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How to Exercise Safely as Temperatures Rise By Miriam Wolf As spring gives way to summer and temperatures rise across the country, it’s natural to want to take our exercise routines outside. A bike ride in the sunshine, an afternoon hike, or a crisp morning run are the kinds of pleasures that define the season. [...]
Resistance Training Builds Both Fitness and Self-Confidence By Miriam Wolf If you think weightlifting is only for Arnold Schwarzenegger acolytes who want to get really pumped up, think again. A good weight routine can provide benefits for everyone from teenage girls to 90-year-old grandmothers, including: Reduce your risk of osteoporosis Boost your metabolism so you [...]
Office Micro-Workouts with a Stability Ball By Eileen Ecklund You find them everywhere—at the gym, in the office break room, and gathering dust in the corners of people’s homes. I’m talking about those big vinyl exercise balls, variously called stability balls, fitness balls, physioballs, and Swiss balls. Developed in the 1960s by a Swiss doctor [...]
Heart, Muscles, Joints, Bones, and Brain All Benefit By Rebecca Taggart Fitness is about that wonderful feeling of exhilaration and power after a good workout. Or is it? Many of us equate fitness with the ability to run, swim, or bike a certain distance, make it through a 90-minute yoga or Zumba class, or perhaps [...]
Finding the Right Pedometer for You By Elizabeth Weinstein For years, scientists have touted 10,000 as the ideal quantity of daily steps you need to stay fit. But reaching that almost mythical number – which amounts to about five miles for most adults — can seem out of reach amid work, commutes, school, and life [...]
Prolonged Sitting Puts Your Health at Risk By Rebecca Taggart You don’t have to qualify as a couch potato to be sitting too much. Most of us spend at least half of our day sitting: at our desks and computers, at meetings or in classrooms, in cars, on transit, and in front of TV and [...]
What You Should Ask By Pia Hinckle It used to be that personal trainers were only for the rich and famous. Today, they are everywhere, from chain gyms where trainers have long been available for extra cash to small independent fitness centers popping up in urban neighborhoods from San Francisco to New York. A personal [...]
Focus on Waist Reduction for Better Health By Pia Hinckle Not all fat is created equal. If you’ve a gained a few extra pounds, you should know that where you carry that weight could put you at greater risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Where to watch? Your waist. If you can pinch a good [...]
Workplace Walking Clubs Can Improve Health & Productivity By Rebecca Taggart Aristotle and Steve Jobs both did it. Did what exactly? Walking at work. Walking is a great form of exercise, and a surprisingly good fit at work. Healthy employees save an organization both time and money. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), [...]
Safety is top concern for bicycle commute By Rebecca Taggart Riding a bike to work is great exercise, a green commute, and a chance to enjoy the outdoors. Biking can also reconnect us to the sights, smells, and sounds of a slower paced world. Yet biking means sharing the road with other vehicles and pedestrians, [...]
Yoga for Abdominal Fitness By Rebecca Taggart Bathing suit season is approaching, but that’s not the only reason to focus on your abdominal muscles. These muscles, part of our “core” around the pelvis, hips, and waist, bring stability and balance—keeping them strong is also important for preventing lower back pain and injuries. Tired of sit-ups [...]
By Rebecca Taggart Before the 1990s, rock climbers were relatively few and far between, either dedicated aficionados who lived near mountainous areas to pursue their passion or weekend warriors making long drives and taking a gamble on the weather. Twenty years later, the mountain has come to you, with specialized climbing gyms common even in [...]
Four Office Doorway Stretches By Rebecca Taggart Open the door to relieving stiffness by trying these four simple stretches, using any available doorway. These stretches are particularly good after a too-long session seated at your computer. These four stretches can be done in less than five minutes and help ease tension and relax muscle groups. [...]
Making Sense of Group Fitness By Rebecca Taggart The New Year brings with it our New Year’s hopes and resolutions. If more exercise is on your list, why not try a new class at the gym to liven up your routine? Zumba anyone? BodyPump? TRX? Whatever happened to weightlifting, ballet, and yoga, you may ask. [...]
The Many Names of Yoga By Rebecca Taggart From Ashtanga to Viniyoga, there are a bewildering number of yoga classes out there: Hatha, Iyengar, Vinyasa, Anusara, Ashtanga, Flow, Viniyoga, Bikram, and many more. What is the difference between these styles? Are they related? What can you expect in these classes? Here we provide an overview [...]
Yoga for Digestion By Rebecca Taggart Nothing is more traditional than eating large festive meals, starting at Thanksgiving right on through New Year’s Eve. With the days getting colder and darker, we also tend to exercise less while we are eating more. Try the following restorative yoga poses to aid digestion after feasting, and to regain [...]
First Steps By Rebecca Taggart Fall is here with its bright colors and cooler temperatures, and is a great time to be outdoors. Although New Year’s Day is the traditional time to start a new fitness routine, starting now will make you feel better come 2012. As the days shorten, increasing the amount of exercise [...]
Afternoon Stretches Can Ease Computer Kinks By Rebecca Taggart Back at the computer after lunch, and starting to feel sleepy? Are your neck and shoulders stiffening up? Does sitting hunched over feel uncomfortable? Instead of reaching for coffee or M&Ms for a little pick-me-up, this is the time of day for releasing your upper back [...]
By Rebecca Taggart Swimming laps is fantastic exercise because it is both cardiovascular and strengthening. It uses all the body’s muscle groups and therefore gives a whole-body workout. It is also low impact, which benefits those with joint or weight limitations (or advanced pregnancy), yet a vigorous swim burns as many calories as running a 10-minute [...]
Long walks good for you and your dog By Pia Hinckle My chocolate Lab, Nessie, has just told me the secret to establishing a regular daily exercise regime: Walk the dog! If you’re lucky enough to have a household companion that needs to get out of the house, you can use this “chore” to help [...]
By Rebecca Taggart June is the perfect month to thank the sun for its warmth and light as we near the longest day of the year, with the traditional yoga posture sequence Surya Namaskar, or the Sun Salutation. The sun salute is a vigorous yoga sequence with origins in the ancient Vedas, the oldest scriptures of [...]
By Pia Hinckle Jumping Jacks get your blood pumping and warm up and tone all the muscles in your body. They can be done as a warm-up exercise before other activities, or on their own. Jumping jacks are an aerobic exercise with benefits similar to jogging but you don’t have to go anywhere! Easy office [...]
By Rebecca Taggart Sitting at a desk all day? Driving a long commute, or maybe simply rolled out of bed a little funny? Backache afflicts 90 percent of all U.S. adults at some point in their lives, and 50 percent report having back pain at least once a year. For the regular, non-chronic type of [...]
Anytime of Year is a Good Start for a Healthier Lifestyle Come January first, there is talk of New Year’s resolutions everywhere: at the water cooler, in the newspaper, on Facebook, and in every nook and cranny of the Internet. Come February, those discussions have long since died out, along with most people’s resolutions, and [...]
Long division? Check. With fractions? Check (ish). Book report? Check. Year of the Boston Tea Party? Check. Maybe you’re smarter than the average fifth grader, but can you pass a fifth-grade fitness test? California, and many other states, requires students to take a physical education test in fifth grade to demonstrate body strength, flexibility, and [...]
Winter is the right season to slow down our lives and build in more time for rest and quiet. Unfortunately, the holiday season can add so many extra calories that it is the one time of year when you want to be sure to maintain your exercise schedule (if you have one) or start a [...]
Do you ever feel like your office chair has become an appendage rather than just a place to sit? What if you found out that appendage could put your health at risk? Recent studies have found that people who sit for eight hours or more a day are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes, [...]
Spending too much time crunching numbers and not enough crunching abs? Fitness Magazine has a great 10-minute desk workout to tone your arms and firm all that stuff sitting on your chair. Do this 6-step mini-workout twice a day and you’ll feel better and more productive. 1. Shoulder-Blade Kiss: sit at your desk with arms [...]
Hiking is much more than exercise—it can be a communion with nature, and often a meditation on self and one’s place in the world. So why not do more of it? Many of us may feel that hiking opportunities are far away and a bit complicated to organize, especially for urban dwellers. A long car trip just for [...]
PHILADELPHIA—My commute: therapeutic, thought provoking, calming, and centering. Is such a commute possible? You bet! I am one of the estimated 10,000 Philadelphia residents who bikes to work each day—weather permitting. My time in the saddle provides me with the fresh air that I need to feel energized for the day. Biking was not always [...]
Vacations are great, but the travel can be hard on your body. Yoga To Beat Jetlag described the benefits of the pose viparita karani (Legs up the Wall) after a long airline flight or car trip. In this follow-up, you’ll learn a set of four poses to refresh your body and help reset your internal [...]
As the busy summer travel season approaches, many of us will find ourselves on planes. The journey may be long or short, but the effects on the body are similar: airline flight slows the body’s metabolism dramatically, makes digestion sluggish, and can cause legs to swell due to decreased blood circulation. The recycled air, cramped [...]
Gardening offers a refuge from the stresses of modern living, be it tending a backyard orchard, plants in a window box, or a collection of potted herbs in the kitchen. Many of us have sedentary work indoors, and the stress of just getting to work and coping with deadlines can numb both our bodies and [...]
Spring is finally here, and as the days warm up the call of the water gets stronger. Just as April showers bring May flowers, bringing some water into your life through swimming can make you bloom with health. And if swimming isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other aqua-activities to try. Swimming laps is fantastic exercise [...]
Looking for ways to burn a few extra calories, build your strength, or tone your rear end? Stair climbing is a great way to get an excellent aerobic workout, no matter where you are or what your fitness level. You can take the stairs in any building that has them, in your workplace, your house, [...]
In January, we began a discussion of pranayama, or breath work, and outlined some simple breath awareness and breath-altering exercises. In this edition, we move on to ujjayi breath, the simplest form of actual pranayama. Please review Part I before continuing to the exercises below. Pranayama is simply defined as lengthened inhalations followed by lengthened [...]
Breathing. Is there anything we do so often yet think about so little? Our breath is fundamental to our lives…
The holiday season can evoke good will and good cheer, but it also its share of anxiety, stress, and expectations. If you start worrying about family reunions, holiday cooking and finding the perfect present, take a moment to breath deeply. Try the following three desk yoga poses to help you cope with the season flexibly. [...]
After Thanksgiving, the type of stretching most people think about is the elastic-waistband kind. But don’t let your holiday be plagued by an indigestion infestation. A few simple yoga maneuvers can help. It’s the third chakra of your body, located in the solar plexus, that Thanksgiving is most concerned with—it represents solar power, or fire, [...]
Staying in shape during the holidays can be tough. People travel more, get out of their regular exercise routines, and let’s not forget all the delicious goodies! But fear not, FruitFans, the December Wellness Letter has some great tips on how to keep your metabolism working even on your days off. First off, you don’t [...]
Inspired by FruitGuys Banana Boot Camp? You can do it too. If your company doesn’t have the resources for a fancy exercise room and showers, don’t worry, here are some tips and resources to increase physical activity in your office. A great start is The California Department of Public Health’s Fit Business Kit. This kit [...]
Artist and FruitGuys Banana Beth Lisick started her journey on the road to self-improvement on a New Years Day. Her initial goal was to learn to do the splits—and that was just the beginning of a quest that turned into her great book Helping Me Help Myself, about a year spent on self-help programs. The [...]
Most of us slow down a bit during the winter months, exercise-wise. It’s part of our genetic makeup – shorter days with less natural light and colder temperatures encourage our bodies to “bear down” and hibernate a little. But bear with it – during these slower times of the year, it’s the little things that [...]
There are many simple ways to get a good cardiovascular workout without having to go to a gym—talking a lunchtime walk with your co-workers, for example. But the advanced cardio machines most gyms and health clubs offer do have benefits and can be especially helpful to manage back or joint problems that may inhibit other [...]
April 8th is the American Heart Association’s National Start Walking Day! Individuals and companies can pledge to Start! walking and become more active and heart healthy. To register your company and receive supporting materials, click here. Individuals can track their own personal fitness goals with their fitness tracker here.
Last time we talked about the Mayo Clinic’s recommended four basic groups of fitness – Aerobic Fitness, Muscular Fitness, Stretching, and Core Stability. Now we’ll address the balance and intensity of your workouts. Moderate exercise is best, especially if you are just starting out, but what does “moderate” mean? Go too easy and you might [...]
Spending too much time crunching numbers and not enough crunching abs? Fitness Magazine has a great 10-minute desk workout to tone your arms and firm all that stuff sitting on your chair. Do this 6-step mini-workout twice a day and you’ll feel better and more productive. 1. Shoulder-blade kiss: sit at your desk with arms [...]
Here are some startling statistics: two out of five women and one out of five men would trade three to five years of their life to achieve their weight goals, according to the Eating Disorder Foundation. While it’s important to stay healthy and fit, many university studies and eating disorder advocacy groups have long pointed [...]
Have you been watching “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” Ken Burns’ latest documentary chronicling the history of our national parks? Has it inspired you to visit beautiful majestic mountains, windswept prairies, and vermillion canyons? If you haven’t seen it, it is certain to be repeated or you can catch it on PBS. Whatever your [...]
Feeling restless at your desk? Thinking of chocolate or something sweet to pep you up? Try these simple yoga stretches for a burst of energy. Practice them as often as you like. Chest Opener – Sit up straight near the front edge of your chair. Place your arms behind you with your hands on the [...]
Afternoon is the time of day when your energy can hit its lowest. You’re yawning at your desk and thinking about coffee. A little fresh air or exercise would wake you up but there is no time for the gym or even a walk around the block. Take five minutes to try these four simple [...]
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