Leena Mogre, Author at Complete Wellbeing

Burn out calories, not yourself

Leena Mogre — Sun, 23 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The extreme heat during summer affects your workout competence and makes you feel tired faster as compared to other seasons. Here are some tips to make your summer exercise regimen efficient and easy:

Exercise either early in the morning or late in the evening, as during these times the temperature outside is comparatively lower than that in the afternoon. By doing so, you will feel better, sweat lesser and not get exhausted easily.
Do shorter workouts than normal. If you usually exercise for about 60 minutes, reduce it to 40 minutes during summer. By doing so, you will not get tired soon, will be able to exercise with more vigour and reap maximum benefits from you efforts. Never exercise till you reach your fatigue point [when you are not capable of lifting even 50 per cent weights or even lesser of your normal capacity].
Opt for indoor rather than outdoor sports if you prefer play as your choice of workout [badminton, table tennis or squash]. However, do not let your session exceed 40 – 45 minutes. Swimming, early morning or late evening, is also a better option as compared to other outdoor activities. Take a shower after the session; it will leave you refreshed and make you more active.
Do more of flexibility and stretching exercises than lifting heavy weights in the hot season. Indoor cycling gives great results. You can also opt for indoor yoga exercises to keep your body in top condition. Cycling early in the morning or late at night is also beneficial.
Try alternatives like functional training, athletic training, outdoor training and even beach workouts if you are missing weight training too much. These exercises too should be preferably done late in the evening or early in the morning.
Workout only till the point of perspiration, never go overboard. Take more breaks between sets. Do warm-up and cool-down exercises religiously before and after the workout.
Wear cotton clothes when you exercise. Cotton easily absorbs sweat and allows the body to cool faster. Since cotton clothes do not stick to your body like synthetic fabrics, your chances of developing a rash or allergy goes down.
Maintain your body temperature at all times. If it rises beyond the normal range, you start losing your body rhythm and mental alertness, thus affecting your physical performance. Keeping your body well-hydrated by drinking cold water during your workout helps control temperature. You must drink about 600 – 750ml of water for every 45 minutes of workout.
Drink plenty of cold water or energy drinks during your workout. Avoid sugary or glucose drinks. They provide an instant spike, but make you feel more tired later. Instead, opt for energy drinks, which provide a slow and gradual release of energy to sustain the body’s requirement for a longer time. Drink plenty of natural juices like that of orange, lime and lemon juices. They will help you maintain your body temperature as well as provide the necessary nutrition to your body. A protein shake is also a good option to have after your workout.

Drink water when you workout

By Samreedhi Goel

On a normal day, we lose as much as 1.5 litres of water through sweat, expiration and urine. During exercise, almost a litre or more of water is lost in an hour depending on the intensity of exercise and the temperature of the place you workout. While working out, the muscles repeatedly contract and relax, which generates heat thus causing a rise in body temperature. Sweat is formed on the skin surface, which evaporates and gives the body a cooling effect.

Scorching temperature, high humidity, loss of fluids and evaporation of sweat add to the heat stress in the body. If this fluid is not replaced, it leads to dehydration and a dramatic drop in your performance.

With loss of sweat, the volume of circulating blood actually declines making it tough for the heart, brain and other vital organs to receive oxygen and other nutrients.

The heart starts to work harder, which puts an added strain on the circulatory system. As you lose more water, the body starts losing its ability to cool itself [the enzymes in the body being protein cannot function at high temperatures].

However, you may not reach such a chronic level of dehydration exercising indoors, since most gyms are air conditioned. You still need to hydrate yourself for the simple reason that your muscles are still working hard and generating heat.

Here are some things you must know:

If your muscles aren’t growing, it could be due to inadequate water intake and not because of low protein intake, since 75 per cent of muscles is water.
The best way to determine how much water you must drink is to look at your daily calorie intake. For every 1,000 calories you consume, you need to drink 1 – 1.5 litres of water.
Drink water sip by sip while exercising. Gulping large quantities of water while you are on the treadmill is only going to give you a side stitch [intense pain under the lower edge of the ribcage] or make you queasy during the rest of your workout.
Cold water at a temperature of 8 – 9 oC is best because at this temperature it empties out into the intestines and reaches the tissues faster.
While exercising the thirst sensitivity of the body goes down i.e. the body is unable to signal when you start getting thirsty. By the time your body actually gives you the signal you are partially dehydrated. Don’t wait for thirst, drink water anyway.

—Samreedhi Goel is a Mumbai-based nutritionist and personal trainer.

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Discover the power of power yoga

Leena Mogre — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:30:00 +0000

Power yoga, a westernised version of the Indian ashtanga yoga, has gained tremendous popularity over the last few years. Power yoga is a complete workout for stamina, strength, flexibility and total fitness. It lays special emphasis on the core stability i.e. of the abdomen and lower back. Based on Suryanamaskar [sun salutations], it is a full-fledged workout that helps in cleansing the body and awakening the mind and spirit.

Hit the goal

Some vital objectives of Power yoga are:

To encourage all parts of the body to work efficiently. The exercises are designed to enhance strength and release tension and stress from the body and mind.
To train the body as a whole unit and enhance performance. It helps develop physical stamina and improves focus and concentration. It lays emphasis on doing the right form of asanas, while trying to retain the positions for longer.
To increase energy for awakening the spiritual potential. This helps the person to get in touch with his/her inner self and become more aware and sensitive towards his/her surroundings. The focus is on balancing the breath with the asanas and connecting the body, mind, and spirit at the deepest levels.

Know the basics

Power yoga is person-specific with the exercises being determined by your body type and health conditions that you may want to improve.

Through the use of special breathing techniques called Vinyasa, you can make core Power yoga techniques more graceful and in balance with your body.

Working on different body parts simultaneously, it strengthens the immune system helping it ward-off diseases and give a forewarning of a health problem [at the first possible indication]. Since Power yoga is fast-paced, you sweat a lot more and this flushes out toxins from the body. It also removes excess fat and improves metabolism.

Experience the goodness

Power yoga is a great stress-buster, which helps treat problems such as hypertension (high blood pressure). It also helps in shaping the body by increasing flexibility and improving stamina and agility. Power yoga is a great way to increase blood circulation and boost the immune system. You become more patient and at peace within. This tranquillity percolates into all other aspects of your life. The mind is more relaxed and you will feel lighter. You become more in control of yourself and can handle stress and pressure better.

To complement the Power yoga work out, you should also follow a balanced diet. Many people prefer having a Sattvik diet comprising fruits, milk, and fresh vegetables. Intake of the right amount of nutrients and regular yoga sessions will enable you to be in top shape—physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Worship the sun

The Surya Namaskar is a sequence of 12 positions that are an excellent way to warm-up before the yoga session. Also, for beginners, it is important to practise and master these asanas before moving on to the more complex ones. A 5 –10 minute relaxation before and after every session is paramount. I have made a few additions to the traditional Surya Namaskar for lower body and core strengthening.

Stand with your head and body straight, but relaxed. Keep your feet together. Inhale deeply and as you exhale bring your palms together at the chest in the prayer position with elbows pushed out to the sides
Inhale, stretch your arms and arch your body backwards as much as you can, keeping your knees straight
Exhale as you bend forward and try bringing your hands to your feet on the floor
Without moving your hands, inhale and stretch the right leg back as far as possible. Let the right knee touch the floor and hold the head up
Bring the left leg back, placing the left foot with the right and toes pointing forward—in a push-up position
Exhaling, drop the knees to the floor. Keep the hips up and then bring the chest straight down to touch the floor. Then touch your forehead to the floor
Inhale as you touch the hips to the ground and arch the chest bringing the head back The elbows are bent and there should be no tension in the neck and shoulders
Exhale and without moving the hands or feet bring your hips up, keeping the knees straight and making an inverted ‘V’
Now, inhale and bring the right foot forward and drop the left knee to the floor while looking up [as in no. 4]
Exhale and bring the other foot forward. The head is down towards the knee [as in position no. 3]
Inhale slowly as you get up and stretch the arms [as in position no. 2]
Exhale as you stand upright in the starting position.

This completes the Surya Namaskar.

A collective unit

The human body is designed to function in synchrony as a dynamic unit and not a series of disconnected parts. Power yoga treats your body as one whole unit. The best way to explain this would be; while pushing weights if your back is rested then you can push even 200 pounds. Try and come to the edge of the seat or don’t rest your back. Then see if you are able to push those 200 pounds?

In Power yoga, you make use of your entire body and core [abs and lower back] constantly. This strengthens the core and improves your posture and hence your body alignment. Power yoga increases your basal metabolic rate and hence enhances weight loss and increases flexibility. It also raises internal body heat, thus killing germs, viruses and bacteria in the body.

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