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5 floor exercises for weight loss: Do these to burn the fat

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5 floor exercises for weight loss: Do these to burn the fat

Weight reduction isn’t solely about trying good or becoming into your favorite gown. It’s related to your well being too. In line with Nationwide Library of Drugs, weight problems is among the main causes of heart problems deaths and morbidity. And so, sustaining wholesome weight will assist to scale back the possibilities of growing heart problems. A weight-loss journey consists of making modifications in your way of life. As you finalise workout routines for weight reduction, don’t neglect to incorporate flooring workout routines.

Well being Pictures related with superstar coach Praveen Nair to search out out if flooring workout routines may also help with weight reduction.

Do squats to drop some pounds. Picture courtesy: Shutterstock

What are flooring workout routines?

Weight reduction workout routines require only a flooring, a mat and motivation! You don’t want excessive tech tools to do flooring workout routines. Nair says that flooring workout routines are extremely efficient as you largely use your personal physique weight to do all of the work. Most significantly, you are able to do this wherever, like if you find yourself travelling, in your lodge room or close to the pool.

Ground workout routines for girls

You simply want round half an hour for a really efficient flooring exercise. Listed here are a few of the workout routines you may strive!

1. Squats

Squats may also help to burn energy and in addition strengthen in addition to tone the muscular tissues in your decrease physique.

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The right way to do squats

• To do squats, hold your ft wider than your hips.
• Sit down until you discover your hip travelling just under your knees and stand again to the beginning place.

2. Plank

It’s a nice train for core energy and conditioning, says the skilled.

The right way to do a plank

• Begin with a push-up place, which suggests your arms needs to be underneath your shoulders and your physique needs to be absolutely prolonged.
• Whereas your toes and palms are aligned on the ground, your again needs to be straight and core must be tight.
• Maintain the plank for so long as your physique means that you can.
• Drop to your knees and cease till you may return to the plank place as soon as once more.

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plank
Do flooring workout routines for 20 to 40 minutes to drop kilos. Picture courtesy: Adobe Inventory

3. Burpees

Burpee is among the most compound and efficient actions for general cardiovascular improvement in addition to flexibility, says Nair.

The right way to do a burpee

• Start with deep squat and put your palms on the ground.
• Leap the place you’ll find your physique in a palm plank.
• Get to a lifeless push-ups, full the elbow extension.
• Leap as much as deep squat having impartial backbone after which stand as much as the beginning place.

4. Leg raises or reverse crunches

It’s extremely efficient to coach complete stomach muscular tissues.

The right way to do it leg raises or reverse crunches

• Whereas mendacity on the ground on the again, elevate your leg.
• Having your again flat on flooring or retaining your decrease again intact to the ground, elevate your legs until they attain the pelvic stage or attain 90 levels the decrease them right down to flooring.

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5. Superman

This can be a nice train to strengthen your decrease again with static contraction as you will need to have a robust again to do nice actions.

The right way to do superman

• It’s essential concurrently elevate your legs and arms off the bottom similar to your favorite superhero Superman.
• Do that whereas retaining your core engaged.

Nair says that whereas doing flooring train, your coronary heart fee zone needs to be 110 to 160 beats per minute. You are able to do these workout routines for 20 to 40 minutes. Push arduous, however solely until you might be comfy as more often than not, physique weight workout routines look straightforward however will be actually difficult. Additionally, to drop some pounds flooring workout routines is simply one of many many issues it is advisable to do.

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Green exercise: why an outdoor workout will make you fitter and slimmer

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Green exercise: why an outdoor workout will make you fitter and slimmer

Going for a run in the sunshine or doing some stretches under the trees in the park is certainly a more pleasant experience than working out under the strip lights of a windowless gym. And according to scientists it could also be much better for your mind and body.

Dr Carly Wood, a senior lecturer in sport and exercise science at the University of Essex, is a researcher in “green exercise” and says the power of outdoor workouts should not be underestimated. “There is so much evidence that by switching to doing your exercise outside you can boost your body and brain,” she says. “In our research we have found powerful mental health benefits from working out under an open sky, especially when surrounded by nature. But there are additional physical gains too compared to exercising indoors.”

Here’s how exercising outdoors can improve your health and wellbeing.

You burn more calories and blast more fat outside

Taking exercise outside, with its wind resistance, more demanding trails and soft or uneven surfaces such as grass, really does add to the energy demand. Six weeks of running outdoors, when compared with running on the predictable conveyor belt of a treadmill, was found to improve leg muscle strength by researchers reporting in the journal PeerJ, and “induce greater physical fitness improvements”, including a bigger reduction in body fat.

Take strength training outdoors to get stronger quicker

Most studies comparing indoor and outdoor exercise have looked at aerobic activity such as running, swimming and cycling, but last year Henrique Brito, a human performance researcher at the University of Lisbon, examined whether environment makes a difference when it comes to resistance training. Brito and his colleagues tracked 53 adults as they did a body-weight circuit indoors, and another 51 adults who did the same strength workout in a park surrounded by trees. The results, published in Psychology of Sport and Exercise, show that the outdoor exercisers achieved “better performance output”, demonstrated by the fact they typically completed a higher number of repetitions of each exercise — about two more crunches, squats and lunges — in a set time than the indoor group. Brito concluded that this could make a real difference to fitness and strength over time.

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Outdoor workouts can reduce anxiety

Wood describes one study conducted by her colleagues at the University of Essex which showed that huge “psychological gains are experienced during physical activity in nature”. Published in the Applied Psychology of Health and Wellbeing journal, the team found that outdoor workouts reduced anxiety, anger and hostility and boosted energy. “Aspects of nature have a huge influence on our mental state,” Woods says. “Taking your workouts outside provides additional benefits for the mind and has therapeutic effects for low mood.”

Researchers from Norway and Florida asked participants to walk 500m twice: first along a tree-lined track, then on a treadmill facing a blank wall. On each occasion they were asked to wear a device that measures brain activity. The results, in the International Journal of Psychophysiology, show a dramatic difference in brain responses and activity outdoors, with participants displaying increased connectivity between brain regions involved in reasoning and attention as well as brainwaves that indicated they were feeling more relaxed.

Weightlifting: how to get started (however strong you are)

You are more likely to stick with exercise if you do it outdoors

A recent OnePoll survey conducted by Ordnance Survey revealed that 46 per cent of the 2,000 British adults questioned said they feel more motivated to exercise outdoors, compared with just 22 per cent who felt the same about using a gym regularly. A review of evidence by Wood’s colleagues at the University of Essex found the mood-boosting effects of exercising in nature to be the reason for better engagement and sticking at it in the longer term. “People find they enjoy exercising outside and because of that are more likely to keep it up,” Wood says.

Running indoors really does take more effort for the same fitness gains

Staring at a treadmill screen rather than absorbing the sights and sounds of nature can make running and walking feel like harder work, but a review of 55 studies involving 1,005 participants in the Journal of Sports Sciences last year found that indoor running and walking really does take more effort for the same fitness outcome. On a treadmill people inadvertently tweak their technique, chopping their stride when running and shortening their step length when walking, which results in an increase in the amount of oxygen they use to complete the activity. “Even if the intensity of exercise is comparable, people tend to find it easier outdoors than inside,” Wood says.

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There’s another reason to hop off the treadmill and on to the trails: it could reduce injury risk. A study in the journal PLoS One shows that too much treadmill running at too high an incline stresses the body in a way that could lead to injury.

Forget spin classes — for real muscle gains you need to cycle outside

You might think your spin class pushes you to physical limits, but research suggests that you actually work harder cycling outside. When scientists at the University of Nebraska compared physiological and psychological responses to stationary biking in a lab environment and outdoor cycling for a paper in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, it was the outdoor workout that won, with cyclists able to pedal at a higher intensity. Others reporting in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance have shown that elite cyclists produce much higher levels of muscle power when cycling outdoors compared with performance on an indoor bike.

My ultimate resistance-band routine for runners

Open water swimming can boost mood and reduce hot flushes

Swimming anywhere is a great whole body workout, but taking a dip in rivers and lakes has a proven effect on mood. Dr Heather Massey is a senior lecturer in sport, health and exercise science and a member of the extreme environments laboratory and clinical, health and rehabilitation research team at the University of Portsmouth. Her research found that novice outdoor swimmers who took part in a ten-week introductory course had acute and chronic reductions in negative mood as well as a boost to wellbeing.

Meanwhile, Joyce Harper, a professor of reproductive science at University College London, surveyed 1,114 women, all of them regular cold water swimmers and 785 of whom were going through the menopause for a paper in Post Reproductive Health. Harper and her colleagues discovered that 46.9 per cent of the women reported a significant improvement in anxiety, 34.5 per cent in mood swings, and 30.3 per cent in hot flushes as a result of regular swims outside. “Women said they felt it was mainly the physical and mental effects of cold water that helped their symptoms,” Harper says. “For many the effects are lessened if water is too warm, as it would be indoors, and it is both the outdoor environment and the water temperature that has particular benefits.”

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Just a 15-minute session outdoors will boost your vitamin D stores

Exercise outdoors from spring to autumn and you get exposure to natural daylight that boosts your mood and vitamin D stores — exposure that you simply don’t get with artificially lit exercise studios. Vitamin D helps to regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body, which is vital for healthy bones, teeth and muscles. Schedule a walk for between 11am and 3pm when the sun’s rays are at their strongest, exposing some skin such as the forearms, face and legs. According to dermatologists at the British Skin Foundation, a daily 10-15 minutes outdoors for lighter skin types and 25-40 minutes for darker skin types from April onwards tops up your vitamin D supplies while also minimising the risks of sunburn and skin cancer.

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Trainers Say This Underrated Exercise Can Boost Your Workout Performance

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Trainers Say This Underrated Exercise Can Boost Your Workout Performance

It’s leg day and you can’t wait to hit squats. But when you get up to the barbell and begin your warm-up set, you can’t squat down very far. Your ankles feel stiff, preventing you from going down all the way and hitting your normal full range of motion. (Oof.) It may be time to introduce some ankle mobility exercises into your routine.

“Ankle mobility is the ability to move your joints properly, not stiffly, and to have full range of motion,” says certified personal trainer Ari Cobb, CPT. This means you’re able to rotate your ankles in a circular motion, and flex and extend them fully, adds Ashley Nicole, CPT, a certified personal trainer.

Meet the experts: Ari Cobb, CPT, is a trainer and MMA athlete based in Houston, Texas. Ashley Nicole, CPT, is a certified personal trainer and the founder and coach behind RA Warrior Fitness.

Having mobile ankles is important because you use your ankles for nearly every type of movement, from running, to walking, to lifting. So, being immobile in the ankles “can limit you from getting the most out of your exercise,” Cobb notes. For instance, if you can’t squat down all the way because of your ankles, your quad muscles won’t work as hard as they could be. Ankle immobility can also interfere with your ability to do daily functional movements, like balancing on your tip-toes to grab a book off of the top of your bookshelf.

So, motivated to get your ankles in tip-top shape? Ahead, read up on the importance of ankle mobility exercises and the best ones to add into your routine.

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12 Best Ankle Mobility Exercises

Time: 10-17 minutes | Equipment: resistance band

Instructions: Before and after workouts, do ankle mobility exercises between three to five times per week. During your warm-up, do two to three dynamic (moving) exercises (like the Elevated Dorsiflexion Stretch, Banded Ankle Dorsiflexion, and Toe Walks) to improve your range of motion, and during the cool-down, do one to two static (still) mobility or soft tissue drills (like Foam Rolling Calves and Seated Ankle Stretch).

If you’ve previously had ankle injuries like sprains or fractures, or your muscles are weak or underactive, Cobb recommends dedicating 10-15 minutes of ankle mobility work into your routine three to five times a week.

1. Banded Ankle Dorsiflexion

How to:

  1. Attach a resistance band around a sturdy object, like a pole.
  2. Loop the other end of the band around your ankle and step back to create tension.
  3. While standing, flex the ankle forward, then return to start. That’s 1 rep.
  4. Complete 3 sets of 12 reps per ankle.

2. Toe Walks

How to:

  1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and rise up on the balls of the feet.
  2. Take a step forward.
  3. Complete 2 sets of 20 steps in each direction.

3. Heel Walks

How to:

  1. Stand with feet hip-width apart and put your weight into your heels.
  2. Take one step forward.
  3. Complete 2 sets of 20 steps in each direction.

4. Ankle Circles

How to:

  1. Sit with back straight and one foot lifted off the floor.
  2. Rotate ankle in a circular motion. That’s 1 rep.
  3. Complete 3 sets of 10 reps per foot, then reverse the direction and perform another 3 sets of 10 reps per foot.

5. Standing Dynamic Calf Stretch

How to:

  1. Stand facing a wall with hands against the wall.
  2. Place one foot back into a lunge position, keeping the back heel down.
  3. Gently bend the knee to stretch the calf and ankle. That’s 1 rep.
  4. Complete 3 sets of 10 reps per leg.

6. Elevated Dorsiflexion Stretch (Step Rockers)

How to:

  1. Place toes on an elevated surface, like a weight plate, with leg straight.
  2. Rock front knee forward while keeping heel down to stretch the calf. That’s 1 rep.
  3. Complete 3 sets of 10 reps per side.

7. Seated Ankle Stretch

How to:

  1. Sit on the edge of a chair with one leg bent so the top of the ankle is touching the ground and the toes are pointing back.
  2. Gently press ankles down to stretch the front of the ankle for 30 to 60 seconds per foot.
  3. Complete 2-3 sets per side.

8. Foam Rolling Calves And Achilles

How to:

  1. Sit on the floor with a foam roller under calf.
  2. Roll up and down the calf for 30 to 60 seconds until you reach achilles, pausing on tight spots.
  3. Complete 2 sets per side.

9. Tibialis Raises

How to:

  1. Stand with back against a wall, feet about a foot from the wall.
  2. Lift your toes up toward shins, keeping heels on the floor. That’s 1 rep.
  3. Complete 3 sets of 15 reps.

10. Resisted Ankle Plantar Flexion

How to:

  1. Sit with legs extended and wrap a resistance band around one foot.
  2. Point toes forward against the resistance, then return to start. That’s 1 rep.
  3. Complete 3 sets of 12 reps per foot.

11. Standing Soleus Stretch

How to:

  1. Do a standing lunge, bending the back knee, keeping the heel down.
  2. Hold the calf stretch for 30-45 seconds.
  3. Complete 2-3 sets on each side.

12. Single-Leg Balance with Ankle Control

How to:

  1. Stand on one leg.
  2. Shift weight slightly forward and back to engage the ankle stabilizers for 20 seconds.
  3. Complete 3 sets on each side.

Why You Should Add Ankle Mobility Exercises To Your Routine

Help You Stay Stronger For Longer

Later in life, “we start losing muscle mass and tendons can start to become inflamed” due to aging, says Cobb. Plus, women reach peak bone mass around age 30, and are prone to developing osteoporosis as they age. Ankle mobility exercises can help you hit your full range of motion while working out—and stay pain-free while doing so. This ability will help you gain (and keep) more muscle mass and strengthen and preserve your bones throughout your life, which is key for moving well and staying healthy for as long as possible throughout your 40s, 50s, 60s, and so on.

Prevent Injuries

Mini anatomy lesson: The kinetic chain is “your body from the ground up,” specifically the group of the feet, knees, hips, shoulders, and head, says Cobb. All of these body parts are connected and move together. So, if you have an ankle injury, it can start affecting your hips and shoulders because “your body will start to overcompensate to try and fix those imbalances,” she says. Ankle mobility exercises can help you form a good, strong foundation, which will protect your whole body.

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Make Daily Functional Movements Easier

You don’t just use your ankles for running and weight lifting—you use them every time you take a step forward, squat down to play with your child, and bend over to pick something up off the ground, Cobb says. “Incorporating more ankle mobility exercises is certainly helpful because if you don’t use it, you lose it,” Nicole says, meaning that without practice, you’ll lose the mobility in your ankles. These moves are helpful to also “have a good quality of life” and be able to move well for a long time, she adds.

Improve Workouts

Aside from strength workouts, ankle mobility exercises can also assist with plyometric workouts (box jumps, jumping rope, etc.) and running because these motions require your ankles to strike and push off of the ground in flexion and extension positions as you move.

As you run, “you’re hitting triple extension, meaning you’re extended at your hips, shoulders, and knee,” Cobb says. “So if one of those things is even slightly off, you’re not going to run as fast and you’re not going to move as well.” Going back to the kinetic chain: Your ankles and knees have to be aligned properly for the rest of your body to move better and easier. Plus, “if you have poorly mobile ankles, you’re not going to run fast,” she adds.

Addison Aloian is the associate health & fitness editor at Women’s Health, where she writes and edits across the health, weight loss, and fitness verticals. She’s also a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). In her free time, you can find her lifting weights at the gym, running on the West Side Highway in New York City—she recently completed her first half-marathon—and watching (and critiquing!) the latest movies that have garnered Oscars buzz. In addition to Women’s Health, her work has also appeared in Allure, StyleCaster, L’Officiel USA, V Magazine, VMAN, and more. 

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Early or late? The best time of the day to exercise

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Early or late? The best time of the day to exercise

We all know that exercise is good for us. But research is increasingly reporting that it can be more beneficial at specific times of the day — from morning workouts helping you to burn fat to evening exercises that help to lower blood pressure.

The University of Regensburg in Germany found recently that being more active in the mornings and evenings could reduce your risk of bowel cancer by 11 per cent. The researchers looked at data from more than 86,000 adults and identified four types of exercisers: those who were more active in the morning; those in the evening; midday movers; and those who were continually active all day.

The study found that those whose exercise levels peaked at either 8am or 6pm had

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