Everyone knows that exercise comes with many physical
benefits. It will improve your physique, slim your waistline, and improve your
chances of living longer. But did you know that it is also one of the most
successful ways to advance your mental health? Exercising constantly can
positively help with depression, anxiety, ADHD, PTSD, and trauma. It reduces
stress, improves your memory, helps you sleep well, and enhances your general
mood. You don’t need to do insane workouts for long periods of time to get
these benefits. Going on a simple walk or just doing a short 10-minute workout
can make a difference. If you exercise daily, you will feel more energetic and
become more positive. No matter your age or fitness ability, you can use
exercise to your benefits as a way to feel better mentally, physically, and
live a better life.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Exercising in the Water Benefits
Exercising in water 2 to 3 times a week has many benefits,
particularly if you are recovering, or have an injury. Do to the buoyancy water
provides you with ability to do exercises that otherwise would hurt your knees
and joints on land. Do to this you can stay in shape without pounding or
irritating your joints. Water also provides a consistent resistance to every
movement. About 12%-14% more resistance is added to your actions than when you
workout on land. Water workouts will improve flexibility and strength, while
building up endurance. It will increase
muscular flexibility and balance. Exercising in water can also improve your
ability to control and maintain a good, healthy weight, while improving your
physique. Especially if it is hot outside, exercising in water will cool the
body continuously so you don’t get overheated.
Increase Your Speed
Speed is valuable at any level of competitive athletics. Improving
your agility and quickness can be done with a few drills and exercises. Sprints
are the best way to improve speed. The
start is the most crucial part of a sprint. To practice your starting position,
you can do wall dives. To do a wall dive, stand in front of the wall in a
two-point stance. Explode into the wall driving your front knee up to the hip
height. Another exercise you can preform is the sled drag. For this exercise
the weight of the sled should be close to your max squat weight. When doing
this drill, be sure to drive your knees up and keep your body weight forward.
Lastly, you should develop the isometric and eccentric hamstring strength by
doing bent-knee hip thrusts on a ball or bench. This exercise will help your
quickness by keeping the knee joints stable as force transports from the hips.
Do these exercises consistently for a couple of weeks and you will see great
improvements in your speed.
Ladder
The agility ladder is an inexpensive piece of exercise
equipment that you can use on any flat surface. This ladder helps you improve
your agility and speed. Using the quick, short movements that the ladder
enables you to do, you can strengthen your joints, ligaments, and tendons. It
also strengthens your heart and lungs due to the HIIT workout it provides. Not
only does the ladder help you physically, but also it helps you mentally by
improving your focus and coordination. When it comes to the ladder, you can be
creative and make up your own movements. You can start off with running through
the ladder using high knees, side shuffling, and doing one-legged jumps. If you
are more advanced, you can do moves like the icky shuffle. To do this move,
stand at the bottom left corner of the ladder, facing the direction of the
ladder, then step your right foot into the first square and bring your left
foot into the same square. Once the left foot touches the ground, bring the
right foot out of the square and move the left foot forward. Next, move the
right foot into the same square as the left foot. Once the right foot touches
the ground you will step the left foot out of the square. Continue this pattern
until you reach the end of the ladder. This move is tricky, so start slow and
increase your speed as you become more familiar with the drill.
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