Fitness | GOQii

April 7, 2018 By GOQii Editor Leave a Comment

“Be motivated, motivate others, learn and stay Fit”-Ruturaj

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Fit is not a destination but, it should be a way of life.

My fitness journey started with training for my first 21 km Half Marathon. However, I was finding it difficult to change my routine because of the lifestyle I was leading. This is when I came across GOQii and as I started interacting with my personalized coach on the GOQii app. My coach motivated me and took the effort to push me to change my lifestyle, from controlling my diet, avoiding unhealthy food, eating right, eating on time, building a fitness routine, having pre & post workout meals, etc. Thanks to GOQii, I lost 7 Kgs in 4 Months. I am learning to play Squash on Weekends. All these changes have helped me immensely and I thoroughly enjoyed my routine with the help of GOQii. For me working out on Sunday’s is an ode to my coach who has put in so much effort to make me fit. Another big reason for waking up on a Sunday morning early and going for group work out session is because I love meeting new people, sharing my knowledge and getting some knowledge back to stay fit. Active Sunday for me is all about enthusiasm to learn new exercises and new things about nutrition and fitness. His message to all is be motivated, motivate others, learn, and stay Fit.

April 1, 2018 By Mitali Ambekar 17 Comments

HOW TO GAIN MUSCLE AND LOSE FAT ?

Few days ago I had written a blog on Weight loss vs Fat loss and I was flooded with queries on How to Gain Muscle and Lose Fat? So I decided to answer this query through a blog.

Well it is no rocket science, follow few guidelines and you start feeling good about yourself.

In my previous blog I said that you have to gain your muscle to reduce fat, why? Because maintaining muscles in your body requires lot of energy that helps to accelerate your metabolism, which in turn reduces the fat.

Here are the points to follow

** Engage in strength training, at least 1-2/week, as it helps you build muscles.

How? It first breaks your muscle to rebuild it and makes it stronger.

Eat on time, say every 2-3 hrs,

As and when you don’t eat, your muscle is utilised as a source of energy, it is a shortcut for your body. Also when you don’t eat for a long time, your body stores food for you, in the form of fat

Take care of your protein intake, as it will take care of your body’s muscle level to be maintained
Avoid all refined flour, packet foods, as it has preservatives, which will get converted into fat as its empty calorie and no use to body.
Maintain sufficient water intake, as your muscle is about 80-90% water, you cannot have dehydrated cell in your body, if you want the metabolism to increase.
Cardiovascular Exercises!! This is very important. Your body does burn fat for you when you do cardio but, the body should know that it is supposed to use fat for fuel and hence requires training
Most important of all is to maintain your sleep and reduce stress levels.
Have good sleep for 7-8 hrs and keep away stress as much as possible.
Reduce your intake of sugar as much as possible, instead opt for Jaggery, Dates, Fig, Raw Honey – our very own natural sweetener.
Recovery is very important post any exercise

If the body does not recover well, it will go through a breakdown which is the recipe for losing muscles. So do rest well.

These are few guidelines you can follow. If you follow this properly believe me you will see results however it depends from person to person and consistency on how well you follow this routine.

March 31, 2018 By GOQii Editor Leave a Comment

“Take care of your body, it’s the only place you have to live”: Chirag

Chirag

Being fit isn’t something you can achieve and check off your list. It’s a lifelong journey during which we can always work on improvements.

Although having been an avid cyclist for the past 10 years, a full-fledged fitness journey for Chirag started only 4 years ago when he became a fitness trainer. Prior to embarking on the fitness journey, he was a dancer and a choreographer. For Chirag, just working out on a Sunday morning or any one day of the week is not good enough. Hence, he works out daily. It takes patience, time and consistency to achieve a fitness goal. He cycles to work and also indulges in Aerobics, muscle strengthening along with a healthy diet. He is a regular at Active Sunday’s in Bengaluru as he loves the idea of working out in groups as it’s calm and peaceful. His health message to all is, “Take care of your body, it’s the only place you have to live”.

March 26, 2018 By Anubha Sahu 2 Comments

6 Fitness goals to get you into awesome shape

“Fitness is not about being better than someone else…It’s about being better than you used to be”

The term ‘Fitness’ is very common among people now. Whenever we talk about fitness the only thing which comes to the mind is weight management. But, let me tell you that fitness is not only about weight loss or gain but increased inner strength which gives you extra energy to the body as well as to your soul.

So sharing some fitness goals with all you out there. These goals should help you to remain fit and confident if you spare some time out of your busy schedule.

Here it goes-

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1) Running:

Run 10km: A classic goal for those who want to get into running. Start small initially if you are not into running and then slowly get to the large goal of accomplishing 10Km. Benefits of running are not only physiologic but also psychological. Physiological benefits include cardiovascular fitness, weight loss, and improved upper and lower body strength. The often overlooked mental and emotional benefits include not only the sense of accomplishment after finishing the run but, also the self-confidence gained from reaching such a goal.

2) Yoga:

Yoga requires minimal equipment, provides stretching without stressing the joints, and can improve stress levels and posture. Individuals new to yoga should begin slowly, ideally with an experienced instructor so poses and postures can be corrected and not lead to injuries.

Three good yoga poses to master include:

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(i) Mountain Pose (Tadasana): Improve your body awareness, balance, and posture. Stand with big toes touching. Lift up your toes and let them fan out, then drop back down, creating a solid base. Bring your weight evenly to all parts of your feet. Tighten your quadriceps, allowing your kneecaps to rise. Rotate both thighs inward, tucking in your tailbone. Tighten your belly; widen your collar bones, making sure shoulders are parallel to the pelvis. Keep your neck long, and your shoulder blades down and back.

image source: Yoga Basic

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(ii) Warrior Pose: This pose lengthens the front of our bodies. Much of our day is spent sitting; and by stretching the front thigh muscle. It can improve our posture and can help with low back pain.

(iii) Bridge Pose: This pose address two areas where women want to improve: the buttocks and inner thigh.

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3) Plyometric moves: Plyometric moves are jumping exercises so adding a hop, skip, and a jump to your workouts boosts fat-burning and uses muscles which you don’t use normally in your daily routine. Do them prior to your workout and after a thorough warm-up. Repeat each for 10 seconds, or five jumps.

TwoPlyometric moves to master include:

(i) Squat Hops: Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and your hands clasped behind your head. Keeping your weight on your heels, squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Pause in the squat position. Then without counter-movement and without the use of your arms, jump as high as possible. When landing, make sure to absorb the impact by pushing your hips back and flexing your knees.

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(ii) Slam Hops: Stand in an upright position with your knees slightly bent and your feet about shoulder-width apart. Flexing your knees to quickly drop your body 10 to 12 inches, rapidly explode upward, forward and to the side. Swing your arms forcefully upward. Upon landing, immediately repeat the jump, but jump forward diagonally in the opposite direction.

image source: SportPlan

4. Swimming:

Swimming can have a positive impact on body fat, insulin levels, and overall health. If you are swimming for 30 minutes at a moderate intensity three times a week then you will lose more weight, experience improved body-fat distribution, and insulin in the short term.

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Do 25 Push-Ups:

Mastering the ability to perform 25 Push-ups is a very reasonable, realistic, and attainable goal for most women. Benefits include upper-body strength in the chest (pectorals), shoulder girdle (scapular stabilizers), and arms (triceps). Push-Ups require no equipment and can be varied in many ways to train different muscle groups(i.e. a closer grip targets triceps). Aesthetically, Push-Ups develop the pectorals muscles of the chest, which help to prevent breast sagging as the women age.

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Add Sprinting to your routine:

Sprinting is one of the best ways to tone the glutes, and when practised as intervals, sprinting can also speed up calorie burning. Adding sprint training to your running routine has a number of benefits. The initial benefit comes simply from the variation in the workout, which prevents boredom. This type of training should be added gradually to avoid overuse injuries.

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Try this: 30 to 60 seconds of sprinting alternating with 60 seconds of light jogging; repeat for 10 or more minutes. Adjust the intensity of the active phase and length of the rest phase according to your fitness level.

So, think of your workouts as important meetings you have scheduled with yourself and be proud of each step you take towards reaching that goal and the result is for sure “FITNESS” and an ‘Awesome Looking You’