There are few things more relaxing than hopping in a steaming outdoor hot tub in the middle of winter. Maybe it’s the Minnesota blood in my veins, but I love the relaxing and rejuvenating feeling of a hot tub in the cold, frigid winters. The Norwegians that came to Minnesota in the early days were staunch proponents of the health benefits of a good hot tub soak or sauna in the middle of winter. Here are some benefits of an outdoor hot tub:
Relaxation
One of the obvious benefits of a hot tub, the soothing heat of a hot tub can wash away all of the stress of the day. A hot tub soak at the end of the day can help you to relax and prepare yourself for a good night’s rest as opposed to running around all night and flopping into bed. Instead of popping a sleeping aide before you hit the hay, a hot tub soak can have the same effect but without the addictive and questionable side affects of sleeping pills.
Stress reducer
For those that suffer from extreme stress at home or at work, a hot tub can be essential in slowing down time and allowing for self reflection. Many people with anxiety and phobias have found that a hot tub soak a few times a week can greatly help reduce the feelings of overwhelming stress throughout the week.
Fun
Of course, a hot tub is a great social centerpiece to any get-together. Having friends over for food and drinks is never complete without an after-dinner soak in the hot tub to relax and digest your meal. Your friends and family will be clamoring to come over when you install a hot tub (which can be a good or a bad thing).
Romance
There is an obviously romantic aspect of a personal hot tub. If you are looking for some time away from the world with your loved one, a romantic soak in a hot tub together can really strengthen the bonds of love and bring some relaxed happiness to your relationship. Many hot tubs come equipped with various colored yellow or red or blue that can add a romantic visual effect to your night together.
Alan Lomax is a freelance writer in need of a good soak.
Let’s face it, men and women are different. It’s a fact. And when it comes to taking care of their bodies, men and women are very different.
Men drink more (alcohol), smoke more and see their doctors less than women do. They are less likely to wear a seat belt (22% of teen men say they rarely or never wear a seatbelt v. 15% of teen women). And they consume red meat at an alarming rate.
All that said, those facts refer to the “average” American male. There are plenty of men, who eat their vegetables, drink the requisite eight glasses of water a day, and kiss there wives and children before they go to bed precisely at 9:30p.m. every night. If you belong to this group, you are perfect, and you need not read a word more.
If you think you might belong to the first (average) group, though, read on. You might just get a peek at what the future holds for you.
The Wake Up Call – 7:00p Thursday
Whether you are a man or a woman, an average Joe or not, at some point, you need to decide to take your health seriously or you may just get an unwelcome wake up call.
Nothing pains me more than to visit my local city park on a week night in early spring. It is there where I will find many of aging brothers hitting the ball around for the first time after a long winter of sitting. It is usually Tuesday or Thursday when the over 40 recreation softball league has its games. It’s a bunch of guys from all walks of life. Some are business men taking a few hours away from the kids and the office to toss the ball around. There might be a high school baseball coach getting his playing time in. You might see the produce manager from your local grocery store and a fireman or a police officer or two.
Before the game starts, you see some stretching, some talking, and one or two having a beer. Then the game begins, and they get to work. The guys are chatting it up, laughing about nothing in particular and razzing the batter. Good clean guy fun. But inevitably at some point, one of those guys pulls something, tears something or pops something out of alignment. The game stops while they help him off the field. And once he’s on the bench (or on his way to the hospital), the game starts up again.
I always wonder what happened to that one guy. Was the injury serious? Or did he spring back in a couple of days? Did he wake up to the fact that he is 47 years old and start working out regularly and stretching before games? Or did he decide he was “suddenly” too old to play kids games anymore and quit?
Over 40 And Going it Alone
Now, if I were more of an opportunist, I would make a point of going to those first few games of spring. And I’d bring my business card and a sign up sheet for treatment. But I can’t bring myself to do it. And anyway, I would really rather get new patients BEFORE injury strikes.
Now, ask yourself, am I the guy on the bench or one of the guys still playing? Don’t know?
Well, if it’s been awhile since regular exercise and stretching were a part of your routine, you might just be the guy on the bench. You see, within the human body, there is something called “Fascia”, a pliable, protective sheath that covers every cell. To your muscles and joints, Fascia is like the elastic in your underwear. If it is kept intact and healthy, it holds them up and holds them together, giving them strength and stability. As it ages, though, and if not cared for properly, fascia loses its elasticity, and you lose range of motion and strength. Before you know it, you can’t bend down far enough to catch a ground ball, and throwing to first base feels like a hot poker in your shoulder.
If that is you, don’t walk to my office, run (or move as fast as your tight muscles will allow). I will work with throughout a 10-session series to soften and strengthen your fascia, and ultimately to bring back movement and muscle you forgot you had. By next softball season, you will be in game shape.
Information for this article came from these additional sources:
Test Your Knowledge about Men’s Health; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services. Found August 8, 2007 http://www2a.cdc.gov/od/menshealth/test.asp
Joseph Ackerman “ of specializes in Structural Integration which is a system wide process of deep bodywork and movement education. It is designed to improve the Structural and Functional abilities of the human body in its relationship to the field of gravity.
Are you looking for a fast way to lose weight? Don’t you hate the uncomfortable feeling of being overweight? Tired of seeing all the skinny people enjoying walking around in their silly little halter tops and bikinis with their skinny little thighs? Wouldn’t you like to feel good about yourself again and be able to join everyone else at the water parks during those hot summer months instead of making excuses why you don’t want to go? You’re not alone, don’t worry.
The good news is it’s not that hard to achieve this goal and be able to lose 20 pounds and fit into those “skinny” jeans. And even if you have a goal of more than 20 pounds, that’s okay. I managed to do this.
- Without much fuss at all. - No pain. - And no money spent for gym memberships either.
I’m simply going to go through what worked for me but remember everyone is different so you may need to change things around to fit yourself and your lifestyle and schedule. I lost an easy 20 pounds with this method about 10 years ago and the good news is it stays off as long as you continue following the plan.
What is my simple secret? I made a point to walk every day.
Now, of course, there are going to be some days you simply can’t get this done. But by having the goal of walking every day, if you do miss a day here and there you really haven’t missed too much. If you make your goal to walk every other day or every 3 days, and then you miss a day, you might end up going a week without walking. So I would suggest that you start out with the intention of walking each and every day. How far to walk is up to you. I don’t necessarily have a goal as to how far but I go for how long. I usually walk for at least half an hour per day. The distance is about a mile and a half at the pace I walk.
Even if you do nothing else but just walk every day you’ll lose weight. It may not come off as fast as you would like but as the old fable says, slow and steady wins the race. You don’t even have to change your eating habits. Of course you can, and that will speed things along, but you don’t have to.
Now, if you are in a hurry, and chances are great that you probably are, you can increase the walking time or miles per day. For example, you could set a goal to walk 3 miles per day. If you stick to that goal you will lose weight, and at 3 miles per day you can do it pretty quickly.
Adjusting your eating habits is not required but as I mentioned, it will help you to lose weight faster. Nothing drastic need be done unless you want to. Just cut back a little. The combination of your walking and cutting back your eating just a bit will work wonders. I know it sounds to simplistic to be true but it really works.
Now, if you want to speed things up even a little more, you can add strength training to your regimen. I found that if I worked out with some strength training on my Total Gym at home, it really helped take the weight off fast. The reason for that is you are building muscle, which helps to speed fat loss. So if you have access to something like that to use, try adding in some muscle building exercises to help you reach your goal faster.
That’s all there is to it, a very simple and fast way to lose weight. So if you have been wondering how to lose those extra 20 pounds (or even more), give this regimen a try. It’s simple but it works!
There’s no reason you have to be overweight. If you are looking for a , join the other (now skinny) people who have discovered this great diet plan that actually works.
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Getting into shape and losing weight seem to be really hot topics right now. Everyone whose overweight wants to get healthy, and those that are healthy want to stay that way. But the real question is how to make your way through the clutter to find the correct way to get or stay in shape. There is so much information out there when it comes to health and exercise; it can be hard to sort through it all. One constant when it comes to being healthy is partaking in a healthy diet. A healthy diet is one that’s high in protein and vitamins, low in fat and calories and high in fiber. To lose weight, a cut in calories is usually necessary. Losing weight typically comes down to burning more calories than you consume. If you cut down on your calorie intake and raise the amount of exercise you do, you will definitely burn enough calories to take the weight off.
Eating is the key when trying to lose weight. Many people know that losing weight requires reducing calories, but some take it to the extreme and starve themselves. Keeping yourself on a healthy diet will get you much better results than starving yourself, and you’ll be able to benefit from your new healthy take on food. Eating a healthy diet doesn’t mean you have to succumb to a life of eating celery and carrot sticks. Of course fast food probably isn’t your best option for a meal, but there are tons of recipes and foods that will fit into your new healthy diet. Most often if you replace some of the foods in your current diet with those of a healthy diet, you’ll find you can eat more and lose those pounds and inches. Most of your favorite dishes can easily be revised to include healthy diet foods without sacrificing the flavor. Eating a healthy diet also doesn’t mean you have to completely cut out some of your favorite restaurant foods or desserts.
The key to staying healthy is to still enjoy your favorites, but have all things in moderation. Having one slice of cake or pie as a treat on special occasions is much better than eating a slice of pie each night before bed so that it doesn’t go to waste. Another key to keeping a is planning. Many times people make bad food choices when they aren’t prepared. Do your research. Most restaurants offer nutrition information online. If you know that you will be going out to eat a certain night of the week, take the time to search for the healthy options that are offered. Also, don’t be afraid to make special requests of your server when you get there. Many times when you share that you’re trying to keep your food as part of a healthy diet, the restaurant will have no problems accommodating your needs.
Jim Mackey is a renowned dietician. He has been advising people on how to maintain a proper diet and how to lose those extra calories. If you want to know more about ,weight lose,south beach diet,diabetic diet,diet plans you can visit
The lifesaving treatments for breast cancer often come at a cost. Most women experience night sweats, fatigue, and hot flashes. However there is new research that suggests that acupuncture may be more effective than antidepressants at helping to ease some of these side effects. This study compared the effectiveness of drug therapy to acupuncture. It was determined that acupuncture was just as effective as drug therapy while having no side effects. The study also showed that the effects of the acupuncture lasted longer. The acupuncture patients didn’t begin having symptoms until about 15 weeks after stooping treatment while it only took about two weeks after stopping drug therapy for the symptoms to return in those women. In this study, acupuncture was compared to the use of the antidepressants in women who had breast cancer. Each woman was assigned randomly to receive a twelve week course of acupuncture or the antidepressants. Immediately before the beginning of study, those women participating in the study reported having a minimum of fourteen hot flashes per week. At the conclusion of the study intervention, both groups reported similar improvements in menopausal symptoms including hot flashes. However, while many women who were in the antidepressant group experienced trouble shooting, constipation, headache, dry mouth, nausea, and other side effects, the group who had the acupuncture experienced none of these side effects. Through this study it has also been determined that the practice of acupuncture can potentially increase a woman’s sex drive while improving her sense of well being and help reduce hot flashes in breast cancer patients. The study, which has been published in The Journal of Oncology, suggests that when compared to traditional drug therapy, acupuncture is more effective in reducing night sweats and hot flashes for women who are receiving hormone therapy for breast cancer treatment. Acupuncture, when performed by a licensed acupuncturist, offers the patients a durable, effective, and safe treatment option for hot flashes, which is something that affects the majority of breast cancer survivors. Acupuncture actually has benefits when compared to drug therapy which have more side effects. Patients also reported that acupuncture increased their energy and improved their thought clarity. While acupuncture has very few side effects, it is important to seek out a fully trained licensed acupuncturist rather than going to a medical doctor or chiropractor with a few hours training in acupuncture calling themselves “medical acupuncturist”.
Learn the differences of and traditional and you will see the incredible amounts of differences in both training and experience.
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