Health and Fitness – Fitness Made Easy

You should contact a doctor if you have stiffness and pain in one or both knees,  especially if it lasts for more than 6 weeks;
knee pain, swelling, or tenderness, especially swelling that occurs within 24 hours of an injury;  or any pain that interfered with mobility or daily activities.

The knee is composed of two bones ( the femur and the tibia)  balancing on one another and lashed in place on all sides by muscles and connective tissue.
It is the only weight-bearing  joint in the body with this design.  And that makes the knee prone to arthritis, injuries,  and pain.  Read more...

Insomnia can take three forms:

1. You toss and turn instead of  falling asleep.
2. You fall asleep okay, but then wake up repeatedly during the night.
3. You wake up much too early and can’t get back to sleep again.

The most common causes of  insomnia are emotional stress and depression.  Other reasons for poor sleep include pain or illness,  medications  ( such as decongestants,  diuretics,  some antidepressants,  steroids and beta blockers) eating a heavy meal late at night or alcohol too near bedtime.  Read more...

Since there is no pain associated with early osteoporosis,  its important to be aware of the risk  factors,  so that you can head off the disease by taking precautions now.  A simple  15  minute test called the  DEXA  scan  (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry)  measures your bone density and tells whether you’re at risk for osteoporosis.

Ask your doctor about having a DEXA scan if you:  Read more...

Walking has never been accorded much respect. Traditionally, it has been considered useful locomotion but infective exercise. Worse, it is decidedly lacking in glamour. People shaped like bowling balls walk.

This is many peoples attitude to walking.

People who walk 3 miles a day, 5 days a week, at a 5-mile-an-hour pace produce the same cardiovascular gains as joggers running at an 8 to 9 miles-an-hour pace. Indeed, jogging at a moderate pace will burn 400 calories an hour; race walking will burn about 600. The fact is, walking is much better exercise than most people believe.  Read more...

If you have heard about race walking, you probably imagine overweight athletes waddling like ducks, taking mincing little steps and not making much progress.

You would be wrong. For starters race walkers don’t waddle; the hips move forward and back, not side to side. Second, it provides an excellent exercise option. If you’re serious about walking, fitness, and calorie burn, race walking is the way to go.  Read more...