Shake up your workouts with these three fitness trends.
1. Smart Home Gyms to Complement In-Club Exercise
Home gyms became a hot commodity during the pandemic and their popularity is standing strong as people invest in quality equipment to support their at-home exercise efforts. However, while many got into the swing of convenient home workouts during Covid-19, many people realised that nothing compares to the motivation and energy that comes from working out with others. Now, with the resurgence of live workout experiences, exercisers can enjoy the best of both worlds. The majority of consumers now favour a 60:40 blend between live and digital workouts, with McKinsey research finding the number with hybrid fitness routines grew 41 per cent between 2020 and 2022. The study also found these consumers experienced significantly better results from their hybrid training.
With omni-fitness trending, more people are investing in home gym setups to replicate their favourite in- gym activities at home, and MindBody’s 2022 Fitness Report (USA) found that 35 per cent of Americans started going to an in-person fitness class that they first discovered through digital fitness. These savvy exercisers are also adding special one-off exercise experiences to their calendar. At the LES MILLS LIVE London event in October 2022, over 5,000 consumers came together for a thrilling weekend of fitness, and similarly (on a smaller scale) at LES MILLS LIVE Melbourne. The event comprised 40 per cent group fitness Instructors, 20 per cent gym members and 40 per cent LES MILLS+ members who were attending their first live fitness event. Pre-pandemic this type of event was attended predominately by fitness professionals.
2. Gamification at the Gym (or at Home)
Photo supplied by Les Mills
Tech-based workouts have been on the scene for some time, but innovation in this space is accelerating, with a raft of gamified training options and technologically-inspired exercise on the horizon. Gaming authorities report that two out of three Americans are now playing video games at least once a week – doing so to unwind, relieve stress and have fun. These psychological and physical benefits can peak when the gaming is fused with physical activity.
No longer is it just tech companies dabbling in the fitness space, now highly effective science-backed training programs are leveraging virtual reality and being adopted by the masses. Researchers have identified the ability to score exercise points, leader boards, unlockable content, levels, badges, and challenges and quests as the most popular ways bolster workout motivation, so we can expect more of this in the future. Combine this with connected trackers, and thriving online fitness communities, and you’ll have increasing opportunities to enjoy the motivation of a group while you get your fitness fix at home.
Group exercise studios are starting to serve up a new generation of immersive workouts where music, visuals, wearables, and Instructors combine in an exhilarating fitness experience. Down the track, virtual reality machines could soon become more prevalent on gym floors and clubs could offer high-tech cycles and treadmills that push your limits with racing games.
“The cultural convergence between fitness and gaming is sparking exciting collaborations and innovative products …You can now be transported into the middle of the most popular martial arts workout on the planet.”
If you think snacking sounds unhealthy, think again! (AFT Ed. We’re of course talking about fitness here and not nutrition). Small bite-sized snippets of activity are known as one of the healthiest ways to integrate fitness into your life. By peppering your day with short moments of movement it can change your mindset around exercise. No longer an onerous task that you need to schedule, instead you start to enjoy the benefits of exercise – most notably the endorphin rush – multiple times a day, whenever you get a spare minute.
Another reason this trend is taking off is the increasing evidence that breaking your exercise into smaller snack-sized training sessions could be just as good (if not better) than doing lengthier more sporadic training sessions. Research shows that frequency, not volume, drives strength gains. When exercisers choose frequency over volume, it typically leads to improved quality of movement.
Technique is more likely to be superior and exercises are executed with more integrity, so you can expect benefits across the board to be amplified.
I am sitting with my eleven year old nephew on a sunny Sydney day, watching him aim and shoot for the hoop. It made me think about my trip home to Kuala Lumpur as I am going back to 14-days of self isolation in my one bedroom apartment. COVID-19 has definitely crippled the entire world, restricting travels and bringing the global economy to a halt. When I get back, it would seem that I’ll have very limited exercise and social activities, unless I resist and improvise!
Playing basketball at home. Photo credit: NikkiYeo.com
Listening to Australia’s PM Scott Morrison deliver his speech encouraging every Australian to play an essential role in keeping COVID-19 at bay by practicing social distancing, restricting movement and avoiding group gatherings made me think about how people like me in isolation would spend the next 14 days. Just yesterday, Jasmine and I just launched MOVEAIDto assist people working in healthcare and the elderly with their household needs. This global pandemic also presents us all with a chance to take stock of life.
How I plan to stay active at home
Your Best Buddy (The Vacuum or The Broom)
Did you know scrubbing, sweeping, mopping & vacuuming are great ways of staying active? You burn more calories while vacuuming, so let’s get fit while cleaning! Besides, here’s what the Huffington Post reports to reinforce the suggestion:
Scrubbing the tub for 15 minutes burns more than 90 calories
Vacuuming could make a significant dent in your 10,000 recommended steps a day burning off 119 calories per 30 minutes.
Sweeping with the broom will burn off 136 calories.
The Disco Dance Floor (Dancing)
Dancing is a great way of exercise. It keeps you fit and it is very easy. Just turn on a YouTube dance tutorial and start dancing! You could also enjoy a playlist of songs we’ve prepared called the Move8 Playlist below:
Flexing Waxing
We take for granted the distance and weather our car go through and great time is now to whip out the car wax and work those biceps. Always remember to engage your core muscles – that’s right in the centre of your tummy, and work in wide strokes so your entire arm feels the muscles working out.
Indoor Aerobic Exercise
Exercise can be achieved indoor with body weight exercise. Use your furniture as your exercise tools. To get a good back exercise simply lie down under a sturdy dining table, extend your arms out to grab the side of the table and pull yourself up. We highly advise speaking to your fitness coach so they can design a good programme for your while at home.
So during this Movement Control Order decreed by the government in order to #flattenthecurve, stay indoors as much as you can, but keep moving in whichever manner you can. Choose love and a positive outlook and may we come through this with much character building realised. Take care now.
Locked down at home, no worries! Try to stay active and boost your immunity with those simple exercise tips;
Right click, save and share 🙂
1- Plan your exercise program and make to-do list 2- Stay active for a minimum of 30 min per day for 5 or more days per week. 3- Remember the 4 main elements of exercise: a. Warm up 3-5 min b. Conditioning 15-25 min (3 days aerobics and 2 days resistance) c. Cool down 3-5 min d. Stretching minimum of 5 min 4- Best exercise experience is with your partner or your kids 5- With your children be creative and let them move around the house 6- Always change your exercise routine and beat the boredom 7- No equipment, no problem you can use anything available including your body weight. 8- Exercise from a chair can be fun and ideal for older adult 9- YouTube can be great source for tones of exercise varieties, remember to choose wisely
Text provided by Dr. Ayman Al-Bedri, Secretary-General, Society of Exercise is Medicine Malaysia. Photo credit: Steven Raj Advisory Board Member EiMM.
Singapore ranks among the highest in the world for body and head pain, according to the 2017 GSK Global Pain Index which surveyed 19,000 adults across 32 countries. About 85 percent of 500 Singaporeans surveyed reported having experienced head and body pain, with four in 10 suffering body pain every week. The statistics of pain are not just attributed to an aging population, statistics of more cases of knee arthritis plaguing young and active Singaporeans have been on the rise as well.
There are different degrees of sedentary danger
However, there are hidden muscle groups in our bodies that are under-utilised and sadly in the case of a population growing ever sedentary, completely switched off. For many Singaporeans, the muscles in the hip complex are not triggering, which becomes a major cause of concern, affecting people across all ages and walks of life.
As the growing number of patients suffering from chronic pain from and without exercise increases, it becomes clearer that a postural check is becoming as important as a health check, and that having a good trainer, who knows the exercises you need to guide you along is the way forward.
Unfortunately, Singaporeans are not as aware of their health as they would like to think. The issues and problems that eventually result in chronic pain are often compounded, and people only get aware of it when pain and discomfort comes and doesn’t go away. Here are some things we can do today to address pain before you feel it and to see how a postural check is essential in helping the muscles in the hip complex.
Understanding the hip complex
The muscles in the hip complex are part of the human kinetic chain, when strong and mobile, it helps to relieve pressure from your lower back & knee joints (two of the most problematic joints), minimising the chance of injuries.
There is a wide range of movement that is available to our anatomy. In the case of the hip complex, understanding the range of motion that you have is important.
People tend to be stronger in front to back movements (sagittal plane) as seen in when we sit down and stand up. We enjoy a similar level of strength through rotational movements (transverse plane) when we get in and out of cars.
However, we are weaker through side-to-side movements (frontal plane) when we engage in more demanding physical activities, such as salsa, or belly dancing. No matter how you look at it, the hip complex is an integral part of many movements that we engage in to get through our day, and the list gets even more detailed.
The planes of movements we have available to the hip complex
Get a postural check done
Similar to a health screening, a postural check is important, it gives you a detailed front, side, and back view. This overall picture gives your trainers and your health coaches insights into any lapses in your posture, to clearly identify the problems you are facing now, and to prevent other issues that could arise from a neglected hip complex.
Fixing bad habits
Posture and the way we move is inherently unique between individuals. A good postural check will reveal the bad habits that you are unaware of.
Here are some of the common ones that we see in regards to the hip complex:
1) Locking your knees when you are standing. Are you aware of the weight shift when you stand? Are you favouring one leg more than the other? Being attuned to the weight shift when you stand, will let you and your trainer know the steps to take to regain a neutral stance.
2) Tight calf muscles. A common problem that comes with a dormant hip complex. Under the careful supervision of a qualified trainer and with a set of exercises done with a wobble board, the tightness will be gone before you know it. Looking good in heels in useless if you come back home in pain ladies.
3) Forward head tilt. Our excessive use of screens and weak back muscles are a primary cause of this.
4) Forward roll on shoulders, and a rounded back. Being hunched over the desk using the computer for long hours is a key culprit.
Switching on and off certain muscles
“Activate your core”. The advice we hear from fitness professionals more often these days. Just because your core is fired up during a planking exercise does not mean that it has to be all the time.
By referring to the postural check, your trainer will be able to gauge from how you move to identify which muscles are overworking, and which ones are overly dormant. This knowledge is invaluable to prescribing the right exercises. Muscles that are unknowingly being fired up all the time, you will eventually encounter issues of muscle imbalance, which can result in unnecessary injury.
In conclusion
The importance of posture and how bad posture can damage you
Singapore’s push for more exercise across the board is a great direction, the Exercise Is Medicine Singapore initiative has been gaining traction, where more medical professionals are subscribing to include exercise as part of their patients’ prescriptions as we see benefits that range from combatting lifestyle diseases to curing chronic pain. The human body is a fascinating and complex machine, able to compensate to still function a detailed article gives us a glimpse of the other ways that our bodies could otherwise respond.
With the advancements in sports science, exercise prescriptions have changed over the years. And the importance of the muscles in the hip complex become ever more relevant to an increasingly digital lifestyle. Understand that everyone is different, the exercises that we should follow through from our postural checks might seem challenging, and the changes look small, but they are ultimately crucial for us to live pain-free.
have your back. I really do. I sift through all the nonsense out there so you don’t go down the wrong path, waste your valuable time, and/or become injured.
Today is no exception. I will address the issue of vibration exercise as it pertains to body fat reduction. I consider this one of the biggest wastes of time in my relatively long-life, but you need to know the truth so YOU don’t waste your time with this bunk.
It has been proposed that vibration exercise (VbX), which evokes muscular work and elevates metabolic rate, could be a potential method for weight reduction. It has been marketed as an exercise modality that requires little time and physical exertion while providing the benefits of increased force, power, balance, flexibility, and weight loss, thus the appeal to people seeking simple exercise. The popular press has purported that VbX is quick, convenient, and ten minutes of VbX is equivalent to one hour of traditional exercise and a new weight-loss and body toning workout.
Here we go again: another step in the wrong direction in our quick-fix, take-the-path-of-least- resistance, and swallow-a-magic-pill society.
Studies have shown that muscle activation was elicited but the energy demand in response to VbX was quite low. Exhaustive VbX was reported to produce a metabolic demand of 23 ml/kg/min compared to 44 ml/kg/min from an exhaustive cycle test. Different vibration frequencies were tested with varying amplitudes and loads, but only small increases in metabolic rate were reported.
Based on their findings, they concluded it was indirectly calculated that a VbX session of 26Hz for 3 continuous minutes would only incur a loss of ~10.7g fat/hr. Following a 24-week program of VbX, no observed differences were found in body composition and following 12 months of VbX the time to reach peak O2 was significantly higher in conventional exercise compared to VbX.
One study showed the percentage of body fat decreased by 3.2% after eight months after VbX in comparison to resistance and control groups that performed no aerobic conditioning.
Only one study reported that VbX was able to burn extra calories, but could not reduce overall body fat and another reported vibration was not a suitable option to reduce body weight, as the metabolic cost of a ‘standard’ vibration session is equivalent to burning only 10g/hr.
It is equivocal whether the increase in energy turnover can be accounted for by an increase in muscle activation caused by neural potentiation, which has been based on spinal reflexes.However, to date, no direct measures of muscle have been made to verify that VbX acts solely through a reflex potentiation causing a change in muscle length that increases oxygen uptake.
Cardinale and Bosco suggested that vibration causes small and rapid changes in muscle length by eliciting reflex muscle activity in an attempt to damp the mechanical vibration, where various researchers have speculated the muscle activation is similar to that of the tonic vibration reflex.
The research study compilation concluded the evidence clearly suggests that VbX can increase whole and local oxygen uptake; however, with additional load, high vibration frequency and/or amplitude it cannot match the demands of conventional aerobic exercise. Therefore, it is questionable when a VbX program is solely used for the purpose of reducing body fat without considering dietary and aerobic conditioning guidelines.
Enough already. Let’s cut to the bottom line.
Attempting to shed body fat by relying solely on a device that vibrates and shakes your arms, torso, tush and wheels is beyond lame. It has been know for the longest time that to reduce body fat stores – particularly the hard-to-get-at adipose storage sites – a negative calorie balance (fewer calories going in/greater energy expenditure going out) must occur. The only practical way to do this is by monitoring your food consumption and performing high energy-demand exercise, which vibration exercise is not.
Shake fat away? How about this better advice:
Determine your daily calorie needs based on your activity level. Here is a fairly accurate daily calorie calculator.
Make sure your total daily calorie intake does not surpass your needs. Create a calorie deficit!
Take the time-proven approach of five to six feedings/day, fresh vegetables & fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, protein at each feeding, and plenty of water.
Exercise sensibly. Include a strength training routine (you need muscle – it is metabolically active!), high-intensity intervals, circuits, 15 minutes all-out on the Versa-Climber, or anything that is demanding (walking at 3.5 miles/hour for 45 minutes on a treadmill does not count).
Shake this: it takes disciplined eating and sensible exercise to tap into adipose fat stores, not an expensive vibrating device.
Do your days fly by? Is it difficult to make time for a trip to the gym?
You’re in the right place.
These are the 50 best resources for free online workouts that make is easy for you to exercise at home. Whether you have just a few minutes for a quick core workout, or if you’d like to join a month-long daily yoga challenge, there is something in here for you.
There are a LOT of exercise videos online, especially on Youtube, but the ones that made this list are the very best when it comes to teaching you how to exercise at home. These workouts require little to no equipment and are taught by excellent fitness instructors who know their stuff.
So take a look through this amazing list and find the perfect fitness instructor who can help you get a great workout done at home.
Use These 50 Free Workout Resources To Exercise At Home
Daniel and Kelli are the husband and wife team behind Fitness Blender, a site that offers a huge selection of full-length video workouts of all different types. Here you will find fat-burning workouts, kickboxing routines, total body strength training, workouts for boosting metabolism, stretching sequences, and more.
This resource offers wonderful online fitness classes that everybody can easily do at home. Sweaty Betty provides yoga workouts, HIIT routines, and many other types for you to try. No matter whether you have experience doing fitness classes or are a complete beginner, Sweaty Betty has something that will get you working at an appropriate level.
Do you want to do bodyweight workouts at home? Craig Ballentyne of Turbulence Training provides a wonderful collection of no-equipment bodyweight workouts designed to help you burn fat and get lean. These instructional videos are mostly short ones (i.e. under 10 minutes) and can be used to create your own home workouts.
Jessica Smith TV shares a unique collection of videos with 7 minute, 10 minute and 30 minute workouts. She offers a really great variety of workout styles – Some focus on fat burning, others on cardio conditioning, workouts for beginners, kickboxing workouts and more. Jessica is an energetic instructor that will motivate you to join her.
Do Yoga with Me is one of my personal favourites. Many of their classes are filmed outdoors in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. The level of instruction is top-notch and there are videos that focus on pretty much every part of the body (e.g. hips, hamstrings, back, etc.), so you can target the area that you need to work on most.
I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t mention my own workouts that are available here at Make Your Body Work. Every single workout will challenge your entire body and will include elements of cardio, strength, and core conditioning. The uniqueness of these workouts are the “difficulty levels” that provide up to 4 distinct options for every single move. This makes each workout very accessible for newbies, yet challenging for super-fit users.
Karena and Katrina lead the workouts at Tone it Up. Their routines are aimed at helping you shed excess weight and transform your body through simple strengthening exercises. Their website provides specific workouts for arms, legs, abs, cardio, etc. and have attracted followers from around the world.
Adriene Mishler is a yogi with purpose. She wants to use her instructional classes to help people live life better. As she puts it, “Yoga offers up a way for us to see a world that is working for you instead of against you.” Try the following class when you’re feeling in a bad mood. (I tried it…and felt better afterwards!)
Spark People shares short videos for all different types of workouts. There are several categories – Abs, Cardio, Yoga and Pilates, as well as others that diver into healthy cooking and eating ideas. These workouts are great when you are pinched for time. Choose a 10-12 minute routine and squeeze in some activity where you normally would have skipped it altogether.
Enjoy doing yoga workouts with your favourite trainers such as Jillian Michaels, Jane Fonda, Billy Blanks Jr., Tara Stiles and many others. This channel might offer the best variety of any out there – It even includes meditations with Deepak Chopra (maybe a good way to relax AFTER your workout!)
Livestrong Woman is a video channel featuring professional fitness instructor, Natalie Jill. In addition to Natalie’s resistance training instructional videos, you will also find great yoga beginners videos taught by Tara Stiles. As an extra bonus, this channel also includes some great videos that discus healthy eating tips and recipes.
Diet Health is YouTube channel that shares great workout videos and simple health tips that can help you change your lifestyle and improve your overall health. Their workouts are mostly quick ones (under 10 minutes) and are led by experienced personal trainers.
Natalie Jill is a very popular fitness trainer who you will see guest starring on some of the other sites and channels found in this list. Her best videos can be found on her personal fitness blog which shares workouts for weight loss, exercise ball routines, jump rope workouts, booty belt workouts, body weight exercises and more. Natalie also shares great healthy recipes and useful nutrition tips on her site.
Yoga Journal is a wonderful YouTube channel worth following if you want to do yoga at home. Highly experienced yoga teachers will show you how to do poses for the most relaxation, flexibility, and strength benefits. These short videos can be done whenever you have a few minutes to spare during your day.
CafeMom Studios is a very popular YouTube channel that helps moms build their body back after pregnancy and childbirth. CafeMom Studios offers postnatal workout videos for cardio, pain-reduction, circuit training, and yoga exercises for strength and flexibility.
Anyone looking for yoga, Pilates, and gentle muscle strengthening workouts will love eFit30. These full-length (i.e. 20-40 minute) classes are perfect for days when you want to be active but don’t feel like making the trip to your gym.
Sarah is a well-known health and fitness blogger has made “enabling your passion for healthy living” her mission. She shares a lot of quick and simple core workouts, cardio routines, flexibility workouts, and more on her blog. Sarah is fun, energetic, and really likeable, which makes following along with her workouts quite easy.
Cassey Ho is is the energetic fitness instructor behind Blogilates. She shares a lot of videos with quick and fun bodyweight workouts that you can do at home in just a few minutes. Her workouts are themed for different objectives such as the “Swimsuit Slim-Down” series that you can see below.
Bodyrock.tv is one of the forerunners in online fitness. This popular health and exercise blog is dedicated to weight loss, fitness, beauty, food, love and relationships. “Bodyrockers” find daily workouts that are either laid out with descriptions and pictures, or that are instructed in video format. All of the workouts can be done at home with minimal equipment.
GymRa offers a excellent range of video workouts that are divided into different categories – 5 to 15 minutes workouts for beginners, abs workouts, dumbbell workouts, no-equipment workouts, total body routines and yoga sessions. There is really something for everyone at Gymra.
Shilpa Shetty Kundra is happy to share her yoga expertise on the Good Health 24by7 YouTube channel. Enjoy doing full-length yoga asanas, or simply learn proper form and technique from her quick tutorial videos.
Workouts provided on the Live Strong YouTube video channel will definitely help you improve your strength, flexibility and fitness. Celebrity trainer, Nicky Holender instructs most of the workouts you’ll find here. He knows his stuff and tailors these workouts for busy people who want a quick exercise fix.
Caroline Jordan Fitness is a great choice for quick core, flexibility, strength, and yoga videos. Caroline’s demonstrations are excellent and her instructions of each more are very clear. This is a good place to learn the basics of some foundational workout moves.
Rebekah Borucki provides people with an amazing collection of short workouts for weight loss and toning. Her focus really is on time-saving exercise, so she employs lots of interval training and HIIT series to make your workouts as efficient as possible.
Steady Health has a large collection of workout videos that include specific routines for pregnant women, office workers, those who are rehabilitating after injury, and for people who just need a little relaxation.
Pop Sugar is a popular fitness and beauty blog that offers just about anything you could want in a health blog. On the website you will find lots of workouts broken down with great written instructions and pictures. On the Pop Sugar Fitness Youtube channel you can enjoy a great range of quick workouts led by some fitness industry superstars.
Enjoy doing easy step aerobics and fitness cardio workouts led by super-stepper, Jenny Ford. Jenny does a great job of making step classes doable for beginners (like me) who might not be the most co-ordinated! You can certainly tell she loves what she does – Check out one of her free video classes.
Amanda Russell is a former Olympic-hopeful runner who suffered a career-ending injury before she got to compete at the world’s biggest stage. Now she has devoted her career to helping others safely stay in shape with workouts that can be done at home.
Tara Stiles is a yoga guru whose video classes will help you become strong, energized, and more flexible at the same time. Tara’s unique movement system is approachable for anyone. Be sure to try her 7-minute morning yoga routine (below) – it’s fantastic!
This is another excellent Youtube channel that is worth checking out, especially if you are new to yoga. It offers a series of six videos, each just 10 minutes long, which teach introductory yoga poses that most people would find quite approachable.
Lauren Hefez is a personal trainer and Pilates and barre instructor. She has a great fitness blog that includes recipes, product reviews, and of course there are workouts in there too! She does a great job of specifying workouts for target areas like your abs, arms and back, butt and legs, and other combinations.
Sadie Lincoln is an experienced fitness trainer and founder of Barre3. Barre workouts are based on a traditional ballet style of training that uses a bar (of course!). Sadie has taken this foundation and developed a unique training program that perfectly combines yoga, pilates, dance and bodyweight workouts.
Enjoy using Cosmo Body’s videos that include easy-to-follow full-length strength, dance, and cardio workouts. Astrid Swan, celebrity personal trainer, also provides many quickie workouts (10 minutes and less) that give you an express option when you’re crunched for time.
XHIT has put together an impressive library of video workouts that are free to use on their blog or Youtube Channel. Their followers, called “X-hitters”, enjoy the efficiency of their workouts (always under 20 minutes), as well as their exercise-specific instructional videos that teach just one or two moves in greater detail.
Yoga Online is the Youtube channel for Yogasync.tv and it is a great place to find home workouts for new yogis. If you have just started doing yoga, you will find it interesting to watch videos with breathing techniques, and instructions for mastering key yoga poses.
Movee is the place to go if you’re looking for quick, dance-based workouts that will get you sweating. It also provides videos with yoga workouts for beginners, pilates workouts for beginners, perfect leg workouts, easy back exercises, body stretches and amazing healthy raw food recipes.
The Body Project specializes in high-intensity fat-burning workouts that can be done from home. Their workouts have some creative moves that are fun and effective. The low-impact cardio workout found below is a great place to start.
Emily Skye has a Youtube channel complete with dozens of exercise tutorial videos that are mostly 1 minute or less. She has put together some interesting movement combinations that you can assemble into your own full-length home workout.
The eHowFitness YouTube channel provides specific workout ideas and health tips from leading fitness experts and popular celebrity trainers. Videos provided here focus on weight loss, breathing exercises, water workouts, stretching exercises and even workouts for kids. They also have niche exercise videos like this one for expectant mothers.
Leslie of Fightmaster Yoga teaches hatha yoga for beginners, yoga for energy, yoga for reducing stress, meditation yoga, yoga workouts for strength, yoga for office workers…in other words, she offers a BIG selection of yoga classes! She is a knowledgeable instructor and is an excellent communicator, which makes her classes especially easy for beginners to follow.
PsycheTruth is a holistic health channel on Youtube that discusses exercise, weight-loss, massage, pain relief, and many other health-related topics. Included are some amazing yoga sequences including this “10 days of flexibility” series that is worth checking out.
Do You Yoga offers amazing yoga video “challenges” for everybody. Providing a little more structure via their courses (a number of which are completely free), Do You Yoga can help you create a habit of daily yoga!
Sean Vigue is a really inspiring fitness trainer who Pilates, strength, cardio, weight-loss, core training, and yoga workouts on his Youtube channel. He also throws in some “fun” stuff like this 1-minute burpee challenge. (It only takes 1 minute…try it!)
Method Yoga explains their approach best: “Method Yoga offers the student a processes of development and transformation by uniting methodologies of old and new so one begins to experience true liberation, wholeness and actualization which is the definition and purpose of “yoga”. It’s hard to pass on that!
Upside-Down Pilates shares videos that will help you realize the many health benefits of Pilates. These aren’t “let’s get sweaty” types of workout – Instead, they are more suited for improving the way your body moves by training your pelvis, hips, knees, arms and shoulders for proper function.
Brittany, a certified Pilates instructor, created Fine Tune Pilates as a way to help people rediscover their bodies and to learn how they actually move throughout the day. Her gentle classes are a nice workout, without any of the pounding on the joints that come with some high-intensity exercise styles.
Amber Karnes offers “judgment-free” yoga classes that are perfect for beginners and for those with “big bodies” who might not feel comfortable with traditional yoga poses. Amber has used yoga to help her embrace her own body and she is an excellent teacher to help you do the same.
Susan’s Youtube channel has lots of workout instructional videos and tips, but none are better than her 30-Day Ab Challenge. These are quick but challenging core workouts that offer you something different each day for an entire month!
My Free Yoga is pretty much exactly as it sounds – if offers free yoga classes for you to enjoy! It is a little different than other yoga options on this list in that it is really a hub for yoga instructors to post their free yoga class videos. The video library is huge and you can search for classes that focus on your specific problem areas. For example, there is a category for those suffering from hip issues and another for those experiencing back pain.
Coach Joshua Kozak is the trainer behind HASFit, which gets its name because “every Heart and Soul deserves to be Fit!” These workouts are based primarily in bodyweight training, so they are nice for at-home or when travelling. Coach Kozak has prepared some unique workouts such as one specifically for seniors and a series for teenage weight-loss.
Exercising regularly is one way to do to keep your body healthy and fit. However, sometimes there are obstacles to go exercise, such as bad weather or other constraints. No need to worry about it if you have some of the following stuffs:
Yoga Mattress
The use of mat for exercise activity is strongly recommended to reduce the risk of injury due to direct impact with the floor. Doing exercise activity with the use of mat as soft footing can also make the body do es not easily get tired and sore. So many exercises activities can be done by using the mat such as push up, sit up, and many other yoga activities.
Exercise Balls
Exercise ball is a special sport ball which is made of an anti-burst PVC plastic and has different sizes, ranging in from 35 to 85 cm diameters. This tool can be used to train the balance of your body, train the strength of abdominal and lower back muscles, and also train your body flexibility. This can be used as a tool to warm up before doing any heavier sports activities. All of exercises you usually do on the gym bench can also be done with this exercise ball.
Dumbbells
Dumbbell is a short bar with a weight at each end, used typically in pairs for exercise or muscle-building. Dumbbell-sized is shorter than the barbell, which is about 25 to 38 cm. the weight of the dumbbell are usually ranges from 5 to 100 lbs. You can have a pair of dumbbells with the weight that suits your ability.
There are so many positions of exercises that can be done by using a combination of exercise ball, dumbbells, and yoga mattress. Therefore, we advise you to have all these stuff at home to facilitate you live a healthy lifestyle without having to go to the gym.
Standing for at least one-quarter of the day has been linked to lower odds of obesity in a new study led by the American Cancer Society in collaboration with The Cooper Institute, the University of Texas, and the University of Georgia. The study appears inMayo Clinic Proceedings.
While sedentary behavior (such as watching TV and commuting time) has been linked to negative health effects, it is unclear whether more time spent standing has protective health benefits. To investigate further, a research team led by Dr. Kerem Shuval, Director of Physical Activity & Nutrition Research at the American Cancer Society, examined reported standing habits in relation to objectively measured obesity and metabolic risk among more than 7000 adult patients attending the Cooper Clinic (Dallas, Texas) for preventive medicine visits from 2010 to 2015. Specifically, the association between standing time and obesity was determined through three measures: body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, and waist circumference. The association between standing and metabolic risk was assessed via metabolic syndrome, a clustering of risk factors that increase the risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
The study found that among men, standing a quarter of the time was linked to a 32% reduced likelihood of obesity (body fat percentage). Standing half the time was associated with a 59% reduced likelihood of obesity. But standing more than three-quarters of the time was not associated with a lower risk of obesity.
In women, standing a quarter, half, and three quarters of the time was associated with 35%, 47%, and 57% respective reductions in the likelihood of abdominal obesity (waist circumference). No relationship between standing and metabolic syndrome was found among women or men.
Researchers also investigated whether physical activity in conjunction with standing provided additional reduction in risk. They found that among those meeting physical activity guidelines (150 minutes of moderate activity and/or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per day) the addition of standing time was associated with incremental drops in the likelihood of all obesity measures and metabolic syndrome in both women and men. For example, men meeting physical activity guidelines and standing a quarter to half of the time had a 57% reduced likelihood for abdominal obesity, whereas those meeting guidelines and standing three quarters of the time or more had a 64% lower odds for abdominal obesity.
While the findings provide initial and important evidence on the potential protective benefits of standing, the study team cautions that their findings should be interpreted in the context of the study’s limitations. These findings are cross-sectional, meaning they capture a ‘snapshot’ in time, so it is unclear whether less standing leads to more obesity or whether in fact obese individuals stand less. Additional prospective studies are needed to determine whether standing has protective health benefits.
Moreover, while obesity and metabolic syndrome were objectively measured, standing and physical activity were not; they were based on self-report which may lead to over estimation of these behaviors. Further, due to the survey measure used in the study, it is unclear whether study participants were standing still or standing and moving. While standing and moving provides extra energy expenditure, standing still is similar to sitting with regards to energy expenditure.
Finally, it should be noted that some studies have found adverse health effects to prolonged standing, such as increased risk for varicose veins. Therefore, additional research into the effects of standing on health is definitely suggested.
Date: November 3, 2015
Source: University of Kent
University of Kent. “Endurance expert: Drugs could help ‘lazy’ people exercise: In what has been described as ‘doping for lazy people’ an endurance expert advocates psychoactive drugs to encourage sedentary people to exercise.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 November 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151103140442.htm>.
