everyday health

A full time health and fitness guru on YouTube with over 80 million views, Sarah is obviously passionate about sharing healthy lifestyle information. Check out her site, SarahFit.com, for the most effective workouts and motivational advice. She is also a regular contributor to Everyday Health’s YouTube channel and girl behind “No Gym, No Problem”.

Decompress At Your Desk
Sitting at your desk all day can build up stress in your neck and shoulders leading to bad posture, headaches and back pain. Take about 5 minutes out of each day to perform these gentle shoulder rolls and neck stretches. You will immediately feel refreshed when you are done!

• Engage your core to sit up taller, alleviate the hunch back look and strengthen your abs and back.

• Perform 10 shoulder rolls forward and 10 backwards. Try to use the largest range of motion position.

• Next, perform 10 shoulder shrugs by bringing your shoulders up by your ears, and then pressing them down and away as far as they will go.

• Now sit up tall and pretend to be in a forearm plank position. With arms bent at 90-degrees, open your chest as wide as possible and then bring hands back to starting position. Open and close “the book” 10 times, squeezing shoulder blades together as your chest opens up.

• Lastly stretch out your neck. Tilt your head to the right, and reach left arm out to the left. Repeat on the opposite side

You should feel much better already!

A full time health and fitness guru on YouTube with over 80 million views, Sarah is obviously passionate about sharing healthy lifestyle information. Check out her site, SarahFit.com, for the most effective workouts and motivational advice. She is also a regular contributor to Everyday Health’s YouTube channel and girl behind “No Gym, No Problem”.

So, you go to the gym at least 4 times a week, you can run at least 3 miles and can hold a plank for an entire minute, but just how fit are you compared with the rest of the crowd? Whether you are a beginner or a veteran, these 4 simple tests will help you gauge your progress.

1. Plank - Lift up into a forearm plank squeezing glutes and inner thighs together, abs pulling in towards your navel and shoulder blades pinching together. Don’t let your head hang down, but keep it in line with your spine. Aim to hold it for at least 30 seconds. If you can go longer, test and see how long you go with proper form. If you belly begins to sag down, stop before you feel any lower back pain. Keep track of your time on your smart phone or in a document on your computer. Test your progress every 4 weeks.
     Score Card:
     Below average: You can’t hold a basic plank 60 seconds
     Average: You go 60 seconds
     Above average: You can hold a plank 60 seconds with your feet elevated on a bench
     Men’s Health Fit: You can hold a plank with your arms extended for 60 seconds

2. Wall Sit - Find a wall that you can lean against. Lower down into a squat position with feet shoulder width distance apart. Knees should be at a 90 degree angle, with thighs parallel to the ground. Start your timer and keep track of how long you can hold this position. Remember to engage your glutes.

3. Push ups - If you are a female, you will want to do this test in a modified position on your knees. Why? Because to compare your strength results to other women in your age group, you will need to do so. Who ever began collecting data, did so with this modification. If you could care less about how your stats rank, go ahead and try a full push up if you can with proper form. Men will need to do this exercise starting in high plank position. Lower chest down to the ground and press back up. See how many you can do before your muscles are fatigued.

4. Sit ups (aka Curl ups) - Start lying down on the ground with knees bent. If you have a partner, ask them to sit on your feet and help keep count. Start the clock and see how many complete sit ups you can do in a minute. Lower all the way down, and come all the way up to the top. If you are fatigued before the minute is up, just rest and keep track of your score. Hands should go behind your head. Compare your results to the population to see how fit your abs really are below.

A full time health and fitness guru on YouTube with over 80 million views, Sarah is obviously passionate about sharing healthy lifestyle information. Check out her site, SarahFit.com, for the most effective workouts and motivational advice. She is also a regular contributor to Everyday Health’s YouTube channel and girl behind “No Gym, No Problem”.

Workout At Work
We spend upwards of 40 hours a week at the office, yet we are lucky if we can get in 2 hours at the gym! If you are married to your job, don’t let yourself become a victim of a sedentary lifestyle because of your work. Try these simple tips to incorporate a more active lifestyle into your day job.

1. Make the Most of Your Commute. Walk to work if it’s 1 mile or less. Yes, this is going to be limited to city dwellers but you can also walk to the bus stop, or take the stairs instead of the elevator.
2. Waiting in line for your morning coffee? Try doing toe raises, and leg lifts. This can also be done at a copy machine, in line for the bathroom or on a boring conference call. Really you can do them anywhere.
3. Have a long phone call you need to make? Do it standing up. You burn more calories while standing than sitting. Try a standing desk even for part of the day.
4. Keep a resistance band in your desk drawer for some upper body strength training during breaks throughout the day. Try doing bicep curls, shoulder raises and an overhead press.
5. Use a large exercise ball instead of a chair to sit at your desk. Try sitting at it for 30 minutes on the first day. Increase the amount of time by 10% each week. If it bothers your lower back, switch back to a regular chair or reduce the amount of time you use it.

A full time health and fitness guru on YouTube with over 80 million views, Sarah is obviously passionate about sharing healthy lifestyle information. Check out her site, SarahFit.com, for the most effective workouts and motivational advice. She is also a regular contributor to Everyday Health’s YouTube channel and girl behind “No Gym, No Problem”. 

“Jennifer Aniston has one of the most coveted Hollywood bodies at the age of 43! Flaunting them on the cover of magazines and in advertisements, it’s no wonder people are dying to know how she gets her abs to look like that! In this video, I’m going to show you a few moves that according to her trainer, Mandy Ingber, are Jen’s favorite exercises. They all have a Pilates or Yoga influence.

Jennifer is also a runner. She does cardio most days of the week for 30-40 minutes. And remember, most flat bellies are made in the kitchen. Even if you follow these moves and get in your cardio, without a clean and sensible diet, results will be hard to see.

Side Plank Dip: Lift up into a side plank resting on your forearm. Hold for 3 seconds, dip your hip down towards the ground and raise it right back up. Repeat 10 times, switch sides and repeat.
Crescent Lunge: Start in a high lunge position with weight in the front heel. Bring back knee in towards chest, squeeze abs in towards lower back and return to high plank position. Repeat 10 times on the same leg, switch and repeat.
Plank Cross: Starting in high plank position, bring right knee to left elbow. Hold for 3 counts, and return to start. Repeat this move bringing the left knee to the right elbow. Repeat 10 times.
3-legged Dog: Start in high plank position. Lift left leg up off of the ground and bring left knee in towards forehead. Cinch waist as knee and forehead meet and then return to start. Repeat 9 more reps on the left side. Without resting, repeat on the right side for 10 more reps.

Repeat these 4 ab moves for a total of 3 sets in conjuction with 30-40 minutes of running or preferred cardio. Enjoy!”  -Sarah