Fitness + Well-Being
Four Ingredients for a Strong Heart
Your heart does more physical work than any other muscle in your body—you can’t live without it. But because it’s not visible to the naked eye, it’s often a muscle that is forgotten or neglected. How often do you think about what you can do to keep your heart strong and healthy?
Stress and Adaptogens: A Historical Perspective
Scientists and health practitioners have long sought to better understand, manage, and prevent the damaging effects of stress on human health. Specifically, by targeting causes of stress whether they are personal, work, or financially related, all humans are subject to the psychological, mental, and physical effects of stress. Excessive or long-term stress can lead to physiological changes that are unhealthy.
Fight Back Against Muscle Loss
Beginning around age 30, we begin to lose muscle and gain body fat every year. Specifically, age-related muscle loss occurs at an average rate of three to five percent per decade between the ages of 30 and 60 and accelerates significantly after age 60. This is a serious concern since abnormally low muscle mass, know as sarcopenia, is linked to loss of strength and mobility, culminating in unhealthy aging and frailty.
Is Alcohol Destroying Your Athletic Performance?
There’s no question about it. Alcohol and athletics don’t mix, because it makes an impact on your recovery which is critical to reaching your optimal performance and fitness levels. Unfortunately, too many sports have created an entire culture based around drinking for fans and athletes alike. In fact, binge drinking is so prevalent in sports that studies suggest that athletes are more likely than the general population to drink in excess (1, 2).
How Much Should You Fail for Success?
You don’t gain much without failure. There’s been little doubt of this when it comes to improving strength and muscle mass. Chief among recommendations for lifting weights is to use high-intensity resistance above 60 percent of your one-repetition maximum—or the most weight you can lift in one effort—with failure defined as the inability to complete another full range of repetition (1).
For Best Weight Loss, Combine High Protein With High-Intensity Exercise
Eating a diet high in protein leads to more muscle gains and body fat losses when combined with regular high-intensity exercise, a new study suggests.
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