About Mohammed Tufail Qureshi

Certified professional fitness trainer, Mohammed Tufail Qureshi has worked with reputed gyms in the city. As a freelance personal trainer Tufail guides people in right exercise, nutrition and proper rest and recovery methods necessary to stay fit. A commerce graduate from Mumbai University he chose to work with GOQii as it’s a new concept and it intends to change the world by simply helping people change certain habits. The idea of developing good habits and motivating individuals to lead a healthy lifestyle is something which he says is very different from what he has been doing all this while as a personal trainer. Tufail is a regular weight trainer himself and works out six days a week. He strongly believes that an individual is not fit until he has developed the 5 basic components of fitness namely cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility and ideal body composition.

September 30, 2022 By Mohammed Tufail Qureshi 6 Comments

8 Simple Health Tips You Can Follow At Work

In the present day, our lifestyles have changed drastically. It’s not just our lifestyle but our working style as well. Being glued to a laptop or a system without moving for hours has become the current trend. We work for nearly 10-12 hours seated on a chair with minimal movement for lunch or to get fresh.

While this sedentary lifestyle is important to earn a livelihood, it comes at the cost of many health issues such as neck pain, back ache, eye problems and digestion issues from irregular eating habits, to name a few. Let’s not forget the part stress plays in our lives. The effects of being seated with no activity affects not only our physical health but our mental health as well. When at home, most people are either irregular with their workouts or do not have a fitness regime at all. Not being active at work and at home can be detrimental to your well-being.

This is certainly not a good way to lead a life. One should take some time out for themselves and give a thought to maintaining a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Introducing even a little bit of workout or walking in your daily routine can make a world of a difference. Some physical activity and slight changes in your working pattern and eating habits can help you stay healthy. Try following these 8 simple health tips while you work!

8 Simple Health Tips You Can Follow At Work

Bring about a slight change in your lifestyle by doing these 8 simple health tips:

Include a walk in between while traveling to work and back.
Use the stairs instead of an elevator
Sit with your back straight, in an erect position while seated on a chair. Try this technique to correct your posture while seated: https://goqii.com/blog/how-to-correct-your-posture-at-work/
Get up after every couple of hours to stretch your back, arms and legs
Keep a bottle of water at your desk and drink it frequently. Don’t forget that you need to drink at least 3l of water a day. You can also set reminders through the GOQii App
Keep a few snacks, fruits or dry fruits on your desk so you can munch on them when hungry
Keep the brightness of your system low and maintain a decent distance away from the screen
Do not overeat when stressed. If you have begun a fitness regime, your appetite is likely to increase. If weight loss or maintaining a certain weight is one of your goals, you should stick to your diet and not eat more than required by your body. Avoid junk food especially.

In addition, you can add a freehand workout session of 15 minutes which you can perform either at work or at home. 5 basic but effective exercises like jumping jacks, squats, push ups, crunches and planks will do wonders. Do two sets of each of these exercises with 15-20 repetitions each. This will not only improve your health but stamina levels as well, helping you concentrate better as well as relieve you of stress or any other aches and pains caused by a sedentary lifestyle.

Following these simple health tips won’t affect your routine and they are easy to squeeze into your schedule as well. Try them out and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

For more tips such as this, check out Healthy Reads or ask an expert by subscribing for personalised health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce

January 12, 2022 By Mohammed Tufail Qureshi 1 Comment

Manage Stress By Managing Your Cortisol Levels!

How often do we hear people say, “I am so stressed”? Given the current pandemic scenario, the lockdown and the threat of new variants, we’re sure you might have heard a lot of people say this. While the stress is reasonable, do you know what causes it? Is it the pressure of working from home thwarting your work-life balance, is it the news or could it be the excessive release of stress hormones? If you weren’t aware, just as there are hormones that make you feel good, there’s a stress hormone called Cortisol but it’s not all bad.

The cortisol stress hormone management system is released by the adrenal cortex glands in order to regulate blood sugar, blood pressure and the immune system. While it does regulate blood sugar, blood pressure and the immune system, if it is released at a wrong time, it can be harmful. What triggers the rise of this crucial hormone is mental and physical stress, insulin spikes, too many stimulants, overindulgence of processed food and toxicity build up.

Sources Of Chronic Stress Include:

Lack of sleep and insomnia
Negative thoughts and emotions
Sugar cravings and low serotonin levels
Caffeine and stimulant abuse (more than 2 coffees per day)
Acidity and Toxicity
Lethargy and lack of energy

Burning stubborn belly fat has to be one of the most popular stresses that people have and most have a problem dealing with this issue. What we fail to identify is that losing body fat, especially on the lower abdomen, is a hormonal issue.

It’s NOT overeating!

It’s NOT sugar or carbohydrates!

It’s NOT lack of exercise!

The one culprit that can quash your fat burning efforts and leave you with stubborn belly fat is your cortisol and adrenaline hormones. Stress leads to adrenals burning out, and excess cortisol and adrenalin lead to a number of health problems. If prolonged, it can lead to:

Excess abdomen fat
A serious drop in testosterone, and rise in estrogen
Hypertension and anxiety
Bone, mineral and muscle loss (cortisol is a catabolic hormone and is often elevated)
High blood sugar and insulin resistance

How Can You Bring Cortisol Levels Under Control?

Given how high stress levels have been lately due to the pandemic, it is important to manage stress by managing spiking cortisol levels. Dealing with Cortisol can be tricky. If dealt with proper techniques and supplements, one can get the Cortisol levels under control. Here are a few tips to help you out:

Reduce physical and mental stress by becoming more calm and relaxed. Meditation and pranayama are your allies.
Exclude sugar and processed foods from your regular diet and replace them with whole organic foods that will help improve digestion and in turn, reward you with a healthier GUT!
Lower toxicity and acidity which adds stress to the body internally by making the simple shifts in the food choices, thoughts and emotions.
To take control of Cortisol levels, one needs to learn how to unwind and relax every single day for at least 20 – 30 minutes and learn to take deep breaths and clear the mind. You can also indulge in a hobby you like!
Meditation and yoga are some excellent ways to relax and bring down cortisol levels effectively.
Exercise is a true savior and has been shown to reduce cortisol effectively. But a word of caution – don’t overdo it and do it correctly or else it could have the opposite effect.
Cortisol is at its lowest during sleep. So, make sure you get adequate and good quality sleep. This Sleep Series could help you understand your sleep better.

Additionally, it’s best to steer clear of news and social media updates that stress you out. You can check it once a day to just get an update but there’s no point in indulging in every news article that comes your way, especially if it paints a grim picture. So zone out, take care of your health, keep calm and be stress-free!

We hope this article helps you during these precarious times. For more on stress management, check out Healthy Reads. To learn how to manage stress effectively, ask a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

Stay home, keep calm and #BeTheForce!

March 4, 2021 By Mohammed Tufail Qureshi 8 Comments

Sleep Your Way to More Muscles

Did you know you can build muscles even while sleeping? The three aspects of the muscle building pyramid are nutrition, training and rest. Most of us pay close attention to the first two factors but frequently ignore the third and suffer the consequences. Sleep isn’t a luxury for the human body, it’s a genuine necessity. Extended periods of sleep deprivation can lead to amnesia, delusions and hallucinations. Shorter stretches cause forgetfulness, bad moods and irritability.

How Does Sleep Lead To More Muscles?

If you’re trying to gain strength, sleep becomes even more important because it’s synonymous with recovery. If your body doesn’t get to fully recuperate from a hard workout, there’s no way it will be ready for the next one. Heavy training destroys tissues. In order for the tissue to be repaired, your body needs the proper nutrients and deep sleep. One of the key events that occur during sleep is that the body releases growth hormones which are critical for repairing tissues, maintaining tonus in the muscles and keeping the fat in the cells. Since the body releases growth hormones only during deep sleep, the question is how do you get deep sleep?

Getting enough rest is critical to your overall health. Lack of sleep, even for a single night, can have a huge effect on your immune system. Research has shown that there’s a 20-30% drop in the immune system cells that fight cancer and viruses after just one night of sleeplessness. If sleeplessness continues over several days, the percentage of decreased immune system cells climbs drastically. The good news is that you can bring the number of cells back to normal with a solid night’s sleep.

So How Much Sleep Is Enough?

That depends on individual to individual and it depends on many variables. Ideally, one should aim to get at least 7-8 hours of sound sleep. Sleep is the most critical variable affecting our workouts. How well we have slept the previous night will determine how good a workout you do the next morning.

Work-related stress is one of the many reasons that most suffer from sleep deprivation. One of the best things you can do is slip in to a nap prior to your workout. You don’t want to drop off into the deeper stages of sleep before training because it will make you groggy. 20-30 minutes is plenty before a workout.

How Can You Induce Sleep Quickly?

Deep sleep at night is very important and here are some of the things we can do to get sleep fast:

Read to relax
Take a shower or soak in the tub
Listen to soothing music
Try Chamomile tea
Warm turmeric milk will induce melatonin, which is a sleep hormone
A light snack can be useful in promoting a more relaxed state, but it’s smart to select foods that contain the amino acid tryptophan, which converts to serotonin in the brain, helping you to feel drowsy. Milk, yogurt, cheese, turkey and fish contain tryptophan.

What to Avoid Before Sleeping

Now here are some things you should not do if you want to have a good night’s sleep:

Don’t overindulge in alcohol
Avoid eating large quantities of food. Eating a large meal before bedtime isn’t conducive to sleep as the food will trigger various systems, including the heart, to work harder. Also, the digestive tract may become upset and disrupt sleep even more.
Avoid stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine. This includes tea, coffee and soft drinks as well.
Avoid any form of strenuous exercise or participating in a competitive sport as it will work against you. Vigorous physical activity stimulates the body, and it takes some time to calm you down.
Don’t take your work to bed. If you make your bedroom an extension of your office, you’re sure to carry business problems with you at night. Your bedroom should be a cool, dark, sleep chamber.

You may have to experiment a little to find out what works for you. But if you’re having trouble getting a good night’s rest on a regular basis, make some changes in your lifestyle, quickly. The “magical one-third of your life” is a critical variable in your quest to gain strength, so be mindful of that.

We hope this article on sleep for muscle building helps you. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below. For more on muscles and sleep, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play.

#BeTheForce

January 20, 2020 By Mohammed Tufail Qureshi Leave a Comment

Is Weightlifting For Men Only? Here’s Why We Think Otherwise

If a woman lifts weights, does she bulk up like a man would? Will it change her appearance to a more muscular one like those guys at gyms who rip through every piece of heavy equipment they can get their hands on? Very few women desire that bulky or ripped look but those who don’t, tend to avoid using weights at all.

In truth, weightlifting is for everybody. Let’s look at it from a functional perspective. Women require the same muscles as men to open a door or lift something up from the floor. The muscles that are engaged are the same. It begs one to ask the question:

Should Weightlifting Be For Men Only?

Be it lifting a cylinder at home or a box and placing it on a shelf, carrying shopping bags, moving a chair or sofa, one requires muscles and the strength to carry out these tasks. While most women prefer cardio, they also need to focus on strength training and weightlifting to be able to carry out these tasks just as effectively as men.

Does Weightlifting Really Bulk Women Up?

It’s a myth. There are many reasons why a woman won’t gain the kind of bulk a man would. One of them being the male hormone called testosterone. It is the primary sex hormone in males as well as a muscle-building hormone. Men are genetically designed to have more muscle mass and physical strength than women.

At best, strength training will make a woman gain some lean mass and reduce extra body fat. Many women fear that they will look manly if they train with weights but the truth is that women cannot build muscles like men because they do not have enough of the male hormone Testosterone. The difference of the levels of this hormone is the primary reason why women will not gain heavy musle mass while training with weights. In fact, they will look leaner and toned.

It stands true for men and women that any amount of muscle gain leads to fat loss and any loss of muscle causes one to gain fat.

How Does Weightlifting Benefit Women?

Apart from the aesthetics, having more strength makes one feel independent and confident. It also provides a lot of other benefits. Weightlifting:

Tones the body
Reduces extra body fat
Improves posture
Strengthens bones and joints
Improves skin quality
Enhances sleep quality
Improves strength and endurance
Reduces stress
Boosts energy levels
Improves heart health
Fights aging and helps you look younger

Who’d want to forego these awesome benefits! We hope this article eases your doubts and helps you make the decision to try weight training today! For any help you may need to begin your weight training journey, watch workout sessions on GOQii Play.

It’s time to #LevelUp and #BeTheForce!