Get Energized with Hip-Hop Dance

 Hip-hop dancing is all the rage among teenagers and young adults, but it is great for everyone.  These dance moves can be put together in a routine that is great exercise for young and old alike.  Get energized with a refreshing and high-powered type of dancing.

What is hip-hop dancing?  It started in the neighborhoods with kids moving to their favorite music and making up dance steps.  When music videos hit the air, people outside of the neighborhoods got to see what others had been doing for years.  It didn’t have a name then, but today it is called hip-hop dancing.

Hip-hop is a combination of beats and rhythms from rap music, reggae, techno music, Latin dancing, tap and jazz.  All of this is put together into a variety of moves.  Hip-hop dancing is freestyle dancing – the moves can be done in any combination to the music.  It is an expression of your style and your feelings.

Do you remember break dancing?  That is a form of hip-hop dance.  Nowadays, hip-hop dancing is done from the standing position and not so much on the ground.  But, break dancing is still popular in big cities.

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Healthy Sport Snacks

Exercise is a part of a well-rounded lifestyle.  No matter what type of activity you participate in, it is important to nourish your body with the right foods before and after you exercise.  If you participate in sports, eating the right snacks after the big game can make all the difference to your body.

During any sporting event, whether intramural, backyard, or a school team, the muscles take a good beating.  You feel good afterwards but that doesn’t mean that your body isn’t in need of some serious refueling.  The body burns a lot of calories with each minute of play.  

Consider your sweat.  It is sticky and stinky at times but it is the body’s way of cooling off.  You lose vitamins and electrolytes through your sweat.  Those nutrients need to be put back so the body can recover sufficiently.  Recovery involves building stronger muscle fibers and restoring the chemical balance inside your body.

What you eat after a workout is just as important as what you eat before.  Eating before consists of foods that will help you sustain a certain energy level during the game.  That is mostly complex carbohydrates.  After a game, your body is in repair mode and needs foods that will feed the effort.  Here are five great ideas for healthy sport snacks:

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Swimming as a Stress Buster

Life can be stressful at times when you consider everything we endure every day. Find one particular activity which is beneficial to you not only physically, but to bust the stress right out of your day.

One suggestion for a fantastic stress buster is swimming. Not only is swimming a great stress reliever, it’s a perfect recreational and fitness outlet as well. Most cities have at least one indoor swimming pool, or at the very least you can find one in a neighborhood not far from your home. Indoor pools allow you to keep up with your stress-relieving activity even in inclement weather.

During the warmer months you can swim outdoors as well, although swimming in a smaller pool may result in disruptions from your children wishing to swim as well. While it’s great for them to want to exercise, it may not be the ideal situation for your personal stress relief.

As with any type of exercise, be sure to do your warm-up exercises. Start with a few stretches before hitting the water. Once in the pool, take an easy lap to get those muscles prepared for your more demanding laps to follow. Neglecting warm-up exercises can result in pulled muscles or other injuries which will in no way help your stress levels.

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