Nov252017

Advanced Boxing Tips

Jose James Hyland is an amateur boxer with a college degree, multiple certifications and years of experience as a personal trainer. He has worked with dozens of paraplegic and quadriplegic through the AXIS Project, helping them find their own form of fitness through boxing, with him as their coach. For those of you that aren’t working with a coach, but have practiced enough to no longer be considered a beginner, here are some more advanced tips to improve your technique. Essentially, if you’re just starting and don’t have the knack for boxing yet, you shouldn’t burden yourself with these more advanced ideas.

(Also, please remember that an amateur boxer has more experience than an expert. By that, I mean, an expert in the gym with no fight experience, hasn’t competed at the level of an amateur boxer. It takes a lot of time and effort to become an amateur. Unless you’ve been registered, fought in the ring with a referee, and even seen your face on an official poster for the card of a legitimate organization, you are not an amateur boxer.)

You can check out more tips from Jose at Flexing Fitness but until then, enjoy!

Nov242017

4 Tips on Treating a Hangnail Infection

One of the most annoying things one can experience when nails and cuticles are not properly taken care of is a hangnail. A hangnail is a small piece of skin that has been separated from the side of one’s fingernail or toe-nail. They can easily get torn off and could cause small bleeding wounds. If you are not careful, they can easily get infected. A hangnail can happen due to several causes such as nail biting, cold weather, frequent immersion in water, and more. It could get swollen and painful and sometimes, may emit pus. It is highly advised that you seek treatment as soon as possible when this happens. You can also do a lot of preventive measures such as moisturizing your hands and fingernails regularly.

Here are four tips for treating a hangnail infection.

Nov232017

What is Giving Tuesday?

Was the holiday season always so hectic? I’m sure many of us remember when Black Friday didn’t even exist, although it might have been a few decades ago. Now, we’re even familiar with Small Business Saturday, and some of you might even know about Giving Tuesday. For those of you who don’t know about it, Giving Tuesday is the Tuesday that comes after Thanksgiving, after Black Friday and after Small Business Saturday. It is a day designed for us to take some action for someone else and give back to the greater good. We’re always trying to help, but sometimes we need help with the how.

My family would be considered middle, or even upper-middle class, so we were always used to having plenty of clothes to wear. As my brother and I tried to donate many of our old clothes to a charity, we had some issues with the approaches that certain non-profits were taking. Large executive salaries, questionable budgets, an overall lack of transparency and a weak personal connection with the community drew us away from many of the bigger name charities. Who knew that it would be so hard to give something away for free and feel good about it?

While we ended up collecting bags of clothes, gathering a group of a dozen friends, taking them all onto the New York City Subway on one of the coldest winter days I can remember, and physically handing them to homeless individuals throughout the Bronx and Manhattan, we realize that opportunity may not be available to everyone. Whether it is a lack of extra clothes, the fact that you live far away from a city, or some other reason, it can sometimes seem challenging to find a good cause. Fortunately, there are actually people and organizations, everywhere, that are in need or your help.

Here are some of our reasons why we like to give and how we go about doing it. Some are very time-consuming and others are extremely easy, but all of them are rewarding. Feel free to add any of your suggestions in the comment section below; we’d love to hear about causes that are near and dear to your hearts.

Nov222017

3 Thyroid Problems That You Should Be Aware Of

The thyroid gland is a small butterfly-shaped organ that’s part of the endocrine system. It’s responsible for releasing essential hormones that regulate our body’s metabolism. Several body functions are reliant on the hormones that the thyroid gland produces. This includes our body weight, breathing, heart rate, body temperature and more.

There’s no denying the importance of the thyroid gland in the overall health of our bodies. It’s important to properly take care of it, and be aware of the many problems it could face such as cretinism, goiter, and Grave’s disease.

This article will discuss those 3 thyroid problems so we can be aware of it, as well their corresponding diagnosis and treatment. Read on to learn more.

Nov132017

Our Weekend(ish) in Pictures

Accidentally went to hot yoga too many times

Nov122017

Thor: Ragnarok Review

On our drive up to Idyllwild, we were hoping that we’d run into a convenient situation where we’d be able to see the new Thor: Ragnarok in theaters, and we were fortunate! I did, however, waste a significant amount of time trying to explain what I thought would be the back story to this film. The MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) is quickly growing and for anyone who doesn’t know the comics or watch the movies many times, you can get lost in the timeline. I had to remind Fit that Thor and Hulk were not in Civil War, so these two movies were most likely taking place at the same time and leading towards The Avengers: Infinity War, along with Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy 2, and who knows what else.

Nov112017

LA’s Greatest Escapes: Idyllwild, CA

We wouldn’t normally walk out of a town with brochures and maps, but we couldn’t help ourselves this time around. We’re not really into hanging onto this and that; most of our souvenirs are gifts. When we left Hawaii just a few weeks ago, our bags were just as heavy as when we first arrived, although the amazing experiences don’t weigh anything.

Nov102017

Quick & Easy Chili at Home

Daylight savings time has us falling back and the sun is setting earlier. Days are getting darker, nights are getting colder and we’re moving through Fall quickly, on our way to Winter. The change of seasons and weather provides us the opportunity to cook different dishes in order to keep our bodies warm and even capitalize on different foods that are in season. One food that you can make all year round is chili, but there’s something special about having a warm bowl on a cold night.

We’ve presented loads of different recipes on the blog, in different forms. Sometimes we use recipe cards; sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we use lots and lots of work; sometimes we don’t. One thing we always want to do is include lots of delicious pictures, but this time around, we’re going to use these pictures as the recipe.

During (nearly) every stage of the cooking process, we’re going to show you a picture and only provide a brief description as to what is going on. Since we’re not baking, precise measurements aren’t as important, and since we’re making chili, there aren’t any complex techniques. Plus, the most important thing to remember is that this is YOUR chili, and you should adjust the seasoning to make your mouth and tummy happy. (If you want to throw some serious heat in there, go for it!)

Ingredients you’ll need:

Onion
Garlic
Red wine
Vegetable stock
Potatoes, cut into chunks
Fresh or canned tomatoes
Seasoning like oregano, paprika, and salt & pepper
Beans
Fat, such as butter

Step 1: Caramelize onions and garlic in a stockpot.

Nov092017

How Your Mattress Can Help You Stay in Shape

Usually, we associate getting fit with getting active because it’s only when we’re running around during the day that we burn off those calories, are capable of losing weight and can strengthen our bodies, right? Wrong. In fact, one of the key times in which we can get fit is actually when we’re horizontal. Nope, I’m not talking about leg lifts or chin ups. (Phew, says you.) I’m talking about night-time, when we’re getting our snooze on.

Getting enough, good-quality sleep is one of the best things we can do for our bodies and our minds. It can improve our memory, help us to lose weight, and reduce anxiety. It even lets us live longer! Sleeping properly makes us happier, healthier people and a little bit better at everything we do. And yep, that includes working out.

Here’s how sleep can help you become a workout machine… (Not literally. That’d be weird.)

Image source

Nov082017

Why You Aren’t Getting a Six Pack!

Recently, someone in the gym asked us about an exercise we were performing, specifically inquiring if it was targeting our abs and then questioning how it differs from the abdominal crunch machine he was using. We explained that this particular variation of the abdominal crunch would activate more muscles in his core, since the weight could force his body left or right as well.

When he showed obvious frustration and explained how he’d been using the machine for years with no progress, we asked how he was using the machine, specifically referring to how many reps and sets he was doing. When he told us that he performed 30-40 reps per set, we asked him if he was happy with his upper arms. When he said that he was indeed happy with that body part, we asked him how he trained his arms, specifically referring to how many reps and sets he was doing. When he told us that he performed 8-12 reps per set, we presented the question: why are you training your abs differently?