Acne Prevention
Altering your diet or abstaining from sex won't help prevent future breakouts. Washing your face again and again will not clear up your skin. According to www.acne.org, washing too much and too abrasively can actually worsen acne. So be gentle and wash only when needed to remove dirt, oil or makeup. This may mean you wash your face only once, maybe twice a day, according to your individual needs.
Don't be overzealous in your at-home acne treatments. Using too many products containing acne-fighting ingredients can over-dry and irritate your skin.
Pimple Popping
Though it's best to leave pimples alone, sometimes it's difficult to go out in
public with a giant, whitehead protruding from your face. "When I get a pimple I have an uncontrollable urge to pop it," says David Weber, Tulsa, Okla., senior. "I just squeeze as hard as I can with my fingers." Weber's method is the worst possible solution. If you must attempt to rid yourself of the pus-infested bubble, please follow Bittenbender's advice:
Use a warm, not scalding hot, washcloth and gently soften the skin to increase blood flow. Be careful not to press too hard or you may push off the top layers of skin. Once the skin is softened, take a sterilized pin and very gently nick the pimple and let the pus come tenderly out.
—Julie Jones, Jayplay writer, can be reached at jjones@kansan.com.
Over the counter and prescription products both topical and oral can help acne suffers if used property.
ON THE BALL
Let's face it. We all want the perfect body.Whether we spend hours in the gym lifting weights or never lift anything heavier than the remote control,we dream of obtaining toned muscles and sculpted abs. Fortunately, some popular fitness tools may help us on our quest for perfection.Working out with exercise balls
Don't let a bar bell routine weigh you down. BY LAUREN REIDY.
and resistance bands on a regular basis can help you to develop the body of your dreams.
Exercise balls
Balancing against an exercise ball during basic weight exercises works your major muscle groups without straining the body.
"There are a bunch of things you can do with an exercise ball. It really works core muscles, from the
Gray-O'Connor, KU FIT instructor. "You have to concentrate on balance. Even when you're working your arm muscles you're working your obliques."
Exercise balls also lend support to individuals with back, spine and shoulder problems.
"Some people can't get down on the
"Some people floor and do actual sit-ups," says Erin Meyer, club coordinator at Body Boutique, The Women's Fitness Facility, 925 Iowa St.
"Exercise balls give
obliques to the lower back," says Jen tures. People who have good form are less muscies, from the
you extra padding, so you don't hurt yourself."
Gray-
O'Connor,
w h o
teaches
the KU
FIT class
Band and
Ball, says
students
who want to
work with exercise balls should take a class or watch a video in order to learn the proper pos-
likely to get injured, she says.
"People do fall off," says Gray-O'Connor. "Even I had problems with that.I tell people not to worry and to get back on."
Both instructors advise beginners to start out slowly and concentrate on balance.
Meyer suggests that beginning ball users practice near walls in order to maintain balance.
Resistance Bands
Stretchy resistance bands offer students an easy, effective alternative to using weight machines. These small inexpensive bands force you to fight resistance as you tense and relax your muscles, giving them an extra workout.
"The biggest advantage to using bands is that you're not jumping from pound to
pound," say
G ra y -
O'Connor.
"Resistance
is continuous. You do
everything
with fluid
movements."
Because resistance bands don't have set weights, you get out of your workout what you put into it, says Meyer. The more repetitions of each exercise you go
through, the more your muscles get worked out.
Meyer warns students that injuries can occur if they use the bands improperly.
"You can over extend your elbow or you can hurt your shoulders if you don't know the right degree of movement," she says.
Students should visit the free personal trainers offered through KU FIT to learn correct form and positions, says Gray-O'Connor. One session can really help, she says.
Interested students can purchase their own exercise balls at Target, 3201 Iowa St., for $25 and resistance bands for $7.99. KU FIT class schedules are available online at www.ku.edu/~recserv.
-Lauren Reidy, Jayplay staff writer, can be reached at lreidy@kansan.com
16 jayplay
thursday. october 30, 2003