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No time for exercise? You need not FIND TIME for it!

Stretching-Collage

Given the fast paced life that we all lead, we seldom pay attention to our health. Our health is definitely not on our priority list. It’s an irony of life that we get so busy earning money throughout our early years of life that our health is neglected, and then we spend the rest of the life spending the well earned money on bettering our health.

What can we do about it? Of course the direct answer to it is to ‘Eat right and Exercise Regularly’.

Now when I talk about exercise, the immediate answer to this would be “I hardly find time to do it”. Some people even shell out loads of money and join a gym but invariably end up being irregular.

The question is… do we really need to spend hours on exercise every day to get fit? Not at all! Even if you extract 1 % of your day i.e. about 15 minutes and get into some quick exercises, it will do wonders to your body! Believe me, it will!

An ideal exercise schedule should include a combination of cardio and strengthening exercises. Cardio exercises are the ones which pump up your heart rate and enhance your blood circulation. Strengthening exercises are the ones which work on your muscles, breaking them down and then recuperating them at a faster rate.  It’s very essential to have a mix of both to have great fitness levels and a good body. Only cardio exercises might make you lose your muscles thus making your body flabby. Toning up is very important which is why strengthening plays an equally important role.

A simple brisk walk or a jog is a cardio exercise. You can use “walk-n-talk” method and get your 15 minute brisk walk done. If travelling by vehicle, you can park your car 15 minutes away from office and walk it up. The cab/bus travelers can get down 2 stops prior and walk it up to office. If that’s not all, you can avoid using the elevators and walk up the floors.

That’s about cardio exercises which could be done in no time and could be well adjusted in your working hours.

Now let me list down some strengthening exercises which could be done anywhere and wouldn’t consume much of your time

1)      Squats:

It’s a lower body workout and helps strengthening your core (abs and trunk from the belly all around to the back), gluteus (butt and upper back thigh) and quadriceps (front thighs)

2)     Pushups:

It’s an upper body workout that works on your chest, triceps and shoulders.

3)     Plank:

It supports both, lower and upper body and works on gluteus and core

4)     Burpees:

It’s actually a full body workout. It works on chest, shoulders, triceps, hip flexors (side hips) and core

5)     Lunges:

It’s a lower body workout and strengthens your lower back, quadriceps and core.

These are the exercises which have worked quite miraculously for many. Make sure you have no knee pain or back pain before you start with these. Moreover, it’s quite crucial to have the right posture while performing these.

So get started, get active. I am sure it’s not as difficult as it looks. And trust me, Excuses don’t burn calories… they really don’t!…..Exercises do!

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Stretch at Work

Stretching Exercises at Your Desk
In my last Blog we read about “Sitting Job leads to a shorter life” and how sitting jobs are harmful for our health and life. There are many ways we can reduce our sitting time, such as taking small breaks, going for a short walk after lunch, by doing some stretches, standing meetings, etc.

I personally follow the same techniques at my work place. I prefer to have standing meetings. If you can take a break by getting up for at least five minutes after every 45 minutes, it will benefit you. There are stretches you can do at your desk that would also not bother co-workers.

Shoulder stretch: Place one hand under your elbow. Lift your elbow and stretch it across your chest. Don’t rotate your body as you stretch. Hold the stretch for 20 to 30 seconds. You’ll feel the pressure in the back of your shoulder. Relax and slowly return to the starting position. Repeat the stretch on the other side.

Arm stretch: Lift one arm and bend it behind your head. Place your other hand on the bent elbow to help stretch your upper arm and shoulder. Hold the stretch for 20 to 30 seconds. Relax and slowly return to the starting position. Repeat the stretch on the other side.

Chest stretch: Place your hands behind your head. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, bringing your elbows back as far as possible. Hold the stretch for 20 to 30 seconds. Relax and slowly return to the starting position.

The Half-Bear Hug: Hug one knee at a time, pulling it toward your chest.  You don’t have to worry if your colleagues are watching you

Neck Stretch: Slowly begin to lower you neck down by lowering your chin down to your chest and hold for 10-15 seconds. Lower your head back as far as you can. Lower your right ear towards your right shoulder. Lower your left ear towards your left shoulder. Slowly turn your head to the right. Your chin will be close to your right shoulder. Slowly turn your head to the left. Your chin with be close to your left shoulder.

Stretch your scapulae: Extend your arms in front of you. Join both hands together and cross fingers. Push your arms further and try to push your scapulae in opposite directions.

Stretch your wrists: Hold your arm out. Slightly pull back your hand down with your opposite hand and try to hold 5-10 second. Repeat with other hand.

Stretch your quadriceps: Standing on one leg, raise the other foot behind you, bending the knee. You have to pull your foot as close to your buttocks as possible. Use the right hand to hold the right foot.

Hip stretch: Sit with one leg across the other. Place your arm or elbow on the outside of the crossed leg. Gently apply pressure, while looking the opposite way. Repeat with the other leg.

Standing stretch: When standing, keep knees slightly bent. Place your hands on your lower back and gently push your hands forward while leaning back slightly.

Ankle Flex and Stretch: Hold one foot off the floor with your leg straight. Alternately flex your ankle (point your toes up) and extend (point your toes down). Repeat with the other leg.

We all have jobs to do, and many of our jobs require staying seated for extended periods. But moving around is good for your physical and mental health. And it will help you perform better at your job. In the workplace, you’ve got to stand up for yourself.

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Stay Fit Stay Healthy

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.

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Nutrition – Exercise – Rest – Attitude

back-pain
Lower back pain?

Degeneration of the spine?

Lumbar disc problems?

Joint pain?

Body aches?

The common solution is popping a calcium or D3 supplement. It’s true though, a deficiency of these vitamins can cause all of the above, but there are many ways of looking at this.

You can be popping the best brand of supplements, but remember, it just does not work that way.

For calcium to get absorbed into the bones, your D3 levels have to be adequate. If it’s not, your calcium supplement is being wasted, so are the foods rich in calcium that you are consuming.

Furthermore, Vitamin K is such an ignored vitamin, but you should know, Vitamin K is needed for the bones to absorb Calcium. Vitamin K is found in dairy products and green leafy veggies.

So here’s how it works. For strong and healthy bones, joints and a super strong spine, you need sufficient calcium, D3 and Vitamin K for it to work effectively.

I should add in B12 as B12 is necessary for healthy bone marrow, and for the body and spine to grow sting and healthy.

Calcium, Vitamin K, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D3

A balanced diet should give you all of that.

Apart from nutrition, have a look at the points below.

Regular and smart exercise

Stretching , warm up and cool downs

Knowing your tiger muscles and working on flexibility

DO NOT SIT IN ONE PLACE FOR MORE THAN 30-45 MINUTES.

This is too much strain and stress on your lower back/sacrum and it leads to lower back, sciatica and lower body aches and pains.

Look for nutrition in fresh and real foods. Supplement only if you have to and if you have a deficiency.

The choice of preventing or healing yourself from pains as such, is all up to you. Nutrition – Exercise – Rest – Attitude

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