Category Archives: Health

We Asked 9 Wellness Influencers to Confess Their Unhealthiest Habit

You Need Posted on by
[brightcove:5476534687001 default]

Our favorite wellness gurus are constantly sharing their best advice with us. We admire their devotion to mental and physical fitness so much, we often forget that like everyone, they surely have some less-than-ideal habits too.

As 2018 approaches and we begin brainstorming our New Year's resolutions, we wanted to find out what bad behaviors trainers and nutritionists cop to. Here's what they confessed to us—each unhealthy habit is a solid reminder that even the fittest pros have a weakness for French Fries or don't clock in enough sleep, among other things!

RELATED: The 15 Best Body Positive Moments of 2017

“I have a secret; I am addicted to chocolate chip cookies. Every morning I go to my favorite coffee shop, and they have the most incredible freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. I try my hardest not to eat them, but I almost always buy one.”

—Harley Pasternak, celebrity trainer

“I'm a serious sloucher! I'm aware of the negative impact of poor posture, but I still find myself hunching over my laptop too often. It drives me crazy when I catch myself or see it in a photo, but it's the one bad habit that's been the most difficult for me to overcome."

—Cynthia Sass, RD, Health contributing nutrition editor

“My sleep sometimes really suffers because I'm always pushing to finish projects. I have a hard time walking away from something and saying, "Okay Cassey, it's time to go to bed. We can work on this tomorrow." That then turns into sleep deprivation!”

—Cassey Ho, fitness influencer and founder of Blogilates

RELATED: 10 Fitness Influencers You Need to Follow on Snapchat

“I would have to say my unhealthiest habits are worrying and cereal. My anxiety is through the roof most of the time, which is something I'm really working on lately. With cereal, usually I can keep the cravings under control, but there's really nothing like a huge bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios to satisfy the craving gremlins.”

—Lauren Williams, fitness expert and influencer

“I long for the day that I can actually sleep In, no alarm, and get 7 hours of sleep. These days, I average about 5 hours of sleep!”

—David Kirsch, celebrity trainer

RELATED: Best and Worst Foods for Sleep

“[My unhealthiest habit is] not making time for a proper meal. Let's face it. We can all find 15 minutes to put our phones down, find a quiet place, and just focus on eating and digestion. But during my workweek, I often get so caught up that I end up eating on the fly or during meetings. This usually leads to eating too quickly and poor digestion and I regret it afterwards. So, if I find myself stuck in this pattern, I try to stop, take a deep breath, step away for 15 minutes, and just truly enjoy warm spoonfuls of delicious food."

—Anna Kaiser, celebrity trainer and founder of AKT inMotion

“Mentally, my unhealthiest habit would be comparing myself to where I'm at in my career with others. It's human to look at other [people's] lives and subconsciously compare, but we must remember that where we are right now is the exact path we are supposed to be on!” 

—Katie Austin, fitness author and blogger

“My unhealthy habit is getting a frozen yogurt with approximately my bodyweight in Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups as the topping (and since this is a tell all, I put them on the bottom too)." 

—Gunnar Peterson, celebrity trainer

To get our best wellness tips delivered to you inbox, sign up for the Healthy Living newsletter

“I think my unhealthy habit—besides wanting that second glass of wine once I open a bottle—is French fries. Once I order a burger, my healthy sensibilities seem to go right out the window: forget the side salad, dish up some fries! But that’s okay. I’m all about living comfortably and enjoying life, and I don’t deprive myself of the things I love. I just keep in mind that they are an indulgence to fully enjoy in the moment!”

—Denise Austin, fitness expert and creator of LifeFit

Carrie Underwood’s Go-To Exercise for Killer Legs

You Need Posted on by
[brightcove:4852307197001 default]

Whether walking the red carpet or hitting the stage, country singer Carrie Underwood has been known to rock her share of super-short frocks. (Have you seen her legs?!) The key to keeping them slim and strong: body-quivering, lower-half moves, like this three-part lunge series. “You’re targeting your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves,” explains Underwood’s on-the-road trainer, Eve Overland.

RELATED: 18 Moves to Tone Your Butt, Thighs, and Legs

Start with feet hip-width apart. Step right foot forward and lower down into a lunge until both legs form 90-degree angles; begin pulsing, up 2 inches, down 2 inches (A). Keeping abs tight and spine aligned, shift weight and torso forward; continue pulsing (B). Return to A and shift weight and torso back (C); continue pulsing. Try each position for 20 seconds; rest and repeat on the opposite leg.

These Amazing Gym Deals Will Motivate You to Sign Up and Sweat More in 2018

You Need Posted on by
[brightcove:5587982423001 default]

What resolution almost always tops the list every January 1? You guessed it: to lose weight, a promise made by more than 20 percent of people setting New Year's goals last year. Getting more exercise also typically falls in the top 10. With these numbers in mind, you might be scouting out a new gym to get your workout on.

RELATED: The 6 Biggest Mistakes Trainers See You Making at the Gym

Even though you know the weight room and classes will be crazy busy this time of year, it’s also the perfect time to sign up. Many gyms are offering discounts on new membership fees (or they're charging nada—sweet!). They're also setting up new programs and even offering prize money to encourage you to be your best self. Here are 11 fitness centers with locations nationwide that are making it easier for you to start 2018 on the right healthy foot.

Planet Fitness

From January 1 until January 10, the enrollment fee is just $1. Then, it’s $10 per month for a standard membership or $21.99 per month for the PF Black Card membership. (The PF Black Card includes additional benefits like the ability to bring a guest for free every visit, access to all 1,400-plus locations, use of HydroMassage beds, massage chairs, and more.)

Gold’s Gym

Starting in January, Gold’s Gym will kick off its signature 12-week body transformation contest at participating gyms across the United States. Exclusively available to members, the contest will not only help improve overall health, but participants will have a chance to win one of many cash prizes totaling $100,000.

RELATED: 9 Fitness Trainers to Follow on Instagram

Life Time Fitness

Now through January 1, all Life Time Fitness destinations are open to everyone, whether you're a member or not. From January 1 to January 30, all locations will host the Commit to Fit movement for members and non-members, which includes promotions like Yoga Week, Studio Week, and Cycle Week. If you’d like to become a member, talk to them about special pricing.

Set your alarm: On January 1 at 10 a.m., the sixth annual Commitment Day 5K Fun Run and Social is happening at 40 Life Time destinations across the country. This event is open to everyone and aims to help people make a commitment to a healthy year ahead. Come January 21, 40 locations will host an Indoor Triathlon ($30 registration).

24 Hour Fitness

On December 26, this chain is launching 24GO, a customized coaching app that connects you with personalized workouts for in the gym or at home, available for members and non-members. Beginning January 2018, there's a $0 initiation fee on select all-club monthly payment memberships. (Initiation fees vary by club, but they range between $39.99-$89.99.) By becoming a member, you'll also get access to two new programs: Strong by Zumba (a 60-minute high-intensity workout) and Team USA Bootcamp (so you can train like an Olympian during the Winter Games 2018).

RELATED: Best Snacks for Weight Loss

XSport Fitness

You’ll score with a $0 enrollment fee in January. To prevent the attendance drop-off that naturally seems to happen in February, XSport plans the Get Fit Challenge, a 100-day program that offers a $50K prize pack at the end. Participants work with a trainer weekly, take supplements that support their goals, and are weighed in when the program is completed. Women and men who lost the greatest percentage of body fat at each club level will be awarded a prize. The Get Fit Challenge Grand Prize Winner will take home the $50K prize pack.

UFC Gyms

This one you have to hop on before January 1, but you still have time. From December 18 through December 31, receive a $25 gift card when you purchase an Ultimate or Fitness Membership at UFC GYM, at participating locations.

Exhale

The barre-yoga-spa hybrid has a new promo that’s open to everyone (not just newbies!). You can buy a new membership type—“spa + yoga”—for $200, which includes four classes and spa therapy. It also features 10% off boutique purchases and private training sessions, and five complementary passes for friends and family.

RELATED: What Really Happens to Your Body When You Yo-Yo Diet

Anytime Fitness

The majority of this gym's 2,400 locations will be participating in an annual January new member campaign. While most charge an enrollment fee (ranging from $19 to $69), from January 1 to January 12, the enrollment at participating gyms will be just $1. New members also receive a free personal-training or group-training session. Plus, most gyms give new members free fitness consultations and a personalized 30-Day Get Started Plan. The monthly membership fee is usually $40 per month.

Crunch

New members can join with a $0 enrollment fee on a month-to-month membership. If you buy a personal-training package upon joining, you’ll snag one month free. The deal is available at Crunch Signature locations through January 29.

Snap Fitness

Their Commit To Your Fit 90-Day Challenge begins January 1. Members can sign up to get exercises, nutrition ideas, motivational quotes, and more by email. You'll also receive tips and videos from country music superstar and fitness advocate Tim McGraw. Members who complete the Challenge and submit their story will have a chance win two concert tickets and to meet the country legend himself.

To get our best wellness tips delivered to you inbox, sign up for the Healthy Living newsletter

Equinox

New members who join Equinox in January will be able to earn back their initiation fee ($300 to $500 depending on location) if they work out 12 times in their first month, which includes attending group fitness classes like The Cut: Jump Rope, The Muse, and Pure Strength, as well as personal training sessions. (Join on January 27, for example, and you'll have 30 days to work out and 12 times to be refunded the initiation fee).

Meghan Markle Swears This Workout Class Transformed Her Body—So I Tried It

You Need Posted on by
[brightcove:5523727483001 default]

This article originally appeared on People.com.

What Is It: Meghan Markle’s favorite Megaformer class, an hour-long, fat-burning workout following Sebastien Lagree’s Lagree Method on his new Megaformer 3K machine. (Jennifer Aniston, Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian West and many more celebrities are also big fans.)

Who Tried It: Julie Mazziotta, PEOPLE writer and reporter

Level of Difficulty: 9 (on a scale from 1 to 10). I don’t have kids yet, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the burn was similar to the pain of childbirth.

Royal bride-to-be Meghan Markle recently said she loves taking classes at Pilates Premium, a fitness studio in Santa Monica that offers the celeb-favorite Megaformer program, created by Sebastien Lagree.

“Pilates Platinum is hands down the best thing you could do for your body,” Markle, 36, told Women’s Health U.K. “The results are incredible.”

“Your body changes immediately … give it two classes and you will see a difference.”

Another studio where the former Suits star goes for her Megaformer fix is Studio Lagree, which has locations in her old and new hometowns of Toronto and London. And, lucky for me, they just opened a new studio in New York City. So I headed to Astoria to try Markle’s favorite workout.

I went into the class a little smug — I do CrossFit four times a week, run on the other days, and I’ve tried everything from Pure Barre to The Fhitting Room to Flywheel. But the Megaformer classes are a whole new animal.

Our class was led by Dede Lagree, who, along with her husband Sebastien, runs the main Lagree Fitness Studio in Los Angeles. We were using their brand-new Megaformer 3K machine, which is recognizable to anyone who has tried Pilates before. But this class takes it up a notch.

“Pilates classes are low-intensity, low-impact,” Dede explained. “The Megaformer is high-intensity, low-impact, so you’ll immediately be sweating.”

Dede dove right in with lower body exercises. The goal is to be constantly moving, but slower is better, for an extra burn. We started in a squat, with one foot on the stationary part of the machine, and the other on the sliding platform, and slowly moved our legs in and out. It. Was. Painful. We were only one exercise in and already getting the infamous “Lagree Shakes.” But it was a good sign that our muscles were already working and burning.

“I think the reason why it’s so challenging the first time is because you’re using muscles that you don’t activate if you’re on the floor doing other workouts,” Dede explained to me. “You have to use your core, you have to use the muscles in your legs, to help with the stability while you’re in the exercises.”

We cycled through more leg work, from weighted donkey kicks to sliding split squats for 30 straight minutes, and I (along with the rest of the class!) had to take frequent breaks to calm my spasming muscles. From there we went on to core work, like sliding planks, and then finished off our workout with arm exercises with the hand weights attached to the Megaformer. Thankfully, I found the arm exercises fairly easy, which is the only reason why I gave this workout a 9 instead of a 10.

The Megaformer class was incredibly tough, but it’s definitely an amazing workout (a point my sore thighs are making today). Dede says that you can torch 800 to 1,000 calories in a single, one-hour class, but the calorie burn continues for several hours.

“The reason why is it’s so slow, and you’re using every single muscle,” she says. “While your slow-twitch muscle fibers repair, your body is using energy, calories and stored sugar so you honestly become a fat-burning machine.”

The Verdict: I had a hard time with this class, and was begging to go back to a CrossFit WOD as we used the Megaformer — but 24 hours later I wanted to tackle it again! There’s nothing like a good challenge.

6 Simple Exercises You Can Do While Cooking Dinner

You Need Posted on by
[brightcove:5680587799001 default]

The holidays can be a crazy-hectic time. With so many items on your to-do list, it’s hard to know where to start. And one thing that often falls by the wayside: your workout. Which is why we tapped Astrid Swan—the trainer behind Hollywood A-listers like Shay Mitchell, Olivia Munn and Julianne Hough—for a no-fuss routine (you only need a towel!) that will crush major calories, tone you all over, and pump that heart rate all the way up, all while your holiday dinner is cooking.

“This workout plan is so simple because you don’t need to go to the gym, so there are no excuses,” explains Swan who wants to stress how fun it can be trying to sneak this fat-burning circuit in between mashing potatoes, cooking the turkey, or prepping whatever else you have on the menu. “Plus, you’ll feel better after you get in a little sweat, and it’s not going to make you drenched, so you won’t ruin that blowout either.” Talk about a win-win!

Do each exercise for 50 seconds, followed by a quickie 10-second rest; complete 4 rounds. And then admire how good your body—and that seven-course meal on your table—looks!

For more smart workouts, sign up for the HEALTH newsletter

Overhead Squat With Knee Twist

Stand with feet hip-width apart and hold towel taut above head. Squat down, keeping chest up and knees behind toes. Push into heels to stand as you lift left knee and twist torso towards left knee. Return to start. Squat down again, and then rise to standing, repeating knee lift and twisting motion on the right. Continue alternating.

Jump Lunges With Towel Twist

Stand with feet together, hold towel taut between hands, and extend arms straight out. Jump left foot forward, lowering down into a lunge with both legs at 90 degrees. Twist torso to the left, lowering arms down on a diagonal over left thigh. Jump up, switching legs in the air and landing in a lunge with right leg forward; twist torso to the right, lowering arms down on a diagonal over right thigh. Continue alternating.

Pendulum Abs

Lie faceup; hold towel taut between hands and extend arms and legs straight up. Crunch up; lower legs down to the left as you twist torso and arms to the right. Return to center, and then lower legs to the right as you twist torso and arms to the left. Continue alternating.

RELATED: This 50 Push-Up Challenge Will Transform Your Body in 30 Days

Push-up to Pike

Start in a high plank with abs tight and a towel under feet. Complete one push-up, and then pull feet in towards stomach as you raise hips up to come into a pike. Push feet back out to return to high plank and then repeat entire sequence.

Lateral Lunge Slide

Stand tall with a towel under right foot. Slide right foot out to right side, bending left knee to come into a lateral lunge, as you extend arms straight out. Slowly slide foot back in to rise to standing and bring arms back down to sides; repeat on left side.

Sliding Mountain Climbers

Start on all fours with a dish towel under each foot; lift knees off ground and brace core. Slide left foot in, brining left knee in towards chest. As you slide left foot back, slide right foot in, to bring right knee in towards chest. Continue alternating legs as you step left hand out to the left, followed by the right. Continue motion, moving sideways across the floor. Repeat in opposite direction.

Kate Hudson Hits the Reformer, Sofia Vergara Nails a Plank, and More Star Fitness Snaps You Missed Last Week

You Need Posted on by
[brightcove:5342266505001 default]

If you're like us and spent most of the weekend cozied up inside, you may need just a little extra #MondayMotivation to get back into workout-crushing mode this week. Thankfully, these five A-listers were busy documenting their fitness efforts over the past few days, and all the inspo you need is right here. Check out their impressive snaps. Then pick your fave and go follow suit.

Kate Hudson tones up with Pilates

On Friday, the super-fit star smiled through a toning session with her Pilates trainer of nearly 20 years, Nicole Stuart. Her adorable matching sports bra and leggings? They are Fabletics, of course.

Shalita Grant bares her abs on a hike

The NCIS: New Orleans actress declared #strongisthenewskinny in an Instagram caption of herself stretching it out on a hiking trail. Grant is dedicated to her healthy lifestyle, and promised "more #fitness videos coming soon!!"

Nina Dobrev busts a move

Last Tuesday the actress and Reebok ambassador posted a clip of a hip-hop routine that made us want to get up and dance!

Sofia Vergara tops off a training session with a plank

The Modern Family stunner had a one-on-one session with celeb trainer Julio Cruz in Los Angeles over the weekend. We strongly suggest following Cruz on Instagram if you want more celebrity workout clips. Just watching his videos makes us sweat.

The Rock breaks out the chains

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was in for a shirtless sweat session with heavy chains on Sunday. And you can always count on the actor to share some words of motivation: "Let's get after it today on this hardcore Sunday," he says. "I always kick my weeks off on Sunday, not on Monday. I get a head start … Let's roll!"