For starters, some people just don’t have the time, while others are nervous or self-conscious and would rather take some time to build their confidence before doing jump lunges in front of a jam-packed gym of spectators.

This is where non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) comes in, which is basically any activity that isn’t sleeping, a sport, or exercise.

The idea behind NEAT is that you don’t need to become a fitness fanatic to stay fit; you just need to keep moving.

Not having enough time for the gym isn’t an excuse to become a couch potato. There’s still a lot you can do to stay fit.

Cook Your Meals from Scratch

You probably already know that it’s easier to eat healthy when you make your meals from scratch. In addition to controlling how much sugar and fat go into your food, there’s also an additional benefit: you do a lot of standing and walking around during meal prep.

Sure, it seems like a small thing, but standing lowers your risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other diseases that are caused by a sedentary lifestyle. It can also lower stress and boost energy levels.

Take up an Active Hobby

Engaging in an active hobby can help you stay fit while enriching your life. Gardening, hiking, cooking, dancing, or pretty much any hobby that gets you off the couch, benefits your life and health. Whether you prefer to be indoors or outdoors, you can find an active hobby that plays a role in helping you stay fit.

Skip Some Conveniences

We’ve grown accustomed to the convenience of modern life, such as food delivery services. Unfortunately, while certain conveniences make life easier and free up time, they also take away valuable opportunities to stay active.

For example, a grocery delivery service robs you of all the moving around and lifting involved with grocery shopping. It might not seem like a big deal at first, but when you think about it, these conveniences can add up to create a sedentary lifestyle.

To stay active and be fit, consider giving up some of the conveniences that you don’t really need. You might even save some money in the process!

Walk More

You’ve heard it a million times, but it deserves another mention. There’s probably no better way to stay fit without hitting the gym than to walk.

So, park a couple of minutes away from work or the store and walk. Plan the walking route in advance so you don’t find yourself in an unwalkable or unsafe area.

Walking is good for the heart, lowers the risk of coronary artery disease, and is great for stress reduction; many people aim for 10,000 steps a day.

The bottom line is that it’s possible to enjoy better health and wellness without spending hours a day at the gym.

Just get off the couch and take up an active hobby, cook your own meals, walk more, and generally find creative ways to leverage the power of non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) that fit easily into your lifestyle.

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Body Pump is a workout that combines aerobics and strength training with lots of repetition. It involves lifting, thrusting, and squatting with light to moderate weights. It’s highly demanding, but if you’re willing to put in the work, you can burn more than 500 calories per session.

Body Pump Class

While you can definitely do a body pump workout on your own, its creator, Les Mills, intended it to be a group exercise. The goal was to get more men involved in studio classes, which are more popular with women.

A typical body pump class is 30, 45, or 60 minutes long. It is broken down into eight sections, and each section focuses on a different muscle group.

After a quick warm-up session, the instructor guides the class through a series of squats, bench presses, deadlifts, lunges, shoulder & abdominal exercises, and, finally, a cool-down session.

You can select the size of the step and weights you wish to use during the workout. This allows you to start small until you’re ready to level up. The classes are set to music to motivate and help you keep time.

Benefits

Body Pump is a total body workout that improves muscle tone and builds muscular endurance. You can burn between 200 and 600 calories in one workout, depending on your fitness level. Therefore, if you are eating between 1600 and 2400 calories a day, you can easily burn a quarter or a third of that and lose weight without reducing your daily caloric intake.

Body Pump workouts boost your metabolism and overall health. Two body pump sessions a week can help to prevent cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, and diabetes

This workout is also great for increasing muscle flexibility and range of motion through resistance training. This can relieve back, neck, and shoulder pain, which is often the result of tight muscles.

Last but not least, this workout makes your legs stronger and leaner, gives you a tight core, defined biceps and triceps that are not bulky, and makes your waistline smaller, in proportion to the rest of your body.

Get Started

The easiest way to get started is to join a BodyPump class. Being around people with similar fitness goals keeps you motivated, making it less likely you will skip workouts. The class also teaches you how to lift weights and work out safely.

Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you can purchase the music track, a mat, dumbbells & a barbell and do the Body Pump workouts at home.

Lastly, always consult a physician before starting any new exercise regimen – especially one that involves lifting weights.

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Pilates.

It is one of the most popular fitness programs around and for good reason. This technique was developed in the early 1900s by Joseph H. Pilates to rehabilitate soldiers who suffered war injuries.

What Exactly is Pilates?

Pilates has little to do with aerobics; it is a combination of flexibility and strength training which focuses on strengthening the core.

While Pilates exercises are often performed on a thicker version of a Yoga mat, it is not a derivative of yoga.

For starters, Pilates is a lot more dynamic and doesn’t involve as much stretching and holding static poses as yoga does. It is more structured and involves more equipment including a footbar, a carriage, straps and springs. And there is absolutely no chanting involved!

Can Men Do Pilates?

Pilates may be more popular with women but there’s nothing about it that makes it more suitable for women than men. In fact, it was developed by a man for other men!

The best thing about it is that it can be adapted to different fitness levels and body types. It’s great for building muscle groups that might not always get enough attention, as well as for core strength. The flexibility training also helps to prevent muscle strains and injuries during other workouts.

Pilates Classes Vs. Pilates at Home

Many people worry they’re not coordinated enough, or are too self-conscious, for a Pilates class. Thankfully, other people in the class are usually too focused on breathing and maintaining balance to notice anyone else.

If you want to get the full benefit of Pilates, go to a studio that has all the necessary equipment. You might not be as coordinated as you’d like the first few times but your flexibility and coordination will improve quickly.

If going to a gym makes you nervous, start at home to get a feel for it before signing up for a class. There are many free videos of basic Pilates exercises on the Internet.

Find a Class

Pilates classes are cheaper if you have a regular gym membership. Without one, they can cost more than $100 a pop! But don’t let that discourage you. Groupon has more than enough Pilates classes that cost way less than $100.

What to Wear

You don’t really need a special outfit for Pilates. Any comfortable exercise clothes should do. However, it’s best to avoid very loose clothing since it might bunch up during certain exercises.

Pilates is a great way to strengthen your core and tone your body without lifting weights and bulking up. However, despite all its benefits, it isn’t for everybody. If you have back problems, check with your doctor before attempting Pilates.

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Exercise benefits every aspect of our health. It works for weight management, boosts energy, and builds a healthier heart (not to mention you’ll look better and have more confidence.)

But exercise benefits more than just the body; it’s good for the brain and improves cognitive function; a fit body generally leads to a fitter mind.

Coping with Daily Stress

Consider the stresses of daily life and its distractions, such as annoying phone alerts that never seem to stop chirping, or construction and traffic noise, and the endless onslaught of commercials and marketing, all competing for your mind’s limited bandwidth. It’s exhausting.

Turns out, exercise is a great coping strategy for dealing with mental stress and distractions because it recharges your mind.

Researchers divided students into three groups to measure the effect of exercise on attention span. One group did two twenty-minute moderate exercise sessions between morning classes; another group performed one twenty minute exercise session. The third group didn’t do anything – they just sat in their chairs while the others exercised.

The students who did two exercise sessions scored highest on attention span.

It Doesn’t Take Much

It seems that even a little bit of exercise is healthy for the mind. A 2007 research project involving students studied the ability of exercise to improve focus and concentration. Students with at least 56 hours of physical activity each school year had higher scores than their counterparts who only had 28 hours of exercise.

Physical activity should be an essential part of the educational experience. Usually, exercise proponents cite student obesity and diabetes rates for the inclusion of exercise. However, it’s cognitive benefits are equally important.

How Exercise Works Its Magic

Here’s how physical activity sharpens the mind. During exercise, a chemical called BDNF is released into the brain. BDNF nourishes brain cells and facilitates the formation of new neural pathways.

In addition to releasing BDNF, regular exercise boosts norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter, resulting in a heightened state of alertness, increased energy, and sharper concentration.

Thrive

Physical activity helps us thrive mentally and physically; we’re designed to move! Without exercise, many important physiological and cognitive functions suffer. The benefits of physical activity are essential to protecting and maintaining quality of life.

So, if you’d like to rise above the constant onslaught of never-ending distractions while strengthening your mind and body, get moving! Give yourself the gift of physical activity.

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Although this topic seems to resemble one of those outrageous infomercials you stumble across at 2 a.m. when you can’t sleep, it isn’t so.

In this article, you’ll find 5 cool and tricky ways of how to weigh less while eating more!

Most of us believe that to lose weight or maintain a certain body weight we need to eat less. Sure, eating more food works against you when it comes to weight management. But is this always true?

You get calories from the food you eat and the beverages you drink.

When the number of calories consumed exceeds the amount burned, where does the excess go? You guessed it. It’s stored as body fat.

However, there are some tried and true ways to consume more food without gaining weight. If you stick to this plan, you can have your cake and eat it too, technically.

• Different foods of the same portion size aren’t always equal in calories

The same portion size of two different food items doesn’t always contain the same number of calories.

For example, a serving size of lean meat has fewer calories than a serving of sugar-laden chocolate cake (wait…didn’t we just say you can have your cake and eat it too? Hold on…).

If you want to eat more food, choose foods with fewer calories such as lean meat, salad greens, mushrooms, strawberries, fruit, broth, vegetable soup, cod, eggs, 100% whole grains, low-fat cottage cheese, and vegetables.

You can eat much more food if you choose low-calorie, nutritious foods. Bonus points if they’re high in fiber.

The trick is to pick foods that are relatively low in calories in relation to their portion size and are high in fiber. Your tummy will be full, but you won’t gain weight because although you’re eating more, you’re consuming fewer calories.

Guess what this does? Since you’re eating fewer calories overall, you’ll have room for that piece of cake every now and then.

• Set up a ‘Window’ for food consumption

This trick is similar to intermittent fasting, but you don’t need a specific protocol.

Choose a time window within which you’ll eat your meals. For example, it could be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., noon to 6 p.m., or 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.,

Consume all your daily calories within that window.

Let yourself off the leash and eat as much healthy food as you like during your “feeding window.” Just don’t crazy because this doesn’t mean you can eat all the cake, cookies, brownies or chips you want. We’re talking healthy eating here.

The idea is that you’ll feel full if you’re eating healthy foods, and because they’re healthy foods you’ll be eating fewer calories. However, refraining from eating outside of your feeding window takes self-control.

When using this “trick,” make sure you don’t exceed your daily calorie budget.

This trick can seem quite difficult at first because of the hours you won’t be eating…but this approach to eating works well for many people who are trying to lose weight and keep it off.

• Whole foods instead of processed foods

Whole foods are far more superior to processed foods when it comes to nutrition because they usually contain fewer calories compared to their processed counterparts. Plus, they’re far more nutritious.

Processed foods go through a refinement process that involves adding preservatives and high-calorie sweeteners.

Obviously, foods in their natural form don’t have any additives or preservatives.

When it comes to calories, you can eat a LOT more whole foods while getting fewer calories than eating the same serving size of processed foods.

Although whole foods aren’t always as enticing as that bowl of ice cream (depending on how you look at it), at least you get the benefit of eating more. Eating whole foods keeps your energy levels stable, too; you’ll feel better, stronger, and more alert.

• Avoid getting your calories from drinks

You can easily burn through your calorie budget by drinking sugary drinks like sodas, frozen beverages, and fruit juice.

You can consume half a day’s worth of recommended calories without even realizing it in just minutes!

Please don’t waste your daily calorie budget on sugary, unhealthy, calorie-packed beverages. You’ll suffer from energy spikes, weight gain, and won’t feel full.

Avoid sugary drinks because they pile on the calories and the pounds.

Drink water or low-calorie alternatives like coconut water, green tea, or iced tea.

This trick allows you to eat more food without piling on extra calories and pounds by consuming sugary drinks.

• Exercise

This trick is easy to understand when it comes eating more and weighing less.

Exercise burns the calories you consume as fuel.

So, the more you exercise, the more you can eat.

This approach is quite different than the other tricks we’ve discussed because instead of decreasing your calories, you can actually increase them.

If you burn 800 calories through exercise, you can afford to eat a few more calories, depending on your weight management goals.

Burning a significant number of calories requires the right kind of exercise like high-intensity interval training or resistance training. These forms of training burn calories for several hours after your exercise session has ended in a process called post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), also known as the “afterburn effect.”

But here’s what to remember, you can’t stuff yourself with sugary, fat-laden, high-calorie foods thinking that a stroll on the treadmill will work it off. It won’t.

This trick has to do with the intensity of the workout. One unhealthy meal can wipe out ALL your hard work and the awesome progress gained from a high-intensity interval workout. So don’t sabotage your efforts.

The number of calories your body stores can be efficiently reduced by engaging in regular cardio and resistance exercise. You’ll lose inches and pounds and have an easier time maintaining your goal weight, allowing you to eat MORE while weighing less!

Exercise combined with high nutrient and lower-calorie foods, setting an eating window, choosing whole foods instead of processed foods, and avoiding drinking your calories, are five great tricks for eating more but weighing less!

Photo by Jamie Brown on Unsplash

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Some people really love working out, but most want to get their workout done as fast as possible. They’re always looking for the ultimate bang-for-your-buck workouts that get them the best results in the shortest time!

Compound exercises are the easiest way to take your workout from good to great without spending more time in the gym. Working multiple muscles at the same time will help you to gain more muscle and burn more calories in less time.

Here are three of the most effective and time-efficient compound exercises.

Burpees

The best thing about burpees is that they require nothing but your bodyweight so you can do them anywhere, at any time. They are great for conditioning and strengthening your entire body.

Burpees can be a bit challenging for beginners, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try them. Just add a squat in between the standing and the plank position.

Start the exercise by standing straight, then squat and place your hands on the floor in front of you and jump backward. If that’s too hard, replace the jump with a walk back. Lastly, jump forward and stand up (or drop to your knees, step forward, and then stand up).

Dumbbell Deadlift

Deadlifts are a great exercise. They target the hamstrings, glutes, lower back, upper back, and core muscles all at once, leading to huge improvements in strength and stability. This exercise improves posture and makes it easier to perform daily tasks. Lastly, deadlifts are the ultimate time-saver. Instead of using three different machines, you can get the same workout with just a pair of dumbbells.

To perform a dumbbell deadlift, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart while holding a pair of dumbbells at arm’s length, brace your core and lower your torso until it’s parallel to the floor keeping the dumbbells as close to your legs as you can throughout the movement (don’t arch your back; keep it flat/straight).

Squats

Contrary to popular belief, squats don’t just work your glutes. They also work your quadriceps and calf muscles. Squats help you build lean muscle, burn fat, strengthen your bones, and build endurance. They’re really easy to perform and can be done with or without weights.

To do a proper squat, stand with your feet a little wider than hip-width, sit into a squat position, keeping your chest up and your shoulders back. To avoid injury, keep your feet angled out about 30°. Also, start by mastering a regular squat before moving to weighted squats.

The best compound exercises put multiple muscle groups and joints to work in a single move. Therefore, by combining multiple compound exercises, you can get a good workout without spending hours in the gym.

Photo by Sergio Pedemonte on Unsplash

Photo by Your House Fitness https://www.yourhousefitness.com/

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Tracking your weight can be frustrating, especially if you have more than a few pounds to lose because weight can fluctuate by more than a few pounds a day.

To complicate matters, when you’re thirsty, your body panics and retains water, causing you to weigh even more. When you’re adequately hydrated, your body drops the water weight, causing you to weigh less.

Although these little fluctuations are utterly pointless in the long term, they can mess with your motivation. 

Fat Loss Not Weight Loss

Muscle takes up less space than fat, which is why two people can weigh the same but look totally different.

By replacing fat with muscle you can lose inches around the belly, arms, thighs, and hips without losing a single pound on the scale. This is known as body recomposition, where you end up with a completely different ratio of fat to muscle, which is excellent news if you’re trying to lose weight.

The more muscle mass you have, the faster your metabolism runs, meaning you’ll burn more calories and lose fat faster.

But please don’t obsess over the number on the scale when building muscle. It’s so easy to freak out when you see a couple of extra pounds on the scale despite looking noticeably leaner in the mirror. 

Body Recomposition

Body recomposition is simply the process of replacing body fat with muscle, which is achieved by combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise.

Spending hours on the treadmill may help you lose body fat but does very little for muscle growth. You need to combine running (or another aerobic activity) with weight training for body recomposition to take place.

Start with lighter weights so you can learn proper form and technique. It helps to have a trainer at this stage. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, challenge yourself by lifting heavier weights.

Nutrition plays a huge role in adding lean muscle mass. You need between 0.5 and 0.8 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight for muscle growth. Stick to lean sources of protein, such as chicken breast, beans, lentils, and Greek yogurt.

Lastly, although some people have success staying on track by weighing themselves daily, others find that twice a month works great. Get a scale that measures body fat percentage and muscle mass.

 Don’t be afraid to seek professional advice if you’re not getting the results you’re expecting. Everyone’s body responds differently to exercise and nutrition. So, have fun figuring out what works for you until you’ve successfully designed a healthy lifestyle that you can stick with and enjoy.

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Few people push their bodies past their physical limits like Olympic athletes, who’ve proven over and over that when it comes to endurance, strength, and speed, our bodies are capable of far more than we ever thought possible.

What if we could learn from these athletes and incorporate their best practices into our workouts?

Understanding Your Physical Limits

Our physical limits are both physical and mental. For instance, if your muscles aren’t conditioned to lift twice your body weight, they will tear if you try.

However, this doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. You need to train your body to withstand the pain that comes with pushing your body incrementally towards achieving that goal while simultaneously recalibrating your brain’s self-imposed limitations.

Your physical limits are just as much mental as they are physical. Your brain tends to say “enough” before you reach your actual limit because its primary goal is to protect and keep you safe. Your brain works to keep you within a safe comfort zone.

As such, pushing past your physical limit is as much about believing what’s possible as it is about physical performance. This is why runners use less energy and can run longer and farther when they imagine feeling relaxed.

What You Can Learn from Elite Athletes

Have a goal
Olympic athletes spend four years training for their next medal. However, to stay motivated on a day-to-day basis, they break down their Olympic goal into smaller goals.

Adopting a similar technique helps you to stay on track too. For instance, if you’re training for a marathon, start by running three miles a day up to 5 times a week and build towards 20 miles.

Compound movements and cross training
Compound movements are exercises that use multiple muscles and joints at the same time. They help build strength much faster than isolated exercises.

Cross training, on the other hand, refers to varying your workout routines to engage different muscle groups. The goal is to pair workouts that support each other while also exercising muscles that are neglected during your typical workouts.

For example, if you’re a runner, start incorporating cycling or swimming into your workout sessions. Cycling will strengthen your heart and leg muscles, which will come in handy when you’re running. On the other hand, swimming provides a total body workout while giving your joints a rest.

The right attitude
While you probably can’t devote multiple hours a day to training like an Olympian, you can adopt an Olympian’s attitude during your workout. This means approaching your workout with single-minded focus and discipline.

For the duration of your workout, the only thing that matters is striving to improve your personal best. Put all other thoughts relating to your job, family, and other commitments out of your mind.

Be present, focused, and intentional. Concentrate on your goal. You’ll be surprised how this laser-focused approach accelerates your gains and improves performance.

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