Tag Archive for: Long Beach Nutritional Coach

Yoga Poses for Newbies

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Yoga is a system of unique exercises and postures that helps you attain mental and bodily control and promotes wellbeing. It helps realize your “self” its distinction from mind, body and will, thus helping it in attaining liberation. The benefits of this ancient art are enormous, ranging from physical and emotional health to spiritual benefits.

Yoga postures, also known as asanas, help promote the physical wellbeing of an individual by improving blood circulation, reducing weight, relieving respiratory problems especially asthma, reducing risk for cardiovascular disease, and normalizing blood pressure levels.

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When performed on a regular basis, yoga exercises improve physical strength and stamina, and reduce the risk for falling and associated injuries. Numerous researches have revealed that yoga helps reduce the amount of toxins absorbed by one’s body tissues, thus slowing down their deterioration.

Yoga helps improve your level of concentration and enhances mental clarity. At an advanced level, yoga has also been shown to help in developing psychic powers. Moreover, yoga helps unite your “self” with the environment and the people around you.

If you are a newbie in this field, then there are numerous yoga poses for beginners that can help you control your “self” and take you to the next level. Remember that yoga is comprised of three main modules namely exercise, breathing and meditation and there are separate beginner poses for each of these modules.

Some popular beginner poses for the exercise module include Tada Asana, Kona Asana, Trikonasana, Uttanpanda Asana, Markat Asana, Leg Rotation Asana, and Yoga Mudra. Tada Asana makes an excellent pose for beginners as it helps improve stretching, increases flexibility and increases height. Kona Asana strengthens the bones and relieves joint inflammation.

Trikonasana strengthens the back muscles and helps reduce back ache. Uttanpanda Asana has been shown to relieve indigestion and other gastrointestinal problems. Markat Asana is a supine yoga pose that promotes flexible back. Leg Rotation Asana makes an excellent supine yoga pose for those beginners who are looking for permanent weight loss. Yoga Mudra is a sitting yoga pose that helps in retaining beauty and youthfulness.

Yoga beginner poses for breathing module include Vajra Asana, Padam Asana, and Sukh Asana. Vajra Asana, also known as Diamond Pose, improves the function of lungs and cures varicose veins. Padam Asana, also known as Lotus Pose, improves cardiovascular disease and promotes peace of mind. Sukh Asana or Easy Pose is meant for people who find it difficult to execute Vajra Asana and Padam Asana.

Beginner poses for yoga meditation module include Bal Asana and Yoga Nidra. Bal Asana makes an excellent beginner pose for the relaxation of soul and body. Yoga Nidra is a meditation pose that promotes deep sleep, improves intelligence and promotes clarity of mind.

Six Wonderful Macronutrient Benefits

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The macronutrients are the three main nutrients your body needs to survive. They include carbohydrates, dietary fats and protein. But what exactly do they do for your body?

Read on for six of the fantastic benefits they can provide.

macronutrients

1) DISEASE PROTECTION

Dietary fats can protect you from a number of diseases. They reduce your heart disease risk by lowering blood pressure, lowering blood triglyceride levels and reducing the presence of lipoprotein (a) (a strong risk factor for heart disease) in your blood. Dietary fats have also been shown to protect you from breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer. Finally, they keep your immune system strong which further enhances your ability to fight disease.

2) ENERGY

Carbohydrates provide your body with a quick, convenient source of energy. This enables all the cells in your body to function properly. Whilst your body can break down dietary fats and protein for energy it is a much less efficient process.

3) FIBRE, PHYTONUTRIENTS AND VITAMINS

Carbohydrates provide your body with a number of important nutrients. Fibre is an indigestible carbohydrate that keeps your blood glucose levels stable and promotes good bowel health. Phytonutrients are naturally occurring chemicals found in plants that protect your body from damage and disease. Vitamins are essential nutrients that protect you from disease, keep your immune system strong, support healthy growth and much more.

4) HEALTHY CELLS

The primary function of protein is to build, maintain and repair your body’s cells. When you are growing your body uses protein to build strong bones, muscles and more. When you are fully grown your body uses protein to keep these cells strong and repair any that become damaged. Dietary fats also support your cells by assisting in the production of healthy skin cells and keeping the cell walls strong.

5) HEALTHY ORGANS

Dietary fats play a key role in organ health. They keep your brain healthy by promoting the production of cell membranes and signal pathways. They also support heart health by providing palmitic acid and stearic acid (two types of saturated fat that the heart uses for fuel when stressed). On top of this they protect your liver from harmful substances and have been shown to reverse liver damage. Finally, they reduce surface tension in the lungs by supporting the production of lung surfactant.

6) WEIGHT LOSS

Research suggests that dietary fats can both burn and prevent the build up of body fat. Protein can also help you lose weight in two ways. First, a meal high in protein can burn up to 25% more calories during digestion than a meal high in carbohydrates. Secondly, protein (and in particular the amino acid leucine) has been shown to act as an appetite suppressant.

I hope this article has given you a better insight into the macronutrients and how they benefit your health. As you can see they do almost everything your body requires. They give you energy, protect you from damage and disease, support healthy growth and even help you lose weight. So if you want to enjoy all these benefits make sure your diet contains sufficient levels of all three macronutrients.

Workout Tips – Senior Citizens Should Still Workout

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As you grow older, staying fit and healthy is more important than ever before as a senior citizen. By following an active lifestyle and working out regularly, you will definitely take care of your health and increase stamina. The suggestions listed here will present some handy fitness strategies for a senior.

Growing older doesn’t mean you have to stop working out. In fact tons of senior citizens are becoming more active than ever. They might have to start making small changes in the way they go about exercising.

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Always putting safety first and foremost. Senior citizens should workout and can do all the exercises of younger people. This includes, weightlifting, yoga, running, cardio and aerobics.

Seniors have to exercise and build muscle to prevent bone mass loss. The longer the person puts off working out the more chances of developing osteoporosis and other ailments. To prevent loss of strength the individual should do some form of strength training and incorporate some cardio for stamina. Cardio exercise also keeps the heart healthy. Yoga is also a great exercise for seniors. It helps with balance and flexibility.

Joining a senior class at a local gym is a very good for you. Not only will it help the person to get into shape, but help make new friends to workout with. The more people you can find to exercise the more fun the class is going to be. There are more senior classes opening up than ever before. Enjoy this time and workout hard. You’re body will reward you with increased energy and more stamina.

People have to realize that walking is one of the best exercises you can do. Walking costs nothing but the time and effort that the person puts forth. It’s one exercise that can help almost all seniors. Anyone can do it, and for the most part there is not much stress on the joints. Walking outside, walking on the treadmill, and walking on trails offer you lots of options. Try to walk a minimum of twenty minutes a day, one hour maximum. The more the individual walks, the more likely they are going to see positive results.

Swimming for senior citizens is very helpful for joints and tendons. Low impact swimming also aids in muscle recovery and healing. Senior classes normally offer swimming and most people love the benefits and feeling after a nice swim. The amount or swimming is totally up to the person. I have seen many seniors swimming laps in the pool, so for a good workout maybe start with one or two laps and work up from there.

As we get older it’s even more important to take care of your body. Yes it is true seniors do get some aches and pains from time to time. That should not stop the person from being active. Keep striving everyday to exercise to fight of disease and to feel great.

Yoga: Postures and Poses

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Yoga has become a very popular form of exercise, however, some styles focus primarily on physically working the back, for instance: the most important Yoga poses in this case will differ from others, remaining the most important Yoga poses for another kind of Yoga.

There are also very difficult one might focus on in other styles of Yoga designed to stretch and strengthen other specific parts of the body, and many that work the entire body, treating the body as left and right equals yin and yang.

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There are specific Yoga poses for the floor parts of Yoga exercise, as well as the more familiar standing Yoga poses.

One of the most basic kinds of standing Yoga poses one will learn in Yoga is what is called the tree balance. In this balance you will:

  1. Prepare as always by checking the posture and lifting through the torso, pushing your shoulders down.
  2. Hold your eyes on one object diagonally or straight forward for the entire pose.
  3. Stand with your feet together.
  4. Lift up onto the balls of your feet.
  5. Rock your weight back, onto your heels.
  6. Strengthen the right leg shifting all of your weight and lift your left leg slowly up so that your foot lays flat, toes down, resting on your right inner thigh.
  7. Your arms slowly lift up to what is called the prayer position: both palms meeting directly above the top of the head–the full body in perfect alignment. Meeting above the crown chakra and lengthening all the way through the body.

The benefits of practicing this posture are many. It will result in remarkably noticeable balance and grace.

The posture requires balance, focus and concentration–all the basic guidelines of Yoga–both spiritual and physical are involved in Yoga poses. The tree balance is one of the many Yoga poses where the key is to relax and clear your mind. Not thinking about the difficulty of the pose itself–releasing tension–that is the mental aspect of several complex positions–without which many Yoga poses would be virtually impossible to hold.

This is one of the most well known Yoga postures. However, there are many. Including, as I mentioned before, many floor Yoga poses. Focus and breath–this is how you remain in any of the Yoga poses.

One example of the floor Yoga poses is the snake:

  1. Lay flat on your stomach with your hands on your shoulders.
  2. Lift up by straightening the arms and focus up–as though your eyes were also a part of the arch.
  3. Focus on pushing the pelvis down towards the floor–arching your back.
  4. And keep your shoulders down, as with virtually all Yoga poses.

Remember, all Yoga poses are meant to be held. You do not just reach the posture. Instead you reach it and remain there–thirty seconds, a minute etc. Holding, breathing, the asana, and the pranayama, this is how the balance is earned. In all Yoga poses you will find that you can stretch further and further each time. There are many other yoga poses and techniques out there–go find the perfect kind of yoga for you!

The Basic Facts About Nutrients, Macronutrients and Micronutrients

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In the complex, elegant system called the human body, the nutrients that are ingested and absorbed are essential for the growth, maintenance, repair, and replacement of the trillions of cells of the organs and tissues that do the body’s work. These nutrients are the substances in the foods and beverages we ingest.

Nutrition is the sum total of the interaction between the foods we eat-our diets-and the ways in which our bodies process, use, and are nourished by the nutrients in those foods. Although human bodies are incredibly adaptable and may maintain themselves for a long time when nutrition is inadequate or improper, optimum health is dependent on optimum nutrition. When proper amounts of nutrients are lacking or out of balance, or when nutrients are not adequately processed, dysfunction, ill health, and disease are inevitable.

Nutrition

Nutrients for Life

Scientists and researchers are still learning to define optimal nutrition and understand how nutrients affect health and disease. So far, more than 40 nutrients have been identified as substances that are essential to life. They are grouped into six categories or classes. These classes are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water.

Carbohydrates, fats, proteins, some minerals, and water are considered to be macronutrients, because the body needs them in large quantities. Vitamins and most minerals (often called trace minerals) are needed in relatively small amounts and are referred to as micronutrients. They are essential because they enable the body to use its macronutrients. No single food contains all essential nutrients, but most foods are a source of one or more in varying degrees. People must ingest a variety of foods in order to nourish their bodies.

Energy And Fuel

One of the most important functions of nutrients is to provide the fuel that powers the body’s functions. Glucose is the sugar from carbohydrates that provides the major source of fuel for the body, its organs, and its cells, but fats are another important source. When necessary, proteins can also be used as fuel. These macronutrients provide the body with 100% of its energy. Energy is measured in calories. Some foods, such as cheeseburgers, are calorie dense, while others, such as celery, provide few calories.

How much food is required to provide enough energy depends on the kinds of foods a person eats, as well as a person’s activity level, age, and size. In other words, how much energy is used up and how quickly it is used depends on individual factors and is never standard for all people at all times in their lives.

Because of the energy supplied by these macronutrients, muscles move, lungs breathe, and hearts beat. Bodies use the energy to maintain the correct temperature. Cells build the proteins that do the work in the body. With too few calories, cell activity and organ function falter. A complete lack of energy (meaning zero calories consumed) would lead to cell death and organ failure from starvation within about 8 to 12 weeks.

If too many calories are taken, the body stores the excess as fat, in case extra energy is needed in the future. Every healthy person needs to have some fat stores for emergencies, but an excess amount leads to unhealthy body weight and stress on organs, which also can lead to disease.

Should Seniors Exercise and What are the Benefits?

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As we grow older our bodies go through various changes. One of the best ways to ensure the health and fitness is to practice safe senior exercise in our retirement years. Many doctors will often prescribe a regime of exercises that are safe and effective. However, due to the fact that many seniors are dealing with different degrees of various illnesses and health concerns, every senior exercise routine should be tailored to meet each individual’s health needs.

It is best to choose simple forms of senior exercise if you haven’t been steadily training or exercising in your former years. Always consult with your physician before embarking on a new method of exercise. However, once you receive your physician’s OK; you should feel confident in beginning your routine.

senior exercise

A great way to learn a new workout is to use a senior exercise video or DVD. Aerobics is a wonderful workout and it keeps the heart healthy and strong. If your doctor has given you a target heart rate to maintain, then consider choosing an aerobic senior exercise workout video.

For those who suffer with painful arthritis, senior exercise may be prescribed as a form of therapy. You can find special arthritis based workouts that will slowly help you move and restore flexibility to your joints. Continuing to exercise is one of the most beneficial tools that you have to fight off the painful stiffness of arthritis.

Some seniors have limited mobility and there are many seated exercises that you can still perform. Choosing a video or DVD that will instruct you in these exercises is a great way to keep flexible and healthy. Many seniors choose to perform yoga for its stretching and toning benefits. This gentle form of exercise will help keep the spine flexible and supple.

One of the most effective forms of senior exercise available today is good old-fashioned walking. Walking can help keep the hips strong and flexible, keep the legs toned, and improve circulation throughout the entire body. Try walking whenever possible to receive these life saving benefits. You can avoid many sicknesses and illnesses just by increasing circulation and keeping the body in a lifestyle of motion.

Many active seniors prefer to exercise through hobbies such as dancing and swimming. Most senior communities will include a health club, fitness room, swimming pool, and offer dance lessons. Weight training is also beneficial in senior years, and research is showing that a weight-training regime can help prevent bone loss in seniors.

By participating in the exercise programs offered in your senior community you are taking the best course of action to maintain your level of health, as well as to improve your current state of health. Whether it is swimming, dancing, weight training, yoga, playing golf or simply walking exercise is the key to enjoying your retirement years and limiting painful conditions.

Always follow your physician’s advice and consult with him or her before starting any new exercise routines. By living a lifestyle that includes proper nutrition, plenty of rest, and a reduction of stress, you can be sure that you are taking vital steps to ensure your health.

Using Yoga Poses to Improve Your Health

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Yoga Poses are the body and mind places you are trying to achieve through Yoga that are also called Asanas. The benefits of practicing Yoga is mainly to exercise, strengthen and tone your body’s muscles and exercise your mind. It takes a great deal of willpower and tenacity to accomplish each Yoga Pose and you have to have the discipline to practice your routine of poses or asanas daily.

You may or may not know that the effort required for yoga is certainly not easy (what program ids that actually works though!), but the total body benefit is worth all the hard work. The art of practicing Yoga exercises or Asanas can and will improve your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

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To be able to accomplish the Yoga Poses requires you to study each pose and perform it deliberately as you control your body and mind simultaneously. Learn the following different Yoga Exercises, Postures, and Poses in the following sections and then incorporate them into your routine.

Warm-Up Poses

In general, warming up depends on the particular style of yoga that you practice and your studio, class, DVD, or online training will show you the best warm up for the type of yoga you are doing.

Standing Poses – You should learn the following Standing Poses

  • Virabhadrasana or Warrior Pose
  • Utkatasana or Squat Pose
  • Uttanasana or Standing Forward Bend
  • Tadasana or Mountain Pose
  • Uthita Trikonasana or Extended Triangle
  • Garudasana or Eagle Pose
  • Natarajasana or Dancer
  • Bakasana or Crow Pose
  • Chaturangsana or Plank Pose
  • Purvottanasana or Back Bend
  • Vasisthasana or Inclined Plank

Seated Poses – These poses can be done while sitting.

Sitting Neutral

  • Vajrasana or Hero Pose
  • Dandasana or Staff Pose
  • Baddhakonasana or Bound Angle Pose
  • Gomukhasana or Cow Face Pose

Sitting Forward

  • Pascimottanasana or Sitting Forward Bend
  • Paripurna navasana or Boat Pose

Sitting Back Bends

  • Bidalasana or Cat Stretch
  • Ustrasana or Camel Pose
  • Bhujangasana or Cobra Pose
  • Dhanurasana or Bow Pose

Sittting Twist

  • Ardha matsyendrasana or Half Twist

Inverted Postures and Balance Poses – These poses help to increase circulation, stimulate the brain, enhance glandular system functioning, and relieve pressure on the abdominal organs helping with digestion and blood flow.

  • Sarvangasana or Shoulder Stand
  • Halasana or Plow Pose
  • Adho Mukha Svanasana or Downward Facing Dog
  • Setu Bandha or Half Bridge
  • Urdhva Dhanurasana or Full Bridge
  • Karnapidasana or Spider Pose

It’s recommended that people try and practice different yoga poses at home or even in the office or workplace but if you are feeling like you’re not able to complete a posture, please don’t push yourself. Yoga is not a competition so just relax, rest for a minute and try the pose again. Also remember not to try yoga poses that are beyond your capabilities.

If you attempt asanas that are beyond your level you can injure yourself which is not what we are trying to achieve with yoga! You might find it helpful to get some expert guidance through popular online training websites where a professional teacher can instruct and coach you through each Yoga Pose ensuring you are doing the exercise correctly.

The Macronutrients of Nutrition

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Nutrition can be a confusing subject for the ordinary person. Of course we have all heard about vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and fiber, complex carbohydrates and sugars but how does it all fit together?

Well to start with, our bodies require certain amounts of macronutrients to survive. There are a few people who focus on one nutrient over another and they consume more of one and less of the others but in general we all need some of these nutrients and a healthy diet consists of a good balance of the all three macronutrients.

macronutrients

The macronutrients are protein, fat and carbohydrates. Protein and carbohydrates both provide 4 calories per gram, while the more dense fat contains 9 calories per gram. A calorie is at its most basic description the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1g of water 1 degree Celsius. While that is a rather confusing definition for most of us it is easier for us to just know that a calorie is just a measurement that we use to determine the energy content of food.

Due to this discrepancy of 5 additional calories per gram, it was believed for a few years that the fat in our diet was the main cause of the fat on our bodies. It has since been proven that this all too simple explanation is not quite true. The fat on our bodies is caused by a number of different factors including the eating of too many calories altogether be they from fat, protein or carbohydrates.

Protein is the building blocks of the tissues in our bodies and it is essential to all of the processes within our cells. Protein can be found in animal tissue, dairy products and eggs but also vegetarian sources such a beans, legumes and especially soybeans.

Carbohydrates are the main energy source of our bodies. A simplistic explanation of carbohydrates is that they convert to sugar in our bodies, which in turn provides the energy that we need. Carbohydrates can be further broken down into simple carbohydrates, which include sugar, candy, white flour and more and complex carbohydrates, which include whole grains and vegetables. Simple carbohydrates break down in our bodies at a very rapid level, causing energy swings and increased hunger while complex carbohydrates break down slowly which gives us sustained longer-term energy.

Fat was long misaligned as being bad for our health but that is not completely true. The saturated fats and trans fats are destructive to our bodies but there are also essential fats that we need to maintain good health. Those would include the monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats such as olive oil, peanut oil and canola oil and the fats found in nuts and seeds, avocados, olives and the acai berry. The bad fats are the saturated fats such as the fat found in animal products and the “fake” fats or trans fats that are created by hydrogenation.

The macronutrients of protein, carbohydrates and fat are the building blocks of nutrition and all of the rest of the positive nutritional factors, like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and more are found within one of these three macronutrients.

Workout Routines for Seniors

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Seniors are finally getting involved in the health movement! Move it or lose it! What is the best workout routine for senior citizens? And why should seniors workout? We will explore more on this topic during this article.

Did you know that there are some health insurance companies that will actually pay for your gym membership. When this was implemented several years ago, the insurance companies saved around 1.6 billion dollars in health care in the first two years! Senior citizens were getting into the gym, and getting fit and healthy!

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Of course, if you have read any of my other articles, you know that I am a big advocate of weight lifting. And yes, this goes for you too, seniors. Lifting weights can really help with osteoporosis. If you don’t believe me, ask your doctor. Your doctor will tell you. I have some clients that have come to me because their doctor has told them that they have to get a personal trainer.

My hope for everyone and their health is that they get into the gym BEFORE their doctor tells them that they have to do it. Once you are at a place where your doctor tells you that you HAVE to lose weight, or you have to get a personal trainer, this can mean that your health is at stake. This always makes my heart just drop, because I know for many people, that a lot of their health problems could have been prevented if they had just lead a healthy lifestyle and gotten into the gym.

So, don’t be one of those people. Get in to the gym now. Also, for most seniors, it’s about getting back your mobility, your range of motion, and a bit of strength and energy. Yes, I recommend lifting weights, but, don’t go in and just start throwing weights around. Get yourself at least a month of sessions with a personal trainer. Many injuries can be prevented by just knowing where to place your hands or your feet during certain exercises.

One rule of thumb can be the ninety degree angle rule. Now, this doesn’t apply for every exercise. There are always exceptions to the rule. Basically, you never let your legs or your arms go past a ninety degree angle. For instance, if you are doing an overhead shoulder press, your arms above your head should each form ninety degree angles.

This way, you are keeping the weight in your muscle rather than your joints. But, if this isn’t making any sense to you, please take the time to seek out a personal trainer in your area. They can help you with all of your fitness goals and give you a great workout routine for seniors!

Why Aerobics are So Good for You

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Aerobic exercise has been around since the 1980’s and has benefited the exercise community by strengthening the body, improving circulation, and increasing performance. Aerobic exercise was obsolete before 1978 when exercise was about strength and resistance training by building muscles.

However, people realized that strong muscles didn’t equal best athlete. Performance suffered due to the lack of oxygen and increased muscle mass.

Aerobic exercise

Aerobic exercise requires the use of oxygen for the body to generate energy. Due to the increased period of time of exercise the body increases the circulation and transportation of blood, oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. This allows for longer endurance during competition. Although, aerobics are not only good for performance, they benefit the body as well.

The benefit of health and performance through aerobic exercise is based on the duration and frequency of exercise. It is recommended to get a minimum 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise in on a daily basis. Cardiovascular exercise is any exercise that increases the heart rate while increasing circulation throughout the body. Aerobics are the most prevalent cardiovascular exercise. Not only does it improve circulation throughout the body, it strengthens the heart and respiratory muscles.

Both the heart and lungs become more efficient at pumping blood and oxygen throughout the body as aerobic exercise becomes longer and more vigorous. Red blood cell count increases in the body to transport more oxygen for exercise. Aerobic exercise uses the large muscle groups throughout the body therefore strengthening them while in use. It also reduces the risk for diabetes, heart disease, and cardiovascular disease. The resting heart rate and blood pressure both decrease from aerobic exercise. It improves mental health by decreasing stress and depression.

Aerobic exercise is good for weight loss because it burns more calories at a faster rate. It raises the metabolic rate (the amount of calories needed for the body to sustain at rest) and burns fat when done consistently. During the initial stages of aerobic exercise glycogen is broken down to produce energy. As the glycogen, which comes from carbohydrates is used up, the body moves onto fat to produce energy.

This is a longer process and can cause performance to decline. However, over time as you continue to do aerobic exercise the body becomes more efficient at storing glycogen in the muscles to be used for energy. And because of the increased energy endurance is improved. The body also increases vascularization of the muscles to improve blood flow. The body becomes better able to break down fats for energy. Aerobic exercise also speeds up the ability of muscles to recover from exercise.

Aerobic exercise is normally categorized into two areas, low impact and high impact. Low impact aerobics include stair climbing, walking, swimming, housework, etc. During low impact aerobics one foot stays on the ground to support the weight of the body. For the most part any healthy person can do low impact aerobic activities.

Walking is the most prevalent low impact aerobic exercise because it can be done anywhere without the use of any equipment and requires no skill. Even though walking is a weight bearing exercise it causes less injury to the knees, and joints. If you are looking to include aerobic activity in your exercise routine start with low impact and work your way up to high impact.

High impact aerobics include running, sports such as football, tennis, rugby, dance, etc. During high impact aerobics both feet come off the floor simultaneously, even for a moment which can cause jarring of the joints when the body weight hits the floor again. When including aerobics in your exercise routine, start with low impact and work your way up to high impact.

People who are overweight, elderly, injured, out of condition should get approval from a doctor before jumping into high impact aerobics. High impact aerobics should be preformed on opposite days as low impact aerobics. Remember aerobic activity should always be part of your fitness plan.