Fitness and Training
Stretches to Do Right Now if You’re on Your Feet All Day

If your day-to-day routine requires you to be standing for prolonged periods of time (say, if you work in a retail or a caregiving profession), you know it can be taxing. Hello, achy knees, and foot, heel, and back pain.
“Plantar fasciitis (heel pain that develops as a result of inflammation in the tissue connecting the heel bone and toes) is a common complaint affecting people’s feet, alongside overall muscle,” explains Melissa Prestipino, DPT, a physical therapist in Sparta, New Jersey.
Poor posture (rounding your shoulders, tilting your head forward, protracting your shoulder blades, or tilting your pelvis forward, for example) can put extra pressure on the back muscles and cause chronic low back pain and musculoskeletal issues, Prestipino adds.
Also, there’s the problem of just not moving enough, says Jeff Brannigan, the program director at Stretch*d, a stretch therapy studio in New York City. When it comes to sedentary behavior, sitting tends to get more attention than standing. But research suggests that a lot of standing (in particular static standing, meaning you’re on your feet but otherwise not moving a whole lot) can bring certain health problems, too.
“Sedentary lifestyles cause the muscles to enter into a constant state of tension, which will negatively affect their ability to function properly — causing pain, compensation, and imbalances,” he says.
A review of research concluded that health problems ranging from lower back and leg pain to fatigue and discomfort to cardiovascular problems have all been linked to prolonged standing. And a study of more than 7,000 Canadian employees concluded that a cohort who worked in jobs requiring them to stand most of the time had double the risk of heart disease compared with people who sat at work most of the time.
“When you’re sedentary, your body becomes stale and brittle. Think of it the same way that a car that has been neglected in a garage would likely not run as efficiently as a car that gets regular maintenance,” Brannigan says.
The good news is that movement, and that includes dynamic and static stretching, can help if you have to stand all day.
Below are three specific stretches Prestipino recommends to help alleviate tension caused by lots of standing. Hold each stretch for 20 to 30 seconds and repeat three times on each side a few times a day to reap the full benefits, she says.
This stretch helps to promote flexibility in the calf muscles, since excess standing can lead to cramping in this region. “Stretching the calf also promotes circulation in these muscles,” Prestipino says — which can help prevent plantar fasciitis and related issues.
How to Do It Stand about a step away from a wall. Place both palms flat against the wall, step your left foot back, and bend your front knee, so you’re in a lunge position. Keep your toes pointing forward and push your left heel toward the ground until you feel a stretch along your left calf. Hold, then switch sides.This stretch helps keep the quadriceps muscles loose and flexible. As the largest muscle group in the body, the quads are crucial to all movement types, including walking, jogging, sitting, and standing, Prestipino explains.
How to Do It Use a wall for balance. Kick your right foot toward your butt and grab on to the top of your right ankle or foot. Pull your right ankle or forefoot toward your buttocks as you push the hip forward, feeling a stretch along the right quad. Brace your abdominals to stabilize your pelvis and ensure there is no arch in your back, keeping both thighs parallel to each other. Hold, and then repeat on the other leg.
Standing for long hours can cause our back extensors (which allow movement on the spine, such as flexion and bending) to tighten and fatigue, often causing low back pain. “The seated lumbar flexion stretch helps to increase your lower back flexibility and promotes circulation and blood flow to your lower spine muscles, helping to decrease tightness,” says Prestipino.
If, however, you have a current lumbar disc herniation, or a history of one, this stretch may not be appropriate. Ask your doctor before trying it.
How to Do It Sit up tall in a chair with your shoulders rolled back and your feet placed flat and slightly out in front of you. Settle your hands on your knees and slowly slide them down your legs as close to your feet as your flexibility allows. Fold over your thighs to fully lengthen your spine, keeping your chin tucked under so that your upper spine rests in a curved, C shape.
Source: everydayhealth
Fitness and Training
A Complete Low-Carb Diet Guide for Beginners

From Atkins to the ketogenic diet, low-carb eating has some serious staying power in the diet world. Check out this guide if you’re curious about how this eating approach may aid diabetes management, weight loss, and other purported health benefits. For starters, know that what’s low carbohydrate for one person isn’t for another. “There’s no medical definition of what low-carb is,” says Columbus, Ohio–based Kelly Schmidt, RD.
Basically, it’s reducing the number of carbs you eat from your norm. In general, however, a low-carb diet may include 50 to 100 grams (g) of carbohydrates per day, she says. Below that is considered very-low-carb, such as the ketogenic diet, while 100 to 200 g of carbohydrates per day is a moderate-carb diet.
You probably hear the most about low-carb eating for weight loss, but for some people, the approach could also help optimize their health, says Schmidt. “Research shows that women who are obese or have metabolic problems [may] do better hormonally on lower carbs,” says Schmidt, pointing out that other outcomes of the diet can include better sleep, mental clarity, and increased satiety.
As low-carb dietitian Franziska Spritzler, RD, who’s based in Orange County, California, points out, when you cut back on carbs, blood sugar and insulin levels generally go down, which can be a good thing for A1C, or the two- to three-month average of blood sugar levels. This may also help with weight loss, another common goal for people with type 2 diabetes.
These types of benefits may be reaped almost immediately. Past research shows that people who ate three lower-carb meals (of less than 30 percent carbs each) reduced their insulin resistance by more than 30 percent compared with people who consumed higher-carb meals (60 percent carbs).right up arrow Further research indicates that insulin resistance can be improved with a low-carb diet in just one month.right up arrow
You can see the results, too. One small randomized clinical trial on older adults with obesity found that, compared with a low-fat diet, a very low carb diet shaved off 3 times more visceral fat, a type of belly fat that hugs organs and is linked to disease. The low-carb group also lost 9.7 percent of total fat compared with just 2 percent in the low-fat followers.right up arrow A meta-analysis also concluded that in obese people, a low-carb diet reduced fat over the course of a year (but not body weight), with the greatest benefits seen in a very-low-carb diet.
That said, there isn’t an agreement that a low-carb diet is superior to any other kind of diet or that it’s healthier long term. A review that looked at the diet among those with diabetes noted that when it comes to weight loss, a low-carb diet performs no better than other higher-carb diets; and that it doesn’t produce better glycemic control, either.right up arrow Another report also found that over one year, those on a low-carb diet lost weight faster than those on a low-fat one, but after a year, weight loss and A1C levels (an average of blood glucose over about three months) were remarkably similar Separate from pregnancy, consider your lifestyle. If you’re someone who does intense CrossFit-style workouts, a low-carb diet may not fuel you properly, says Schmidt.
And the things weighing on you matter, too. “Anyone in a stressful state, like a divorce or dealing with a death in the family, needs carbs to support their adrenal system,” she notes.
As for if you’re dealing with health issues, defer to your doctor. For instance, if you have kidney disease, you also want to talk to your doctor about appropriate protein intake. If you have heart disease, you can still go low carb, but you’re best off opting for monounsaturated fats (avocados, nuts, and olive oil) over saturated fats (butter and red meat). Indeed, this holds true for everyone, regardless of heart disease status.
Although there is some data that suggests a low-carb diet that contains more saturated fat than current recommendations did not increase “bad” LDL cholesterol (a risk factor for heart disease), you should still pay attention to the quality of foods in your low-carb diet.right up arrow Everyone’s cholesterol levels respond differently on a low-carb diet, so if yours are going up, switch to unsaturated sources of fats, Spritzler recommends. “In general, this is a diet most people can do. If you have a chronic condition, work with a doctor who understands low-carbohydrate diets to monitor you,” she adds.
Last, if you have a history of eating disorders, a low-carb diet (or any eating plan that is restrictive) can be risky, nutrition and mental health experts agree.
Source: everydayhealth
Fitness and Training
How Much Exercise Do I Need?

How much exercise is enough? It depends on your health and goals. How much exercise is enough for what?” asks David Bassett Jr., PhD, a professor and the department head of exercise physiology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He explains that, before you make a decision on how much you need, you should have a good idea of your exercise goals: Are you exercising for physical fitness, weight control, or as a way of keeping your stress levels low?
For general health benefits, a routine of daily walking may be sufficient, says Susan Joy, MD, codirector of the Kaiser Permanente Sports Medicine Center in Sacramento and a team physician for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.
If your goal is more specific — say, to lower your blood pressure, improve your cardiovascular fitness, or lose weight — you’ll need either more frequent exercise or a higher intensity of exercise.
“The medical literature continues to support the idea that exercise is medicine,” says Jeffrey E. Oken, MD, acting chief of staff at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Hines, Illinois. “Regular exercise can help lower risk of premature death, help control your blood pressure, reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, combat obesity, improve your lung function, and help treat depression.”
Here, experts break down exactly how much exercise is enough, on the basis of your personal health and fitness goals.
According to 2019 guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), for general health adults should aim for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity each week. (1) When repeated regularly, aerobic activity improves cardiorespiratory fitness. Running, brisk walking, swimming, and cycling are all forms of aerobic activity.
Source: everydayhealth
-
Football5 days ago
Bayern-Union match postponed due to heavy snowfall
-
Mzansi Celebs4 days ago
Tyla kicks off the new month with the release of three songs
-
Mzansi Celebs5 days ago
Sechaba Pali has admitted that he is not coping at all and has resorted to drinking
-
Sports4 days ago
Williams confirm Sargeant to stay with F1 team in 2024
-
Mzansi Celebs4 days ago
It all ended in tears for Faith Nketsi
-
Sports1 week ago
Max Verstappen toasts Tost after 19th win completes dominant season
-
Football4 days ago
Brazilian forward Vitor Roque set to join Barcelona in January
-
World News6 days ago
Three killed in Jerusalem shortly before truce is extended