Beebleblog

High blood pressure is considered as anything above 140/90. There are an increasing number of people suffering from high blood pressure and the advice is often to take up gentle exercise and reduce the intake of saturated fats and generally improve one’s diet. All good stuff but did you know that there are a few exercises out there that could make your condition much worse?

Train within your limits

If you have high blood pressure then one of the most important purchases for your exercise regime is a heart rate monitor. There is a huge difference between exercise designed to improve your heart’s strength and function and just going all out to try and push yourself to achieve your fitness goals. As a general rule any training you do should be between 65% and 75% of your maximum heart rate.

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The weight loss drug rimonabant (known under various brand names, including Acomplia) has recently been approved for use by the National Health Service in the UK. It has not been approved for use in the US due to fears about its safety.

Tell me more…

Well, the drug was first launched in 2006 and is currently being used in 56 countries, the UK, Germany and France being the highest consumers of this product. Up until now rimonabant has only been available privately in the UK. The drug was developed when it was discovered that cannabis smokers often experienced increased appetites. Scientists believed that if substances from cannabis that stimulated the appetite could be blocked then the reverse might happen: a reduction in appetite, making this a type of hunger suppressant drug.

So what are the dangers?

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For this post I have handed the writing baton over to my lovely wife, Nicky. Whilst I do consider myself an expert (very modest of you – Beeble) in all things fitness related I feel that Nicky has slightly more experience in this department than myself, enjoy – Hugo

OK ladies, you have the high performance trainers suitable for your workout (whether it be cross trainers or running trainers), you have your sexy sporty flattering Lycra trousers and a good quality sports’ top, gym membership paid for or the tennis court booked and your favourite “kick ass” music on the ipod – you are ready to go……..NO! Wait….what about your sports’ bra? You have put all this effort into everything else to help you achieve your goals and that’s great, but it won’t look so good if one of your most important assets are hanging down by your knees giving you a bad back. A slight exaggeration however gravity is not your “breast” friend and if you don’t invest in a good sports’ bra you will be losing the lifelong battle with gravity.

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I don’t know how many of you are familiar with dumbbells and weights being thrown around by people in the gym: bashing them on the floor and slamming them together. It’s a way to prove to everyone how much weight they are lifting, a way to release anger and quite obviously to me it’s a way to show everyone that they are just not strong enough to control the weights correctly.

My Opinion

I believe that if you can’t control the weight properly when returning them to the floor then you have picked a weight that is far too heavy for you. I do agree that, for example, the dumbbell chest press is a much stronger movement than say the bicep curl and so you will choose a heavier weight for some exercises than others and therefore it will be difficult to place the weights down carefully after completing your chest press burn out. However if you are that strong on your chest and that weak on your arms then there is a strength imbalance between the muscle groups or a co-ordination imbalance, either of which means that you could be heading for an injury.

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Cholesterol is a fat called “lipid” which plays a vital part in allowing the body to function properly. It insulates our nerve fibres, is an essential part of our hormones and it also helps the body to produce bile salts.

It is processed in the liver from the fatty foods that we eat, it forms the outer layer of every cell in the body and molecules called lipoproteins carry the cholesterol in the blood . There are 2 main types of lipoproteins: LDL and HDL. LDL (Low Density Lipoprotien) is the bad artery clogging cholesterol; HDL (High Density Lipoprotien) is the “good cholesterol” that help to carry fatty acids and cholesterol away from the arteries straight to the liver.

The risks of high Cholesterol

If your LDL cholesterol levels are too high it can cause narrowing of your arteries, heart attacks and strokes. In high concentrations when cholesterol is released from the liver into the intestines for re-absorbtion it can cause gallstones.

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