Many people who use resistance training as their preferred form of fitness are susceptible to injuries to parts of the body that are the hardest to repair. Such areas are the back, shoulders, knees, and ankles. These areas are harder to recuperate because they are most commonly used on a daily basis.

Shoulders are quite susceptible to injury since they are activated with practically every exercise you do. The most common injury to shoulders can come from the bench press. Overloading your weight or over extending your range of motion at the bottom of the exercise may cause unnecessary strain on the rotator cuff as well as the supportive tendons and ligaments.

So keep your exercise weights within an acceptable range of your strength. It is extremely important to stretch your shoulders before lifting to prevent injury or muscle tearing. Shoulder injuries can take a very long time to mend. Since shoulders are used in so many exercises, any injury to them will stop or hinder you from doing weight training exercises.

The lower back is another area of concern for many people. Always stay conscious of your posture before lifting even the lightest of weights. Hunching over, pulling to one side, or arching your back during an exercise are the main contributors to back injury and strain. Using a weight belt allows excellent support during weight lifting and helps you stay conscious of your posture. I would recommend investing in one of these if you plan on weight training.

Also, strengthening the abdominal muscles will help to support your lower back thus reducing the chances of injury.

Most ankle injuries result from moving too fast and not using your whole foot for support. If you are stepping onto only the ball of your foot, rather than the whole of your foot, while lunging, squatting or stepping then you are risking the chance that your ankle will collapse to the side. An ankle injury could cause severe pain and an injury that will take months to heal.

Knee injuries often result from improper positioning of the toes or overloading weight while doing leg exercises. Your toes should always go in the same direction as your knees. If your knees are bending forward but your toes are pointing outward, then you are stressing the ligaments and tendons in your knees by demanding them to over-stretch. This is called torquing.

Most injuries can be prevented by being conscious of your body alignment, never overloading your weights beyond your capability, and incorporating the proper stretches for each muscle group before weight training or vigorous aerobic exercise.

If you are not knowledgeable of proper technique and body position, please ask a trainer for help. Trainers will make sure that you are doing your exercises safely and effectively. Don’t be afraid or too embarrassed to ask for help. By taking the time to learn the proper way to do your workout, you are ensuring a long fitness future.

If you abruptly end your workout, your heart continues to send extra blood to the muscles for a while. Because your muscles have suddenly stopped moving, there is no adequate means of sending blood back to the heart.

Your blood can then pool in your muscles with inadequate blood left to nourish your other vital organs. Without enough blood to the brain, you might pass out.

You might have seen U.S. Marines or Buckingham Palace guards keel over while at attention. This results from blood being sent to the legs. It pools there and has no round-trip ticket back to the heart.

With a large amount of blood pooled in the legs, there is not enough blood returning to deliver an adequate amount of oxygen to the brain, and fainting results.

By tapering your exercise off slowly, your muscles continue to pump blood from the extremities back into your main circulatory system.

If you suddenly stop vigorous exercise and come quickly to a complete rest, you may experience muscle cramps. Muscles, especially if untrained, should come to a halt gradually. Stiffness as well as cramps may be reduced by the slow cooldown from your workout.

Here’s another practical reason for a slow cool-down period. If you jump into a shower immediately after a workout, you have not allowed sufficient time for the excess heat your body has retained to be radiated into the surrounding atmosphere.

Your body temperature will remain above normal until this excess heat has been dissipated. Too hot a shower prevents loss of heat. So by all means make sure you’ve cooled down before your after workout shower.

Follow these after workout tips to make sure you cool down sufficintly after your exercise session.

Many times the lack of desire for sex is due to how we feel about our bodies.  As we age or after having children, we don’t feel as good or as proud of the way we look. This can have an effect on your sex life and eventually your marriage or relationship.  Fit people have proven to be more confident and comfortable with their bodies. This fact alone, makes them more spontaneous and open to the sexual experience.

Through exercise you learn to feel different muscles. This in turn will make you more in tune with your body.  If you know you have worked hard on your physical appearance, you’re not quite so timid to “show it off”.  Physically active people can be less inhibited about their bodies than those who lead a sedentary life.  When you feel miserable about the way your body looks, then why would you want anyone else looking at it?

Exercise increases blood circulation and flow throughout the body.  So of course, blood flow to the heart, lungs, skeletal muscles and the sex organs will improve.  Not only will exercise increase blood  flow and circulation to the pelvic area, it will also increase your stamina, flexibility and pelvic strength. Many doctors are now recommending exercise to men with impotence problems and to women with problems reaching an orgasm.

So stop running to the closet to keep anyone from seeing you naked. Stop cringing when your spouse wants to engage in a healthy sex session.  Feel proud about the body you have taken action to improve through exercise.  You will feel better about your body when you work at it.

Working out is such a simple step to take to improve your sexual desire and to possibly allow you to put away those sexual disfunction medications.  Start an exercise program with your spouse!

Exercising together will allow some bonding time of a different nature and in turn give you another fun thing to share together. And if your exercise session develops into something else, just think how many calories you will burn having that “extra session” with your spouse.

This is actually a question I receive often from many home fitness clients. More than ever, people are choosing to purchase their own exercise machines as opposed to going to the gym.

Having your own exercise equipment makes working out more convenient while saving money by not paying monthly dues for a gym membership. If someone does purchase their own exercise machine, they of course, want to pick one that will prove to be most beneficial for their situation.

The most commonly used home exercise machines are treadmills, elliptical machines and stationary bikes. Each machine has so much to offer but, there are some considerations for each when choosing which is best for you.

Here are some pros and cons of my top 3 choices:

The Elliptical Trainer -

• When you exercise on an elliptical, there is no impact on the ground, therefore causing less stress on the joints of the lower body. However, in the case of the treadmill, there is a significant amount of impact on your joints.
• If you are looking to get a complete body workout, then the elliptical trainer is the best choice, offering an upper and lower body workout. The treadmill focuses more on your lower body.
• An elliptical trainer provides the option of letting the foot go forward or backward which is not there in the treadmill.
• An elliptical takes more practice at getting used to and comfortable with.
• Most take up a lot of space.

The Stationary Bike -

• The stationary bike is safer than the treadmill. The chances of falling off or misplacing your foot are less likely than on a treadmill.
• Bikes take up less space than the elliptical or treadmill.
• With the bike, you are able to slim down the thigh area more quickly, providing a much leaner look to your legs.
• People have the tendency to get bored easily on the bike.

The Treadmill -

• Treadmills provide a better training experience to runners. Hills (inclines) can be programmed into the run to simulate outdoor running.
• Most people burn around 750 calories per hour on a treadmill as opposed to burning only 550 calories in an hour while exercising on a bike.
• Treadmills allow you to change the incline as if you were walking uphill. The incline focuses on the muscles of your legs and buttocks.
• Walking on the treadmill is more familiar to most. People tend to stick with their exercise regimen on a treadmill as opposed to the bike or elliptical because they find it more enjoyable to walk.
• The treadmill can be folded up and pushed against a wall when not in use.
• If you become engrossed in your music or TV program, you could accidentally step wrong on the treadmill forcing you to fall.
• It is recommend that children stay away from the treadmill while in operation. Many children have been injured badly by having their fingers caught in the moving belt.

So, as you can see, there are pros and cons to each. Apart from the points above, there are other considerations such as space available, budget and which areas of the body you want to target. If I did have to choose one, it would be the treadmill. The treadmill allows you to have more options (i.e. walk, run, incline, side skip, reverse walk). When you have more options, the chances of boredom are less.

If you’ve got the room and the budget, don’t buy just one. Having more than one exercise machine will eliminate the boredom and give you more choices for fitness with your exercise routine.

• Park farther away from your office so you have to walk more. You will be surprised at how these steps add up.
• Instead of riding the elevator, walk the stairs. If you have many flights to your office, start with a couple then ride the elevator the rest of the way up. Aim at increasing 1 flight per week. When this gets easy, start to stepping every other step. This is an awesome workout for your buns and thighs! Just think of the bragging rights you will have to share with fellow employees.
• Bring healthy munchies to work with you. If you don’t eat breakfast or if you push yourself to a “very hungry” state, then you will devour everything in sight when you get to lunch. Usually you will be more tempted to eat the bad stuff because you are so hungry.
• Bring your tennis shoes with you into the office. At lunch go for a walk or walk to the closest restaurant for lunch instead of driving.
• Enlist fellow co-workers or friends to help motivate each other on a daily basis.
• Have your tennis shoes on by the time you get home and as soon as you arrive, start walking before you even go into the house. If you go in the house first, the chances of being distracted or lured away from your walk or run are greater.
• Set out your workout clothes the night before so that when you wake up just slip them on and go straight out the door for your walk or run.
  
• Don’t forget to bring plenty of water!
• Most important: When you feel the urge to quit or procrastinate, remind yourself of how you want to look and remember how good and proud of yourself you’ll feel when you do.