Tag: exercise

Exercise machine calorie counters: they exaggerate the burn

TreadmillJanuary is the month of the jogger. Every evening for the past three weeks, regular-looking folk have been bouncing their bits up and down our streets, running in the pursuit of getting a bit fitter. No doubt prompted by a New Year’s resolution or ill-considered pledge to run this year’s half-marathon, such noble joggers oftentimes prefer an air-conditioned gym. Away from the wind and snow, the treadmills and ‘cardio’ machines offer music, television and – the greatest motivator of all – the digitised calorie counter. Trundling away on a treadmill while watching ‘Cash in the Attic’ is soul-crushingly dull but the knowledge that twenty minutes of puffing will burn off the a chocolate bar’s worth of calories can help keep your legs pounding. It’s such a shame, then, that the treadmill is lying to you. The truth is that if you want to justify a chocolate indulgence then you’ll probably need to sweat for just a bit longer than the computer tells you. Read more

Get fit faster: listen to music!

Hill Attack. Tension Up! #4It’s now officially Games Over. Gone is the excuse to bunk off work to catch five minutes of of dressage or synchronised swimming. And as our love affair ends, normal life must resume. The real challenge now begins: to stay true to those keep-fit resolutions.

One of the tricks to stay motivated may be, quite literally, music to your ears. ‘Music has received very little attention among sports scholars’ wrote one author in 1993 in the Sociology of Sport Journal.  Since then, much has changed. Long distance champ Paula Radcliff swears that her playlist during training – insisting it helps to keep her going. Yet Usain Bolt is denied such an indulgence.

Taking a perusal trough the latest research, we’ll explore what is known about the power of music to get you fired up and heading down the gym. Even when The X-Factor is on… Read more

Getting Fit for the Summer? 3 Top Fitness Myths Revealed!

[Life's a beach]Exercise – you either love it or hate it. We’d all like to be strong, fit and athletic, but let’s face it – most of us aren’t. If you suffer with exercise-guilt, then fret not because you certainly aren’t the only one: Nine out ten of us stop going to the gym within 3 months of joining!

With only 40% of us managing to do the recommended amount of exercise, so be sure to check out these commonly-held exercise myths before you start to dust off your old trainers… Read more

Can You Cure the Common Cold?

It's that time of year again, when we all start to get the sniffles

Curing the common cold sparked a debate in the office at work yesterday: It was reported in the news that the “cure for the common cold” had been found.  It sounds exciting but like much science reporting in the media: it’s fantastically over-exaggerated. The ‘ground-breaking’ research gives interesting insights into how our immune system works (the intricacies of will go above the understanding of most). A  cure will be years, probably decades away.

So, while we wait for science to discover a cure, we must do our best to cope with home remedies and shop-bought medicines. Everyone in the office had a personal favourate for treating colds: honey and lemon, rubbing goose fat on the chest, or a bit of ‘hot toddy’…!

What do you do when you start to feel unwell?

Today’s blog is looks at a range of cold treatments: some of which are downright weird. There are some surprising truths about what works and what doesn’t

Read more