Are You Stacked?

Nowadays, more and more people are turning to a healthier lifestyle for better health. Yoga is becoming increasingly popular, but are you really getting your money's worth out of that Ashtanga class? If yoga is not enough for you, how about Pilates? These aren't the only options on the market- there are lots of other types of exercise like working out with kettlebells or spinning. Are these exercise programs really worth the time?

As I have said before, exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Exercise helps keep you in shape and can help lower your risk of many serious health conditions. Even if you are not overweight, regular exercise greatly lowers your chances of developing heart disease and can decrease the chances for high blood pressure.  Other health benefits include: lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, lowering blood sugar, reducing high levels of stress hormones and helping to prevent depression. Physical activity also improves muscle strength which may help with potential injury during physical activity or sports. So why does this concern us?  Well, we worry about our kids.  They could be using Mommy's credit card to purchase a "watermelon supplement" and then be missing Phys Ed because they are too busy popping vitamins and discover that they don't have enough endorphins.  This particular fear is not unfounded- obesity is the fastest growing health epidemic in America, with one third of all adults being overweight and another third being obese. The reality is that most kids, if allowed, would exercise voluntarily.  But are their results truly worth the time?

I think everyone has an idea of what "exercise" means.