3-Fitness & Wellness' Wellness & Fitness Articles and Handouts
- Articles
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- World Labyrinth Day set for Saturday, May 1
- The Labyrinth Society established the World Labyrinth Day to be held each year on the first Saturday of May as a way to promote the spiritual and health benefits of labyrinths.
- The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Walking the Labyrinth
- It is no coincidence that a majority of labyrinths open to the public can be found on church grounds and medical facilities. For thousands of years, the many who have walked these mystical unicursal paths (i.e. the way in is also the only way out) have professed spiritual and health benefits from doing so.
- The How and Why of Walking a Labyrinth
- The mystery and mystical aspects of a labyrinth are what make it appealing and yet also daunting to some people. The truth is there is no right or wrong way to walk this meandering path that leads to the center of itself and then back out.
- Finding a Labyrinth in the Chicagoland Area
- If the idea of trying out a labyrinth for meditation, personal transformation, health reasons, or just for fun is appealing to you, there are a number of public paths you can access in and around Chicago.
- Fitness
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Handouts courtesy of IDEA and require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- Build Better Bones
- Women: You're not usually complimented on how great your bones look, but bone fitness is important to keep you strong and to prevent osteoporosis.
- Burning Fat: Myths and Facts
- Do you really have to exercise in a specific heart rate zone to lose fat? And what happens if you venture out of that zone?
- Choosing a Pilates Instructor
- Insights from the Pilates Method Alliance®
- Fall Prevention for Seniors
- Falls can be disastrous for older adults, possibly leading to long-term immobility and loss of independence. To help you ward off falls, here are some exercises from Catherine Logan, MSPT, physical therapist, personal trainer and MD candidate at Tufts University School of Medicine.
- Helping Upper-Trapezius Pain
- Does your upper back ever feel tight, as though you have "knots" in it? You may have an upper-trapezius strain. Here are causes of this strain and suggestions on what to do to ease the pain.
- The Pregnant Athlete
- How much is too much exercise during pregnancy? What sports should you avoid?
- Exercise
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Handouts courtesy of IDEA and require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- Exercise and Menopause
- Physical activity helps manage menopausal consequences and protects against heart disease and osteoporosis.
- Exercise During Pregnancy
- Research suggests during pregnancy women can continue to derive health benefits from regular exercise. Here's some general exercise guidelines.
- Exercise for Travelers
- While traveling is fun, getting to a vacation destination often involves extended periods of immobility. To help combat potential problems associated with sitting, try these suggestions.
- Exercise Induced Asthma
- The good news is that people who suffer from EIA can still exercise safely and successfully. See your doctor and consider these suggestions.
- Exercising with Arthritis
- Get some guidance on exercise to alleviate arthritis symptoms.
- Injury Prevention for New Moms
- Learn proper movement patterns for typical activities you do with your baby.
- Injury Prevention for Triathletes
- If you're new to triathlon and worried about injuring yourself, consider these suggestions.
- Pedometer Power
- Pedometers can be very useful for motivating you to work out and to track your exercise success. Understanding how they work will help you program them to be more accurate.
- Pilates and Pregnancy
- Pilates is perfectly suited to preparing women for labor and a speedy recovery postpartum. Pilates instructor Stefania Della Pia addresses how Pilates can help your body and how to keep yourself safe.
- Preventing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- What causes CTS and what can you do to prevent it?
- Qigong Sampler
- Qigong is an ancient Chinese exercise and healing system. Here are some movements and resources.
- The Gardener's Workout
- Want to build strength or lose weight in your backyard? Then training in your garden may be for you!
- The Surfer's Workout
- Even if you don't surf, these training tips can improve your upper-body and core strength.
- Understanding Running Injuries
- Running places extraordinary demands on the body. Here are a few of the common injuries and prevention exercises.
- Use Interval Training to Slow Aging
- Interval training is an effective way to exercise at a high enough intensity to significantly increase oxygen demands and ultimately slow aging.
- Using Body-Weight Exercises
- Don't dismiss the effectiveness of exercises that use only your own body weight. To make sure you do body-weight exercises correctly, use the following guidelines on body position and efficient, safe execution.
- What Yoga Research Shows
- Despite the challenges of researching the health benefits of yoga, many good-quality studies are beginning to emerge, and the results are interesting.
- Wellness
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Handouts courtesy of IDEA and require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- A Prescription for Procrastinators
- How to stop procrastinating and make exercise a healthy habit.
- Alcohol's Effect on Health
- Does drinking alcohol help your health or is it better to just say no?
- Banish a Negative Mood
- What can you do if you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Try these strategies.
- Boosting Your Body Image
- We are not born with a body image -- the way we feel about how we look is learned and influenced by family, friends, and the media.
- Enjoying an At-Home Spa Day
- Rejuvenate yourself with these at-home spa tricks of the trade.
- Flow to Health and Happiness
- Have you ever found yourself in a state of complete absorption in a complex and challenging activity that stretches your skills? This wonderful state is called flow.
- Heart Disease and Women
- Many women fail to recognize the toll that cardiovascular disease (CVD) can take on their bodies, and thus fail to do what is necessary to reduce the risk of getting this largely preventable disease.
- Help for Stomach Disorders
- Here is a brief introduction to the most common GI conditions, along with nutritional recommendations for handling them from Natalie Digate Muth, MPH, RD, a registered dietitian.
- Increasing Your Sleep Savvy
- Sleep Deprived? Try these insights.
- Meditation: Just the Basics
- Discover what meditation is, the benefits, and a few examples of meditation styles.
- Midlife Emotions and Weight Gain
- Physical and psychological changes during the midlife years can lead to unwanted weight gain. Here's how to more easily navigate through your middle years.
- Relaxation 101
- Learning how to relax can counteract stress responses such as anxiety, tension, and hyper-alertness. Try these techniques to learn how to relax.
- Selecting a Wellness Coach
- A Wellness Coach can help you make the changes to live your best life.
- Sleep Matters
- If you're not spending enough time in slumberland these days, discover how you can sleep better and longer with these strategies.
- Taming Stress
- Do you feel completely overwhelmed by all the demands in your life? Don't worry. You can learn to manage and release stress with a few wise strategies.
- The Science of Self-Monitoring
- Recording aspects of behavior and progress toward goals -- self-monitoring -- enhances success in making life changes.
- Walking the Labyrinth
- Labyrinths can be found in spas, churches, medical centers, parks, prisons, and backyards. Could this centuries-old meditation help you explore the mind-body connection?
- Nutrition
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Handouts courtesy of IDEA and require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- Cooking Healthy Fast Food
- It easy to prepare quick, nutritious meals at home -- here's how.
- Correcting Common Diet Myths
- With all the nutrition misinformation available today, it can be tricky to know what's actually true and what's false. Here's nutrition writer Milton Stokes, RD, to help separate myth from truth.
- Eat Less to Live Longer?
- In this "Supersized" world, eating fewer calories just might be the prescription for a longer, healthier life.
- Functional Foods for Heart Health
- Enhancing your diet with functional foods can help reduce the chance of getting cardiovascular disease (CVD).
- Happy, Healthy Holiday Eating
- Here are some practical ideas for enjoying your favorite holiday foods without packing on the pounds.
- Helping Kids Eat Healthfully
- Teach your children how to make informed nutritious food choices with these suggestions.
- High-Fructose Corn Syrup and Sweetened Beverages
- High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has garnered much attention for contributing to America's obesity problem. But are these worries really justified, or are they all hype?
- Multiple Answers about Multivitamins
- Should you take a multivitamin? What kind?
- Nutrition for Performance-Driven Men
- So what should a man eat? Here's a basic primer on the nutrients that active guys need.
- Online Diets: Logging On
- Here's a look at some of the most popular, fee-based online diets available today; eDiets, CalorieKing, and Weight Watchers.
- Sports Nutrition for Young Athletes
- Young athletes are often grossly misinformed about sports nutrition practices and easily influenced by outsiders, especially their peers. Learn what these competitors need to perform at their optimal levels from Pamela M. Nisevich, MS, RD, LD.
- Sugar: The Sweet Paradox
- Is sugar taking too many lumps, or is its villainous reputation justified?
- The Lowdown on Artificial Sweeteners
- With all the artificial sweeteners available, you may find it challenging to separate fact from fiction. Here is information on the health and safety concerns about sweeteners.
- The Scoop on Food Allergies
- For reasons not fully understood, food allergies appear to be on the rise. Here's the lowdown on food allergies from Natalie Digate Muth, MPH, RD, CSCS.
- The Wonders of Water
- Because of its numerous and diverse functions in the body water is often regarded as the most important nutrient. Here's Water 101.
