Tag: health

Body Age: What Is It and What Does It Mean for You?

Posted on by Lisa S

Wondering if your body age is higher than your actual age? It’s a common concern, and it’s not hard to understand why. We live in a society that values youth and beauty, so it’s natural to feel like we’re aging faster than we should.

But here’s the thing: You can’t really change your body age. The only thing you can do is change what you do with your body, which will inevitably affect how it ages.

So why does knowing your body age matter? It’s all about making the right decisions for yourself—and understanding what those decisions are.

What is Body Age?
According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), your body age is a number that represents how old your body feels based on its actual age. The ACE’s study found that the average person’s body age is about two years older than their chronological age.

Why is it worth knowing Body Age ?
Body age is an interesting piece of data because it can be used not only for health purposes, but also for tracking your overall fitness level and how long you have before reaching the end of your life expectancy. Body age can help people who want to live a longer life learn more about their mortality and how they can stay healthy in order to extend their lifespan.

How is body age calculated?
Body age is calculated by looking at five different factors: muscle strength, cardiovascular health, liver health, kidney function and immune system function.

Muscle strength: This is measured by the amount of resistance needed to push a button on a device called a dynamometer.

Cardiovascular health: This is measured by the ability of blood vessels to relax and dilate in response to blood pressure changes.

Liver health: This is measured by the amount of bilirubin in your blood—bilirubin is produced when red blood cells break down and die.

Kidney function: This is measured by how much creatinine there is in your urine—creatinine comes from muscles breaking down during exercise or protein digestion.

Immune system function: This measures how quickly white blood cells are produced in response to an infection (white blood cells fight infections).

Regular workouts at a fitness studio can improve your body age. If you are a fitness instructor, you know that best. Focus on your expertise while My Best Studio handles the managerial aspects of running your fitness business for you. Know more.

It’s Good To Sweat When Working Out. Here’s Why!

Posted on by Lisa S

It’s good to sweat when you’re working out. But, why is it good? And, how do you make sure your workout is giving you all the benefits it’s supposed to, and that you’re not being led astray by misinformed workout gurus? Let’s answer these questions by first dissecting what a workout should be doing for you.

You want to get the most out of your workout, but you’re worried about sweating too much. Well, you can stop worrying. Sweating during a workout is actually good for you! Here’s why:

1. It helps keep your body cool and functioning normally: Sweating is a natural way for our bodies to cool down when we’re hot or stressed out (like when you’re running away from a tiger). So if you’re feeling hot or stressed out during exercise, just remember that this is going to help keep things under control! It keeps your body from overheating during intense workouts like cardio or weight lifting.

2. It helps flush out toxins that have built up in your body over time. When we sweat during exercise (or when we’re just hot outside), those toxins are released into the air around us instead of being stored in our bodies. In effect, this means that the toxins go away and don’t have time to build up inside our cells—which is great news!

3. It makes you feel better: When you sweat, your pores open up and allow your skin to breathe better. This helps you be more comfortable while exercising, which is important because exercise makes you feel great!

4. Its a sign of a good workout: If you don’t sweat during a workout, it could mean one of two things: either your workout wasn’t intense enough or the exercises weren’t challenging enough for your body. So if you want to make sure you’re getting the full benefits of exercising, aim for sweating at least once or twice every time you work out!

So next time you’re feeling gross after a workout? Just remember – You’re helping yourself out in more ways than one!

A word of caution – if you’re not working out or exercising, sweating can be a sign of a more serious issue. If you notice that sweat is dripping down your back or forehead when you’re not working out, it could be a sign of dehydration or even a fever! If it happens once in a while, drink water! If it happens more often than that (especially if it’s accompanied by other symptoms), see your doctor as soon as possible.

Pro tip: Fitness studio owners should invest in a fitness studio management software, so they can focus on helping their clients sweat it out in class!

How Much Time Do You Need to Exercise To Lose Weight?

Posted on by Lisa S

When it comes to getting in shape and losing weight, there’s no shortage of advice. We all know about the benefits of exercise. But much of what you hear about how to lose weight is wrong. That’s not to say that exercise isn’t important for weight loss. Exercise can help jump-start your metabolism, build muscle, improve mood, boost energy levels — and the list of benefits goes on and on.

But if you are specifically looking at exercise to lose weight, you may encounter a few challenges. It’s possible that you could exercise too m­uch andovereatas a result. Or if you don’t work out enough, you may not end up seeing results on the scale.

So how many minutes, hours or days do you need to exercise to lose weight? The simple answer is that it isn’t as simple, and it certainly isn’t the same for everyone. Read on to know more.

The best exercise to lose weight is the one you’ll actually do.
If you’re a runner or a swimmer or someone who likes moderate activity (like walking), then stick with that activity and use it as part of your plan to lose weight. You might think walking doesn’t do much for you — but you’d actually burn about 100 calories by walking one mile. Any form of activity is good for you.

Weight loss is about creating a calorie deficit
You need to be burning more calories than you take in. If you’re trying to lose 10 or 20 pounds, you can safely aim to lose 1% to 2% of your body weight per week, which comes out to 1 to 2 pounds per week. Along with your exercise routine to lose weight at home or the gym, it’s often useful to think about the proportions of food you eat at different meals. If breakfast is 300 calories, lunch is 500 and dinner is 700, try changing that around a bit so that breakfast is 400, lunch is 300 and dinner is 600.

Create an exercise routine that works for you
Wondering how many times a week you need to exercise to lose weight? If you’re more inclined to do shorter workouts, 25 to 30 minutes of daily exercise is probably best for you. By exercising every day, not only will you make it a habit that is likely to stick, you will also meet the health recommendations for weight loss. However, sometimes getting in a daily workout is just not realistic. If you exercise for fewer days during the week, each workout should be longer. For example, if you do a 60-minute workout on the weekend and two 45-minute sessions during the week, you could easily skip a few days of exercise, while still meeting the exercise guidelines for weight loss. So the short answer to ‘How often or how long do you need to exercise to lose weight’ is, it all depends on what works best for your lifestyle.

What Happens To The Body If You Don’t Exercise

Posted on by Lisa S

Sometimes doing nothing at all can be the most dangerous move of all. Inactivity (like sitting for hours on end) causes more deaths around the world than cigarette smoking or diabetes. Experts say the results show that no matter who you are or how fit or unfit you are, there’s still a benefit to taking even a short walk every day.Researchers have found that the least fit people (determined by a treadmill test) had a 500% increased risk of early death.

Still need convincing? Here are some more reasons to stop being a couch potato and break a sweat!

Exercise helps you get a good night’s sleep
Have you ever experienced a deep, extremely satisfying and rejuvenating sleep after spending a couple of hours in the fresh air, paddling a kayak, working in the yard, backpacking 10 miles, or running a long-distance race? Vigorous exercise, especially outdoors, is a highly effective sleep inducer—one that you are missing if you aren’t getting regular exercise.

Exercise may prevent you from developing high blood pressure
Exercising helps your heart become more efficient at pumping blood, which decreases the force of blood flow through your arteries. If you don’t exercise regularly, over time you will lose your cardio-respiratory fitness (CRF). A study of 3,831 men found that those whose fitness levels decreased over about 10 years were 72% more likely to develop high blood pressure compared to subjects who increased their cardio-respiratory fitness.

Exercise could protect you from memory loss
Scientists have linked physical fitness to the brain’s ability to make new neural pathways, and the hippocampus, which refers to the area of the braindevoted to memory and executive function. Studies have shown that people who were fit as young adults had better motor skills, memory and aheightened  ability to focus on emotional control 25 years later, in middle age.

Exercise could help regulate your blood sugar levels
Researchers found that just one 30-60 minute session of moderate exercise can help to boost insulin sensitivity, and improve the way our body regulates blood sugar. So take a walk at lunchtime, or maybe have a mini workout after dinner – there’s a good chance it will help to keep your blood sugar levels in check.

Exercise may reduce chances of getting some cancers
Does sitting the entire day increase your risk of cancer? Scientists don’t know for sure. But what they do know is sedentary behavior is a risk factor for several chronic conditions and premature death.According to the National Cancer Institute, while no studies have conclusively proven that lack of exercise causes cancer, many self-reported observational studies have provided evidence that links higher physical activity to lower cancer risk.

Workout for Beginners

Posted on by Lisa S

It is not an unknown fact that exercising has innumerable advantages. Exercising helps in reduction of the risks associated with chronic disease, better mood and mental health, balanced energy levels, slowing of the aging process, a boost to brain health amongst various other benefits. Some common types of exercises include cardio training, strength training, flexibility and mobility training.

With multiple write-ups, blogs and videos on the internet, it can feel overwhelming for you to get started. Also, as a beginner, you might be worried about where to start from and how to start exercising and workout.

Through this article, we wish to simplify your workout sessions and help you in setting an approach that will motivate you to exercise on a daily basis and reap the benefits of workouts. The first step to planning a good workout session is to set your short-term and long-term goals. Setting the right goals encourage you to work in the right direction and feel more energized and productive.

Here are a few steps that will help you in planning your workout as a beginner-

Decide a workout routine and stick to it
While planning a workout routine, you must always keep in mind that you as a beginner will have a slow journey. However, it is more important than the duration and type of workouts that you maintain a regular routine and follow it strictly. In the initial phases, even a short 7-10 minutes workout session will provide you with great health benefits.
Start gradually and keep a track of your progress from the start, so that you can see your improvisations on a daily basis and stay motivated.

Expect setbacks and learn to overcome them
There may be days when you have a planned workout session but you suddenly feel loss of energy and feel tired. It may also happen that you feel stressed or have no motivation to pursue your workout plan. In all these cases, you must encourage yourself and remind yourself of the great health benefits associated with workouts. You must learn how to overcome your setbacks so that you can get back on the right track immediately.

Don’t stress hard on the days when you fail to workout. Instead, just start again to feel energized and refreshed.

Set realistic goals
Starting with small and achievable goals is the key to reaching towards bigger goals. For e.g., if your goal is to walk 10,000 steps in a day, you must first aim at walking 4,000 steps in a day and gradually increase your stamina to reach to your desired goal. Hence, setting realistic goals will help you go a long way and make your workout sessions more fun.

Make your workout a Habit
Making your workout a habit is another key component to attaining success. It is easy to purse your workout sessions in the long run if you make exercising your habit. Furthermore, you should make a schedule and do your workouts at the same time everyday so that you can sustain your routine and make it last.

Below is the list of a few workout exercises for beginners to make it achievable in the long run:-

  1. Chair Squat
  2. Bridge
  3. Knee Pushup
  4. Stationary Lunge
  5. Plank to Downward Dog
  6. Straight-leg Donkey-kick
  7. Forearm Plank
  8. Bird Dog
  9. Side-lying hip abduction
  10. Bicycle crunch

It is very important to stay hydrated, optimize your nutrition and listen to your body while exercising and doingworkouts.

Lastly, have fun while doing exercises and do not dread it. Work out in groups or with your friends to maintain accountability and keep your exercise routine within your control.

Track your progress at each stage and gradually, try to reach for more intense workout sessions so that you can reach to the intermediate level and advanced level with passing time.

Conclusion
Starting something new can be difficult but having real objectives and doing it for your body will take you a long way. Start slowly and build your fitness level in order to achieve the maximum benefits of workouts and exercise. Additionally, take care of your diet and keep a check with your healthcare provider to see that you are going in the right direction.

Health Benefits Of Pilates

Posted on by Lisa S

Pilates is a physical fitness system developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates, after whom it was named. It is practiced worldwide, especially in Western countries.

As of 2005, there were 11 million people practicing the discipline regularly and 14,000 instructors in the United States.
Pilates developed in the aftermath of the late 19th century physical culture of exercising in order to alleviate ill health.

Evidence from studies show that Pilates improves balance with regular practice. Regular Pilates sessions can help muscle conditioning in healthy adults, when compared to doing no exercise.

Health benefits of Pilates:-
1. improves concentration
2. relaxes body muscles
3. improved posture
4. improved stabilization of spine
5. increases lung capacity and circulation
6. increased muscle strength and toning of body
7. improved physical strength and balance
8. rehabilitation and prevention of injuries with respect to muscles
9. improved physical coordination and balance
10. enhanced muscular control and increase in hand eye coordination.

The Pilates method is taught to suit each person and exercises are regularly re-evaluated to ensure they are appropriate for that person. Due to the individual attention, this method can suit everybody from elite athletes to people with limited mobility, pregnant women and people with low fitness levels. It helps everyone and is suitable for every body type.

 

What To Look For In A Personal Trainer

Posted on by Lisa S

A personal trainer is one who has any knowledge or credibility in the fitness field. They help clients by setting goals according to their needs and providing feedback and assessments. Personal trainers are hired to get undivided attention related to health and fitness purposes. You may want one too, and you’ll be dedicating a lot of money and time to your trainer so there are a few things you should look for in a personal trainer so you can get amazing results!

1. Experience and certification
Ask your personal trainer about his experience before hiring him. Find out about his previous clients and how they benefited with the help of the trainer. Also, check for certification, because there are too many frauds out in the market that may be a waste of money and a hazard to your health.

2. Personality
Personality can make or break a person’s opinion in your head. Meet up with your trainer in advance and check if you are comfortable with him. If you think you need someone to push you, than look for the firmness and surety in their personality. They should be motivating and should be able to get results out of you.

3. Availability and flexibility
Your trainer should be available on the same day and timings that you are. You may be able to adjust once or twice but it cannot happen all the time. You should be comfortable with them and they should have flexible hours so you don’t have to stress in case you need to cancel during emergencies.

4. Comfort
You should be comfortable with your trainer. You should be able to tell them where you are facing problems and what you would like to improve so you both can work on it together. Without the comfort factor, there can be a lot of awkwardness between the both of you which may not be able to get you the results you are working so hard for. Be open and honest with them and see the difference.

5. Effective and progress
Take a trial turn with your trainer and find out how you feel. Did they push you? Did they change up your routine? Do you feel at least a little sore? And most important, do you feel like you want another session with them? These questions will give you more answers than you can think. Your trainer should be able to say that, with their help, you have progressed and that’s when you will know that they are the right one.

Just make sure that you are comfortable with your personal trainer and they can get you your desired results. Check out My Best Studio for studio management softwares for personal training.

Reasons You Aren’t Losing Weight

Posted on by Lisa S

Are you trying to lose weight but have been unsuccessful so far? Here are 5 reasons why it is happening and how to fix it.

1. Calories
Overeating and under-eating both have a huge effect on your body. If you are overeating, it means you are consuming more calories than you are burning in a day, so ultimately you are going to gain weight due to increase in body fat levels. To fix it make small changes in your routine. Do more exercise or eat less slowly.
If you are under-eating you are going to feel fatigued and not perform up to the mark. Under-eating forces your body into starvation mode and you are likely to get cravings. What you need is a balanced diet between healthy carbs, protein and fat. This will help to get your metabolism back up and will help to get your body back.

2. Exercise
Even after exercising if you aren’t getting the wanted results then either you aren’t pushing yourself enough or challenging your body enough. You need to switch up your routine so your body does not get use to your workouts or they will yield little to no result. So switch up between strength training and cardio.

3. Stress
Yes! Stress does really have a huge impact on our hormones. It can cause hormonal imbalance and have an effect on depression and anxiety which can also lead to weight gain. Make sure you are checking in with yourself to see how you feel because you don’t want your stress levels to get too high. The best thing to do is unwind at the end of the day and have some time for yourself.

4. Sleep
A good sleep is one of the most important factors of our physical and mental health. Sleep helps our body to relax after a tiring day and lack of sleep is one of the single biggest factors for obesity. Studies show that people who don’t get enough sleep have an 89% greater risk of obesity. It can affect your mood and appetite. So make sure you are aiming to get around 7-8 hours of sleep per night.

5. Water
Seriously, water is so important for the body. If you want to reduce your calorie intake make sure you have a glass of water before every single meal. By drinking more water you also increase the number of calories you burn throughout the day. So it is advised to drink about 8-10 glasses of water every single day.

 

Top Tricks To Get Back On Track

Posted on by Lisa S

It is hard to get back on track after you have taken a break or fallen off the wagon. So I am going to make it easy for you today with these top 5 tips.

1. Set a goal
Now setting a goal is the best way for you to get back on track. If you don’t have a goal, you won’t have any motivation and you will eventually stop working out. Keep reminding yourself that you have a goal you want to achieve and why you started this journey.

2. Schedule your workouts
Every person has a different time they want to workout. Some like to do it first thing in the morning while some like to do it at the end of their day. Work out a schedule and stick to it so you can get back on track.

3. Accountability
Once you hold yourself accountable for your wokouts and exercise, you will learn to stay on track and realize to take care of your health. Actions produce results and if you are accountable for your workouts, you will make sure to stay on track. You will also have nobody to blame but you.

4. Cut the excuses
Yes, so many of you will have excuses of why you cannot work out or why you will stop working out. Talk to yourself and address the issues on why you keep making these excuses. Learn to ignore the excuses that pop up in your mind. Make time to workout because you are doing something good for your own self and once you start you won’t want to stop.

5. Find what works for you
Workouts are different for every individual as everyone likes different things. If you want to stay on track then stick to what you enjoy but at the same time don’t be afraid to switch it up to challenge your body.