Weekend Reading - Strengthen that Brain

I was stumbling along this week and came across this great article. It is 10 Ways to Strengthen Your Brain.

Number 2 is my favorite

Pick a random topic and learn something about it

I often find myself getting into a rut where I mostly visit the same websites and read about the same types of things. Music, Sports, Web happenings, World News. Pick something outside of that orbit and set out to learn something about it. Art Deco Design. History of the Cuban Revolution. How your car engine works. Spend just 10-15 minutes a day on a completely new or random learning project.

I have been spending some time lately trying to learn as much as I can about nutrition and what we should be eating. It seems to me that it is more important what you eat, rather than how active you are when it comes to losing weight.

Exercise

I have not a shred of doubt that exercise strengthens the mind. Find some exercise you like and make it a constant part of your week.

Why Do You Need Minerals?

What are minerals?

Your body needs minerals for its proper functioning. The study of minerals is known as mineralogy. They occur naturally in earth’s crust. Minerals have certain chemical composition, their physical properties are similar, and they have highly ordered atomic structure. When compared to minerals rock is said to be the combination of more number of minerals which do not have specific composition. The minerals are defined as a chemical substance or an element, which must have crystalline structure and they may be obtained as effect of geological processes.

What are the functions of minerals?

The main functions of minerals are to aid in the growth and development of human body and maintain its health. They help to built strong bones which are helpful in the transmission of nerve impulses. They play a vital role in making hormones and in maintaining normal heart beat.

Chemical Structures of Minerals

Without the crystal structure and the chemical composition, minerals cannot be defined in proper manner. If two or more minerals differ in their crystal structure but they have same chemical composition they are said to be poly morphs. Consider marcasite and pyrite have same chemical composition called as iron sulfide but they differ in atom arrangement. In some cases minerals differ in their chemistry but they posses same crystalinity. Periclase, halite, galena have identical cubic crystal structure but they are made up of various chemicals such as sodium, chlorine, sulphur, lead, magnesium and oxygen.

Crystal Structure and Properties of Minerals

Physical properties of minerals are determined by their chemical structures. In two minerals namely diamond and graphite are made up of same carbon, graphite is soft and diamond is hard. The reason for the hardness of diamond although it has been formed from the same carbon that forms graphite is that the carbon atoms are arranged in three dimensional orders. Graphite is soft because the carbon atoms in it are arranged in form of sheet.

Classification of Minerals

There are nearly 4,000 known minerals. Out of those 4,000 minerals 150 minerals are highly abundant and they are known as common minerals. 50 Minerals are infrequent and they are known as occasional minerals. And the rest are known as rare and extremely rare minerals.

Types of Minerals

Minerals are of two different types: they are trace minerals and macro minerals. Macro minerals are consumed by human body in larger than trace minerals. The molecules in macro minerals are prepared from magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, phosphorus, and sulfur.

Trace minerals- the name itself indicates that they are required by the human body only in small amount. Substances such as manganese, copper, iron, iodine, zinc, fluoride, cobalt, and selenium are known as trace minerals.

Do you know about calcium mineral?

This mineral comes under macro minerals; bone needs it in huge amount. It helps in the formation of strong bones and teeth. The main sources of calcium are dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, calcium-fortified foods, orange juice, cereals and crackers.

Do you know about iron mineral?

The main part of hemoglobin is iron which helps in the transfer of oxygen from lungs to other body parts. Oxygen is wanted by the whole body to stay alive and healthy. The main sources of this mineral are as follows: meat, (especially red meat such as beef), leafy green vegetables, broccoli and whole and enriched grains like wheat or oats.

Personal Spring Clean-up

Today is the day that I start my personal Spring Cleanup. First on the docket is my financial cleanup. Over the weekend I used Quicken and figured out exactly where I stood and what kind of shape my finances are. From that I noticed that I am spending a lot more money than I should dining and for lunch.

So my goal for June is to take my lunch a minimum of 4 times a week, sometimes a bunch from work eat together on Friday. Instead of eating out I am going to make sure that I eat what is in our freezer. We have a lot of soups and chilli that was made during the winter that is ready to be eaten. When that is all gone I am going to make sure that I make extra for supper the night before and take leftovers.

The bigger part of the spring cleanup is getting fit. I am feeling a lot better than I have in a long time, to the point that I was able to shave the beard and not “look fat”. But I still have a belly, so June is going to be the month that I hit the gym 4-5 times a week, play hockey once a week and run 3 times a week. By going out hard like this I hope to jump start my training and make it second nature going into summer.

I will keep everyone who reads this blog updated every Monday on my stats and what I accomplished over the week. If you haven’t already you can add me to your reader so that you don’t miss a thing.

Weekend Reading

There is a great article about the SWAT workout that looks great. I am sure that anyone who tries this out is going to be able to trim fat and gain muscle.

Go Over there and check it out. ->The SWAT Fitness Plan

It is a circuit based plan that is designed to condition your entire body.

Conditioning isn’t about how many push-ups you can do,” says Orlando-based swat commander Tom Stroup. ‘It’s about preparing for everything else you do in life.” In his line of work that means anything from rappelling down office buildings to bailing out of speeding boats. For us civilians, being conditioned means we can lug a 70-pound backpack all day or skin up that powdery slope — and have energy left over when we’re finished. Stroup’s SWAT workout (swatworkout.com) builds cardiovascular and muscular strength in one intense 15-minute routine. Interval workouts burn calories faster than your average cardio workout, and the high reps tone muscles and abs.

Yoga Exercises

Yoga exercises strengthen your body and make it more flexible. Yoga also calms your mind and gives you energy. In active sports or strenuous exercises, you use up energy. In yoga classes, students report that they feel tranquil after a class, yet have more energy. Slow and steady motion is the key to going into or coming out of the postures. You hold a yoga pose for several seconds or even minutes and give attention to full, quiet breath. Your yoga instructor will always encourage you to relax as the exercises are being done.

You gently place your body into yoga postures. Done correctly, there’s very little chance of injury or muscle stress. A particular asana is not repeated dozens of times, nor are you ever encouraged to push yourself too much.

A yoga session is designed for balance. You stretch to the right and then to the left. You bend back and then forward. You learn to recognize when one side is stronger or more flexible than the other. Thus harmony and balance are achieved with yoga practice.

People of all ages can practice yoga exercises. They are easily modified to meet your needs and physical condition. Don’t be put off by the difficult looking postures you may see in a yoga book. A skilled teacher can adapt most asanas by using chairs, cushions, even a wall or other props. A yoga practice can be tailor-made just for you. If something is really impossible for you to do, just forget it. Never compete with yourself or others. Yoga is a stress-free but powerful way to exercise.

Yoga is good for increasing your flexibility and relieving stress, but it doesn’t take the place of aerobic exercise. You should still do regular, aerobic exercise, which increases your cardiovascular fitness, helps you lose weight, and, for people with non-insulin-dependent (type II) diabetes at least, improves blood glucose control.

My Initial Training Schedule

Well it seems that my schedule and that of the trainer that I have used before are not going to mesh. So I think that I am going to take a stab at making up my own schedule and plan for the beginner stages. The beginner plans that I have read and seen over the years are not that complicated. Basically you use the beginner stages to train you muscles on how to workout and make the movements.

I am going to be hitting the gym 3 days a week, and like every other person out there I am going to pick Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Monday will be Chest and Biceps, Wednesday Back and Triceps and Friday will be Shoulders and traps.

You may have noticed that I am not doing legs. This is on purpose. What I didn’t mention is that I am going to be starting my running at the same time. I think that my legs are going to be sore already so there is no need to over train them.

As for the specific movements, I am not sure what I am going to do. It really is going to depend on what is busy at the gym when I go there. I am going to be doing as much free weights as I can.

For my running schedule I am going to get 3 days of this in too. I think that the best would be Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I am not sure exactly what this is going to entail but I am sure I will figure that out easy enough. There are a lot of great websites for runners.

I am going to be doing my training in the mornings. This is a two fold reason. One is that I am getting up later and later and that means I get less done every day. The other is that the gym is usually packed in the evening after work and even later on into the evening. The morning however, it is nearly empty.

I am going to stick to this schedule for about 4 weeks. By that time I should be able to get into and talk to my trainer friend and set up a specific training schedule that will be tailored to my goals.