The Clever Apprentice

Are you like many other men? Finding your area around the middle is widening or forming a bee line due south. Is there too much belly for too little trousers waist? Are you understanding that the wasted, horizontal TV time, eating chips and boozing has finally caught up with you, and you are featuring love handles? Have you lost your 6 pack abs(http://6-pack-abs.biz)? You’re certainly not alone and there is great news for you.

If you desire definition in your abs you should start some ab exercises (http://ab-exercises.org). It does not matter if you are a man or a woman, you can benefit from a stronger back. When you beef up one you strengthen the other. There are simplified exercises to get rid of the spare tire, such as sit ups and crunches.

With a focus on the lower back try lying down on your tummy. Do the leg swim motion by lightly kicking with knees and feet off the flooring. Do repetitions of 15 seconds action, resting 30 seconds.

It is likely a great idea to cut the sodium in your diet. It is accepted to link salt and sodium rich foods with heart troubles and risk of stroke. Sodium also results in water retention which can make a large belly look even worse. Don’t add extra salt to foods and stay away from processed foods. Drinking water can also aid in losing the big tummy. Water not only serves to keep the body hydrated, it also helps your body to metabolize stored fat into energy and reduces your appetite.

You may look at reducing your alcohol consumption as well. Im positive that youre just as disappointed as I was to find that alcohol doesnt serve the same purpose as water in spite of the fact that they are both liquids. Alcohol contains a lot of empty calories which for men tend to get deposited around the middle area creating love handles. You do not need to cut alcohol out altogether, just keep a tally of how much you booze and adjust as needed; same method as cutting back your food consumption.

It’s essential to organize a Home Team before you go in for heart surgery, even if you have little time before your surgery to plan it. On the other hand, if you have just gotten home from the hospital, don’t worry it’s not too late. A Home Team is a group of friends and family who are willing to assist you in your recovery following your surgery. Make a list of up to fifteen people, family and friends (but not your primary caregiver) who would be glad - even honored - to be called to help out. Pick a leader among these friends and engage her or him to contact the others about the tasks ahead. Set up a revolving schedule of assignments for your first three to four weeks at home.

Your Primary Caregiver Has The Most Important Role

Who will your primary caregiver be; your spouse, your partner, a friend, or another family member? In my new book, The Open Heart Companion: Preparation and Guidance for Open-Heart Surgery Recovery the following scenario is explained to help you better understand their importance: Suddenly your caregiver, your close personal ally, has the extended responsibility for all previously shared arrangements - nursing aid, household tasks, transportation, medical and social plan coordination. It can become overwhelming and too much for one person. That is why it is essential that you line up a supportive Home Team to pitch in. Your primary caregiver needs assistance and taking care of too. Once you are home and recovering, he or she is now “on” 24/7. He or she also needs continuing acknowledgment, appreciation and love from you. Plan to regularly express your gratitude. Find out how your loved one is feeling - every day. Though sometimes you won’t feel like it, remember to smile, and show you care and appreciate all that is being done for you.

Five basic tasks to assign to your Home Team

1. Dinner nightly
Some friends will like to prepare a home cooked meal for both patient and caregiver, while others can pick up a heart healthy take-out meal. Since the reality of landing back home means the primary caregiver has antenna focused on you continuously, your caregiver loved one will appreciate the sit-down break at dinner time.

2. Buddy system
During the many hours and days of convalescence, neither patient nor primary caregiver wants to feel isolated at home. Anticipate a buddy system in advance. Is there a friend who has been though open-heart surgery who will agree to check in with the patient regularly? Is there someone that the heart patient can call spontaneously? Many basic questions can be answered this way, by a friend or family member. Naturally, any substantial recovery question requires picking up the phone and calling your designated medical professional. Maybe you know, or know of, a former heart patient who also is a medical professional? Arrange chat times (perhaps twice weekly) with him or her. Primary caregiver and patient should also plan regular phone time with a best friend independently, to be free to let their hair down to tell it like it is.

3. Running errands
Who - friend or neighbor - would be willing to be counted on to run to the pharmacy or to deposit or pick up laundry or dry cleaning? How about someone who will shop for staples at the supermarket or buy a box of thank-you notes? Recruit a list of volunteers beforehand. It’s critical to have this in place to enable you to focus on getting well.

4. Housekeeping
In the hospital take-home instructions, there are very specific physical directives that must be honored while the sternum (breastbone) is healing. You are not to lift more than five to ten pounds for four to six weeks. As well, you are to avoid pushing/pulling activities with your arms, and also avoid heavy one-armed lifting for three months. This eliminates carrying groceries, carrying a toddler, vacuuming, shoveling snow, mowing the lawn, raking leaves - even wiping up a kitchen counter with a sponge can be challenging in the first couple of weeks. It is best to schedule others for regular housekeeping duties for at least four to six weeks and/or consider hiring a house cleaner for the short term.

5. Chauffeuring
An open-heart patient may not resume driving for six to eight weeks - until the sternum is fully healed. Because you don’t want to risk re-injuring the sternum should a passenger airbag need to be deployed, you might be advised to ride in the back seat using the shoulder seat belt. That said, you can ride in a car as soon as you’re home - to a medical appointment, to the store, to eat out. However, all these outings become a lot of driving for the primary caregiver, so line up chauffeur volunteers.

Recovering from heart surgery can be challenging, but with these tips and more tips on planning ahead found in The Open Heart Companion you can ensure that your recovery will go smoothly.

Maggie Lichtenberg, PCC, a recent open-heart surgery thriver, is an open heart coach to heart patients and their loved ones, a professional speaker, and frequently published author. To subscribe to her free online newsletter, Heart To Heart, send a blank email message to HeartToHeart-On@zines.webvalence.com. To learn more about Maggie’s free phone support group and other programs go to http://www.openheartcoach.com.

Article is free to reprint as long as author’s bio remains intact.

If you just purchased a home elliptical or recently joined a health club you may be wondering how to get started on the elliptical. The good news is it’s not very hard. Next to a stationary bike, learning how to use an elliptical trainer is very intuitive and straightforward.

Actually, the more difficult part of getting started on the elliptical is knowing how often to train on it and for how long. As with beginning any exercise or diet program, be sure to consult with your physician and get clearance before starting. The best advice when just starting out is to take things slowly to allow both your body and your mind to adapt to the new demands you will be placing on them.

A good target is to train on the elliptical 4 times a week for between 30 to 45 minutes. If your schedule doesn’t permit this frequency, then do what you can. Three times a week for 20 minutes will produce great results if done consistently over a period of time. Just make sure you do something and get yourself moving!

The other thing you want to pay attention to is your clothing and footwear. The great news is that these items don’t need to be fancy or expensive. Just be sure to wear loose fitting clothing that will absorb perspiration. Select shoes that offer good shock absorption and provide a little extra room in the toe box. This precaution may help prevent your feet from getting numb while using the elliptical.

The actual form and motion you use on the elliptical is very easy to master. Just remember to maintain an upright posture and don’t hunch over. If using the upper body handles, don’t grip them too tightly as this will cause your forearms to tense up. Then it’s just a matter of taking full, easy flowing strides.

Most ellipticals come equipped with a large variety of preset programs with the ability to store user profiles. These are really neat features, but my advice is to just stick with the plain old manual setting. The important thing is to determine your target heart rate and keep within it during the core of your training session. As you progress in your training program then feel free to explore the preset workout programs and begin experimenting with advance training techniques such as high intensity interval training (HIIT).

Once your elliptical workout is complete use the period immediately after you finish to stretch out your muscles for a few minutes. This is very relaxing and will make you feel great afterwards. Just be sure to stretch after your workout and never stretch out a cold muscle!

Getting started on an elliptical is really not difficult at all. Take your time; keep your expectations reasonable, and most importantly, stick with it. That’s the only way you’ll see the results that will make you proud!

Rich Rojas writes unbiased Elliptical Trainer Reviews and articles on health and fitness. Get a Free 4-Day Minicourse: Getting Started With Elliptical Training when you subscribe to the EllipticalHome.com Fitness Newsletter.