Jan 01

Real-Life Benefits of Exercise and Physical Activity

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Why is physical activity important? Exercise and physical activity are good for just about everyone, including older adults. No matter your health and physical abilities, you can gain a lot by staying active. In fact, studies show that “taking it easy” is risky. Often, inactivity is more to blame than age when older people lose the ability to do things on their own. Lack of physical activity also can lead to more visits to the doctor, more hospitalizations, and more use of medicines for a variety of illnesses. Including all 4 types of exercise can benefit a wide range of areas of your life. Staying active can help you: Keep and improve your strength so you can stay independent Have more energy to do the things you want to do and reduce fatigue Improve your balance and lower risk of falls and injuries from falls Manage and prevent some diseases like arthritis, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and 8 types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer Sleep better at home Reduce levels of stress and anxiety Reach or maintain a healthy weight and reduce risk of excessive weight gain Control your blood pressure Possibly improve or maintain […]
Dec 29

10 Tips to Tone Your Body From Every Angle

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Achieve a trim and toned physique with these expert insights.   Let’s be real: Most of us want a toned and sculpted body. But while many people strive to achieve this common fitness goal, it can be challenging to know where to start. That’s why we connected with Kyrie Furr, CPT, a certified personal trainer and performance coach with Barbend, who shares her top 10 expert tips to tone your body from every angle. Building a toned physique involves more than doing countless sit-ups or endless hours of cardio. It requires a comprehensive, full-body approach that targets various muscle groups and improves all aspects of your health and fitness. Besides adopting a regular exercise routine, eating healthy and getting enough sleep are crucial. These fundamental components of good health will build the foundation for you to feel incredible and sculpt a lean and toned body. However, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to achieving a toned body. It’s a highly individual process that requires trial and error to determine what works best for you. The good news is that incorporating the following expert tips will help you work your body from all angles and engage muscles you never knew existed, leading to […]
Dec 26

Winter wellness: Self-care tips for mind and body

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Winter’s chill brings unique challenges for our well-being. Prioritizing self-care is key to thriving during colder months. Nourishing your body with seasonal foods, staying active indoors and out, and adapting your skincare routine are essential. Supporting mental health through light therapy, social connections, and mindfulness As temperatures drop, our bodies and minds often face unique challenges. Winter is a time when self-care becomes essential to stay healthy, energized, and resilient. Here are some effective tips to nurture both your body and mind during the colder months:   1. Nourish your body Stay hydrated: Though we sweat less in winter, staying hydrated is crucial. opt for warm herbal teas, soups, and broths. Eat seasonal foods: Incorporate winter fruits and vegetables like citrus, sweet potatoes, carrots, and leafy greens, which are rich in vitamins and antioxidants. Boost immunity: Include immune-boosting foods such as ginger, garlic, turmeric, and honey in your diet.   2. Keep moving Indoor workouts: Try yoga, Pilates, or home workouts to maintain flexibility and strength. Outdoor activities: If weather permits, enjoy brisk walks or winter sports like skating or skiing to get fresh air and sunlight. Stretch often: Combat stiffness and improve circulation by stretching regularly, especially if you’re […]
Dec 21

11 proven ways to build mental strength for better running

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Training your mind in tandem with your body is the key to easier running and better performances The language and advice around training for endurance sports tends to be dominated by physical factors – increasing your strength, improving your lactate threshold or your VO2 max. But seeing the mind and the body as one system provides a better strategy for improving, and working on improving your mental strength alongside your physical fitness will definitely reap the benefits when it comes to your running performance.   The research on mental strength and running In a 2010 paper, Professor Samuele Marcora, from the University of Bologna, Italy, and Walter Staiano, from the University of Valencia, Spain, challenged the assumption that physical exhaustion was the key limiter in exercise performance and introduced the concept of training by ‘psychobiological’ principles. In their study, a group of cyclists were still able to produce short periods of higher intensity effort even after reaching a point of physical exhaustion. Their research showed that our exercise tolerance is a balance between how hard we find an activity (our rate of perceived exertion or RPE) versus how motivated we are for that activity. Other studies by Marcora have explored […]
Dec 18

How a Strong Mind-Muscle Connection Can Take Your Workouts to the Next Level

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Focusing on how your muscles are operating during your strength-training workouts can help make your movements more effective.   Oftentimes, a workout can be your one chance to let your mind go totally blank. After spending an entire day thinking about problems at work, at school, and in your personal life, a solo gym session spent powering through biceps curls and lunges — all while zoning out to the latest Taylor Swift album — can feel truly restorative. But you may not want to shut your brain down completely. In order to level up your performance and make gains, you’ll need to pay close attention to how your muscles are contracting, lengthening, and moving throughout your strength-training practice. In other words, you’ll want to build up and tap into your mind-muscle connection.   The Mind-Muscle Connection, Explained You may not realize it, but while performing any sport or physical activity, your mind either zeros in on what’s occurring in the external environment around you (e.g. the songs blasting through the gym speakers, the trees you jog past while on an outdoor run) or what’s happening within your own body (e.g. muscle fatigue, your breath, any pain). This concentration on your […]
Dec 15

Tips To Manage ADHD In Adults: 6 Boundaries You Must Set For Your Mental Health

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Do you suffer from ADHD? Here are 6 signs that you are not setting healthy boundaries that will help you cope with the condition.   Signs You Are Not Setting Healthy Boundaries A huge part o dealing and coping with ADHD is setting healthy boundaries. If you do not ensure this, it may take a huge toll on your mental health, your self-esteem and confidence and it may also eventually impact your physical health.   Learn To Say No Learn to say no. You should not fear to say no to others fearing how they might react or what they might think.   Ask For Help Do not wait for other people to fulfil your needs. Human beings are not mind readers so if you need help with anything, you should teach yourself to communicate better.   Value Your Emotions Every person has feelings and emotions and it is normal to show them. Do not act like things do not bother you.   Intimacy Do not be intimate with people if you do not want to be. It is a dangerous act if you force yourself to be physically intimate with someone. This is a very important boundary to set […]
Dec 12

Regular exercise changes the brain to improve memory, thinking skills

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There are plenty of good reasons to be physically active. Big ones include reducing the odds of developing heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Maybe you want to lose weight, lower your blood pressure, prevent depression, or just look better. Here’s another one, which especially applies to those of us (including me) experiencing the brain fog that comes with age: exercise changes the brain in ways that protect memory and thinking skills. In a study done at the University of British Columbia, researchers found that regular aerobic exercise, the kind that gets your heart and your sweat glands pumping, appears to boost the size of the hippocampus, the brain area involved in verbal memory and learning. Resistance training, balance and muscle toning exercises did not have the same results. The finding comes at a critical time. Researchers say one new case of dementia is detected every four seconds globally. They estimate that by the year 2050, more than 115 million people will have dementia worldwide.   Exercise and the brain Exercise helps memory and thinking through both direct and indirect means. The benefits of exercise come directly from its ability to reduce insulin resistance, reduce inflammation, and stimulate the release of […]
Dec 09

Dos and don’ts to keep in mind when you start hitting the gym

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Starting a gym routine is a fantastic way to improve your health, fitness, and overall well-being. It can be an excellent opportunity to challenge yourself physically, increase your strength, and build your confidence. However, it’s important to remember that starting a gym routine can be overwhelming, especially if you’re new to exercising or haven’t been physically active in a while. There are several dos and don’ts to keep in mind to ensure that you have a safe and effective workout experience. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned gym-goer, these tips will help you get the most out of your workouts and achieve your fitness goals.   Dos and don’ts for first-time gym goers: Rihana Qureshi, Certified Nutritionist and Strength Training Coach, shared some important dos and don’ts you should keep in mind when starting your gym routine.   1. Start with cardio Start with a light cardio workout, such as walking on the treadmill for 15-20 minutes, if you have never worked out before. Once you are comfortable with that, increase your pace. This way, keep increasing the time and intensity till you can run and walk for a total of 30-35 mins without feeling drained.   2. Move […]
Dec 06

What celebrity trainers want you to know about getting fit

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When you see your favorite actors looking fit on the red carpet, you might think their fitness level is unattainable for most regular folks — reserved only for those with opulent lifestyles and endless resources that seemingly add more hours to each day. But that’s not quite the reality. In fact, according to their trainers, most celebrities face many of the same issues as the rest of us when trying to prioritize wellness amid the responsibilities of daily life. To dispel the myths and provide practical advice anyone can use, I tapped five of my celebrity trainer friends to help share tips we wish everyone knew to improve their overall fitness.   Fitness is a balancing act for everyone Like many people, celebrities also struggle with the demands of work and homelife schedules when trying to stay fit. As a mobility and strength coach who works in professional sports, I can attest that even famous athletes, whose careers depend on their bodies, face the challenge of balancing family and fitness. When players return home after their seasons end, it’s not an easy task to maintain normal family life while trying to preserve their elite athlete physiques. These pros need to […]
Dec 03

What Type of Exercise Is Best for Mental Health?

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A large new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression.   When you head to your weekly yoga class or lift weights at the gym, you’re doing something good for your physical health: getting more fit today, and so protecting your body into the future. What you may not always think about, though, is that you’re also protecting yourself from anxiety and depression—about as much as you would be if you were going to therapy or taking medication. At least that’s the conclusion of a very large new study that synthesizes decades of research on exercise and mental health. The study doesn’t just provide this key insight—in fact, the researchers were also able to identify what kind of exercise and how much of it is best for mental health.   How body supports mind Researchers analyzed the results from more than 1,000 randomized controlled trials—one of the strongest types of studies. These experiments, with over 128,000 participants, had compared exercise to standard treatments like simply learning about fitness or getting help setting goals. The participants engaged in a variety of physical activities, from yoga and tai chi to aerobics and dance to strength training. […]
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