16 Running Quotes to Motivate You For Your Next Run
16 running quotes that will help you when you need that little extra bit of push to keep moving forward. More
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How To Train For A Race in 4 Weeks
If you’re tight on training time, having a solid race and even a great race is well within your reach.
The Gender Neutral Way to Work Out
Walk into your average sweatbox and it’s a safe bet that you’ll see guys grunting in the free weights area whilst girls hog the cardio machines. It’s partly because they have diverging goals, but it’s also socialization. Hence the advent of pink kettlebells and “broga”: we’re so conditioned to what athletic pursuits are considered suitable for our respective gender that we rarely think to question them.
7 Invisible Ways Exercise Improves Your Life
Glance around the gym, and you’ll probably see lots of people who are exercising in an attempt to shed pounds, tone muscle and look better. But numerous research studies have uncovered many other benefits to exercise — ones that aren’t necessarily visible from the outside. Here, some of the awesome ways exercise can benefit your mind, body and soul.
Winter Running Gear For When It’s Cold AF
Twenty -three running gear picks, zero excuses. More
12 Super Easy Ways to Transform Your Health in 2017
New Year new you? We all want to live a little healthier, but that doesn’t mean we have to make massive changes. These easy health tips are simple and sustainable ways to increase wellness in a big way…
31 Healthy Holiday Dessert Recipes
We know what’s on your gift list: Easy holiday desserts that taste great, are good for you (OK, not as sugary or fattening as traditional seasonal treats), and make amazing gifts. You’re welcome!
There’s nothing better than spending a cold winter day inside by the fire, whipping up delicious holiday treats for your friends and family. But all those baked goods you indulge in during the month of December can take a toll on your waistline; according to recent research from Cornell University, the average weight gain for Americans during the Christmas-New Year’s season is 1.3 pounds. (What’s more, it took half the participants in the study five months to shed the weight they’d gained during the holidays.)
How to Recover From a Thanksgiving Food Binge
It happens to the best of us: Thanksgiving rolls around and we enjoy the holiday dinner a little too much.If you find yourself in this situation this year, you don’t have to suffer through the aftereffects. Here are some things you can do the day after Thanksgiving that will help you feel better—plus some tips for getting your diet back on track for the rest of the holiday season. More
7 Ways to Make Your Lunges More Effective
These aren’t your average lunges.
by: Alexa Tucker | Self.com
Lunges are a fantastic compound exercise to target your legs and glutes, but if you rely on the same movement to work your lower body in every workout, you might be hampering the butt-strengthening benefits of the exercise. You can avoid this by mixing in different lunge variations, explains David Juhn, CPT, personal training manager at Life Time Athletic at Sky in NYC.
“The body can adapt to same sequence of exercise over time,” says Juhn. “It’s important to constantly challenge our bodies with different movements.” Changing things up can help avoid fitness plateaus, whether your goal is to gain strength or lose fat.
Plus, many lunge variations incorporate other fitness benefits, including twists that work your core and plyometric jumps that jack up your heart rate. “[Variations] can turn normal mundane workout to dynamic and challenging routines,” says Juhn. Here are seven amazing ones that will make your regular lunge envious.
Step Up With Reverse Lunge
“This entire sequence demands coordination, balance, and core stability,” says Juhn.
- Stand in front of a box or step, about one foot away.
- Step up with your left foot and drive your right knee up towards your chest.
- Step your right foot back to the starting position and step your left back into a lunge, lowering your knee toward the ground (make sure your right knee doesn’t go past your right toes).
- Step your left leg back onto the step or box to repeat the movement.
Reverse Lunges With Dumbbell Twist
Adding a medium-weight dumbbell to a reverse lunge requires more muscle recruitment, and more energy spent means more calories burned, says Juhn.
- Start standing with your feet hip-width apart. Hold a dumbbell at chest height.
- Take a big step back with your left foot and bend your knees to lower into lunge while twisting your torso over your right (front) leg.
- Return to standing.
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Power Lunges
This variation adds in an abs challenge, and the jump will raise your heart rate for a cardio boost, too.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
- Lunge back with right foot, bending both knees 90 degrees.
- Straighten left leg and jump into the air while driving right knee up in front of body.
- Immediately lower right foot back into a lunge.
Front Lunge With Twist
“[This is a] fun way to incorporate abs and balance work while doing a lunge,” says Juhn.
- Start standing with your feet hip-width apart and arms at shoulder-height, elbows bent to form a goal post around your head.
- Take a big step forward with your right foot and bend your knees to lower into lunge while twisting your torso over your right leg.
- Return to standing.
Jumping Lunges
This plyometric exercise uses ~explosive~ power to raise your heart rate and incorporate some extra cardio into your workout.
- Starting standing with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Jump your left leg forward and your right leg back into a lunge, with both knees at 90 degrees.
- Jump up and switch your legs in midair so that you land in a lunge with your right leg in front.
- Continue jumping back and forth, pausing as little as possible.
Curtsy Lunges With Kick
This variation is especially great for targeting your hips, too.
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart.
- Step your left leg diagonally behind your right leg and bend your knees to lower into a lunge.
- Push through your right heel to stand, and sweep left leg out to side.
Single-Arm Reverse Lunge And Press
This compound exercise works both your lower and your upper body at the same time, explains Juhn.
- Start standing with your feet hip-width apart with your left hand on your hip. Hold the weight at your right shoulder with your right palm facing your body.
- Take a big step back with your right foot and bend your knees to lower into lunge. While you step back, straighten your right arm to press the dumbbell overhead.
- Return to standing and lower the weight back to your right shoulder.
3 Reasons Why You Hate Running
1. You’re doing it all wrong
When most people think of running, they chalk it up in their minds to be this huge ordeal in which they should be huffing and puffing, bent over with hands on knees at every stop light, and drenched in sweat about 30 seconds in – sound familiar? In fact, this is the experience that a lot of people have. Why? Because they’re basically going out for a sprint, not a run. More