Ten awesome benefits of yoga

If you have been doing yoga for a while, then I don't need to convince you of the benefits a regular practice can give you. For those of you new to yoga, chances are you are familiar with this popular practice, but may be less aware of the multitude of benefits that come with it — here are just a few amazing wins you’ll get from giving it a go!

1) Improved strength. Though weights training is one of the most common ways to get stronger, yoga is actually an incredible workout for building strength and power. During a yoga session, you lift your own body weight in a range of ways; from plank pose to headstand you are constantly supporting yourself and holding your entire body up with a mix of stability, focus and discipline. And when you build strength through yoga, you balance it nicely with flexibility.

2) Improved flexibility. Improved flexibility is one of the most obvious benefits of yoga. During your first class, you may not be able to touch your toes, never mind do a backbend. But if you stick with it, you'll notice a gradual loosening, and over time, seemingly impossible poses will become possible. You'll also probably notice that aches and pains start to disappear. 

3) Improved posture. Yoga is great for improving posture. Your spine craves movement - it’s the only way it gets its nutrients and stays supple. Good posture is all about being aware of your body. And with so many of us slumped over computers most of the day, it's no surprise that our posture has a tendency to suffer resulting in aches and pains. Keeping a good posture throughout the day requires a strong spine and engaged core — regularly practising yoga helps to release tight spots and strengthens core muscles, improving your posture over time. 

4) Better all-round fitness. When thinking of improving your fitness, most of us think of huffing and puffing away at the gym. But cardio and weights are not the only way to work out. Yoga can offer some of the same benefits, but in a varied, peaceful, safe and more holistic way, especially if you are new to exercise. It combines aspects of cardio, strength and functional training all in one, providing great all-round fitness for life, sport and anything you need it for. What more could you ask for? The best part about this workout is that it can be done at your own pace, in your own home.

5) Lower stress and improves mood. If you are feeling a bit low, it's very tempting to want to treat yourself to a packet of biscuits, pizza, a glass of wine or buy yourself a new plant to perk you up. (Lockdown made me do it! Not sure how long I can get away with that excuse.) Before reaching for the biscuits or your bank card, try just 15 minutes of yoga; it can have amazing effect on your mood. Numerous studies have shown that it can decrease the secretion of cortisol, the primary stress hormone, which in the short term leaves you feeling calm and relaxed, and long term improves your overall health. 

6) Better breathing. Breathing techniques are a very important aspect of yoga. Your breath is intimately linked to your state of mind. When your mind is happy and clear, your breath is long and easy; when your mind is bombarded with anxious thoughts, your breath becomes shorter and shallower. When you work consciously with your breath, as you do in yoga breathing techniques, you automatically create an environment inside yourself that is conducive to clear thinking. Your breath is your most powerful and effective tool for clearing your mind in a short amount of time.

7) Releases tension in your mind and body. We all hold tension in the body, sometimes without even being conscious of it. For example, when we are driving and have our shoulders hunched up around our ears, holding onto the steering wheel with a death grip, or scrunching your face when staring at a computer screen. These unconscious habits can lead to chronic tension, muscle fatigue, and soreness in the wrists, arms, shoulders, neck, and face, which can increase stress and worsen your mood. As you practice yoga, you begin to notice where you hold tension and over time you become more conscious of these habits and able to change them for the better. 

8) There is a style of yoga for everyone. You may feel slightly intimidated about yoga, thinking that you need to be able to tie yourself in a pretzel-type knot to be able to even entertain the idea. Well, think again! One of the greatest things about yoga is how versatile it can be; there are so many styles of yoga to choose from, each with varying levels of difficulty and benefits to suit your goal. Whether you’re a beginner looking to experience your first downward dog, you’re after a recovery workout, or you’re looking for an intense strengthening yoga flow, this beneficial practice is open to all abilities, ages and genders.

9) Gives you some much needed time to yourself. If you are anything like me, then you definitely need some time-out from your daily routine and some time to switch off.  Life is very different at the moment and most of us are spending a lot of time at home with our significant others or family, and are possibly craving some alone time. Yoga is the perfect solution! As a practice that you can do at home with little or no equipment, a vast variety of styles to choose from and the fact that you can do anywhere from 10 minutes to 90, it's a wonderful way to escape and have some “you time”. 

10) It's fun and challenging. Whatever you do, don’t take it too seriously, it's only yoga! It’s accessible for everyone and is a wonderful practice that is both enjoyable and challenging; the perfect balance. Yoga strengthens and tones the body whilst calming the mind, but in a way that is also fun, otherwise, we wouldn't do it. Some poses come with higher thrill factors, and when you're in them, you can't help but giggle. Yoga can also help bring out that playful, child-like side of us, which in my opinion, we all need much more of!

Whatever you do just dont put too much pressure on yourself. With my yoga practice, sometimes I feel like a graceful swan, other times I feel like a baby giraffe trying to find its legs, but I'm ok with that because it is something that I love practising!

HIIT isn't just for the superfit

HIIT training, or High Intensity Interval Training has become hugely popular over the last ten years, with numerous scientific studies showing it can improve health, fitness and assist in weight management as effectively, if not sometimes more so, than steady exercise.

Nothing is ever perfect of course, and HIIT has its potential downfalls, one being the increased risk of injury from such an intense workout, the other being that many people don’t like to push themselves that hard, they feel uncomfortable, unwell and generally fearful they might do themselves some harm. And rightly so, overdoing it certainly can lead to muscle and joint injuries and health issues.

The meaning of HIIT

When you thought about HIIT, I bet you pictured fit people sprinting, jumping, throwing heavy pieces of metal about and generally things that are HIGH intensity. Here’s the thing though; what does high really mean? High based on what? Compared to what? Measured how?

The general assumption is that HIIT is reserved for the ‘fitness freaks’, those lovers of exercise, Instagram selfies and ‘motivational’ quotes, protein shakes and Lycra. I’m going to try to change your mind on that right now.

When doing their qualifications, Personal Trainers learn about variables, the things that they can change to make workouts easier or harder, or in other words to make a low intensity workout a high one and vice versa. They learn this because people are not all the same, what is hard and therefore high intensity for one person may actually be low intensity for another. There are tonnes of variables that can be played with to ensure you’re working clients at the correct intensity. Here are just a few…

• Time (seconds or repetitions) - how long does each exercise last or how many do you do?

• Resistance - commonly referred to as the ‘weight’ lifted, it might be a heavy dumbbell, a band or just your own bodyweight.

• Sets - how many times do you perform each exercise?

• Rest - just giving someone a little longer between exercises alters the intensity.

• Exercise - changing the exercise itself or the piece of equipment used can make a substantial difference.

We can also change the angle at which an exercise is performed, the length of the lever (by bending the arms for example), the tempo (pace) at which movements are performed, the base of support (feet wide, narrow or even on one leg) and much more. Basically, any exercise can be adapted in some way to meet the needs of every human being on this planet.

How high?

Now we’ve established that we can change exercises in a multitude of ways, that means it’s possible to create a High Intensity workout for anyone pitched at the right level for them. We just need a simple way of describing what ‘high’ means, something universal that can be applied to Joe Bloggs who hasn’t exercised since school, or Mo Farah, who…well…hasn’t exercised since a few hours ago.

Here’s one such tool, the Rate of Perceived Exertion scale, or RPE.

The scale is designed to allow you to judge how hard you feel you’re working during exercise. For HIIT training, aim for a 7-8 on the scale if you’re new to it; keen beans can push to 9 and even 10 once they’ve built up their fitness. If you have a medical condition, it may still be possible to do some high intensity work for you at around a 5-6, but you should speak to your medical practitioner before doing so, to make sure it’s right for you at this stage.

How will you know you’re at a 7/8?

You’ll be breathing hard and you will start to feel tired as levels of lactic acid build up in your muscles. Don’t worry though, that’s a good thing as you’re burning calories and challenging your body to get fitter, meaning next time it won’t feel so tough. No challenge, no change as they saying goes, it just has to be the right one for you.

Workouts to try

Those of you who’ve seen Insanity or Joe Wickes in action will be expecting some routines here full of burpees, sprints, jumps and lunges. They’re cool if that’s right for you, but the following workouts have been taken down a notch to provide high intensity sessions for those of you who’d love to give it a go but feel that Insanity is insane!

Cardio - hill or stair climbs

Warm up with a 5-10-minute walk, getting gradually quicker until you feel warm and a bit breathless. Find a hill you consider quite steep or a big set of stairs. Walk up briskly for 10-20 seconds getting to the point where you feel like it’s hard to talk, then slowly back down. Repeat 4-8 times depending on how you find it.

You can do it on the flat too as long as you walk at a pace that challenges you.

Weights

This routine is created for absolute beginners to HIIT training. Do each exercise for 30 seconds with as little rest between them as you can. You only need to do the circuit once, but if you’d like to go round again, have a 3-minute rest before repeating.

1) Standing Press-Ups (with your hands against a wall)

2) Sit Down-Stand Up

3) Seated Band Back Extensions

4) Band Wide Rows

5) Floor Bridge

Here’s a little video with a few rep’s of each exercise as a demonstration for you…

You can of course make this harder by changing any of the variables I talked about earlier; harder versions of each exercise, increasing the time to 45 or even 60-seconds per exercise or repeating the workout three times. Whenever you progress, do so gradually; make sure the workout feels comfortable a few times in a row before making it more challenging.

Hopefully it helps you HIIT some of your goals and take you one step closer to balance.

Paul :-)

Deskitis

The average Brit spends 9 hours each day sitting

That's a big problem.

9 hours each day sat down. Over a third of our day; it's such a big problem that when the government last changed their exercise guidelines they felt compelled to add in a line saying that we should minimise the time we spend sitting. It's no wonder we're all suffering from 'deskitis'.

That's the term I give to the postures, pains and movement problems I see daily in clients who spend most of their day at work sat down. 

Ideally, we should have a naturally S-shaped spine which is termed 'neutral spine', with a small inwards curve in the lower (lumbar region) and another outwards curve in the upper (thoracic region). This helps to spread load evenly between the discs of the spine, makes movement easier and prevents wear and tear.

Unfortunately, sitting can cause tightness in some muscles and weakness in others and this leads the the spine being pulled out of this neutral alignment. Common problems include:

• Tightness in the chest and shoulder area, causing the upper spine to 'slump' forwards. The muscles of the upper back become stretched and weak and we can get neck pain and pain all the way down the spine as a result.

• An excessive forwards tilt of the pelvis, caused by tightening of the muscles at the front of your hips; the hip flexors, and those of the lower back. At the same time, your abdominal and bum muscles become stretched and weakened and instance of lower back pain increase.

What can you do?

The first thing to do is move. As often as you can, rise from your desk and wander around. This will help loosen the muscles and restore the balance of tightness and length.

If possible, work standing up when you can. Your postural muscles have to activate here to hold you upright.

You can also perform certain exercises that target the muscles, loosening the tight ones and strengthening those that have become weak.

Check out the workout section of the blog where there are loads of great exercises that will help you move better and stand taller.

If you have only a few minutes every day, try the three exercises in the video below.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: if you have any medical conditions or injuries, aches or pains and have not discussed becoming more physically active with a GP or physio, please do so before starting this or any exercise routine and follow their guidance as to what is safe and suitable for you. If you have any questions or queries about any of these exercises, please do get in touch and I'll be happy to help.

A few quick wins to help improve your posture and movement.

Yours in balance,

Paul

The world is your playground - making outdoor exercise fun

If you’re a little bored with your current gym routine, summer is a great time of year to mix things up a little by getting outdoors. The world is a great gym and even better, membership is free. Try this little routine and get yourself a shot of vitamin D in the process:

Lamppost shuttles

Choose a fairly flat path or piece of road with no crossings that has lampposts equally spaced along it. After warming up thoroughly try the following:

·      Sprint to the first lamppost, walk back to the start

·      Sprint to the second lamppost, walk back just one

·      Sprint three lampposts, walk back

·      Rest for 30 seconds and repeat 2-6 times depending on how you feel

Park bench circuits

You can work every muscle just with a local park bench and a resistance band. Try this great little circuit for 30-60 seconds on each exercise depending on how fit you’re feeling:

·      Squats (bum to bench)

·      Press-ups (off the back is easier, off the bench is harder, feet on the bench is super-hard)

·      Step-ups (alternate legs to make it easier, do all on one leg then swap to make it harder)

·      Dynaband rows (close to your body)

·      Triceps dips (legs bent to make it easier, straight to make it tougher)

·      Dynaband rows (elbows out wide)

Hanging around

Children’s play area make for great training kit. Just be sure to let the kids use it first of course! If it’s free then try these challenging exercises:

·      Hangs – if pull-ups is too tough, just try holding the rail and hanging in mid-air. Work up until you can do 20-30 seconds.

·      Knee raises – once you’ve mastered the hang, holding your body as still as possible, draw one leg at a time up towards your chest doing 8-12 each side. You can progress by performing with both legs at the same time.

·      Swings – if you like monkeying around this is a great exercise for you. Swing from one bar to the next without letting your feet touch the floor if you can.

·      Pull-ups – there are so many variations here, close grip, wide grip, holds at the top, shifting your bodyweight left and right and many more. Aim to do 4-10 repetitions.

Here's me messing about with a few different pull-up variations;

Assisted with a band if you find pull-ups tough but want to be able to do them: http://youtu.be/mRV-vX3rh3c  

Pull-ups with a pull to one side to add some variety and work the core and upper body harder: http://youtu.be/DvUxsEvEzIk

 A more advanced version pulling to both sides in one rep: http://youtu.be/RszZO2Lj7yY

Step-climbing

Climbing stairs is a phenomenal way of keeping fit and burning calories. It’s great for toning your thighs, backside and core and keeping your heart in good shape. Try one of these options to suit you:

·      Walking up stairs – find a flight of steps with at least 20 steps. Aim to spend 5-10 minutes walking up and down with as little rest as you can.

·      Stair running – you can place both feet on each step to develop fast feet or take steps one or two at a time to develop leg power.

·      Step jumps – stand at the bottom of the steps and jump onto the first step then step back down. If you’re feeling confident you can try the second or third step.

If you'd like a simple exercise routine to tone your body, you can download my guide 'A Week in Balance'. As well as healthy recipes, you'll find a range of bodyweight exercises to tone all areas. Even better, there are three difficulty levels for each exercise so you can pick the one that feels right for you. Get your copy here for just £2, half of which goes to the Genetic Alliance UK charity.