Why You Should be Actively Stretching for a Better Workout

You know you’re supposed to stretch both before and after workouts, but you were running late for your appointment with your trainer or to meet your workout partner. You’ve gotta head out to an early meeting at work or don’t want to be late for dinner. Once again, stretching goes out the window. “I’ll foam roll while I’m watching The Masked Singer,” you tell yourself.
“We are constantly researching fitness methods,” says Torres. “But we’re finding that no matter how fit our clients were, they were still getting injured from time to time. They’d tweak this or that and we’d send them to a physical therapist.”
Every year around the holidays, Torres would get a nice bag of oranges from the therapist for all those referrals. Torres developed his current training method and “now I don’t get oranges anymore.”

Why You Should be Stretching

Torres found that people have injuries like golf or tennis elbow, but don’t even play those sports. Clients would resist stretching or rely on the same stretches they’ve been doing since high school, like grabbing one foot behind you to stretch the hamstrings or pushing an arm held at a right angle against a door frame. Neither are particularly effective.

“Stretching has all sorts of connotations for men … they usually think it has to be about yoga. We actually don’t recommend yoga. It doesn’t provide active flexibility. For guys especially, you’re also at the mercy of an instructor who, more often than not, is focused on women and women’s bodies,” says Torres. “We encourage a direct, focused strategy to open up muscles, emphasizing active flexibility. Every strength movement should be complemented with a counter stretch. Stretching should also be done between sets to allow more blood flow, not left for the end. What’s most important is that stretching strengthens connective tissue, cutting down on the strain and tear of tendons. It’s about education; informing and inspiring movement. There are benefits to a properly executed handstand that you’ll never get from an overhead barbell press where you don’t straighten your arms.”
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Choosing the right exercise bike

When you re exercising, it is necessary to choose the perfect Exercise bike. Choosing the wrong one will not only affect your exercise but will also affect your health. Therefore, you should choose the best exercise bike. here are some of the things that you should take a look at when you are choosing an exercise bike.
The flywheel weight
You should take into consideration the flywheel weight, it is because that determines the comfort as well as the fluidity of the cycling. Choosing proper weight is important to work if you are new and just beginning to exercise, you should choose the bike that has only 7 to 9 Kg of flywheel weight. Whereas, for the intermediate, you should go with the one that has 9 to 14 kg. In the same way, if you are experienced enough, you can go with the flywheel that has more than 15 kg of weight.
Bluetooth is must
When you go to choose the running bike, you might notice that there are certain bikes in which console doesn’t have Bluetooth support. Whereas half of them does have. Therefore, many of the people will go without Bluetooth because it is more affordable. However, you should only go with the one that has Bluetooth support. This is how you can manage all the programs directly from your smartphone. You can add the exercise and even customize them. Therefore, make sure the bike you are going with has Bluetooth support.
Comfortable sitting and handling
Exercise is not all about the pain, you should see the comfort as well. There are certain comfort things that you should take a look at. Among those, the first one is the handlebars. The handlebars must be adjustable and you should set it as per your convenience. This is the must-have a part in any bike that you are choosing to go with. Many of the people don’t take this into consideration.
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Here's What You Should Eat Before, During And After An Intense Workout

While we all know that an intense workout can help you lose the right amount of weight, what you eat before, during and after you exercise plays a huge role in your fitness regime.
The right kind of food can make or break a workout routine and possibly affect the desired results. So what to munch on? According to experts, quality carbohydrates are important pre-workout and lean proteins post-workout.
Before you start with your exercise, eat carbohydrates, but not too much, said Nancy Cohen, a professor specialising in nutrition, reported CNN.
Cohen recommended consuming 1 to 4 grams of carbohydrates per every 2.2 pounds of body weight if you are planning to exercise for longer than an hour. Eating about an hour to four hours before working out is perfect for your fitness regime.
A review paper by researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia suggested that carbohydrate ingestion can improve endurance exercise performance. The paper was published in the 'Journal of Nutrition'.
The researchers assessed 50 randomised studies on carbohydrate ingestion and endurance exercise. The researchers found that the data in the studies provide evidence that consuming carbohydrates can enhance endurance exercise performance in adults.
"By eating carbohydrate-rich foods that are low in fat and low or moderate in protein, you can make sure you have enough muscle glycogen as fuel for your physical activity. This might include low-fat granola bars, fig bars, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, banana, yoghurt, pasta or other high-carbohydrate foods," Cohen said.
Staying hydrated is equally essential, consuming lots and lots of water can do the trick.
"Sufficient fluids are also important. In general, you can consume 5 to 10 millilitres of water per kilogram of body weight in the two to four hours before a workout," she said.
If you prefer to exercise in the morning, experts are divided on whether you should eat ahead of time.
It should be your own decision on whether to eat breakfast before or after exercise, said Stuart Phillips, a professor.
"I work out before breakfast every day because that's when I like to work out. I don't take in anything other than perhaps a cup of coffee most times or perhaps a slice of toast. My big breakfast comes after. But that's not to say that's good or bad. That's just what I do," Phillips said.
However, Cohen said that it's important to not make a habit of exercising on an empty stomach.
"If you haven't eaten in a long time, your body is in a fasted state. Normally, your body will use glucose for fuel and begin to break down muscle glycogen to deliver the glucose your body needs for exercise. In a fasted state, the muscle glycogen will be depleted sooner. Your body will then turn to breaking down fats for the energy it needs," Cohen said.
"This can lead to ketosis, or keto-acid buildup in the blood, which can be harmful to the kidneys over the long term and cause fatigue and dizziness," she said.

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These Are The Best Times To Workout For Your Goals

Best time for weight management: morning workouts

 

There are some physiological perks to morning workouts in general. Working out first thing on an empty stomach may be more conducive to burning stored fat, because of your body’s hormonal composition, Hackney explains.

Best time for intense training: afternoon workouts

 

Hackney says afternoon workouts can also be beneficial. The perk of these workouts is that by the afternoon, you’ve had time to get a few good meals in, which can raise your blood sugar levels, making it easier to do more high intensity things. A Journal of Physiology study noted that working out between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., like a morning workout, can shift forward your body clock and help you recover from things like jet lag more easily.

 

Best for stress management: evening workouts

 

There’s some conflicting research out there about evening workouts, and how they impact your sleep. The Journal of Physiology found working out between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. may delay the body clock, making you go to sleep later. But a paper published in the journal Experimental Physiology found nighttime exercise wasn’t disruptive to sleep, and could even reduce levels of the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates hunger. Hackney says the recovery period after exercising could suppress appetite and make you less likely to crave evening snacks.

Best time in the month: workout on your period

 

Hackney did research looking at how working out at different points in your menstrual cycle may impact the way you exercise. The research found that, in some cases, the second half of your menstrual cycle after ovulation may cause you to metabolise more fat as an energy source, compared with the early part of the cycle. He says this is because oestrogen tends to spikes after you ovulate. "So, when you go to the gym during this time you may actually be burning more fat," Hackney explains.

 

Best time overall: when it works for you

 

Ultimately, the best time to workout isn’t about small physiological gains. It’s about carving out time for yourself, and accommodating your schedule and chronotype. If your work and life schedule doesn’t align with your chronotype, you can train your body to workout at a new time, Hackney says. Say you’re really a night owl, but you don’t have time to workout at night because that’s when your kids need help with homework. You can train yourself to be a morning exerciser by easing into it.

 

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How to get back into a workout routine after an injury

1. Keep things low intensity

If you’re used to crushing your local CrossFit or other HIIT (high-intensity interval training) style workouts, it’s best to find a more relaxed alternative until the injury has fully recovered.

2. Find a workout buddy

Working out with a friend is always more fun, but can be especially important if you’re recovering from an injury.

3. See a physical therapist

This can be a no-brainer if your injury is severe, but even those with minor injuries can benefit from the expertise of a professional.

4. Focus on nutrition

Proper growth and recovery cannot happen without the proper diet. The right conditions for healing start with overall wellness, and what we eat and drink impacts how well our bodies heal after an injury.
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Got 10 Minutes? Blast Your Arms With This Dumbbell Workout

When it comes to your gym time, it's important to remember that you don't have to spend hours and hours in the weights room to get noticeable results.

Similarly, you don't have to go on a safari around the gym and use endless pieces of kit to get the physique you want. In fact, some people don't even need to go to the gym.

The workout, above, ticks all of these boxes and more. As it's only 10 minutes long, the workout's especially handy if your arm routine or upper-body finishers have got a little stale.

 

Follow the coaching cues in the video above and make sure you own every rep — don't rush through them. Now get to it.

Round 1

• Bicep Curl 21s

7 reps low-to-mid, 7 reps -mid-to-high, 7 full range

• Bench Dips

20 reps

• Skullcrushers

20 reps

Round 2

• Bicep Curl 21s

7 reps low-to-mid, 7 reps -mid-to-high, 7 full range

• Bench Dips

20 reps

• Skullcrushers

20 reps

Round 3

• Bicep Curl 21s

7 reps low-to-mid, 7 reps -mid-to-high, 7 full range

• Bench Dips

20 reps

• Skullcrushers

20 reps

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7 post-workout hygiene habits we all must follow

Post-workout hygiene habits we all must follow

Sweating out is natural while gymming. It is a sign of accomplishment and gives a sense of satisfaction. But we also know that a gym is full of sweaty bodies and sweaty clothes, which is an ideal environment for breeding of germs and bacteria. In such a situation, it is important to follow good post-workout hygiene habits. Skipping these can put a person at the risk of developing harmful diseases. Here are some important things you should do without fail: 

Wash your hands properly

As soon as you are done with your workout, immediately rush to the washroom and wash your hands properly. Public places, including the gym, are full of harmful bacteria. Hundreds of people touch the equipment every day and germs present in their hands get transferred to the equipment.

Wipe down your equipment

Wipe down the gym equipment after you are done with your workout. Most of the people overlook this important gym hygiene habit, which can prove to be harmful to others. Sweaty gym equipment is an excellent place for the multiplication of germs. Use a spray or wipe down your equipment before and after using it.

Clean your yoga mat

Do not forget the yoga mat after coming back to home. The mat in which you practiced yoga to calm your mind and body is full of germs and sweat. Various studies prove that yoga mat which has numerous small holes are a potential breeding ground for fungus and bacteria. It is even better to take your own yoga mat and avoid the communal yoga mats. 

 

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