Tag Archives: activity

Get in Shape This Season with These 7 Fall Fitness Activities

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If you can stand to lose a few pounds for your health or simply love to find new ways to exercise, give these autumn activities a shot:

  1. Rake those leaves – Raking leaves can be a surprisingly decent cardiovascular exercise. Did you know you can burn up to 400 calories an hour by raking and bagging leaves? So get those garbage bags ready and round up your family for some great fall exercise (and a cleaner yard)!
  2. Go geocaching ­– A cool trending activity as of late is geocaching, a large-scale scavenger hunt where participants hunt for hidden trinkets and objects using GPS coordinates on their cell phones. These items may be hidden near mountains, on hiking trails, in provincial parks or around cities. You may be walking for a while or even have to hike to collect the trinkets. People can also get to these items by cycling or snowshoeing in winter (both of which burn over 400 calories an hour).

  3. Take an autumn hike or stroll – With the leaves changing vibrant colors, fall is arguably the most beautiful time of year. So why not take advantage of autumn’s scenic wonders by taking regular walks or hikes before the cold of winter hits. You can choose a new location each time! You’ll burn around 300 calories per hour hiking, and between 65-100 per mile if you’re walking.

  4. Try barre workouts – If you’re not a fan of the nip in the air and would prefer an indoors fall workout, try barre exercises. A hot fitness activity this year, performing different stretches and ballet moves on your own barre (or one in an exercise facility) can help strengthen muscles as well as greatly increase flexibility.

  5. Do some circuit training – circuit training doesn’t have to take place at a gym with special equipment, you can set up your own circuit activities at home or in your own backyard using walls, household items for resistance, and jumping ropes and a yoga mat! Use your imagination and have fun with it.
  6. Do mini commercial workouts – Let’s face it, most of us start spending more time inside watching TV as summer ends and the cooler fall months set in, but this doesn’t have to mean our fitness levels take a plunge. Look at commercial breaks as mini fitness opportunities. Each time you find yourself in front of the TV, make a habit of doing squats, sit ups, push ups or running on the spot during every commercial break. You’ll start seeing a difference in your fitness level in no time!
  7. Check out Jukari exercise classes – A new trending exercise called Jukari has emerged to whip us into shape! And it sounds ridiculously fun. It combines yoga, pilates, resistance bands and circus-like exercise techniques to create a whole-body fitness experience. Jukari can help tone and define muscle, increase balance and flexibility, strengthen connective tissues and burn fat. Sounds too good not to try!

Woo! There you have some fun fall-centric activities to help you lose or maintain target weight or just start you on a healthier path! Thanks for visiting DocChat!

Here’s Why You Should Try Getting Fit With HIIT!

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High intensity interval training (HIIT) is taking off as of late as a favored exercise method. It combines low-to-moderate activity intervals with high intensity ones. HIIT also allows people to work as their own personal trainer, incorporating a variety of different exercise moves into each workout.

How Does HIIT Work?

HIIT consists of very quick bursts of intense exercise, usually between 20 seconds to 2 minutes, followed by a short 10 second to 1-minute recovery period that is slower-paced, or sometimes even stationary. This activity pattern is often repeated for 20-45 minutes.

Is HIIT Effective for Weight Loss?

Yes, very. Because HIIT keeps your heartrate up while kicking your metabolic rate into overdrive, your body will be burning calories long after the workout has ended. If executed correctly, HIIT can actually burn more fat in less time than many other straight-cardio workouts.

What About Different Ability Levels?

Herein lies the true beauty of HIIT, nearly anyone can do it because it is 100% modifiable. If you have exercise induced asthma, arthritis or another mobility impairment, you can stick to more conservative exercises within your range of ability for the high intensity portions that still keep the heartrate up enough to make the exercise beneficial. Conversely, if you have no physical limitations, you can go full-on-pro-athlete during the intensity intervals!

What Types of Exercises Can You Incorporate in HIIT?

You can basically work any moves into HIIT, which is another perk. Some of the popular intensity moves are:

  • Incline push-ups
  • Jumping squats
  • High knees
  • Jumping jacks
  • Bicycle crunches
  • Sprinting

What Are Some of the Other Benefits?

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, some benefits of HIIT include:

  • Aiding cardiovascular health
  • Increasing stamina
  • Helping burn fat while retaining muscle

One last benefit of HIIT is the convenience. It is a workout that can be completed in as little as 20-30 minutes, which is an amount of time that almost anyone can spare daily. It also can be done anywhere; you don’t need a pricey gym membership to get fit with HIIT! So why not give it a try today? Thanks for visiting DocChat!

 

12 Tips For Fitness Success (Part 2)

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In Fitness Tips Part 1 we looked at a few fitness success tips such as measuring inches, weighing in less frequently and finding a good workout pal. Here are some more of our favorite fitness success tips:

 

  1. Try Watching The Tape Instead of the Scale

    Some people find measuring in inches to be more encouraging than measuring pounds. Inches and pounds correspond pretty closely with each other, but you won’t have to be constantly reminded by the number on the scale if you are sensitive about it.

  2. Don’t Set The Bar Out of Reach  

    Even if you wish to lose 40+ pounds or inches (whichever you measure in), don’t set your sights too far into the horizon at first. Start with a modest weight loss goal, and increase it accordingly as you start to see success. Sometimes a large goal can be daunting and discouraging, it can feel impossible (even though it is not). A more modest goal may feel more attainable and therefor may set you up for greater success.

  3. Simplify Your Workout

    While the fancy machines at the gym are great, sometimes it can be more convenient to simplify your workout. Use household items like lunging while carrying bags of flour (or 3 pound weights), doing staircase reps or simple push-ups, jumping jacks and sit-ups for just as effective a workout. It may make exercising seem like less of a hurdle if you don’t have to worry about getting to the gym and getting home and showered.

  4. Don’t Be Your Own Worst Critic

    Everyone falls down sometimes, don’t beat yourself up if you have an off day or miss a workout. Just get back up, dust yourself off and catch tomorrow’s workout. Constantly berating yourself for not doing as well as you want will only serve to discourage you. Just don’t let days pass before getting back on track, that is a common mistake – people wait until next Monday to start working out again when they miss one or two days. You’ll have less to make up for if you get back into it the following day.

  5. Spice it Up

    Many people have a rigid fitness routine, but it can be very helpful to vary this routine to keep interest and target different areas of the body. Maybe try yoga a couple times a week, a new fitness class one evening, walking sometimes, the gym every now and then and home fitness sometimes as well.

     

  6. Try High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)  

    According to WebMD, you can burn many more calories with short intense bursts than with a steady paced exercise session. Depending on your fitness level, you may work at your max for 30 seconds to 5 minutes, then drop it down to recovery-level exercise for a short amount of time, then repeating this several times. These workouts are shorter in duration, but pack a powerful fitness punch!

Thanks for visiting DocChat! We wish you all the success on your journey! We hope you check back soon.
 

 

 

 

Yoga – The Benefits Of Becoming A Human Pretzel

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What Is Yoga All About?

It seems like all we hear these days is “yoga, yoga, yoga!” Upon investigation, there are many good reasons for that. Yoga has a plethora of wellness benefits: it can enhance personal spirituality, help physical ailments, as well as aid in mental health and healing. But what exactly is it?

Yoga is an ancient mind-body practice that originated in India thousands of years ago. Today it is considered one of the best approaches to fitness and wellness, as it aims to discipline and align the mind, body and soul to help you achieve comprehensive peace, spirituality and balance while fabulously shaping your body.

Choices, Choices, Choices!

There are many different forms, styles, and levels of yoga to choose from such as Ashtanga or Bikram yoga. As it is often referred to as a tree with roots, limbs and flowers, yoga also has six branches:

  1. Hatha yoga: focuses on breathing and postures
  2. Raja yoga: a strict practice of the “eight limbs of yoga”
  3. Karma yoga: a form which focuses on reciprocation of positive energy
  4. Bhakti yoga: centered around positive emotional and mental wellbeing
  5. Jnana yoga: an intellectually-based practice
  6. Tantra yoga: promotes stronger spiritual connections within relationships

According to the Mayo Clinic’s feature on yoga, a great form for beginners and stress management is Hatha yoga because of its steady pace, breathing teachings and versatility.

Make Yoga Work for Your Body

One of the reasons yoga has been so broadly accepted as one of the foremost forms of fitness is because it caters to people of all different fitness levels and capabilities. When you join a yoga class, you are guided through breathing tips and safe ways to partake in the postures. Your instructor will also express the importance of going at your own pace and not pushing something that doesn’t feel right. It is the type of activity that you have control over, as you can modify poses that are outside your range of ability as you see fit. After taking a few classes and getting some proper instruction on how to safely perform yoga, many people even practice in a dedicated area of their home instead of venturing out to a class.

Health Benefits of Stretching It Out

There are almost boundless health benefits to practicing yoga. According to the American Osteopathic Association, some of the frontrunners include:

  • Increased flexibility and muscle strength
  • Balancing your body and metabolism
  • Weight loss and toning
  • Benefits to those with respiratory conditions (such as asthma) by helping to regulate and promote deep breathing, forcing stale air out of the lungs
  • Minimizing chronic fatigue by increasing energy and vitality
  • Cardiovascular benefits – helping to decrease inflammation around the heart in those with chronic heart problems
  • Helping decrease chronic pain such as back pain when practiced safely
  • Minimizing stress and promoting metal wellbeing
  • Decreasing anxiety through meditative practices

Precautions To Be Mindful Of

Yoga has been proven as one of the much safer methods of exercise, but as with anything, it can still be dangerous for people with certain conditions. If you are pregnant or have a herniated disc, history of blood clots, vertigo, severe osteoporosis or other forms of arthritis or uncontrolled blood pressure, you should talk to your doctor (or one of our qualified DocChat physicians) today to see if yoga will be safe for you to practice.

All in all, yoga has so many mental and physical wellness benefits that it can be life-changing. Seems to me that it is well worth a try! Namaste from DocChat!