Essential Fatty Acids, or EFAs, are needed to keep our skin and tissue supple, especially for our blood vessels and nerves. And since we can't manufacture them in our own bodies, we must get them from our diet. These essential fatty acids are calledOmega-3 and Omega-6.

It's important to maintain a good balance of both – approximately 2 to 1 in favor of omega-3, according to the renowned authority on fats, Udo Erasmus (though some researchers say otherwise.) But the North American diet provides such an abundance of omega-6 – found in plant oils like canola, corn, peanut, safflower, sesame, soy, sunflower and walnut – that the correct balance can be difficult to achieve.

This imbalance is being blamed for many of the health problems we face today such as cancer, heart disease and inflammation. Research shows that omega-3s help with more than twice as many degenerative diseases as omega-6s. That's why the importance of omega-3s has been emphasized so much recently.

Why take them?

Omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation, lower the risk of heart disease, cancer, and arthritis. And because they're highly concentrated in brain tissue, they're also important for memory and overall mental performance. Symptoms of omega-3 fatty acid deficiency include weakness, mental deterioration, dry skin, high blood pressure, edema, and immune dysfunction.

Right to the source

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The primary source of omega-3 in plant-based foods is alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Sources include flaxseeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, soy and walnuts, to name a few. ALA is the essential fatty acid the body uses to make the other omega-3's – eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) anddocosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are the most beneficial for lowering blood fat levels.

However, little conversion of EPA and DHA will take place if a person is deficient in ALA. The intake of essential nutrients – vitamins B3, B6 and C, plus the minerals magnesium and zinc – are believed to boost the conversion to above the normal rate of 2.7% of ALA to EPA and DHA.

You can also directly obtain EPA and DHA from seafood such as albacore tuna, salmon, mackerel, sardines and rainbow trout, but it's important to know the source of your fish due to toxins and mercury levels. In addition to lowering blood fat levels, EPA and DHA are said to have even more anti-inflammatory properties than ALA.

Your daily dose

Fish

Exercise

1. If you're not a vegetarian and you can choose safe wild sources, adding the seafood listed above in your diet will give you a direct amount of EPA and DHA

2. You can also supplement with fish oil, but talk to your nutritionist or health care provider on brands and dosage

3. As a preventative for cardiovascular disease, it's recommended to eat a portion of oily fish 2-3 times weekly, or supplement with 500-1000 mg of EPA and DHA

4. The fish should not be fried. It's best to boil them whole so their oils aren't destroyed by heat, light and air. Eaten raw as sushi is also optimal

5. Check with your health care professional for exact dosage recommendations, as dosage will need to be adjusted based on specific concerns

Flax

1. Add freshly ground flax seeds to your cereal, smoothies and any soup or sauce when serving. Cooking foods that contain EFAs will quickly deplete them. They're also sensitive to light and heat, and can easily go rancid if not properly stored in a dark container, or in the fridge or freezer

2. Two tablespoons of flax seeds contain two grams of protein, four grams of fiber, four grams of EFAs and important nutrients like calcium, potassium, magnesium, selenium, choline, and vitamin E

3. If supplementing with oil, the typical recommended dosage is around one tablespoon, but can be adjusted accordingly

Chia

1. Chia seeds pack a nutty, crunchy flavor, so they're great on salads, and excellent in homemade energy bars

2. An ounce of chia seeds gives you 4 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber, 6 grams of EFAs and contains other important nutrients like calcium

Always check with your health care professional before beginning high levels of supplementation. EFAs can act as a blood thinner, so exercise caution – especially before any surgical procedure.

Muscle

I am sure a lot of people would love a brand new squat rack for christmas (maybe not), but if your like me, and your pockets are not deep enough, there are still some awesome affordable fitness gifts out there for a healthy Christmas!

Here are some healthy gifts you can get people for christmas that will be a boost to their fitness goals!

Polar Fs1 Heart Rate Monitor

You can buy this trusty little watch on amazon for around 40 dollars. This is the same watch I use, and its a great gift, there are so many benefits to knowing what your heart rate is! It allows me to train in certain zones with accuracy, so I know if I am working above, or below anaerobic threshold, tempo work, cardiac work, etc… its very useful! I do not opt for the fancier versions, this one will get the job done.

Hand Blender

I dont know what I would do without this, just a scoop of protein, some creatine, and water; blend with the hand blender and your good to go! I used to mix my protein up with a spoon, but that made a mess. The hand blender makes it easy to just grab, mix, and go.

Wrist Wraps

I bought some wrist wraps over at for 16.95. You can never get enough wrist support! It may add some weight to your lifts to, for me it did! I love these, and most people I train are worried about their wrists, so this is one of my first recommendations.

Workout

Lifting Belt

You know, some people say you shouldnt use a belt, well… I say thats crazy, especially as the weight gets up there, you wont find me squatting sets of 500 without one! I would recommend looking at some APT belts (they got some pretty snazzy colors) those hold up nicely, but if your not looking for a forty dollar belt, at least pick one up at the local wal-mart. We all got to start somewhere.

Protein Powder

The other day a guy in the gym asked me if I take protein after I work out…OF COURSE I DO! You should as well! Check out , they sell 5 pound bags for around 30$.

Lifting shoes

I like to do shock training, plyos, jump training, whatever you want to call it, as well as lift, and run. I would pick up two types of shoes, first a good pair of cross trainers, you can find a good pair over at or check out some of their outlet stores. You should also look into a pair of lifting shoes, but these can be a bit pricey, and a pair of 20$ Chucks work well enough, especially for general lifting purposes. If your serious about getting the most out of every rep on the squat, good lifting shoes can help.

Bands

Look, I am tired of seeing men and women doing dips, and pullups on that assisted machine; a pure waste of time! Try buying some green, red, etc bands over atThis way all you got to do is throw bands of varying degrees of difficulty over the top of the pull-up bar and it will assist you, until you dont need them anymore!

Lifting glovesI dont use gloves, but most women do. If your a guy and your lady is using every excuse in the book to get out of lifting, it might be wise to buy her some cute gloves, it will make her feel more legit.

Workouts

George Foreman Grill

Quick, easy, and good for cutting weight. I dont know how many times I have been trying to get to the single digit bodyfat %, and this thing saved me. I would wake up, only have 30 minutes to get dressed, and go to work, and I could throw 2-3 chicken breasts on this, and be good for lunch, and a mid afternoon snack.

Ab-Wheel

I am not into a lot of the gimmicks out there concerning getting a six pack, because I know 100% of getting a six pack is losing the fat first, but I do believe the ab-wheel helps strengthen abdominals, and I am a fan of that. You can find these for cheap to, just go to wal mart, and when your real good at it, try it without putting your knees on the ground.

A Health food Cookbook

It will give a bit of guidance on what type of food can be made while still living a healthy lifestyle.

Anyway, hope these ideas helped. These fitness gifts would be great to make the holidays healthy!

The core of any successful business consists of a strong business structure. Having a set plan for how every aspect of a business will run provides a solid foundation for quickly implementing various business tasks and plans. Simple typical business skill sets such as organization and time management are imperative for growing a successful fitness business. Furthermore, specific business management practices such as setting personal training standards, setting and maintaining a department/company budget, and creating/implementing marketing campaigns are equally important topics that need to be considered and utilized.

A good personal trainer, whether running a department/facility or not, should have a specific set of training standards he/she adhere to. Taking the time to set training standards is important as it helps to make sure each client is appropriately taken care of in addition to protecting both the client and the trainer from potential issues. For instance requiring a trainer to keep well documented notes on each session they perform for a client is helpful for several reasons. One, it can help a client for when their trainer is not able to be with them for a session. It gives the client the opportunity to look back on their notes and remember how to perform their exercise routines. In addition it provides the opportunity to look back and assess what has worked and has not worked for the client. This can be essential for helping the client attain their goals quicker. If you are unsure of how many and what types of training standards you should have, finding an educational course in fitness business management could prove beneficial.

Workout Plan

Setting a department or company budget is another behind the scenes business management related area necessary for success. Simply having a goal to make as much money as possible each week and month is not enough. Having an idea of what you spend on gas, electricity, income tax, and uniforms, is important for business survival. Furthermore when it comes to running a department or facility, it would be a good idea to work into your budget funding for business management related educational courses. Even if you feel you are good a budgeting in your personal life, furthering your education in the area of business can help set you up for more success as opposed to trying to do it without related education.

Having a strong understanding in what it takes to implement a successful marketing campaign is another area that is a must for having a successful business. After all marketing is how you get the word out about your services, and ultimately new business. This is another area that would be good to get some actual education/training in. Marketing is an art form. The way you write the content, how it looks, what message is coming across from the marketing takes a bit of training and expertise to do correctly. Often time's people will create a marketing piece with no prior experience or knowledge in marketing and end up wasting money on creating something that proves unsuccessful. When marketing is done correctly however it can help make a company.

There are a number of other areas within business management that play an essential role in the success of yourself, your department and/or your company. It can not be said enough how important gaining education in fitness business management is. When it comes down to it, gaining additional education to help strengthen what you may already know can only help you attain additional success.

Lean Muscle

Following are the Components of Physical fitness :

1. Speed: Speed is the ability of a person to execute motor movements with high speed in the shortest period of time. It is equal to the distance covered per unit of time. the element of speed is involved in most of the athletic skills such as in sprint running, some skills of soccer, basketball, etc.

2.Strength: Strength is the ability of a muscle to expert or release force by contraction enabling a person to overcome resistance or to act against resistance.

3. Power: Power is the ability of muscle to release maximum force in the shortest period of time. It is equal to force multiplied by speed. It is the combination of strength and speed. Speed and force must be combined for effective performance in activities like baseball throw, jumps for height, football kick, boxing punch,etc.

4. Endurance :Endurance is the ability of the person to perform movement of moderate (Sub-maximum) contractions over prolonged period of time under conditions of fatigue or tiredness. It is the product of all psychic and physical energy of human body.

5. Flexibility : Flexibility is the ability of a muscle to perform movements with large range of motion.

6. Agility : Agility is the ability of a person to change positions in space or to change directions quickly and effectively e.g. football player quickly changes direction or giving dodge to opponent, hurdle crossing over the barrier or hurdles, zig-zag running, etc.

7. Balance : Balance is the ability of a person to control human body or to maintain equilibrium under static and dynamic conditions e.g. hand stand, skating, skiing, catching a fly in baseball, etc.

Online Workout

The benefits of aerobic exercise are myriad. They include systemic changes such as reduced cholesterol and blood pressure, improved muscular endurance, reduced body fat, increased metabolism, and others. Aerobic exercises improves the strength of your bones, ligaments and tendons, allows your body to use fats and sugars more efficiently, burns a lot of calories, and plays an important role in reducing the onset and symptoms of aging and illness.

Aerobics are particularly helpful for weight control. It helps to control your weight by using excess calories that otherwise would be stored as fat. The number of calories you eat and use each day regulates your body weight and physical activity will make you use the extra calories.

Aerobics means 'with oxygen' and aerobic exercise is defined as any long duration exercise. Aerobics classes, or aerobic dance, are structured, teacher-led classes designed to work on all the components of fitness.