13 - Improves immune function which decreases risk for infectious diseases

Hi Team, This is incredible! At rest our body produces 2 million new blood cells every second. These cells can last up to 120 days. In saying this, that means we have about 20,736,000,000,000 Blood cells right now in our body! Wow! Females have about 4.7 million blood cells per millilitre and males have about 5.2 million. So why is this relevant and what does this have to do with our bodies function?

Our body creates new blood cells from the nutrients that are in our body. This means if we eat fast food our body will create new blood cells from the nutrients our body can absorb from this food. Same as if we drink alcohol our body will develop new blood cells from the nutrients we absorb from alcohol.

These blood cells are made from these poor nutrition decisions, we both make and will stay in our system for up to 120 days. This is why our food intake is so important. So who is up for eating healthy foods perfectly for 120 days? At Xenus Fitness we aren’t so don’t stress if you are thinking the same.

However we do want to maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle. This is why many nutritionists recommend the 80/20 rule. To follow this rule we need to make sure 80% of our food intake is good and 20% can be whatever we choose. This will maintain our bodies overall health and get our bodies back to their optimum weight range. Please note this is a general rule and does not apply to everyone.

So why is exercise important? Now that we understand how our blood cells are created, carrying our vital nutrients and repairing agents and how long they can last. The next question is how can we improve this?

Exercise increases the amount of blood cells being created; it also increases the speed at which the blood cells travel throughout our whole body. This means through exercise we produce more blood cells and increase the rate at which they die off, thus increasing the rate at which we can improve our bodies function. This said if we have a poor diet and exercise frequently it won’t help much at all, because we are still creating blood cells from the poor nutrients in our body.

So to improve our bodies function we must focus on eating at least 80% good foods; the more we exercise we do the quicker we will improve our bodies function replacing the old blood cells with fresh new blood cells.

We hope this helps, have a great day;

Cheers, Xenus Fitness

12 - Decreases risk for several types of cancer.

Physical exercise is good for a lot of things. It helps us get in shape; it helps us lose excess weight; it gives our body more power, stamina, flexibility and agility; and it helps us feel good about ourselves. And now, according to a growing number of studies, it helps prevent cancer. Though cancer was previously thought to be largely a product of nutrition and consumption habits, now many researchers believe it can be affected by how much physical exercise we do.

How does exercise actually prevent cancer? According to Dr. Inge Haunstrup Clemmensen, of the Danish Cancer Society, regular physical exercise helps improve our immune system, and this strengthened immune system can stop cancer in its tracks. Even incorporating simple exercises into our daily lives, such as walking and cycling to get around, can reduce the chances of intestinal cancer, which is a very deadly and common form of this disease.

According to another theory by the same doctor, more exercise increases the action of the excretory system and the intestines. So, while harmful material may still be coming into the body at the same rate, there is faster excretion, and it stays in the body for a very short amount of time. It's not enough time for cancer to take hold, says Dr. Clemmensen.

There is good news for smokers as well. Whether we are a smoker or not, Dr. Steven N. Blair of the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research says we are protected by exercise. What this basically means is that even though smoking will still be damaging to your lungs, exercise can help reduce some of those effects. The theory behind that is that people who exercise also tend to practice other good habits, such as eating healthfully and staying fit. Since obesity is a major factor in many forms of cancer, they are effectively averted.

Exercising affects many bodily functions, and people exercising regularly experience better cardiovascular activity, immune function, energy, DNA repair and hormone regulation. All these changes directly affect the formation of various forms of cancer such as prostate, colon, lung, intestinal, breast and endometrial.

According to researchers such as L.W. Jones, co-author of "Effects of Aerobic Exercise Training in Anemic Cancer Patients Receiving Darbepoetin Alfa: A Randomized Controlled Trial," and F.C. Dimeo, author of "Effects of Exercise on Eancer-Related Fatigue," not only does exercise prevent cancer, it also helps rehabilitate and treat cancer patients. Exercise improves the immune system, reduces fatigue and increases body function, which are all essential in treatment of any disease. The best part of all this is that we do not need high-intensity fitness regimens. Even moderate-intensity workouts will do.

So let’s get out there and exercise for the health of our body’s team! Call a friend and get them to join you. Together we can help prevent the risk of cancer and live longer and more for filed lives. The choice is yours team, do you think your body is worth looking after through exercise?

Cheers, Xenus Fitness

Resources: Hi team, we did not write this article, it was found and related to the topic of the article topic this week that we may as well repost it.

www.ehow.com/how-does_5121518_exercise-prevent-cancer.html#ixzz28byYlUWr

11 - Strengthens the tissues around the joints.

From exercise our bodies are exposed to small injuries and small tears to our tendons, ligaments and muscles. This is a good thing. If our body did not do this it would not improve. While our body is recovering from exercise, it is fixing these small injuries by building each tendon, ligament and muscle back stronger.

  

For example: Tug of war is a game to prove which team is strongest. Naturally the more people we have in each team, the stronger the team gets. Let’s imagine each person in the team is fighting against our natural movement. When we do not exercise for longer than one week, one team member dies, weakening the joint. When we are active, this produces one more team member. Naturally the more we exercise, the more people we can grow into our team and the stronger the team becomes at protecting our joints from injury.

The tendons, ligaments and muscles we have around our joints, helps to protect all joints in our body. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. If you feel the need to specifically train to strengthen your joints. We recommend talking to your physiotherapist or chiropractor, for specific exercises to help you prevent injury in the future.

For more great articles on why exercise is great! Please feel free to read the articles listed below:

6 - Improves Breathing efficiency

7 - Strengthens & tones muscles and improves appearance

8 - Helps prevent back problems and back pain.

9 - Improves posture.

10 - Strengthens bones and helps reduce risk of osteoporosis.

References: http://www.livestrong.com/article/476812-exercises-to-strengthen-joint-tissue/

Top 50 Work out Idea's

Upper Abdominals to Obliques

25 Crunches

25 Sit ups – Arms straight touch knees

40 Toe Touches

40 Ankle Taps

Obliques

30 Legs at 90, alternate hands touching opposite knee

20 Side crunches (Both sides)

10 Butterfly Crunches

20 Legs at 40, alternate hands touching opposite knee

Obliques to Lower Abdominals

20 Bigger scissor kicks

20 Cross over scissor kicks

20 Little scissor kicks

12 Leg raises

Core

15 Cuddle roll backs

15 legs cross over roll backs

15 legs straight roll backs

Plank

30 sec Plank

10 frog legs

10 leg floats

30 sec Plank

Legs – Feel the Burn!

10 squats

10 power squats

Squat on one leg and tap the ground with opposite foot, slowly.

10 toe taps front

10 toes taps side

10 toes taps back

Inner Thighs – How much to you want this!

20 power squats

20 side lungs (Both Sides)

10 power squats, with 5 pulses in lower squat position.

Gluteals – Get That Sexy Bikini Bum Today!

20 Reverse bridge, squeeze buttock

20 reverse left leg raises (Start on hands and knees, and raise leg)

20 reverse Right leg raises (Start on hands and knees, and raise leg)

20 Reverse left leg side raises (Start on hands and knees, and raise leg)

20 reverse Right leg side raises (Start on hands and knees, and raise leg)

Triceps – The part of your arm that hits you in the face when you raise your arm, screaming BINGO!

20 Couch dips

15 Star push ups

Grab a 600ml – litre Bottle of water in each hand.

50 Tricep extensions

50 Tricep kickbacks (Both Arms)

Shoulders – Creating the tone!

Grab a 600ml – litre Bottle of water in each hand.

50 shoulder presses

50 front raises

50 lateral raises

50 Up right rows

Back – Needs to be strong! That’s hot!

25 Lying back extension

Grab a 600ml – litre Bottle of water in each hand.

50 one arm row

25 Lying back extension

Whole body

Energy Confusion

3 times or nothing at all.

Mountain Climbs

10 push ups

50 power squats

15 Lying back extension

20 crunches

Squat on one leg and tap the ground with opposite foot, slowly.

10 toe taps front

10 toes taps side

10 toes taps back

15 On hands and feet walk 1 meter forward and back

20 mountain climbs

Grab a 600ml – litre Bottle of water in each hand.

10 Tuck Jumps

50 Power squat hold, water bottle raises

20 push ups

20 lying back extension

20 reverse left leg raises (Start on hands and knees, and raise leg)

20 reverse Right leg raises (Start on hands and knees, and raise leg)

10 - Strengthens bones and helps reduce risk of osteoporosis.

Your body produces bone that has the potential to be as strong as granite and support four times more weight than concrete. The human body is truly amazing and we have the choice to experience this potential every single day of our lives. Like muscle, bone is living tissue that responds to exercise by becoming stronger.

As we exercise we place added pressure on our bones, for example doing a squat. This is a good thing. After this occurs, our bone cells (Osteoblast) migrate to the weakest area of the bone (The area of the bone that suffered the most from the added stress). When the cells reach the weak area, they will immediately start to begin creating a new layer of bone. This routine strengthens and improves our bone’s density. The bone cells manufacture and release proteins, mainly collagen, which is deposited in between the bone cells to increase bone strength in that area. These proteins eventually mineralize, giving bone its characteristic rigidity.

If we live long enough, every woman and most men will suffer from osteoporosis. After break our hip bone, suffering from osteoporosis, we must have a hip replacement immediately. Otherwise, there is a 20 % chance of dying from complications within a year from this injury. Not to worry, an Australian study shows that running strengthens the leg bones of both older and younger generations (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, October 2005.) However, the research found that bones that are only used during exercise are only strengthened by activity. Running strengthens leg bones, rowing strengthens arms and back, and lifting weights strengthen bones that are used during each lift.

Osteoporosis occurs when bones lose minerals, such as calcium, more quickly than the body can replace them, leading to a loss of bone thickness (bone mass or density). As a result, bones become thinner and less dense, so that even a minor bump or accident can cause serious fractures. These are known as fragility or minimal trauma fractures. Osteoporosis usually has no signs or symptoms until a fracture happens - this is why osteoporosis is often called the 'silent disease'.

To help prevent Osteoporosis is easy; all we have to do is exercise! Our bodies reach an average bone density peak at the age of 30. So if you are still young get active and go have fun! This will prolong the rate of bone degeneration as you become older. If you are passed this peak don’t stress, the longer we keep active the longer we will prevent the degeneration of our bones. Remember if you don’t use it you lose it, this quote is spot-on with regards to maintaining our bone density.

The best exercises for improving our bone density are weight-bearing activities, which force us to work against gravity. This includes weight training, walking, hiking, jogging, climbing stairs, tennis, and dancing. Examples of exercises that are not weight-bearing include swimming and cycling. Although these activities help build and maintain strong muscles and have excellent cardiovascular benefits, they are not the best way to improve bone density. These exercises don’t place enough resistance on our body. If we have weak joints and are unable to perform the weight bearing activities, swimming and cycling are a great substitute and are better than sitting around doing nothing toward achieving our potential health.

Cheers, Xenus Fitness

For more information on why exercise is great for our bodies, please feel free to read the related articles below.

6 - Improves Breathing efficiency
7 - Strengthens & tones muscles and improves appearance

8 - Helps prevent back problems and back pain. 

9 - Improves posture. 

References:

http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Bone/Bone_Health/Exercise/default.asp

http://www.drmirkin.com/joints/bones_exercise.html

http://www.osteoporosis.org.au/about/about-osteoporosis/what-is-osteoporosis/

9 - Improves posture.

How great is exercising, it offers so many benefits and the best thing is that it’s free! This week we are looking at how it improves posture. Last week we learnt how exercise can improve and strengthen our lower back. Following on from this, strengthening our back is exactly what helps to improve our posture.

When we aren’t moving, our body gets lazy and starts using fewer muscles to support the frame.  It does this to use less energy so you last longer, because when we aren’t active we usually have poor diets, lacking nutrients for energy.

Have you ever heard someone say after exercising? “Wow I feel amazing, and have sore muscles I didn’t even know I had”. This relates to when we exercise, we put more exertion onto our body’s systems. This creates added workload and your muscles need to all work together to perform the activity.

This principle is fantastic; this means that the more we exercise the more our muscle will be activated when we are relaxed. Improving our posture and reducing the risk of injures strains, stiffness and sore joints in the future.

We have good posture, when the muscles of the body are properly align, allowing for efficient and efficient movement. When our body’s muscles and joints are balanced and supported properly, we are better able to perform everyday activities, such as squatting to pick up laundry or running down a flight of stairs with more easy and fluid movement.

 When we are poorly aligned, the joints in our body (e.g., shoulders, spine, hips, knees and ankles) do not function together properly. This will cause some muscles to work harder than others. Over time, those muscles become tense while the others weaken, creating muscular imbalances that slowly devolve into poor posture. As posture deteriorates further, joint movements become restricted and the differences between tense and weak muscles places greater stress on your joints, which then have to compensate. This will cause pain, stiffness and loss of movement throughout our joints. But fix these imbalances, and your posture (and the pain associated with it) will improve.

To improve our posture, it is always best to start with our back. Our back supports the spinal cord, the essence of our movement.

To analyse our alignment, strip down to a pair of shorts, ladies wear a crop top or bra, so you can analyse your shoulders. Then ask a friend to take two full-body photos, one from the front and one from the side. Keep your muscles relaxed but stand as tall as you can, with your feet hip-width apart. Now compare your photos with our photo to diagnose your posture problems.

This is an extremely basic diagnosis, if you are concerned with your posture, we recommend you consult with you chiropractor or physiotherapist.

Cheers, Xenus Fitness

Are you wondering what clean eating is?

Would you be surprised to hear that there really aren’t any fitness goals you can achieve without it?

The above question may seem extreme, but the simple truth is, you just cannot get healthy without eating healthy. You can exercise from the time the rooster crows until the cows come home, but if you make a run through your local drive-through afterwards, you just are not going to get anywhere fast.

Food is the big ticket to good health. If you eat garbage, your body will show it. If you eat whole, healthy and fresh foods, your body, skin and soul will glow with health that gives you endless energy.

 

THREE METHODS FOR EATING CLEAN

METHOD 1

There are many people simply looking to remove the chemicals from their diets and bodies, and therefore  eat clean. Their focus is NOT on losing weight, but on general health.They avoid processed foods of all kinds, yet eat only when the need arises or three times per day.

METHOD 2

(I believe this is the most common/popular method at the moment)

1 - Eat  Lots Of Plants – Eat food that is straight from nature. (Some people say “as close to the way nature made it as possible”. But I think that leaves too much wiggle room – in my humble opinion) Eat mostly foods that are off a tree, bush, plant or vine, and you’ve pretty much got it covered. The idea is to stay away from anything that humans (food corporations) have altered in any way.

2 - Include Meats - Eat meats that are whole and straight from the butcher. Don’t buy pre-packaged meat products because you never know what’s in them. When possible, buy whole meats and grind them yourself. You’d be surprised what’s in ground turkey meat! You can also select a few turkey breasts and ask that the butcher grind them for you. Many butchers are more than willing to accommodate.

3 - Enjoy Grains - Eat grains that are still complete and haven’t been broken down into “glue”. Stick to brown rice, whole wheat and other whole grains.(For a list of foods to stock your pantry with, check out this list.)

4 - Read Labels I don’t know how many breads I’ve picked up at the store that say they are whole grain. But when I take a look at the ingredient list, white flour is the second ingredient after whole wheat flour!

5 - Eat Fewer Ingredients. Try not to purchase foods that have more than 3-6 ingredients in the ingredient list. And be sure you recognize each and every ingredient. If you find a “mystery ingredient” such as “spices”, contact the company! Ask them what they consider to be spices. If it’s anything other than honest-to-goodness herbs and spices, avoid it! And remember, if you can’t pronounce it, it probably shouldn’t go into your body.

6 - Eat 5-6 small meals per day. This may seem like a lot at first. But remember, you are eating smaller portions. If you really have a hard time with this, prepare your regular three meals and a snack for the day, and divide lunch and dinner in half. You’ve instantly got 6 small meals!

METHOD 3

There is also another method of eating 3 regular meals and squeezing in 1 snack for a total of 4 meals. You eat every four hours instead of every 2-3. This concept is from Jillian Michaels and the theory behind it is that if you eat every 2-3 hours, your insulin stays continuously spiked and you end up with a higher chance of diabetes.

IN CONCLUSION

Clean eating may feel a bit overwhelming at first, especially if you have a lot of changes to make. My advice is to take baby steps. Make little changes every day and don’t beat yourself up if you make mistakes. We all do. Just realize that it’s what you do the majority of them time that counts.

Cheers, Xenus Fitness

Author: www.thegraciouspantry.com