Month: October 2016

Sweat

6 Surprising Health Benefits Of Dancing

Post author By Shaun T
Post date October 20, 2016

I love to dance. I live for dancing. There’s no better feeling than what I call “living in the 8’s.”
But dancing isn’t just fun. It also provides health benefits, which is something lots of people don’t even realize. So while I love to dance, I also know that it’s good for my body—and my soul.
Here are the benefits.

It’s not just physical fitness

Dance is also mental fitness. Especially as we get older, it’s important to “exercise” our brain. And when you’re dancing, whether it’s just for fun or in a group-exercise setting, having to remember the steps and put them to the beat of the music challenges your brain as well as your body. It improves your memory, your coordination, and your focus.

It brings people together

Taking a dance fitness class, or even dancing at home with friends using a workout program like CIZE, creates a feeling of connection. It’s hard to feel lonely when you’re dancing with friends! That’s why dance has always been a social function at gatherings like weddings and school activities. Dance is the ultimate way to break down language barriers and enjoy life together.

It’s a great workout

Dance is a great cardio workout and really good for the heart! You’ll burn a ton of calories, sweat, and of course have fun. A secret bonus of dancing is that it also strengthens your core. I got my hip-hop abs all from dancing!

It increases your flexibility

Depending on the type of dance you are doing, you may notice your flexibility and mobility start to improve. As that happens, so does your range of motion, which in turn gets you greater results .

It’s a stress reliever

I know this is true for me. If I’m having a bad day or feeling overwhelmed, the first thing I do is turn on some music and just get lost in the moves. I always come out on the other side with an improved sense of calm and happiness. By that same token, dance can also help with depression.

It can help you lose weight

Can you lose weight with dance? YES! I always say my body looks its best when I’m dancing. If your goal is weight loss or improved overall body tone, dance training is a great way to help you achieve your physical body goals.
The bottom line is that dance is fun! And when you’re having fun, you forget everything else. While not everyone may want to do pushups and burpees or go for a run, everyone likes dancing, even if they aren’t “good” at it. If you want to make your life better, be in the best shape of your life, and feel greater happiness, there’s a simple answer: dance more!

Tags 214119, body, hemingway

Wellbeing

Here's Why Dads Matter As Much As Moms

Post author By Armin Brott
Post date October 3, 2016

For many decades, conventional wisdom told us that when it came to child development, mothers were the most important parent. Fathers, apparently, weren’t good for much more than piggybacks, reading an occasional bedtime story, and, of course, discipline. Researchers who studied child development bought into that conventional wisdom and rarely bothered to investigate whether dads might actually play a more important role.
Fortunately, a steady flow of more open-minded, intellectually honest research has discovered (and continues to discover) what fathers and children have always known: Dads play a role in their children’s life that is at least as important as the mom’s. Dads aren’t merely nice to have around; their presence is essential to their children in almost every area of their life: physically, psychologically, socially, developmentally, and even economically.

The Dad effect shows up in two different ways: good things happen when he’s involved, and not-so-good things happen when he’s not. At the same time, we’re learning that supporting dads in their parenting role and giving them plenty of help and encouragement increases their involvement.
Thanks to relatively new research, we now know that dads who are actively involved with their kids are happier, less depressed, healthier, less likely to commit crimes or abuse drugs or alcohol, and tend to be more satisfied in their jobs and have more successful careers.

Here are just a few examples of the effects on children of having (or not having) an involved father.

For 6-month old babies, the more actively involved the father is, the higher the babies’ score on mental and motor development tests.
Babies whose dads do a lot of basic, mundane childcare activities such as feeding, changing diapers, giving baths, and dressing handle stressful situations better than babies whose dads aren’t as involved.
Some researchers have linked high levels of father involvement with higher math scores later on in school, and to generally higher-than-age-level scores on verbal intelligence tests. Kids with involved dads are also more likely to go to college.
Active fathering seems to be positively correlated with children’s increased social adjustment and competence, having more friends, and to higher levels of self-esteem.
Children with actively involved dads manage their emotions better, are less likely to act out violently, and are less likely to start smoking or drinking or to become a teen parent, according to studies by Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.
Dad’s mental health affects his offspring. Fathers’ parenting-related stress when their children are infants negatively affect those children’s cognitive and language development at age two or three, according to research just published in the journal Infant and Child Development. In addition, toddlers with depressed fathers have less self-control and are less cooperative in fifth grade than toddlers whose dads aren’t depressed, says Michigan State researcher Tamesha Harewood, the lead author of a new study published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly. Interestingly, the dad’s depressive symptoms seem to be more influential than the mother’s.

Bottom line:
Dads matter. A lot. But we have a long, long way to go before they’re given the respect, acknowledgment, and support they (and their children) deserve. “Despite robust evidence of fathers’ impact on children and mothers, engaging with fathers is one of the least well-explored and articulated aspects of parenting interventions,” wrote Catherine Panter-Brick, professor of anthropology, health, and global affairs at Yale University, in 2014 study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. “It is therefore critical to evaluate implicit and explicit biases against men in their role as fathers manifested in current approaches to research, intervention, and policy.”

Tags 210399, balance, hemingway

Sweat

To Get Great Abs, Should You Focus On Your Workout Or Your Diet?

Post author By Jessica Serdikoff
Post date October 3, 2016

“Abs are made in the kitchen.” How many times have you heard this phrase? Whenever I do, I can’t help but imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger in an apron, whisking the contents of a mixing bowl with vigor, his personal “recipe” for sensational muscles being prepared like some muffin batter at the kitchen counter.
Obviously, the phrase is not meant to be taken quite so literally, but what, exactly, does it mean? And perhaps more pressingly: is it even true?
First, some physiology. We all have muscles, from the bulkiest beef cake in the gym right down to the gangly teen who hasn’t quite grown into his or her own limbs yet. Without muscles, we wouldn’t be able to move. Period. But many people aren’t satisfied with simply knowing their muscles are in there, somewhere, hiding; they want to see them.

What are the barriers to seeing them? For some, it’s simply a matter of building them up to be more visible on a regular basis. Many, many people, however, find that even if they’ve successfully trained their body, they don’t quite look “ripped” the way they wanted. This is more an issue of body fat percentage being too high; you could have washboard abs, but you’ll never see them if there’s a layer of fat over them.
Developed, defined muscles have more to do with the right training program than with diet, right? It’s true that if you’re looking to build muscle (ladies, you might call this “toning,” but I assure you, it’s still a process of building muscle) you have to work out. Specifically, you have to lift weights—and heavy ones at that. No amount of protein powder and kale juice will make your muscles magically grow if you don’t first train them. Similarly, if you want to lower your body fat, the appropriate exercise schedule can make a world of difference.
On the flip side, though, it’s entirely too easy to out-eat your gym session.

Working out doesn’t burn nearly as many calories as we tend to think it does. There’s a stark contrast between the effort it takes to burn 500 calories at the gym and to eat it in the form of Dunkin Donuts on your way home. This becomes an especially crucial piece to the puzzle if you fall into the camp of people looking to reduce body fat as opposed to strictly build muscle.
Even more importantly for the argument that muscles are “made” in the kitchen is the fact that we are, quite literally, what we eat. The foods we choose as fuel for our bodies determine everything internally. Do we have enough nutrients to build new cells and replace old ones? Do we have stable, usable energy? The foods we eat become the building blocks for our bodies. Fast food, lots of sweets, and caloric beverages give us empty energy, low in the nutrients that we need to recover and thrive. Look at foods less in terms of straight calories and more in terms of what that food has to offer you. Nourish your body and it will respond that much better to the demands you place on it.

Now look: I am both a registered dietitian and certified personal trainer, so obviously I’m going to tell you that both nutrition and fitness are crucial to wellness. In the gym, we correct our imbalances, build strength and mass, and hone power. In the kitchen, we fuel and recover.
Perhaps, then, it’s more appropriate to say that abs (or glutes, biceps, or quads) are in fact made in the gym; but they won’t truly shine unless you consider what’s going on in the kitchen, too.

Tags 208229, body, hemingway

Sweat

Here's When It's Actually Okay To Skip Your Workout

Post author By Jessica Serdikoff
Post date October 3, 2016

As human beings, we excel at making excuses to rationalize behaviors. When it comes to the internal debate over whether or not to soldier through a workout despite feeling lousy, this could not be more true. But how do we know when it’s really best for us to take a time out, and when pushing through may actually help us feel better?

The Issue: You’re Sick

Not many people want to hit it hard at the gym when feeling under the weather, but really, only a select set of symptoms require full workout abstinence.

If your symptoms are below the neck, you aren’t being lazy: you really ought to stay home. These symptoms include fever, muscle aches and pain (not related to a workout), a heavy chest cough, or any digestive issue. These are signs that your body is fighting a more serious infection or illness and needs to route all of its energy toward fighting it.

“Above-the-neck” symptoms like sniffles and mild congestion, on the other hand, can be annoying but are not good excuses for skipping a workout altogether. Do still avoid the gym to reduce the spread of your lovely germs, and start with a lower intensity in case your balance is off or you start to feel worse. But research shows that such a low intensity workout could actually give you a slight immune boost, and even help relieve nasal congestion.

The Issue: You’re Tired

Research shows consistently that physical activity can actually help us feel more energized! If you tend to feel lethargic after a day spent number-crunching, screen-surfing, or generally vegging out, then a workout could be just what the doctor ordered.

If, however, you feel tired due to lack of sleep, for example after pulling an all-nighter to study or meet a deadline, then resting is a wise decision. Attempting to workout when sleep deprived raises your risk of injury, leads to sub-par physical performance, negatively impacts your immune system, and sets off a cascade of stress responses in the body.

Additionally, over-exercising can prove just as detrimental to our energy levels as under-exercising. If you’re the type of person who works out most days a week at a fairly high intensity, take care that you aren’t overtraining your body. Feeling more sluggish than usual during a workout, taking a longer time to recover, or feeling abnormally sore or worn out following a session are all signs that your body may need some time off. Trying to “push through” will only make it worse.

The Issue: You’re Just Not In The Mood

When it comes to actual depression, experts agree: exercise can be just as powerful as antidepressant medications, with the effects of exercise leading to even longer-lasting symptom improvement. This is largely attributed to the hormonal effect that a workout has, such as enhancing endorphins to reduce pain and bolster immunity, and stimulate norepinephrine, which may have a more direct impact on our moods. Physical activity can also help build self-esteem and create a sense of accomplishment.

Of course, it’s easy for me to sit here and advise you to hit the gym when you’re deeply entrenched in the fog of depression, and it’s far too simplistic to assume that one treatment modality is a magic bullet for a disease so nuanced and complex. Depression is best treated from all angles: food and nutrition, medication and supplements, formal and informal therapy, community support, and yes, physical activity. (As an aside, if you are feeling alone and overwhelmed by negative thoughts and emotions, please reach out to an available support line.) Though it’s hard to see at times, moving your body in some way when you’re feeling low is when it has the greatest potential for positive impact.

Now, actual depression is far from the only time when our mood influences our desire to workout. Much more general “bad days” and chronic stress can also make it tempting to skip a sweat session. I would challenge you here to find an activity that can get you up and moving, but in a way that grounds you and allows you to recharge. For some, this could be yoga, while for others it could be whaling on a punching bag.

Being fluid with your routine based on your day and mood can transform your workout from a chore into a valuable part of your day.

No matter what, listen to your body. Short of puking your brains out or having just come out of spinal surgery, I would encourage you to give some amount of activity a try. Start light, even with a simple walk. If you feel ok, keep going. If you start to feel worse, then stop.

Yes, it really is that simple.

Tags 208459, body, hemingway

Nosh

The 5 Things You Should Do To Avoid Overeating

Post author By Diane Carbonell
Post date October 3, 2016

I wish I had a dollar for every time I ate more than I intended to or wanted to when I was supposed to be on a diet. But instead of a dollar, all I got was a failed dieting day that usually led to a failed diet. And then a restart, and another round of eating too much.

If you’re having trouble not eating too much when you’re trying to lose weight, here are some techniques I used that helped me lose over 150 pounds…and those I still use today to maintain my weight loss.

Avoid the Exercise Reward Mentality

If you’ve eaten more than you should have after you exercise, it might not have been from hunger but from the exercise-reward-mentality. The dialogue in your head might go something like this, “Hey, I worked out so now I can have more to eat.” This is false.

You worked out—great. But don’t undo your calorie burn by eating more than you should. Treat a workout as a way to improve your health instead of as permission to eat too much.

Eat Enough Protein

Protein is mentioned a lot in weight-loss articles, and there’s a good reason for that. It makes you feel full for longer, and that sense of fullness helps you control how much food you eat.

For example, I often have plain Greek yogurt with some fruit as part of my lunch. If I switch out the Greek yogurt for a pack of crackers, I’m eating about the same calories but not satisfying my hunger for as long.

Eat protein with every meal. I recommend eggs, small amounts of nut butter, Greek yogurt, whey protein in smoothies, cottage cheese, protein bars, and lean meats.

Use Your Brain, Not Your Eyes

It’s easy to get carried away when you see a display of delicious food or read the descriptions of entrees on a menu. But instead of relying on your eyes to tell you what you should pick, use your brain.

Sure, that Asian chicken salad on the menu looks great, but is it the best choice for your diet? Probably not, especially if the chicken is fried and the salad is drenched in dressing.

Yes, your eyes are telling you to eat more. But what’s the impact on your diet? Do the math. If that salad has 800 calories and you’re trying to stick to a 1,600-calorie diet, that’s half your calories in one meal.

Watch for Appetite Triggers

Almost everyone has certain appetite triggers that make it difficult to stop eating, or eat food not on their weight loss plan. It’s important to know what your appetite triggers are to avoid overeating.

Common appetite triggers include:

Certain foods or sensations such as candy, cakes, your favorite childhood meal, bakery smells, the sound of popcorn popping, or frying meat.

Feelings associated with food such as happiness, stress, or even boredom.

Environments or places you associate with pleasurable eating, such as your childhood home, a favorite restaurant, or a movie theater.

You can’t always avoid these triggers, but knowing what yours are can help you stop the overeating cycle before you completely blow your diet.

Have an Inner Dialogue

One of the common mistakes I made that caused me to eat too much was failing to have a little internal conversation with myself before I started eating. I often ate too much, whether I was eating salad, choosing from a buffet, or sitting down to a scrumptious restaurant meal. I stopped eating too much by reminding myself of three things before I started:

1) The food needed to fit in my weight-loss plan.

2) I needed to decide in advance how much I was going to eat.

3) Eating too much was easy, but recovering from consistent overeating was hard.

Find your own questions or statements to repeat to yourself before you start to eat. Having an awareness of your habits, goals, and challenges prior to eating can help you make better decisions.

Tags 210159, fuel, hemingway

Nosh

The Fascinating Way Color Can Affect The Food We Eat

Post author By Armin Brott
Post date October 3, 2016

At a recent visit to a chain restaurant, I noticed that the description of each menu item included information about calories and fat. I immediately lost my appetite, but eventually relented and ordered a salad. On the way out, I asked the manager whether the new nutritional information had changed what customers were ordering.
“Not in the least,” he said. “Nobody seems to care.”
If you haven’t already seen it, fat and calorie information is now required for all restaurants with 20 or more locations (and on vending machines owned by companies that operate 20 or more machines). The FDA’s goal is pretty clear: Stem the tide of the rising obesity epidemic—the same goal they’ve had since 1994, when they required labels on packaged food that list a product’s calories, serving size, number of servings per package, and more.
Unfortunately, those well-intentioned labels didn’t work in ’94 (In fact, over the last 20 years, obesity rates for both adults and children have roughly doubled) and they’re not going to work now. That restaurant manager was absolutely right: Nobody cares. The problem is that most of us don’t really understand what all that info on fat and calories actually means.
“There have been high hopes that menu labeling could be a key tool to help combat high obesity levels in this country,” says Julie Downs, an associate research professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the lead author of a study on the effects of food labeling. “Unfortunately, this approach doesn’t appear to be helping to reduce consumption very much.”
But all is not lost. Several recent studies have identified a few alternative ways of presenting nutritional information that will increase the chance that people will make healthier food choices.

Red Light, Green Light

In a 2015 study at the University of Bonn, researchers discovered that consumers who see a simple traffic light symbol (red=an unhealthy food choice in terms of fat, saturated fat, salt, and sugar; green=a good choice; yellow=somewhere in-between) are more likely to buy healthier foods than consumers who see only the usual labels with info on calories, grams, and serving sizes. Using functional MRIs to analyze subjects’ brain activity while making purchase decisions, the researchers discovered that a red traffic label activated a part of the brain that is important in determining self-control.

“The traffic light label appears to enable the study participants to better resist unhealthy foods compared to a label containing the traditional information on grams and percentages of the particular ingredients,” said Bernd Weber, a professor in the University’s Center for Economics and Neuroscience, in a University press release. “A traffic light label probably implicitly increases the weight consumers place on healthiness in their decision.”
Research in the UK, Australia, and other countries has found consumers are far better able to identify healthier food choices when they see traffic light labels instead of traditional text-and-number labels. Traffic light labeling also increases consumer demand for healthier foods. Since traffic light labels were introduced in the UK, sales of breakfast cereals with green or yellow lights grew twice as fast as the overall market, and sales of frozen meals with red lights have dropped by 35%, according to a 2011 study.

The Candle Cure

Lights may make a difference in people’s dietary choices in other ways as well. Researchers Brian Wansink of Cornell University and Koert van Ittersum of the University of Georgia took over (with permission, of course) a Hardee’s restaurant in Champaign, Illinois. Out of 62 groups of customers, about half were directed to the regular seating area, which featured bright lights, loud music, and the usual less-than-comfortable fast-food tables. The other half were directed to a different seating area, one outfitted more like a higher-end eatery, with white table cloths, art on the walls, jazz music, and candles on the table.

Both groups ordered the same amount of food, but the mood-lighting group consumed 133 fewer calories than those in the loud-music group. They also liked the food better.

Walking It Off

And colors aren’t the only variable when it comes to affecting a person’s food choice.

In 2013, a team of researchers led by Sunaina Dowray of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, took a group of more than 800 people and randomly gave them one of four nearly identical menus. One group got a menu that had no nutritional information at all. Another group got the same menu plus calorie data. The third group got a menu with calories, plus a listing of how many minutes the customer would have to walk to burn off those calories. And the last group got the menu with calories and how many miles of walking it would take to burn off the calories.
The differences between the four groups were huge.
The menu-only group ordered an average of 1,020 calories (roughly half a day’s worth of calories for most people). The menu+calories group ordered an average of 927 calories. The menu+calories+minutes-of-exercise group ordered 916 calories. And finally, the menu+calories+miles-of-walking group ordered only 826 calories.
Sunaina Dowray’s article was published in the journal Appetite. You can see an abstract here.

Tags 207609, fuel, hemingway

Lifestyle

10 Secrets To Weight Loss That Don't Involve Food

Post author By Diane Carbonell
Post date October 3, 2016

Losing weight seems like it is all about the food. And food definitely is the most important aspect of weight loss. After all, you can’t lose weight unless you cut back on how many calories you eat.
But there’s more to successful weight loss than simply eating less. You can develop behaviors—ones that will help you lose weight more quickly and keep the weight off longer—that have nothing to do with food.
Here are 10 of my favorites.

Get Enough Sleep

Studies have shown that getting enough sleep is important in weight management. Keep track of your sleep habits and note when you’re extra-tired. If you have trouble keeping your food intake under control on those days, you know you [linkbuilder id=”6433″ text=”need more sleep”].

Pick a Goal Outfit

Find an outfit that you’d like to wear once you lose weight. If you have a lot of weight to lose, choose one that is just a couple of sizes down from where you are now so you don’t get discouraged at the thought of going from a size 28 all the way down to a size 14.
Put your goal outfit where you can see it, and use it as a motivator to make good [linkbuilder id=”6430″ text=”food choices”]. I hung my goal outfit right in the middle of my closet so I’d see it every time I reached in to get something to wear.

Join a Support Group

A good support group, either online or in person, can really help you stick to your diet. Go to meetings regularly or check in online at least once a day.

Have a Grocery-Shopping Schedule

It’s tempting to head to the grocery store every day or a few times a week to pick up something you want or forgot. But the grocery store is full of tempting foods. I found that shopping once a week for all the food I needed for healthy meals helped me in meal-planning and calorie-control.

Keep Your Hands Busy

It’s almost impossible to be busy with your hands and eat at the same time—at least it is for me. Find activities to keep your hands busy such as gardening, playing games with your kids, crafting, gaming, or writing in your journal.

Exercise Five Days a Week

Commit to exercising in some fashion five days a week. You can walk, lift weights, run, or to go the gym—it really doesn’t matter. Just commit to some kind of regular exercise program for your physical and mental health.

Get Rid of Too-Big Clothes

This is a hard non-food behavior for some people, but it’s vital. As you lose weight, give away or sell your too-big clothes. Keeping them around serves no purpose other than to give you a “fall back” wardrobe should you regain weight. As a caveat, you can keep one or two of your biggest clothing items as a comparison as you lose weight. but get rid of the rest.

Wake Up Early

Get out of bed and get going with your day. Sleeping as late as possible often puts you in a rushed state, and when you’re rushed, you might be less diligent about your food choices. Ease yourself into getting up earlier by setting your alarm clock 5 minutes earlier each day until you’re at your ideal wake-up time.

Be Introspective

I find spending time with my own thoughts to be helpful when trying to accomplish a goal. Try meditating, praying, journaling, or visualizing how you want your weight loss journey to go. Imagine yourself at your goal weight and mentally go through the steps you will need to get there.

Find Fun Without Focusing on Food

Our culture often links food and fun. State fairs, football games, weddings, family reunions, and almost every other fun event or celebration has food as a major focus. Learn to have fun times without focusing on food. When you’re at a celebration, make a conscious effort to enjoy the event, engage with other people, and lessen the amount of time you spend around the food.

Tags 210154, care, hemingway

Sweat

To Get A Toned Butt, You Need To Start Doing This

Post author By Bonnie Pfiester
Post date October 3, 2016

Does your backside needs a boost?
We all know that squats can work some serious magic to lift and tone the bottom. But there’s something extra special about doing single-leg exercises that gives your butt that perky look everyone wants. The secret is working on one leg at a time to engage a small stabilizing muscle called the gluteus medius.
The gluteus medius is a tiny muscle located at the top outer portion of the hip area. Unfortunately, this muscle gets left out of a lot of workouts because most people work both legs at the same time.

You can locate it pretty easily by doing what I call the perky butt test. This is also the test I do to help my clients locate the muscle and show them how it engages when they shift their weight off both legs and on to just one leg.
Start by standing on both feet. Put your hands on your hips. Using your pointer fingers, locate the front of your hipbones. This should position your thumbs over the top outer portion of your backside.
Now, shift your weight from side to side, using your thumbs to locate the muscle that’s contracting and relaxing as you shift your weight back and forth. You should feel the muscle tightening on the same side as your weight-bearing leg. Ta da! That’s your gluteus medius.
This little muscle can help to completely change the shape of your derriere. Without a nicely developed upper-glute area, your bottom can look more like a pear. This is especially true if it’s coupled with excess body fat.
However, you can build this muscle to give your bottom a more rounded appearance by adding just a few single-leg exercises. Here are three of my favorite one-leg exercises, along with a glute circuit you can do with or without weight. As you can see below, you can even use gallons of water (which weighs 8.33lbs) as added resistance.

#1: Static Lunge

#2 Curtsy

#3 Repeater Knee

Butt-Booster Circuit:

20 Static Lunges (Left Leg)
20 Curtsies (Left Leg)
20 Repeater Knee (Left Leg)
20 Static Lunges (Right Leg)
20 Curtsies (Right Leg)
20 Repeater Knee (Right Leg)
-30 seconds rest-
Repeat for a total of 3 sets.

Trainer Tips

• Keep most of your weight on the working leg. If you rest on the back leg at all (even for a few seconds), it can totally change the feel of the workout. Try really hard to limit pressure on the back leg so you get the most out of this workout. Ideally, you should have approximately 80 percent of your weight on the working leg, and 20 percent on the non-weight-bearing leg.
• Maintain good posture, keeping your back flat while doing each move. If your back starts to round, that means you’re taking pressure off the area we’re trying to target. You should almost feel like you’re sticking your bottom out and arching your back.
• Maintain a wide stance and stay low to the ground during your lunges and repeater knees, as demonstrated in the photos. This helps to isolate the muscle groups we’re targeting. Unlike lunges and repeater knees, the back foot should stay tucked in close to the front weight-bearing leg, with very little weight on it. Only kick the leg out to the side, with just enough pressure on the toe to maintain your balance.
• Try not to rest between exercises until you’re done with the leg you’re working. This will take your workout up several notches and ensure you really work at the intensity you need to get results. You can take a quick rest when you switch legs.
• You’ll likely feel a slight burn in your quadriceps (thigh muscles) at first, but it won’t take long before you will start to really feel it where it counts…your bottom!
• If you can’t get through all 60 reps (on each leg) without taking a break, either go down in weight or repetitions. Increase your repetitions and weight as you get stronger.
• Repeat this workout 2-3 times a week for optimal results.

Tags 207604, body, hemingway

Sweat

Why This Is The Best Time Of Day To Work Out

Post author By Jessica Serdikoff
Post date October 3, 2016

Does the time of your workout matter, or is it more important to “just do it” whenever you manage to squeeze it into your crazy day?

The answer may lie in what you hope to gain from your sweat session.

MORNING WORKOUTS

Knocking it out at the beginning of your day has a number of benefits, and is most often touted as being superior to other exercise times. Many people find that if they “get it out of the way” early on (though the chore-like connotations of that admittedly make the fitness junkie in me rather sad), they’re less likely to come up with excuses and procrastinate until it’s too late. There’s also a serious argument to be made for starting your day with a challenging workout: it sets the tone for the rest of your day and may make other self-care choices easier. You’ll have started your day with an activity that prioritizes your well-being and accomplishes a goal, leading you to feel productive, energized, and motivated to continue to make such positive choices.

Some research even indicates that a morning workout may improve blood pressure and sleep habits, the latter being attributed to circadian rhythms and the ebb and flow of hormones throughout the day.

AFTERNOON WORKOUTS

A morning session may be the more impactful choice if you have trouble sleeping, but a session in the afternoon may also have some sleep benefits. Late afternoon is also when you’re more likely to reach your maximum power and performance, since body temperature tends to be highest and muscles most limber around this time. So if you’re looking to really push yourself and have a more intense session, the afternoon might be your best bet.

EVENING AND NIGHT WORKOUTS

The one time you want to avoid working out if you have trouble sleeping is in the evening or night. It may seem like it could tucker you out, but it actually interferes with the body’s natural rhythms and hormone “schedule,” amping you up rather than winding you down for sleep. That being said, not everyone responds to exercise identically, so if evening or night workouts seem to be working for you or you don’t tend to have trouble sleeping, there’s no reason to discount them outright.

In fact, some research indicates that end-of-day workouts may have the biggest positive impact on metabolism and glucose management, so it could be worth it to see if you can tolerate its potential sleep side effects.

OTHER FACTORS

It’s far too simplistic to assume that just because you would prefer the benefit of one exercise time over the others, it’s the best time for you to workout. If the humidity or temperature is high, for example, you may choose to go for a walk or run in the morning or later evening, even if you’d prefer the afternoon benefits of heightened performance. On the other hand, an outdoor workout in the dead of winter may be better placed in the late afternoon for improved warmth and thawed surfaces.

Your schedule also matters. If you have to leave for work at six, then a morning workout probably cuts into your sleep time too much to be realistic. If you drop the kids off at school at eight and pick them up at four, you probably want to aim for when the house is quiet. If there’s a gym at your workplace and you have a long lunch break, take advantage of it! Or maybe it’s easier to pop by the gym on your way home from work so that when you finally get home you don’t need to motivate yourself to go out again.

If you happen to be training for a particular event, consider what time of day that event will take place, and do your best to train at similar times. It helps your body adapt to activity at that time and can enhance your ultimate performance when the big event arrives.

Finally, consider when you tend to function your best. Some people are chipper in the morning, while others feel like zombies until close to lunch. Some people turn in early in the evenings and others are out and active well after the sun goes down. Don’t force your body to exert itself during a time of day you struggle with functioning at the most basic level!

The best time to workout truly is the time that works for you. Any benefits related to time are likely outweighed by simply being consistent with getting those workouts in, period. Don’t pressure yourself to workout at an inconvenient time because some expert or another said you “should.” Ultimately, whatever time you can make it happen, just do it.

Maybe Nike is onto something after all.

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