Zumba TurnUP | Shut Up & Dance

Zumba fitness literally wants you to “shut up and dance” in this high-energy, four-minute workout featuring Zumba creator himself, Beto Perez, along with Maritza Bustamante. “The mix of cumbia and reggaeton rhythms means this is one hot choreo,” says the video’s description. Although there are zero verbal instructions given during the routine, the video displays graphics when direction changes are about to occur.

http://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/best-videos-dance-workout#7

Zumba Dance Workout

Multiple routines make up this 24-minute Zumba workout by Daniel Hayhurst. Hayhurst’s dance combinations get your heart rate revved up from the very first beat without a lot of talking or interruptions. In 2014, Hayhurst launched Danny’s Workout, a YouTube channel dedicated to teaching free Latin dance and aerobic classes. “The channel will continue with the Latin aerobics, featuring those classic Latin American styles such as the salsa, samba, reggaeton, merengue, and many, many more,” he explains in his debut video about the channel’s contents.

http://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/best-videos-dance-workout#5

Body Toning Afro Beat Workout: Burn to the Beat- Keaira LaShae

Body Toning Afro Beat Workout: Burn to the Beat with Keaira LaShae is a booty-shaking, total body cardio workout that employs African Dance-inspired exercise moves to burn fat, sculpt muscle and kick-start weight loss potential for the ultimate full body-toning experience from head to toe. Prepare to sweat and you shake your body to the percussive rhythm with Fitness and Music Star, Keaira LaShae as she coaches you through this intense, result-driven workout from the all new “Burn to the Beat” Fitness Series, exclusively on BeFiT! Activate your core and reveal a slim and sexy dancer’s physique as you shake, twist, and stomp to the beat of some of today’s hottest workout music. You will have a blast as you shape curves in all of the right places toning the arms, chest, shoulders, butt, abs, back, thighs, legs, and obliques with unique body-sculpting moves like pull punches, side punches, in/out taps, afro pull pumps, pull down twists, bow and arrows, hip rolls, afro birdies, TLC African marches, gallops, warrior blocks, diagonal birdies that will transform your body to the beat and have you moving like a pro! Maximize results as you ramp-up the intensity each time through with one of the best in the business right from your own living room with this fierce exercise routine that you can take with your anywhere. This routine is great for all fitness levels and requires only a towel and a bottle of water to complete. Join the party to lift, firm, and shape a sexy dancer’s body. From start to finish, it has never been this fun to get into shape. Tune in to BeFit every weekday for new workouts that you can take with you anywhere.

Latin Dance Workout for Your Living Room

This workout is sure to burn calories and put a smile on your face. Equinox instructor Nicole Steen guides you through an upbeat, 30-minute class for PopSugar Fitness. “When it comes to working out, the goal is to just keep moving, so don’t worry if the choreography doesn’t make sense. The more self-conscious you are, the less you move, so let go and focus on the fun,” says Steen.
http://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/best-videos-dance-workout#2

Want dancer abs? Try this 6-minute workout from DanceBody’s Katia Pryce

“The thing about dance is the second you get moving you’re getting your cardio in. You’re sculpting. You’re getting your endorphins up. You’re feeling confident. You’re feeling like you’re really, really moving your body,” says DanceBody’s Katia Pryce in this Well+Good video.

What makes this ab routine different from other videos? There are no crunches! In fact, in only six minutes, you’ll dance and move your way to a stronger core completely from a standing position.

http://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/best-videos-dance-workout#8

Dance Cardio Workout - 40 Minutes Dance cardio To Burn Fat - Total Body Workout

Fat Burning Dance Workout | Beginner Cardio for Weight Loss, Hip Hop Fun at Home Exercise Routine

In just under nine minutes, Joy Scola takes you through a beginner hip-hop workout to tone your body and burn fat. Don’t let the word “beginner” fool you. There’s just enough time to work up a sweat in this routine. Not sure if you can do hip-hop? Don’t worry! “Anyone can dance. It’s not about looking a certain way or doing certain moves,” Scola says. “It’s just about having fun and knowing that if you’re moving your body, you are improving your health, reducing stress, and burning off unwanted fat.”

http://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/best-videos-dance-workout#8

15 Dance-Inspired Squats That’ll Make You Shake Your Booty

If you’re sick of doing endless repetitions of traditional squats, check out this informative YouTube video to challenge your muscles in new ways and spark some exercise creativity. “We asked certified personal trainer and Women’s Health’s Next Fitness Star Selena Watkins to pull together 15 dance-inspired versions of this classic booty toner, and the results are giving us a whole new appreciation for an old-school move,” says the magazine.

http://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/best-videos-dance-workout#8

How Can Massage Help My Health and Wellbeing?

Generally, people use massage for either general relaxation and wellbeing, or to address a specific complaint, such as pain or limited range of motion. Research suggests massage therapy may contribute to both goals. 

Some of the general benefits of massage therapy may include:

• Physical relaxation
• Improved circulation, which nourishes cells and improves waste elimination
• Relief for tight muscles (knots) and other aches and pains
• Release of nerve compression (carpel tunnel, sciatica)
• Greater flexibility and range of motion
• Enhanced energy and vitality
• Some clinical styles may help heal scar tissue as well as tendon, ligament, and muscle tears

What specific conditions can massage therapy help?

Massage therapy may help the body in many ways.  Massage can relax muscle tissue, which may lead to decreased nerve compression, increased joint space, and range of motion. This may lead to reduced pain and improved function. 

Massage therapy may also improve circulation, which enhances the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to muscle cells and helps remove waste products. These circulatory effects of massage may have value in the treatment of some inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis or edema (an excessive accumulation of fluid in body tissues, which may be reduced using manual lymph drainage). 

Massage therapy is also thought to induce a relaxation response, which lowers the heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure; boosts the immune system; and generally decreases the physical effects of stress.

These effects suggest that massage may be helpful for a wide range of conditions.  Some of these are listed below.

• Carpal tunnel
• Sciatica
• Tension headaches
• Whiplash
• Scoliosis
• Torticollis
• Tendon and muscle tears
• Thoracic outlet syndrome
• Varicose veins
• Pregnancy-related back pain and other discomfort 
• Myofascial pain
• Sore or overused muscles (prevents and treats) 
• Muscle injury (offers rehabilitation)
• Gout
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Osteoarthritis
• Muscular dystrophies
• Raynaud's Disease
• Diabetes
• Hypertension and congestive heart failure
• Reduces risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune diseases
• Improved mood
• Reduced anxiety
• Lower stress levels
• Lessening of depression
• Reduced anger and aggression
• Improved sleep patterns and decreased sleep disturbance 
• Reduced fatigue
• Enhances immune system
• Improves athletic performance and enhances recovery

https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/massage-therapy/how-can-massage-help-my-health-and-wellbeing

89 Incredibly Simple Swaps That Could Change Your Life - Part 3

Happiness

64. Gratitude for Complaining

Feeling thankful can actually make us happier and healthier, so don’t forget to appreciate every bit of good in life!

65. Outside for Inside

Soak up the sun—even in the winter. Exercising in the cold is safe, and getting outdoors could help battle Seasonal Affective Disorder.

66. Book for Television

All those zombie shows may not only freak us out, but also give us nightmares. Get a dose of knowledge and read a good novel before bed. It may help us get better sleep too!

67. Meditation for Comfort Food

When stress strikes, don’t grab a tub of ice cream for comfort. Try dimming the lights and meditating for as little as five minutes—it’s totally calming.

68. Yoga for Facebook

Got a spare 30 minutes? Those Facebook friends won’t post any shape-shifting statuses. Use the free time to roll out the yoga mat and work on flexibility and strength while alleviating stress and anxiety.

69. Being Upfront for Acting Passive Aggressive

Roommate forgot to clean the dishes again? Rather than bottling up that anger, be forthright (but nice!). Working out issues is better than building up inner frustration.

70. Breathing for Being a Stress Mess

Calm breathing can boost relaxation and calm the mind. Take a long, deep breath to relax the bod rather than stressing out.

71. Working at a Desk for Working in the Bedroom

Finish that assignment at a desk rather than between the sheets. Working in bed could make it harder to fall asleep!

72. Fun Alarm Clock Song for Annoying Ringer

Who wants to be woken from a peaceful slumber thanks to an irritating beep? (Waking up early is hard enough.) Choose a fun little melody on the cell phone to wake up to instead!

73. Fancy Silverware for Plastic

Let’s get a little classy— even in that shabby apartment. Using some nice forks and knives will add some style to that bowl of ramen noodles, making us feel like real adults.

74. Carpooling for Driving Alone

H.O.V. lane aside, carpooling with a pal can make a morning commute less boring. Besides, it reduces air pollution and cuts down on gas money.

75. Journaling for Emotional Eating

Sometimes a cookie or two can lift our spirits, but writing down our thoughts can be just as therapeutic—no calories involved.

76. Smiling for Frowning

Even when we’re alone, smiling can improve mood. Try grinning in the shower or on the way to work—it may really make us feel cheerful.

77. Color for Drab Shades

Science suggests wearing red can boost confidence and self-esteem. So save the black for the Batman costume and brighten up that wardrobe.

78. Keeping the Same Bedtime for Winging It

Setting a bedtime schedule may help us fall asleep faster, so pick a good time and try to stick to it!

79. Little Milestones for Big Goals

Thinking big is great, but huge goals may take time to reach. Don’t forget the small achievements we can make—they’ll also add up to big, positive change!

80. Clean Workspace for Clutter

Take some time to put away the laundry and organize the paper-piled desk. Having a clean space may make us more organized and eager to tackle the day.

81. Venting to a Friend for Bottling It Up

Sometimes life isn’t all rainbows and butterflies. When sad or stressed, reach out to a trusted friend instead of holding in the feelings. Just talking could make us feel better!

82. Self-Love for Self-Criticism

We often focus on our faults rather than our worth. Stop pointing out the negative and focus on all those redeeming qualities!

83. Focusing on the Future Instead of Dwelling on the Past

Don’t focus on yesterday’s issues. Think of the possibilities and go after that goal!

84. Moderation for Deprivation

We can still be healthy without skipping dessert. As long as we regulate our indulgences, they can help keep that smile around. So go ahead—treat yo' self.

85. Calling a Friend for Texting

Phone a friend rather than shooting them a text. It’s more personal, and hearing a friendly voice may lift the spirits.

86. Honesty for Excuses

The gym wasn’t too crowded, and the bus actually didn’t come late. Skip the excuses—being honest with others and ourselves is the best option.

87. Comfy Shoes for Fancy Footwear

Blisters and sore soles are never fun, no matter how suave those shoes may look. Better keep it comfy in the foot department.

88. Saying No for Over-Committing

Sometimes saying no is hard, but agreeing to too much can be overwhelming and bring on sickness. Figuring out what we can realistically commit to will help keep stress away.

89. Planning for Procrastination

Got a lot to do? Making a plan, rather than waiting ’til the last minute, helps ensure we get things done.

http://greatist.com/health/89-simple-swaps-could-change-your-life

5 Tips to Stay on Track When Life Gets Busy

25 Ways You Could Get Back on Track Today

Don't Give Up on Your Goals!

Not long ago, you were energetic and determined to start your healthy lifestyle. Starting with enthusiasm and hope, you watched your food intake diligently, exercised like it was going out of style, and even avoided the temptation that seemed to lurk around every corner. You were confident that you were going to reach your goals once and for all!

Then certain tragedy struck! You ate an extra piece of birthday cake. Realizing you had “blown” your diet, you ate another and another and couldn’t get it together the next day either. Or worse, you missed one workout, and that turned into a whole week away from the gym. After that, your momentum to start over again was gone, and your gym bag hasn’t left the closet since.

Every time you misstep on your healthy journey, you have two choices: to keep walking backwards, which will surely take you even further away from your goals; or to accept your lack of perfection as normal and forgivable, and take not one, but two positive steps down the path that brings your closer to the future you want.

If you’re reading this, you might have been walking backwards for a while. But instead of waiting for the next day, week, month or even year to overhaul your habits, start TODAY. And start small. You can’t go from the recliner to running or from burgers to Brussels sprouts in an afternoon. But you can do one, two or even a handful of small things that will help you regain your momentum for healthy living.

When you feel like getting back on track is overwhelming, try one (or more) of these small steps each day.

1. Try a short workout. Even five minutes is better than nothing. For ideas browse our video library or workout generator.

2. Try a new recipe. Cooking healthy foods can be fun and it never has to be bland.

3. Eat a healthy breakfast. Your morning meal sets the stage for the rest of your day, so start if off right! Get lots of breakfast ideas here.

4. Drink your water. Try to aim for 8 cups each day and you’ll feel the difference!

5. Look at Motivational SparkPages. Seeing how others overcome similar struggles and obstacles can be a great source of motivation.

6. Track your food today. No matter how it adds up, you’ll learn from it.

7. Update your SparkPage. It’s a visual way to track your ups and downs, but also your progress.

8. Share your goals. Whether you post them on the Message Boards or share them with a friend, you’ll be more accountable.

9. Exercise for 10 minutes. Jump rope, march in place, or do some crunches. Small amounts do add up to something big!

10. Find a buddy. Get support from friends, whether you need someone to listen or a mentor to give you ideas and encouragement.

11. Take a walk. Don’t worry about how long or far you go—just get out there!

12. Create a motivational collage. Include pictures of your goal and reasons why you want to get there.

13. Go shopping for some healthy foods. Use this shopping list for ideas.

14. Check the nutrition facts before you go out to eat. That way, you can make an informed choice.

15. Ride your bike. Even a leisurely ride has benefits for your body and mind.

16. Work in the yard. Gardening and yard work is a great way to add activity to your day.

17. Take the stairs. Even if this is the only thing you do all day, you’ll feel stronger for it.

18. Rack up those SparkPoints! You earn them for every healthy task you do on the site—talk about motivating! Aim for a certain milestone, such as 100 points, and then reward yourself with a SparkGoodie!

19. Listen to an inspirational song. Better yet, make a playlist of them so you can turn to it whenever you need a boost.

20. Re-start your SparkPeople program. Sometimes it’s easier to get back on track when you have a clean slate.

21. Measure your portions. It’s a simple way to learn how much you’re eating.

22. Eat a piece of fruit. Even if 5-9 servings of fruit and vegetables sounds impossible to you, one is doable.

23. Slow down during meals. You’ll be less likely to overeat and more likely to enjoy your meal.

24. Play! What kids call “play,” we often call “exercise.” Play a sport, a game, or use the playground equipment to bring the fun back into fitness.

25. Learn something new. Sometimes simply taking a quiz or reading an article about nutrition, fitness, or health can change your mindset and get you back on track.

In tennis, losing one point isn’t the end of the world. It happens to the best of them. In fact, if you can consistently win a few more points that you lose, you may end up in the hall of fame. With healthy eating and exercising, as long as you’re consistently out-stepping your steps back, you’re ahead of the game. If you expect perfection (and many of us do), you’re setting yourself up for disappointment and guilt.

You CAN get back on track today. Even if you’re moving slowly, you’ll be moving in the right direction! 

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/motivation_articles.asp?id=1062&page=2

Ice for Muscle Recovery

For many, it’s second nature to slap an ice pack or bag of frozen peas on an injury. It’s even likely your doctor recommended that you “RICE” an injury. This acronym that stands for “rest, ice, compression and elevation” has been the go-to post-injury prescription for nearly 40 years.

But does ice really help the healing process? Believe it or not, there’s no existing research to show that it helps reduce inflammation or enhance healing of damaged tissues. In fact, a 2012 review in the British Journal of Sports Medicine stated: “Ice is commonly used after acute muscle strains but there are no clinical studies of its effectiveness.”

What’s more, Dr. Gabe Mirkin, the man who coined the term RICE in 1978, recently recantedthe “R” and “I” in his protocol, saying that, “it appears that both ice and complete rest may delay healing instead of helping.”

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS WHEN YOU ICE

When you go out for a long run or do a tough workout at the gym, you get sore. Your muscles sustain damage, and a small amount of inflammation occurs to help your muscles heal. (Remember, inflammation is your immune system’s response to an injury and is a natural part of healing.) The soreness will go away over a few days, but it’s human nature to want to do something about that tired, achy feeling, so many people slap an ice pack on their throbbing muscles.

Ice can certainly make you feel better. It numbs the sore area by reducing nerve conduction velocity, which means that pain signals between your muscles and your brain slow down so you don’t feel as sore. Studies have shown that even people with chronic pain feel better after using ice or cold therapy.

Remember, ice only dulls the pain. It doesn’t help your tissues heal, so you may be tempted to work out again before your body is ready. This false sense of security could lead to more pain down the road.

HOW INFLAMMATION WORKS

As mentioned earlier, your body needs inflammation to heal. When your body triggers an inflammatory response to muscular damage, white blood cells rush to the site of an injury to sweep away cellular debris and deliver healing nutrients. As a precaution, damaged blood vessels constrict to quarantine the injury, while surrounding vessels expand to let nutrient-rich fluid in, causing the initial swelling you experience after an injury.

This swelling reduces naturally via the lymphatic system, a map of one-way vessels that remove waste products from the body. However, the lymphatic system is passive, meaning it doesn’t work automatically. It only removes waste when muscles contract, so if you sit still and ice your muscles, waste doesn’t get removed. Applying ice to an inflamed area actually slows down the healing process. The metabolic process described above slows to a halt and puts the brakes on the outflow of swelling and influx of healing nutrients. Essentially, ice hits the pause button on the healing process, which delays muscle recovery as demonstrated by a 2013 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

So if ice slows healing, what can we do instead to get back on our feet?

THE ACTIVE RECOVERY ALTERNATIVE

Since the lymphatic system relies on muscle activation to remove waste, light exercise and pain-free movement can jumpstart the healing process. Ever noticed how you’re naturally inclined to rub or move a muscle that’s sore? That’s because movement sparks recovery.

Instead of lounging on the couch with an ice pack, try light foam rolling or dynamic stretching through pain-free range of motion. Simply contracting and relaxing muscles around the sore ones (e.g. your calves or glutes if your hamstrings are sore) can bring the lymphatic system to life.

Recent research has shown that active recovery is effective for reducing inflammation and cellular stress post-exercise, something that many athletes have known for years. Sprinters have been using active recovery for ages in the form of light jogging to recover from all-out sprints. Many high-level runners use cross-training and short runs to prepare and recovery for longer runs. Even weight lifters and general fitness folks can benefit from active recovery to reduce soreness and fatigue.

THE COLD CONCLUSION

Ice is effective for reducing pain, but it doesn’t speed up the healing process or reduce inflammation. If you want a quick, medicine-free painkiller, feel free to use ice. But if you want to get back to training as soon as possible, ice fails where active recovery succeeds.

http://blog.mapmyrun.com/truth-ice-muscle-recovery/?utm_source=FACEBOOK&utm_medium=FB%20MyFitnessPal

3 Common Beginner Workout Mistakes

Do You Really Need a Rest Day After Exercise?

Rest days are a standard part of exercise programs, but they’re not the only way to avoid overworking yourself. Let’s look at the difference between rest and recovery, and when you can bend the rules.

The Reason for Rest Days

Most strength-focused programs like weightlifting either work your whole body and then skip the next day, or else they have you split up your workouts so that, for example, your arms get a rest on leg day. The idea is to let each muscle recover from a workout before you ask it to do the same thing again.

But not every activity works this way. Runners, for example, often run every day, and may only take one or two true rest days a week. But within that pattern, they will alternate days of hard running (like speedwork, hill running, or long runs) with easy runs that feel less challenging to the body.

Other sports may fall somewhere in between, but nobody expects to work every body part to exhaustion every day. Even when elite athletes do workouts every day that look killer to us, it’s because our “hard” is their “easy”. You can bet their coaches schedule in just enough of the easier workouts to keep the athlete’s progress on track with minimal risk of injury.

Rest days and splits help us to pace ourselves. Too much hard running, if you’re not used to it, sets you up for tendonitis and other overuse injuries. And too much exercise of any kind can lead to a syndrome called overtraining where your body may develop flu-like symptoms and disturbed sleep because it just can’t keep up with the demands you’re putting on it.

There’s Nothing Magic About Resting for One Day

Taking a single rest day after a hard workout isn’t the only way to keep yourself from overtraining. There are a few reasons it’s a good rule of thumb, though:

 

• Delayed-onset muscle soreness often takes two days to peak. If you did a too-hard workout on Monday, you might be feeling only a little bit sore on Tuesday and think you’re okay to work out some more. If you waited until Wednesday instead, you would have a better sense of how sore or injured you are. Then you would be able to make a better judgment call about whether, and how hard, to work out again.
• Resting every other day means only half of your days will be hard workouts. The other half will be rest days or easier days, so the schedule keeps your total workout intensity manageable.
• Mentally, it’s easier to stick to a workout when you enjoy it. Hard workouts aren’t always fun, and you may need to psych yourself up to try something really challenging. It’s okay if you don’t feel up to that every day. Having some easier, almost relaxing days can help you stick to your schedule.

If you can accomplish those goals with another schedule, though, feel free to do so. If you enjoy all your workouts, even the hard ones, slowly include more hard days in your schedule. If you feel okay with that, keep doing it! But if you end up sore or fatigued, listen to your body and put those rest days back in.

If soreness is your problem, be aware that skipping one day may not be the best way to deal with it. Soreness peaking at 48 hours is just an average, and the true timeframe can vary. Your muscles might only feel sore and weak for one day, or if you tried something new and difficult, you might feel it for a week. At the beginning of a new workout routine, you might even need three or four easy days.

Recovery Doesn’t Have to Mean Total Rest

Some people prefer the term “recovery” to “rest” days, because total rest isn’t necessarily your goal. After all, lifting a fork to your mouth is a similar action to a bicep curl, so if you just did a heavy arm day, would you be unable to eat? Clearly, some amount of activity is fine on a rest or recovery day.

This is where you have to calibrate your own sense of effort. If you’re new to exercising and you just did a day of heavy squats, a five mile bike ride is probably not a great choice for the following day. But if you bike five miles to work every day, you should be able to keep doing that even on your “rest” days.

When I did push-ups every day for 30 days, a few people suggested that I was setting myself up for injury by not taking rest days. But as I wrote in that article, I ramped up my fitness very carefully. A few sets of pushups every day is my new normal, and it’s no more taxing to me than a bike ride is to a bike commuter. Some days I might try a more challenging type of pushup or I might do more reps than usual; but I balance out those harder days with, you guessed it, easier days that are closer to my baseline effort level.

As you learn your own strengths and limitations, you too can alter your workout schedule according to what works for you. That might mean you only take one or two rest days per week, or it might mean you do mega-hard workouts and then lay low for a few days. If you’re getting a reasonable amount of exercise in total, and if you aren’t getting sore or injured, you’re probably doing okay.

http://vitals.lifehacker.com/do-you-really-need-a-rest-day-after-exercise-1792349953