Toddler Safety

Toddler Safety Is Very Important

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1) It is important for parents to recognize that the child can now walk, run, climb, jump, and explore. This new stage of movement makes child-proofing the home essential. Window guards, gates on stairways, cabinet locks, toilet seat locks, electric outlet covers, and other safety features are essential.

2) As during the infancy period, place the toddler in a safety restraint (toddler car seat) when riding in a car.

3) Do not leave a toddler unattended for even short periods of time. Remember, more accidents occur during the toddler years than at any other stage of childhood.

4) Introduce and strictly stick to rules about not playing in streets or crossing without an adult.

5) Falls are a major cause of injury. Keep gates or doors to stairways closed, and use guards for all windows above the ground floor. Do not leave chairs or ladders in areas that are likely to tempt the toddler into climbing up to explore new heights. Use corner guards on furniture in areas where the toddler is likely to walk, play, or run.

6) Childhood poisonings are a frequent source of illness and death during the toddler years. Keep all medications in a locked cabinet. Keep all toxic household products (polishes, acids, cleaning solutions, chlorine bleach, lighter fluid, insecticides, or poisons) in a locked cabinet or closet. Many household plants may cause illness if eaten. Toad stools and other garden plants may cause serious illness or death. Get a list of these common plants from your pediatrician.

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7) If a family member owns a firearm, make sure it is unloaded and locked up in a secure place.

8) Keep toddlers away from the kitchen with a safety gate, or place them in a playpen or high chair. This will eliminate the danger of burns from pulling hot foods off the stove or bumping into the hot oven door.

9) Toddlers love to play in water, but should never be allowed to do so alone. A toddler may drown even in shallow water in a bathtub. Parent-child swimming lessons can be another safe and enjoyable way for toddlers to play in water. Never leave a child unattended near a pool, open toilet, or bathtub. Toddlers cannot learn how to swim and cannot be independent near any body of water.

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How Toddlers Learn Through Physical Activity

How Toddlers Learn Through Physical Activity

             Toddlers are hard at work learning important physical skills as they gain muscle control, balance, and coordination. Each new skill lets them progress to the next one, building on a foundation that leads to more complicated physical tasks, such as jumping rope, kicking a ball on the run, or turning a cartwheel.

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Toddlers always want to do more, which can motivate them to keep trying until they acquire a new skill, no
matter what it takes. Take advantage of your toddler's natural desire to keep moving. Even at this early age, kids establish patterns of activity that carry through the rest of childhood. So an active toddler is likely to remain active later.

Developing Skills:

            Playing and learning are completely natural for toddlers, so mastering physical skills should be fun and games for them. Parents should give toddlers many opportunities to practice their developing skills while providing supervision so they stay safe while they learn.

When toddlers try out activities they can't quite do yet, they can get frustrated and angry. Breath-holding, crying, screaming, and temper tantrums may be daily occurrences. It is important for a child to learn from experiences and to be able to rely on consistent boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable behaviors.

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How To Raise Your Child Right

How To Raise Your Child Right

            As you parent your children, be aware that you are their teacher. Stay focused on teaching them the many life lessons they need to learn. Think of your home as a classroom for teaching your children. This will remind you that a great deal of learning and training takes place right in your own household. Keep in mind that your main mission is to raise children who someday will be able to successfully run their own lives. This thought helps you promote independence and resilience in them. 

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 Praise your children when they behave the way you want them to behave. Remember, there’s a positive side to discipline, and that it involves a lot of training and molding.  Be sure to make each child in your family an “only child” at least once a week. Children need private, one-on-one time with their parents. The parent who takes time for this experience will be rewarded with fun and more cooperation from all her children. 

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Let your child know how his behavior impacts the rest of the family. Doing this makes a child appreciate how he has helped or hindered a sibling, his parents or even himself. This is one important way children learn to behave appropriately and become mindful of others’ needs. Be aware that your behavior sets the standard for your children. By observing their parents, children learn how a man behaves, how a woman behaves and how married couples treat each another. 

Structure your home with rules, consequences, routines, traditions and expectations. Discipline at home helps children develop self-discipline. 

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Why Active Kids Are Happier Adults

Active Kids Are Happier Adults

             As kids grow older, it can be disheartening to see the fun of your child's bike-riding and ball-kicking being replaced by video gaming, watching TV or spending time alone in their room. Developmentally, kids over the age of 10 have a stronger desire for solitary activities but that doesn't mean that parents can't try to spend time with their kids, encouraging them into physical activity.

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Physical activities foster a healthy body and mind and importantly strengthen the relationship parents have with their children as they enter the teenage years.

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Exercise really promotes the growth of new brain cells and these brain cells grow in the areas that are very important for depressive illness.

Your role in your child’s life is just as significant and important as when they were younger. As at any point of developmental change, a child will look to their parents. The people with whom they have the strongest bond for help, inspiration and role modelling.

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Physical Activity For Children And Youth

Physical Activity For Children And Youth

            For children and young people, physical activity includes play, games, sports, transportation, chores, recreation, physical education, or planned exercise, in the context of family, school, and community activities. From birth through age 5, kid's bodies are growing every day, in every way. Being physically active improves children's overall health. When they exercise, kids just feel good.

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Physical activity helps children:

1) Stay at a healthy weight

2) Reduce their risk of feeling stressed or depressed and developing obesity-related illnesses (type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and unhealthy cholesterol levels)  

3) Build their strength, flexibility, and endurance

4) Enhance their motor skills, social skills, and brain development

5) Develop and maintain strong bones

6) Sleep better

7) Feel confident about themselves and their bodies as they grow

More and more evidence shows that children who are active tend to have fewer behavioral and disciplinary problems, do better in school, and have longer attention spans in class.

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Children and youth should be physically active every day as part of a healthy lifestyle. This helps them to build strong bones and strengthen muscles, maintain flexibility, achieve a healthy weight, improve fitness, improve self-esteem, meet new friends and increase relaxation.

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If you can make physical activity enjoyable and if you can be physically active with your child, you will increase the chance that physical activity will become part of your child's everyday life. 

Here are some ways to make physical activity a part of your child's day:

1) Plan family activities like hiking, cycling, playing ball, skating, throwing a frisbee and dancing.

2) Provide your child with opportunities to learn skills such as running, jumping, throwing, catching and kicking.

3) Balance your child's day with physical activities that are fun, informal and unstructured.

4) Encourage a wide range of activities in addition to organized sports such as planting a garden, playing chase, tobogganing, etc.

5) Help your child find a healthy balance between watching TV, surfing the Internet, and being active.

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Being Active Makes You Smarter

Being Active Makes You Smarter 

            The human body is designed for action: hinging and rotating joints that support movement in every direction; strong, elastic ligaments and tendons that encourage play while keeping bones and muscles in their proper place; skeletal muscles that facilitate every movement from explosive jumping to flowing Tai Chi; cardiac muscle that tirelessly pumps nourishment to every cell in the body. 

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Active bodies are at lower risk for heart disease, obesity, various cancers, diabetes and hypertension; and active people generally have more stamina, lower resting heart rates, more muscle tone and less body fat.

Brain booster: Stepping away from your desk may seem unthinkable on a busy work day, but an active break is one of the best ways to recharge your mental batteries. Your decision-making, productivity, and quick thinking are heightened after just 30 minutes of aerobic activity.

Stress buster: Everyone handles stress differently but the results are generally the same: irritability and deterioration of your health. A brisk walk or run takes you away from your stressors physically and mentally, giving you time to re-evaluate. And regular activity can help condition your body to handle stress by improving your self-perception and trait anxiety (how you react to stress), reducing your blood pressure and regulating your heart rate.

Pain reliever: Chronic lower back pain can leave you bedridden and inactive. Yet inactivity may make the situation worse. For some, training the core muscles can help stabilize the back and reduce back pain by improving strength and flexibility. Improving your conditioning is not limited to your back. Talk to your physician to learn if an activity program could help reduce or eliminate some chronic pain.

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Bring Your Life Into Balance

Bring Your Life Into Balance

            We are learning everyday about the ways in which we can maintain a healthy emotional state of mind.  It is integral to everything we do in life. The intent to empower you with the knowledge and support needed to take charge of your life and make healthy choices. 

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Stress, mood swings and life's daily challenges can knock your life out of balance leaving you feeling anxious, depressed, angry, and worried. If emotions are interfering with your career or personal relationships, use this toolkit to take control of your life. By learning skills that change your response to stressful experience, you can boost your emotional health and emotional intelligence.

Daily life can seem like a never-ending ride, leaving you feeling frustrated, anxious, depressed, and unfulfilled. But it doesn't have to be this way; you can get off the emotional rollercoaster. You can bring your life into balance by learning more about:

1) Stress and how to avoid becoming overwhelmed.

2) Why your emotions matter to you and to others.

3) What you can do to harness the energy of your emotions and make them work for you.

4) How you can become calm, energized, focused and more aware of yourself and others.

Like anything worthwhile, achieving the balance emotional awareness delivers will take practice. But no matter how long you've felt stressed, overwhelmed, or out-of-sync with yourself, other people, or your life.

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Physical Activity Prolongs Your Optimal Health

Physical Activity Prolongs Your Optimal Health

            Without regular physical activity, the body slowly loses its strength, stamina and ability to function well. And for each hour of regular exercise you get, you'll gain about two hours of additional life expectancy, even if you don't start until middle age.

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 Moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, for as little as 30 minutes a day has the proven health benefits listed above as well as:

1) Improves blood circulation, which reduces the risk of heart disease

2) Keeps weight under control

3) Helps in the battle to quit smoking

4) Improves blood cholesterol levels

5) Prevents and manages high blood pressure

6) Prevents bone loss

7) Boosts energy level

8) Helps manage stress

9) Releases tension

10) Promotes enthusiasm and optimism

11) Counters anxiety and depression

12) Helps you fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly

13) Improves self-image

14) Increases muscle strength, increasing the ability to do other physical activities

15) Provides a way to share an activity with family and friends

16) Reduces coronary heart disease in women by 30-40 percent

17) Reduces risk of stroke by 20 percent in moderately active people and by 27 percent in highly active ones

18) Establishes good heart-healthy habits in children and counters the conditions (obesity, high blood pressure, poor cholesterol levels, poor lifestyle habits, etc.) that lead to heart attack and stroke later in life

19) Helps delay or prevent chronic illnesses and diseases associated with aging and maintains quality of life and independence longer for seniors

 Once you get over the inertia and find creative ways to fit physical activity into your life, you'll agree that the effort to get moving is worth it.

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Physical Activity Improves Quality Of Life

Physical Activity Improves Quality Of Life

            Physical activity needs to be a regular, permanent habit to produce benefits. Set yourself up to succeed right from the start by choosing activities that appeal to you, exercising safely, charting your progress to see your success, and making your activity routine fit your personal lifestyle. Here are a few ways to make physical activity a regular part of your daily life.

Make it a priority. Many of us lead busy lives, and it's easy to put physical activity at the bottom of the "to do" list. Though, being active is one of the most important things you can do each day to maintain and improve your health. Make a point to include physical activities throughout your day. 

Try being active first thing in the morning before you get busy. Think of your time to exercise as a special appointment, and mark it on your calendar.

Make it easy. If it's difficult or costs too much, you probably won't be active. You are more likely to exercise if it's easy to do. Put your 2-pound weights next to your easy chair so you can do some lifting while you watch TV. Walk up and down the soccer field during your grandchild’s game.

Walk the entire mall or every aisle of the grocery store when you go shopping. When you go out to get the mail, walk around the block. Join a gym or fitness center that's close to home. You can be active all at once, or break it up into smaller amounts throughout the day. Do more of the activities you already like and know how to do.

Make it social. Many people agree that having an "exercise buddy" keeps them going.  If you don't already have an exercise partner, find one by joining a walking club at your local mall or an exercise class at a nearby senior center. Take a walk during lunch with a co-worker.

Make it interesting and make it fun. Do things you enjoy and pick up the pace a bit. If you love the outdoors, try biking, fishing, jogging, or hiking. Listen to music or a book on CD while walking, gardening, or raking. Plan a hiking trip at a nearby park.

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Play, Creativity, And Lifelong Learning

Play, Creativity, And Lifelong Learning

        Play is simultaneously a source of relaxation and stimulation for the brain and body. A sure (and fun) way to develop your imagination, creativity, problem-solving abilities, and mental health is to play with your romantic partner, office-mates, children, grandchildren, and friends.

Play is often described as a time when we feel most alive, yet we often take it for granted and may completely forget about it. But play isn't a luxury - it's a necessity. Play is as important to our physical and mental health as getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising. Play teaches us how to manage and transform our "negative" emotions and experiences. It supercharges learning, helps us relieve stress, and connects us to others and the world around us. Play can also make work more productive and pleasurable.

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Despite the power of play, somewhere between childhood and adulthood, many of us stop playing. We exchange play for work and responsibilities. When we do have some leisure time, we're more likely to zone out in front of the TV or computer than to engage in creative, brain-stimulating play. By giving ourselves permission to play with the joyful abandon of childhood, we can continue to reap its benefits throughout life.

The lifelong benefits of play:

1) Play connects us to others

          Sharing joy, laughter, and fun with others promotes bonding and strengthens a sense of community. We develop empathy, compassion, trust, and the capacity for intimacy through regular play.

2) Play fosters creativity, flexibility, and learning

Play is a doorway to learning. Play stimulates our imaginations, helping us adapt and solve problems. Play arouses curiosity, which leads to discovery and creativity. The components of play - curiosity, discovery, novelty, risk-taking, trial and error, pretense, games, social etiquette, and other increasingly complex adaptive activities - are the same as the components of learning.

3) Play is an antidote to loneliness, isolation, anxiety, and depression

When we play vigorously, we trigger a mix of endorphins that lift our spirits and distractions that distance us from pain, fear, and other burdens. And when we play with other people, whether they’re friends or strangers, we are reminded that we are not alone in this world. We can connect to others in delightful and meaningful ways that banish loneliness.

4) Play teaches us perseverance

The rewards of learning or mastering a new game teach us that perseverance is worthwhile. Perseverance is a trait necessary to healthy adulthood, and it is learned largely through play. Perseverance and violence are rarely found together.

5) Play makes us happy

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  Beyond all these excellent reasons for playing, there is simply the sheer joy of it. Play is a state of being that is happy and joyous. Jumping into and out of the world of play on a daily basis can preserve and nourish our own hearts, and the hearts of our communities.

6) Play and relationships

Play is one of the most effective tools for keeping relationships fresh and exciting. Playing together for the fun of it brings joy, vitality, and resilience to relationships. Play can also heal resentments, disagreements, and hurts. Through regular play, we learn to trust one another and feel safe. Trust enables us to work together, open ourselves to intimacy, and try new things. By making a conscious effort to incorporate more humor and play into your daily interactions, you can improve the quality of your love relationships- as well as your connections with co-workers, family members, and friends.

7) Play helps us develop and improve our social skills

Social skills are learned in the give and take of play. Verbal communication and body language, safety and danger, freedom and boundaries, cooperation and teamwork: all are discovered and practiced repeatedly during infant and childhood play. We continue to refine these skills in adulthood through play and playful communication.

8) Play teaches us how to cooperate with others

Play is a powerful catalyst for positive socialization. Through play, children learn how to "play nicely" with others - to work together, follow mutually agreed upon rules, and socialize in groups. As adults, play continues to confer these benefits. Evidence even shows that play may be an antidote to violence. In fact, those who avoid or have never learned to play may become lost in the world of fear, rage, and obsessive worry.

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Deep-Breathing Exercises & Mental Performance

Deep-Breathing Exercises & Mental Performance

            Everyone has difficulty concentrating during times of physical or mental stress. Staying focused and relaxed when you experience mental fatigue or physical strain isn't always easy. 

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Specific deep-breathing exercises can provide a number of benefits for your mental and physical well-being and help improve your mental performance in a variety of settings.

Benefits:

            Although everyone is capable of deep, abdominal breathing, most people only take short, shallow breaths that stem from the chest and rib cage.

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Breathing in this manner can make you feel anxious and decrease your mental performance, because it prevents oxygenated air from reaching the lowest portion of your lungs. Learning the proper way to breathe through performing deep-breathing exercises may help to reduce stress, slow your heart rate, lower your blood pressure and help you feel more calm and focused.

Types:

            A variety of deep-breathing exercises can be used to promote health, improve mental performance and enhance feelings of well-being. Conscious abdominal breathing is one of the simplest deep breathing exercises to learn, as it only requires that you pay attention to breathing from your belly. Pranayama is a yogic breathing technique that focuses on breath control to increase mental focus and soothe feelings of fatigue.

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Improve Mental And Emotional Health By Taking Care Of Yourself

Improve Mental And Emotional Health By Taking Care Of Yourself

            In order to maintain and strengthen your mental and emotional health, it’s important to pay attention to your own needs and feelings. Don’t let stress and negative emotions build up. Try to maintain a balance between your daily responsibilities and the things you enjoy. If you take care of yourself, you’ll be better prepared to deal with challenges if and when they arise.

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Taking care of yourself includes pursuing activities that naturally release endorphin and contribute to feeling good. In addition to physical exercise, endorphin are also naturally released when we:

1) Do things that positively impact others. Being useful to others and being valued for what you do can help build self-esteem.

2) Practice self-discipline. Self-control naturally leads to a sense of hopefulness and can help you overcome despair, helplessness, and other negative thoughts.

3) Learn or discover new things. Think of it as “intellectual candy”. Try taking an adult education class, join a book club, visit a museum, learn a new language, or simply travel somewhere new.

4) Enjoy the beauty of nature or art. Studies show that simply walking through a garden can lower blood pressure and reduce stress. The same goes for strolling through a park or an art gallery, hiking, admiring architecture, or sitting on a beach.

5) Manage your stress levels. 

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Stress takes a heavy toll on mental and emotional health, so it’s important to keep it under control. While not all stressors can be avoided, stress management strategies can help you bring things back into balance.

6) Limit unhealthy mental habits like worrying. Try to avoid becoming absorbed by repetitive mental habits – negative thoughts about yourself and the world that suck up time, drain your energy, and trigger feelings of anxiety, fear, and depression.

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Mental & Emotional & Physical Health

Physical Health Is Connected To Mental And Emotional Health

            Taking care of your body is a powerful first step towards mental and emotional health. The mind and the body are linked. When you improve your physical health, you’ll automatically experience greater mental and emotional well-being. For example, exercise not only strengthens our heart and lungs, but also releases endorphin, powerful chemicals that energize us and lift our mood.

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The activities you engage in and the daily choices you make affect the way you feel physically and emotionally.

1) Get enough rest. To have good mental and emotional health, it’s important to take care of your body. That includes getting enough sleep. Most people need seven to eight hours of sleep each night in order to function optimally.

2) Learn about good nutrition and practice it. The subject of nutrition is complicated and not always easy to put into practice. But the more you learn about what you eat and how it affects your energy and mood, the better you can feel.

3) Exercise to relieve stress and lift your mood. Exercise is a powerful antidote to stress, anxiety, and depression. Look for small ways to add activity to your day, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator or going on a short walk. To get the most mental health benefits, aim for 30 minutes or more of exercise per day.

4) Get a dose of sunlight every day. Sunlight lifts your mood, so try to get at least 10 to 15 minutes of sun per day. This can be done while exercising, gardening, or socializing.

5) Limit alcohol and avoid cigarettes and other drugs. These are stimulants that may unnaturally make you feel good in the short term, but have long-term negative consequences for mood and emotional health.

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Emotional Well-Being And Mental Health

What Is Mental Health Or Emotional Health?

            Mental or emotional health refers to your overall psychological well-being. It includes the way you feel about yourself, the quality of your relationships, and your ability to manage your feelings and deal with difficulties.

             Emotional well-being and mental health concerns are major health issues in their own right. But they can also greatly affect physical health. Stress, depression, and anxiety can contribute to a host of physical ailments including digestive disorders, sleep disturbances, and lack of energy. The challenge can be two-pronged: treat the mental and emotional health issues while also caring for the related physical ailments.

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Good mental health isn't just the absence of mental health problems. Being mentally or emotionally healthy is much more than being free of depression, anxiety, or other psychological issues. Rather than the absence of mental illness, mental and emotional health refers to the presence of positive characteristics. Similarly, not feeling bad is not the same as feeling good. While some people may not have negative feelings, they still need to do things that make them feel positive in order to achieve mental and emotional health.

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Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

Emotional Intelligence: What Is Emotional  Intelligence?

             Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict. Emotional intelligence impacts many different aspects of your daily life, such as the way you behave and the way you interact with others.

Inspiring Leadership Through Emotional Intelligence

If you have high emotional intelligence you are able to recognize your own emotional state and the emotional states of others, and engage with people in a way that draws them to you. You can use this understanding of emotions to relate better to other people, form healthier relationships, achieve greater success at work, and lead a more fulfilling life.

Emotional Intelligence - Two Aspects

         This is the essential premise of EQ: to be successful requires the effective awareness, control and management of one's own emotions, and those of other people. EQ embraces two aspects of intelligence:

1) Understanding yourself, your goals, intentions, responses, behavior and all.

2) Understanding others, and their feelings.

Emotional Intelligence Consists Of Four Attributes:

1) Self-awareness – You recognize your own emotions and how they affect your thoughts and behavior, know your strengths and weaknesses, and have self-confidence.

2) Self-management – You’re able to control impulsive feelings and behaviors, manage your emotions in healthy ways, take initiative, follow through on commitments, and adapt to changing circumstances.

3) Social awareness – You can understand the emotions, needs, and concerns of other people, pick up on emotional cues, feel comfortable socially, and recognize the power dynamics in a group or organization.

4) Relationship management – You know how to develop and maintain good relationships, communicate clearly, inspire and influence others, work well in a team, and manage conflict.

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Emotional Health

Emotional Health: What Is Good In Emotional Health?

          Emotional health is defined by the degree to which you feel emotionally secure and relaxed in everyday life. An emotionally healthy person has a relaxed body, an open mind and an open heart. Looking after your emotional health is just as important as caring for your physical health. People who are emotionally healthy are in control of their emotions and behavior. They're able to handle life's inevitable challenges, build strong relationships, and lead productive, fulfilling lives.

Your Emotional Health Impacts Your Relationship

The more emotional health you have, the more self esteem you have. This means you do not frequently react with knee jerk responses, anxiety or panic to the events that occur in your life. Instead, you are usually calm and patient with yourself and others. You are an emotionally safe person to be around because you feel emotionally secure. Emotionally safe people do not judge or criticize others. This is because they have learned not to judge and criticize themselves. Emotionally healthy people feel safe and secure with their own emotions and feelings.  They feel their feelings and emotions instead of avoiding them or trying to control them. 

To be emotionally healthy you must express your emotions in healthy, assertive ways. If you inhibit your emotions and feelings you cannot achieve emotional health.

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Benefits Of Mountain Biking

Health And Fitness Benefits Of Mountain Biking

            Mountain biking is a great way to get fit and healthy whilst having a fun and sociable time with other bike riders. Cycling has numerous health benefits, including building up your cardiovascular system and leg muscles, and is also perfect for those returning from injury as it is a non-load-bearing sport.

Sport mountain biking happy couple riding uphill in sunny countryside

Mountain biking makes for an ideal family activity, with child seats and trailers enabling you to bring your family with you at virtually any age. It's great for couples too, and is something you can do together.

Mountain Biking Builds Leg Strength:

Mountain Biking Builds Leg Strength

            Using a bike can help tone your quad, calf and glut (buttock) muscles as well as strengthen your tendons, without any load bearing. Even better is to combine it with a weights programme in the gym. Just ask any of the instructors in your gym for a programme to combine weights and the bike.

Mountain Biking Optimises Fat Burning:

Mountain Biking  optimises fat burning

            Fat burning takes place when your heart rate is at around 65 to 75 per cent of your maximum. You can measure your heart rate manually or by using a monitor, which can be linked up to a stationary bike in the gym. Many gym bikes also have digital displays that tell you your heart rate if you place your hands on the sensors. By measuring your heart rate correctly you can then use the bike to help you burn fat and so lose weight. It's particularly easy to keep at the correct level on a stationary bike and achieve the 20 minutes needed to see some real benefit.

Mountain biking Is A Great Way To Work The Cardiovascular System:

            Your heart and lungs make up your cardiovascular system and the fitter you become, the more efficiently they work. This means a better flow of blood through your body and a corresponding increase in the speed with which the oxygen is pumped through your system. Your fitness level depends on how well this process is carried out. It is made more effective by using equipment such as the bike, that works the heart and lungs slowly and to a pre-determined level. By increasing your training on the bike over time, there is an associated improvement in the performance of your cardiovascular system and therefore your fitness level.

Mountain Biking Is Non-Load-Bearing So Reduces Risk Of Injury:

            Another advantage of cycling is that it is a non-load bearing form of exercise. By that we mean that your whole body is not being supported during your training as it is when you run for example. The very action of sitting means that a degree of pressure is being taken off your joints, meaning there is a reduced chance of injury. Many people who are returning to training after an injury use the bike as a way of regaining fitness as they can gradually increase fitness levels without putting pressure on a potentially suspect joint or tendon.

Mountain biking Is The Ideal Holiday Activity:

          Take your bikes with you on holiday or hire one and you will cover far more ground than you would on foot! Many families now choose cycling breaks as a great way to get to know an area and have fun together.

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Mountain Bike Pedalling Technique

Getting Active On Two Wheels Is Easier Than you think

Cycling is a great activity for all ages to get outside and get active. It doesn't require a lot of skill and it improves your strength, cardiovascular fitness and coordination while decreasing your stress. There's no need to get all sweaty; a leisurely ride is enough to increase your heart rate. Best of all, cycling allows you to travel to a destination while being active at the same time.

 Even A Leisurely Ride Brings Fitness Benefits

           Using mountain bike training for fitness is a really good, not only because you will end up getting a fabulous workout, but also because you will enjoy yourself and have a lot of fun. Over the more recent years in particular, mountain biking has truly become an incredibly popular sport, and so if you have not tried it yourself before, you are definitely going to want to make sure that you give it a try.

Training: Mountain Bike Pedaling Technique

            When you're riding your mountain bike you can’t really honk it in a big gear to get going faster. You need to stick to relatively easy gears so that you're always in a sensible gear to take on any obstacles that could be lurking just round the trail. This way you can keep a good momentum and take less energy out of your legs. Stopping and starting all the time in a hard gear will soon take its toll. So, try doing the following exercises to make you pedal faster using the same gears.

Smooth Not Stomping:

            When you’re next out riding focus on where the power is in the pedal stroke. If you're fairly new to the sport, you're probably stomping hard on the down stroke. Imagine that each pedal stroke is a full circle and try to push and pull the pedal round as if you're keeping the pedal to the outside of the circle. Pedal in circles for two minutes at a time to start and build it up to 10 minutes, by which time you'll be getting far more efficient and be going faster without needing extra power.

Lift Your Knees:

            On another ride focus on lifting your knees faster and higher. This will eventually make you more efficient on the ‘up’ of the pedal stroke. Soon you'll be getting speed from an all-round pedal stroke not just on the down phase. Try doing it mid-ride for two minutes at a time and then build up to 10 minutes.

Up The Revs:

            On another ride lasting over an hour do 20-minute blocks of pedal speed where you take your crank revolutions per minute up to over 100. Stay seated as you’re doing this. You may find to start with you feel like a clown and slightly out of control in the pedal stroke. But after doing this a few times you'll feel you're in control, with far more speed.

One-Legged Squats:

            It’s important to have equal power in both legs so doing one-legged squats will give both legs the chance to get stronger and you'll be able to notice any weaknesses. Try doing three sets of 10 reps on each leg keeping your abdominals tight to maintain good balance.

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Mountain Biking

Mountain Bike Riding

            Mountain biking is the sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.

Riding Is A Great Way To Experience Parks And Forests

Mountain biking can be performed almost anywhere from a back yard to a gravel road, but the majority of mountain bikers ride off-road trails, whether country back roads, fire roads, or singletrack (narrow trails that wind through forests, mountains, deserts, or fields).

Biking in Parks:

             Cycling and mountain biking are among the most popular fitness activities. Scenic destinations and slow speed limits make parks a great choice for a family biking trip. 

Family With Son And Daughter  Riding Bikes In Park

 No matter your choice, remember to always ride in control, bring a map with you, plenty of water, extra snacks, and bike repair equipment. Consider wearing reflective clothing and lights to help motorists see you, and always wear your helmet.

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Beneficial For Mental illness

Beneficial For Mental illness

            Mental illnesses may be caused by life events, genetic factors or birth defects. They can be temporary or lifelong and include mood, anxiety, personality, psychotic and compulsive disorders. Help is available to prevent or manage mental health problems.

Stress Makes You Feel Bad

Although mental health problems are very common. Stigma and discrimination towards people with mental health problems is still very common and there are a lot of myths about what different diagnoses mean.

There is also a lot of controversy about the way mental health problems are diagnosed, what causes them, and which treatments are most effective. However, despite these challenges, it is possible to recover from a mental health problem and live a productive and fulfilling life. It is important to remember that having a mental health problem is not a sign of weakness.

Mental illness can be treated. When someone first starts to develop symptoms of mental illness, it is important to contact a doctor or a community mental health service for help.

Un-Control  Thinking

            The correct treatment can help a person's condition to improve or, in some cases, allow them to recover completely. Treatment in the community, rather than in a hospital, is considered better for a person's mental health. Psychological treatments are often the most helpful for people affected by anxiety disorders or depression, while medications are mainly helpful for people more severely affected by mental illness.

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Swimming For Fitness

Swimming For Fitness 

            Swimming is one of the most popular sport. Our world is surrounded by water and swimming is one of our great passions. As well as being fun, swimming is a great way to keep fit, stay healthy and make friends. Swimming is a healthy activity that you can continue for a lifetime. When summer's heat peaks, swimming is a great way to stay cool while being active. Swimming provides an excellent cardie workout and challenges your muscles with the water's resistance. Some strokes will also get you stretching, which increases your flexibility. And swimming works all your major muscle groups, making it a whole body workout that can burn a lot of calories. Even better, swimming is an activity for all ages and ability levels. It is a low-impact activity that has many physical and mental health benefits.

A Swimmer Can Safe A Life

Swimming for recreation:

            Swimming is a great recreational activity for people of all ages. Recreational swimming can provide you with a low-impact workout and it’s also a good way to relax and feel good. 

No Age For  Swimming 

Common swimming styles in recreational swimming are breaststroke, backstroke, side stroke and freestyle.

Competitive swimming:

            Some people who enjoy swimming want to take it to a competitive level. This can provide the health benefits of a vigorous workout as well as the fun and thrill of competition. 

You May Win Or Loss

The main strokes used in competitive swimming are breaststroke, freestyle, backstroke and butterfly. The distances swum in competition swimming can vary from 50 metres in a pool to much further distances in open water.

Health benefits:

            Swimming is a great workout because you need to move your whole body against the resistance of the water. Swimming is a good all-round activity because it:

1) Keeps your heart rate up but takes some of the impact stress off your body

2) Builds endurance, muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness

3) Helps maintain a healthy weight, healthy heart and lungs

4) Tones muscles and builds strength

5) Provides an all-over body workout, as nearly all of your muscles are used during swimming.

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