Modern life results in many factors which can cause depression and anxiety in the normal person, life pressures, work, relationships, image and general well being all come into context. Today we are barraged within the media by articles and glossy altered images of beautiful people designed at making us buy products or by into a certain lifestyle manipulated by marketing corporates.

Everyone to some effect are manipulated by advertising in the media, if not we would all buy the same products and look the same. I myself embarked on a diet and fitness programme many years ago and now run my life by this programme with the odd day off for good behavior. A few years ago I decided to take fitness seriously as the benefits included relieving stress and anxiety which at the time was becoming an issue in my personal life. I firstly took up running, at first this was extremely hard going only being able to run for about five minutes at any one time.

I decided the best route to take was to write down my distances and time and log these for reference; a routine then developed in my running and before long I was up to twenty minutes in a session. I then made significant progress in the following months as part of a personal goal objective and quickly made an average of forty minutes running in a session. What I found as a result of this exercise was that I felt so much better in myself, my stress levels reduced and my anxiety dropped considerably.

I also found that running first thing in the morning made me feel good for the rest of the day, it is documented that that early morning runs are the best time to burn fat as you run on an empty stomach and the body uses fat as fuel.

When I run in the morning I find this clears my head for the rest of the day, any bad feelings are gone by the end of the session giving me a positive outlook. I also run in a local royal park which the early mornings holds many beautiful sites such as wild animals and birds sharing the same environment of me virtually undisturbed.

I always ensure that I complete a full stretch exercise before running paying particular attention to the legs and thigh muscles, if you do not stretch then this could result in soreness and could tear important muscles as they have not had the time to get a good blood flow within the muscle groups. I would recommend stretching everyday even on the days when you don't run as this will prevent fatigue and soreness which is very important. It also very important to refuel the body with good quality carbohydrates in within the hour after the exercise as this will give the body the required nutrients and energy.

I would strongly recommend running as an exercise which benefits the body aswell as the mind.

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An excellent daily multivitamin supplement does not only develop your general bodily functions but also improves your mental and physical condition and well being. Occasionally specification is needed in appropriately supplementing nutrients to deal with any individual needs. An example would be in heart disease patients, they would have to take in CoQ10 in preventing the said condition. Alzheimer's disease can be effectively prevented by a regular combination of Vitamin C and E intake.

Multivitamin supplements necessarily include all the vitamins and nutrients essential for recommended daily dosage. Multivitamin supplements may also be formulated to meet the needs of individual conditions like pregnancy and specific age brackets. It is a well settled fact that multivitamins in liquid form are more efficient than the ordinary pill forms. This is due to the fact that the body can easily absorb liquid nutrients five times more than ordinary multivitamins in tablet or capsule form.

Basically, the body needs 13 essential vitamins to function properly. In regulating the crucial performance of the body, it has to have vitamins A, B, C, D, E, K, B12, and the 7 B-complex vitamins. Majority of these vitamins are obtained by our body through the food that we eat. The danger of illness or even mortality is in the deficiency of some of the essential vitamins. This is where vitamin supplementation comes in. It counteracts the illness caused by such deficiency. With this fact, it is very unlikely for someone to refuse vitamin supplementation on a daily basis. So the question now is, why is it necessary for individuals to take multivitamins when majority of our daily diet can provide us with the basic nutrients we need? It may not be compulsory, but everyone can profit from daily multivitamins.

As previously mentioned, the clear benefit of daily intake of multivitamins it to prevent vitamin/nutrient deficiency. Some personal circumstances may increase dietary needs. Pregnant women, during their first trimester, are recommended by their doctors to take multivitamins. This does not only provide the mothers with sufficient nutrition but also proper vitamins to benefit the unborn child inside their womb. Taking multivitamins everyday reduces the risk of transmitting malnutrition from a pregnant woman to her unborn baby. Other conditions such as old age, alcoholism, smoking, and exposure to excessive pollution have long-term detrimental effects to the body system which can be successfully counteracted by multivitamins.

Stress is also one risk factor which needs serious supplementation that multivitamins can provide. Especially with people who have so much to do and have a hard time in keeping up with their health needs, multivitamins are a must to keep them always on the go without any health complications in the long run. Stress formulations benefit both your mental ability and daily endurance. Aside from the mentioned benefits, daily multivitamins also minimize the risk of cancer or any cardiovascular disease.

Several people, if not all, testify to have a feeling of comfortable health in regularly taking in multivitamins. This is due to the synergistic or combined effects of the supplemental ingredients found in multivitamins. A fat-soluble antioxidant vitamin, like the Vitamin E, works to neutralize probable harmful free agents in the body. This vitamin also maintains healthy skin through protection of cell membranes, blood circulation, heart, nerves, red blood cells, and muscles. Another antioxidant is the Vitamin C which effectively fights blood cell infection and is vital in collagen formation, wound healing, and formation of bone structures, capillaries, and teeth. Vitamin is also helpful in the iron absorption from plant sources. Vitamins A, D, K and other supplemental nutrients found in multivitamins have specific functions that benefit the bodily functions.

While daily intake of multivitamins may have proven beneficial, it is not a 100% guarantee to be free of serious illness attributed to other factors. It is often a misconception that symptoms of disease may always be cured by taking multivitamins. Health experts have the better opinion of immediate medical assistance rather than resorting to multivitamins alone.

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Instead of disappointing your children, why not say, "yes" after all? You will be surprised by the amount of energy you will have after that 30-minute activity.

Did you know that by exercising at a moderate pace for only 30 minutes, you would feel a lot better, mentally? It has been proven that this improves the appetite and sharpens your style in problem solving. Not only that. You will also feel that it is easier to sleep at night if you do moderate exercises even for only 30 minutes every day.

What are the benefits of regular exercise? It promotes self-discipline and has a positive impact how you perceive life. Exercise helps in lifting your spirits and getting you out of any depression. For first timers, it can be done for 15 minutes for 2 to 3 days a week. You can increase the time you spend once your body gets tuned up for it.

DON'T you ever force your body! If you get hurt, then stop. You can take a break from exercising for a few days and then you can start again but you need to start from day 1.

Here are some moderate exercises you can do and enjoy:

1. Do the Walking. Make use of your surroundings. You can walk your dog, with your partner or child. Encourage your family to do the walking exercise daily and you will find yourself burning calories while enjoying the surroundings and getting enough sunlight that is also good for your body.

2. Discover the wonders of Yoga. Yoga is one effective exercise that energizes not only your body but also your soul. You may want to learn even the basic yoga positions that are not too complicated but proven effective. A five-minute yoga exercise can perk you up and recharge your body with the energy you lost for the whole day. You relax and at the same time you stretch!

3. Engage yourself into sports. Play basketball, football, baseball, tennis or badminton. Many doctors have recommended sports as an effective way to stay fit and healthy. Sports can also be done in moderation. Do not take it seriously. Shooting basketball with a friend is one moderate exercise that is also considered a sport.

4. Join exercise programs at work. If you still do not have exercises programs at work, then why not start it? You can talk to your boss about it and start with your colleagues. You do not only lose calories but it is also one good way to bond with them. This can be done 30 minutes, 3 times a week.

5. Exercise while doing household chores. Gardening, raking leaves, lawn mowing, doing the laundry, vacuuming and car washing are effective moderate exercises at home. Make use of these chores to sweat and burn calories. Instead of using machines and gadgets to perform these chores, why not do it with your hands and lose some fats?

Making exercises as part of your daily routines will surprise you of how much calories you will lose. Doing these moderate exercises of the same amount every day can burn 150 calories up to 1,000 calories a day!

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In my many years of fitness training I have noticed one common pattern among new fitness participants. Most newbies start a fitness program to "get healthy and fit" and to change a particular body part. Note the operative phrase here is particular body part. For example, it's common for men to want to lose the fat roll around the mid section ("love handles") and for women want to trim the hips.

Have you ever really observed other people in your gym? If you do, you will notice that there are a lot of men doing upper body and arm work and a lot of women doing lower body work. I recently prescribed outer and inner thigh (abductor/adductor) work to a client who was an experienced body builder. Yet he had never trained these muscles specifically because he felt these exercises "were for women"!

Yes, we've all heard for years that it's impossible to "spot reduce" by exercising the body part, but emotionally this idea is hard to own…especially for newbies. I can't tell you how many times I have given a person a weight training and aerobics style fitness program which is enthusiastically started but at the 1 month follow up it's revealed that the exerciser has thrown out exercises that did not target the imagined problem area and replaced them with extra sets of the exercises that did.

Now, take that same newbie, get him or her working out regularly and systematically for about 6 months and you get the beginnings of real body transformation. What does this mean? It means different things to different people, but to me it means BALANCE…and balance is beautiful. A body system that is in balance moves better, stands straighter (this means looking better in your clothes), can be trusted to perform physical activities longer and better and is less likely to sustain injury. Yes, the person's perceived "problem areas" change, but so do all the non-problem areas.

The most interesting thing that I've noticed is that with this body change, the newbie now truly enthusiastic about his or her changed body also has redefined goals and expectations of what it means to transform their body…and what a healthy body should look like. It's very common to hear women clients say that they had no idea that their arms could be so attractive and shapely and for men to comment that they like having legs that aren't so "skinny". These very same women started out avoiding arm work because they only were thinking about slimmer hips.

After six months or so when new trainees start to see real differences, they talk about how they feel a real sense of accomplishment (it is hard work to get there no doubt about it!). They begin to formulate new fitness goals which are surprisingly different than the ones they started with. These folks have not only begun to transform their bodies, they have transformed their thinking. Their perception of their body, or body image, has become very different.

They KNOW they look good and feel good!

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For seniors who already have pain that they are trying to heal, the prospect of purposefully adding even more pain and discomfort makes taking physical exercise seem like a bad joke and totally unreasonable.

The idea that we should feel pain after we exercise may be good for military boot camps that want to create soldiers out of young men, but as seniors, there should be a way to work around extreme exercise… and there is!

Here is a useful mini guide explaining ways to safer, pain free senior fitness how you can actually enjoy your daily physical exercise…

Swimming is popular activity that is highly recommended for no pain, with gain exercising. Being in the water relieves muscle tension, pain and swelling from arthritis, and lets your body perform resistance exercise with little tension on your joints.

It is still possible to overexert yourself and feel sore the next day, but the water makes the chances of a successful and painless workout much more possible.

Some hospitals have even built swimming pools or co-opted with gyms for pool use because swimming is such a beneficial way for seniors and those undertaking physical therapy to regain strength and fitness.

There are a few ways to make sure that you are in the right environment to engage in a no pain with gain workout. Professional gyms that employ certified instructors are a great place to start and senior fitness classes are now becoming very popular.

Silver Sneakers offer classes made specifically for seniors at various levels of fitness and ability. Many instructors will also offer modifications for exercises. If the modification information is not readily available, ask the instructor or fitness manager for it.

As long as your doctor has approved the activity or class, the instructor should be able to offer ways to keep pressure off the knees and wrists, or recommend alternate exercises for those of you using walkers or wheelchairs.

Wellness centers and weight rooms should have personal trainers on hand that can recommend the proper weight for circuit training and lifting weights. If a fitness instructor does not have this information, then consider taking a different class or going to another gym.

Luckily, many doctors and fitness enthusiasts are beginning to support seniors in the re-done no pain, no pain approach. Yoga, for example, purports that no one is supposed to feel pain during any of the postures being used.

In other words, a posture done within a person's own abilities will not be painful – after all, yoga exercises are designed to improve the body not to cause self-injury!

The benefits derived from the different types of yoga are numerous: not only does it help you improve your flexibility, focus and stamina it also helps maintain your overall general health.

Besides finding places which can offer you the proper modifications to their classes and machinery, from a mental wellness attitude, finding something enjoyable which you like to do and that is physical will also diminish any pain philosophy.

If you pick a physical activity that you consider fun, you are not likely to associate it with a need to create discomfort. For instance, if you go dancing then you should end the night feeling both rejuvenated and exhausted by the fun, not the pain, you have experienced.

Even just taking a little walk can do wonders for your fitness and general well being… not only does it revive you it may motivate you to continue exercising.

The only potential drawback to doing something that you enjoy is that you tend not to think about how much you are working your body during the exercise. Try to keep tabs on how it is feeling and remember when your body tells you it's had enough – stop and rest!

As gentle and safe as the new workouts for senior fitness are, a little soreness can still result from any physical exertion.

Counteracting soreness with some yoga or stretches will take away some of your knots and kinks. Drinking plenty of water before, during and after exercise also helps to keep sore muscles at bay.

The traditional, tried and tested remedy of a relaxing warm bath is still a favorite way to help your body alleviate any soreness until it gets accustomed to your new pain-free senior fitness program.

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A day doesn't go by without one of my clients professing that they simply don't have time for exercise. Well, I've seen people who want to loose weight badly enough. They will restrict their diets, exercise rigorously for an hour a day and even swear off alcohol – gasp – and chocolate – double gasp! So, don't give me that bull!

People shy away from exercise because they think they'll have to spend hours in a gym. To maintain good health all you need is a healthy diet and a daily walk that can be broken up into increments throughout the day.

Still don't believe me? I'll show you how easy it is to fit brief walks into your day:

1) Is Sex and the City a rerun again? It breaks my heart when that happens. Why not go for a 30-minute walk. If it's a new episode that you simply can't miss, jump rope during commercials or run on the spot.

2) Does carting the kids to hockey or baseball cut into your exercise time? Take some inspiration from Jr. and stay on your feet during the game. You'll get kudos for being the team's best cheer leader, and your butt won't expand to the size of the soccer field.

3) Are you dying to get your hands on the next best-seller? Buy it as a book-on-tape and take it walking with you. It might have you extending your stroll to finish a chapter.

4) Instead of a sumptuous brunch with the girls, try a brisk 30-minute walk with your BFF. Catching up on all the latest gossip can be just as delicious during a walk – plus it won't tempt you to cheat on your healthy eating plan.

5) Remember when people used to "run" errands? Well many of us still take that term literally. The next time you need a quart of milk, walk to the local grocer.

6) Use your lunch break as an exercise break. I go work out and then eat lunch at my desk. A brisk walk around the block will leave you more refueled for the afternoon than that third cup of coffee.

7) Do you complain about how slow your apartment elevator is? Take the faster route – the stairs. You'll burn calories in the process.

8) It's always ironic that those who circle the parking lot looking for the closest spot are often the most overweight. Park farther away where there are spots o' plenty. You'll burn extra calories lugging your groceries back to the car.

9) Have you ever heard the phrase "hurry up and wait!"? Well it's not just a humorous observation it's a great way to stay moving. The next time you're waiting in a long lineup don't take a chair, pace the floor or do a little stretching.

10) If you have no time to exercise, chances are you don't have time to clean the house either. Housework – such as dusting, vacuuming, shoveling and raking – is multitasking because it counts as exercise.

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Being physically fit is not only about conquering marathons in record time and not only about looking your best on the beach — even though looking your best is always a bonus. Being physically fit can help you live a longer, more fulfilling life, it can benefit your body, your self-esteem and help you deal with the stresses of daily life.

Isn't it ironic how you always manage to find the time to watch TV, time to catch up on your favorite program or the time to get together with friends? Yet when it comes to going to gym or getting physical, you can easily come up with at least 10 different reasons why you're either too busy or just don't have the time to break a sweat.

Making fitness part of your life should be a priority in everyone's life — it should become a daily habit, the same as brushing your teeth or taking a shower. Setting aside one hour of your day isn't much to ask when you take into account all the positive things you achieve just by being physically fit.

Apart from looking and feeling good, working out can benefit you in the following areas as well:

* Help to relieve stress, depression and anxiety * Increase your ability to concentrate, think faster and become more sharp * Help reduce blood pressure * Lower the risk of developing colon cancer * Keep your heart healthy and reduce the risk of heart disease * Help with gaining muscle, which can build and maintain strong bones * Increase flexibility, which can help prevent injury and help with muscular tension.

So next time you put off going to the gym, stop and think about all the benefits you're missing out on. Just 30 minutes to an hour of physical fitness a day can be a major health investment. And remember you don't have to be in a gym to be fit. You can enjoy fitness with your kids, your spouse, family or friends by coming up with fun, physical activities such as going for walks, swimming, mountain biking, hiking or playing golf to mention a few.

GET A PLAN

There are many great fitness plans out there that can help you get into shape and enjoy fitness, but there are also many scams that promise you the world and don't deliver. If you have spare cash on hand, get in touch with a personal trainer at your gym and take up a few sessions or visit a biokinetisist who will help you with your goals. You can also browse the Internet for reputable sites for information.

KICK START YOUR FITNESS PLAN

If you're a beginner into the world of fitness, ease into a routine by starting off slowly and gradually increase your endurance level. If you go all out on the first day, chances are you'll burn out and overwork yourself to the extent that you'll be put off fitness forever. If you're a newbie, also remember that it takes time to get into a fitness routine and the only way to reach your ideal level is be consistent and stick with the program.

MAKE TIME

The best way to ensure that you avoid the excuses-zone is to make a habit of getting your workouts done first thing in the morning. Set your alarm to wake up an hour earlier, get to the gym and from there, you can shower and head for work. By doing your workout in the morning you are more likely to put it off later due to tiredness (or laziness), plus research has shown that you burn more fat if you do your cardio sessions first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

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So then just how can you get the motivation to maintain an exercise program on a regular basis? What can you do to make exercise something to look forward to everyday and not feel like a chore, like something you feel like you have to make yourself do each time? Well, here are some ideas that just might help to make exercising a little easier and a lot more fun.

To start with, exercise with a friend. Here you can challenge each other, help each other, keep each other motivated and on track, maybe try to make each other laugh during a set or while jogging on the treadmill, make kind of a game out of it.

Try something different. If you go to the gym everyday and use the same piece of equipment or use the same piece of equipment at home try mixing up your routine. Reverse your routine or just change the order of your exercises or sometimes don't even go to the gym or use your home equipment. Go to a city park that has playground equipment. Use the slide, climb on the monkey bars, do pull-ups, hang from your knees, just use your imagination. You don't need to always have a strict routine, just get out and work your muscles.

Do an outdoor circuit in the park. Some parks have circuit courses set up with a planned course and all you have to do is walk or jog to each station and follow the instructions. If there's no planed course then do a combination of jogging and walking and pick a distance such as 200 feet. Jog 200 feet then drop and do 10 pushups, walk the next 200 feet then drop and do 20 abdominal crunches, then jog the next 200 feet and do 10 pull-ups if a bar or sturdy tree branch is available.

Try an activity like riding a bike around your neighborhood or hike on a hiking trail. A nice walk in the park or just around your neighborhood is a good way to get exercise. A little yoga in the park or on the beach is a nice relaxing way to exercise your body and your mind.

Try playing a competitive sport. Most cities have team activities such as softball, volleyball, tennis, soccer and so on. And these activities not only provide you with good exercise but also put you in circumstances to meet a lot of new people as well.

When exercising, picture your muscles. Studies have shown that if you focus your thoughts on the muscles you are working, they will respond better. Try to see them working with each repetition as they contract and relax.

As you can see, there are many ways to make getting exercise more fun and interesting. You need not always follow the standard routine of going to the gym or using your home equipment and doing the same old exercises day after day. The important thing is just that you incorporate exercise in any various forms into your everyday life and make these habits the kind of habits that will last a lifetime.

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Initially beginners should aim to complete two sets of ten to twelve reps but after a few weeks, when you have developed sufficient control and basic strength, experiment with one set of six to eight reps to failure. This will maximize your muscle growth and give you the impetus to move on to the next stage of development. Before long you'll find the use of this single piece of equipment restricting, so later in this series of articles we'll pull together a muscle boosting program that utilizes other equipment to take you to the intermediate level. In the meantime, get to work with these exercises in order to get used to working your muscles.

Start off training four days per week and work body parts on the following basis not forgetting to incorporate rest days:

Day 1 – Biceps, Back, Abs

Day 2- Hamstrings, Shoulders, Abs

Day 3 – Quads, Forearms, Calves

Day 4 – Triceps, Chest, Abs

The exercises recommended for beginners are as follows:

CHEST: Chest press

UPPER BACK: Lat pulldown, cable row

SHOULDERS: Shoulder press, upright row, cable shrug, lateral raise, front raise

TRICEPS: Kickback, pushdown

BICEPS: Standing curl

LOWER BODY: Leg press, leg extension, calf raise, lying leg curl

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By using one or two effective types of lower abdominal exercises for women, you can make sure that this important muscle group is also getting worked out effectively. Several of the exercises may require more equipment than you have readily available – however, most lower abdominal exercises are easy to do at home and do not require much extra equipment.

Effective Lower Abs Exercises For Beginners

Lying Leg Raises – Lie down on a flat bench. Raise your arms above your head and have your hands hold the edges of the bench or (if you have one) the hand-grip behind your head. With your legs slightly bent at the knee, raise them all the way up to the vertical position. Pause a second and then slowly lower them. Try not to touch the ground at the bottom. This control will keep tension on the abdominals throughout the exercise and will therefore increase the intensity. Repeat for your designated number of reps and sets.

Reverse Crunch – Lie face up on a flat exercise bench, raise your arms and firmly grasp the edge of the bench above or alongside your head. With your knees bent (and locked in this position), contract your abs and lift your hips to bring your knees in toward your chest – hold for three seconds and lower your hips back to the bench. Repeat for your designated number of reps and sets. Leg Lifts Are More Advanced Exercises For Lower Abs

First of all, the hanging leg raise is one of the most effective types of abs exercises. For this exercise, however, you're going to need a lat pull-up bar to hang from. This bar is going to need to be high enough that you can hang from it with your arms fully extended (with your hands shoulder width apart) for long enough to do the exercise – without your feet touching the floor. Then, use your abdominal muscles (you will need to focus) to move your legs up until you are sitting in the air.

Important Notes For All Abs Exercises

* Do not over train your abs. Remember that success is always a result of many efforts. Never train you abs if they are still very sore from a previous workout. Mildly sore is okay.

* Keep your abs pulled in tight through each repetition to get the maximum benefit of each rep.

* Keep your range of motion between 30-45 degrees from the floor or bench (the horizontal position). This helps to minimize the hip-flexor area movement and makes sure that the abs get their full workout.

* Always keep your spine, neck, head and shoulder in alignment to prevent strains.

* When you do sit-ups and crunches, or any other exercise that requires your hands to be behind your head, never interlock your fingers as this causes you to pull on your head and will put your spine out of alignment – which may cause strains to your spine.

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