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An old fitness adage says - "If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got" and when it comes to health, that is something we all strive to do and some of us are already working on it over years. We all want to be physically in shape, active and also the fittest version of ourselves but with the advancing unhealthy lifestyles, stress, anxiety and irregular routines, the idea of being leaner, fitter and stronger seems bleak and burdensome.

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Vansh Chhabra, Senior Nutritionist at Wellversed, shared, Human body stops adapting to any new routine once it becomes comfortable with it and ultimately the results cease to exist. In order to break this cycle, one needs to constantly change and renew forms of interventions to achieve desired outcomes.

He listed some tips that might help you kickstart your journey to being leaner, fitter and stronger -

1. Best form of nutrition: Failing to plan is planning to fail. Fitness is the most direct result of good nutrition, consistent efforts and a relaxed body. Load on a diet that surrounds veggies, lean protein, fish, low-fat dairy, and clean foods. Introduce carbs in the form of whole grains and quinoa, add anti-inflammatory foods like green leafy vegetables, avocados, olive oil, etc to the diet and cut down sugars to reduce inflammation. Protein requirements usually surge above normal to maintain muscle growth and repair. Get the best form of protein with every meal (lean protein, fish, nuts and nut butters, legumes, tofu, soy milk, whole grains, etc.) nutrition to attain greater outputs. Stay hydrated and avoid fancy-carbonated and sugary beverages.

2. Eat as per needed: Keep yourself satiated and stop when you are full. Over-eating or starvation will only hinder progress. Do mindful eating and listen to the signals that your body sends to you. Your body is the best teacher that tells you about you at the earliest, be honest to your body and let it be honest to you.

3. Avoid severe restrictions: Strictly keeping the body away from what it loves can have detrimental effects and lead to binge eating. However, to counter this, eat in moderation. Avoid feeling guilty and work on it the next day, the more you restrict, the more it's difficult to sustain.

4. Fitness progression: Practice transition from one form of exercise to another, begin with low-to-moderate workouts and lesser durations while gradually embracing yourself to train harder towards high-intensity cardio or mixing a few of them like running, cycling, swimming, weight lifting, etc. can do wonders together by building stamina and endurance. Play with different sets, frequencies, intensity, and duration of exercise to build a more effective routine. Lifting weights helps you maintain the muscles that break during cardio. Intervals of building muscle and cutting fat can also be opted. Enhance your speed with stronger and powerful arm movements. Nevertheless, in an attempt to build strength, do not forget to give your body a break and adequate recovery time. Give time to injuries, breakdowns and ensure proper rest and good quality sleep.

5. Break your goal: Having sub-goals of a greater goal often accelerates and polishes the overall output. It not only keeps you motivated but also dedicated as small chunks of success fuels you for the larger game. Make specific, achievable, measurable goals that are realistic and time-bound. Enjoy the process of attaining your end goal of fitness and record your progress at every step.

According to Gaurav Bansal, Health Coach at MyHealthBuddy, Inside this enormous world of health and fitness exists a small world of facts, evidence-based information and data that all the top fitness gurus seem to agree with. Youd already know this by now but it starts with exercising regularly, eating healthy, sleeping well, and prioritizing recovery. If youve mastered this, your health journey is half way there. The other half is behavioural, like setting realistic goals for yourself. Working out every day of the week is commendable but not practical for most people.

He advised, Work towards a more realistic goal like 4 days a week and a walk on the days that youre not exercising. Move an inch towards those goals every day. Small baby steps! Setting realistic goals increases the probability of you sticking to them, making you feel more confident. It also gives you a chance to reward yourself for a job well done (I suggest shopping). No matter how many motivational posts you read on social media, dont rely on motivation to reach your goals. Youll find yourself disappointed and burnt out pretty quickly. Motivation is very short lived and works on external validation.

Pointing out that you might feel motivated when someone gives you a compliment or when your new post on IG gets a lot of likes but these are not permanent, Gaurav Bansal recommended to instead, form habits and stick to them. He said, Consistency will take you further than motivation ever will. Remember, your health is not a 30-day challenge, its a lifelong commitment. Just like how we brush our teeth & shower every day, its important to make it a part of your daily routine.

As the world rediscovers the benefits of being fit and not just looking fit, the discussion now heads towards what we can do to take care of our health. Calling nutrition and physical activity as the two major components of fitness, Pranit Shilimkar, Health and Fitness Entrepreneur and Founder of Fitnesstalks, said that hydration, recovery and stress management are crucial additional factors too. He shared -

Nutrition: Perhaps the biggest game-changer in your fitness journey, people tend to discard good nutrition quite easily. You cannot out-train a bad nutrition regime. Most of your results or work will be done in the kitchen. Simply put, you need to consider two things: not skipping meals and completing your macro and micronutrients through every meal. Its important that your plate consists of a good amount of protein, fats, carbohydrates, fibre, and yes, water. Portion control, mindful eating, utilizing spices to make nutritious and healthy food are some great tips. Just remember to focus on the word nutrition and not 'diet'; you want a food routine that is sustainable, easy to cook, and does not deprive you of anything. Results appear once your nutrition is on point.

Strength training: Any physical activity contributes to you losing fat and getting leaner and stronger. Cardio is a great way to burn some calories while working on your cardiovascular performance. How strength training (lifting weights) has been scientifically proven to aid your body recomposition, burn calories, and just improve your physical and mental performance. You want a healthy balance of cardio as well as strength training with enough focus on recovery in order to avoid injuries and perform at your best. Ensure that you incorporate any physical activity to start with, it does not have to be too rigorous or just a traditional gym workout.

Pranit Shilimkar suggested, Additionally, you also need to ensure that youre hydrating adequately. Water has countless benefits, however, youd be surprised to know how frequently you misinterpret thirst for hunger. Make sure that no matter what nutrition or physical activity you incorporate, you start off slow and remain consistent. People fall off the wagon because they train or diet too rigorously. Remember that fitness is a state of being as well as mind, it takes time and shortcuts dont work out. Move at a sustainable pace and keep improving your goals.

Remember, you must enjoy the journey! Being leaner, fitter and stronger isnt an overnight process and takes months-and-years of dedicated hardship and patience. The fitness experts insist that an honest dedicated approach demands adherence to your goal is the most healthy and sustainable manner. Do what you find interesting, anything that keeps you motivated is just the right thing to do. Never indulge into things just for the sake of it. Health and wellness should be pleasurable to the mind and body to reap the greatest fruits from it.

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Want to get leaner, fitter, stronger? Try these health tips from fitness experts - Hindustan Times

A strength and fitness competition is back again this year in Pocatello and a local gym owner has a passion for fitness and giving back to the community.

This is Jayden Chase, just over a year ago Chase followed his dreams and opened Chase Strong Gym in Pocatello.

Along with his passion for fitness, Chase enjoys giving back to the community. Last year, he hosted the first annual Strength and Fitness Fest, and it is back again this year.

Strength fest was a concept that I came up with about a year ago where I wanted to start bringing competition to Pocatello. I've been involved in powerlifting and strongman and it seems like every time we want to compete we have to travel so this is a means to be able to bring competition to the town of Pocatello. But as we started planning the event we decided that we wanted to find a way to give back to the community as well, said Jayden Chase, owner of Chase Strong Gym.

This years charity event will raise money for suicide prevention and awareness as well as human trafficking.

A portion of the proceeds from the athletic fees going in, so the entry fees as an athlete and the booth sponsors is the primary focus for the fundraising. So a lot of the companies that will come out and support the event we charge a sponsorship fee for the booth and then that money is going towards raising more funds for the charity as well, said Chase.

At the event, competitors will participate in powerlifting, arm wrestling, ruck races, and jiu jitsu and each of those events will raise money for the charity.

The point of the event is honestly to have fun. a lot of people they get involved with going to the gym and getting in shape but at some point they want to decide where their potential lies where they can go out and do a competition so to be able to create this event gives people the outlet and opportunity to actually get involved in something more competitive than just showing up to the gym and working out, said Chase.

The strength and fitness event will be held at the Mountain View Event Center in Pocatello on Saturday June 11th from 8 am to 6pm.

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Strength and Fitness Fest | News | kpvi.com - KPVI News 6

Chromebooks were presented to Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield fitness challenge winners who were active for the past month.

The computers were distributed Tuesday by the clubs executive director, Vincent Borello, local and state officials, and AT&T representatives.

More than 70 members ages six to 13 participated in the challenge by doing push-ups, running, swimming, biking and more.

I walked and towards the end, I did some running and biking, said nine-year-old Olivia Johnson. With my new computer I want to do a PowerPoint for extra credit at school.

State Rep. Carlos Gonzalez, D-Springfield, said he is a huge fan of the club as he used to be a member and compete as a champion in many sports activities like boxing and pool.

I support you because you are the future and look at how bright our future looks, he said. This is an opportunity to exceed and excel in your education.

The computers were donated as a bigger part of a two-billion-dollar AT&T initiative to close the digital divide.

AT&T is essentially a company that provides connectivity and when the opportunity came to donate, the Boys & Girls Clubs was the first community-based program we thought of, AT&T New England president John Emra said.

We did the easy part and wrote a check, but you all did the hard work in earing the computers and we are here to support you and all the work you do to support the community, he said.

The digital divide began in the late 20 century and primarily referred to those with and without telephone access until late 1990 when its definition shifted to high-speed broadband access.

According to Tech Target a 2019 data report suggest that five million rural households and 15.3 million urban areas still do not have broadband access.

Additionally, the divide exists on many fronts including in educational access, socioeconomic groups, access to high speed and quality computers.

We have about 2300 kids at the club, and they are all graduating, there is no teen pregnancy and the younger ones are matriculating to their next grade, said Michael Chernick. chair of the board of directors, .

We provide a safe structure and mentor model, he said. People need to know that the Boys & Girls Clubs are a raging success. It is a flagship. Just look at our clean, well presented beautiful kids.

We all (local and state officials) had opportunities here, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said. We sat where you are sitting.

They (AT&T) gave you the computers because they believe in you. They (officials and board members) have not forgotten the opportunities they got here and are back volunteering and giving generously in hopes you remember your experience and want to give back, he said.

I think I will continue to be active, Johnson said. I feel really good.

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Chromebooks presented to 200 fitness challenge winners at Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield - MassLive.com

RIGBY During a reconnaissance mission on June 28, 2005, Lt. Michael Murphy and his team of Navy SEALs were deep in the throes of an enemy attack.

The team of four was scouting for signs of Ahmad Shah, a terrorist leader in his mid-30s, in the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan. Different groups had notified the Taliban of the SEALs presence and Murphy and his men had been spotted and were outnumbered.

A fierce fight erupted between them in extreme terrain.

Approximately 45 minutes into the fight, pinned down by overwhelming forces, Danny Dietz, the communications petty officer, sought open air to place a distress call back to the base. But before he could, he was shot in the hand, the blast shattering his thumb, according to an article from the U.S. Navy.

Murphy swiftly responded, moving into the open to get a better signal to transmit a call for help. His actions put him in a vulnerable position and made him a target to the enemy.

While being fired upon, he made contact with Bagram Air Force Base and requested assistance after providing the location and size of the enemy force. Murphy was shot in the back in the process, dropping the transmitter.

Murphy picked it back up, completed the call and continued firing at the enemy who was closing in. Severely wounded, Lt. Murphy returned to his cover position with his men and continued the battle, the U.S. Navy reports.

After two hours of intense struggle, Murphy and his men were ultimately killed. So were the 16 men on board the MH-47 Chinook helicopter that was sent to help. The combat resulted in some Taliban deaths as well. An estimated 35 Taliban members were killed in the skirmish.

Despite Murphys undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit and inspirational devotion to his men, the U.S. Navy says June 28, 2005 remains the single largest loss of life for Naval Special Warfare since World War II.

The 2013 film, Lone Survivor, starring Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch and Emile Hirsch depicts the battle and the events of that day.

RELATED | CrossFit transformed this military vets body and now he owns a gym in Rigby

The sacrifice and patriotism of those men prompted Dave McMullan, a U.S. Army veteran and owner of a CrossFit gym in Rigby, to organize the first-ever Memorial Day Murph at Jefferson County Lake in their honor.

McMullan describes it as a hero workout that begins with a 1-mile run, followed by 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and finishes with another 1-mile run. Participants are supposed to wear a weighted vest while they do it.

At CrossFit, we do a bunch of workouts we call hero workouts. Theyre all named after men and women who gave their lives in the service of their country, McMullan tells EastIdahoNews.com. All the hero workouts we do are important to me. I (wanted) to show support for our armed forces and give back however I can.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Phoenix QRF, a local charity that provides resources and support for veterans coming out of the military.

McMullan plans to make this an annual event going forward.

The 2022 Memorial Day Murph CrossFit Hero Workout will kick off at 7:30 a.m. on May 30. Bishop Barbell in Idaho Falls will provide a pull-up rig for the event and multiple food trucks and vendors will be on hand as well.

The cost is $20 for those who would like to participate. Tickets are available online. The entrance fee for spectators is $6 per carload.

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The Navy SEAL reconnaissance mission that prompted a Memorial Day fitness competition in Rigby - East Idaho News

Fitness Ventures LLC announces Jay Thomas as their new VP of Construction

Jay Thomas brings unparalleled experience in overseeing the construction of various businesses across the U.S., holds several General Contractor licenses across different states and regions across the U.S.

"We are extremely excited to welcome Jay Thomas to the Fitness Ventures team", said Brian Hibbard, founder, and CEO of Fitness Ventures. "With our growth rate continuing to accelerate, and the challenges with construction in today's environment, it was critical that we bring someone on to oversee these projects. We operate in states across the country which provides its own set of challenges, and you combine it with today's inflationary environment and supply chain issues, and it becomes critically important to have someone with the expertise to oversee these projects to make sure they come in on time and on budget."

With each new opening, Fitness Ventures brings new jobs to the markets they operate in, and with 28 more in development over the next 18 months, they are adding another 2,500 jobs. "The Fitness Ventures management team has demonstrated the ability to maintain a rapid growth rate, all while executing on a strategy that continues to deliver industry leading results. Having Jay on board overseeing the construction projects will allow us to seize on these opportunities at a faster pace, accelerating our overall growth rate and pushing to our ultimate goal of owning and operating 100 Crunch Fitness locations by 2026", said Brian Hibbard.

For additional information, please contact Hiba Abduljawad at [emailprotected], 407-360-6746

About Fitness Ventures, LLC

Founded in 2016 by Brian Hibbard, Fitness Ventures, LLC is one of the fastest growing franchisees within the Crunch Fitness system. The Company currently operates locations across eight different states, with several more in development. With a unique operating and development strategy, and a keen focus on execution, Fitness Ventures operates some of the highest volume Crunch locations in the system and boasts industry leading financial returns.

Fitness Ventures was acquired by Prospect Hill Growth Partners, L.P., a private equity firm focused on operational value creation in middle-market growth companies, in 2020. The partnership with Prospect Hill and new access to institutional capital has allowed Fitness Ventures to seize on new opportunities at a faster pace, accelerating their already rapid growth rate.

Website: http://www.fitnessventuresllc.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fitness-ventures-llc-crunch/

About Crunch Fitness

Crunch is a gym that believes in making serious exercise fun by fusing fitness and entertainment and pioneering a philosophy of 'No Judgments.' Crunch serves a fitness community for all kinds of people, with all types of goals, exercising all different ways, working it out at the same place together. Today, we are renowned for creating one-of-a-kind group fitness classes and unique programming for our wildly diverse members. Headquartered in New York City, Crunch serves over 1.9 million members with over 400 gyms worldwide in 34 states and the District of Columbia, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Portugal, Puerto Rico, and Spain. Crunch is rapidly expanding across the U.S. and around the globe. For more information, please visitcrunch.com.

SOURCE FITNESS VENTURES

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Fitness Ventures LLC adds VP of Construction to their All-Star Team - PR Newswire

When the United States suffered an attack on Sept. 11, 2001, it was considered the darkest day in our countrys history. Over 3,000 lives were lost in total, and it was being televised live on every news outlet and as a result Americans from all walks of life found their local recruiters offices and wanted to become a part of the solution to help our nation and the world move forward. One of those Americans was Tim Kennedy.

9/11 had a pretty profound impact on me, watching Americans choose between being burned alive or jumping to their death. So, I actually went in a recruiters office on 9/11. He actually didnt get to speak to a recruiter until one day later, but Kennedy knew his destiny was to serve, and he wanted to make it happen sooner rather than later.

There was such backlog that it took a few months that I was on inactive reserves until I got a boot camp date, said Kennedy. Once he was called into action, Kennedy would immediately be called up to Special Forces Selection.

I never served a regular day in the military, he explained. After completing Ranger School, Kennedy was assigned to the 7th Special Forces group. Among the missions he went on included multiple deployments in support of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. After more than two years of schooling and training, It was on one of those deployments that he had an epiphany about where he was in both the world and his life.

I was running towards what is gunfire. I look to my left and my right, and I see a bunch of Green Berets running with me. That was when it really clicked that I was at the right place. Im with men like me.

Those that were like him were also those that appreciated great challenges, living in the moment, and doing all they could in the pursuit of protecting their homeland and the people in it. They embraced all of it, and they were all elite athletes as well. According to Kennedy, that was no coincidence.

The overlap on these is extraordinary. If you look at every special missions unit, the commonality among all of them is that are all extremely fit. They are all absolute Adonis-looking mother f*****s, he stated. Through athletics and martial arts, I had done so many hard things. I felt at home doing hard things in the military. I felt at home.

Tim Kennedy credited fitness and athletics for a lot of his success. In his eyes, people that were accomplished with their bodies were exactly what America needed in the aftermath of 9/11.

That generation of post 9/11 athletes that were recruited into the same program I was, these were all college runners, track and field, sprinters, wrestlers, he said.

Kennedy also said that the group he was a part of had the highest selection rates in any class ever in the history of Selection. He personally has received numerous honors as well. His most notable award is a Bronze Star, but he also holds the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and two NATO medals, just to name a few. When asked about his personal greatest moment, he couldnt pinpoint just one moment, but rather a series of them where he connected with those he fought alongside on a deeper level.

I know everything about this human that is next to me, and its the most remarkable privilege to be able to be part of a community that knows you through and through, your faults, your failures, and is still proud to be serving with you.

The pressure that he faced throughout his missions and service came with other privileges as well. Among them was the ability to stay calm and execute in any situation, such as his MMA fights. Tim Kennedy is also well-known in the world of mixed martial arts. In 24 professional fights, he had a record of 18-6 with six wins by knockout and eight by submission. While many athletes may feel nervous or overwhelmed as they make the walk into the arena, Kennedy would make that same walk as if it was any other day that ended in y.

I would get told, man, youre too relaxed. Can you just get amped up for this fight? I would say its just a fight, he said. It was just fun to be out there fighting.

Kennedy fought in several organizations, including the now defunct International Fight League, Strikeforce, and ultimately, the UFC. He fought up until 2017 when he announced his retirement from the sport. That same year, he reenlisted in the Army Special Forces, and he is still actively involved.

I would attribute most of my success to my consistent, disciplined, regimented approach to fitness, he shared proudly. I carry that over. I know that sounds very militaristic, but I carry that over into the organizations of my businesses.

Tim Kennedy still uses that same approach to his fitness today. Hes up training early every morning, and he revealed that he has had training partners that have quit after one workout because of how intense he is during training.

I find the worst thing I can possibly do to my body first thing, and everything else in that day is easy, Kennedy said. Theres nothing that anybody else can do to me during the day that is worse than what I already selected to do to myself.

His overall approach to fitness has nothing to do with a look or visual. Anything and everything he does has a specific purpose, and that puts him in the best position to perform when called upon.

I want to be able to exercise so I can go and do something, or I want to exercise so I can go and be something. My workouts really embody that. Theyre really tough. You can expect to be in the 80-90 percent heart rate range for a sustained period of time.

Tim Kennedy knows that he is in a position that can help inspire and educate people, which is why he wrote his latest book, Scars and Stripes. It will be available on June 7, and it can be pre-ordered now Kennedy shared that writing this was very meaningful to him.

That title is not a misnomer. The stripes you get in the military theyre on your sleeves for years of service, for your missions overseas, and for years of service. Those are earned by years of suffering, and scars are earned the same way.

Follow Tim Kennedy on Instagram: @timkennedymma

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Tim Kennedy Is Always Ready for All Situations - Muscle & Fitness

Photo: fizkes (Shutterstock)

Theres a lot of conflicting information out there about fitness, which isnt so surprising when you think about how it means different things to different people. Some people train for competitions, while others exercise to be healthy. Some people love cardio, and some would rather lift weights all day. This variety in perspectives is enough to overwhelm a beginner, so lets cut through the noise with a list of fitness misconceptions you can safely ignore.

But before we dive in, what does matter? I would boil the important things down to the following:

Thats all you really need to know to get moving. What follows are a list of things that (in my opinion) beginners spend far too much time worrying about. That doesnt mean this stuff doesnt matter at all, but they are things you can mostly ignore and still be able to get stronger, fitter, faster, and healthier.

Should you do eight to 12 repetitions of each strength exercise? Or five sets of five?

While shorter sets are supposed to build strength and longer sets are supposed to build size, the truth is that strength and size go together. When you get stronger, your muscles get bigger, and vice versa. As a beginner you really dont need to worry about whether youre in the optimal rep range for your goals, so long as each set feels like hard work. Sets of five with heavier weight and sets of 10 with lighter weight will give similar results.

People often get into exercise at the same time they decide they would like to lose fat, or gain muscle. Some exercise programs come with instructions that say you should eat a ton of food and bulk while youre running them; others assume that your goal will be losing weight and that youll want to create a calorie deficit.

If you want to change the size of your body, thats up to you. But you dont need to connect that to your fitness goals. You can simply start exercising now, and decide later whether you want to be bigger or smaller or if youre fine at the size you are. (Please do make sure you get enough protein, though.)

One of the first things you need to learn when you take up running is how to run slow enough that you dont exhaust yourself in the first 30 seconds. You also need to understand that your body needs to build the fitness to be able to run continuously. You simply may not be ready for a continuous half-hour run yet. Thats the idea behind walk-run approaches like Couch to 5K.

But one downside of a Couch to 5K is that many think of the running parts as real running, and the walking parts as breaks, or as somehow failing at the task of running. The thing is, if you get from the start to the finish line of a race (5K or otherwise) at anything other than a fully walking pace, youve run it. Whats more: youre still building cardio fitness when you walk quickly, and that cardio fitness is what will eventually enable you to run more and to run faster.

Perfect form is overrated. You need form that is good enough. If your squat is a complete mess, your knees are touching, your thighs are nowhere near parallel, and you hurt when youre doing it, then yes, something is wrong. But if youre squatting a loaded barbell and it feels good and the weight is moving well, you dont need to obsessively rewatch videos of yourself in search of subtle signs of knee cave or butt wink.

Yeah, maybe youre not perfect yet. Nobody is. But if youre lifting safely and effectively, your form is good enough. Youll refine it as you go.

When youre new to exercise, its easy to make progress. Youll gain more muscle and strength in your first year of lifting than in any following year, which is pretty cool.

This is just because theres a lot of low hanging fruit you can collect as a beginner. Its not because newbie gains are some kind of magical spell with an expiration date. The principle of newbie gains just states that the weaker you are, the more room you have for improvement.

In short: you cant waste or lose your newbie gains if you take a break during your first year. And youll still have plenty of room to improve even after youre out of the noob stage.

Its easy to get caught up in the marketing hype surrounding booty bands or ankle weights or Pelotons or airbikes or that weird machine that lets you do an assisted squat.

None of this stuff is important. There are literally hundreds of ways to exercise your booty without booty bands. No single piece of equipment is essential, not even my beloved barbell. As long as youre doing some kind of cardio and some kind of strength training, youll be okay.

One way of organizing your strength training is by body part: chest on Monday, back and biceps on Tuesday, for example. You can do a five-day split, or a push-pull-legs split, or an upper-lower split, and there are good programs that follow each of them.

But the split itself does not matter. A split is just organization. Asking about the best split is like saying, I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Is that a good diet?

Whether were talking cardio or strength, the point of a warmup is to prepare you for the workout ahead. Maybe you have a body part that tends to be stiff; some stretches for that area can help limber you up. Maybe you need to practice the proper technique for one of your exercises to be sure youll do it right; some technique drills in the warmup can help set you up for success.

That means theres no right warmup for everybody. If youre clueless about what to do when you walk in the gym, hop on a cardio machine or do a few bodyweight exercises (walking lunges, pushups, rows) and then start in on your workout for the day. If your body needs something more specific than that, it will let you know.

All the gadgets these days can measure your heart rate and tell you whether youre in the right zone for the kind of training you intend to do. But they all use a formula based on your maximum heart rate, and theyre probably wrong. While there are formulas that can guess your maximum heart rate, every body is different, and your gadget doesnt actually know your max heart rate unless youve done a max effort (which, as a beginner, you probably never have.)

Instead, know that most cardio should be done in zone 2, which is the effort level where youre breathing a bit harder than at rest, but you can still easily hold a conversation and you dont feel out of breath. The other zones are higher, with zones 4 and 5 (in most systems) being an effort level you can hold for less than a minute. Go by these perceived effort levels at first, and simply notice what your heart rate is when youre in them. If a heart rate of 135 feels hot and sweaty but not killer, thats probably in your zone 2, no matter what your watch says.

Can you feel that muscle working? Its okay if you cant. Some people have trouble feeling specific muscles working; some of us never pay attention to it at all, and we still get stronger anyway.

Theres no way to do a pullup or a lat pulldown without using your lats. Theres no way to do a bicep curl without involving your biceps. Theres no way to do a bench press without involving your chest and your triceps. If youre doing the exercise, the muscle is working, whether you feel it or not.

We arent at our best every day. You know that about everyday life: you dont expect to be optimally focused at work every single day or equally patient with your kids every second of every hour. So why do we get so surprised if we did five pullups on Monday but only three today?

The truth is that myriad factors affect our performance in the gym, not least fatigue from our previous workouts. Thats not a bad thing; feeling fatigued is part of the same process that ultimately makes us stronger. We have a guide to when you can expect to hit personal records in the gym, and, get this: the answer is not literally every day.

If youre new to the gym, you probably assume everybody in there knows what theyre doing, and youll be the odd one out. But the truth is, a lot of people in there dont know what theyre doing. Thats not a bad thing; we all kind of figure out life as we go along. It may make sense to think of working out as being like adultinga thing that many of us feel intimidated about but somehow manage to do anyway.

Dont worry if youre the weakest or most out-of-shape person there; going to the gym is how you fix that. And if somebody tells you youre doing something wrong, dont question all your life choices up to that point. Just read our guide to dealing with unsolicited gym advice.

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Don't Overthink These Things When You're Getting Into Fitness - Lifehacker

If you tried to imagine the perfect gym teacher, youd probably come up with someone a lot like Hampton Liu. Hes a gentle, friendly guy who spends most of his time trying to figure out how to make the basics of exercise more approachable, and he talks frequently about how he never wants anyone to feel shame for their ability or skill level. In other wordsand with apologies to good gym teachers, who almost definitely existhes probably the polar opposite of whoever lorded over your middle-school physical-education class.

And Liu is a gym teacher of sorts. He has amassed millions of followers across YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok by teaching a remedial PE course for adults from his Arkansas backyard. In many of his videos, he wears a T-shirt and jeans instead of specialized athletic gear, and he uses little or no equipment. The most popular installments take viewers through super-common exercisessquats, lunges, push-ups, pull-upswith variations tailored to many different capability levels. For someone who has never exercised at all, a push-up might start asor might just belying on your back and bench-pressing the air in order to expand your range of motion. There are several more types of push-up that Liu tells viewers to master before they assume the hands-and-toes position thats long been taught to American kids as the One True Push-Up. (Kneeling variation acceptable for girls, if they must.)

Teaching a series of increasingly difficult movements, called a progression by fitness pros, is common at every level of exercise instruction and meant to build capacity over time. All progressions start somewhere, and most of the ones you can find on YouTube, through instructional services such as Peloton, or in classes at your local gym will assume a baseline of ability that a lot of people dont have. The first step, for example, might be a standard squat, performed without weights. Over time, you might graduate to squatting while you hold a 25-pound kettlebell, and then to kicking out to the side with one leg in order to challenge a different group of muscles. But what if you cant do a squat?

Read: Peloton is stuck, just like the rest of us.

Liu focuses on teaching progressions for novices, which work toward the skills that other types of exercise instruction take for granted. Theres a real audience for these, he told me. Lots of people seem to assume that their inability to do sets of those basic moves is an irreversible failurefor many of them, its been their lot in life since elementary-school gym class.

For decades, exercise instruction for adults has functioned on largely the same principle. What the fitness industry calls a beginner is usually someone relatively young and capable who wants to become more conventionally attractive, get swole, or learn a trendy workout such as high-intensity interval training or barre. If youre a novice looking for a path toward these more intense routines, most of the conventional gyms, fitness studios, and exercise experts that offer them dont have much for youcome back when youve developed on your own the endurance and core strength to avoid barfing, crying, or injuring yourself in the first 10 minutes. The situation is even worse if you have no designs on getting ripped and instead just want to build a baseline of capability, whether thats for hoisting your toddler, shaking off the stiffness of a desk job, or living independently as you age.

On the surface, this is pretty dumb. More than three-quarters of Americans dont currently hit the CDCs recommended minimums for regular exercise, and the fitness industry is a graveyard of once-buzzy businesses that abruptly stopped growingmuch to their investors chagrinat least in part because they never had a plan to turn anyone into a customer who wasnt already pretty fit. But the numbers suggest that there is enormous demand for services such as Lius: His super-popular videos make him just one recent example of the teachers and trainers who have found significant audiences by courting true beginners. In doing so, theyve created entry points for more types of people to do something near-universally regarded as essential to mental and physical health. Why has the industry itself been so slow to catch up?

For most inactive Americans, the problem with working out starts where their relationship to exercise does: in gym class. According to Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, a historian at the New School and the author of the forthcoming book Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of Americas Exercise Obsession, public-school physical education became more widespread in the United States during the Cold War, as the federal government began to worry that America was falling behind Europe and not producing enough combat-ready kids to challenge the Soviets. (That concern stretches back to the early 20th century and has endured for decades beyond the fall of the U.S.S.R.) Perhaps unsurprisingly, building physical instruction around a national inferiority complex instead of childhood well-being has had some consequences, the most enduring of which is an obsession with testing fitness instead of teaching practical physical skills and helping kids explore new activities.

The limitations of traditional American PE can be evoked pretty tidily with a single phrase: the Presidential Fitness Test. If youre not familiar with the test or have repressed those memories, it was a biannual quasi-military exercise developed in the 1960s that required children as young as 6 to, among other things, run a mile as quickly as possible, do as many pull-ups as their little arms could handle, and get weighed, usually while all of their peers looked on. The criteria for passage varied over the years, and, in between tests, schools werent required to teach kids anything in particular that would help them improve their scores on the skill components. Instead, the test reflected the priorities of the system that created it: For example, kids deemed overweight couldnt fully pass the test, even if they outperformed their classmates. The whole system was a big missed opportunity: Instead of engendering curiosity about physical activity and giving kids skills to build their capability, PE separated them into the physical haves and have-nots. Public-health officials admitted as much when they discontinued the test in 2013.

As it turns out, you cant just teach millions of children that exercise is painful, humiliating, or a punishment for their failures and expect them to swan into adulthood with healthy, moderate beliefs about their bodies. Instead, they follow the lessons theyve learned about themselves, and about exercise: Some people avoid ever entering a gym again and shy away from activities that might draw attention to their physical capabilities, such as hiking or dancing. Others emerge confident that they were born with the keys to the kingdom of athleticism.

Petrzela says that this dichotomy colors much of how American adults think about exercise, including who pursues careers in fitness, who can get hired in the industry, and how the audience for fitness services is defined. The fitness industry has changed a lot and for the better in the past 15 yearsgym teachers have begun to piece together curricula that are more encouraging and creative, exercise gear is available in a larger array of sizes, and people who run fitness businesses have started to realize, however slowly, that shame might not be quite as reliable of a sales tool as it once was. But lots of stereotypes persist, and not just in the minds of people who are already regular exercisers. If youve been told all your life that only thin people are healthy, and that exercise is designed to make you healthier, then its only natural to believe that for a particular exercise regimen to work, it must make everyone who does it thin. If a business cant create rock-hard abs for its instructors, what could it possibly do for you?

Equating thinness with instructor competence or exerciser success is pretty much a nightmare for all involved, from elementary school through adulthood, and it never abates. Petrzela, who also spent years as a fitness teacher, says that this is a common source of anxiety for people in that line of work, who risk losing their careers and credibility if their bodies change. Its also not a great way to assemble a workforce with an intuitive understanding of what millions of inactive Americans need from them, whether that is beginner-level strength instruction or yoga-pose modifications for larger bodies. Research consistently suggests that movementnot elaborate boot-camp routines or long-distance running, just movement by itselfis a boon to both physical and mental health. Glenn Gaesser, an exercise physiologist at Arizona State University, argues that regular exercise has a much larger positive effect, in the long term, than dieting or intentional weight loss; and that for larger people, the effect of increased fitness is even more significant. Creating an environment where those same people cant find instruction that addresses their needsor where they cant access it without being browbeaten if they dont also restrict their diets and lose weightonly harms their health.

How to cater to this very large group of people isnt some kind of long-unsolved mystery. The YMCAs network of nonprofit facilities has offered popular, low-cost exercise activities and sports instruction for people across a wide range of ages and abilities for decades. Richard Simmons became a superstar in the 1980s and 90s because there was real demand for his kinder, gentler approach and broadly accessible moves, even among people who wanted to exercise for weight loss. More recently, the gym chain Planet Fitness has become enormously successful with its beginner-friendly, no-shame, low-cost pitch to the general public. Couch to 5k, an app-based running program, has become an extraordinarily popular entry point for true beginners who want to start jogging. But these are the exceptions in the industry, not the rule. Media attention and lavish funding are still overwhelmingly aimed at businesses and exercise personalities that promise the kind of punishment that only a small portion of the population can takeand that most people dont even want.

The responsibility for figuring out how to help more people find accessible introductions to exercise usually falls to the people who actually need these services in the first place, or to those who were clued into that need in intimate ways. Liu began making his instructional videos after his mom passed away in early 2020; he had spent the previous several years caring for her after a debilitating stroke. I always think about, Would this be able to help her if she were still around? he told me. It never hurts to add an easier step.

For Casey Johnston, who developed an eight-week starter course called Liftoff: Couch to Barbell, the impetus was her own experience attempting to pick up strength training. She tried a popular beginners program, but when she got in the gym, she realized that she wasnt yet strong enough to lift a barbell, even without any weights attached. The bar itself weighs 45 poundsmore than lots of true beginners would be able to maneuver safely on their own. Johnston, who felt much more comfortable on the cardio machines, had to work her way up to that initial threshold using free weights. The things that are mundane about strength training feel very intimidating to somebody whos totally new to it, she told me. Its this big, heavy barbell, or this big, complicated-looking squat rack, or the bench that only extremely jacked, really sweaty bros who are yelling ever use. But Johnston bet that plenty of people would give it a try if she could make it more accessible.

So far, that bet has paid off for Johnston: Between her newsletter, called Shes a Beast, and her beginners program, she has replaced the income that she lost after getting laid off from a media job last year. Liu, too, now makes instructional material for beginners as his full-time job. Jessamyn Stanley, a fat yoga instructor with almost half a million Instagram followers and two successful books, has built a thriving virtual yoga business with The Underbelly, which has its own widely available app for phones and smart TVs. There is a very real market for this kind of fitness instruction, and lots of people really want to avail themselves of it.

Read: For women, is exercise power?

If you want to find truly beginner-level exercise services in person instead of online, things can be a little trickier. Morit Summers and Francine Delgado-Lugo opened Form Fitness in Brooklyn in 2018 after meeting in a more typical gym where Summers, who published Big and Bold: Strength Training for the Plus-Size Woman last year, was a trainer. We really wanted to create a space where people could walk in and realize that you dont have to have an aesthetic goal, Delgado-Lugo, whos also a personal trainer and health coach, told me. Scaling the business has been a bit slower going for Form than it has been for some of its online counterparts, partly because the studio has to pull in people from the surrounding area instead of the entire world, and partly because theres no tried-and-true method for getting your fitness business in front of people who are used to being ignored or belittled by the industry. But Delgado-Lugo and Summers have done it, even with pandemic interruptions, and novices make up the bulk of their business. As it turns out, if people know youre not going to punish them or shame them or try to put them on a diet, many of them feel more comfortable asking you to teach them things.

It is, of course, not entirely logical that any of these things should have to be profitable in order to exist, or that people who want to provide these services should have to make the math work out on their own in order to do so. To make exercise instruction and equipment available for everyone, no matter their level of fitness or mobility, would be a public goodimproving population health, reducing health-care costs, and making millions of peoples lives better. This is the type of thing that a functional modern society should endeavor to provide to its members, regardless of individual ability to pay.

As Petrzela, the historian, pointed out to me, these services have been freely given to the public in the past. Before the private-sector fitness industry exploded in the 1980s, tax-funded recreation centers, youth sports leagues, and community pools were much more plentiful in the United States, she said, even if unevenly distributed among predominantly white and Black neighborhoods. This is part of a greater austerity politics, which is affecting every aspect of our lives, she told me. She calls it the privatization of the good life: Public funding for facilities and programming dries up, and wealthier people buy gym memberships and Pelotons and enroll their kids in private sports leagues. In my lifetime, I have seen the prices of fitness products and experiences skyrocket, Petrzela said. Poorer people cant afford those things, and their neighborhoods are less likely to be safe for outdoor recreation, or to have intact sidewalks and functional playgrounds. The numbers bear out this split: Among the best predictors of how much exercise Americans get is how much money they make.

Liu thinks about the financial costs of exercise constantly. His instructional videos are supported by advertising instead of membership fees, he focuses on moves that use body weight or that can be done with around-the-house objects such as chairs or towels, and his full recommended routine is available on his website, free of charge. Because of Lius huge subscriber numbers, he can run a business without directly charging for the majority of his output, which isnt possible for most teachers who go it alone. I want to make as much knowledge free as possible, he told me. The more options people have, the more likely that someone will find something that they like and stick to it.

Original post:
What the Fitness Industry Doesn't Understand - The Atlantic

The good Lord didnt intend for us to sit around on our butts.

That quote appeared in the March 15, 1984 edition of the North Vernon Plain Dealer in the run up to the Fourth Annual Sassafras 10K and Fun Run. The speaker? Orlo Blomquist, a Jennings County resident remembered for sharing the joys of physical activity, fitness, and wellness with the entire community.

Orlo moved to Jennings County to work as an engineer for Cummins. When a friend died in his 50s after years of being inactive, it rang like a wakeup call. The lifelong motorcycle enthusiast and former flat-track racer added new sports: running and bicycling. As his daughter Laura Blomquist-Corkum shared, He read Dr. Kenneth Coopers books on aerobics like they were his second bible.

It didnt take long before Orlo began to share his enthusiasm for fitness with the community.

In 1981, he began coordinating the Sassafras 10K and that well-loved event became the Spring Tonic Sports Festival, including not only a foot race, but also a bicycle tour of Jennings County and canoe race on the Muscatatuck River.

As Vernon Mayor Dan Wright remembers, He built this cannon to shoot off at the beginning of the race. I had a lot of respect and love for Orlo. He came around when I was in junior high, early high school aged. Just the fact that what he started is still relevant today. Thats pretty neat!

In Orlos own words from 1989, Were trying to get away from the hardshell competition and keep it a fun thing. Thats what Im trying to promote. [Fitness] can be a lot of fun.

The spirit of Orlos quest to make fitness fun is needed today. According to the County Health Rankings, 35% of Jennings County residents are completely sedentary outside of work. This means people arent working in the yard, going for walks, doing taxing chores, or exercising. This lack of physical activity puts people at increased risk for Type 2 diabetes, heart attack, and other chronic diseases.

But, Orlos legacy will be on full display this Saturday, April 30 in Vernon.

Three separate events started by Orlo Blomquist or that would certainly make him proud are being held. The first is the Spring Tonic 5K Run & Walk hosted by the Jennings County Running Club that will start at the Vernon Gym at 8 a.m.

Participants will run through the Vernon Cemetery and out to Tunnel Mill before returning to the Gym. The trees are beautiful right now! says Jeff Walker, the race organizer. Were excited to restart a Jennings County tradition and raise funds for the Vernon Gym.

Entry fees are $25 and participants can register day of starting at 7 a.m. or online at https://runsignup.com/Race/IN/Vernon/SpringTonic5KWalk. Every participant will receive a t-shirt and finish line photo, and awards will be given for top finishers.

Also supporting the Vernon Gym that night, the Friends of Historic Vernon will be hosting Vernon Trivia Night. Teams of up to eight can participate starting at 5:30 p.m. and the cost, which includes a taco bar dinner, is $25 per person. Proceeds will go towards maintenance and upgrades at the Vernon Gym.

We want to keep the price low for folks [to rent the Vernon Gym] so that everybody can use it. We want the Gym to be functional, a nice place, and we want it to be fun!

If you would like to test your knowledge, especially your local history, then you can RSVP by calling 812-592-0428.

Sandwiched between the two, and the longest continually held event honoring Orlos legacy of making fitness fun, is the Orlo Blomquist Memorial Canoe and Kayak Race. This event is being put on by the Friends of the Muscatatuck River Society as fundraiser for their work protecting the Muscatatuck River. Registration starts at noon at the Vernon Commons and is $10. All non-motorized craft are welcome.

The race will start at the Vernon Commons at 1 p.m. and finish at the Crosley Green Bridge boat launch. It should take about an hour and a half, according to Troy Jackson. As is tradition the winner from last year will return with the champions paddle to defend their title. Each winner gets to sign and date the paddle and it has been circulating for years!

Orlos legacy is a testament to his passion about fitness and making fitness fun. His daughter Laura, who will be joining the fun on April 30, had this to say to event organizers: Orlo would be so excited to see the run back in action and that the canoe race is still going. He was all about making physical fitness a fun family affair and our family holidays still revolve around being in a run together. Thank you so much for doing this!

Go here to see the original:
A Legacy of Fitness and Fun, Remembering Orlo Blomquist - Madison Courier

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Excerpt from:
5 Tips to Stay Motivated in Your Fitness - Signals AZ

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