Maybe it’s time to revamp your routine of living healthily.
A vast number of fitness and health trends that are available these days are definitely not worth one’s money or time as most of them turn out to be nothing but marketing fads that easily disappear without making any difference to one’s life but definitely making a huge hole in the wallet.
Let’s look at some of the top health trends that are worth your time and money. Whether your goal is to restore your exercise schedule, enhance your outward appearance or improve your entire sense of being, it is time to try out, or at least attempt, any of these health trends.
When it comes to weight loss and starting to get in shape, a lot has to do with eating the correct foods in moderation. These foods can decrease your appetite, increase your metabolism with thermogenic foods, ramp up your immune system, or help with a number of other health benefits. By supplementing these foods into your diet, you can increase your overall health and weight loss!
Wide-grip pull-ups are my favorite exercise. I would love to do them at home but I don’t have a pullup tower, a doorway bar, or even a rafter, or else I would do them every day (sad story, I know). Let’s face it when working out at home, your back is one of the hardest areas to hit.
I mean you can do bent-over rows all day and maybe even pullovers but it is not the same as the gold standard pullup. But then I got sent the Workhorse: Portable Pullup Alternative!
Design, effectiveness, practicality…etc. these are the simple things I look for when I buy exercise equipment, and it doesn’t happen very often (I’m a poor fitness professional, remember?). I got my hands on one of the new Workhorse portable pullup alternative bars to test it out. Here’s my unbiased Workhorse review:
I’m really excited to share Part 3 of this series. We get to take a look at another simply amazing individual who lost 230 pounds and over 40lbs in a single month; let those numbers sink in! This weight loss transformation can really provide us with some insight into how this woman realized enough was enough and took control of her life! Once again, here are the three main questions we covered:
1. How did your mindset change? 2. What about your exercise routine? 3. How did your nutrition change?
Have you had or currently have back pain? More than 80% of us will experience back pain sometimes in our adult lives and holy crap does it hurt. One of the big culprits is our terrible posture. We need some serious posture correction.
Look at yourself, right now. I bet you are either leaning forward in your chair to read this article or you are nose deep in your phone. Either way, your body isn’t in the best position right now; Hell mines not….and I’m writing an article on posture correction. Well, let’s correct that. It’s time for posture correction. Let’s end our nagging back issues. Let’s dive in on some serious posture correction!
With the increase in obesity-related health problems, people are realizing it’s time to get fit and get healthy and this usually involves losing weight and building muscle…both require a lot of dedication. But both can literally occur in your home via kitchen nutrition and these living room exercises!
Have a fitness, nutrition, or general wellness question? Send them to us, each week we will answer your questions! Send your fitness questions to support@diyactive.com
“I cannot get the nutrition down. What do you think makes it just finally click with people?”
-Sharlene H.
Personally, I think it finally clicks when you realize you have to eat if you want to lose weight sustainably. When you realize eating all the wonderful vegetables we have as much as you possibly want (along with quality proteins, fruits…etc) instead of processed foods and instead of starving yourself you will see results. It will give you more energy and keep your metabolism from being screwed up.
“So I bit the bullet and joined a gym… To my shocking surprise… I LOVE IT!!! So much so that I did 3 consecutive days of hardcore workouts in different areas… Legs, arms/chest, and a 1 hr cycling class that is NO JOKE! I made myself rest on the 4 & 5 days and plan to get into a steady routine of one day in, one day off… While still working my runs in per my training schedule. Am I doing too much?”
-Larina M.
So that equates to roughly 4 workouts a week in which you are hitting different areas of the body in each workout while still running? I would say as long as you have the drive, the mental focus, and the time then go for it!
Of course, don’t burn yourself out or make yourself susceptible to injury but there seems to be nothing wrong with this. This is about my schedule: 4 high-intensity lifts throughout the week with 2-3 run/walks spread out on rest days. Keep up the intensity and good luck with the marathon. Come back later and tell us how it went!
Having quality, nutritious food readily available without worrying about spoilage can be a hassle, any tips?
One way is to simply buy frozen chicken, fish, and vegetables. Frozen vegetables can be steamed in the microwave quickly (3-5 min) and fish and chicken can be made in the oven just like their fresh counterparts. By having plenty of frozen veggies available you don’t have an excuse for not eating healthy, especially when studies have shown that the nutrient content of frozen vegetables are not significantly different than fresh vegetables (Favell 1998). Or you could just hit up the grocery store every 3-4 days, but who has time for that!
Favell DJ (1998) A comparison of the vitamin C content of fresh and frozen vegetables. Food Chem 62:59-64.
Got any tips for working out while dealing with arthritis?
Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States, keeping many people inactive. While resting seems to be a natural way to relieve symptoms, it’s been shown that exercise is one of the best treatments. First and foremost, you should stop doing any exercise that causes pain (being careful with swollen joints) or decrease the intensity until the movement is pain-free. Because arthritis tends to flare up in painful episodes, perform exercises on days when the pain is minimal.
One simple tactic is to become more active which therefore decreases your bodyweight, decreasing pressure on your load-bearing joints. When beginning, make sure to stretch every day to increase your full range of motion and perform periods of low-intensity, low-impact exercises like walking and lightweight resistance machines. For resistance training of unaffected joints, begin by lifting twice a week and progressing from there slowly over time.
Lastly, for chronically painful joints try isometric exercises for these joints (holding a weight at a specific joint angle for a period of time). Working out with arthritis can be very helpful, just take it slow and light.
Personal fitness training: theory and practice, Second Edition (2010) Editors Yoke M, Gladwin LA. California, USA.
Can I perform resistance training with osteoporosis?
Yes, you can, and actually, weight-bearing exercises can actually decrease some of the risks involved with osteoporosis. There are several exercises that can be used. Exercises that emphasize balance and movements that are required during the daily activities of life should be performed along with resistance training twice a week.
Make sure to perform back extensions or supermans (Superman example) which can be helpful in reducing the risk of vertebrate fractures. On the contrary, there are several things to avoid during weight training with osteoporosis: spinal flexion (toe touches and crunches), any high-impact movements (jumping), and movements that could increase the risk of falling (skating).
Personal fitness training: theory and practice, Second Edition (2010) Editors Yoke M, Gladwin LA. California, USA.
What does it mean when a trainer says we are going to do a superset?
A superset is commonly used by weight lifters and bodybuilders to produce muscle growth by combining two different exercises, alternating sets one right after another.
This can be two exercises that work for the same muscle group, opposing muscle groups, or upper and lower body. For instance, if you were going to do opposing muscle groups you could alternate leg extensions (quadriceps) and leg curls (hamstrings), alternating with each set.
My lower back is very weak, what are some easy ways to strengthen it?
One way to strengthen the lower back is to strengthen the core in general, this would involve strengthening the abdominals (crunches, sit-ups) and obliques (crunch with a twist).
Strengthening these will take pressure off your lower back by helping to support your body (make sure to stretch the glutes and hips as well). To specifically train your lower back you can perform seated lower back extensions on a machine, supermans, or back extensions on a Roman chair (Roman chair back extension example).
A combination of exercises for the entire core will strengthen the lower back and provide you with better posture.
As we continue our series, we will take a look at another extraordinary individual who lost over 70 pounds!
This weight loss story can really provide us with some great advice on how we can take charge of our health! Here are the three main questions we covered:
1. How did your mindset change? 2. What about your exercise routine? 3. How did your nutrition change?
Feeling drained? Completely dead when 5 o’clock rolls around? Wish you were more energetic like you used to be? Maybe you should exercise for energy! Wait…that seems counter-intuitive; expend energy to feel more energetic…hmmm.
From health foods to supplements we are all looking for a more natural way to increase our energy levels without having to slam energy drinks and sugar-laden coffee 24/7. Along with myself and two of Cosmo’s celebrity trainers, we are going to discuss how to exercise for energy and how it can improve your energy levels!
So you think losing those 15 extra pounds is pretty much impossible? Think again!
Sometimes we just need to hear from the people who have literally “Been There, Lost That” to give us a little Fit-spiration on weight loss success, like Kate’s incredible story below. I wanted to hear firsthand accounts from people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off. Besides any extra advice that they wanted to add, I was curious about 3 questions in regards to weight loss success:
1. What mindset changes did you make? 2. What were the exercise changes you made? 3. How did you change your nutrition?
