Fitness & Wellness

The Department of Health and Human Services has never stated exactly how many times you should work out per week, but has stated that the minimum amount of moderate aerobic activity should be about 150 minutes and just 75 minutes if the activity is vigorous. Since you don’t want to overdo any workout, you need to do it on several days throughout the week. If you’re doing strength training, you need a day or two between workouts, so you could assume you’d workout every second or third day. Most trainers believe that exercising at least a half hour a day should be a goal.

The key is to vary your workout.

No matter what your level of fitness, working the same muscle groups and using the same type of workout every day isn’t a good idea. It’s why trainers vary the workouts. If you want to lose weight, you’ll get better results by working out at least 300 minutes every week, plus you’ll improve the health benefits that come from exercising. Remember that doing something active is always better than doing nothing, so don’t let time constraints get in your way if you can’t devote 300 minutes to moderate exercise.

Increase the intensity and lower the amount of time required.

Moderate exercise is walking, running, swimming and even mowing the lawn—as long as it’s not on a riding mower. Vigorous exercise cuts down the amount of time you need to spend and it includes running, strength training and the workout we provide in our gym. Our kettlebell training is the perfect example of a vigorous workout that works all areas of the body. It provides aerobic benefits, flexibility and strength training

If you’re working with a personal trainer, he or she will help you with a schedule.

Your trainer may suggest one, two or three days of training each week with days off devoted to alternatives like walking or swimming. Just living a more active lifestyle and sitting less can make a big improvement in your weight and your health. Even though you might be working out regularly, sitting longer than an hour can diminish the benefits of your exercise program. Try to get up and move at least five minutes every hour.

• You don’t have to workout for thirty or forty minutes straight to get benefits. You can break your workout to ten-minute sessions throughout the day. Three ten-minute brisk walks are as good as a thirty-minute walk.
• Most people recommend at least three workouts a week if you’re using kettlebells. The same is true for anyone training hard in the gym. However, you should add other types of exercise to that schedule for the most benefit.
• One generalization of how to workout and how many days focuses on the types of fitness. Three days a week should be devoted to strength training, two days to cardio and two days of moderate active rest activities. Modify the schedule by goals. If you want to build endurance, increase your days of cardio.
• Our trainers will create a workout schedule that will help you reach your goal faster and in a safe manner. We work with your present level of fitness, special needs and goals to achieve success.
• For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness Studio

What makes a food a superfood? That’s a good question. Since there’s no official definition for a super food, the unofficial one would be a food that contains and extraordinary number of nutrients and health benefits. Some of these are locally grown and you may have eaten them your entire life, like beets or spinach. Others are from distant places and until recently, you never knew they existed, such as the king of fruit, durian.

Marketing has something to do with superfoods getting that label.

There are no rules and regulations about how a food is marketed and whether it can be called a superfood, so sometimes food is marketed as a superfood. You need to check into the claims yourself before you make it a primary dish every meal. Superfood has dense nutritional content, particularly compared to the calories it contains. It also has phytonutrients, enzymes, and other beneficial compounds, besides the traditional fiber, vitamins, minerals and healthy fat.

Superfoods generally are found in nature.

Some superfoods, like ancient grains, have been around for ages and lost favor with the public. Due to recent discoveries and changing circumstances, foods like ancient grains are now far more popular. Most superfoods are minimally processed, since processing may affect the nutritional value of the food. That should alert that the value of any processed food touting a specific superfood as part of the ingredients may not be as healthy as the wrapper suggests.

Make superfoods part of your diet.

While a well-rounded diet is important, don’t forget to include at least one superfood with every meal. Unlike supplements, you can’t overdose from eating superfoods. For instance, taking too many vitamin A supplements can cause hypervitaminosis A, but you can’t get it from eating food. The vitamin A in food comes from converting beta carotene, but instead of causing a lethal problem, the only problem you’ll have is discoloration of your skin to an orange color.

• Crucifers and many green vegetables are often considered superfoods. Broccoli, for instance, contains phytochemicals that help fight cancer and eliminate carcinogens from the body.
• Nuts are a superfood, especially walnuts and almonds. Other food that are easy to include in a diet are flaxseed, yogurt, avocados and garlic. Make a beautiful green salad of spinach, another superfood and add all the others listed, saving the yogurt to make dressing.
• If you carve a pumpkin or cook down the flesh to use, don’t throw out the seeds. Not only does the flesh of the pumpkin have loads of nutrients, the seeds are a great source of zinc, plant protein and essential fatty acids.
• Some fabulous superfoods are berries, especially blueberries. They contain antioxidants that fight cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and more. Combine them with walnuts, flaxseed and Greek yogurt for a super delightful dessert.

For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness