The Mecca – Gold’s Venice – Not Just a Bodybuilding Gym?

While the fitness industry is growing at an incredible rate, there has been an unfortunate amount of negative energy between different communities. In the past, athletes got along really well and were considered a clique (in high school, college, etc.) but now people can’t even agree over who is an athlete and what is a sport. Different kinds of athletes (Olympic/sport, martial arts, strongman, powerlifting, endurance, CrossFit, etc.) have all become increasingly hostile and instead of supporting other groups, they put others down in order to lift themselves higher. Since there is no clear competitive comparison of any of the different communities, it all comes down to subjectivity and trash talking. It’s a shame since everyone working towards a healthier lifestyle should continue to motivate one another. While I won’t get into anything in-depth about the can of worms I just opened, I will get back to the topic at hand. Let’s talk about (arguably) the most famous gym in the world.

Gold’s Gym – The MECCA of Bodybuilding – Venice Beach, CA – Since 1965

These are various pictures of me wearing Gold’s apparel…the gym’s in the background are NOT of Gold’s

Ever seen Pumping Iron starring Arnold and Lou Ferrigno? A lot of that footage was shot at Gold’s and Muscle Beach. (Lou was in NYC) Watch Mike O’Hearn‘s YouTube videos? Mostly at Gold’s yet again. Pictures from your favorite bodybuilders on Instagram? Venice! The Mecca has always been the place to be for bodybuilding and it has become even more popular than it was when Pumping Iron came out, despite the rise in competition. (I’ve been to a lot of good gyms across the world and I am sure you have too!) There is no question that the weather, members, posters on the wall, and equipment scream “come here to be a pro bodybuilder” but let me approach this with a different angle. Is Gold’s not just a bodybuilding gym?

When we moved (back) to L.A. (Santa Monica) recently, I told myself I need to join a new gym because I cancelled my YMCA and 24 Hour Fitness memberships. That gym needed to be 1) open late, 2) have amazing equipment, and 3) be able to motivate me in some way. Well, Gold’s was open until midnight, had dumbbells up to 200 lbs, and was full of extremely hard-working and passionate people. Whether they were big or small, strong or weak, natural or not, these people were giving it their all and I love that drive, since I DO NOT HAVE IT. But we all know one thing… I am NOT a bodybuilder! So the final question was, is this gym good for someone like myself? Someone who does not have any concrete goals but just works out because he/she enjoys it. Someone who has participated in sports and martial arts their whole life, using concepts and exercises from every community to become the best athlete possible. And that is precisely why I ended up a member at Gold’s. Because of the following that make it NOT JUST a bodybuilding gym.

(The following is a random list of things that I love at Gold’s, that a bodybuilding gym does not NEED, but this one has them anyway!)

1. Jacobs Ladder – Not one, but two! These are amazing machines and some of the only cardio equipment that I use. Jack up the speed to work on your eye-hand-foot coordination. It helps you maintain relative strength while you build absolute strength.

2. Plyo-Boxes – One that is actually tall. 48” and A TON of them. Different models with one that is just insanely tall. This is one gym where I don’t have to stack boxes on top of each other dangerously to get those high box jumps.

3. Sleds – Multiple sleds in their outdoor workout area. With a countless number of plates to load onto them. Amazing way to build explosive speed and strength in your lower body, while elevating that heart rate.

4. Endless Rope Machine – There are very few gyms in the world where I have seen one of these. It helps you get a full upper body workout, while working on rope climbing turnover technique, grip strength, and elevating your heart rate. And it’s fun!

5. 200 lb dumbbells – And everything in between. If you are a strongman or powerlifter, heavier weights are necessary for your workouts. You can’t do singles, doubles, and triples with 100 lb dumbbells if you want to make it to the top of the mountain!

6. Cambered Squat Bar – I’m impressed when gyms have 100 olympic barbells. Even more so when they have multiple model hex bars. But when you throw a rackable cambered squat bar into the mix, that makes my day. I love the little things!

7. Olympic Platform – It’s often locked up, but it’s a full Olympic platform with bumper plates, chalk, and no mirror! Olympic lifts are not recommended for bodybuilding so for them to have this platform means this gym is for other athletes too!

8. Kettlebells – Oh, we’re not talking about 12 lb ones. They have 40 kg kettlebells… matching! So you can do your front squats, snatches, and walking lunges with a heavier load! They’re outside too so you can throw up in peace!

9. Punching Bag – Or full body striking bags. Heavy ones. That hang. And 4 of them, at least. These aren’t cheap bags either. Don’t tell anyone but I was testing these out the other night and they took a good beating from my legs.

10. A huge dirty wall – That’s right! A huge dirty wall in back. That way you can do wall assisted handstand push ups without having to take your shoes off, or getting yelled at for taking your shoes off, or getting yelled at for putting your shoes on the wall, etc. You can also do flips off the wall, or use the wall for assisted pullups, etc!

As you can tell, I can go on forever. But I will stop here and tell ALL ATHLETES that visit Los Angeles to stop by Gold’s Venice for a day and get a workout in not just for the equipment but more for the culture. It’s an experience you won’t forget. Plus, you might get to see some real monsters there.

Disclaimer: Chris KING Tucci and Hungry & Fit LLC have NO AFFILIATION, personal, or professional relationship with Gold’s Gym Venice, Gold’s Gym, or any of its employees. This was written because I wanted to write it to get a few points across. As always, stay hungry & fit.

Aug202014

16-Minute Core Workout

Happy Workout Wednesday! As many of you know, I love “timed abs.” What are timed abs? It’s basically core exercises non-stop, so that your core muscles are seizing up and burning to oblivion. I usually do them 30 seconds each. Here is an awesome workout I did this week and my core is still sore from top to bottom and all around. My favorite kind of burn! There really are no excuses–especially when a workout only takes 16 minutes. And if you don’t even have that–try 8 minutes!

So repeat the above workout twice if you can. Rest in between sets, but when you’re in the middle of these exercises, try not to take a break. It will burn, it will scream, but push on. It’s an easy workout to throw in your day that you will be feeling for a few days after. Use a timer of some sort to count each 30 seconds–I used my phone timer. Please comment below if you have any questions about the exercises above.

There are always ways to pull out excuses, but this is a workout that can combat that ugly voice in your head trying to sucker you out of exercising today. Fight it! And fight on! Use this workout to stay hungry and fit!

*Question of the Day: What’s your favorite core exercise?

BONUS KITTY PIC

Sleepy babies

Jun202014

Shoulder Defining Exercises

Happy Friday! Or should I say…Happy Fitness Friday! Today, we will focus on one of Hungry and I’s favorite muscle groups: the shoulder group. People just think of the “top” of their shoulders when they think shoulder group, but there’s so much more to it. We are just going to offer four exercises for you to squeeze into your day. These should all preferably be done in the gym, but you can modify them to fit a home workout.

1. Shoulder press. Let’s start with a standard exercise…the shoulder press. This is what builds the “tops” or deltoids of your shoulders, as well as some other parts. Start from a right angle level with your shoulder line and simply press up until your arms are extended. Then return back to start. Try doing it seated as it prevents you from using other muscle groups to help your shoulders. You can use dumbbells, EZ bars, barbells, etc. Try for 3-5 sets of 10-12 reps.

2. Shrugs. This is something you do often, but without weights, in normal day-to-day life. You can do this using dumbbells, a barbell, a hex bar, and other weighted things. Stand tall straight up with weight in your hands and shrug your shoulders up to your ears and squeeze it there, then release. Shoot for 3-5 sets of 10-12 reps. It should be considerably heavy weight. This works on your trapezius or “traps.”

3. Face pulls. For this, you will need a cable machine or resistance bands. On a cable machine, grab the horse rope (see picture below), stand a good distance away and pull the rope directly towards your face. Using resistance band/tube, you will need to hook it around something so that you can grab both sides of the band and pull towards your face. This works your rear deltoids (what makes your “upper” back look nice!). 3-5 sets of 10-12 reps.

4. Plate-loaded shoulder press. Just to get those sexy deltoids once more…let’s move to plate-loaded where we can really push ourselves in a set position. This can only be done at a gym on a literal machine. However, if you are planning for this to be a home workout, just do a different type of shoulder press (with a barbell, or maybe an Arnold Press instead). I like this machine/apparatus because it sits you in a set position to appropriately move the weight you want. 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

There you have just four shoulder-defining exercises that can improve your shoulder muscles and shape today! Try them out today or this weekend. The sets and reps are just suggested numbers, you can do as much or as little as you’d like. Let me know how these work for you or if you have any questions about how to properly execute these. Happy Fitness Friday! And as always…stay hungry and fit!

*Question of the Day: What is your favorite shoulder exercise?

BONUS PUPPY PIC

May192014

Beat Average

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of GNC. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you seen GNC's new commercial? I feel like I've been showing everyone lately. GNC is centering their new campaign about beating average (#BeatAverage). We are ALL about this. Who wants to be average when you could be so much more? I find it absolutely inspiring and motivating. Look at the commercial below.

How awesome is that commercial? There are so many truths in it. How often have you made an excuse in order to not workout? How many times have you "forgotten" to workout? It happens to all of us. But GNC is challenging us to be greater, to be stronger, to be more focused. GNC is here to help us beat average. I appreciate that which is why I've been trying to show everyone that commercial, to inspire them to beat average.

GNC has been around for almost 80 years, originally called the General Nutrition Center. It started in Pittsburgh as a place to go to live well and perform at your very best level. This is still very relevant today. If you aren't performing at your best level, why are you performing at all? When we strive, we should strive for the top of the top. We should be pushing our mind and body to get to that point we haven't ever achieved before. Average is blah, average is not for winners. Average is for those who want to just "get on" through life. No push, no struggle, no achievement. When you work hard, the rewards are endless.

I hope many are with me when I say I want to conquer "Average." Let's conquer and beat Average. No longer do we need a society with run-of-the-mill people. Let's push to the top, push ourselves to struggle through the pain for the path to greatness. If you're with me for this, stop over to GNC Live Well and join #TeamGNC along with Hungry and I. Average is not for us. Beat average to stay hungry and fit!

May022014

Let’s Talk About Strength

I’m glad I’m not alone in this “strength revolution.” I totally just made that phrase up, but it’s true that more people (females are more so who I’m focusing on) are striving towards strength rather than being skinny. I find this to be so exciting and I am HAPPY it’s finally here. Yes, there are certainly those who just want to attain that Victoria’s Secret model-esque body, but I think we are slowly straying away from that. We are moving towards being healthy and fit with strong bodies as the portrayal of sexy bodies.

Can I get a hoo-rah?! Of course, I didn’t always strength train. When I did sports, we would do some weight room stuff, but it was rare. Moving forward from that when I went to the gym, I would only do elliptical and maybe some weights. That slowly increased more and more to where lifting became more important than “cardio.” I honestly do not know how I could ever go to another way of working out that didn’t involve lifting. It feels so good and you see progress each week in muscle development and strength. Who could let go of that?

Although most females still focus just on yoga and running (which is fine!), it is definitely broadening to where there is some sort of strength routine once a week, which is excellent! I know I don’t like to skip lifting more than one or two days a week, but that’s just me. I have goals for this year such as squatting 200lbs, bench 100lbs, and so forth. And that’s all focused on strength.

In our culture, females are taught to shy away from protruding muscles or muscular strength. Like that’s the “manly” thing to do and not suited for the female gender. Well that’s plain wrong and stupid. Sorry, I had to say it. I’m proud of the muscles in my back and those times my quads are showing their muscles. It shows strength, discipline, health. What’s sexier than being healthy?

Some quad action

So women (and men) in the world, don’t shy away from your strength. Muscles are sexy! Being a stick is no longer the cool thing to do. Take the power into your hands and lift! I promise you will feel liberated from the cardio machines if you through some lifting and machines in there. And you can start small. Start with a few exercises and watch your love for lifting develop. If you’re not sure how to start, feel free to email me at alana.ppowell@gmail.com or leave a comment below. You won’t regret it! Embrace strength and stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Cuties

Apr092014

Time to Bring Back Etiquette School

“Sit up straight!” my mum used to (still does) say when she would find me slouched over. Look around you (if you’re around people…if not, look at yourself) and see how many people are slouching. Either their neck is hooked down, their shoulders are scrunched up, or there’s a severe bend in their upper back. It’s scary. And I believe it’s more and more prevalent in today’s world with today’s technology and especially today’s generation (though it’s starting to spread to everyone). I always ask my clients if they think they have good posture when I start out with them. Most of them think they do, until they start training with me when they realize they slouch without knowing it.

Super slumpy!

Do you ever see any slouching in Downton Abbey characters? I didn’t think so. Can you imagine Lady Grantham hunched over her plate of delicate decadence? Yeah right. That’s where my etiquette school title is coming from. I am in no way urging women going to do the “feminine arts” like stitching, cooking, etc., but instead for all of us to try to sit up straight and find some pride in our posture. You know that those in etiquette school would’ve had fingers shoved in their backs until they sat up straight. You don’t see many pictures of older times with people slouching.

Image source

So what are the causes of this?

1. Increased sitting. Definitely. Many people have office jobs where they are sitting for at least 6 hours. Think of what that does to your poor lower back! No wonder it doesn’t want to support you anymore. It’s worn out from you slumped over your desk and computer all day.

2. Technology. Tied in with the former, what if you didn’t have a computer to slouch over? Ironic, perhaps, because you are reading this on some form of technology, but anyways. Technology is our 24/7 life nowadays. That sense of panic when your phone is far away? Yeah, that’s real and that’s scary. Computers cause us to hunch over in our chairs in order to see better, type better, and feel more comfortable (but only short-term). Smart phones cause us to always look down. Can you imagine what that’s going to do to our necks in 20 years? Yikes.

3. Lack of–well–etiquette. In the olden days, it was considered rude, un-ladylike or gentleman-like to slouch over in such a way. It was considered good manners to stand up or sit up straight, look people in the eye, and take pride in their posture. Times have changed, obviously. For the better and for the worse. People no longer pay mind to their posture. There’s always this pelvic and neck tilt forwards. Our poor bodies!

4. Lack of core strength. This is a big one and it ties in with #1. Not all of us have good core activation or strength. This causes our lower back to be weak and not able to support us when we sit for long periods of time. Our core is our foundation, if this is weak, the rest crumbles. There’s not much more to be said. Without a strong core, your posture will fail.

I’m not standing up straight or bringing my shoulders back!

Alright alright, so we get why it’s gotten so bad, but how can we fix it?! Here are a few solutions:

1. Get a stability ball. If you have a desk job, do yourself a favor and get one of these. Not only is it incredibly fun, but you have to activate your core to stay upright! If your boss won’t let you have one, ask them if they’ll pay for your medical bills for your injured back. 😉

2. Put that phone down. Seriously, come on, just leave it alone. Not only will it have physical benefits, but it will have mental and social benefits too! Do you know how rude it is to text while someone’s talking to you? Do you know how crowded your brain feels because it’s always going down to check the latest ping? Enough. Let it go for a bit. And if you really can’t, then at least bring it up to eye level so your neck isn’t hanging down and your shoulders aren’t slumped.

3. Start strength training. This may sound strange, but my posture has gotten much better since building a strong, muscular body. When you strength train, you always need to keep your shoulders back which inevitably corrects your posture. Your body works at its best when it’s upright and alert, and that’s what strength training does. If nothing else, remember to pull your shoulders back and you will find your neck coming back as well.

4. Don’t copy the media. Models nowadays have this slumped, pelvic forward tilt look. This is bringing your body out of alignment by pressing your lower back forward and ruining the integrity of your core. It may be the new sexy cool look, but your back certainly doesn’t think so.

Hungry & Fit standing tall and proud!

So stand up straight! Pull those shoulders out. Be strong. It’s sexy! Don’t be a frumpy slumpy. You’ll develop bad posture that may lead to osteoporosis and bad curvature in your spine. You may not need to go to etiquette school if you follow these tips! Sit up straight to stay hungry and fit!

Feb122014

What’s in Your Gym Bag? Part 1

This is labeled “Part 1” because you will get Fit’s gym bag in a few posts later! There is no definitive answer to this one since I have so many gym bags for different gyms and types of workouts. I stock different bags depending on what and where I plan on working out. We have a huge amount of our own workout equipment and once again, depending on my goals and plans, this can change greatly. I will, however, say what I always have in my gym bag… 90% of the time.

Creepy picture of my gym bag!

Tiger Balm. A lot of it. Ultra Strength tins and Muscle Rub tubes. Whenever I am sore or stiff, I like to apply some muscle rub to my muscles and/or ultra strength to my joints. I have a pocket that holds about two of each.

The other side pocket has a few locks. I usually keep a combination lock and a key lock, with the key in it. I workout at a few facilities and most of them provide lockers but no locks. I don’t typically bring a wallet to the gym and I keep my phone on me for music and recording my workouts but I would rather someone not steal my clothes while I am swimming so I have to drive home in my towel.

The front section, in my normal gym bag that I have been using lately (one of Alana’s old soccer bags), holds my staple swimming gear for my post-workout recovery swims. I have my towel from Korea, a size 30 Dolfin ugliezzzzz drag suit, Speedo contoured paddles, and prescription Speedo vanquishers with a bungee.

In the big section, I usually keep my Flexsports elastic wrist straps, an old leather belt, a heavy resistance band, two utility jump-ropes, a clean gym towel, my Big & Little’s snapback/trucker hat, some knee wraps, two Captains of Crush (right now a Trainer and Level 1), a Lacrosse ball, ProGryp circle grips, 3B Kinesio tape, an Aylio heavy hand extensor band, and a pair of Madgrip utility gloves.

Those are the staples. Clothes change, supplements change, footwear changes, and additional gear changes, again, depending on the workout. I might bring a weight vest, ankle weights, wrist weights, different grips, fins… who knows… we have a lot of stuff.

I didn’t include all the details such as color, brands, sizes, etc but there is a lot of information here. I usually try to workout with as little equipment as possible, but it is nice having it available if I decide to use it. So there you have it, that is my current staple gym bag.

If you are looking for something specific but you are unsure, feel free to ask and we can point you in the right direction! Remember any additional equipment should be used a tool but never a crutch! Use it to improve but use it in moderation and don’t let it use you! And as always…stay hungry and fit!

Question of the Day: What do you have in your gym bag?

BONUS KITTY PIC

Feb052014

At-Home Abs!

Alright, folks, no excuses here! Let’s get a core workout out on the table so we can beast our way to the health we want! This workout is designed to be done at home, though you can obviously do it anywhere. The world is in need for more home workouts to prevent excuses of time, lack of gym, or lack of energy. Whenever I’m feeling meh, I know that I can motivate myself enough for a home workout whether it be arms, shoulders, core or so forth. So let’s get going! (My apologies for the absolutely terrible lighting!)

1. 3 sets of weighted crunches. Hold a weight, lift up your feet, and reach for the sky. Until failure (until you can’t complete another rep)

2. 3 sets of weighted russian twists. If these are too hard with a weight, drop it. Sit on your bum, lift your feet so you’re balancing, and twist from side to side, turning your shoulders completely. 12 reps on both sides.

3. 3 sets of jackknife. Use a stability ball for this one. Place your shins on the ball and get into a push-up position. Using your feet, bring the ball in towards your chest and then back out. This one is one of my favorites. Until failure.

4. 3 sets of stability ball crunches. Put the small of your back on the ball and simply do a small crunching motion up. Keep your abs activated. Until failure.

5. 3 sets of side touches. Stand up tall and reach side to side, creating resistance for your obliques (or love handles). 20 reps on each side.

6. 3 sets of Spider Man planks. Get into a typical plank position (forearms and toes on the floor). Now bring your knee up near your arm and then the other. It looks like Spider Man crawling up a wall. Until failure.

7. 3 sets of 6 inches. Lay on your back, put your hands under your bum and raise your legs six inches off the floor and hold for 30 seconds.

8. 1 set of plank. Forearms on the ground, core strong, back straight, and toes touching the ground. Go for 1 minute.

For me, I threw on some “timed abs” on at the end, but even without it, the above is an incredible workout for your core! If this seems too long for you, just reduce the number of sets. I usually like to do them in supersets, meaning pairing two exercises together and do them back to back. No excuses! Do this workout to stay hungry and fit!

*Question of the Day: What’s your favorite core workout?

BONUS KITTY PIC

Can’t get over the adorable-ness of this picture…and yes they did that by themselves

Jan272014

Weekly Workout Round-Up and Plan

We’ve come to a beginning of another week now and let’s see where we are at! Here is the post with our workout plan from last week…let’s see how we match up. This is what actually happened:

Hungry

Chowing down on a Reuben from the Sink!

Monday: back workout at lunch
Tuesday: leg workout and short IM swim
Wednesday: arms workout focusing on isolation
Thursday: shoulder workout
Friday: chest workout and very easy pick-up basketball
Saturday: very slow back workout
Sunday: rest day?

Fit

My life living with Chris

Monday: slightly less than 2 mile run outside and a BEASTLY leg workout (found and modified from here, you will see this in a post form soon)
Tuesday: just about 2 mile run outside and a home arms and shoulders workout
Wednesday: morning 30 minute swim and afternoon core and back workout
Thursday: Ashley Conrad circuit training
Friday: long evening walk
Saturday: frisbee golf and then late chest and swim workout
Sunday: Rest dayyyy aka plate full of cookies!

So there’s our match-up…I think we did pretty well sticking with the plan. Much better than it could’ve been! It’s so easy to divert from the plan due to life and such. Here is our plan for this week:

Hungry:

Scared

Monday: 15 minute leg cardio, 45 minute leg workout
Tuesday: 10 minute arm cycle, 50 minute arm workout
Wednesday: 60 minute shoulder workout, 15 minute swim and sauna
Thursday: 60 minute chest workout, 15 minute swim and sauna
Friday: 60 minute back workout, 60 minute easy pickup basketball
Saturday: 40 minute core workout, 40 minute machine cardio
Sunday: 30 minute leg cardio, 60 minute leg workout

Fit

I swear I don’t know any gang signs, no clue why my hand did that

Monday: Legs and Elliptical
Tuesday: Arms/Shoulders and Swim
Wednesday: Core/Back and Run
Thursday: Chest and Swim
Friday: Ping Pong and Circuit training OR Run AND/OR Yoga
Saturday: Frisbee golf and Rest or Total body
Sunday: Legs and Elliptical

It’s extremely helpful to plan your workouts each week because it leaves much less room for excuses and gives you a schedule. We try to stick to ours as best we can. Plan your workouts to stay hungry and fit!

Question of the Day: What is your workout plan for the week? Post it here!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Someone was a bad boy…

Jan092014

Keeping Fit While on a Hectic Schedule

This is a guest post from The Park Club. Follow The Park Club on Twitter for more health and fitness updates.

In today’s world, where everything is in fast pace and everybody is in a hurry, keeping fit becomes a challenge. But not to worry, as long as you are aware of it, many things can be done to address the challenge.

Eating the Right Food

Taking breakfast in the morning sustains the day’s activities. Without it, you can get agitated easily even with petty things in the work place. The meal need not be too heavy or you will feel sleepy. A balance plate with cereals, meat or fish, eggs, dairy, and fruits or juices should be enough.

At lunch time, a couple of sandwiches will do. Anyway, they are already complete with vegetables and cheese in them. But for rice eaters, a complete meal is still good like a cup of soup to start the meal, a main course, a salad maybe, and a dessert, of course the rice too.

Dinner can be a lot heavier depending on the days of the week; weekdays may only have shorter time for evening meals than weekends. Dinners can be for soup, appetizers, a main course or two, desserts, and probably coffee or tea to end the meal.

You should also be conscious of meal intervals; taking heavy meals within 3 to 4 hours and light snacks in 2 hours in between. Of course, there are times you will miss these, but that’s okay. It’s normal.

Wow, but with a hectic schedule how could that be possible? It’s easy. Start by planning ahead of time. With proper attitude and constant regularization of the habit, everything is possible.

Getting Enough Sleep

Sleep becomes rare when you are in a hectic schedule. Seven to eight hours of sleep is good for adults. Sleeping has been part of us since the time we were born, yet this could be a problem to many if they are too busy. Too many worries can delay sleeping. Stresses at work are brought home until the time of sleep. Try as much as possible to unload the stresses and worries before going to sleep. You can do it by talking to someone, writing it down in a journal, or praying it to the Lord.

You must find time to sleep. Just as you are running to meet deadlines, equally important is getting enough sleep to last a lifetime.

Doing Appropriate Exercises

Exercising relieves stress and aids in enhancing sleep. After work you can walk, swim, or workout. Choose the kind of workout that suits you taking into consideration the health assessment of yourself and after having seen your doctor so he can advise on the type of exercise you will take.

Look at kids; they are very active during the day and sleep well through the night. Why is that? It’s because they are already tired. People can easily get stressed out nowadays because their works deal mostly with mental exercise rather that physical. Exercising therefore removes the stress by providing tiredness after the activity, enough to make us fall asleep. When we wake up the next day; surely it will be a brand new day.