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September 10, 2024 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

The Easiest & Healthiest Way to Get Active!

World Bicycle DayEver wondered why we do what we do? Why we get up at dawn on any given day, including Sundays? The reason is simple for many of us: it’s either for running or cycling. It’s like a ritual and a moment for ourselves. If you’re into running or cycling, you’ll connect well with what I’m saying. It’s an addiction—and a good one to have!

I have always been interested in history and like to delve deep into understanding how a particular concept evolved. As I was researching a bit on cycling, I came across the fact that the concept of cycling was invented by Baron Karl von Drais, a prolific German inventor way back in the year 1817. Interestingly, what he invented was not exactly the bicycle which we know and use. He invented the walking machine that helped him walk in the royal gardens faster. This device had wheels but didn’t have any gears, chains, and pedals. Also, it moved ahead by pushing his feet against the ground. With an improvement in this technology, this crude device was eventually transformed into the modern-day bicycle.

World Bicycle Day

Source: Wikipedia

Riding a bicycle is a good aerobic and cardio activity. If cycling is done on a regular basis, it can deliver lots of health benefits.

This simple form of physical exercise helps in bettering your physical and mental health. It is a low impact form of exercise that helps all ages.

Some Benefits of Riding a Bicycle

  • Improves cardio health by strengthening heart muscles
  • Lowers resting pulse rate
  • Reduces blood fat levels
  • Tones muscles and increases flexibility
  • Uses both upper body muscles such as chest, shoulders, arms, abs and the back as well as leg muscles such as quadriceps (front thighs), hamstrings (rear thighs), glutes, calf muscles and your hip
  • Better blood circulation due to flexibility brings about good joint mobility

Having talked of some of the basic health benefits a simple cycling activity can offer, it also acts as a cheap mode of transport and is environmentally friendly.

In today’s time where we are fraught with terrible environment damages and increased carbon footprint due to many vehicles on the roads, cycling is one way we personally can resort to, to be environmentally conscious. It is reported that Cycling 10 km every day can prevent the emission of at least 1.3 tonnes of greenhouses gases annually.

For beginners who want to take up cycling for regular fitness, start slow as we always say for every other athletic sports such as running. On you first day of cycling, you should not ride for more than 20 minutes. Slowly and steadily get used to the cycle as well as the body movements and then increase the intensity as you go along.

Few Things to Follow When You Take Up Cycling

  • Safety Measures: Safety is the first and foremost thing to adhere to while taking up cycling either for health, as a regular sport or as a mode of transport. Never ride a cycle in the outdoor without a proper cycling helmet. Helmet prevents a head injury in case of an accident.
  • Proper Clothing: It is important to wear well-fitting clothes. Loose clothes may get stuck during cycling and cause serious problems. Especially if you are riding in the outdoors
  • Be Hydrated: Always have plenty of water at hand. Drink water frequently to make up for the possible dehydration caused due to physical activity.
  • Stretching: Stretching your muscles is important because it warms up the body and prepares it for the intense physical activity of cycling.

Cycling is an interesting way to keep you healthy physically, mentally and environmentally.

We hope this blog inspires you to hop on a bicycle and start pedaling your way to better health! Share your cycling experiences with us in the comments below. For more fitness tips, speak to a certified expert by subscribing to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

March 31, 2023 By GOQii 9 Comments

How Important Is Cardio For Weight Loss?

cardio and weight lossYou are well aware of the fact that you lose weight when you burn more calories irrespective of how much you eat. The best way to lose weight is to follow a combination of cardio, strength training and a healthy diet.

Cardio is one of the key components because:

  • You burn more calories at one time.
  • Getting your heart rate into your target heart rate zone means your blood is pumping, you’re breathing hard, and you’re sweating and burning calories.
  • You can easily add intensity to increase your calorie burn. With cardio, it’s easy to increase your calorie burn with small changes, for instance running or walking faster, jumping higher, climbing hills or trying new activities that your body isn’t used to.
  • It adds to your overall calorie deficit. Burning calories with exercise means you don’t have to cut as many calories from your diet.
  • You can do cardio most days of the week. With strength training, your muscles require rest to recover and grow stronger. Cardio can be done most days of the week without worrying about injury or over-training.

The Best Cardio Exercises

While you know that cardio is important for weight loss, which exercises are best and how much do you really need for weight loss?

The truth is, there really isn’t any best cardio exercise. The best activity is the one you’ll do on a regular basis. So, finding something you like is critical to reaching your weight loss goals. That said, some exercises offer more intensity than others.

  • Impact activities: Exercises that involve some impact, like walking, will usually boost your heart rate quicker than no-impact activities like swimming or cycling.
  • High impact activities: High impact, or exercises that involve running or jumping, will often burn more calories than lower impact things like walking.
  • Whole body activities: When you involve both the upper and lower body, such as an aerobic activity which is also is known as cross training, it’s often easier to get the heart rate up and burn more calories.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bother with low impact exercise. Both types of activities offer opportunities to burn calories and doing both gives you a well-rounded cardiovascular endurance development.

To get an idea of just how much cardio can do for you, check out the following list of common exercises. Below is the number of calories burned for a 150-pound person in 30 minutes:

  1. Step aerobics: 340 calories
  2. Stationary bike: 238 calories
  3. Swimming: 270 calories
  4. Walking 4 mph: 170 calories
  5. Running 5 mph: 270 calories
  6. kickboxing: 400 calories

Everything from walking to kickboxing can burn a significant number of calories!

How Much Do You Need?

It’s tough to know exactly how much cardio we need for weight loss. The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association recommend about 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity activity on most days of the week. But, the truth is how much cardio you need varies from person to person and depends on factors such as:

  • How many calories you eat
  • How hard you exercise
  • Metabolism, age and gender
  • Fitness levels
  • Body fat percentage and weight
  • Exercise schedule

That said, here are some tips for setting up an effective cardio program:

  1. If you’re a beginner, start with 3 days of the cardio exercise of your choice, working at a level you can handle.
  2. Add time each week to work your way up to 30 to 45 minutes of continuous exercise.
  3. As you get stronger, try interval training once a week to help boost endurance and burn more calories.
  4. Work your way up to 5 to 6 days of cardio and try to vary what you do and how hard you work.

It will help you lose weight but it is most effective when combined with strength training and a healthy, low-calorie diet and adequate rest.

How Much Do You Need To Build Muscle?

You may think you shouldn’t do cardio exercise if you’re trying to gain muscle. But, cardio isn’t just for weight loss. It also helps condition the heart and lungs and promotes health and well-being. If your goal is to gain muscle, you won’t need tons of cardio. But, doing at least three 20-minute sessions a week won’t hurt your goals and will help you reap the benefits of cardio without burning too many calories. These are some simple necessities for cardio in weight loss. After reading this, I am sure all your misconceptions about weight training and weight loss are cleared!

If you want to begin working out or want to take your workouts to the next level, book a GOQii PRO class through the GOQii App and join our certified experts for a live, interactive session.

For more on weight loss, click here. Do let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

#BeTheForce 

September 3, 2015 By Mohammed Tufail Qureshi Leave a Comment

Deadlift and its benefits

deadlifting-form

If you go to the gym and are a regular workout person you would not be new to the term dead lift. Dead lift is a compound movement which recruits and involves multiple joints and muscles to perform them. It is also known as King of Exercise.

Deadlift can be done with your back workout or functional workout. Dead lift can be done with Kettle bels, dumbels and barbels. But, most people prefer to perform this exercise with barbels because it gives them better balance and is much heavier than dumbels.

How to perform Dead lift?

Take a shoulder width stance (have distance between your legs). Grip the bar with an overhand or an under/overhand (one hand over, one hand under) and fix spine in a neutral position. Keep your back arch and it should not be rounded. Shoulders should be held back, squeezed tightly, and positioned over the bar. The legs must power the weight up. Towards the top of the movement employ more upper body strength until the weight is at the midway position of the upper thigh. Lower the weight slowly until the bar touches the floor, knees should bend while lowering the weight down, pause and repeat until completion of a set.

Breathing is important when dead lifting. Before you start the movements take a long deep breath. Exhale when lifting the weight up.

Benefits of dead lift

  • Being a power/compound movement that involves multiple muscles it burns more fats.
  • More muscles are worked in a single exercise.
  • Improves posture
  • Improves core strength
  • Improves grip strength
  • Increases muscle mass

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