Wellness, Fitness and Diet

A person’s pulse or pulse rate is a measurement of the number of heartbeats per minute. The pulse rate varies from one person to another but the pulse is always an overall view of an individual’s health.

Our pulse rates increase when we are physically active and decrease when we are in the stage of rest. Knowing your pulse rate and how to measure pulse is very important, especially for people who exercise regularly and need to evaluate their overall training program.

A person should also know his normal heart rate in order to correctly assess higher pulse levels in stressful surroundings or medical emergencies, and better understand the severity the higher pulse rate.

Pulse can be easily found on several parts of our body. Common places to check pulse are the wrist, neck or even groin and at the top of the foot. Most people find their pulse on the wrist – this is the radial pulse. All you need in order to check your pulse is a watch. Here’s how to do it:

• Place your hand on a table with the palm facing up.

• Put your index finger and middle finger on your wrist, about 1 inch below the base of the hand.

• Press your fingers on the middle tendon and the outside bone. Feel the throbbing? Congratulations, you just found your pulse.

• Now count the beats for 10 seconds, multiply the number by 6 and calculate your heart rate.

During physical exercise, it is easier to check the pulse on your neck, using two fingers on the carotid artery. By the way, you shouldn’t use your thumb when checking heart rate because sometimes it has a pulse.

If you’re reading this while sitting down and resting, your pulse rate should be anywhere between 60 – 100. This is a normal range for the average adult. But if you notice that your pulse rate is above 90 on a regular basis, it is recommended to speak with your doctor.

People who are more active would sometimes have a lower heart rate, around 40 or 60, depending on their daily exercise routine. But low pulse can also be abnormal and dangerous, especially if there is a general feeling of tiredness and low-energy.

And what about Pulse Oximeter? When a patient is under medical treatment, a pulse oximeter is a special device that automatically checks the patient’s heart rate. A pulse oximeter also measures the oxygen saturation in the blood, and when attached to a special screen it allows the staff to constantly monitor the patient’s condition. The pulse oximeters are non invasive, and usually measure pulse rates through the finger or earlobe.

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There are certain standard exercises that are classics. The push-up, the crunch, the chin-up. Each one has been performed and perfected for years, and is abandoned for the latest fad and then returned to when wisdom prevails. Each requires no piece of fancy equipment, and relies instead on gravity and your body weight. Today let’s take a closer look at the chin-up, and ask a few basic questions. Why do them? What are the benefits? What do you do if you can’t even do one? Is there a way to perfect your form, and what common mistakes should you be looking out for?

A chin-up is where you simply pull your weight off the ground by grabbing onto an elevated bar. If you grip the bar with your palms facing away then you are doing a ‘pull-up’, which focuses less on the arms and more on the shoulders and back. If your palms are facing toward you, then you are indeed doing a ‘chin-up’, and will immediately notice the strain placed on your biceps as they come into action.

They’re simple to do, and the benefits area as varied as they are intense. First and foremost you build muscle. Chin-ups and Pull-ups force you to lift your own bodyweight, and this places stress on your body, from the large muscles of your back to your shoulders to your arms. They also increase your grappling strength which will benefit you in any sport that includes gripping, grappling, and pulling such as rock climbing, rowing, or the like. You’ll also find that the benefits carry over to such exercises as the overhead press and bench press, as they same, improved muscles are able to perform better in those exercise routines. Finally, chin-ups and pull-ups will greatly increase your shoulder health, in that these ‘pull’ exercises will balance out any ‘press’ exercises and thus keep the muscles equilibrated.

But they’re hard. Most people have trouble doing even a couple, and some can’t even do the first. Should you become discouraged, throw your gym towel into a corner and stomp off to chow down on some sweet chocolate cookies, convinced that there is no hope for you? No! Instead, learn to assist yourself till you can manage a pull-up alone. Some common techniques include placing a chair beneath the bar onto which you rest your tip toes and push off as little as you can. Or you can have a buddy your trust implicitly help you raise up. Conversely, you can wrap a resistance band from the bar to your knees, and allow that to raise you, or use momentum to swing yourself up.

So how exactly do you do a perfect pull-up or chin-up? Easy. Start in a dead hang with straight arms. Squeeze the bar tight, with your fingers curled around the bar, not in the palm of your hands. Breath at the bottom, taking a big breath before pulling yourself up. Don’t let your shoulders go forward; rather, rise with your chest arched as if you were going to press your sternum into the bar. Look up! That will help you keep the right posture. Drive your elbows to the floor, and bend your legs and cross your feet. Squeeze those glutes on the way up.

Despite keeping all those factors in mind, it’s still easy to mess up. Here are some of the common mistakes people make when seeking physical perfection. You might, for example, fail to straighten your arms when you hang in a dead lift. Or you might push your shoulders forward instead of your chest. Many, many people will rock and buck their hips up, using their core muscles to build momentum in order to cut their shoulders a break. Don’t do this! If you’re flailing like a salmon trying to get upstream, you’re doing it wrong. And finally, make sure your chin clears the bar. If it doesn’t, it’s a partial pull-up.

There you go. A classic exercise that delivers classic results. Do your chin ups, try to be able to do at least 15, and then start using weights to raise the resistance level. Good luck!

Phillip Tucker is a native of Brazil and a fitness enthusiast who’s excited about using the P90X Chin Up Bar when doing the PX90 Workout with Tony Horton.

When people discuss nutrition they always break food down into certain basic groups. If you’ve taken any interest before, you’ll be familiar with them: protein, carbohydrates, fat, sugars, etc. But what are these, exactly? What does it mean to eat the right amount of ‘protein’, and are certain kinds of protein or carbohydrates better than others? Today we’ll take a closer look at these food groups, break them down to a basic level, and make sure that everybody is on the same page.

Let’s start it off with protein. Proteins play a vital role in our lives—they are the building blocks for most of our body tissues, such as skin, muscle, nails, and tendons among others. Proteins also take part in many metabolic functions such as nutrient absorption, transportation of oxygen, and they even help deactivate toxic substances.

But what are they? Proteins are large molecules that are built by chains of amino acids. There are about 20 different types of amino acids that can be combined in any sequence or number to form different types of protein, which can either come from animal or vegetable sources. Protein that come from animal sources can be found in red meats, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy products. On the other hand, vegetable sourced protein can be found in dry fruits, soy, legumes, mushrooms and whole grains. Animal protein contains a larger number and diversity of amino acids. In general their biological value is greater than vegetable protein. However, animal proteins are harder to digest, which is why you may be left with a ‘heavy’ sensation after a big ol’ steak.

When we consume red meats, poultry, and / or fish, we are not only consuming protein, but we also intaking metabolic waste such as uric acid and ammonia. And guess what—these elements are toxic. A smart way to consume animal based proteins and yet avoid these toxic elements is by eating eggs and dairy products. Also, when we consume animal protein, we are very likely also consuming saturated fats that are present in meat. High levels of saturated fat can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and promote obesity.

So now let’s take a look at carbs. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for both the muscles and the brain. They can be divided in two main groups: simple carbs (sugars—boo!) and complex carbs (starch—long term energy, yay!).

Simple carbohydrates can be found in fruits, refined sugars, honey, and sweets in general. Our body is able to absorb them almost immediately and they end up being a great source of instant energy. However, it’s important to keep in mind that simple sugars that come from fruits and natural sources have a great advantage over simple sugars that come from refined sources (candy, etc). Simple carbs from natural sources usually come with other important elements such as minerals, organic acids, vitamins (which play a key role in their absorption) and other metabolic functions.

Complex carbohydrates are found in cereals, breads, pasta, legumes and vegetables. Even fiber is a type of carbohydrate. Complex carbohydrates are built by many molecules of sugars. When we consume these types of carbohydrates, our bodies gradually break these large chains down into simple carbs. The extra step in breaking down these large molecules allows the body to have better control of blood sugar level which at the end translates into having steady levels of energy.

After breaking the carbs down, our bodies metabolizes carbohydrates into glucose and glycogen. During any physical activity our muscles feed off the glucose that is found in our blood, and also off the glycogen that is stored in out liver and muscle tissue. A diet rich in complex and simple carbohydrates will help refuel and replenish the levels of glycogen and glucose which are critical when we undertake any intense fitness activities such as the PX90 or Slim in 6. We can achieve this by eating more fruits, vegetables, brown rice, potatoes, and yams.

Philip Tucker is a native of Brazil and a fitness enthusiast who’s excited about the potential of PX90 and Slim in 6.

What’s the best and safest way to warm up before doing exercise?

Strictly speaking the professional will have developed a specific set of arm up exercises for his profession, whether he or she is an athlete, tennis player, football player etc. I’m writing from the perspective of carrying out a good set of generic warm up exercises, primarily for the jogger but they can be applied to most sports.

Stretches or your warm up routine, needs to be dynamic. Why? Well the clue is in the phrase. ‘Warm up’. Static stretches will NOT warm you up, you need to increase your heart rate and body temperature. Your warm up routine should include a range of exercises that you will perform during your fitness session.

You need to view the warm up session as essential. It’s all too easy to put on some running shoes, close the front door, and start your jog. But if you don’t want to get muscle injury or muscle stiffness, STOP!

So what are the benefits then? Well did you know that haemoglobin (your red blood cells), releases oxygen better when your muscles are warmer, there is an increase in blood flow, warmed muscles are a lot more supple and because your muscles are now warm, there is less viscous resistance and hence a greater economy of movement and less change of a muscle tearing. There’s more….but isn’t that enough to persuade you to warm up first. Your jogging times should improve, which means you could possibly run further, get even fitter and help with your overall weight versus level of fitness you are looking to attain.

One US based study, suggested a static warm up routine (as opposed to a dynamic one) could cause more harm than good. As your muscles will not have warmed up, they will not work as fast so may tear.

So what to do? Start with a very light jog to get your heart going that bit faster and to increase your body temperature. Somewhere between five and ten minutes is great.

Now you need to move on to dynamic stretches, which will reduce your muscle stiffness. There are a number of these that you can do. It’s best to try a number of them out over a period to see which ones you prefer. But this period of stretching should be about 10-15 minutes. As your warm up progresses, the intensity of it should too. Easily said if you had someone blowing at whistle and shouting at you!

If you are a member of a gym already (but stay away from doing dynamic stretches) ask your gym which exercises to do prior to a jog. There are many names and variants of stretches. Youtube is probably a good place to watch a video .

Sumo Squats will warm up your groin, hamstring and lower back. Lunges (small lunge, walking lunge), will warm up the hamstrings and quadriceps. Windmills are good for the shoulders, upper back and neck. A spiderman crawl, the hips arms and hamstrings again. You are looking to warm up all the parts of your body. How many of each stretch should I do? Well about 10 of them, 3 times.

Completed your stretches? Great, finally you are ready for your jog or run? Good luck. If it’s going to be your first run, we’ll talk more about that soon.

As with all exercise though, ensure you have consulted a physician first about your level of health before you start even for doing a warm up routine. You don’t want any nasty surprises.

Lana Soko is passionate about health and writes for http://www.lose-weight-with-us.com