The shoulder (deltoid) is an important part of the body. It allows the body to lift the arms and control arm movement. It is made up of three parts:

- The anterior (front) deltoid serves to raise the arm upward in front of the body
- The medial (middle) deltoid raises the arm upward to the side
- The posterior (back) deltoid raises the arm upward behind the body.

Here are the top 5 shoulder exercises:

Shoulder Press

reciprocal cable shoulder press on stability ball with neutral grip and 1 leg up
(Click on image to view this exercise…)

Front Raise

alternating cable front raise
(Click on image to view this exercise…)

Lateral Raise

dumbbell shoulder side raise with neutral grip
(Click on image to view this exercise…)

Rear Deltoid

reverse dumbbell fly
(Click on image to view this exercise…)

Rotator Cuff

shoulder external rotation with tubing
(Click on image to view this exercise…)

For many of us, it’s the land of beer, strudels and schnitzel (usually breaded and fried veal). Maybe the rich food and Oktoberfests are catching up with Germans.

Germany is looking to reverse the country’s obesity problems with a massive government initiative. The program will cost almost 50 million and includes:

- Education on healthy eating and sports
- Tougher standards for school lunches
- Voluntary measures for the sweets industry to stop targeting children under 12 with advertising
- Clothing companies to stop using “anorexic” models
- Computer game manufacturers are being encouraged to develop products that make players move about

There’s political opposition from people who believe it will just create a bureaucratic mess.

It looks like the reviewer became the reviewee this week. Startup Meme is a blog that follows sites on the move, and apparently found DietsInReview.com to be worth sharing with its readers. Here, you can read their review of Diets In Review.

Are you finding it difficult to get out of bed in the morning for your daily walk and making up excuses to skip the gym on the way home? Even the most dedicated exercisers occasionally get bored with their routine. In order to beat this common boredom, you have to keep your workouts fresh and fun. Here are a few new ideas for you.

1. Get a partner: working out alone gets rather boring and a partner will push you to your limits

2. Set a goal: either it be a marathon or a 5k, just strive for something to keep you motivated

3. Add variety: Run one week, bike around the lake/neighborhood the next: just switch it up

4. Take a break: take a week off and enjoy yourself then hit it hard next week

5. New toys: try using a heart rate monitor and try to keep your heart rate in or above your target heart rate zone. 220 – age = max heart and 60-80% of that number is your target heart zone. If you are 25: 220-25 is 195 (max HR), take 60-80% of that and your target heart rate zone is 117-156.

6. Get new shoes or new work out attire

7. Switch gyms: try a new facility and see how motivated you are: it works

8. Monitor your progress: keep track of your work outs and keep challenging yourself

9. Sign up for an event to train for

10. Switch up the diet: set a cheat day after a solid week of diet and exercise

We’re pleased to have with us again Monica Shaw, a freelance writer who specializes in science, health, fitness and food. She is the primary author of the website and blog, SmarterFitter.com.

In my last post I discussed some of the staples of the vegetarian diet. Today I delve deeper into the bowl of oatmeal and get into the specifics of breakfast, the most important meal of the day! It’s true, and I’m not the only one who thinks so.

Maximillian Bircher-Benner was a Swiss doctor who used natural (and mostly raw) food to treat patients at his sanitarium in Zurich. Bircher believed that a healthy life depended on one’s harmony with nature. He also believed in breakfast.

In 1900, Bircher invented the now famous “muesli cereal”. His original recipe is vastly different from the sugar-coated, toasted muesli we typically find in the grocery store today. Instead, Bircher combined soaked oats, fruit and nuts with grated apple and lemon juice to create a naturally sweet breakfast cereal designed to energize and heal the body.

The following recipe is my daily go-to breakfast, but feel free to experiment with different combinations of fruit and nuts. Bircher Muesli is stunning with natural yogurt and honey, but it’s also good plain or topped with fresh fruit. It’s also great on the road. Whether you’re traveling to work from the gym or a to a campsite in the backwoods, a big bowl of muesli packs well into a waterproof container and requires no heating or cooking.

Bircher Muesli Recipe
Serves 2

Ingredients:

85 grams jumbo oats
5 grams flax seeds
10 grams sliced almonds
2 apricots, chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 apple, grated
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Soak the oats, flax seeds, almonds and apricots in just enough water to cover for 12 hours.
Blend the soaked stuff with everything else (or mix in the grated apple by hand for a chunkier texture).
Serve with toppings such as fresh fruit, kefir, nut milk or raw honey.

You can find more of Monica’s vegetarian recipes at SmarterFitter.com.