Workout Log: Monday June 18, 2012

I feel lazy and not too good for a few days. I did not exercise much and today as well. I can not go my normal strength. I can do only soft exercise. I want to recover my health from back and leg injury, so I decide to do light weight but many reps again. I start my exercise with barbell squat. Even though I do just warm up weight, my back start to feel pain again. My husband recommended me to do high bar squat instead. I had to keep my back tight and straight. I felt a bit better than my first set (lower bar squat).

In addition, my next exercise for today is barbell bench press. Honestly, I do not like bench press too much. I feel like it is a bit difficult to do. I can not lift much weight for this exercise. I down the weight to 70 lbs and I try to do perfect form with this weight. I can do it perfectly, so I plan to lift higher next time.

Moreover, my last exercise is barbell deadlift. I know this exercise is a bit easier. Most people can lift heavier with this exercise. I know some younger and lighter than me can lift heavier than me. I try to catch them up too. I will try my best. :)

Barbell Squat

• 45 lbs: 20

High Barbell Squat

• 45 lbs: 20
• 75 lbs: 10
• 100 lbs: 5,5,5

Barbell Bench Press

• 45 lbs: 15
• 60 lbs: 5
• 70 lbs: 5,5,5,5,5

Barbell Deadlift

• 75 lbs: 10
• 100 lbs: 10
• 140 lbs: 3,3,3

Banana Protein Shake

My husband has a hard workout schedule. I want to help him a bit, so after his hard workout, I made this protein drink for my husband. I mixed one medium banana, 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of yogurt, 1 scope of whey protein and lemon.  I did not use blender I just mashed banana and then added everything after that just shake.

I made this one first time and it turned out not bad. It is very yummy and healthy.

What Counts As A Cardio Workout?

You've probably heard it everywhere: you have to get some cardio into your daily routine in order to burn fat and stay healthy. But what exactly counts as a cardio workout?

Cardio Workout Definition

In layman's terms, a cardio workout is pretty much any aerobic activity that gets you breathing faster and gets your heart pumping faster. Cardio workouts are divided into three different types, and these are low intensity, moderate intensity and high intensity workouts.

Low intensity workouts are those that slightly raise your heart rate, but still allow you to breathe pretty easily and carry a conversation without much effort. These include activities like walking, yoga, swimming, and so on.

Moderate intensity workouts, on the other hand, are those that moderately raise your heart rate and increase your breathing rate significantly enough to cause you to halt once or twice every time you speak a sentence. Examples of moderate intensity workouts are brisk walking, jogging, light aerobics, and some form of calisthenics.

Lastly, high intensity workouts are those that send your heart racing to about 70 or 80 percent of your maximum heart rate, and do not allow you to carry a conversation easily or at all. These include running, circuit training, high intensity interval training, jumping rope, and more.

What Counts As A Cardio Workout

Cardio workouts of any intensity count as a workout; so the real question here is what counts as a good workout. This varies according to the exerciser, but here are some general guidelines:

* For beginners to exercise, it is recommended to do at least 30 minutes to an hour of low intensity cardio every other day (or even better, daily) to get the body used to the exercise first.

* For those looking to lose weight by incorporating exercise, start with the beginner's regime above and slowly increase the intensity to moderate or high, but aim for 45 minutes to an hour of exercise every day. The higher the intensity of the exercise, the more calories you burn, and you will watch the fat slipping away.

* For general health, experts recommend 30 minutes of moderate intensity cardio three to five times a week.

So as you can see, the right amount of cardio for each person varies, but the more cardio one can get into their daily lives, the better. You don't have to get the required duration in a stretch; you can also break it up into smaller segments of time which you carry out throughout the day. At the same time, try your best to do more and keep moving all day!

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Counts-As-A-Cardio-Workout?&id=7110293] What Counts As A Cardio Workout?

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Food Flavor

According to traditional Chinese medical texts. The flavor of all foods is important for virtually all organs of the human body. You will receive the benefits of all the food flavor if you have them in the right amount.

Sweet

Advantages - Sugar and carbohydrates in foods make energy to the body immediately. It is refreshing also help stomach and spleen performances. Sweet taste has benefit in health. We can use sweet to relief muscle pain, fatigue and thirst.

Disadvantages - Sweet foods are a result of diabetes. When body receive sugar too much, it can not control blood sugar levels to normal. In addition, the body receive too much energy causing the risk of heart disease, kidney disease, tooth decay, etc.

Spicy

Advantages -  Spicy food helps the lung and intestine performance, stimulate blood flow, release sweat, expel gas in stomach and intestines. It also helps in the metabolism.

Disadvantages - Spicy food can cause irritation of the stomach as well. Also, spicy foods such as curry paste is a mixture of salt, sodium glutamate, which is cause the risk of kidney disease and high blood pressure.

 

Salty

Advantages - Sodium is the main component of salt. It plays an important role in controlling the balance of body fluids, blood pressure to normal levels, control level of acid and base blood.


Disadvantages -When the body get sodium from salt higher than normal, the body tries excreted in urine. As a result, we feel thirsty, parched throat and water retention. In addition, salty will slow the flow of blood in the body, high blood pressure and makes the heart work harder.

 

Sour

Advantages - The acid helps to stimulate the liver and gallbladder to release the digesting juice. It helps in the absorption of the body as a mild laxative, blood purifier and helps the pituitary and the scurvy.


Disadvantages -Eating too much sour cause diarrhea and problem in lymphatic system. The wounds heal slowly and can cause decayed tooth.

Whey Protein Smoothie Recipes

Whey protein is made from cow's milk during the cheese making process. Whey protein contains a high amount of essential   amino acid that are used in many body functions including repair of injuries, building of muscles, provide a good source of energy, as well as helping with metabolism. Whey protein smoothies are great for athletes for energy and muscle growth, vegetarians as a good source of protein, dieters as a very good source of protein with little fat, and anyone else who needs protein. Whey protein smoothies can help achieve many goals such as muscle building or weight loss.
 

 

Fruity Whey Protein Smoothie Recipe

• 1 banana cut into chucks
• 1 or 2 scoops of whey protein( according to the brand)
• 3 large strawberries
• 1/4 cup blueberries
• 1/2 of skim milk
• 1/2 cup ice
• 1/2 cup of yogurt

Directions:

1. Blend the banana with the milk, ice, protein and yogurt until a slushy texture is formed. 
2. Add the strawberries and blueberries and blend till slushy. Blending the fruit last will keep their flavor fresh. this whey protein smoothie is full of protein and antioxidants. 
3. Other fruits can be added or replace the ones above as well.

High Whey Protein Smoothie Recipe

This whey protein smoothie recipe optimizes protein amounts by using soy milk and almonds.

• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 banana cut into chucks
• 1 or 2 scoops of whey protein( according to the brand)
• 1 cup of soy milk
• 1/2 cup ice cubes

Directions:

1. Blend the almonds, raisins, banana, whey protein, soy milk, and ice cubes until a smooth texture is formed. Make sure the almonds and raisins are well blending. 
2. This whey protein smoothies contains a lot of protein and the raisins should provide sweetness.

Source: [http://www.smoothie-recipes.com/healthy/whey-protein.html]

Cooking: Baked Chicken with Homemade Mashed Potatoes

Nowadays, chickens are cooked and prepared in so many ways. Fast food chickens have been one of our favorites but it's not that healthy. Normally, we buy them for the taste and for convenience when we do not have time to cook. Fast food chickens contain a lot of cholesterol which cause health problem. Chicken can be cooked in so many techniques such as frying, steaming, roasting, jerking, baking, barbequing, etc. I like baking chicken most.

Baked chicken is a healthy and delicious dish. It is very tender and tasty. I like to season with some soy sauce, pepper and black pepper. Sometime I add herbs or other spices to give the chicken more flavors. Some people like to have skin on when baking, but for me I like to rip it out. I do not want an extra fat even though it helps my chicken more juicy and more flavor.

My baking directions are so simple. I just wrap seasoning chickens with foil and then bake in the preheat oven (preheat at 350 degree Fahrenheit) for 50-60 minutes. When the chickens finished, they are very tender. You can have baked chickens with some homemade mashed potatoes, french fries, salad or bread.

Daily Exercise for Always Keeping the Body in Good Shape

Doing exercise every day will always keep your body in good health. You can also improve your body shape by doing fitness exercise. If you want to use an exercise machine for training, you can go to the gym to work out with the fitness equipment available from the fitness center.

If you want to improve your health, you can do aerobic and combine with weight training. Use treadmill to strengthen your muscles on your lower body. And work with rowers to build the muscles on the upper part of the body.
Exercising with an exercise bike can be a good way to increase your stamina as well.

Generally, aging decreases muscle strength because the loss of muscle mass. If you seldom use your muscles, they get weaker and weaker. However, there is a great solution to stop it by doing fitness exercise to replace the muscle mass. You should do it routinely for the best result.

The gym is the best place for training your muscles and improving your health. There are a lot of fitness equipment you can choose, which suit your needs. You can follow the guidance of the instructors and meet people who share their experiences of losing their weight.

If you do not have time to work out at the gym, you can just jogging or hiking. You can also buy an exercise equipment for training your muscles at home. Having a fitness machine at home will save your time for going to the gym, and you can do it any time you need it.

Choosing The Right Exercise For You

Choose the type of exercise you like to do. If you choose the exercise that you do not want to do, then you are not going to do it for a long period of time. So, if you did not find something that suits you, choose something that you really hate the least.

Consider that walking is a good choice for someone who does not like paying membership fees or does not want to buy a fitness equipment either.
Walking is also a great exercise because it suits all ranges of exercises. You can start your walking plan at any time. And it is not difficult to find a partner who wants to do it together with you. And walking with partner will certainly make time goes faster.

Start practicing in just a short time and build it up over a period of weeks, which is necessary to the durability of your exercise program.
Do not ever begin with too hard exercise, as it will make you get injured. And for getting recovered from the pain will take quite a long time as well.
Just start your exercise by walking for about ten minutes a day. Therefore, after some periods you can increase it by five minutes every two or three weeks. Take different tracks every few days to avoid from getting bored. You can also take different friends to walk with you each day in the week.

Here are some tips to exercise safely and effectively:

1. First, do not forget to do stretching and warming up before exercising.
It will avoid your muscles for getting harmed.
2. Always read and follow the instructions from the professional trainer.
It will lead you to get the best result.
3. Always make sure the safety of the equipment before using.
4. When doing weight lifting, you should always use the spotter.
5. Exercise your muscles in a secure program.
6. Do the exercise with the correct manner. Do not over training because it will make your body being exhausted.
7. It is better to drink lots of water during the day, especially when you do hard exercises.


Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Daily-Exercise-for-Always-Keeping-the-Body-in-Good-Shape&id=7089425] Daily Exercise for Always Keeping the Body in Good Shape