5 Exercises to Stregthen Legs and Avoid Injury

Last January, my wife tore her ACL skiing. She had surgery a few months ago and received new parts, but the road to recovery is long and arduous. Twice a week she goes to physical therapy, which she thinks of as the town social center; apparently half of our little community lost a fight with a mogul last winter. She describes physical therapy as having insurance pay for a doctor to be her personal trainer. That's pretty good perk if you can get it, which is why Anthem will only cover 24 visits for her. Still, she is receiving excellent rehab and her legs are stronger than ever.

The workouts that her therapist gives her are designed to strengthen the muscles that support the knee to take the stress off her new ligament. She works her quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves. My wife's surgeon, Dr. Gloria Beim, chief medical officer to the US Winter Olympic Team at Sochi among various other distinctions,  has written a book about preventing and treating injuries in women athletes, and part of her message is that women have vulnerable knees. Women, especially, need to strengthen all of their leg muscles to avoid injury.

With summer coming, and with it lots of hiking and bike riding ahead (which my wife isn't allowed to do this year), I thought I'd share the top five exercises her doctor has prescribed for getting legs in shape and preventing injury in the future:

1. Straight leg raises - gets the quads firing again in order to work up to more strenuous exercise. Here is a link to how to do them. There are lots of variations.

2. Clams - Clams strengthen the quads, hamstrings and glutes. Here is a link to how to do them. Again, there are lots of variations, and it is easy to add more reps.

3. Squats - Works your glutes, hamstrings and quads. Here is a link showing proper form. They can be a bear to do at first, but it is easy to add a few more each day. This is a great exercise to do during TV commercials or when you take a five minute break from work.

4. Lunges - Works your entire lower body. Click here for a video showing proper form. This exercise is very scalable, and can be quite a workout. Start with a few, work up to many. You can add weight for upper body and to make it harder once you master the basic technique.

5. Calf raises - These can be done seated or standing to work various parts of the calf. Make sure to stretch afterword so you can walk later. Seated calf raises can be done sitting right at your desk.

To your health,
Ryan

Free eBooks, and more free eBooks

I need to apologize to everyone who downloaded my book, Magnesium Deficiency, for free last weekend. A link on the inside to the special gift, an eBook called 25 Easy Habits to Live Longer Healthier and Happier wasn't working. Before the Magnesium book release, I had gone in and fancied things up a bit, and apparently I was just a wee bit too clever. Fortunately, my wife has actually seen a computer before, and has since sorted things out. If you would still like to download the free gift, just click here.

And speaking of free books, my latest book, 10,000 Steps will be free on Kindle this week from May 5th through May 9th. Get your free copy starting Tuesday.

To your health!

Ryan

Charity Miles App Lets you Donate to Charity Just By Walking, Running, or Riding a Bike

Today I was looking at all the fitness apps available for my smartphone, and I ran across one that I heard about some time ago, but to my great shame, I never checked out. Charity Miles is an app that lets you earn money for charity every time you work out.

If you've ever raised money for a cause you believe in, you know how fulfilling it can be. You also know how exhausting it is, and that there are only so many times you can go back to the same friends and family members with your hand out before it gets awkward. Enter Charity Miles.

Download Charity Miles to your iOS or Android device. Then when you are ready to go for a walk, run, or bike ride, you fire it up. You pick which charity you want your donations to go to (it can be different each time), tell the app whether you are bike riding, running or walking, and hit start. They track your miles, and donate 0.10 for each mile on the bike, and 0.25 for each mile on foot. You only need to go .1 miles for the workout to count. Indoor walking and running count, but stationary bikes do not.

When you are done, you are strongly encouraged to share your workout on social media, but if you are a keep yourself to yourself kind of person, it is not strictly required. You also have the option of sharing a photo from your workout for an extra dollar.


The charities you can donate to on the app as of today are:
Wounded Warrior Project
Stand Up To Cancer
Every Mother Counts
Alzheimer's Association
Feeding America
World Wildlife Fund
The Michael J. Fox Foundation
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
ASPCA
Habitat for Humanity
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Autism Speaks
Team Red, White & Blue
Girls on the Run
DoSomething.org
The Nature Conservancy
Pencils of Promise
Special Olympics
The World Food Programme
Girl Up
(RED)
Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America
Team for Kids
She's the First
Soles4Souls
Nothing But Nets
Back on My Feet
Shot@Life
The Partnership for a Healthier America
Achilles International
The Ironman Foundation
Vision Spring

Does the Paleo Diet Foster a Vitamin D Deficiency?

The Paleo Diet has gained a huge and devoted following in recent years. The Paleo Diet is focused on eating the right foods, namely lean meats, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. It eliminates foods that are not in their original form, and that were not ingested during the Paleolithic period. The theory behind it is that over 10,000 years ago, our diet did not contain any processed or junk foods. Proponents believe that our bodies have not yet adapted to the changes in diet that have occurred since the Industrial Revolution, and we don’t deal well with food that has been processed, or with grains or sugars.

The reason the diet is so popular is because many people have found they could change the way they eat, but still enjoy food, and lose weight at the same time.

One disadvantage to the Paleo Diet, though, is the lack of Vitamin D.

There is an imbalance of minerals and vitamins in this diet, where some are present in excess, and some are not present at all, or are there in very low quantities. For example, the diet is able to provide a range of B vitamins due to the consumption of leafy vegetables, meat, and fish. Calcium may be lacking in this diet because many people get their calcium from dairy products or fortified cereals. And it is hard on this diet to get enough Vitamin D. The foods that contain artificially fortified Vitamin D are often processed grains, cereals, and milk, which are not Paleo approved.

Paleolithic man got plenty of Vitamin D because he spent a significant amount of time in the sun when hunting and gathering, and the human body can create Vitamin D following direct exposure to the sun. Things are different for people today. Modern lifestyles revolve around spending time in buildings or transportation vehicles, meaning that people will spend little or no time at all in the sun on a daily basis. Not spending time in the sun, and not consuming foods that are fortified with Vitamin D means that an individual on the Paleo Diet is likely to have a deficiency of this Vitamin.

People who follow Paleo and primal diets are encouraged to talk with their doctors about whether adding a Vitamin D supplement would benefit their overall health.

Are you drinking enough water?

The following is an excerpt from my book 25 Easy Habits to Live Longer, Healthier, and Happier:

Drink enough water

Water is life. Almost 80% of your body mass is comprised of water. A guideline for how much water you need to drink each day is .5 ounces per each pound of body weight. If you are active, increase that to .75 ounces.

What are the key function of water in the body?

·                Blood fluidity and circulation

·                Food digestion

·                Food absorption into your bloodstream

·                Chemical processes that lead to secretion of hormones that balance the various metabolic activities in your body

·                Toxin removal

·                Improved mobility

·                Elasticity of your skin and muscles

Are there water substitutes?

The short answer is no. Nothing counts as water but water. Often people hydrate with other beverages and call it “good enough”. Some of these drinks include:

·                Sodas

·                Coffee

·                Tea

·                Fruit juice

Soda dehydrates and pollutes the system. Sodas contain chemicals and sugar concentrates. These chemicals and sugar concentrates need water to break them down into manageable substances in the body. Many of these chemicals are toxins and must be removed from the blood stream, requiring even more water to dilute and remove them and finally cleanse the body. The sugars are highly concentrated. Scientific studies have found out that concentrated sugar in sodas is over 10 times more than that which you put into a single cup. It is estimated that when you take 300ml of soda, you would need about 3 to 4 liters of water just to cleanse its toxins from your body.  The net result is that your body becomes more dehydrated, cells become more aged and you become more fatigued and weakened.

Coffee and tea are better for hydration, but still not water. Recently, experts have flip-flopped over whether the caffeine in coffee is a diuretic, and the current prevailing wisdom is that it isn’t the big deal it was once thought to be. Black tea has less caffeine than coffee, green tea has less than black tea, and herbal tea has no caffeine at all, so tea isn’t a bad choice for hydration. When we start adding sugar to our coffee and tea, though, it requires more water to be broken down into manageable elements, such as glucose, and the beneficial effects are reduced.

Fruit juice is another drink that is often substituted for water.
Most fruit juices are comprised of over 95% water. However, some fruit juices, once extracted, have as high of a concentration of fructose (fruit sugar) as the sugar concentration in sodas. These sugars need more water to be broken down into manageable sugar compounds within the body. The best way to take fruit is to eat it raw. Pulp and fiber within the fruit helps to regulate sugar breakdown and release it into the body.

Easy ways to drink more water:

·                Take a glass in the morning, immediately when you wake up – this helps diffuse excessive overnight build-up of acid. It also helps to relax your nerves and make you more awake and alert. Adding some lemon to it makes it even better as the lemon helps in the cleansing process and fights unnecessary bacteria.

·                Drink water with each meal. It helps to improve digestion and absorption.

·                Keep a big glass on your desk and a jug of cold water in the fridge to fill it frequently. You’ll find you eat less when your belly is always full.

·                Take plenty of water when exercising or doing manual labor. This helps to replenish lost water due to sweat and also helps in perspiration which is essential in releasing waste matter from your body.

What are the benefits of drinking water?

·                Water slows down your ageing process. Water is essential for your cells’ vitality and regeneration. Your skin becomes the greatest culprit of dehydration due to its large surface area and exposure to agents of weather such as sun, heat and wind. When your skin gets moisturized it becomes elastic and vibrant. If it gets dehydrated, it becomes inelastic (showing wrinkles), aged, broken, pale, easily wounded and in extreme cases infected.

·                Water is important to your weight management.  Water (especially warm water) is important in the breakdown of lipids in your intestines. Without adequate water, most fats from food are absorbed into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, these fats are stored in various parts of your body as cellulite deposits thus adding extra pounds. You need water not just to digest fat and eject it from your intestines, but also to burn fat in your body.

How can you make your water taste more appealing?

Many people struggle even to take a glass of water in a week! If you are one of them, you need to make your water taste more appealing so that you can boost your consumption of it. How?

·                Squeeze a bit of lemon or orange juice into it.

·                Add fruit slices. The best slices are lemon slices because of lemon’s antimicrobial properties. Cucumber, orange, and strawberry slices also work well.

·                Add fruit chops. Freeze pineapple or watermelon cubes and use them as ice.

·                Add herbs. Common herbs you can add include fresh grated ginger, fresh rosemary leaves and fresh mint. 

The Vitamin D Cure

I'm really excited that my new book, The Vitamin D Cure: 8 Surprising Ways Curing Your Undiagnosed Vitamin D Deficiency Can Revitalize Your Health, Prevent Cancer and Heart Disease, and Help You Lose Weight, is finished and should be available on Amazon, FREE for a limited time, in just a few short weeks.

I began researching this book after a doctor advised me to begin taking supplements, and do you know what I found? As many as 75%  of people on the United States need more D. And by spending just 15 minutes a day in the right kind of sun, or taking the right supplement, you can not only decrease your risks of a host of serious diseases, but also lose weight and have more energy!

The idea of sunlight as a cure isn't new. It was something that all of the ancients practiced for optimal health. Somewhere along the way, as we became industrialized and started spending more time indoors, we forgot about the natural health benefits of sunshine. And as we became a more sophisticated and polluting people, spending time in the sun became more dangerous. Our skin burns easier, we get skin cancer more readily than our ancestors. When we do go outside we wear sunscreen, which blocks the suns harmful rays, but it also blocks the good ones too.

In my new book, I share with you all of my research. I tell you how much Vitamin D you need everyday, and how you should be getting it. I show you why your body needs it, and how your system uses it. I discuss diseases that have nearly been eradicated since western countries began fortifying milk with Vitamin D, and other conditions we are just beginning to connect with the "miracle vitamin".

It is not on the shelves just yet, but from now until April 10th, I'm happy to send you an advanced reading copy at no charge. Send an email to brightideaseditoria@gmail.com and my publishers will send it to you electronically. All I ask in return is that if you like it, you leave an Amazon review so we can spread the word and help others take charge of their health, and participate in The Vitamin D Cure!

To your good health,
Ryan