Glamour Aerobics

Aerobic exercise is one of the best exercise to do as it is a safe and a complete workout as well as a fun sport to do. Doing aerobics regularly can improve one’s heart rate, body condition and state of mind. Aerobics helps relax the tense muscles and a regular aerobics activity can make you feel happier.

The term “aerobics” literally means with oxygen. It implies that the body is using oxygen supplied for low and moderate intensity physical activities that are constant such as biking, jogging, etc. The body’s aerobic system works like an old water pump which need to be started a number of times before we get the desired result. Similarly, aerobic exercise plays the same role in the human body by pumping out deeply accumulated fat from inside the body.

Aerobics is an excellent way for a person to achieve physical fitness. A person performing aerobics has increased heart rate and increased metabolism rate. Increased metabolism rate speeds up sweating and eventually accelerates the fat burning process thereby resulting in the weight loss.

Carrying out aerobics has become the most happening workout trend among the both the youth as well as the aged. In this fast paced work, aerobics is just the right actions. A few moments of continuous aerobic workout leads to various health benefits. Aerobics involves using large muscle groups for a repetitively for a sustained amount of time. One of the plus points of aerobics is that it can be enjoyed even with the extended period of time. The most common types of aerobics include aerobic dance, bicycling, fitness walking and running, stair climbing and swimming. Dancing and continuous sports activity like running can improve circulation and overall cardiovascular health.

The benefits of aerobics include:

• It strengthens the body including the weight bearing bones and the cardiovascular muscles.

• It helps in losing the body weight and in toning up the body muscles.

• It is very easy and widely enjoyed form of physical exercise and can be enjoyed by people of all age groups. However, it is not recommended for very small children pregnant women. And elder people should perform it for a short duration.

• It increases blood circulation and lowers blood glucose and blood sugar levels.

• It increases oxygen supply to heart, lungs and blood vessels and thereby, results in the smooth functioning of the body.

• Aerobic workout is a great stress buster and acts as an effective remedy for depression, anxiety and tension. It helps to a great extent in the rejuvenation of the mind.

• It also boosts up the body immune system.

However, following precautions should be followed before and after the aerobics for getting the maximum benefits:

• Warm-up exercises should be performed at least 10-15 minutes before commencing the aerobics.

• Always wear perfect fitting clothes while doing aerobics. This is because loose clothes may restrict the free movements of the arms and legs.

• Bring in the necessary variations in the steps and make them personalized according to your body needs and requirements.

• Always cool down after performing the exercise. Stretching exercise should be done for 10 minutes after performing the workouts.

• Drink water (though not ice cold) few minutes after the workouts.

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How healthy you will be in your 40s depends on what you eat and how you live in your 20s. Our expert charts out a survival strategy for a fitter future

When you are diagnosed with a health disorder in your 40s, there's little that you can do to completely reverse the damage. A wiser option is to start walking the correct lifestyle course much early on and reduce the chances of disorders altogether. Fitness expert and trainer Dilip Heble gives pointers to healthier 20-something habits that will lead to a better 40-something life.

Exercise Make sure you get three to six hours of exercise every week. You can go for a jog, engage yourself in a sport or best, hit the gym.

Benefit

Exercise makes you agile, muscular and boosts your stamina. Most importantly, it reduces your stress levels — a factor that is deemed the root cause for most problems in the 40s. Reduction in the stress levels also helps increase productivity and enables you to deal with environmental pressures. Also, it leads to a lower resting heart rate, which brings down the risk of cardiac disorders.

Supplement yourself

Considering the quality of food available today, it is vital you take multi-vitamin and multi-mineral supplements. You might stock up generously on carbohydrates and proteins, but minus the essential vitamins, you will be far from healthy.

Benefit

These vitamins and minerals important for various functions of the body. For instance, three B vitamins (namely folic acid, B6, and B12) are known to reduce the homocysteine levels in the body, thereby also reducing the risk of dementia.

Read

In this day and age of social networking, most youngsters have forgotten to exercise their brains. Indulge in an activity that challenges your grey matter. Engage in analytical tasks as much as possible.

Switch off

Yes, you must work hard and party harder. But the problem begins when you stick to this mantra every night and end up compromising on your sleep. You may be able to pull this off without much problem in your 20s, but the inadvertent damage will trouble you in your 40s. The body's repair happens during sleep.

Bone supremacy

Bone length might be established by the time you are 20. However, bone density and strength can be built all the way until you are 30. Studies have suggested that young men and women ought to build up a 'bone bank' during this stage which will help avoid osteoporosis later in life.

Follow a routine

A study established that women who were most active between the ages of 18 to 22 stuck to their regimen even during the middle-age and after that. The article published in the journal Medicine & Science said that early intervention was important to bring down the risk of coronary heart disease later.

Shred of hope

A series of 10 studies conducted in the US and Europe tracked the effect of fibre consumption on people. It was found that for each 10 grams of fibre consumed per day, the subjects experienced a 14 per cent reduction in instances of heart disease. Moreover, the risk of dying from a heart disease was brought down by almost 25 per cent.

Stroke

Symptoms

Many symptoms can be observed during and after stroke. The symptoms depend on the Area of brain affected, Type of stroke, and it’s Severity.

The stroke effects may develop suddenly, slowly without warning and get worse.

Non physical effects

• Mood, Behavior and Emotional changes.

• Cognitive abnormalities – Abnormal behavior, Confusion, Loss of memory etc.

• Sudden headache, while sleeping, lying, turning positions.

• Perception problems - Trouble while speaking, Trouble in understanding others while speaking.

• Vision problems – Decreased vision, Double vision, Total loss of vision.

• Behavioral changes – Changes in alertness (Sleepiness, Unconsciousness and coma)

Physical effects

• Decreased mobility.

• Weakness/Paralysis of muscles (especially one side of the body).

• Numbness/Tingling sensation.

• Sensation changes in Touch, Pressure, Temperature and other stimuli.

• Difficulty in swallowing

• Easy fatigue

• Pain in the muscles and joints.

• Balance and co-ordination disorders.

• Difficulty while walking.

• Fatigue

• Dizziness

• Bladder and Bowel disturbance.

Physical therapy

Note: Rehabilitation / Physical therapy should start soon after the attack of stroke for good results. Rehabilitation should a team effort and family members support is important factor.

Stroke rehabilitation is to be done both inside and outside hospital.

Aims:

1.Improve strength of muscles.

2.To re-educate normal daily activities.

3.Improve balance and walking.

4.Prevent falling.

5.Improve movements in bed/sitting/standing.

6.Reduce muscle Pain, Muscle spasm and Joint stiffness.

7.Improve quality of life.

8.Help in performing all the activities independently.

9.Prevent complications, Minimize impairments and maximize function.

10.Prevent stroke re-occurrence.

11. Patient and patient’s family members should be educated regarding the exercise program and treatment plans.

Evaluation: (Physiotherapist should evaluate)

1.The patient’s range of motion

2.Strength of the affected and unaffected side

3.Bed mobility of the patient

4.Whether patient is able to move from bed to wheel chair

5.Balance and walking

Passive Range of Motion Exercises

• Passive movements are done by the physiotherapist because the patient is unable to move his limbs on his own.

• Passive movement means therapist supports and moves the limb through its full range of motion. (gently holding the body part and Turning, Bending and Raising etc)

• Passive movements are repeated several times in a day. They help in Maintaining blood flow, Maintain tendons and muscles flexible, Prevents joints from tightening, Prevents blood clots.

• Passive movement doesn’t help in building and strengthening muscles.

• Passive movements are done to all joints from head to toe in the bed itself. (E.g. Shoulder, Elbow, Knee, Hips, Feet, Toes etc).

• The family member should also be trained to do the passive movements. After discharge, home exercises program with clear written instructions is to be taken.

TENS, Electrical stimulation may help.

Balance and Transfer exercises

• If the patient is bed-ridden, therapist should teach the patient to move on the bed to avoid infection, bed sores etc.

• Then after recovery, teach and assist the patient to move from lying to sitting position and help in practicing sitting balance.

• Next, start practicing moving from bed to wheel chair, wheel chair to bed, slowly standing on the sliding board.

• Then practice standing with assistance and balancing in parallel bars.

Gait training exercises

• Slowly make the patient to start practicing standing in between parallel bars with the assistance of the therapist.

• Then teach him standing independently.

• Then tell him to shift weight from one leg to other, shift both from side to side, front to back.

• Next, make the patient walk in the parallel bars with/without assistance for few steps and then make him to walk independently without any support.

• Teach the patient using of sticks, canes, tripod sticks, quadrupeds, walking frames etc.

• Gait belt/Adjust belt may be used by the therapist on the waist of the patient to provide support to the patient while walking to prevent falls.

• Make the patient independent to do all his daily activities with least/no support. (E.g. Toileting, Bathing, Dressing, Eating)

Active Range of Motion Exercises

• Active movements are done by the patient itself without assistance of the therapist.

• These exercises also help in Maintaining blood flow, Maintain tendons and muscles flexible, Prevents joints from tightening, Prevents blood clots.

• Active movements help in building and strengthening muscles. Active movements are to be done on both sides.

• Active movements means the patient voluntarily moves the limbs through full range against gravity without assistance.

Stretching Exercises

• If the patient is not able to move, therapist only should perform slight stretching during passive movement. Care must be taken as the stroke patient may have spasticity.

• This helps in preventing tightening of muscles and prevents stiff joints.

Strengthening Exercises

• If the patient’s muscle strength is good and is performing full range of movements of all the body parts, then advice him to do strengthening exercises using very light weight until his comfort level.

• Strengthening exercises include circuit training, weight training, Isometric exercises etc which increase muscle strength and energy levels.

Aerobic Exercises

• Walking training

• Swimming

• Initially stationary cycling then cycling (Works on large muscle groups and increases cardiovascular and daily activity tasks).

• Stair climbing

• Jogging

Facial Exercises

• These are to be done as speech and feeding get affected during stroke.

• All the facial muscles are to be exercised. (Frowning, Eye blinking, Smiling, Grimacing, Masticating, Puckering lips etc)

• Singing, Reading loudly with concentration in front of mirror may help.

• Chewing on both sides help in strengthen facial and jaw muscles.

• Yawning with opening whole mouth helps in improving swallowing and speech.

Orthotics/serial casting

• Foot orthotic may be used if the patient has foot drop. Foot orthotic improves walking ability.

• Serial casting may help in preventing and reversing contractures.

• Splinting reduces spasticity.Inflatable air splints

Occupational therapy teaches different tricks which help to perform daily activities. They also supply different specially designed gadgets which helps the patient to perform daily activities easily.

• Maintain good handwriting and fine movements of arm and hands.

• Modify house according to the needs.

• Eating adaptations

• Dressing and grooming.

• Use of wheel chairs.

• Speech therapy – Speaking, Understanding, Reading, Writing, Improving memory, Solving problems, Dealing with numbers etc.

All joints and muscles are to be exercised.