Category Archives: Exercise

March 2, 2015

EXERCISE OF THE MONTH: MARCH.

Triceps

OVERHEAD TRICEP EXTENSIONS

Benefits:
Sculpt your triceps (the muscle in the back of your arm) by using weights and say goodbye to those bingo wings!.

How to do it:

  • Sit on a stability ball or chair.
  • Hold a weight (bottles of water or cans of beans will also suffice) in each hand and extend your arms above your head.
  • Bend your elbows and lower the weights behind your head until they touch your shoulder blades.
  • Slowly lift up to the starting position.
  • Don’t lock your elbows at the top, always keep a slight bend.
  • Repeat for 10 repetitions, increasing the weight as you get stronger.
February 2, 2015

EXERCISE OF THE MONTH: FEBRUARY.

Plank

ELBOW PLANK

Benefits:
Having strong abdominals is key to a flat and toned stomach. Working your core will also help to support your back, helping to give you perfect posture.

How to do it:

  • Position yourself on all fours, resting on your knees and elbows, keeping your back straight.
  • Extend one leg behind you and press your toes into the floor, then do the same with the other foot.
  • You are now supported on your elbows and toes.
  • Tighten your abdominal muscles to keep your body as straight as a plank, without sagging or lifting your bottom up.
  • Hold this position for 15 seconds (increase hold to 1 minute as you get stronger).
January 2, 2015

EXERCISE OF THE MONTH: JANUARY.

January

SQUAT JACKS

Benefits:
By adding a bend of the knees to a standard jumping jack, this all time favourite move becomes a tough leg and bum booster. It makes great cardio exercise too, which is great for burning off any Christmas indulgence!

How to do it:

  • Stand with your feet close together, hands touching the sides of your head, and lower down into a narrow squat so that your weight shifts back to your heels.
  • Staying low, push off your heels and jump your feet wide, landing in a wide squat position. Lift and jump back to the start position. Continue jumping your feet out and in with a squat as fast as you can.
  • Try doing 3 intervals of 20 seconds, with a 10 second rest period in between. As you progress, you can increase the number of sets and/or time interval.
December 12, 2014

WHY PILATES?

Pilates

Above all, the practice of Pilates is widely known to carve a rock-solid core. But its benefits don’t stop there. Pilates will also help heal, strengthen and relax your body.

Here’s what the holistic practice has to offer:

1. Mental function
Pilates builds mental stamina and focus by requiring concentration on each repetition, exercise, and sequence.

2. Body awareness
Better body control and awareness enhances how you carry yourself and move every day.

3. Internal organs
Pilates promotes optimal performance by your interior organs and helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

4. Inner Harmony
Releasing endorphins naturally causes your mind and body to feel more positive.

5. Physical Fitness
Every area of physical fitness develops from flexibility to endurance.

6. Cross Training
Pilates is used by a variety of athletes to achieve their athletic pursuits.

7. Breathing
Improved breathing nourishes the body and increases oxygen levels in the blood. It also helps the body rid any existing toxins and promotes a healthier skin tone.

8. Relaxation
Tension release and relaxation is encouraged by a sense of calm and well-being experienced during Pilates.

9. Body shape
Muscle definition sculpts your waist and shoulders while toning your abs, arms, thighs, and bum.

10. Body alignment
Proper alignment decreases your injury risk and helps joints stay healthy as you age.

11. Pregnancy
Pilates offers soon to be mums a safe yet effective form of exercise.

Contact me for more information on how you could benefit from Pilates.

November 14, 2014

YOGA FOR RUNNERS: DOWNWARD-FACING DOG.

Mediation

Everyone knows Yoga is a great stress buster. But it also packs serious perks for runners, like improving flexibility, easing aches and pains, and helping you recover from long runs and races faster.

The Downward-Facing Dog pose will help you to stay strong and balanced while you train.

Instructions: Start on hands and knees. Place your palms a handprint’s distance in front of your shoulders. Tuck your toes under and lift knees off floor.

Pull your hips up and back away from your hands. Keep knees bent and focus on lengthening your torso – press down into your hands, pull up on your arms – then shift your weight onto your legs.

Without losing that sense of direction or length in your torso, begin to lift thighs up as you reach your heels back and down, which will straighten your knees.

Engage your quads by pulling your kneecaps up. Hold for five to 10 breaths. Lightly lower both knees back to floor.

Benefits: Down Dog stretches the hamstrings and calves, and creates length in the spine.

November 7, 2014

DO I REALLY NEED TO STRETCH?

Dynamic

This is one of the biggest controversies in fitness.

Will stretching help you get a better workout? Probably.

Does it matter how you do it? For the average person, probably not.

Research shows that long static stretches, in which you hold the area still for 60 to 90 seconds, can cause a decrease in force and power, but by only about 3-6%.

And if you hold the stretch for a shorter duration, there’s not much difference at all.

Regardless, according to a majority of studies, dynamic stretching – moving while you stretch – doesn’t negatively affect performance, therefore this form of stretching is recommended after a warm-up.

October 24, 2014

WHAT’S SMARTER – WORKING OUT IN THE AM OR PM?

Running

Some studies show that early birds lose more pounds, whilst other research says that you perform better if you wait until muscles are warmer.

But science isn’t needed to explain the “stuff happens” principle: The later you plan your session, the higher the odds that something – work, fatigue, social events – will get in the way!

October 17, 2014

SHOULD YOU DO CARDIO AND WEIGHTS ON DIFFERENT DAYS?

Lose_Fat_1

If you’re going all out, keep workouts separate, because whichever comes second will certainly suffer.

But if you can work out only a few days a week and want to max your calorie burn, pair them up and do cardio first.

A study found that running before lifting weights resulted in a slightly higher afterburn effect on your metabolism than lifting weights and then running does.

Alternatively, do a mash-up circuit of both strength exercises and cardio.

August 29, 2014

THE HIDDEN BENEFITS OF EXERCISE – PART 2: LONG-TERM.

Pledge

In the last blog, I discussed the many benefits exercise has on both our minds and bodies – increased immunity, a healthier heart, stronger lungs and cutting the risk of diabetes – to name but a few.

After just a couple of months of regular exercise, a number of other benefits can also be seen.

Within a Few Months of Regular Exercise…
You’re getting stronger. Those eight-pound weights don’t feel quite as heavy, because your muscular endurance is starting to increase. Ten reps is no longer a struggle; you can now do 12 or 13.
You’re blasting belly fat. After four weeks of regular workouts, your body is ditching flab and gaining muscle.
You’ve got more brainpower. Working out activates growth-stimulating proteins in the brain that may help form new cells there.

Within One Year of Regular Exercise…
Working out is way easier. Your endurance and aerobic fitness can increase by up to 25 percent after eight to 12 weeks of regular training. In a year your endurance can more than double.
Your heart rate is lower. Thanks to regular workouts, your heart is pumping more efficiently. For instance, if your initial resting heart rate was 80 beats a minute, it will have dropped to 70 or lower. The less work your heart has to do, the healthier you’ll be.
You’re a fat-melting machine. Your cells are now superefficient at breaking down fat and using it as fuel, Olson says. That means you’re zapping more flab 24-7.
You’ve cut your cancer risk. In a study of more than 14,800 women, those who had the highest levels of aerobic fitness were 55 percent less likely to die from breast cancer than those who were sedentary. Women considered moderately fit had about a 33 percent lower risk of developing the disease. Exercise may also help protect against endometrial, lung, and ovarian cancer, researchers say.
You’re adding years to your life. Fitness buffs have better telomeres, the DNA that bookends our chromosomes and protects them from damage, which can slow the aging process, studies show.
You feel fantastic. Just four months of exercise is as good as prescription meds at boosting mood and reducing depression. Keep it up and not only will your life be longer, it will be happier, too!

August 22, 2014

THE HIDDEN BENEFITS OF EXERCISE – PART 1: SHORT-TERM.

Beat_Stress

The moment you head out on your run, launch into your Spinning class, or start your Pilates session, the benefits of exercise kick in.

Your heart rate increases, and blood is delivered to your muscles. You start burning calories for fuel. And you get an almost immediate mood boost.

As little as 30 minutes of cardio three to five days a week will add six years to your life, according to research in America. Do that plus a couple of days of resistance training and you’ll not only live longer but also look younger, feel happier, have more energy, and stay slim. Ready for some inspiration for getting your move on? Then read on.

As You Work Out…
Your lungs are getting stronger. When you do cardio, your brain sends signals to them to help you breathe faster and deeper, delivering extra oxygen to your muscles.
Your motivation is at its peak. Thanks to a flood of endorphins, which trigger the classic runner’s high, you feel psyched and energized.
You’re fighting flab. During typical cardio exercise, your body taps mainly fat for fuel.

Within One Hour of Exercise…
You’re protecting yourself against colds, flu, you name it. Exercise elevates your level of immunoglobulins, which are proteins that help bolster your immune system and ward off infection. Every sweat session you do can help strengthen your immune function for about 24 hours.
You’re feeling zen. Mood-enhancing chemicals, like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, flood your brain for a couple of hours post-exercise and for up to a day if you’ve competed in an endurance event, like a marathon.
You’re blasting calories, even at rest. For every 100 calories you burn during your workout, you can expect to burn 15 calories after. If you went on a three-mile run, you would torch about 300 calories, which could mean zapping an extra 45 later.
You’re hungry. Now that you’ve burned through your energy stores, your blood sugar levels are dropping. Just how low they go depends on how much you ate or drank before your workout and how long and intensely you exercised.

Within One Day of Exercise…
You’re adding lean muscle. If you did a strength-training routine, your muscles are now starting to rebuild themselves and repair the microscopic tears that come with lifting weights. Preliminary research shows that women respond to and recover from resistance training faster than men.
Your heart is healthier. One sweat session lowers your blood pressure for up to 16 hours.
You’re a quick study. You’re super alert and focused post-exercise. That’s because a good workout increases the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain.

Within One Week of Regular Exercise…
Your risk of diabetes goes down. The more you work out, the greater your sensitivity to insulin. That, in turn, lowers your blood sugar levels, reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes.
You’re slimmer. Cutting 500 calories a day through exercise and diet will help you drop one pound a week.

Check out my next blog to find out the many long-term benefits exercise brings.