks they've got an excuse for not being there.

The majority of people will stop participating in a new workout program within the first 90 days which is why health clubs that are packed in January can seem virtually empty by March.

Which brings us to you.

If you're starting a new exercise program, you're probably very excited about it, which is great. But that excitement is going to wear off, at which point you'll begin to notice how much time and effort a workout plan really requires.

And that's the point where you may be tempted to start pulling back, or even to quit entirely. But we're not about to let that happen. Follow these steps from the very beginning, and you'll be one of those dedicated gym members who really get their money's worth.\

1. Make workouts a key part of your schedule. Many people see exercise merely as recreation, not a necessity, which means it's the first thing to go when daily schedules get crunched. YOU NEED TO DECIDE that working out is as important as ANYTHING in your life, even as important as LIFE ITSELF.

If you don't, as soon as the initial excitement of a new program is over, everything else will get in the way; business appointments, family obligations, TV, sitting on your duff. Write your workout times into your calendar and stick to them just as you would a vital business meeting.

2. Keep it mellow. You're a lot more likely to keep your program for the long term if you avoid letting going to the gym become a hassle. Choose a gym you can get to in a reasonable amount of time at the time of day you're going to train.

If you're fighting gym traffic, you'll be a lot less motivated. Find a place where you won't have to line up to use the equipment you want. And unless you'll be going at the end of the day and can wash up at home, make sure it has clean showers and a comfortable changing environment.

3. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Many people often start out too aggressively, going to a level that's higher than they're capable of. As a result, they injure their muscle fibers, so for 48 hours they're walking around like a mummy. Then they stop going to the gym because they find themselves dreading the pain.

Many people don't realize that long, drawn out workouts is NOT better. You're not giving your body enough time to recover between workouts. 60 minutes TOPS (if you're doing a strength and aerobic workout), or about 30 minutes of a strength OR aerobic workout. Make those minutes COUNT! You can still workout daily as long as you keep your workouts short.

4. Set achievable goals. It's inevitable that as you start a new program, you picture yourself looking like the models on TV or in the magazines. But if you set your sights too high, you may find yourself discounting the gains you are making. When you're starting out, go over your long-term goals with a trainer or coach, and decide what you can achieve based on your workout schedule.

Then, instead of looking far into the future, give yourself intermediate weekly and monthly goals, such as doing an extra rep or lifting 10 more pounds. If you always have new goals to shoot for, it stays interesting.

REMEMBER: You're not exercising to lose weight. You're exercising because of HOW YOU'LL FEEL as a RESULT of exercising regularly. You WILL get leaner, you WILL have more energy, you WILL have a higher self-esteem. If you don't achieve the goals in the time you first set, it's not the goal that's wrong. It's the time frame that was wrong. Keep focused on your goals.

5. Chart your progress. Gains from one workout to the next can be subtle, and the only way to know how well you're really doing is to write everything down. Keep a journal of your workouts, as well as what you eat. Even people who are diligent don't remember exactly how well things went if they keep everything in their head.

When you write it down, you can compare results, see what is and isn't working, and see that as time goes on YOU'RE REALLY MAKING PROGRESS.

6. Mix it up. Doing the same workout over and over again gets old fast, and your results won't be as good as if you try a variety of exercises. Instead of doing 40 minutes daily on the treadmill, try every darn aerobic machine in the gym and go on hiking, in-line skating and bicycling adventures whenever you get a chance.

Change your weight training routine regularly to keep things interesting and to help break through plateaus. A lack of variety leads to staleness. A good rule of thumb is to change your sets, reps, weight, and rest periods every 3-4 weeks. You'll have more fun if you learn new tools and keep doing different things.

7. Go one on one. One reason working out can seem less enjoyable than playing sports is that it lacks interplay with others. But there are lots of ways to have some spirited competition in the gym, whether it's racing on treadmills or competing with your weightlifting buddy. When two guys are on the same regimen, they can make things more fun by having "mini-contests."

Try going as many reps as you can on a certain weight. Or see who can lift the most weight for 4-5 reps. Just make sure the contest rules specify doing the exercise right, since sacrificing form to lift more weight can be dangerous.

8. Work with a trainer or coach. Workouts seem easier and are more effective with a professional prodding you on; plus, you're more likely to feel obligated to show up (especially if he's going to charge you anyway). When there's someone watching you and keeping an eye on your progress, there's incentive to keep going. If you can't afford to hire a trainer for every workout, just do it every couple of weeks or once a month and have him/her help you set goals for you to reach in between.

Also, consider getting a training partner - just make sure it's somebody who will show up every time, is dedicated as you are... in other words, a clone of you.

9. Force yourself to hang in there religiously for the first three months. Nothing sustains motivation better than results. However, whether you're a beginner or a competitive bodybuilder, your muscles must be given enough time to adapt to the growth and recovery periods that strength training requires.

Though you may see some results, like increases in strength, early on, noticeable changes in your physique can take up to three months. This doesn't mean that everyone will take this long to see results. I've had clients see results in the first couple of weeks; some waited a few months before things fell into place.

It also takes that long to establish a rhythm and discipline to your training schedule, but after three months of dedication, you'll be a lot less likely to fall off the training wagon.

10. As soon as you miss a workout, re-motivate yourself. This is the danger zone, the time when most people start giving up. You've missed one workout, so what's the big deal about skipping another, or all of them? Before you know it, your whole program could go down the tubes. If you miss a workout, you miss a workout. It's over. You can't bring it back. So it makes NO sense to beat you up about it.

Health tip # 18


The average women's health and fitness regime requires a workout of no more than an hour at a time. Spending too much time at the gym or doing the same exercises over extended periods can become tedious and boring. By focusing on the exercises and narrowing your time frame, your workout sessions will be more fun and more efficient

Health tip # 16

Have green tea daily to boost your metabolism and speed up fat oxidation.it is also rich in antioxidants which prevents degenerative diseases.

Health tip # 15 

Never ignore your sleep. The perfect sleep is an indication of perfect health condition. Develop the habit of early to bed and early to rise. A minimum 8 hours sleep is must for any one.