Will Exercise Really Lower Triglycerides?

Make exercise part of your treatment. It's a fast and effective way to lower unhealthy triglyceride levels.

Start with 20-30 minutes of aerobic activity -- do that 5 days a week and watch your numbers drop. The best part? You reap the benefits of exercise even if you don't lose weight right away.

Pick a Triglyceride-Trimming Exercise

Aerobic activity offers the best results, so find one you enjoy -- and have a backup plan for those days when your first choice isn't possible. If you haven't been active in a long time, check with your doctor first. Choose any of these:

• Basketball
• Bicycling
• Elliptical
• Jog at a steady pace
• Jumping rope
• Kick-box
• Racquetball
• Soccer
• Step aerobics
• Stair climbing (traditionally or on a machine)
• Swimming
• Tennis
• Walking briskly
• Zumba

Add Strength Training

While working with weights hasn't been shown to reduce triglycerides, it can still boost the results of aerobic exercise. Stronger muscles burn more calories -- all day, not just after a workout. And burning calories results in weight loss, which does lower triglycerides.

If you've never lifted weights, learn proper form from a professional so you don't hurt yourself.

Tricks to Boost Your Results

A few simple steps can help you get more bang from your buck from each minute you exercise.

• Work out 1 hour before you eat to prevent the triglyceride spikes that occur after meals.  
• Exercise before breakfast for the biggest payoff because it prevents triglyceride spikes after breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So, take your dog for a walk or hop on the treadmill first thing in the morning.
• For the most effective workout, exercise at a moderate-to-intense pace and cut back on how much you eat.

Simple Ways to Fit in Exercise

Don't stress if it's hard to get in a 30 minute workout every day.

"You don't necessarily have to set aside a period of time when you put on your jogging shoes and sweat pants and go running," says Robert Bonow, MD, former president of the American Heart Association. "You can just be active throughout the day."

Start gradually. Squeeze in 10 minutes of exercise and build up to several times a day. Here are a few ways to add some activity into your schedule:

• Stand up and pace whenever you talk on the phone or while you watch TV.
• If you aren't inclined to stand, pull your knees toward your chest to tighten your abs or do straight leg lifts while you watch TV or talk on the phone.
• Challenge yourself to keep adding in steps until you get up to 10,000 steps a day. Wear a pedometer all day to track your steps.

Once you get your exercise routine down, improve results even more with a healthy diet. You'll feel a sense of accomplishment -- and enjoy better health.

From: http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/high-triglycerides-treatment-12/move?ecd=wnl_fit_011014&ctr=wnl-fit-011014_promo_1&mb=mpQnb0nWPKIgHBGc5%40eSheHnVev1imbCN5Jtbm05ZRE%3d

Bosh's heroics lift Miami past Charlotte, 99-98

MIAMI (AP) — Chris Bosh watched his first 3-pointer bounce once, twice, three times, four times before finally dropping into the net.

His next try, from almost the same spot, swished.

And the third one essentially saved the Miami Heat.

A threesome of 3-pointers — he had never made that many in an NBA quarter, say nothing of his 79-second span Sunday night — highlighted a run where Bosh scored 13 straight Miami points, and the Heat beat the Charlotte Bobcats 99-98 to extend their winning streak to 10 games.

The Heat led for the final 1:20, the time remaining when Bosh's third 3 put Miami up 93-91. Charlotte had held the lead for the previous 23:21.

"It kind of just happened," Bosh said. "I was wide open so I figured I would take a step back and in the words of our late teammate Mike Miller, 'let it fly.' That was really it."

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Miami Heat's LeBron James (6) shoots over Charlotte Bobcats' Jeff Taylor (44) during the first half  …

LeBron James led the Heat with 26 points, Bosh finished with 22, Dwyane Wade scored 17 and Mario Chalmers added 12 for Miami, which has beaten the Bobcats 14 straight times.

Kemba Walker scored 27 points for the Bobcats. Gerald Henderson scored 17, and Al Jefferson finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds for Charlotte.

"It's disappointing because I felt we had them. We outplayed them," Henderson said. "They just came up with the plays at the end of the game that championship teams tend to do."

The Bobcats outscored Miami 25-14 in the third quarter and led by 14 points with 9:14 left.

And then Miami scored 34 points in the final 8:20, which works out to a 196-point pace over a full regulation game. The Heat made 11 of their final 13 shots, with Bosh's 3s leading the way — Wade getting the assist on all three of them.

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Charlotte Bobcats head coach Steve Clifford gestures during the first half of an NBA basketball game …

"It started with us," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said. "Instead of playing possession by possession, we made mistakes. They started going to the basket and we couldn't get them under control."

James was highly effective again, scoring his 26 on only 13 shots and while dealing a balky back that has bothered him all season and flared up Friday in Toronto. James got treatment Saturday, received more Sunday until the start of pregame warmups, and played 38 minutes.

"I don't think we did anything bad in the game," James said. "We defended. They hit some tough shots. We didn't turn the ball over, I think we had only 14 turnovers, they didn't have a bunch of offensive rebounds, they didn't have many fast-break points. Just one of those games where you've got to gut it out. And we'll take it."

The Heat were down 12 when James re-entered the game with 8:04 left. He quickly got a three-point play to cut the lead to 79-70, and things got interesting.

A 3-pointer from James with 6:18 left cut the lead to six. He made a pass to Chalmers for another 3 about 90 seconds later, getting Miami within three.

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Charlotte Bobcats' Ramon Sessions (7) shoots as Miami Heat's Chris Andersen (11) and Ray Allen (34)  …

Soon, the Bosh long-range display began.

"Chris stepped up big," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Once he hit the first one, the second one, you could tell he wanted it."

Charlotte scored the first six points of the second half, then opened things up with a 16-8 run. The Bobcats made five straight shots, all jumpers from an average of 18 feet, while the Heat missed their final five of the quarter and trailed 73-61 entering the fourth.

Things weren't decided until the final seven-tenths of a second. Walker was fouled while shooting a 3 with Miami up four. He made the first two free throws, tried to miss the third intentionally, but his shot bounced in and time expired one pass later.

"We didn't think we had it," Walker said. "This is the NBA. Guys can score and be back in the game in a heartbeat. That's what they did."

Miami led by 10 twice during the first half, before the Bobcats put together an 18-7 run and took a one-point halftime lead. Wade was credited with his second block of the night on the final play before halftime, the swat being No. 676 of his career, the most recorded by an NBA player standing 6-foot-4 or shorter.

Dennis Johnson was the holder of that distinction, getting 675 blocks in 1,100 games. Sunday was the Wade's 679th game.

NOTES: During one stoppage in play late in the first half, James shot a pair of 3-pointers that bounced off the rim, noteworthy because he shot them left-handed (he writes with his left hand, but plays with a dominant right hand). ... Michael Kidd-Gilchrist returned to the Charlotte lineup after missing one game with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.