Fitness 19: Clovis

You Might P*e Your Pants From Laughing at This "Oprah Loves Bread" Spoof

Oprah has recently been very vocal about the success of her Weight Watcher’s diet and how much she loves the fact that she can still eat bread.

And who better to illustrate Oprah’s unequivocal, unconditional love of bread than the hysterical Maya Rudolph? This Facebook video will give you a tease, but the full two-minute video will have you in stitches (especially thanks to some seriously good puns) – and possibly reaching for a loaf of sourdough. We’re guessing Briochephra – sorry, Oprah – loves this as much as we do.

You Might P*e Your Pants From Laughing at This "Oprah Loves Bread" Spoof – topfitnessnews Bread Carbs Comedy Fitness Health Maya Rudolph Oprah Winfrey Weight Loss Weight Watchers You Might P*e Your Pants From Laughing at This "Oprah Loves Bread" Spoof Posted on June 9, 2016 by ozdrink_admin Oprah has recently been very vocal about the success of her Weight Watcher’s diet and how much she...

Why Meditation Is the Best Gift My Dad Ever Gave Me

There’s no quiet in a college dorm. Slamming doors, drunk kids in search of late-night food, and Alicia Keys on repeat tested the limits of my neighborly spirit. I remember sitting at my desk, wide-eyed and jittery, rereading the first page of my English paper ahead of my first-semester finals. Nope, I thought, this won’t work. I shut the computer, closed the door, and climbed into my bottom bunk. With my hands folded in my lap, I glanced at the clock, gently closed my eyes, and silently began my mantra. Fifteen minutes later: clarity. The frustration subsided, even if the noise had not.

Years later, I know that’s exactly how my dad had envisioned me using meditation: my secret weapon. It’s been his for more than 30 years. My dad discovered TM, or transcendental meditation, when he was in law school. Like many young adults in the late ’60s and early ’70s, he joined meditation groups and retreats. You might have called him a hippie, but decades after the “trend,” he was a successful attorney, meditating at least once a day for as long as I can remember and long before I knew what it was.

For the better part of my childhood, it kind of was a secret. My dad would come home and shut the door to his office for 20 minutes or so. I would presumptuously tell telemarketers or friends calling for him that he was “meditating” without having any clue what he was doing (I probably should have just said “he’s busy”). As far as I could tell, it looked like he was just sleeping, sitting up in his chair. I couldn’t wrap my brain around how that could be different from a nap – until I did it.

My senior year of high school, my dad took me to get TM certified. My sister had done it before her graduation the year before, and my brother his senior year, a couple of years before that. It was a gift our father insisted on giving to all of us before we headed to college, some kind of “tool” he promised we would rely on for the rest of our lives. I doubted that; I much preferred the kind of tool I could use in the moment, like maybe a car? Regardless, I made it to my first session with a TM instructor, who gave me my own mantra and the simple steps I would take to meditate. I sat up straight, clasped my hands, closed my eyes, and silently began.

It’s going to sound crazy to tell you how it immediately calmed me, changed my breathing and my thought process, and seemed to actually be physically changing the space around my head, but it did. I meditated for only 15 minutes, but felt as if I’d awoken from a deep, satisfying sleep – the kind that doesn’t leave you groggy, if you can imagine that.

I’ve been certified for almost 13 years, and pretty much have that feeling every time I sit down to meditate – though, full disclosure, it’s not every day or nearly as often as I would like. Sometimes, I just want to nap or watch TV or sweat it out at SoulCycle, but meditating does something for your body that those things can’t. And before internet, Oprah, or all those iPhone apps started touting its health benefits, my dad knew the simple truth: meditation is the greatest stress relief you can give your body.

topfitnessnews Fitness Health Healthy Living Meditation Personal Essay Why Meditation Is the Best Gift My Dad Ever Gave Me Posted on June 2, 2016 There’s no quiet in a college dorm. Slamming doors, drunk kids in search of late-night food, and Alicia Keys on repeat tested the limits of my neighborly spirit. I remem...

Why You Still Probably Need More Rest (and 23 Ways to Get It)

topfitnessnews Health Top 10 Lists Why You Still Probably Need More Rest (and 23 Ways to Get It) Posted on June 2, 2016 We’re entering the lazy days of summer here, but I wonder how many people feel an increase in stress and obligations. Every year I feel like the leisure time of summer erodes at a more rapid pace...

Do This Workout 3 Days Per Week To See Results

Whether you’re just starting a fitness regimen or trying to keep up with one, finding the time to work out is half the battle. In a perfect world, we’d all be able to hit the gym five days a week so we could split up our sessions between strength training and cardio (and have more time to spend on both). But life happens, and sometimes, fitting a five-day plan into your schedule just isn’t going to happen.

The good news? You can still make great progress by working out three days per week, if you’re smart about each training session. Full-body workouts with a combination of both cardio and strength training make sense for this approach, says Noam Tamir, C.S.C.S., founder of TS Fitness.

And don’t forget about the time you don’t spend working out. “Results have a lot to do with what you’re doing outside of your workout as far as your nutrition and your rest, but we’ve seen some really great results from our clients who do three-days-a-week programs,” he says.

Your Three-Day Game Plan

Ideally, you should have one day of rest in between these workouts, according to Tamir (although two days in a row is fine if you must, he adds—just don’t string all three together). Rest is a crucial part of the plan, too. “When you’re working out, you’re damaging the muscle tissue, so that rest and recovery helps them repair,” says Tamir. In other words, your rest days are where the magic happens.

If you want to sub in a fitness class, like kickboxing or indoor cycling, feel free, says Tamir. But try to swap out your middle day—while muscles need rest, they should ideally be stimulated every 48 hours, he says. To keep up your progress, try not to take more than a few days of rest.

If you can at least fit in a few 45- to 60-minute gym sessions, you’re golden. “If you’re going to do three workouts per week, use a full-body and well-balanced combination of mobility, plyometric exercises, strength training, and interval training,” says Tamir. This combination is optimal for both improving your overall fitness performance and changing your body composition, he explains.

Tamir came up with the ultimate workout plan to do three days a week for SELF—and, hey, any other workouts your schedule can manage are a bonus. Here’s how each of your workouts should work:

Start warming up for five minutes.

Start with a solid warm-up, which Tamir says should be a part of every fitness routine. This is when you prep your body for a tough workout—a good warm-up will help prevent injury and increase your range of motion and mobility so you can get the most out of every move. Mobility exercises (like neck nods and shoulder circles) help “move around the joints to create more space so that it can move freely without restriction,” he adds.

You can also foam roll, if you want—Tamir says it also assists in mobility and helps you mentally prepare for your workout. Plus, it feels good, and there’s nothing wrong with starting a workout that way.

Here’s how to do it:

Try this athletic trainer-approved warm-up.
Or start with the five-minute routine from this 30-minute workout.
And if you want to foam roll, here are five moves to get you started.
Then it’s time to do some plyo moves and core exercises.

Now it’s time for the real work. Before he gets into true strength training, Tamir likes to have clients alternate between an explosive plyometric exercise, like a jump squat, and a core exercise, like a plank variation. “[This routine has] good muscle recruitment, and it’s going to get your heart rate up,” says Tamir. “When you’re doing those plyometric exercises, you’re using a lot of power.”

Here’s how to do it:

Do 15 seconds of jump squats.
Hold a tight forearm plank for 20 to 30 seconds.
Repeat those two moves back-to-back a total of three to four times.
Bonus: if you want an active recovery between each set, add a third exercise that focuses on mobility such as reverse lunges. Do six to eight reps for side, about 30 to 45 seconds total.

topfitnessnews Fitness fitness plan Health Interval Training Strength Training three days a week Training Workouts Do This Workout 3 Days Per Week To See Results Posted on May 28, 2016 Hero Images, Getty Images; Graphic by Jocelyn Runice Whether you’re just starting a fitness regimen or trying to keep up with one,...