Why do you work out? Better question: Why do you train? Because there is a difference. After all,
Friday, 31 October 2014
Ronaldo: Sharpen Your Swagger Develop your signature style with an assist from futbol fashionista Cristiano Ronaldo
Soccer king Cristiano Ronaldo is not one for subtlety. On the field he's known for outrageous moves and free kicks that arc like meteors. Off the field, Ronaldo rocks
Fitness Expert Says the Best Workouts Are Simple and Free. Here's Why
Training doesn't have to be expensive or complex to increase your gains
I have moved a few times in my life. Dragging fitness equipment over multiple state lines is very expensive and can be a royal pain. Through the years, I have bought and re-bought several Olympic bars, collections of smaller weights, and a ton of other pieces of equipment. While my home gym is still a collection of odds and ends, my favorite training tool is still free.
It's pure movement.
Training never has to be complex. Sweat is sweat. When you stop worrying about every detail, every rep, every percentage, you get to have some fun again while getting fit.
After lifting, I go outside and play catch with a football, Frisbee, or medicine ball. Jogging back and forth while yelling, “I’m open, I’m open” is just fun. Training outside gets you
Miniband Exercises Why You Should Develop a Love-Hate Relationship with the Miniband
It only weighs a few ounces, but the miniband will help you achieve big results
Reaching for a miniband at the gym may not
seem as impressive as grabbing a pair of heavy dumbbells, but this small
tool can help you build a stronger body.
"Incorporating a continuous-loop miniband in exercises
makes them more challenging and will make your muscles burn," says Sean
De Wispelaere, a coach for Men's Health Thrive in Lancaster,
Pennsylvania. "That’s because it provides constant resistance throughout
the exercise, which recruits more muscle fibers and activates muscles
that you don't normally use. Conventional weights can't do that."
Minibands come in a few different grades of resistances.
You may be tempted to use the thickest band right away. However, if the
resistance is too high, you won't be able to perform all of the reps
with perfect form, De Wispelaere says. Pick a resistance that allows you
to finish all
Drop One Belt Size: Rachel Cosgrove Drop One Belt Size in One Month!
Get ready to buy a smaller pair of pants. This cutting-edge fat-loss plan will make you stronger and leaner in just four weeks
T-Stabilization
Assume a pushup position with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders. Your body should form a straight line from your ankles to your head. Brace your abdominals—as if you were about to be punched in the gut—and maintain that contraction for the duration of this exercise. Keeping your arms straight and your body rigid, shift your weight onto your left arm and rotate your torso up and to the right until you're facing sideways. Pause, then lower back down to the starting position. Rotate to your left. That's one rep. Continue to rotate back and forth.
½ Turkish Getup
Lie faceup with your right leg bent and your left leg flat on the floor. Raise your right arm straight overhead while keeping your shoulder away from your ear. Roll onto your left side and prop yourself up. Then raise your hips, squeeze your glutes, and straighten your left arm. Pause, then lower your hips and return the way you came, to the elbow and then the floor. Repeat on one side then switch sides. Progress by holding a dumbbell in the hand that reaches up.
Jump Squat
With your feet hip-width apart, squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor, and then jump as high as you can. Allow your knees to bend 45 degrees when you land, pause in
3 Stupid Things You Do at the Gym
Are you guilty of these muscle mistakes?
I usually reserve the word "stupid" for things like wrestling an adult grizzly bear, sticking your finger in an electrical socket, or Justin Bieber. But, unfortunately, there are lots of stupid things happening at gyms across America, too.
Now, I don't like to pass judgment on gym goers. They're doing something other than sitting on their butts and watching television—and being active should be commended. But I also want you to have a safe and effective workout, so I'm here to help foolproof your workout. Keep reading for three "stupid" things you might be doing at the gym, and the best ways to fix them.
You skip squats because they're bad for your knees.
Squats don't ruin your knees; the way you're squatting does. Many men butcher the move, and then complain of knee pain. And that's a shame, because the squat is one of the most effective exercises you can do. It works nearly every muscle in your body, and burns a
Are You a Sex Addict?
Happy Monday! You’re reading the Men’s Health Monday Briefing, a collection of links and useful stuff from the editors of Men's Health.
The Big Reason Why You're Burnt Out See why more and
Maximize Your Lower-Body Strength
Tap into your full potential with these two single-leg moves
You can hold your own at the squat rack, but
do you want to dominate it? For maximum gains in lower-body strength,
you need to concentrate on two key aspects of fitness:
1. Stability: The ability for a joint to resist movement from an outside force.
2. Mobility: The ability to move a joint through its full range of motion.
Sure, they might sound at odds with one another, but think about it this way: You don't want to be too stiff or too loose.
"A
perfect blend of these two components allows you to maintain proper
form so you fully activate your muscles and lift heavier weights," says
BJ Gaddour, C.S.C.S., creator of Men's Health StreamFIT. "Without them, your joints can't get in the right alignment, diminishing your strength and increasing your risk of injury."
Test
your stability and mobility with this two-move challenge from Gaddour.
Without letting your foot touch the floor, perform a single-leg hip
hinge to a standing leg raise, holding both
The Bodyweight 300 Challenge
Incinerate fat without lifting a weight
A weight-free weekend challenge may sound
easy—until you try the Bodyweight 300. It’s composed of just three
exercises—the squat, the pushup, and the situp—but requires that you
crank out 300 reps in as little time as possible. It’s a fast way to
challenge every muscle in your body and skyrocket your heart rate when
you don’t have the luxury of spending hours in a gym.
“This is the ultimate do-anywhere, zero-excuse metabolic circuit,” says Todd Durkin, C.S.C.S., author of The IMPACT! Body Plan. “You
can do it anywhere, anytime—outside, in your garage, or even your
bedroom. Your body weight is all you need to crush fat, break a sweat,
and build total-body muscle.”
Perform 100 reps of each exercise in any order as quickly
as you can without rest. You don’t have to do all 100 reps in a row—you
might do 20 squats, move on to 10 pushups, do 30 situps, do another 20
squats, and so on.
Watch the video above to see how to perform the exercises. Durkin
completed this challenge in 5 minutes and 47 seconds. Did you beat his
time? Let us know in the comments below.
The Weird Way Soda Messes With Your DNA
This could be a surprising side effect of drinking the sugary stuff
You know that drinking too much soda can give you an unwanted gut, but not all of its effects may be so visible. New research from the University of California at San Francisco suggests that people who guzzle sugary sodas might experience faster aging in their cells.
In the study, people who consumed more soda had shorter telomeres, which are the caps at the end of the DNA-containing chromosomes that protect your genetic data. Telomeres shorten with age, and previous research has linked smaller ones to increased risk of heart problems, diabetes, and certain cancers.
In fact, by analyzing single samples of the participants’ telomeres, the researchers estimated that drinking a 20-ounce (oz.) soda every day would translate to an extra 4.6 years of aging. That’s similar to the effects caused by smoking.
How’d they get there? It might be because sugary sodas cause a rapid influx of liquid calories into your blood stream, which can raise your insulin levels. This spike can
Tuesday, 28 October 2014
What Your Personality Reveals About Your Health
Being up for anything lifts your health, a new study says
Are you as worry-prone as Woody Allen, or as chill as Seth
Get Stronger Faster With These Bench-Press Tweaks
Safety first: Hey, guy—you might want to recruit a spotter next time.
Of all of the strength exercises out there, the bench press is king. Here’s why: It’s effective, it’s simple, and nearly any gym you enter — from your condo’s tiny weight room to high-end uber-gyms — will have at least one bench press station. While your basic press hasn’t changed since Arnold
How Your Body Signals That You're Vitamin Deficient
By Wendy Schmid, Q by Equinox
When your body is trying to tell you something — for example, that you’re skimping on critical vitamins — it may go to some strange lengths. “With today’s diet of processed
The 7 WORST Foods To Eat At Night
Avoid these no matter how hungry you are.
This article was written by Victoria Wolk and provided by our partners atPrevention.
Eating right before bed is a recipe for gaining weight and sleeping poorly, but it can also seriously damage the tissue in your throat and esophagus. No doubt you’re familiar with acid reflux—which occurs when digestive juices back up into the chest or
Monday, 27 October 2014
Brain: Why exercise boosts IQ- Video
If you want your mind to be sharper, the evidence suggests you should visit the gym. But how can exercising your muscles boost your brain power? Click the link below-
We tend to assume that brains don’t go with brawn – but that
How computers change the way we learn
(Getty Images)
Can technology improve the way we learn and think? Google’s head of research argues we're headed into a new era of education.
“This discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories,” a concerned commentator once spoke of a new technology. “[People] will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing;
10 things you may not know about laughter
Friends are more likely to
provoke laughter than jokes
Neuroscientist and part time
stand-up comic Prof Sophie Scott reveals 10 things you probably didn't know
about laughter.
Laughter really is funny.
The first time I did stand-up comedy my only coherent thought afterwards was that I wanted to do it again immediately, and do it better.
Why is laughter so much fun?
As a psychologist, this is especially puzzling as pretty much everything we think about laughter is wrong.
So here are 10 things you, probably, didn't know about laughter.
1. Rats are
Sunday, 26 October 2014
6 Essential Vitamins and Minerals
Dietary supplements are no joke. They're a must-have for awesome health, and chances are you're not getting enough
Vitamins and minerals are essential to life—and we mean essential. Without them, we couldn't think or even breathe, much less digest food or walk the dog. But chances are you're not getting enough of the good stuff, and figuring out what you need is tricky business. We uncover the key nutrients young women should consume, plus which you should get from food and what's OK
The Unstoppable Noah Galloway: From War to One-Armed Push-Ups on 'Ellen'
A true American hero
It’s a shock every time you see Noah Galloway. And I’ve seen him plenty, on newsstands everywhere.
Fans of Men’s Health know Noah as the cover guy on our November issue. Out of the 1200 men who entered our first Ultimate Men’s Health Guy contest, Noah stood apart, becoming the first reader ever to appear on our cover.
It might seem like an honor for him to get this opportunity, but really, the bigger honor is for us. Noah was one of those stand-up Americans who watched the towers fall on 9/11
Fans of Men’s Health know Noah as the cover guy on our November issue. Out of the 1200 men who entered our first Ultimate Men’s Health Guy contest, Noah stood apart, becoming the first reader ever to appear on our cover.
It might seem like an honor for him to get this opportunity, but really, the bigger honor is for us. Noah was one of those stand-up Americans who watched the towers fall on 9/11
Most nutritious autumn fruits and vegetables
More nutritious autumn fruits and vegetables
Red Sweet Peppers: Raw, steamed or broiled; high in Vitamins A, C and E
Pears: A natural sweet that’s high in calcium, fiber, potassium and niacin
Mustard Greens: Meet your leafy green quota and are high in Vitamins A and C
Sweet Potatoes: Baked with skin, good source of magnesium, Vitamins A and C
Swiss Chard: Vitamin-K rich and a good source of calcium, Vitamin C and iron
Grapes: Nutritiously sweet since they are high in Vitamins C and K
Potatoes: Eat the skin and load up on Vitamin C, iron and potassium
Leeks: Create a pureed soup that is high in iron, potassium and Vitamin A
Kale: As a salad, a stuffing or a side veg, a good source of fiber, calcium and iron
Cabbage: Cooked or raw, low in calories, high in Vitamin K and a good folate source
Brussels Sprouts: Good source of Vitamins A, K, B6 and folate
Broccoli: High fiber, rich in Vitamin C and good source of Vitamins E, K and calcium
Beets: Along with the greens, a great source of folate, Vitamin C and phytochemicals
Arugula: Little-to-no fat, like all veggies, and rich in Vitamins A, C and B vitamins
Artichokes: Rich in potassium, magnesium, folate, Vitamin C and other antioxidants
The 10 Moves You Need to Get a Rock-Solid Core
Photo By Milan Stojanovic / Getty Images
The appearance of abs doesn’t reflect the strength of your core. If you want nothing but a six-pack, do crunches, clean up your diet, and lose some weight. For serious core strength — the kind that’s crucial for every sport, functional fitness, and full-body injury prevention — it requires a more rounded approach.
The secret is in forcing your abdominal muscles to stabilize, and not just contract. In other words, a thousand crunches a day won’t cut it. Instead, you want compound moves that use a bunch of muscle groups and work your core in all planes of motion. That means ample trunk
Going Green: the Top 10 Countries that Get It Right
Whether you choose to call it ecotourism, geotourism, or sustainable tourism, travelers have never been more interested in “going green.” Generally defined as travel that benefits local communities, minimizes negative social and environmental impacts, and helps local people to conserve fragile cultures and habitats or species, these responsible forms of travel are currently growing at an impressive rate that outpaces traditional “sun and sand” tourism by a wide margin.
But what is it that makes a travel destination sustainable? And which destinations are most worthy of consideration? To answer these questions, we assembled a panel of the world’s leading authorities on the subject.
Here are their picks.
Cape Verde
Boats on the beach in Cape Verde (Photo: Corbis Images)
Ethical Traveler founder Jeff Greenwald calls this archipelago of Portuguese islands off the coast of West Africa “a model for political and civil rights.” Cape Verde recently
Apple Watch Tops List of Hottest Fitness Trackers
List of Hottest Fitness Trackers
The Apple Watch. (Apple.com)
Have you clocked your 10,000 steps today? A couple of years ago, that question might have been nearly impossible to answer. Now it’s a daily obsession for the 84 million people wearing fitness trackers.
Market research firm IHS Technology predicts that consumers will spend more than $2.2 billion this year on wristbands, arm bands, and other devices that track their every move and send that data to their smartphones. According to mobile analytics firm Flurry (now part of Yahoo), fitness apps are growing nearly twice as fast as any other category in the iTunes and Google Play stores.
Which fitness trackers are capturing people’s interest? To answer that question, we deployed Yahoo algorithms to scour the Web for the devices people talk about most, curated the list, and then drilled down into the ones Yahoo readers searched for most in the past month.
The result: A real-time snapshot of the hottest wearables on the market — including some that aren’t even on the market yet. No. 1 on our list is one that nearly no one outside its manufacturer has ever seen.
1. Apple Watch
Within hours of Apple’s announcement of the Apple Watch on Sept. 9, searches for the device formerly known as the “iWatch” spiked by more than 400 percent, vaulting it into the top position. The long-rumored wearable will feature a raft of cutting-edge features, including a comprehensive selection of health apps for measuring heart rate, activity, nutrition
Monday, 20 October 2014
The E-Z Guide To Managing Ebola Panic
What was last year's cold-and-flu season has become this year's ye-gods-I-have-Ebola
Get Stronger without Lifting More Weight
Make your favorite exercises harder with this one tip
You can work out longer to get bigger and stronger—or you can just make your body longer.
Positioning your elbows under your nose instead of under
your shoulders during a plank forces your core to work nearly two times
as hard, according to a study published in Sports Biomechanics.
Anytime you lengthen your body, the exercise becomes more
difficult because you're decreasing your mechanical advantage, says
study author and sports biomechanist Bret Contreras, C.S.C.S.
Translation: You'll feel weaker.
Think of it like this: Holding weights at shoulder height
with straight arms is tougher than holding them with bent arms—even
though you haven't changed the
Opioids Are Too Dangerous for Back Pain The Back Pain Pills That Many Doctors Won’t Recommend Anymore
Taking prescription painkillers to ease chronic conditions, like an achy back or headache, is not worth the risk, the American Academy of Neurology recommended in a recent official announcement.
These drugs, including Vicodin, OxyContin, and Percocet, are often prescribed for people being treated for cancer or following surgery or an injury. They're very effective in managing pain, but carry substantial risks:
They're addictive. Two-thirds of patients who were given a
Fastest Protein-Packed Meal You Must Try
Sometimes your muscles just need to feed
“Hunger is the
best sauce in the world.” —Miguel de Cervantes SaavedraWithout seeming disrespectful to the Don Quixote author, I have a slight tweak to his legendary quotation.
“Post-workout hunger is the best sauce in the world.” —Paul Kita
Whether you’re a runner, a swimmer, or a
Are Squats Enough? The Truth about How Effectively Squats Work Your Hamstrings
New research reveals that squats may not activate this muscle group as much as trainers say
There's a reason squats are hailed as the king
of all lower-body moves: They recruit a ton of big, calorie-burning
muscles, like your glutes and quadriceps. But they may not give you a complete lower-body workout. The squat is not an effective way to work your hamstrings, according to a study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology.
Researchers
measured how much the hamstrings were activated during the leg press,
an exercise that closely mimics the squat but allows for more consistent
form than the actual movement. They found that the hamstrings were only
25 percent as active during the exercise as the quadriceps.
"It's
a common belief that the stress placed on your legs during
multiple-muscle, lower-body movements—like the squat—increases the size
and
You Won't Believe How Tough This 2-Move Workout Is
Most guys can’t make it through the entire challenge. Can you?
Featured Expert
Dan John
Dan
John has coached for more than 30 years. He's helped hundreds of
athletes pack on double-digit pounds of rock-solid muscle. As an
athlete, John broke the American record in the Weight Pentathlon. He is
the author of several books, including Intervention.
It’s simple on paper, but the workload is incredible. An athlete does 8 double-kettlebell front squats, and then drops the weight to his sides and
Friday, 17 October 2014
Tuesday, 14 October 2014
Why water is so good for you
Water can help to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, according to new research.
Almost 1 in 5 women who drank 1.5 litres of water per day saw a reduction in wrinkles after 6 weeks - without making any other changes to their diet.
Almost 1 in 5 women who drank 1.5 litres of water per day saw a reduction in wrinkles after 6 weeks - without making any other changes to their diet.
Water is also said to give us sparkly eyes, clear our skin of spots and make us look glowing and healthy. But water has lots of benefits for your health too.
Almost two thirds of our body is made up of water, so it's no wonder that when we don't drink enough we start to suffer.
Government guidelines reckon we should try and drink at least eight glasses a day and some nutritionists claim that a staggering 80% of us are walking around dehydrated! This lack of fluid could affect your health, your weight and even your job - here we've rounded up 9 more benefits of water.
Almost two thirds of our body is made up of water, so it's no wonder that when we don't drink enough we start to suffer.
Government guidelines reckon we should try and drink at least eight glasses a day and some nutritionists claim that a staggering 80% of us are walking around dehydrated! This lack of fluid could affect your health, your weight and even your job - here we've rounded up 9 more benefits of water.
1. Water helps with weight loss
Great news for anyone trying to
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)