Oct 05

What You Need to Know About Rest Days for Your Workout Plan

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You might have heard that you need to go hard every day for success. You heard wrong.   TAKING A NO days off mentality to accomplish your fitness goals might have short term benefits, but likely wind up putting yourself at risk of injury in the long run. That type of mindset is an antiquated concept of old-school gym culture as useful these days as a rusty barbell. You can pick it up and try to give it a few reps, but you’ll be better off with a newer, more modern approach. Rest days are not for the weak. That can be hard to swallow if you love training, and if you have big-time goals you’re working hard to achieve. If that’s you, you’re wondering exactly how many rest days do you really need to optimize your recovery? What if you’re training for a race or pushing for a PR? Taking time off when you have a goal staring back at you can be difficult—so how long should you break before you get back into your workout plan? How many rest days are needed in a week of training? Here, Kurt Ellis, C.S.C.S., owner and coach at Beyond Numbers Performance, […]
Oct 01

The Secret Tricks for Getting a Lean Body After 60, Say Experts

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Just because it’s harder doesn’t mean it’s impossible.   There’s no getting around it—as you get older, it becomes progressively harder to run the six miles you used to do each morning. Your strength, balance, and mobility naturally decrease with age, and it’s harder for many people to stay strong and manage your weight. “[As you age] there’s a steady increase in fat mass and changes in body composition, as well as an increase in insulin resistance,” says Leada Malek, PT, DPT, CSCS. “There are also changes in bone density, joint stiffness, and sometimes posture, and all these factors can contribute to metabolism and muscle mass changes after 60,” she adds. What’s more, as you age you often see a reduction in metabolic rate due to the loss of muscle mass. “Your body makeup also starts to shift where what was once muscle turns to fat since you typically stop using your muscles and don’t need to maintain them anymore,” says Caley Crawford, NASM-CPT, trainer and director of education for Row House. These factors make it harder to lose unwanted weight and maintain a lean body after 60, she says. Because of these changes, people often feel weaker and less […]
Sep 28

Your brain needs more rest than you’re giving it. These 9 tips can help.

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Brain health is not just about sleep. Here’s how to focus on adding more restful moments into your day   When you think about getting rest, which of these situations comes to mind?   A. Enjoying a good night’s sleep B. Taking a midday nap C. Reclining on the sofa to watch mindless television   While these restful moments all have their place in daily life, it’s a common misconception to view rest as an entirely passive experience. True rest, say experts, is not just about being sedentary or in the prone position — it’s also about giving your brain the restorative breaks it needs to function at an optimal level. While adequate sleep is essential to brain health, many forms of rest involve activity, not slumber. “The most restorative kinds of rest — the things that recharge our mental and physical batteries most effectively — are the things that are active rather than passive,” said Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, author of the book “Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less.” “Going for a long walk or hike or working out can give us more rather than less energy and leave us feeling mentally more rejuvenated.”   This […]
Sep 24

How Long It Should Take to Walk a Mile – and How That Can Help to Improve Your Fitness

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Whether you’re looking to move more or you want to upgrade your daily stroll, these tips will help you pick up the pace   If you live somewhere with pavements, you probably do your fair share of walking to get around. Even if you live in a more car-centric space, you likely have access to parks and other green space to take a stroll. Whether you think of walking as exercise or as a means to get from A to B, there are so many reasons to give your ambulatory habits some more focused attention. If you’re wondering how your current walking practice stacks up to how much – or how fast – others are moving, consider testing how long it takes to walk a mile. That’s just one benchmark that walking coach Michele Stanten, founder of MyWalkingCoach.com and author of The Walking Solution, says could help to incentivise you to reach for your sneakers more often. Once you know how fast you’re walking and about how long it takes to walk a mile, you can set walking goals that work for your lifestyle. Here’s what to keep in mind.   The Benefits of Walking You’ve likely heard many times […]
Sep 21

How to train your mind to not skip the gym

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A change in approach and some expert tips can help in overcoming the omnipresent cloud of laziness and make you a regular at the gym.   “Tomorrow, I will definitely go to the gym.” That’s how it starts – with tomorrow. Then it keeps getting pushed – to the next Monday, next month and, next year, before you even know it. Sounds like the story of your life? The 6 am alarm you set to wake up early and go to the gym faces the sinful snooze hits and an eventual ‘dismiss’ before you doze off again. Or, you prepare that gym bag with the utmost zeal. Put in it the shoes, clothes, towel and other gym essentials. You carry it to your office, to ensure you take a detour to the gym (or head to the one in your office) before returning home. ‘Nothing can stop me now,’ you think to yourself. Cut to 7 pm, you are lured into going straight home. You take that bag, unpacked and intact, along with some excuses on your mind, home with you. The world of treadmills, dumbbells and weight-lifting machines can wait for another day. It goes on and on, no […]
Sep 17

Pro tips for muscle building to help you ace the strength game

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With so much information out there, it can be confusing to know what works best for building muscles. Here are some expert-approved tips you can try.   Anyone who is interested in fitness must have come across social media apps showing guys with huge biceps lifting massive weights. There are so many fitness experts who share ways to build muscles by lifting heavy weights and what not. While you may come across several ways that will help you build muscles, there are certain things that might not work for you. Fitness coach and speaker Miten Kakaiya recently shared an informative video to help you understand basics about muscle building. In the caption, the fitness coach shares that muscle building is not the “game of the body but the mind. A great mind-muscle connection will 100 percent increase your gains and will prove more effective than mindlessly practising set after set for hours without achieving any results.” He also shared that you need to focus on the following things if you want to gain muscle strength:   1. Focus on your form It goes without saying that lifting weights with proper form is always better than having a proper form. He […]
Sep 14

How lifting weights could improve your body and your mind

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“Pumping iron” may conjure up images of muscly gym-goers sweating though a workout accompanied by over-the-top music, but developing a weight-lifting routine can be done easily at home. And the benefits can be huge. The pros of weight training (also known in various forms as resistance training and strength training) go beyond simply toning the body and stronger muscles and bones – it helps maintain a healthy heart and immune system and can even improve brainpower and help you live longer. Michael Mosley shows how dumbbells are actually a very smart move for both your physical and mental capacities.   Lifting weights lowers blood sugar Maintaining muscle mass is not just about how good it looks on the outside, it’s working for you inside too. As well as benefiting your waistline, weight training improves your metabolism and increases your insulin sensitivity, meaning it’s easier to lower blood sugar levels after a meal.   Your immune system is boosted by resistance training A study comparing women who did no exercise with those who regularly did resistance training showed that the latter group had cells that were more active in helping the body fight infection.   Muscle mass is a key indicator […]
Sep 11

10 benefits of running for both your body and your mind

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Occasions like Global Running Day and the London Marathon put a brilliant spotlight on the activity of running – but running isn’t just about single days. Instead, running is a sport, a hobby and a mental and physical release that everyone can enjoy and improve at. In other words, running can become a welcome, important and extremely beneficial part of your life. If you’ve never run a step, here are 10 benefits of running that will inspire you to lace up those running shoes and get going today…   1. It strengthens your body When you run, your whole physiology reaps the rewards of your movement. Here are just some parts of the body that feel the positive effects of those accumulated running steps. The heart Among other things, regular running helps to improve your respiratory function, lower your cholesterol, reduce your risk of diabetes and improve your heart health. In fact, according to leading cardiologist Dr Dan Augustine, ‘if you could put exercise into a pill, it would be better than most drugs that a doctor could give you’. That, in itself, is one mighty selling point for running. The heart is like an engine. As you run, or […]
Sep 08

The one fitness mantra you can’t compromise on if weight loss is on your mind!

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Discipline can take you places motivation can’t, and that is truly one fitness tip that you must follow to achieve weight-loss goals! The virtues of fitness in our overall well-being have been more pronounced than ever in the post-pandemic world. If you commit to living a fit life, you should know that discipline holds the key to staying committed. Exercising daily not just keeps our physical health in check, but also keeps our mental well-being balanced. Chemicals such as endorphins and serotonin are released when we exercise, and that elevates our mood. Exercise is also a terrific way to improve our self-esteem and reduce feelings such as sadness, stress and anxiety which are rampant in today’s world. Fitness expert Robin Behl, one of the three forces behind The Tribe, shares one important tip to ensure you’re on the path to fitness. “Discipline will take you places that motivation can’t. Both go hand-in-hand. You need to be motivated as well as disciplined in order to go a long way. With just motivation and no discipline, there is no sustainability.”   Importance of discipline in fitness Discipline for your workout regime not only brings you closer to your weight loss or muscle […]
Sep 05

9 Yoga Poses for Better Sleep Tonight

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Try these yoga poses shortly before bed for your best sleep.   There are plenty of tips and tricks out there that can help you fall asleep. However, if you have already tried reading, drinking a hot cup of herbal tea or journaling and those tips haven’t worked for you — that’s OK. One thing you might not have tried is yoga for sleep. There’s a very good reason why yoga helps you sleep. Practicing yoga and breathing techniques calms your nervous system, which helps your body relax enough for sleep. However, not all poses will help you achieve this goal. You’ll want to aim for relaxing movements that don’t get your heart rate up. We’ve rounded up the top yoga poses you should try if you have trouble sleeping at night.   How yoga can help you sleep Yoga, much like any form of exercise, can be a beneficial way to unwind and alleviate stress. Research suggests that engaging in yoga may lead to reduced levels of cortisol, the hormone associated with stress. The extent of cortisol reduction may vary depending on factors such as the frequency and intensity of yoga practice. Additionally, some studies have shown promising results […]
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