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Crunches

A spreading middle is the bane of advancing years and a sedentary lifestyle. People spending hours behind a desk will find this to be an almost unavoidable part of the description of their physique.


The ‘Pear’ shape, the ‘Apple’ shape, the much coveted (or envied) Six Pack…are all terms that refer to the middle of our trunk / the shape of the tummy. Some of the bulge is because of fat deposition but lax or weakened muscles of the stomach is an important cause as well. There are several ways to deal with the fat but this is one question that will haunt you daily: How come fat settles so easily but takes forever to get rid of??







 Exercising the abdominals is the best way to tone them up. It will not only help melt the inches around the tummy but stronger muscles will improve posture which will reduce the ‘pot bellied’ appearance. There are several excellent workouts and exercise combos. The commonest one is doing hundreds of crunches. This will help only when done correctly.

Here are some tips to get your crunches right:

  • Make sure the head is relaxed and in line with the trunk. Often one tends to crane the neck and head forward which in effect means less work for  the targeted muscles.Support your neck if possible with your hands.
  • Depending on the type of exercise, keep the hips and knees bent when lying on the floor. This way one reduces/eliminates the action of the hip flexors and can get maximal work out of the abs.
  • Never ever hold the breath when doing crunches. Keep breathing. Breathe out when contracting the abs (when you come up or when you exert) and breathe in during the opposite movement.
  • Tighten and tuck in your tummy at the start of every repetition. 

Remember to exercise the opposing muscles as well, namely back extensors. You would have noticed that poles often have metal ropes on either side to support and keep them straight? Similarly, our spine needs strong muscles on both sides (abdominals in the front and extensors at the back) to keep it straight and strong. This improves core strength. Pilates, Power Yoga, Malkhamb are super ways to boost core strength.



Cheers!

Disclaimer: All
suggestions are general in nature. Readers are advised to exercise
caution before implementing them and seek expert advise about what is
suitable for their specific needs.  

Images taken from Microsoft Clip Art

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Burn (Wordless Wednesday)

save fuel

Exercise helps burn fat thus helping lose inches and weight.
Whenever possible walk instead of driving, use the stairs instead of using the elevator and so on… Burn Fat Not Fuel!! 

Stay Fit, Stay Happy! Save Our Environment!

Disclaimer: All
suggestions are general in nature. Readers are advised to exercise
caution before implementing them and seek expert advise about what is
suitable for their specific needs.  
 
Compiled with images from Microsoft Office Clip Art

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Aerobics

Aerobics is commonest abbreviation of aerobic exercise, something that many of us take up regularly. In simple language it means exercise that is done when oxygen (that our body gets from the air we breathe) is used sufficiently to cater to energy demand during the actual exercise. E.g. Fast walking, cycling, dancing, swimming, jogging. During this type of exercises, our heart rate and breathing  rate go up in such a manner that exercise can be sustained for that session. As the heart rate goes up, more blood is pumped into the muscles and the increased breathing rate means oxygenation is faster. Thus the muscles get much needed oxygen required to burn the stored fat or carbohydrate to produce energy to jog, cycle, dance or lift weights (exercise)!

When we exercise, glycogen present in muscles is broken down to glucose which is then metabolised to produce water, carbon dioxide and energy is released.There are several benefits from aerobic exercise. The most important one is that it helps fight depression. Weight bearing aerobic exercises can help improve bone density as well.

The opposite is anaerobic exercise when the heart and respiratory rate cannot keep up with the intense exercise. e.g. fast sprint (as in 100 m race) or lifting heavy weights. Due to the shortage of oxygen, the metabolism occurring in the muscles is of a different type. Metabolic wastes accumulate in muscles which cause pain (“muscle burn”) and one cannot sustain the exercise for a long time. If ‘aerobic exercises’ are performed at a excessively high intensity then they can turn into anaerobic exercises. These too have some benefits but in general its better to devote majority of an exercise plan to aerobic activities.

This is the first post on exercising for fitness. All through April 2014, I plan to cover important aspects of exercising for fitness and share links that  you can read at your leisure. Stay tuned..
Stay fit, stay happy.
Cheers! 

Disclaimer: All
suggestions are general in nature. Readers are advised to exercise
caution before implementing them and seek expert advise about what is
suitable for their specific needs.  

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Sacred groves (Nandivli)

I have written before about Devrai or Sacred Groves. I had the opportunity to visit one more recently with none other than the Patriach of Botany in my city. He gave us some more insights about Devrai which I would like to put into my own words.


Devrai is the marathi word for sacred groves, and loosely put, they can be described as forests that are protected by a local deity usually a Goddess (देवी) but some devrai have Khandoba or Mhasoba as their deity. The forest does not have a ‘temple’ in the form that we know it but it may be a simple structure made from local materials and the idol itself may be no more than a stone. Usually the offerings are flowers that have naturally fallen off trees and the blooms must not be deliberately plucked in a devrai. In fact nothing should be plucked in this forest or even taken away including dead or dry branches, twigs, leaves all of which must be left to decay there itself. The species growing in such protected forests thus get protection and thrive. Some shrubs, trees, roots etc may have medicinal properties. It is the ‘Bhagat’ who is the only person who is allowed to pluck such tree parts to help any sick villagers after offering due prayers to the tree. No one else can do so.


Sacred groves, Mulshi
Backwaters of the Mulshi Dam near Pune, Maharashtra



The Sahyadris have about 3000 devrai and the Mulshi area has up to 30 sacred groves. The Kudawale devrai near Dapoli is said to be spread over about 100 acres. These can serve as reference ecosystems which will help chose the
correct species for any new plantation, afforestation projects in
the area. It takes a thousand years or more for a proper forest to develop and simply planting a few hundred trees is not akin to creating a forest.


Dam, water, sacred groves, forests
The Sahyadri crest line near Mulshi Dam



It is such blind faith has helped protect the forests from the relentless march of so-called progress and urbanisation that has extended cement and mortar monstrosities way outside Pune. The area of some devrai has reduced and some do not have undergrowth. The latter is an indication of regeneration of the species growing there.  Lack of undergrowth heralds a bleak future for the devrai. Construction of new roads is a good thing but it may have a detrimental effect on such protected forests.


Here is a link to a Wikipedia article about devrai.


This article lists sacred groves in Maharashtra and here is one with some general information.


We recently visited a devrai near Mulshi. A tarred road to Lonavla ran through a part of this devrai. Access is by personal vehicles or an ST bus service from Pune (Swargate). As we neared Mulshi, the blazing red Dhaitee (Woodifordia fruiticosa) provided a welcome relief to the dry brown and yellow of the countryside as was the furry soft white inflorescence of the Bhamni. The weather had just started warming up and people were just about recovering from ‘Holi’. There was extensive flowering which was a pleasure and helped identification.

Bhamni: Cholebroochia oppositifolia

 We stepped out of the bus and were greeted by the sweet fragrance of the ‘Lokhandi’ (an Ixora species). You may remember the red walking sticks in Mahableshwar. They are made from this tree! Other trees specifically found in this grove were the Toran (Zizyphus rugosa). Its fruit is double the size of the usual Karwanda and is ready around the Divali festival. We were lucky to see blooming of the Waras (Heterophragma quadriloculare) , Vatoli (Diploclisia glaucescens), Shivan (Gmelina arborea), Kakad (Garuga pinnata) and Kuda. The Palas was in fruiting stage while the red blazing leaves of Baheda (Terminalia bellerica) and Kusumb gave a flaming touch to the scenery. I saw the Khedshingi with its strange looking fruit for the first time. The poisonous Hura (Sapium insigne) and Raan ghewda (Paracalyx scariosus) was a first for me as well.

My friends tell me that they could spot many varieties of birds and had an extremely satisfying bird spotting session here.
 

Here are some images (absolutely amateur variety!!) that I have taken during my visit to the devrai. Enjoy!


(Double click to open a new tab so the photo description can be seen)

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My Theme

Flashback to 2013 when I heard about a Blogging challenge via Twitter. I had an upcoming long journey and very less time on hand hence scheduling and planning posts was difficult. I managed to complete the entire challenge but looking back I notice that it was a ‘topical’ cocktail. Successive posts were not really related to each other. many of them were related to trees but that was unintentional.   


So this time around, I have decided to go with a theme. I had three lists on three different topics with 26 posts from A to Z. Naturally X, Q, Z were mean customers but I did manage to find something reasonable.  The only task now was to zero in on a theme. Should it be Nature or Trees or  Travel?



A quick study of my blog clinched the issue.  
Despite being a physiotherapist, I have hardly any exercise-related posts. 


That’s right,
2014 April AtoZ will find me blogging about exercising for fitness. I
want to share ideas, tips and dos and donts that I have gained from my
practice.  Exercising should
be fun, something to look forward to each and every time and should not end up hurting the joints and muscles and ligaments. Trust me, the words “too much of a good thing is bad”
apply to exercise too! I plan to focus on getting the best out
of a workout and do so without hurting oneself.

The AtoZ guidelines suggest posts of 100-300 words which means I may not  be able to write in depth about any topic. In fact some of them are eligible for full fledged research by themselves. There is plenty of stuff that one can read online but I am sure you can learn something useful here.  


If you are among those exercising regularly to stay fit, you know where to go everyday of April 2014 every time you go online. Those who are just starting out or want to/plan to start exercising will hopefully find something interesting here as well. If not, it will be good fodder for coffee-table discussions!
😉


A to Challenge Theme reveal blogfest



See ya’ll around!
Cheers!

Disclaimer: All suggestions are general in nature. Readers are advised to exercise caution before implementing them and seek expert advise about what is suitable for their specific needs.  

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