When nicer weather returns, it’s exciting to move your workouts outdoors, adding plenty of fresh air and scenic sights to the experience. However, working out in the heat can cause dehydration and overheating when it’s not done with caution.

There are ways you can work out in the heat safely, stay cool and maintain healthy hydration levels. With these simple tips, you can continue to enjoy the outdoors while getting in your daily physical activity.

Tips for Working Out in the Heat

1. Hydrated and rehydrate

This seems pretty obvious, but staying hydrated is critical when working out in the heat. You will sweat out the water you drink, so it’s even easier to become dehydrated.

Research shows that going into a workout hydrated is very important. Not only should you drink plenty of water before, during and after your workout, but eating foods that help restore electrolyte balance is also helpful.

Before and after exercise in the heat, eat or drink naturally hydrating foods that provide electrolytes, such as coconut water, watermelon, cucumber, celery, citrus fruits and carrots.

After workouts, be sure to replace water and sodium loss by drinking two to three extra cups of water and eating sodium foods, such as pickles, sauerkraut and adding a pinch of sea salt to meals.

2. Plan wisely

If you plan to exercise outdoors, choose a cooler time of day when the sun isn’t shining on you at its hottest. Mornings and late afternoon/early evening are great times to work out, but minimize your exposure to direct sunlight.

3. Consider a pre-workout shower

Research suggests that manipulation of pre-exercise body temperature can influence your workout performance and may be an effective strategy for athletes competing in stressful environments. Taking a cool shower or a quick swim before exercising in the heat is a good way to reduce body temperature.

4. Wear light-weight clothing

Avoid wearing dark-colored clothing when exercising in the heat. Go for whites or even bright clothes that reflect the sun.

You’ll also stay cooler with light-weight clothing and moisture-wicking garments that bring sweat to the outer surface and help keep you dry. You may find that loose-fitting shirts help keep you cool as well.

5. Bring an ice pack

If you become overheated, placing an ice pack on the back of your neck can help cool you down. You can also use a cold wash cloth to relieve the heat.

6. Listen to your body

It’s important to know your limits when exercising in the heat. If you begin to feel light-headed, dizzy or nauseous, it’s time to rest and drink water.

Excessive sweating can lead to heat exhaustion and have dangerous consequences, so monitor your water intake and energy levels as you go through your exercise routine.

7. Keep it short

If you’re not used to extended workouts in the heat, keep your routine short, starting at about 20–30 minutes. Let your body get used to physical activity in the heat, whether it’s outdoors or during a heated class like hot yoga.

Benefits of Exercising in the Heat

1. Improves your endurance

Exercising in the heat helps you become more comfortable with an uncomfortable setting. It forces you to push through the discomfort, thereby improving your tolerance for tough workouts.

Research indicates that people who are more acclimated to the heat and fully hydrated have less body heat storage and perform optimally during exercise-heat stress.

2. Prepares you for competitive events

Because working out in the heat helps build endurance and tolerance to stress on the body, it can be useful in training for competitive events. Your ability to do intense workouts for extended periods of time will be greater after training in the heat.

3. Increases sweat and blood circulation

Your body naturally responds to heat exposure by increasing sweat production and blood circulation. Learning how to adapt to these circumstances allows your body to become more able to work out in a range of temperatures.

Plus, working out in the heat safely can improve your heart and sweat rate, thereby boosting cardiovascular health.

4. Promotes detoxification

Research suggests that individuals routinely have sweating rates of one liter per hour when working in hot environments. This sweat rate promotes detoxification and allows your body to expel toxins within the body.

Remember that you need to replenish these fluids by drinking plenty of water after an outdoor workout.

Risks and Side Effects

When exercising in the heat, you need to know your limits and the warning signs of heat exhaustion. Everyone handles exposure to heat and physical activity in high temperatures differently, so you need be aware of your personal limitations.

If you experience any of the following symptoms, it’s important to stop your workout, hydrate and get your body back to a normal temperature:

• fatigue
• weakness
• muscle cramps
• nausea
• vomiting
• headache
• dizziness
• problems with vision
• excessive sweating
• confusion
• low blood pressure

There are phases of heat-related health issues, starting with feelings of weakness and dizziness, experiencing heat cramps, heat exhaustion and then heat stroke, which is a medical emergency that can cause serious damage. It’s critical to avoid any of these symptoms when taking your workouts outdoors or into high temperatures.

Conclusion

• Just like working out in the cold, working out in the heat can be challenging and invigorating all at once. It helps promote detoxification and build endurance, but it can also be dangerous if it’s not done correctly.
• To work out in the heat safely, it’s critical to stay hydrated (drink plenty of water before, during and after your workout), eat or drink electrolyte foods, keep your workout time short, avoid hours of direct sunlight, wear loose-fitting clothing, and use an ice pack to cool yourself off.
• Exercise in the heat can be useful for promoting blood circulation and sweating, building tolerance to stressful situations, and making you a more competitive athlete. However, if you notice any signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, stop your workout, reduce your body temperature and hydrate.

The post Tips for Working Out in the Heat Safely (Plus Its Benefits) appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Time is precious. That’s why making the most of every sweat session — and avoiding common workout mistakes — is key.

I’m a huge fan of sneaking in mini-workouts whenever I can. That’s one of the benefits of high-intensity interval training: You only need a few minutes.

But there are so many other ways you can shift your exercise routine to more efficient workouts. Tiny tweaks can make a huge different when it comes to losing body fat faster, increasing lean muscle mass and reducing stress.

Here are some of the most common workout mistakes you should avoid …

1. You only use machines

There’s no doubt about it: Resistance training is one of the best things you can do for your body.

In fact, a 2012 study found just 10 weeks of resistance training can increase lean muscle mass by nearly 4 pounds and reduce 4 pounds of fat while increasing your metabolic rate by 7 percent. Translation: You’ll burn more fat when you’re out of the gym, too.

Strength training does so much more than that, too. It’s a key factor in the natural management of type 2 diabetes, thanks to its ability to help create normal blood sugar levels.

Resistance training also lowers your resting blood pressure, helps shed that dangerous belly fat and increases bone mineral density by 1 percent to 3 percent.

Clearly, we all need to make sure strength training is in our lives.

But you’re short-changing yourself if you’re only using machines. In fact, this is one of the classic workout mistakes.

Strength training machines lock your movement into a predetermined plane of motion, meaning you’re working those large, primer mover muscles without much assistance from stabilizing muscles. Keeping these muscles out of the mix fails to strengthen them and also largely eliminates the use of balance in each lift.

Certainly, if your only goal is to increase muscle mass in one area, or if you’re focusing on one muscle group for rehab purposes, machines have their place. However, many of us want more functional training so we can move around with more ease, and in less pain, every day.

Free weights strengthen total-body movements and increase coordination between different muscle groups. They may improve performance better than a machine-only approach, too.

For instance, squats are more effective at increasing vertical jumping compared to machine leg presses.

Be sure to make free weights part of your lifting routine, and don’t forget to incorporate bodyweight exercises, too.

Remember, even the ancient Greeks understood the insane fitness value of calisthenics.

2. You wait to work out

Certainly, working out at night is better than not working out at all, but studies show you can optimize your workouts by targeting a specific time of day, depending on your goals. (Of course, pushing your workout to nights also means more excuses can pop up during the day, derailing your p.m. workout efforts, too.)

The best time to sneak in a sweat session largely depends on your main fitness goal.

• Walking to lose weight? Getting your steps in during evening hours versus the morning can transform your diet in a way that better leads to weight loss, according to a 2011 study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. Walking later in the day prompted exercisers to eat more during breakfast, an important factor to reduce late-night cravings, lower the risk of obesity and improve weight-loss success.
• You can also optimize fat-burning if you work out in a fasted state before breakfast. Doing this helps improve insulin sensitivity even if you eat a high-fat diet, researchers say. The good news for walkers? You’ve got options.
• If you’re looking to build muscle fast and increase strength, evening workouts may be more optimal.
• To beat workday brain fog and increase focus and performance, aim for afternoon sweat sessions between noon and 6 p.m.
• Exercise is one of the most potent stress relievers on the planet. To help prime your blood pressure for optimal levels for sleep, opt for morning exercise. A study by Appalachian State University researchers found morning resistance training helped drop blood pressure levels by 20 percent on average. That’s as good or even better than common hypertension-fighting drugs.

3. You forget the “little muscles”

Sure, biceps, pecs and quads usually get all of the glory, but there’s more to movement than those big “prime mover” showoff muscles. There’s a whole other cast of characters you need to nurture.

Stabilizers are muscles that support the body while the prime movers do their thing. Synergists help assist those prime movers to create functional movement patterns.

If you ignore these “little guys,” you could be setting yourself up for posture problems that can manifest into pain and injuries down the line.

Workout mistakes like these will only snowball and lead to inflammation, pain, altered movements and eventually injury.

Using resistance band exercises and other exercises that involve multiple planes of motion that mimic more real-life movements (not just the up-and-down of a bicep curl) can help target those important, albeit less famous, muscles.

Target the dynamic stabilizers of the rotator cuff, erector spinae (deep core muscles that keep your body upright), gluteus medius and minimum, tibialis anterior, and obliques.

You can strengthen some of these important muscles by performing the following exercises:

• Back extensions
• Bicycle crunches
• Side steps with an exercise band around both feet

4. Your recovery is all wrong

If your post-workout recovery consists of 2 minutes of stretching and a shower, it’s time to get real.

Workout mistakes like these may not seem like a big deal now, but as you age you’ll start feeling it. Chances are it’ll catch up with your joints and muscles as you age, making injury and pain inevitable.

Here, I want to specifically cover foam rolling exercises.

But let’s back up a second.

The organs, muscles, nerves, bones, arteries and veins of your body are all enveloped in a densely woven webbing called fascia. Much like the yarn of a sweater, your fascia connects your entire inner body, highlighting the fact that trouble in one spot could impact a totally different part of the body.

When you work your muscles hard, microspasms occur, triggering the formation of “knots” or adhesions in the soft tissue. This, in turn, starts leading to abnormal movement that can, over time, result in chronic pain and injury.

Luckily, self-myofascial release, including foam rolling, can help “break up” those knots to help get your muscle length and functioning back to normal.

Here’s the big takeaway: Foam rolling short, tight muscles riddled with knots in combination with proper stretching can help return your body to a more normal range of motion. This can improve not only performance, but just how you feel in general, too.

A Texas Woman’s University study found this combo can serve as one of the remedies for fast back pain relief.

And this is something I’m really excited about: Foam rolling affects your brain and stress hormones, too — not just your muscles.

Emerging science now suggests foam rolling impacts the nervous system and can actually lower cortisol levels, reducing not just physical stress, but emotional stress, too. In fact, foam rolling can improve cortisol levels after exercise better than rest alone. Exciting stuff!

To get a full-spectrum foam rolling and corrective exercise program, your best bet is to have an overhead squat and other posture and movement assessments through a qualified personal trainer with high-level certifications and a college degree to do so. The National Academy of Sports Medicine focuses heavily on these assessments and corrective exercise programs.

A few key points:

• Common muscles to focus on with foam rolling include the calves, peroneals, IT band, TFL, piriformis, adductors, hamstrings, quadriceps, latissimus dorsi and thoracic spine.
• You can foam roll 1 set daily, holding tender spots for 30 to 90 seconds.
• Do NOT make the classic foam rolling workout mistakes of just quickly rolling over a muscle back and forth. You need to hold tender spots so the muscular, skeletal and neural systems can work together to more effectively break up the adhesion.
• To improve flexibility, follow foam rolling with static stretches of the same muscles, holding the static stretches for at least 30 seconds. Do this before and after a workout.
• Keep proper posture as you’re rolling.
• If you want more pressure, you can use your own body to create it. For instance, if you’re rolling your calves and need more pressure, you can cross your one leg over the other that’s being rolled.
• If you have a health condition or are pregnant, check with your doctor before foam rolling. Foam rolling is often not suitable for people with uncontrolled high blood pressure, congestive heart failure or other organ failure, skin lesions, goiters, cancer, blood clots, bleeding disorders, and certain other health issues.

5. You force yourself to run

If you’ve gone over the best running tips for beginners and still dread lacing up your sneaks for a jog, it may be time to find another form of cardio. The key is to do something you like so you stick with it, not torture yourself.

If you do stick with running, remember, it’s not all about speed. In fact, people who run slower tend to live longer. Fast marathon runners actually gain no increase in life span compared to people who avoid all exercise, according to research.

Cycling, mountain biking and spinning (I love the Peloton bike) are just a few of the other ways to work cardio into your life. Swimming is another option.

Just make it fun, and find a workout buddy.

We know working out with a buddy increases your odds of sticking to an exercise routine, but did you know a virtual buddy works, too? That may be one huge factor in Peloton’s success, where people from all over the world indoor cycle as they’re connected virtually to other riders.

6. You’re jarring your joints (and maybe your lungs)

Love basketball? Opt for indoor instead of a game on asphalt to save your knees.

Runner? Get your jog on along the side of the road for more give, and consider trail running for a more natural, less jarring surface. Runner’s World’s annual sneaker guide features many options with better shock absorption, but shoes can only go so far.

Beware of other popular workouts linked to joint injuries.

They dynamic, twisting movements of Zumba make it not just a fun class, but one that could damage your joints. In one study, nearly 30 percent of Zumba participants experienced injuries, and 42 percent of those involved the knee.

The people most likely to suffer injury took class nearly four times a week, so if your joints are feeling it, maybe dial back a bit and fill in a class or two with something more forgiving, like gentle yoga. (Make sure you have a qualified instructor.)

Flooring matters, too. For indoor gyms, I prefer flooring made out of natural cork or real linoleum (NOT vinyl knockoffs).

This brings up an important side point: Natural floorings like solid or certified formaldehyde-free manufactured cork don’t give off gas toxic fumes common to popular gym flooring and mats.

In 2014, the University of Lisbon in Portugal and the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands released first-of-its-kind data showing the horrific state of indoor air in gyms. We know vinyl-based products off-gas carcinogenic formaldehyde, as well as plasticizing phthalate chemicals.

Popular gym flooring made of recycled tires labeled as “rubber” is often laden with compounds on the verge of being classified as hazardous waste. Tire “crumb” used in many gym floors contains distillate aromatic extract, oils that can make up to 30 percent of a tire’s mass.

Unfortunately, these are among the world’s most harmful chemicals, rich in polyaromatic hydrocarbons and other carcinogens, according to the Healthy Building Network.

Urge your gym to use healthier flooring materials, and invest in an air exchange system. If you’re setting up a part of your home for working out, look into cork or real linoleum flooring with good shock absorption qualities.

7. Your workout rest periods are all wrong

The amount of time you rest between exercise sets really matters, depending on your fitness goals.

Here’s a nice breakdown from the National Academy of Sports Medicine:

• Muscle endurance and stabilization: This is great if you’re just getting started or back on the wagon with exercise. It’ll help strengthen key muscles for joint stability so you can build a strong foundation and progress in a safer way as you become more fit. In this stage, you’ll focus on lifting lighter and taking a rest period anywhere from zero to 90 seconds long between sets. The short rest period keeps the heart rate elevated, optimizing fat burn and weight loss.
• When hypertrophy is the goal, we’re focusing on increased muscle size. Relatively short rest periods increases human growth hormone and testosterone levels, particularly in men. It’s is best achieved with relatively short rests periods often ranging from 0 to 60 seconds. Longer rest periods may be appropriate depending on the amount of weight lifted and condition of the lifter.
• Maximal strength and power: When you’re focusing on lifting your max weight and when you’re training for maximum power, you’re going to focus on taking much longer rest periods. Generally, three to five minutes are necessary.

8. You forget to rest altogether

Overtraining is a problem, too. Not giving your body and hormones the time to adjust to exercise — or not resting adequately between workouts — can cause injuries, mood problems, negative changes in your metabolism and “burnout” within a couple of months’ time.

While too much exercise alone might not be the sole reason for negative symptoms in some people, overtraining combined with stress from other factors like imbalanced hormones, a poor diet, and a lack of rest or sleep can all accumulate to serious bodily damage.

And get this: Overtraining can actually cause weight gain. Excessive exercise can lead to chronically high cortisol levels, which can switch your body into fat-storage mode.

Signs of overtraining include:

• Changes in your heart rate
• Trouble sleeping
• Increased soreness
• Joint pain
• Moodiness, anxiety or depression
• Chronic fatigue or exhaustion
• Changes in your appetite
• Feeling more thirsty than usual
• Digestion issues
• Irregular periods or changes to your menstrual cycle, such as with the severe overtraining phenomenon called female athlete triad

Running is definitely an exercise that helps you live longer, but you’ll want to mix it up to include the benefits of yoga and HIIT training, too.

9. You arrive undernourished

Working out on an empty stomach does burn fat, but showing up with an empty tank doesn’t work for everyone. In fact, having the right pre-workout snack actually enhances fat burn in some.

If you find yourself burning out halfway through your workout, you may want to try some of these pre-workout snacks before you hit the gym.

A study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found no difference in weight loss between women who ate a meal replacement shake before exercising and those who got straight into their workouts without eating.

So the moral of the story? Do what’s right for you, but probably get some sort of natural, pre-workout drink or snack into your routine.

10. You’re stretching dangerously

This is a biggie when it comes to workout mistakes. If you played sports growing up, chances are you did one of these dangerous stretches that place unnecessary strain and torque on your joints.

Common Exercise Mistake: You Endanger Your Knee with This Hurdler’s Stretch

Photo: Navy Fitness

The above hurdler’s stretch is designed to stretch the hamstring, but it’s one of the major workout mistakes.

The problem lies in that left knee. See how it’s rotated and stressing the knee?

This can stretch ligaments and the joint capsule, damaging cartilage, according to many studies. The U.S. Navy IDs this as a stretch to avoid.

To get a hamstring stretch without the unneeded stress, put the foot of the leg opposite the one being stretched to the inner thigh of the stretched leg.

Common Exercise Mistake: You Do This Quadriceps Stretch with Both Knees Flexed

Photo: Navy Fitness

Here’s another one that stresses your knees. You can get an effective quad stretch without the damaging effects of the one above.

Instead, the Navy trainers recommend lying on your stomach, then reaching around with one arm and grasping the same-side foot. Gently pull the foot toward the buttocks until you feel a stretch in the front of the leg.

To protect your neck, turn your head toward the same side that you’re reaching.

Exercise Mistake: You Do This Overhead Bicycle, Yoga Plow Stretch

Photo: Navy Fitness

This may be the most dangerous stretch on the list, and there’s no safe alternative. It places your neck into extreme forward positions, putting pressure on the cervical discs.

11. You’re too predictable

Whenever we do anything without any variation, we can get bored, and our fitness goals can plateau. The nervous system and muscle can adapt to your routine, sometimes as early as 6 to 8 weeks.

Now it’s time to shake things up!

Here are a few tricks for climbing your way out of a plateau so you don’t get stuck in this workout mistake:

• If you’re a runner, try the Swedish training trick called fartlek.
• Trade in a few longer, moderate cardio workouts for BurstFit ideas you can do at home.
• Eliminate or drastically cut back on alcohol. I’ve seen so many people fall off of the fitness wagon, sometimes with as little as one or two drinks. If you’re drinking and hitting a plateau, it’s time for mocktails instead.
• Eat more fat. That’s right, your body may be craving more healthy fats. Experiment with your calorie intake, and see if adding more avocados and other healthy fats into your diet stokes your fat burn again.

12. You forget corrective exercise

We touched on foam rolling earlier, but that’s just one important component of corrective exercise. To work out without this critical component is making one of the most common workouts mistakes.

To get a personalized read on what you need to work on, it’s best to consult with a certified personal trainer. (I recommend ones through National Academy of Sports Medicine, the American College of Sports Medicine or the National Sports and Conditioning Association.)

Chiropractors and physical therapists can also help.

The idea is getting a postural and movement assessment that will help show:

• Muscles that need rolling and stretching
• Muscles that need strengthening
• Running issues like pronation or supination
• Broken body mechanics, including postural distortions like forward head posture, as well as upper- and lower-crossed syndrome

Final Thoughts

• The best time of day to exercise depends on your specific fitness and health goals.
• To avoid injury and pain, it’s imperative to work corrective exercise into your routine and avoid common workout mistakes.
• Foam rolling can improve both your physical and mental stress levels, but you have to roll the right muscles and be sure to hold tender spots for at least 30 to 90 seconds to be effective.
• If you’re starting to notice joint pain, pay attention to the classes you take, your shoes and the surfaces you exercise on. Workout mistakes are usually the culprit, and adjustments may be necessary.
• The rest period you take in between exercise sets varies depending on your fitness level and goals.

The post 12 Common Workout Mistakes: Is Your Exercise Routine Actually Hurting You? appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Whether you’re trying to burn fat or gain muscle, what you do in terms of exercise, diet and the time you rest in between workouts makes all difference. We all know that working out is great for boosting strength, slimming down and toning up, but unless you want to deal with ongoing muscle soreness, fatigue and poor performance, it’s important to pay attention to muscle recovery “dos and don’ts.”

How many days off from training should you take each week? What should you eat post-workout? Let’s find out below.

Importance of Muscle Recovery

Exercise is actually a form of physical stress. This may surprise you, but it’s considered a “good stressor” because it helps the body grow back stronger once it adapts.

That being said, too much exercise leads to too much stress that the body can’t cope with. Over-exercising without enough rest in between workouts is “maladaptive” and can lead to physiological symptoms, including:

• Soreness and pain
• Susceptibility to injuries, such as muscle tears
• Dehydration
• Fatigue and increased need for sleep
• Poor performance
• Low motivation and moodiness

If you want to benefit from exercise (and who doesn’t?), then you need to let your muscles recover. According to experts, this involves:

• resting
• feeding yourself well
• hydrating
• doing active recovery
• possibly doing cold water immersion
• getting enough sleep

Muscle Recovery Do’s

The No. 1 thing to do to promote muscle recovery is to feed your body all the nutrients it needs. While physical activity is key for overall health, your diet is still the single most important aspect to focus on.

There are certain supplements that can help your muscles repair so you can get stronger, such as protein supplements like whey protein, collagen, BCAA and bone broth that are full of amino acids. Immediately post-workout, try having one of these protein powders in a smoothie, for instance.

In addition, a 2021 study indicates that creatine may help improve muscle recovery and recovery from exercise, such as maximizing results from strength training. A 1999 study found that glutamine supplementation makes it possible to recover quicker from intense weight training sessions because it improves muscle hydration.

Omega-3 fatty acids can also help. One study found that due to their potential anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity, omega-3s can help improve exercise performance and assist in recovery.

Also, animal studies show that turkesterone can help repair muscle fibers that have been broken down after exercise and increase glycogen concentrations in muscles, which can help remove lactic acid and support muscle recovery.

Muscle Recovery Don’ts

The No. 1 “don’t” regarding muscle recovery is overtraining.

Your body needs rest to grow, but your muscles don’t grow when you’re exercising all the time. In fact, they actually grow while you’re sleeping and resting — or, in other words, between your workouts.

Things to avoid:

1. Don’t Train Every Single Day

You want to take off at least one day a week. For most people, taking off from exercise two days a week allows muscles to complete rest and repair. Therefore if you’re currently working out at a difficult intensity six or seven days per week, reduce your exercise load.

2. Don’t Consume Junk Foods or Too Much Alcohol

Avoid added sugar, alcohol and fast foods as much as possible.

If you’re addicted to sugar and consuming it regularly, it’ll cause inflammation that messes with blood flow, performance and body composition goals. The same thing goes for fast foods, plus refined grains and hydrogenated oils, which are found in most unhealthy processed foods.

3. Don’t Do a Lot of Isolated Movements

If you want to maximize your workouts, do more compound movements. (See above.) This takes stress off of single muscles and focuses on larger muscle groups instead.

You can also try training different parts of your body on different days, which is a traditional bodybuilding approach. For example, you might do a maximum-intensity workout focused on your legs one day, then your upper body another day, then your core on another day.

4. Don’t Skimp on Sleep

Remember, you need lots of sleep to feel your best and perform. Research shows sleep deprivation can lead to many physical symptoms, including poor strength, focus, reaction times and more.

Aim for seven to nine hours per night for the most metabolic health perks.

5. Don’t Overuse Painkillers (NSAIDs)

It’s tempting to take a painkiller such as ibuprofen every time you feel sore and wiped out, but this can actually hinder your ability to adapt to exercise. Instead, follow the other tips in this article, which help your muscles bounce back naturally.

Recovery Time

How long does a muscle take to recover? Ultimately it depends on how often you’re training in general, plus the intensity of your workouts.

What are the stages in muscle recovery?

When your muscles are strained, they first experience tiny tears. Your body recognizes this and works on repairing them. This is a multiple-step process that involves repair of damaged muscle fibers and connective tissue formation.

Your body uses protein and carbs to complete the recovery process. Your blood vessels also dilate so circulation increases, which helps bring more nutrients to damaged tissue.

Then, waste (such as lactic acid and carbon dioxide) must be removed from the damaged area. This is done with help from your lymphatic system.

Once new tissue is formed with help from myokine proteins, then the tissue is remodeled and smoothed so it functions properly. The whole process can take up to several days or sometimes even longer.

How long should you wait between workouts?

If you’re doing very strenuous exercise, you’ll need more time to rest between workouts. The ideal amount of time to give yourself to recover is between one and three days, with a longer duration for high-intensity exercises, such as those that really fatigue muscles.

One study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that it took about three days (72 hours) for full muscle recovery to occur between difficult strength-training sessions.

For most people doing a mix of moderate to intense exercise, taking two days off (48 hours) between tough workouts is the general recommendation. According to Bodybuilding.com, “For most lifters, 2–4 sessions per week works well. Younger lifters can usually handle more workouts, while older lifters should stick with fewer.”

If you’re doing easier workouts and listening to your body, you might be able to work out most days of the week, but still give yourself one day off.

How to Prevent Injuries

If you experience any symptoms of overtraining, then you put yourself at greater risk for injuries. Watch out for the signs below, which indicate that you need extra rest:

• Decreased energy and performance for more than several days
• Increased resting heart rate or changes in blood pressure
• Changes in appetite, which might lead to eating more junk or eating less
• Sudden changes in body weight
• Trouble sleeping
• Irritability, anxiety and moodiness
• Stubborn muscle soreness and aches

Those who are overtraining can help prevent themselves from getting injured by decreasing their exercise intensity or stopping all workouts (besides active recovery) for a brief period of time. Here are tips for preventing injuries:

• Reduce your training load and frequency to give your muscles, joints and other tissues a chance to heal.
• Stop exercise altogether temporarily, such as for one to two weeks.
• Do another type of gentle workout or active recovery instead of anything too intense, such as more walking and stretching for a couple weeks.
• Listen to your body. Wait to start working out again at a high difficulty and volume until all your overtraining symptoms are gone.

Conclusion

• It’s important to take workout recovery seriously if you want to perform well and look your best. Resting between workouts helps your muscles grow back stronger, limits risk for injuries and supports a healthy metabolism.
• What helps muscles recover faster? First and foremost, avoid overtraining. Be sure to take one to three days off from exercise per week, especially if you’re really straining yourself.
• To reduce muscle soreness, hydrate, eat a healthy diet, and try cold immersion, foam rolling and massage therapy.

The post Muscle Recovery Do’s and Don’ts for Optimal Fitness appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Does golf count as exercise? Considering the leisurely pace at which the sport is commonly played, it’s a question many health enthusiasts likely have.

Now, thanks research published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, we just may have the answer … and it’s sure to surprise you.

Study: Golf as Exercise

When it comes to sports, golf isn’t usually thought of as the most physically active, but it turns out a round of golf has surprising benefits for the both the body and mind. In fact, it could even provide greater benefits than other forms of exercise, such as Nordic walking, (which is plenty beneficial in its own right).

That’s according to the BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine study that was conducted in Finland. In order to come to this conclusion, researchers examined three forms of age-appropriate aerobic exercise — golfing, Nordic walking and walking — and their effects on health.

More specifically, 25 healthy golfers (nine females and 16 males) aged 64–72 were enrolled in a randomized cross-over experiment for the three forms of exercise: playing 18 holes of golf, doing a six-kilometer Nordic walk or going for a typical six-kilometer walk. The study then compared the effects of these three activities on blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

What they found was that all three forms of exercise had positive effects on these cardiometabolic markers, with Nordic walking and regular walking providing greater intensity of exercise and a bigger decrease in diastolic blood pressure. However, somewhat surprisingly, golfing actually had a greater positive impact on glucose metabolism and lipid profile, thanks in part to the longer duration to play 18 holes of golf.

The study authors ultimately concluded:

Acute bouts of aerobic exercise improved cardiovascular profile in healthy older adults. Despite the lower exercise intensity of golf, the longer duration and higher energy expenditure appeared to have a more positive effect on lipid profile and glucose metabolism compared with Nordic walking and walking.

They added:

Benefits of Golfing

While the study out of Finland was limited in scope and had some other limitations by the researchers’ own admission, several other studies have shown the beneficial effects of golf as exercise.

For instance, a large body of evidence published in 2017 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine laid out many benefits associated with golfing, including:

• Boosting cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic profiles
• Improving overall well-being
• Aerobic benefits, including walking between four to eight miles during a round of golf
• Can be done at a low, moderate or high intensity
• “May improve proprioception, balance, muscle endurance and function particularly in the elderly”
• Possibly help reduce mortality and increase longevity
• May help treat and/or prevent “chronic diseases, including ischaemic heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and colon and breast cancer.”
• Could improve and help maintain lung function
• Helps create social connections, which are beneficial for mental health
• Supports overall improved mental health and well-being, thanks in part to spending time outside in nature

Overall, the researchers in this review concluded:

The post Does Golf Count as Exercise? The Answer May Surprise You! appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Are you one of the millions of Americans who makes a New Year’s resolution to exercise more — and then watch as the best of intentions falls to the wayside? If so, you’re not alone … but it doesn’t have to be this way if you take advantage of exercise hacks.

While the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) advises adults to get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate to intense aerobic activity (or about 20 minutes a day) plus two days of muscle-strengthening activity, the CDC estimates that nearly 80 percent of Americans don’t meet these recommendations.

Luckily, there’s a silver lining. A study in The Lancet found that just 15 minutes of exercise a week is enough to reduce mortality and increase life expectancy. While I still recommend adding more exercise to your routine when possible, let’s face it: While we can’t always carve out time in our busy schedules for a full-on workout session, each of us can find, at a minimum, those 15 minutes a week … and often several times a week.

Still dreading the idea of hitting the gym? I’ve collected some of my favorite exercise hacks to sneak more exercise into your day.

These sneaky ways will have you and your family getting active in no time.

20 Exercise Hacks

1. Add interval workouts

Maximize your time and burn more calories with burst training. This method combines short bouts of high-intensity interval training exercise with recovery phases, helping you burn fat faster while improving cardiovascular fitness.

2. Explore your own town

Chances are there are quite a few low-cost fitness activities where you live — and they don’t have to feel like work!

• Explore local hiking trails.
• Take a walk in a neighborhood you haven’t spent much time in.
• Try area pools.
• See what fun fitness activities your community center might be hosting.

3. Switch up your commute

The average American spends 38 hours a year commuting to work. Why not make your commute work for you?

If you work in a city where you take public transportation to work, consider getting off the train or bus a stop early and walking a few extra minutes — after a few days, you won’t even notice the distance.

Are you lucky enough to live within walking or biking distance to work at least a few days a week? Trade your subway pass for comfy shoes, and hit the pavement! Commuting by bicycle to work, separately from biking during leisure hours, has been linked to a reduction in cardiovascular disease.

If driving is inevitable, try parking several blocks away or as far away from the entrance as you can in the parking lot.

4. Have walking meetings

Let’s face it: Meetings can be long, tedious and oftentimes unproductive. Give your team a breath of fresh air — literally — by instituting walking meetings.

Take a brisk walk while you have weekly catchups or go over project logistics. You might even find new solutions to old problems.

A 2014 study found that walking while talking can increase creativity by as much as 60 percent.

5. Walk the dog

Instead of delegating walking the family pet to your children, start and end your day by taking Fido on a brisk stroll. Just 20 minutes of walking your dog can burn about 130 calories. E

ven better? Head to the dog park and toss a ball around, too.

6. Meet friends for workouts

You might be planning on squeezing in a workout, but then a friend you haven’t seen in a while invites you for happy hour. Instead of choosing between a social life and fitness, combine the two.

Meet friends for a fitness class or a jog around the neighborhood instead of brunch or drinks. Not only will you get in quality time and a workout, but your wallet will thank you, too!

7. Take the stairs

Firm up your glutes and increase your heart rate throughout the day by nixing elevators and escalators and taking the stairs instead. Whether at the office or the shopping mall, you’ll be surprised by how quickly those extra flights of stairs add up throughout the day.

8. Get moving throughout the day

When most of us are obligated to be at our offices from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (or longer!), we have to make the most of our situations. Instead of writing a co-worker an email or picking up the phone, walk to that person’s office and chat face to face.

Take a walk at lunchtime instead of eating at your computer. These exercise hacks and their short distances really do add up to quite a few extra steps a week.

9. Keep the car in the garage

Running errands around town? Save on gas, and walk or take a bike ride short distances instead.

10. Do vacations a different way

Stepping out of your daily routine doesn’t mean your workout plan has to fall to pieces. Skip the big-bus city tours, and explore a new city by taking a walking tour instead. Seek out hotels with gyms or partnerships with local fitness centers.

Or plan a vacation around an activity you’ve been interested in. If you’ve been wanting to run a 10K, sign up for one in a city you’re excited to visit.

Have you been wanting to work on your arm balances? Seek out a yoga retreat.

11. Schedule workouts

Scheduling things with a date and time — instead of tacking it on to a never-ending to-do list — is a more effective way of tackling projects. Schedule workouts, and set an alarm for them the same way you would a meeting or dinner date.

12. Get the kids involved

One reason people often think they don’t have time for exercise is because they can’t get away from the children long enough to get a workout in. I say bring them along!

Have your kids do a modified version of a HIIT workout DVD with you. Take them to the park to shoot hoops or play soccer. Beat the heat, and go swimming together in the summertime.

Not only will you spend precious time with your children, but they’ll also learn what a healthy lifestyle looks like.

13. Use social media to your advantage

Facebook is good for more than seeing what your old high school classmates are doing. Use your social networks to hold yourself accountable.

You’ll be more likely to get up for that early morning run if you’ve posted about it the night before. You can also use it to recruit friends to join you on your fitness journey, whether through physical activity in real life or just cheering each other on.

14. Get fit while you watch TV

Instead of curling up on the couch with snacks while you clear out your DVR, use the time to squeeze in some exercise hacks. Bodyweight exercises like jumping jacks, high knees, planks, pushups, crunches and more can all be done with zero equipment. Add some weights for even more of a burn.

15. Track your progress

If you’re someone who works best with visuals, investing in a pedometer might be for you. It’ll track your steps, show your day-to-day progress and encourage you to sneak in a few extra steps a day.

16. Make exercising fun

Turning exercise into a daily habit is difficult if you’re not having fun. Find the activities that you enjoy — don’t worry about what’s “trendy” or not.

Whether it’s Pilates, skiing, running, hiking, swimming or something totally different, choosing workouts that you actually like makes all the difference. It doesn’t feel like exercise when you’re having a great time.

17. Try something new

Don’t limit yourself to just those exercise hacks that you’re familiar with. Try a new workout class, or join your friend in that crazy color race.

While every workout might not be your favorite, you just might find something different you like — and it’ll keep your muscles guessing.

18. Keep it cheap

Working out doesn’t have to be expensive. Workout DVDs and YouTube videos are great ways to add variety to your routine and usually require little to no equipment. From Pilates to cardio workouts to strength training, you can find a video or channel that fits your interests.

19. Set a goal

When you’re working toward something in particular, it’s easier to stay motivated. Have you wanted to start logging more miles? Sign up for a local race to ensure you hit the track.

Do you want to build up to arm balances in your yoga practice? Commit to spending a few minutes a day doing pushups to build strength.

It’ll feel that much sweeter when you reach your goal — and then set a new one!

20. Use an app for that

Is there anything smartphones can’t do? Put yours to work with a fitness tracker ­— use interval timer alarms to get in short exercise bouts throughout the day, download apps with dedicated workouts or clock miles as you run from zombies.

Adding a little more exercise to your daily lifestyle doesn’t have to be a chore or boring. With these 20 exercise hacks, you’ll feel fitter and reach the recommended amount of weekly exercise in no time!

The post 20 Exercise Hacks to Sneak More Fitness Into Your Day appeared first on Dr. Axe.

As the holiday season approaches, many people who exercise outdoors struggle with working out in the cold, but they don’t have to.

Is it bad to work out in cold weather? As long as you take some precautions, working out in the cold — such as walking, running or cycling — is actually pretty beneficial.

Exercising in cold weather can lead to improvements in endurance and cardiovascular function, and just like most exercise, it can also boost your mood and mental health.

Benefits of Working Out in the Cold

“Cold weather” means different things to different people, but generally it’s considered to be cold outside when it becomes uncomfortable to stay outdoors for more than short periods of time. This discomfort is due to drastic differences between the temperature outside and the internal temperature of the human body.

While being outside in cold weather might require you to wear a jacket or coat to avoid feeling chilly, it also has some perks to offer that being at room temperature doesn’t. The colder your environment, the harder your body has to work to maintain homeostasis (or balance), which means it uses energy in the process and also benefits metabolically in certain ways.

Let’s look closer at how working out in the cold benefits nearly your entire body:

1. Burn Extras Calories

Why is it harder to exercise in the cold? One reason is because your body needs to work harder to perform in chilly climates, mostly because it requires extra generation of heat to keep your muscles, organs and limbs warm.

Anytime your body is exposed to a form a “stress,” which can include drastic temperature or elevation changes as well as exercise itself, your need for energy increases. This causes your muscles to break down glycogen faster (from carbohydrates) in order to fuel themselves.

Brown fat is the type of body fat that helps regulate body temperature. When we’re outside in the cold, brown fat burns energy (calories) in order to heat our bodies and increase body temperature, in the process helping give the metabolisms a bit of a boost.

According to Harvard Health Publishing, “studies show that exercising in cold weather can transform white fat, specifically belly and thigh fat, into calorie-burning brown fat.” Because working out in the cold activates brown fat more than exercising at room temperature does, it can potentially help efforts to lose weight.

A study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism even found that cold weather workouts can burn more calories compared to workouts done in more comfortable temperatures.

2. Can Help Improve Endurance

Working out in the heat can cause you to become exhausted more easily, since it increases sweating and your heart rate more rapidly. On the other hand, exercising in the cold can allow you to work out for longer, which may mean you can build endurance and stamina more easily.

What’s the ideal temperature to train at, or compete in, in order to maximize endurance? Research suggests it’s about 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit, since this is the temp that feels most comfortable in which to breath rapidly and exert yourself.

However, it’s safe to train at even colder temps too. (See below for more info on working out in different temperatures.)

3. Fights Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder

Exercising outside during the winter where you’re exposed to sunlight is thought to be one effective strategy for helping ward off seasonal affective disorder, a type of mood disorder/depression that tends to affect people during the dark winter months.

Sunlight and exercise both have a positive impact on your mood for several reasons, including because they help release more “feel good” chemicals, including serotonin and endorphins.

Another cognitive/mental health perk of exercising in cold weather? Some studies have demonstrated that people who exercise in the cold tend to experience improvements in their decision making, focus and memory.

Other research shows that exercise in general is useful for decreasing anxiety and improving concentration.

4. Can Help You Sleep Better

The combination of sunlight exposure during the daytime, fresh air and physical activity can help you unwind and sleep more deeply at night. Sunlight is important for regulating your circadian rhythm, also called your “internal clock,” which makes you feel sleepy enough at night to drift off and alert enough in the morning to wake up.

The stress-relieving effects of exercise, whether done indoors or outdoors, are also important for fighting insomnia.

5. Supports Heart and Metabolic Health

Nearly all types of exercise benefit your cardiovascular system and can help promote insulin sensitivity and better blood sugar management.

Getting regular physical activity, such as walking briskly or jogging outdoors, has been linked to lowered risk for common health problems, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high blood glucose levels.

How to Exercise in Cold Weather (Best Exercises)

What are the best exercises to do in cold weather?

These include “cardio” or aerobic exercises like running, fast walking, jogging or cycling (assuming the wind isn’t too uncomfortable), plus ice skating, playing hockey, snowshoeing, or downhill skiing and snowboarding. You can also do sprint workouts outside or even do a circuit workout or weight training.

Ready to take your workout outdoors, even if it’s the middle of the winter? Here’s what you need to know:

1. Warm Up With Dynamic Stretches

Before exercising in cold weather, be sure to properly warm up, since inactive and cold muscles and joints are more prone to injuries.

Instead of doing traditional “static stretches,” in which you hold a fixed position, do dynamic forms of stretching instead. Dynamic stretching involves motion, which boosts circulation and blood flow to your muscles and helps protect against injuries.

Here are some examples of dynamic stretches to do for several minutes before working out in the cold:

• Wide arm and leg circles (aim for about 20 of each)
• Shoulder and neck shrugs
• Toe taps
• High steps (bringing your knees high toward your chest)
• Air squats
• Lunges (side, back and forward)
• Quad pulls

2. Stay Hydrated

Believe it or not, you’re more prone to becoming dehydrated in cold weather because your thirst sensation is reduced, your body uses water to warm you and you lose water due to breathing out moist air that causes respiratory fluid loss.

Be sure to drink water before, during and after your workout. If you prefer, drink something warm beforehand, such as hot tea, which can help make the cold feel initially more comfortable.

3. Optimize Nutrient Intake Before and After

Eating a healthy diet that includes protein and complex carbs is important for exercise no matter the temperature or time of year. It’s important to optimize your nutrient intake before and after cold weather training because your muscles need protein and carbs to stay fueled and repair themselves and grow back stronger.

Pre-workout, eat a meal rich in carbs and protein about one to three hours before exercising. (Avoid anything too heavy right before exercise, which might cause a stomachache.)

If you’re active for more than one hour and doing intense exercise, you may opt to have a carbohydrate-rich snack mid-workout to keep you energized. Following a tough workout, have protein and carbs within one to two hours to replenish glycogen stores and aid in muscle recovery.

What to Wear

When the temp drops outside, it’s important to wear the right gear to help keep your body’s core temperature warm. Clothing and accessories that help conserve body heat can keep your muscles warmed up so you feel less stiff or tight.

Here are some guidelines regarding what to wear when exercising in the cold:

Layer clothing — Your bottom layer should ideally be something thin that is made of synthetic material (such as polyester, polypropylene and nylon), which draws sweat away from your body. This leaves you less damp and chilly than if you wear cotton. Look for clothing marked as “moisture-wicking.” Over your thin layer, add something heavier that will keep you insulated, such as a sweatshirt, jacket or fleece.

Cover up vulnerable body parts — Your hands, feet, toes, ears and tip of your nose are most vulnerable to becoming very cold and even developing frostbite if it’s freezing outside. This happens because your body conserves energy and priorities warming your core, rather than your extremities.

Depending on how cold it is, cover up with a hat, gloves, face mask, scarf or goggles so less skin is exposed. Be sure to wear warm socks, but make sure they are comfortable depending on the kind of shoes you’re wearing. (You’ll need thinner socks if wearing sneakers compared to shoe shoes or ski boots, which can fit wool or thick cotton socks.)

If your hands get extra cold, try wearing thin glove liners under thicker gloves that are lined with fleece.

Don’t forget to protect your skin — Moisturize your skin consistently in the winter to keep water locked in and prevent dryness and chapping.

While some sunlight during the winter can be highly beneficial, too much can still burn your skin even if it’s chilly outside. Apply sunscreen if you’re spending lots of time outside, especially if you’re near snow, which can reflect sunlight — for example, if skiing or snowboarding.

Most dermatologists recommend wearing 30 SPF+ if in the sun longer than about 20 to 30 minutes, plus lip balm with sunscreen.

How Cold Is Too Cold?

What temperature is too cold to exercise outside? The ideal temperature for exercising outdoors in the cold is somewhere in the range of the 30s to 50s F.

That said, the American College of Sports Medicine has stated that “exercise can be performed safely in most cold-weather environments without incurring cold-weather injuries…the wind-chill temperature index can be used to estimate the relative risk of frostbite and heightened surveillance of exercisers should be used at wind-chill temperatures below -27 degrees C (-18 degrees F).”

In other words, it seems safe for most adults to work out in very cold temps, even those dropping into the single digits in degrees Fahrenheit. However, it’s crucial to wear the right gear once the temp drops below the 30s, and look out for any signs of cold-related injury (such as numbness, clumsiness and very red, cold skin).

Be cautious about avoiding frostbite when the temperature drops below 5 degrees F and the wind blows more than 20 miles per hour, which increases the risk for cold-related injuries.

Risks and Side Effects

Exercising in cold weather increases the risk of hypothermia, which is caused by a low body temperature. This is a serious condition that can cause damage to the skin and other tissues, so it’s impotent to take it seriously.

Seek emergency help from a professional immediately if you develop hypothermia symptoms, such as:

• numbness and tingling accompanies by redness/purple skin
• intense shivering
• extreme fatigue
• slurred speech
• loss of coordination

People with existing health conditions such as asthma or heart problems are more at risk for exercise-related side effects when working out in the cold. Be cautious about pushing yourself too hard if you have any history of trouble breathing, chest pains, etc.

Conclusion

• Working out in the cold is beneficial because it causes your body to work hard to maintain homeostasis (or balance). The colder your environment, the harder your body has to work to do this, which means it uses energy in the process and also benefits you metabolically in certain ways.
• Perks of exercising outdoors in the winter include improvements in your metabolism, fat-burning, mood, endurance, heart health and sleep.
• It’s usually safe to exercise outside even if the temperature falls into the single digits, but be sure to wear layers, moisture-wicking clothing, gloves, warm socks and a hat.
• Stop if you feel intense tingling, numbness or other signs of hypothermia when working out in the cold. Also be sure to stay hydrated and eat before and after working out in the cold for the best results.

The post What Are the Benefits of Working Out in the Cold? (Plus Safety Tips) appeared first on Dr. Axe.

In the U.S. alone, there are now almost 5 million pickleball players, many of whom are over the age of 50. The number of “picklers” regularly picking up a paddle and ball has grown by at least 40 percent between in the past three years. This explains why the New York Times refers to pickleball as “America’s fastest-growing sport.”

It might surprise you to know that pickleball has been played for over six decades. But only recently Major League Pickleball was born. Professional pickleball is expanding quickly, even attracting entrepreneurs, well-known athletes, and big investors including Gary Vaynerchuk (who bought a professional pickleball team), LeBron James and Tom Brady.

Why is pickleball so popular? According to USA Pickleball, “The rules are simple and the game is easy for beginners to learn, but can develop into a quick, fast-paced, competitive game for experienced players.”

Sure it’s fun to play, but does pickleball count as exercise? While only limited studies have investigated the health implications of playing pickleball, there’s evidence that it can provide similar benefits as yoga, walking, and other types of moderate exercise.

What Is Pickleball?

Pickleball is a game played with paddles, a plastic ball and a net. It combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong because it’s played on a court and involves hitting a ball back and forth over a net.

Most often, pickleball is played outside on a pickleball court, which looks like a small tennis court, but it can also be played indoors. Like tennis, it’s possible to play pickleball one-on-one (or as a single) or two-on-two (as a team of doubles, which is most popular).

Although pickleball has only recently become a craze in places including the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Canada, it’s actually been played since the 1960s. Pickleball, which originated on Bainbridge Island, located near Seattle, Washington, was created by a group of dads who supposedly began playing the game with their kids when they became bored over the summer.

Health Benefits

When it comes to potentially providing health benefits, what is pickleball good for?

Considering pickleball is somewhat of a physically demanding sport, plus it’s fun and social, it provides both physical and mental health perks. Here are some reasons to consider becoming a pickler, if you haven’t already:

1. Good for Beginners and People of All Ages

Pickleball has been described as a more accessible and fun type of tennis. While tennis can be challenging to learn, difficult to play and poses a higher injury risk, pickleball has an easy entry and is enjoyed by teens, young and middle-aged adults, and even the elderly.

What age group plays pickleball the most? Retirement homes are among the most popular places to play this sport. What is the average age of a pickleball player? The average pickler is in his or her late 30’s. Half of all serious pickleball players in the U.S. in 2021 were 55 and older.

Because pickleball is played with a light, plastic wiffle-like ball and small paddles, it’s suitable for those who might otherwise struggle to play tennis. It also tends to be easier on joints such as the shoulders and knees, since it doesn’t require as much running, bouncing or overhand serving.

While older adults tend to love pickleball for its social element and exercise benefits, it’s also growing fast among people under 24 years old, including college students and teens.

2. Serves as Moderate-Intensity Exercise

You’ll likely have such a good time playing pickleball that you’ll barely realize you’re exercising. However, this sport can provide similar cardiovascular benefits as walking.

One study found that adults tended to work harder and burn more calories when playing pickleball compared to when walking steadily. Picklers experienced 14 percent higher heart rates on average, and burned 36 percent more calories, compared to walkers.

How hard of a workout is pickleball exactly? It ultimately depends on how much you push yourself, plus whether you play alone or with a partner. Singles is more difficult because it requires more running around the court. Doing pickeball drills to improve your skills can also be a tough workout.

A 2018 study found that pickleball players had an average heart rate of 109 beats per minute and burned 354 calories per hour. This is similar to walking at a moderate pace or doing a difficult yoga class. Additionally, the study showed that playing pickleball led to improved cholesterol levels, blood pressure and maximal oxygen uptake, all of which indicate metabolic and cardiovascular health benefits.

3. Relatively Low Impact

Is pickleball good for seniors? Yes! Is 75 too old to play pickleball? It’s hard to say, since everyone’s body is different, but the sport is certainly loved by many people in their 60s and 70s.

While some types of aerobic exercise involve repetitive movements and moving only on one plane, pickleball uses many parts of your body and involves moving on different planes. This helps to engage different muscle groups, yet the game is still low-impact and unlikely to lead to injuries.

What skills are involved in pickleball? To become good at the game, you need to master different types of strokes, serves (which are underhand), and be able to get to the ball fast, control the speed of the ball, and aim well to place the ball where you want.

Based on what we know about the benefits of similar sports, such as badminton and tennis, pickleball may be able to improve your agility and coordination, plus it requires you to lift your arms and rotate your torso, which is beneficial for upper body and core strength, as well as balance.

4. Keeps You Mentally Sharp

Here’s something promising for adult picklers: Research suggests that games like pickleball can boost neuromuscular coordination and lead to enhanced hand-eye coordination, which aging often takes a toll on.

Pickleball can also improve your mental well-being and mood, as demonstrated by one study that found picklers benefitted from enhanced protection against depression. Findings from the study suggest that leisure activities, especially when they are done with serious effort and involve social interaction, can improve one’s mental health.

How to Play

Pickleball Rules

Pickleball is played on a court roughly the same size as a badminton court (20×44 feet) and smaller than a tennis court. Pickleball nets are shorter than tennis court nets (about 36 inches high), making it simpler for people of all ages to play.

Like a tennis court, a pickleball court is split into four main sections. Opposing players stand on opposite sides of the court and hit the ball back and forth over the net to one another.

Here’s a run down of basic pickleball rules:

• Points are scored only by the serving team. Games are normally played to 11 points, and a team/player must win by 2.
• Players serve from the back left or right sections of the court to the other side. At least one foot must be behind the baseline when serving.
• Unlike in tennis, pickleball serves are performed underhand. The serve must be made from waist-level or under. Only one serve attempt is allowed per server.
• There is a 7-foot zone in front of the net on both sides, called the “kitchen,” which is off-limits for standing in and volleying from.
• Players serve and score points until they commit a fault.
• When points are scored, the server switches sides to make the next serve.The server continues switching back and forth until a fault is committed.
• When the first server loses the serve the partner then serves from their correct side of the court. The second server continues serving until his team commits a fault.
• The ball can only bounce once before being hit. After the ball has bounced once in each team’s court, both teams can volley the ball or let it bounce once.

Where to Play

Pickleball courts are popping up all over, especially at public parks, country clubs, and private tennis or beach clubs. In fact, there are now more than 38,000 indoor and outdoor courts in the U.S. and 10,000 registered pickleball facilities, according to USA Pickleball.

To find a local court to play at, check out the Pickleball+ app, or put your ZIP code into the USA Pickleball Association’s court locator website.

Pickleball Equipment

What equipment do you need to play? And what are some tips to prevent injuries?

Fortunately, it’s easy to get started with pickleball because the games requires just two players and a few basic pieces of equipment (which should cost under $60), including:

• Two paddles, or four if you’re playing doubles
• A plastic ball
• A court with a net

Even if you don’t have access to a court nearby, you can even use sidewalk chalk or painter’s tape to make your own, such as on the street. You’ll have to measure the ground and place tape on the floor in order to make a homemade court. Then use a portable net that can be rolled and collapsed.

Pickleball involves running around the court a bit, so wear sneakers and comfortable clothing, such as shorts, a t-shirt, socks, and tennis shoes (if you have them) or shoes that allow you to move laterally.

How many times a week should you play pickleball? It’s really up to you; like with other sports, playing just once per week or several times per week is enough to provide some health benefits, social interaction and fun.

Precautions

What should you not do in pickleball? If you’re new to the sport, don’t overexert yourself or do too much, too soon, which might lead to injuries. Pickleball may not be the best option for people who have suffered injuries from other racquet sports, including tennis, such as tennis elbow.

To prevent yourself from becoming injured, do a quick warm-up of dynamic stretches before playing — that loosen up your legs, shoulders and torso.

Try doing wide leg and arm circles, forward folds, some lunges, etc. When hitting the ball, keep your leg in a wide stance which will help you balance. If you experience pain in your shoulders, wrist or back, take a break and consider seeing a doctor if your symptoms persist.

Controversy

Tennis and pickleball might have a lot in common, but there’s actually a bit of rivalry between players of these two sports. There’s only so much space within towns that can be dedicated to public courts — and recently, pickleball has been pushing out tennis.

Even though pickleball has been gaining a strong following, there are nearly four times as many tennis players in the U.S. (about 21 million) than picklers. Tennis enthusiasts argue that tennis courts shouldn’t be split up or overtaken to make more space for the “fad” that’s pickleball, while picklers feel that tennis is a “elitist” sport that’s mostly played by wealthier people.

Of course, some people enjoy both games, so ideally towns and clubs will be able to accommodate both. Each sport also has its advantages: tennis is a more intense workout, while pickleball is accessible to just about everyone of all ages and income levels.

The post Health Benefits of Pickleball, Plus How to Play appeared first on Dr. Axe.

More than 39.5 million Americans (that’s 1 out of 5!) — and 3 of every 10 Americans in families earning more than $75,000, and a full quarter of women — regularly wear a smart watch or wearable fitness tracker, according to a Pew Research Center survey. The use of these devices has skyrocketed in the last several years.

Fitness-minded individuals turn to technology to help them do things previously inconceivable, such as tracking daily steps, measuring heart rate, helping with exercise hacks, or finding like-minded fitness aficionados for support.

But do they work to help you become more active? (A new study below sheds some light.) Do you really need to spend money on one of these gadgets? And if you do, how do you go about choosing the right one with so many on the market?

What Is A Fitness Tracker?

There are several types of wearable technology.

Pedometers count the amount of steps you take a day and convert them into miles, telling you how far you’ve gone each day.

Sports or GPS watches are geared toward specific sports, like running, cycling or swimming. They usually include a stop watch, functions to calculate distance and features like timers, lap counters and training logs.

Heart rate monitors measure your heart rate in real time, usually through a chest strap or a strapless model. Some GPS watches have monitoring capabilities as well.

Of course, the most common are fitness tracker watches or bracelets. These gadgets usually monitor different actions you take throughout the day, like how much you’ve moved or how long and deeply you slept. Instead of using a different electronic for every activity, like a pedometer and a sports watch and a sleeping app, a smart fitness tracker bundles many of these functions in just one piece of tech.

Fitness trackers have an edge over other types of wearable technology because they’re usually wear and go: There’s often no need to hit a start timer or turn them off after activity (though you’ll want to make sure it’s waterproof before stepping into the shower!).

Fitness Trackers Health Benefits

Using wearable devices like fitness trackers can have great consequences for your health. A recent British Medical Journal study examined the effectiveness of physical activity monitors in adults.

Looking at data from 121 randomized control trials and 141 study comparisons, it was concluded that using fitness trackers helped increase daily physical activity by around 1,235 steps per day. Meanwhile, these activity trackers helped increase moderate and vigorous physical activity by 48.5 minutes per week. Interestingly, it didn’t have much of an effect on sedentary behavior. (Clearly, many folks are ignoring the prompt to stand!)

Nonetheless, these are impressive results, as seemingly those without a fitness watch or device would be less prone to hitting these marks. The benefits of walking are well proven and properly planned 10-minute workouts can still do wonders, so that extra 48 minutes per week could literally be life-changing.

Here are two recent articles that show exactly this:

• 10 Minutes of Exercise a Day Could Save Your Life If You’re 40+
• Walking 10 Minutes a Day Linked to Longer Life

Meanwhile, one review of 26 studies that examined pedometer use of U.S. adults found that those who used a pedometer increased their daily activity by 2,419 steps, or over a mile!

Overall, those tracking their physical activity did 27 percent more than those who didn’t use a pedometer — plus, they succeeded in naturally reducing blood pressure as well as their percentage of fat. Having a specific goal to reach, such as 10,000 steps in a day, motivated people to keep moving, researchers concluded.

Even if you’re already a fairly active person, a fitness tracker might help you squeeze in extra opportunities to get your move on throughout the day. You might just as easily benefit from a low-cost smartphone app that provides similar functions. But keep in mind that wearing a fitness tracker that doubles as a watch on your arm is a lot easier to carry around than always keeping your smartphone on you.

How to Choose the Right Tracker 

1. Determine what features you need

If you’re a fitness newbie or in the market for a tracker that covers the basics, like counting steps, calories and movement, almost any will do.

But if you’re already quite active, you might want to invest in a tracker that goes past the basics. Features like GPS allow your tracker to map out where you’ve been and measure things like elevation.

Heart rate monitors can be a useful feature for the more advanced exercisers. In the past, options were limited to trackers that synced up with chest straps but nearly all new models can gauge your heart rate from even wristbands.

And if you’re partial to an activity, like running or swimming, make sure your tracker is designed to track it. After all, if your main source of exercise isn’t trackable, your gadget is much less useful. (Also, make sure it’s water resistant to 50 meters if you’re a swimmer.)

If you’re a serious athlete, you’ll likely want a lot more bells and whistles than the average Jane or Joe. A more professional tracker might be the answer. Brands like Garmin and Fitbit have a wide range of these; they tend to combine fitness tracker features with sports watch capabilities.

Also, many new smart watches also have mobile payments, which can be quite handy.

Fancier models also may even store music or give you access to a streaming service like Spotify. If that’s the case, these options would also have a bluetooth earphone connection.

Lastly, the best fitness-tracking smartwatch for iPhone users remains the Apple Watch, which comes with many of the above features. Plus it can take phone calls, text, etc.

2. Decide how much you’re willing to spend

Fitness trackers can range from moderately priced below $100 to models that hit $500+. It’s important to examine options in your price range and the features each offers — plus, be honest with yourself about what you will, and won’t, use.

If you’re expecting to graduate to more advanced features, then keep that in mind as you look at pricing. While a $75 fitness tracker might do the trick now, in a few months you might want more capabilities. In that case, it might be more cost-effective to swing for the more expensive model at the onset.

Also, be aware of any “extras” that require a separate purchase. When totaled together, that might make your inexpensive tracker pricier than you’d bargained for.

3. Choose a design that suits your lifestyle

Since you’ll be wearing this tracker for most of your day, you want to make sure it looks and feels good! Do you prefer something you can wear around your wrist or a fitness tracker that clips on to your shoe or clothing, preferably in your color of choice?

If you want to see your progress throughout the day on some type of display, a watch might be best. If you’re content with uploading and viewing your data at your leisure, a simple wristband design should suffice. And do you need something waterproof, so you can shower and swim with your tracker on, or will you remember to remove it each time?

4. Opt for software that works with your other technology

You will be interacting with your fitness tracker’s built-in app frequently; does it have the features you want? You’ll want to be sure that the app is easy to use or at least easy to learn. Some software also comes with built-in social features, allowing you to compete with (or support) real and virtual friends. If encouragement is something that’s important in your fitness journey, this is worth seeking out.

Because fitness trackers are designed to sync with your smartphone, you’ll want to be sure that the tracker is compatible with your phone’s operating system. Most devices will work on Android and iOS systems, but there are exceptions. An Apple watch, for instance, won’t work on your Samsung device. And if you have a BlackBerry or Windows phone, many trackers won’t sync at all.

If you already use a fitness app like Map My Run, a fitness tracker that easily integrates with your favorite apps will make combining information a cinch.

Finally, if possible, check out devices in-store or order from an online retailer with a generous return policy to get a real feel for how the tracker fits into your lifestyle.

Who knew keeping track of fitness is not only fun, but actually can encourage you to keep it up?

Drawbacks

However, if the thought of wearing a tracker brings up feelings of anxiety more than excitement or possibly lead to overtraining, it might be wise to skip altogether.

Because while fitness trackers are a good way to evaluate our baseline activity levels (remember, they shouldn’t stand in for a real-life health professional), if using one is causing stress, it might be best to track your activity the old-fashioned way instead.

The post Do Fitness Trackers Help You Become More Active? appeared first on Dr. Axe.

If you’ve been curled up on your couch on a steady diet of wine, cable news and coffee, and/or your step count is barely escaping triple digits, it’s time for a reset. But maintaining, let alone starting, a fitness routine during the current COVID-19 situation poses unique challenges. Mainly: how to exercise during a pandemic.

And hey, if you’re kicking yourself for not ordering that Peloton bike over the winter, don’t beat yourself up. There are very efficient, effective ways to work out at home with zero gym equipment by simply using things lying around your house, regardless of your current state of fitness.

But first, here’s a quick pep talk on why it’s so essential to figure out a home exercise regimen that’s right for you, even at a time when gyms and many parks are closed and fitness as usual is on hold.

The Exercise-Immune System Connection

A healthy immune system is on everyone’s mind right now. And while there’s no shortage of information about the best herbs, teas and foods for immune health, what about the best types of exercise to bolster our bodies’ first line of defense against infection?

The research literature is clear when it comes to the benefits of exercise on the immune system. Regular, moderately intense endurance exercise improves immune responses. This includes things like brisk walking, slow jogging, climbing stairs and dancing. The speed at which you perform these exercises is different for everyone because we’re all at different fitness levels.

But the idea is moderate-intensity exercise means you’re moving in a way that burns off three to six times as much energy every minute compared to just sitting and watching Netflix, reading or watching your plants grow.

How do we know we’re in the moderate zone? Here are four easy options to determine when you’re there:

1. Use the Talk Test

You can talk, but not sing, when you’re hitting the moderate-intensity zone.

2. Use Simple Math to Estimate

Aim to hit a target heart rate between 64 and 76 percent of your maximum heart rate. To estimate your max heart rate and moderate intensity based on your age, use this easy formula:

220 – your age = your maximum heart rate (beats per minute)

For example, I’m 38, so my moderate-intensity range would be between about 116 and 138 beats per minute, determined by:

• Max heart rate:  220 – 38 years = 182 beats per minute (bpm)
• Low-end of moderate intensity target: 182 x 0.64 = 116
• High-end of moderate intensity target: 182 x 0.76 = 138

3. Use the Borg Scale of Perceived Exertion Scale

Starting at 6 (the easiest) and going all the way up to 20 (sprinting all out like a tiger’s nipping on your new pair of Brooks), you’ll want to hit exertion cues (“fairly light” to “somewhat hard”) in the middle for moderate intensity endurance training.

So think more like booking it through the grocery store with your cart to avoid all of those people without masks to brisk-paced walking or slow jogging, but not something that puts you completely out of breath and unable to hold a conversation.

4. Use Technology

Some fitness devices are geared toward your intensity zones, so just make sure you calibrate your device correctly and you understand those zones to make sure you’re getting accurate readings.

Now, when it comes to exercise and immunity, less is known about intense exercise and strength training because this body of literature isn’t as established. After all, compared to other sciences, exercise science is relatively new and there’s a lot to learn.

But in general, there appears to be no harm in working out more intensely, in moderation, and tapping into the benefits of strength training when it comes to immune system health, explains Jeffrey A. Woods, PhD, professor of kinesiology and community health and associate dean for research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “Most studies show either no effect or a slight improvement in immunity. So continue to exercise. Do not let this pandemic stop you from gaining the benefits of exercise.”

That said, there are some basic rules to live by when trying to figure out how to exercise during a pandemic.

10 Rules on How to Exercise During a Pandemic

1. Don’t start an intense training regimen if you’re out of shape. Build up slowly.

Maybe you’re one of the millions laid off. Or working from home. Or waiting for your business to open back up. Whatever the case, you may find yourself with more free time at home.

Work out. But be moderate. I know, I know, selling the idea of moderation is hard. Americans love the idea of 15-day fixes and “instant results.” But one of the No. 1 mistakes in exercise is to go too hard too soon. Give your body time to adapt and lower your risk of burnout and injury by easing into it.

Remember, there are always peaks and valleys when it comes to motivation levels, so don’t try to sprint a marathon. Be in it for the long game. Shoot for 30 to 60 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise at least five days a week, but start with less if you have to. The main idea is to get moving. We know exercise releases endorphins and helps reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. Be inspired, start slowly and build up. 

2. Save group/contact sports for another time.

News alert. Now isn’t the time for neighborhood pickup games or sneaking into your neighbor’s basement for close-contact, live training with your Brazilian jiu-jitsu buds. Understanding that even asymptomatic people can spread COVID-19, and it can strike people of all ages, including people who are otherwise in good health, makes this one a no-brainer.

“It would be beneficial during these times to avoid modes of exercise that puts you in close quarters with large groups of people. This would include all forms of close-quarter martial arts training, including boxing, wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu,” says National Academy of Sports Medicine spokesperson Prentiss Rhodes,  CPT, CES, PES, CSCS. “There are plenty of solo drills that you can do to stay fit, such as shadow boxing, various rolls and ground mobility drills like shrimping and bridging.”

The idea is to minimize physical contact with others right now to help prevent overwhelming the healthcare system. Many people are doing this, and where they are, it’s working. It’s also important not to rush back into close-contact exercise with others outside of your household, especially given the history of the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was much deadlier in its second wave.

3. Avoid “slipstreams” when it comes to exercising outside

While getting outside to exercise can certainly be beneficial, experts say it’s best to stick to solo runs and rides … or stick to exercising in a pack of people from your own household for now — and away from high foot-traffic areas to reduce exposure.

If you’re wondering about getting together with Friends for group runs … well, this isn’t the time for that. While the patchwork of stay-at-home restrictions across different states may seem confusing, and most do allow for outdoor exercise, fitness experts say it is best overall to avoid getting together in groups with people from different households to workout together.

Recent preliminary research looking at “slipstreams,” the spray of fluid in the region behind a moving person, actually went viral. Using computer simulation, Belgian researchers’ early findings suggest that the often recommended six-foot physical distancing rule may not be enough to prevent virus spread from one person to another during outdoor exercise.

To be clear, the researchers released the “white paper” findings early before peer review and has faced some criticism for that. But it is an interesting point to consider. When we are running and cycling, do we leave a path of potential transmission behind and around us?

Here’s what Woods, also a spokesperson for the American Collage of Sports Medicine, says:

There is very little research on this to make firm conclusions at the moment, but the physics makes sense, so I would recommend staying out of slipstreams of people while exercising especially until we know more and the pandemic eases. If you are moving at higher speeds, the aerosolized viral particles spread in the air farther before dropping to the ground. If you are behind someone moving fast — running, cycling — or there is high winds, there is increased risk and distances between people should be increased.

This isn’t to incite fear, but the science is interesting and something to consider. The truth is, we just don’t know fully how this virus behaves yet. So I like the way Bicycling’s Selene Yeager put it:

In the end, the advice still stands: Stay home as much as you can. Wash your hands often. Ride and run solo, striving for as much physical distance as you can from others — but definitely at least six feet. Wear a [mask] if you’re going to be in highly trafficked areas. If you feel at all sick stay home.

While getting together with folks outside of your household may be safe if social distancing is maintained, the optics of it aren’t good right now. “I would not encourage this, as it is a slippery slope to break the rules,” Woods says, noting one exercise mistake he’s seeing is people coming into close contact with people outside of their own households.

5. Resist the urge to overtrain

“For people who exercise regularly, continue to do so, taking precautions,” Woods says. “If this changes your routine, make a new one. You may find it energizes your workouts, finding more creative ways to resistance train, using body weight with objects in the home.”

For people who may be immune compromised due to type 2 diabetes, living with cancer, high blood pressure and so on, Woods recommends starting out with light to moderate endurance activities like walking and light stretching and lifting, noting it is best to check in with a healthcare provider by phone. “But it is very important for high COVID-19 risk groups like this to practice good public health hygiene and social distancing and making sure they don’t overdo it.”

More intense, prolonged exercise is likely low-risk for people accustomed to it, but there is some evidence to suggest that highly intense or prolonged exercise can reduce immune function, especially if performed by someone not accustomed to it.

Woods says signs you’re doing too much, too soon and in overtraining mode include:

• Fatigue in response to normally easy exercise
• Mood disturbances
• Failure to recover from mild exercise
• Change in heart rate, including low heart rate
• Lack of refreshing sleep

Other indicators include increased soreness and joint pain, chronic fatigue or exhaustion, feeling more thirsty than usual, changes to your menstrual cycle and digestive issues.

6. Get the kids onboard

For moms like Ali Lockey, exercise has always been a bonding experience for her and 20-month-old daughter Brynnley. Ali remained active throughout pregnancy, and when she started training again after giving birth, Brynnley tagged along to her training sessions at the gym, where she quickly became known as her mom’s “personal trainer.”

With trips to the training studio on hold, Ali and Brynnley are staying fit with at-home workouts, tuning in remotely with their real trainer.

The key to staying consistent with at-home workouts with little ones around, Ali says, is keeping things light and fun. Don’t take yourself too seriously. And definitely use your child, when it’s safe, if you need a little added resistance!

If possible to do safely with restrictions in place, Rhodes stresses getting outside and exercising in open air. “The importance of this can’t be underestimated. Adding sun and fresh air to your workouts can have a positive effect on your mood.”

Another tip? “Think about unstructured play as a form of exercise,” he adds. “Playing games like freeze tag or an active game of animal charades with kids or keep-away with pets is a great way to sneak some cardio in while also bonding.”

7. Get creative

Instead of dropping much-needed cash on new workout gear that could be backordered for weeks, use what you’ve got. You likely already know about using soup cans as weights, but here are some ways to improvise with things likely in and around the house … and don’t worry, I’ll show you how to use them in a workout below.

• Suitcases
• Frisbees
• Paper plates
• Bags of dry pet food
• Rice bags
• Walls
• Countertops
• Jugs of milk/detergent/bulk cleaner
• Your kid or other humans living in your home
• Tennis balls
• Broom/mop handle
• Office chairs
• Barstools
• You! You didn’t think you’d get away without doing bodyweight exercises, did you?

8. Don’t forget other wellness necessities

While learning how to exercise during a pandemic is important, your recovery is just as important, says Rhodes. He recommends:

• Sleeping at least eight hours
• Eating a diet balanced for your specific needs, including plenty of fruits and vegetables because they provide many co-factors necessary to drive the chemical reactions in the body
• Drink plenty of fluids
• Practice mindfulness activities to reduce additional life stress

9. Use the ‘FITTE’ approach

While there is no one, “best” exercise plan, you should put a little planning into it for long-term success. Rhodes says a good approach would be to follow the FITTE principle which stands for: Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type and Enjoyment.

For example, you could use the principle in the following way. (And seriously, put this down on paper, and then schedule it into your calendar for a much higher shot at success.)

• Frequency: I will train two to three days per week.
• Intensity: I will train at a moderate exertion level or at 70 to 80 percent  of my 1 RM (repetition max)
• Time: 60 minutes
• Type: Barbells, bodyweight exercise, various cardio exercises
• Enjoyment: Circuit training, interval training, etc.

“Do not overlook the enjoyment part of the principle, as it will keep you motivated and on track with your routine,” Rhodes warns. “In short, if you don’t like running for cardio, don’t run. You’ll dislike it and eventually quit your program.”

When etching out your plan, however, opt for some strength training two to three days per week and cardio training three to five days per week.

10. Consider teaming up with a local exercise expert

Lastly, if you are looking for motivation and an expert to help you on your journey and have the means to do it, know that many certified personal trainers are taking their expertise online using Facetime, Zoom and other one-on-one digital connect points to help you hit your goals.

Look for trainers certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, American Collage of Sports Medicine or the National Strength and Conditioning Association. An advanced degree in exercise science, kinesiology or a related field is a major plus.

If funds are tight, consider teaming up with someone in a different household and splitting the training session while meeting during the same time slot virtually, if your trainer’s up for it.

Related: What Are the Benefits of Working Out in the Cold? (Plus Safety Tips)

In-Home Pandemic Workout Ideas

Ready to get to work? OK. Head over to that pile of laundry on your dining room table, dig out your favorite workout pants and hey, don’t worry if they’re covered in cat hair. Mine are, too. 😻Let’s go!

Corrective/Mobility Work Ideas

1. Self-Myofascial Release (SMR) Using a Rolling Pin

With many folks more sedentary than ever, it’s important to work some self-myofascial release into your fitness game plan to help work out muscle imbalances commonly seen in people sitting a lot or spending a lot of time behind a screen.

Foam roller exercises are great for this, but if you don’t have a roller handy, there are ways to improvise. If you have a rolling pin handy, it can be great tool to work through the calves, an area that tends to get tight on most folks and can impact your squat form and low back health.

Sitting on the floor, place one calf over the rolling pin. If you need extra weight, cross your other leg over the leg you’re rolling.

More around until you find a tender spot and stay there for 30 seconds. Avoid rolling quickly back and forth and instead keep pressure on the spot for at least 30 seconds. If you feel intense pain, pins and needles or burning, stop immediately.

SMR may not be appropriate if you’ve got uncontrolled high blood pressure, are pregnant, dealing with a new injury, osteoporosis or skin infection or cancer, so always check with your go-to healthcare expert if you’re dealing with any specific health issues.

2. SMR Using Tennis Balls 

For those trigger point “knots” — those nooks and crannies in the upper back, pecs and TFL muscles, I use Recovery Rounds by Rad Roller created by Yoga Medicine’s Tiffany Cruikshank. The same principle of applying pressure to the tender spot for 30 seconds to a minute before releasing works with with this ball-type recovery tool, too.

But even a tennis ball can get the job done and can bring great relief to the upper traps, which tend to get super tight due to irregular (and common) shallow chest breathing patterns and spending too much time slouched in front of a screen.

After you use SMR on a particular area, be sure to stretch it out with 30-second static stretch holds, too, before starting your workout.

3. Supported Fish Pose with Rolled Up Blanket

This is great restorative yoga pose for the end of a workout, especially one involving lots of push-ups. But it’s also nice to start out in supported fish for a few minutes to open up the typically tight chest muscles, including the pecs and intercostal rib muscles, and working through the thoracic spine area.

To set up, roll a blanket the long way and place your buttocks on the floor at the end of the cylinder-shaped, rolled-up blanket. Then, simply lie down, aligning your spine on the blanket, making sure your head is also supported and not hanging off the other end. Take the arms out to the side, resting on the floor with the palms up.

Or, another option here is to take the arms into a cactus or goal post position, with the back of the hands resting on the floor or a yoga block or pillow for support.

Equipment-Free Exercise Ideas

Get started by activating typically underactive muscles like the glutes and core. Start slowly and work up to get your muscles moving and heart rate elevated.

This all depends on your current fitness and mobility levels, so go at your own pace and listen to your body. Skip what doesn’t feel supportive in your body and work up to more reps and sets and duration as your fitness increases. Some in-home ideas include:

• Butt kicks
• Cat/cow pose
• Marching/running in place
• Jumping jacks and other burst training at home exercises
• Inch worms
• Plank exercise variations
• V-ups and other ab workout options
• Butt workout exercises like sumo squats, donkey kicks, hip raises and jump squats
• Chair exercises for seniors
• Dot drill: Place a few pieces of tape on your floor and hop or step to the different spots. Be sure it isn’t super strong tape, and don’t let it on for long, or it could strip the finish off of your flooring.

At-Home Strength Training Ideas

1. Using Frisbees/Paper Plates as Exercise Sliders

To work the hamstrings, you can place frisbees on paper plats under your heels, and keeping the core engaged and strong, bridge up, slide heels away from you and then pull them back in toward your butt.

In a new way to work the core, you can use your frisbees and/or paper plates starting in table top position (on hangs and knees with wrists stacked under shoulders and knees stacked under hips), and then slowly sliding forward, being sure not to overextend your lower back before returning to tabletop position.

For an adductor workout, try this slider exercise:

Start with one foot on a paper plate or frisbee.

Keeping the core strong and making sure knees aren’t caving over toes, slide the plate out to the side, press down and pull back to center.

2. Hamstring Curl with a Box

This 2-pound box of dehydrated shiitake mushrooms was the perfect light weight for this at-home hamstring curl.

Got an office chair on wheels? Another way to work the hamstring is simply sitting in your chair on an uncarpeted surfaced and using just your legs to pull yourself forward.

3. Dust Off Your Luggage

You may not be going on vacation anytime soon, but you can certainly use suitcases in your at-home workout routine. One easy way is to incorporate it into an upright row, as you see below:

Adding Extra Weight

If you exercise at home with a toddler, you know, if done safely, they can make a great way to add resistance to an exercise. My husband, Greg (also a trainer and certified strength and conditioning specialist through NSCA), and I only have three cats, so we rely on larger bags of dry cat food instead!

Try using these if you need a little added weight for things like planks and bridges. Just be prepared for your pets to swarm you, thinking it’s dinner time.

Cool Down/Breath Work

Finally, finish off your at-home workout with the following in order to flush lactic acid out of your muscles and settle back into your day with a tired but inspired body and mind!

• Repeat Supported Fish with a Blanket
• Stretch calves, TFL and pecs (hold each for 30 seconds)
• Gentle yoga for lymph flow to improve your immunity
• Crocodile for diaphragmatic breathing training and stress relief

The post How to Exercise During a Pandemic: Your COVID-19 Workout Questions Answered appeared first on Dr. Axe.

The Thighmaster, Nintendo Wii workouts, Tae Bo — every year comes with its own fitness trends. As 2018 draws to an end, what’s going to be hot in 2019? The American College of Sports Medicine has a few ideas.

As the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world, ACSM releases an annual list of what’s shaping up to be the hottest topics in the fitness world. Check out the the top fitness trends for next year — are you ready?

The Top Fitness Trends of 2019

1. Wearable Technology

Topping the list is wearable technology like fitness trackers, pedometers and heart rate monitors. The market for these products is booming and shows no signs of slowing down; in fact, sales hit more than $4 billion in 2017.

But if you’re buying wearable technology to lose weight, you might want to hold off. A recent study found that overweight participants in a randomized clinical trial who wore a wearable device actually lost less weight than another group who followed the same food and fitness plan without a fitness tracker. (1) This might be because people overeat after seeing exactly how much they exercised or moved that day or the exact opposite — someone who didn’t break a sweat one day might have gotten discouraged.

But that doesn’t mean technology isn’t useful for reaching your health goals. While I wouldn’t recommend wearing wireless devices beyond a short workout due to the exposure to electromagnetic radiation, using your smartphone to track your workouts or how much your eating can help you gauge patterns. (And quickly pivot from unhealthy ones.) If you’re a data geek, you can mine through days, weeks or even months of info to notice patterns in your habits.

One caveat: long-term use of wireless networks may have adverse effects on your health and increase the risk of things like oxidative stress, headaches and a decrease in cognition, while exposure to lights and technology right before bedtime can disrupt sleep patterns and decrease quality sleep. (2) Use your judgment on how much you rely on the devices and remove them — or at least put them into airplane mode— when it’s time to rest.

2. Group Training

Do you usually workout solo? 2019 could be the year to try group training.

Group training makes trying a new exercise, like spinning or boot camp, more fun. Having an experienced instructor can help keep you motivated and push you to go that extra bit. And bringing along a friend or making new ones in class has an effect, too. A little friendly competition can increase motivation to work harder, like in this exercise bike study. (3)

Participants either exercised alone, exercised with a partner or exercised with a partner and were told that test results were based on who was weakest. While the solo riders were on the bike for 10.6 minutes, the ones with a partner stayed on for 19.8 minutes. And the ones who were told their performance relied on their partner? They stayed on for double the amount of time, or 21.9 minutes. So grab a friend and get to class.

3. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

Most of us are short on time these days, so it’s no wonder that high-intensity interval training, or HIIT, is one of the major exercise trends of the coming year.

Instead of spending a long time exercising at a moderate pace, with HIIT, you’ll engage in short bursts of exercise at maximum or near-maximum heart rate. That means you’ll burn more calories in 20 to 30 minutes than you would in a longer session. The benefits of HIIT are extensive— it’s one of my favorite ways to workout— but one of the most interesting findings is how it helps build endurance, too.

One study shows that after just two months of HIIT, participants could bike twice as long as they could before the study — and maintain the same pace. (4) If you’re ready to try it out, these HIIT workouts I’ve designed are a good place to start.

4. Fitness Classes for Older Adults

ACSM notes that as “Baby Boomers age into retirement, many health and fitness professionals are taking the time to create age-appropriate fitness programs to keep older adults healthy and active.”

5. Bodyweight Training

Yep, the secret is out. Bodyweight training is one of next year’s top exercise trends, and for good reason. You don’t need fancy equipment, an expensive membership or very much room for these workouts, so bodyweight exercises sure are appealing and effective.

Bodyweight training helps increase lean muscle mass in individuals, especially when combined with aerobic activity. (5) Bodyweight training is also a great way to ease into strength training, particularly if you’re new to the gym. You can modify the exercises to your level as well — just look at these 32 push-up variations.

6. Employ Certified Fitness Professionals

Working with an fitness professional, like a personal trainer, can be a great way to get tailored guidance and accountability to reach your fitness goals. In fact, working with a trainer on a one-to-one basis can actually change an individual’s attitude toward fitness, helping to increase their physical activity. (6)

Because there are so many personal trainers out there, it’s critical to find someone who is certified in their area of expertise and understands your goals and motivations. Here’s a handy list of 10 things to consider before choosing a personal trainer. (ACSM recommends hiring health/fitness professionals certified through programs accredited by the NCCA.)

7. Yoga

Nama-say hey to another of 2019’s fitness trends. Yoga certainly isn’t new, but it’s just as popular as ever. And it should be because the benefits of yoga are vast. It helps to decrease anxiety and stress, improves sleep quality, allows blood to flow through the body better, helps digestion and so much more.

In fact, practicing yoga changes your brain. It increases the “chill-out” neurotransmitter in your brain, a chemical that’s in low supply for people who suffer from depression and anxiety. It also helps counteract chronic pain.

Ready to unroll your mat? This beginner’s guide to yoga can help you find a style that suits you best.

8. Personal Training

This trend isn’t the same as number four, educated and experienced fitness professionals. Instead, this exercise trend references the amount of college students studying kinesiology, an indication that they’re planning on going into health fields.

But you don’t have to be a college student to take on your own health “personal training.” Increasing health literacy is critical to preventing health problems and managing those that might arise. Being on this site is an awesome first step. Continuing to learn more about healthy food, treating ailments through natural remedies and improving your physical fitness through exercise is key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

9. Functional Fitness Training

Closely related to strength training, functional training also focuses on improving balance so you can move and feel better in your daily life. ACSM notes that functional fitness and special fitness programs for older adults are closely related. Thankfully, balance improves quickly when you commit to working it into your fitness routine.

And what you choose to do for fitness One study found that when participants thought of an exercise as pleasant, they had increased aerobic capacity and improved their physical health. (7) And another discovered that incorporating laughter into physical activity programs for older adults improved their mental health, aerobic endurance and confidence in their ability to exercise. (8)

10. Exercise is Medicine

My personal motto — and the one of this site— is that food is medicine. Well, it might be time to add to that, because exercise is medicine, too. This is one of the upcoming trends I’m most excited about.

The benefits of exercise go so much farther than how you look physically. From boosting happiness levels to reducing your risk of heart disease, exercising can help. Tossing and turning at night? Find yourself forgetting where you’ve placed your keys? That’s right, exercise is the answer. In fact, doctors are going so far as to prescribe exercise to patients in an effort to get them moving. (9)

Read Next: 20 Exercise Hacks to Sneak More Fitness Into Your Day

The post The Top 10 Fitness Trends of 2019 (#10 Is My Favorite) appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Do you live in Arlington, Va.? If so, it’s likely you’re living a pretty darn healthy lifestyle, according to the 11th annual American Fitness Index, which has named the Washington, D.C. suburb America’s fittest city.

In the past, the rankings, conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine and the Anthem Foundation, rated 50 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas. This year, however, the list expanded to the country’s 100 largest cities, using 33 health behaviors, chronic diseases and community infrastructure indicators for its rankings.

That means regions that were previously accounted for together, like Arlington and Washington, D.C,. were judged on their own merits this time around. While Arlington took the top spot by just half a point, Minneapolis followed closely behind. Washington, D.C. was third, and Madison, Wis., and Portland, Ore., rounded out the top five. At the bottom of the barrel? Toledo, Ohio; Detroit; Louisville, Ky., Indianapolis; and Oklahoma City.

It’s important to note that this index ranks community fitness, not individuals having strong personal fitness. That means the higher-ranking cities have more strengths and resources to support healthy living and fewer challenges that hinder it than the lower-ranking ones.

The Top 50 Fittest Cities

This year’s winner, Arlington, boasts the lowest smoking rate and highest reports of very good or excellent health when compared to the other 99 cities. It also ranked in the top 10 cities for 11 other indicators, including residents that live within a 10-minute walk to a park and number of farmers markets, dog parks and tennis courts. The small city also boasts 49 miles of paved multi-use trails, an indication that when walkability and bikeability are improved, residents take note and use them.

The 50 largest cities falling into the less fit, 51-to-100 spots include:

• Garland, TX
• New York, NY
• Hialeah, FL
• Irving, TX
• Richmond, VA
• Fort Worth, TX
• St. Louis, MO
• Glendale, AZ
• Charlotte, NC
• Houston, TX
• Scottsdale, AZ
• Riverside, CA
• Las Vegas, NV
• Jacksonville, FL
• Nashville, TN
• Bakersfield, CA
• Baton Rouge, LA
• San Antonio, TX
• Jersey City, NJ
• Lexington, KY
• Greensboro, NC
• Phoenix, AZ
• Henderson, NV
• Kansas City, MO
• Chesapeake, VA
• Chandler, AZ
• Corpus Christi, TX
• Baltimore, MD
• Columbus, OH
• El Paso, TX
• Mesa, AZ
• Philadelphia, PA
• Arlington, TX
• Fort Wayne, IN
• Stockton, CA
• Newark, NJ
• Lubbock, TX
• Memphis, TN
• Laredo, TX
• Winston-Salem, NC
• Tulsa, OK
• North Las Vegas, NV
• Gilbert, AZ
• Fresno, CA
• Wichita, KS
• Toledo, OH
• Detroit, MI
• Louisville, KY
• Indianapolis, IN
• Oklahoma City, OK

Overall, there were positive trends throughout the country in the last year, including:

•  77.5 percent of adults in all 100 cities were previously active in the previous month
• 65.4 percent of residents in all cities got at least 7 hours of sleep each night

But there’s still improvements to be had:

• Only 30 percent of adults reported eating at least two servings of fruit each day; only 18 percent ate three or more vegetable servings a day
• 35 percent of residents in all cities reported their mental health wasn’t good in the last 30 days

Rankings are based on factors such as farmers markets per capita, park units per capita, level of state requirement for physical education classes, death rate for diabetes, the percentage of residents who are obese and percentage of residents currently smoking.

5 Ways to Get Fit No Matter Where You Live

Did your area rank low on the index? While access to certain amenities, like parks and a variety of gyms, might not be as prevalent, you can still get fit and feel great no matter where you live.

1. Build fitness into your day. I love using exercise hacks to add more physical activity into my routine.

2. Work out on a budget. Getting in shape doesn’t have to mean shelling out big bucks. Aside from outdoor workouts like walking, running or hiking, explore community fitness centers, quality exercise videos and even YouTube workouts.

3. Make every minute count. Forget spending hours exercising. High intensity interval training, or HIIT, workouts are designed for to give it all you’ve got for a few short bouts followed by a brief recovery period. These workouts help you burn fat even after you’ve finished exercising, revving your metabolism going in high gear. Try this free 12-minute Burstfit video. You can squeeze it in during a busy day.

4. Incorporate small changes. You don’t need to overhaul your entire lifestyle in a day. Choose one aspect of your life that you’d like to work on each week, like packing more lunches from home or drinking more water, and give yourself time to adjust to the changes. Eventually, all those new habits will lead to an overall happier, healthier you.

5. Meet friends for workouts. Instead of catching up over dinner and drinks, why not meet up for a yoga class or go on a hike? Not only will you probably save money, but you’ll enjoy quality time and a workout.

Final Thoughts on Fittest Cities

• The American College of Sports Medicine and the Anthem Foundation teamed up to rank the fitness levels of the top 100 largest cities in America in its American Fitness Index.
• To create the index that measures community health, analysts look at 33 health behaviors, chronic diseases and community infrastructure data in the 100 largest cities in the U.S.
• Higher-ranking cities invest more resources into healthy living, including things like walking paths and bike lanes.
• This year, Arlington, Va., took the No. 1 spot on the list.

Read Next: 49 Secrets to Get Healthy & Lose Weight

The post The 2018 Top 50 Fittest Cities in the U.S. appeared first on Dr. Axe.

There’s no doubt about it, drinking enough water to stay hydrated is important for many reasons — such as preventing fatigue, regulating blood pressure and even controlling hunger. But can you have too much water?

The answer is yes, you definitely can. In fact, water intoxication (a severe form of hyponatremia) is considered to be a life-threatening emergency that must be diagnosed and treated promptly to prevent serious complications. Below we’ll look at the dangers associated with drinking too much water, plus how much water should actually be consumed daily for optimal hydration.

What Is Water Intoxication?

The definition of water intoxication is: “A lowered blood concentration of sodium (hyponatremia) that occurs due to the consumption of excess water without adequate replacement of sodium.” (1)

Water intoxication is referred to in a few different ways, including: hyponatremia, water poisoning, hyperhydration, or excessive water intake. All of these terms describe the same serious health condition that is caused by an electrolyte imbalance — specifically having too much water (H2O) in the blood in relation to sodium.

Hyponatremia means low sodium levels in the blood (the term, which has Latin and Greek roots, literally means “insufficient salt in the blood”). Water intoxication, or hyponatremia, is the opposite of hypernatremia, the condition that occurs due to dehydration (low levels of body water).

The Causes of Water Intoxication:

Because it’s preventable, you might be wondering in what types of situations is water intoxication most likely to occur? Studies have found that this condition commonly develops in hospitalized patients and those with mental disturbances, although it can also affect people who are otherwise healthy. Water intoxication has been described in several different clinical situations:

• Compulsive water drinking is known as psychogenic polydipsia. This is most often associated with either mental illness or mental handicaps.
• Water intoxication is commonly associated with a combination of drinking lots of fluids and also having increased secretion of vasopression (also called antidiuretic hormone), which causes the kidneys hold onto water.
• Young people who are in good health, such as athletes or army recruits, might develop hyponatremia (overhydration) following heat-related injuries. They may drink a high volume of water to try to prevent dehydration, but this can backfire if they consume far too much. One study investigating hyponatremia in otherwise-healthy army recruits found that 77 percent of hyponatremia cases occurred in the first four weeks of training, and that most of the recruits who were affected had exceeded drinking two quarts of water per hour. (2) The authors concluded that “hyponatremia resulted from too aggressive fluid replacement practices for soldiers in training status. The fluid replacement policy was revised with consideration given to both climatic heat stress and physical activity levels.”
• Accidental water intoxication can sometimes occur due to abnormal renal failure/kidney dysfunction, diabetes insipidus or gastroenteritis ( inflammation of the lining of the intestines caused by a virus, bacteria or parasites). In these situations hyponatremia is typically treated with gastric lavage, or stomach pumping/gastric irrigation. (3)
• Iatrogenic causes of water intoxication are due to complications that occur when illnesses are treated by medical intervention, such as the use of intravenous fluids or electrolytes, elemental nutrition, nasogastric tube feeding, or when taking certain neurological/psychiatric medications.  This is unlikely to affect people who have normal kidney function and are generally healthy, but it’s possible if they experience changes in antidiuretic hormone secretion, since this causes fluid accumulation.
• In some cases, water intoxication has occurred due to “water-drinking contests” that lead people to consume large amounts of water despite becoming ill while they do it.
• When people take the illegal drug called MDMA (or “ecstasy”) they put themselves at risk for electrolyte imbalance because the the drug makes them feel very hot, causes increased perspiration and increases thirst, while also causing more sodium to be lost via urine and sweat. This can lead to drinking large amounts of water/fluids, which in some cases may led to water intoxication. (4)
• In rare cases, forced water intoxication has been recognized as a form of child abuse, which commonly leads to brain damage and can be fatal.

Signs & Symptom of Water Intoxication

• Headaches, confusion and disorientation.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Impaired mental state and psychotic symptoms, such as experiencing psychosis, delirium, inappropriate behavior, delusions and hallucinations. Sometimes these symptoms can also contribute to water intoxication because the person doesn’t realize what is happening to them and doesn’t seek help.
• Muscle weakness, cramping, twitching, aches and fatigue.
• Difficulty breathing.
• Frequent urination.
• Changes in blood pressure and irregular heartbeats.
• Severe drowsiness, seizures, respiratory arrest, brain stem herniation, and coma.

Because water intoxication messes with normal neurological functions and nerve signaling, it can manifest as a psychotic illness in its early stages that can go unrecognized by doctors. For example, if someone is admitted to the emergency room for water intoxication medical providers might mistake the patient’s symptoms for a high fever, seizure, or mental disorder such as chronic paranoid schizophrenia.
Water intoxication doesn’t just affect adults; it can also occur in babies, especially those under 9 months old, and in children. Symptoms of water intoxication in babies or children can include: crying, changes in behavior, vomiting, twitching or shaking, irregular breathing, and, in severe cases, seizures, coma, brain damage and death.

Dangers of Water Intoxication

Why, exactly, is drinking too much water dangerous?

Some of the negative health impacts associated with water intoxication include:

• Developing dangerously low sodium levels due to water flushing too much sodium from the body. Serum sodium concentration can fall to below 110–120 mmol/liter, when the normal serum reference range is about 132–144 mmol/liter. In severe cases sodium might even fall to 90–105 mmol/liter, which can cause a number of serious symptoms and potentially be deadly.
• The kidneys becoming very stressed due to overhydration because they are responsible for regulating fluid levels. When you consume too much water in a short period of time the kidneys struggle to balance electrolytes in the blood, causing the body to become “waterlogged.”
• Experiencing neurological impairment due to the movement of water into the brain cells, in response to the fall in extracellular osmolality. Hyponatremia causes cells to swell, and in the brain this swelling increases intracranial pressure (ICP) and cerebral edema. Unlike most other cells in the body, brain cells have very little room to swell and expand inside the skull, so even slight swelling can be dangerous. Swollen brain cells can cause central nervous system dysfunction, which is what causes seizures, brain damage, coma or death.
• Damage to the heart valves, including left ventricular hypertrophy.
• Fluid buildup in the stomach and abdominal organs.
• Raised blood cortisol levels, due to the body experiencing a strong stress response.

Can water intoxication cause death — and, if so, how much water does it take to kill you?

While staying hydrated is important, there’s also such a thing as a fatal water overdose. In severe cases, hyponatraemia that is not treated can lead to seizures, coma and death. This is why experts say that early detection is crucial for preventing severe hyponatremia. How severe water intoxication becomes depends on how much and how quickly water was consumed, and the rate at which the sodium concentration in the blood falls. For water intoxication symptoms to be experienced someone would have to drink more than five cups of water per hour.

How Much Water Is Too Much?

Several factors can affect how well someone is able to excrete (remove) excess water from their body in order to prevent hyponatremia/water intoxication. For example, as mentioned above, being under a lot of stress and/or having existing medical conditions both take a toll on the kidneys and nervous system, which can increase the likelihood that water intoxication symptoms might occur.

So how much water is too much to drink within a short period?

• • When someone has normal/healthy kidneys they should be able to excrete about 800 milliliters to 1 liter of fluid each hour. This is equal to about 3.3 to 4.2 cups, 0.21 to 0.26 gallons, or about 0.84 to 1.04 quarts per hour.
  • Drinking more than this amount will cause an imbalance of electrolytes and likely some early symptoms associated with hyponatremia. Also remember that if someone is heavily exercising (such as running a marathon or training or a sport) while also drinking lots of water, they will hold onto even more water because their body is experiencing a stress response.
  • Water intoxication is not likely to happen unless someone drinks a large volume of water within a short period of time (one or two hours). Water intoxication can be prevented if a person’s intake of water does not grossly exceed their water losses via urine or sweat.
  • In one case study, water intoxication was the cause of a 64-year-old woman dying due to severe hyponatremia. She had drank 30–40 glasses of water within several hours before going to sleep. Because she was experiencing delusions, she kept drinking more and more water even though she was vomiting and not feeling well. (6)

• In 2014, The Daily Mail reported that a 17-year-old high school football player died from water intoxication after drinking four gallons of fluids to stop cramps during practice. (7)
• A 2002 investigation of several military cases of water intoxication and three deaths that have occurred as a result of overhydration and cerebral edema found that all  cases were associated with more than five liters (usually 10-20 L) of water being consumed during a period of a few hours. (8)
• In 2007, Scientific America published an article that mentioned a 28-year-old women who died after competing in a water-drinking contest in which she consumed an estimated six liters of water in three hours. (9) The same article pointed out a 2005 study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine that states “one sixth of marathon runners develop some degree of hyponatremia, or dilution of the blood caused by drinking too much water.”

Treatment for hyponatremia and water intoxication comes down to regulating fluid levels in the body, specifically raising sodium levels. Intake and excretion of salt versus water must be balanced. Keep in mind that while sodium/salt might have earned a bad reputation — mostly because it’s found in highest concentrations in processed foods — sodium is actually an essential nutrient. For example, some of the roles that sodium has include:

• Helping to regulate the amount of water in and around your cells.
• Controlling blood volume.
• Regulating blood pressure.
• Allowing your muscles and nerves to work properly.

 When it does occur, water intoxication treatment involves:

• Gastric lavage, or stomach pumping/gastric irrigation.
• Sodium correction therapy.
• Use of intravenous electrolytes.
• Diuretics to increase urination and excess blood volume.
• Vasopressin receptor antagonists.

The Importance of Hydration

Even though drinking too much water and experiencing overhydration can be very dangerous, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t drink water regularly throughout the day. Dehydration (or hypernatremia) causes its own set of health problems. In fact, many dehydration symptoms are similar to the symptoms of water intoxication.

Water (H2O) makes up more than 60 percent of the human body, so it’s no surprise that we need a steady supply of water to function optimally. (10) Everyday we lose water through a combination of urine, defecation/bowel movements, sweat and exhaled breath. Staying hydrated is important because it helps prevent symptoms like:

• Diarrhea
• Dizziness and fainting
• Brain-dog and disorientation
• Edema, bloating, constipation and fluid retention
• Weakness and fatigue
• Muscle spasms and cramps
• Bad moods or mood swings
• High blood pressure
• Cravings and appetite changes

Who is most likely to suffer from dehydration?

People who should be especially careful to drink enough water/fluids (but not too much) are:

• Athletes, such as endurance athletes like marathons runners
• Anyone who exercises for an extended period of time (more than 60–90 minutes), especially if they are exercising or competing in a humid, hot climate
• People who eat a diet high in salt, or those who don’t drink enough water
• Elderly people, who might not notice sensations associated with being thirsty
• People recovering from illnesses such as a stomach virus or the flu that causes diarrhea
• Anyone recovering from surgery
• Infants, babies and young children who might not drink enough fluids if not given to them

How to Stay Hydrated Without Overhydrating

How much water is safe to drink at a time? To put this another way, how much water is too much to drink in one hour?

>To prevent hyponatremia from developing and potentially progressing to water intoxication, it’s important to:

• Even during times of heavy sweating and exercise, limit fluid intake to no more 1 to 1.5 liters per hour (about 4–5 cups).
• Drink according to your thirst. If you’re not thirsty at all, don’t force yourself to down water or fluids.
• Aim to balance what you’re drinking with what you’re sweating. Drink the right amount of water in proportion to how much sodium you’re consuming and how much water you’re losing (through sweat, urine, etc.). Remember that water is not the only fluid that can cause an electrolyte imbalance: herbal tea, sports drinks, juice, etc. can also deplete sodium levels.
• Eat a balanced diet that includes water-rich foods and also some sources of real sea salt.
• Treat any underlying health conditions like intestinal inflammation, diabetes, kidney disease or renal failure.
• Get help for mental disorders that might put you at risk.
• Take care of your adrenal glands and normalize cortisol levels.

How much water should you drink a day?

In regards to how much water to drink daily, the most common advice is to drink eight, eight-ounce glasses of water per day. However, this is just a general recommendation and not necessarily the best amount for every person. In fact, according to a 2002 review published in the American Journal of Physiology —Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, there isn’t much scientific evidence to support drinking this amount. (11)

Each person is a bit different in terms of how much water they need, but overall it’s best to aim for about six to seven glasses or potentially more per day (8 ounces per glass). You might need less if you eat a water-rich diet, such as lots of fruit, salads and smoothies. And you might need more if you exercise frequently, live in a hot climate, are ill, or eat a salty diet. Rather than counting glasses of water, pay attention to how you feel. A good way to know if you’re drinking the right amount of water each day is to pay attention to the color of your urine: you want your urine to normally be a pale-to-medium yellow color, as opposed to clear or very dark yellow/orange.

In terms of the best water to drink, I recommend using a water filter at home rather than drinking contaminated tap water or bottled water. Why? A three-year study conducted by the Environmental Working Group found 316 chemicals can be found in tap water throughout the U.S! Using an at-home filter is your best bet because this helps remove toxins that might be lingering in the water supply. There are several different types of water filters, including:

• Pitcher
• Faucet-mount
• Faucet-integration
• Countertop filter
• Under-sink filter
• Whole-house water filter

Choose the option that works best with your family’s lifestyle and that will be easiest to use consistently.

Proper Hydration In Babies & Children:

Parents might think it’s a good idea to give their young children water and other fluids to prevent dehydration, but when a baby is breast-feeding the mother’s breast milk or formula actually provides all the fluid healthy babies need. The Johns Hopkins Children’s Center advises parents with babies younger than 6 months old to never give their babies extra water to drink. If babies are thirsty, they need to drink more breast milk or formula. (12)

According to James P. Keating, MD, the retired medical director of the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Diagnostic Center, if a baby seems to need additional water then parents should “limit the child’s intake to two to three ounces at a time, and water should be offered only after the baby has satisfied his hunger with breast-feeding or formula.” (13) Older babies can be given small amount of water at times to help prevent constipation or if they are in very hot weather, but it’s usually best for parents to discuss this with their pediatrician.

Children up to about 8 years old should get water from hydrating foods in their diet (like fruits and veggies) or drink the equivalent of about five to seven glasses of water per day (eight ounces per glass). (14) Water or fresh-squeezed juice in small amounts is the best thing for children to drink when they are thirsty, rather than sugary fruit drinks, soft drinks, sports drinks, iced tea and flavored beverages.

Stats/Facts on Water Intoxication

• Surveys have found that hyponatremia develops in 15–30 percent of all patients during hospital stays. Not all cases of hyponatremia will lead to water intoxication but a small percentage will.
• A 2002 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that investigated hyponatremia in Boston marathon runners stated: “Hyponatremia has emerged as an important cause of race-related death and life-threatening illness among marathon runners.” (15) The study found that 13 percent of runners finished the race with hyponatremia, while 0.6 percent had critical hyponatremia (sodium levels of 120 mmol per liter or less). The analysis showed that hyponatremia was associated with “substantial weight gain during the race, consumption of more than 3 liters of fluids during the race, consumption of fluids every mile, a racing time of >4:00 hours, female sex, and low body-mass index.” The study also found that hyponatremia was just as likely to occur in runners who chose sports drinks as those who chose water.
• It is difficult to say just how many water intoxication deaths occur per year, but the number is believed to be small (under 10 per year in the United States).

Precautions Regarding Water Intoxication

If you suspect that you or someone else is experiencing water intoxication, then visit the emergency room for help right away. Look out for sudden symptoms of an electrolyte balance like confusion and dizziness, especially after high-intensity activities or if you have conditions like low blood pressure and/or diabetes. Make sure you drink the proper amount of water during a hospital stay, after surgery, when partaking in a marathon/long-distance race, or during a bout of dehydration or illness (like a fever). 

Final Thoughts on Water Intoxication

• Water intoxication is a severe form of hyponatremia, an electrolyte imbalance caused by too little sodium in the body in proportion to water.
• Water intoxication is most likely to occur when someone consumes more than 1.5 liters of water within an hour, especially if they are exercising intensely, have renal failure, kidney damage, diabetes, or a mental condition that affects their judgement.
• Symptoms of water intoxication can include confusion, disorientation, nausea, vomiting, headaches and, in severe cases, brain damage due to swelling, seizures, coma and, potentially, death.
• Hydration is important, but to prevent water intoxication and hyponatremia you should make sure to drink the right amount of water in proportion to how much sodium you’re losing, to manage underlying health conditions, eat a balanced diet, and pay attention to your thirst.

Read Next: Diabetes Insipidus: Causes & Symptoms + 5 Natural Treatments

The post Water Intoxication: How Much Water Is Too Much? appeared first on Dr. Axe.

I’m not prone to sounding the alarm, but we’re staring at an epidemic when it comes to teenagers and exercise. A study published in the January 2016 issue of Pediatrics, examining 549 teenagers who were equipped with GPS devices to track their movements (or lack thereof), the average amount of activity was only 39.4 minutes per day! (1)

Unfortunately, this data actually explains some of the depressing statistics we’ve seen develop over the last couple of decades. As reported by the Centers for Disease Control, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Yep, it starts early, as kids off to a bad start with their Standard American Diet and lack of exercise tend to not recover.

In fact, the percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the U.S. who were obese increased from 7 percent in 1980 to nearly 18 percent in 2012. And it’s even worse among teenagers, as the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5 percent to nearly 21 percent over the same period. One in five is bad, but what about one in three? Yes, in 2012, more than 33 percent of children and adolescents were overweight or obese. (2)

So, what’s going on here? Why is this happening? Let’s take a dive into this disturbing study and then discuss some ways for teenagers to reverse these trends!

Teenagers Are Less Active Than Ever … and Why

When the New York Times looked at this study, it declared, “Teenagers Aren’t Getting Enough Exercise at School, or Anywhere.” (3) Indeed, taking a cross-section of adolescents (ages 12 to 16) from two large U.S. regions, the researchers examined accelerometers and GPS devices to assess 1) minutes spent and 2) proportion of time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Roughly, the ratio of girls to boys was even, and 31.3 percent were nonwhite or Hispanic.

The researchers hoped to find out where exactly teenagers were getting their activity, such as at school, home or another location. The results would then possibly reveal trouble spots, or opportunities, for teens to increase their activities plus simply make their different environments more suitable for exercise like cardio workouts.

The results were telling. While teenagers spent 42 percent of their days at school, only 5 percent of their time at school was spent being active. Less surprising was that teens were more active when near their schools or homes, but when inside their actual homes, their activity shrunk to very low levels. Also, it was found that girls were less active than boys — 2.6 to 5.5 fewer minutes per day of MVPA than boys in all locations except near school.

The researchers made several conclusions:

Although a majority of adolescents’ physical activity occurred at school, the low proportion of active time relative to the large amount of time spent at school suggests potential for increasing school-based activity. Increasing time spent in the neighborhood appears promising for increasing overall physical activity, because a high proportion of neighborhood time was active.

While I agree with these conclusions, it’s worthwhile to dig deeper into why such inactivity is happening. In fact, this study confirms what many parents already feared: There are simply too many factors that have the inevitable result of less activity for their teenagers. Like what, you ask? Well, here are just a few of of the factors:

1. The peeling back of gym classes

In a 2013 report by Harvard University’s School of Public Health, almost seven in 10 parents say their children’s schools do not provide daily physical education, even though experts recommend 150 to 225 minutes per school week. (4)

2. An overemphasis on standardized testing

Why has this occurred? Look no further than the fact that most communities consider a school staff to be successful if there’s impressive student performance on standardized achievement tests. (5)

3. Burdensome schedules and less sleep

Teenagers on honor tracks and/or involved with after-school activities or jobs simply burn the candle, and there is growing evidence that homework has increased for all students regardless of academic level. No wonder teens are always tired, eh? But also no wonder why they often don’t have the motivation or energy to exercise.

4. Early school days interfere with natural sleep cycles

For most teenagers, their school days get started before 8 a.m. despite evidence showing that teenagers naturally stay up late and should be sleeping at that hour. In fact, the PBS show “Frontline” took a deep look into this subject on a show entitled “Inside the Teenage Brain”:

With most high schools in the U.S. starting around 7:20 a.m. and with many teens going to bed between 11 and 12 p.m., sleep researchers worry that teenagers are suffering an epidemic that is largely hidden. Since students are often driving to school, to sporting events, and home from late-night parties, this sleep debt holds huge risks. Many high school students know of someone, often a high-achieving kid, who on the drive back from a sporting event or dance simply fell asleep at the wheel. On a less dramatic note, there are literally millions of adolescents who feel despondent, get poor marks, or are too tired to join high-school teams all because they are getting too little sleep. Because of their deep concern about these issues, sleep researchers are pushing for later school start times and are trying to introduce sleep issues into the high school curriculum. (6)

Recommendations for Getting Your Teen More Active

While the data is troubling and the current system seems almost set up for teenagers to fail physically (even if they succeed academically), there are some innovative ways for teenagers to get active again. How much? Well, the CDC recommends at least 60 minutes of activity a day for teenagers, but only one in 10 (!) of adolescents gets that much at present (7).

1. Accept, even grudgingly, the current schedule … and get more sleep!

While some forward-thinking school districts have delayed school start time for their teenagers, the majority will not budge. Since that’s the case, teenagers simply need to adjust their schedules to try and get at least eight hours a night of sleep. For the teen who seemingly can’t sleep, that might mean a bedtime of 10 p.m. during the school week.

2. Build more natural activity into the school day

Use a fitness tracker to find out how much you’re moving each day, and then make an effort to increase the number of steps you take each day. Take a walk around your neighborhood when you get home from school and the sun is still out. Make more of an effort to walk around school. Go up and down the stairs a lot. Don’t always sit, such as in the library, but instead stand when you’re studying or reading occasionally.

Those are just some exercise hacks to get more movement into your day.

3. Make your home a more active place

Far too many teens don’t help around the house. Instead, help out in the kitchen, do the dishes, work in the yard for 15 minutes, stand up when you study, do some BurstFit training at home or a short HIIT workout, etc.

4. Stop allowing the smartphone to eat up chunks of time

One of the big reasons for teenagers’ lack of sleep and less efficient study is a phenomenon that most age groups actually suffer from but which teenagers lead the pack: smartphone addiction, aka nomophobia. There are five steps I recommend in my article about smartphone addiction that I highly recommend you take to end this destruction addiction. I’m not saying get rid of the smartphone, but it should play a much smaller role in the teenager life.

5. Eat a better diet

Again, lack of energy is a major reason why teen’s aren’t moving much, as while crammed schedules and not enough sleep partly explain this epidemic, the other variable is an overdependence on processed foods, sodas and grains amid very little consumption of organic vegetables, free-range and antibiotic-free meats, probiotic foods and the like. The teen and his or her parent needs to carefully consider giving up the nutritionally bankrupt school meals and bring healthy school lunches to school instead, as well as perhaps give up gluten or grain altogether.

6. Rule out an eating disorder

Lastly, teens, especially girls, can succumb to eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa in a dangerous and foolhardy attempt to become thinner, or as a result of feeling intense anxiety. There are both warning signs to heed but also several natural ways to deal with this disorder … and heal.

Read Next: 16 Ways to Bust Stress

The post Teenagers and Exercise: It Just Isn’t Happening + What to Do About It appeared first on Dr. Axe.

While regular exercise has a ton of proven benefits — lowering stress levels, giving you more energy, better managing your weight and improving heart health — this doesn’t mean that overtraining can’t cause the opposite types of effects. Despite what some people assume, due to the chronic stress it places on the body, the risks of overtraining are just as great as doing no exercise at all.

Not giving your body and hormones the time to adjust to exercise can cause injuries, mood problems, negative changes in your metabolism and “burnout” within a couple of months’ time. While too much exercise alone might not be the sole reason for negative symptoms in some people, overtraining combined with stress from other factors like imbalanced hormones, a poor diet, and a lack of rest or sleep can all accumulate to serious bodily damage.

When someone experiences symptoms of overtraining, it’s essentially their body letting them know that the total amount of stress on the athlete’s body is exceeding their capacity to recover and cope. To be a long-term health asset, the type of exercise you do should make you happier and more energetic, not the opposite. If you’re engaged in an exercise that’s always leaving you too tired, feels forced and doesn’t increase your love of life, you’re truly not doing yourself any favor.

While exercise threshold differs from person to person, most experts recommend sticking to about half-hour to one hour per day, most days of the week, but not everyday, to get the most benefits from exercise. It’s important to rest between workouts and take at least one full rest day every week — and sometimes even more like 2–3 depending on your goals and level of exercise intensity.

How Do You Know If You’re Overtraining?

The negative effects of overexercising can begin cropping up for people at different points, so it isn’t easy to pinpoint what the upper limit for you or anybody else might be. In order to help you prevent yourself from doing damage, it helps to know what happens to the body when you’re under too much physical stress, this way you can recognize the warning signs.

Here are several signs of overtraining that’ll tell you when you’re pushing yourself a bit too far:

• Changes in your heart rate
• Trouble sleeping
• Increased soreness
• Joint pain
• Moodiness, anxiety or depression
• Chronic fatigue or exhaustion
• Changes in your appetite
• Feeling more thirsty than usual
• Digestion issues
• Irregular periods or changes to your menstrual cycle

If you’ve just started a workout routine and notice some soreness or changes in your appetite, weight or sleep schedule, this likely isn’t something to be too concerned over. But if you’ve been exercising for a while and have slowly increased the hours you spend training each week, you’ll want to keep an eye out for developing symptoms.

Every now and then, such as in preparation for a marathon or sporting event, brief periods of overtraining can be a part of healthy regime and shouldn’t result in too much damage if done for a short period of time. However, chronically overtraining is capable of causing serious health problems, some that can take years to reverse and overcome.

The worst example of overtraining is rhabdomyolysis, a complex condition involving the rapid breakdown of skeletal muscle that causes muscle proteins and other muscle constituents to leak outside of cells and into the bloodstream.

Related: The Fitness Tracker: Tech that Boosts Your Weight Loss Efforts

8 Ways Overtraining Hurts You

1. Raises Cortisol Levels and Might Make You Gain Weight!

People battling weight gain are repeatedly told that they simply need to exercise more and cut calories, but in reality this is damaging to the metabolism and might totally backfire. Compared to shorter, but more intense workouts (like high-intensity interval training or HIIT workouts), doing many hours of steady-state exercise (like running) can actually result in lower metabolic and fat-burning potential.

Because of the way exercise impacts your hormonal status, fat metabolism can actually decrease with excessive, intense cardio exercise because it elevates cortisol levels, which winds up impairing insulin sensitivity. (1) High cortisol levels are associated with fat-storing, as is being resistant to insulin that controls blood sugar. (2) Weight loss potential can also decrease fat-burning by convincing your body that it is “starving,” which means you’re unknowingly going to hold onto every precious calorie you eat in order to ensure survival.

If you live in a calorie deficit because your exercise level is too high and food intake is too low (especially if you are stressed out on top of that), your body gets the message that it must slow down all functioning to conserve energy. You can wind up entering a catabolic state that causes changes in your level of hunger and thirst — in fact, dehydration and intense cravings for sugar or salt are associated with overexerting yourself.

Another important factor is this: research shows that without even knowing it, most people end up eating more when exercising often in order to make up for the calories they burned. In that sense, doing 30 minutes of cardio may be better for weight loss than doing 60 minutes of cardio! That’s to say if you wind up feeling fatigued and having an out-of-control appetite due to running yourself into ground, taking it easy and eating a nutrient-dense diet with more calories might be exactly what you need to recover.

2. Can Lead to Adrenal Fatigue or “Insufficiency”

While training in moderation undoubtedly has positive effects on hormonal health, studies show there’s a “point of diminishing returns.” Too much exercise without proper rest can cause chronic stress and is linked to problems in the adrenal gland. (3) A severe type of adrenal fatigue from overtraining called “Overtraining Syndrome” (OS) is capable of causing adrenal insufficiency, in which the adrenal glands become so depleted that they stop producing enough of the crucial “stress hormones,” including cortisol and types of adrenaline.

The Department of Kinesiology at Texas A&M University describes overtraining syndrome as “chronic fatigue, burnout and staleness, where an imbalance between training/competition, versus recovery occurs.” The result? Ongoing fatigue, loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, nutrient deficiencies and even the need for hormone replacement therapy is a type of serious condition called Addison’s Disease develops.

3. Causes Changes in Moods and Sleep Patterns

Just like with adrenal insufficiency and overtraining syndrome, the glands that normally control the production of hormones responsible for keeping your mood perky begin to dysfunction when your body is under too much stress. A lot of studies show dysfunction of the adrenal axis in overtrained and stressed athletes, sometimes to the point of suffering from insomnia, lack of motivation, irritability, anxiety or depression.

Experiencing a combination of nervous and endocrine (hormone) system changes can keep you up at night and lead to insomnia, or wake up you up very early in the morning and prevent your from falling back asleep — which leaves you groggy and unable to focus the following day.

And because your brain has a hard time producing enough “happy hormones” to complete with cortisol levels that are skyrocketing, overexercising is associated with moodiness, fatigue and even depressive symptoms like suicidality. (4) A 2013 study conducted by the Department of Psychiatry at Miami University found that among four different patient populations, overtraining coincided with increased depression symptoms and suicidal behaviors related to growing pain insensitivity.

4. Can Negatively Impact Libido, Menstrual Cycles and Fertility

Too much exercise can negatively impact production of sex hormones (like testosterone and estrogen) associated with libido, fertility and reproductive health. However, unfortunately millions of men and women, particularly young women, overdo it every day. Termed the “Female Athletic Triad,” this complex condition in females caused by overtraining and eating too few calories can result in menstrual dysfunction, low energy and decreased bone mineral density. (4)

You don’t need to be a professional athlete to experience these effects — any woman who overtaxes their body too often can develop this condition.

Not to say that overtraining doesn’t have risks for men too, but women’s bodies appear to be especially sensitive to high levels of stress, exhaustion and operating in a calorie-deficit. When your body gets the signal that it’s being worked too hard, it causes your stress hormones to fire at a higher rate, which can lead to symptoms similar to PMS, including acne, insomnia, low libido, food cravings like sugar addiction, and other hormone malfunctions.

5. Leads to Muscle Wasting and Decreased Strength

Ever hear that you don’t actually grow stronger during your workouts, but instead during the time afterwards when you’re recovering and sleeping? Your muscle tissues can’t rebuild themselves fast enough when you don’t give yourself enough rest in between workouts.

The process of muscle recovery and rebuilding broken-down muscle tissue can take several days, so if you exhaust already fatigued muscles before they’re ready, you won’t see gains in terms of strength and more endurance. Since you’ll be running on a low energy supply, instead your body might start burning your own hard-earned muscle for fuel.

6. Raises Inflammation and Lowers Immunity

Overtraining can increase oxidative stress and damage, which leads to aging and illness. When your hormone levels abnormally fluctuate and your joints and muscle tissue become overly fatigued, you risk increasing inflammation — which results in illness, swelling and pain that won’t seem to go away easily. Being overly fatigued can depress the immune system largely by raising cortisol levels and inflaming the body. (5)

Your immune system stops functioning properly when in “starvation mode,” and you’re more likely to become sick and heal more slowly. Why does this happen? Basically if your body only has so much energy to go around, it’s going to prioritize and use that energy to sustain things that you rely on to survive — such as your heart beating, lungs breathing, digestive organs functioning and brain thinking. While all of these functions are compromised when you overtrain for a long period of time, immunity (along with digestion and reproductive health) is one of the first things to decline.

Overtraining is associated with increased risks for infections, including respiratory tract infections. T-helper lymphocytes are one crucial aspect of immune function. They’re responsible for killing foreign pathogens and producing antibodies, but exercise-related immuno-suppression due to tissue trauma suppresses the body’s ability to produce these helpers, and therefore leaves you more prone to becoming sick. At the same time, higher levels of stress hormones (cortisol and catecholamines) make it harder to heal and regain energy.

7. Can Cause Heart Damage

While moderate exercise is important for cardiovascular functioning, doing “too much of a good thing” can be antagonistic to heart health. Studies of over-exercisers (such as some marathoners) have found higher rates of cardiac events than moderate exercises and elevated levels of scarring on heart tissue. (6)

Long-term excessive endurance exercises (including marathons, ultra-marathons, ironman distance triathlons, and very long distance bicycle races) might negatively impact the structure of the heart and arteries, especially when the athlete isn’t replenishing with plenty of calories and sleep. High amounts of stress placed on the heart can potentially cause volume overload of the atria and right ventricle of the heart, thickening of the heart valves (myocardial fibrosis), heart beat arrhythmia, coronary artery calcification, changes in blood pressure (diastolic dysfunction) and artery wall stiffening.

You might notice that overtraining can also result in an altered resting heart rate, since the body is working on overdrive in the same way that it does during an emergency “fight or flight response.” One way to monitor if this is happening? Check your morning heart rate after getting up and track how it changes depending on your level of activity that week.

8. Interferes With Electrolyte Balance

Your muscles rely on a delicate balance of fluids (especially water) and electrolyte nutrients — including magnesium, sodium and potassium — to stay active and healthy. Even your heart, arguably the most important muscle in your body, can’t function the right way when you’re chronically low in potassium or these other nutrients due to overexerting yourself.

When you exercise, your muscles use up extra carbohydrates, electrolytes and fluid, and you’re often perspiring at the same time, which lowers your stores even more. (7) Your magnesium stores get used up during activity, which can lead to anxiety, insomnia, depression and a long list of other disorders. (8) This is also a risk because many people are already magnesium deficient — so too much exercise only adds to the problem. That’s why it’s important to both refuel after workouts with nutrient-dense foods and to give yourself time to recover so your body recalibrates.

Stop Overtraining and Do This Instead!

Even though our culture often preaches the message that “eating less, exercising more” is the key to health and weight control, as you can see, there’s definitely a safer way to go about things. Exercise is important, granted, but not the excessive type that causes you to feel very tired, overly hungry (or not hungry enough) and anxious if you missed a workout.

Instead, I recommend you try a new approach, where you focus on actually doing less exercise, just in a different, smarter way.

Shorter bouts of higher-intensity exercise, coupled with weight-bearing (or strength) movements (like a kick-butt kettlebell workout) that’s tailored to your own goals and needs, is now considered the exercise gold-standard when it comes to accomplishing more in less time. High-intensity interval training has gained attention for providing the same health benefits (or even more) as extended steady-state cardio sessions, only in a fraction of the time invested.

Alternating between intense periods of work — usually at about 85 percent of your max heart rate or more — followed by intervals of brief rest, results in an “afterburn effect” that burns more calories (even after you’re doing working out) and keeps you from dedicating hours to exercise. Because HIIT workouts, Burst training or sprinting fast reduces the amount of time the body spends in stress mode, it also lowers the stress response. Yet Burst training can still help you lose weight fast in a healthy way.

When it comes to your body composition, doing too much cardio does not promote muscle growth as you learned, and might actually break down existing muscle. But think of the athletic build of a sprinter, on the other hand: They’re normally muscular, fit and seem full of life.

So, as opposed to spending long periods doing “traditional cardio” like running on a treadmill, here are some of the many benefits of switching up your workout routine by kicking up intensity, lowering duration and very important, resting when it’s appropriate. Here are some of the health results of exercising in this way:

• Improved blood cholesterol profiles
• Increased energy levels and mood (from a boost in endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine, which give you a natural happiness high)
• Decreased blood pressure levels
• Increased oxygen use by muscles
• Better removal of metabolic waste from muscles during resting periods
• Increased insulin sensitivity (lower risk of diabetes)
• Increased resting metabolic rate (meaning your body can burn more calories all day!)
• Reduced risk of stroke, acute coronary syndrome and heart disease
• And of course more time to yourself to do whatever makes you happy!

How can you do HIIT or Burst-training workouts safely without burning out or injuring yourself? The key is to start gradually and to rest in between tougher workouts. The beauty of HIIT is that it can be done in as little as 15–20 minutes at a time, and doesn’t require a daily commitment. In fact, it’s important to take days off in between intense workouts because this is when “the magic happens” — your body repairs itself and gives you noticeable gains in terms of speed, stamina and strength.

Aside from trying to incorporate some resistance training and HIIT-style exercises into your weekly routine, some people also prefer to focus on doing some sort of “happy movement” daily instead of thinking about exercise as something they “have to do.” Going for walks (especially outdoors), dancing, doing yoga, cycling and swimming are all examples of enjoyable exercises that can be done almost daily when performed in a healthy, moderate way.

In fact, this is the way that many of the healthiest populations on earth stay active: Walking around and staying busy throughout the day, gardening, doing errands by foot, and practicing hobbies or sports that involve being up on your feet.

The bottom line is that you must learn to listen to your body and judge when “enough” exercise turns into “too much.” Give yourself eight hours of sleep a night (sometimes more), take full rest days to relax, and remember to eat enough calories from high energy and performance foods to support your level of activity.

Overexercise is a real danger if you work out every single day or more than once a day, if you have to make yourself exercise despite feeling wiped out, and if you do cardio or sprint workouts too often while only focusing on burning calories. There’s a sweet spot for everyone, and it’s up to you to discover what that amount is, so judge how you feel and work in greater partnership with your body — this way the right amount of exercise comes naturally to you.

Read Next: The Afterburn Effect — How to Burn More Fat After You Exercise

The post Is Less More When It Comes to Exercise? 8 Risks of Overtraining  appeared first on Dr. Axe.

We’ve talked a lot about mortality lately and ways to reduce it, including running. But what about biking to work? Can this exercise help you live longer? It turns out that it may, according to recent research from the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

Given what we already know about how a sedentary lifestyle can increase mortality and disease risks, this should not come as a surprise. However, the details of how biking to work lowers mortality are quite remarkable. So let’s look at this study, how it was conducted, what it found and how biking to work can improve your health and longevity as a true life extender.

The Study: Biking to Work Lowers Mortality

In a massive study from the University of Glasgow and published in the British Medical Journal, 263,450 participants aged 40 to 69 who were employed and commuted to work were recruited across 22 sites in the U.K. Some walked to work, others biked, some had mixed mode transportation, and the rest commuted in a non-active fashion, such as via car or public transportation.

The researchers followed up with participants. Over the follow-up period, which was a median of five years, 2,430 participants died (496 related to cardiovascular disease, 1,126 related to cancer), 1,110 had heart disease incidence and 3,748 had cancer. (1)

So what did they ultimately find?

Commuting by walking was associated with a lower risk of CVD incidence and mortality. However, commuting by cycling was associated with the lowest risk of these as well as lower risks of all cause mortality and cancer, with dose dependent relations for all outcomes. Mixed mode commuting was associated with some benefits but only if the active component comprised cycling.

Digging a little further, biking to work was associated with a 46 percent decrease in cardiovascular disease risk and 45 percent decrease in cancer risk, and the reason biking to work seemed to be even more beneficial than walking is believed to be due to distance: (2)

“This may be because walkers commuted shorter distances than cyclists — typically 6 miles per week, compared with 30 miles per week — and walking is generally a lower intensity of exercise than cycling,” study author Carlos A Celis-Morales said in a statement.

This is all clearly good news for bicyclists, and it should be motivation for more people to start biking to work. Plus, beyond lowering the risk of heart disease and cancer, thus lowering mortality, there are more benefits of biking for your health and the environment.

4 Major Benefits of Biking

1. Lowers Stress and Supports Mental Health

We know how much strain stress can put on both physical and mental health. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, many health care professionals recommend exercise in one form or another to help relieve stress. (3)

In fact, according to research from the University Nebraska Medical Center, Creighton University and Omaha VA Medical Center, exercise like cycling can improve mental health the following ways: (4)

• Improved sleep
• Increased interest in sex
• Better endurance
• Stress relief
• Improvement in mood
• Increased energy and stamina
• Reduced tiredness that can increase mental alertness
• Weight reduction
• Reduced cholesterol and improved cardiovascular fitness

2. Easier on Your Joints than Running

Compared to running, biking is much more low-impact, reducing the risk of injury. According to Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists, “Whether you’re recovering from an injury, looking for a cross-training option or hoping to preserve your knees to run the New York Marathon when you are 85, cycling gets your legs moving and your heart pumping without pounding your joints.” (5)

3. Builds Muscle, Strengthens Bones and Burns Fat

Cycling is an aerobic workout that can turn on the afternburn effect, which helps your body burn fat, build muscle and even strengthen bones. According to Harvard Medical School, biking requires use of the gluteus muscles, quads, calves, hamstrings, flexor muscles, abdominal muscles, arms and shoulders. Repeated cycling can build all those muscles. (6)

Further, Dr. Clare Safran-Norton, a physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital, says, “Resistance activities, such as pushing pedals, pull on the muscles, and then the muscles pull on the bone, which increases bone density.”

4. Helps Injury Recovery

Since biking is puts lower stress on the joints and body compared to other forms of exercise, it can actual help recover from injuries. It’s often used by physical therapists as a way to reintroduce the body to exercise after injury, and according to the Arthritis Foundation, exercise like cycling is one of the best treatments and prevention methods for arthritis-related pain and injuries. (7)

That’s not all biking can do for you, of course. Since it’s a form of exercise, it also provides all the benefits of exercise in general, and it’s also good for the environment. The more you’re biking to work as opposed to driving, the lower your carbon footprint and the better for the environment.

How to Incorporate More Cycling into Your Life

The first and most obvious way to incorporate more cycling into your life is to start biking to work. Even if you aren’t ready to bike to work every day, try once or twice a week. The more you get used to it, the more comfortable you’ll feel, and soon, you might find yourself a daily bike to work commuter.

You can also incorporate cycling into some common exercise hacks, such as:

• explore your town via your bike
• slow cycling with the dog instead of a simple walk or jog
• meet friends for workouts
• rent bikes on vacations instead of cabs/car apps
• schedule workouts, even on the stationary bike like the Peloton bike
• ride with your children
• use social media to find bike events, routes, trails, etc.
• ride a stationary bike while watching TV
• set a goal
• use a fitness tracker to encourage you

Biking/Cycling Precautions

While biking to work is a great idea for your health and the environment, there are also some dangers to biking. For instance, as with any type of exercise, overtraining can be an issue. Make sure you give yourself enough rest between workouts and give your body adequate muscle recovery time.

Furthermore, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians, the most common cycling injuries include: (8)

• soft tissue injuries
• musculoskeletal trauma
• head injuries
• overuse injuries

To combat these, you can adjust your bike for better comfort, such as the seat height and handlebars. There’s also the inherent dangers that come with sharing the rode with motor vehicles. It’s vital to wear a helmet, protective and reflective clothing, and have reflectors on your bike. Cyclists also must abide by traffic laws, signal and be hyper aware at all times. This is especially important, as many drivers are oblivious to bikers.

Final Thoughts on Biking to Work

• According to recent research from the University of Glasgow, biking to work can decrease mortality by lowering the risk of heart disease and cancer.
• In addition, the benefits of biking include lowered stress, mental health support, improved sleep, increased sex drive, better endurance, mood improvement, increased energy and stamina, reduced tiredness that can increase mental alertness, weight reduction, reduced cholesterol, improved cardiovascular fitness, joint support, and injury recovery. Cycling also helps build muscles, strengthen bones and burn fat. Plus, it’s good for the environment.
• You can incorporate more cycling into your life by biking to work, exploring your town via bike, cycling with the dog instead of walking/running, renting bikes on vacations, riding with the family, etc.
• Always make sure to wear protective clothing and a helmet, follow traffic laws, and be hyper aware of your surroundings to prevent accidents. Also, listen to your body, giving yourself enough rest and recovery time to prevent injury.

Read Next: Can Running + Other Exercise Help You Live Longer? YES

The post Biking to Work Lowers Mortality + More Benefits of Biking appeared first on Dr. Axe.

It’s early in the morning, like, the sun-is-just-starting-to-peek-into-the-day type of early. You want to pull the covers up over you head and sleep a little more, but you can’t because cycling instructor Robin Arzón is 900 miles away, setting up on a Peloton bike, getting ready to start her class. And you need to be there, too.

You walk downstairs, and there she is, your bike. Your Peloton bike. And you don’t dare walk by that bike. That’s just the effect this piece of exercise equipment has on you — it’s unlike any other, including the most advanced fitness tracker. You don’t walk by it, you don’t want to skip you workout. You look forward to it. You crave it, actually. 

Let me explain. I’ve met several people who own Peloton bikes and their enthusiasm is generally the same: extreme enthusiasm. Extreme. So I decided to give one of these Peloton bikes and a Peloton spin class a try and let me say, it didn’t disappoint.

Trying Out the Peloton Bike

First, some basics. The Peloton is an indoor cycling bike. It’s stationary, fairly compact and the ride is super fluid and smooth, thanks to the magnetic resistance. The bike is well made — you get the feeling you’re riding a professional studio bike in the comfort of your home. But, of course, where this bike pulls ahead from its competition is in its incredible community. And we’re not just talking the New York City Peloton class headquarters.

When you purchase a Peloton bike, it’s WiFi/Ethernet enabled so you can tap into live cycling classes with the NYC class or choose any of thousands of on-demand classes. The touchscreen, the bike component the company calls the “heart of the bike,” also allows you to keep track of a wide array of performance metrics, including your heart rate, resistance, cadence, output, calories burned and distance. You can also chat with your other Peloton buddies on-screen during your ride, if you’d like.

And here’s what I really love about the Peloton bike: If you’re a competitive personality type, the touchscreen provides the tools to really motivate you through your ride and to help you push to your next level. Whether you’re riding in real-time or hopping on an on-demand ride, you can compete against people exactly as they progressed through the ride.

You may catch yourself chasing someone who rode the same ride a week prior on the other side of the country. It’s pretty cool! On the flip side, if you’re not competitive and don’t find this type of feedback motivating, you can simply “X” out this data to hide it during your ride.

Peloton Bike Workouts

There are all different types of classes to take, depending on your mood:

• fat-melting HIIT workouts and Tabata rides
• climbs
• live DJ rides
• endurance rides
• beginner rides
• rhythm rides

The key here is that there’s pretty much any type of ride to fit your mood and time allowance. Feel like doing a ’90s hip-hop ride? Not a problem. Need a 45-minute power ballads ride? You got it. South rock ride if you have 30 minutes free? Sure, why not. There’s pretty much something for everyone. (And yes, in case you were wondering, there is an ’80s Mix ride.)

Peloton Bike Cost

The cost of the Peloton bike is substantially steeper than many pieces of home exercise equipment. It’s a serious investment. And yes, you can absolutely get in shape for very little money doing burst training using mostly your bodyweight. But if you like to cycle and you’re not finding your groove with other forms of exercise (and if this is in your budget), it is a solid choice.

The Peloton bike costs $1,995 plus $250 for delivery and in-home assembly. You also are required to subscribe to the classes for at year at $39 a month. Clip-in shoes are not required but very helpful in garnering more power throughout your full pedal stroke. Those are $125. It’s not cheap, but I’m not the only one who think it’s a great piece of equipment. Men’s Health called it “The best cardio machine on the planet.” (1)

Final Thoughts on the Peloton Bike

Technology impacts our health each and every day. For the majority of us, it means too much sitting is a normal part of the day. That comes with huge health ramifications, most notably, (eek!) shorter lifespans. (2) While many forms of technology lull us into more sedentary lifestyles, one of my favorite recent technological advances — the Peloton bike — does anything but that.

We’re in the midst of a global crisis: People just aren’t active enough. Too much sitting is actually considered as dangerous as smoking. Clearly, we need to get moving, so I’m all for any safe type of exercise that inspires you. And as it turns out, the Peloton bike really seems to inspire people.

While it does come at a higher price point, it’s also much more technologically advanced than most other home fitness equipment. I believe the Peloton bike is one of the best examples of how we’re bringing exercise into the 21st century and using technology to help inspire us to greater levels of health and fitness — rather than sabotaging us into a more sedentary lifestyle  as many other forms of technology do.

Read Next: One-Minute Workouts Could Be All you Need

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