Why Wear Weights?

We all know that exercise increases the amount of exertion and calorie burn. Adding additional weight to the exercise increases exertion, work load and the amount of calories burned. Plus, the extra weight affects the muscles involved to work against the resistance (weights) which builds muscle tone/size, strength and fitness.

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Wearing Body Togs for Legs

 

     

      Body Togs for Legs

When you wear Body Togs for Legs, you are increasing your energy expenditure and encouraging weight loss. Wearing these comfortable, anatomically designed weighted sleeves also encourages strong bone density. You will notice increased tone and strength in your muscles! Put them on in the morning and wear them all day under your pants. You will forget you even have them on, until you realize that you are feeling a bit tired, then you remember, "That's right, I have my Body Togs on!" Body Togs are hand washable, and adjustable with Velcro closures.

8% off Body Togs for Legs with Shipping Included - $54.95

Ankle Weights - Good or Bad?

Ankle weights have their good and bad attributes. It is understandable and reasonable to use added resistance in the form of ankle weights to help in athletic training and rehabilitation. Ankle weights are best suited for adding resistance to an exercise regime, such as during calisthenics, leg lifts, and various stationary exercises that focus on individual muscle groups.

Where exercisers can run into trouble is when they wear ankle weights during aerobic activities, such as walking, running and aerobics class. They can create a strain on the joints and cause injury to the ligaments and tendons in the leg. Improper use of ankle weights during aerobic exercise can result in acute and chronic overuse injuries such as tendinitis. Since women tend to have slimmer and more flexible ankles, adding ankle weights to aerobic exercise increases the risk of sprained ankles or worse, torn ligaments.

Aerobic dance classes use open chain movements. This means that your foot is in a “free” position, and thus subject to shearing forces. The ACL or anterior cruciate ligament is very sensitive to these shearing forces. Therefore, adding weight may likely cause a tear.

A new leg weight has been designed by Ayaz Virji, MD, called Body Togs. These weighted sleeves are designed to be “anatomically correct”, distributing the added weight around the major muscle groups in the same way the body is used to feeling weight. When you examine your own lower leg muscles, you will feel the gastrocnemius and soleus, fleshy muscles of the calf. The leg Body Togs have the added weights sewn into place in similar anatomical structure, wrapping around the leg, very much like the placement of the major muscle groups in the lower leg, adding extra weight only where the leg is accustomed to experiencing weight.

If you look at the bones of the lower leg, particularly the tibia, notice that the front ridge of the bone actually feels rather sharp, almost like a spine. This is an area where a lot of ligaments insert and you are not supposed to have excessive weight distributed there. In the design of the Body Tog for legs, there are no additional weights applied in this area. The area just below the knee is called the tibia tuberosity and is the attachment point of the patellar tendon. This area is susceptible to injury and is protected by the Body Togs’ design, with a band of extra padding. No weights are placed in this area, which further protect it from injury.

Body Togs are designed to wear under your clothing during regular activities of daily living including exercise. They enhance muscle toning and fitness while at the same time they increase calorie and fat burning. This helps you to stay fit and helps your muscles stay more toned and defined. BodyTogs do this in a very easy way by just putting them on, almost like a sock, you basically forget about them. Wear them everyday under your clothing. No one will know you are wearing them.

Body Togs benefit many people, from the competitive athlete who wants to shave off that second in their 100 meter run or the new mother who wants to take off some weight after giving birth. By wearing Body Togs she will burn more calories and tone her muscles again. Even the working professional who during their day to day life doesn’t have as much time to hit the gym as much as they want can benefit from the enhanced calorie burning and muscle toning by wearing the weighted sleeves everyday under their clothing. No one will know they are wearing them.

Basically, BodyTogs are made for a far reaching group of people who want to safely add the extra calorie burn and muscle toning to their daily life in addition to eating an appropriate diet. They enhance calorie burn, performance and muscle tone without causing any undue strain on the body as ankle weights can.

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Osteoporosis Prevention

Osteoporosis is the slow, progressive loss of bone mass threatening 44 million Americans (80% of those affected are women), which occurs without symptoms or pain until a person's bone starts to break, typically in the hip, spine or wrist.

For stronger, healthier bones, follow these simple prevention strategies:

• Consume enough calcium, 1,000 to 1,300 milligrams of calcium daily, through foods or supplements.
• Don't skip the Vitamin D - 400 to 800 IUs  (Some calcium supplements include Vitamin D right in it).
• Do weight-bearing exercises like walking, jogging, stair climbing, dancing or weightlifting on a regular basis. Don't forget to check out Body Togs and the Walkvest on my website.
• Eat a healthy, well balanced diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, fiber & low fat dairy products.
• Quit smoking! Smoking is a leading risk factor for osteoporosis as well as heart disease, lung cancer and many other life-threatening conditions.
• Limit your alcohol intake to no more than 1 or 2 drinks per day.
• Get screened. Bone density screening is fast and painless.  If it is found that you have significant bone loss, medications are available and highly effective in reducing the risk of fracture.

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Doing the Work

When I look at the history of the human race, I can’t help but realize the complexity and realities of how exactly our human condition has evolved. What did we do, or have to do for survival and how have our body machines adapted and perfected themselves though the millennia?

I think it is obvious that our bodies have thrived on a plant and meat & fish based diet. For most of our time on the earth, we ate uncooked foods, foraged for what was local and scavenged everything we could find. Life around areas with quantities of fruit, berries and nut trees where frequented often. Fish was secured from waters and along with the nuts from the trees, our bodies learned to thrive with the omega-3s they contained.

Our mode of transportation, for most of our existence, touches the ground as we walk. Our bodies were accustomed to walking long distances, to travel and search for food. We got in our exercise back then. We lifted, carried and ran during hunting and escapes. Only until we incorporated the help of animals did we begin to lighten our burden.

So, our life back then could have been thought of as “a burden.” As our brains grew larger, our tendency to find a way to “ease our burden” was the basis for growth, ingenuity and progress. Between then and now we have come a long way. All progress through civilization has been driven by man’s desire to ease his burden and make survival easier.

I would estimate that this “desire to ease burden” can be translated to the penchant of today’s human to not want to do the work, or in other terms, be a bit lazy. I don’t like to interpret the word, “lazy” as a moral deficit, but rather a propensity that lurks deep within our brain as an instinctual inclination. That inclination was the driving force in the human race that spurred on invention & innovation, leading to the modern world we have today.

We wrestle with this lazy propensity on a daily basis. Wouldn’t we like to not have to get up when the alarm clock rings, or go to work, do the chores, and last but not least, exercise to keep our bodies healthy? Oh, I know I am going to find a lot of people who’ll say, “I’m not lazy!” because our society has branded the word lazy as a negative term. But if everyone was honest, they’d admit that they really don’t want to put out the work.

Herein lye the invention of many, many work lessening contraptions. But to burn the calories and build the muscle, you must be willing to do the work. This is an inescapable
fact. Calories in through nutrition versus calories out through work is the formula. It’s a balancing act.

This must be the reason why I am so intrigued with products like, Body Togs, Weighted Vests and Toning Shoes by Sketcher, MBT & Reebok. For all except the Toning Shoes, these increase your calorie burn, muscle tone & bone density. The Toning shoes impact calories burned and muscle tone. And to think that they do these things without our conscious effort. We are putting out the extra effort and work, but while going about activities we would normally partake in, like walking. Body Togs are wearable weighted sleeves worn on your calves and forearms that increase resistance while you are going about your day! You can find Body Togs for Arms & Legs and a variety of Weighted Vests at: http://www.WomensPersonalFitness.net.

So I guess I am just as “lazy” as everyone else. The idea of “Wearing my workout where ever I go!” is very appealing to me.