Five ways to improve flexibility

Five ways to improve flexibility - It's difficult to fit proper exercise into our daily routines - Between work and personal obligations, managing to reach the gym has become reason to celebrate. Leading a life without physical activity can cause anxiety, depression and obesity. Even when we exercise, we often focus exclusively on weightlifting and cardiovascular activities-both of which are extremely important, but we neglect flexibility.

Simple stretching can improve circulation, posture and mood as well as decrease joint rigidity and muscle stiffness. Yoga's recent popularity has helped correct this, but there are still many people throughout the world who would benefit immensely from more active lifestyles that include regular stretching.

Here are a few common forms of stretching to improve your flexibility.

Passive stretching

This is one of the most common forms of stretching — perhaps second only to yawning while extending your arms in your cubicle at work. Passive stretching is what we teach children and teenagers to do before basketball games, karate matches and so on. You stretch a body part into a pose and maintain it with the assistance of another body part. When you hold one arm across your chest and stretch it back with the other, you are working at passive stretching.

Active stretching

This mode of stretching is when you hold a particular position and maintain it exclusively with your muscle strength. Active stretching poses can typically help for about 8 to 10 seconds.

Isometric stretching

This is a form of static stretching that strengthens and lengthens your muscles. The most common way to perform an isometric stretch is to apply resistance with your own limbs. A common example of isometric stretching is when you sit down, stick your left leg out, place the bottom of your right foot on the inside of your left leg, bend forward, touch your left foot with your hands and apply pressure, stretching your leg muscles. The added resistance that you apply helps build muscle strength.

Dynamic stretching

This method of stretching can improve athletic performance and decrease risk of injury. It is different from passive stretching because you do not maintain an elongated and motionless stance for an extended period of time. Rather, you gradually increase tempo and reach as you move your limbs and body never extending beyond your range of motion. This method can include leg lifts, kicks and lunges.

Ballistic stretching

The above stretching techniques can improve your well-being, but you need to be wary of other methods that are now considered risky. Ballistic stretching once experienced popularity but has come under scrutiny by many physical therapists. This form of stretching uses your body's momentum in an effort to extend your range of motion. You usually swing or bounce a limb through its full range of motion. In the past, martial artists and gymnasts who need active flexibility have used this form of stretching. However, many experts argue that ballistic stretching could lead to injury and do not recommend it. ( foxnews.com )

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Not a very good start! Model takes a tumble on first day of Paris Fashion Week

Not a very good start! Model takes a tumble on first day of Paris Fashion Week - Anthony Vaccarello's star has been on a meteoric rise since Gwyneth Paltrow wore one of his dresses on the cover of Harper's Bazaar.

But while the Belgian designer's profile gets higher and higher, one of his models took a series of tumbles at his Paris Fashion Week show yesterday.

Model Pauline Hoarau attracted attention for all the wrong reasons when she tripped and fell several times during the finale walk-through.

A little unstable: Model Pauline Hoarau attracted attention for all the wrong reasons when she tripped and fell several times in her Giuseppe Zanotti heels at the Anthony Vaccarello show

Runway tumble: The model's Giuseppe Zanotti stilettoes were held responsible for the fall

Hoarau's Giuseppe Zanotti heels were held responsible for her falls - although the other models were all wearing very similar stilettos, and the model has surely worn more precarious shoes over the course of her career.

Perhaps injured from the tumble, it seems she needed the support of some fellow models to make her way off the runway.

Helping hand: Perhaps injured from the fall, it seems she needed the aid of some fellow models to make her way off the runway - luckily they seemed a supportive bunch

Hoarau was far from the only model to draw attention, though.

Karlie Kloss, who has been notably absent in New York, London and Milan this season has been the buzz of the recent string of Fashion Weeks

But yesterday, the 19-year-old finally made an appearance in Paris.

Back on the catwalk: Karlie Kloss made her first fashion week appearance this season, opening Anthony Vaccarello's show in Paris. Earlier this month she cancelled all work for a mysterious 'big opportunity'

Chicago-born Miss Kloss, whose stellar career reached a high point at the end of last year when she walked in the Victoria's Secret show, opened the Paris Fashion Week show in an austere all-navy duchesse satin suit.

She was joined on the runway by several other top names including Joan Smalls, Anja Rubik and Arizona Muse, while Kanye West sat front row.

Though the all-star cast is a demonstration of how significant this little-known label is set to become, Miss Kloss's appearance on the catwalk is the biggest surprise.

Catwalk queens: Walking the same show were Arizona Muse (left), Anja Rubik (centre) and Joan Smalls (right)

Excited: Miss Kloss took snaps with a miniature camera as she took part in a practice run before the actual event (left) and in full make-up during the actual show (right)

Ever since CNN fashion reporter, Alina Cho tweeted that the model had 'cancelled all catwalk appearances in NY for a big opportunity', the rumour mill has been in overdrive, speculating what that may be.

Shortly after, the news was confirmed by her agency, then little was heard until yesterday when the teen star began posting messages on Twitter about the fact that she was in Paris.

An editor at Elle.com who attended the Vaccarello show revealed to Fashionista.com that Miss Kloss had refused all catwalk opportunities because she had been due to film a commercial in Japan.

Rising star: Accompanying the designer as he took his bow was Anja Rubik, who closed the show in a showstopping asymmetric black-and-gold evening gown

Apparently, though, it all fell through, putting her back on the runway in time for Paris Fashion Week - although not quite soon enough to bag her the privilege of taking to the runway with Vaccarello himself.

Accompanying the designer as he took his bow was Anja Rubik, who closed the show in a showstopping asymmetric black-and-gold evening gown. ( dailymail.co.uk )

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Google privacy overhaul 'unlawful', say regulators

Google privacy overhaul 'unlawful', say regulators - Google new privacy policy, which comes into force tomorrow, may be illegal and should be suspended, European privacy regulators have said.

The European Commission's data protection advisors expressed "strong doubts" about the lawfulness of Google’s new privacy policy. Google said last month it will introduce a new, unified privacy policy to cover all its services, prompting an investigation by the Article 29 Working Party, a group made up of national privacy regulators.

Google's new privacy policy comes into force on Thursday

The new rules will allow Google to pool data from all its services - from Gmail, to YouTube, to search - to create a single profile for each of its hundreds of millions of users. The consolidated data will allow it to track interests and target advertising more accurately.

Reporting its preliminary findings, the Working Party has now told Google that "our preliminary analysis shows that Google's new policy does not meet the requirements of the European Directive on Data Protection, especially regarding the information provided to data subjects".

Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin of the French Data Protection Authority, which is leading the investigation, said that she welcomed Google’s move in theory. However, “we regret that Google did not take a real opportunity to consult the authorities prior to the announcement of its new privacy policy on 24 January 2012", she added in a letter to Google CEO Larry page.

European data protection authorities "are deeply concerned about the combination of personal data cross services", she reported.

Contrary to public statements by Google representatives suggesting that data protection authorities across the EU had been "extensively pre-briefed", not all authorities were informed, and those that were informed only heard about the changes a few days before the announcement.

They saw the contents of the new privacy policy at best a few hours before its public release, without any opportunity to provide any constructive feedback.”

Ms Falque-PIerrotin said that the new privacy policy provides only generalised information, and that simply telling users what Google would not do with their information was insufficient.

“As a consequence, it is impossible for average users who read the new policy to distinguish which purposes, collected data, recipients or access rights are currently relevant to their use of a particular Google service," she said.

In response, Google said it had engaged with the investigation.

“Over the past month we have offered to meet with the [French data protection authority] on several occasions to answer any questions they might have, and that offer remains open. We believe we’ve found a reasonable balance between the Working Party’s recommendations: to ‘streamline and simplify’ our policies while providing ‘comprehensive information’ to users.

"We are committed to providing our users with a seamless experience across Google’s services, and to making our privacy commitments to them easy to understand.”

Ms Falque Pierrotin however concluded there were “strong doubts” about the "lawfulness” of the plan. She reiterated the Working Party’s call for a pause until its analysis was completed.

Despite previously requesting Google simplify its privacy policies, the Working Party proposed that the firm provide a short, medium and full-length version of them.

European Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, who had welcomed Google’s new policy said "companies must ensure that their privacy policies are written in clear, everyday language. Consumers must be able to make informed decisions about using Internet-based services.

"I therefore welcome the European data protection authorities’ statement today that Google should delay introducing its privacy policy until questions about its compliance with EU data protection rules have been resolved."

Google sources have previously observed that the Working Party does not have the power to enforce its recommendations. The Working Party said it will present further comments in mid-March. ( telegraph.co.uk )

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Google users ignore major privacy shakeup

Google users ignore major privacy shakeup - Only one in ten British Google users have read the firm’s radical new privacy policy despite heavy promotion and controversy over its "invasive" terms, a survey has found.

The new system comes into force on Thursday and will pool personal data from more than 60 Google services into a single file for each of its hundreds of millions of users.

Google announced its new privacy policy in January

The move has been criticised by privacy campaigners and was described as “troubling for a number of reasons” by a group of state Attorneys General last week, who accused Google of invading consumer privacy. The firm has meanwhile argued it is “making things simpler and we’re trying to be upfront about it".

For a dry legal document the publicity campaign has been unprecedented, signalling the importance Google places on its data-pooling project. It has emailed every account holder and prominently displayed a link to the new policy on its homepage for weeks. The approach has attracted praise from European officials who want privacy policies to be simpler and more accessible.

The repeated prompts and controversy have seemingly failed to generate much interest among British users, however. According to survey by YouGov for Big Brother Watch only 12 per cent have bothered to review the new document.

Some 47 per cent said they did not even know any changes were in the works.

Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said the Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, should delay Google’s privacy overhaul and mount an investigation.

“The impact of Google’s new policy cannot be understated, but the public are in the dark about what the changes actually mean,” he said.

“If people don’t understand what is happening to their personal information, how can they make an informed choice about using a service?

“Google is putting advertiser’s interests before user privacy and should not be rushing ahead before the public understand what the changes will mean.”

Comparable data on the proportion of users who read Facebook’s frequently-rewritten privacy policy, for example, were not available.

Google said its new policy would help users with concerns find answere quickly.

"We’ve undertaken the most extensive notification effort in Google’s history, informing every Google account holder, flagging the new policy on every Google product site and publishing a link on our home page," it said.

"Big Brother Watch fails to recognize that whereas large companies update their privacy policies on a regular basis, they rarely take the time and effort Google has taken to communicate them to their users."

A spokesman for the Information Commissioner said officials were working with their European counterparts to "ensure that these changes, and the manner in which they have been communicated, comply with the requirements of European data protection law". French authorities were speaking to Google on behalf of all European data protection authorities, he said.

"It is nevertheless important that people read the information organisations provide them with before agreeing to any changes related to the processing of their personal information," the Information Commissioner's spokesman added.

The new privacy policy does not mean Google will collect more information about users, but information it gathers via its different web services will be combined for the first time, allowing it to build a more detailed profile of each user.

For instance, data on which YouTube videos a user has watched could be combined with their web search history and Google Maps searches to infer their interests and movements for targeted advertising. The new pools of data will be created for all users with a consumer Google account; companies that use Google Apps will retain control over employees' privacy settings.

Google has emphasised that users can increase their privacy settings before the new policy comes into force. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a US civil rights group, has published a guide. ( telegraph.co.uk )

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Couple born on same maternity ward tie knot 22 years later

Couple born on same maternity ward tie knot 22 years later - A couple have proved are destined to be together from the cradle to the grave after tying the knot - 22 years since they were separated at birth.

Both Richard and Kayleigh Brookes mothers were in hospital at the same time in 1989 giving birth to them on the same maternity ward.

Years later, the two were put in the same class at secondary school and became first loves at the tender age of fifteen.

Richard and Kayleigh Brookes tied the knot last Saturday in Halesowen, seven years after getting together

And it seems Cupid’s arrow was always going to bring the pair together, as they have now completed their fairy-tale with a white wedding last Saturday at St John the Baptist Church in Halesowen, West Midlands.

'We couldn’t believe it when we realised our mothers were in the hospital at the same time,' said Richard.

'I was born on April 22 and Kayleigh on April 25 but my mother had to stay on the ward for a week so they were there at the same time.

The couple were literally separated at birth after they were born three days apart at the same hospital in 1989

'I was always in trouble at school and once I got beaten up and only Kayleigh texted to see how I was. After that we started going out and we’ve never spent a day apart since.

'Everyone said it wouldn’t work, including the teachers, but we have proved everyone wrong and I could not be more happy.'

Delivery driver Richard, 22, proposed to Kayleigh at her 21st birthday party surrounded by her family as it was also her father's birthday.

Richard and Kayleigh completed their fairy tale with a dream wedding and honeymoon in Las Vegas

He got down on one knee to her favourite song - Boyzone’s ‘Every Day I Love You’ - before popping the question.

Richard proposed to Kayleigh at her 21st birthday party

'Our families both really get on especially because what happened with our mothers so the wedding was like one big happy family,' added. Richard.

'The wedding was perfect, even if we had won the lottery beforehand we would have not changed a thing.'

The couple, who now live together in Oldbury, West Midlands, have since jetted off to Las Vegas for their honeymoon.

They first met at school when they were 11-years-old but didn’t become close until Kayleigh sent Richard that text after he was beaten up.

But lovestruck Kayleigh admitted she always had a soft spot for Richard and would flirt with him.

They got together soon after but picture-perfect story was so close to failing at the first hurdle.

'Everyone at school said I shouldn’t go out with him as he was always getting trouble and it wouldn’t last five minutes but we have proved everyone wrong,' said the accounts assistant.

'People at school were horrible. Everyone warned me off him and told my mum and dad he was trouble but they are still waiting to see any signs of trouble.

Kayleigh and Richard we were in the same class at secondary school but didn't get together until they were 15

'My feelings were strong enough and I followed my own mind.

'We are like Romeo and Juliet but both our families get on together so the wedding day was perfect.

'It was lovely when we found out we were in the same ward together as babies as it means we will be together from the start to finish of our lives and we’ve never met anyone else who can say that.

'We are hoping we will be as lucky in Las Vegas as we have been in love.'

Kayleigh, right, admitted she has always had a soft spot for Richard, left, even before they started dating ( dailymail.co.uk )

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Exercise in Pregnancy Safe for Baby

Exercise in Pregnancy Safe for Baby, Study Finds - Exercising at moderate or -- for very active women -- even high intensity during pregnancy won't hurt your baby's health, a new study finds.

Researchers monitored healthy women in their third trimester before and after 30 minutes on a treadmill and found no problems with measures of fetal well-being, including heart rate and blood flow. The results were similar whether or not the women exercised on a regular basis.

"Healthy pregnant women who exercise should be encouraged to continue, and if a woman is pregnant and is not an exerciser, she should be encouraged to start a moderate exercise program," said study co-author Dr. Linda Szymanski, an assistant professor in the division of maternal-fetal medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

The findings are in line with the recommendation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that healthy pregnant women get at least two and a half hours of medium-intensity aerobic exercise a week even if they did not exercise before becoming pregnant. Exercise improves heart health and may reduce the risk of complications during pregnancy, such as developing high blood pressure and diabetes.

However, research indicates that women tend to exercise less when pregnant, and most fall short of the government guidelines.

"Many women say their doctor told them they should cut back on exercise, and if they weren't exercising before pregnancy, now is not the time to start," said Szymanski. "I think it's just because there's not enough data out there to assure [health care] providers that the fetus is okay."

The study is published in the March issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

For the study, 45 women between 28 and 32 weeks of pregnancy walked or jogged on a treadmill for 30 minutes at moderate intensity, which the researchers defined as 40 percent to 59 percent of their maximum heart rate.

Fifteen of the women were not regular exercisers. The other 30 did either 20 minutes of moderate exercise, such as walking, three or more days a week, or 20 minutes of vigorous exercise, such as running, more than four days a week. The regular exercisers were assigned an additional 30-minute session of high intensity (60 percent to 84 percent of maximum heart rate) exercise on a treadmill.

Before and after each exercise session, Szymanski measured the fetus' heart rate and blood flow to the fetus using an exam called a Doppler ultrasound. The authors also did a biophysical profile, using ultrasound, after exercise to determine whether the baby was moving as it should.

Although the fetal heart rate rose after the medium- and high-intensity workouts, the heart rate, blood flow and biophysical profile stayed in the normal range. These data help reassure that the baby is fine and that exercise did not keep the baby from getting enough blood or oxygen, Szymanski said.

"I thought this was great, especially for women who don't exercise, because I think people were afraid it would be too much stress all of a sudden and the babies wouldn't like it," Szymanski said.

Still, Dr. Hye Heo, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, said mothers-to-be should consult with their doctor before exercising because every pregnancy is different.

Also, the study involved a small group of women who were healthy and not obese, so it does not necessarily apply to all women, Heo said. "If a woman is fit and has been exercising, continuing within moderation is appropriate after taking into consideration health complications," she added.

Besides talking with their doctor, Heo urges pregnant women to use common sense. Listen to your body and ease up or stop if you are out of breath or feel pain or cramping, she said.

Szymanski said good options for reaching a moderate level of exertion include walking, biking or using an elliptical machine. Activities that could cause falls or that involve contact, such as skiing or basketball, should be avoided.

Heo is concerned about the long-term effects of exercise on the child, and said research has not broached this topic.

It's possible that the tests used in this study can't pick up small but important changes that occur after exercise, Heo said.

All the women in the study gave birth to healthy babies, although the study was too small to make a conclusion about the effect of exercise on health after delivery.

The authors plan to study exercise in pregnant women who develop complications, such as high blood pressure, as well as competitive elite athletes. "There's a lot of questions about what happens at very high levels of exercise," Szymanski said. ( HealthDay News )

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Daddy stays at home – but mummy has flown the nest

Daddy stays at home – but mummy has flown the nest - There is a growing trend of women handing over childcare to their men.

I’ve spotted them at the school gates, looking dazed and slightly dishevelled as they hand over packed lunches and field trip slips. Traces of glue stick to their fingers from a late night spent building a pyramid out of cereal packets for a class project. The stay-at-home dads used to be a rare sight but now they’re a fixture at most schools – their number has tripled in the past 15 years.

One reason is the way the workforce has changed. Not only are more men losing jobs, but many who are still employed are experimenting with home-based work: a laptop allows you to avoid the commute, office politics and air conditioning. Another reason, though, for Daddy to stay home is that Mummy won’t. An increasing number of women are married to their jobs, and want little or nothing to do with household chores or childcare. The Germans and Swiss have a word for it: Rabenmütter, or raven’s mothers. The phenomenon has spread over here: 1.2 million fathers are primary carers, and in an increasing number of divorce settlements, women are handing over the children to the men.

Working mothers increasingly leave the messy stuff to stay-at-home fathers

Rabenmütter do love their children. They enjoy their little successes at school; they like seeing their faces light up at birthday parties; and they relish watching offspring progress from the two times table to Keynesian economics. But while Rabenmütter love children, they hate childcare. They refuse to get sucked into arrangements regarding sleep-overs and piano lessons. They abhor the messy spills and inconclusive chats that fill home life; and they lack the patience to build an Armada out of paper.

For this, Rabenmütter believe, the children can turn to Dad. He can wipe their snotty noses just as well as Mother could – if she weren’t at a breakfast meeting in the City. He can drive the children to swimming lessons, while Mother in her corner office clinches the deal.

Some will worry that this role reversal is emasculating for men, and bad for children. But I’d say we’ve been here before. The Rabenmütter remind me of the father of yore – providing for the family he is absent from.

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I don’t know whether Alma Mahler was one of these Rabenmütter, but she was certainly a man-eater. Gustav Mahler’s talented, if self-regarding, wife had a notorious love life that included Oscar Kokoschka and the Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius. We were invited to the Czech embassy to celebrate this extraordinary muse last Saturday. It was a proper salon, featuring a concert, short lectures on architecture and psychology, as well as serious conversation. Michael Zantovsky, the ambassador, hopes it will catch on. It well might – especially if they offer such titillating insights as how Kokoschka, rejected by Alma, had a toymaker build a lifesize doll in her image. Over two years, the artist obsessively demanded that every detail of his doll be accurate, from the hue of her brows to the softness of her skin. No wonder a few doors down from the Mahlers a new type of doctor was very, very busy: Sigmund Freud.

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When the leading contender in France’s presidential race, François Hollande, wanted to rally his supporters, he gave a magisterial speech in which he quoted Shakespare’s immortal line: “They failed because they did not start with a dream.” But – mon dieu! – M Hollande was not quoting the Bard, rather, this newspaper’s book critic, Nicholas Shakespeare. I find it touching that a French politician should think a reference to England’s greatest dramatist could win him votes. Ed Miliband dropping Molière’s name into a speech about unions is not most people’s idea of a crowd-pleaser. Much better, given Miliband’s uninspiring message and nasal delivery, if he took a leaf from France’s new sensation, The Artist – and stayed mute. ( telegraph.co.uk )

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