Ask June About It » Fitness

The Miracle Ball Method For Pain Relief

June Camacho — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:39:04 +0000

I have always suffered from some sort of tightness or pain in my neck, back and shoulders. I do not let it slow me down but I always have some attention units in these areas. I worked in dentistry for a number of years and now I spend a lot of time in front of the computer so I am sure those are contributing factors. I came across something recently that has helped me tremendously. It is called The Miracle Ball Method and it is so simple that at first I did not think it would do much, but after just one session on these little balls I could really feel the difference.

The Miracle Ball Method is two little inflatable balls that you lie on. The balls are placed in different areas depending on which area you want to work on. That is all you do, just lie on the balls and do some deep breathing. In fact, if you try to do anything else it will not work. How easy is that!

The woman who developed this was a dancer and then started having back pain out of nowhere and could not find relief and was forced to quit dancing. She tried for years to find a solution through the medical route and other alternative means but to no avail. Through her own research and trial and error came up with what she calls The Miracle Ball Method.

It is based on what she calls the cycle of pain which is when your muscles become tense and imbalanced, your body's natural correct alignment system cannot work properly. Muscles that remain tense for long periods lose the ability to relax at all, which results in chronic pain. So when you lie on the balls, your body is supported by the balls, the muscles release their tension, and the pain disappears. There is no visualization, meditation, biofeedback, or anything like that.

The kit comes with the 2 balls and a little book that explains a little more in detail how it works (but not too detailed). The majority of the book is different "exercises" on ball placement depending on where you are trying to seek relief. Even if you do not have chronic pain this is still a great way to avoid it and help your posture by keeping your body aligned.

Now the best part is that it costs about 12 bucks. That is why I decided to give it a try when I saw it. I figured it was a small investment and would not be a big loss if it did not work. I ordered mine from www.amazon.com Just type in Miracle Ball Method under search on the opening page.

I am very happy that I discovered this program of "un-exercise." I hope that it can help you also.

Put On Some Weight For Healthy Bones; A Weighted Vest That Is!

June Camacho — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:03:20 +0000

Research has shown that walking with a weighted vest can help build bone density. If you walk for exercise anyway this is a great way to burn more calories also. Personally, I would never take any of these bone building drugs that are on the market now. They are associated with all kinds of serious side-effects and my understanding is that even though they may build bone the new bone is actually more brittle and therefore you are not really protected from fractures.

The research also shows that jumping on a rebounder while wearing a weighted vest provides even more benefit ( I have a very good rebounder on my site called the Cellerciser. Go to my home page and click on the link for more data). Apparently this is what NASA used to combat the problems of the weightlessness of space (weighted vest and rebounding).

Not all weighted vests are created equal. The weights need to be positioned up high near the shoulders and there are just not any on the market that I could find that fit this specification so I had mine made. Mine is made of cloth and you can remove or add weights which is nice because when you first start wearing it you will probably want to start out light and then add weight. The woman who made mine is a good friend and she can make you a custom vest also. Her name is Arnell and her phone number is 727-595-7597. You can also e-mail her at Artof Eating@hotmail.com This is a superior product and I have been very happy with mine.

Unique Leg Weights to Vamp Up Your Walk

June Camacho — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:57:14 +0000

I do like to walk as part of my exercise regime. I add leg weights to bump up the intensity. I found some unique leg weights that I just started using. They are from a company called Gaiam. It is a site for green living, fitness, yoga and organic products. They look like a sleeve that extends from your ankle to the top part of your calf and the weight is distributed evenly unlike ankle weights which can be a bit cumbersome. I ordered a size large and my calf measures 14.5 inches at the widest point. They have a chart with measurements. The site is www.gaiam.com They have a very good return policy also.

Bender Ball For A Great Ab Workout

June Camacho — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:56:44 +0000

This is a small inflatable ball about the size of a bowling ball. You place it on the floor behind your lower back and then do sit-ups. It is a funny phenomenon because they are easier to do but the intensity is far more than doing regular sit-ups on the floor. It comes with a DVD and it is pretty intense ab workout but I just do crunches with it. It is not expensive ($9.95) but by the time you pay shipping and handling it is about 20 bucks which is pretty expensive for a little rubber ball but still most of us blow $20 dollars without thinking about it, so all in all it is worth it. I do not know if the claims they make on their site are legit but I did find some studies that showed that doing abdominal exercises with a ball are much more effective than without.

I tried to find this on another site besides the benderball official site and I did find it on Amazon but it comes with a bunch of DVD’s and is about $54.00. The reason I was trying to find another way to order it was because when you order it from the official site they sign you up for an auto-delivery program and send you a new DVD every 30 days and personally I think the ball and the DVD it comes with are sufficient. The official site is www.benderball.com I would suggest calling the number to order and making it clear that you do not want or agree to any auto-delivery program and that you just want the ball and whatever it initially comes with.

I just saw this at Target today (5-15-2010), I would check there first.

Jump For Health!

June Camacho — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:55:43 +0000

This is a mini-trampoline that is built different than most. Most rebounders and mini-trampolines are built with stainless steel springs or bungy cords that cause sinking and pronation (this is the turning outward of the foot at the ankle so that you have a tendency to walk on the inner border of the foot; think knock-kneed). Rebounding increases the weight of gravity of every cell therefore intensifying your workout. There is a 10 minute workout that the developer (Dave Hall) has that comes with it or you can just jog on it. You can check out his story on the site. He was in pretty bad shape physically and he says that rebounding saved his life.

I do not do rebounding exclusively but I will always incorporate it into any routine I have. Rebounding supposedly helps the lymphatic system. Research has also shown that rebounding with a weighted vest helps to build bone mass and density. Apparently, NASA had astronauts wear a weighted vest while rebounding to help combat the problems of the weightlessness of space. See my post on Weighted Vests for more data.You can order the Cellerciser through my home page or click the image below.