7 unconventional workouts that torch fat and sculpt muscle

When was the last time you actually felt like working out? Let’s face it, unless one is really dedicated towards healthy living and a sculpted body, no one bothers nowadays apart from the daily jog and eating oats. However, there are ways where you can work out, have fun and get a toned body as well. So, if you are looking for that trendy body, you might give these seven unconventional workouts a try.

Trampoline training

Working out on a trampoline might sound easy but doing the regular movements like burpees , jumping jacks on a trampoline adds more intensity to your workout.

Kettlebell training

In Bungee workouts a harness is tied to your waist which is attached to a bungee cord hooked in the ceiling. It is a workout mainly in a dance form which is a combination of strength, cardio, flexibility and is full of fun.

Aerial yoga

Aerial yoga is a form in which you are hanging from a hammock which supports your full bodyweight and is a great tool for people who have some limitations and are not able to do poses like handstand, back flips etc.

Aqua spinning

Aqua spinning as the name sounds is cycling under water in which the bicycles are submerged 3-4 feet under water and has a similar group class format like regular spinning.

Pound

Pound is a full body cardio workout which is a combination of Pilates, isometric movements and plyometrics with drumming movement which helps to sculpt muscle and burn fat while drumming out your favourite music.

Animal Flow

Animal flow is a combination of gymnastics, yoga and break dancing with some animal movements. It is a workout which uses your own bodyweight which makes it convenient to do anywhere without using any equipment.

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5 fitness plans that can help you lose weight without going to the gym

1. 80-DAY OBSESSION

The 80-Day Obsession has taken the internet by storm. It’s full of high-intensity workouts plus a meal plan that doesn’t focus on counting calories. Instead, it tracks macronutrients like protein, fat and carbohydrates.

2. NIKE TRAINING CLUB

Nike Training Club creates amazing online fitness challenges that are led by professional athletes and trainers. Brooklyn-based personal trainer Lita Lewis said these challenges are her favorite.

3. THE SWEAT APP

Samantha Cutler, the creator of the health and fitness blog @TheFitFatale, is based in Montreal and Toronto, Canada, and loves the circuit workouts in this app.

“Every time I do them, I am left sore and drenched. To me, that proves it works efficiently!” she shared.

4. THE PLANK CHALLENGE

Joey Thurman, a Chicago-based celebrity trainer, said he encourages ALL of his clients to do planks, which is one reason why he loves the 30-Day Plank Challenge. It encourages people to think about their core, trunk and spine health. And, it's free!

5. FEEL GREAT IN 8

Another top trainer shared Thurman’s sentiment. Hector Bones, an exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer who owns The PrivatGym in Philadelphia, loved this challenge.

“It’s the most rounded challenge for a healthier life. It is not asking for people to go from ‘0-100 in 3.2 seconds,’” Bones noted. "It's an eight-week challenge, where the participant puts a little skin in the game with $50, and you can earn $25 back by living the healthy lifestyle.”

This challenge focuses on many lifestyle areas, including diet, physical activity, sleep, stress and even gratitude.

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8 foods you should never eat after a workout

One of the key pieces of advice you'll get from personal trainers and nutritionists alike is to refuel after a workout. You deplete your body of energy with exercise and your muscles take a hit, so it's important to repair and replenish with food within the hour.

1. Sugary post-workout shakes

"A protein smoothie is one of my favourite post-workout meals because it can quickly nourish the body after an intense workout or weights session," explains Amy. "However, not all protein powders are created equal. Watch out for sugar-laden protein powders or worse, artificially sweetened shakes which may also include fillers, chemicals and bulking agents.

2. Processed energy bars

"While some energy bars can be a convenient option for those busy days, avoid ultra-processed energy bars with lengthy ingredients lists," advises Amy. "A good rule of thumb is that if you don’t recognise an ingredient, your body won’t either."

3. Low-carb meals

While protein is widely recognised as a post-workout essential, did you also know that carbohydrates are a vital part of post-workout recovery and nourishment? The reason being, Amy explains: "Your body taps into its glycogen stores during exercise and eating carbohydrates in your post-workout meal helps to restore them."

4. Sports drinks

You might think you look the part, clutching an isotonic drink while power walking in your leggings, but Amy doesn't necessarily advise sports drinks for after an everyday workout. "Unless you are a professional athlete running marathons, I’d recommend avoiding sports drinks as they are often extremely high in sugar, sweeteners or chemicals.

5. Salty processed foods

"Craving salty food after exercise is common, as we often lose water and potassium through sweating," Amy says. But instead of reaching for the crisps, "opting for a snack such as a banana is a great option for replenishing potassium levels."

6. Fried foods

This is more of an obvious one, but the health coach recommends avoiding deep-fried fast foods because "they contain little health benefit and can often contain harmful trans-fats."

7. Caffeine

"Caffeinated beverages such as coffee can be a beneficial energy boost prior to a workout and may even enhance performance. While I don’t believe caffeine is harmful, I personally avoid coffee immediately after a workout," says the nutritional expert. "I find caffeine can dehydrate my body, so I stick to water in order to rehydrate after exercise.

8. Eating nothing

You might not always feel particularly ravenous after exercising, but Amy urges you not to skip your post-workout meal. "It’s so important to nourish your body after exercise and it’s the ideal time to eat. Your body needs replenishment after all the hard work it has done, so it’s really important not to skip your meal after you work out," she says.

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8 exercises that burn most calories, lose weight fast with kick-boxing, jumping rope, swimming

Best calorie-burning exercises: Do you know which workouts burns the most calories? You don’t have to spend hours exercising if you want to lose weight or get stronger. Choose the right exercise, and you could burn more calories.

Try these eight calorie-burning workouts for the ultimate burn, from climbing stairs (a good mix of aerobic and anaerobic exercise) to cycling (add high intensity intervals throughout the training to increase the afterburn even more).

1. Jumping rope

Calories burned: 730 -1,090 calories/hour (if you’re jumping at 70 times per minute)

2. Swimming

Calories burned: 590-931 calories/hour

3. Kick-boxing

Calories burned: 600-888 calories/hour

4. Cycling

Calories burned: 450-750 calories/hour

5. Running

Calories burned: 636-816 calories/hour (roughly 9.6km per hour)

6. Indoor cycling

Calories burned: 600 calories/hour (at a vigorous pace)

7. Stairs

Calories burned: 600 calories/hour

8. Strength training

Calories burned: 600-700 calories/hour (performed at vigorous intensity)

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How to tone your stomach and keep it flat

1. Dead Bugs: 20 reps, alternating sides. 2-3 rounds.

This move fires up the entire core, front and back, and strengthens the contralateral muscular slings of the body. Great remedial exercise for pelvic control and addressing structural imbalance in the hips.

2. Kettle Bell Window Wipers: 20 reps. 2-3 rounds.

This move strengthens your obliques, core and legs whilst stretching the upper (thoracic) spine.

Lie on your back with your arms pinned out to the side by heavy kettlebells, palms facing up.

3. Walk Outs. 10 reps. 2-3 rounds.

Make sure the reps are slow and controlled.

This move works the entire core and shoulder girdle. This movement is self limiting - the further out you walk, the more challenging it is.

4. Isometric Cable Hold. 30-60 secs each side. 2-3 rounds.

This move forces the spine to resist twisting and turning, strengthening the abs and protecting the lower back.

5. Reverse Hyper Holds. 30-60 secs. 2-3 rounds.

This exercise is a fantastic way to strengthen the entire posterior chain with particular emphasis on the glutes and the hamstrings without placing undue stress on the lower back.

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The 14 Best Calorie-Burning Exercises, Ranked In Order Of Effectiveness

Best Calorie-Burning Exercises

1. Jumping rope

The burn: 667-990 calories/hour (if you're jumping at 120 skips per minute)

The bonus burn: As it turns out, this little rope is actually a big-time fat burner.

2. Running Up Hill/Stair Sprints

The burn: 639-946 calories/hour

3. Kickboxing

The burn: 582-864 calories/hour

4. Cycling intervals

The burn: 568-841 calories/hour

5. Running

The burn: 566-839 calories/hour (10 min/mile)

6. Kettlebell circuit

The burn: 554-822 calories/hour

7. Stationary bike

The burn: 498-738 calories/hour (at a vigorous pace)

8. Rowing machine

The burn: 481-713 calories/hour (at 150 watts, which you can check on the machine)

10. Strength training

The burn: 341-504 calories/hour

11. Metabolic resistance training circuit

The burn: 340-505 calories/hour

12. Elliptical

The burn: 322-478 calories/hour (at a resistance level of 8)

13. Battle ropes

The burn: 285-421 calories/hour

14. Power yoga

The burn: 226-335 calories/hour

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6 Workout Signs That You Need to Change Exercises

When you find an exercise routine that you like doing and are able to do may take a lot of time and dedication and you may think this routine will help you reach your target. But with the repetition of the same type of workout, your body will get used to the exercise routine and will consume less energy.

If you change the exercise routine, your body will be continually challenged and it will change, resulting in a more successful target hit. In addition, you can avoid repetition and boredom. The change can be made in the intensity of the workout or in the type of workout. You may also increase the time spent working out.

When considering the topic of, when or how often to change your exercises, here are some guidelines to make good decisions about this important programming variable.

1. Exercises That No Longer Work.

There’s a phenomenon known as “adaptive resistance” that plays a big role in the need to change exercises. For example: Remember the first time you squat? You may have only done 95 for 3 sets of 10, the next morning you felt those muscle DOMS!

2. When Your Weakness Becomes Stronger.

Training is always about identifying the problems in your overall plan and then finding solutions to those weaknesses in the form of new exercises that correct the problem.

Maybe you used to have problems at the lockout part of your bench, you spent time bringing your triceps strength. Now, your new sticking point is close to your chest. This new constantly evolving scenario suggests the need for more pec work, so you’ll drop a few triceps moves in favour of additional pec work.

3. Anything Causing Pain.

You just wrote up a new training plan. Sure enough, the new chest exercise you planned hurts your shoulder.

A lot of lifters would stick to the plan and work through the pain. But you should make a substitution right then and there.

4. Exercises That Might Not Work With A New Training.

Not all exercises are appropriate for all rep ranges. This means that when you switch from a hypertrophy phase to a strength phase, you’ll need to change at least some of your exercises.

In general, dumbbell, cable and bodyweight drills tend to be most suitable for higher-rep, while barbell and some machine exercises are better suited for low-rep training.

5. Changes To Goals And Priorities.

If you decide to amend your initial target, you’ll need to make some significant changes to your exercise plans.

Or, maybe you’re coming to the conclusion that you’re placing low because your muscle strengths aren’t where you want them. This means that you might need to temporarily eliminate some other exercises to accommodate your priorities.

6. Broaden Your Perspective.

Despite our best efforts and workout plans, we often find ourselves in a routine and we end up narrowing our exercise choices unnecessarily. It’s a good thing to periodically try new things, even if your current exercises seem to be working well. You never know, you might find something really valuable.

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10 Minute Home Bodyweight Abs Crusher Workout

1. Hollow plank

Why: It works your all abs muscles, including the deep-lying stability muscles, as well as strengthening your lower back.

2. Plank side-to-side feet jump and tuck

Why: It works your upper and lower abs, as well as your obliques (side abs)

3. Bicycle crunch

Why: It primarily works your obliques, but your upper and lower abs are also heavily recruited to keep your upper back and feet up off the floor.

4. Rolling plank

Why: A tough variation on the classic plank that places more emphasis on your obliques.

5. Heel touch

Why: Far harder than it looks, this move works your upper abs and obliques.

6. Side plank crunch

Why: Another move that works your obliques, while the crunch movement recruits the small stabilising muscles to keep you balanced.

7. Legs-together hip thrust

Why: One of the hardest and best ways to work your lower abs, which is crucial if you want to turn a four-pack into a six-pack.

8. Press-up kick-out

Why: A challenging but rewarding move that works your chest and shoulders as well as your abs.

9. Plank with leg raise

Why: Raising your legs alternately will force your entire core to remain activated for the full 20 seconds of work.

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3 Workouts To Earn Your Burn In Just 10 Minutes

Sometimes it can seem near impossible to find time for a full-length workout every day.

The good news is, we have three time-efficient workouts that you can slot in at almost anywhere and at anytime – even in front of the telly!

1. The Lounge Room Workout

Don’t feel like exercising?

Well here’s a compromise that you can do in front of the TV, but still burn some calories and strengthen you up! 

Duration: 5 minutes

Workout:

Side plank lifts x 12

Side leg raises: x 12

Side Tricep push x 12 

Work through the circuit by doing all one side first, then roll over and do the other side. Repeat until both sides are completed twice.

2. The Core Flexor

Got a spare ten minutes? This workout will put your core to the test…and will be over before you know it!

Duration: 10 minutes

Workout:

Genie Sit – 30 seconds

Rest – 15 seconds

Hollow Body Hold – 30 seconds

Rest – 15 seconds

Forward Arm Walkout – 30 seconds

Rest – 15 seconds

Repeat x 4

3. The Cardio Energiser

PUMP up your favourite tunes because this workout is HIGH energy…and all over in just five minutes! 

Smash this one out indoors or outdoors.

Duration: 5 minutes

Workout:

Basketball Jumps x 12

Mountain Climbers x 12

Front Kicks x 12 (per leg)

Rest + Repeat x 3

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Build Muscle Plan

1. Push-ups: Primary push-ups are mainly targeted towards the pectoral chest muscles and the shoulder muscles. Commence your push-ups with the high plank positions with keeping your hands firmly on the ground, exactly underneath your shoulders. Make sure that the spine is kept neutral. Next, lower your body down till the point when your chest is right above the floor. Push yourself up in order to complete one repetition. Perform one set incorporating 15 repetitions as a warm-up and then 2-3 sets of 10-15 repetitions as a finisher.
2. Pull-ups: This majestic exercise targets Lats and Arms. Firstly, grip tightly a pull up bar and using your arm strength pull yourself up over the bar by making sure that there is a slight arch in your back. Now slowly lower yourself down until your arms are completely stretched to finish one rep. You should perform 2-3 sets of 10 reps in the beginning and then two sets of 10 reps as a finisher.

3. Squats: The primary targets of squats are Quads, Hamstring and Hip Flexors. Get into the starting position with your legs shoulder width apart. Keep your hands folded together at your chest. Start coming down by keeping your knees firm and hips clasped. Sit back using your hips as you were sitting in a chair. Go deep within and return to starting position to finish one repetition. You could do 4-5 sets of 15 repetitions each as a warm-ups and 2-3 sets of 15 repetitions each as a finisher.

 following are the few golden dietary tips one must adhere to:

• Eat 3 meals a day with pre- and post-workouts.
• Ensure you intake sufficient number of calories at every meal and snack through beverages and food.
• Add plenty of carbohydrates into your diet such as boiled potatoes, cereal, rice, pasta, fruits and vegetables.
• Increase the amount of proteins in your diet by including soya products, milk, eggs.

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6 Surprising Benefits of Massage

Massage can help reduce pain from exercise.

Research indicates that massage therapy can reduce inflammation of skeletal muscle damaged through exercise

Massage can make you look younger

Massages stimulate blood flow, which is why regular gentle rubbing and kneading might keep your face looking healthy and radiant

Massage can help beat PMS

A massage could banish mood swings, bloating, headaches, weight gain, and other PMS symptoms, according to a study by the Touch Research Institute and University of Miami Medical School. 

Massage benefits chronic pain relief

Sufferers of chronic soft tissue pain (arthritis, fibromyalgia, disc problems, degenerative joints) can find relief after only a few massage therapy sessions, says Nancy M. Porambo, licensed massage therapist with the American Massage Therapy Association

Massage can help treat side effects of cancer

Researchers in Boston found that patients with metastic cancer reported better sleep, less pain, and overall better quality of life after receiving massage therapy.

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How Cardio Exercise Can Help You Lose Weight

How Cardio Helps You Lose Weight

It's common knowledge that weight loss happens when you create a calorie deficit, burning more calories than you eat. While some people prefer to cut calories through their diets, it helps to have a combination of things— cardio, strength training, and a healthy low-calorie diet.

All of those are important, but cardio is a key component 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. As soon as you get into that efficient calorie-burning zone, your body burns calories. The harder and longer you work, the more calories you burn. For example, a 150-lb person can burn up to or more than 200 calories during a brisk 30-minute walk.
• You can easily add intensity to increase your calorie burn - With cardio exercise it's easy to increase your calorie burn with small changes in intensity: Going 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. That is as long as you don't compensate for the workouts by eating more later in the day, which can happen to some people.
• You can do cardio most days of the week -When you lift weights, your muscles require rest to recover and grow stronger. Cardio can be done most days of the week without worrying about injury or overtraining, depending on how you set up your program

With that said, some Cardio exercises offer more intensity than others.

• Impact activities: Exercises that involve some impact, like walking, will usually boost your heart rate faster 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. You don't even have to do an entire workout with high impact moves. You can simply choose a few and add them to your current workout and you'll burn more calories.
• Whole body activities: When you involve both the upper and lower body, as in cross-country skiing, it's often easier to get the heart rate up and burn more calories. You can also do this by doing compound strength exercises. When done right, you get a great cardio benefit even as you build strength and endurance.

What's a good way to gain weight if you're underweight?

Here are some healthy ways to gain weight when you're underweight:

• Eat more frequently. When you're underweight, you may feel full faster. Eat five to six smaller meals during the day rather than two or three large meals.
• Choose nutrient-rich foods. As part of an overall healthy diet, choose whole-grain breads, pastas and cereals; fruits and vegetables; dairy products; lean protein sources; and nuts and seeds.
• Try smoothies and shakes. Don't fill up on diet soda, coffee and other drinks with few calories and little nutritional value. Instead, drink smoothies or healthy shakes made with milk and fresh or frozen fruit, and sprinkle in some ground flaxseed. In some cases, a liquid meal replacement may be recommended.
• Watch when you drink. Some people find that drinking fluids before meals blunts their appetite. In that case, it may be better to sip higher calorie beverages along with a meal or snack. For others, drinking 30 minutes after a meal, not with it, may work.
• Make every bite count. Snack on nuts, peanut butter, cheese, dried fruits and avocados. Have a bedtime snack, such as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or a wrap sandwich with avocado, sliced vegetables, and lean meat or cheese.
• Top it off. Add extras to your dishes for more calories — such as cheese in casseroles and scrambled eggs, and fat-free dried milk in soups and stews.
• Have an occasional treat. Even when you're underweight, be mindful of excess sugar and fat. An occasional slice of pie with ice cream is OK. But most treats should be healthy and provide nutrients in addition to calories. Bran muffins, yogurt and granola bars are good choices.
• Exercise. Exercise, especially strength training, can help you gain weight by building up your muscles. Exercise may also stimulate your appetite.

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