শনিবার, ২৮ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৫
Has Your Partner Put You On a Diet Without You Knowing?
In an age of processed foods and sweet treats lining the shelves of our supermarkets, it’s easy to pile on the pounds, and diets to undo the damage are more common than ever. Interestingly, recent research has highlighted that it’s not only their own weight that Brits are keen to adjust – many are putting […]
শুক্রবার, ২৭ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৫
9 Gorgeous excuses to add blue to every room in the house
Get lost in a deep sea of blue, create a calming space or brighten up your walls with a splash of aqua. Bring sincerity and tranquility to your home by adding hues of blue to its design.
For Firas Kittaneh, The Future of Sleep Starts With a Better Mattress
Firas Kittaneh wants to disrupt the mattress industry. And the success of his online mattress company Amerisleep is about more than people's increased willingness to buy a mattress online without every trying it out in a showroom. It's about something much bigger: our changing attitude toward sleep.
As Kittaneh points out, we spend a significant part of our home lives in bed. And more and more people around the world are seeing that a good night's sleep requires more than a subpar mattress in a distraction-filled bedroom. We are living through an incredible time, when the importance of sleep -- to our health, our creativity, our productivity, and indeed every aspect of our lives -- is finally getting its due.
In answer to my questions, Kittaneh shared his insights on how we shop for mattresses, the future of the "smart" bedroom, and how to create the conditions for a truly good night's sleep.
What trends do you see in how people are creating their sleep spaces?
One trend I've noticed over the past few years is that many people are actively looking for healthier bedding options. In addition to comfort, today's consumer wants to know what's in the beds that they buy, where the components come from and what type of impact they might have on their family.
Before, this information was rarely requested by customers and mattress manufacturers were hesitant to release it. These trends are what led us to develop plant-based memory foam mattresses and organic latex mattresses as alternative options for the shopper that values being eco-friendly.
The web is also definitely changing the way people shop for beds and bedding. Many people at least research, compare or check reviews online before shopping in stores, and the wider selection, pricing and convenience factor have really propelled the popularity of online mattress shopping.
I've also seen a huge increase in the use of social communities like Pinterest and Houzz by consumers to better inform how they decorate and remodel their bedrooms, which has had an impact on the overall mattress shopping experience.
What do you think is the future of "smart sleep," or technology-enhanced beds/bedding?
I think more and more people are starting to look at the bedroom as a functional part of the house due to greater awareness of the importance of healthy sleep. Since we spend most of our time at home in bed, it's really one of the most important rooms in the house.
Adjustable beds are seeing strong growth. It's not just seen as something for seniors anymore -- even younger people like the idea of being able to customize sleep positions. A couple of manufacturers are coming out with adjustable bases with app connectivity and other smart features to attract these tech-savvy sleepers.
Going forward, I think we will see a lot more emphasis on "smart" mattresses, bases and bedding designed to offer a more custom or personalized experience, whether in the form of adjusting temperature, pressure or other factors. One thing we have in the works are beds with "smart fabrics" designed to respond to the sleeper's body and boost oxygen levels for better, healthier sleep.
Connectivity to other smart devices within the home is also on the horizon. For example, beds will soon adjust the thermostat if you get too hot, turn off your TV and lights after you fall asleep, open your curtains in the morning or even sync with your kitchen appliances. Biometric data could also be an area of interest with bedding.
What mistakes do you see people making in how they set up their bedrooms and houses for sleep?
One of the biggest mistakes is having too much distraction in the bedroom. Ideally, the bedroom should really only be for sleep, not watching TV, working or doing other things.
If you make it a habit of watching your favorite shows, working or studying in bed, it makes it harder for your body and mind to associate the space with sleep. There is also quite a bit of evidence that electronics like smartphones, tablets and TVs used before bed cause us to stay up later due to light they emit, and may contribute to less restful sleep.
Light and temperature are also important things that can get overlooked. Research shows the ideal temperature for sleep is in between 60 and 70 degrees, which is cooler than a lot of people may be used to. Essentially, cooler temperatures support deep sleep.
Bedrooms should also be as dark as possible at night to support melatonin release. In addition to turning off electronics, many appliances have LED lights that glow pretty brightly, and windows that let too much light in can also affect rest especially for late sleepers.
Why is finding the right mattress so important, and what tips do you give to people to help them on their search?
The mattress is the foundation for sleep, and sleep is essential for so many aspects of physical health and mental well-being. If your bed is old, out of shape or uncomfortable, it's not going to help you get the best sleep possible.
In a nutshell, my most important tips for prospective mattress shoppers are to cast a wide net, spend time researching and comparing, and check reviews. Take a look at the diverse types of mattresses out there. Much has changed in the mattress world over the past ten years, so taking a little while to learn about beds before buying can help you make a more informed decision especially if you've only slept on springs.
Compare the pros and cons of different types against your personal preferences, and thoroughly research different beds and brands to see how they compare on value. This is where many people feel intimidated, but basically it's about asking for a breakdown of what's inside the mattress, quality of materials and manufacturer guarantees. While personal ideas of comfort vary quite a bit, checking for reviews online can also give you insight helpful for identifying your best match.
As Kittaneh points out, we spend a significant part of our home lives in bed. And more and more people around the world are seeing that a good night's sleep requires more than a subpar mattress in a distraction-filled bedroom. We are living through an incredible time, when the importance of sleep -- to our health, our creativity, our productivity, and indeed every aspect of our lives -- is finally getting its due.
In answer to my questions, Kittaneh shared his insights on how we shop for mattresses, the future of the "smart" bedroom, and how to create the conditions for a truly good night's sleep.
What trends do you see in how people are creating their sleep spaces?
One trend I've noticed over the past few years is that many people are actively looking for healthier bedding options. In addition to comfort, today's consumer wants to know what's in the beds that they buy, where the components come from and what type of impact they might have on their family.
Before, this information was rarely requested by customers and mattress manufacturers were hesitant to release it. These trends are what led us to develop plant-based memory foam mattresses and organic latex mattresses as alternative options for the shopper that values being eco-friendly.
The web is also definitely changing the way people shop for beds and bedding. Many people at least research, compare or check reviews online before shopping in stores, and the wider selection, pricing and convenience factor have really propelled the popularity of online mattress shopping.
I've also seen a huge increase in the use of social communities like Pinterest and Houzz by consumers to better inform how they decorate and remodel their bedrooms, which has had an impact on the overall mattress shopping experience.
What do you think is the future of "smart sleep," or technology-enhanced beds/bedding?
I think more and more people are starting to look at the bedroom as a functional part of the house due to greater awareness of the importance of healthy sleep. Since we spend most of our time at home in bed, it's really one of the most important rooms in the house.
Adjustable beds are seeing strong growth. It's not just seen as something for seniors anymore -- even younger people like the idea of being able to customize sleep positions. A couple of manufacturers are coming out with adjustable bases with app connectivity and other smart features to attract these tech-savvy sleepers.
Going forward, I think we will see a lot more emphasis on "smart" mattresses, bases and bedding designed to offer a more custom or personalized experience, whether in the form of adjusting temperature, pressure or other factors. One thing we have in the works are beds with "smart fabrics" designed to respond to the sleeper's body and boost oxygen levels for better, healthier sleep.
Connectivity to other smart devices within the home is also on the horizon. For example, beds will soon adjust the thermostat if you get too hot, turn off your TV and lights after you fall asleep, open your curtains in the morning or even sync with your kitchen appliances. Biometric data could also be an area of interest with bedding.
What mistakes do you see people making in how they set up their bedrooms and houses for sleep?
One of the biggest mistakes is having too much distraction in the bedroom. Ideally, the bedroom should really only be for sleep, not watching TV, working or doing other things.
If you make it a habit of watching your favorite shows, working or studying in bed, it makes it harder for your body and mind to associate the space with sleep. There is also quite a bit of evidence that electronics like smartphones, tablets and TVs used before bed cause us to stay up later due to light they emit, and may contribute to less restful sleep.
Light and temperature are also important things that can get overlooked. Research shows the ideal temperature for sleep is in between 60 and 70 degrees, which is cooler than a lot of people may be used to. Essentially, cooler temperatures support deep sleep.
Bedrooms should also be as dark as possible at night to support melatonin release. In addition to turning off electronics, many appliances have LED lights that glow pretty brightly, and windows that let too much light in can also affect rest especially for late sleepers.
Why is finding the right mattress so important, and what tips do you give to people to help them on their search?
The mattress is the foundation for sleep, and sleep is essential for so many aspects of physical health and mental well-being. If your bed is old, out of shape or uncomfortable, it's not going to help you get the best sleep possible.
In a nutshell, my most important tips for prospective mattress shoppers are to cast a wide net, spend time researching and comparing, and check reviews. Take a look at the diverse types of mattresses out there. Much has changed in the mattress world over the past ten years, so taking a little while to learn about beds before buying can help you make a more informed decision especially if you've only slept on springs.
Compare the pros and cons of different types against your personal preferences, and thoroughly research different beds and brands to see how they compare on value. This is where many people feel intimidated, but basically it's about asking for a breakdown of what's inside the mattress, quality of materials and manufacturer guarantees. While personal ideas of comfort vary quite a bit, checking for reviews online can also give you insight helpful for identifying your best match.
Filipino chicken egg noodle soup is your favorite new comfort food
When the temperature drops, I look for something warm, comforting and familiar. This is where chicken mami soups come in.
You Know Everything About Nutrition. So Why Are You Still Overeating?
You know the nutritional value of almost everything at the supermarket. You could recite the calories in a slice of pizza, list the things you "should" buy at the grocery store, recount the types of grains for easy digestion, and write out all of the most nutrient dense super-foods.
But despite the fact that you know everything about nutrition and health, it seems you still end up eating all of the stuff you know you "shouldn't."
So, why is it so hard to translate all of the intellectual information, all of the "what you KNOW you're supposed to be doing" into actually doing it?
Let me begin by saying that you aren't alone.
We are a culture of fat-free, gluten-free, everything-free foods. We're simultaneously obsessed with learning about nutrition/health, while also struggling with our weight (and spending billions of dollars a year trying to keep the weight off!)
Where is the disconnect between knowing what to eat and then making those choices in our day to day lives?
A little backstory: when I began my master's in nutrition, I became obsessed with eating only those foods that were the healthiest for my body. I made foods made with only the most organic, finest, best-for-the-body ingredients.
For meals I ate quinoa, amaranth, and spelt bread. For birthdays, I made sweet potato cookies, flourless brownies, and grain-free cakes. I cut out all refined foods and most animal products. I even swore off white bread, white sugar, and anything that was processed.
Getting an in-depth view of how nutrition affected the body, I became even more aware of what I was "supposed" to eat and because I was a perfectionist, I was going to make sure I ate exactly like that!
That lasted for about three months.
And then...
It all fell apart.
Because I began to seriously crave all the things I was denying myself.
I would come home from work obsessively wanting a cheeseburger with the works. And a cinnamon bun. And a tub of icing, 17 pieces of pizza, and everything I hadn't let myself eat in the past three months.
Yes, it's great to eat healthy and be nutritionally sound...
But, when it's the mind that dictates what you should be eating, that's when it backfires.
It was my intellectual brain that was telling me what I was supposed to do. My brain said to eat oatmeal for breakfast, vegetables and rice for lunch, and a salad with some nuts sprinkled on top for dinner.
There was a complete disconnect with what my body actually wanted. My body did want chicken, fish, pasta, and meat. And it sometimes also wanted a cookie, a piece of dark chocolate, or a slice of toast with peanut butter.
Yes, when you are back in balance, you will want the "good" foods most of the time.
I do want to eat salads, fruits, veggies, lean proteins and "healthy" foods. Most of the time.
I also want to have frozen yogurt loaded with Reese's Cups every once in a while.
During that three months, I was restricting. I refused to allow myself anything that was off my plan. And we all know what happens when you are restricting or dieting... you end up binging. Which is, of course, what ended up happening.
So, the solution lies in finding where the disconnect is happening and working to find a balance between what your mind tells you what you want vs what you actually want.
We need to get out of our mind-centered way of living and be more in touch with our bodies.
Because we aren't feeding our minds.
We are fueling our bodies. And when the mind is in charge, it makes up crazy rules that keep us locked in a rigid diet cycle.
So if you struggle with having a brain filled with nutritional knowledge, and still battling the urge to overeat, ask yourself these three questions:
1. What intellectual knowledge do you believe about what's healthy?
Do you think that all carbs should be banned from your diet? Do you believe in "good" foods vs. "bad" foods? Do you feel you have to eat lots of salads and grilled chicken to lose weight?
Take a look at what you believe about the way you eat. When you bring your beliefs to light and become aware of what you're doing around food, that's the first step to changing those patterns.
2. Are you secretly (or not so secretly) restricting?
Is the way you're eating satisfying? Do you feel like it's sustainable? If you are coming from a restricting or dieting mindset, the way you eat won't be feasible for the long-haul.
If you're a night-eater or weekend binger, you are most likely restricting at some point during the day/week. Look at your patterns to see where this is happening and where you're eating only the stuff you "should" eat.
3. Can you find the happy medium between what's "healthy" and what's not?It's important to find your balance in the food realm. You need to allow yourself to eat the "bad" things sometimes and have it be okay. That takes some practice, but giving yourself the permission is half the battle.
I eat healthy about 90 (ish) percent of the time. I love a grilled vegetables or a big salad with chicken. And I also love animal crackers as a snack, a slice or two of pizza, and some cake at a birthday party.
When you take a look at where the disconnect is happening, it starts to bring some of your patterns to light. Which allows you to begin to bring your way of eating back into balance.
Are you tired of always starting over on Monday? Grab your FREE "Must Have Guide To End The Diet Cycle Today!" For more info on how to stop obsessing over food and your weight, visit jennhand.com.
But despite the fact that you know everything about nutrition and health, it seems you still end up eating all of the stuff you know you "shouldn't."
So, why is it so hard to translate all of the intellectual information, all of the "what you KNOW you're supposed to be doing" into actually doing it?
Let me begin by saying that you aren't alone.
We are a culture of fat-free, gluten-free, everything-free foods. We're simultaneously obsessed with learning about nutrition/health, while also struggling with our weight (and spending billions of dollars a year trying to keep the weight off!)
Where is the disconnect between knowing what to eat and then making those choices in our day to day lives?
A little backstory: when I began my master's in nutrition, I became obsessed with eating only those foods that were the healthiest for my body. I made foods made with only the most organic, finest, best-for-the-body ingredients.
For meals I ate quinoa, amaranth, and spelt bread. For birthdays, I made sweet potato cookies, flourless brownies, and grain-free cakes. I cut out all refined foods and most animal products. I even swore off white bread, white sugar, and anything that was processed.
Getting an in-depth view of how nutrition affected the body, I became even more aware of what I was "supposed" to eat and because I was a perfectionist, I was going to make sure I ate exactly like that!
That lasted for about three months.
And then...
It all fell apart.
Because I began to seriously crave all the things I was denying myself.
I would come home from work obsessively wanting a cheeseburger with the works. And a cinnamon bun. And a tub of icing, 17 pieces of pizza, and everything I hadn't let myself eat in the past three months.
Yes, it's great to eat healthy and be nutritionally sound...
But, when it's the mind that dictates what you should be eating, that's when it backfires.
It was my intellectual brain that was telling me what I was supposed to do. My brain said to eat oatmeal for breakfast, vegetables and rice for lunch, and a salad with some nuts sprinkled on top for dinner.
There was a complete disconnect with what my body actually wanted. My body did want chicken, fish, pasta, and meat. And it sometimes also wanted a cookie, a piece of dark chocolate, or a slice of toast with peanut butter.
Yes, when you are back in balance, you will want the "good" foods most of the time.
I do want to eat salads, fruits, veggies, lean proteins and "healthy" foods. Most of the time.
I also want to have frozen yogurt loaded with Reese's Cups every once in a while.
During that three months, I was restricting. I refused to allow myself anything that was off my plan. And we all know what happens when you are restricting or dieting... you end up binging. Which is, of course, what ended up happening.
So, the solution lies in finding where the disconnect is happening and working to find a balance between what your mind tells you what you want vs what you actually want.
We need to get out of our mind-centered way of living and be more in touch with our bodies.
Because we aren't feeding our minds.
We are fueling our bodies. And when the mind is in charge, it makes up crazy rules that keep us locked in a rigid diet cycle.
So if you struggle with having a brain filled with nutritional knowledge, and still battling the urge to overeat, ask yourself these three questions:
1. What intellectual knowledge do you believe about what's healthy?
Do you think that all carbs should be banned from your diet? Do you believe in "good" foods vs. "bad" foods? Do you feel you have to eat lots of salads and grilled chicken to lose weight?
Take a look at what you believe about the way you eat. When you bring your beliefs to light and become aware of what you're doing around food, that's the first step to changing those patterns.
2. Are you secretly (or not so secretly) restricting?
Is the way you're eating satisfying? Do you feel like it's sustainable? If you are coming from a restricting or dieting mindset, the way you eat won't be feasible for the long-haul.
If you're a night-eater or weekend binger, you are most likely restricting at some point during the day/week. Look at your patterns to see where this is happening and where you're eating only the stuff you "should" eat.
3. Can you find the happy medium between what's "healthy" and what's not?It's important to find your balance in the food realm. You need to allow yourself to eat the "bad" things sometimes and have it be okay. That takes some practice, but giving yourself the permission is half the battle.
I eat healthy about 90 (ish) percent of the time. I love a grilled vegetables or a big salad with chicken. And I also love animal crackers as a snack, a slice or two of pizza, and some cake at a birthday party.
When you take a look at where the disconnect is happening, it starts to bring some of your patterns to light. Which allows you to begin to bring your way of eating back into balance.
Are you tired of always starting over on Monday? Grab your FREE "Must Have Guide To End The Diet Cycle Today!" For more info on how to stop obsessing over food and your weight, visit jennhand.com.
The difference between love and being in love is paramount
At some point in our lives, we've been told the mark of doom in a relationship is when one partner declares he or she is no longer "in love" with the other person. But what if everything we've been taught is wrong and that actually signifies the start of something even better?
Greater Manchester Given Responsibility For Its Health Budget
Chancellor George Osborne has announced that Greater Manchester will be taking control of the £6bn health and social care budget devoted to the region. This change, scheduled to commence in April 2016, will give 10 local councils the power to distribute budgets where they choose, with a shadow Greater Manchester Health and Well Being board […]
St David's Day: 10 Modern ways to celebrate
St. David’s Day is coming up on March 1 and it's a great opportunity to find out more about Wales and get involved in some Welsh traditions.
Tune into Ronda Rousey versus Cat Zingano at UFC 184
It's been a while since we've raved about sporting heroine Ronda Rousey and her incredible rise in the mixed martial arts community, but that's not to say the female bantamweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship hasn't been busy. After her last fight against Alexis Davis in July 2014 (which, by the way, Rousey dominated and finished within 16 seconds), the Olympian has undergone a successful knee surgery, rehabbed it and prepared for the biggest fight of her life and we can't wait to see how it unfolds.
Tomorrow night, Ronda Rousey will take on Cat Zingano in a bout that's seriously long-awaited. There are tons of reasons why you should tune in to the airing on BT Sport (or at least catch the repeat at a more reasonable hour), but here are just five:
1. It's been a long time coming
Those who follow MMA will know just how long fans have been waiting for these two to tee off. Not only were they scheduled to fight over a year ago, but the champ and number one contender were also supposed to coach rival teams on the 18th season of the UFC's reality show, The Ultimate Fighter, before a nasty knee injury ruled Zingano out. To make matters worse, the fight was then scheduled for 3rd January before Zingano suffered a back injury that further postponed it. So while the hype started building back in 2013, it certainly feels as though tomorrow's fight will live up to it.
2. Someone's got to lose
Sounds obvious, right? Since draws are rarely called in MMA bouts, there's usually always a loser, we know. But both Rousey and Zingano are undefeated fighters in their professional MMA careers – and they've got eleven years worth of experience between them. We're massive fans of both fighters, but someone's got to lose, and we're excited to see who as well as how. Rousey has only ever been taken out of the first round once in her 10-fight career, winning every single fight by stoppage, while Zingano is known for her unbelievable comeback ability and toughness. It's hard to imagine either of them walking away with a loss.
3. World-class athletes at work
The UFC is undoubtedly the pinnacle of any MMA fighter's career, and its roster of fighters includes the world's best, that's for sure. While Zingano's no slouch, it's Rousey's sporting resume that really shines: not only was she the first American to medal at the Olympics in judo, but she was also the UFC's first ever female champion of any weight category – and yes, this was after UFC president Dana White famously said that women would never fight in the organisation. Now? He's one of their biggest supporters, and rightly so. Seeing this standard of athletes at their peak is not to be missed.
4. They're keeping it classy
Rousey's been known to speak the truth, even if it's brutal. Don't believe us? Just give 'Rousey Tate' a quick google. Her famous rivalry with fellow UFC fighter Miesha Tate has been well-documented, and it's not nice. The pair have fought twice already, and we have a hunch that a third bout isn't far away. But the lead-up to UFC 184 has been respectful, pleasant and relatively calm, despite all the obstacles that might've caused frustration in both fighters. It'll be interesting to see how they unleash in the Octagon without the prior build-up of tension and rivalry to bounce off.
5. Women are fighting in the UFC!
Is this not enough, people? The UFC's own president said it would never happen – then he ate his own words, and it's pretty clear how giddy he gets whenever Rousey is set to fight. We don't blame him, either. In fact, neither Rousey or Zingano has ever been in a less-than-exciting fight. There might be five reasons listed here to watch the two battling it out for the Bantamweight belt, but to be honest, we can barely think of any reasons not to. Support the sport and the women in it by tuning into BT Sport at 3am this Saturday 28th February (Sunday 1st March).
Follow Amanda Khouv on Twitter @theglucosekid.
Use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) Benefits Neurorehabilitation Research and Patient Care
Guidelines and limitations reported in NeuroRehabilitation
বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৬ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৫
Simple Things That You Can Do to Get Into the Best Shape of Your Life
An effective program for exercise is entertaining and easy to work into a normal day. Creating a personalized workout regimen makes working out far more pleasurable and easier to stay with. Continue reading to discover some tips that can assist you in putting together your own outstanding program
Stand Up! 6 Ways to Get Moving that Don't Require a Gym Membership
By Adam Perlman, MD
The research keeps rolling in: Sitting for long periods of time every day is not good for our bodies. A new study published last month raised the stakes even higher. People who spend the majority of their waking hours sitting are at higher risk for diabetes, heart disease, some forms of cancer, and earlier death.
The study found that even people who exercise vigorously three or more times a week, but are sedentary the rest of the time, are still at risk for all these negative outcomes. It's just not enough to run for 60 minutes if you're sitting for the remaining 15 or so hours of your day.
But that's the doom-and-gloom side of the story. Though a sedentary life can lead to many disease, it alone is not a disease. It's a behavior. And that means it's most definitely one you can change, even if you drive a desk for a living and love watching television at night.
Truth be told, frequent short bursts of activity throughout your day may be more realistic for your schedule. If you have a family and a job, it may make more sense to move a bit on the hour instead of, say, put in a full workout every morning. Mini-workouts might be the movement goal you can hit, rather than the goal that leaves you feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. Here are six ways to get started.
Know how long you're sitting
How much do you sit a day? Find out. Like keeping a food or stress journal, the act of mapping out exactly how you're using your body helps you see more clearly where you need to change. For example, you might find that you get home at 7 p.m. and literally don't stand up more than once or twice for the next four hours.
A plain old pen and notebook journal will do to track this data. It can be as simple as jotting down the time each time you stand, and then calculating the length of sitting intervals. Keep your journal for several days to get a sense of your habits.
Set a 30-minute alarm
For those long stretches of chair time, set an alarm to go off every 30-minutes. At the sound of the bell (or trill or quack or whatever tone you choose), stand up and move around for a few minutes. Seriously, one to three minutes is a common recommendation for how long you need to move. Walk outside, touch your toes, water a plant, physically deliver a message to a colleague, or try some simple stretches.
Make walking appointments and have standing meetings
Need to meet with a colleague or neighbor? Have a walking appointment outside. If the weather won't cooperate, schedule a standing meeting. Comfortable shoes help this habit stick, as does good posture: shoulders down and back, neck straight and pelvis slightly tucked. As a side benefit, walking or standing may keep otherwise long meetings short.
Read more on how to make walking work for you.
Bring your workout to work
Even a cubicle has enough space for some five-minute strength training. As health writer James Hamblin says in his If Our Bodies Could Talk videos, "It's cool to eat salad and quinoa at your desk, but it's not cool to do exercises there?" Instead of crunching on another power bar, bang out 10 desk pushups or chair dips, then get back to work. Check out this list from Greatist of 33 (!) exercises you can do at your desk sweat-free.
Schedule your movement
Whether it's a set of 5 hamstring curls or a half-hour job, put it in your calendar. Schedule exercise into your daily routine like you do other activities and meetings. It's as important as that dentist appointment or car registration, even if it only lasts for two minutes.
Stand up between episodes
The conventional advice for at-home exercising is to move during television commercial breaks. That holds true, but if you're a Netflix binge-watcher, as so many of us are, you have to find a different measure. Instead, any time the credit roll is your cue to get off the couch and back into your body.
Read six more ways to revitalize through exercise.
Vigorous activity still needs to be part of your life, of course. Playing tag with the kids on the weekend, getting in a short, high-intensity workout a couple of mornings a week -- anything that gets your blood pumping and lungs working is great. But for the rest of the waking hours, the aim is simply to keep yourself in motion. That's the way you were designed to be.
Learn more useful information about stress and your health! Order our new book, meQuilibrium: 14 Days to Cooler, Calmer, and Happier, co-authored by meQuilibrium CEO Jan Bruce, Adam Perlman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, and Andrew Shatté, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer.
The research keeps rolling in: Sitting for long periods of time every day is not good for our bodies. A new study published last month raised the stakes even higher. People who spend the majority of their waking hours sitting are at higher risk for diabetes, heart disease, some forms of cancer, and earlier death.
The study found that even people who exercise vigorously three or more times a week, but are sedentary the rest of the time, are still at risk for all these negative outcomes. It's just not enough to run for 60 minutes if you're sitting for the remaining 15 or so hours of your day.
But that's the doom-and-gloom side of the story. Though a sedentary life can lead to many disease, it alone is not a disease. It's a behavior. And that means it's most definitely one you can change, even if you drive a desk for a living and love watching television at night.
Truth be told, frequent short bursts of activity throughout your day may be more realistic for your schedule. If you have a family and a job, it may make more sense to move a bit on the hour instead of, say, put in a full workout every morning. Mini-workouts might be the movement goal you can hit, rather than the goal that leaves you feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. Here are six ways to get started.
Know how long you're sitting
How much do you sit a day? Find out. Like keeping a food or stress journal, the act of mapping out exactly how you're using your body helps you see more clearly where you need to change. For example, you might find that you get home at 7 p.m. and literally don't stand up more than once or twice for the next four hours.
A plain old pen and notebook journal will do to track this data. It can be as simple as jotting down the time each time you stand, and then calculating the length of sitting intervals. Keep your journal for several days to get a sense of your habits.
Set a 30-minute alarm
For those long stretches of chair time, set an alarm to go off every 30-minutes. At the sound of the bell (or trill or quack or whatever tone you choose), stand up and move around for a few minutes. Seriously, one to three minutes is a common recommendation for how long you need to move. Walk outside, touch your toes, water a plant, physically deliver a message to a colleague, or try some simple stretches.
Make walking appointments and have standing meetings
Need to meet with a colleague or neighbor? Have a walking appointment outside. If the weather won't cooperate, schedule a standing meeting. Comfortable shoes help this habit stick, as does good posture: shoulders down and back, neck straight and pelvis slightly tucked. As a side benefit, walking or standing may keep otherwise long meetings short.
Read more on how to make walking work for you.
Bring your workout to work
Even a cubicle has enough space for some five-minute strength training. As health writer James Hamblin says in his If Our Bodies Could Talk videos, "It's cool to eat salad and quinoa at your desk, but it's not cool to do exercises there?" Instead of crunching on another power bar, bang out 10 desk pushups or chair dips, then get back to work. Check out this list from Greatist of 33 (!) exercises you can do at your desk sweat-free.
Schedule your movement
Whether it's a set of 5 hamstring curls or a half-hour job, put it in your calendar. Schedule exercise into your daily routine like you do other activities and meetings. It's as important as that dentist appointment or car registration, even if it only lasts for two minutes.
Stand up between episodes
The conventional advice for at-home exercising is to move during television commercial breaks. That holds true, but if you're a Netflix binge-watcher, as so many of us are, you have to find a different measure. Instead, any time the credit roll is your cue to get off the couch and back into your body.
Read six more ways to revitalize through exercise.
Vigorous activity still needs to be part of your life, of course. Playing tag with the kids on the weekend, getting in a short, high-intensity workout a couple of mornings a week -- anything that gets your blood pumping and lungs working is great. But for the rest of the waking hours, the aim is simply to keep yourself in motion. That's the way you were designed to be.
Learn more useful information about stress and your health! Order our new book, meQuilibrium: 14 Days to Cooler, Calmer, and Happier, co-authored by meQuilibrium CEO Jan Bruce, Adam Perlman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, and Andrew Shatté, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer.
6 Things Health Conscious People Do Without Questioning
Health conscious people chose certain healthy options without questioning because they've already looked into the rationale and made their choices! So, without further ado here are those 6 things.
Advantages Of Using Private Jets As Air Ambulance
There are many different types of aircraft that are used by air ambulance services for transportation of patients. Typically three classes of aircraft are primarily utilized such as piston propeller planes, turbine engine planes, customized option and jet aircraft.
Blue collar boys count themselves out of success at school
University of South Australia education researcher Dr Garth Stahl says boys from low socio-economic backgrounds may be disengaging from school education, partly in response to wider prejudices about them that exist in the community and the poorly resourced schools they attend.
Master Gene Regulatory Pathway Revealed as Key Target for Therapy of Aggressive Pediatric Brain Cancer
Laboratory studies suggest anticancer drug already in clinical trials in children may interrupt this gene pathway.
New Tip on Butt Lift (Bridge)
Exercise: Butt Lift (Bridge)
Tip: Do on one leg while holding the other still for more difficulty and also works on your abs.
Author: tom939
Date: Feb 24, 2015 2:59 PM
What Is Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization?
When catheters, a term coined for hollow plastic tubes of 2 to 3 mm diameter, are inserted into arteries or veins in the patient's arm, leg or neck, wherefrom these get directed to the heart, the process is dubbed diagnostic cardiac catheterization. When these catheters get placed in different heart chambers, the blood pressure in varied heart chambers becomes measurable. Doctors can then take blood samples and inject dye i.
C-Diff Kills 15,000 People A Year. Feces Donations May Change That
A bacteria that triggers deadly diarrhea and is one of the most common causes of U.S. infectious disease deaths is caused, in part, by antibiotics.
Clostridium difficile, or C-diff, is a toxin-producing microbe that infected almost a half-million Americans in 2011 and was linked to 29,000 deaths, according to a report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It said 15,000 deaths were "directly attributable" to C-diff infections. The bacteria is the leading cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea in the industrialized world. In the U.S., the rate of hospital-acquired C-diff infections doubled from 2001 to 2010, to 8.2 infections per 1,000 admissions.
Dr. Fernanda Lessa, a CDC medical epidemiologist and lead author of the report, called the control of C-diff infections a “national priority."
“There is no vaccine for Clostridium difficile, and we know that good antibiotic stewardship is a big step forward in terms of its prevention,” Lessa said in a phone interview with The Huffington Post. "We had a publication last year showing that if hospitals can reduce 30 percent of antibiotic use, rates of C-diff can be reduced by 25 percent.”
The bacteria’s spores make inroads in people who either recently took antibiotics or are currently taking them. Antibiotic use creates an ideal environment for C-diff because the medication indiscriminately wipes out beneficial bacteria that help prevent disease, along with bacteria that are the source of infection.
C-diff spores can survive a wash in hand sanitizer gel and can live for a long time on surfaces, so infection control and personal hygiene for health care workers is key, officials said during a CDC press conference on Wednesday. In fact, almost all of the C-diff infections in 2011 were associated with a stay or visit to a health care facility. That shows the deadly and costly infections are preventable.
C-diff produces a toxin that can cause horrific diarrhea and holes in the large intestine, putting people at risk of sepsis if fecal matter leaks into the body. In the worst cases, patients need to have portions of their colon surgically removed and use a colostomy bag for an extended period while their intestines heal.
The standard treatment for most C-diff infections is, strangely, antibiotics -- which experts at the CDC press conference expressed concern about. Further, antibiotics don’t work for everybody. The report estimated that 83,000 people -- about one in five -- experienced at least one recurrent C-diff infection in 2011, which burdens patients and gives the bug more opportunity to be spread to others.
“What we’ve seen is that for many patients, there can be multiple rounds of antibiotics required to finally suppress the infection and, with luck, finally give the body enough time to go back to normal in terms of the bacteria with the gut,” said Dr. Michael Bell, deputy director of the CDC’s division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. "The challenge that we have is that by giving antibiotics, in many ways we are continuing to disturb the normal bacteria in the bowels, so it’s not a perfect solution.”
Given this treatment difficulty, doctors are increasingly turning to a promising, relatively new treatment -- fecal transplant. It's what it sounds like: an infusion of healthy feces, through an enema or a colonoscopy.
Intestines are teeming with bacteria that help us digest food and eliminate waste. But a healthy balance of gut bacteria can get thrown off, either because of aggressive antibiotic treatment, poor diet that starves helpful bacteria, or an infectious microbe that begins to colonize in the intestines. Fecal transplants deploy a donor's good bacteria to defeat the bacteria wreaking havoc in the recipient’s gut.
While fecal transplants are technically experimental, the treatments have largely been successful to treat recurrent C- diff infections. The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t require doctors to ask permission, in the form of a new drug application, before performing one.
“Originally, this was sort of a last-ditch, desperation-type treatment,” explained Bell. "I think increasingly, we’re seeing it move earlier into the process,” in order to avoid surgery and its complications.
In small but compelling experiments that include a randomized trial, researchers have found that transferring feces from a healthy donor into a C-diff patient is much better at treating recurrent infections than antibiotics -- so much so that the trial was stopped early because it was considered unethical to deny the control group access to fecal transplants.
Still, few hospitals are equipped to screen fecal donors and store or administer feces. The CDC doesn’t track the number of doctors that offer fecal transplants, but a nonprofit organization called the Fecal Transplant Foundation says 92 providers across 32 states perform the transplants. Open Biome, the first stool donor bank, counts more than 200 hospitals and medical centers in its clinical network and says more than 80 percent of Americans live within four hours of a clinic that does the procedure.
Catherine Duff, a C-diff survivor and founder of the Fecal Transplant Foundation, said the CDC press conference was encouraging, but more needs to be done to make fecal transplants accessible. Instead of only allowing fecal transplants for people who have had multiple C-diff infections, Duff argued the treatment should be a first line of defense offered to patients with their first infection.
"If doctors could more easily identify and diagnose C-diff, we would like see fecal transplant offered as one of the first line of treatments,” said Duff in a phone call to HuffPost. "You would guess that the majority of people would choose a fecal transplant” -- partly because it works, but also because it doesn’t destroy the microbiome and leave you vulnerable to future infections.
Duff, who suffered eight bouts of C-diff from 2005 to 2012, had multiple sections of her colon removed because of complications from the infection. She was on the brink of surgically removing the entire colon before she discovered that fecal transplants were a promising therapy.
She had to convince her doctor to look into it. Then, they couldn’t find a provider near where she lived in Carmel, Indiana. After persevering, Duff eventually had two fecal transplants -- once via an enema at home, and once through a colonoscopy. After each transplant, she said she felt instantly better.
“I just became more bothered by the idea this procedure is so simple and can offer relief to so many people, and it remains so inaccessible,” said Duff.
Case studies from the Journal of Medical Case Reports and Open Forum Infectious Diseases point to the challenges of living far from a facility and of working with doctors who have limited experience in providing transplants.
CDC study co-author Dr. L. Clifford McDonald expressed hope about the experimental treatment, if only that it gets patients off the antibiotics that left them vulnerable to infection in the first place.
“Some people do just fine with the antibiotic treatment,” said McDonald during the briefing. “But it is a problem that we’re using an antibiotic to treat a disease that really occurs because someone got an antibiotic in the first place."
Clostridium difficile, or C-diff, is a toxin-producing microbe that infected almost a half-million Americans in 2011 and was linked to 29,000 deaths, according to a report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It said 15,000 deaths were "directly attributable" to C-diff infections. The bacteria is the leading cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea in the industrialized world. In the U.S., the rate of hospital-acquired C-diff infections doubled from 2001 to 2010, to 8.2 infections per 1,000 admissions.
Dr. Fernanda Lessa, a CDC medical epidemiologist and lead author of the report, called the control of C-diff infections a “national priority."
“There is no vaccine for Clostridium difficile, and we know that good antibiotic stewardship is a big step forward in terms of its prevention,” Lessa said in a phone interview with The Huffington Post. "We had a publication last year showing that if hospitals can reduce 30 percent of antibiotic use, rates of C-diff can be reduced by 25 percent.”
The bacteria’s spores make inroads in people who either recently took antibiotics or are currently taking them. Antibiotic use creates an ideal environment for C-diff because the medication indiscriminately wipes out beneficial bacteria that help prevent disease, along with bacteria that are the source of infection.
C-diff spores can survive a wash in hand sanitizer gel and can live for a long time on surfaces, so infection control and personal hygiene for health care workers is key, officials said during a CDC press conference on Wednesday. In fact, almost all of the C-diff infections in 2011 were associated with a stay or visit to a health care facility. That shows the deadly and costly infections are preventable.
C-diff produces a toxin that can cause horrific diarrhea and holes in the large intestine, putting people at risk of sepsis if fecal matter leaks into the body. In the worst cases, patients need to have portions of their colon surgically removed and use a colostomy bag for an extended period while their intestines heal.
The standard treatment for most C-diff infections is, strangely, antibiotics -- which experts at the CDC press conference expressed concern about. Further, antibiotics don’t work for everybody. The report estimated that 83,000 people -- about one in five -- experienced at least one recurrent C-diff infection in 2011, which burdens patients and gives the bug more opportunity to be spread to others.
“What we’ve seen is that for many patients, there can be multiple rounds of antibiotics required to finally suppress the infection and, with luck, finally give the body enough time to go back to normal in terms of the bacteria with the gut,” said Dr. Michael Bell, deputy director of the CDC’s division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. "The challenge that we have is that by giving antibiotics, in many ways we are continuing to disturb the normal bacteria in the bowels, so it’s not a perfect solution.”
Given this treatment difficulty, doctors are increasingly turning to a promising, relatively new treatment -- fecal transplant. It's what it sounds like: an infusion of healthy feces, through an enema or a colonoscopy.
Intestines are teeming with bacteria that help us digest food and eliminate waste. But a healthy balance of gut bacteria can get thrown off, either because of aggressive antibiotic treatment, poor diet that starves helpful bacteria, or an infectious microbe that begins to colonize in the intestines. Fecal transplants deploy a donor's good bacteria to defeat the bacteria wreaking havoc in the recipient’s gut.
While fecal transplants are technically experimental, the treatments have largely been successful to treat recurrent C- diff infections. The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t require doctors to ask permission, in the form of a new drug application, before performing one.
“Originally, this was sort of a last-ditch, desperation-type treatment,” explained Bell. "I think increasingly, we’re seeing it move earlier into the process,” in order to avoid surgery and its complications.
In small but compelling experiments that include a randomized trial, researchers have found that transferring feces from a healthy donor into a C-diff patient is much better at treating recurrent infections than antibiotics -- so much so that the trial was stopped early because it was considered unethical to deny the control group access to fecal transplants.
Still, few hospitals are equipped to screen fecal donors and store or administer feces. The CDC doesn’t track the number of doctors that offer fecal transplants, but a nonprofit organization called the Fecal Transplant Foundation says 92 providers across 32 states perform the transplants. Open Biome, the first stool donor bank, counts more than 200 hospitals and medical centers in its clinical network and says more than 80 percent of Americans live within four hours of a clinic that does the procedure.
Catherine Duff, a C-diff survivor and founder of the Fecal Transplant Foundation, said the CDC press conference was encouraging, but more needs to be done to make fecal transplants accessible. Instead of only allowing fecal transplants for people who have had multiple C-diff infections, Duff argued the treatment should be a first line of defense offered to patients with their first infection.
"If doctors could more easily identify and diagnose C-diff, we would like see fecal transplant offered as one of the first line of treatments,” said Duff in a phone call to HuffPost. "You would guess that the majority of people would choose a fecal transplant” -- partly because it works, but also because it doesn’t destroy the microbiome and leave you vulnerable to future infections.
Duff, who suffered eight bouts of C-diff from 2005 to 2012, had multiple sections of her colon removed because of complications from the infection. She was on the brink of surgically removing the entire colon before she discovered that fecal transplants were a promising therapy.
She had to convince her doctor to look into it. Then, they couldn’t find a provider near where she lived in Carmel, Indiana. After persevering, Duff eventually had two fecal transplants -- once via an enema at home, and once through a colonoscopy. After each transplant, she said she felt instantly better.
“I just became more bothered by the idea this procedure is so simple and can offer relief to so many people, and it remains so inaccessible,” said Duff.
Case studies from the Journal of Medical Case Reports and Open Forum Infectious Diseases point to the challenges of living far from a facility and of working with doctors who have limited experience in providing transplants.
CDC study co-author Dr. L. Clifford McDonald expressed hope about the experimental treatment, if only that it gets patients off the antibiotics that left them vulnerable to infection in the first place.
“Some people do just fine with the antibiotic treatment,” said McDonald during the briefing. “But it is a problem that we’re using an antibiotic to treat a disease that really occurs because someone got an antibiotic in the first place."
মঙ্গলবার, ২৪ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৫
Child-shaming over bad grades lands mom in jail for child abuse (VIDEO)
My grandma used to say, "You get what you give." That phrase seems to have rung true for a Florida mom who ended up in jail on child abuse charges after sending her daughter to West Hernando Middle School in a homemade T-shirt designed to humiliate and shame.
These Disney-inspired doughnuts are almost too cute to eat
Prepare yourselves, doughnut lovers and Disneyphiles — the following post could be too much for you to bear.
New Review on Superman
Exercise: Superman
Review: this isn't a stretching excercise but a strenght one.
Author: DanyPato97
Date: Feb 22, 2015 2:57 AM
The Importance of the Winter Fuel Payment
Every year, lives are lost due to a combination of cold weather and poorly insulated homes. As we age, our bodies face an increasing number of negative effects from the cold, which means that older people living in under-heated homes are at an increased risk of suffering from heart attacks, strokes, breathing difficulties and many […]
Here's the problem with extreme parenting styles
You may have noticed a trend as you compared parenting philosophies at playgroup. The more that you focus on your parenting style, the less you focus on your kids.
Strange And Surreal Photographs Chronicle The Happy Magic Of Germany's Spa Towns
Throughout Germany, there are approximately 300 spa towns, each combining specialized rehabilitation clinics and wellness programs to yield a futuristic microcosm, a utopian hideaway for patients (and, in some cases, their pets) to enjoy. Photographer Alexander Krack became fascinated with these uncanny destinations, located somewhere between a hospital stay and a fever dream.
Krack visited 40 distinct spa towns, chronicling his findings in an intriguing photography series entitled "The Treatment." The photographs represent Krack's quest for a unifying aesthetic somehow consolidating each peculiar locale, something that tied together a rehab center for animals with a treatment facility for a chronic disease such as rheumatism.
Although most patrons residing in these spa towns are past retirement age, Krack found his time spent there conjured strange and beautiful memories of his youth. "The more I delved into this world, memories from my childhood emerged when a chronic bronchitis made me spent several summers in a spa town in the mountains," he explained in a statement. "They are memories of beautiful nature, strange medical machines and elder people in white coats. To me there was always an ambivalence in those memories, aesthetically and emotionally. Almost as in a dream where one can never be sure if things are really the way they seem and where a tree can suddenly turn into a giant."
Many of the available treatments offered at such establishments veer awfully close to the surreal. For example, those using cold chambers, meant to alleviate the pains of chronic arthritis, sit for three minutes in temperatures reaching minus 110 degrees Celsius. And then there's the adit, a mud-covered cave that's meant to cleanse your lungs. "Within the adit is a micro climate that keeps a constant temperature of 8 degrees Celsius throughout the whole year," Krack explained to Vice. "Humidity is at nearly 100 percent and the air is almost completely free of dust particles, germs and allergenic pollen. Therefore the air is supposedly really good for your lungs. Also theres is a spring inside the adit that releases so called reduced water which is supposed to work as a catcher of free radicals."
The images, ranging from sweet to scientific to very strange, depict a place seemingly rooted in both the future and the past. If Willy Wonka opened a medical facility or David Lynch started a day spa, we suspect they'd look something like this. To see more images and the limited edition book, check out his website.
Krack visited 40 distinct spa towns, chronicling his findings in an intriguing photography series entitled "The Treatment." The photographs represent Krack's quest for a unifying aesthetic somehow consolidating each peculiar locale, something that tied together a rehab center for animals with a treatment facility for a chronic disease such as rheumatism.
Although most patrons residing in these spa towns are past retirement age, Krack found his time spent there conjured strange and beautiful memories of his youth. "The more I delved into this world, memories from my childhood emerged when a chronic bronchitis made me spent several summers in a spa town in the mountains," he explained in a statement. "They are memories of beautiful nature, strange medical machines and elder people in white coats. To me there was always an ambivalence in those memories, aesthetically and emotionally. Almost as in a dream where one can never be sure if things are really the way they seem and where a tree can suddenly turn into a giant."
Many of the available treatments offered at such establishments veer awfully close to the surreal. For example, those using cold chambers, meant to alleviate the pains of chronic arthritis, sit for three minutes in temperatures reaching minus 110 degrees Celsius. And then there's the adit, a mud-covered cave that's meant to cleanse your lungs. "Within the adit is a micro climate that keeps a constant temperature of 8 degrees Celsius throughout the whole year," Krack explained to Vice. "Humidity is at nearly 100 percent and the air is almost completely free of dust particles, germs and allergenic pollen. Therefore the air is supposedly really good for your lungs. Also theres is a spring inside the adit that releases so called reduced water which is supposed to work as a catcher of free radicals."
The images, ranging from sweet to scientific to very strange, depict a place seemingly rooted in both the future and the past. If Willy Wonka opened a medical facility or David Lynch started a day spa, we suspect they'd look something like this. To see more images and the limited edition book, check out his website.
New Review on Leverage Incline Chest Press
Exercise: Leverage Incline Chest Press
Review: This is now my go to chest exercise. When I was younger I used to do solely flat and incline barbell presses. Now being almost 47, I find this exercise is both safe and effective. Safety, protecting my shoulders and tendons is a must for both avoiding injury and making gains. Of the three variations of Hammer Strength types of movements, I find the incline to be the most effective for developing the entire chest.
Author: Demongreat88
Date: Feb 22, 2015 1:40 AM
সোমবার, ২৩ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৫
Bill Phillip's Back To Fit: Day 36
Ready to kick off Week 6? Today you'll target your lower chest and pump up your arms!
New Review on Seated Calf Raise
Exercise: Seated Calf Raise
Review: The best soleus exercise I have done. It really focuses the work on the soleus. The higher cut your calves, the soleus becomes more important with regard to the size of your lower leg. I have found that higher reps works better for me than going really heavy on this exercise.
Author: Demongreat88
Date: Feb 22, 2015 1:32 AM
What You Can Learn From An Old Gym Rat
The iron game warriors who have been at it for decades can help you do the same if you listen. Here's how to keep lifting for a lifetime!
Why Globalization Is Making Everyone's Diets Worse
By Chris Arsenault
ROME, Feb 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The world's diet has deteriorated substantially in the last two decades, a leading nutrition expert said on Monday, citing one of the largest studies available on international eating habits.
Poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia are seeing the fastest increases in unhealthy food consumption, while the situation has improved slightly in Western Europe and North America, said Dariush Mozaffarian, Dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.
Between 1990 and 2010, middle and low income countries saw consumption of unhealthy foods increase dramatically, Mozaffarian said, citing information in a study he co-authored for the March edition of The Lancet Global Health journal.
The "globalization" of western diets - where a small group of food and agriculture companies have disproportionate power to decide what is produced - is partially causing the shift to unhealthy eating, Mozaffarian said.
Processed foods high in sugar, fat and starch are driving the growth of unhealthy foods.
The study reviewed 325 dietary surveys, representing almost 90 percent of the world's population, in what is thought to be the largest study yet of international eating habits.
China and India recorded some of the highest increases in unhealthy food consumption, the study said. Some countries in Latin America and Europe saw an increase in both healthy and unhealthy food consumption.
Between 1990 and 2014, roughly the same period as the study, the number of hungry people worldwide dropped by 209 million to 805 million, according to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
"Most global nutrition efforts have focused on calories - getting starchy staples to people," Mozaffarian told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "We need to focus on the quality of calories for poor countries, not just the quantity."
Old people displayed better eating habits than the young in most of the 187 countries covered in the study.
This is a worrying development, Mozaffarian said, as rates of obesity and chronic diseases like diabetes are set to increase if young people continue eating unhealthy foods.
"Young people are growing up with much worse diets than their parents or grandparents," he said. (Reporting By Chris Arsenault; Editing by Ros Russell)
New Review on Trail Running/Walking
Exercise: Trail Running/Walking
Review: One of my favorite activities.
Author: hussainahmed
Date: Feb 20, 2015 11:23 PM
In Pursuit Of Speed: How To Run Faster
Do you even sprint, bro? Heed this advice to help you run and do it fast.
Science Be Damned: Americans Prefer Broken Method Of Heroin Treatment, Survey Finds
In developed countries around the globe, the standard of care for opiate addiction is what's known as "medically assisted treatment." Under a doctor's supervision, people with addictive disorders are prescribed medications like methadone, buprenorphine and Suboxone, which remove the cravings associated with opiate addiction.
In the U.S., however, by far the most common form of treatment is based around the concept of strict abstinence. Advocates of the abstinence model consider the use of Suboxone or methadone to be tantamount to using heroin itself. Many in the medical establishment oppose the abstinence model -- as do officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration -- and a recent Huffington Post investigation found that the bias in favor of abstinence is costing the lives of those it regularly fails. Over 90 percent of people treated with the abstinence method will relapse.
“If somebody has a heroin dependence and they did not have the possibility to be offered methadone or Suboxone, then I think it’s a fairly tall order to try and get any success,” Dr. Bankole Johnson, professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, told The Huffington Post previously. “There have been so many papers on this -- the impact of methadone and Suboxone. It’s not even controversial. It’s just a fact that this is the best way to wean people off an opioid addiction. It’s the standard of care.”
Even so, a new HuffPost/YouGov survey finds that the American people largely come down on the opposite side of the scientists.
Asked whether it's more effective for heroin addicts to detox completely and attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings, or for them to receive synthetic opiates under medical supervision, 50 percent of Americans chose the abstinence option, and just 19 percent favored the use of synthetic opiates. Another 32 percent were unsure.
That gap in opinion narrowed only somewhat after people were presented with common arguments for and against the use of synthetic drugs.
Forty percent of people said that synthetic drugs like Suboxone or methadone are more dangerous than helpful, because "it’s more important to get people off drugs entirely, even if that means recovery is more difficult." Just 24 percent of respondents were sympathetic to the argument that such medications are more helpful than dangerous, since "the approved drugs are safer than heroin or pills bought on the street." Another 36 percent remained unsure.
Republicans were especially likely to favor an abstinence-based approach to drug treatment, with 65 percent preferring a program of cold turkey with NA meetings, and 54 percent saying synthetic drugs are more dangerous than helpful. Democrats agreed with those positions, but by smaller margins.
Most Americans are also uneasy about the idea of having a clinic dispensing drugs nearby. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they'd be somewhat or very uncomfortable with having a methadone clinic in their neighborhood, while just 26 percent said they'd be very or somewhat comfortable.
The issue of heroin addiction, while not unknown, remains remote to many people. Only about one-third of Americans say they know someone who's addicted to heroin or another opiate, and just 3 percent of respondents said they'd ever consider trying the drug, even if it were made legal.
The HuffPost/YouGov poll consisted of 1,000 completed interviews conducted Jan. 16-20 among U.S. adults using a sample selected from YouGov's opt-in online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the adult U.S. population.
The Huffington Post has teamed up with YouGov to conduct daily opinion polls. You can learn more about this project and take part in YouGov's nationally representative opinion polling. Data from all HuffPost/YouGov polls can be found here. More details on the poll's methodology are available here.
In the U.S., however, by far the most common form of treatment is based around the concept of strict abstinence. Advocates of the abstinence model consider the use of Suboxone or methadone to be tantamount to using heroin itself. Many in the medical establishment oppose the abstinence model -- as do officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration -- and a recent Huffington Post investigation found that the bias in favor of abstinence is costing the lives of those it regularly fails. Over 90 percent of people treated with the abstinence method will relapse.
“If somebody has a heroin dependence and they did not have the possibility to be offered methadone or Suboxone, then I think it’s a fairly tall order to try and get any success,” Dr. Bankole Johnson, professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, told The Huffington Post previously. “There have been so many papers on this -- the impact of methadone and Suboxone. It’s not even controversial. It’s just a fact that this is the best way to wean people off an opioid addiction. It’s the standard of care.”
Even so, a new HuffPost/YouGov survey finds that the American people largely come down on the opposite side of the scientists.
Asked whether it's more effective for heroin addicts to detox completely and attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings, or for them to receive synthetic opiates under medical supervision, 50 percent of Americans chose the abstinence option, and just 19 percent favored the use of synthetic opiates. Another 32 percent were unsure.
That gap in opinion narrowed only somewhat after people were presented with common arguments for and against the use of synthetic drugs.
Forty percent of people said that synthetic drugs like Suboxone or methadone are more dangerous than helpful, because "it’s more important to get people off drugs entirely, even if that means recovery is more difficult." Just 24 percent of respondents were sympathetic to the argument that such medications are more helpful than dangerous, since "the approved drugs are safer than heroin or pills bought on the street." Another 36 percent remained unsure.
Republicans were especially likely to favor an abstinence-based approach to drug treatment, with 65 percent preferring a program of cold turkey with NA meetings, and 54 percent saying synthetic drugs are more dangerous than helpful. Democrats agreed with those positions, but by smaller margins.
Most Americans are also uneasy about the idea of having a clinic dispensing drugs nearby. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they'd be somewhat or very uncomfortable with having a methadone clinic in their neighborhood, while just 26 percent said they'd be very or somewhat comfortable.
The issue of heroin addiction, while not unknown, remains remote to many people. Only about one-third of Americans say they know someone who's addicted to heroin or another opiate, and just 3 percent of respondents said they'd ever consider trying the drug, even if it were made legal.
The HuffPost/YouGov poll consisted of 1,000 completed interviews conducted Jan. 16-20 among U.S. adults using a sample selected from YouGov's opt-in online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the adult U.S. population.
The Huffington Post has teamed up with YouGov to conduct daily opinion polls. You can learn more about this project and take part in YouGov's nationally representative opinion polling. Data from all HuffPost/YouGov polls can be found here. More details on the poll's methodology are available here.
2015 Oscars: 7 Amazing things about Graham Moore
Meet Graham Moore, winner of the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The Imitation Game. He's a terrific role model for young people who are struggling to accept themselves, so here are seven reasons we think you'll adore him as much as we do.
New Review on Spell Caster
Exercise: Spell Caster
Review: I have great joy in my heart as I'm writing this testimony about the great man called Dr.Adodo, When my lover left me, I thought i will not be able to get him back after all he has put me through, but I am so happy that after the interference of Dr.Adodo, I was able to get my lover back within 48 hours. And I can proudly say that who ever need help in getting his/her lover back should contact Dr.Adodo on these contact details below; 2348156784928 or Adodospelltemple@gmail.com.com for quicker response of what I have just witness. contact him directly on his web http://adodospelltemple.wix.com/adodospelltemple
Author: Lantiguagloria
Date: Feb 20, 2015 11:23 PM
10 British cities that are cheaper and cooler than London
Starting a life in London as a young adult is becoming increasingly difficult as the cost of living rises. Many people can't afford to rent suitable accommodation on a starting salary and the chance of being able to buy a house seems like a very distant dream. So more young people are looking outside London to the U.K.’s other cities and finding that they have a lot to offer, without the same financial burden.
Neck pain can be changed through altered visual feedback
Using virtual reality to misrepresent how far the neck is turned can actually change pain experiences in individuals who suffer from chronic neck pain, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
রবিবার, ২২ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৫
6 Oscars dresses everyone loved to hate on
Let's get one thing straight: Every celebrity looked gorgeous at the 2015 Oscars. That didn't stop Twitter from unleashing a little of snark on some of their looks.
The social media campaign showing men wearing miniskirts
After a 20-year-old woman was found in Turkey after a bus driver allegedly attempted to sexually assault her, the community in Turkey and surrounding countries have raised awareness of the issue of women's rights through an interesting social media campaign.
One Step Closer to Eradicating Yaws
New research suggests WHO eradication strategy could be achieved
Here's why I let my daughter stay up late to watch the Oscars
We treat the Oscars like other families treat the Super Bowl: snacks, beverages and a lot of screaming at the television.
Puppy discovers the joy of bubbles in slowmo (VIDEO)
I think this pup gets exactly what is so great about bubbles. Just watching her frolic and jump as she tries to capture, pop and even eat the bubbles is just too cute not to bring a smile to your face, right?
What To Eat After You Work Out
By Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD
As a sports nutritionist, I consult for pro teams and privately counsel professional and competitive athletes in numerous sports, as well as fitness enthusiasts. Pros and weekend warriors definitely have different nutrition needs, but they do have one thing in common: In order to get the most out of being active, everyone needs to eat properly to help their bodies recover from the wear and tear of exercise.
Here are six rules to follow, and how to prevent overdoing it, which can cancel out the weight-loss benefits of breaking a sweat.
Eat within 30 to 60 minutes after exercise.
If you've had a particularly tough workout, try to eat a "recovery" meal as soon as possible. Exercise puts stress on your muscles, joints, and bones, and your body "uses up" nutrients during workouts; so post-exercise foods are all about putting back what you've lost, and providing the raw materials needed for repair and healing. In fact, it's the recovery from exercise that really allows you to see results in terms of building strength, endurance, and lean muscle tissue. Not recovering properly can leave you weaker as you go into your next workout, and up your injury risk.
Think beyond protein.
Protein is a building block of muscle, so it is important post exercise, but an ideal recovery meal should also include good fat (also needed for healing muscles and joints), as well as plenty of nutrient-rich produce, and a healthy source of starch such as quinoa, sweet potato, or beans. These foods replenish nutrients that have been depleted, and provide energy to fuel your post-exercise metabolism. A great post-workout meal might be something like a smoothie made with either pea protein powder or grass-fed organic whey protein, whipped with fruit, leafy greens, almond butter or coconut oil, and oats or quinoa, or an omelet made with one whole organic egg and three whites, paired with veggies, avocado and black beans.
Keep it real.
The phrase "you are what you eat" couldn't be more true. Nutrients from the foods you eat food are the foundation of the structure, function, and integrity of every one of your cells. Your body is continuously repairing, healing, and rebuilding itself, and how healthy your new cells are is directly determined by how well you've been eating. In short, your body is essentially one big miraculous construction site that's open 24/7. So even if you're lean and you burn a lot of calories, avoiding highly processed food and eating a clean, nutrient rich, whole foods diet can help you get the most out of all of your hard work, including cells that function better, and are less susceptible to premature aging, injury and disease.
Don't overcompensate.
If weight loss is one of your goals, it's important to not overestimate how much extra food you "earned" working out. In fact, it's incredibly easy to "eat back" all of what you've burned. For example, in a one-hour elliptical session, an average woman burns about 490 calories. A large salted caramel Pinkberry contains 444 calories, and a 32 ounce high-protein pineapple smoothie from Smoothie King clocks in at 500 calories. Even if you don't splurge on treats like these, you may be tempted to sneak a little extra almond butter, or be less mindful of your oatmeal or fruit portions, and those extras can add up. And if you're going to be eating a meal within an hour of finishing up a workout, you don't also need a post-exercise bar or snack.
Rehydrate.
If you sweat heavily, exercise in high humidity (which prevents cooling of the body) or your workouts last longer than 60 minutes, you might need a sports drink rather than plain water during exercise. These beverages are designed to keep you well hydrated, but they also provide electrolytes to replace those lost in your sweat (like sodium, which makes sweat salty; and potassium, which helps regulate heart rhythm), as well as fuel to keep you going. If your workouts are less strenuous, shorter, climate controlled, or not so sweaty, plain H2O is probably fine. The general rule of thumb is to drink at least two cups of fluid two hours before exercise, another two cups 15 minutes prior, and a half-cup every 15 minutes during. Post exercise, aim for two cups of water (16 ounces) for every pound of body weight lost, and monitor the color of your urine -- if you're well hydrated it should be pale.
Watch your alcohol intake.
Many athletes and active people I work with enjoy imbibing a bit after working out. Alcohol in moderation is fine, but be sure to eat first to start the recovery process. Also, it's important to know that alcohol has been shown to accelerate post-exercise muscle loss and the loss of muscle strength by as much as 40%. It can also interfere with replenishing glycogen, the storage form of carbohydrates you stock away in your muscles to serve as energy "piggy banks." Less glycogen can translate into a lack of power or endurance during your next workout, so aim for moderation.
More from Health.com:
Best Superfoods for Weight Loss
11 Ways to Stop Overeating After Your Workouts
30 Healthy Foods That Could Wreck Your Diet
6 Rules For Post-Workout Meals originally appeared on Health.com
5 Celebrity Weight Loss Stories
Everyone has the realisation that they may have put on a bit too much weight every now and then and it is not a pleasant feeling. Imagine how much worse it would feel if your career depended on you being slimmer, or if everyone commented on it and publicly judged you for it. Imagine if […]
শনিবার, ২১ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৫
Researchers Reveal How the Mundane Can Be Meaningful --and Remembered
It’s not surprising that our memories of highly emotional events, such as 9/11 or the birth of a child, are quite strong. But can these events change our memories of the past? In a study published in the journal Nature, NYU researchers report that emotional learning can lead to the strengthening of older memories.
What To Make Of The New Proposed Dietary Guidlines
Eggs and coffee are in, sugar is out and vegetables will always be good for you, according to a committee of top nutrition experts tasked with advising the federal government. Their recommendations reflect the latest and greatest in food and nutrition research, and will help the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) update the nation’s dietary guidelines -- something they have to do every five years.
Why does this matter? Well, those guidelines help government officials set policy about things like food assistance funding or how to feed the military, which trickles all the way down to how teachers educate students about healthy eating. And so far, food policy experts like NYU professor Marion Nestle are pleased.
"The [advisory committee] has produced an honest, straightforward, courageous report thoroughly based on research and at long last without mincing words,” Nestle told The Huffington Post. "Whether the agencies -- USDA and HHS -- will accept its recommendations remains to be seen.”
Here's what a panel of experts had to say about the report:
1. The focus on foods, not nutrients, is a good thing.
Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center and a HuffPost blogger, is also a big fan of the report. He applauds the committee’s decision to focus on food -- not nutrient -- recommendations. According to the committee’s report, this is what a healthy diet looks like:
"If we get the foods right, in sensible combinations, the nutrients sort themselves out,” Katz told HuffPost. "If we just keep fixating on any given nutrient, we just wind up inventing new ways to eat badly."
2. Cholesterol limits are gone, but that won't change much.
To Katz's point, of note is the new suggestion that cholesterol is no longer a "nutrient of concern for overconsumption" -- an about-face from previous recommendations to limit dietary cholesterol to no more than 300 mg per day (this is what 300 mgs looks like). The committee notes that there is no "appreciable relationship" between dietary cholesterol and cholesterol levels in the blood in the research.
Though a major departure from even recent advice, Nestle said the new cholesterol position is no big deal.
"I don’t think it’s nearly as important as some of the other recommendations," she said. "And if people follow the recommendations and eat less meat, they will be eating less cholesterol."
3. Sustainability is also part of good nutrition.
Much to the chagrin of the U.S. Congress (and the delight of environmentalists), the committee for the first time considered the environmental impact of our diets. To that end, they recommended eating a plant-based diet that was low in red and processed meat, and they were roundly criticized for it by meat industry spokespeople.
Katz said he appreciated the report’s emphasis on sustainability, saying, "It's time to acknowledge that the health of people, and the planet, are ineluctably linked."
4. There need to be real limits on sugar.
For the first time, the committee is recommending that added sugar products comprise no more than 10 percent of someone’s daily caloric intake. These recommendations are in line with the World Health Organization's strong recommendations, which actually go a step further by encouraging people to eat no more than 5 percent of daily calories from added sugar.
To help consumers reach that goal, the committee put forth several hard-hitting sugar policy recommendations that include putting a percent daily value on sugar the way we do for salt, putting nutrition information on the front of all packaging, putting taxes on sugar sweetened beverages and limiting junk food marketing to children.
Cornell University Prof. Tom Brenna was part of the advisory committee, and noted to HuffPost that proposed sugar taxes seem to be the most controversial part of the recommendations. But he emphasized that the tax was simply one of many recommendations meant to help Americans avoid or escape obesity and diabetes.
“The recommendation on taxes -- clearly, that’s the Legislature’s job,” said Brenna, downplaying the issue. " It’s just part of a package of how to encourage people to eat the right things."
5. Research about the link between food and mental health is still emerging.
Brenna also told HuffPost that he was most proud of the fact that the committee considered, for the first time, the link between foods and mental health. For instance, the report mentions that the American Psychiatric Association classifies omega-3 fatty acid supplements (normally found in seafood) as “complementary therapy” for major depressive disorder. And some studies show that a diet high in vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes and seafood are linked to a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
While the advisory committee eventually concluded that they couldn’t make policy recommendations based on the limited studies available, Brenna is encouraged about the continuing research around it.
"I’m proud that we took that up and I hope that it’ll be a part of nutrition research moving forward, because what happens above the neck is pretty important,” he said.
He also notes that, luckily for us, the type of foods that seem to protect mental health have also been linked to reduced risk of other chronic diseases like metabolic and heart disease.
6. These suggestions need your support.
The committee’s report is advisory, and just one of many factors that will play a role when the federal government releases new nutrition guidelines at the end of the year. Currently, the report is available for public commentary on the dietary guidelines website, so if you feel moved about any particular detail of the report, say something! You have until April 8, midnight ET to do so.
“Much will depend on the response to the call for public comments,” concluded Nestle in an email. “These events will be fun to follow."
Why does this matter? Well, those guidelines help government officials set policy about things like food assistance funding or how to feed the military, which trickles all the way down to how teachers educate students about healthy eating. And so far, food policy experts like NYU professor Marion Nestle are pleased.
"The [advisory committee] has produced an honest, straightforward, courageous report thoroughly based on research and at long last without mincing words,” Nestle told The Huffington Post. "Whether the agencies -- USDA and HHS -- will accept its recommendations remains to be seen.”
Here's what a panel of experts had to say about the report:
1. The focus on foods, not nutrients, is a good thing.
Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center and a HuffPost blogger, is also a big fan of the report. He applauds the committee’s decision to focus on food -- not nutrient -- recommendations. According to the committee’s report, this is what a healthy diet looks like:
… the U.S. population should be encouraged and guided to consume dietary patterns that are rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, seafood, legumes, and nuts; moderate in low- and non-fat dairy products and alcohol (among adults); lower in red and processed meat; and low in sugar sweetened foods and beverages and refined grains. These dietary patterns can be achieved in many ways and should be tailored to the individual’s biological and medical needs as well as socio-cultural preferences.
"If we get the foods right, in sensible combinations, the nutrients sort themselves out,” Katz told HuffPost. "If we just keep fixating on any given nutrient, we just wind up inventing new ways to eat badly."
2. Cholesterol limits are gone, but that won't change much.
To Katz's point, of note is the new suggestion that cholesterol is no longer a "nutrient of concern for overconsumption" -- an about-face from previous recommendations to limit dietary cholesterol to no more than 300 mg per day (this is what 300 mgs looks like). The committee notes that there is no "appreciable relationship" between dietary cholesterol and cholesterol levels in the blood in the research.
Though a major departure from even recent advice, Nestle said the new cholesterol position is no big deal.
"I don’t think it’s nearly as important as some of the other recommendations," she said. "And if people follow the recommendations and eat less meat, they will be eating less cholesterol."
3. Sustainability is also part of good nutrition.
Much to the chagrin of the U.S. Congress (and the delight of environmentalists), the committee for the first time considered the environmental impact of our diets. To that end, they recommended eating a plant-based diet that was low in red and processed meat, and they were roundly criticized for it by meat industry spokespeople.
Katz said he appreciated the report’s emphasis on sustainability, saying, "It's time to acknowledge that the health of people, and the planet, are ineluctably linked."
4. There need to be real limits on sugar.
For the first time, the committee is recommending that added sugar products comprise no more than 10 percent of someone’s daily caloric intake. These recommendations are in line with the World Health Organization's strong recommendations, which actually go a step further by encouraging people to eat no more than 5 percent of daily calories from added sugar.
To help consumers reach that goal, the committee put forth several hard-hitting sugar policy recommendations that include putting a percent daily value on sugar the way we do for salt, putting nutrition information on the front of all packaging, putting taxes on sugar sweetened beverages and limiting junk food marketing to children.
Cornell University Prof. Tom Brenna was part of the advisory committee, and noted to HuffPost that proposed sugar taxes seem to be the most controversial part of the recommendations. But he emphasized that the tax was simply one of many recommendations meant to help Americans avoid or escape obesity and diabetes.
“The recommendation on taxes -- clearly, that’s the Legislature’s job,” said Brenna, downplaying the issue. " It’s just part of a package of how to encourage people to eat the right things."
5. Research about the link between food and mental health is still emerging.
Brenna also told HuffPost that he was most proud of the fact that the committee considered, for the first time, the link between foods and mental health. For instance, the report mentions that the American Psychiatric Association classifies omega-3 fatty acid supplements (normally found in seafood) as “complementary therapy” for major depressive disorder. And some studies show that a diet high in vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes and seafood are linked to a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
While the advisory committee eventually concluded that they couldn’t make policy recommendations based on the limited studies available, Brenna is encouraged about the continuing research around it.
"I’m proud that we took that up and I hope that it’ll be a part of nutrition research moving forward, because what happens above the neck is pretty important,” he said.
He also notes that, luckily for us, the type of foods that seem to protect mental health have also been linked to reduced risk of other chronic diseases like metabolic and heart disease.
6. These suggestions need your support.
The committee’s report is advisory, and just one of many factors that will play a role when the federal government releases new nutrition guidelines at the end of the year. Currently, the report is available for public commentary on the dietary guidelines website, so if you feel moved about any particular detail of the report, say something! You have until April 8, midnight ET to do so.
“Much will depend on the response to the call for public comments,” concluded Nestle in an email. “These events will be fun to follow."
শুক্রবার, ২০ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৫
Mommy tweets: Christina Aguilera's baby, Jaime King, Liv Tyler, Blake Lively
We rounded up the most buzz-worthy celebrity moms on social media including Christina Aguilera, who shared the most adorable photo of her daughter Summer Rain. Actress Jaime King announced she is pregnant, with help from her son James, while Liv Tyler welcomed a baby boy . New mom Blake Lively and Cindy Crawford round out our list of trending celebrity moms.
America's Best Gyms 2015
What makes an exercise space exceptional? How can you tell if a gym is "good"?
Click Here to see the Complete List of The Best Gyms in America 2015
The answers to these questions are different for everyone.
We often forget that as individuals, we each have different needs when it comes to exercise and fitness, and that's because we all have different goals and priorities.
Some exercisers can appreciate a small, simple gym space so long as its location makes getting there convenient.
On the other hand, some may need a space that's more sophisticated, or a gym that can provide top-tier coaching services.
It all depends on your goals, your priorities, and since most gyms aren't free, your budget, too. That's why we asked you to vote for your favorite gyms. No one knows a fitness center better than the members who use it every day.
As a whole, you represent all of the different goals, needs, and priorities of the many different types of exercisers in America.
Our survey also asked you, the reader, about what factors are most important to you in a gym.
This year you listed cleanliness, community, and membership cost, in that order, as the most important aspects. This helped us to create our ranking of the 31 best gyms in America for 2015.
Starting with our original list of about 51 gyms (compiled from our round-up of the best gyms of 2013, publicly available stats, and other expert lists), we asked you to vote for your favorites -- also allowing write-in votes to account for any gyms that weren't mentioned on the preliminary list.
In compiling our ranking, we considered your votes with the most weight and from there gave points to the gyms that best exemplified the factors you said were most important.
The results represent a healthy mix of all different types of gyms across the U.S.
From well-known fitness franchises and small town training centers to some of the most upscale and exclusive clubs in the country, these are 2015's best American gyms.
Click Here to see the Original Story on The Active Times
- The Editors, The Active Times
More Content from The Active Times:
Just Joined a Gym? Don't Make These Rookie Mistakes
Myths About Health and Fitness You Should Never Believe
Top Vacation Spots for Fitness Fanatics
Overrated Exercises, And The Moves You Should Do Instead
How Exercise Makes You Happy
Click Here to see the Complete List of The Best Gyms in America 2015
The answers to these questions are different for everyone.
We often forget that as individuals, we each have different needs when it comes to exercise and fitness, and that's because we all have different goals and priorities.
Some exercisers can appreciate a small, simple gym space so long as its location makes getting there convenient.
On the other hand, some may need a space that's more sophisticated, or a gym that can provide top-tier coaching services.
It all depends on your goals, your priorities, and since most gyms aren't free, your budget, too. That's why we asked you to vote for your favorite gyms. No one knows a fitness center better than the members who use it every day.
As a whole, you represent all of the different goals, needs, and priorities of the many different types of exercisers in America.
Our survey also asked you, the reader, about what factors are most important to you in a gym.
This year you listed cleanliness, community, and membership cost, in that order, as the most important aspects. This helped us to create our ranking of the 31 best gyms in America for 2015.
Starting with our original list of about 51 gyms (compiled from our round-up of the best gyms of 2013, publicly available stats, and other expert lists), we asked you to vote for your favorites -- also allowing write-in votes to account for any gyms that weren't mentioned on the preliminary list.
In compiling our ranking, we considered your votes with the most weight and from there gave points to the gyms that best exemplified the factors you said were most important.
The results represent a healthy mix of all different types of gyms across the U.S.
From well-known fitness franchises and small town training centers to some of the most upscale and exclusive clubs in the country, these are 2015's best American gyms.
Click Here to see the Original Story on The Active Times
- The Editors, The Active Times
More Content from The Active Times:
Just Joined a Gym? Don't Make These Rookie Mistakes
Myths About Health and Fitness You Should Never Believe
Top Vacation Spots for Fitness Fanatics
Overrated Exercises, And The Moves You Should Do Instead
How Exercise Makes You Happy
Teen Struggling To Survive After 'Superbug' Infection At UCLA Hospital
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An 18-year-old student is struggling to survive after he was infected by a "superbug" outbreak tied to contaminated medical instruments at a Los Angeles hospital, his attorney said.
The young man has spent nearly three months in the hospital and is in grave condition after contracting a potentially lethal, antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, attorney Kevin Boyle said Thursday.
He had entered the hospital for a procedure that involved using an endoscope to examine his pancreas.
"They were scoping it out, trying to see what was the matter," Boyle said. "He had no life-threatening condition before like he does now."
At least seven people — two of whom died — have been infected with the bacteria known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, after undergoing similar endoscopic procedures between October and January. More than 170 other patients also may have been exposed, hospital officials said.
Boyle declined to release the teenager's name or where he attends school. The student spent 83 days in the hospital at one point and was released but recently relapsed and has been hospitalized again, the lawyer said.
"After he had the procedure, he was released. Then he came down with his illness, and when they studied him and noticed he had the CRE bacteria in him, they quickly put two and two together," Boyle said.
He said the family doesn't blame UCLA but is considering suing the endoscope's manufacturer.
That hard-to-clean medical instrument used on more than half a million people in the U.S. every year has become the focus of the investigation into the outbreak.
The infections may have been transmitted through two contaminated endoscopes that were used to diagnose and treat pancreatic and bile-duct problems. The instruments were found to have "embedded" infections even though they had been cleaned according to manufacturer's instructions, said Dr. Robert Cherry, the hospital's chief medical and quality officer. Five other scopes were cleared.
Hospital officials said they immediately removed contaminated medical devices and adopted more stringent sterilization techniques.
CRE infections have been reported at hospitals around the country, and some have been linked to the type of endoscope used at UCLA. The duodenoscope is a thin, flexible fiber-optic tube that is inserted down the throat to enable a doctor to examine an organ. It typically has a light and a miniature camera.
The manufacturer of the devices, Olympus Corp. of the Americas, an arm of Japan's Olympus Corp., said in a statement that it emphasizes the importance of meticulous manual sterilization of its instruments. It says it is giving new supplemental instructions to users of the endoscopes and is working with federal officials on the infection problem.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an advisory Thursday warning doctors that even when a manufacturer's cleaning instructions are followed, germs may linger. The device's complex design and tiny parts make complete disinfection extremely difficult, the advisory said. Between January 2013 and December 2014, the FDA received 75 reports involving 135 patients in the U.S. who may have been infected by tainted scopes.
In a statement, the FDA said it is trying to determine what more can be done to reduce such infections. But it said that pulling the device from the market would deprive hundreds of thousands of patients of "this beneficial and often life-saving procedure."
At UCLA, doctors first discovered the problem in mid-December when a patient underwent an endoscopic procedure and developed an infection that couldn't be treated with antibiotics.
An investigation was launched and doctors employed high-tech methods to find other cases — a process that took several weeks, said Dr. Zachary Rubin, medical director of clinical epidemiology and infection prevention.
CRE infections had been passed on from one "source case" patient between Oct. 3 and Jan. 28, Rubin said.
The hospital has notified potentially exposed patients through letters and phone calls and is offering free testing and treatment options.
"You can very easily do everything right and still have some contamination," said Dr. Deverick Anderson, an infectious-disease expert at Duke University. "We're finding this is a problem, but it's probably one that we don't have a very good solution to right now."
___
Associated Press writers Robert Jablon and Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles, and AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe in New York contributed to this report.
___
Contact Alicia Chang at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia .
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The young man has spent nearly three months in the hospital and is in grave condition after contracting a potentially lethal, antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, attorney Kevin Boyle said Thursday.
He had entered the hospital for a procedure that involved using an endoscope to examine his pancreas.
"They were scoping it out, trying to see what was the matter," Boyle said. "He had no life-threatening condition before like he does now."
At least seven people — two of whom died — have been infected with the bacteria known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, after undergoing similar endoscopic procedures between October and January. More than 170 other patients also may have been exposed, hospital officials said.
Boyle declined to release the teenager's name or where he attends school. The student spent 83 days in the hospital at one point and was released but recently relapsed and has been hospitalized again, the lawyer said.
"After he had the procedure, he was released. Then he came down with his illness, and when they studied him and noticed he had the CRE bacteria in him, they quickly put two and two together," Boyle said.
He said the family doesn't blame UCLA but is considering suing the endoscope's manufacturer.
That hard-to-clean medical instrument used on more than half a million people in the U.S. every year has become the focus of the investigation into the outbreak.
The infections may have been transmitted through two contaminated endoscopes that were used to diagnose and treat pancreatic and bile-duct problems. The instruments were found to have "embedded" infections even though they had been cleaned according to manufacturer's instructions, said Dr. Robert Cherry, the hospital's chief medical and quality officer. Five other scopes were cleared.
Hospital officials said they immediately removed contaminated medical devices and adopted more stringent sterilization techniques.
CRE infections have been reported at hospitals around the country, and some have been linked to the type of endoscope used at UCLA. The duodenoscope is a thin, flexible fiber-optic tube that is inserted down the throat to enable a doctor to examine an organ. It typically has a light and a miniature camera.
The manufacturer of the devices, Olympus Corp. of the Americas, an arm of Japan's Olympus Corp., said in a statement that it emphasizes the importance of meticulous manual sterilization of its instruments. It says it is giving new supplemental instructions to users of the endoscopes and is working with federal officials on the infection problem.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an advisory Thursday warning doctors that even when a manufacturer's cleaning instructions are followed, germs may linger. The device's complex design and tiny parts make complete disinfection extremely difficult, the advisory said. Between January 2013 and December 2014, the FDA received 75 reports involving 135 patients in the U.S. who may have been infected by tainted scopes.
In a statement, the FDA said it is trying to determine what more can be done to reduce such infections. But it said that pulling the device from the market would deprive hundreds of thousands of patients of "this beneficial and often life-saving procedure."
At UCLA, doctors first discovered the problem in mid-December when a patient underwent an endoscopic procedure and developed an infection that couldn't be treated with antibiotics.
An investigation was launched and doctors employed high-tech methods to find other cases — a process that took several weeks, said Dr. Zachary Rubin, medical director of clinical epidemiology and infection prevention.
CRE infections had been passed on from one "source case" patient between Oct. 3 and Jan. 28, Rubin said.
The hospital has notified potentially exposed patients through letters and phone calls and is offering free testing and treatment options.
"You can very easily do everything right and still have some contamination," said Dr. Deverick Anderson, an infectious-disease expert at Duke University. "We're finding this is a problem, but it's probably one that we don't have a very good solution to right now."
___
Associated Press writers Robert Jablon and Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles, and AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe in New York contributed to this report.
___
Contact Alicia Chang at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia .
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
25 Recipes to make before February is over
Now that Valentine's Day has passed, we can turn our attention back to foods that are not pink, red or heart-shaped. Rejoice!
Measles Within the United States and Vaccine Avoidance
Within the past 5 years the growth of various anti-vaccination movements have caused public discussion and worry about the topic of vaccination. In a recent CDC nationwide survey, the amount of kindergarteners with all applicable vaccines varied state by state with coverage as low as 84% in some states to coverage over 99% in other states (with 26 states reporting that they have not met the federally recommended targets of 95% coverage). The recent measles outbreaks across the nation have brought the subject of vaccine avoidance to national discussion.
Acne in your 30s — It happens and here's why
The only good thing about getting acne in your 30s is that you won't have to worry about looking good for the school dance.
Scientists plot how to beat bat virus
James Cook University researchers are hopeful they can develop strategies to manage the transmission of the deadly Hendra virus.
বৃহস্পতিবার, ১৯ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৫
12 Recipes that prove seaweed is the new kale
Seaweed needs to come into popularity. It's a green superfood we haven't shone the trendy light on, and it's past due. Discover how including seaweed in your recipes is more than just an Asian twist.
What It's Like To Be A Female Bodybuilder
Sonia Ryan stood alongside the five other women in her category at the Fitness America show last October, sparkling in her emerald-green, sequined bikini under the bright stage lights. A little bit of that sparkle went out as she was announced last in her group, but disappointments like this have never been strong enough to get her out of the game.
Test your food knowledge with these surprising facts (QUIZ)
Do you love impressing your friends with weird food facts at parties? This is the quiz for you.
6 Annoying types of Facebook couples everyone has in their newsfeed
You know those couples who seem to post nonstop on Facebook about how happy and in love they are with each other? Did you ever think their excessive love show was just a cover for some serious relationship problems? Well, according to science, that is not the case. A new study suggests couples who flaunt their happy relationships online are usually just that — happy.
8 Ways To Burn Big Calories This Winter That Don't Involve The Treadmill
Sub-zero temperatures and freezing winter winds are notorious for moving our workouts indoors. And while we try to cling to the silver lining of gym time -- at least I can feel my toes! -- there's nothing more soul-crushing for fitness junkies than relying on the dreaded treadmill for a traditional bout of cardio.
But don't be so quick to give in to that human hamster wheel. There are plenty of ways to get your sweat on in the winter elements -- and there are even unique benefits of doing so. Check out these outdoor activities that beat the treadmill every day of the week!
Graphics by Jan Diehm and Alissa Scheller for The Huffington Post.
But don't be so quick to give in to that human hamster wheel. There are plenty of ways to get your sweat on in the winter elements -- and there are even unique benefits of doing so. Check out these outdoor activities that beat the treadmill every day of the week!
Graphics by Jan Diehm and Alissa Scheller for The Huffington Post.
How Queensland is preparing for the worst weather event in two years
Prepare yourself, Queenslanders. Cyclone Marcia is on its way and it's bringing the biggest weather event the state has seen in two years.
বুধবার, ১৮ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৫
Man With ALS Tells His Wife 'I Love You' Out Loud For First Time In 15 Years
Don Moir was diagnosed with ALS in March 1995. By May of 1999, according to the video above, the nervous-system disease robbed him of his ability to speak when he was placed on a ventilator.
Thanks to Not Impossible Labs, a nonprofit that "crowd-solves" seemingly insurmountable healthcare issues, Don has learned to use a custom-designed speaking computer -- and he used it to tell his wife "I love you" out loud for the first time in 15 years.
Don has communicated for years with his wife, Lorraine, by using a letter board that requires picking out individual letters from the alphabet to form complete words. Aided by engineer Javed Gangjee, a volunteer with Not Impossible Labs and the SpeakYourMind Foundation, the two worked for 11 months to update the letter board for the digital world, using an HP laptop and a device to track Don's eye movements.
With the new digital letterboard, Don wrote his wife a love letter, which was "read" out loud to her:
Devices that help ALS patients speak through synthesized voices aren't new, and many of them employ picture or letter boards. But in an email to The Huffington Post, Matt Brassil, a publicity and strategy coordinator for Not Impossible, said Don had previously tried to use more complicated software but was "hesitant" about technology.
The hardest part of the project, he said, was overcoming Don's lack of experience with computers.
"His disease had taken away most of his abilities by the time the personal computer had become prominent," said Brassil. "We had to figure out a way to create something simple that Don could use. In the end, the answer was staring us in the face: the letterboard. Don and Lorraine had used the letterboard for 15 years. It was a system they understood so we took the next step to make a digital version."
The simplified device, which is still being fine-tuned according Not Impossible, could have a major impact for the Moir family.
"Don is so excited about the possibilities that it opens up for him," Lorraine told Not Impossible. "He is excited to talk to me, his friends and kids more freely. And he doesn't have to depend on me to do it. I will be able to drive and do the dishes and have a conversation with him."
In the spirit of Not Impossible's mission to use "technology for the sake of humanity," the nonprofit organization has made Don's Keyboard, as it's become known, available for download as freeware (for Windows operating systems only, at the moment).
Last year, Not Impossible figured out how to 3-D print prosthetic arms for amputees in Sudan.
Readers interested in donating to Not Impossible may do so at notimpossiblelabs.com, and to the SpeakYourMind Foundation at speakyourmindfoundation.org.
Thanks to Not Impossible Labs, a nonprofit that "crowd-solves" seemingly insurmountable healthcare issues, Don has learned to use a custom-designed speaking computer -- and he used it to tell his wife "I love you" out loud for the first time in 15 years.
Don has communicated for years with his wife, Lorraine, by using a letter board that requires picking out individual letters from the alphabet to form complete words. Aided by engineer Javed Gangjee, a volunteer with Not Impossible Labs and the SpeakYourMind Foundation, the two worked for 11 months to update the letter board for the digital world, using an HP laptop and a device to track Don's eye movements.
With the new digital letterboard, Don wrote his wife a love letter, which was "read" out loud to her:
My Dear Lorraine,
I can't imagine life without you. You have made the last twenty-five years fly by and the last twenty with ALS more bearable. I am looking forward to the next twenty five years.
Love, Don
Devices that help ALS patients speak through synthesized voices aren't new, and many of them employ picture or letter boards. But in an email to The Huffington Post, Matt Brassil, a publicity and strategy coordinator for Not Impossible, said Don had previously tried to use more complicated software but was "hesitant" about technology.
The hardest part of the project, he said, was overcoming Don's lack of experience with computers.
"His disease had taken away most of his abilities by the time the personal computer had become prominent," said Brassil. "We had to figure out a way to create something simple that Don could use. In the end, the answer was staring us in the face: the letterboard. Don and Lorraine had used the letterboard for 15 years. It was a system they understood so we took the next step to make a digital version."
The simplified device, which is still being fine-tuned according Not Impossible, could have a major impact for the Moir family.
"Don is so excited about the possibilities that it opens up for him," Lorraine told Not Impossible. "He is excited to talk to me, his friends and kids more freely. And he doesn't have to depend on me to do it. I will be able to drive and do the dishes and have a conversation with him."
In the spirit of Not Impossible's mission to use "technology for the sake of humanity," the nonprofit organization has made Don's Keyboard, as it's become known, available for download as freeware (for Windows operating systems only, at the moment).
Last year, Not Impossible figured out how to 3-D print prosthetic arms for amputees in Sudan.
Readers interested in donating to Not Impossible may do so at notimpossiblelabs.com, and to the SpeakYourMind Foundation at speakyourmindfoundation.org.
Natural Hormone Balance 101
Hormone balance is essential to healthy living. There is so much to understand about balancing hormones that it is difficult to know where to begin.
SDSU golf trick video is a 'straight masterpiece'
This video and these girls are so cool, I can't even.
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Baby names from the 2015 Academy Awards
The Academy Awards season is an exciting time of the year for it has been an American institution since 1929. In honor of this year's nominees, we present this star-studded list of Oscar-inspired baby names. Enjoy!
What Is The Best Workout For Gaining Strength & Maintain Weight?
What is the best workout for gaining strength & maintaining weight? Get free, detailed information, right here - the best workouts for gaining power & strength included!
NHS Missing Key Cancer Target
A key target for the treatment of cancer by the NHS are not being met. Official figures for 2014 show that this has been the case for at least the last four quarters. The target in question is that 85% of cancer patients should begin their treatment within 62 days of the initial referral from […]
20 Unique dumpling recipes to ring in Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is almost here, and we can't get dumplings off our mind.
How Digital Mammography Is Beneficial Over Film Mammography
The United States has witnessed breast cancer as the second biggest killer in the country's women - the first being skin cancer. Though, a significant plummet has been seen in breast cancer deaths over the last two decades, experts say that enhanced screening and advanced treatment methods have played a big part. For long, mammograms, conducted using mammography devices developed by mammography machine manufacturer, have been into use for diagnosing breast cancer at an early stage.
7 Jump Rope Workouts To Blast Fat And Get Fit
By A.C. Shilton for Men's Journal
Forget any association you had with jump ropes and gym class. The jump rope is a powerful workout tool. It builds cardio fitness, balance, agility and bone strength. It's also one of the best go-anywhere fitness accessories, fitting easily into even a crammed carry-on.
"It requires a lot of coordination and really works your cardiovascular system," says Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, the women's 2014 CrossFit Games winner. She likes to train with double unders, a common CrossFit move that requires you to jump explosively and spin the rope faster to pass it beneath your feet twice. This works your muscles harder and pushes your cardiovascular system towards its upper limit.
To get the most from your workout, make sure your rope is the right size. CrossFit HQ trainer Dave Lipson says that when you hold the rope under one foot, the handles should just reach your armpits. To maximize results, practice good form. "Hold your hands at 10 and 2 o'clock and at waist height. Revolve the rope from the wrists, not the shoulders," says Lipson.
And if you're shooting for double unders, we recommend buying a speed rope with bearings. Speed ropes start around $20 and spin faster than inexpensive licorice and beaded ropes.
Now here are seven jump rope workouts -- most of which can be completed in a half hour or less -- that will have you burning calories and building strength.
High-Speed Circuit
Fitness competitor, former ballerina and coach Dom Spain teaches outdoor bootcamp classes in Miami. She calls jump rope workouts the "no excuses" workout because, "if I have clients that say they don't have time or don't have the money for a gym membership, they can always do this."
This workout is designed to give you just enough rest to keep pushing through all of the exercises, but not enough to let things get easy. It can be done in 30 minutes and requires only a jump rope.
Take one minute of rest, then repeat the entire circuit. Cool down and stretch after two rounds.
CrossFit Annie
Many essential CrossFit workouts have names and this one is called Annie, but it's okay if you just want to call it hard.
"It's a great way to test your double unders and core stamina. You are breathing hard, your abs are worked to the point of cramping, and your shoulders will burn," says Leblanc-Bazinet.
You'll do five sets total, each time doing 10 fewer reps than the previous set. There's no rest between sets, just hammer through.
Start with 50 double unders. If you can't do multiple double unders, do two normal jumps (100 instead of 50) until you're comfortable with double unders. Next, do 50 sit-ups. Then repeat until you've reached sets of 10.
Here's what that looks like:
Core Strength Builder
Jumping rope burns calories, but when you add in movements that challenge your balance -- like single footed jumping -- you engage your core to stay upright.
This abs-focused jump rope workout is courtesy of Molly Metz, a competitive jump rope athlete and coach at JumpNRope, a jump rope gym in Louisville, Colorado. She says she likes this workout because it challenges a wide range of muscle groups at once. For this workout you will need the following exercises:
Mountain Climbers: Start in a high plank, on your hands, not your forearms. Jump your right foot to the outside of your right hand. As you bring your right foot back, simultaneously jump your left foot to your left hand. Count every time your right foot jumps forward.
Jump Rope Speed Steps: This is almost a skipping motion over the rope -- you pass one leg at a time over the rope as it comes beneath you. Try to move as quickly as you can and count only every time your right leg hits the ground.
Air Squats: Perform this body-weight squat like you're lowering into a chair. Your hips should drop just below your knees; keep your shoulder back and chest up.
Bicycles: Lie on your back with your knees up and your shins parallel to the ground. Extend your right leg out as you crunch towards your left knee with your upper body. Repeat on the left side. Count every time you complete a rep on the right side.
Walking Lunges: There should be 90-degree angles in both legs at the bottom of your movement. Your back knee should barely touch the ground.
Jump Rope Backwards Jumps: This takes some practice. Instead of turning the rope forwards, turn it backwards, jumping right before it hits the back of your feet.
Jump Rope Single Leg Jumps: Jump repeatedly on either the right or the left leg.
Burpees: Plant your hands on floor, jump your feet back, and lower your chest all the way to floor. Then jump up and clap your hands overhead. Repeat.
Warm up for a few minutes with easy jumping or light jogging. Try to do the workout straight through without resting.
Jump Rope For Runners
Florida-based running and triathlon coach Matthew Reedy uses jump ropes to teach good posture and help runners learn to pick up their feet. "Jumping rope makes you focus on picking up your feet, which makes you a more efficient runner," he says. In this workout he uses the jump rope to elevate the heart before having athletes do a build-up run -- gradually accelerate to top speed, hold for a few steps, then slow down, all over 100 meters.
Warm up with a few easy laps around a track. Reedy recommends you also run backwards for a few meters to stretch out your calves before taxing them with speed work.
Do 30 seconds of jumping rope. Then put down your rope and run a 100-meter build-up, being careful to keep your stride short as you accelerate up to top speed. Return to your jump rope as quickly as possible. Begin jumping for another 30 seconds. Do 10 sets of 30 seconds of jump rope followed by 100 meters of running.
Do the sets with minimal rest, which will train you to run at fast pace with an elevated heart rate. The jump rope also acts as an active recovery tool, teaching you to recover while still moving.
The Do-Anywhere, Total-Body Workout
By mixing jump rope exercises with bodyweight movements you can get a full body workout without a gym. Christy Johnson, a Portland, Oregon-based certified personal trainer says she often recommends jump rope-based workouts for time-crunched clients. "You don't have to do it for very long to get a benefit," she says.
Set a timer for three minutes. For the first three minutes, cycle through doing 20 two-footed jumps, 20 jumps on the right foot, then 20 jumps on the left foot. When the three minutes is up, do one minute of air squats.
Repeat this 3-to-1 routine five times, subbing in push-ups, plyo-lunges (jump from one leg to the other), tricep dips, and planks for the squats. With a few minutes of warm up and cool down, you've worked every major muscle group and burned hundreds of calories in less than 30 minutes.
The MMA Workout
Chris Reilly was a pro MMA fighter for more than a decade. Today, he coaches athletes at his Southern California gym, Legends MMA. Jumping rope, he says, is almost always involved in daily workouts. "Jump rope is essential to fight training as it incorporates so many of the elements fighters are attempting to master: conditioning, timing, hand-eye-foot coordination, and the mental focus to access these elements at the same time," Reilly says.
He likes this particular workout because it includes form and strength work, but finishes with several hard rounds of jumping to challenges muscles when the body is already fatigued. And be warned, this hour-long workout will leave you spent.
Warm up with three rounds of three minutes of jumping, one minute easy jumping. Also, Reilly gives this hint: "The rope is very thin, don't jump any higher than you need to in order to clear the rope as it passes under your feet."
Next, do three rounds of shadow boxing, three minutes on, then one minute easy. Reilly suggests using a mirror so you can check your form while practicing and he says to focus on rhythm, timing, and your biomechanics, not power. If you haven't shadow boxed before, watch this quick introduction.
Now do three rounds of three minutes hard, one minute easy with a heavy punching bag. Alternate between punching, kicking, kneeing, and elbow striking the bag. Reilly says to add in combos, which challenge both the mind and major and minor muscle groups.
Now follow the heavy bag with this strength progression:
Finish with five rounds of jumping rope, again going three minutes hard, one minute easy. This time, focus on speed, timing, and footwork. Really push yourself here, and if you want to add in tricks, now is the time to do it. If you're not sure where to start, spin the rope faster, jump higher and throw in double unders.
Cool down with a few minutes of easy recovery work and stretching.
Strength Ladder
Rob Sulaver, the certified nutritionist and coach behind Bandana Training, says that he loves giving members of his Bandana Army workouts that include jump rope work because, "no matter what, you always end up feeling like Rocky. What's not to love?"
This workout has an inverted pyramid format. Start with 500 reps, drop down to 400 and 300, then climb out with sets of 400 and 500 again. That last set will burn, but that's the point. You need either two kettlebells or dumbbells, and to know the following exercises:
Goblet Squat: This is a deep squat, but you hold the kettlebell in front of and close to your chest. Your feet are slightly wider than normal so that, at the bottom, your elbows are inside your knees.
Renegade Rows: Get into a high plank position with your hands on top of the kettlebells. Do a full push-up, then keeping your core engaged, pick up the right kettlebell, pulling your elbow straight up to bring the bell level with your right ribcage. Set the right one down and repeat with the left. That's one rep.
Plyo Pushups: From the floor, push upward hard enough to take your hands off the ground for a second. Ideally, you should be able to clap in the moment your upper body is airborne, but if you can't quite do it, just try to get some air between the floor and your hands. Land softly and immediately begin your next pushup.
More from Men's Journal:
The Only 8 Moves You Need to Be Fit
The 10 Moves You Need to Get a Rock-Solid Core
30 Workouts that Take 10 Minutes (or Less)
Forget any association you had with jump ropes and gym class. The jump rope is a powerful workout tool. It builds cardio fitness, balance, agility and bone strength. It's also one of the best go-anywhere fitness accessories, fitting easily into even a crammed carry-on.
"It requires a lot of coordination and really works your cardiovascular system," says Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, the women's 2014 CrossFit Games winner. She likes to train with double unders, a common CrossFit move that requires you to jump explosively and spin the rope faster to pass it beneath your feet twice. This works your muscles harder and pushes your cardiovascular system towards its upper limit.
To get the most from your workout, make sure your rope is the right size. CrossFit HQ trainer Dave Lipson says that when you hold the rope under one foot, the handles should just reach your armpits. To maximize results, practice good form. "Hold your hands at 10 and 2 o'clock and at waist height. Revolve the rope from the wrists, not the shoulders," says Lipson.
And if you're shooting for double unders, we recommend buying a speed rope with bearings. Speed ropes start around $20 and spin faster than inexpensive licorice and beaded ropes.
Now here are seven jump rope workouts -- most of which can be completed in a half hour or less -- that will have you burning calories and building strength.
High-Speed Circuit
Fitness competitor, former ballerina and coach Dom Spain teaches outdoor bootcamp classes in Miami. She calls jump rope workouts the "no excuses" workout because, "if I have clients that say they don't have time or don't have the money for a gym membership, they can always do this."
This workout is designed to give you just enough rest to keep pushing through all of the exercises, but not enough to let things get easy. It can be done in 30 minutes and requires only a jump rope.
- Warm up by doing 30 seconds of jumping rope, 30 seconds of air squats, then a 1 minute plank hold. Repeat four times.
- 1 minute of jumping and 30 seconds of push-ups.
- 1 minute of backward jumping and 30 seconds of tricep bench dips.
- 1 minute of side to side jumping (imagine your feet are bound together, and jump rope while hopping from side to side) and 30 seconds of lunges.
- 1 minute of skipping rope (one foot lands as the other takes off) and 30 seconds of jumping squats.
- 1 minute of single leg jumping (30 seconds on one leg, then switch), and 30 seconds of mountain climbers.
- 1 minute of alternating high knee jumps (like the skipping rope move, but pull your knees up as high as you can), and 30 seconds of flutter kicks.
Take one minute of rest, then repeat the entire circuit. Cool down and stretch after two rounds.
CrossFit Annie
Many essential CrossFit workouts have names and this one is called Annie, but it's okay if you just want to call it hard.
"It's a great way to test your double unders and core stamina. You are breathing hard, your abs are worked to the point of cramping, and your shoulders will burn," says Leblanc-Bazinet.
You'll do five sets total, each time doing 10 fewer reps than the previous set. There's no rest between sets, just hammer through.
Start with 50 double unders. If you can't do multiple double unders, do two normal jumps (100 instead of 50) until you're comfortable with double unders. Next, do 50 sit-ups. Then repeat until you've reached sets of 10.
Here's what that looks like:
- 50 double unders
- 50 sit-ups
- 40 double unders
- 40 sit-ups
- 30 double unders
- 30 sit-ups
- 20 double unders
- 20 sit-ups
- 10 double unders
- 10 sit-ups
Core Strength Builder
Jumping rope burns calories, but when you add in movements that challenge your balance -- like single footed jumping -- you engage your core to stay upright.
This abs-focused jump rope workout is courtesy of Molly Metz, a competitive jump rope athlete and coach at JumpNRope, a jump rope gym in Louisville, Colorado. She says she likes this workout because it challenges a wide range of muscle groups at once. For this workout you will need the following exercises:
Mountain Climbers: Start in a high plank, on your hands, not your forearms. Jump your right foot to the outside of your right hand. As you bring your right foot back, simultaneously jump your left foot to your left hand. Count every time your right foot jumps forward.
Jump Rope Speed Steps: This is almost a skipping motion over the rope -- you pass one leg at a time over the rope as it comes beneath you. Try to move as quickly as you can and count only every time your right leg hits the ground.
Air Squats: Perform this body-weight squat like you're lowering into a chair. Your hips should drop just below your knees; keep your shoulder back and chest up.
Bicycles: Lie on your back with your knees up and your shins parallel to the ground. Extend your right leg out as you crunch towards your left knee with your upper body. Repeat on the left side. Count every time you complete a rep on the right side.
Walking Lunges: There should be 90-degree angles in both legs at the bottom of your movement. Your back knee should barely touch the ground.
Jump Rope Backwards Jumps: This takes some practice. Instead of turning the rope forwards, turn it backwards, jumping right before it hits the back of your feet.
Jump Rope Single Leg Jumps: Jump repeatedly on either the right or the left leg.
Burpees: Plant your hands on floor, jump your feet back, and lower your chest all the way to floor. Then jump up and clap your hands overhead. Repeat.
Warm up for a few minutes with easy jumping or light jogging. Try to do the workout straight through without resting.
- 100 mountain climbers
- 100 speed steps
- 80 mountain climbers
- 80 double unders
- 80 air squats
- 60 mountain climbers
- 60 air squats
- 60 bicycles
- 60 speed steps
- 40 mountain climbers
- 40 air squats
- 40 bicycles
- 40 walking lunges
- 40 backwards jumps
- 20 jumps on one foot, then the other
- 20 mountain climbers
- 20 air squats
- 20 bicycles
- 20 walking lunges
- 20 burpees
Jump Rope For Runners
Florida-based running and triathlon coach Matthew Reedy uses jump ropes to teach good posture and help runners learn to pick up their feet. "Jumping rope makes you focus on picking up your feet, which makes you a more efficient runner," he says. In this workout he uses the jump rope to elevate the heart before having athletes do a build-up run -- gradually accelerate to top speed, hold for a few steps, then slow down, all over 100 meters.
Warm up with a few easy laps around a track. Reedy recommends you also run backwards for a few meters to stretch out your calves before taxing them with speed work.
Do 30 seconds of jumping rope. Then put down your rope and run a 100-meter build-up, being careful to keep your stride short as you accelerate up to top speed. Return to your jump rope as quickly as possible. Begin jumping for another 30 seconds. Do 10 sets of 30 seconds of jump rope followed by 100 meters of running.
Do the sets with minimal rest, which will train you to run at fast pace with an elevated heart rate. The jump rope also acts as an active recovery tool, teaching you to recover while still moving.
The Do-Anywhere, Total-Body Workout
By mixing jump rope exercises with bodyweight movements you can get a full body workout without a gym. Christy Johnson, a Portland, Oregon-based certified personal trainer says she often recommends jump rope-based workouts for time-crunched clients. "You don't have to do it for very long to get a benefit," she says.
Set a timer for three minutes. For the first three minutes, cycle through doing 20 two-footed jumps, 20 jumps on the right foot, then 20 jumps on the left foot. When the three minutes is up, do one minute of air squats.
Repeat this 3-to-1 routine five times, subbing in push-ups, plyo-lunges (jump from one leg to the other), tricep dips, and planks for the squats. With a few minutes of warm up and cool down, you've worked every major muscle group and burned hundreds of calories in less than 30 minutes.
The MMA Workout
Chris Reilly was a pro MMA fighter for more than a decade. Today, he coaches athletes at his Southern California gym, Legends MMA. Jumping rope, he says, is almost always involved in daily workouts. "Jump rope is essential to fight training as it incorporates so many of the elements fighters are attempting to master: conditioning, timing, hand-eye-foot coordination, and the mental focus to access these elements at the same time," Reilly says.
He likes this particular workout because it includes form and strength work, but finishes with several hard rounds of jumping to challenges muscles when the body is already fatigued. And be warned, this hour-long workout will leave you spent.
Warm up with three rounds of three minutes of jumping, one minute easy jumping. Also, Reilly gives this hint: "The rope is very thin, don't jump any higher than you need to in order to clear the rope as it passes under your feet."
Next, do three rounds of shadow boxing, three minutes on, then one minute easy. Reilly suggests using a mirror so you can check your form while practicing and he says to focus on rhythm, timing, and your biomechanics, not power. If you haven't shadow boxed before, watch this quick introduction.
Now do three rounds of three minutes hard, one minute easy with a heavy punching bag. Alternate between punching, kicking, kneeing, and elbow striking the bag. Reilly says to add in combos, which challenge both the mind and major and minor muscle groups.
Now follow the heavy bag with this strength progression:
- 3 sets of 10-20 pushups, varying your arm position to work different muscle groups on each set.
- 3 of your max pull-up reps.
- 3 sets of your max bar or ring dips.
Finish with five rounds of jumping rope, again going three minutes hard, one minute easy. This time, focus on speed, timing, and footwork. Really push yourself here, and if you want to add in tricks, now is the time to do it. If you're not sure where to start, spin the rope faster, jump higher and throw in double unders.
Cool down with a few minutes of easy recovery work and stretching.
Strength Ladder
Rob Sulaver, the certified nutritionist and coach behind Bandana Training, says that he loves giving members of his Bandana Army workouts that include jump rope work because, "no matter what, you always end up feeling like Rocky. What's not to love?"
This workout has an inverted pyramid format. Start with 500 reps, drop down to 400 and 300, then climb out with sets of 400 and 500 again. That last set will burn, but that's the point. You need either two kettlebells or dumbbells, and to know the following exercises:
Goblet Squat: This is a deep squat, but you hold the kettlebell in front of and close to your chest. Your feet are slightly wider than normal so that, at the bottom, your elbows are inside your knees.
Renegade Rows: Get into a high plank position with your hands on top of the kettlebells. Do a full push-up, then keeping your core engaged, pick up the right kettlebell, pulling your elbow straight up to bring the bell level with your right ribcage. Set the right one down and repeat with the left. That's one rep.
Plyo Pushups: From the floor, push upward hard enough to take your hands off the ground for a second. Ideally, you should be able to clap in the moment your upper body is airborne, but if you can't quite do it, just try to get some air between the floor and your hands. Land softly and immediately begin your next pushup.
- Jump rope 500 times
- 12 goblet squats
- 12 plyometric pushups
- 12 renegade rows
- Jump rope 400 times
- 12 goblet squats
- 12 plyometric pushups
- 12 renegade rows
- Jump rope 300 times
- 12 goblet squats
- 12 plyometric pushups
- 12 renegade rows
- Jump rope 400 times
- 12 goblet squats
- 12 plyometric pushups
- 12 renegade rows
- Jump rope 500 times
- 12 goblet squats
- 12 plyometric pushups
- 12 renegade rows
More from Men's Journal:
The Only 8 Moves You Need to Be Fit
The 10 Moves You Need to Get a Rock-Solid Core
30 Workouts that Take 10 Minutes (or Less)
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