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Drinking lemon water has recently been discussed in many health and fitness fields for its aid in weight loss. Lemon water can act as blood sugar stabilizer that keeps metabolism up and weight loss moving along. Drinking lemon water first thing in the morning can stimulate the body’s natural cleansing and detoxifying properties.

Just a few benefits of lemons include: • Antibacterial properties • Helps with digestion, heartburn and bloating • Can cleanse and revitalize the liver and kidneys • Contains calcium, magnesium, and potassium (commonly deficient in the American diet) • Cleanses the skin • Relieves cold and flu symptoms in warm water

It is especially helpful to replace a drink that contains a lot of calories such as artificial fruit juices with lemon water that has no or very little calories. This will not only decrease excess intake of sugar and preservatives, but it will increase total water intake. Another great thing about lemon water is that it is alkalizing despite being perceived as acidic. Western diet tends to be high in sugar, wheat products, and processed food. These all affect the body’s pH balance and can leave the body acidic. Our immune system works optimally at a middle pH level and can not combat viruses at an overly acidic level. With all the evidence pieced together it does not seem like a bad idea to squeeze half a lemon in your glass of water in the morning or when you are having a sweet craving later on in the day. Increase your water intake and protect you body’s defense system with lemons.

In the West we tend to stick to a routine, while in many other cultures an emphasis is placed on constantly mixing things up, especially when it comes to the diet. The concept is clearly seen by our culture in physical fitness. We know that we need to be constantly changing our routine or we plateau and stop improving our fitness levels.

Eastern medicine views food as medicine and therefore places a large emphasis on the type of foods we put into the body and the time at which it is done. As a matter of fact many of the herbs used in herbal remedies are food or part of a fruit/plant commonly eaten in the everyday diet. The thought process behind eating with the seasons is simple. When it is warm put cooler and lighter substances in the body. When it is cooler put warmer and heartier foods in the body. East Asian approach generally states that one should eat foods that support yang (growth and strength) in the body in the spring, clear heat and generate body fluids in the summer, nourish yin (rest and stillness) in the fall, and warm the body in the winter.

In the spring, a season of birth and new growth, people want to support the natural tendencies of the body by strengthening the liver and it’s regulation of energy in the body as well as strengthening the body against allergies commonly seen at this time of change in the season. Good spring foods include onions, leeks, wheat, cilantro, mushrooms, sprouts, spinach and other leafy green vegetables. And remember the more colors the more appealing and vibrant your meal will feel. So embrace the season with not only sandals and shorts, but with what is put on your plate to ensure your healthiest spring season yet.

Most of us interested in staying fit aren’t sure how often we should work out. Although in the past recommendations were for people just to work out a few days a week, recent studies have suggested that this is insufficient for the modern American, and the government has since upped their recommendation.

A simple (current) answer to our question would be to get sixty minutes of moderate or heavy exercise most days out of the week. Now to the beginner, this may sound a little intimidating, but you should remember that you can always increase the intensity of your workouts over time. But let’s delve a little deeper into our question.

It turns out, the frequency of your workouts should be determined by the type of exercise being performed. A recommended work out plan would be to alternate between strength training and cardio training every other day. At the beginning, you may wish to take rest days, which is perfectly fine, but eventually you will be able to build  up to a level of fitness allowing you to work out at a relatively intense level daily.

As you may know, strength training helps to build muscle, while cardio is effective at improving cardiovascular health and burning fat. By pairing these two types of exercises and alternating them by day, you can not only maximize the benefits of your exercise but allow yourself to work out at the recommended rate, or above it, without a high risk of injury. The key to this tactic is that by alternating between strength and cardio training, you allow your various muscle groups the needed rest period that is essential for not just recuperation but the building of new muscle tissue.

Working out is a daunting and frustrating task for many people, especially when it seems like your workouts aren’t going anywhere. Here are some tips that will help you get the most out of your workouts.

For starters, you need to make sure your body is ready for physical exertion. Drink plenty of water throughout the day leading up to your workout, and make sure to continue hydrating during your workout as well. You also need to make sure that you’re eating properly, both before and after working out. Whether you’re trying to bulk up or slim down, proper nutrition is a key factor. Carbs will provide necessary energy, and protein will help your body rebuild.

Once you’ve started your workout, make sure to emphasize each and every repetition. Focus on the contractions of your muscles to insure that you’re getting the maximum benefit from each exercise. When weight training, lifting slowly in both directions will also help to maximize your gains. Keeping good form is also essential to improving your workouts. When you slip out of proper form, the benefits of the exercise being performed drop drastically, and your risk of injury increases as well. Never sacrifice exercising harder or using heavier weight if it will result in a poor form.

Variety is also important when working out. Vary up your exercises by day, focusing on different muscle groups in successive workouts to allow your muscles enough time to heal. Changing up the actual exercises within muscle groups is important as well. Over time your body accustoms itself to the motions and benefits can drop considerably.

Finally, get a workout partner! Having someone to go to the gym with no only makes working out less boring, you and your partner can push each other to work harder. A partner is especially important for weightlifting, as you should never lift without a spotter.

So here’s a quick question; do you warm up before a strenuous workout? If the answer for you is no, you might want to start. Not only can it help improve physical performance, but maybe more importantly it can reduce your risk of getting injured. Today I’ll tell you why it works and how to do it.

Warming up has a number of benefits for your body. For starters, it increases the temperature of the muscles being warmed up and your body overall (no wonder they call it warming up).  By warming your muscles, they are able to contract and relax more quickly and powerfully; their elasticity is also increased, which reduces the risk of pulls and strains. Warming up also has the effect of elevating heart and respiratory rate. This results in increased levels of oxygen and nutrients in the muscles, which helps to ready your body for further, more intense work.

Now we’re on to how to warm up. Begin with a general, light activity, such as walking or jogging. Gauge the starting work level and duration by how in shape you are. You should basically get your heart rate up, and start a light sweat, which are an indication that those aforementioned benefits are beginning. Next, now that your muscles are starting to loosen up, some light stretching should be performed. Finally, continue and conclude your warm up with exercise specific activities, this time at a heavier work rate. Again the muscles continue to loosen up and prepare for use. You’re now ready for your exercise.

And while we’re on the topic, cooling down is important as well. Don’t forget to end your workout with some lighter exercise and stretching. Trust me. You’ll definitely appreciate the lack of soreness next morning.

Today’s post is for all of you joggers and runners out there. We all learned way back in gym class that stretching before running or jogging is important, but does it actually help prevent injury? Well researchers at George Washington University decided to address this very question. The study looked at almost 3,000 regular runners, who all ran at least 10 miles a week. To conduct the study, the volunteers were split into two groups, the first following abstaining from any sort of stretching, and the second stretching various leg muscles for a minimum of three minutes before running.

The findings turned out to be a little strange. The results showed that injury rates were exactly the same between the two groups at 16 percent. This might not be too surprising to you runners who don’t stretch, but once the researchers looked a little deeper into the data, some other trends revealed themselves. Runners who were assigned to a group changing their routine had a significantly increased risk of injury. Runners who normally stretched that were placed in the non-stretching group had a 40% increase in injury risk, and runners who were not used to stretching that switched over had a 30% increase in injury risk.

So what can we take from this? It sounds like you should continue what you’re doing! We can learn another small lesson from this though. If you do decide to change your routine, make sure to take it slow, and ease your way into it to keep that injury risk low.