3 Ways to Love Your Lower Body Workout

It is quite common for people to tire of the same old exercises when they work on their lower body. This often causes them to dread the days they must workout. So presenting you with a refreshing change, this blog introduces you to new ways to love your lower body workouts when you next hit the gym.

Stay on the ball

Using the stability ball is an exceptional way to keep fit, maintain your balance and workout. You can begin with a relatively regime of 10 minute reps of the ball squeeze and hamstring curl. Alternate these with the ball lunges before you move on to a ball squat. These are recommended for both men as well as women.

Source:https://wwws.fitnessrepublic.com/fitness/exercises/10-minute-lower-body-workout-with-stability-ball.html

Do not over exert yourself

Embarking upon a strenuous workout only to quit early with a pulled hamstring or a ligament tear would indeed be a shame. This is exactly why a lot of individuals insist on heading to a functional fitness gym and training under experienced coaches and personal trainers who best understand their stamina, capacity when devising lower body workouts.

Source: https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-12950273-stock-footage-fitness-healthy-woman-tired-after-strength-training-exercise-at-gym-resting-slow-motion-kickboxer.html

Splits and squats are your new best friends

Experts attest that there are few other ways to tone your muscles better than squats. Including lunges, squats and splits are a must if you wish to build up muscles in your legs.

Source: https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/bulgarian-split-squat-to-lunge

Try these out at a fitness gym in Gurgaon for they shall work wonders at helping you gain that perfect body.

Three Classic Yoga Postures that Yoga Gurus Swear by

A sedentary lifestyle has a lot of individuals complain about stiffness in the back and a lack of flexibility. Luckily, yoga offers you a solution. Read on to discover the three classic poses that every yoga guru worth his salt swears by. Whether you intend to pursue yoga for weight loss or purely as a new fitness regime; trying these postures is a must.

1. The Downward Dog
This is recommended as a way to promote flexibility. It gently stretches your limbs and is the perfect pose to practice right after you’re up in the morning. Begin your day with the downward dog and you shall feel relaxed, yet energetic and ready to go!

2. The Forward Fold
This pose is best undertaken when you are in a sitting position. The posture is suggested because it improves your digestion and promotes blood circulation. Essentially a simple stretch, you can easily practice this in the afternoon once you have had a filling meal. It shall speed up your metabolism and help you digest the food.

3. The Sitting Forward Fold
The seated forward fold is an exercise that couldn’t be simpler! All you must do is assume the position and hold it as you take a deep breath. Practicing this consistently shall rid you of back pain and render you limber.



These classic poses are a staple in most yoga classes, so perfecting these is a great way to start your yoga journey to fitness!

Nifty Perks of Taking a Kickboxing Class

If you’re on the lookout for new and interesting ways to work your way to fitness, then opt for kickboxing as it is a coveted workout. Offering you lucrative fitness perks, take this class to put a new spin on your humdrum gym regime. This blog details the perks of adopting kickboxing for fitness.

1. It tones your leg muscles
This is the best way to shed some of the undesirable flab in your thighs. Well suited to people from both genders, you must take this class if you wish to work on your leg muscles and tone them. Interestingly, this is preferred as a full-body workout as well that tones not just your lower body but muscles in your torso as well. 

2. It is a great calorie burner
This workout is especially credited with being an easy way to burn calories. Studies show that you can lose anywhere between 280 and 500 calories in a single session. Considering that you can burn these within the short span of 45 minutes, it is certainly worth a try!

3. Improves your balance and agility
Another reason why individuals elect a kickboxing class is to boost their agility. Whether you are an athlete, a dancer or someone who wishes they were lither, training in kickboxing is a wonderful way to improve your flexibility.

So, the next time you think of switching up your workouts with a new and improved regime, you must try KICK Boxing exercise for fitness.

Find Some Food and Fitness Inspiration

More often than not, everyone seeks a motivating factor to fuel their fitness journey. Be it swearing off junk food or sticking to a stringent workout routine, a dash of inspiration can take you a long way.

Here’s a guide to all the inspiration you need to achieve your fitness goals.

See a life coach
An intriguing way to further your health goals, a life coach can be dedicated to your personal journey. Helping you along the way with lots of motivation, he or she can ensure you do not take any setbacks too hard.

Join a great new gym
There’s nothing better to fuel your workout than getting fit alongside like-minded people. Joining a great gym is a neat way to get on track with your fitness workout program.

Try a promising new diet
Whether it is the feel-good General Motors diet or the famous Yamaguchi diet, trying a promising new meal-plan is a smart route to health and fitness. Offering you a tailor-made way to shedding those calories, these inspired diets are just the thing for you! 

Seek inspiration from Fat to Fit photos!
A great way to motivate yourself to tread the path of fitness exercise is to look at amazing weight loss transformations. These make you want to make it happen for you so you can gear up to succeed in your own weight loss journey.

At times, all the encouragement you need comes from your loved ones and friends. So don’t forget to involve them in your wellness journey!

Low Calories Food for Health and Fitness

It is true that food is the true flavor of life, but when those alluring carbs stop you from slipping into your favorite dress, you know it’s time for a change. Luckily, we bring you a special guide to low calorie eats that make it easy to consume healthy food for fitness!

1. Healthy Pulses and Grains
Low calorie alternatives for white rice are brown rice and even oats. Pair these with a serving of boiled veggies or even a portion of chicken or fish and you have a fit meal. Pulses can be soaked and boiled before being added to salads for a refreshing change.

2. Include an Interesting Mix
When sticking to low calorie foods, you must ensure your body consumes a mix of fruits, grains, proteins and vegetables. It is the easiest way to avoid vitamin deficiencies and an overall lack of energy.

3. High Fiber Fruits
Not only do these make a tasty mouthful, but most fruits are exceedingly fibrous, which ensures all-round wellness. The high fiber content in papayas, watermelons and even mangoes rid you of accumulated cholesterol in your bodies making you healthier with every morsel.

4. Insist on Lots of Raw Foods
Studies show that cooking vegetables is an awful way to drain them of their nutrients. The best diets recommend ample inclusion of raw foods. So eat your greens and fruits fresh from the markets!

Swear by these low calorie foods and you’ll soon work your way towards weight loss!

4 Foolproof Ways to Eat Healthy Consistently

Individuals on their weight loss journey often complain about an inability to stick to their diets. After all, if you’re a foodie or addicted to eating out, quitting cold turkey is no easy task. Use these tips to eat healthy consistently.

1. Eat a small but healthy breakfast
Skipping breakfast is a neat way to get yourself ravenous, which ends you in chomping down on a huge lunch. Eating a small and healthy breakfast every day is a smart way to further weight loss.

 

2. Meal-prep is a must!
Take a couple of hours on your weekend to decide fit meals for each day of the entire coming week. This shall include shopping for groceries and vegetables, so you’re never out of healthy food options!

3. Insist on a cheat day to avoid a binge fest
Pepper your weekly diet plan with one weekend ‘Cheat Day’. This shall work as a reward for sticking to your diet all week and even help you avoid the occasional binge fest that just packs on the pounds.

 

4. Make salad dressings your new best friend
Healthy salads are a staple on every diet plan, so it’s time to make them tasty. Use lemon juice, olive oil, and honey-mustard or even crushed garlic dressings. After all it shall be easy to eat green if those boring old salads were quite mouth-wateringly delicious!

Swear by these four commandments to eat healthy consistently for there is no better way to stick to your health and fitness goals.

5 Effective & Fun Ways to Get Fit During This Monsoon

Whether it is torrential rains or mild drizzles, monsoons may interfere with your workout regimes and cause a disruption in your fitness routine. Also, since the weather is so cosy and comfortable indoors, you might not feel like leaving your comfortable couch and heading for a workout session. We bring you 5 ways in which you can achieve your fitness goals in spite of the season:

1. Timing Matters

Don’t change the timing of your workout because of the rains. If you are unable to hit the gym, try some health and fitness exercises at home like spot running or dancing to maintain your rhythm of exercise. You can also invest in equipment like resistance bands, skipping rope, treadmill or indoor cycles for your indoor workouts.

2. Dance your Way to Fitness
If you like to shake a leg, you can join a dance class during this season to stay healthy and fit! This is a great way to enjoy exercising in monsoons. 

 
3. Indoor Activities
You can also join a functional fitness gym for some fun-filled indoor exercises like push-ups, squats, lunges, skating, indoor rock climbing, etc. 

4. Yoga
Yoga will help boost your immunity during the monsoons and also increase flexibility and help you stay fit and active! 

5. Monsoon Cycling
If you like to cycle regularly, you will love the extra challenges that the rainfall brings. Try to go with a group and accomplish around 50 km in a day to enjoy some cycling and also burn calories along the way. 

These tips will surely help you stay fit and healthy in this season while enjoying yourself to the fullest! without going your functional fitness gym in rain.

7 Tips to Increase your Physical Fitness on a Daily Basis

Most people complain about the lack of time to stay healthy and fit. However, if you incorporate fitness into your routine, it will actually give you more time and energy to accomplish the things you desire. Investing just 20 to 30 minutes a day for physical fitness exercise can go a long way in boosting your fitness levels. We bring you 7 tips to enhance your fitness for improved long-term health:

1. Don’t look for a parking spot close to the elevator, escalator or the building you want to go in. Try parking a few lanes away so that you have to walk the distance and get a chance to burn some calories.

2. Opt for strength training at least two times in a week with the help of a personal fitness trainer as a total body workout will contribute in building your strength and endurance.

3. Rather than meeting your friends for coffee or dinners, try planning some activities together like cycling, swimming, hiking, etc.

4. Don’t forget to get ample of sleep. You need a minimum of 7 to 8 hours of rest so that your body can repair and grow for a hectic next day.

5. Join some sports activity with your spouse so that you can spend time together as well as get fit and healthy together!

6. Take 5 to 10 minute walks after lunch and dinner as every little bit will contribute towards your health.

7. Try and do some cardiovascular exercises for 30 minutes in a day as your heart is the most vital organ in the body and must be strong!

The Top 5 Health Benefits of Zumba

Workouts don’t have to be boring or monotonous anymore. They can be as much fun as social dancing with your friends, while you burn a lot of calories! Zumba has become one of the most favorite exercise forms for many as it is done in a fast and contagious music setting and will surely remind you of a Saturday night at a dance club!

Along with offering great fun and excitement, Zumba also offers a number of health benefits like:
1. Burns a Lot of Calories (and Fat!)
On an average, you can burn about 600 to 1000 calories in a Zumba class as the exercises are choreographed for maximum fat burning. A number of people are embracing Zumba for weight loss and enjoying the benefits of Zumba along with improvements in aerobic fitness. 

 2. Builds Your Endurance Levels
As the music in a Zumba class is fast-paced, you’ll learn to move faster and soon build your endurance after a few sessions.

3. Tones Your Entire Body
Zumba will make some of your body parts feel sore that you probably didn’t even know existed! The program targets a number of different muscle groups that ultimately result in toning your full body.

4. Boosts Heart Health
Along with offering aerobic benefits, the dance fitness classes also get your heart rate up and ensure a well-maintained cardiovascular respiratory system.

5. Improves Your Coordination
As you must move your arms and legs in different directions to follow the music, you will require a lot of coordination in this exercise. Constant practice will help you get more comfortable with moving your body and will increase your coordination. 

Along with these benefits of Zumba, the exercise also makes you feel happy and helps you enjoy a great social time with your friends. 

Can Yoga Help in Weight Loss?

Yoga might not be the first exercise that comes to mind if you’re thinking about losing weight. However, it has been noted that Yoga exercises for weight loss work perfectly for many people around the globe. The best part about Yoga is that it doesn’t just focus on burning calories, but also helps in achieving mindfulness. This state can help you reduce your bad eating habits and stick to a dedicated weight loss plan. 

What Poses Should You Consider?

Surya Namaskar is one of the most famous and widely practiced asanas that works well for your entire body. It combines 12 poses that work on all body parts and ensures your full body’s muscles are getting utilized. Other poses that can further assist in weight loss include The Warrior Pose, Triangular Pose, the Upward Plank, the Boat Pose and the Bridge Pose. While working on these poses, remember to breathe correctly and do them with a calm and peaceful state of mind to achieve the best results.

Other Benefits of Yoga for Weight Loss 

                          

One of the key facets of Yoga for health is that age is no barrier. You can start at any time and continue your way to a healthier future. Also, you don’t always have to be perfect from day 1 when you enroll in Yoga classes. You can start slowly and gradually work your way towards getting the poses right. Focus on finding a good teacher and your weight loss goals are already half way there! A good Yoga teacher will keep you motivated and help you throughout the learning process.

Normally, when you increase your movements and frequency of Yoga exercises, you have a better chance of burning more calories.

Tips to Burn Calories in 10 Easy Ways

If you’re the kind of person that doesn’t like going to the gym or can’t make time from your busy schedules to hit the fitness machines, don’t sweat it. You can still burn a lot of calories by following some simple tips for daily health and fitness. Did you know that just standing instead of sitting can burn 60 calories per hour? We bring you 10 easy ways to burn calories for excellent results:

1. Take the Stairs
If you have a choice between taking the elevator and stairs, always opt for the latter to burn more calories in your daily routine.

2. Ride a Bike
Remember your childhood days when you loved cycling? You can invest in a good bicycle and ride it for running small errands around your home instead of driving.

3. Use Commercial Breaks

When watching TV, do standing lunges in every break and you will be surprised with the results!

4. Clean the House

A rigorous round of house cleaning session will be great for your body as well as your home!

5. Get Dancing

You’ll be surprised how many calories you can burn by dancing in your living room in your spare time!

6. Wash Your Car

This will help you not just to save money but also burn up to 105 calories in half an hour.

7. Play with your Kids

Spending time running behind kids in the park or indulging in a game of basketball or football with them can actually help you burn 180 calories in 30 minutes.

8. Sit on the Floor

Whenever you can, hit the floor while watching TV or for a meal rather than a chair or a couch. Your muscles need to work harder to get up.

9. Work in Your Garden

If you like plants, gardening can help you achieve your weight loss goals easily.

10. Don’t Forget to Walk

Whether it is getting up to get water in your office, parking the car far from the elevator or walking up to your colleague rather than sending a text, small walking breaks can ensure health and fitness and burn more calories.

These simple tips will help you in weight loss without having to remove extra time from your busy schedules.

5 Reasons Why Physical Activity is Important During the Day

Fit people tend to enjoy their life to the fullest and have a better chance of a healthy, happy and longer life. Indulging in physical activity on a daily basis helps in controlling weight, and reduces the risk of cardiac and other health problems. Some level of physical activity every day also helps you feel better about yourself and reduces your chances of depression. It enables you to sleep better at night, have fun, and look better as well.

You need not spend hours on indulging in physical fitness exercises. You can just invest a few minutes and incorporate some normal activities in your routine to stay fit and healthy. These can include going for a walk, taking the stairs at work, cycling on alternate days, playing outdoors with your kids, going for a swim, trekking, etc. 

We bring you the top 5 reasons why you must make physical activity during a day a priority:

1. People who exercise regularly have a lesser risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and even breast, lung or colon cancer.

2. Regular exercise and physical activities can also help in controlling your cholesterol. It enables your body to reduce the bad cholesterol levels and raise the good cholesterol levels.

3. Physical activity will help in strengthening your bones and muscles. It reduces the risk of arthritis as well as other bone diseases while increasing bone density and preventing bone loss as you get older.

4. If you want to maintain an optimal body weight, don’t skip your daily dose of physical activity. It helps in increasing muscle mass, controls your weight and reduces fat. Combine your fitness with a balanced diet and you can expect to see a transformation in your weight. 

5. Other key benefits of physical activity include a boost in energy levels, improved appearance, general relaxation and stress relief, delayed aging, lesser fatigue, and better overall health.

In order to improve the quality of your life, participating in physical activity every day must be your priority.

Have You Invested in The Right Pair of Running Shoes?

Fitness has become essential to ensure a healthy and long life. However, while we try to better our lifestyles, we ironically forget to invest time and energy in our fitness and exercise. Just spending a few minutes for a run every day can keep your body active and fit for bigger accomplishments. If you’ve recently started running for health or want to take up running, start with buying the right pair of shoes.

Indians have a habit of using the same pair of shoes everywhere until they wear out. However, this can be extremely harmful to your body, especially when you start running seriously. The ideal shoes are ones that are gentle on your feet when you’re exercising. Investing in a good pair of running shoes will help you stay comfortable, fit and injury-free during your run! 

Why Buy a Dedicated Pair of Running Shoes?

Helps you Avoid Blisters and Pain
Sore feet and blisters are a common effect after running and is observed mainly by runners who tend to use the wrong pair of shoes. If you want to enjoy your run pain and blister-free, it is best to shop exclusively for running shoes.

Fits Well & Prevents Injury
A number of local and global brands now design shoes that are customized for running. They create optimal support, fit perfectly and offer enhanced comfort and flexibility. Plus, they are created to prevent common injuries.

Helps in Habit Formation
When you put on your running shoes, your mind and body will know that it’s time to go for a run. This will help in forming a long-term habit and keep you motivated to go for your daily running sessions.

The shoes you choose must allow your feet to breathe and boost your performance and durability, giving you a fluid ride during your run.

5 Negative Effects of a Sedentary Lifestyle On Your Health

While most of us know that physical activity is vital for optimum health and weight loss, very few of us realize that a lack of adequate physical movements can pose severe health risks. As per a research by the WHO (World Health Organization), nearly 2 million people die just from physical inactivity around the world. People of all age groups, right from children to the elderly tend to suffer when they live a sedentary lifestyle. We bring you the top 5 negative effects to watch out for:

1. There is a higher risk of developing high blood pressure or hypertension that can lead to a stroke or a kidney disease. Regular physical exercises help make our heart stronger and when the heart doesn’t work as hard, blood pressure gets lower and there is less force on the arteries.

2. The concept of ‘use it or lose it’ is especially true for the bones in your body. If you don’t indulge in regular physical activities, your bones will become weak, causing them to fracture faster, known as osteoporosis.

3. If you are lacking regular exercise, you also have a higher chance of developing colon and breast cancer. A study showed 40% decrease in mortality due to cancer in people who were physically active, compared to those who lived a sedentary lifestyle.

4. Along with the physical problems, you might also develop depression and anxiety as a result of physical inactivity. Exercise can largely help in reducing anxiety and depression in both, kids and adults.

5. If you’re worried about obesity and can’t manage your weight loss, a sedentary lifestyle may be blamed. It is observed that physically inactive people have double the risk of developing obesity. 

Simple lifestyle changes like regular walks, taking the stairs, cardiovascular exercises and strength building exercises can decrease the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. 

 

10 Amazing Health Benefits of Embracing Yoga in Your Daily Life

Practising yoga brings a lot of benefits in terms of your physical health and psychological well-being. It also helps in unifying your mind, body and breath, thus helping you lead a much calmer, happier and satisfying life on a daily basis. 

We bring you the 10 great benefits of yoga in your everyday life:

1. All-round fitness – Yoga improves your overall health, enhances mental strength and increases your physical power, thus keeping you fit for long-term. 

2. Weight Loss – By restoring hormonal balance in the body, Yoga helps in normalizing your body weight and also helps you streamline your food intake. 

3. Stress-Relief – Yoga is known to be a great stress reliever as it helps to detox the body and de-stress the mind with various postures and pranayama. 

4. Lower Blood Pressure – Yoga is a great workout for the heart and helps lower high blood pressure. Savasana is known to be a highly effective asana for improving blood pressure.

5. Improves Sleep – In today’s hectic lifestyles, many youngsters suffer from sleep problems and insomnia. Yoga helps in getting peaceful sleep at night so that you are refreshed and energized the next day.

6. Better Immunity – Yoga postures are also helpful in improving our body’s immunity, thus keeping harmful diseases away.

7. Increased Energy – For those who feel drained out in the middle of the day, practicing yoga on a daily basis can improve your energy levels and keep you fresh all day long. 

8. Higher Flexibility, Agility & Strength – Yoga is one exercise that improves your flexibility, overall strength and agility together in just one workout! 

9. Better Memory & Cognitive Function – Yoga practitioners tend to have higher levels of concentration, enhanced memory and a better brain function that helps in school or at your job. 

10. Reduces Pain – Whether it is a headache, backache or arthritis, Yoga has been proven to effective minimise the pain from many ailments. 

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Due to these multiple benefits in our daily life, Yoga is one exercise form that must be practiced by one and all on an everyday basis! 

8 Reasons Why Walking Is Great for Your Health!

Walking is one of those great exercises that have multiple benefits for all age-groups. It’s gentle, free of cost and easily available to everyone around the globe. We bring you the top 8 reasons to include walking in your every day schedule and enjoy a healthier lifestyle. 

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1. A Stronger Heart

You can reduce the risk of a stroke or heart disease by walking regularly. Walks can increase your good cholesterol (HDL) and lower the levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) in your body. A 30-minute brisk walk also helps keep your blood pressure in control. 

2. Lower Disease Risk

Research shows that regular walking can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 60 % and reduces chances of colon, breast or womb cancer by 20%. 

3. Battle Obesity

Experts state that brisk walking for 30 minutes at a moderate speed can help you reduce 150 to 200 calories. By incorporating short walks in your routine, you can easily shed the extra weight in no time!

4. Tone your Muscles

By walking regularly, you can tone your legs and bum muscles. If you mix it with hill walking, it will be even more effective. Try paying extra attention to your posture when you walk and you can also tone your abs and waist.

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5. Boosts Immunity 

Walking 30 to 45 minutes daily can increase the immune system cells in your body in the long term, thus improving your body’s ability to fight diseases.

6. Energises You 

If you’re getting drained out, start walking daily and you will feel more alert and alive in your routine activities. Walking boosts circulation and increases oxygen supply in every cell in the body.

7. Increases Vitamin D

With the growing deficiency of Vitamin D in almost every individual, walking is a great solution to get the morning sun and enjoy the outdoors.

8. Keeps You Happy

Walking will boost your mood and help in reducing stress and anxiety, thus ensuring a positive and joyful day, every day!

Include walking in your routine on a daily basis and you’ll be surprised at how significantly your health improves!

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Why Functional Fitness?

Functional fitness is one of the biggest buzz words trending within the fitness industry. For those who are unfamiliar with this term, the concept boils down to two central ideas which hinge around amplifying your body’s adaptability and being able to apply you fitness regime to improve your performance in real life activities. While it is impressive that you are able to perform numerous pull-ups and sit-ups without breaking a sweat and can dead-lift staggering amounts of weight- what can you actually do with your skills when you’re faced with the world outside the gym!

It is easy to fall into complacency inside a repetitive indoor setting where your workout is predictable, safe and slowly travelling towards just plain boring. You know that every time you step into the gym, your routine will be the same. You train hard and clock your regular 1 hour 30, but you still seem to be falling into a rut, unable to push the envelope harder. You can’t go beyond 100 push ups. Your weight remains the same on the scale. Why is this?

It’s not just physical, but mental. When was the last time you came to the gym nervous and excited about learning something new? The more stimulated your mind is before a workout the greater will be your ability to push yourself to higher levels. Boredom is one of the biggest reasons people begin to plateau on their fitness journey and find their levels of endurance stagnating. Transfer-ability of fitness from the gym to the real world isn’t as simple or easy as we would like to think. After all, it should be logical that a person who can lift twice their weight would be able to spring to the top of a tree branch or climb a hill effortlessly, right? However, this is not the case. Pull-ups will strengthen only your back, laterals and biceps. Since you’re only working out these three areas, other areas in your body are being neglected and you won’t be able to translate your proficiency to be a quick runner or pack a strong punch. Events and challenges in the real world do not occur in a single plane of motion. Rather, they are dynamic and ever changing. Picking up your children from school, running out to do groceries and moving around furniture isn’t as easy as a barbell deadlift! You will find yourself encountering awkward angles, uncertain weights, uneven ground and you won’t always be able to maintain the perfect lumbar curve or even straight arms while lifting outside the gym! Can you pick up a bag that weighs sixty kilos without thinking twice or injuring your back? Life constantly presents us with situations that can require technically improper form or, at minimum, slight compromises. Conventional weight training isolates muscle groups, but it doesn't teach the muscle groups you're isolating to work with others The key to functional exercise is integration. It teaches one to use all their muscles rather than isolating them to work independently Functional exercises incorporates multiple joints and a combination of muscles. Instead of only moving just the knees, for example, a functional exercise might involve the knees, thighs, spine, hips and ankles. This type of training, properly applied, can make everyday activities easier, reduce your risk of injury and improve your quality of movement It is for this reason that Functional exercise training may be especially beneficial as part of a comprehensive program for older adults to improve balance, agility and muscle strength, and reduce the risk of falls.

Remember, your bodies are designed for activity and should not sit slumped over a computer all day. Functional training focuses on training movement patterns rather than isolating individual muscles. If you spend most of your working day sat down in the office, sitting on the chest press machine at the gym is probably counterproductive. You require the integrative approach of Functional Fitness to truly get into shape and activate the full potential of your body.
In doing so you will not only strengthen your muscles but correct bad posture and other muscular imbalances that are created by your stressful job and hectic lifestyle. In addition to a fantastic rate of fat burning, you’re increasing your overall endurance levels and boosting metabolic rates, developing a lean, ripped body in the process like gymnasts at the Olympics. These athletes are constantly training fluid movement patterns and lifting their own bodyweight to achieve their form and fitness- they are not stuck doing bicep curls on a daily basis!
Every session of Functional Fitness should aim to improve your flexibility, mobility and core stability. Balance and strength principles will be included in your regime in order to keep your body strong, vibrant and most importantly- adaptable. It is an essential for of training especially for sport specific conditioning as it enhances the relationship between the nervous and musculoskeletal system to provide quick and powerful movement patterns and reflexes in your chosen sport.
Last but not least, every exercise in Functional Fitness involves heavy duty core activation, teaching the core to stabilise the spine against external forces through a variety of movements and positions. This mimics the demand placed on the core and spine in everyday activities that simply doing 100 stomach crunches will not provide you!

Motivate Yourself to Indulge in Fitness

Exercising has countless positive effects on your mind and body. It helps curb anxiety, boost productivity, increase confidence, foster friendships and create an overall healthy lifestyle. However, today’s hectic schedules and demanding lives have made it difficult for us to indulge in fitness. These factors combined with erratic eating habits and growing diseases have made exercising a necessity. It is a conscious choice that individuals must make in order to lead a healthy long life.

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If you are lacking the inspiration to get started on the fitness wagon, here are some tips that will motivate you towards a healthy regime: Ask Someone to Be Your Workout Partner Having a companion for your exercise will add a social element to your routine and give you added motivation to stay fit. Also, you won’t skip your workout when someone is waiting for you.

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Become an Early Bird
It is a known fact that people who exercise early in the morning tend to be more successful. If you are unable to stay motivated to exercise post-work, try waking up early and indulge in some active workouts.

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Give the 5-minute Rule a Shot 
Normally, most people put their alarms on snooze or turn it off completely to avoid getting up to exercise. Instead, wake up early and just think of the first 5 minutes. If you exercise for 5 minutes and feel like stopping, you can do so. However, you will realize that once you start, it isn’t so bad after all.

Buy a New Fitness Gadget It’s always inspiring when you spend some money in any activity. Try buying a new heart-rate monitor, fitness tracker or any new fancy toy that will motivate you to get out of your comfort zone and start exercising.

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Try Something New If you’ve been bored of your previous exercises, try a new routine, or sign up for a team sport or a rock climbing event. Changing your scenery or workout routine will give you a new zeal to stay fit. These simple tips will help you stay fit and healthy in the long-term!