Fitness & Wellness

There are some very good reasons to get a personalized program and one of those is ensuring special needs are met. For instance, can you still exercise with bad feet or ankles? The answer is yes, but you need a program designed specifically for your needs. At Habitat Health and Fitness in Lakeland, Florida, FL, our personal trainers ask about those special needs, learn about your goals and assess your fitness before creating a program for you. So what type of exercises are safe to do if you have problems. It depends on the exact problem, but here are some generalized ideas.

Let’s start with what you shouldn’t do.

Any type of high impact workout is a no-no, whether you have a temporary problem, such as a broken ankle, or something more permanent. You may be able to do some alternate exercises, such as aqua jogging, swimming or seated and water exercises, but only if you have a cast that’s waterproof or no cast at all. Some exercises, like battle ropes, can be done from a seated position. Always ask your health care professional before you begin any program of exercise.

Modifying exercises to prevent pressure is a good place to start.

Strengthen your core muscles by laying on your back and putting your knees together, bringing them up and bending them more as you do. Pull your bent knees as close to your chest as possible, then slowly lower them. While they’re super tough, doing leg lifts from a seated position with legs outstretched can be done. Ask your trainer for help with form. Switch out butt kicks used for a toned bottom with donkey kicks that are done on the hands and knees.

Upper body workouts can be done from a seated position.

Do stretches to warm up your upper body before you start. You can even do air boxing or make angel wings. There are a host of upper body strength training workouts that you can do safely with resistance bands. Depending on your problem, doing foot stretches can help build up the muscles. In a seated position, lift one foot and make circles with your foot if you’re able. Some stretches involve using resistance bands, too.

• Don’t push yourself beyond the pain. Only do exercises that don’t put undo pressure on the area. Those could cause even more damage to the foot or ankle.
• Modify traditional exercises, like doing push-ups on bent knee or doing them by placing your thighs on a chair, coffee table or ottoman. Keeping your hands shoulder width apart, raise your upper body until your arms are straight.
• On your hands and knees, do foot circles. Squeeze your bottom tightly as you lift one leg, move it first in 3-4 clockwise circles, then counter-clockwise ones. Lower it and do the other side.
• Just because you have foot or ankle problems, it doesn’t mean you can’t exercise. It means you have to be careful not to cause more damage. That’s where having a trainer can be extremely beneficial.

For more information, contact us today at Habitat Health & Fitness

If you haven’t already set a fitness goal. It’s time to start. Setting a goal is like having a destination on a road trip. If you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t know when you get there and you definitely won’t know the quickest way to go. A fitness goal can be anything that’s important to you. If you want to look better, it can be toning your body or losing weight. If your health is top priority, it may include building your strength, flexibility and endurance.

Once you set your goal, you’ll have a specific target at which to aim.

Your goal needs to be specific, besides being extremely important. Don’t just say you want to lose weight, but note how much you want to lose. It’s the difference between going to a town and going to a town to a specific address. A combination of a healthy diet and a program of consistent exercise that’s based on your specific goal is normally the answer to fitness goals.

How does having a goal give you motivation?

Having a goal that’s specific and one that’s measurable can help keep you on track. How do you measure your progress? That all depends on what your goal is. Is it to lose inches and look fit or lose pounds? Do you want to have more energy? Is more flexibility, strength or endurance what’s important to you? You can measure yourself, weigh yourself, or track the number of reps you do. You can also take a picture once a month in the same outfit, at the same place to show how improved you look every month.

Break down your goal to smaller steps.

A big goal is motivating, but doesn’t keep you motivated. You need small wins along the way to do that. When you break down your goal to smaller, more quickly accomplished chunks, you get success every time you achieve that smaller goal. Success builds success. While a big goal can get you started, breaking it down to smaller goals keeps you motivated.

• Don’t forget to write down your goal and break it down to the steps to reach it. Also record your progress. If you’re out of shape, it can be as simple as being able to run around the block without stopping.
• Staying motivated is easier if you have accountability. When you know someone else is watching your progress, you’ll be more motivated than if nobody is watching.
• Our semi-private and team training classes not only provide a personal trainer who works with each person individually, it also provides comradery. You’ll make friends who can help drive you toward success.
• Our trainers can create a program for you that will help you reach your goal faster. We take a scientific approach that makes your workout time more effective.

For more information, contact us today at Habitat Health & Fitness

We know that your diet, including what you drink is just as important to improving your health as exercising at Habitat Health and Fitness in Winter Haven, FL. It’s one reason we promote healthy diets and encourage making healthy choices when you want something to drink. While water is always a good choice, another viable option is green tea. There are many health benefits, besides it being low in calories and devoid of added chemicals. You have to be sure to keep the green tea its healthiest, so don’t add sugar or sugar substitutes. If you need a sweet drink, add a bit of honey and slowly reduce the amount you add if you can.

What are the health benefits of green tea.

If you want a beverage that can reduce the risk of prostate cancer, oral cancer, stomach, breast and pancreatic cancer, opt for green tea. According to a variety of studies, you need between three and five cups a day, although as little as one cup a day can help. It can also lower your risk for type 2 diabetes by as much as 33%, but that’s only if you drink at least six cups a day.

If you want a boost to your metabolism, consider green tea.

Not only do the polyphenols—-catechins such as EGCG—improve your metabolism, they also provide other benefits. EGCG—Epigallocatechin Gallate—help prevent neurodegeneration to protect you from diseases such as Alzheimer’s, dementia and Parkinson’s disease. They are antioxidants that help prevent neural damage and even reverse existing damage. Large studies showed adults that consumed three cups a day for years had far less cognitive impairment. It reduced the potential of Parkinson’s by 30 to 40 percent. .

You’ll have a better smile because green tea helps teeth and gums.

Whether you’re fighting gingivitis, tooth decay or simply want better oral hygiene, consider drinking green tea daily. It has an antibiotic, antifungal effect to improve your oral health. That can also improve your breath, since bad breath often comes from bacteria in the mouth. Not only will your oral health improve, so will your bone health. Several studies indicate that women who drink green tea suffer from fewer fractures during perimenopause. Matcha tea—a type of green tea—is one of the best for this.

Green tea can help you lose weight. The catechins boost your metabolism and the tea is filling to reduce the amount of calories you consume. It also may help regulate your hormones and aid in reducing Buddha belly.

Green tea can also stabilize your blood sugar levels, which can help you lose weight and lower your risk of diabetes, abdominal fat and reduce sugar cravings. When you eat sugar, it increases insulin in your blood, which causes you to feel even hungrier.

Green tea can boost your immune system because of the antioxidants it contains. If you drink matcha tea, it has the most vitamin C, which also helps your immune system. Other types of green tea also contain vitamin C, but not as much.

Green tea can fight the signs of aging, particularly to your skin. It helps hydrate the body, which helps fade wrinkles. It reduces free radicals that can age skin and potential reduce the effects of photoaging.

You probably have heard a lot about eating raw veggies and how healthy they are. While it’s true some raw vegetables provide more nutrients than cooked ones do for some nutrients, cooking enhances other nutrient content. Cooking may destroy natural enzymes, but it’s also easier to digest. Some vegetables simply don’t taste good raw, either. It all depends on the vegetable and how you cook it.

Raw vegetables contain more nutrients, but do you absorb them all?

No matter how much of any vitamin you consume, if your body isn’t absorbing it, you’re not getting the benefit. One study followed three groups of women. The first group ate the average American diet. The second group ate a diet based on dietary recommendations with both cooked and raw vegetables and the third group followed a raw food diet. While the group that ate the raw food diet consumed more nutrients, some of those nutrients, such as beta-carotene, the group that ate the diet that was both cooked and raw absorbed more of the nutrient. Cooking can destroy some of the nutrient, but it may also make that nutrient more bioavailable.

When you cook tomatoes, you increase the lycopene content.

Lutein is another antioxidant that increases in cooked vegetables. In addition, when you cook vegetables, it can release certain minerals and make them more available. Heating spinach to release calcium is just one example. Cooked vegetables increase not only digestibility, but also helps you chew more thoroughly and boosts the net energy value of food.

Some vegetables simply taste better cooked.

Sweet corn, potatoes or eggplant are also foods you shouldn’t eat raw for flavor or digestibility. Potatoes, whether white or sweet, simply taste better when eaten cooked. Raw potatoes contain lectins and starches that hard to digest and can irritation. Asparagus is also best when cooked and tough to chew when raw. Carrots are actually healthier when they’re heated. The heat helps release nutrients. Don’t even consider eggplant, it’s bitter and tastes awful if it’s not cooked.

• If you don’t like raw vegetables, the healthiest way for you to eat a vegetable is the way you’ll actually eat them. Cook them if you like or eat them raw, but add more veggies to your diet.
• While tomatoes lose much of their vitamin C during cooking, cooking boosts the amount of lycopene. Include them in your diet both cooked and raw.
• While crucifers like broccoli, kale and Brussel’s sprouts taste good both cooked and raw, the raw version can create gas or upset your stomach. Introduce the raw version slowly into your diet.
• Find ways to increase your intake of veggies. Perk up a salad by adding roasted vegetables you normally wouldn’t include. Add vegetables to your scrambled eggs or have a stir-fry night.

For more information, contact us today at Habitat Health & Fitness