Know Your Heart Beat

One of the biggest scientific advances in physical fitness is the development of commercial heart rate monitors. You now no longer have to be one of the top athletes in the world to train with a heart monitor. For less than $200, you can buy a device that clips to your bike (or is worn like a wrist watch) that will provide you with accurate data on your pulse.

Why is this important? Because if you are not training hard enough, you will not progress in your fitness. The heart rate monitor will show you if you need to work harder. First, calculate your maximum heart rate. It is usually 220 minus your age. So a forty year old will have a maximum heart rate of 180 beats per minute (BPM). If your heart is not beating at least 80% of the max, (in our example 154 BPM), then you need to work harder.

On the other hand, training at too high a level is also bad for you. As you approach your maximum heart rate, your muscles become unable to process the lactic acid being built up. Muscle fatigue will set in and destroy any improvements you have made in your fitness. Once again, using the heart rate monitor make sure that you are not working out at more than 90% of your maximum (in our example 162).

So the key really is to work out between 80 and 90 percent of your maximum heart rate. The only way to monitor this is buy putting on a chest strap with a monitor and checking the readout once per minute. It may sound like a lot, but it will dramatically improve your fitness and get you ready for the next big race. The best thing is that today these monitors are relatively inexpensive.

Yoga breathing

Breathing is a vital element if you want to be engaged in healthy yoga.
Practicing yoga breathing, or breath control in yogic terms exercises, are the link between the physical and mental disciplines of yoga. By developing control of your breathing, you can bring about beneficial changes in your body and mind. Yogic breathing cleanses the body, calms and relaxes the mind, and serves as a perfect warm-up for practicing yoga poses. In coordination with yoga poses, the breath unifies mind and body, balances opposing energies, and helps the body relax deeply and safely into each pose.

The Stimulating Breath

The Bellows Breathing Technique (also named The Stimulating Breath) is a yogic technique, that can be used to help stimulate energy when needed.
You can try this technique by following these steps:

*While sitting in a comfortable up-right position with your spine straight ,with your mouth gently closed, breath in and out of your nose as fast as possible.
*The rate of breathing is rapid with as many as 2-3 cycles of inspiration/expiration per second.
*While doing the exercise, you should feel effort at the base of the neck, chest and abdomen. The muscles in these areas will increase in strength the more this technique is practiced. This is truly an exercise.
*Do this for no longer than 15 seconds when first starting. With practice, slowly increase the length of the exercise by 5 seconds each time. Do it as long as you are comfortably able, not exceeding one full minute.
*There is a risk for hyperventilation that can result in loss of consciousness if this exercise is done too much in the beginning. For this reason, it should be practiced in a safe place such as a bed or chair.

Breathing exercise

Breathing exercise can help you in two ways: the first is that it takes pressure off your heart and will let the maximum amount of oxygen into the body. The second is that it will clears your mind and makes you more relax. There are some exercises you can try.
One of them is that: You should place your right hand on your abdomen and the other hand on your chest. Breathe deeply. Breathe like this for 2 minutes. As you breathe in, count to 4, hold for 2, and release your breath in 4 counts.