You might have a beautiful website theme and the best portfolio – but do you think, it is going to help your website if you haven’t optimized your website? We often do not realize that Search engines like Yahoo or Google, actually do not care about your killer portfolio or the lovely website theme you have unless you care for keywords, filenames, tags, meta tags and several technical WordPress design technical details meant for SEO. All your expertise, talent and efforts in creating the best WordPress Web Design will go waste, if you are not able to optimize your site.

Here are some of the best tips to help your WordPress Web design get noticed by search engines which shall help the business prosper.

Search Engine Optimized Themes

It is recommended to use themes which are optimized. There are many themes which use plenty of code to create design and layout. Google is known to simply wade through all the source code and finds the appropriate content.

Create Site Map

Your designed WordPress website should have a sitemap in XML format. Creating plugins like Google XML, it is quite easy to create site maps. Other tools can also be used for site maps like Webmaster Central and Website Optimizer.

Optimize The Content

Optimization will be effective only when you have unique and high-quality content with the right keywords, which will be able to highlight the overall theme. Content needs to be clear, precise and readable. Text should be for readers and never targeted for search engines.

Highlight Keywords

It is important to highlight informative content or specific keywords on your Website. Using H1-H6 tags to highlight subtitles, headings or important sentences is extremely helpful in getting websites recognized. However, overdoing this can be harmful to your website.

Exchange Backlinks

Your WordPress website will be recognized by search engines when you exchange back-links successfully with different high authority websites. The pages within your designed WordPress site have to be linked but never with irrelevant links. It is important not to overstuff links.

Image File Names

Image file names should never be ignored since search engines draw images when calculating ranks. We all know that Google displays text as well as images in the search results page. If images do not have the right file names, Google will not be able to recognize them. Keywords should be strategically implemented in the file name. Alt tag and title tag are also quite important.

Use Short Permalinks

It is important to use understandable short permalinks. The first four words in any permalink are quite relevant. Google or other search engines are not interested in the other words which appear in the permalinks.

Last, but not the least, do not use Flash, if you are trying to optimize your website. Search engines do not recognize Flash and it increases the loading time of a website which is never customer friendly. Restrict the use of flash since fast performing sites are excellent for Google ranking and help your site.

Sitting an exam is one thing and it is quite another to receive results for the same. No matter how prepared and confident most students are when sitting for their exams, there always seem to be some sort of anxiousness and nervousness when it is finally time to receive the exam results. This is especially the case when your exam performance determines whether you go to the next level or not. It is not fun to keep retaking exams and therefore most students hope to pass. The thought of failure seems to freak almost everyone out, but there are a few things that you can do to prepare for the results.

1. Remind yourself that you gave the exam your best. This is one of the easiest ways of keeping calm and maintaining cool when the results are about to be released. You studied hard and prepared for the exams the best way you could so you are bound to get what you really deserve. Go over your preparation period and convince yourself that you are a success no matter what to calm your nerves down.

2. Get your mind off the results. If you are too anxious to do anything else or to think of anything else, you only make it worse when you sit around doing nothing. Why not find an engaging activity to help you keep your mind off the results. You can engage in interesting exercises or take a session at the gym to try create a diversion as you await to receive the results. The less you think about the results the less you will worry yourself over the unknown.

3. Be ready to accept the results. Acceptance is very important and no matter what grades you get, you should be ready to accept them. If your performance is impressive them celebrate how you want and if it is not as satisfying then at least remember that you can always retake or have a remark of the same. There is really no reason to take drastic actions simply because you did not perform as expected, so be ready to accept whatever comes your way.

4. Choose the best channel to get the results. Most schools make it possible for students to find results on their website and some offer codes that can be dialed via mobile phone for the results to be accessed. Such channels are convenient if you want to get your results fast and easy without leaving the comfort of your home, but some prefer the traditional method of going physically to the school to get results. Choose the channel you are most comfortable with so you have the privacy that you may need when opening the results or you may have the company you find appropriate for the same. Some would rather be alone, others with fellow students and teachers, whereas others feel more at ease around family.

5. Know who to turn to in case you need assistance. You may want to have someone on standby to offer you necessary support or advice as soon as you open your results. It is best that you select this person beforehand; it could be a trusted teacher, or a close family member or friend.

Body Weight Exercises are another means to exercise without using external weights such as dumbbells, barbells, or other fitness equipment. In this article I will talk about two Body Weight Exercises that are exceptional for building strength stamina.

And at the same time you will burn a significant amount of calories which makes these two exercises ideal for weight loss purposes.

I will explain these two exercises, and then I will tell you the main difference between the two. However, I would recommend you to try both of them on a regular basis so your body gets the best of both worlds so to speak. But if you feel more comfortable using one over the other, then by all means go for it.

The Bear Crawl Body Weight Exercise

Execution

Step 1

-Like a baby with a crawl pose, position yourself on your hands and knees getting ready for the exercise

Step 2

-Lift the knees off the floor, and let your toes do the job instead

Step 3

-Stick your butt higher than your head so you create an incline or a slope surface

Step 4

-Start crawling by moving one opposite hand (ex., left hand) and opposite leg (ex., right leg) at the same time; then continue crawling by using the other hand and leg

Step 5

-You can repeat 10 crawls for each side for a total of 20 crawls/repetitions, or use a stop watch for 30 to 60 seconds

The Tiger Walk Body Weight Exercise

Execution

Step 1

-Like a baby with a crawl pose, position yourself on your hands and knees getting ready for the exercise

Step 2

-Lift the knees off the floor, and let your toes do the job instead

Step 3 (the main difference between Bear Crawl and Tiger Walk)

-Don’t stick your butt higher than your head, but keep them in line or even so you can create a level surface

Step 4

-Start crawling by moving one opposite hand (ex., left hand) and opposite leg (ex., right leg) at the same time; then continue crawling by using the other hand and leg

Step 5

-You can repeat 10 crawls for each side for a total of 20 crawls/repetitions, or use a stop watch for 30 to 60 seconds

Both movements are excellent, but are slightly different. The Bear Crawl places more emphasis on the shoulders; the Tiger Walk involves the midsection or core muscles since you are trying the keep the body in line. Therefore, the core muscles are working harder to maintain that position.

Again, it is an excellent idea to practice both by alternating between the both using the following example:

-Workout One: Bear Crawl

-Workout Two: Bear Crawl

-Workout Three: Tiger Walk

-Workout Four: Bear Crawl

-Workout Five: Tiger Walk

So, you’ve got your sneakers laced up and you’re ready to burn a massive amount of calories and shrink your fat cells. That’s an awesome feeling to be on the verge of making a difference for your health, but do you know what to do to get the best results from your efforts. If not, give the ultimate lose belly fat workout a shot.

The ultimate lose belly fat workout requires you to select a few different cardio exercises as well as a few strength exercises and combine them in circuits. You can use any exercises you like, but consider some on the following lists to get you started.

Cardio

* Step up and down on a step or bottom stair for a minute

* 30 jumping jacks

* Jog in place for a minute

* Raise knees and tap with opposite hand, rotating for a minute

Strength

* Crunches

* Full sit ups

* Various dumbbell moves

* Push ups

* Bench dips on a chair

There are many other exercises that can be used in both of these categories. You can find them easily by doing a search online for additional moves.

To complete the ultimate lose belly fat workout, simply pick one cardio move and several strength moves to form a circuit. Do one set of each exercise in the circuit with no pause in between. The point is to get your heart rate up and go straight from one exercise to the other. Ideally, make up three or four circuits with four or five exercises in each.

By combining strength exercises with a cardio move you will keep your heart rate higher than just lifting weights alone. The result will be a higher calorie burn which forces your body to dip into stored fat reserves, given you are eating less than you are burning throughout the day.

Do you remember Allen Iverson’s dunk over the 6’11” Marcus Camby? You know, the guy isn’t even 6 feet tall! He is actually only 5′ 10.75”. So its clear that he can jump. But without any exercises no one can jump that high. There are a lot of exercises that may increase your vertical leap but the most of them are simply not effective.

So which exercises are the most effective? Here are the top 5 exercises to increase your vertical leap:

1. Jump Rope

It’s a very common exercise and the reason why is because it works. Jumping rope not only gives you explosiveness and calf strength but is also a great way to build stamina, and work on your overall leg strength. Jump rope at least three times per week to build up your aerobic fitness level.

2. Calf Raises

Calf raises are a very effective exercise because they train the muscles that give you the explosive boost in the jumping process. Here is how you do it: Stand on a foot block or the first step of a staircase in your house and rise up on your toes as far as possible. Hold the contraction briefly, then slower return to the starting position. Strong calves help you do quick, on the spot jumping.

3. Lunges

This is a great exercise because it simultaneously trains different muscles that are involved in the jumping process – the thighs, the lower leg, the backside muscles, the abdominal muscles. Stand in an upright position, step as far forward as possible with no forward lean of the upper body until your front knee is at 90 degree angle. Then step back to the original position in one step. Do this 8 times with one leg, then 8 with the other. You also can use some dumbbells.

4. Step Ups

For this exercise you need a bench or something you can step on (about 15 inches high). Just stand in an upright position, then step up on the bench at the height that would put your knee at a 90-degree angle. Do 8 repetitions with one leg and repeat with the other. This exercise is a perfect extension to the lunge-exercise because you train the the antagonistic muscle group.

5. Touch the Rim

Either stand under the rim and try to touch it with one or both hands or take a running start and jump as high as possible to reach the rim. Important: Try to perform this exercise very clean and with maximum power and repeat it only limited times (for example max. 3 sets with 5 repetitions). After that don’t do any leg exercises for 24 – 48 hours. Your muscles need time to grow and regenerate.

Besides these exercises its important that you take care of your nutrition. The most important point here is limiting the amount of fat that you take to you. Fat makes food taste delicious but its the biggest enemy of an athlete cause its the extra weight you have to get up in the air and it inhibits the flexibility of the muscles you need to jump. So, if you are able to control your nutrition and will use the exercises above serious results are guaranteed.

Living a healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to be hard. It just takes the motivation to change our bad habits into good, healthy ones. Below is a list of 10 healthy lifestyle tips to get you started. Once you start, you can come up with more healthy choices that work for you.

o The first thing is to eat a balanced diet. Eat more fruits and vegetables and get rid of the high sugar, processed foods. Along with eating better is getting the right nutrients in the system.

o So the second thing is to take vitamins and minerals to help your body work properly.

o The third tip is to quit all those nasty unhealthy habits. Smoking, drinking, drugs, chewing tobacco, whatever your vice may be quit now. You are in charge of your health and living a healthier lifestyle means getting rid of the things that may kill you.

o The fourth thing to do is exercise. Exercise makes you feel good and can motivate you to get other things done as well.

o Along with exercise, number five is making sure you see a doctor each year for an annual physical. This is more important in women, but men should be seeing a doctor every 2-3 years to make sure there are no big health concerns.

o The sixth is to surround yourself with a strong support network, or a group of people who will be there for you and participate in a healthy lifestyle as well.

o Your family and friends can help you with the seventh tip, have fun and enjoy life.

o Eighth tip is to create a good balance between work and play.

o The final two tips are to accept yourself for the unique individual you are and love what you do. If you can accept yourself, the good and the bad, it will show in all you do. Your job is something you will be doing for at least the next 20 years, so you should love it. If you don’t keep looking until you find something you do love.

Start with those healthy lifestyle choices and see how you feel in the next few weeks. You should feel more energized, motivated, and positive.

Are you participating in indoor cycling or spinning classes? Are you over the age of 35 or just a fan of classic rock? Here are five great classic rock songs that are perfect for your next class…

Indoor cycling classes, often called spinning classes, are becoming more and more popular group fitness options. Not only are they low impact, but they provide an excellent cardio workout in a fun, motivational setting.

Of course, the music plays a big part in the enthusiasm level. Chances are, if you like the songs, you’ll work harder and gain more benefit from the class. Most instructors have a programmed set list, but they are always agreeable to suggestions. And if you’re not a techno or hip hop music fan, you’ll be happy to know there are several tried and true classic rock stalwarts that are perfect for an indoor cycling routine.

In no particular order, here’s our list of the top five classic rock songs for cycling classes:

“Crossroads” by Cream: The driving beat and brilliant musicianship of Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, and Eric Clapton, collectively known as Cream, really vault this four minute classic into overdrive. Clapton’s guitar solos at the 1:30 and 2:35 minute marks make ideal “push aheads”. “Crossroads” is a perfect choice for the middle section of class when effort level is nearing its peak.

“Train Kept A’ Rolling” by Aerosmith: Thumping bass guitar and a mid tempo beat make this song a great choice for a seated hill climb. Catch the beat with a moderate resistance level and your heart rate will surely be kept a’ rolling.

“China Grove” by The Doobie Brothers: Everyone knows this Doobie Brothers song, so it’s a good warm up choice to get everyone in the grove, err, groove. Lively, energetic, and long enough to really warm up the legs.

“Fire” by Jimi Hendrix: This Hendrix classic is perfect for sprints. The guitar solos and chorus sections are reasonably brief interludes for four sprints of almost equal duration.

“Do You Feel Like We Do” by Peter Frampton: The ultimate “Can I make it to the end of this song?” choice. The live marathon version can be used for a combination of standing and seated climbs, flat road work, and just about anything else for that matter. It’s every bit of 14 minutes long, so it’s a challenge for sure, but hey, who doesn’t like to sing along with Frampton and that mouth harp?

So, for a welcome break from pop songs and techno, ask your instructor to slip in one of these classic rock standards into your next indoor cycling class routine. You’ll be certain to feel young again!

An athlete’s vertical Jump is a milestone in his sports career; in sports like basketball and volleyball, the player with the highest jump is the most feared score winner and defender of all. For Generations, people have been trying to figure out ways of enhancing the explosive power of a person’s vertical jump. Aside from the great bout on unlocking the limits, it has also been a problem measuring the accurate progress of a person’s vertical jump during his training.

Wall Nut

The most basic way of measuring the height of a person’s vertical leap is by standing beside a wall while raising one of your hands as high as possible, feet lying flat on the ground;afterwards, put a line or marker on the tip of your finger. This is known as the “standing reach”. Put oil or powder at the tip of your fingers then jump several times and touch the wall so marks would be left behind to indicate your highest reach upon jumping. Measure the distance between your standing reach and the highest point you have made. This is the height of your vertical jump.

Kinematics

Some people use a more scientific and accurate way of measuring the vertical jump, by using a pressure pad, laser beams and kinematic equations. This is measured by taking note of the time an athlete can complete a jump before he falls back to the ground. The equation for this is h = g*t2/8, where (h) is for height, (g) is for the pull of gravity which is equal to 9.81 m/s2 or 32.2 ft/s2 and (t2/8) for the time an athlete can complete the jump from the ground and back to the ground in milliseconds. This equation if usually calculated by a software installed to a computer where the pressure pad and laser beams are connected.

Infrared Laser

This is also an accurate way of measuring the vertical leap of a player, where he is required to stand and jump in between two infrared laser planes facing each other. How does it work? Well, not as complicated as computing kinematic equations; in fact, it just works like jumping beside a wall and subtracting your standing reach off your maximum jump reach. The only difference is that first, it is using infrared laser beams and second, it is a way lot more expensive than the regular jump and reach beside the wall.

Whatever method it is you are using, as long as you are sure that your vertical is gaining more and more power and you can feel that there really is progress in what you are doing, you are surely getting somewhere. Question is, are you? If you are not pretty sure that there is ascension in your vertical jump training, I would advise you to seek help from vertical jump professionals.

I work with a lot of students that study martial arts on their own at home. Many follow my video training series, while others use our online dojo to add more value to their own fitness martial arts program. Some of these home study martial artists have their own training strategies and are just looking for an additional edge to add more value to their own efforts. These students are all in need of training gear, ideas, tips, tools – you name it. Anything that will help them to improve their martial arts skills while training at home.

Whether you want to save money or just add some unique training tools to your home dojo, the best multi-use (discount, do it yourself) martial arts training item to date are TIRES.

Why? Because there are so many things you can do with tires. Here are a few ways to put them to use:

TIRE MAN DUMMY

Get yourself a bunch of car tires and stack them up on top of each other. You will want between 5-10 for each stack that you make. Just stacking them up will already give you a great punching and kicking tool. Because the tires are made of a very hard rubber, they can take a lot of beating with little or no wear and tear.

If you want to keep the tire stack from falling over, you can devise a way to keep them on top of each other. One simple way is to just put them on top of a pole type device – for example, take one tire and fill it with cement, in the middle of the cement place a wooden or metal pole. Then, simply stack the tires up over the pole. Another way to keep them together would be to drill holes in the rim of each tire and then thread long bolts or tie them up. If you cut through the tire (breaking the circle), you can pull it open and wrap it around a solid beam, tree or other structure that won’t allow the tire to fit over the top. Street light poles and telephone poles are great if you live in an area that offers such a freedom.

These tire dummies are amazing. Here are just a few of the benefits:

* You can attack them with shoes on – for a more realistic training practice

* You can hit them with sticks and wooden swords without fear of damaging the dummy

* You can use them for protection against dangerous surfaces in your training area

* They take up some of the shock and different tire styles offer various levels of flexibility

* Tie them up for swinging targets

With some creativity you can create a very realistic training dummy. You can even place wooden poles through the tires to resemble limbs and for something that is closer to a Wing Chun Dummy.

You can usually pick up tires for FREE at a local tire shop. We were able to gather a few truck loads of tires in only a day for our martial arts camp in California. We used them for paintball obstacles, fitness tools for the martial arts training course and stunt protection as well as training dummies.

Whether you hang them, half burry them, wrap them around trees or stack them up to knock over – tires of various sizes can offer a world of amazing training possibilities. Take a look the areas where you have the option of training in and consider what you can do to improve your home dojo.

Though making your own tire man dummy will cover most of your training, you can consider other ways to put them to good use.

Visit NinjaGym.com – NinjaGym™ Martial Arts & Fitness Blog: Health Tips for Mind, Body & Spirit, Ninja Training, Ninja Weapons and Gear.

Not everyone can afford or justify buying an expensive, top-of-the-line recumbent exercise bike and for those a ProForm recumbent could be a good alternative. The company makes 3 models, of which one is to be avoided altogether. The following is a review of these ProForm exercise bikes.

ProForm recumbent bikes retail from around $250 to $500. As stated, there are three models of which only two are really worth considering. But let’s start by looking at the model that is better ignored.

The GR 80 retails for around $250 and is the cheapest of the recumbent exercise bikes from ProForm. It can be a good thing to build something that is very cheap, but sometimes you can build too cheaply, and the GR 80 has definitely been built too cheaply to be of any real value. You just know it’s cheap just by looking at it. The legs and stand are spindly looking, the chair looks thin, hard and uncomfortable and the console leaves a lot to be desired. But, it does have some good selling points. It comes with CoolAire fan, a heart rate monitor and 4 built-in programs. However, it has one design flaw that renders it below par; the seat can only be adjusted vertically, there is no horizontal adjustment. This is a feature that really needs to be standard on any recumbent and for this reason alone, the GR 80 is to be avoided.

Next in line is the GR 90 Trainer Cycle. Now we’re getting somewhere. The legs and stand look more robust, and it comes with a Coolux seat that is anti-bacterial and helps to keep you cool. You also get the CoolAire fan and grip pulse sensors. There are 10 levels of magnetic resistance. In addition you get iFIT personal training. iFIT card technology is proving to be very popular and is used on other types of fitness equipment. There’s no doubting that many users require some form of motivation and iFIT does give you your very own ‘virtual fitness coach’. Finally, it comes with 6 Smart Programs to give you a good cardiovascular workout. The GR 90 retails for around $400.

The most expensive model is the GT 120 Cycle. In terms of build quality and design it is the best of the models. You get everything that the GR 90 has but with a slightly better console. You also get 6 Personal Trainer workouts as well as 2 Heart Rate workouts. It retails for around $500.

Of the two you are probably better off getting the GT120, but if you want to save yourself a hundred dollars then the GR 90 is perfectly adequate, after all, you get the same programs, iFit and readouts, you just have to compromise on the frame.

A ProForm exercise bike isn’t for everyone. If you’re serious about keeping in shape or if you’re looking to upgrade your existing machine then you’re probably better off looking else where. However, if you have never used one before and are looking for something that is cheap but certainly adequate in getting you started, then these machines are worth taking a closer look at.