Fitness
Guest column | Fitness, just a stretch away
Individuals typically prioritise cardiovascular train and energy coaching as a part of their exercise regime, however overlook to stretch. Stretching helps keep general well being and must be included into one’s health routine.
It helpful for all age teams and could be tailor-made as per every particular person’s age, exercise and health ranges and targets. Whereas kids are naturally versatile, they too ought to carry out stretching workout routines on a regular basis as their muscle tissues might develop into tight, significantly throughout progress spurts.
Stretching correctly can enhance and enhance movement in joints, enhance blood movement and reduce the sensation of stiffness. Not stretching earlier than and after train is a serious mistake as engaged on the muscle tissues with out stretching or warm-up might trigger an damage. There are several types of stretches – dynamic and static. In dynamic stretching, muscle tissues and joints are moved via a full vary of movement throughout lively motion. Dynamic workout routines assist warming up the muscle, will increase flexibility and blood movement to an space, enhances muscular efficiency by bettering velocity, agility and acceleration, decreases the danger of damage and passive stiffness.
Static stretching improves one’s flexibility and vary of movement, it could possibly additionally assist muscle tissues get well sooner after a exercise, resulting in much less ache and stiffness. Static stretching can be an effective way to launch stress and pressure from muscle tissues, which may help one really feel extra relaxed.
The advantages of stretching are:
Decreased stress : Excessive ranges of stress may cause one’s muscle tissues to really feel tense and tight. Stretching muscle tissues may help them loosen up, and when mixed with aware respiration workout routines, it could possibly additionally cut back stress and anxiousness.
Stretching reduces lactic acid construct up: The physique produces lactic acid at any time when one workout routines, which contributes to sore, and achy muscle tissues. Stretching may help cut back the buildup of lactic acid within the physique. It additionally relaxes tense muscle tissues.
Helps with arthritic ache: An inactive way of life may cause muscle tissues to tighten and lose flexibility over time and the probabilities of tears and aches, not solely in muscle tissues, but in addition within the tissues surrounding the joints. Stretching warms up the muscle tissues and loosens joints to assist one transfer higher.
The aged must also make it a degree to stretch as a result of although our our bodies begin to degenerate with age, sustaining mobility could be troublesome for a lot of. Muscle tissues and joints weaken and the vary of motion deteriorates, each osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis are a pure a part of getting old, and generally lack of calcium impacts bone density. Weakened bones can add to posture issues that can’t instantly be averted. Stretching might enormously alleviate these issues, whereas growing circulation, muscle management, and bettering steadiness and coordination.
Stretching reduces the danger of falling, which is a serious concern amongst older adults. As we age, our physique’s water content material in connective tissue, akin to ligaments and tendons, decreases, leading to diminished elasticity and adaptability. This will trigger ache within the decrease again and between the shoulder blades.
So, one ought to stretch and hold match!
naveenchand084@gmail.com
( The author is a Chandigarh-based health coach)
Fitness
“Consistency is key” when it comes to keeping you fitness resolutions
MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) – A new year means new resolutions, and one of the more common resolutions is getting fit and going to the gym.
Losing weight and getting fit sounds easy, but both are difficult tasks to complete.
That’s why many people end up not following through with their resolutions just weeks after making them.
A local personal trainer says going to the gym is not the only thing you should do.
He says that watching what you eat is a good step on top of regular physical exercise.
“The main thing is thinking about your health being more healthy is a big thing around in. Just trying to come in try to work on being healthy and trying to get back into it. Get back to the groove. The main thing is being consistent. Consistency is key. As long as you’re coming to the gym and just doing what you need to do to try to reach your goals consistently will get you there,” said Personal Trainer Manager at Club4 Fitness Tevin Roberts.
Roberts also says to have smaller goals put in place so you can see gradual changes in your health and fitness journey.
“Never be embarrassed. You know what you’re trying to do when you come to the gym. Make sure you keep your goal in mind. Make sure you are know what you’re doing when you come to the gym. So keep that in mind and focus on what you’re trying to accomplish. Worry about no one around you,” said Roberts.
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Fitness
How to make your exercise resolutions stick all year
TOWSON, Md. — Any of you thinking about heading to the gym? Did you make a resolution to do so?
According to one National Institute of Health study, by the time next year rolls around, only 58% of us will have kept at it.
Photojournalist Kristi Harper looked into why that may be.
A lot of us are guilty of letting those New Year’s resolutions to get healthy slide away. So how do you keep at it?
Ali True Smith, who owns True Balance Studios in Towson, Maryland has some ideas on how to set yourself up to be fit and active in the long term.
“I realized this was the only thing that was going to hold me accountable to take care of myself.”
Ali has been in the fitness world since she was 15. She played lacrosse and studied exercise physiology and kinesiology in college. Afterward, she got certified in massage therapy and personal training. She knows bodies. She well knows the struggles that happen with trying to keep a good exercise routine.
“Maybe you took the month of December off because you were sick or injured or something. And then you jump in on January, and you’re trying to lift all the same weights that you were doing before. And then you get sore, too sore, so you don’t want to go back to the gym the next few days. And then you might even get injured, and then you get really discouraged.”
She says the key is taking the gym time to learn what your body needs to get it in its best form.
“There is an all-or-nothing mentality with working out. And people go too hard too fast, and then they can’t keep up with it… If you find guidance on how to properly strength train, you are really slow and controlled and mindful about what you’re doing, what your body is doing, being, you know, very aware of how your joints are moving and making that you’re training your muscles in a balanced way.”
To help, she made a flip book that shows you what to look out for.
It’s available from Amazon or at her studio. She says you need to figure out the right balance of strength, flexibility, and cardio work. It might sound like a lot, but if you craft your workout, you can fit it into a busy life.
She says, “It really depends on what your personality is and and figuring out, listening to what could work for you and managing your expectations. And setting goals that are attainable and not being too hard on yourself. Not trying too much too fast.”
Remember, you don’t have to jump in and go all out on day one. Spend a few weeks establishing the habit, and you’ll have a better chance of taking that resolution well into the year ahead.
Fitness
The 2025 Men’s Health Fitness Awards: The Best New Home Gym Equipment, Trackers, Sneakers, and More
ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER round of new fitness gear. We know you’re hitting the new year, new you hard, and whatever your fitness devotion—deadlifter, gym rat, hiker, trail runner, cyclist—there’s a seemingly endless stream of gear that’s purpose-built just for you. But which of that gear do you actually need? And what’s worth buying?
Every year, our in-house fitness experts, certified trainers, and gear testers research (and test) all of the best new product releases so you don’t have to. We torture-test the best-reviewed home gym equipment, log hundreds of miles in state-of-the-art running shoes, put down hundreds of lifts in the latest cross-training shoes, and spend dozens of hours steaming in the newest saunas—all in the name of science and recovery, and to narrow down our selection of the year’s best of the best.
In total, we are adding our seal of approval to more than 90 products across five different categories (plus a grouping of Editors’ Picks). We hope this helps inform your own fitness pursuits for this month and beyond. This is the 2025 Men’s Health Fitness Awards.
Jump to:
Cardio Training
Strength Training
Outdoor/On-The Go Training
Recovery
Apparel
Editor’s Picks
Design: Leanne Mattern and Jason Speakman
Editors: Ryan Brower; Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S; and Charles Throp, NASM
Grooming: Hector Simancas/Art Department
Photography: Justin Steele
Styling: Ted Stafford
Writing: Mike Richard; Cori Ritchey, C.S.C.S.; Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S.; Charles Thorp, NASM; and Brett Williams, NASM
More of the Best Fitness Gear
Best Dumbbells | Best Weight Benches | Best Kettlebells | Best Power Rack | Best Adjustable Dumbbells | Best Home Gym Equipment | Best Rowing Machines | Best Treadmills | Best Exercise Bikes | Best Folding Squat Racks | Best Folding Treadmills| Best Incline Treadmills | Best Cardio Machines | Best Curved Treads | Best Medicine Balls
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