Stretching: Essential before and after exercise

Stretching is a very important part of the exercise routine.  It is actually just as important as cardio vascular exercise and resistance or weight training exercise.  Cardiovascular training improves heart performance and overall endurance capabilities. Resistance training improves muscle mass and strength. Stretching, for its part, improves flexibility and mobility.  Yet, many people perceive stretching as totally unnecessary for them.  Most of them actually think that because they can easily do it, they can also do away with it.  This is the wrong way of looking at stretching.  The fact that it is easy to do has nothing to do with its effectiveness.  That adage is apt for weight training but it is not for stretching.

Regular and proper stretching before and after exercise provides many benefits.  It helps corrects and improves bad posture.  It greatly reduces the probability of suffering injuries during the exercise and it can even help in the recovery process after the exercise.  Additionally, stretching relaxes the body and helps relieve stress and tension in the muscles, tendons, and joints.  It is even known to help boost the self esteem and confidence of many practitioners.

Anyone and everyone, regardless of the level of fitness, age, or sex, can highly benefit from stretching.  It can be done as an entirely separate fitness program or as an additional warm up before exercise and a cool down regimen after exercise.  By regularly including it into the regular exercise routine, it will eventually become second nature and its many positive benefits will start to show its effects. 

Stretching may be done to target one specific muscle or a particular group of muscles.  Whichever method is used however, the results will still normally have a positive effect on the entire body, not just the actual muscles being targeted.  Furthermore, proper and regular stretching will not only affect the physical body, it will also positively affect the mind as well.

Stretching brings about flexibility in the body and this in turn provides many benefits.  Having good flexibility allows the body to do regular chores much easier and without too much burden.  It makes many activities much more fun to do rather than painful to endure.  Playing sports also becomes much more enjoyable and exciting.  When done before exercise, stretching makes the body more prepared to undergo the challenges of the exercise without having to go through unnecessary risk of injury.  After exercise, stretching helps the muscles calm down slowly and allows them to relax.

Stretching is most effective when it is held for at least 30 seconds.  Holding a stretch for less then 30 seconds usually does not have the sought after effect. Holding it for longer than 30 seconds is usually recommended, provided of course that there is no pain felt when holding the stretch for this much time.  The important thing to remember is that the stretch must be held for a long enough period to give the stretched muscles enough time to relax, elongate, and lengthen.  Be conscious about the muscle you are stretching to make sure that you are stretching it properly.

L-Carnitine

In most cases, L-Carnitine is considered a substance that is closer to the group of B vitamins rather than the amino acids.  However, when the grouping of the substance is based on chemical structure, L-Carnitine is considered to be a part of the amino acid group.  It is also sometimes thought of as a form of protein.

The primary role of L-Carnitine in the body is to help move or transport the fatty acids in the cells into the mitochondria - the energy powerhouse of the cell.  The mitochondria convert the L-Carnitine into energy.  Thus, L-Carnitine can be considered as a vital substance that helps convert fat into useful energy that the body can take advantage of.  The energy produced in this process is used by many of the body’s muscles, including the heart.  L-Carnitine also greatly improves the effective antioxidant properties of vitamin C and vitamin E.

L-Carnitine is naturally created by the body when it has enough amounts of important vitamins and minerals available.  These vitamins and minerals are: vitamin B1, vitamin B6, vitamin C, methionine, lysine, niacin and iron.

L-Carnitine also plays a very important role in the prevention of fatty cell build up in different parts of the body such as the heart, the liver, and even the skeletal muscles.  It also checks and regulates the levels of triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood.  The heart has a special need for L-Carnitine because it needs this substance in order to function normally.

For people who have deficiencies in this important substance, L-Carnitine supplements may be used.  Supplements are also useful for people who do not get enough of this substance from their regular diet.  Other causes of L-Carnitine deficiencies are: genetic disorders, problems or complications in the kidney and the liver, and side effects of some types of medication.  Of course, any deficiency in the vitamins and minerals that are needed by the body to produce L-Carnitine will subsequently result in a deficiency of L-Carnitine as well.  Some of the symptoms that will signify a deficiency in L-Carnitine are: chest pain, weakness of muscles, nausea or confusion, and chronic fatigue.

L-Carnitine has also been found to be helpful to people who are suffering from angina pectoris, elevated cholesterol levels, increased triglyceride levels, and congestive heart failure.  Consequently, L-Carnitine has been used to aid in patients that are recovering from a heart attack.

Experimental uses of L-Carnitine are also being continuously studied in treating Alzheimer’s disease and many other ailments that relate to memory functions and memory loss.  The L-Carnitine derivative – the ALC or Acetyl-L-carnitine – is being seriously studied as a possible remedy to memory problems acquired in an advanced age or through brain related diseases.  There are actually studies that have already shown that this substance may be able to at least delay the onset or the progression of the dreaded Alzheimer’s disease.

The best food sources for L-Carnitine are meat, fish, dairy products, and poultry.  These food products contain very high amounts of this substance. On the other hand, grains and fruits contain very little or no L-Carnitine at all.

Kathak: An Indian Dance

Kathak is an Indian classical dance.  It originated from northern India and it is part of the 8 classical dance forms in Indian culture.  Its historical origins can be traced back to the nomadic settlers who used to populate the northern area of ancient India.  These nomadic bards were known as the storytellers or the Kathaks, thus the name of the dance.

These nomadic bards used to display their performances in village centers or in large temples.  They specialized mostly in telling stories of mythological characters and in stories with moral relevance that they have taken from religious scriptures.  They were able to make their stories more compelling and crowd drawing by embellishing them with theatrical gestures of the hand and body, and by dramatic facial expressions.  Performances were exemplary of a theatrical show.  There was instrumental music and vocal song that accompanied the entire performance.  These added even more life and excitement to the stories being told.

The current form of Kathak today contains many of the characteristics of the temple and ritual dances that were performed then.  It also contains some influences brought about by the Bhakti movement.  Persian dance characteristics were absorbed by the Kathak dance during the 16^th century while central Asian dance influences were inculcated into the dance during the Mughal era.

Kathak has 3 “gharanas” or major schools of dance.  These schools determine the lineage of the Kathak performers of today.  These gharanas are: the Jaipur, the Lucknow, and the Benares.  The Jaipur was born out of the courts of the kings of Kachwaha Rajput; the Lucknow out of the courts of Nawab of Oudh; while the Benares out of the courts of the Varanasi.  A minor school of dance of Kathak is the Raigarh.  This is a less prominent school of dance because it developed much later than the 3 major ones and it was seen as an amalgamation of the three major dance schools.  However, it gained some ground when it started to develop its own unique and very distinctive dance compositions.

During the period of British Empire rule in India, Kathak prominence suffered a decline due to the disdain for this dance among the Victorian administrators.  It has however steadily regained its popularity in the modern period and is now officially sanctioned as one of the classical dance forms of India of which there are eight.  This current form of Kathak is a fusion of the different influences it had absorbed during its history.  This means that the romantic and the court aspects of the dance mix in comfortably with the temple, mythical, and religious aspects.

The popularity of the modern Kathak dance has been attributed mostly to the Maharaj family.  The most popular dancers of the Kathak dance are members of this family.  This includes one of the greatest dancers of this dance – Birju Maharaj - who is still championing the Kathak to this day.  Other members of the Maharaj family are: Acchan Maharaj, Lachhu Maharaj, and Shambhu Maharaj.  Saswati Sen, a student of Birju Maharaj, is also one of the most popular dancers of the Kathak today.

Creatine

Creatine is one of the most advanced nutritional supplements available for health buffs in the market today.  It is very popular among many body builders and among athletes as well.  Creatine has also been positively categorized by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) as a good nutritional supplement.

There are many benefits that can be attained from the intake of creatine.  There have been researches made that showed that creatine can help produce an improvement in the production of peak muscle torque i.e. the force of the contraction of the muscles.  Other researches show that it helps in increasing the strength of the muscles, it increases endurance, and it provides extra energy that can be used by the cells in the muscles. Most of these benefits have been credited to the ability of creatine to properly and continuously maintain the levels of ATP in the body.

Creatine also helps the body in making leaner muscle mass while at the same time improving the capacity for work by the muscles and increasing the cell volume in the muscles.  For patients that are recovering from surgery, creatine can help in preventing muscle mass wastage.

The advantages and benefits of creatine even reach people who are suffering from some serious illnesses or diseases.  It has been extensively used to treat persons who are suffering from muscle weakness as a result of heart problems.  Consequently, creatine has been used to treat patients with ailments that affect the heart.  This is because creatine has been found to be able to increase the exercise capacity of the heart and it decreases the probability and frequency of heart spasms. 

Creatine has also been used to treat ALS or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.  This is a horrible disease that weakens and even totally disables the nerves that link the skeletal muscles to the brain.  Additionally, tests are constantly being run to determine the effects of creatine on other neuromuscular disorders such as stroke, muscular dystrophy, and the problems that affect the arteries and veins of the heart.

Creatine is an essential supplement that is mostly used by active persons that are regularly engaged in high intensity sports and activities such as weight lifting, sprinting, wrestling, boxing, martial arts, basketball, and football.  It is very helpful in improving performance in these sports because these activities require sudden and abrupt bursts of strength and energy in just a very short amount of time in order to excel.  Creatine is also very helpful during training and preparation for these activities and sports because it refuels the body by increasing and maintaining the ATP reserves that are available for the body to use.  This allows the body to be able to exert more effort into the exercise and therefore to train much harder.  After the training, creatine continues to work and it helps the body recover from the rigors that it endured during the training.

Creatine is really a very useful supplement but as it is with any other medication, it should be taken properly and in the right amount.  Taking too much creatine can result in more harm to the body rather than good.

Butoh Dance: an individual way to understand dance

Butoh Dance is the collective term used to identify the whole range of techniques, motivations, and activities that are used in performances, movements, and dances inspired by the movement called Ankoku-Butoh.  This type of dance usually involves grotesque yet playful imagery of taboo topics and of absurd or otherwise extreme situations.  Traditionally, it is performed by dancers whose bodies are totally covered by white make-up.  The motions are very slow and are overly controlled.  Interestingly, this dance is performed regardless of whether there is or there isn’t an audience.

Butoh dance does not have a particular style set.  It can simply be a concept that the performer wishes to convey without incorporating any kind of movement at all.  The Japanese legends of dance, Kazuo Ohno and Tatsumi Hijikata have been credited as the main originators of this type of dance.

Tatsumi Hijikata performed the first ever Butoh piece in 1959.  It was at a dance festival and it was entitled “Kinjiki” meaning “Forbidden Colours”.  It was based on the novel by Yukio Mishima which had the same title.  It touched on the taboo topics of pedophilia and homosexuality.  By the end of the show, the audience was outraged and this led to the eventual banning of Tatsumi Hijikata from the entire festival.  In later performances, he continued to challenge and undermine the conventional concept of dance through his Butoh dances. 

In 1960, Kazuo Ohno joined Hijikata and they developed what is now known as the Butoh dance.  From this partnership, Ohno has come to be known as the “soul” behind the art of Butoh dance while Hijikata is regarded as the “architect” that expounded this dance.  Later on though, these two masterful artists went their separate ways and cultivated their own unique ways of teaching Butoh dance.

Most Butoh dances use imagery in different levels.  Ankakoh Butoh dancers use insects and even razor blades in their performances.  Dairakudakan Butoh dancers use water jets and different kinds of threads.  Seiryukai Butoh dancers go to extremes in their performances by involving difficult acts such as rods going into the body.  The general notion is that the body is moved by a source, whether internal or external, rather than the body moving itself.  The element of “control against no control” though, is always present in many of these dances.

There is however a big difference from Butoh dances that originated from Japan and those that originated from the western countries.  Japanese Butoh dances – with the possible exception of those choreographed by Kahuo Ohno - usually have specific postures or general body shapes that the dancers adhere to.  Western dances on the other have very little or no specific postures or shapes at all.  This leads to the thinking that Butoh dance is regarded in the west more as a state of mind rather than a specific type of dance.  Thus, Butoh becomes an influence to the body – whether directly or not - to move and to project what it feels.  As Iwana Masaki, a famous Butoh dancer once said: real Butoh is very much like real life; it cannot be ranked or scored. It is its own ultimate expression.