The Art of Exercise

The Art of Exercise TM

Book 3 of the A.b.e.d Method TM

By

Michael A. Clark N.M.Q.A.A. TM

The A.b.e.d. Method TM

Copyright © Michael A. Clark NMQAA TM

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be distributed in any form,

without permission in writing from both the copyright owner &

the publisher of this book

All rights reserved 2011

T www.docfatloss.com

First Published December 2011



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The Art of Exercise TM

Introduction

Exercise: Activity that requires physical or mental exertion, especially

when performed to develop or maintain fitness

The A.b.e.d. Book of Exercise TM is split into 4 sections, the 1 st section is

all the technical stuff, some people will find some of it interesting and

some people will find all of it interesting but not all people will find all of

it interesting and some people will find all of it really boring. The 2 nd

section is a safety and preparation section covering heart rate and things

to keep you safe and lastly the 3 rd section is the marvellous cardio

exercises themselves. The 4 th section concentrates on some of the best

non cardio strength training exercises and finally the 5 th section looks at

some of the best stress relieving alternative exercises.



Why do we need to exercise?

We are living in a technological age, over the last century we have moved

on from literally the horse and cart, to cars, planes, phones; we can

literally contact anyone in the world in seconds and without leaving the

comfort of our own chair.

This mental activity may tire us out, but it is the fact we are now on

average 5 times less physically active then we were 100 years ago and it

is this lack of physical activity combined with an increase of eating means

we are putting excessive strain on our bodies.

It is for this reason we must create exercise into our life in order for our

physical bodies to work off tension and to coin the age old phrase ‘use it

or lose it’.

Exercise as we know it is less than 70 years old. Of course when the

majority of us were working 6o hours a week labouring on a farm or

sweating down a mine, just imagine getting home and saying to the wife’ I

am just off for a jog what time will tea be ready?

We used to be between 3 – 5 times more active 100 years ago, and so we

have had to create exercise.

We used to have to grow our food not too long ago, we certainly would

have had to go to market and fetch and carry an awful lot more than we

do today. With the modern day world in which more and more is done for



us, we travel in the car and get the shopping and for some people even

then take the trolley out to the car and then hate taking the shopping from

the car into the home. So we now have to create exercise for ourselves

otherwise our bodies would just get even fatter and unhealthier than they

are already.

First of all we need to change our attitudes. Experts say exercise needs to

become a priority in the 21st century, and should be rated as important as

family and friends, and our social and work lives.

‘Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later

have to find time for illnesses

Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby (1826-93),

In, the ART of Exercise TM you will discover the best way to keep as fit as

possible in as little time as possible. This to me is essential because in this

technological age where life was meant to give us more and more free

time, it seems in fact we have less and less time, The number 1 reason

given for people not exercising is they just don’t seem to have the time.



With that in mind I have chosen the best exercises to achieve fitness in the

least amount of time.

The exercises you will find are suitable for all ages including children and

pensioners, and include all mobility’s. You will find that even if you cannot

walk far, but can get to a swimming baths the exercises here will help you

enormously.

The A.b.e.d. Method TM exercises do not require you to run for 2 hours, 1

hour, or even more than 30 minutes a day.

You can have fantastic results in less than 20 minutes 3 times per week

using some of the finest exercise programmes in the world. All the

exercises are backed with tonnes of scientific data, proving to be the most

beneficial exercises in the world, so you really have no excuse to start to

take care of your health.

In reality you will be exercising the vast majority of the time only 6

minutes and in only a few weeks the results will be the equivalent of at

least 60 minutes of normal cardio.

According to research there are 10 main reasons people give for not

exercising. (1)

10. I really hate to exercise.



9. I've tried to exercise but you keep quitting.

8. I can't afford a gym membership

7. I am not seeing any changes in my body.

6. I don't know how to exercise

5. I want to exercise but you have to take care of the kids and family.

4. I can't seem to stay motivated to continue working out.

3. Exercise HURTS!

2. I can't make the commitment to stick to an exercise routine.

1. I don' have time!

The A.b.e.d. System TM is designed to achieve the maximum results in the

minimum amount of time, with emphasis on balance & no gym required.

All the factors above are taking care of using the support network of other

A.b.e.d. Members TM around the world; with that support you should start

to make a huge positive difference in your life.



BENEFITS of A.b.e.d. Exercise TM

1. Fat burning, even while at rest

2. Increases reserve capacity for your heart

3. Helps prevent the overload of stress

4. Improves mental strength

5. Increases flow of endorphins and serotonin feel good

chemicals

6. Builds your inner constitution

7. Helps prevent illness by strengthening the immune system

8. Expands lung volume

9. Helps asthma

10. Increased metabolic rate so higher fat burning

11. Improves muscle tone

12. Improves moods

13. Dramatically & relatively quickly increases energy levels

14. Challenges your peak lung volume.



15. Enhances waves of life giving oxygen through the body.

16. Increases Blood flow to your lungs by up to 400% and

enhances their use (lung capacity is vital for good health)

17. Potentially even improves sexual performance!!

18. Exercise 4 minutes to a maximum of 20 minutes cardio

19. A.b.e.d. Exercises Tm can be done on the comfort of your

own home

20. Optimises blood pressure!

The A.b.e.d. Method TM Exercise Programme is all about you depending

on yourself for good health, rather than relying on the state or governments

or doctors or specialists. For the vast majority of the time I believe that if

you breathe well, eat well, think well and exercise well, you will have done

almost (very important part near the end of the book) all you can to take

care of your health.



The Art of Exercise Part 1:

The technical stuff

NEWS FLASH

Mind numbingly boring cardio IS NOT THE BEST WAY TO

1. LOSE WEIGHT

2. GET FIT

‘Heavy reliance on aerobic exercise can also bring about a host of other

issues, including muscle loss, overuse injuries and muscle imbalances



What’s worse, long duration aerobic exercise can actually reduce the

capacity of your heart and lungs to perform work…which can be terrible

for long term health, and increase your risk for heart attack’.

Rob Poulos: Author of the Fat burning furnace

Short bursts of high intensity sprints--known to benefit muscle and improve

exercise performance--can improve the function and structure of blood

vessels, in particular arteries that deliver blood to our muscles and heart,

according to new research from McMaster University. (6)

A study into the benefits of ‘Variable Intensities of Exercise’ ( where

you vary the exercise effort during your routine, an example might be 2

minutes slow jog followed by 30 seconds sprint then repeat 8 times) over

the more common cardio type was lead by kinesiology doctoral student

Mark Rakobowchuk, is published online in the journal American Journal

of Physiology. The findings support the idea that people can exercise

using brief, high-intensity forms of exercise and reap the same benefits to

cardiovascular health that can be derived from traditional, long-duration

and moderately intense exercise.

"As we age, the arteries become stiffer and tend to lose their ability to dilate,

and these effects contribute to high blood pressure and cardiovascular



disease, more detrimental is the effect that blood vessel stiffening has on the

heart, which has to circulate blood".

Maureen MacDonald: Academic advisor and an associate professor in

the Department of Kinesiology, at McMaster University.

The research compared individuals who completed interval training using

30-second "all-out" sprints three days a week to a group who completed

between 40 and 60 minutes of moderate-intensity cycling five days a

week.

It found that six weeks of intense sprint interval exercise training

improves the structure and function of arteries as much as traditional and

longer endurance exercise with larger time commitment.

According to Dr Sears from his book PACE The 12 minute fitness

revolution; “Twenty minutes of high intensity interval cardio increases

your aerobic capacity (VO 2 max) dramatically, maintains lean muscle

mass, boosts your metabolism during and after exercise, and burns more

fat calories than 30-45 minutes of low intensity cardio”.

Do you know want to know the number 1

predictor of early death?

Answer: Your lungs



Basically your ability to breathe equals your ability to live. The

researchers found that as lung function decreased the chance of

developing heart failure went up 1,000%. (Framingham Study)This took

into account other factors such as weight, smoking, pulse rate etc.

The reason for this is obvious, as your lungs shrink, your ability to handle

pressure is shifted from the lungs and onto the heart. The heart has

enough to do without having to handle the work of the lungs as well.

According to Dr Sears by the age of 50 most people have lost over 40% of

their lung capacity.

The great news is with exercise recommended to use with The A.b.e.d.

Method TM can actually rebuild your lungs and enjoy the energy of a 30

year old.

As reported in PACE by Dr Sears’ “Researchers at the Royal Free Hospital

School of Medicine in London in a 7.5 year study follow up of over 7,000

men, reported that even a moderate loss of lung power had a more than

two-fold increase in heart attack risk” (7)

Aerobic & Anaerobic

Anaerobic means ‘without oxygen’. This system coverts carbs and some

fats (but not protein) into energy without using oxygen; this will allow

you to keep running for a while longer with a very high energy boost. This



is in fact like a turbo boost, but you cannot do it for very long, and when

you stop you find you are panting heavily trying desperately to replace

the oxygen, this is known as an Oxygen Debt.

With short bursts of intense exercise, your body burns the energy stored

in the muscle tissue, instead of the energy stored as fat. This teaches your

body to store more energy in the muscles and not as fat, so it is available

for quick bursts of energy.

1. Lower blood pressure

2. Lower (triglycides) blood fat

3. Higher HAL (good cholesterol)

4. Less Body fat

5. More muscle

Is it really possible to get fit in only 20 minutes exercise 3 times per

week?

A few years ago, researchers at the National Institute of Health and

Nutrition in Japan put rats through a series of swim tests with surprising

results. They had one group of rodents paddle in a small pool for six

hours, this long workout broken into two sessions of three hours each. A

second group of rats were made to stroke furiously through short, intense

bouts of swimming, while carrying ballast to increase their workload.

After 20 seconds, the weighted rats were scooped out of the water and

allowed to rest for 10 seconds, before being placed back in the pool for



another 20 seconds of exertion. The scientists had the rats repeat these

brief, strenuous swims 14 times, for a total of about four-and-a-half

minutes of swimming. Afterward, the researchers tested each rat’s muscle

fibres and found that, as expected, the rats that had gone for the six-hour

swim showed preliminary molecular changes that would increase

endurance. But the second rodent group, which exercised for less than

five minutes also showed the same molecular changes. (8)

According to research into something called the fat burning zone, it is

apparently a myth, the best way to burn fat is to work at an increased

pace and this is great news for burning fat even after you stop exercising.

This post-exercise fat burning zone barely exists after moderate-intensity

exercise. In a 1992 study, participants cycling for 80 minutes at 29% of

VO 2 max experienced an elevated oxygen consumption (and energy

expenditure) for 0.3 hours, compared with 3.3 hours for those exercising

at 50% of VO 2 max and 10.5 hours for those at 75%.

In other words if you want to burn fat in the least amount of time whilst

also increasing your fitness levels then High Intensity Interval Training is

the way forward for you.

An exercise in cancer prevention



Although it can seem that the health benefits of exercise have been

spouted for years, Dr Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer

Research UK, says it’s taking a long time for the message to filter out to

the general public. The consequence is that, in general, people are still not

serious about health in this country.

To illustrate the vital role exercise plays, researchers at Bristol University,

have been investigating its effects. Results suggest that regular exercise

can prevent some cancers. In particular, colon cancer may be reduced by

as much as 50 per cent!!

The researchers say that moderate exercise for 30 minutes on three or

more days a week could, on this evidence, substantially reduce the risk of

cancer. (2)

Exercise boosts the immune system, improves sleep and helps control

stress, anxiety and depression. It also improves psychological wellbeing,

self-esteem, body image and mood, but like in all things in life balance is

important.

A most recent survey completed in May 2011 recognises the importance

of exercise as a preventative treatment for prostate cancer.

The research was led by UC-San Francisco's Erin Richman, Sc.D., followed

men for at least 15 months after a prostate cancer diagnosis, tracking



each man's exercise habits and monitoring whether their cancer

worsened. The men who engaged in at least 3 hours of vigorous physical

activity per week had a 57 percent slower rate of cancer progression to

more worrying states than those who exercised less

Another study showed that for women to help prevent breast cancer

there

1. Be as lean as possible without being underweight. A healthy

body mass index is defined as being above 18.5 but no greater

than 25. Women closer to the lower end of the healthy weight

range have the most protection from breast cancer.

2. Exercise for at least 20 minutes a day. If you can't do that, at

least do some. Some activity is better than none, but the more,

the better.

3. Limit alcohol consumption. If you drink at all, limit your intake

to one serving a day.

4. Breast-feed. New mothers should breast-feed exclusively for up

to six months -- the evidence is convincing that mothers who

breast-feed reduce their risk for breast cancer

5. Eat a healthy diet. Including a high percentage of whole foods

and if possible raw foods, snacking on carrots, celery, apples,

pears and nuts.



All of this seems on one level to be common sense, but I believe it holds

something very significant that many people miss. If you believe in the

theory of evolution, or that for humans to survive they need to be fit and

healthy, and if we can imagine what happens to the body if it is under

stress day after day after day, something eventually has to give.

For men the prostate gland has one purpose and that is to produce semen,

if the person is overweight, undernourished and doesn’t take regular

exercise, the body and brain get the message that all is not well, that this

person is struggling to take care of himself, so it is definitely not a good

idea that at this present moment he reproduce, hence the cancer of the

prostate.

For women the same applies, and most doctors will tell you that the

breast tissue is the most delicate in the human body, and again if the body

gets the message that the body is unfit and creates the breast cancer,

although this does not prevent the female from having a child, it does

make it impossible to feed it.

If this sounds too farfetched to you, think about women who struggle to

get pregnant, hypnosis to help the female relax has shown to have very

positive results.

Yet why do we need all these studies, surely with a little bit of thought

and common sense, all what has just been sense cannot really be argued

with. Why if we are under stress and struggling to cope with our own



lives would the body carry on producing to add even more strain, on an

already overloaded system?

Balance in life is important, you can help yourself become a warrior not a

worrier, and if you want to survive and live long, than that is what you

must become, literally a guardian of your own health.

Be careful not to overdo it though, because over exercising can put

excessive strain on the body, and can be as bad as no exercise.

Over exercising can be worse than smoking

Exercise is not the panacea to all the world’s ills. There are numerous

studies showing that apparently over exercising can be as damaging to

health as or not exercising at all.

‘Research shows that over-exercising, which is 90-plus minutes/day or

running upwards of 60 miles/week can increase vulnerability to illness.

His study shows that marathon runners are six times more likely to

become ill after a race due to excessive exercise impairing their natural

immune function’ (3)

Dr Arthur Siegel’s an expert who studies the effects of long distance

running on the human body concludes.

After completing a marathon “Your body doesn’t know whether you have

run a marathon or been hit by a truck” (4)



Basically the human body was not designed to run such long distances.

Research in German on men that had completed at least 5 marathons in

their life showed much higher plaque build up in their arteries, indicating

they were at a much higher risk of a heart attack then those non marathon

runners. .. “They had an increase in plaque build up of over 50%

compared to the non marathon runners. (5)

Interestingly the history of the word marathon carries a warning in itself.

The name Marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek

messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield of

Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in

the Battle of Marathon (in which he had just fought), which took place in

August or September, 490 BC. ] It is said that he ran the entire distance

without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming "Νενικήκαμεν"

(Nenikékamen, 'We have won.' Or as one American firm prefer Nike

meaning victory)

I am not saying that marathons should never be run, but I do think there

are better exercises to relieve stress. I know of at least 10 people who

having joined a gym in less than 12 months they are planning to run a

marathin and are competing already for times, yet marathin running (yes

I know it is misspelled but I think it looks better that way) actually does

not just eat up fat but muscle as well.



Many people think that the best way to lose weight is long distance

running, to me this is a big mistake, not only is it uneconomical in terms of

time needed for the results required but often the results gained are not

what many people really wanted in the first place. Long distance running

requires as little fat and muscle on the body as possible, and yet for

sprinters the physique is explosive muscle. Take a look at the picture

below showing the difference in physiques of a long distance runner and a

sprinter.

Picture of a marathin runner and a sprinter

Which physique would you prefer?



Long 'cardio' is an important training modality for specific sports and

activities. But one must realise if the body is meant to run for 26 miles

plus at a time, then you are going to have a body with the minimum

amount of weight as possible and that means vast muscle wasting.

However, if you’re primary goal is fat loss, overall weight loss whilst

retaining a healthy attractive looking figure; lengthy cardio sessions are

completely ineffective. High intensities of strength training and interval

training are your most beneficial weapons against fat.

Long distance running also puts more strain generally on the body, the

pounding on the knees and joints mile after mile, day after day, yet with

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) you just don’t have those same

problems. Sprinting, then resting then sprinting again gets the heart rate

up quickly then lets it rest then does it again, and because it is done

quicker there is much less pounding required.

HIIT in some ways mimics life; we get ups and downs, good news, and bad

news, shocks etc. Using HIIT can I believe help the train the heart to

become strong, and help it become desensitised to shocks, and because

HIIT invites you to push yourself to your limit then allows you to recover,

the body receives messages that it can push and repair, push and repair,

and rewards you with greater levels of fitness in far less time than

conventional running exercise.



As a stress consultant advising someone on the best way to keep in shape

is definitely not a marathon.

Gym workouts ‘can hit pregnancy hopes’,” warned the Daily Express. It

said research has apparently found that “superwoman workouts” triple

the likelihood of fertility problems.

I also know people who regularly train 2 hours a day on bike uphill etc,

they may well be fit but they also look 10 years older than their true age.

The same is said for ‘The Spinners’, no not that 1960’s American soul

band, but those people that think nothing of pushing themselves silly for

60 minutes sprinting and working their heart rates at maximum for

almost all of that time.

So I am not saying that long distance running is bad for everyone, but

genuinely I believe there are better and quicker ways to get and keep fit. If

you have the time and inclination to get fit using long distance running,

good luck, but for those of us who simply don’t have the time and get

stressed by long boring cardio, then help is here.

There is only 1 key to successful long distance running, and that is that

you ENJOY it, if you do then no problem.

Exorcise those anxiety demons.

Did you know that aerobic exercise is a very effective treatment

for people suffering with anxiety? In a 2005 study by Andreas



Ströhle he found that 30-minutes running on a treadmill reduced

panic attacks by a ratio of 2 to 1 versus quiet rest.

In a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study done in

1997 by German psychiatrist Andreas Brooks, 46 participants with at

least mild panic disorder were divided into 3 groups.

1. Taking anxiety suppressing drugs

2. Aerobic Exercise

3. Placebo

After 10-weeks the groups 1 and 2 were both in remission in terms

of reducing their anxiety levels and the placebo group didn't have

any lasting improvement. However those in the group taking the anxiety

suppressing drugs experienced these side effects:

1. Dry mouth

2. Sweating

3. Dizziness

4. Tremors

5. Erectile dysfunction

6. Nausea

Whereas, those in group 2 had no negative side effects, I don't know

about you, but I'd rather NOT have these side effects while at the same

time paying through the nose to have the privilege of ingesting toxic



drugs.

Yet, in-spite of many positive studies on the ability of exercise to

reduce anxiety in 2004 the New England Journal of Medicine

(NEJM)published a list of treatments for generalized anxiety disorder but

"didn't even mention exercise" as a treatment.

Instead they reviewed 13 pharmaceutical drugs that have a long list

of health damaging side effects and create lots of profits for the

pharmaceutical companies Of course, what you expect when the actual

medical curriculum is created by the drug companies. They don't want to

make you well; they want to drain you of your hard earned money.

A very recent research done in 2010 reveals that short sessions of

exercise can help in keeping stress at low levels on cell aging, which is a

very helpful method in keeping stress at bay. (10)

Researchers at Princeton University recently made a remarkable

discovery about the brains of rats that exercise. Some of their neurons

respond differently to stress than the neurons of slothful rats.

According to Dr Mark Hamer and colleagues from the Department of

Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London who carried

out the research say that people who exercise every day reduce their risk



of anxiety and stress levels by more than 40%, they also say that light

dusting or walking to the bus stop didn’t count, as activities had to last at

least 20 minutes at a time and induce breathlessness.

The stories are based on a survey of 20,000 men and women in the UK

that found that the more strenuous and frequent the activity, the greater

the effect on mental health. There is the possibility that this study is

actually showing that those who suffer from stress or anxiety are less

likely to take part in physical activity, instead of the other way around.

However, the results correspond with similar findings from other studies

that show regular physical activity improves mental health. In other

words, exercise does help reduce stress FULL STOP, as long as it is

strenuous enough to produce sweat & make you at least a little

breathless.

If it’s less stress you want, a little word from the wise

Forget all those pills, just get off your butt and exercise

Sue Denime A.b.e.d. Therapist TM



Part 2:

Safe Preparation

For exercising

It is so important to prepare for an exercise regime, especially if you

haven’t exercised in a long time, or for some us maybe you have never

really exercised.

Poor Planning

Let us say for instance you have someone who is 4 stone overweight visit

their GP and are told to go and exercise. So the persons thinks, yep the

doctor is right I really need to exercise. So the very next day they put on

some old shorts, some old football trainers and step onto the street and

off they go. After 400 yards they are absolutely exhausted and feel as if

they are having a heart attack.

This bad planning can also affect people who exercise regularly, for

instance only in July last year the French president ‘Nicolas Sarkozy’

collapsed and was rushed to hospital whilst out jogging early in the



morning before his work. By pushing himself to extremes and not taking

note of his heart rate, this could have cost him his life.

So if I assume you value your life enough to be reading this book; then I

think it’s safe to assume you might also be willing to use both your head

and your heart to help you stay fit. Let’s say for instance you had a heavy

night out the evening before, you had too much to drink and in fact you

did not feel too well. Nevertheless you were under no circumstance going

to miss your exercise especially because now you feel so guilty for having

drunk too much.

You start to run your normal run and this time you feel bad but you

ignore it and you must keep going. All the alcohol still in your system

along with the heavy meal combined with the fact you have only been

exercising for two weeks, and you are 54 years old, and bang heart attack.

BUT it doesn’t have to be this way.

When a young child is first starting to ride a bike you don’t teach them on

a 21 speed racer, equally if someone is learning to drive it is probably not

a good idea they do it in a 200 mph Ferrari.

The point is you have your own barometer to help you exercise safely and

gradually. If you are feeling unwell or hung-over it may well be better that

instead of running that morning it is better for you to take a 20 minute

brisk walk. By becoming familiar with your heart rate and monitor you



can still get your work out but safely; if you did not want to use a heart

monitor if you can trust your own senses than you could use RPE.

The 3 essential keys to exercising safely

1. RPE

2. Heart Rate

3. Breathing Rate

What Is Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE)

For years, fitness instructors and participants have struggled to come up

with a relatively uniform method of measuring effort level. For example,

when an instructor in your class tells you to work harder, what exactly

does that mean? How can "harder" are measured? In truth, it really can't.

Further, each of us has different capacities for fitness. You may be able to

run comfortably at seven miles per hour, while I struggle mightily to



maintain a six mph pace. Conversely, what might be an intense workout

for me may be the proverbial walk in the park for you.

To more or less even the playing field, the concept of rate of perceived

exertion was introduced. Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) is used to

gauge or measure how hard you're working during a cardio workout. RPE

is based on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the hardest. Your

instructor will indicate a number, which you will translate to your own

intensity level. The best way to measure your intensity level is your

ability to chat with your neighbour during the workout. Here are

explanations for each of the levels:

RPE 1-3: This is typically your warm up phase and the tail end of your

cool down. You can converse very easily with no effort at all.

RPE 4: At this level, you are sufficiently warmed up but you can still

converse with practically no effort.

RPE 5: You are beyond the warm up stage and into the actual work of

your routine or class. You can still converse quite easily with only a small

amount of effort.

RPE 6: This is the moderate level. You can talk but it requires some effort.

RPE 7: At this level, your effort level is getting more intense. You are able

to converse but it requires quite a bit of effort.



RPE 8: The work is now difficult and conversation requires maximum

effort.

RPE 9: Now you're only able to get out one or two words at a time.

RPE 10: This is your absolute peak effort and your entire energy level is

focused on the workout. Breathing is heavy and there's no thought of

talking.

The beauty of RPE is that it is constant, as your fitness increases you will

find that you have to go faster to get to RPE 6 or whatever, but as long as

you stick to the levels your fitness will continue to improve.

Heart Rate

You may feel that you really don’t need to monitor your heart rate

monitor and that because you will not be doing any long distance training

and are only training for about twenty minutes at a time it is simply not

necessary. Well personally I think it is still a good idea to watch your

heart rate whilst exercising and here is why.

Think back a few pages to the French President ‘Sarkozy’ mentioned a few

pages back. I bet he never had a heart rate monitor on, I bet he had had a

late night with diplomats, couple of glasses of wine; late meal up at 5 a.m.



and off he went for his jog, hey presto 20 minutes later he has a suspected

heart attack.

Invest in a heart rate monitor and chest strap

(Around £25 EBay or Google)

• It is important that you do not go over your maximum heart

rate, especially if you are old or you have not trained in a long

time or you are currently over weight.

• You will feel much better getting prepared with your monitor

and chest strap for your exercise routine with the ritual.

• We have lost touch with how to stay in touch with our bodies

our feelings. We are very much concerned with what we can

see; our feelings can’t be seen so we only ever really listen to

our bodies when they are screaming that something really is

wrong.

• Your will notice how not only your resting heart improves but

you will notice how it also recovers much faster and that my

friends is a clear and objective indication of an improvement



in your level of fitness, of course that means not only will you

feel fitter you know you are fitter.

Find your resting heart rate

The average pulse for an adult is between 60 and 100 beats per minute,

but for well trained athletes this can be as low as 40. Personally my pulse

is about 46- 48 bpm but that is definitely not because I am a trained

athlete, more because of a combination of the stress reduction techniques

covered throughout this book as well as a natural diet and relaxed

abdominal breathing.

So to find your resting pulse: Sit quietly for around 2 minutes then find

your pulse by placing your fingers over your wrist or neck, then count the

number of minutes over 6 seconds and multiply by 10



Age

18-

25

26-

35

36-

45

46-

55

56-

65

RHR for

Athletes

54-60 61-65

54-59 60-64

54-59 60-64

54-60 61-65

54-59 60-64

65+ 54-59 60-64

Excellent Good

66-

69

65-

68

65-

69

66-

69

65-

68

65-

68

Above

Average

Average

Below

Average

Poor

70-73 74-78 79-84 85+

69-72 73-76 77-82 83+

70-73 74-78 79-84 85+

70-73 74-77 78-83 84+

69-73 74-77 78-83 84+

69-72 73-76 77-84 84+

Age

18-

25

26-

35

36-

45

46-

55

56-

65

Table showing Resting Heart Rates for Women

RHR for

Athletes

49-55 56-61

49-54 55-61

50-56 57-62

50-57 58-63

51-56 57-61

65+ 50-55 56-61

Excellent Good

62-

65

62-

65

63-

66

64-

67

62-

67

62-

65

Above

Average

Average

Below

Average

Poor

66-69 70-73 74-81 82+

66-70 71-74 75-81 82+

67-70 71-75 76-82 83+

68-71 72-76 77-83 84+

68-71 72-75 76-81 82+

66-69 70-73 74-79 80+

Table showing Resting Heart Rates for Men



Incidentally my resting pulse is around 48 seconds and I am not what you

could call a physical athlete, but I might consider myself a mental athlete.

By exercising my mind as well as my body and by breathing the in a

relaxed manner, I am able to keep my resting pulse at a very low level.

When we are exercising it is essential to know your heart rate,

especially if you are just beginning, or feeling stressed or unwell.

The following table shows the maximum heart rate for your age,

generally you do not want to go above 80% of your maximum heart

rate, and you probably don’t want to exercise at that level for very

long.



Table of heart rate at training intensities from 50-90%

age 50% 60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 90%

10 140 154 161 168 175 182 196

11 140 153 160 167 174 181 195

12 139 153 160 167 174 180 194

13 139 152 159 166 173 180 193

14 138 152 158 165 172 179 192

15 138 151 158 165 171 178 192

16 137 150 157 164 171 177 191

17 137 150 156 163 170 176 190

18 136 149 156 162 169 176 189

19 136 149 155 162 168 175 188

20 135 148 155 161 168 174 187



21 135 147 154 160 167 173 186

22 134 147 153 160 166 172 185

23 134 146 153 159 165 172 184

24 133 146 152 158 165 171 183

25 133 145 151 158 164 170 183

26 132 144 151 157 163 169 182

27 132 144 150 156 162 168 181

28 131 143 149 155 162 168 180

29 131 143 149 155 161 167 179

30 130 142 148 154 160 166 178

31 130 141 147 153 159 165 177

32 129 141 147 153 159 164 176

33 129 140 146 152 158 164 175



34 128 140 145 151 157 163 174

35 128 139 145 151 156 162 174

36 127 138 144 150 156 161 173

37 127 138 143 149 155 160 172

38 126 137 143 148 154 160 171

39 126 137 142 148 153 159 170

40 125 136 142 147 153 158 169

41 125 135 141 146 152 157 168

42 124 135 140 146 151 156 167

43 124 134 140 145 150 156 166

44 123 134 139 144 150 155 165

45 123 133 138 144 149 154 165

46 122 132 138 143 148 153 164



47 122 132 137 142 147 152 163

48 121 131 136 141 147 152 162

49 121 131 136 141 146 151 161

50 120 130 135 140 145 150 160

51 120 129 134 139 144 149 159

52 119 129 134 139 144 148 158

53 119 128 133 138 143 148 157

54 118 128 132 137 142 147 156

55 118 127 132 137 141 146 156

56 117 126 131 136 141 145 155

57 117 126 130 135 140 144 154

58 116 125 130 134 139 144 153

59 116 125 129 134 138 143 152



60 115 124 129 133 138 142 151

61 115 123 128 132 137 141 150

62 114 123 127 132 136 140 149

63 114 122 127 131 135 140 148

64 113 122 126 130 135 139 147

65 113 121 125 130 134 138 147

66 112 120 125 129 133 137 146

67 112 120 124 128 132 136 145

68 111 119 123 127 132 136 144

69 111 119 123 127 131 135 143

70 110 118 122 126 130 134 142

71 110 117 121 125 129 133 141

72 109 117 121 125 129 132 140



73 109 116 120 124 128 132 139

74 108 116 119 123 127 131 138

75 108 115 119 123 126 130 138

76 107 114 118 122 126 129 137

77 107 114 117 121 125 128 136

78 106 113 117 120 124 128 135

79 106 113 116 120 123 127 134

80 105 112 116 119 123 126 133

General Rule: Do not go over 80% of your

maximum heart rate.



Recovery time: The true test of your state of heart health.

When you use exercises such as Variable Intensity Interval Training

(VIIT) you are exercising the way we were designed to. Like

hunters, fast sprinting followed by rest.

This means that while you are resting between exertions, your body is

getting ready to pump blood to your lungs and muscles making you

stronger and fitter. This makes you a warrior rather than a worrier, and

after you have finished the exercise, your native ‘afterburner’ kicks in to

keep burning fat for hours afterwards.

Keep a record of your heart rate recovery time. You may find that it takes

you a long time to recover but within a few weeks you may have halved

the time for your heart to recover.

To find your heart rate recovery time

• Take your pulse before exercise

• Immediately after exercise

• Note the time it takes your pulse to return to your original resting

pulse.

To work out your maximum heart rate range take 220, less your age

and that equals 100% of your maximum.

Someone aged 50: 220 – 50 = 170 maximum heart rate



The strain and effort is controlled and measured with the

monitoring of breathing rate

Using your breathing rate is an excellent indicator of how hard you are

training. During the exercises you will be pushing yourself to different

levels. The beauty of A.b.e.d. Exercise TM is that is as good for a 90 year

old as a 16 year old, because each person is different the exercises relate

much to how you are feeling, they are very subjective.

This is a key advantage over other exercise regimes, which might say just

go and exercise 30 minutes or 45 minutes 3- 4 times per week, but this is

far too general and as in life, normally the more specific the advice the

clearer the outcome.

BREATHING RATE

Of course exercising is still preferable to keep your breathing under

control, so as to retain the CO 2 in order to maximise oxygen absorption. If

you do get out of breath after exercising an aerobically you will need to

get your breathing under control as soon as possible.

Exercise induced asthma is very common with athletes and even worse

for winter Olympic athletes where 1 in 5suffer with Exercise induced

asthma (EIA). If you are running in cold weather, if possible breathe in



through using the nose, but exhale through the mouth otherwise your

nose will become too runny.

In his wonderful book ‘The slow burn’ by Stu Mittleman, ran the

equivalent of 2 marathons a day consecutively for 56 days. When running

or training, it is best to try and control your breathing, imagine a ball in

your tummy and as you run try to make sure the ball only inflates at 50%

and imagine you are holding a butterfly in each hand, so gentle is your

grip.

He also talks about been able to notice the trees, or the life around you

when you are running, he basically brings the enjoyment back to peoples

training. As a world class fitness coach he has literally had some of his

pupils in tears, but tears of relief that they have stopped running

themselves into the ground, and found a way to enjoy their running again.

Of course there may be times when you do run or train that bit harder,

maybe at a sprint if you are mixing your training and totally exerted

yourself to exhaustion, there a 4 stages to recover your breath.



4 Stage Recovery Breathing

1. Inhale through the mouth and exhale through the mouth

deep into the abdomen and not the

2. As quickly as possible get to this stage-Inhale through the

nose and exhale through the mouth- as always deep from

and into the abdomen

3. Inhale though the nose and exhale through the nose- you

are now focusing on reclaiming some control over your

breath.

4. The final stage you have regained control over your

breathing and you are now calmly aware of the breathing

becoming more light and controlled.

The above 4 stage recovery breath is to be used if you find yourself totally

out of breath say after finishing with a sprint.

Breath control is also a great way to help keep blood pressure in check.

Positive Mental Attitude

As with most things in life, having a healthy positive attitude will help you

achieve more from your training.



Even a little exercise often is better than none at all, the more regular you

make your exercise routine the more results you will get.

Exercise Top tip

Instead of focusing on the task ahead, concentrate on your desired

outcome from the exercises, such as increased fitness, a healthier more

toned looking body. This is an excellent way of helping keep you

motivated to keep up the excellent work.




The Cardio Exercises

Medical Disclaimer

1. If necessary please discuss with your GP before taking on any

new exercise regime

2. If you are currently under any medication again speak to

your GP

3. Initially if you are not used to exercise it is advisable you

build up slowly

4. If you have any heart conditions be extra careful

5. If you are overweight and/ or out of shape again be careful

and follow the guidelines in this book

6. If you ever feel dizzy, ill etc you must stop

7. If you have high blood pressure or low blood pressure

monitor your blood pressure at home

8. If you have a bad back be extra careful

9. All exercises are to be done at your own risk

10. Neither Michael A Clark nor anyone connected with A.b.e.d.

TM is willing take responsibility for your actions.



The Exercises:

All the A.b.e.d. TM cardio exercises take between 4 and 20 minutes, and

are designed to get the maximum results in the shortest time.

We will start the exercise section with the easiest exercises and work our

way up.

I begin exercise number 1 which was used by a real life client, she is in her

sixty’s and for a number of years she has had a great deal of difficulty

walking due to a bone disease In her foot which means her ankle is so

twisted it is literally like walking on the side of your foot.

This mean for most of the day she would sit in her chair and not really get

any exercise other than going to the toilet or to make a cup of tea. She

recently developed breathing problems and was diagnosed with either

lung damage or COPD. (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)

Now COPD is on the increase in this country, in my opinion this is due to

a combination of factors including a too acidic diet (explained in the next

section), lack of adequate hydration, and lack of regular appropriate

exercise and often combined with negative thinking. (A recent study

showed that on average we have over 50,000 thoughts a day and over

90% of them are negative!)



I observed my client over a few days and noticed that her breathing was

ok until she got up to go to toilet or to make a cup of tea. By the time she

came back into the room she was gasping for breath.

The problems we had to overcome where that basically a client was

almost completely immobile. Her GP had advised her to go swimming, but

the only way for this to be of benefit was if she went 3 – 4 times per week,

well the time involved plus the fact my client hates swimming, meant this

was not a viable option.

Yet I could see what the problem was, this client was for 90% of the time

just sat down, and this meant her body was not getting any exercise, yet

when she wanted to go to the toilet or make the tea up she would get and

be out of breath in no time.

So what to do?

I devised a plan of exercise for her based upon the fantastic PACE

Method. TM

I asked my client to sit in a high backed straight dining chair, and told her

to stop immediately if she gets dizzy or too out of breath



A.b.e.d. Exercise TM 1:

Chair Cardio Exercise

• Ideal for someone who is more or less house bound

• For someone who as a great deal of difficulty walking.

• Morbidly obese

• Below average resting pulse

• This is an excellent way to keep busy and improve your

cardiopulmonary apparatus and at the same time you are telling

your body in a controlled manner ‘Hey I want you to start

working’. USE IT OR LOSE IT!!

• All exercises are to use the 4 stage recovery breath.

Level 1 Beginner: (For any age and any level of fitness, remember it

is inertia or lack of movement we are conquering)

• 15 seconds in and out of chair at RPE3

• 15 seconds in and out of chair at RPE 5



• Then rest until breathing rate has come under full control and

pulse is no more than 20 above resting pulse. (Take a note of

number of minutes needed to recover)



• Repeat the above 3 more times, so in total only 4 minute’s actual

exercise.

Level 2: Intermediate





• Then repeat immediately.

• Then rest until breathing rate has come under full control.

(Take a note of number of minutes needed to recover)

• Repeat the above 2 more times, so in total only 6 minute’s

actual exercise.

Level 3: Advanced







• Then rest until breathing rate has come under full control

(Take a note of number of minutes needed to recover)

• Repeat the above 2 more times, so in total only 9 minute’s

actual exercise.

This is such a good exercise because you are working not only cardio but

it’s the way you are working with increasing intensity, followed by

recovery as well as the combination of using the leg muscles.

KEY POINT

Make sure you use the 4 stage recovery breath to get the breathing under

control as soon as possible.

In just three weeks client has had a massive improvement in breathing,

and recovery time for heart rate to return is much less than before.



A.b.e.d. Exercise 2: is suitable for

• Very obese individuals

• Elderly but mobile

• Those new to exercise or who have not exercised in a long time

• Below average resting pulse


1. 3 minutes fast walk or slow jog at (RPE6)

2. 1 minute slow walk to recover

3. 2 minute fast walk slow jog heart rate (RPE6)

4. 1 minute slow walk to recover

5. 30 seconds fast run to reach heart rate 150 (RPE at 8)

6. 2 minutes slow walk to recover

7. 30 seconds fast run he can heart rate 150 (RPE at 8)

8. 2 minutes slow walk to recover

9. Finish

Total actual exercise time only 6 minutes!!

Within 2 month client had lost 17 lbs and was feeling very energetic, his

resting pulse had reduced 10 beats to 72. Client did the exercises every

other day and as also taking up bike riding. He was also ready to move

onto the next stage.



A.b.e.d. Exercise TM 3 : is ideal for

• Those who are no more than obese

• Have at least an average resting pulse

• Want to lose weight

• Want to get fit & toned


1. 1 minute fast walk (number 5 on the scale of RPE)

2. 1 minute jog (number 6 on the scale of RPE)

3. 30 second sprint at (number 8 RPE)

4. 2 minute slow walk (number 3 RPE)

5. 1 minute jog (60 number 6 on the scale of RPE)

6. 30 second sprint (number 8 RPE)

7. 2 minute slow walk

8. 1 minute jog (number 6 on the scale of RPE)




12. 3 minute slow walk & finish

Total Exercise Time only 6 minutes!!




• Ideal for those who want run a little further but still using the

variable intensity

• Ideal for those who want to get fit but already have an average or

good resting pulse rate

• Ideal for those average weight and obese

Basically one can go much further on this type of run, many people tell me

how they love long distance running because they love to get into the

rhythm and enjoy the feeling. That is fine it all about freedom of choice at

the end of the day, and hey that’s what many people have fought and died

to protect, so I agree with choice.

1. 3 ½ minutes at number 6 of RPE

2. 30 seconds sprint number 8 of RPE


4. Then repeat as many times as you feel comfortable.

5. Only one word of warning, please do not go further than you are

comfortable if you are not used to running long distance

Instead of using a chair you can simply put your favourite music on and

follow the same procedure above. You could do 30 seconds at a gentle

dance, 30 at a number 5, and then 6 and then at a number you really go

for it. You will soon notice that it doesn’t really matter what you do as



long as you are moving your body. Maybe you could even try the keep fit

dance craze called ZUMBA!!

Incidentally, exercise is excellent if you are feeling down, anxious or

depressed, the excess energy usually used for Anal-Eyesing, is used up

on physical exercise. Then as an added bonus the body starts to release

endorphins and even serotonin, which make you, feel happy.

If you don’t believe me just try it now and see how impossible it is to feel

bad and sad when you are dancing like some 6 year old and looking like I

don’t know what.



A.b.e.d. Exercise TM 5: Exercise DVD’s

I am sure many of you have tried lots of different workout DVD’s. In fact I

know of least one person that could actually work out and use the number

of DVD’s they have, put them in a bag and use them instead of weights.

I think many people buy the DVD thinking all they have to do is watch and

the fat will simply fall off, seriously folks you going to have to work. In my

view I have searched and I personally think these next two DVD’s cannot

be beaten.

The first one is called ‘Hannah Waterman’s Body Blitz’ it’s very hard but

because you have lots of rest in between it’s also very fair.

Well Hannah used to be a bit seismically challenged, or whatever the

phrase may be, she went down from a size 18 to a size 8 in about six

months, apart from diet guess what she used!



The clever girl used ‘High Intensity Interval Training’ HIIT yes just like

we have here, and after months of searching fitness DVDs from all over

the world found the very best one by far right here in ‘Old Blighty’.

The scientific journal Women’s Own called it ‘The best DVD for fat losses.

Once you have tried that one , if you feel ready for it, there is a fitness DVD

that is more intense than Hannah’s and it is called ‘Jillian Michael’s 30

day shred’., and it’s probably the best workout DVD in the world!

I understand she was the lady off the TV programme, America’s biggest

loser. From personal experience I can tell you now that this DVD is hard

with a capital H. It also has 3 levels and I when I did level 1 I had to check

to make sure it wasn’t level 3!

Recuperation

If you are just out of hospital and recovering from say an operation of the

body (not heart) you would vary the intensity of the exercise programme,

basically exert yourself as far as you are comfortable, build-up slowly

An example might be something like:




• Ideal for everyone

• Including serious athletes

• Also this exercise is ideal to be used for rehabilitation

1. 2 minutes gentle swim at RPE of number 3

2. 1 minute of increased swim of RPE number 5

3. 2 minutes rest

4. 1 minute swim at RPE number 5

5. 2 minutes rest

6. 30 seconds at RPE number 7

7. 2 minutes rest

8. 30 seconds RPE number 7

9. 2 minutes rest

10. 1 minutes swim at RPE number 5

Total Exercise Time only 6 minutes!!

For more advanced training simply up the RPE to whatever suits but

remember keep the same ratios. For instance you might start with 2

minutes swim at RPE 5 and 1 minute swim 7 and the 30 second sprint

might be 9 or even 10.



If you don’t fancy the street you can use the stairs. Try walking up and

down the stairs for 1 and a half minutes at RPE 6 then 30 seconds RPE 8

then rest until you have your breath back, then repeat 4 more times.

(JUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO FALL YOU TAKE RESPONSIBLITY FOR YOUR

HEALTH NOT ME)



The world’s fastest cardio workout only 4 minutes

What if you really are pushed for time, but you really want a super hard

workout, well can you spare 4 minutes?

A.b.e.d. Exercise TM Number 7:

‘TABATA’: Now if you were to pronounce this it would sound like to

barter, but I can tell you now this is a non negotiable and takes no

prisoners type of exercise.

• WARNING DO NOT ATTEMPT TABATA IF YOU HAVE HIGHER

THAN OPTIMUM BLOOD PRESSURE

• UNLESS YOU ALREADY EXERCISE REGULARLY AT LEAST 3

TIMES PER WEEK

• YOU HAVE A BETTER THAN AVERAGE RESTING PULSE

• YOU HAVE NO HISTORY OF HEART PROBLEMS

• YOU ARE NOT OBESE OR SERIOUSLY UNDERWEIGHT

• DO NOT USE THIS EXERCISE MORE THAN 3 TIMES PER WEEK

• If you are going to do TABATA I recommend you buy a special

TABATA watch for about £15 Tabata Watch (available from the internet

googel or ebay)

The History of Tabata

This method of conditioning was invented by Dr. Izumi Tabata and his

team at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo. The team



was looking at different exercise protocols and their effect on the energy

production systems of athletes with the aim of finding ways to increase

both anaerobic and aerobic conditioning. They tested a number of very

intense protocols but found that the one called 1E1 tested both systems,

this is the 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off method we see today.

Doing Tabata

Doing ‘Tabata’ could not be simpler. As above you choose an exercise and

perform as many reps (or as much work) as possible for 20 seconds and

rest for 10 seconds. You then repeat this cycle for a predetermined

number of times. That's where the easy bit ends.

Tabata’ is very demanding; these protocols were first used to increase the

performance of Olympic medal winning speed skaters – not exactly

slouches themselves. The trainee has to make a deal with themselves that

they are going to stick to the predetermined schedule i.e. work for 20

seconds and not take any more than 10 seconds rest. Anything else is not

Tabata and very probably won't work anywhere near as effectively

The World's Fastest Workout Video!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AimPOSXe7n4



Tabata 1

1. Sprint as fast as you can for 20 seconds

2. Walk for 10 seconds

3. Repeat 7 more times

4. Collapse!! Seriously this is an absolutely amazing exercise, but do

not take it lightly thinking it is only 4 minutes. It’s a real killer and

believe me when I tell you with personal experience you need at

least one day of rest between each one.

Tabata 2

1. Squat as many as you can as fast as you can in 20 seconds

2. Rest for 10 seconds

3. Repeat 7 times

4. Collapse!!

Tabata 3

1. Run up and down a hill (or stairs-be careful)as many times as you

can in 20 seconds Rest for 10 seconds

2. Repeat 7 times

3. Collapse!



A.b.e.d. Exercise TM 8: Skipping

The best workout in the world & the equipment costs just a pound!

Skipping is THE best way to burn calories and fat, and the way to do it

properly is buy a skipping rope (I say rope it is really plastic) with a

counter. These skipping ropes can be picked up from those pound shops,

and believe me if you go for a thousand skips in less than 20 minutes you

are doing well, and your heart rate really rockets!!

Using a trampoline can also do a similar job.

A.b.e.d. Exercise TM Number 9: Extreme Heart Push & Recover

This exercise can be done in the gym, on the street or even at home, you

will need to wear your heart rate monitor.

1. Exercise vigorously till your heart rate reaches 80% of your

maximum heart rate see tables

2. Recover to 60% of max heart rate (see heart rate table)

3. Repeat 6 times



A.b.e.d. Exercise TM 10: The 1 mile 1600 meter cardio screamer

You will need a treadmill with a computer screen

1. 400 metres 1 st lap at a RPE of 5

2. 400 meters 2 nd lap at a RPE of 6

3. 400 meters 3 rd lap at a RPE of 7

4. 400 meters 4 th lap at a RPE of 9




The Strength-Exercises

For a fit body and mind, it’s not just cardio that’s important. I feel it is very

important to also include some physical strengthening exercises as well

as some mind calming exercises.

Abdominals

What is the purpose of Abs?

Now if I was to ask Peter Andre he might say for me to look great of

course, and if I was to ask lots of ladies they might say so you can look

good honey.

Well the main reason for abs is actually very important, the abdominal

muscles act as an internal corset, to help keep our posture straight and

take the strain off the back.

7 REASONS TO INCLUDE CORE EXERCISES IN YOUR REGIME

1. Core exercises improve your balance and stability



2. Core exercises don't require specialized equipment or a gym

membership

3. Core exercises can help tone your abs as weak core muscles leave

you susceptible to poor posture, lower back pain and muscle

injuries.

5. You can take it slow and work up to more reps as you go along.

You should try to include abs exercises 3 times per week.

6. You can do core exercises at home

7. Core exercises can help you reach your fitness goals

The 3 best AB exercises

The best Ab exercises are surprisingly easy to do. This is the finding of a

study done at the Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University that

looked at a variety of common abdominal exercises in order to determine

the best Ab exercises and what really works to strengthen abs.

The study compared thirteen abdominal exercises ranging from the

traditional Ab crunch to more complicated activities that required

equipment. Each exercise was ranked for muscle stimulation measured

with electromyography (EM) in the following muscle groups.



1. Bicycle Crunch Exercise

2. Captain's Chair Exercise

3. Crunch on an Exercise Ball

Number 1: The Bicycle Crunch

• Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground.

• Put your hands beside your head.

• Bring your knees up to about a 45-degree angle and slowly go through

a bicycle pedal motion.

• Touch your left elbow to your right knee, then your right elbow to your

left knee.

• Breathe evenly throughout the exercise.



Number 2: The Captains Chair

• Start with legs dangling and slowly lift your knees in toward your

chest.

• The motion should be controlled and deliberate as you bring your

knees up and return them back to the starting position.



straight back chair.

You can even do the captains exercise at home with a

Number 3: Exercise Ball

• Sit on the exercise ball with your feet flat on the floor.



• Let the ball roll back slowly and lie back until your thighs and

torso are parallel with the floor.

Contract your abdominals raising your torso to no more than 45

degrees.

To work the oblique muscles, make the exercise less stable by

moving your feet closer together

The Plank

There are many exercises available for developing strong abs and

building core strength, but few methods offered for evaluating that

strength.

Sports Coach, Brian Mackenzie offers the following Core Muscle Strength

and Stability Test as a way to determine your current core strength and

gauge your progress over time.

The Core Muscle Strength & Stability Test

The objective of this evaluation is to monitor the development and



improvements of an athlete's core strength and endurance over time. To

prepare for the assessment you will need:

• Flat surface

• Mat

• Watch or clock with second counter

• Hold the plank for less than 30 seconds (poor)

• Hold the plank for 30 seconds (below average)

• Hold the plank for 60 seconds (average)

• Hold the plank for 120 seconds (above average)

• Hold the plank for 150 seconds (good)

• Hold the plank for 180 seconds (excellent)

• Poor Core Strength

if you cannot complete the test fully, your core strength needs

improvement.

Poor core strength results in unnecessary torso movement and

swaying during all other athletic movements. This results in wasted

energy and poor biomechanics. Good core strength indicates that the

athlete can move with high efficiency.

• If you are unable to complete the test practice the routine three or

four times each week until you improve.



• By comparing your results over time, you will note improvements

or declines in core strength.

Ultimate Plank Test

1. Position the watch or clock where you can easily see it

2. Start in the Plank Exercise Position (elbows on the ground)

Hold for 60 seconds then

3. Lift your right arm off the ground

Hold for 15 seconds

4. Return your right arm to the ground and lift the left arm off the

ground

Hold for 15 seconds

5. Return your left arm to the ground and lift the right leg off the

ground

Hold for 15 seconds

6. Return your right leg to the ground and lift the left leg off the ground

Hold for 15 seconds

7. Lift your left leg and right arm off the ground

Hold for 15 seconds

8. Return you left leg and right arm to the ground

9. Lift your right leg and left arm off the ground

Hold for 15 seconds



10. Return to the Plank Exercise Position (elbows on the ground)

Hold this position for 30 seconds

3 minutes in total!

About the Test Design

Core Muscle Strength & Stability Test was designed by Brian Mackenzie , a

senior athletics coach (UKA 4) with UK Athletics, the United Kingdom's

National Governing body for Track and Field Athletics.

The ABED Health System TM does not require

you to use a gym, for as little as £20 you can buy a ‘Chin Pull up Bar’ that

can fit to almost any door and hold up to 18 stone in weight. A proper chin

up where you allow your arms to almost straighten out fully on the way

down, can really help your upper body strength.




The Alternative Exercises

As the A.b.e.d. Health System TM is all about taking the excess strain off

the body and mind, it is important that other alternative exercises are

included here rather than just use the conventional exercise methods.

Pilates

The following article on Pilates is taken from www.ladiesfitness.com



Pilates is a form of exercise, developed by Joseph Pilates, which

emphasizes the balanced development of the body through core strength,

flexibility, and awareness in order to support efficient, graceful

movement. Pilates is an intense, controlled way of working your core

muscles--the back and abdominal muscles that stabilize your body--using

technique, breathing, and concentration. One of the best things about the

Pilates method is that it works so well for a wide range of people. Athletes

and dancers love it, as do seniors, women rebounding from pregnancy,

and people who at various stages of physical rehabilitation.

The top benefits doing of Pilate’s exercise that people report are that they

become stronger, longer, leaner, and more able to do anything with grace and

ease.

Joseph Pilates

The Pilates Method of exercise was developed by Joseph Pilates in the

1920s. It was originally used as a rehabilitation program for prisoners of

war and was later found to be of great benefit to anyone seeking a higher

level of fitness. The work was kept alive over the years by a small group of

Joseph Pilates devoted students until just a few years ago; when exercise

science caught up to the principles that Pilates had been teaching all

along, and now we enjoy the rich evolution of the Pilates work that we

have today. Joseph Pilates originally called his work "contrology." He

considered this to be a body/mind/spirit approach to movement founded



on the integrative effect of principles such as cantering, concentration,

control, precision, breath, and flow.

Yoga: Exercise for the mind & body

Yoga is an excellent exercise to reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and

ease anxiety. (11)

Even breathing deeply can help ease stress as well as the following

scientific study showed, that it can help reduce blood pressure naturally

without drugs. (12)

There are other types of exercises you can use to help improve the fitness

of your mind and body, such as Yoga, Pilates & Tai Chi.

I can personally vouch for the benefits of yoga and stress relief, I have

used the same yoga more or less for almost 20 years, and in fact the same

yoga programme I use is included in your audio download.

Many of the world’s top athletes use yoga to help them keep fit and stay

supple. One of the UK’s best footballers and certainly one of the longest



serving still at the highest levels is Ryan Giggs; he himself is an avid

supporter of the benefits of yoga. I have had the privilege of meeting

(more like bumping into at a Greek airport coming back off holiday in

2008) I can tell you I knew I was in the presence of a true athlete.

Allegedly another person who has had much success with the opposite

success is Robbie Williams. Robbie apparently as quite nervous about

going on tour with ‘Take That’ for their recent reunion tour, that was

before he started using Yoga to help calm his nerves.

If more modern footballers followed his example, then maybe there

would be far less injuries. Personally I also believe that when a player is

under pressure to perform he can be more prone to injury. Yoga can help

relax not only the body but increase the flexibility of the mind, and is an

excellent way to help reduce tension and release stress and build strength

The following list of yoga benefits is written rather surprisingly from

nursingdegree.net.

77 Surprising Health Benefits of Yoga

By Meredith Walker,

Over the past several years, yoga has experienced an upsurge in

popularity in the western world among medical professionals and

celebrities alike. While many people may associate yoga with new age

mysticism or the latest fad at the gym, yoga is actually an ancient practice



that connects the mind, body, and spirit through body poses, controlled

breathing, and mindfulness. The practice of yoga has many health benefits

associated with it, so read below to discover 77 benefits of incorporating

yoga in to you or your patient’s fitness program.

Health Benefits Within

From lowering blood pressure to increasing pain tolerance, the following

health benefits can all be discovered within the body.

1. Blood pressure. A consistent yoga practice decreases blood

pressure through better circulation and oxygenation of the body.

These two exercises can help lower blood pressure.

2. Pulse rate. A slower pulse rate indicates that your heart is strong

enough to pump more blood with fewer beats. Regularly

practicing yoga provides a lower pulse rate.

3. Circulation. Yoga improves blood circulation. By transporting

nutrients and oxygen throughout your body, yoga practice

provides healthier organs, skin, and brain.

4. Respiratory. Like the circulatory system, a lower respiratory rate

indicates that the lungs are working more efficiently. Yoga

decreases the respiratory rate through a combination of

controlled breathing exercises and better fitness.



5. Cardiovascular endurance. A combination of lower heart rate and

improved oxygenation to the body (both benefits of yoga) results

in higher cardiovascular endurance.

6. Organs. Yoga practice massages internal organs, thus improving

the ability of the body to prevent disease. Additionally, an

experienced yoga practitioner becomes better attuned to her body

to know at first sign if something isn’t functioning properly,

thereby allowing for quicker response to head off disease.

7. Gastrointestinal. Gastrointestinal functions have been shown to

improve in both men and women who practice yoga.

8. Immunity. Yoga practice has frequently been correlated with a

stronger immune system. Read this article for more on the

immune system and yoga, including some poses that specifically

work on areas of immunity.

9. Pain. Pain tolerance is much higher among those who practice

yoga regularly. In addition to pain tolerance, some instances of

chronic pain, such as back pain, are lessened or eliminated

through yoga (see below for more on back pain).

10. Metabolism. Having a balanced metabolism results in maintaining

a healthy weight and controlling hunger. Consistent yoga practice

helps find the balance and creates a more efficient metabolism.



Health Benefits Without

Just as many health benefits occur within the body, there are many

benefits that can actually be experienced from without the body. From

better sleep to more energy and strength, this list provides several

benefits found on the outside of the body.

11. Aging. Yoga stimulates the detoxification process within the body.

Detoxification has been shown to delay aging, among many other

health benefits.

12. Posture. The very nature of yoga teaches the practitioner how to

hold and control one’s body in a more healthful position. Through

consistent practice, your posture will improve so that you look

more confident and healthy.

13. Strength. One of the premises of yoga is that you are using the

weight of your own body for overall strength. Find out more about

how yoga works as an excellent method of strength training in

this article.

14. Energy. Regular yoga practice provides consistent energy. In fact,

most yogis state that when you perform your yoga correctly, you

will feel energized after your yoga session rather than tired.

15. Weight. The benefits of a better metabolism along with the

exercise of yoga work to keep your weight in check. Additionally,

the stretching of muscles longwise helps to reduce the amount of

cellulite that can build around muscles.



16. Sleep. Because of the many benefits to both body and mind that a

yoga routine can provide, many find that their sleep is much

better. Read here for more on sleep and yoga, as well as some

positions for helping induce sleep.

17. Balance. An integral part of the yoga practice is balance and

control over your body. With a consistent practice, you will find

that your overall balance will improve outside the yoga class.

18. Integrated function of the body. Yoga is derived from Sanskrit and

means "to join together and direct one’s attention." This is exactly

what happens to your body after you start practicing yoga. Yogis

find that their body works together much better, resulting in more

graceful and efficient body movements.

19. Body Awareness: Doing yoga will give you an increased

awareness of your own body. You are often called upon to make

small, subtle movements to improve your alignment. Over time,

this will increase your level of comfort in your own body. This can

lead to improved posture and greater self-confidence.

20. Core strength. With a strong body core, you receive better posture

and overall body strength. A strong core helps heal and reduce

injuries. This is why a lot of athletes do yoga as cross training

(boxers, MMA fighters, etc). Read how this swimmer uses yoga to

strengthen her core and improve her swimming.



21. Sexuality. Yoga can improve your sexuality through better control,

more relaxation, and more self-confidence. Read more about the

yoga and sexuality connection here.

Emotional Health Benefits

Due to the strong mind-body connection of yoga, there are many

emotional benefits to be gained from a consistent yoga practice. Find out

how yoga can help improve emotional health with this list.

22. Mood. Overall well-being improves with yoga practice. The

combination of creating a strong mind-body connection, creating

a healthy body, and focusing inward can all lead to improvement

in your mood.

23. Stress Reduction. The concentration required during yoga

practice tends to focus your attention on the matter at hand,

thereby reducing the emphasis you may have been putting on the

stress in your life. Read more about yoga and stress management

here.

24. Anxiety. One benefit to the controlled breathing used in yoga is a

reduction in anxiety. Learn more about how you can use yoga

breathing to reduce your anxiety.

25. Depression. Some believe the negative feelings that you may be

repressing are brought to the surface during some types of yoga



exercise. When this happens, the negative energy is no longer

stuck within you, but released through exercise. Regularly

releasing this negativity leads to a reduction of depression in

many people.

26. Self-acceptance. Focusing inward and realizing through your yoga

practice that perfection is not the goal, self-acceptance begins to

take over. This post describes how success is not measured by

perfectionism in yoga.

27. Self-control. The controlled movements of yoga teach you how to

translate that self-control to all aspects of your life.

28. Mind-body connection. Few other exercises offer the same mindbody

connection that yoga does. As you match your controlled

breathing with the movements of your body, you retrain your

mind to find that place of calm and peace that long-time yogis

know.

29. Positive outlook on life. Continued practice of yoga results in a

balance of many hormones and nervous system, which brings

about a more stable, positive approach to life.

30. Hostility. Most yogis report a huge reduction in the amount of

hostility they feel as well as a sense of control when anger flares.

This calm effect is likely from the relaxation and meditation that is

incorporated in their yoga practice that leads to an overall

calming of the nervous system. Less hostility means lower blood

pressure and stress and a healthier approach to life.



31. Concentration. Researchers have shown that as little as eight

weeks of yoga practice can result in better concentration and

more motivation.

32. Memory. Improved blood circulation to the brain as well as the

reduction in stress and improved focus results in a better

memory.

33. Attention. The attention required in yoga to maintain the

structured breathing in conjunction with yoga poses sharpens the

ability to keep a sharp focus on tasks.

34. Social skills. In yoga, you learn the interconnectedness of all of life.

Your yoga practice soon evolves from a personal journey to one

connecting to the community at large where your social skills

improve along with your yoga practice.

35. Calmness. Concentrating so intently on what your body is doing

has the effect of bringing calmness. Yoga also introduces you to

meditation techniques, such as watching how you breathe and

disengagement from your thoughts, which help calm the mind.

Body Chemistry

Several aspects of body chemistry such as glucose levels and red blood

cells are affected by yoga. Learn how you can improve your body

chemistry through yoga.



36. Cholesterol. Yoga practice lowers cholesterol through increased

blood circulation and burning fat. Yoga practice is a great tool to

fight against harmful cholesterol levels.

37. Lymphatic system. Your lymphatic system boosts your immunity

and reduces toxins in your body. The only way to get your

lymphatic system flowing well is by movement. The specific

movements involved in yoga are particularly well-suited for

promoting a strong lymphatic system.

38. Glucose. There is evidence to suggest that yoga may lower blood

glucose levels.

39. Sodium. As does any good exercise program, yoga reduces the

sodium levels in your body. In today’s world of processed and fast

foods that are full of sodium, lessening these levels is a great idea.

40. Endocrine functions. Practicing yoga helps to regulate and control

hormone secretion. An improved endocrine system keeps

hormones in balance and promotes better overall physical and

emotional health.

41. Triglycerides. Triglycerides are the chemical form of fat in the

blood, and elevated levels can indicate a risk for heart disease and

high blood pressure. A recent study shows that yoga can lead to

"significantly lower" levels of triglycerides. Read more about the

results of that study here.

42. Red blood cells. Yoga has been shown to increase the level of red

blood cells in the body. Red blood cells are responsible for



carrying oxygen through the blood, and too few can result in

anemia and low energy.

43. Vitamin C. Vitamin C helps boost immunity, helps produce

collagen, and is a powerful antioxidant; and a yoga regimen can

increase the vitamin C in your body.

Exercise Health Benefits

As a form of exercise, yoga offers benefits that are sometimes not easily

found among other exercise regimens. Check out these reasons to include

yoga in your or your patient’s health program.

44. Low risk of injury. Due to the low impact of yoga and the

controlled aspect of the motions, there is a very low risk of injury

during yoga practice compared to other forms of exercise.

45. Parasympathetic Nervous System. In many forms of exercise, the

sympathetic nervous system kicks in, providing you with that

fight-or-flight sensation. Yoga does the opposite and stimulates

the parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic

system lowers blood pressure and slows the pace of your

breathing, which allows relaxation and healing.

46. Muscle tone. Consistently practicing yoga leads to better muscle

tone.



47. Subcortex. Subcortical regions of brain are associated with wellbeing,

and yoga is thought to dominate the subcortex rather than

the cortex (where most exercise dominates).

48. Reduced oxygen consumption. Yoga consumes less oxygen than

traditional exercise routines, thereby allowing the body to work

more efficiently.

49. Breathing. With yoga, breathing is more natural and controlled

during exercise. This type of breathing provides more oxygen-rich

air for your body and also provides more energy with less fatigue.

50. Balanced workout of opposing muscle groups. As with all of yoga,

balance is key; if a muscle group is worked in one direction, it will

also be worked in the opposite direction to maintain balance. This

balance results in a better overall workout for the body.

51. Non-competitive. The introspective and self-building nature of

yoga removes any need of competition in the exercise regimen.

With the lack of competition, the yogi is free to work slowly to

avoid any undue injury as well as promote a more balanced and

stress-free workout.

52. Joint range of motion. A study at the University Of Pennsylvania

School Of Medicine indicated that joint range of motion was

improved by participants who practiced yoga.

53. Eye-hand coordination. Without practice, eye-hand coordination

diminishes. Yoga maintains and improves eye-hand coordination.



54. Dexterity. The strong mind-body connection and flexibility gained

from yoga leads to grace and skill.

55. Reaction time. Research done in India shows that reaction time

can be improved with specific yoga breathing exercises in

conjunction with an already established yoga practice. The

improvement was attributed to the faster rate of processing and

improved concentration gained from yoga.

56. Endurance. Working the entire body, yoga improves endurance

and is frequently used by endurance athletes as a supplement to

their sport-specific training.

57. Depth perception. Becoming aware of your body and how it

moves, as one does in yoga practice, leads to increased depth

perception.

Disease Prevention

Doctors and nurses love yoga because studies indicate that it can help

prevent the following diseases.

58. Heart disease. Yoga reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, keeps

off weight, and improves cardiovascular health, all of which lead

to reducing your risk of heart disease.

59. Osteoporosis. It is well documented that weight-bearing exercise

strengthens bones and helps prevent osteoporosis. Additionally,



yoga’s ability to lower levels of cortisol may help keep calcium in

the bones.

60. Alzheimer’s. A new study indicates that yoga can help elevate

brain gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) levels. Low GABA levels are

associated with the onset of Alzheimer’s. Meditation like that

practiced in yoga has also been shown to slow the progression of

Alzheimer’s.

61. Type II diabetes. In addition to the glucose reducing capabilities of

yoga, it is also an excellent source of physical exercise and stress

reduction that, along with the potential for yoga to encourage

insulin production in the pancreas, can serve as an excellent

preventative for type II diabetes.

Symptom Reduction or Alleviation

Medical professionals have learned that the following diseases or

disorders can all be helped by maintaining a yoga practice.

62. Carpal tunnel syndrome. Individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome

who practiced yoga showed greater improvement than those who

wore a splint or received no treatment at all. Researchers saw

improved grip strength and reduction of pain in the study

participants.



63. Asthma. There is some evidence to show that reducing symptoms

of asthma and even reduction in asthma medication are the result

of regular yoga.

64. Arthritis. The slow, deliberate movement of yoga poses coupled

with the gentle pressure exerted on the joints provides an

excellent exercise to relieve arthritis symptoms. Also, the stress

relief associated with yoga loosens muscles that tighten joints.

65. Multiple sclerosis. According to this article, "yoga is now

recognized as an excellent means of MS management."

Additionally, National Center for Complementary and Alternative

Medicine is funding a clinical trial of yoga for treating multiple

sclerosis.

66. Cancer. Those fighting or recovering from cancer frequently take

advantage of the benefits that yoga provides. Cancer patients, who

practice yoga gain strength, raise red blood cells, experience less

nausea during chemotherapy, and have a better overall wellbeing.

67. Muscular dystrophy. Using yoga in the early stages of muscular

dystrophy can help return some physical functions. The practice

of Pranayama yoga helped one teen regain many of his abilities

lost to muscular dystrophy. Learn more in this article.

68. Migraines. Regular yoga practice has been shown to reduce the

number of migraines in chronic migraine sufferers. This post

describes how yoga can reduce migraines.



69. Scoliosis. Yoga can straighten the curvature of the spine

associated with scoliosis. Find out how this yogi cured her

scoliosis and continues to help others as well.

70. Chronic bronchitis. Exercise that does not elevate respiration, yet

increase oxygen levels in the body is ideal for treating chronic

bronchitis. Luckily, yoga can do this, as well as aerate the lungs

and provide energy.

71. Epilepsy. Focusing on stress reduction, breathing, and restoring

overall balance in the body are the focus of how yoga can help

prevent epileptic seizures.

72. Sciatica. The intense pain associated with sciatica can be

alleviated with specific yoga poses. Here are 10 great ones to help

relieve pain.

73. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Studies of people with OCD have

shown that practicing yoga has lead to a reduction in symptoms–

resulting in less medication or medication no longer needed.

74. Constipation. Due to the practice of yoga and overall better

posture, the digestive and elimination systems work more

efficiently. If the practitioner also has a healthy diet, any

constipation will be eliminated through yoga.

75. Allergies. Using a neti pot to clear the sinuses is an ancient form of

yoga to help reduce or eliminate allergy symptoms. Certain types

of breathing can also help clear the nasal passages.



76. Menopause. Yoga practice can help control some of the side effects

of menopause. Learn how the bridge pose can help reduce hot

flashes here.

77. Back pain. Yoga reduces spinal compression and helps overall

body alignment to reduce back pain. Find a yoga pose to help

lessen back pain here.

I have included a few basic yoga moves here all beneficial for lowering

stress levels and helping to lower blood pressure.

The A.b.e.d. Practical TM audio yoga download covers the simple practical

moves that are most beneficial to help keep your mind & body in excellent

shape. Practiced once or twice a week is sufficient to keep you feeling

young, flexible, fit and above all healthy.



a. Step-by-Step Instructions for Kundalini Yoga Cat-Cow Technique:

• Come onto the floor on all fours. Make sure your hands are

directly under your shoulders, about shoulder width apart and

knees are directly under your hips, about hip distance apart.

• Now come into cow pose by bringing your head up, while at the

same time pushing your stomach down (as in illustration #1

above). Your eyes should be open and you should be looking

upwards, thus giving your optical nerve and eye muscles a toning

massage. Inhale deeply as you come into this posture.

• Next bring your head down and your chin towards your chest as

you arch your back up like a cat (pressing your stomach up as in

illustration #2). Exhale fully as you come into this pose.

• Start off at a slow pace, holding each position for a few seconds or

more, and then begin to move faster as you feel yourself warming

up. Only go as fast as you find comfortable, moving between cows

pose and cat pose.



. Duration for Kundalini Yoga Cat-Cow Technique:

• 1 minute - 5 minutes.

• Start slowly and build up your time steadily from there.

c. Benefits of Kundalini Yoga Cat-Cow Technique:

• Clears emotional debris, thus promoting good emotional health

and balance.

• Clears blockages in the energy pathways caused by unresolved

emotions, thus helping energy flow to take place between the

higher and lower chakras.

• Excellent exercise for your entire back and spine. Massages all

72,000 nerve junctions that lie along the spinal cord.

• Great for the optical nerve and eyes. Gives you sparkly eyes.

• Good to regulate and balance the thyroid gland.

• Good for your arms and shoulders.

• Good for your digestive system



Kundalini Yoga Cobra Pose Practice Details:

a. Step-by-Step Instructions for Kundalini Yoga Cobra Pose:

• Lie flat on the floor, stomach down and feet extended.

• Place your hands near your shoulders and then raise your upper

body and torso up off the ground. The upper thighs should

remain on the floor. You back should arch up.

• Turn your head up and look upwards as well. Stretching your

neck.

• You can either do Long Deep Breathing or do the Breath of Fire

Breathing Exercise.

• As a variation, you can go up and down in cobra pose. Coming up

and breathing in, holding the position for a few seconds and then

coming back down and exhaling.

b. Duration for Kundalini Yoga Cobra Pose:



• 15 Seconds – 2 minutes.

• Start slowly and build up your time steadily from there.

c. Benefits of Kundalini Yoga Cobra Pose:

• Very good for improving the health of the back and spine. Good

for toning all the back muscles and tissue related to the vertebrae.

• Massages all the digestive organs improving both digestion and

elimination. Works on balancing both the Manipuri (navel)

chakra and the swadhisthan (sex) chakra.

• Works on all the nerve junctions that lie along the spine, as well as

the important psychic channels that run through the spinal cord.

• Works on improving functions of the ovaries and reproductive

glands.

• Works on the thyroid and para thyroid glands and the vishuddhi

(throat) chakra.

• Opens up the heart chakra (anahata) promoting softness of

character.

• Good for improving vision and toning the optical nerve.

• Builds upper body strength. Specially the shoulders (deltoids),

triceps and chest (pectoral) muscles.

d. Practice Tips for Kundalini Yoga Cobra Pose:

• Careful with your lower back! Do not over strain.



• Also, careful with the elbows if you are using the bent arm

version.

• Going up and down in cobra pose is excellent for building strong

arms, shoulders and chest muscles without risking injury

Of course you can also use your stress busting yoga CD download you

received if you bought the complete set of the A.b.e.d. Health System TM

Tai Chi

Originally Tai Chi was a martial art, but by the gentleness of the moves,

you would never think so.



Tai Chi classes are taught throughout the UK and they are extremely

popular, are an excellent way of keeping supple, improving energy flow,

staying young and meeting even new friends, which all helps to lower

stress levels.

Walking

I am often asked what type of exercise regimen one should begin as part

of a health restoration program. There are so many different types of

exercises available and so many places to do them that beginning such a

program can seem daunting. This is especially true for those who have

lived a sedentary lifestyle for a few years.

Some people don’t enjoy lifting weights, jogging or aerobic exercises.

Since any health approach should incorporate an integrated mind/body

theme, this must be an essential component of the physical activity you

choose as exercise.

Walking is an excellent form of general exercise, and can be most

enjoyable. If you are used to driving or getting the bus, whenever possible

walk.

I must stress however that it is still wherever possible to really have a

good lung workout even if it is for a short while, so as to push the body.

Mix it up with 3 minutes gentle walking, then 2 minutes faster and one

minute really fast, then repeat as many times as you wish.



Remember though to get a good lung workout, you would have to be

walking hills or you will need some form of cardio exercise using

anaerobic as well as aerobic.



The Art of Exercise: Conclusion

So I hope you have enjoyed reading this exercise section and learned

something. Of course the exercises in this book are not the only ones to

use, indeed it is important that you just move, exercise regularly and learn

to enjoy exercising. If you are going to take good care of your health than

a regular exercise plan will

• Keep you looking young

• Keep you feeling young

• Help boost sex drive

• Release stress & tension

• Lower resting pulse

• Help optimise blood pressure

• Increase your chances of living longer

• Strengthen immune system

• Increases endorphins & the body’s levels of serotonin (pleasure

senses)

& with the A.b.e.d. Method Exercise System TM you can exercise for a

minimum amount of cardio with the maximum effects so you have more

free time to enjoy all the benefits gained.

Whether you exercise at home, on the street, at a gym or even in the park

the key is to make the exercise regular and make it so you sweat and



eathe hard. This does not have to be for a long time, just 20 minutes, 3

times per week pushing yourself will do you and your stress levels the

world of good.

So if you have very little time, very little money and very little fitness,

then you also have very little excuse.

BACK OF THE NET RESULT J

Audio:

Exercise Stress Response Switch Off



Question & Answer Section

1. I am very overweight at the moment and I have not

exercised in years, I am too shy to go to a gym but I am

determined to exercise and get fit, can your method

help?

Of course the A.b.e.d. Method TM can help you, first of all congratulations

on taking the first and most important step to getting your health back,

and that is the step of responsibility. By acknowledging that it is up to you

fix the problem, nothing can stop you now.

I recommend of course as well as the exercise programme we need to

make sure a sensible diet is helping you on the way, you already

mentioned to me earlier that you used to drink too much and takeaways

were a bit of a weakness, and you tell me now that those days are long

gone, well I can already see a new you taking shape.

Because of your shyness use the A.b.e.d. Exercise TM NUMBER 5 Hannah

Waterman DVD three times per week for at least four weeks. You should

find that your weight falls off and importantly your resting pulse comes

down to at least average. Then try A.b.e.d. Exercise TM NUMBER 3 for

another 4 weeks at least twice times a week, you may also keep doing the

DVD.



Let me know how you get on and we can take it from there.

2. I love everything you say about A.b.e.d. Exercise TM I

had no idea about interval training, I can tell you it

definitely works. But do you have any tips how to get

my children to become more physically active, I have a

seven year old and an 11 year old, and to be frank I am

quite concerned about their levels of health?

You tell me the same kind of story I hear from lots of concerned parents,

that kids nowadays spend so much more time watching television, or on

the computer or playing Playstation / X box etc. Incidentally there is

another reason you may not want your children playing games on a

console. Some research on the Super Nanny programme showed that

children who played violent war games were cold and unhelpful

compared to the children who had played the same time on a game

console but a non violent game yet still competitive such as football.

Children aged 11 to 15 now spend 53 hours a week watching TV and

computers - an increase of 40 per cent in a decade. When other screenbased

viewing, such as computer games, is included, the figure is far

higher.

Equally shocking was the report in the medical journal Paediatrics which

studied the metabolic rates of 31 children while undertaking a variety of



activities and found that when they watched TV, the children burned the

equivalent of 211 calories fewer per day than if they did absolutely

nothing.

If you can imagine your child at twenty years old, fit and healthy and he

has only his parents to thank for that, well what finer gift could you have

given them? The answer could be a reward system, remember you are in

charge and the word discipline originally meant to teach or educate.

They want to play games which do not require physical effort than you

ask of them 20 minutes of physical exercise 3 times per week. Not too

much to ask is it?

Put them on A.b.e.d. Exercise TM NUMBER 3. If they don’t want to do the

running, they can do it in the house with a mixture of push ups, squats,

burpees, star jumps and running on the spot but hard and fast.

3. Why is A.b.e.d. TM such an effective health programme?

The answer lies in the holistic approach, if you use your mind as well as

your heart, you should begin to see improved results. A.b.e.d. TM uses a

combination of the finest training techniques in the world. Concentrating

on maximum oxygen absorption due to the control of the exercises, plus

the stop, go, rest, and push protocol of the exercises. Another reason is of



course the versatility of the programme; it can be adapted to get excellent

results for all ages, all levels of fitness and even all levels of mobility.

The A.B.E.D Exercise TM programme also encourages the participant to

be aware of other factors influencing his fitness, such as diet and of course

this includes the mental diet. Practising yoga even once a week even once

a week can be very calming; just try it.

4. Why is regular exercise such a good way to relieve

stress?

This is a great question, because it is so relevant to helping to deal with so

many of today’s ills. We are under ever increasing amounts of emotional

strain. With increased debt both at a personal level, a national level and a

global level; then of course we have problems which used to be the

exclusive problems of politicians such as global warming, climate change

etc. Although knowledge is generally a good thing, too much can cause

harm. So with all this going on in our heads and combined with more and

more work happening in the mind rather than physically, it is essential

that we keep using our bodies, otherwise it is as if we are almost

disregarding them. What use is the best driver in the world if he has no

car to drive?



5. What about walking?

Walking is so simple and ordinary, yet in one 30-minute session you can

raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL)—the good—cholesterol levels,

increase respiration within safe limits, sweat out toxins, release feel-good

hormones called endorphins, improve heart function, begin reducing

weight, reduce stress, promote relaxation and improve overall endurance

and body tone. (15)

6. I have heard that boosting metabolism is an excellent

way to lose fat, have you any tips?

Boost your metabolism

1. Get active - it's a sure-fire way to increase the amount of muscle

you have, which in turn will speed up your metabolism. Do a

mixture of aerobic and resistance training for best results. And

don't forget to be more active in your daily life too.

2. Eat little and often - there's evidence that eating small, regular

meals throughout the day, rather than one or two large meals,

may help to keep your metabolism ticking over. Surprisingly,

around 10 percent of the calories we use each day go on digesting

and absorbing food - so the more times you eat, the greater this

effect is likely to be.

3. Eat plenty of protein-rich foods - research shows that around 25

percent of calories in a protein-rich meal may be burnt off. But



make sure you choose low-fat protein foods such as lean meat like

organic free range skinless chicken or tofu.

4. Spice up meals - it's not an old wives tale after all! Spices like chilli

are thought to raise metabolism by up to 50 percent for up to

three hours after eating, due to increasing your heart rate. But

before putting the local Indian takeaway on speed dial, work out

which curries have the lowest calorie and fat content.

5. Swap normal tea for green tea, there is evidence that it speeds up

metabolism.



This is the end of the 3 rd book of the

A.b.e.d. Method Health Series TM



References

1. Paige Waehner. (2010). Top 10 reasons you don't exercise.

Available:

http://exercise.about.com/cs/fittingitin/a/exerciseobstac

l.htm. Last visited May 2010

2. Deirdre Lee. (2008). Can you afford not to exercise?

Available:

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/features/affordtoexercise.ht

m. Last accessed May 2010 Susan Aldridge PhD. (2002).

Exercise reduces cancer risk. Available:

http://curezone.com/art/read.asp?ID=101&db=5&C0=74.

Last accessed 2008

3. KAJIURA, JASON S.; MACDOUGALL, J. DUNCAN; ERNST,

PETER B.; YOUNGLAI, EDWARD V. Immune response to

changes in training intensity and volume in runners.

Medicine Science in Sports Exercise. 27(8):1111-1117,

August 1995

4. T McGrath Are you running yourself to death?

http//www.msnbc.com/id/27460551/.Updated Nov1

2008 Last visited Sep 2010

5. Mohlenkamp S, Lehman N, and Breuckerman F, et al.

Running (2007): the risk of coronary events: Prevalence



and prognostic relevance of coronary atherosclerosis in

marathon runners. Eur Heart J. 2008; 29 (15) 1903-1910.

Last accessed March 2008

6. REF Jonathan P Little, Adeel S Safdar, Geoffrey P Wilkin,

Mark a Tarnopolsky, and Martin J Gibala. A practical

model of low-volume high-intensity interval training

induces mitochondrial biogenesis in human skeletal

muscle: potential mechanisms. The Journal of

Physiology, 2010; DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2009.181743 Last

accessed 2010

7. REF Cook DG, Sharper SG, Breathlessness, lung function and

the risk of heart attack. European heart journal 1988; 9 (11)

1215- 1222 Last visited Aug 2010

8. Gretchen Reynolds. (2009). Can you get fit in 6 minutes per

week?

Available:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/can-you-getfit-in-six-minutes-a-week/.

Last accessed Aug 2009.

9. National Institute of Fitness & Sports, Kagoshima

Prefecture, Japan. Nishimura K, Kouzaki M, Hirai Y, Ogita F,

Miyachi M, Yamamoto K.Department of Physiology and

Biomechanics Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1996 Oct;

28(10):1327-30.Effects of moderate-intensity endurance

and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic

capacity and VO2max.Tabata I



10. Vigorous physical exercise amounting to as minute as 14

minutes every day, three day for each week, would be

sufficient to bring in that protective effect. Amit Pathania.

(2010). Research: Short Sessions of Exercise Reduce Stress

Effects. Available: http://topnews.us/content/221002-

research-short-sessions-exercise-reduce-stress-effect.

Last accessed June2010

11. Caroline Smitha, Heather Hancocka1, Jane Blake-

Mortimerb, Kerena Eckerta. (2007). A randomised

comparative trial of yoga and relaxation to reduce stress

and anxiety. Available:

http://www.complementarytherapiesinmedicine.com/art

icle/S0965-2299(06)00043-4/abstract. Last accessed June

2008.

12. Angela Pirisi. (2008). Take a deep breath. Available:

http://www.yogajournal.com/health/110. Last accessed

2010.

13. Hatha yoga: ancient exercise for modern times includes

related article on yoga technique- by Karen Kampfer,

Kathryn Heim | Jan-Feb, 1991

(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0675/is_n1_v9/a

i_10456500/)



14. Robert B. Wall, M Div, MSN, FNP CNS (2005). Tai Chi.

Available: http://www.mindfuleducation.org.pdf Last

acccessd May 2010-11-28

15. Dr Mark Wiley. 2010 Walking & Standing. The two Best

exercises. Available

http://www.personalliberty.com/alternativemedicine/walking-and-standing

Reading list

PACE: The 12 Minute Fitness Revolution: Dr Al Sears

The Slow Burn: Stu Mittleman

Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights? Fitness Myths, Training

Truths, and Other Surprising Discoveries from the Science of

Exercise: Alex Hutchinson

You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises: Joshua

Clark and Mark Lauren



You can now move on

to final book of The

A.b.e.d. Method TM

The Art of Diet TM



The Dandelion is chosen as the image for the A.B.E.D Method TM . It has the

highest vitamin A content of all greens and yet many people see it as nothing

more than a weed to be destroyed. In a way this humble plant symbolises the

delicate state of nature and man’s obsession with power.



The Art of Exercise

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