Why I think barefoot exercise is better

A previous post argued that humans were made to run. There is growing evidence that mankind developed as a long distance hunter. The bushmen of the Kalahari still hunt this way, running down game until it is too exhausted to go on, then spearing it and carrying it all the way home over a shoulder.
Humans can run further than almost any other species. This is facilitatied by our ability to sweat and our unique anatomical modifications - arched feet with forward facing big toe, flexible twisting hips to allow easy counterbalancing of legs by opposite swinging arms. Recently it has been discovered that the fine and seemingly superfluous plantaris muscle is mainly a sensory muscle that allows fine tuning of foot placement. These and other adaptations point to one conclusion. We were made to run.
But we were, (of course) designed to run BAREFOOT. Just think about that for a moment, then think about how much time you spend barefooted.
The fact that the human foot contains so many muscles, bones, tendons, nerves and sensory apparatus indicated that it probably requires its own exetcise regime ( like all the other parts of our musculoskeletal system). This cannot happen easily with a shod foot.
I will write on this again, but for now, why not try taking off your shoes and having a walk around on the grass. It feels nice! (And it's good for you).

Exercises - The Three Main Types

Many people love to exercise. Not only does it bring long-term fitness and health, it also gives you a fantastic short-term buzz, and can increase your overall well-being. There are all sorts of exercise routines that you can try, but generally most can be put into one of the following categories:
1. Cardiovascular Exercises
These are the exercises that get your heart pumping, your brow sweating and your lungs working overtime. Cardiovascular exercise is excellent for increasing your overall fitness and stamina. It has also been proven to strengthen your heart and other organs, making them perform better and more efficiently.
Popular cardio exercises include running, cycling and swimming. To get the most from cardiovascular exercise you should do it three or four times a week at regular intervals. Focus on improving your performance over time, for example by running further or faster.
2. Weight Exercises
If your primary focus is on building muscle, strength and size then weight you should focus on weight training. This typically involves shorter bursts of more intense exercise than cardio training does.
When training with weights you should choose a handful of exercises which work lots of musculature, such as the squat, bench press and row. You must also ensure that you get adequate rest between sessions, in order to give you muscles to repair themselves and grow. Twice a week is a good regime for most people, although some may find that even that doesn't give enough rest time.
3. Flexibility Exercises
Finally, some people would prefer to focus on improving their flexibility and range of motion. This can be particularly beneficial if you are recovering from an injury or operation, or for older people who want to fend off aches and pains.
Flexibility and stretching exercises are typically done in a slow, controlled manner. You should not be worn out after performing them - if you are, you're doing them too fast. However, you should still feel like your limbs have been well worked.
Of course it is possible to combine these different types of exercise to give a well balanced overall fitness regime. Bear in mind though that your body needs time to recover from all three types, so if you're doing too much it may actually end up having a detrimental effect on your body.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_G_Watkins
Paul loves to exercise, and uses a variety of routines to provide and varied and balanced exercise regime. When he isn't working out he loves to write and design websites, such as his latest site about garden tool storage which includes information about finding the perfect garden tool organizer to keep your tools neat, tidy, and accessible.

Evolution of running

For the scientifically minded: I just found this enlightening review of the origins of human running ability by Bramble and Lieberman. While I agree with almost all of the authors' conclusions, they were unfortunately written without knowledge of the revolutionary new evidence just published in Science magazine following long and detailed reconstruction of  Ardipithecus, our oldest  and most surprising ancestor yet.
Another little problem I have with Bramble and Lieberman is their assumption that 'normal' human running involves heelstrike first as the foot lands in each stride. I think this is crucial mistake. More on this later.

I am not "built" to run -but I want to!

OK, so you are not built like a gazelle, and maybe you will never run 80kph either. But then, Usain Bolt (world 100m record holder) can't run 80kph ! Everyone has some absolute limits to performance. The real issue is that most of us set our own limits too low, and set goals that are lower than we are truly capable of.
Many people are not IDEALLY built for elite running performance, but they WANT to run.
When I was a juvenile athlete I believed I was motivated by winning races. I was able to sustain that fantasy for a while because I was quite good and won some good races in good times. The truth only dawned on me much later, when I was not competing anymore, but found myself still going for my run after work most days. Why did I do this? Was it to get fit? NO, I was already quite fit and very healthy (lucky me!). I did not really need to run to have and enjoyable active life. The bottom line is this: I just loved to run! That's hardly a revelation is it? But it has tremendous implications for most runners (or wannabe runners).
If you run to lose weight or get fit, most of you will find your interior motivation change over time. You will feel better, lighter, healthier etc. But after a while you will feel that certain indescribable zen/meditative thing (otherwise called runners high) that is slighly addictive in a nice way. Then you will ENJOY running and do it for the right reason: You LOVE to run because it makes you feel elementally HUMAN.
Running is one of the truly natural human activities. Enjoy it for that!

How 'natural' is running as exercise?

A simple question, but with a very complex answer! Science indicates that humans evolved as running bipeds. That is, we are built for two legged locomotion and we were "Born to run", which happens to be the title of an interesting new book by Christopher McDougall. (If you click this link you will see there has been a lot of other publication activity around this topic as well!)
The complication comes in several forms:

• Some humans still have a body shape that if well adapted to this original type of long distance running.
• Other human groups have adapted over thousands of years to non-running lifestyles (e.g sherpas of Nepal)

In other words, even though there is only one human species; we have adapted and changed our bodies over thousands of years to suit different environments.
Just as humans have bred hundreds of types of dogs, of vastly different body sizes and shapes (over a very short time period) so nature has bred many different body types to suit the vast range of human habitats. Modern mobility dulls our appreciation of the very distinctive racial and tribal types that originally inhabited each place, each adapted to their climate and lifestyle.
My point is this: we don't expect a bulldog to outrun a greyhound. Likewise, we should not be surprised that Kenyans and Ethiopians  are the best distance runners.
What does this mean to you?
Well, depending on your body type, maybe running is not the BEST exercise your you (or maybe it is!)
I am not saying this because I am against running; I am not and have been a runner all my life - but I DO have the body type that is ideal for running  -lean and light boned.
Weight bearing exercice is essential for your health, but a large volume of running only suits a certain proportion of the population.
Have a good think about your body type. It may be that another type of exercise would be your best option for developing base fitness - cycling, rowing, swimming - there are many options.
The real question is: Do I WANT to run?
If you want to run, you SHOULD run - even if you think you are the "wrong" build!
My next post: How can I run if I am the not built for it?

Good plastic, bad plastic- which is which?

Some plastics are just plain bad for your health. Fortunately there are some pretty good guidelines now available on how to tell what is OK and what you should avoid.
Plastics can be bad for several reasons:

1. Use up precious petroleum resources to make them.
2. They contain dangerous chemicals that might leach out into your food or drink.
3. They clog up landfills and refuse to break down for years.
4. They get discarded into the environment (including te ocean), refuse to break down for years; or when they break down, they release nasty chemicals that go into our water etc etc.

Thanks to many concerned individuals, groups, and now governments and eco-friendly companies, there are many alternatives becoming available. Alternative packaging and biodegradable shopping bags are now very common.
But how do you know what to buy and what to avoid?
Here are some good web sites that will quickly get you on the right track!

• Plastic Bottle Numbers: What do they Mean?
• What Do The Plastic Recycling Numbers Mean?
• Did you know?

Hormonal disruption is a growing problem

Many women suffer from fibroids, dymnemorrhea and more. Men are increasingly finding their levels of sex drive dampened on a regular basis. And I am not just talking about the over-50's.
There's also an increased frequency of puberty problems being experienced by adolescents; all related to hormonal influences, and being attributed to chemicals in the environment, or even to constituents in our food.
A 2006 study led by JA McLachlan highlighted these growing concerns, pointing to the many estrogen promoting or inhibiting chemicals now circulating in our environment and our food supply. These not only include toxins you may have already heard about, such as pesticides and plasticisers, but components of food such as soy protein, containing phytoestrogens, routinely added to a vast number of food items.
What can you do?
The main thing (as usual) is to decide to take control of your own health:

1. Drink filtered water - you can readily buy good quality water filters that will remove all kinds of nasties...but read the product description carefully before buying as many filters only remove some toxins and not others.
2. Read your food labels - gain some knowledge about what good to eat and what's not.
3. Avoid certain food packaging- some plastic wraps and trays are bad! Plastic number systems are helping identify good and bad plastics. There are a number of good websites that help you identify good and bad plastics.
4. Eat organic food if you can -home grown food, (made with your own pure compost is best!) Its a lot easier to buy organic that it used to be -you just have to take a little more time to choose.
5. Don't forget to exercise -this has tremendous hormone regulating and curative effects. More on this elsewhere in this blog!