Category: Fitness on a Budget

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fitness Fitness on a Budget Food & Nutrition

12 Summer Recipes With up to 38 Grams of Protein

Warm weather is synonymous with barbecues, picnics and simple, no-cook meals. These delicious recipes take advantage of summer staples and are high in protein — they contain up to 38 grams per serving for less 425 calories.

1. GRILLED CHICKEN, LENTIL AND PEACH SALAD | MYFITNESSPAL’S RECIPES

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 258; Total Fat: 10g; Saturated Fat: 2g; Monounsaturated Fat: 7g; Cholesterol: 44mg; Sodium: 465mg; Carbohydrate: 26g; Dietary Fiber: 8g; Sugar: 14g; Protein: 19g

2. STRAWBERRY AND SPINACH SALAD WITH ROTISSERIE CHICKEN | MYFITNESSPAL’S RECIPES

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 317; Total Fat: 16g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Monounsaturated Fat: 7g; Cholesterol: 61mg; Sodium: 132mg; Carbohydrate: 18g; Dietary Fiber: 5g; Sugar: 10g; Protein: 28g

3. CURRIED CHICKEN SKEWERS WITH RAITA | MYFITNESSPAL’S RECIPES

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 175; Total Fat: 6g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Monounsaturated Fat: 3g; Cholesterol: 62mg; Sodium: 204mg; Carbohydrate: 6g; Dietary Fiber: 1g; Sugar: 6g; Protein: 24g

4. STRAWBERRY AND TOMATO PANZANELLA SALAD | MYFITNESSPAL’S RECIPES

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 270; Total Fat: 17g; Saturated Fat: 6g; Monounsaturated Fat: 9g; Cholesterol: 25mg; Sodium: 374mg; Carbohydrate: 38g; Dietary Fiber: 5g; Sugar: 11g; Protein: 10g

5. SPICY CHICKEN BURGER | MYFITNESSPAL’S RECIPES

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 345; Total Fat: 7g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Monounsaturated Fat: 2g; Cholesterol: 65mg; Sodium: 465mg; Carbohydrate: 40g; Dietary Fiber: 7g; Sugar: 8g; Protein: 34g

6. SWEET POTATO CRUST BBQ CHICKEN PIZZAS | MYFITNESSPAL’S RECIPES

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 383; Total Fat: 17g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Monounsaturated Fat: 1g; Cholesterol: 91mg; Sodium: 425mg; Carbohydrate: 33g; Dietary Fiber: 4g; Sugar: 8g; Protein: 27g

7. CHIPOTLE BLACK BEAN BURGERS WITH AVOCADO SALSA | MYFITNESSPAL’S RECIPES

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 237; Total Fat: 11g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Monounsaturated Fat: 6g; Cholesterol: 47mg; Sodium: 388mg; Carbohydrate: 27g; Dietary Fiber: 8g; Sugar: 2g; Protein 10g

8. NORWEGIAN SEAFOOD BURGERS | MYFITNESSPAL’S RECIPES

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 319; Total Fat: 14g; Saturated Fat: 2g; Monounsaturated Fat: 5g; Cholesterol: 184mg; Sodium: 443mg; Carbohydrate: 11g; Dietary Fiber: 3g; Sugar: 1g; Protein: 38g

9. GRILLED HONEY-LIME CHICKEN WITH COWBOY CAVIAR | MYFITNESSPAL’S RECIPES

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 357; Total Fat: 12g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Monounsaturated Fat: 6g; Cholesterol: 82mg; Sodium: 334mg; Carbohydrate: 38g; Dietary Fiber: 9g; Sugar: 13g; Protein: 37g

10. SPICY BURGERS WITH TAHINI AND HARISSA CARROT SLAW | MYFITNESSPAL’S RECIPES

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 423; Total Fat: 19g; Saturated Fat: 5g; Monounsaturated Fat: 4g; Cholesterol: 75mg; Sodium: 585mg; Carbohydrate: 36g; Dietary Fiber: 5g; Sugar: 6g; Protein: 32g

11. GRILLED CORN & ZUCCHINI FLATBREAD | MYFITNESSPAL’S RECIPES

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 246; Total Fat: 6g; Saturated Fat: 2g; Monounsaturated Fat: 2g; Cholesterol: 7mg; Sodium: 309mg; Carbohydrate: 41g; Dietary Fiber: 5g; Sugar: 4g; Protein: 9g

12. FLANK STEAK WITH AVOCADO SALSA | MYFITNESSPAL’S RECIPES

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 232; Total Fat: 12g; Saturated Fat: 3g; Monounsaturated Fat: 6g; Cholesterol: 64mg; Sodium: 340mg; Carbohydrate: 7g; Dietary Fiber: 4g; Sugar: 3g; Protein: 27g

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fitness Fitness on a Budget Food & Nutrition Healthy Meals Uncategorized

How To Actually Keep Your New Year Resolution

Happy new year 2021 background concept with clock, party hat, balloon, ribbon, 3D rendering illustration showing importance of keeping new year resolutions
Create a great future by achieving your new year resolutions. GETTY

We’re all looking forward to where 2021 will take us—and perhaps best of all it will take us out of 2020. If you’re like most of us, you’re full of starry-eyed hope and determination to accomplish a raft of new year resolutions. But statistically, you won’t keep them. According to a classic study, only 19% of people do. You can buck the trend, however, and keep your resolutions—following the guidelines below.

First, know you’re in good company setting new resolutions. Beginning in ancient Rome, renewed plans were part of festivals celebrating Janus (think: January)—who looked to the past and to the future—honoring home, family, friends and civil life. People worked only in the morning and had the afternoon off for parties, gift giving and offering blessings to each other for success in the new year.

For the 81% of us who have struggled to keep our resolutions, our brains are working against us. Research published in Current Biology found we are more likely to repeat pleasing activities because we get a hit of dopamine (the feel-good neurochemical) when we approach previously-positive activities. Even seeing a delicious dessert causes the release and can thwart your efforts to select the vegetables you’ve resolved to eat instead.

So how can you succeed where you’ve failed before? How can you finally achieve your new year resolutions? Here are 10 tips which can put you on a path toward a positive 2021:

#1 Make It Real

Distinguish between your overall vision and habits. Focus on your big bets but be specific about the daily habits which will accumulate toward success. Be sure your habits are specific and actionable. While your aim may be to ‘be a better person,’ a powerful habit will be to volunteer at your preferred agency for one hour per week. Perhaps you want to write a book. Great, but you’ll be more likely to achieve this desire by committing to writing for a half hour a day, five days a week. Be specific about the actions you’ll take, not just the end you want to achieve.

#2 Be Reasonable

You’ve heard it before, but it bears repeating: ensure your aims are attainable. If your goal is to play at Carnegie Hall and you’re only just learning the violin fingering for “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, you’re reaching too high. Set ambitious targets that are attainable and keep in mind you can build over time. This year, you may learn the rudimentary grammar for a second language and seek to spend an hour a week with a native speaker. Perhaps in subsequent years, you can seek to be truly fluent.

#3 Tie Your Actions To Your Identity

Fascinating research has identified people have more success shifting their behaviors when they link them with their identity, rather than using willpower. Perhaps you’d like to take a Saturday afternoon nap rather than the long walk you promised yourself. If you simply apply willpower, you may be more likely to take the nap instead of the walk. But if you tell yourself something like, “I am not a person who shirks my responsibility to fitness,” or, “I am a person who keeps my commitments to myself,” or “I am a person who values action over slacking,” you will be more likely to make strides toward your new, preferred behaviors.

#4 Link Your Habits

Another powerful way to successfully adopt a new set of habits is to link a new behavior to an existing one. For example, if your big goal is to expand your knowledge and you’ve decided you want to listen to informative books more often, link your listening to another habit that is already part of your daily repertoire. Perhaps every day while you’re brushing your teeth and getting ready, you can listen to your Audible book selection.

#5 Establish Accountability

Write down your targets, this will help you be accountable to yourself. In addition, share your goals with others and ask them to check in with you and give you feedback. If your goal is to avoid procrastinating on your projects at work, ask your colleague to give you a friendly nudge when they hear you putting things off. Or if you want to do daily push-ups, ask your roommate to give you a gentle reminder if evening is approaching and you haven’t dropped for 10.  

#6 Share The Process (Or The Pain)

One of the best ways to keep your resolutions is to make them mutual. Partner with others who have the same aims. If your goal is to be more creative, find a buddy with whom you can craft regularly. Or if your objective is to run a marathon, find a friend with whom you can train daily. If you want to lose your Covid 15 weight gain, establish a small group of similarly-minded pals with whom you can commit and commiserate.

#7 Realize The Power Of Small Steps And Mark Progress

An important strategy in maintaining changes in behavior is to reduce your perception of effort. An interesting example, published in Sports Medicine, found people stuck with their exercise programs for longer periods of time when they drank coffee. The reason: because the caffeine gave them bursts of energy and reduced their perception of exertion. Incremental effort works this way as well. Take small steps. Also, track your progress over time. Use a calendar and mark off the days you’ve accomplished your new behavioral goals. Track yourself and make things visible to give yourself an important, tangible sense of accomplishment. Perhaps your goal is to find a new job. Plan to reach out to two new contacts or apply for one new job per day. Give yourself credit for every small step you take and reward yourself along the way.

#8 Take Breaks

As the saying goes, “Everything in moderation, even moderation.” Build in days when you can celebrate. For example, if your goal is to do intermittent fasting, plan for one day a week when you eat throughout the day. If you plan for small moments of reprieve from your new behavior, you won’t be cheating (read: you won’t have to beat yourself up). You can help ensure you give yourself time to take a breath and recharge for the next bout of following your new rules.

#9 Manage your Mindset

Changing behaviors isn’t easy. Your current ways of doing things have carved pathways in your brain, and establishing new linkages can be uncomfortable. Get comfortable with discomfort and reassure yourself you can do it. You have some exciting aspirations and if they were easy, they probably wouldn’t be worth doing. Those who achieve their resolutions are distinguished from those who don’t by the ability to put aside short-term satisfaction for long-term gain. Consider how you’ll feel immediately compared with the trade-off over time. The chocolate cake may be delicious in the moment, but the tightness of your pants (because we’ll have to wear button pants again someday) is an unfortunate trade off. Remind yourself you’d rather have the lasting goodness of health and fitness, than the quick hit of chocolate bliss.

#10 Remember Your Why

Perhaps most important for your ongoing motivation is to remember your overall purpose. You want to acquire a new skill, so you can make an awesome contribution at work and have terrific credibility in your field. You want to learn a language, so you can make a greater contribution in your community. Or you want to get healthy, so you can provide support for your family over the long term. The big picture is always motivational, so don’t just focus on laying bricks, keep in mind the cathedral you’re building.

The pandemic has been terrible and horrible, but it has provided the opportunity to learn, grow and become more resilient. Use the difficulty of 2020 as a jumping-off point for 2021 and all you’ll accomplish as you go forward. You can achieve your new year resolutions. You can succeed. You can make 2021 a year of progress and positivity.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2021/12/27/how-to-actually-keep-your-new-year-resolutions/?sh=67a05d3e32f6

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fitness Fitness on a Budget Food & Nutrition Healthy Meals Uncategorized

Your 7-Day Guide to Forming Better Habits For Weight Loss

Photo by Alex Azabache on Pexels.com

Source: MyFitnessPal

Small changes add up to big results over time, especially if you’re looking to lose weight with tweaks to your nutrition and fitness habits. Moreover, making simple changes gradually helps ensure it’s an overall lifestyle change and something that’s sustainable long term — preventing the likelihood you’ll gain the weight right back.

“People should plan to establish habits that they can follow indefinitely,” says Tami Smith, a certified personal trainer based in Williamstown, Massachusetts. “They should ask themselves this question: ‘Is this something that I can see myself adhering to forever?’ If the answer is no, then it’s not a great plan.”

The healthy habits outlined below are ideal for starting small, although if it’s still intimidating, don’t worry, you can always go at your own pace and implement two a week or even two a month. Find what works best for your lifestyle and build from there.

While it’s a great plan to form better weight-loss in the new year, you can always start (or return to it) anytime.

Your 7-Day Guide to Forming Better Habits For Weight Loss
Your 7-Day Guide to Forming Better Habits For Weight Loss

Replace some of your caloric beverages with water. Keep a water bottle nearby to encourage you to drink regularly throughout the day. “Increasing one’s water intake is definitely an important tool in any weight-loss program since it can help fill you up,” says Keri Gans, RDN, a nutrition consultant based in New York City and author of “The Small Change Diet.” “If someone does not like the taste of water, I suggest flavoring it with fruit slices or herbs or pouring a glass of sparkling water.”

Your 7-Day Guide to Forming Better Habits For Weight Loss

Adding short spurts of exercise to your schedule increases your step count and also helps counteract the negative effects of sitting. “Three 10-minute walks per day can eventually be condensed to two 15-minute walks per day, then one 30-minute walk,” says Smith. After that, you might want to continue to increase your distance, notes Smith.

Your 7-Day Guide to Forming Better Habits For Weight Loss

Instead of eliminating certain items from your diet, gradually add more fruits and vegetables, which provide several important vitamins and minerals and nutrients like fiber that keep you full. Over time, you may find yourself gravitating toward produce, instead of processed foods, which saves calories and helps you shed pounds. “Choose to have one fruit per day, perhaps as a dessert with lunch, and then build to 2–4 servings per day,” says Gans. The same goes with vegetables; gradually build them into your diet, starting with breakfast. The more successful you are, the more likely you are to keep including more.”

Bodyweight exercises are awesome for improving strength and building lean muscle, which can help burn more calories.“I recommend starting with bodyweight exercises before attempting to add weights to the mix,” says Smith. Pick a bodyweight exercise (or two) to master such as lunges, burpees or pushups. Perform 4 sets of 12–15.

Your 7-Day Guide to Forming Better Habits For Weight Loss

If mindless snacking is your downfall, consider what you’re eating and your portion sizes. “View snacks as mini-meals,” suggests Gans. “Focus on enjoying something that is less than 200 calories, contains under 6 grams of added sugar, more than 5 grams of protein, and at least 3 grams of fiber.”

You’ll be more likely to follow through long term if you stick with a pace that feels achievable.

“Start at a low intensity and build as your fitness levels improve,” says Sergio Pedemonte, a certified personal trainer based in Toronto. Go for a walk, do some gentle yoga or cycle at an easy effort, for example.

Writing down what you eat and drink can help you realize every morsel you’re consuming, including food you steal from other people’s plates or bites you sample while cooking. “Many people who are starting a weight-loss program benefit from food journaling,” says Gans. “It enables them to see exactly what they are eating and when, as well as mistakes they may be making.” Use an app like MyFitnessPal to help you notice trends and make healthy swaps.

Your 7-Day Guide to Forming Better Habits For Weight Loss

“I recommend beginners start with 2–3 full-body workouts a week for one month before moving into split training — i.e., upper-body and lower-body workouts,” says Pedemonte. This can help you get the most bang for your buck at the start, and it doesn’t have to be super long, either. Try this 10-minute, no-equipment, total-body workout.

Think about the healthy changes you want to make to your diet — high-protein make-ahead breakfasts, more fruits and vegetables, fewer soft drinks — and map out the items you’ll need the next time you get groceries. “Planning meals ahead of time and shopping accordingly is one of the best ways to set yourself up for success,” says Gans. It’ll save you time, money and calories.

You might feel like pushing yourself, but avoiding too much too soon may keep you from becoming sidelined unnecessarily. “Starting slow minimizes the risk of getting injured the first week,” says Pedemonte. One way to make sure you’re not overexerting yourself is to calculate your heart rate zone (or use a monitor like Wahoo Fitness TICKR to do it for you) and aim to stay in zones 1–3 this week and progress until you can spend more time in zones 4 and 5.

Your 7-Day Guide to Forming Better Habits For Weight Loss

Remember, consistency beats perfection for losing weight. If you’re eating healthily 80% of the time, you’re on target. If you slip up, don’t feel like all is lost — just be prepared to follow healthy habits again at the next meal. “Healthy eating does not mean choosing healthy foods 100% of the time,” underscores Gans. “One of the best things you can do to set yourself up for success is already be mentally prepared for some failure.”

Fitness challenges, like this 31-day squat, lunge and pushup plan can help you commit to moving your body daily. Building and maintaining a streak can be motivating and keep things exciting. “It’s a great way to connect with others, particularly during these times,” notes Smith, so be sure to get your loved ones involved.

Your 7-Day Guide to Forming Better Habits For Weight Loss

Sleep is often overlooked, but it greatly impacts nutrition, fitness and weight loss. Aiming for quality sleep (at least 7–8 hours per night), can help curb cravings, allow your body to recover after a tough workout and keep hormones in check to support weight loss. “Setting a bedtime allows you to make better decisions about what you eat and when you eat it,” says Pedemonte. “[And] while the body is sleeping, it goes through a recovery process that allows the body to burn fat, repair tissues and build muscle.” Check-in with how much sleep you’re getting, and if it’s not enough, set your bedtime 15 minutes earlier each night until you hit your goal.

Source: My Fitness Pal

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Your Fitbit is largely inaccurate when counting calories, Stanford researchers say

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Calorie counting is a useful way to lose weight, but a new study suggests a fitness tracker could sabotage your efforts.

The devices are overwhelmingly popular. For instance, since its inception, the leading brand, Fitbit, has sold at least 30 million of them. The company promises on its website that the devices “track steps, distance, calories burned, floors climbed, active minutes & hourly activity.” Others, such as PulseOn, Apple Watch, Basis Peak, Samsung Gear S2 and Microsoft Band, promise the same.

A team of Stanford researchers, however, recently called foul after testing these trackers. The scientists said in a paper published Wednesday in the Journal of Personalized Medicine that though the devices purport to help users track their calories – daily energy expenditure -the number is often markedly incorrect.

The least accurate, PulseOn, as off by an average of 93 percent. The most accurate device, Fitbit Surge, was off by an average of 27 percent, the Guardian reported.

In a statement to NPR, PulseOn said the extremely high level of inaccuracy may “suggest that the authors may not have properly set all the user parameters on the device.”

The consequences of such large margins of error could, of course, be significant.

“People are basing life decisions on the data provided by these devices,” Euan Ashley, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford and coauthor of the study, said in a news release.

Let’s say, as a hypothetical, some users check their device at the end of a long day and discover to their delight they burned 1,000 calories when they actually only burned 730. They might have an extra dessert or glass of wine since they think they’ve met their goal.

Over time, that adds up. In this scenario, that’s 1,890 extra calories each week the users don’t know about. Each pound of fat is composed of 3,500 calories.

“It’s just human nature,” Tim Church, professor of preventive medicine at Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University who wasn’t involved in the study, told NPR. “People are checking these inaccurate counts and they think they’ve earned a muffin or earned some ice cream and they’re sabotaging their weight-loss program.”

Of course, some margin of error when using a device like this is inevitable, but the scientists said it should be far lower.

“For a lay user, in a non-medical setting, we want to keep that error under 10 per cent,” Anna Shcherbina, a Stanford graduate student and study coauthor, said in a news release.

One of the key issues, Shcherbina hypothesized, was the difference in users’ body compositions.

“It’s very hard to train an algorithm that would be accurate across a wide variety of people because energy expenditure is variable based on someone’s fitness level, height and weight, etc.,” Shcherbina said.

The study participants included a “diversity of ages, male and female, and then also we looked at diversity of skin tone, and then size and weight to try and represent the population generally,” Ashley told the Guardian.

The devices proved most accurate for white women who were already fit, meaning “for those for whom it might matter the most, who are trying to lose weight, the error was actually greater,” Ashley told NPR, speculating that perhaps the companies only test the devices on a narrow group of people.

While the energy expenditure numbers were woefully off, Shcherbina pointed out that it’s much easier to assess heart rate, which can be measured directly and not through proxy calculations.

Indeed, Ashley said, “The heart rate measurements performed far better than expected.” Most were off by only about five per cent.

There have long been hints that these devices aren’t useful for weight loss. A multiyear study published last September in JAMA split into two groups almost 500 people hoping to lose weight. One used fitness trackers, while the other did not.

Those with the trackers lost about 50 per cent less weight than those without.

At the time, the study’s lead author John Jakicic, a researcher of health and physical activity at the University of Pittsburgh, thought it had to do with people incorrectly interpreting the fitness trackers.

“These technologies are focused on physical activity, like taking steps and getting your heart rate up,” Jakicic told NPR. “People would say, ‘Oh, I exercised a lot today, now I can eat more.’ And they might eat more than they otherwise would have.”

The Stanford study, though, suggests that perhaps the participants were merely working with faulty data.

Soure: The Washington Post

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fitness Fitness on a Budget

Taking Fitness to the Digital Age

WhatsApp pings 10am …”Hi, this is your gym, due to coronavirus the gym has been shut down until further notice”.

If you’re like me, and you need that runner’s high to keep your body and mind in check, then the above message was the doomsday scenario. Forget the toilet paper, I need my weights!

That’s for me, a gym goer…what about the personal trainers, the MMA fighters, the wrestlers, the boxers that earn their livelihoods on everything that Covid-19 forces us not to?

These professions may not be an “essential service” like ambulance drivers and supermarkets, but these professionals are an essential service for the days to come for the mind, body, and soul of everyone, especially during an epidemic are becoming more and more essential by the day, even by the hour.

The good news is…digital communication of physical arts is NOT a new thing. Workout videos, wrestling and MMA fighting have all been digitized starting from TV spots, YouTube and just about anywhere you can find a screen.

First step is to ask yourself, how have you been offering your services until now?

Now, can you replicate that in front of a camera? 

Now, can you use a computer and put things on a membership site?
(check this out https://www.capterra.com/sem-compare/membership-management-software)

Hey! You got a business!

Need more marketing tips? Check out our digital consulting services

Almost any educational based service, even physical can be digitized and presented. No, it’s not going to be AS good as the real stuff and no, you can’t expect your clients to have the equipment that the gym does…

…But here’s the tricky part and here’s the difference between a successful campaign and one that isn’t…

First thing to understand is, people will pay for value, especially in this era when spending has to be done well. So let’s do it well

Option A: The tone down. Equipment is mostly inaccessible, so change up your training program to not need those fancy pieces. Ask yourself, what can you swap in or out of the routine and still get the impact you’re looking for?

A stairmaster can be replaced by stairs, weights can be replaced by stones (carefully).

If you make your training videos with these toned down equipment, making it something that everyone can do, on any budget, you got yourself a winner.

This is also the opportunity to combine in other services that work together such as nutrition during isolation. An endless level of opportunity, perhaps even more than normal.

Option B: The Upsell – People don’t have these equipment, why not get it to them. All stores are suffering. Reach out to these stores and factories and strike a deal that you will help facilitate sales for them.

In turn, you advertise a special discounted deal on the best equipment. All the while you begin earning commission points on these sales. A true win-win for everyone.

Keep in mind your audience, its demographic and how it’s marketed. 

I know these are new-age types of marketing tactics for the down to earth gym goer, these are the times we have to learn to adapt and change…or disappear.

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The 5 Top Brands for Spring Sports Gear

If you’re new to spring sports, you may be a bit overwhelmed by all the gear and lingo that gets thrown around by the more experienced athletes. You may wonder if you really need everything people to talk about, or if it’s OK to start out with a few basics. Nike, UnderArmour, Puma, Reebok, and Adidas all offer spring sports gear. One of the easiest ways to save money on sports equipment is to check online for Adidas deals before heading out to the store or ordering online. 

Baseball

Having a baseball player in the family can be an exciting time, yet it can also be a little confusing when it comes to buying equipment. The biggest question that needs answering is “What equipment is really important to have?” For starters a glove is essential. Baseball cleats are important to prevent injury. A mouth guard would be more for the infield positions. Even if your baseball player isn’t an infielder, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have one just in case they were asked to play an infield position. A batting glove is good to have during adverse weather conditions like cold or light rain. 

Lacrosse

Regardless of your level of play, there are a few essential pieces of lacrosse equipment that every athlete will need in order to be successful. Lacrosse helmets have traditionally only been worn in the men’s game, but women recently introduced a soft version to make the game safer. There’s only one piece of equipment that will touch the ball, and that’s your stick. Players will need shoulder pads to protect them from checks and balls. The fastest game on two feet requires players to cut quickly, so cleats are required if you plan to play on grass or turf. Many players go with mid-level cleats, similar to the models worn in football. All players wear gloves to protect their hands, fingers, and wrists on the field. Mouthguards are required to be worn at all times when you’re on the field and help to prevent concussions. 

Tennis

There are two basic things you will need to buy or borrow for your first tennis game. A tennis racket and tennis balls are essential items you will need. If you have some sports shoes, shirts and shorts you are basically covered in terms of clothing for your first tennis experience. But later on, you will need to buy shoes or shirts for particular court surface or weather conditions.

Shoes are the most important thing (after a tennis racket and balls) in your tennis career. Different surfaces need different shoes for better movement on the court and preventing unintentional slides resulting in injuries.

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How to Make Your Own Home Fat-Burning Workout

So if you’re ready to do a fat-burning workout, but don’t can’t go to the gym or studio because of covid-19, there is a way you can do combined cardio and resistance training at home. Try this workout:

  • Do 10 push-ups or knee push-ups,
  • Then stand and do 15-20 jumping jacks.
  • Next to 10 squats or lunges,
  • Then do 15-20 more jumping jacks.
  • Next, move on to 10 crunches, again followed by 15-20 jumping jacks.
  • Finally, pick a set of dumbbells off the floor and lift them overhead up and down a total of ten times, and
  • Then finish with a final series of 15-20 jumping jacks.

How to Burn Fat Faster

To ensure that reap the greatest fat-burning benefits, remember to also follow these simple rules:

Don’t exercise hungry. A fed body will burn more calories.

Warm up first. Warm muscles will be able to burn more fat.

Use good form. Doing cardio before a resistance exercise makes that exercise more difficult to do properly, so don’t injure yourself. It’s tough to burn fat if you’re laid up on the couch with a thrown out back.

Eat after your workout. Post-workout nutrition will help you build metabolism-boosting fibers of lean muscle.

When Shouldn’t You Combine Cardio and Resistance Training

So when wouldn’t you want to combine cardio with resistance training? If your focus is not to burn fat, but to build strength, you’d be better off doing your resistance training as a separate workout. Similarly, if you’re training for endurance, then you should focus on a high-quality cardio workout that isn’t interrupted by strength training. But if your focus is pure fat loss, then you should absolutely follow the recommendations in this article and combine your weight lifting and cardio in one workout.

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The Most Dangerous Fat Is the Easiest to Lose

The Most Dangerous Fat Is the Easiest to Lose

It’s every weight loss enthusiast’s dream to zap belly fat but, far from pure vanity, there’s actually a reason why having a lot of fat in the abdominal region can be dangerous. Fat is stored all over our body, but how does an expanding waistline grow your risk for chronic illness?

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Your body’s fat impacts your health differently depending on where it’s stored. While most fat found on other parts of our bodies (think arms, legs, buttocks) are considered “subcutaneous fat,” belly fat is more likely to be “visceral.”

PINCHABLE VERSUS PRESSABLE

“Subcutaneous fat” is the pinchable, squishy fat right between your skin and muscle that helps keep you warm, cushions you against shock, and stores extra calories. “Visceral fat” stores calories too, but isn’t as pinchable because it is located in and around your organs. It’s hidden deep within the belly region, which is what makes it firm (rather than squishy) when you press it.

PROXIMITY

Fat doesn’t just store calories—it’s a living tissue capable of producing and releasing hormones that affect your other organs. Because visceral fat sits near our organs, its release of these chemicals is poorly situated. Having more visceral fat can raise your LDL (a.k.a. “bad” cholesterol) and blood pressure. Visceral fat can also make you less sensitive to insulin, which increases your risk for Type 2 Diabetes.

TELLING BAD BELLY FAT APART

Even if you’re thin, you can still have visceral fat around the abdominal region—being “skinny” doesn’t necessarily mean you’re healthy. There’s no sure-fire way to tell visceral from subcutaneous fat short of an expensive CT scan, but it’s important for you to get a rough idea of what your visceral stores are. Here are a few tricks to figure out where your belly stands:

You’re probably wondering, “What does fruit have to do with it?” These two fruits give a quick visual of where most of your fat is stored on the body. Pears tend to store fat in the lower extremities (hips, thighs, buttocks) as subcutaneous fat while apples tend to store fat in the upper region (belly, chest) as visceral fat. It takes a quick inspection, but this is an imperfect way to tell these two fats apart.

WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE (WC)

Feel for the top of your hip bone (it’s at the same level as the top of your belly button) and circle a tape measure around this point. Remember to relax and don’t suck in your gut (be honest!). Take 2-3 measurements and figure out the average. Men should have a WC of less than 40 inches (102 cm) and women should have a WC of less than 35 inches (89 cm).

WAIST-TO-HIP RATIO

The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) takes the circumference of your waist (see above) and divides it by the circumference of your hips. To measure your hips, stand in front of a mirror then figure out the widest part of your butt and measure that circumference. Then use this formula:
WHR = (Waist circumference) / (Hip circumference).
Men should have a WHR of less than 1 while women should have a WHR of less than 0.8.

KNOW YOUR FAMILY HEALTHY HISTORY

If your parents or siblings have insulin resistance, heart disease or non-alcoholic fatty liver, you may be at a greater risk for storing visceral fat. Keeping an eye on your visceral fat may be beneficial, but know that the causes of these chronic diseases are complex. If you’re in doubt, it’s best to speak with your healthcare provider.

BANISHING VISCERAL FAT

If you fall in the normal range for WC and WHR, that’s great! Keep working at your weight goals as you see fit. If you’re not there, don’t despair. Because of its proximity to the liver, visceral fat is usually the easier fat to burn. It’s the less risky subcutaneous fat that likes to stick around.

Unfortunately, you can’t forcefully spot reduce fat around your belly no matter how many crunches you do. The next best thing is to live a healthy lifestyle:

  • Go beyond weight tracking. You can track your waist, hip and even neck circumference in the app. Use this feature to see how your measurements change over time as you lose weight.
  • Sweat for 30-60 minutes each day. Visceral fat responds well to regular endurance exercises, such as running, biking, rowing, swimming, that elevate your heart rate. As your body uses fat to fuel exercise, it’ll start using up your visceral stores.
  • Eat a well-balanced diet. Eat a diet high in whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and lean protein with calories set for gradual weight loss (e.g. about 1-2 pounds per week). Cut way back on added sugars and alcohol since these nutrients will more likely end up as visceral fat.
  • Sleep more, stress less. It’s easier said than done, but in order to take care of your physical body, you have to take care of your mental state. Sleep loss and stress can sabotage your health and fitness goals, so learn more about getting a quality night’s rest and use meditation or yoga to calm your mind. Remember, it’s not just about your health; it’s about your happiness, too.

SOURCE: BY TRINH LE, MPH, RD 

Categories
Fitness on a Budget Food & Nutrition Uncategorized

What to Drink When Water Isn’t Enough

drinking water

We all know hydration is key. Yet it seems like the whole country is on an H2O hiatus. After all, who needs regular old water from the tap when you can chug coconut water? Courtesy of the energy and sports drink retail market, which recently topped $25 billion, there are more hydration options than ever before.

It’s a big business that wants us to imagine big things (like a single drink might make us perform like a star athlete). Yet the truth is, if you’re averaging an hour at the gym a few times per week, eating healthy snacks and drinking water before and after your workouts provides adequate fuel and rehydration. According to a recent UC Berkeley study, most people who drink sports drinks at least once a day aren’t as physically active as they should be.

Instead of overdoing the designer drinks, think before you sip and make sure you’re not taking in more calories or sodium than you should.

COCONUT WATER

While this all-natural, refreshing drink is hyped as a super-hydrating powerhouse, the majority of studies don’t prove that it rehydrates the body much better than water. On the plus side, it contains less sugar than sports drinks and far less than juice. It’s also naturally rich in potassium, a key electrolyte that supports blood pressure and heart health, as well as bone and muscle strength. Yet one cup still packs 45 calories, which can add up quickly if you’re drinking it frequently. Bottom line: An occasional coconut water is fine, but don’t go overboard and read the label: Coconut water with added juice or extra flavorings can contain as much sugar as regular juice.

HYDRATION TABLETS

Portable tablets like those made by Nuun are designed to be dissolved in 16 ounces of water to provide key electrolytes like sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. There’s no hidden high-calorie pitfall: Every tab has one gram or less of sugar and around 12 calories. Not everyone can get on board with the fairly weak taste, which is similar to lightly flavored water. However, if you’re active outdoors especially in the sun, where excessive sweating makes electrolyte replacement important, the delivery system is awesome: the tabs come in cylindrical tubes that are lightweight, making them easy to stash in your backpack for any on-demand needs if temps soar during an afternoon bike ride or if that Sunday hike takes hours longer than expected.

SPORTS DRINKS

A simple, effective sports drink is one that refuels the body with some carbs (aka sugar) and electrolytes (aka sodium and potassium). The formula has launched a dizzying number of “performance” beverages, with some brands like Gatorade going so far as to promote distinct products for before, during and after exercise.

Yet these drinks contain tons of sugar, ranging from 35–52 grams per bottle. In truth, the idea that sports drinks are “good for you” entirely depends on whether your body needs them to recover from extra-challenging exercise. So: Was your last workout a grueling endeavor that lasted two hours or longer? A super sweaty run on an extra hot day? Congratulations, you earned a sports drink! If not, skip the unneeded sugar and drink water instead.

“FITNESS” WATER

Zero-calorie drinks in this category include Propel, water designed for “performance” with an electrolyte content similar to Gatorade (which owns the brand). Then there’s what some call “designer” waters, such as Smartwater from Coca-Cola or the the recently introduced Lifewtr from Pepsi. These contain very small amounts of electrolytes, mainly for flavor and are more similar to regular bottled water than sports drinks. Yet another entry here is VitaminWater Zero, lightly flavored zero-calorie version of regular VitaminWater. (The latter, although promoted as “healthy,” actually contains tons of sugar, and tends to have vitamins such as B and C, which are the ones most people get enough of already.) Not sure which one is best? Keep it simple and drink a glass of regular water — nature’s perfect hydration system.

Source: BY KATE CHYNOWETH

Categories
Fitness on a Budget Motivation, Inspiration and Encouragement Uncategorized

5 Common Strength Training Mistakes to Stop Doing

5 Common Strength Training Mistakes to Stop Doing

There’s a saying that if you’re new to lifting weights, any program will make you stronger. While it’s true that “newbie gains” can be attained doing just about anything, experienced lifters will often tell you that in hindsight, they wish they’d known what they know now when they first started lifting.

There are a handful of common mistakes fitness novices make all too often when starting a training routine. Rather than accepting that anything will work, it’s best to learn the basic principles of strength training so you can ride out the progress of your “newbie gains” as long as possible.

Here are five mistakes to avoid and how to fix them:

Beginners are often introduced to strength training through body-part splits, which are exercise routines that dedicate an entire day to a specific muscle group. For example:

Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Back
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Shoulders
Friday: Arms
Saturday and Sunday: Rest

While this may be effective for experienced bodybuilders, for beginners it’s like drinking water through a fire hose and here’s why.

Beginners need to learn how perform basic exercises like squats, pushups and deadlifts. These exercises take lots of practice, and you don’t get good at anything by only practicing it once a week. Second, beginners rarely have the ability to recover from workouts that smash a single body part with so many sets and reps that your muscles feel like they’ve been put through a meat grinder.

Beginners are better off with either three full-body workouts per week or four workouts that are split between upper- and lower-body. For example:

3-DAY FULL-BODY WORKOUT

Monday: Full body
Tuesday: Rest or low-intensity cardio
Wednesday: Full body
Thursday: Rest or low-intensity cardio
Friday: Full body
Saturday: Rest or low-intensity cardio
Sunday: Rest

4-DAY UPPER/LOWER SPLIT

Monday: Upper body
Tuesday: Lower body
Wednesday: Rest or low-intensity cardio
Thursday: Upper body
Friday: Lower body
Saturday: Rest or low-intensity cardio
Sunday: Rest

Beginners are often encouraged to use machines because they’re easier to learn than free weights. While this may be true, free weights build more strength and coordination in the long run.

It’s best to learn proper technique with free weight exercises while you’re still in a novice stage. That way, as you get stronger, your technique will be on point, and you’ll be less prone to injury. A strong lifter with lousy technique is like a racecar with no brakes, so get your brakes tuned up early on to set yourself up for a lifetime of safe workouts.

You can still use free weights and machines (because they’re both awesome), but if you’re new to working out, trade these common machine exercises for their free weight equivalents:

READ MORE > SHOULD YOU LIFE WEIGHTS TO FAILURE?

Many beginners avoid using a full range of motion during some exercises because they either haven’t been taught proper form or they heard some old wives’ tale that an exercise is dangerous. Examples of such myths include:

  • Deep squats are bad for your knees.
  • Touching the bar to your chest on the bench press is bad for your shoulders.
  • Locking out your joints keeps the stress on your muscles.

These myths are born from dogma and misinformation. They’re often spread by people who haven’t learned proper technique or have hurt themselves by using poor form.

In reality, research shows that proper lifting technique performed with full range of motion results in more muscle and strength gains than using partial range of motion. So the next time you’re tempted to cut a rep short, remember that full range gets better results and is perfectly safe if you use proper form.

A “no pain, no gain” approach to lifting weights might sound cool in theory, but doing too many sets to failure may be holding you back. Overzealous lifters often like to take every set of every exercise to the point where they can’t complete the final rep, but turns out you can make the same gains with far less pain.

A 2016 review in the Journal of Sports Medicine tells us that non-failure training results in slightly more gains in strength and muscle than failure training. After looking at eight studies, it appears that you don’t have to go to failure, although you have to do a few more sets to make up the difference. This is important because stopping each set shy of failure means you’re less likely to use improper form, reducing the likelihood of injury.

The takeaway? Stop most of your sets at least 1–2 reps shy of failure. The heavier and more complicated the exercise (i.e., heavy barbell deadlifts), the further you should stay from failure, while lighter single-joint exercises (i.e., dumbbell biceps curls) can be trained to failure with less risk.

As the saying goes, “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.” Heading into the gym without a plan is like going on a road trip without a map (or a GPS, for the youngsters who don’t remember maps). Sure, you may get somewhere interesting, but you’re more likely to get to your destination with a specific route to follow.

Rather than flying by the seat of your pants, find a tried-and-true workout program that suits your goals. There are plenty of them right here on MyFitnessPal, including:

While a premade program may not be tailored exactly to you, it keeps you accountable and on track toward a more specific goal than just “getting a workout in.”

Smarter, Not Harder

Just like any new endeavor, you don’t need to know everything about lifting weight to be successful. But a little knowledge goes a long way in helping you get stronger, so avoid these five common mistakes to ride out your “newbie gains” as long as possible.

Source: by Tony Bonvechio

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