What is power walking? It’s a form of walking that uses your upper body as well as your legs, and it means you are using a lot more calories and getting a far better workout in terms of cardiovascular fitness and mus­cular toning. It’s a lot of fun, especially if you can get together with a few friends to keep you company.

1. Start off with five minutes of normal walking. Stop for a moment and stretch out your muscles.

2. Set off again and gather pace. Try to get into a steady rhythm of strides, and bring in your breathing so that you breathe in to four strides and out to six. As you get more puffed you might want to reduce this to in for two counts and out for four. See how you go.

3. Now add arm movements, something like these:

- Sixteen bicep curls (elbow bends). Go ‘up-down’, one to each strike of the foot.

- Pectoral presses. With elbows at shoulder height, bring hands and elbows to touch and then out again. One movement to each foot stride. Do sixteen.

- Chest presses. Start with hands at shoulder level, reach for the sky and bring down again. Do sixteen.

- Lateral raises. Start with arms hanging down. Raise elbows to the side and lower. Do sixteen.

Drop your arms and keep walking for a minute to rest. Start again, and do the complete sequence of movements, sixteen bicep curls, sixteen pectoral presses, sixteen chest presses and sixteen lateral raises. It is quite tiring, but very good for you, and you’re getting slimmer and fitter all the time. Keep resting and repeating, and keep up your walk for at least twenty minutes.

You will find power walking most exhilarating, and I do urge you to try it out today. If it’s raining or otherwise inclement, you can always find and indoor track or even go to the mall in the early mornings and power walk there.

Always remember, don’t worry about how silly you might look or what people might think of you while doing your exercise. It’s what you look like when you’re dressed up and going out that counts, and you’re going to look so great after all this exercise that you’ll forget all about appearing silly.

By Barbara Johnson
If you enjoyed this topic you may want to consider a career in healthcare as a nurse, for more information you can visit my website which covers CNA Training and passing your CNA certification nursing exam.

The good news is that you don’t have to lose your hearing as you age. The bad news is, you probably will – unless you limit your exposure to high noise levels.

The most preventable cause of hearing loss is the cumulative effect of noise.

Use the following suggestions and decibel (dB) chart to help you gauge your regular exposure to noise and reduce your cumulative risk of hearing loss:

* Wear ear plugs when operating noisy equipment (i.e. lawn mower, motorboat or power tools).
* Set car, home and portable stereos to below half volume. Beware of music levels in exercise classes, concerts and bars.
* Look for a product recommended for quiet operation when shopping for a fan, air conditioner or other household appliance.
* Don’t buy noisy toys. Some toy musical instruments emit dangerous sound levels, while cap guns and firecrackers, exploding near the ear, can damage hearing even if you only hear them once.
* Any noise which makes your ears ring, a condition called tinnitus, is too loud.
* Protect your ears if you hunt or shoot guns. Acoustic trauma – immediate, severe and persistent hearing loss – is directly linked to gunfire.
* If your workplace is noisy, ensure that ear protectors are provided, and wear them.
* Make sure printers, copiers and other noisy office machines aren’t grouped together.
* Wear ear plugs at rock concerts.
* Avoid places where you cannot talk comfortably with another person who is three feet away.
* Wear ear protectors for loud hobbies like snowmobiling or woodworking.

How Loud is Too Loud? Use this Decibel Chart to Gauge Noise Level Effects

Common Noise Levels

* Normal breathing, 10 dB – Just audible
* Quiet office, refrigerator, 50 dB – Comfortable
* Vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, inside a car, 70 dB – Intrusive, interferes with telephone conversation
* Average city traffic, alarm clock, 80 dB – Annoying, intrusive, interferes with conversation
* Electric razor, many industrial work places, 85 dB

Level at which hearing damage (8 hours) begins

* Subway, motorcycle, lawn mower, 90 dB – Very annoying
* Average portable cd player set above half volume, 95 dB – Repeated exposure risks permanent hearing loss
* Chain saw, subway train, garbage truck, 100 dB – Damage after 15 minutes exposure
* Inboard motorboat, power saw, highly amplified rock music, pneumatic drill, 110 dB

Regular exposure of 1 minute risks permanent hearing loss

* Thunderclap (nearby), jet engine (at take off), very loud nightclub, 120 dB – Threshold of pain
Shotgun firing, air-raid siren, 130 dB – May cause acoustic trauma
Chart Source: Canadian Hearing Society Foundation

Noise pollution is increasing, with city noise doubling every decade. However, by limiting the noise that you and your children are exposed to, you can help protect yourself, and them, from future hearing loss.

Copyright © 2005-2010 Jane Lake All Rights Reserved

Dumbbells (DBs) are a great way to get a cardio workout at home (or anyplace else you want to take them, for that matter). A few sets of mult-joint movements like squats, rows, or the like not only will help you build muscle, but also get you huffing and puffing better than any cardio workout. Do some full-body exercises like clean & press, snatch, or swing, and you’ve upped the ante just that much more. And by looking around classifieds, Craigslist, eBay, garage sales, or even buying them new, you can get plates for adjustable DB handles for super cheap. It’s the best of two worlds – great benefits at a great price!

However, the “spin-lock” handles you often often (the kind that have threaded ends with a star-like collar that spin onto the end like a giant nut on a bolt) can be kind of “iffy”. They come loose easily, and can often be dangerous. And the handles themselves are often cheaply made – they can bend, or the grip in the center of the handle will move around or get torn up. Because of all this, I recommend just building your own. It’s easier than you think, takes only a few minutes, will cost you less than $10, and best of all, when you’re done, you’ll have a super safe set of DB handles.

First, go to Lowes, Home Depot, or someplace similar. Go to the plumbing dept, and buy two length of galvanized tubing, each one being roughly 14-16″ long. The diameter of the tubing will be roughly one inch. Hint – take a small weight plate with you to test fit the tubing into the hole of the weight plate so you know what you’re getting will work.

After getting your tubing, you’ll need to also purchase 8 hose clamps (like you’d put on rubber hose or tubing). If you don’t have any sort of industrial strength brush-on glue or epoxy, pick up some of that, too. Then, on you way home, stop by a pharmacy or department store and pick up some athletic tape. You now have all you need.

When you get home, take one of the pieces of tubing, and mark the very center, length-wise. From here, measure out 2.5-3 inches each direction and make a mark. Place hose clamps on these marks – these will be your inner “collars” (you’ll be gripping the handle between these clamps). Brush some epoxy on the clamps and let dry. Repeat with the other piece of tubing. When you’re done, you should have 4 hose clamps left over.

After the epoxy has dried, wrap athletic tape around the center of your handle where your hand will go. Wrap until comfortable. Hint – the thicker you make the handle, the more of a grip workout you’ll get. You’re now ready to use your DB handles. Load weight plates onto each side evenly, and slide one collar onto each side. Tighten with a screwdriver, and repeat with the other handle. You’re now ready to get into kickass shape, it cost you hardly anything, and took hardly no time!

For cardio workouts and workout plans that don’t need gyms, machines, or make you run a single step, check out workingclasscardioworkout.com.

Foods high in fiber and low in fat and calories have low point values on the Weight Watchers plan. Foods with excess fat, low fibre and lots of sugar can use up your daily points in a hurry.

You can use the following Weight Watchers Points Calculator to help determine the number of points in certain foods. Just enter the calorie count plus the amount of fibre and fat, and the calculator will give you a point value for that item. Most packaged foods will have this nutrional information printed on the label.

The chart on the right shows the typical Weight Watchers daily points allowance, based on body weight.

To lose one pound of body weight per week, you will need to consume 500 less calories per day. The BMR calculator is just part of the equation. Check our other fitness tools and calculators to track the number of calories you are eating, and the amount you are using in daily activities.

The BMI is widely used as a diagnostic tool to identify the statistical degree of obesity in individuals and groups. Use the chart to the right of the calculator as a quick visual check of where your body mass level falls – the normal, healthy range is indicated in yellow.

To use our BMI Calculator, simply enter your height in feet and inches, and your body weight in pounds. Or you can use the metric units tab if you are more familiar with international metric units.