I’ve had a cold – a pretty bad one – for a few days now. However, I’m starting to feel a little better. I actually don’t feel like sleeping all day like I did just a day or two ago. So my energy levels are a little higher now, which is nice.  A lot of people question whether or not they should work out when they’re not feeling well.

It’s actually quite a common question because most people think they might make themselves sicker if they work out.  Especially since we are in the thick of flu and cold season, those who work out often are feeling it since they feel trapped into being a couch potato when they’re not feeling good.

But the answer to the question is very simple. You can certainly try a light workout, but if your body is telling you STOP then you need to stop.  Your body often needs all of its resources to fight a bug such as a flu or cold, and when you work out, you are demanding energy and resources from your body.

This is how you actually burn calories from exercising – you are demanding resources of your body such as increased blood flow, heart rate, and increased oxygen circulation. All of this takes energy, and if your body is telling you no during your attempts at working out while sick, then you simply have to stop and not push boundaries.

When you start to feel better, try doing something really light and therapeutic, like a yoga DVD.  This tends to be more calming and less demanding than a hard cardio and weight workout, but you have to choose an easy one because things like hot yoga or ashtanga can be every bit as demanding nad physical.

One thing I’ve found that helps me recover from a flu or cold quicker believe it or not, is our far infrared sauna.  Because it heats my body, it creates a sort of artificial fever. The reason our bodies get a fever when we’re sick is because this is the body’s attempt at killing off the bacterial or viral infection that is making you sick.

Heat kills many viruses and germs, so getting into the sauna can definitely help you to fight off the bug better. I also increase my intake of vitamin C and other antioxidants simply to make myself feel better and more energized.

Drinking plenty of water – I add lemon juice, freshly squeezed to mine – it also good for recovery as often you feel dehydrated during a cold or flu.  Also, see our past post about coconut water for better hydration – interesting read.

Once you start to gain your energy back, that’s when you can try to work out, but working out when the flu or cold has its hardest grip is probably not a good idea – this is your body’s way of telling you it’s down for the count.

One thing I’ve come to realize, which was actually a major paradigm shift for me, is that crunches are not the end all be all when it comes to flat abs and core strength. It wasn’t until I really pushed myself during one workout session on a Fit TV television show that I realized the power of the plank when it came to my abs.

My abdominal muscles had never been so sore before!  I only did what seemed like a minute of holding, then going down into a downward dog type of position for about twenty seconds, then going back into the plank position, but this time lower to the ground, so my elbows were flush with the ground rather than my hands holding me up in the plank position.

This burned out my abs more than any crunch had ever done.  Needless to say I was pretty impressed, and have made planks a necessary part of my weekly ab training regimen ever since that fateful day several years ago.

What’s So Different About Planks?

Plank positions force you to hold your entire body weight with your arms and your abdominal muscles solely. This is quite a strain, and you really have to focus all your core strength in order to take pressure off the back, neck and arms as much as you can, which is what I think is a very natural reaction to the move.

You are using your own body weight to work your abs, whereas with crunches, you are only doing a repetitive up and down motion which does not use the weight of your own body and gravity to make you work ten times harder. Sure, after a hundred crunches you feel the burn a lot, but after a mere minute of the plank, you feel the serious burn in a fraction of the time it takes with crunches.

One of the tricks I’ve learned with crunches too is to take a five to eight pound weight and lay it across my abdomen. This tends to make it harder for your abs to work, and you can really feel the difference in effort, which means you are burning more calories and working the muscle much deeper than without the weight.

Another cool thing about ab planks is how versatile they are. This is actually something the plank has in common with the crunch.  They both have many different positions, angles and degrees of difficulty you can work with.  You can even do inverted crunches in a plank position by twisting the legs up toward the body one at a time – just watch that back!

Well, I’ve heard of lots of fitness fads, but this one sounds downright dangerous, especially for someone like myself who I happen to know sucks at surfing!  The reason I mention surfing is because you use a surf-like board when practicing paddle board yoga.

It looks like it may be a little wider of a board than is traditionally used in surfing, which may be a little better for stability.  In paddle board yoga, you may also be using an actual paddle stick with the paddle flat at the end.

Paddle board yoga is pretty much what it sounds like. You paddle out on your surf-like board to a deeper part of the water (probably in case you fall in).  You then do all of your classic yoga moves like downward dog, core work (abs), inversions, backbends, spinal stretching and relaxation techniques in the water.

This adds another element to your yoga that is good for balance because it forces your body to constantly do all these tiny little corrections to make sure you don’t go end up in to the water. So, you are actually strengthening the entire body, even the tiny muscles get toned because they are working the entire time, stabilizing the body.

This is because the water is waving and girating, as it always does, and you are unknowingly stabilizing all your core muscles the entire time you are doing it.  Also, you get the added benefit of being on the water, which has a calming effect. Also, moving water puts out negative ions.

Negative ions balance out positive ions, or free radicals, which destroy cell health. There is a reason that we tend to feel energized and simultaneously calm near moving water – it’s because of the ions and the sounds of the water, soothing our souls and rejuvenating our resolve.

Doing paddle board yoga may seem a stretch, but it may be just the thing to help tone your body as well as a way to get out on the water and have some fun.

We know that exercise in general helps you to sleep more soundly at night.  Vigorous exercise, of course not when done right before bed, can really tire our bodies out so that we are primed for sleep when bed time finally hits.  It is this tiring out that we need in order to actually feel ready to turn in and get some shut eye at night.

When you have a lot of pent up energy and anxiety from your day hanging over your head, you are less likely to get good sleep at night.  It may be fitful sleep or you may actually even have restless legs or a restless mind that doesn’t allow you to fully recuperate from the day’s trials and tribulations.

Studies have shown that women and men who perform yoga regularly experience better, deeper and more complete sleep after they’ve been practicing for a while.  This is attributed to the likely improvement in your breathing patterns and also to the help that yoga offers to calm the central nervous system which curbs the body’s natural fight or flight response and increases stress hormones which can hinder good sleep.

Even if yoga has proven to be helpful with sleeplessness and insomnia, I still think that everyone should engage in some sort of aerobic activity. There are faster versions of yoga that can be practiced that can benefit the heart and the relaxation of the body, but there are also other workouts that should probably be sprinkled in amongst yoga sessions to get the most well rounded body, mind heart and sould.

For me, I’ve found that I really benefit most from strenuous exercise that centers around a lot of aerobics such as running, interval or jump training, and other high speed, short exercises. I think that everyone could benefit from diversifying their workouts.

Remember that in order to actually exhaust the body enough to get great sleep, you have to exert energy during the day.  If you don’t get enough physical activity in your day, you will have too much nervous energy left over when you turn in at night which can make for a restless night of sleep.

There have been several flash in the pan fitness trends over the past few years that seem to have come and gone, but maintained popularity in a new fusion or incarnation afterwards. Take Tae Bo, for example. The brain child of Billy Blanks, Tae Bo combined kickboxing and a sort of martial art into a hard, kick butt workout that left even the fittest of us in buckets of sweat.

It was really popular for about 5 years before being taken over by other fitness trends like Zumba and dance. Yoga even creeped in there as sort of the antithesis to this maddeningly fast paced workout. Bikram yoga and the faster moving hatha yoga were hailed as great cardio workouts that also helped to ease stress and helped promote an inner zen.

Roller blading is a trend that took off in the nineties and even the late eighties, but waned in popularity as people seemed to put it by the wayside in favor of more trendy workouts. How often do you see anyone roller blading any more?

Spinning was a fitness craze that occurred for a while too. That was really popular in the nineties as well after some Ally McBeal actress hailed it as her reason for staying so fit and thin. Spinning really is tough, and it can really kick your butt into shape, but it’s not for everyone.

For one thing, you have to sit the whole time, and for another, it is incredibly demanding on your heart and lungs because it is very intense.

The fitness trend of the moment still seems to be interval workouts, where you are doing heavy blasts of activity for shorter amounts of time. This is popular now because people are just busy, busy, busy. They are looking for ways to stay really strong and fit without devoting a ton of time, and this seems to fit that bill. This is actually still my favorite way to work out.

It saves me time and it puts me in some of the best shape of my life when I’m doing it consistently.

Yoga has many health benefits. However, regular cardio and weight exercise also has tremendous health benefits. The difference between yoga and more traditional exercise is that yoga can be modified to be much more gentle to people who may not be able to handle a lot of risk or strain on their body. Yoga also has other benefits such as stress reduction and depression lifting, however, these benefits are also shared between all types of exercise.

Yoga definitely has one benefit over traditional workouts though. Flexibility. Yoga makes you much more flexible, and it helps you to maintain that flexibility through your older age if you practice regularly. That in itself can be priceless, since flexibility means mobility to us as we get older and may have a harder time getting around.

New studies are also showing that yoga may help to lower the blood sugar levels. This may have a great benefit to those with type II diabetes. However, it is suggested that those with type II diabetes engage in regular aerobic activity as well as this may actually have greater benefit than light yoga.

Now, if you’re talking about asthanga yoga or bikram yoga, both of which are a more intense, dynamic flow of yoga, then you still get the aerobic benefit from that, as well as the flexibility aspect, so it’s like you’re killing two birds with one stone.

The researchers did note that the benefit from just doing light yoga was fairly unimpressive, but it still did show some improvement in the participant’s blood sugar. Their approach to this was a “something is better than nothing” but they still recommended regular aerobic activity as well.

If you’ve ever practiced yoga, then you know how much it can vary in intensity. I’ve been to yoga classes or done yoga DVD’s that were so intense I felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest. On the other hand, I’ve done some where there was almost no cardio challenge.

If you want to get the cardio in there too, then do a more dynamic, moving yoga, and you’ll get the results you want in weight loss and blood sugar benefits more readily.

There are people who love yoga for either part or all of their exercise routine.  And then, there are some people who will do any other form of exercise yet avoid yoga.  Often, the reason for this is that they have difficulty mastering yoga because of balance or flexibility deficiencies.

While traditional yoga has been around for ages, aerial yoga is a new style and form of doing yoga.  In aerial yoga, instead of doing poses on a mat, you do the poses with the help of a long soft fabric loop that is suspended from the ceiling.  Aerial yoga can convert certain people to yoga lovers because of the trapeze to help support your pose.

The assistance of a well qualified instructor will make a big difference in how well you like and master aerial yoga.  The biggest difference between traditional yoga on a mat and aerial yoga is that, with the aerial form, the suspended cloth loops hold and suspend some of your weight.

The aerial yoga is referred to as Unnata aerial yoga as the word ” unnata” in sanskirt means elevation spiritually and physically.  Even for a seasoned yoga enthusiast, the support of the low hanging fabric trapeze can enable the yoga students to achieve correct postural alignment while  relaxing.

This enhances the true peacefulness of the yoga experience since you are relaxed instead of exerting a huge effort to maintain a pose.  Mental serenity is more likely to accompany this form of yoga.

Unnata aerial yoga doesn’t have to replace traditional yoga.  It can be done as a supportive alternate form together with it.  Often, the more challenging yoga poses, such as deep backbends, can be achieved with the support of the aerial trapeze.

Deeper stretches can be achieved more readily with the aerial yoga.  There is less risk of yoga related injuries since aerial yoga strengthens core muscles while avoiding compression of the spine.  Most unnata yoga classes are designed to be specifically tailored to all levels of experience for their students.

You can still take these classes even if you have no experience in the yoga, acrobatic or aerial areas.  Their instructors are trained to work with all different ranges of experience including the absolute novice.

Many students find the most challenging part to starting the aerial yoga is trusting the trapeze fabrics to hold even part of their weight.  This is an area where the instructor can reassure and encourage you until you realize they are firmly anchored.

An important objective to keep in mind when starting on a fitness campaign is different ways to achieve and preserve your flexibility.  Flexibility isn’t just a concern for the fitness gurus as it is absolutely necessary to maintain your flexibility for everyday functioning.

It’s especially imperative as adults age to maintain flexibility.  Normal activities of daily living such as bending down to tie your shoes or reaching for items on high shelves involve a reasonable preservation of flexibility.

When flexibility is severely limited, even simple tasks like dressing yourself become either challenging or no longer possible.  Another very good incentive to maintain or improve flexibility is to decrease the possibility of injuries.

Muscles that are too tight are often a source of pain upon movement that will frustrate anyone trying to exercise to win the battle of the bulge.  When planning out your exercise routine, flexibility should be a part of your goal, but not your only focal point.

Achieving flexibility doesn’t mean that you should aim for being able to do contortionist activities.  As with anything, increasing flexibility should not go to that extreme.  If you try to take it to that extreme, you could risk injury by stretching your muscles too far.

What you should be doing is incorporating some stretching exercises into your workout routine.  You can do some stretching before and after your other workout activities.  Another good way to incorporate stretching into your activities is to do pilates or yoga along with your other physical activities of choice.

Working some stretching into your physical activities will help you to avoid injuries.  For runners and joggers, stretching your muscles will help to minimize the effect of pounding on your joints.

Golfers may notice an improvement in their swing when the muscles of their shoulders are not as tight and become looser and more flexible.

Probably the most important part of your body to benefit from improved flexibility is your back.  Your back is more prone to injury, spasms and pain when your muscles are tight.  Patience is required for the improvement of flexibility.

Often, it can take a person months to master a new yoga pose.  Flexibility goals will be different for every individual.  It will depend on your limitations of range of motion and general level of fitness when you start working on your flexibility.

Increasing and maintaining flexibility should be done in conjunction with physical exercise that builds strength.  Ideally, you’ll want to strike a balance of these two fitness goals to remain healthy and functional.

Many of us suffer from back pain. Whether it is from an injury we had, or from simple stress and genetics, back pain can be an all encompassing pain that really is life interrupting if you don’t know how to manage it.

Many people think, intuitively, that when you are in pain, you should stay still and this will help. That is exactly opposite of what is true. Staying still, and leading a sedentary lifestyle where you get little movement and sit in a chair a lot is the WORST thing you can do for  back pain.

Moving around helps to loosen up the muscles, get the blood flowing, and perhaps most importantly gets enorphins and pleasure chemicals released in the brian, which helps to offset any of the pain you might be feeling in your back. The same goes for neck pain, and often times back, neck and shoulder pain go hand in hand.

Think of moving as lubing up the body. It helps to loosen the joints, and also helps to keep you mobile and agile as you age and  your joints, bones and muscles inevitably become less elastic and more prone to injury.

Exercises like yoga, swimming and water aerobics are excellent for those that exeperience back pain. The elliptical machine is a great way to get your cardio in if you have a sensitive back or joints in your leg that act up, since it has almost zero impact on the muscles and the joints.

Walking is an excellent workout for those with back pain. In fact, just walking and standing in the upright position helps us to stay mobile and flexible, whereas sitting and laying down really allow the muscles to atrophy and to become inflexible.

It’s all about maintaining movement and flexibility in the body.  If you have a desk job, make sure you get up and walk around once every hour. If you can’t actually get up and walk around, make sure you at least stand up from your chair and move around your cube or office, or stretch your back.

If you are going to do yoga for your back pain, be mindful that some poses are not back friendly if you are not flexible enough yet, and must be eased into instead of forcing your body into them. This can actually create more pain or result in injury, so take it slow.

Many exercises for flabby arms also help to ease back pain, such as supermans and kickbacks, all of which help to strengthen the lower back and help prevent back pain and weakness.

One of the best ways to make sure you keep a lean, sleek physique that’s not bulky or overly manly and “muscular” if you are a woman, is to combine a lot of stretching types of exercises with any weight lifting and cardio that you do.

Cardio is a must if you are going to get that lean look, since it is still the most effective way to get the heart rate up and strip fat from the body quickly and efficiently.  I have found that one of the best combinations for me personally to get lean and sleek looking (and I’m only 5′ 4″, so it’s tough for me to look this way), is to combine running and yoga.

Unfortunately, I run mostly when it’s nice outside, and since I live in Northeastern Ohio where the days can be extremely rare that you can get outside in the months of winter.  So then, I just have to resort to either an elliptical trainer or a treadmill and just run inside.

It’s just a lot tougher to keep your focus when you can’t be running outside past pretty green scenery, landscapes and other visually appealing and entertaining sights. Not to mention, you don’t get that same fresh air and the same runner elation that typically comes, for me anyway, more when I’m running outdoors.

I’ve found that combining running and yoga practice really makes me keep my weight at a nice level as well. The running provides me with pure cardio, a great heart pumping practice, and also great for trimming down my legs as well as my arms since I pump my arms quite a bit when I run.

The yoga takes those same muscles that I work so hard when running, and it stretches them back out. It keeps me flexible, and it also elongates my muscles, which helps me to keep that longer, leaner look, and helps to “stretch” my naturally shorter body out a little more, making me walk and appear taller.

It’s also great for flexibility, as well as mood. Studies have shown that women who practice yoga regularly experience much less depression, and tend to have healthier attitudes toward their life and toward stressful situations.  A good yoga DVD is worth its weight in gold, and if you combine this with running as your cardio practice, then you can get a sleek, mean, lean look that you are going for.