The plank Five years ago, singer Cher, then 71, boasted of her ability to hold a five-minute plank. If true, that impressive score is some five times higher than the typical “good” benchmark – the move now being a common metric for physical fitness. By placing your forearms on the ground, body lifted, with weight … Read more
photo: sfilippovs (Shutterstock) The latest bit of fitness misinformation is making the rounds on TikTok, but I’ve seen it cropping up other places, too. Young women are singing the praises of Pilates (sometimes alongside barre, yoga, and walking), saying it helped them lose weight and tone their muscles where lifting weights did not. Something about … Read more
If you’re just getting started strength training, you might be wondering what the best exercise really is. But like lots of things in the fitness world, there’s not one, clear-cut answer. The best exercise depends on a lot of things, and one huge one is simple: enjoyment. Does this exercise make you feel good when … Read more
Want to strengthen your arms, but aren’t exactly sure where to start? This beginner arms workout is just what you need to add to your routine—and it only has four moves. Your arms actually include a bunch of different muscles, including your biceps (muscles along the front of your upper arm), triceps (the back of … Read more
Photo: Stephen McCluskey (Shutterstock) If you’ve ever trained for a military fitness test or been made to do the presidential fitness test in gym class, you know the sit-up. Somebody holds down your feet, and you sit up as many times as you can before the test is over. But then again, you may have … Read more
Every weekday morning, like clockwork, either Kailash Rajdev or Kalpesh Mehta send a group text to their friends, “Walk 6:40”. The two Kolkata-based businessmen, now in their early 40s, had got so caught up with their work all through their thirties that they’d never thought once about exercise. A couple of years ago, with their … Read more
Strengthening your glutes is essential for carrying out daily activities, such as walking, sitting down and standing back up, and picking things up from the ground, as well as for athletic performance. Your glutes are power-producing muscles needed for running, jumping, and other explosive movements, and they’re also huge drivers in exercises like the deadlift. … Read more
Photo: BearFotos (Shutterstock) The word “toning” is something of a joke in many fitness circles, because it’s a word that’s thrown around when people mean other things. Sometimes it’s a code word for being thin, as when somebody may promise you that a workout will tone your muscles rather than making you bulky. Other times … Read more
Repeating the same routine on a regular basis is a great way to track progress toward your fitness goals. And we have an awesome 30-minute upper-body workout that you can keep coming back to each week as a way to benchmark your arm, back, chest, and shoulder strength. One reason this routine is worth repeating? … Read more
Brevity is a word we all like to hear when it comes to workouts. And if it’s a case of hours at the gym versus a shorter, sharper session, most of us would choose the option that cuts sweaty effort to a minimum. In recent years, cardio workouts have been crunched to a minimum with … Read more