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Should You Opt For The Gluten-Free Diet?

Many people are opting for the gluten-free diet in order to ensure that they are able to lose weight as well as increase the energy levels. While some of the people are allergic to gluten but many people are voluntarily opting for the gluten-free diet. The question which remains is if you’re not allergic to gluten, should you opt for the gluten-free diet.

Before you make this decision, it is important for you to take into account the few factors. Only once you are able to take into account these factors, you will be able to decide easily whether you should opt for the gluten-free diet or not.
**1 Basic reason:**
You need to keep in mind that there are many weight loss programs and diets which you can follow. You should only opt for the gluten-free diet when you’re gluten intolerant. According to some stats, only 1% of the population is gluten intolerant. That is why, if you are opting for the gluten-free diet in order to lose weight, you have to think once again.
**2 Most of the foodstuffs consist of gluten:**
You need to keep in mind that many foodstuffs which you consume on a regular basis consist of gluten. This includes wheat as well as many other grains as well. Additionally, many condiments and spices also include gluten. Also, energy bars and ice creams also include gluten. Thus, whenever you’re looking at the foodstuffs which you cannot consume when you’re on the gluten-free diet, you will realize that there is quite a long list. This is one of the main problems when you’re opting for the gluten-free diet.
**3 Eliminating a lot of unhealthy food:**
When you are opting for the gluten-free diet, at the same point in time you will be able to eliminate a lot of unhealthy foodstuffs as well. You need to keep in mind that along with that, you will have to eliminate many normal foodstuffs as well. Only when you’re ready for that, you can look forward to the gluten-free diet.
Thus, instead of just following the trend, you have to find out as much information as you can about the gluten-free diet. Once you are able to do that, you will realize that it is not as easy as it sounds. In many of the cases, you will find that there are other diet plans which you can use in order to lose weight more effectively rather than the gluten-free diet.

How Sports Or Any Physical Activity Can Improve Your Mood

Physical activity has been known to have myriads of physical benefits to a person’s body. However, other than incorporating sports food ideas in your lifestyle, the actual sports activities have colossal health and mental benefits. In light of this, this will expound on how your mood can get improved by engaging in physical activity.

**Also, check out:** What Should be the Duration of Your Gym Workout?
**The Health Benefits of Sports and How Your Mood Gets Improved**

**1)    Sports Assist in Unwinding**

One of the primary health benefits of sports is that they assist in triggering chemicals and hormones such as dopamine from your brain. This, in turn, leaves you feeling much more relaxed and in the process elevating your mood. So, take that stroll down the street or have a work out session in the gym and you`ll be surprised at how relaxed you`ll end up.

**2)    Physical Activity Reduces Depression**

The most significant mental benefits of sports are that it helps in keeping your mind off the day-to-day stresses of life. This then leads to preventing a person from having an ominous cloud of negativity hanging over their heads. With the endorphins that are released during physical activity, you can rest assured that depressive moods will be kept at arm’s length.

**3)    Physical Activity Makes You Sleep Better**

People often forget about the importance of the mental side of sports. You shouldn’t make this mistake as sports is a crucial determinant of the sleep quality that a person experiences. By engaging in more physical activity, you are more likely to experience more profound and more peaceful sleep. This, in turn, will lead to an enhanced mood when you wake up as well as a clear mind that will help you tackle the day`s activities with more ease.

**4)    Physical Activity Assists in a Person’s Self-confidence**

When you engage in constant exercise, you end up with a much-improved self-image which can help in alleviating stressful moods. As your skills get enhanced while participating in sports, your pride gets boosted, and this energy will be reflected in your daily activities.
**Conclusion**
Sports is one of the most undervalued activities that we have in our societies. Some may see it as a waste of time, while others take it to be only for talented people. However, as we have seen above, physical activity has a lot to offer to a person’s mental health.
Do you have any other ways you think sports can improve a person’s mood? Please share with us by commenting below.
***Author’s bio:*** *Malcolm is a freelance writer and webmaster at* *GearExpertGuides.com*, where he happily shares the secrets of achieving inner harmony through active leisure and sports. If you want to learn more about how to engage in archery, camping, fishing, etc. be sure to look there.

LET’S MAKE TRX !!!

Me, a tree and TRXee. See? (A jump squat)

I love training (myself & clients) in the park – fresh air, gorgeous scenery and awesome people watching – and these days, it doesn’t mean I have to lug 10 tons of kettle bells along with me! With a TRX (stands for Total-body Resistance eXercise), all I need is a tree! No weights, plates or slates; instead, just some gravity and my own body weight as resistance. It’s basically two connected nylon straps with handles, which give a full-body workout, build strength, refine balance and enhance core stability, all at the same time. TRX is the classic example of “functional training”, an industry buzz-phrase that’s thrown around a lot, but which put simply, means ‘exercises that mimic every-day human movements’ (unlike for example, some stationary machines you’ll find at the gym). Trust me, when you do it properly, it’s a lot more painful (and effective) than it looks !!!

In this picture I’m just doing jumping squats. The TRX advantage is that it allows me to get down really deep in the squat by encouraging a more extreme low-point, offering a backstop for balance, and crucially, providing a spring-board to energise my jump back up. It encourages improved posture, and targets not just the legs, but also the abs and arms too. Stringing together 3 sets of 30-reps, done as quickly as you can, with correct form, will see you in (very fit) pieces on the floor!

Ouch – arms and legs… Now your turn!

4 Workout Mistakes That Might Be Ruining Your Hard Work

**1. High Expectations vs Less Time**
Going through Instagram and Facebook, looking at your friends and people in your social circle, indulging themselves in different stress relieving and fitness exercises, makes your body pump adrenaline too. You may think that workouts are an easy everyday kind of a thing, but they are NOT! It is basically a lifestyle that you have to adapt to.
People and especially newbies to this thing, start from too many expectations rather than taking things one at a time and setting goals and aims. Every individual performing a workout has a body that reacts differently to diet and exercise. So it is pertinent to first experiment what types of exercises and diet your body chooses to accept and then move further with your desired workout plan.
**2. Not Warming Up**
Not warming up is basically as risky as standing in front of a train and expecting it to change its path. Bodybuilders and professionals have always stressed pre-workout exercises to loosen your muscles and prepare your body for the rigorous and tiresome process of bringing your body in shape. Majority amateurs overlook this fact while they gym and as a result, they experience injuries that ultimately become chronic. Not only it affects the gains but also puts your muscles under extreme risk of damage. It is suggested that a pre-workout of at least 10 minutes along with brisk walk should be done to prepare your body beforehand.
**3. In Just For The Six-Pack**
Another prominent problem with newbies to the gym is that they only come in for six-packs. There’s nothing worse than an improperly build body. You see a lot of guys in the gym, pumping their chests, working on Popeye biceps, etc. but as soon as you look down, chicken legs turn you off big time. That is why bodybuilding and workouts is an art they say. You need to digest the fact that for you to carry a body that only has had its packs worked on will attract never ending criticism.
It is suggested that you form a workout plan or if you cannot on your own, consult a professional, which focuses on every major muscle of your body. You are putting at least an hour in the gym every day if a workout plan offers you a great body during that hour as compared to only hitting the packs, then why not go for it?
**4. No Workout Plan**
Not having a workout plan will immediately identify you as an amateur. Workout starts from a workout plan and nothing else. Watching Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jay Culter on YouTube won’t cut it. As already mentioned, everybody reacts differently to exercises. What Jay Cutler may be opting for, to work on his triceps might not work for you. You need to first decide what type of body you want and then the type of exercises accordingly. Opting straight for heavyweight exercises will only create pain and problems for you even before you start with the basics.

Eating Before And After Exercise

When you exercise, you do it in order to try to maintain good health. You know that you have to eat so that your body has the energy to perform the workouts that you do as well as for everyday tasks. But, just what you should eat before and after you workouts is important for making the best of your workouts. Also, how long you eat before and after each workout is equally important.
Whether you are going to be doing a cardio workout or a resistance workout, you should try to make it a point to eat a mix of carbohydrates and protein. What determines the percentage of carbohydrates and protein you should consume is whether you are doing cardio or resistance and the intensity level you will be working at.
The ideal time to eat your pre workout meal is 1 hour before you start. If you are working at a lower intensity level, keep this meal down to around 200 calories or so. If you are working at a higher intensity level, you may need this meal to be as high as 400 to 500 calories.
If you are doing a cardio session, you will need to eat a mix of around 2/3 carbohydrates and 1/3 protein. This will give you longer sustained energy from the extra carbs with enough protein to keep muscle from breaking down during your workout.
If you are doing a resistance session, you should eat a mix of around 1/3 carbohydrates and 2/3 protein. This will give you enough energy from the carbs to perform each set you do and the extra protein will help keep muscle breakdown to a minimum during your workout. It has been shown that your body most effectively uses protein during exertion meaning that taking in more protein before resistance workouts aids in faster recovery as well.
Now, eating after a workout is just as important as the pre workout meal. Remember that when you exercise whether it is a cardio or a resistance session, you deplete energy in the form of glycogen. Our brain and central nervous system relies on glycogen as their main source of fuel so if we don’t replace it after exercise, our bodies will begin to break down muscle tissue into amino acids, then convert them into usable fuel for the brain and central nervous system.
Also, mostly during resistance workouts, you break down muscle tissue by creating micro tears. This means that right after a workout; your muscles go into a repair mode. Proteins are the key macronutrient for muscle repair and so you don’t want muscle breaking down further to create fuel in place of lost glycogen.
If you have just finished a cardio session, you will need to consume mostly carbohydrates, preferably ones with high fiber. Oatmeal, rice, whole wheat pasta, and most northern fruits are good sources. Try to consume around 30 to 50 grams of these carbohydrates after a cardio session. After cardio, it is ok to eat within 5 to 10 minutes of completion.
If you have just finished a resistance session, you will need a combination of carbohydrates and protein. Because unlike cardio workouts, with resistance workouts you are breaking down muscle tissue by creating micro tears. The protein is needed to build up and repair these tears so the muscle can increase in size and strength. The carbs not only replace the lost muscle glycogen, but also help the protein get into our muscle cells so it can synthesize into structural protein, or muscle itself.
Chicken or fish with a potato, egg whites with a piece of fruit, or a protein shake with fruit mixed in are good meals after resistance workouts but remember to keep the fiber low here. High fiber slows down digestion, meaning the protein will take longer to reach the muscle cells.
After resistance, it is recommended to wait 30 minutes before eating so as not to take blood away from your muscles too soon. The blood in your muscles helps with the repair process by removing metabolic waste products from them.

5 Pushup Tips You Don’t Know You Need

Pushups are the most basic exercise in any workout session, it’s something almost everyone is aware of, and experienced professionals know its importance too. So to ensure that you are doing pushups right for better results, here are a few tips that you need to follow because your reasons to do them is completely different now and you surely don’t want to compromise on it. Right?
**1. Use a Firm Floor**
A slippery or dewy floor is surely not the one where you can even think of doing pushups, like do you really want to hurt your ribs or chin or knee caps if you slip during a pushup? So make sure that your floor is a solid and firm surface so that your grip is perfect and don’t forget the quality and posture of your pushup greatly depends on your grip.
**2. Pushing Trick**
While doing that pushup don’t think that you are pushing yourself away from the surface instead use a different approach that will use up a lot more muscle and create full-body tension and will result in a full-body exercise; use the approach of thinking that you are pushing the ground away from yourself. This approach will make you put in more effort and energy and thus will yield better results. Plus don’t forget everything is connected to your brain like your energy your effort and your strength so think a little different and trust me you will see better results.
**3. Focus On Your Core**
Bracing the core is very very important! Next time you go to gym take a look around the people doing pushups, I’m pretty sure you will come across many people whose posture won’t be correct and your trainer would continuously be yelling at them to brace their core. Now, what does bracing the core actually mean? Bracing the core basically means tightening the pelvic floor, back, and abdominal muscles so that tight and stiff support is built for your spine. This bracing helps to protect your back and creates the right posture for your pushup.
**4. Squeeze The Team Of Three Players – Your Glutes**
Just in case you hated biology like me, let me tell you that these glutes are the biggest muscle that is present in your buttocks. There are 3 parts that together make up glutes which are maximus, medius and minimus. All of them help in the butt movement. It’s important to squeeze this team while doing a pushup in order to create the right posture and safeguard your lower back.
**5. Align Your Elbows With Your Shoulders**
Lastly, make sure your hands and elbow are aligned with your shoulders like it shouldn’t be the case that your hands are spread so wide that it’s not in line with your shoulders. Keep in mind that your elbows should act as two parallel lines packed in towards your sides. If you don’t focus on this then get ready for shoulder and rotator cuff issues.

PEPPERMINT TEA ME UP !!!

Having a nice Peppermint tea before bedtime; apart from finding it very relaxing, it’s clinically proven to have a sedative effect, which helps send you off to the land of nod peacefully! Extra-perfect this time of the year, as it can strengthen your immune defenses against cold and flu (the mint leaves contain potassium, calcium and vitamin B) whilst the restorative sleep adds another barrier.

One further benefit is that it simulates the sensation of being full (I’m looking at you, late night snacker!!) when it’s basically just 100% water (hydrating, good for skin, good for blood pressure etc.) and best of all, contains a waistline-busting 0 calories, with no fat, carbs or salt! Did I mention it’s naturally caffeine-free, great for stomach pain and aids digestion? Try adding a sprinkle of cinnamon or perhaps some fresh ginger to the mix, for additional taste and digestive benefits! Mint Tea; not superfood, superdrink!

Good night!