How to Work Out Your Transverse Abdominals

A group of muscles that often gets neglected in stomach exercise routines are the transverse abdominals, the core muscles that lie below the rectus abdominus. Most abdominal exercises target the rectus abdominus and the vertical abdominals, ignoring the transverse abdominals. Even crunches, the staple of most abdominal workouts, do nothing for the transverse abdominals. These muscles are actually the most important to target, however, as they connect to both the lower back muscles and the rectus abdominus and for a girdle for the entire abdomen.Any routine aimed at flattening the stomach should include the transverse abdominals as a focus. Using the following exercises, you can work out your transverse abdominals and really...

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Posted in: abdominal exercises,beginning fitness,exercise,transverse abdominals

Chromium to Increase Muscle and Decrease Fat

Chromium is a nutritional supplement that works to increase the efficiency of insulin to optimal levels. The most common use for chromium is as a weight loss aid.Chromium is an essential mineral because it helps to maintain stable blood sugar levels through proper insulin utilization. It can be helpful both for people with diabetes and also those with hypoglycemia.Chromium is also known as glucose tolerance factor, meaning that it improves the activity of insulin and facilitates the uptake of glucose into the cells. It is vital in the synthesis of cholesterol, fats, and proteins.Chromium facilitates weight loss. Although it is not a miracle cure for obesity, chromium does increase lean muscle mass and decrease body fat. Read m...

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Posted in: chromium,fat loss,muscle mass,nutrition

8 Reasons to Stay out of the Hospital

Dr. Joseph Mercola cites 8 reasons why hospitals are more dangerous than ever.Mainstreet.com offers a few essential facts about hospitals that you should know before you check in:Stay Healthy in JulyJuly is the most dangerous month to visit a hospital. That's the month when students graduate from medical school and start doing residencies at teaching hospitals. Deaths due to hospital medication errors spike by 10 percent in July.Hospital Wait TimesHospitals have terrible wait times, which may actually be endangering patients. Patients who need to be seen within 14 minutes of arriving ended up having to wait more than twice as long. Read m...

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Posted in: hospital dangers,medical malpractice

10 Antidepressant Alternatives Proven to Work

As of 2009, more than 10% of the US population was taking one or more antidepressant drugs. Unfortunately, the millions of people taking these drugs often know little to nothing about their side effects. More importantly, they don’t know that effective, safe, and natural alternatives to antidepressant drugs exist. In fact, there are at least ten antidepressant alternatives that are proven to work. If you are suffering from depression, but would prefer to try something natural before going the traditional pharmaceutical route, here are some remedies that have stood up to rigorous testing. 1. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)Cognitive Behavioral Therapy seeks to help people change how they think about things. Unlike more traditional...

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Posted in: antidepressant alternatives,antidepressant drugs,antidepressants,depression

Improve Your Speed with Plyometrics

Plyometrics are dynamic movements that increase agility, strength, coordination, and power while decreasing your risk of injury. They are a valuable tool in a sprinter's toolbox to increase speed. If you don't incorporate plyometrics into your training program, then you should definitely think about it. Plyometrics are a perfect complement to the sprint workout I outlined in my post Don't Just Run: Sprint!There are dozens of different types of plyometric exercises. I’ve narrowed the list down to the ones a beginner could easily try. Before we get to the exercises, though, let’s discuss some general guidelines to keep in mind as you get started.When you first add plyometrics to your routine, take it slowly and focus on performing the exercises...

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Posted in: plyometric workout,plyometrics,sprinting

The Cancer-Preventing Vitamin Your Doctor Knows Nothing About

Can you help prevent cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis with vitamin K, which nearly everyone is deficient in?... Vitamin K may be "the next vitamin D" if research continues to illuminate the growing number of benefits to your health.Dr. Cees Vermeer, one of the world's top researchers in the field of vitamin K, founded a vitamin K research group in 1975, which is now the largest group investigating this area of nutrition science.How many people have adequate vitamin K… care to guess?Just about zero, according to Dr. Vermeer and other experts in the field.Most people get just enough K from their diets to maintain adequate blood clotting, but NOT enough to offer protection against he following health problems – and the list is growing: Read m...

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Posted in: cancer,heart disease,osteoporosis,vitamin D,vitamin deficiency,vitamin K

Dust Mites, Off-Gassing, and What to Do with Your Mattress

Are creepy, crawly, allergy-producing dust mites thriving in your bed? Mark Sisson reveals what may be inside your mattress and what to do about it.Dust mites are everywhere. They are true survivors, able to make it in virtually all climates and at any altitude. They thrive, however, in our homes, especially bedrooms, enjoying the humidity generated by all the breathing, perspiring, and drooling we do at night and feeding on all the skin flakes we produce. For these tiny creatures, we’re living, breathing humidifier-refrigerator-landlords who charge extremely competitive rates. Why wouldn’t they infest us?In the last couple weeks we’ve taken a look at sleep posture, how to improve it, and modern bedding. Today we’ll take a closer look at your mattress, investigating what may be lurking inside...

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Posted in: allergens,better sleep,dust mite detritus,dust mites,off-gassing

Total Body Warm-up and Interval Training Workout with No Equipment

Sprints are still one of the best ways to perform your interval workouts. Here’s a great sprint and bodyweight workout by Craig Ballanty...

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Posted in: bodyweight workouts,intervals,sprints

Spicy Peppers May Cause Your Body to Burn More Calories

Indulging your taste for spicy food may help you lose weight. Scientists believe that the capsaicin compounds found in peppers that give them their spicy taste actually help to burn calories as well.Losing weight is just a few spicy peppers away, according to a recent report out of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition. Researchers there say that the capsaicin compounds found in peppers that give them their spicy taste, actually help to burn calories as well.Scientists believe that the reason why capsaicin burns calories is because the compound uses energy to raise a person's body temperature, which provides a similar effect as the one obtained by engaging in traditional exercise routines. Read m...

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Posted in: Capsaicin,fat burning,fat loss,Weight Loss

4 Tips to Help Stop Snoring

Snoring is a laughing matter for some people, but what they don't realize is that many conflicts have developed from snoring. Almost half of normal adults suffer from occasional snoring while an estimated 25% of them are known to snore habitually. It is good to point out that these figures did not choose to have fallen as victim to this nighttime dilemma. Instead, they just happened to be less lucky than most of us.Driven by the need to resolve the disturbances caused by snoring, patients often seek relief from various stop snoring products such as devices, pills, and sprays. You should realize, though, that there is still no sufficient data to back the claims of these products. To help find relief for those people who only want to have restful sleeps, here are four tips that can help you...

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Posted in: better sleep,insomnia,overcoming insomnia,snoring

To Build Muscle, Lose Fat, and Get Healthy, Go Caveman

To build muscle, lose fat, and get healthy, go caveman.Our Stone Age ancestors lived in an uncomfortable world, spending their 30-year life spans hunting and gathering without air conditioning or heat.But some say the cave men ate better than we do.That's the premise behind the Paleo diet, a health and weight-loss trend that encourages people to eat modern-day versions of Paleolithic food. Read m...

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Posted in: nutrition,paleolithic diet,paleolithic lifestyle

How to Improve Your Sleep Posture

If you're not getting restful sleep, it may not be your bed that's the problem. It may be your sleep posture.Yesterday, I posited that it’s not so much the bedding that matters in making for rejuvenating, nourishing sleep, but rather our sleeping position/posture. Man is the supreme adaptor, having proven himself capable of surviving in just about any natural environment, no matter the climate, topography, and available selection of edibles – and our bedding is no different. Of course, there is a limit to our adaptability. We couldn’t survive in the Antarctic or get a good night’s sleep in a mud pit. Thriving in the current food environment is definitely doable, but, as you well know, it takes a lot of effort to make it work. Luckily, we aren’t dealing with hydrogenated mattresses or high-fructose...

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Posted in: better sleep,sleep posture