12 Steps for Becoming Healthier

Here are 12 steps to help you become healthier, including exercise and a healthy diet:

1. Set Goals: Define specific and achievable health goals. Whether it's losing weight, improving fitness, or adopting healthier habits, having clear objectives will help you stay motivated and focused.

2. Balanced Diet: Focus on consuming a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Avoid or limit processed foods, sugary snacks, and drinks high in added sugars.

3. Portion Control: Practice portion control to ensure you're not overeating. Use smaller plates and bowls, and be mindful of serving sizes to avoid consuming excess calories.

4. Hydration: Drink plenty of water throughout the day. Staying hydrated is crucial for overall health, digestion, energy levels, and maintaining proper bodily functions.

5. Regular Exercise: Incorporate regular exercise into your routine. Aim for a combination of cardiovascular exercises (e.g., running, swimming) and strength training (e.g., weightlifting, resistance training, or sports that emphasize strength like archery) to improve cardiovascular health, build strength, and burn calories.

6. Physical Activity: Find ways to be physically active throughout the day. Take walks, use stairs instead of elevators, or engage in active hobbies like gardening or dancing. This helps increase daily calorie expenditure and promotes overall health.

7. Sleep Well: Get adequate sleep each night. Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep to support your overall well-being, improve cognitive function, and aid in weight management.

8. Stress Management: Find healthy ways to manage stress, such as practicing meditation, deep breathing exercises, yoga, or engaging in hobbies that you enjoy (eg. Archery). Chronic stress can negatively impact your physical and mental health.

9. Regular Health Check-ups: Schedule regular check-ups with your healthcare provider to monitor your overall health, identify any potential issues early on, and receive guidance on maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

10. Limit Sedentary Behavior: Minimize sedentary activities like sitting for long periods. Take frequent breaks to stretch, walk, or perform light exercises throughout the day.

11. Mindful Eating: Practice mindful eating by paying attention to your body's hunger and fullness cues. Eat slowly, savor your food, and avoid distractions like screens or multitasking.

12. Seek Support: Surround yourself with a supportive network of family, friends, or a community with similar health goals. They can provide encouragement, accountability, and share experiences and tips for leading a healthier lifestyle.

Remember, making lasting changes takes time and consistency. Start small, gradually incorporate these steps into your daily life, and celebrate your progress along the way. If you have any underlying health concerns, consult with a healthcare professional for personalized advice.

10 Exercise Tricks for Losing Weight

Here are ten exercise tricks that can be helpful for losing weight:

1. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): Incorporate HIIT workouts into your routine. These involve short bursts of intense exercise followed by brief recovery periods. HIIT helps burn calories and boosts your metabolism.

2. Compound Exercises: Focus on compound exercises that engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously, such as squats, lunges, push-ups, and burpees. These exercises maximize calorie burn and promote overall strength.

3. Strength Training: Include strength training exercises in your routine. Building lean muscle mass increases your resting metabolism, helping you burn more calories throughout the day.

4. Cardiovascular Exercises: Incorporate cardio exercises like running, cycling, swimming, or brisk walking into your routine. They elevate your heart rate, improve endurance, and aid in weight loss.

5. Circuit Training: Perform a series of exercises with little or no rest in between. This keeps your heart rate elevated, burns calories, and enhances both strength and cardiovascular fitness.

6. Active Rest Periods: During strength training sessions, use active rest periods instead of complete rest. For example, perform jumping jacks or jog in place. It helps maintain your heart rate and calorie burn.

7. Incorporate Plyometrics: Include plyometric exercises like box jumps, squat jumps, and burpees. These explosive movements engage multiple muscle groups, increase calorie expenditure, and improve overall fitness.

8. Stair Climbing: Use stairs whenever possible instead of elevators or escalators. Climbing stairs is an excellent cardiovascular exercise that tones your lower body and burns calories.

9. Increase Non-Exercise Activity: Increase your overall daily activity level by incorporating more movement into your day. Take the stairs, walk or bike for short trips, stand instead of sitting whenever feasible, and find opportunities to be active throughout the day.

10. Active Hobbies: Engage in activities that you enjoy and that require movement, such as dancing, hiking, swimming, or playing a sport. These activities are both fun and effective for weight loss.

Hot Tip: Do several of the above activities so you don't get bored doing the same thing all the time. Especially if you want to lose weight faster, you might want to divide up your day so you might be doing 15 to 30 minutes of cardio in the morning, 15 to 30 minutes of HIIT in the afternoon, and 15 to 30 minutes of strength training in the evening.

Remember, while exercise is essential for weight loss, it should be combined with a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle for optimal results. Consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new exercise program, particularly if you have any underlying health conditions.

How do Cold Showers Burn Calories?

Cold showers don't directly burn calories, obviously, but there is an indirect causal effect that leads to the burning of calories.

If you read the old blog post Cold Showers Burn Calories we go into the reasons why a little bit, but it is past time that we explain in more detail.

When exposed to cold temperatures, the body triggers thermogenesis, a process in which it generates heat to maintain its core temperature. This thermogenesis can be achieved through two main mechanisms:

Shivering

When the body experiences cold, shivering is one way it generates heat. Shivering involves rapid muscle contractions that generate heat as a byproduct. While shivering may slightly increase calorie expenditure, the overall impact on weight loss is minimal.

Brown fat activation

Cold exposure may activate a type of fat tissue called brown adipose tissue (BAT) or brown fat. Unlike white fat, which stores energy, brown fat is specialized in generating heat through a process called thermogenesis. The activation of brown fat is associated with increased energy expenditure, as it burns calories to produce heat. However, the amount of brown fat in adults is relatively small compared to other tissues, and its overall contribution to calorie burning is not yet fully understood.

The amount of fat/calories that gets burned per shower isn't a lot, although it does vary upon the size of the person, and the cumulative effect of daily cold showers over the course of a year is actually significant.

How many calories are burned?

Honestly, it varies upon the person, how cold the water is, and what methods people use to try and calculate the amount of calories burned.

Here's a conservative estimate of how many calories are burned:

The additional calories burned during a 10-minute cold shower for a 100 kg person would range approximately from 20 to 30 calories. So roughly 25 calories.

It isn't a lot, but if the person had daily showers over the course of a year then they would burn roughly 2 to 3 extra pounds of fat per year.

Over a 10 year period that could be a difference of 20 to 30 lbs.

But remember that is a conservative estimate for a person who weighs 100 kg (220 lbs).

There's also an argument that a thin person would actually burn more calories in a cold shower than an overweight person, because they have less body fat to insulate themselves from the cold. So the number of calories being burned could be inversely connected the percentage of body fat a person has.

Thus someone who weighs perhaps 50 kg (110 lbs) with only 12.5% body fat might actually be burning two or more times the amount of fat by having cold showers than someone who weighs 100 kg (and has perhaps 25% body fat or more) because they are more easily made colder due to a comparative lack of insulation. Thus people who are already thin could potentially prevent themselves from gaining weight by having cold showers regularly.

But it also means that someone who is losing weight would encounter a case of "increasing caloric burn" as they continue to shed body fat, thus seeing a gradual acceleration of weight loss over the long term.

Conclusions?

Cold Showers + Healthy Diet + Exercise = Pretty much guaranteed to lose a lot of weight quickly, and over the long term see the health benefits. The real trick in that situation is to stay motivated. Not everyone wants to have cold showers ever day, eat healthy all the time, and exercise daily.

So what you really need is cheat days:

That 1 day of the week where you allow yourself (as a treat) to have a hot shower.

A high carbs day where you're allowed to eat as much as you want.

A day of relaxation when you can just chill and don't have to exercise.

Having cheat days, combined with tracking your weight/counting calories, are just two ways to stay motivated and keep going.

5 Ways to Practice Archery after you get Archery Lessons

Let's pretend for a moment that you've already got archery lessons in Toronto. Once you've already been trained by an archery instructor / coach, what are some good ways to practice by yourself?

If you've already had lessons (I recommend 3 or more if you're planning to buy your equipment) then you should already have done the following during your lessons:

1. Learned Proper Safety Etiquette
2. Purchased Equipment that is suitable for your Needs
3. Learned How to Aim
4. Learned Proper Form
5. Practiced during your Lessons

So if you've already done all of theses things (either with me or a different instructor) what we really want to be talking is the following:

1. Small Target Practice

I recommend using small targets, something about the size of a coffee lid, so that you have to truly focus and concentrate on what you're doing in order to hit it. The smaller the target the more you have to concentrate on your form in order to hit it.

2. Setting Goals + Tracking Progress

Some archers like to establish specific goals for each practice session, whether it's improving their groupings or hitting a certain score. Keep a record of your progress to track your development over time. However this isn't for everyone. Some people prefer a more relaxed / less regimented practice session.

3. Incorporate Drills and Exercises

Include various drills in your practice routine to work on specific aspects of your shooting, such as target archery and trying to beat a certain score, field archery at various distances, or possibly more complicated things like shooting at moving targets or shooting while walking (I teach these more advanced things to my students who get 5 or more lessons).

4. Mental Focus

Over time it isn't the physical aspect of archery that becomes the tricky part. It is the mental stuff that starts to mess with the archer's head. Some archers will get into relaxation techniques, practice breathing control, and imagining/visualizing a successful shot.

I personally like reading/writing zen poetry, but that isn't for everyone. But for those people interested in such topics I recommend the following books

Zen Bow, Zen Arrow by John Stevens

Dreaming of Zen Archery by Charles Moffat

5. To Video Record or Not To Video Record

There are Pros and Cons to recording your practice sessions from different angles to review your form and identify areas for improvement. It helps if you already know proper form and you know what problem areas you need to be paying attention to.

Some people will also use the videos to compare your technique to instructional videos or to seek feedback from online archery communities, but because there are many different types of archery (including stringwalkers and facewalkers) you're more likely to get confused by the broad range of responses you will get from the community, many of whom may have only been shooting for a short period of time, so you might be getting a lot of bad advice from people. Instead I recommend only showing the video to an archery instructor who teaches the style of archery you are practicing. Otherwise the deluge of bad advice could end up making the quality of your shooting worse.

It is also possible to mentally psyche yourself out by watching the videos of yourself and mess up your mental focus.

Bonus! Join an Archery Club / Community

Socializing with other archers in person is a great way to seek advice, ask questions, and learn from their experiences to enhance your learning journey. Doing this in-person is fundamental because it allows you to better gauge the experience of the archers you are talking to and how seriously you should take their advice. Also if you join a club it gives you an excuse to practice more often and make friends within the community.

10 Ways to Practice Parkour in your Backyard or Local Park

Parkour is an unusual sport/activity, but just because it is unusual doesn't mean that your Average Joe couldn't practice it and eventually get good at it.

Here are 10 Exercises for Parkour Training that people can do in their backyard or local public park. For fun and/or for exercise. If after a while you feel confident about your skills you might join a club/group of people that practice parkour together.

Remember, safety is paramount when practicing parkour. Start with basic movements and progress gradually as you gain skill and confidence. Always ensure the environment is suitable and free of hazards before attempting any advanced parkour techniques.

1. Precision Jumps: Set up markers or objects of varying distances and heights to practice precise jumping and landing techniques.

2. Vaults: Use sturdy objects like benches, picnic tables, or low walls to practice different types of vaults, such as the lazy vault, speed vault, or kong vault.

3. Wall Runs: Find a sturdy wall or fence and practice running towards it, planting one foot on the wall, and pushing off to gain height or distance.

4. Tic-Tacs: Look for walls or structures with angles and practice using them to redirect your momentum by jumping off one surface and pushing off to reach another.

5. Balance Training: Set up a balance beam or use fallen tree branches in your backyard to work on improving your balance and stability.

6. Precision Landings: Find elevated surfaces like walls, railings, or ledges of different heights and practice landing on them with control and accuracy.

7. Cat Leaps: Look for gaps between structures or objects and practice jumping and landing with both hands on the edge, pulling yourself up to simulate a cat-like movement.

8. Quadrupedal Movement: Incorporate animal-like movements such as crawling, climbing, and jumping on all fours to improve agility and body coordination.

9. Plyometric Exercises: Incorporate explosive movements like box jumps, tuck jumps, or burpees to enhance your power and overall athleticism.

10. Conditioning Drills: Perform conditioning exercises like sprints, push-ups, pull-ups, and squats to improve your overall strength and endurance, which are essential for parkour.

Spring Bicycle Maintenance Time

Spring is the perfect time to perform maintenance on your bicycle to ensure that it is in good condition for the upcoming season. Regular maintenance and minor repairs can help prevent more serious issues from occurring and keep your bike running smoothly.

In this article, we'll go over some tips for spring bicycle maintenance and minor repairs.

Clean Your Bike - Start by cleaning your bike thoroughly. This includes washing the frame, wheels, chain, and other components. Use a gentle soap and warm water, and dry your bike thoroughly with a towel. A clean bike is easier to inspect and work on, and it helps prevent rust and other issues.

Check Your Tires - Check your tires for wear and tear, and make sure they are properly inflated. Underinflated tires can affect the performance and handling of your bike, while overinflated tires can increase the risk of punctures. Use a tire gauge to check the pressure, and inflate them to the recommended level.

Inspect Your Brakes - Check your brakes to make sure they are working properly. Test your brake levers and make sure they are responsive, and inspect your brake pads for wear. If your brake pads are worn down, they will need to be replaced. Adjust your brakes if necessary.

Lubricate Your Chain - Apply a lubricant to your chain to keep it running smoothly. Use a degreaser to clean your chain first, then apply the lubricant to the links while pedaling backwards. Wipe off any excess lubricant with a rag.

Check Your Cables and Shifters - Inspect your cables and shifters for any damage or wear. Make sure your cables are properly tensioned and adjust them if necessary. Test your shifters and make sure they are shifting smoothly through all gears.

Inspect Your Frame and Components - Inspect your frame and components for any signs of wear or damage. Look for cracks or dents in the frame, and check your wheels, pedals, and handlebars for any looseness. Tighten any loose bolts or nuts, and replace any damaged components.

Test Ride Your Bike - Once you've completed your maintenance and repairs, take your bike for a test ride to make sure everything is working properly. Pay attention to the handling, shifting, and braking, and make any necessary adjustments.

Conclusion

Performing spring maintenance on your bicycle is an important part of keeping it in good condition. By cleaning your bike, checking your tires, inspecting your brakes, lubricating your chain, checking your cables and shifters, inspecting your frame and components, and test riding your bike, you can ensure that your bike is in good working order for the upcoming season.

Minor repairs can help prevent more serious issues from occurring and keep your bike running smoothly for years to come.

If you want to go further, getting training as a bicycle mechanic would be the next logical step. Having proper training from an experienced instructor can make a huge difference if you want to fix more complicated things on your bicycle.

DIY Barbells and Dumbbells

So I was browsing barbells back in early March when I noticed the prices were a bit ridiculous. Prices often ranged from $100 to $300 just for the bar, not counting the weights.

And because I love frugal exercise equipment it occurred to me that I should do a post about DIY barbells and dumbbells.

Using a variety of materials anyone can make their own barbells and dumbbells. Concrete? Sure. Sand? Why not. Dirt or water? Absolutely. Wood? If you have lots of wood to spare, then do it.

The point is that you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to equip yourself with your own set of dumbbells and barbells. You can just build them out of recycled materials or from things you find at the hardware store.

Equipment for Powerlifters and Bodybuilders

As part of my ongoing series of posts on the topic of Powerlifting (a competitive weightlifting sport) I have decided to include a post on the topic of Powerlifting Equipment.

I want to note however that people wanting to use such equipment can also sometimes just make their own equipment. The DIY approach is often just as rewarding as anything you can buy in a store.

I am also approaching this from the perspective of someone who has a casual interest in Powerlifting and as someone who wants to use the various Powerlifting techniques as part of someone's weightlifting routine, and not because they want to compete in the sport.

• Bench Press Shirt - Designed to store kinetic energy and help the lifter lift more.
  
• Deadlift Socks - Thick socks designed to protect the lifter's shins while performing a deadlift.
  
• Deadlift Suit - Provides compression, but also stores kinetic energy to help the lifter lift more.
  
• Elbow Sleeves - Supports the elbow joint, reduces inflammation and provides compression.
  
• Gum Sheilds / Mouth Guards - Protects the teeth while the lifter is clenching their jaw.
  
• Gym Chalk - Used to absorb moisture, improve grip and reduce friction.
  
• Knee Sleeves - Similar to Knee Wraps, but provide compression and reduce inflammation of the knee joints.
  
• Knee Wraps - Strips of elastic wrapped around the knees which protect the knee joints.
  
• Knee Wrap Rollers - Used to make Knee Wraps tighter and provide more tension.
  
• Lifting Straps - Loops around the wrists and the barbell, allowing the user to lift with their forearms and not have to use their hands so much. Some lifters consider them to be cheating, but you could say that about a lot of the things on this list.
  
• Singlet/Leotard - Really only worn during competitions so that a referee can easily see whether someone properly completed a squat or succeeded in performing a lift properly.
  
• Smelling Salts - Contains ammonia, but can be used as a stimulant to trigger a short but intense burst of adrenaline, which can boost performance.
  
• Squat Suit - A supportive aid designed to help prevent injury while lifting more.
  
• Weightlifting Belt - Works similar to a back brace, providing rigid support and stability to the lower back and core muscles.
  
• Weightlifting Shoes - Two Types: Deadlift shoes (flat with ankle support) and Squat shoes (rigid with elevated heel). Both are designed to help prevent injuries while lifting.
  
• Wrist Wraps - Elastic strips wrapped around the wrist joint to help reduce movement and prevent injury.
  

As you may have guessed, most of the things on the above list are basically designed for two things:

1. To prevent injury.
2. To help the Powerlifter lift more weight.

How many of these things do you consider to be necessary? Well, it depends on how much value you place on preventing sports injuries.

I personally think that preventing sports injuries is very important. Some competitions prefer that the competitors lift without any equipment, what is known as Raw or Classic, while some competitions favour all the competitors being equipped so that lifters aren't injuring themselves. How much equipment someone uses is basically up to the user.

What you decide to use is up to you. My one piece of advice is that if you're not going to get anything to protect your joints that you at least take it easy and don't push yourself too hard.

Also sometimes you may have no choice but to use some types of equipment, but that shouldn't stop you from exercising. Use whatever you consider to be necessary and important to you.

See Also

• What is Powerlifting?
• 5 Bodybuilding Tips you can do Today for $0
  

New Gift Voucher Artwork for Cardio Trek Archery Lessons

Okay, so many years now I have been using the same design for Cardio Trek's Gift Vouchers with respect to archery lessons.

And it occurred to me recently that perhaps it was time to make a new design.

So here are the old designs. First up the Regular design:

And the Valentines Day version.

I still like the concept of the gift box in the image, but I felt it was time for something new. Plus I wanted to use the same font used for the Cardio Trek logo.

Voila!

Now immediately I know some people are going to prefer the old versions... But whatever. It doesn't matter which version people want to use. What really matters is the Gift Voucher Number when people contact me to book their archery lessons in Toronto.

Want to give a friend, loved one or coworker a gift? Why not archery lessons?! Just contact me via cardiotrek@gmail.com to get started.

Happy Shooting!

6 Tips for Beginner Powerlifters

As part of my ongoing series of posts on the topic of Powerlifting, here are 6 Tips for Beginner Powerlifters.

But first, if you're unfamiliar with Powerlifting please read:

• What is Powerlifting?
• Powerlifting: What is a Good Target Weight? How Many Reps?
  

Powerlifting Tip #1: Bench Press - Squeeze your Scapula/Shoulder Blades

By squeezing your scapula during bench pressing it will help will keep your shoulders on the bench (where they should be) and help to reduce the range of motion. You don't need to squeeze them super hard, just enough to help keep your shoulders on the bench. Keep your shoulders tight throughout the movement and then lock out the elbows at the top of the exercise. This will ensure better form and improved stability. Squeezing the scapula a bit will also engage more of your triceps and help with your overall lift.

Do not squeeze your scapula as hard as possible. That is completely unnecessary and counterproductive.

Powerlifting Tip #2: Squat - Keep Your Chest Up and Facing Forward

You want to keep your chest up and facing forward at the bottom of the movement and throughout the entire lift. By doing this you will prevent your torso from folding when you reach the concentric part of the squat (at the bottom) and reduce the potential for injury and improve your stability, which is especially vital during a heavy squat.

Powerlifting Tip #3: Deadlift - Do Not Bend Your Arms, Think Hooks

Never bend your arms while performing a deadlift. Instead keep your elbows locked and arms straight throughout the movement and think of your arms like fishhooks that don't bend or move. If you try and pull the bar up with your biceps you’ll likely tear a tendon, which will keep you out of the gym for a long time. Just think of your arms as hooks, you are simply using them to hold on to the weight and nothing more. The main muscles that will be used during a deadlift will be your quads, glutes, hamstrings and spinal erectors.

Powerlifting Tip #4: Split Up Your Training

You should practice split system training, which means you have to focus on a specific body area and training until you get fatigued. This allows for intensive training, when compared to a full body workout, with ample recovery time before training that section again.

Unlike some weightlifters who might alternate upper body and lower body, you want to be more specific than that. Thus a typical week for a powerlifter could end up looking like this:

• Monday: Back
• Tuesday: Chest
• Wednesday: Shoulders / Traps
• Thursday: Biceps / Triceps
• Friday: Legs
• Saturday and Sunday are rest days.

So for example I am currently doing a simple Weightlifting Routine wherein Mondays and Thursdays are Leg Days and Tuesdays and Fridays are Upper Body. Wednesday/Saturday/Sunday are my rest days. If I wanted to start doing Powerlifting then I would need to make significant changes to my exercise routine.

Powerlifting Tip #5: Don't Over Train

3 to 5 days a week is a good rule of thumb for the maximum number of days per week a Powerlifter should be training. You will have to discover the hard way whether you should be exercising 3, 4 or 5 days per week. But you will know you are Over Training if get any of the following side effects:

• Increased Muscle Soreness due to not enough rest/recovery time.
• Poor sleep.
• Recurring Sports Injuries.
  

Powerlifters generally do not train as much as bodybuilders (who are often exercise addicts) and because they're lifting a lot more they need to pace themselves more and allow for ample rest periods. Part of this is because powerlifting causes strain on their CNS (Central Nervous System) and that needs more time to recover.

Powerlifting Tip #6: Ample Rest Period

This is obviously connected to the previous point above. If you give your body a large enough rest period it will help you to recover more efficiently from an intense session. Allowing for ample muscle recovery time (and CNS recovery) means you will see better results the next time you train. This will result in increased muscle and strength gains.

This also means that you should be wary about certain activities. Eg. If you had an intense session on Friday you should avoid helping a friend to move a piano on Saturday. If you get a sports injury while moving that piano you could set back your training significantly.

Instead on your days of rest you should focus on lighter activities and avoid anything that could put strain on your recovery.