How to Exercise with a Face Mask

How to Exercise with a Face Mask

Burning fitness question of the moment: If you have to wear a mask to work out, what’s the right way to do it? And how to do it with an activity like rowing that’s often high-intensity? Is it even a good idea?

 

Many of us don’t have a choice in the matter. Our gyms have decided that the only way we’re getting back in is if we wear a mask, even while working out. Other gyms and states have decided that wearing a mask while doing the actual workout is optional, although you have to wear one any time you’re not working out.

If you’re a fitness professional, though, it may come down to a choice between putting that mask on and working. The good news is, you don’t have to choose. It IS possible to wear a mask while working out or teaching. We dive in. Continue reading →

5 Tips for Balancing Remote Work and Full-Time Parenting

5 Tips for Balancing Remote Work and Full-Time Parenting

Many parents are currently navigating an entirely new normal: Working from home while taking care of their kids full-time. As school picks back up and many kids remain at home for remote learning, figuring out how to balance their schedule and a full-time job sometimes feels totally unmanageable.

Most parents have had experience working remotely in one-off, unplanned situations. However, working at home day in and day out for the foreseeable future while also caring for (and in some cases, teaching) kids at home proves to be a major struggle without careful planning where needed and flexibility when possible. Continue reading →

Enhance Your Workouts with Pyramid Training

Enhance Your Workouts with Pyramid Training

I didn’t create the Pyramid workout method. I learned it in the ’80s at the Naval Academy when working to improve my own PT scores and have been using it, altering it and developing new routines ever since.

Below is a recent question I received…

Stew, I like your pyramid workout and have used it to help me with my Army fitness tests in the past. What other uses do you have for them? Have you ever considered mixing them with other exercises, military-style events, new combat fitness test events, and cardio workouts? Just wondering what you think and how you would break up each set? Continue reading →

Best Ideas for Home Workout Equipment

Best Ideas for Home Workout Equipment

If you found yourself around the house more often in 2020 as a result of the global pandemic, you might find yourself getting restless or wanting to try new things. Maybe fitness if your game. You don’t necessarily have to leave your home in order to be in great shape. Some of the most iconic bodies throughout history have been achieved via body weight/resistance band exercises.

In fact, there are a bunch of advantages of home training over a gym. First, you don’t have to pay every month for a membership. Secondly, you can workout whenever you want, even at night if you are not too loud. In addition, you don’t have to overcome long distances to get to a gym. It is right in front of you, and you can start working out immediately when you’re in the right mood. Continue reading →

3 Life-Changing Morning Routines

3 Life-Changing Morning Routines

Now, more than ever, we need to cultivate a healthy body for strong immunity, a positive mindset to cope with uncertainty, and a peaceful soul to trust that we are going to be okay.

Working from home has become the norm. For many, it’s no work at all. Either way, we are spending more time at home with family, taking longer walks with our pets (a good thing for them and us!) and trying to fill the days with activities for the kids. Our schedules have been derailed, to say the least. We went from a structured schedule with a set time to wake up, start our day, walk the dog, and send the kids to school, to chaos in the world and at home—a change that practically happened overnight. If you’re feeling stressed, you’re not alone. Lack of structure and routine can be unsettling and feel like helter-skelter. Long days at home can also mean snacking throughout the day, eating at times when you may not feel hungry and random times to prepare and eat meals. Continue reading →

5 Yoga Moves to Help Alleviate Stress

5 Yoga Moves to Help Alleviate Stress

Yoga coach Gwen Lawrence, author of Body Sculpting with Yoga and Teaching Power Yoga for Sports, shows us five yoga poses designed to keep sane in the toughest of situations.

To enable you to keep your life, your anxiety, and workouts on track, she focuses on ways to alleviate your stress and stay life ready with yoga. This uncertain time of social distancing and self-isolation can cause loneliness, anxiety and stress levels to skyrocket which can plague you and make it even more challenging. How long will this situation last? Will my loved ones stay healthy? Even stepping up to home-school your children without proper training puts the mind and body at risk. Continue reading →

Leap into Power Training

Leap into Power Training

Unlock your body’s potential by leaping into Power Training. But what is it? Simply said, power training is by definition STRENGTH multiplied by SPEED. Power training is not just for the athletes or the younger people at your gym. For the purpose of this article, I will focus on Plyometrics. These are drills that uses quick, powerful movements. More specifically, I’ll highlight the classics: Pushups, Medicine Ball Throws, and Jumps. Continue reading →

Got Sciatica? Take This Easy Test.

Got Sciatica? Take This Easy Test.

Exercises for Sciatica is the complete program for stronger muscles, relief from pain and renewed energy. As lifestyles become more and more sedentary, cases of sciatica become more common—which is why a complete lifestyle overhaul, one which includes targeted exercise routines aimed at easing sciatica symptoms—is required to help individuals with this condition live their lives pain-free.

Authors William Smith, MS, and Wazim Buksh, MD, wrote Exercises for Sciatica to work as an integrated part of any sciatic or piriformis syndrome treatment plan, optimizing mobility, increasing strength and minimizing pain, while providing lifestyle tips to keep one motivated and moving forward. Continue reading →

5 Common Obstacles to Getting Fit

5 Common Obstacles to Getting Fit

Happy New Year! Now that the holidays are over, it’s back to fitness. It’s a new year and this is the year for winning. So instead of reading through an overly-optimistic article on how you can seize the day and excel (commonplace this time of year), let’s examine perhaps where you might have gone wrong and some common mistakes that may be halting your progress. And of course, what you can do to once again repave the road once traveled. Continue reading →

More Ways to Strengthen Your Lower Body

More Ways to Strengthen Your Lower Body

Developed by best-selling fitness author and strength and conditioning expert Mike Volkmar, Strong Legs contains everything you need to know to fine-tune your regimen for the ultimate in lower body fitness. Below, check out Mike’s thoughts on two effective methods to train your lower body.

Last time, I talked about how rotations can be used to switch up your exercise routine and provide a more effective training for your lower body. The second method would be performing your favorite Barbell and Dumbbell exercises in a circuit fashion while the third method would be to DIY/experiment with working backwards and changing a traditional exercise order. See how I recreate Barbell Squat in the following examples via both of these methods. Continue reading →