• Warming up prepares the body for physical exertion, and reduces the chances of getting cramps or serious injuries.
• Walking, slow running, riding an exercise bike, gentle aerobic movements or dancing are good ways of warming up.

Cooling down properly after exercising will reduce the risk of muscle soreness or stiffness the next day. You can use the same kinds of physical activities that you used to warm-up.

Stretches should also be a part of warming up and cooling down afterwards:

• If you watch a lot of sports, either live or on television, you’ve probably seen athletes stretching and loosening up before a game or event.
• Serious athletes aren’t willing to risk pain, injury and poor performance by not preparing their bodies for increased activity, and neither should you!

Theory

A child’s first exposure to overeating often occurs very early in life. Baby’s tears are often misinterpreted for hunger. Unfortunately, many adults thrust a bottle in the mouth of a crying infant instead of considering whether the need may be for cuddling, comfort, or a diaper change. Therefore, it’s only natural that the child learns to link emotional and physical needs with eating. If food is used to placate needs other than hunger, a child may be conditioned to want food even when not hungry.

Another aspect of the Psychological Theory focuses on the role of tension and frustration in overeating. Stress situations (death of a parent, loss of a job, etc.) can cause you to eat nervously, if you were so conditioned in childhood, and also to refrain from physical activity. In fact, you may want to sleep more, or you may become depressed and just want to sit. The most interesting aspect of the Psychological Theory is the observation that obese and overweight people tend to become less active. This compounds the problem that situations that cause overeating also lead to decreased physical activity.

A person who experiences periods of intense depression may also undergo a significant change in carbohydrate metabolism. Obesity and overweight contribute to inactivity and inactivity begets weight gain. It is indeed a vicious circle. In many instances, obesity and overweight result from a combination of causes. What you must remember is that physical activity is the most reliable way to control weight.

A good way to change these conditioned responses that cause you to overeat is to document the feelings, attitudes and cravings you have throughout the day. For example: “I had an argument with my coworker right after I had eaten lunch. I got an overwhelming urge to eat and searched through the refrigerator in the lunch room for a snack.” – In this situation, she had been conditioned to eat after an uncomfortable confrontation – an emotional response that triggered her appetite.

If you document the times you eat (what you were doing, who you were with) – eventually you will identify the emotions that trigger these conditioned responses so you can consciously recondition your eating behaviors. Sometimes the cause of depression is so deeply rooted you may need to seek professional guidance to help you get to the root of the problem causing the food addiction or overeating impulse.

If you are obese or very much overweight, your goal in walking should be to walk as far as you can. Don’t worry about speed; distance is far more important.

Getting Started

Choose a safe place to walk. Find a friend or group of friends to walk with you. This could be a big sister, brother or grandparent. Your walking partners should be able to walk with you on the same schedule and at the same speed.

Once you have a walking partner, discuss fun places to walk in your community. Mall walking is a great way to get exercise while hanging out with your friends in a safe, indoor environment. Check with your school to see if you can start a “walking club” before or after school. Walking at a local community college or at the local high school track is always a nice option since these areas are designed with outdoor lighting and pliable walking surfaces.

Wear shoes with thick flexible soles that will cushion your feet and absorb shock. Walking in sandals will be uncomfortable because sandals are not designed for long walks. The best pair of shoes is a comfortable pair of shoes that won’t pinch.

Wear clothes that will keep you dry and comfortable. Look for synthetic fabrics that absorb sweat and remove it from your skin. Sweat pants work great or on a hot day or a loose pair of comfortable shorts. Stay away from tight clothing that will restrict your walking movement.

For extra warmth in winter, wear a knit cap. To stay cool in summer, wear a baseball cap or visor.

Do light stretching before and after you walk.

Think of your walk in three parts. Walk slowly for 5 minutes. Increase your speed for the next 5 minutes. Finally, to cool down, walk slowly again for 5 minutes.

Try to walk at least three times per week. Add 2 to 3 minutes per week to the fast walk. If you walk less than three times per week, increase the fast walk more slowly.

To avoid stiff or sore muscles or joints, start gradually. Over several weeks, begin walking faster, going further, and walking for longer periods of time.  The more you walk, the better you will feel!

Remember – Safety First!

Walk in well lit areas, do not walk alone, be sure your parents, teachers or guardian knows where you are walking to and who you are walking with.  Be careful when crossing streets — pay attention! Wear clothes that are easy to see — bright colors in the daytime or white at night.

When you exercise, you’re helping build a strong body that will be able to move around and do all the stuff you need it to do. Try to be active every day and your body will thank you later!

Exercise Makes Your Heart Happy

You may know that your heart is a muscle. It works hard, pumping blood every day of your life. You can help this important muscle get stronger by doing aerobic (say: air-o-bik) exercise.

Aerobic means “with air,” so aerobic exercise is a kind of activity that requires oxygen. When you breathe, you take in oxygen, and, if you’re doing aerobic exercise, you may notice you’re breathing faster than normal. Aerobic activity can get your heart pumping, make you sweaty, and quicken your breathing.

When you give your heart this kind of workout on a regular basis, your heart will get even better at its main job — delivering oxygen (in the form of oxygen-carrying blood cells) to all parts of your body.

So you want to do some aerobic exercise right now? Try swimming, basketball, ice or roller hockey, jogging (or walking quickly), inline skating, soccer, cross-country skiing, biking, or rowing. And don’t forget that skipping, jumping rope, and playing hopscotch are aerobic activities, too!

If you don’t drink enough clear, fresh water, you can get dehydrated.  Dehydration is a condition that occurs when someone loses more fluids than he or she takes in.

Our bodies are about two thirds water. When someone gets dehydrated, it means the amount of water in his or her body has dropped below the level needed for normal body function. Small decreases don’t cause problems, and in most cases, they go completely unnoticed. But losing larger amounts of water can sometimes make a person feel quite sick.

Causes of Dehydration

One common cause of dehydration in teens is gastrointestinal illness. When you’re flattened by a stomach bug, you lose fluid through vomiting and diarrhea.

You might also hear that you can get dehydrated from playing sports. In reality, it’s rare to reach a level of even moderate dehydration during sports or other normal outdoor activity. But if you don’t replace fluid you lose through sweat as you go, you can become dehydrated from lots of physical activity, especially on a hot day.

Some athletes, such as wrestlers who need to reach a certain weight to compete, dehydrate themselves on purpose to drop weight quickly before a big game or event by sweating in saunas or using laxatives or diuretics, which make a person go to the bathroom more. This practice usually hurts more than it helps, though. Athletes who do this feel weaker, which affects performance. They can also have more serious problems, like abnormalities in the salt and potassium levels in the body. Such changes can also lead to problems with the heart’s rhythm.

Dieting can sap someone’s water reserves as well. Beware of diets or supplements, including laxatives and diuretics that emphasize shedding “water weight” as a quick way to lose weight. Losing water weight is not the same thing as losing actual fat

Hey Parents, did you know….

Children in the United States today are less fit than they were a generation ago.  Many are showing early signs of cardiovascular risk factors such as physical inactivity, excess weight, higher blood cholesterol and cigarette smoking.

Inactive children, when compared with active children, weigh more, have higher blood pressure and lower levels of heart-protective high-density lipoproteins (HDL cholesterol). Even though heart attack and stroke are rare in children, evidence shows that the process leading to those conditions begins in childhood.

The 2005 Youth Risk Factor Surveillance Study indicates that 9.6 percent of youth don’t engage in moderate or vigorous physical activity.  A fitness testing program sponsored by the Chrysler Fund Amateur Athletic Union, which tracks fitness among 9.7 million people between ages 6–17, shows that children are getting slower in endurance running and weaker.

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES, 1999–2004) found that the prevalence of overweight American adolescents ages 12–19 was 17.9 percent for males and 16.0 percent for females. There was an increase of nearly 179 percent from 1971 to 2004.

About 10 percent of adolescents ages 12–19 have total cholesterol levels exceeding 200 mg/dL.

An estimated 59 percent of American children under ages 4–11 are exposed to secondhand smoke in the home. An estimated 1,500 American young people become smokers every day.

7.2 percent of high school students spend three or more hours a day watching TV. Inactive children are more likely to become inactive adults. Healthy lifestyle training should start in childhood to promote improved cardiovascular health in adult life. The following good health practices should be promoted among children:

What can you do with a hula hoop? Actually, you might be surprised. Obviously, you can use the hula hoop as it was intended. You swing your hips in a circular movement and try to keep the hoop moving. Did you know that using one of these hoops, especially if it has been weighted, is a great abdominal exercise? They can also be used as a prop in rhythmic dancing or gymnastics. You can also use them at different points on the body, so you can concentrate on separate areas and give them a great workout.

Jump ropes are also wonderful pieces of exercise equipment. Of course, if more than one person chooses to use it at once, you will probably want to get one for everyone in the family. Again, you can use these as intended, jumping rope, but you can also incorporate them into gymnastics or rhythmic dancing. If you’re not sure what you can do with a jump rope, take a look at double Dutch jump roping. You’ll be amazed at the way some athletes use a simple pair of ropes.

Find hula hoops and jump ropes at local department stores. If you don’t think those will stand up to use, you may want to look at school supply stores. If there aren’t any school supply stores nearby, you can always look online to find them. You may find other pieces of exercise equipment that you’ll be interested in, too.

Remember that the goal is to encourage your child to get active rather than sitting in front of a computer or television. Give them a couple of pieces of exercise equipment and they’re more likely to use them. If you really want to encourage them, let them see you use the equipment, too. There’s nothing like exercise to get you and your whole family healthier and quite possibly happier.

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Stamina and endurance

Stamina or endurance refers to the body’s ability to do physical activities for long periods of time.  Aerobic exercises such as walking, running and kicking balls improve stamina.

Strength and power

Physical activities that increase strength are called anaerobic activities. Anaerobic activities aim to increase physical strength, power and muscle capacity, allowing you to perform movements such as jumping and sprinting. Strong muscles also support and stabilize joints (such as ankles, knees, hips, shoulders and backs), reducing the risk of injury.

Resistance training is one way to improve power and strength. Examples are push-ups and using light weights.

Flexibility and suppleness

Flexibility and suppleness refers to your body’s ability to perform its full range of movements without pain or restriction. If tendons and muscles become tight, you are more likely to get injuries such as pulled or strained muscles and joint soreness. Gentle stretching will improve flexibility.

Be careful…

If you find you’re spending too much time exercising or working out in a gym, you could be overdoing it. This can be harmful to your health.

Use your imagination and take your body up one level above what it is now for one month.  After the first month, check to see what worked. Keep what does, toss what doesn’t. Keeping a walking and fitness diary is a good way to figure that out.  It’s your program, it’s your body – you have the power to change whatever you want! If you can focus on the things to add to your life – some food you don’t normally eat and some activities you’ve never tried - and keep it interesting, you are much more likely to stick to it. And, stick to it for life!