Tag: Yoga

Fitness, Lifestyle

5 Hot Yoga Benefits For A Healthier Mind And Body

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5 Hot Yoga Benefits For A Healthier Mind And Body

Hot yoga is a type of yoga practiced in a heated room, usually between 32–40°C. The heat and humidity can cause those taking part to sweat a lot. The heat is designed to promote deeper stretches and sweating by raising your core body temperature. Some hot yoga practices seek to replicate the heat and humidity of India where yoga originated.

We tried hot yoga recently and it is intense due to the added heat, which increases your heart rate and makes it more challenging to hold poses, compared to regular yoga practiced at room temperature, but you feel amazing afterwards. We always like to dig a little deeper into the new hobbies we take on. Below we’ve listed the incredible benefits from a hot yoga workout.

Flexibility: The heat can help muscles warm up, allowing for deeper poses, improves flexibility, balance and strengthens the muscles.

(Photo Credit: Carl-Barcelo)

Mental health: The heat helps with mental clarity and concentration, and can help relieve stress. Yoga, in general, can help reduce stress levels and reduces anxiety.

Cardio health: The heat can increase heart rate, which may help improve cardiovascular health and endurance. The high temperature in hot yoga can make it more intense than a traditional yoga class. It makes the heart, muscles, and lungs work harder and boosts metabolism.

(Photo Credit: Zen-Bear-Yoga)

Improves skin: Sweating can improve blood flow which helps deliver nutrients to the skin cells. The heat can increase circulation and help the skin glow.

Burns more calories: The heat and the time a person holds challenging poses can help you burn more calories in hot yoga than in traditional yoga.

(Photo Credit: JD-Mason)

Always remember to keep a bottle of water nearby. Due to the high heat, it’s crucial to stay hydrated before, during, and after a hot yoga class. 

Shelley & Michelle xx

Fitness

Benefits From A Pilates Workout

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Benefits From A Pilates Workout

Pilates is a form of exercise which concentrates on strengthening the body with an emphasis on core strength. It helps to improve general fitness and overall well-being. Similar to Yoga, Pilates concentrates on posture, balance and flexibility. This form of exercise was developed by Joseph Pilates in Germany, who believed that physical and mental health were closely connected.

Although there are similarities between yoga and Pilates as they both focus on the mind-body connection, yoga tends to focus more on spiritual well being. It is a more relaxing form of exercise whereas Pilates is more physical and focuses on toning and strengthening.

Photo credit: Ginny Rose Stewart

Practicing Pilates on a regular basis provides plenty of well-rounded benefits. The great thing is that Pilates can be enjoyed by anyone and at any age. If you’re a beginner you can start with the more easier exercises and then once you’ve mastered those, you can work on the advanced moves. Always check with your health professional if you haven’t exercised for a while, are older or pregnant, or have health problems.

  • Good posture – Pilates will teach you to gain and maintain good posture. The exercises require that your body is always in alignment. This is especially beneficial if you suffer from lower back pain.
  • Clears the mind and improves your mood – Pilates focuses on providing balance between your mind and body, it gives you an overall sense of well-being. Pilates can improve your mood as physical activity causes endorphins to be released and causes a positive feeling in the body. Some scientists believe that being active can enhance wellbeing as it brings about a sense of better self-confidence and self-control.
  • Muscle Tone – The exercises involve the use of muscles that you may not use on a daily basis. After the initial soreness, you’ll find that your muscles will be much more toned.
  • Flat abdominal muscles – As Pilates focuses on strengthening your core which includes your abdominal muscles, you’ll find that one of the benefits of Pilates is that it will result in a flat stomach.
  • Flexibility – As we age we tend to lose the flexibility we had when we were younger. Pilates is said to restore your flexibility. After a while you’ll be amazed at how much more flexible your body has become.
  • Improves your balance – Through the mind-body connection, you will become much more aware of how your body moves and performs. Pilates not only improves your physical balance through correct posture but will also restore your mind-body balance.
  • Reduces stress – When doing the exercises, you’ll be in the moment and won’t be able to think about all those responsibilities that weigh you down on a day to day basis. You’ll be more focused on your breathing and on the moves that you are making with your body. This is one of the best ways to relieve stress.
Photo credit: Elena Kloppenburg

Shelley & Michelle xx

Fitness

Our Favourite Three Workouts

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We enjoy working out, it’s part our weekly routine lol. It can be difficult trying to squeeze in a workout whilst balancing a busy lifestyle, but we’ve realised after exercising you never say to yourself ‘I wish I didn’t work out today’. Exercising clears the mind, makes you feel more energised as well as feeling fit. Working out 2-3 times a week for us is ideal, as we don’t like to overdo our workouts.

It’s always good to mix up your workout routine. We like to work up a sweat and enjoy high intensity cardio workouts for e.g. Spin and Legs, Bums and Tums (LBT). There is nothing quite like taking part in a high energy exercise class and getting those endorphin’s flowing, its a feel good factor. We do love a good stretch though. You find after a strenuous work out your muscles can tighten up. Always stretch before and after working out. Yoga or Pilates is a great way to stretch. Pilates not only relaxes the body but also relaxes the mind. Below we have put together the health benefits from our favourite three workouts.

SPIN

The benefits from spin are mind blowing. Spin is a great way to burn calories, they say you can burn at least 500 to 700 calories from a single spinning class. Not only is Spin a good exercise to help tone and lose weight its a great stress reliever. Having a great instructor who motivates you whilst playing the best tunes helps. Spin is a good way of keeping your heart healthy, your heart is the most important muscle in your body so keeping the heart in tip top condition is key.

 LBT

You can’t go wrong with Legs, Bums & Tums which concentrates on giving you that full body aerobic and toning workout. This class has a variety of workouts such as squats, lunges, hamstring curls, planks, crunches, curl-ups and many more. LBT has been a go to exercise class since the early 90’s and is still going strong. You can burn around 250-400 calories in just one class and is great for toning and tightening. LBT increases your stamina and endurance, builds strength increases energy levels as well as increasing your flexibility and mobility.

PILATES

If you want to improve your physical strength and flexibility. Then you will find Pilates is the workout for you. This form of exercise improves posture, balance, muscle tone and joint mobility. Pilates is great for the relief of stress and tension and focuses on strengthening your core. Pilates helps with the balance between your mind and body and gives you a sense of well-being. This exercise is beneficial if you suffer from lower back pain.



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Shelley & Michelle xx