20 Minute Home Work Out By: Diana Statham

If you are busy, not able to get up early morning or have no time for gym just follow this 20 minute home work out to stay healthy and fit.

1) Jog : in one place for 3 minutes

2) Jumping jacks: 25 repeats
When landing, bend your knees slightly to reduce the impact on knee joints.

3) Crunches : 15 repeats
Lie flat on your back with your knees bent. Place your hands behind your head with elbows pointing outwards. Support your neck with your hands. Keep your neck in a straight line with your spine. Flex your waist to raise the upper torso from the mat. Lower yourself until the back of your shoulders touches the mat.
Muscle worked: rectus abdominis

4) Hip Bridges : 10 repeats
Lie on your back. With your hands at a 90 degree angle to the floor, lift your body off the floor to form a straight line, a sort of a bridge, from the shoulders to the knee. The position should resemble a table. Your hands and legs as the legs of the table and your upper body to your knees as the surface. Hold this position for two seconds. Squeeze your gluteus (butt muscles) and then lower yourself.
Muscle worked: Lower back, hamstrings and gluteus.

5) Step - up's : 1 minute
You will need a stepper for this.
Muscle worked: hamstrings, gluteus, quards.

6) Reverse crunches: 15 repeats
Lie on your back with your hands on your sides. Keep you knees bent. Bring your knees towards your head, till your hips come slightly off the floor. Hold this position for a second, and then lower your knees.
Muscle worked: lower abs and obliques.

7) Mountain climbers : 1 minute
Get your hands and knees and raise your knees like a starting block sprinter. Run in that position, supporting your upper body with the palms of your hands. Keep your back straight.
Muscle worked: triceps, deltoid muscle, gluteus, quards, hamstrings, calves.

8) Push - ups : 15 repeats
Muscle worked: triceps, deltoids, pectorals.

9) Squat thrusts: 1 minute
Stand straight. Now, drop to a crouch position. Immediately thrust your legs out straight behind on your toes, in push up position, now jump to pull legs back to the chest, in crouching position , then stand up straight,
Muscle worked: arms, legs, chest, and lower back.

Cool down by walking around, till your heart rate starts getting back to normal, stretch.

A minutes rest is needed in between exercise. Proper form is important. Do not hold breath. Sip water during the workout. This workout targets the whole body, improves cardiovascular efficiency and tones and strengthens the body.

Author Bio
Diana for http://www.health-care-information.org Offers information on various health topics such as diseases, injuries, and medical tests.

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How to Obtain Optimal Health

By: Monique Hawkins

You should already know that nutrition is very important to your quality of life. If you want to have a healthy life and lifestyle, you will need to have a healthy diet with proper nutrition. You might hear all the time that your nutrition greatly affects the way you live and your quality of life but have you ever really thought about why? Do you really understand why it is so important?

If you really want to take the steps to live the long life that you deserve and to be as healthy as possible and enjoy those years, than you need to learn all you can about the importance of optimal nutrition. What you eat really affects your body and health.

1. What is optimal nutrition?

2. What nutrients do you need to be healthy?

3. What foods give you these nutrients? Importance of Optimal Nutrition Optimal nutrition is very important to your overall health and fitness. Studies have shown that people can actually live longer if they have healthy nutrition.

It is proven that there is a link between optimal nutrition and long life and long term health. If you take a look at society, you will notice an increasingly large number of people that are overweight and obese. You will also see problems such as poor teeth and acne, dry, brittle skin, dry hair and other problems.

You will find many people on medications for headache, stomach problems, acid reflux, constipation, heart disease, high blood pressure and more. What may be more alarming than the high amount of medications is the fact that most people receive very little information about what is actually causing their disease or condition. Instead, they get a pill.

What many people never know is that what they are eating (or not eating) can be causing these health problems. You also need to understand that you will have to make changes and adjustments to your intake over the years and stages of your life. Just like toddlers need a different diet from teenagers, you also need to alter your diet as you continue through all of life's stages.

Understanding what is best for you through each stage of your life is the best way to remain in optimal health.

Micro and Macronutrients Many people hear that they need proper nutrition but just what does that mean exactly? What nutrients do you need to be healthy? Optimal nutrition will include a variety of different micronutrients and macronutrients. Micronutrients include certain vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Macronutrients include carbohydrates, proteins and fats that make up the foods you eat.

There is too often a lot of myth surrounding the nutrients, our bodies and how we use these nutrients. This is why it is very important that you get all the facts when planning to change your lifestyle and diet. Many people are suffering from malnutrition and may not even know it. Many overweight individuals may be suffering from malnutrition. Just because you are eating does not mean you are eating the right things.

Micronutrients are the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that your body needs to be healthy. The specific ones and amounts of each will depend on your body, sex, age and other factors. Every person is different so there is not one set plan that works for everyone. You need to learn what works for you. As you change, grow older, etc. this will change again and you will continue to have to adjust this.

Macronutrients are the carbs, proteins and fats that you get from foods. The amounts of these that you need will vary as well. This is where many myths come in about what you should or should not eat. The facts are that too much of anyone can be bad and not enough can be bad. It's all about finding a balance. This means those "All-Carb" or "No Carb" diets that are so popular on the market are really not the best thing for you.

What you choose to ingest in your body has a big impact on your overall health and your general well-being. People now eat more fast foods and frozen dinners and other quick meals that are not very nutritious at all. Some of these foods even have additives in them that can make them addictive so that you want more and more. People typically eat out of hunger and many of these foods do not work to satisfy your hunger leaving you wanting more or something else. Yet, they still have many calories and fat and other things that your body does not need.

Make the Committment If you are serious in obtaining optimal health to the best of your ability, then take a look at your lifestyle in general. Are you eating the right foods? Are you exercising? Are you getting plenty of fresh air on a daily basis? Do you have positive relationships? If you find yourself answering "no" to these questions, then make the commitment to change.

Talk with your family, friends, or a nutritionist. Check to see if there are support groups in your area related to health and lifestyle changes. Look into joining your local gym. Do your research and then purchase the right nutritional supplements that will help you achieve your goals. If you at least try to make a change in one area, more are sure to follow! You are now on your way to optimal health.

Author Bio

Monique Hawkins is an Associate with USANA Health Sciences. One of her passions is encouraging and supporting others to obtain optimal health and wellness. Visit her USANA website at www.whyusana.com/mhawkins and her new music box website at www.my-music-box.com

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Educated Choice - How to Control your Health Care Costs

By: Cathy Aguirre

How to control health care costs continues to dominate discussions among benefit administrators, chief financial officers, CEOs, insurance brokers and health benefit companies. When you lower your costs, your employees often react by thinking they will receive fewer benefits.

Offering a choice of plans, having a sensible contribution strategy and providing employee education can hold costs down and satisfy employees.

Choice, choice, choice

Offering a choice in benefit plans, choice in network access and choice in monthly costs are some of the best ways to keep health care costs affordable. Whether you have 20 employees or 1,000, find a health benefits company that can offer you several plans for employees to choose from.

Typically, employers offer very little choice in health benefit plans. Successful benefit administrators understand that every employee has unique health care needs. Why not offer employees three or four plans to choose from?

The level of benefits employees choose will relate directly to how much they utilize health care services and what they can afford. Most health benefit companies offer the following types of plans.

Traditional HMO

Lowest-cost plan, all care is coordinated by a primary care physician; employee must stay in network

Open access

A slightly higher-priced plan allowing the employee the freedom to selfrefer to specialists in the network. More freedom equals a higher cost.

Point of Service (POS)

A less affordable plan for most, with more freedom; employee can access HMO benefits/network and/or pay higher co-insurance and choose any doctor

Preferred Provider Organization plan (PPO)

Greatest freedom, highest cost; total network access and out-of-network benefit, self-refer to specialist

Developing a contribution strategy Now that you have decided to partner with a carrier that can offer your employees the choices they need, how do you stay within your company's budget? The answer is simple - be fair and consistent by implementing a defined contribution strategy that fits your company's budget. This process can be accomplished in two easy steps.

1. Determine what dollar amount per employee your business can afford.

2. Select a carrier that can offer you four plans that will satisfy your employees' health care needs.

Here's an example of how a defined contributions strategy could work for you (based on a health benefits budget of $180 per employee, per month).

In the example in the chart above, your company accomplished two very important goals: You controlled your company's costs and you offered your employees choices.

With a defined contributions strategy, your employees are responsible for evaluating what they need and how much they are willing to pay.

A choice of plans with a defined contribution strategy is two-thirds of the employer's cost saving equation. By adding employee education, you could see a change in behavior that can lead to significant savings. The more informed employees are about the true cost of health care and how their choices directly affect their pocketbook, the more likely they are to become "partners" in controlling costs.

Most health benefit carriers provide members with an Explanation of Benefits for all claims processed, which contains the cost of services. Web-based tools offer plan information and are user-friendly. At workshops and mandatory open enrollment educational meetings, employees can speak directly with a carrier representative.

As health insurance premiums continue to rise and more employers face very difficult decisions, offering a choice of plans can keep your employees happy and satisfy your bottom line.

Author Bio

CATHY AGUIRRE, vice president of account services for VISTA, has more than 18 years of experience in managed care marketing. Aguirre provides leadership for all of VISTA's commercial accounts, which include Broward County government, The School Board of Broward County, Broward Sheriff's Office, Miami-Dade Government, Sears, Walgreen's and United Airlines. Reach her at (954) 965-3471 or cathy.aguirre@vistahealthplan.com.

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