TO CHECK YOUR HIPS, just look down: If your toes point out instead of straight ahead as you stand or walk, your hip muscles may be overworked and under-stretched. Everything from too much running to too much sitting can cause tightness that may lead to injuries. Loosen up with this move from Jill Miller, creator of the DVD Yoga Tune Up Quickfix Rx:

Hip Stretch: Sumo Skater:

Stand with feet wide, toes pointing forward. Squat down to touch the floor (if you can’t reach, place hands on yoga blocks or a step). Keep back long and flat. Slowly shift from side to side, straightening the
opposite leg and stretching hips, thighs, buttocks, and groin. Hold for 3 seconds on each side. Repeat for 1 minute, completing about 10 stretches. Do at least once —Jessica Cassity

62% …

The decrease in heart disease risk you’ll achieve by climbing stairs for just 7 minutes throughout the day.

So skip that next elevator ride !!
?

INTERVAL TRAINING is the speediest way to burn fat and now new research shows that you don’t have to push yourself until you’re breathless to reap the benefits. According to Canadian scientists, exercisers who performed less-intense intervals still increased key metabolism-reviving enzymes by as much as 29% in just 6 workouts over 2 weeks. Best of all, it takes just 20 minutes a session, and you only have to push yourself to go hard for 8 minutes of it.

20 minute fat burning Blast:

Do the routine below every other day using your favorite cardio activity, such as jogging or biking. For the “Push It” interval, increase to a vigorous pace; you should be able to talk but need to take a breath after every few words. For the ‘Go Easy” portions, slow down to a comfortable pace.

[table id=8 /]

—By Natalie Gingerich

If there are flotation tools handy, try…

Kickboard Laps

Target your fat-burning leg and butt muscles. You’ll easily glide through the water with a kick – board or noodle in hand. Practice different types of kicking: flutter (alternating legs), dolphin (legs together, mermaid style), and breaststroke (frog kicks), suggests Paul Smith, swimming instructor and fitness specialist at Lake Austin Spa Resort in Anstin, TX.

Deepwater Jogging

Burn a whopping 750 calories an hour. Hold a noodle or slip on a flotation belt or vest (available at most pools). “Run” as hard as you can for 30 to 60 seconds, bringing knees toward chest and pumping your arms. Do 10 sets, recovering your breath between sprints, suggests exercise physiologist and triathlon coach Ben Greenfleld of Spokane, WA.

A Beach Ball Workout

Tone your arms and shoulders—no throwing (or catching) required. Trying to submerge a ball that floats really works your core and upper body. Experiment with different movements to vary the muscles targeted, says Sanders. For example, press a small ball down in front of you with bent arms, then move it to the side and straighten arms.

If you don’t want to get your hair wet, try…

Backward Motion

Work more muscles for speedier results. Research shows that water walking or jogging in reverse engages more muscles in your legs and back than going forward (83% more quads, 61% more lower back, and 47% more calves).

Shuffle Slides

Slim down saddlebags. To tone your inner and outer thighs, shuffle side to side in at least thigh-deep water, says Melissa Layne, an American Council on Exercise spokesperson and a water aerobics instructor for 20 years. Keep movements smooth.

Arm Presses

Firm up as you chat— no one will notice! Stand in chest-deep water with palms open and fingers spread and move your arms back and forth and up and down. Increase your speed for a greater challenge.

Renowned cardiologist ARTHUR AGATSTON details the common excuses (however outlandish) patients give for ignoring heart-healthy advice—and motivates us all to change our ways, starting now.

If you hate to exercise, then just be more active—doing housework and gardening. That’s better for your heart than sitting over a computer and then working out for an hour.

IN NEARLY 40 YEARS of practicing cardiology, I’ve heard some pretty extraordinary excuses for not exercising, losing weight, taking medications, or practicing other heart- healthy habits. Although the reasons are often couched in some rather creative language, I’ve become adept at cutting through the veils of self-deception and steering my patients onto a more healthful path. Here are the five most common excuses I hear in my practice and how I typically respond:

“There’s nothing I can do to lose weight!”

In my experience, this is true for only 10 to 15% of people. These are the “fat and fit” who truly are limited by genetics. But for the majority of overweight Americans, significant weight loss is possible. Here’s the test:
If you’ve lost weight before, even short-term, you can do it again and keep it off. The key to success is thinking of your new eating plan as a permanent lifestyle change rather than a temporary diet.
I eat out a lot... I have an overweight, diabetic friend who’s is a gourmand—he likes to dine out at fancy restaurants almost every night of the week. He recently broke his leg and had to stay home for 6 weeks. Just by cooking for himself he lost 25 pounds and reversed his diabetes. When you eat in restaurants, you forfeit control of ingredients as well as portion size. Unfortunately, my friend is back to eating out again. I tell him that if his health deteriorates, I’m breaking the other leg.

“I don’t have time to exercise.”

I used this one a lot myself until I discovered interval training, a technique used by elite athletes that can work for anyone. It has helped me reduce my elliptical trainer workout from 45 to 20 minutes while actually increasing the benefits. Here’s what I do:

• 3-minute warm-up
• Ten 60-second intervals (alternating 30 seconds fast pace with 30 seconds normal pace)
• Eight 30-second intervals (alternating 15 seconds at an even faster pace with 15 seconds normal pace)
• 3-minute cool-down

Whatever your activity (walking, treadmill, elliptical machine, biking), try doing intervals. They strengthen your heart and burn more calories and fat than steady-state exercises, and they take less time; A bonus is that this kind of intense activity is good for brain health.

“I don’t want to take prescription drugs.”

Patients often ask for natural alternatives when prescribed medication— particularly statins, which I believe are heart savers. Rut many “natural” supplements either are chemically derived or contain chemicals themselves. Plus, there’s less quality assurance in the manufacturing of supplements than there is with prescription medications. I’ve been prescribing statins for 20 years, and their safety record has been consistently impressive. Why experiment with something you saw advertised in a magazine or read about while surfing the Internet? Trust your doctor.

I’m too old to change.

Whenever I hear this excuse, I say, “Look around. Why are there so many 70-, 80-, and even 90- year-olds who look and feel so great?” The answer is simple: Because they exercise regularly, eat well, and follow their doctor’s advice. They’re living proof that simple changes are tremendously and instantly effective.
And it’s never too late to start.

LITTLE CHANGES FOR A HEALTHY HEART implement one of these eating or exercise plans over the next 28 days and your ticker will benefit. 

You head into warm weather with the best intentions—more exercise, more fruits and veggies, more (UV-protected) fun in the sun. Then something happens: a week long muggy spell, the fact that your workload knows no season—and that easy, breezy feeling starts to slip away. But summer’s still in full force, so before you get a case of the dog days, here’s how we’re taking advantage of all the healthy things this time of year has to offer:

By becoming produce pros:
When it’s hot out, we crave refreshment—crunchy salads, cold juicy fruits. Which was why we were relieved to see that watermelon,. a summer essential, made the Environmental Working Group’s “clean” list—meaning it’s one of the least contaminated fruits, needing a minimum of chemical interference to grow and flourish, thanks to its thick, bug-and-fungus repellent rind. view the complete list of produce that made the “clean”list (and which are dirty).

By testing new moves:
Prevention Copy Editor, Vander Schaaf lost faith in her usual ab routine, so she jumped at the chance to test out our new belly-shrinking workout (“Fast Track to a Flat Belly” ). Based on decades of research—and some surprising new outcomes—it combines the most cutting-edge research on the moves that truly get results. Rachelle was thrilled—she lost nearly 5 inches in a month—but it wasn’t until her 16-year-old daughter did a double take and told her to keep up the program that she knew she found a plan that really worked.

By burning calories (without breaking a sweat):
You don’t pack up your towels, sunscreen and paperback book and hit the pool or beach to just…swim laps. You splash, dive, play with your kids.  That’s why our fitness department conceived a whole story (“Splash Yourself Slim” ) on creative ways to burn calories and give your muscles a workout in the water— and have a blast doing it. (We even have ideas if you don’t want to get your hair wet.) Get fit while having fun? That’s what summer is all about.

You walk, you nap, you brush your teeth. Now get more out of all these smart everyday choices with these ingenious tweaks.

HERE’S MORE PROOF that bigger isn’t always better: Several recent studies show that sometimes the smallest changes (like how you brew your tea or when you schedule a medical exam) can have a huge pay off when it comes to improving your health. Whether it’s timing, technique, or the type of food you eat, here’s how to fine-tune your behavior to get the best results.

Bright IDEA:

Nap to fight fatigue

Boost it!

Take a “caffeine nap”

Having a cup of coffee before closing your eyes is the most effective way to combat daytime drowsiness, according to research. That may sound counter intuitive, but it takes 20 minutes for the caffeine to get into your bloodstream. So if you take the recommended 20-minute nap (any longer and you can wake up groggy), caffeine’s stimulating effects will be kicking in when your nap is ending. “You’ll awaken feeling alert from the coffee and refreshed from the nap,” says Jim Maas, PhD, a professor of psychology at Cornell University.

TIP
To help yourself fall asleep, try to simulate bedtime, even if that just means putting your head down on the desk or reclining in your chair at work. If a nap isn’t possible, closing your eyes and meditating is better than nothing to refresh your mind and body, says Mass.

Bright IDEA:

Walk to boost brainpower

Boost it!

Walk backward

People performed difficult tasks faster after walking backward than they did after walking forward or even sideways in a recent study. The scientists believe that the “avoidance” mode of walking backward, similar to how you might retreat from a dangerous situation, helps focus your thinking.

TIP Practice backward walking on a treadmill, where the rails can be used for support, advises Janet S. Dufek, PhD, an associate professor at the University of  Nevada Las Vegas. Try walking forward for 5 minutes and backward for 2 minutes, then repeat the pattern throughout your workout.
Caution: Walking in reverse is much harder, so slow your pace by at least 50%.

Bright IDEA:

Eat energizing carbohydrates before a workout

Boost it!

Make them low-glycemic carbs

High-fiber cereals and breads and most veggies metabolize slowly, helping you burn more fat—as much as 55%— while you workout, find British researchers. So go for whole grains and produce and avoid refined foods and sweetened drinks, which spike blood sugar and produce higher concentrations of circulating glucose and insulin, in turn inhibiting fat burning. Low-GI foods also produce hormones that suppress hunger.

TIP

After exercise, opt for foods loaded with protein, such as Greek yogurt, fat-free milk, egg whites, and peanutbutter—the protein helps rebuild muscles.

Bright IDEA:

Brush your teeth after each meal to remove plaque

Boost it!
Wait an hour Acids in foods and drinks can soften tooth enamel, making teeth more sensitive and vulnerable to damage from brushing. Since you don’t always know if a meal contains highly acidic foods, stick with the I-hour rule regardless of what you eat. Bonus: Waiting also gives your saliva a chance to wash away acids and for the enamel to reharden.
TIP Rinse thoroughly with water or unsweetened tea to dilute acid while you wait the hour to brush (or if you’re not able to brush). Both green and black tea kill genus that cause tooth decay and bad breath, and they’re natural sources of protective fluoride.
Bright IDEA:
Have a colonoscopy to detect precancerous poiyps
Boost it!
Get it in the AM The rate of polyp detection is significantly higher when tests are done earlier in the day, possibly because

physicians aren’t fatigued. The quality of bowel preparation is also better during morning screenings.
TIP To ease the toughest part of the cobnoscopy—the prep to eliminate fecal matter so the physician has a clearview of the colon—askyourdocfor a’lowvoluine” prep, which is halfthe amountpreviously required for cleansing, suggests Carole A. Burke, MD, director of the Center for Colon Polyp and Cancer Prevention atthe Cleveland Clinic. You can also request a “split-dose” regimen. Research shows that taking a dose both the night before and a few hours prior to the procedure results in a cleaner colon too—so polyps are more likely to be detected.
Bright IDEA:
Drink tea to fight disease
Boost it!
Brew it for up to 5 minutes The longer the steep time, the greater the quantity of health-boosting fiavonoids, explains Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, professor of nutrition at Tufts University. Drink tea with a squeeze of lemon juice and you’ll increase antioxidant levels by up to 80%.
TIP If you like tea with milk, go easy: Milk may reduce the absorption of tea’s beneficial components, says Blumberg. This may explain why the consumption of black tea, which is associated with the reduction of heart disease, provides greater benefits to folks in the Netherlands and the United states—but not in Great Britain, where adding milk to tea is more common.

It doesn’t take endless laps or, in some cases, even getting your hair wet!

It’s hot out there! there’s no time like the present to submerge yourself in some refreshing H20. And while you’re at it, you can burn calories and tone up all over – faster, in fact, than if you exercised in the air-conditioned sanctuary of your gym. Why? Water provides 12 to 15 times more resistance than air. So you can burn as many as 3 1/2 times more calories than if you walked at a moderate pace – and it’s more refreshing! You don’t even have to swim to get these results! Here are 21 easy ways to get started, from solo moves you can do in a pool or at the beach to high-energy games for the whole family. You’ll have more fun, stay cool, and shed pounds in no time.

If you’re hanging out at the pool, try…

• Treading Intervals

• Step Push-Ups

• Waist-Deep Lunges

• The Blender

• The Helicopter

At the beach, try…

• Surf Strolling

• Wave Jumping

• The Ocean Push-and-Pull

For a day of family fun, try…

• Chaos Running

• Water Circles

• A Game of Fetch

• Visiting a Water Park

If there are flotation tools handy, try…

• Kickboard Laps

• Deepwater Jogging

• A Beach Ball Workout

If you don’t want to get your hair wet, try. ..

• Backward Motion

• Shuffle Slides

• Arm Presses

Your frenetic schedule may mean you’re healthier than people who say they’re often bored. British researchers found the latter group was more likely to die of a heart problem. Boredom may be linked to skipping workouts and eating junk, leading to depression and poor health. So don’t feel bad about your run-around lifestyle, as long as you hang on to your healthy habits !