easy ways to add movement into your day

i spent the weekend sitting in a car and/or hunched up freezing to death (side note: congrats to my friend for getting married... bonus side note: no one else is allowed to have an outdoor winter wedding), so movement was tough this weekend. and my body really felt the difference from my typical workouts and general life moving around. but there are still ways to get some sort of movement in, even with the 8 + hours in the car. 

here are some easy ways you can add just a little bit of extra movement into your day without taking too much time or effort!

  1. S T R E T C H 
    1. seriously. sit up in bed before you get up and touch your toes and reach up and get some twists in. take some deep breaths and honestly it'll start your day so much better. and the same thing goes for the evening. before you get in bed, or before you get too comfy, take just a couple of minutes to recover from the day and stretch out. 
  2. drink hella water & get up regularly to refill your bottle.
    1. easy peasy and doing more than one good thing for yourself all at the same time! the more you drink, the more you pee, and the more you gotta stand up and go take a walk to the restroom and/or to refill your water bottle! 
  3. stand up every hour or so 
    1. sitting at a desk has been proven to be detrimental to your health. hopefully you're taking care of the long term sitting with the water tip above, but if not, just make sure you recognize how long you've been sitting and just stand up every so often, reach up, take a big breath, walk if you can for a moment, and get back into it.
  4. split your lunch break 
    1. enjoy your food, and then take 10 or so minutes to take a walk. i almost always had 10-15 mins of my lunch break left over after eating when i worked in an office. instead of sitting and staring at your phone for that time... take a lap around the building a time or two!
  5. park a little farther away
    1. i know, i know this is an old one. but it is a really effective way to get some extra steps in with minimal effort. and those steps add up and will make you feel better in the long run! 
  6. add in some calf raises
    1. probably the easiest exercise to add into your day. whenever your standing up, just add in a few calf raises and build some calf muscles any gym bro would be jealous of.
  7. get yourself a lacrosse or tennis ball and roll with them!
    1.  roll out the bottom of your feet, your back and shoulders, and calves (they'll be sore from all those calf raises!). it releases tension and your muscles will thank you. you can do this sitting at your desk, watching TV, or whenever you have a minute! 

there ya have it. all of these combined will take up less than a half hour. it doesn't take a lot to get moving just a little more and these are all ways to start making fitness an easy part of your life! 

 

want a little more guidance on starting your fitness journey... check out the training packages you can get from me here and check out my instagram and facebook pages for free workout and recipe ideas every day of the week! 

Kettlebell Training to Prevent Shoulder & Back Injury

By Kettlebell Kings

 

Kettlebell Training to Prevent Shoulder and Back Injury

Working out with kettlebells, whether it’s for sport or fitness can help increase strength and endurance, as well as decrease your chances of serious injury. Many kettlebell workout routines are full-body focused, and your entire body is being forced to move and stabilize muscle groups throughout the exercise. This strengthens the body and prevents future damage. The shoulders and back are especially vulnerable to injury when performing high-impact, weight-heavy workouts. Several kettlebell exercises can be done regularly during warm up to prevent back and shoulder injuries by building up and increasing the mobility of these areas.

 

Kettlebell Exercises to Prevent Shoulder Injury

 

When it comes to the shoulder, your rotator cuff is mostly to blame for muscle weakness and imbalance during exercise. The rotator cuff consists of four muscles tied together with the vital job of holding the ball and socket joint in place, allowing for mobility of your arm. Many exercises fire up the shoulder muscle and help increase stability and range of motion without irritating the rotator cuff.

 

The Kettlebell Swing – This exercise isn’t an apparent shoulder-specific movement since it is a full-body movement. However, it is an essential exercise for stabilization of your shoulder muscles. To execute, stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, back arched somewhat and bend at the hips, forcing the kettlebell back and behind your legs. As you swing upward, thrust your hips forward and squeeze your glutes to propel the kettlebell up and away from your body. As you swing the kettlebell upward and as it falls downward, the rotator cuff muscles must contract to hold your shoulder in place, building strength and preventing future injury. Warm up with this exercise using a lighter weight, performing three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions to activate the shoulder muscles before a strenuous workout.

 

The Halo – Unlike the full-body motion of the kettlebell swing, this exercise focuses primarily on the muscles within your shoulders and is less cardio intensive. To perform this move, hold the kettlebell by the outer edges of the handle, pointing it toward the ceiling as you rotate the kettlebell in a circular motion around your head. This not only works the rotator cuff but the pectorals of the chest, deltoids of the shoulders and triceps located in the back of the arm. It is also an excellent way to warm-up the core muscles that are integral to any exercise routine. Warming up with three sets of 10-15 halo movements before a workout can keep your entire shoulder complex safe from injury.

 

Kettlebell Exercises to Prevent Back Injury

 

According to Physical Therapy Web, an estimated 80% of Americans will experience some type of back pain during their lifetime. This number could be substantially decreased if the general population would adopt a regular training program that includes kettlebell movements focusing on strengthening the back and spine. If the muscles surrounding your back are weak, it will compensate for the inadequate muscle strength, potentially causing injury such as a muscle pull or worse, a herniated disc. For example, if your glutes aren’t activated during a goblet squat, you will be more likely to use your lower back to lift the weight, increasing the potential for permanent damage. To ensure your glutes are firing it is also important to stretch your hip flexor muscles. Many exercises focus on these areas, improving their strength and allowing for less strain on the lower back.

 

The Kettlebell Snatch – This exercise is an excellent example of a movement that strengthens your glute muscles and opens up your hip flexors to protect your lower back. Unlike other exercises, it is a complex, full-body movement that should be mastered before executed. As you would in a kettlebell swing, stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, back slightly arched and knees bent. Unlike the swing, you will only place one hand in an overhand grip position on the kettlebell. Using your hips and glutes, swing the kettlebell upward, keeping your elbow pointing outward as you pull the kettlebell slightly closer to your body and let the momentum drive it upwards. Unwind your hand and let the kettlebell fall downward, hinging at the hips and bending the knees as it approaches the bottom of the movement. Again, this is an advanced movement that works the shoulders, as well as the mid and upper back. After you have conquered the kettlebell swing, feel free to tackle this exercise using correct posture. By strengthening the muscles surrounding the back, you will be preventing injury and enhancing full-body strength. Warm up with this activity by doing three sets of 10-12 reps with low weight on each arm.

 

The Renegade Row – This not only builds strength in the upper back and shoulder complex, but it also requires stability of the core. This exercise will require two kettlebells of equal weight. Gripping the handles of the kettlebells, get in a pushup position, pushing off of the kettlebells to straighten both arms. Stabilizing your core, drive into the ground with your left foot and pull the kettlebell toward you with your right hand, lower the kettlebell and repeat on the other side. Maintaining core strength throughout this entire exercise will require squeezing and therefore strengthening of your upper back muscles. Using light weight, warm up with this exercise doing three sets of 10-12 repetitions on each arm.

 

It is important to note that you should never perform a kettlebell exercise if you feel pain or discomfort, especially when you are recovering from an injury. These exercises are only intended for advice concerning prevention, and a licensed physical therapist is always the best option for rehabilitation of particular muscle groups within the shoulder and back.


For more information regarding kettlebell workouts for injury prevention, as well as routines that you can perform in the gym or at home, check out our website at http://www.kettlebellkings.com/or call 855-7KETTLE for more information. We sell the most reasonably priced, high-quality products and come highly recommended by kettlebell sport athletes and regular gym goers and owners. We care about getting you the right product to increase your strength, stamina, and cardiovascular health to prevent unwanted muscular and joint injuries. We publish more helpful information about how to train with kettlebells on our blog as well!

Tiff's Tips: on mindful eating

eating properly throughout the holidays is not easy. there are so many extra stressors going on over the next couple of weeks, it's really easy to overeat and feel like crap. 

and this isn't a post telling you to diet throughout your holidays, but there are lots of great strategies to keep yourself from overeating without stressing yourself out with diets when you should be focused on enjoying the holiday season with your friends and family.

these tips are not just for the holiday season, but things you can apply to your life everyday.

  1.  Fill your plate with less than you think you will want.  
    1. Odds are you aren't going to miss it
  2. Use smaller plates and cutlery 
    1. makes your meal seem bigger than it is, so you'll think that you're eating more than you are! 
  3. Seat yourself away from the food
    1. this may be more difficult in a family dinner buffet style setting, but even in that, don't sit with your favorite foods right under your nose. make it a pain in the ass to get your second servings. 
  4. eat slowly
    1. take your time and don't power down your plate of food. enjoy the food you put on your plate!
  5. wait to go back for seconds
    1. if you are continually eating, it's really hard to have a chance to listen to your body to tell you if you're hungry or not. so take a moment before you decide to get second helpings. 
  6. drink lots of water
    1. sometimes you can confuse dehydration and hunger - so make sure you are drinking water throughout the day so you can know that you're hungry and not thirsty!  (also, water is great for you in a million different ways- so drink some!) 
  7. don't deprive yourself
    1. for the holidays and all days ~ enjoy the foods you like to eat! if you restrict yourself from it, you're more likely to binge on it later!

 there ya have it. easy ways to eat well and feel good throughout the crazy next few weeks and throughout your day to day life! 

a lot of the research from this blog post comes from Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink,PH.D which is a really interesting read and had a lot of great insights on mindful/mindless eating which is something i've been working on, personally. 

 

any questions? drop me a line on my facebook or instagram page or leave a comment below!!