Sommai Gym

With most modern Americans employed in a field that has them sitting at a desk and working a 9-5 schedule that leaves little free time, it’s no wonder that gym memberships are becoming a thing of the past. Luckily, there are sneaky ways that 9-5 workers can get a bit more exercise throughout the day.

Take the stairs.

Simple and easy to do, yet this is the first thing that gets forgotten about or ignored.  If your workplace or school has a set of stairs, take them! Taking the stairs at least once a day doesn’t seem like it will do much- which is true to an extent, as taking the stairs won’t burn a ton of calories. However, studies show that small amounts of exercise throughout the day increases the body’s levels of GLUT4, which is responsible for the storing of calories in muscles instead of in fat cells.

Stand up.

Taking an important phone call on your lunch break? Instead of sitting down to chat, stand up and, if you can, walk. Take a walk to the other side of the room or go around your desk a few times. If you don’t have enough room to walk, simply standing will benefit your body more than sitting. Standing burns more calories than sitting and it also helps to keep your muscles from getting stiff.

Have conversations.

That’s right- talk to your coworkers! But do it by walking over to them instead of calling, emailing, or texting. Although this won’t burn off that extra cookie you had for lunch, it aids in muscle health and get your body moving.

Skip the coffee.

No, we don’t mean that you shouldn’t have your morning coffee. We mean that a great way to sneak in some exercise is to skip the sit-down cup of coffee with your best friend, and instead, convince him or her to go for a walk and have a chat instead.

Fidget.

Sitting down all day? No problem. You can keep your body active by moving. Fidget with things in your vicinity, bounce your leg up and down, shift your body weight, roll your neck…anything you can think of that moves a part of your body can be classified as fidgeting. Over the course of a day, an avid fidgeter can burn a few hundred calories. Not to mention that your body will thank you, as all parts of the body will get adequate amounts of blood and no extremities will fall asleep.

Ditch the office chair.

Sit on the floor…just kidding. You don’t have to sit on the floor to get a workout, but if you switch out your office chair for an exercise or stability ball, you’ll be working out all day. The point of stability balls are to get the user to use his or her body to balance, building muscles. Stability balls are way more fun than office chairs as well, as frequent users often find themselves bouncing.

There are dozens of crazy fitness claims floating around. Some, despite sounding made up, are actually true whereas others, such as the ones we’re about to share with you, are purely myth. To clear things up, we’ve also included the truth.

Myth: Bright and early is the best time to go for a run.

Truth: The best time for a run is any time of the day that allows you to focus on the task at hand and get an adequate amount of exercise. If you’re busy during the day and have an extra hour at midnight each night, feel free to go on your run in the early hours of the morning.

This myth comes into play mostly because running in the morning may your body burn fat faster during the day, however, going on a run at any other time of day is still beneficial and shouldn’t be discouraged.

Myth: Lifting weights turns fatty tissue into muscle.

Truth: No workout, no matter how intense, will turn fat into muscle. Fat and muscle are two different tissues that are located in different locations. Fat is found beneath the skin and sandwiched between muscles, whereas muscle is found throughout the body.

Lifting weights helps to build muscle inside and around fatty tissue, but unfortunately, it won’t transform fatty tissue into muscle tissue.

Myth: Situps are the key to washboard abs.

Truth: Situps primarily target the abdominal muscles. However, the muscles along your sides and back are also important to the toning and creation of abs. To effectively get a set of washboard abs, you should be focusing more on planking and less on situps.

Myth: It takes two weeks before your body starts to get “out of shape”.

Truth:  In the average person, muscle tissue can start to be broken down within only a week of irregular exercise. To maintain the muscle you’ve so carefully developed, said muscles need to be used regularly. In other words, use it or lose it.

Myth: The more you sweat, the more you burn.

Truth: Sweating has no direct connection to the burning of calories. When your body sweats, it is merely cooling itself down to avoid overheating. Excessive sweating doesn’t mean that more calories are being burned, it only means that your body is becoming too warm.

However, if your body is too warm it is probably because you’re doing an intense workout, which in turn, is burning calories. In this case, the workout is burning the calories, not the sweating.

Myth: Yoga is a good way to burn calories.

Truth: Yoga doesn’t cut it when it comes to burning calories. Many yogis will try to convince you otherwise, however, claiming that the downward dog really does burn a ton of calories. The truth is, though, that a 50-minute power yoga session will only burn around 237 calories, whereas a spi class of the same length can burn up to 500.

Were you shocked by any of these myths? We sure were.

Fitness comes in many shapes and forms. Some are perfectly normal and reasonable such as jogging or bike riding. Others, however, are a bit more creative and unique. Like what, you ask? Here are a few unique fitness trends that have popped up in 2018.

Mermaid Classes

If you’ve ever wanted to be a mermaid, your dream can come true with the introduction of mermaid fitness classes. The newest trend in aqua fitness, mermaid classes include much more than just lazing around in a pool. These intense workout sessions combine swimming, aerobics, dance, and interval training- all while wearing a life-sized mermaid tail!

Kangoo

Similar to classes like Zumba, kangoo is a dance-focused intense workout class. It strays a bit off of the path, however, as attendees are made to wear specialized shoes that allow them to bounce like a kangaroo while working out. The workout focuses on cardio health and is great for the calve muscles, although it looks a bit silly.

LazRfit

Does the name of this trend ring a bell? It should- LazRfit gets its name from the lasers (the same ones that are used for laser tag) it uses. This workout is a combination of lazer tag and working out, as it has you running, jumping, crawling, and bragging to your buddies about how you won.

Twerking Classes

Twerking has been around for a while, but twerking classes are relatively new. Gyms across the country now offer professionally led twerking workouts that consist of sessions of twerking to upbeat music. The goal of these classes is to tone the glutes, thighs, calves and more.

Skateboarding Pilates

As if pilates wasn’t hard enough already, there are classes that have to add skateboards to it. The class has pilates fans using skateboards to support their body weight. Clearly dangerous, the classes creator, celebrity trainer Raphael Doub, is more than thrilled to teach it.

Hula Hoop Classes

Nowadays anything can be a fitness trend- including the favorite children’s activity that is hula hooping. Hula hooping, although seemingly simple, can be a hard pill to swallow, especially if you’re taking part in a cut-throat hula hooping (hooping) class. Hooping classes target the whole body, including the core, legs, and glutes. It also improves balance and strength.

Float Yoga

If you have a hard time with yoga on the ground, you may want to skip the ever-so-tempting float yoga. Float yoga is yoga on a surfboard in a large pool, forcing class goers to have perfect balance and graceful movements to avoid taking a dunk in the water.

Animal Yoga

Yoga makes it onto the list once again, but this time, consists of less water and more animals. Animal yoga is normal, mundane yoga, but with a twist- there are animals running all over the place. Animals that are commonly used for this type of yoga include goats, cats, and dogs.

What do you think? Will you be trying any of these wild fitness trends?

When you think of working out you probably think of weight lifting, treadmills, and various core exercises like push ups. You probably don’t think of indoor cycling- but maybe you should, as it offers a variety of surprising benefits.

Muscle Building

Surprisingly, cycling is a great way to build muscles in the lower body. Cycling primarily targets the leg and glute muscles. As your workout cycles through the simulations of various cycling terrains, you will be using different parts of the lower body. For example, if you’re cycling up a hill, you will be in an upright position and using your quads and glutes. Although cycling is ideal for building leg strength, it can also build a bit of arm muscles are your arms are engaged and holding onto the handles for support.

Burning Calories

Like any workout, indoor cycling burns calories. According to a study by Spinning.com, one hour of cycling on a stationary bike can burn anywhere from 420- 620 calories. Although the amount of calories you burn depend on factors such as incline,  indoor cycling is a fun way to burn off that extra sandwich.

Low-Impact/ Cardiovascular Workout

The typical 45-60 minute indoor cycling session is intense. It keeps your heart pumping and gets you sweating, giving you a full workout. This being said, however, it does so without jarring the knees, hips, or other joints which makes it  agreta low-impact workout for people with joint problems or arthritis.

Improved Mood

If you’ve heard of “runner’s high”, you’re probably familiar with “cycling high”. Although not a coined term, cycling high is essentially a form of runner’s high, as it comes alongside a good workout. When you experience this phenomena, your brain is flooded with feel-good chemicals that work to improve your mood. A good workout is a fool-proof way to improve a bad mood.

Classes

Not  a health benefit, but a benefit nonetheless, indoor cycling can be done in a class setting. Many gyms and fitness centers offer indoor cycling classes for free or for affordable rates. Attending a cycling class will keep you motivated and help you to make friends, as well as keep you focused on the task at hand. Many class instructors play great music, too!

Control

You have ample control over your workout if you chose to take up indoor cycling. When riding a regular bicycle, you don’t have as much control as you do using an indoor bicycle. Indoor cycling gives you the ultimate control over your speed, intensity, terrain, resistance, and the length of your workout. This means that you can intensify your workout or slow it down as you choose- no more pushing yourself to the top of that huge hill because that’s where your house is.

Indoor cycling is a great option for workouts on hot days. It can be as intense as a 3 mile jog without hurting your joints and while building muscle, burning fat, and improving your mood at the same time. So, what are you waiting for? Join a class, get fit, and have fun!