Guest blogger, Cynthia Bailey M.D., is a practicing dermatologist and skin care expert in Northern California. Her skin care products and advice can be found at Only the Best Skin Care. Follow her on Twitter @cbaileymd and become a fan of Only The Best Skincare on Facebook.
Most of the time exercise is great for your skin giving your complexion a healthy vitality and usually improving acne. For some people, however, exercise causes breakouts.
This exercise acne is different from other forms of acne because it’s caused by the overgrowth of a yeast germ called pityrosporum that normally doesn’t cause pimples. This yeast germ lives in everyone’s skin, but for some people, sweating makes it grow in the pores causing pimples. The harder you workout, the more you sweat and the more you breakout.
The stability or fitness ball is one of my favorite pieces of equipment in the gym. I use it on a normal basis during training sessions as well as in my own personal workouts. The stability ball offers a plethora of modifications and progressions to almost every exercise in the book. A dumbbell bench press can become a dumbbell ball press and a standard crunch can become a muscle burning ball crunch.
The stability ball not only can be used as a chair while you spend countless hours in front of the computer or television, but a great exercise tool during pregnancy. The stability ball helps pregnant women maintain balance and stability as well as a strong core. A strong core is vital during the pushing phase of labor. The shape and give of the ball molds to the shape of your back/body thus relieving any pressure or tension created during other normal movements. Therefore, this allows pregnant women the opportunity to exercise longer throughout the pregnancy (which will help prepare your muscles and body for labor and post-delivery).
Kettlebells are all the buzz in the fitness world right now. Kettlebells have been around for centuries, but have become popular among athletes and fitness enthusiasts in recent years.
They are mainly used for ballistic or swinging movements or used in press and pull movements similar to those associated with normal weight training. Kettlebell exercises engage the entire body, thus making each movement maximize core stabilization and total-body muscle recruitment. In other words, kettlebells are a great total body workout that improve muscle tone and reduce body fat.
I understand that the majority of the female population is intimidated by weight training, but kettlebells are a great way to reach your fitness goals and have a blast doing so. I recommend integrating a kettlebell exercise routine or two into your weekly workout regimen. The benefits are completely worth it.
Swimming is one of the best non-weight bearing activities out there and I totally recommend implementing a swim routine into your workout. It’s a great way to burn an enormous amount of calories all while having a blast in the water. Non-weight bearing refers to no weight or pressure being forced onto the joints, thus great for those with injuries, arthritis, or pain.
Although indoor pools are somewhat hard to come by, they are definitely worth the small cost to use. You may find indoor pools at your local health or fitness club, university, YMCA, or hotel. Before starting your swimming workouts, here are a few things you should know:
A sample FitDeck card
If you’re someone who approaches their fitness routine with a gambler’s need for flair and spontaneity, then read on.
FitDeck is a series of exercise playing cards that come in 24 different decks, all with their own focus. Workouts include FitDeck Bodyweight, FitDeck Navy Seal, FitDeck Senior, FitDeck Junior, FitDeck Yoga, FitDeck Pilates, FitDeck Stretch, FitDeck Prenatal, FitDeck Postnatal and so much more. And best of all, each FitDeck features ‘no-equipment’ exercises that require only your body weight to perform.
1 Comments
