Recent Blog Posts

  14 Things to do if You Feel Tired and Sore After Working Out   You've pushed yourself to the limit -- jogging, lifting, dancing or whatever it is you do to exercise -- and have no sooner wiped the sweat from your brow when it hits you: sore muscles and fatigue ... the variety that make you wonder, "Why am I doing this to myself?!" It's normal to "feel the burn" during your workout, but afterward you should feel energized -- not tired and sore. What causes sore muscles and fatigue after a workout? Many things, but often it occurs because you've exerted yourself and your body needs time to adjust. To be fair, muscles soreness often doesn't occur for 12 to 36 hours after a workout. This type of soreness, called delayed-onset muscles soreness (DOMS), is more likely to happen when you've just intensified your workout or started a new activity. It's caused either by a buildup of energy waste products in the muscles or microscopic tears in muscle fibers. With DOMS, you may think you're out of [...]

  Seven Ways to Prevent Injuries to Your Eyes   Over 1 million Americans suffer from eye injuries each year, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), and 90 percent of them could be prevented by taking the appropriate safety precautions. Some 90 percent of eye injuries could be avoided if safety precautions were taken, according to AAO. We do come equipped with a bit of protection in the form of eyelids, eyelashes, tears and a bony facial structure, but when it comes to flying debris, chemicals, ultraviolet light, sports and more, these protections simply aren't enough. What are the most common causes of eye injuries? Accidents, according to an Eye Injury Snapshot conducted by AAO, caused 84 percent of injuries. Specifically, injuries were most likely to be caused by: Projectiles Blunt objects Fingers, fists or other body parts Sharp objects What is it worth to you to protect your sight? Just taking a few minutes to read through the seven safety tips below can protect your eyes whether you're at home, at work or anywhere in between. Wear [...]

  Labor Day: It's More Than Just a Day Off of Work   Most people are familiar with the concept of Labor Day. After all, it's one of the few national holidays that nearly everyone gets off from work and school, and it's the last long weekend of summer before the start of fall. Labor Day is a holiday meant to honor and celebrate the American worker. But if you look back into the history of Labor Day, you'll find that it's much more than just a day off of work -- it's a holiday meant to celebrate the labor movement and its achievements, and all the contributions that working people have made to the United States. How Labor Day Came About If you were a worker in the late 1800s, chances are high that you'd have worked 12-hour days, seven days a week in poor working conditions. It wouldn't matter if you were a child, either, as children also worked long hours for little pay. Unions sprung up around this time to help Americans secure a better quality of [...]

  Is Sitting Bad for Your Health … and Waistline? What the Surprising Research Reveals   As you read this, you’re probably sitting -- a motion done by all of us countless times a day. We sit to eat, to work, to relax, to converse, to socialize … to engage in infinite moments of our lives. Sitting for too long may contribute to heart disease, diabetes and obesity! Yet as research would have it, this very simple and often necessary act could be insidiously harmful to your health in a surprising number of ways. "Chair time is an insidious hazard because people haven't been told it's a hazard," Marc Hamilton, Ph.D., a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Missouri in Columbia, told Ivanhoe Broadcast News. According to Hamilton, numerous studies show rates of heart disease, diabetes and obesity are doubled and even tripled in people who sit a lot. Part of the problem with sitting is that it stops the circulation of lipase, an enzyme that breaks down fats. So instead of being burned by your muscles, when [...]

  Your Willpower is Like a Muscle … How to Train Yours to be Strong   You've been good all day -- whole-grain oatmeal for breakfast, a salad for lunch, fresh veggies as a snack … but now come dinner that cheeseburger and fries is calling your name. Or maybe you got to work early, stayed late finishing up a major project and now feel like going home to veg on the couch instead of hitting the gym. Challenging your willpower regularly will help to keep it strong. Is it coincidence that when we've been pushing our willpower to the max, urging ourselves to keep going on that diet, work schedule, exercise routine, cleaning schedule or you name it … it seems we can only go so long before we need a break? Not at all. In fact, you only have so much willpower so when you use it for one task you have less leftover to use on the next. What Science Says About Willpower Researchers from McMaster University used a Stroop test designed to deplete the self-regulatory capacity [...]

  EXCESSIVE INNER-Hygiene: Dangers of Killing Good Bacteria You Need to Stay Healthy Your body’s immune system is built to fight off bacteria, germs, viruses, parasites and disease. And for centuries it has been doing just that, getting naturally exposed to germs in the environment and getting a workout by fighting them off. Children who grow up on farms, in large families, or with pets may be less likely to develop allergies and asthma. Why? Because they’re exposed to more dirt and germs at a young age. In modern times, however, exposure to germs is not what it used to be. Children receive vaccinations from early on, which means their immune systems will not have to fight off illnesses like polio or measles. Antibiotics, too, fight bacterial infections for you so your immune system is off the hook. Our homes are also often doused with antibacterial cleansers, while we wash our hands with antibacterial soaps. And our indoor environments are typically sealed off with airtight windows and doors designed to save energy, but which concentrate allergens inside. Even our diets [...]