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Safety Tips for Yoga
Beginners
Trying to force yourself into a yoga posture your body is not ready for, or not flexible enough for, could prove disastrous. Yoga is meant to be a nurturing form of exercise, not a rigid imitation of poses. You can stretch and strengthen your body without having to touch your nose to your knees, or your feet to your head.
Following are suggested ways to help you in your yoga practice:
Style -- Practice gentle forms of yoga, such as Kripalu, Viniyoga, or Integral Yoga. Bikram, Ashtanga and Power Yoga are generally too vigorous for beginners and inflexible people.
Your Instructor -- Find an instructor who is experienced, certified and cares about your physical imitations. He or she can modify the pace or perhaps offer alternative poses to meet your specific needs. In addition, never let an instructor try to force your body into any pose. Practice the "hands off" approach
Warm Up -- Get in ten minutes of warming up with easy movements to increase circulation, lubricate joins and ready your body to stretch. You want the poses to progress from simple to more difficult.
Poses to Avoid -- The plow, full shoulder stand, headstand and full lotus. These poses can place tremendous strain on joints and disks.
Protect Your Back -- Keep your knees slightly bent and hinge from your hips when you bend forward from any standing position. For arching backwards, concentrate on opening the front of the body by lengthening from the navel to the sternum. Be careful not to over-arch your lower back, as this will compress the lumbar disks.
Protect Your Knees -- Never lock your knees when in a standing posture. If you feel any strain while doing sitting or kneeling postures, place a cushion or folded blanket under your bottom.
Your Neck -- Be sure you keep your neck in alignment with the rest of your spine at all times, especially when arching backwards. Be careful not to allow your neck to drop back or down.
Enjoy your yoga practice and you are sure to reap the rewards -- you will know when you are ready to take it a step further -- or perhaps you will be happy right where you are at. Let your body be your guide. Get to know it and its injury-prone areas and back off from any movements that causes pain or cramping. And above all, never compare yourself to others!
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Building
Muscle Mass
The rules for gaining muscle are simple, but they take discipline to apply:
To gain muscle, you need to eat more calories every day.
Have your body fat tested to determine your lean body weight and have a personal trainer or nutritionist recommend how much protein you need to gain muscle mass.
Nutritional supplements and meal replacement powders and bars can help increase your protein intake, but they are usually not as nutritious as real food and should not replace regular meals
Eat adequate amounts of fat (15-percent) and carbohydrates (55-percent).
Protein should make up 30-percent of your diet.
Weight train intensely three or four times a week, no longer than one hour per session.
Limit your cardio workouts for maximum muscle gains.
Sleep! Shoot for eight to ten hours a night.
Drink loads of water.
Stay focused on the big picture: Overall Health! See also: Exercise
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Exercise
Safety
Try these tips to exercise safely!
Stop exercising right away if you:
Have pain or pressure in the left-chest or mid-chest area -- or left neck, shoulder, or arm
Feel dizzy or sick
Break out in a cold sweat
Have muscle cramps
Feel pain in your joints, feet, ankles, or legs. You could hurt yourself if you ignore the pain.
(Ask your health care provider what to do if you have any of these symptoms.)
Slow down if out of breath. You should be able to talk while exercising without gasping for breath.
Drink lots of water before, during, and after exercise (even water workouts) to replace the water you lose by sweating.
Do not do hard exercise for 2 hours after a big meal (but a 5- to 10-minute walk is OK). If you eat small meals, you can exercise more often.
Wear the right clothes:
Wear lightweight, loose-fitting tops so you can move easily.
Women should wear a good support bra.
Wear supportive athletic shoes for weight-bearing activities.
Wear clothes made of fabrics that absorb sweat and remove it from your skin.
Never wear rubber or plastic suits. These could hold the sweat on your skin and make your body overheat.
Wear a knit hat to keep you warm when you exercise outdoors in cold weather. Wear a baseball cap in hot weather to help keep you cool.
Wear sunscreen when you exercise outdoors. Cover all areas of exposed skin whenever outdoors.
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