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Exercise, Fitness & Muscle

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Exercise, Fitness & Muscle
November 30, 2018

Different types of body fat and what to do about it

Seeing fat on your body may make you want to hit the treadmill to sweat it off or only eat carrot sticks for a week. The good news though, is that not all fat is bad… there are good kinds too. Body fat plays an important role in storing energy, managing your hormones and regulating your metabolism. This means it’s important to have enough of the good fat and to manage the bad kind. There are four main types of fat in your body. Each kind has its own structure, colour, and effect on your health. Where fat is stored…
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Exercise, Fitness & Muscle
November 30, 2018

Sports to suit your body type

As you grow older, your body develops into a shape that’s mainly dependant on your genetic makeup. This lets you know what kind of body you will have, and how well it will work. To know which sports you’re likely to excel at, it’s best to know which body shape and type are the best fit for certain activities. From a scientific point of view, there are three main components of how your body is built. These are: body type, body size (height and weight) and body composition (body fat percentage). To maximise the advantages of your body type, you…
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Exercise, Fitness & Muscle
October 22, 2018

Why you shouldn’t stretch before a workout

All your life you’ve probably heard that a good stretch before working out helps you reduce the risk of an injury. Warming up prepares your body for the demands of physical activity. It sends more oxygen and blood flow to your muscles and mentally prepares you for what's to come, in terms of concentration, motivation and coordination. These benefits are true, but stretching before your exercise session may not be all that good for you. Sometimes they may even weaken your muscles. Static stretching Static stretching involves stretching a muscle to the point of mild discomfort and holding that position…
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Exercise, Fitness & Muscle
August 10, 2018

Why you should practise standing on one leg

From walking to leaning down to tie your shoes and trying to prevent yourself from falling over - good balance is important. Strong muscles and the ability to keep steady will help you stay balanced. Balance training helps with this. Balance training involves exercises which aim to strengthen the muscles you use to stay upright, including your core and legs.Balance exercises can be intense like some kinds of yoga, or as simple as standing on one leg for a few seconds. It may include: Standing up and sitting down while in a chair without using your hands. Putting a heel…
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Exercise, Fitness & Muscle
August 9, 2018

How your breathing affects your workout

Did you know you can improve your health just by learning how to breathe properly? Correct breathing improves your health and fitness by optimising oxygenation (the addition of oxygen in your body), lowering your blood pressure, reducing stress and balancing your nervous systems. Breathing properly can also help lower the stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, and release mood-boosting hormones like serotonin. This can improve your athletic performance, mental focus and enhance brain health. Are you breathing correctly? During your workout, breathe through your nose to help you improve performance, endurance, post-exercise energy levels, and even your ability to metabolise fat.…
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Exercise, Fitness & Muscle
June 18, 2018

The best ways to boost your metabolism

Making the right choices about your diet is a daily struggle for many. Occasional takeaway meals, crash diets, eating too much or too little can leave you feeling very anxious and conflicted as to what your body actually needs to function at its best. Understand how your metabolism works, and you’ll be on your way to boosting your health and speeding up your weight loss. What is metabolism? Your metabolism sums up everything your body does. Every time you eat or drink, enzymes (protein molecules) in your body's cells break down the food and turn it into energy. This energy…
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Exercise, Fitness & Muscle
April 20, 2018

This treatment can make you smart and ease depression

Do you wish you could become smarter before your final exams? Exercise may be the ticket! According to Professor Ronald Duman from Yale University, chronic stress, anxiety and depression are linked to the loss of neurons, the cells that make up the pathways that send messages from your brain to your body. He found that exercise is linked to the growth of new neurons. Dr John Ratey, author of Spark; The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain says that exercise can improve your brain in the short term by increasing your level of focus for two to three…
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Exercise, Fitness & Muscle
March 7, 2018

Why you need mobility drills in your workout

The goal of exercising is to be in the best shape you can be. To get the most out of your training, your body needs to be able to move, bend, twist – in other words, you have to be relatively flexible. Not to worry if you’re not as bendy as a gymnast! Flexibility and mobility can be trained. Mobility refers to your ability to move freely without stress on the body. Being flexible depends on the range of motion (ROM) of your muscles. For example: if you can actively lift your leg up high, you are mobile: you need…
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Exercise, Fitness & Muscle
July 25, 2017

How temperature affects your running performance

'It’s too cold.' 'It’s too windy.' 'It’s too wet outside.' If you’ve used one of these excuses to skip your daily run, you may be missing out on your best body yet. Research shows that running in cool weather is good for your heart and waistline, and can improve your athletic performance. Cool Runnings When you run, your body produces heat. For your body to maintain a constant temperature, it must get rid of this excess heat. It does this by increasing the amount of blood transported to the surface of your skin (that’s what gives you those rosy cheeks)…
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Exercise, Fitness & Muscle
July 23, 2017

Fitness fads that don’t work

It promised to blast away the fat, tone your arms, and give you a six pack overnight. All you’re left with is a receipt for the machine… Exercise fads are big business, and probably more popular than ever as we live in the age of social media where looks are all-important. Everyone’s striving for the perfect body, in the fastest time possible. The bottom line though, say experts, is that the fads don’t work. Diet and fitness trends are transient and seldom give long-lasting results. Cape Town coach, Roland Jungwirth points out that exercise “programming” is more than just exercise…
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