Health

Mar012016

The Top 10 Workout Songs for March 2016

This post is brought by our friends at RunHundred.com. Get those jams pumping to staying hungry and fit!

This month’s top 10 list draws heavily from the Top 40 chart and club scene. While this reliance on pop tunes and big beats might make the list seem one-dimensional at first, there are just enough curve balls to keep it interesting.

On the pop front, you’ll find new singles from Gwen Stefani and Ellie Goulding. On the dance side, there’s a track from DJ to the stars Paul Oakenfold and a remix from Diplo and Sleepy Tom that borrows its hook from Jade’s 1992 hit “Don’t Walk Away.” Lastly, the wild cards include an Australia-via-Jamaica pop song from Sia and Sean Paul plus a single featuring Pitbull and Robin Thicke on vocals with music from Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.

Feb252016

Why Women Should Lift

As you may know, we here at Hungry & Fit are strong proponents of lifting to get in shape and build confidence. Women especially lack the desire or knowledge to lift. We want to be a part of the movement to change that! We’ve partnered with our friends at TrainedTo to show you this epic infographic of WHY women should lift! Can I get hoo-rah?! Lift to stay hungry and fit!

Source: Why Women Should Lift Weights – 5 Myths Busted

Feb242016

Facing Adversity with Wheeling Forward

While I grew up in and around the fitness industry, I entered it as an “adult” fitness professional around the same time as my close friend, Jose. Jose is an extremely humble man and a tremendous athlete, but you can find out a bit more about him here or maybe here or even here. He has an unprecedented work ethic and passion for fitness, but his desire to become better at his craft isn’t based off a want to make money or be famous… he wants to help people. He’s in it for the right reason and that is why Jose is so effective.

Feb232016

Wake Up with a Walking Meditation

Hooray, another “mental health” post! While we are obviously “physical” fitness trainers, we know that without the mental part, you haven’t got much. Today, we bring you a walking meditation. What is a walking meditation, you say? Well, it’s rather simple–you meditate while walking. These doesn’t mean your humming “om” to yourself while walking blind down the street. It’s more about leaving your own concerns about yourself behind and simply become an observer and a sponge. You take everything in while simple taking step after step. You listen to your breath, you listen to the birds, you feel the wind, you see the sun rising, and so forth. This exercise can be incredibly rewarding while also saving time. If you have a dog, I hope someone in your household walks it every morning. This can be done with your dog! Let’s get started. And if you think you can master the walking meditation, consider running, but first check out Nicer Shoes for their comparison between the two activities.

Sunrise today

Feb172016

Meditation for Positivity

In our hustle and bustle world, it’s easy to get down. It’s not always easy to get out of these feelings, so you get stuck in a negative bubble. Maybe you had a rough day at work, maybe you and your partner aren’t getting along, or maybe you’re just in some kind of funk. You may be working hard and getting nowhere, but staying in that foxhole of negativity is NOT going to help you in any part of your life. Try this meditation to keep your head up and your mind clear of negative distractions.

Feb162016

Why It’s Okay to Be Bad at Something

Perfection. We all strive for it in our society. If you’re not working around the clock to create a flawless product or service, you’re not good enough. Most of us don’t know what it means to relax and accept that we’re just not going to be great at everything. I had been at (one of) my jobs for 20 of the last 21 days, working tons of 10-12 hour days, before taking the last two days off. And that’s not even taking days off, that’s taking a weekend and it’s important to realize that you’re not obligated to work 50 hours every week unless you’re a business owner fighting for your dream. It’s also important to realize that you won’t be good at everything, so I’m going to share with you five things that I fail miserably, every time I try because we’re not all made to do everything right.

Feb082016

Treadmill Interval Workout for Non-Runners

For some of you, running outdoors at the moment could be a serious hazard to your life (who doesn’t love running on ice)? For some of you, it’s actually too hot to “comfortably” (when have I ever felt comfortable running) to run outdoors? And then many people simply dread the treadmill. Who wants to just run in one place at the same pace staring ahead? Not always the most fun. That’s why we have interval training to spice things up and make the time fly!

What is a treadmill interval workout, you ask? Basically, it’s intervals of different speed. And because we’re doing a beginner to intermediate session, the intervals will be a little longer. Let’s get started:

Feb022016

The Top 10 Workout Songs for February 2016

This post is brought by our friends at RunHundred.com. Get those jams pumping to staying hungry and fit!

February’s top picks play more like summer workout mix than a winter one—thanks to a wealth of pop and dance favorites. On the pop side of things, you’ll find the latest from Taylor Swift and Jason Derulo. On the dance side, you’ll find a new solo single from LMFAO’s Redfoo and Robin Schulz’s re-working of Baby Bash’s 2003 hit “Suga Suga.”

While club music might dominate the month’s proceedings, there were a couple of notable exceptions: a crossover hit from the Zac Brown Band and a collaboration between Fall Out Boy and Demi Lovato. As ever, it doesn’t matter with which track you start your workout. It only matters that you start.

Feb012016

What is a “Pull” Workout?

There is a plethora of workout types out there. I mean there is a ton. From muscle workouts to crosstraining to cardio workouts and then more types within each type! It can be exhausting and, quite frankly, intimidating to even know where to start. That’s what we’re here for! We want to offer up different kinds of workouts so that you can feel familiar with them as you decide what you want to do.

So what is a “pull” workout? Think of “pull” very literally. Think of what muscles you use when you pull on something. Typically, you’ll use your upper back (lats), your biceps, and the backs of your shoulders and traps. This provides us a great area to work out! Back, biceps, and certain parts of the shoulders! Next time you hit the gym, try a few of the exercises laid out below:

For the back…

1. Reverse lat pull-down. Try 3-4 sets of a weight that’s right for you. Do your reps in a slow, controlled manner, bringing the bar down.

Jan312016

An Absolutely Free Way to De-Stress and Unwind

Sometimes after work, your brain is cramping and the world seems especially bleak. You just want to collapse on your bed and sink into it forever. You find it difficult to relax and unwind. I’ve been there! Many of us have! It’s very important to have a reservoir of tools that can help you de-stress and chill out. Things like yoga, meditation, a hot bath, workouts, and so forth. But what if you want to do next to nothing to get there? I have a solution that I discovered by accident!

Have you ever heard of your Third Eye? I’m no mystic or anything of the sort, but I do believe in certain places of our bodies being able to manipulate our mind and other areas of the body. Such as Reflexology, where putting pressure on certain parts of your feet can help de-stress or alleviate pain in other body parts. It’s a little above the brow, in the middle of your forehead. During a yoga session, I was doing a child’s pose with my forehead to the mat. The instructor told us to move about gently, doing what felt right. So I did. And I discovered a wonderful sensation that instantly calmed me down and lowered my stress. Follow these steps to find a little slice of bliss: