Neurological Fitness and Exercise

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Neurological fitness has to do with your nervous system and how it learns and adapts. It is a critical component in your quest to be in your best physical fitness condition as possible which can include losing weight, developing lean muscle mass, and other healthy qualities.

We want to become neurologically sophisticated.

What does it mean to become neurologically sophisticated? It means we become tactically fit. Now, what does it mean to become tactically fit? It means that we have our fitness skills to adapt and improvise just like the special operation forces. Our bodies will not be neurologically sophisticated or tactically fit if we just do the same movements such as regular push-ups every time. Push-ups are a great exercise- but we can elevate our fitness more by adding new movements to this basic foundational exercise. This is what neurological fitness is all about.

In order to build our neurological fitness, we can build on basic movement to compound movements to complex movements.

From basic to compound to complex will empower our neurological fitness and our physical fitness. Our bodies can adapt quickly. We need to improvise our exercises to become challenging so that our neurological (nervous) system will become “smarter” (for lack of a better word).

Just like school, we need to have prerequisite course before we get into calculus. We need to have basic knowledge in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Then, we need to build compound knowledge in algebra, trigonometry, etc. Then, we apply those knowledge to do complex calculus problems in order to develop our math skills. Physical fitness and neurological fitness is similar to that.

For the push-ups, we can learn the basic exercise movement (with strict form such as keeping the back straight). Then, we can learn compound movements such as the corkscrew push-ups where we keep our right arm straight but bend the left elbow (resting briefly on the left elbow). Then, go back to the starting push-up position. Then, do the same on the right side. We need to keep our form by pushing from the elbows. Then, the guard push-up is a complex movement. It is similar to the corkscrew push-up but you bring your hands to your head like you are doing a bicep curl while doing this exercise movement.

Neurological fitness will elevate your fitness level especially when you continually learn new movements and exercises. This in turn will empower and enable you to be at your physical best.

Role of Yoga in Health and Fitness

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Due to the modernization of lifestyle, we have lost the harmony of life due to which, we have got several diseases such as hypertension, obesity, coronary heart diseases, etc. To prevent the diseases we need to adopt the better lifestyle, which include a balanced diet with proper physical activity.

Yoga is highly considered in the modern science of living. Yoga was derived from word “Yog” which means “to join” or “together”. Yoga is a method of information that aims to balance the mind, spirit, and body. Yoga may increase individual physical flexibility, coordination, and strength, while the breathing practices and meditation may calm and focus the mind to develop greater awareness. So we should incorporate yoga into our daily routine for the healthy lifestyle as well as it also provides relief from mental stress.

Benefits of Yoga

#6. Yoga for Overall Wellness– Regular practitioners of yoga may experience the overall fitness of the body such as it improves the health status, provides mental strength, protect from the injuries, increases awareness, helps to maintain the body energy levels, detoxifies the body etc. Yoga also gets more oxygen to your cells, which affects the body functioning and it increases the circulation in the body

#5. Yoga For Stress Relief And Inner Peace- A daily practice of yoga may help to get rid of the stress that is caused by various reasons. Yoga postures such as pranayama and meditation are the best effective techniques to provide relief from stress. These techniques also provide calmness, balance the mind and body functioning and bring inner peace to the body.

#4. Yoga For Better Flexibility And Posture- Add yoga in your daily routine to make your body more strong and flexible. Daily practice of stretching makes your muscles strong. It also improves the flexibility of the body. Due to poor posture, we get back, neck, muscle, and joint problems. Everyday practice of yoga helps to improve your body posture when you walk, stand, sit and sleep. Yoga also provides relief from pain due to incorrect posture.

#3. Yoga for Immunity –Yoga asanas improve the body immune function, it maintains the blood pressure hence prevents the cardiovascular diseases. Yoga increases blood circulation and fat burning to lower cholesterol. It stimulates insulin production thus prevent diabetes. It also improves the gastrointestinal function thus eliminate toxic waste substances from the body. It helps you to stay healthy by balancing metabolism by controlling hunger and the weight.

#2. Yoga For Weight Loss- Nowadays obesity is the major issue which affects the majority of the population; yoga is a technique which helps you with weight loss. A regular practice of yoga helps you to burns more calories, it balances the hormonal level as that may encourage you to eat a lesser amount of food and you lose weight, and maintain a healthier lifestyle.

#1. Yoga Increases Concentration Power- Yoga increases the concentration in an individual. Regular practice of yoga may improve your concentration and can result in the better focus on life and profession.

Thus the art of practicing yoga help in controlling the person’s mind, body and conscience. This holistic approach makes you physically as well as mentally fit, so include yoga asanas in your routine for health and fitness.

5 Easy Fitness Tips For Health-Conscious Seniors

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Staying fit is important at any age but maintaining a healthy lifestyle becomes increasingly important as the body ages and you become older. Regular workouts will not only help you retain a youthful figure but can actually add years onto the length of your life. If someone told you they could help you live 10 years longer, wouldn’t you be interested?

It’s a known fact that, in general, individuals who work out and maintain healthy lifestyles are more likely to live longer, happier lives than those who don’t. Staying fit and healthy doesn’t necessarily mean working out several hours a day, but it does mean making a conscious effort to fit in exercise wherever you can.

Here are 5 quick and easy fitness tips for health-conscious seniors:

1. Walking. There’s no excuse for not being able to complete this exercise on a daily basis. Chances are, you are staying fit without even realizing it – as long as you’re not planted on the couch for the majority of the day. Try sectioning off a block of time (preferably at least 20 mins) in the morning or evening (whichever suits your schedule) for a daily walk. If you can do it every day, try going for walks at least 5 times a week. These 20-min exercises will go a long way in keeping you healthy.

2. Lifting Weights. I realize that the term “lifting weights” can seem daunting, especially for seniors, but it’s not as bad as it sounds, I promise. Lifting weights simply means alternating lifting as little as 4 (or even 2) pound weights up and down as you watch your favourite TV show. If you’re feeling really brave, you can carry these small weights while you go on your daily walks! Lifting weights will keep your bones and muscles strong and can help reduce the risk of injury.

3. Eating Healthy. Although it may seem somewhat unrelated, eating healthy plays a key role in staying fit. Choosing healthy foods like fruits, vegetables and fish will increase your metabolism and will give you the energy you need to keep up with your daily workouts. Going for daily walks and then binging on chips and goodies the rest of the day won’t get you very far. Staying healthy is a balance of eating right and exercising. You can’t have one without the other.

4. Swimming/ Water Aerobics. Water aerobics (or even swimming in general) is a great way for seniors to stay fit. This type of exercise will increase your cardiovascular endurance, improve your flexibility, increase your muscle strength, improve your balance and can actually reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Most gyms offer water aerobics classes, which can also be a great way to meet new friends.

5. Balancing exercises. Balancing exercises are easy and will take up very little of your time. Simple balancing exercises include standing on one foot, jumping jacks and stepping up and down stairs. Staying balanced will help prevent injuries like broken hips or falls.