Burpees

The perfect burpee is one where you are able to use the power from your hips while keeping your body in a good strong position.
To start off, get into the position as if you were about to do a push up.
You then bring you feet in, and your knees into your chest.
Then you thrust yourself upwards, and jump up.
When you land on your feet you then follow the reverse of what you just did.
So you will then crouch down with your knees bent and place your hands back onto the ground by your sides.
Then extend your legs backwards and get back into the first push up position.
That’s one rep.
The whole exercise is a continuous movement and you keep going until you have finished your specific amount of repetitions.

The Benefits of doing Burpees

The main benefits of doing a burpess is that they develop strength, endurance, explosiveness, and coordination because there’s so much going on.

When doing your burpees in a stronger position, you will not fatigue as fast and will be able to keep going therefor for much longer.

Resistancy Band Exercises

Resistance bands come in a variety of types, lengths and tensions.  Depending on your specific needs, you can use a band that offers tensions anywhere from 15 lbs. to over 200 lbs. of resistance. Resistance bands are color coded to easily distinguish between levels of tension.  A set of 5 Resistancy Bands cost less than $30, but if you are starting out I would recommend a Yellow of Green color.

Each company has different colors, but the general color range is:

Yellow:  Light resistance bands are used for working areas such as the shoulders and shins

Blue: Medium Resistance good for biceps and triceps

Green: Medium to Heavy Resistance best used on legs, chest and back

Black: Heavy Resistance can be used on the bigger muscles like legs, chest and back

Blue is the most resistance and good for toning stronger legs.

Here are a few of the simple resistancy band exercises; you can work so many different muscle groups, lower back, chest, legs, thighs, abs and arms.

General Overview of All Tube Band Resistance Levels:

* Yellow | 2 to 4 Pounds of Resistance
* Blue | 4 to 6 Pounds of Resistance
* Green | 10 to 12 Pounds of Resistance
* Black | 15 to 20 Pounds of Resistance
* Red | 20 to 30 Pounds of Resistance


Lunge With Biceps Curl
(A) Place the center of the band under the instep of your left foot and position your right foot about two feet behind you.
(B) With an underhand grip on the band’s handles, perform a biceps curl while bending your knees to lower into a lunge position. Complete 20 repetitions. Switch legs and repeat.

Hug-the-World Plié
(A) Stand with feet wider than shoulder-width apart, toes out. Wrap the band around your back at bra level. Extend arms to sides, slightly curved, while holding the band just shy of the handles.
(B) Bring fingertips together and bend knees until thighs are parallel to the floor. Open arms while returning to start. Repeat 20 times.

Shoulder Press with a Squat
(A) Stand in the middle of the band with feet parallel and shoulder-width apart. Hold handles at shoulder height, with palms facing away from you and elbows bent.
(B) Squat deeply while pressing your arms directly over your head. Keep your weight on your heels and resist the band as you return to standing position. Repeat 20 times.

Side Lunge with Side Raise
Stand with feet wider than shoulder-width apart, one end of the band under left foot. Grip other handle with left hand.
(A) Step into a lunge with right foot; sweep left hand down toward right foot.

(B) Push off with right foot to return to standing; raise right leg as you perform a lateral raise with left arm. Repeat 20 times; switch sides.

Dash Diet Strength Training Exercises

Strength training exercises should be worked into your fitness regime every other day, one day do you cardio exercise regime and the next day do some of these strength training exercise, it's good to work different muscles every day. So one day work the arms and the next day the legs. I am going to concentrate on strength training exercise you can do at home without equipment, but if you have the resources to add equipment then all the better for your fitness goals.

There are many benefits of Strength Training Exercises and the first being it helps keep you stronger and fitter and keeps the weight off as you burn more calories. Another reason to do strength training exercises is that it protects the muscle mass and bone density.
Strength training also boosts your energy level and the stronger you are the healthy you are and help prevent diseases.

So don't limit your self to just lifting weights, push-ups, squats lunges are great examples of strength training and there is no better day to start than today.

Squats

Squats

There are many benefits of squatting, squats  build up muscles and strength to the quadriceps, hamstrings and calves, they tone up your butt muscles, strengthen up your back muscles and help you maintain mobility and balance. So if you want to increase muscle mass and strength in all areas squatting is where I would start your strength training exercises. They can be done in the privacy of your own home.
Squats work several muscle groups, your quadriceps ("quads"), hamstrings, and gluteals ("glutes")
There are many different varieties of squats, but here is the basic version. You can start with a chair, sitting down and standing up.

1. Stand with feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart, hips stacked over knees and knees over ankles.
2. Roll the shoulders back and down away from the ears. It's important to maintain a neutral spine throughout the movement.
3. Extend arms out straight so they are parallel with the ground, palms facing down. Or pull elbows close to the body, palms facing each other and thumbs pointing up.
4. Initiate the movement by inhaling and unlocking the hips, slightly bringing them back. Keep sending hips backward as the knees begin to bend.
5. While the butt starts to stick out, make sure the chest and shoulders stay upright, and the back stays straight. Keep the head facing forward with eyes straight ahead with a neutral spine.
6. The best squats are the deepest ones your mobility allows. Optimal squat depth would be your hips sinking below the knees (again, if you have the flexibility to do so comfortably). The goal when doing a squat is to have your hip crease below your knees when you’re in the down spot. When squatting shallow or above parallel, the knee is doing most of the work and absorbing the force. By squatting below parallel, the knees release the force and the leg muscles start doing the work instead.
7. Engage core and, with body weight in the heels, explode back up to standing, driving through heels. Imagine the feet are spreading the floor (left foot to the left, right foot to the right) without actually moving the feet.

If you want to make your squats a little more intense, hold some 5 lb dumbbells in each hand.
Here is another method of a wall squat, this helps support the back if you have lower back problems, and putting a block between the thighs makes it a little harder.

Yoga for Dash Dieters

Yoga is a wonderful way to exercise for Dash Dieters, it is a comprehensive mind-body system that provides tools to address every aspect of dieting. There are yoga practices for relaxation, reducing stress, dealing with difficult emotions, examining your thoughts and beliefs about weight loss, and training the mind to be less reactive to painful sensations.








So depending on your current fitness level, I will give you different level of difficulty for the yoga poses
The practice of yoga involves a number of activities that have so many positive effects for healthy living.
They are

• Physical postures (asanas)
• Breathing exercises (pranayama)
• Meditation
• Sound (nada yoga)

Here are some of the best Yoga Poses for Dash Dieters

• Mountain pose – increases your sense of inner strength
• Child’s pose – calms and quiets the mind
• Standing forward bend – to connect you to your source (the Earth)
• Cat/Cow sequence – helps stretch the spine and bring awareness to breathing
• Bridge pose, Camel pose and other back bends – opens the heart
• Pigeon pose elongates the back, opens the hips, groin, hamstrings, and relieves pressure on the lower back and sciatica.
• Reclined Big Toe pose offers a stretch to the hips, thighs, hamstrings and calves and strengthens the muscles around the knees
• Cross Legged seated twist improves side-to-side mobility; decreases backaches and hip pain
• Downward Facing Dog stimulates the entire body, relieves back pain and fatigue

Yoga Poses for Hypertension

The DASH Diet is about eating the right sorts of foods to reduce hypertension, but there are also some Yoga poses for hypertension that can also help lower your blood pressure.

Yoga, when performed mindfully, can reduce stress-induced hypertension, it pacifies the sympathetic nervous system and slows down the heart, while teaching the muscles and mind to relax deeply.

The following sequence is designed to prepare you to work toward the practice of inversions safely and without raising your blood pressure.

Standing Forward Pose- (pictured above)

Stand up straight.
Start bending down to your legs keeping your back straight.
When it gets hard for you to keep your back straight, lower your head and grab your legs with your hands in order to help draw your stomach to your thighs.
Your head hangs freely.

Downward Facing Dog- (pictured above)

1. From Table position (hands and knees on the floor, tuck the toes under, press into the hands and begin to lift the hips up towards the ceiling.
2. Spread the fingers wide apart with the middle finger facing forward, and the palms shoulder width apart. Press the out through the fingers and edges of the hands.
3. Using straight (but not locked) arms press the hips up and back reaching the chest towards the thighs. Lift up through the tailbone to keep the spine straight and long.
4. Have the feet are hip’s width apart with the toes facing forward. Press the heels into the floor feeling a stretch in the back of the legs. The legs are straight, or you can have a small bend at the knees to keep the back flat.
5. Let the head and neck hang freely from the shoulders or look up at the belly button.
6. Breathe and hold for 4-8 breaths.
7. To release: bend the knees and lower the hips back to Table position, or come all the way down to child pose.
   
   

   Bridge Pose-(pictured above)

   1. Lying on your back, bend both knees and place the feet flat on the floor hip width apart. Slide the arms alongside the body with the palms facing down. The fingertips should be lightly touching the heels.
   2. Press the feet into the floor, inhale and lift the hips up, rolling the spine off the floor. Lightly squeeze the knees together to keep the knees hip width apart.
   3. Press down into the arms and shoulders to lift the chest up. Engage the legs, buttocks and mula bandha to lift the hips higher.
   4. Breathe and hold for 4-8 breaths.
   5. To release: exhale and slowly roll the spine back to the floor
   

   
   Plow Pose- (pictured above)

   1. Resting flat on your back, place your palms on the mat beside you.
   2. Inhale, activate your core, and lift your feet off the floor until they’re at a 90 degree angle.
   3. Support your hips and lower back with your hands as you lift them off the floor.
   4. Continue to lift up as you hinge at the hips and rest your feet directly above your head. Press your toes firmly into the mat beyond your head and energetically press into your heels. Lift your top thighs and tailbone toward the sky and pull your inner thigh into the pelvis.
   5. Create space between your chin and your chest.
   6. If you’d like an additional shoulder opener, remove your hands from your lower back, extend them on the mat in the opposite direction, and clasp the hands. Press them down on you mat to lift the hips and thighs up even higher.
   7. To exit slowly and with control, place your hands on your back, hinge at the hips until your feet are high in the sky above your hips (90 degree angle), and slowly roll down vertebra by vertebra.
      
      

      Pranayama- (pictured above)

      Pranayama  can also be extremely beneficial for reducing hypertension.
      Research studies demonstrate that conscious breathing quickly lowers blood pressure.
      

Meditation 101

Meditation reduces stress levels and produces a calmer state of mind, by simply taking a few short minutes a day to sit and be still, to refuel yourself, you will become that much more productive and present when you’re doing what you’re doing, whether it’s working, playing, studying, or loving.


Researchers are finding that people who meditate experience lower levels of anxiety, anger, depression, and tension, and that meditation can also be a supportive practice for those who have experienced trauma.

Meditation enhanced the areas of the brain involved in perception and the regulation of emotion.
Your mind will be freer. Your responses will be more spontaneous. And your world becomes much bigger because you now have more space, as well as the ability to understand the reality of situations and your responses to them.

Meditation is powerful it is a means to reclaiming mental health.

Some very simple ways of working with yourself can offer a huge return in terms of quality of life
Sitting meditation and mindful stretching movements are, without a doubt, central components of the yoga tradition.

Try 3 Minute Mediation HERE

Find out the number one secret to have more peace, tranquility and balance in your life. It is doable, realistic, time-friendly and all-inclusive and will provide you with physical, mental and emotional harmony.


3-Minute Meditations will lead you to incredible results. And the best part is it only takes 180 seconds a day.

Dash Diet Cardio Exercises

When you are following the Dash Diet, it is also very important to follow and exercise program. There are 3 areas you need to work on when you exercise and one of them is Cardiovascular exercises. Cardio is any movement that gets your heart rate up and increases your blood circulation and burns fat.
If you are just getting started find an exercise that you enjoy and start moving and increase your heart rate up.

Here are some every day Dash Diet Cardio Exercises you can choose from.
Brisk walking
Swimming
Biking
Basketball
Golf
Tennis
Exercise Class

Get your body moving and build up your fitness level. Do not over do it in the beginning, it is better to slowly build up your intensity of your cardio rather than volume.
Make sure you check out the benefits and how to do some of the most popular Cardio exercises you can do at home.
Burpees
Knee ups
Alternating jumping lunges
Squats
Stationary crocodile push ups
Pull ups (optional)