Fitness

The Hula hoop Christmas workout is the new #fitspiration!

All the joy of this festive season may be making you miss the gym! But the fitness freak in you can’t let go of the guilt, right? We have the perfect solution! And what’s more? It is the new #fitspiration trend! The answer to busting stress and burning calories lies in a round hoop. That’s right! Hula hoop- that simple game you used to play during your childhood is now coming up as a fun exercise. So grab a hoop and get started.

The Routine

You may not have touched one since you were 10, but the humble hula hoop is a bona fide piece of workout equipment that can tone your thighs, abdominals, gluteals, and arms. Try this routine thrice a week and practice till you get perfect

Move one: Side to side

Hold the hoop at waist level and sway your hips in a side-to-side motion.

Move two: Front and back

After placing the hoop at the waist level, rock your hips forward and back to keep the hoop going.

Move three: The orbit
Stand with your feet together, raise your arm above the head. Get the hoop in motion so that it’s rotating around your hand.

So, grab a hula hoop and try these moves.You will barely feel like you are working out but at the same time you will be burning 150- 200 calories in a span of 30 minutes. So get started and channel your inner child with this fun workout!

References:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/hula-hooping-the-sure-fire-way-to-strengthen-your-core/

4 Tips For A Healthier Christmas

The festive season is all about family, friendship and food! However, this makes it quite challenging to stay on top of your health goals.

If you’re looking for practical and easy tips to be healthy during your holidays, we’ve got you covered.

Get out the bat and ball

Why just watch cricket when you can play it too? Cricket is the only sport that regularly stops for drinks breaks as well as lunch and evening tea, so take advantage of this and get outside with your family and play!

Have an active holiday

Where are you going for your holidays? If you plan on lounging by the pool, try diving in from time to time. Get out for a solid 30-minute walk or even go on a cycling tour.

Switch your focus to healthy eating

If you’ve been calculating the amount of sugar, carbs, salt etc. you have been eating, it’s time to change how you think. Here are a few tips that can help keep you on track:

Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables
Keep water as your drink of choice
Replace salt with herbs and spices to flavour your food.

Get a good night’s sleep

Stick to a regular sleep routine and get at least 7-8 hours of sleep so that you start fresh the next day.

Of course, Christmas is a time to enjoy yourself, so follow these tips to stay fit and healthy without missing out on the festive fun!

References:
https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/news/five-steps-to-a-healthy-christmas

The Ultimate Workout Playlist

Looking for a playlist to blast through your Monday morning hour at the gym? Or maybe you need a couple motivational songs to obliterate that eighth rep.

Regardless of your current regime, the perfect playlist can get you fired up!

In fact, a recent study found that people who listened to music while working out require 7% less oxygen. Participants of the study said that listening to music made them work out harder, help maintain pace and increase efficiency.

The Most Popular Types Of Music For Exercising.

Different people enjoy listening to different genres while they workout, but hip-hop, pop and country are among the most popular. Keeping that in mind, we put together a few songs for you to use the next time you’re burning those calories!

‘To The Max’ by DJ Khaled and Drake
‘Thank You, Next’ by Ariana Grande
‘Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)’ by Michael Jackson
‘Single Ladies’ by Beyonce
‘High Rated Gabru’ by Guru Randhawa
‘Suit Suit’ by Guru Randhawa
‘Khalibali’ from Padmavat
‘Titanium’ by David Guetta & Sia

So cue up your iPod, jump into your shoes and start pumping!

By the end of each track, you will have cleared an extra half mile! Get started today, and let us know how it goes!

References:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/fitness/the-ultimate-workout-playlist/articleshow/66426029.cms

How To Make The Most Out Of Your Workout Time

You go to the gym in order to burn a few calories. But on some days, you just don’t have the time or (let’s face it) the energy to give your workout your all.

The solution? Find out when — and how — you can achieve the biggest calorie burn from your workout.

Exercising on a Full vs. Empty Stomach

Winner: When You Exercise on a Full Stomach

Food is the fuel you need for a great workout, and hitting the gym after eating is an ideal time. With partially digested food in your system, your muscles are stocked with the glycogen they need to do their best work.

Working Out by Yourself vs. With Others

Winner: When You Work Out with Others

Okay, so tagging your friends along won’t directly up your calorie burn, but it will help you go harder and longer without even knowing it.

Doing the Same Workout Every Day vs. Switching It Up

Winner: Switching Up Your Workouts

Altering the exercises, angles, or even just the number of sets and reps can keep your body guessing and burning more calories during every workout.

Exercising Indoors vs. Outdoors

Winner: Outdoors

Trade your treadmill for the road. Working out outside can help you burn more calories (some people estimate up to 10 percent more) even if you stick to your indoor pace.

So, try these tips out and see if they work for you!

Have you found any other ways to optimize your workout? Let us know in the comments section below!

Blurb- You can’t give it your all everyday, right? Here are some simple tips that can make even a small workout pay off.

Reduce Your Waist Size – The Healthy Way!

Stubborn fat deposits on your waistline can have an impact on not only your dress size, but also your self-confidence and your health!

Trimming down your waist size can be especially challenging if your body naturally stores fat in that area, but there are many exercises and small diet adjustments you can try to make it easier.

Exercises to reduce waist size

Planks-
Try this exercise initially for 30 seconds, and then work it up to a minute. If you can do more, go for it! Doing multiple sets for longer lengths of time can help.

Yoga-
Yoga is not only very effective for trimming your waistline, but can also help you manage your stress levels. This can indirectly help you lose weight by putting a stop to stress-eating!

HIIT-
To try HIIT, use a treadmill. gradually increasing your intensity as you improve. This will make sure your workout doesn’t fall flat after the first week.

Eating right

Avoiding refined carbohydrates, sugar, and processed foods whenever possible will help you cut calories and get rid of fat more quickly. Fatty fish, avocadoes, almonds, and cashews are all dietary staples that will give you a boost of healthy fat that’s better for your heart and easier for your body to digest.

Lifestyle changes

1.Swap out coffee for green tea

2.Walk for 20-30 minutes everyday

3.Cut back on alcohol consumption

4.Manage your stress

How do you measure progress?
One most obvious ways to measure your success is the old-fashioned way: by using a tape measure. But you could always use your clothes to guide you as well! To drop a dress size, you need to lose about an inch off your waistline! So take that favorite dress that you used to fit into, and measure your progress by how well you fit into it!

Takeaway

If you set a realistic expectation and have a positive attitude, reaching your goals is just about making small changes to your lifestyle. This way; you are more likely to have long-term success.

5 Ways To Sneak Exercise Into Your Office Routine!

If you’ve lately been feeling exhausted dealing with a 24X7 schedule, you’re not alone! Most of us hardly have time to plan out many of our routine tasks, and out of these, fitness tends to become last priority.
However, disregarding your health is one of the worst things you can do! So we’ve put together a few ways you can actually sneak exercise into your workday with a few smart moves.

Sit on a swiss ball

Swap your office chair with a stability ball. Swiss ball help the alignment of your spine as you sit on them. Not to mention, they’re a lot of fun! The average adult can expect to burn around 112 to 165 calories per hour while sitting on a swiss ball.

Do staircase walks/runs

Ditch the elevator and climb up the stairs. Research says that walking up to 200 steps twice a day increases aerobic fitness levels by 17 percent, and can burn anywhere around 100 to 127 calories for the average person.

Invisible Chair Squats

Stand in front of your chair and keep your hands on your hips. Squat down as much as you can without actually sitting, then slowly return to standing. You can even challenge yourself by trying with one leg!

Office Chair Leg Extensions

If you’ve been sitting for a long time, and are stuck in that position, leg extensions are the best thing to try out. Sit on your chair, with your back straight and arms at your sides. Extend one leg, flex your foot, and raise your leg until it’s at a 90-degree angle with your torso. Hold the position, and then lower your leg.

So try out these exercise during your next work week, and let us know if you see a difference at the end of each day! Any other exercises that work for you? Comment below and let us know!

Fit, but not fine?

When most of us think about health and wellness we typically think about the physical dimension, mostly because that is how its portrayed within the media. When you think of “health”, what do you think of? A perfect body? A sound mind?

Let’s take a step back to understand what health really is!

Definition of health

According to the World Health Organization, health is defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

The basic idea of health means to be able to have the capacity to function and cope with life at an optimal level – physically, psychologically, and socially.

Definition of physical fitness

‘Physical fitness’ refers to the capacity and capability of your body to perform certain activities, based on factors such as your cardiovascular condition, muscular strength, stamina and body composition. Depending on the type of physical activity you choose, as well as how often and intensely you exercise, you may be able to improve your fitness in selected areas.

Can a person be fit but not healthy?

Exercise stops working for you the moment it becomes a matter of stress. The feel-good factor if fitness should remain in your workout. Overdoing it can lead to diminished strength, fatigue or even overeating and the other dimensions of health and wellness are out of balance.

Getting the Balance Right

Getting the right amount of exercise and following a healthy lifestyle means you can be both fit and healthy. Extremes in exercising or poor lifestyle choices can significantly impair your health. The benefits of running, for example, could be all but be cancelled out by the health risks of smoking or drinking excessive alcohol. By avoiding obvious healthy pitfalls such as tobacco or a nutritionally poor diet, you remove many of the things that can adversely affect your health.

References:
https://healthyliving.azcentral.com/can-person-physically-fit-still-unhealthy-20110.html

4 Wake-Up Hacks that will help you get your Morning Workout!

Research has shown that people who work out in the morning are more likely to make exercise a regular habit. However, many of us work 9-5 jobs, and waking up early can be more difficult than we think.

Lucky for you, we’ve put together a list of ‘wake-up hacks’ that will hopefully do the trick. Let’s get started!

Get A workout buddy

Find your workout buddy and make a pact that involves you both getting up early and working out before work. Check in with each other every morning about five minutes after you’re supposed to get up. When you share your goals with someone else you’re more likely to follow through.

Set two alarms

Treat yourself to a little bit of tough love if you are not a morning person. Pick the two most unpleasant songs from your music library for your alarms so you’ll be forced to get up to make the auditory torture stop.

Reward your wins

Change is hard — that’s why people don’t like to do it. For every month you meet your wake-up-and-work-out goals, reward yourself. It could be anything you’ve had your eye on – trying out a new restaurant, a massage, whatever you want! Working toward a reward will get you all pumped up so don’t be stingy towards your rewards.

Pop some peppermint

Peppermint is said to be a stimulant, Keep it next to your bed so all you have to do is reach over. Eating a peppermint first thing is a hack you can rely on to get going in the morning.

The bottom line

It’s not easy to jump out of bed all bright-eyed early in the morning. It’s a process that takes time, which is why it’s important to make sure to keep yourself motivated with things you actually want. Become a wake-up-and-work-out person with a little preparation, a great playlist, and a solid plan to help you keep going.

Reference:

https://desktime.com/blog/how-to-exercise-when-youre-working-9-5

What Is Your Metabolism—And Can You Actually Make It Faster?

Exercise only accounts for 10% of speeding up your metabolism rate. Mind blown? Effortlessly thin people, for example, are often said to be are born blessed with “fast metabolisms”, and that the key to “boost your metabolism” is weight loss …right?

Kind of.

First things first: What exactly is your metabolism?

Basically, your metabolism is all the energy (a.k.a. calories) that you burn every day.

If you believe burning calories only happens when you exercise, your wrong. In fact, you burn calories every minute as your body keeps you alive.

When someone says, ‘I have a high metabolism’ or ‘I have a slow metabolism,’ they’re usually referring to their pace or ability to lose weight or maintain a normal weight.

All of your body’s processes, voluntary or not, contribute to your metabolism—that includes everything from digesting food, to breathing, to punching out a text message on your phone.

How to make your metabolism work more efficiently

So, yes, you can “boost” your metabolism, but it’s going to take lots of hard work, starting with your diet.

Getting adequate protein and fiber can definitely help increase your metabolism rate.

Another thing to keep in mind: Don’t let your body go into starvation mode because eating too little can actually slow down your metabolism rate.

You can turn things around by simply amping up your daily intake by about 100 calories each week, until you’re within a healthy calorie range for your body.

The other effective way to maximize your metabolism? Exercise.

Experts believe that high-intensity interval training is one of the most beneficial forms of exercise as it burns more calories in half the time as steady-state cardio, and your calorie burn may remain elevated for up to 24 hours after exercise—as many as 200 to 300 calories on average.

Remember to not overdo it.

Taking enough recovery time between workouts, and getting adequate sleep, are key as it gives your muscles a chance to rebuild and your hormones a chance to return to their normal state.

The bottom line:

There’s not a quick-fix way to boost your metabolism. Making small changes to your daily habits to help increase the amount of calories you burn each day and will help you boost your metabolism.

References:

https://www.everydayhealth.com/news/essential-facts-about-your-metabolism-weight-loss/

Is India Getting Fatter by the Day?

By 2025, India will have over 17 million obese children and this number will continue to rise. Children have lower health-related or medical problems compared to adults. However, obese children are at a much higher risk of developing chronic diseases later in their lifetime.

What causes obesity in children?

There are many factors that contribute to obesity in children. The most common causes are genetic factors, lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns, or a combination of these.

A child’s diet and their level of physical activity determines their weight. These days, most kids are inactive. They live a sedentary life, the pressure at school to do well in exams is more intense than ever, and whatever little spare time they get is spent on video games, mobile phones or social media.

What diseases are obese children at risk for?

High cholesterol
High blood pressure
Early heart disease
Diabetes
Bone problems

Obesity leads to a host of other health problems including hypertension and diabetes. India is on track to get the unenviable title of the diabetic capital of the world as soon as 2025 with more than 65 million Indians already suffering from the disease.

How Do I Know if My Child Is Overweight?

To determine whether or not your child is overweight, consult your child’s. He or she will determine whether or not your child is overweight by measuring their ”BMI,” or body mass index.

How Can I Help My Overweight Child?

If your child is overweight, it is very important that you allow him or her to know that you will be supportive. What a child feels about themselves is mostly based on their parents’ feelings about them, and if you accept your child the way they are, they are more likely to feel good about themselves. It is also important to talk to your children about their weight, allowing them to share their concerns with you.

How Can I Indulge My Family in Healthful Habits?

Be a role model- If your children see you being physically active and having fun, they are more likely to adapt fitness into their lifestyle
Plan family activities that include physical exercises such as walking, biking, or swimming.
Try to reduce the amount of time you and your family spend in sedentary activities, such as watching TV or in video gaming.

Whatever approach parents choose to take regarding an overweight child, the purpose is not to make physical activity and following a healthy diet a chore, but to make the most of the opportunities you and your family have to be active and healthy.

References:

http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2017/10/health/i-on-india-childhood-obesity/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/childhood-obesity/symptoms-causes/syc-20354827

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