Knee ligament injury prevention

Male bodies are more top heavy than females, who have a low center of gravity and a wider pelvis. This puts more stress on the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in girls' knees. The ACL is a ligament in the center of the knee that provides stability and connects the leg bones at the knee. A serious injury to the ACL, like the rupture of the ligament, can be very crippling and requires surgery and physiotherapy to heal. Female athletes and sportswomen have fit bodies and strong bones, but they are susceptible to ACL tears because they go all out while competing, putting their bodies under great strain. At the other end of the scale are girls who don't exercise. Any sudden exertion by these girls can injure their ACLs.

Doctors at the Uppsala University in Sweden, looked at a program they designed to reduce the risk of knee injuries among 1,506 female athletes aged 13 to 19 in 2007. The program featured strengthening exercises designed to improve motor skills, body control, and muscle activation. The exercises involved a structured warm-up program, and exercises aimed at achieving an improved motion pattern that produces less strain to the knee joint. Taking part in the exercise program was associated with a 77% reduction in the incidence of any knee injury and a 90% reduction in the incidence of non-contact knee injury, the researchers report.



Caring for the knees is important. Dr. Liisa Byberg who was part of the study said that athletes should focus on doing the exercises correctly, rather than repeating them multiple times. Some of these exercises are sit-ups and push-ups to strengthen core muscles, using resistance bands to build the quadriceps (thigh muscles), and learning to jump and land correctly.

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Green tea cancer prevention and treatment

Drinking tea is beneficial because it reduces stress and boosts the immune system; tea has always been known to have polyphenols that are powerful antioxidants, which help to fight cancerous cells. Over the years research after research has revealed the abilities of green tea in particular to help fight lung, colorectal, and pancreatic cancer.

A new study, which will appear in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, finds that green tea reduced depression in women who underwent treatment for breast cancer. Of 183 women who drank green tea, 36 percent had lower depression risk. Another study shows the immense benefit green tea has for women. Uterine fibroids, which affect 40 percent of women of reproductive age, and cause excessive vaginal bleeding, anemia, and fatigue, are usually treated by hysterectomy. In some cases benign fibroids turn cancerous and lead to endometrial cancer, which caused 7,780 deaths in the US in 2009. A study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology this month, reveals that green tea extract can kill human leiomyoma cells in tissue cultures and can eradicate fibroid lesions in lab animals.

With all the green tea benefits, is there a limit to the number of cups we can drink in a day? Researchers say that people get carried away by all the good news on green tea's cancer prevention abilities; they believe that drinking 2-3 cups in a day is okay. Increasing green tea consumption won't give you added cancer prevention benefits; the extra cups will just make you pee more!

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Amber Heard nonconforming feminist

Amber Heard, a pretty blonde actress from the state of Texas, says, "So many young girls were taught at such a young age how to make things easier on yourself and it generally comes down to 'shut up and smile'. It's detrimental. That's why so many women go to college and find their husband at college and that's the end of that." That may sound like a fiery feminist, but Amber Heard has conformed to Hollywood's standards of female beauty by losing weight for a role, and playing promiscuous parts on TV and film, from the time she was 17.



Amber Heard shows off her amazing body in FHM UK. She was asked to lose 25 pounds for her role as a temptress in the TV show Hidden Palms. Heard did it in four months, with daily workouts, and by cutting out meat, alcohol, dairy, and processed sugar from her diet. There are ripples of feminism in what Amber told the Sioux City Journal about the experience, "It's hard being a woman in Hollywood because there's a lot of pressure to be things that are not natural. There's a lot of pressure to fill standards that are beyond you or just plain difficult. It's hard...very hard, but that's the expectation placed upon you to be the hot young thing."

Amber Heard is very well read and has strong views on things outside of Hollywood. Like she cares for the environment, but in a nonconforming way. Amber Heard does not believe the environmental science behind hybrid technology: "it takes more energy to produce one [hybrid car] than it saves."



Left, Amber poses on a beach ball for Missbehave magazine, and right, she's wearing a pretty cream coat on top of a O Neck T by Hero Crane. At age 17 Amber Heard left school and flew to New York to try modeling; when that didn't work out she came to LA to be an actress. Her family has always been supportive; her father David is a contractor, and mother Paige is an Internet researcher. But there is plenty of conflict and rebellion in Amber's background. Born in Austin, Texas (April 22, 1986) Amber Heard was raised a Catholic but began questioning religion in school. "I think the minute you pick up a book about world history or religious history; the minute you start to learn about other societies, other cultures, other religions and the history of the ones that have brought our world to what it is today, I think it's very easy to escape," she told Teen Hollywood.

Amber actually became an atheist after her best friend's death in a car crash, but still dislikes organized religion. "The most horrific film that I've ever seen would have to be Jesus Camp. It will scare the shit out of you. It's a documentary about the Christian right and their American patriotism, and their undeniable need to conform into large groups where they send their children to be smaller versions of themselves. It's really scary," she told FHM UK. Amber Heard dropped out of St. Michael's Catholic Academy and studied at home for her diploma.

In upcoming movies Amber Heard and Leighton Meester will star in Cowgirl Bandits, the remake of the feminist Thelma & Louise. Amber will star with Odette Yustman in And Soon the Darkness, and with Johnny Depp in The Rum Diary. The 5'8" tall actress has a slim figure of 33-24-33 but has always been a healthy eater. She gets in shape for movie roles, but believes that exercise like dancing keeps her beautiful: "Salsa dancing! It makes me feel so free and alive, and it's such a beautiful dance to watch."



Heard likes to take care of her fair skin, telling Teen Vogue: "I don't go out in the sun if I can help it. When I do, I always use SPF." Amber is single and lives with younger sister Whitney, and a teacup Yorkie named Pistol, in LA. The nonconforming feminist loves guns and owns a .357 Magnum!

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American teens high cholesterol

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that 20.3 percent of young Americans aged 12 to 19, and more boys than girls, had unhealthy cholesterol levels. The researchers analyzed measurements of low-density lipoprotein -- LDL or so-called bad cholesterol; high-density lipoprotein, the HDL or "good," cholesterol; and triglycerides. Bad cholesterol can help clog arteries while good cholesterol carries away the bad stuff. Unhealthy cholesterol levels lead to heart disease, the No. 1 cause of death among adults in America.

High cholesterol levels are linked to obesity, and emerge from unhealthy habits acquired during childhood and adolescence. One way to tackle this problem is to provide healthy food in schools and encourage teens to play sports and exercise. Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, said, "There is a clear need for aggressive preventive public health measures such as providing quality nutrition at schools, promoting physical activity in schools and the community, and implementing childhood obesity prevention programs."

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Dance Aerobics Dancercise

Dancercise is a combination of dance, music, and aerobics exercise. Some kind of aerobics exercise is essential to workout the cardiovascular system and keep the heart and lungs strong. But you can't go walking or running when it's cold, wet, and snowy. So stay indoors and jive to some music.....or join a dance exercise class. Indoor aerobics classes teach you steps that you have to memorize, and then follow the instructor. Over time it can get monotonous and seem more like a chore than exercise.

Dancing comes naturally to many people, and for others learning dancing is so much fun. After all, it's a skill that you can use when going out for parties! The fast-paced dancing styles which are classed as aerobics include: hip-hop, funk, swing, salsa, pop, and rock. Another benefit of dancercise is the group interaction. Dancing in line with other people helps improve social skills. And then there's the music.




When your body's natural rhythm gels with the beats, and the music sets off the fun parts of your brain, you let yourself go. You enjoy the experience so much that one hour of dancing does not leave you feeling tired, while it burns off nearly 500 calories. And as you learn dance moves, the body becomes more rhythmic and agile, and you gain physical confidence.

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Running descents

Running outdoors is fun, and even better is running through forest trails and parks. Lovely green areas like that rarely have flat running tracks, and runners have to go up and down the many inclines and descents. Running inclines is tough and there is plenty of advice on how to negotiate climbs, but even experienced runners ignore downhill running as unimportant. Uphill running takes so much out of the athlete that they treat the gently rolling slope before them as something to slow down and catch their breath in.

But running descents works out very different muscles of the body. It requires a different rhythm, you can't lift the legs too high, and the running stride has to be smaller with the feet staying close to the ground. Because your body adjusts to the slope by leaning forward, the core muscles have to be clenched as they support the upper torso, and so the abs get a nice workout. If you break any of these rules, try taking longer strides or pump the legs, painful side stitches and running injuries to the quadriceps, knee joints and shins will result. And you must absolutely avoid running down steep hills!



Running descents at a good pace, but keeping the strides small and the feet close to the ground, gives you the momentum to climb up the next ascent. You run faster and spend less effort, tricking the body into thinking it has extra reserves of energy. It's a feeling of euphoria: the runner's high!

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Teaching good posture

"Teaching good posture is about looking at how and where a person invests their energy, as well as reflecting on where there’s an absence of energy and then helping them correct that," says Jo Kuszmar,a trained nurse and shiatsu practitioner. "I realised that by standing and moving properly, I could completely change the way I looked and hugely increase my confidence. It’s changed my life, and has made me feel lighter and more attractive than I have in years."

Jo Kuszmar is teaching posture lessons for men and women in Oxford and London, which are based around the principles of “walking well”. The exercises she uses focus on relaxing key muscles to actively engage the pelvic and shoulder girdles to refine the waist for a trimmer, more elegant figure. Jo Kuszmar (below right, photo from the Telegraph, on the left is the author of the article: Clover Stroud) became interested in teaching good posture when she watched a young woman struggling to wear a particular style of dress in a shop, and it hit Kuszmar that poor posture was causing fitting problems. "I realised then that working on your posture can radically alter your appearance and it’s so much cheaper than forking out on a new outfit or subscribing to an expensive gym membership."



"Correcting poor deportment addresses muscular skeletal problems, as well as the stress-related anxieties and illnesses that come with them," she says. A lack of physical exercise and hours spent in front of a computer screen has a negative impact on many of us. Kuszmar talks of how posture helps in physical attraction, specially in her own case when she was emotionally wrecked from a divorce: "Correcting my posture gave me a huge confidence boost. There is nothing like confidence for attracting people."

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Jennifer Lopez boxing

Jennifer Lopez credits boxing for her amazing figure. The 39-year old actress picked up the female boxing workout originally for her role in 1998's Out of Sight. Jennifer also learned the Israeli martial art Krav Maga for her role in Enough. Said Lopez, "Krav-Maga is about finding the power within yourself and that's what really transforms Slim (her character in Enough)."

Before taking part in a triathlon last year Lopez said, "Swimming is a killer, I'm not going to lie. [But] I'm a good athlete. My stamina, I can get that up there if I really try." J Lo tells the New York Post that she also runs, does weights, and the StairMaster. And several times a week Jennifer does "light circuit training and cardio. Also biking, weight machines and lunges to keep those thigh muscles firm." Firm curves are what Lopez is known for: "I'm proud of my butt. A dress shouldn't look like a coat hanger. Skinny girls miss out."

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Intercostal muscles and respiration

The intercostal muscles located around the ribs, are used during respiration, and support the rib cage in forming a protective wall around the heart and lungs. When these muscles are tight the breathing is restricted and the rib cage's flexibility is reduced. Respiratory problems from asthma, flu, colds and allergies, are linked to the condition of the intercostal muscles.

Obesity, which causes so many health complications, also aggravates breathing problems. A thick layer of fat in the upper body restricts the intercostal muscles from expanding the rib cage. Poor posture causes stretching of the spinal ligaments and weakening of the intercostal muscles, leading to kyphosis where the rib cage presses against the lungs, inhibiting respiration. Postural kyphosis is more common in girls than boys and sets in slowly during the adolescence phase.




Stretch the intercostal muscles with exercises like Yoga, as Behati Prinsloo does here. Bending sideways in this pose elongates the muscles further, while bending backwards, with the hands supporting the lower back, stretches the spine. Intercostal muscles become stiff and fatigued from excessive coughing during this flu and colds season, leading sometimes to painful muscles spasms in the ribs. Athletes and those into professional sports routinely sprain their intercostal muscles.

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Jennifer Hawkins body image controversy

Jennifer Hawkins, one of Australia's leading models and Miss Universe 2004, is in the middle of a controversy over what is a positive body image for girls? Jennifer is naturally slim, with a height of 5'10" wearing size 6 (US) dresses. Hawkins' measurements are: breasts 35 inches, waist 26.5 inches, and hips 36 inches. Previously Jennifer Hawkins has questioned using Body Mass Index (BMI) as a standard measure for healthy models, because it might punish those who are naturally slim. "You can see when a girl's healthy and a girl's not healthy," she said. "Someone might have the right body index and someone might not, but is healthy and the other might not be."

Jennifer Hawkins has now posed "nude and without airbrushing" for the February 2010 cover of Marie Claire. The magazine said that for them to publish photos of Jennifer Hawkins without airbrushing would "encourage positive attitudes to body image." Boy were they wrong! Hawkins didn't have too many blemishes to cover up in the first place, and critics said posing nude would send a wrong message to young girls everywhere.



But many more people are upset with Marie Claire for using a skinny model as an example of positive body image. One critic said, "She was born beautiful. She has not had to go through any stress to look like that."

But Jennifer Hawkins has worked hard to keep her naturally slim figure. She doesn't have an eating disorder and enjoys eating fruit, nuts, yogurt, and other healthy foods. "Some of my favorite foods are broccoli, avocado, tahini and salmon. They are all healthy, but they're also really delicious. I eat healthily — not only because I need to for my work, but also for my own wellbeing."



Jennifer Hawkins walking in Sydney and carrying a water bottle. Like so many Australians, Hawkins was a sporty young girl, playing backyard cricket, touch football and netball, while growing up. In an interview Jennifer talked of the importance of exercise: "I tend to change my workouts to suit how I feel. I went through a stage where I was walking and doing weights, but now I'm running and doing Yoga and Pilates. With exercise, it's about finding what works for you." Playing sports, exercising, and eating right; sounds like a good enough role model.

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Bananas for muscles and health

Bananas are tasty, available all year round, and ready to eat. They are packed with energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals; the most important of which is Potassium. This mineral balances the level of sodium in the blood and that is why bananas are recommended for people who have high blood pressure. Potassium is essential for athletes because it reduces the risk of cramps, during and after training. But bananas have many more goodies than just potassium.

Bananas grow in tropical countries and Ecuador in South America is the world's largest producer of bananas. Most of us eat yellow-skinned white-fleshed bananas but they are also found in varieties like red-skin and pink-flesh and golden-flesh. Because of their vitamins and minerals, Bananas help those who quit smoking in recovering from the shock of nicotine deficiency. Like all fruits and vegetables they contain antioxidants that help fight aging and disease.



Bananas are recommended for athletes because they have high contents of carbohydrates, in its natural sugar form such as sucrose, fructose and glucose. Dietary fibre in the bananas helps ease acidity, stimulate the peristalsis in the intestines, and reduces hunger pangs. Bananas have magnesium, a muscle relaxant which is important for bone density. They also have some iron and calcium. In the photo teen golfing sensation Michelle Wie eats a banana. Michelle talks of her diet during tournaments: "I eat energy bars and my mom and I make this trail mix, bananas, water, nothing too heavy."

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