For many people, the discovery of the fact that they are allergic to dogs comes with their ownership of the first pet dog. The most common advice given by doctors is to give the dog away. Although this is no doubt the most convenient way to solve your allergy problem, it is almost impossible to do for many pet owners, as they would have already fallen in love with the dogs. There are also many people who are persistent in keeping pet dogs despite their allergy.

Fortunately, there are many ways to solve this predicament that does not involve giving your dog away. Here are several tips to help you control if not eliminate your dog allergy problem.

1. Some dogs tend to shed more hairs than others. If you are allergic to dogs, it is best to get a dog breed that does not shed hairs as much. These are known as low dander dogs. Poodles and Terries are some example of such dogs. Even if you own a low dander dog, it is important to wash and brush your dogs fur at least once a week. If this proves to be unbearable, you should get a dog groomer or someone else to do it for you.

2. You should also keep your house clean and vacuum the floor at least once a week to get rid of stray hairs. You should also get specialized air conditioners that filter out allergens for the air current.

3. There are certain food supplements and vitamins that can help reduce and control your allergic reactions to dogs. Consult your doctor or your local pharmacist to find out more about these supplements.

4. Although many of us love to let our pets go on the couch and bed, this is generally not a good idea for those who are allergic to dogs. You should keep your dogs off the couch and your bed at all times to prevent allergens from accumulating on its surfaces

5. If all of these tips dont work, you can take regular allergy shots as your final resort. These shots should keep your allergic reactions under control.

For years, those doing strength training have been debating which method works better-working with free weights or machine weights. There are those that say that working with free weigh is better, while there are those that claim that machine weights are more effective. Suffice to say, enough arguments have been raised regarding this issue.

In this case, there are no right or wrong answers. While each method may have it’s pros and cons, both still are just as good in improving your muscle strength. It really all depends on ones personal preferences, and the amount of training one puts in. So let’s look at the positives and negatives of working with both free and machine weights.

Benefits of Working With Machine Weights: Since they are safer and generally easier to use, machine weights are perfect for beginners, allowing to build strength while doing basic movements. Machine weights are also ideal if you only want to work on a specific muscle group.

Not only that, but it also gives you enough support when doing the proper movements, allow you to keep the perfect posture when lifting, even when your muscles start to tire. Something which is hard to do when working with free weights. Adjusting the resistance in most machine weights is also easier, since you have to do is simply key in a code or insert a pin.

The Disadvantages of Using Machine Weights: The disadvantage of machine weights is that it’s good for only one kind of exercise, since it gives you a limited range of movement. So if you’re bigger, or more petite, then it may be harder to recalibrate the machine weights to suit your particular body type.

And since the machine aids you in having perfect balance, your stabilizer muscles may not be able to get the maximum workout due to the added support.

The Benefits of Using Free Weights: Free weights not only offer a wider, more natural wave of movement, but they also make your stablilizer muscles work harder since you still have to balance yourself.

Free weights also allow you to work different muscles groups, since you can do an unlimited number of exercises just by switching positions. They’re also cheaper, and are a lot more compact, so you won’t have a problem with storage.

The Disadvantages of Using Free Weights Using free weights can be difficult, since it’s hard to balance, and offers no support. If not correctly, working with free weights may cause injuries, especially for exercises that call you to lift it over your head. Working out specific muscles can also be a bit of a challenge, as certain motions and techniques need to be applied, movements that a beginner may not quite know.

When trying to build muscles, you need to lift the weights instead of swing them, which is what happens when you’re working out with free weights.

So now that we’ve discussed the pros and cons of machines weights versus free weights, which one do you think fits you? For beginners, machine weights are a lot more intiuitive and safer to use, something which you’ll need during your first three months of training.

Free weights may be better if if you’re already in a more advanced strength training program, since it teaches you how to balance and gives you a wider range of natural movements. Still, there’s nothing wrong with using both machine weights and free weights. Who knows, it may even make your work out sessions a lot more motivating.