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Is Eating Breakfast That Big Of A Deal?

Is Eating Breakfast That Big Of A Deal?

Starting the day with a big breakfast was often vital for early farmers who did hard manual labor. It is also vital for most workers who expend high amounts of energy doing their daily work. If you work in an office or a sedentary job, a big breakfast may offer benefits even though you don’t expend the high energy of a pioneer farmer or lift heavy loads that cause you to burn hundreds of calories.

Some studies show that people who eat breakfast are more active throughout the day.

If you want to expend more energy and boost your activity, eating breakfast could help. A 2017 study showed that breakfast could increase fat burning and help prevent diabetes. Counter studies are showing eating your first meal of the day could also help you lose weight. It’s called intermittent fasting, where you eat meals in a narrow time frame, often starting the first meal later, ending food consumption within eight hours, and fasting the rest of the day. For some individuals, intermittent fasting helped with weight loss. For others, eating a healthy breakfast also boosted weight loss.

The first meal of the day improves cognitive performance and focus in children.

Studies on school-age children showed that a healthy breakfast improved a child’s classroom performance. If you work out in the morning, eating breakfast afterward that includes protein and carbs, can help with muscle recovery and provide energy for the balance of the day. You can add more fruits and vegetables to your diet. Oatmeal with fruit is an example. An omelet with spinach, onions, and cheese provides carbs and protein.

The type of people that traditionally skip breakfast may skew studies.

For people working nine to five, the potential you’ll eat a good breakfast is greater than it is for someone who works on the night shift. The results of a study won’t be as reliable if not considered. Many studies show people who work night shifts for a long time have more health issues. Their risk of heart disease, cancer, ulcers, digestive problems, and even obesity increases.

  • A newer study shows that you’ll burn more calories if you skip breakfast, but it increases the potential for inflammation. Inflammation can lead to health issues.
  • Eating a bagel or donut with a cup of coffee isn’t a good breakfast. You’re better off not eating. Instead, opt for something filling like oatmeal or yogurt with fruit.
  • If your day is more physically demanding, eating a healthy breakfast helps. A breakfast muffin made with egg, broccoli, onion, and mushrooms mixed and baked in muffin pans qualifies. Store the refrigerator and heat in the microwave.
  • Everyone is different. Some people need a large breakfast to boost energy, while others aren’t hungry in the morning because of late-night snacking. If they snack, the lack of breakfast doesn’t cause weight gain. It’s the snacks at night.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


Is Your BMI Really A Good Measure Of Your Health?

Is Your BMI Really A Good Measure Of Your Health?

What is BMI? BMI stands for body mass index and is a ratio of height to weight based on sex and sometimes age. It’s just one quick measure of your overall health. BMI is a chart with your height at the side, weight in the middle, and the corresponding BMI at the top of the chart. The BMI formula is (weight in pounds x 703) / (height in inches x height in inches). Putting the information on a chart cuts through calculation time and makes it easy for doctors to take a quick assessment. It’s not a stand-alone test and requires other information.

The amount of muscle you have makes a difference.

If a patient is a bodybuilder or other muscular person, the doctor might make a rash assessment of obesity before seeing the patient. That’s because muscle tissue weighs more per cubic inch than fat tissue. If two people were the same height and weight, but one was muscular and the other wasn’t, the muscular person would look thinner. The muscular person would probably be healthier than the one who wasn’t. The healthcare professional would know the difference when they saw them. Insurance companies often require a photograph of a person with a high BMI due to muscle tissue to avoid paying more for life insurance. A large body frame, dense bones, pregnancy, and age can skew BMI.

There are better ways to identify health risks than BMI.

A waist measurement is a better indication of overall health. For men, a waist larger than 40.2 inches has a greater chance of diabetes. The measurement for women indicating the same is 34.6 inches. That’s because fat around the waist is visceral fat. It’s the most dangerous type and the most difficult to lose. It crowds the organs and causes inflammation.

A high BMI leads the doctor to explore health issues by taking other tests.

A high BMI may be the reason for breathing problems or sleep apnea, which can lead to COPD, heart disease, and diabetes. It can indicate a risk for arthritis, liver disease, some types of cancer, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, too. It’s not a good indicator of the health of children or seniors. Doctors use it as a place to start and other factors, like personal observation.

  • One study showed that BMI wasn’t a good indicator of cardiac health. It didn’t indicate whether the patient would have a healthy cardiometabolic profile containing blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.
  • A better indicator of health is the RFM—relative fat mass index. It uses the formula for men of 64-(20 x height/waist circumference) and women 76-(20 x height/waist circumference).
  • Better indicators of body density are MRI scans and underwater weighing. The problem is that they are too costly for widespread use.
  • The range for normal is between 18 and 24. For overweight individuals, the BMI number range is from 25 to 29. The range between 30 and 39 is obese and 40 and higher is extremely obese.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


Jump Rope Is A Great Exercise You Can Do Anywhere

Jump Rope Is A Great Exercise You Can Do Anywhere

Many people come to Rising Fitness in Houston, TX, because they love the help of a personal trainer and the equipment available. Some people want to exercise between gym sessions and choose running, walking, and calisthenics. One often-forgotten cardio workout is the jump rope. Jump ropes are inexpensive. You can even do it with the kids. There are several types of jump ropes, including speed and weighted ones, but jump ropes don’t have to be fancy or expensive. You can use a jump rope found in the toy department.

Jumping rope is tougher than you think.

You might laugh a bit when you think of jumping rope for fitness. After all, you did it in elementary school. It’s harder than you think. One study showed that six weeks of jumping rope for 10 minutes provided the same benefits as 30 minutes of running. You raise your knees higher when you jump, burn more calories, and move more muscles than when you swim or row. When you think of adults jumping rope, boxers probably come to mind. They do it because it boosts overall fitness and timing.

Jumping rope helps condition your body and your brain.

You’ll improve your circulation. That affects your entire body, including the brain. That can improve brain power and cognitive thinking. Jumping rope requires rhythm and using various muscles to do different types of movements. Like other exercises, it helps build new neural pathways. Jumping rope improves the coordination of the muscles. It can be vital to good health and mental clarity as you age.

You exercise both the upper body and lower body when you jump rope.

There are a variety of ropes and styles of jumping that you can use to work your body harder. A faster rope will engage your cardiovascular system more and a weighted rope will work the upper body more. That allows you to target certain areas. You can jump rope anywhere. If you live in a small apartment, don’t forget to clear the area. Many people jump rope outside during good weather to make it very pleasant.

  • Jumping rope at a moderate pace can burn 16 calories every minute. If you do just ten minutes a day, you’ll burn 1120 extra calories. You’d burn enough calories to lose a pound in about three weeks.
  • Jumping rope is considered a low-impact workout that is easier on the joints. You are jumping, but your feet don’t move very far from the ground, and you land on the balls of your feet.
  • Start with simple movements and get the basics perfected. Once you do, move on to harder types. The basic jumps include bouncing on both feet simultaneously or lifting one foot at a time.
  • You can modify your jump rope workout by changing the position of your feet. You can use the same foot movements you use in jumping jacks, wider for one jump and narrower for the next.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


Best Exercises To Get Your Heart Pumping

Best Exercises To Get Your Heart Pumping

Endurance exercises are also called cardio workouts. The very term cardio indicates it is about exercising the heart. While all cardio workouts will do that, some are better than others. For example, running in place will work the heart, but lifting your knees higher while you do that will increase the effort. You can even turn strength-building workouts into cardiovascular ones. That causes the body to burn fat and build muscle as it works your heart.

Some traditional calisthenics can get your heart pumping.

Have you ever done several burpees in a row? If you have, then you’ll know they can leave you breathless with heart-beating results. The four-minute workout by Dr. Zachary Bush combines four exercises that will boost your circulation, lower your blood pressure, and improve your heart strength quickly. It’s eight sets of four exercises. The exercises include arm swings, no-jumping-jumping jacks, squats, and shoulder presses. Do the simple four-minute combinations several times a day. Doing other calisthenics with little rest between sets can also get your heart pumping.

Do HIIT workouts and turn your strength-building into a heart-pumping session.

HIIT—high intensity interval training—can boost cardiovascular strength quickly. It’s not a particular exercise, but a way of doing any workout. You alternate between peak intensity and a recovery pace. The peak intensity provides some of the benefit but you can’t keep it up for long, alternating the intensity allows you to do that. You can use it when you run, climb stairs, or do any workout for cardio and strength-building.

Jump rope for a cardio boost.

Jumping rope sounds simple but it takes a lot out of you. For increased cardio, use a speed jump rope or weighted rope. Jumping rope increases your heart rate quickly. You have to use several muscle groups at once to jump rope. Ten minutes of rope jumping for six weeks provides the same benefits as 30 minutes of running for the same length of time. It’s a low-impact exercise you can modify easily to make it more challenging.

  • Doing circuit training combines several exercises you do without resting much between sets. The exercises focus on different body parts. It works similarly to the four-minute workout and HIIT.
  • Consider using kettlebells to train. You’ll get cardio, strength, balance, and flexibility training simultaneously. The off-center nature of the kettlebell works the core muscles and makes it more difficult than traditional weightlifting workouts.
  • Have some fun when you workout and boost your cardiovascular system. Turn on the music and dance fast. While skateboarding and rollerblading aren’t as intense as running, you’ll probably do it longer because it’s fun.
  • Squat jumps, running up and down stairs, mountain climbers, and inchworms can be turned into workouts that burn a lot of calories and work your heart. Cut the rest time between sets.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


The Best Foods To Eat After A Workout

The Best Foods To Eat After A Workout

Whether you’re eating a meal after your workout or just having a post-workout snack, the food you eat directly affects your recovery. It can make a difference in how fast you build muscle tissue, too. Refueling your muscles and providing adequate building blocks to build muscles require a specific combination of macronutrients. It takes a combination of protein and carbohydrates. The carbs refuel the lost glycogen from the muscle and the protein helps build muscle tissue and shortens recovery time.

Your intensity makes a difference.

Consuming a snack after working out or eating an entire meal isn’t necessary if you have a light session. Insuring you get a snack or meal after an intense workout is mandatory. You’ve made microtears in the muscles that require healing. It takes nutrients to do that. A snack like peanut butter and apple slices provides a good combination. The peanut butter provides the protein, and the apple provides the carbs. If your workout ends within a half hour of a meal, wait until you eat your next meal. It should contain a combination of protein and carbs.

Your meal could be a baked chicken breast and a large salad.

If you’re having a snack, consider plain Greek yogurt with fruit and nuts. It could contain berries, a half banana, cherries, or other fruit as the carb. The yogurt and nuts provide the protein. It’s easy on the digestive system and delicious. You can replenish your liquid with water but eating juicy fruit or vegetables also helps. Watermelon, a salad, sliced tomatoes, and cucumbers are good carb additions. They replenish the fluid.

Consider food that contains potassium.

Potassium helps regulate your nervous system and influences nerve impulses like muscle contractions, your heartbeat, and other processes. Melons, baked sweet potatoes, kale, oranges, and grapes provide it. Including snacks and meals high in electrolytes like potassium can replenish your stores. If you sweat a lot, include bone broth or chicken soup. Tomatoes, olives, and lettuce provide chloride. Magnesium is also necessary, and green leafy vegetables provide it.

  • Keep it simple and opt for a boiled egg with a slice of whole grain toast or egg salad on toast. Another simple post-workout snack is cottage cheese and fruit. Oatmeal and milk are also simple snacks.
  • Use leftovers for your snack. If you had sweet potato wedges and chicken the night before, reheat both in a microwave. Chop leftover chicken, add celery, onions, and salad dressing. Top whole-grain toast for another snack of leftovers.
  • If you’re eating a full meal, consider a protein-rich main dish like chicken breast or salmon. Add a multi-vegetable salad, sweet potatoes, and whole-grain bread as a side dish.
  • If you’re doing endurance training, focus more on rehydration and replenishing glycogen and electrolyte stores. You’ll want to include more protein if you’re doing strength training.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


How To Workout And Still Have Time For Everything Else

How To Workout And Still Have Time For Everything Else

If you’re like most people, you have to budget your time to fit everything into your day. Fitting your workout into your schedule without stealing it from another priority can be almost impossible. It takes time to get dressed for your workout, workout, shower, and change. When you finish, it’s eaten up an entire hour. Your health is a top priority, so it’s worth the time, but that takes away from something else. Is there a way you can do both without compromising either?

Have fun with the kids while you exercise.

You can do activities with the kids that provide exercise. Do active things together as a family. Some kids will love working out with you. Younger children especially love it, even though they may not do all the exercises correctly. It’s fun to join you in your fitness efforts. Others will enjoy bike riding, hiking, or swimming. It’s all about doing something fun with Mom or Dad.

Choose a workout time that doesn’t interfere with anything else.

When your day is hectic and every minute counts, the way to fit a workout in without detracting from something else is to do it early in the morning before your day starts. Getting up early and exercising while your family is still in bed and before there are phone calls and meetings to fill your day can solve your problem. The quiet of the morning lets you do your workout in peace without taking away from other tasks.

Break your workout into smaller sessions.

It doesn’t matter whether you do a half-hour straight of exercise or three ten-minute sessions throughout the day, you’ll get the same benefits from the exercise. Find ten to fifteen-minute windows throughout the day to do a few exercises each time. You can include exercises you can do at your desk, like chair leg lifts, that won’t take you from your office or workspace.

  • Increase the amount of walking you do. Get a step counter and vow to increase the number of steps each day until you reach a specific amount. Increasing your physical activity with walking as an alternative leaves time for other things.
  • Use mini workouts. The four-minute nitric oxide dump is one example. It uses four exercises that work larger muscles, causing the production of nitric oxide that can lower blood pressure.
  • Use high intensity interval training—HIIT. You can get just as much exercise from a shorter HIIT workout as you do from a longer steady-state one. You can’t do HIIT every day, but you can use it when you want to shave 15 minutes off your time.
  • Have your workout written down. You’ll cut time when you have your list of exercises in hand and you’re ready to go. Also skip unproductive moves, like taking long breaks between exercises.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


What To Ask Before Starting A New Workout Routine

What To Ask Before Starting A New Workout Routine

For some people, starting a new workout routine can be intimidating. You alternatively could be the type of person who jumps in feet first without question. Regardless of your personality, you need to know what to ask if you’re starting a new workout routine, especially if you were a couch potato previously. Whether you join a group, hire a trainer, join a new gym, or workout at home, learning the basics, especially proper form, is imperative.

See if you enjoy the new workout.

Whether you’re signing up for a class or working out at a new facility, do a thorough inspection before you sign up. Ask for a tour of the gym or monitor one of the classes. If you’re using a personal trainer, talk to the trainer to find out what to expect from his services. Locking into something before investigating everything about it can put you in a position of hating every minute.

Can you consistently schedule the same time for the program every day?

Check your schedule before you start any fitness program. You may be able to fit it in at first, but is that time conducive to next week or next month? You want consistency. Scheduling your workout at the same time each day creates a habit. Habits are hard to break. Is the gym or location of your workout convenient or do you have to drive a distance? Identify all the physical issues that might limit your participation.

Is the program right for your fitness level?

You wouldn’t enter a program for physics geniuses with years of experience if you haven’t conquered basic science. The same is true for fitness. If you are a beginner, make sure your program is for beginners. If it isn’t, you’ll struggle and feel like a failure. If you’re too advanced for the class, you’ll get bored. A personal trainer will ensure you have the workout appropriate for your fitness level.

  • Check whether it’s a complete fitness program that works on all types of fitness, strength, flexibility, endurance, and balance. You need to work on all four types of fitness.
  • Ensure the program you choose has a warm-up and cool-down section. Warm your muscles before you start working out to help prevent injury. Both warm-up and cool-down can help speed recovery.
  • Identify if the program is pushing you too fast. Start slowly and gradually work toward maximum capacity. Always check with your healthcare professional before starting any program.
  • At Rising Fitness, our personal trainers will help guide you past each hurdle. They’ll create a program specifically for your needs, limitations, and goals.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


How To Get Past Your Biggest Fitness Hurdles

How To Get Past Your Biggest Fitness Hurdles

If you’re finding it hard to get past the hurdles that prevent you from achieving your fitness goals, you’re not alone. Many people in Houston, TX, experience the same problem. What seemed like an achievable resolution or goal suddenly looks overwhelming. One of the problems is that people create their goals without considering a plan of action to accomplish them. Are you going to workout three times a week? Improve your diet? What do you have to do to reach your goal? Break down your big fitness goal to smaller easier to accomplish ones and identify what you’ll do to reach it.

Maybe you run out of day before you get a chance to exercise.

Finding time to workout isn’t always easy, especially if you leave it to chance. Unless your day entails nothing but sitting by the pool sipping on umbrella drinks, your day is probably hectic. Identify the time that you’ll most likely have available consistently. If your schedule is unpredictable, make it early before you start your day. Write that time on your schedule and make it your permanent workout appointment.

You may have higher expectations than you should.

If you started the year vowing to shed 60 pounds and look fabulous by Valentine’s Day, you’ll probably quit when that day arrives. Shedding 60 pounds in six weeks by just exercising and eating healthy isn’t possible. That’s 10 pounds a week. Before you quit the program completely, reevaluate your timeline and goals. You can lose 10 pounds a month, so change your timeline to the end of June and look your best for the 4th of July.

If you’re doing the same routine continuously or choose a type of exercise you hate, you’ll fail.

If you find running is the most mind-numbing thing anyone can do, don’t choose it for your exercise program. Getting bored can be a progress killer. Doing the same routine repeatedly can also add to the boredom. Instead, choose a couple of days at the gym, add a dance class, yoga, or biking on other days. Keep it interesting. You can add HIIT workouts or exercise with friends.

  • Never compare yourself or your progress to anyone else. People get fit at different rates. Men tend to lose weight faster than women do. Those who have exercised previously get into shape quicker.
  • If there’s no way you can find a half hour to 45 minutes to exercise, break down your workout into three shorter sessions. You can even do sessions while watching television.
  • If eating healthier is one of your goals, try meal prepping. Rather than trying to cook every night at the end of a long day, you cook everything on the weekend so all you do is heat and serve.
  • At Rising Fitness, our personalized program will help you overcome all these hurdles to success. You’ll have help creating a goal and a varied workout and dietary program to help you reach it.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


Top Yoga Poses For Stress Relief

Top Yoga Poses For Stress Relief

If you feel like your day is out of control and you need some stress relief, consider doing yoga. Yoga offers many benefits. You can use it any time of day and help reduce the tension in your body. Yoga relieves stress in several ways. Controlled breathing can slow your heart rate and lower blood pressure. It reduces the impact of your stress mechanism and your body’s reaction to stress and calms your mind. It stretches the muscles and helps them relax.

The child pose is simple and well worth the effort for stress relief.

Start with your weight resting on the palms of your hands and knees with the front of your legs touching the floor. As you exhale, lower your bottom until it touches your heels. Extend your arms until your chest touches your thighs, your forehead is on the ground, and your arms are stretched out in front. Hold this pose until you feel the stress melt away.

Do part of a combination or the whole thing to relieve stress.

Two poses that bring stress relief are the cat pose and the cow pose. Combine them to relieve stress and back pain. The cat pose starts on your hands and knees. You move your head down as you arch your back like an angry cat. Hold for a few seconds and then release. The cow position starts on the hands and knees, too. Instead of lowering your head, you raise your head, dropping your belly instead of arching your back. Doing the two together almost massages your back.

Doing a cobra pose can bring stress relief.

A cobra pose starts by laying on the stomach with the tops of the feet on the floor. Your hands are under your shoulders and your arms are close to your body. Your elbow is bent with your fingers pointing forward. As you press your lower body from the ribs down onto the floor, you push your upper body up with your hands, exhaling as you do it. Straighten your arms and hold for 30 seconds.

  • Three-part breathing can calm you. Breathe in through the nose, filling your lungs first then your belly. Have one hand on your chest and the other on your belly. Feel the belly grow smaller as you exhale, then empty the lungs.
  • Many traditional bodyweight exercises are also yoga poses. Do a bridge or plank to bring stress relief as it builds core muscles. Both are yoga poses. When you end the pose, you’ll feel your body relax.
  • The uttanasana is an intense toe-touching style exercise. You need to warm your muscles first, so it should be at the end of the poses. You bend at the waist and touch the floor palms down. Bend as far as you comfortably can.
  • The legs-up-the-wall pose starts seated with your body close to the wall. Lay your upper body back and put your legs on the wall with your knees straight. Scoot your bottom as close to the wall with one hand on your belly and the other on your chest. Hold for up to 15 minutes.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym


Effective HIIT Workouts For Burning Calories

Effective HIIT Workouts For Burning Calories

When you want to lose the most weight and get the best results from every minute in the gym, search for HIIT—high intensity interval training—workouts that burn the most calories. If you’re like most people in Houston, TX, finding that type of workout fits many goals. HIIT workouts aren’t a specific workout but a way of doing any workout. They alternate intensity between high intensity and recovery. HIIT workouts build endurance faster besides burning calories.

When you workout at peak intensity, it torches calories.

The problem is you can’t continue working out at peak intensity for very long. That’s why you vary the intensity between high and recovery. It also increases your metabolism, so you continue to burn more calories even after you finish the workout. It’s called afterburn or EPOC—Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption. It helps burn fat, burns more calories while you’re doing it, improves oxygen consumption, reduces blood sugar rate, blood pressure, and heart rate, and improves overall performance.

Many exercises are excellent HIIT workouts.

You can use any type of workout as a HIIT workout, including bodyweight exercises. You can do your favorite bodyweight workouts using HIIT. Start with moderate exercise, such as side lunges. Do them for two minutes then do as many burpees as you can in a minute. Switch to a lunge squat for two minutes, then move to wide to narrow squat jumps at peak intensity, then go back to walking lunges for two minutes. You can use running and walking as your exercise. HIIT started as a running workout. If you’re new to exercise, start with bicycling or walking. Walk or bike at a moderate speed for two minutes, then switch back to a top speed for a minute.

You can even do HIIT workouts with weights.

Any exercise will do, even ones using weights or kettlebells. You can do a HIIT workout with battle ropes. The key is to start at a moderate pace and move to high intensity to raise your heart rate. Alternate back to moderate intensity for recovery. Doing goblet squats while holding one dumbbell or a kettlebell is one way to do HIIT. You can modify your workout by doing three one-minute high-intensity exercises, moving directly from one exercise to the next. When you’ve completed them, give yourself a one-minute break.

  • Don’t push yourself. If you can only do 10 or 15 seconds at peak intensity and have to drop back to recovery for longer than an equal amount of time or longer, it’s okay. Work your way up to longer peak intensity intervals.
  • Always learn the basic exercise first before using it in a HIIT routine. Focus on form to avoid injury and maximize the benefits.
  • Studies show HIIT workouts keep you younger at a cellular level. They lengthen the telomeres that protect the chromones from damage that causes disease, aging, and death.
  • Never do HIIT workouts without consulting your healthcare professional, especially if you have any condition. If you’re pregnant, 3-6 months postpartum, immune suppressed, have a heart condition, have osteoporosis, or osteopenia avoid HIIT.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym