By now you’ve probably heard that sugar isn’t good for you, but do you know exactly what that means? Many people don’t understand why exactly sugar is detrimental to their health, and they’re not sure how to limit the amount of sugar they consume.
If you want to learn more about sugar’s effect on your brain and body, read on for more information about its harmful effects and tips to avoid it.
Obesity
Scientists have been telling people for some time that obesity rates are rising in both children and adults, and much of this rise can be attributed to excess sugar in the American diet. Whether it’s soft drinks, pizza, or fast food meals, sugar is added to almost every processed food that people eat. Constant sugar consumption leads to a higher calorie intake, which leads to weight gain.
Even worse, sugar has no nutritional value. There are no vitamins or minerals in sugar and no essential nutrients that contribute to your daily diet. Since you should only eat a limited number of calories each day, making sure all your calories are nutritionally dense and worthwhile is a crucial aspect of a healthy weight.
Addiction
If it were easy to give up sugar, everyone would do it, but it’s not easy, and for some people, sugar is just as addictive as alcohol or drugs. In fact, for people with addiction issues, lessening their sugar intake isn’t enough. Just like an alcoholic or drug addict, they need to abstain from sugar entirely or risk being pulled back into addiction.
Even if you aren’t addicted to sugar yet, you should definitely be concerned about its addictive properties. Avoid it like you avoid cigarettes or other harmful drugs.
Disease
Excess sugar in the diet can lead to Type II diabetes, and it can also be responsible for many other conditions, including:
High blood pressure
Fatty liver disease
Metabolic disorder
Insulin resistance
Don’t forget that sugar also causes tooth decay, which can lead to painful and expensive dental procedures. If you need a little extra encouragement, do an internet search for tooth decay or fatty liver to get a sense of what excess sugar can lead to.
Read Labels
Sugar is hidden everywhere. Without reading the label or requesting nutritional information, you might not know that there’s sugar in many of the products you eat every day including:
Jarred tomato sauce
Canned soup
Fat free salad dressing
Barbecue sauce
Multi grain crackers
Fast food French fries
Educate yourself, so you know all the ingredients in what you’re consuming. Once you know exactly what you’re eating, you’ve taken the first step on your journey to make healthy decisions.
Substituting Fruit
If you have a sweet tooth, try substituting fresh fruit (not dried fruit) for other sugary treats. While fruits may contain sugar, it’s a different type of sugar. More importantly, fruits are nutritionally valuable, unlike simple sugar, and contain many vitamins and minerals. The fruit fiber helps to moderate how the body responds to sugar and blood sugar isn’t spiked so quickly or so high when fruit sugar is introduced with fruit pulp and fiber.
Be aware that fruit juice isn’t the same as whole fruit. While it does have vitamins, it lacks the fiber of whole fruit and often has added sugars as well.
Talk to Someone
Because sugar is in so many foods and has such a strong pull on many people, it might be helpful for you to talk to someone. Whether it’s a psychologist, nutritionist, or life coach, talking to an expert can help you understand the addictive properties of sugar and why it’s so important to cut it out of your life.
Taking a holistic approach to controlling sugar and improving your diet makes sense if you consider that this is a life change to improve your health, not just a temporary diet fix.
Curbing Cravings
Evidence has shown that some natural supplements curb sugar cravings. If you’re not having luck cutting sugar out of your diet on your own because of your intense cravings, try nutritional supplements. Check with your doctor and ask if the following might help you control your sugar cravings:
L-glutamine
Magnesium
Chromium
Eating Better
Now that you have some information regarding the harmful effects of sugar, go ahead and research the ways in which you can live a healthier, less sugary life.
Author Bio:
Carl Turner is a freelance writer and a health enthusiast from Los Angeles, California. With his expertise in health and medicine, he enjoys helping his clients reach their optimal health. When he is not busy with work, he publishes informative articles on news and media outlets around the world.
Maple syrup, sliced fruit and berries, whipped cream, to serve (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Pack ½ cup (125 mL) bread cubes into two, 2-cup (500 mL) mason jars. In a bowl whisk together Egg Creations Whole Eggs Original, milk, cinnamon and brown sugar. Pour mixture evenly between jars. Let soak for 5 min.
2. Place mason jars in microwave on low heat. Microwave for 1 – 2 min., on 30 sec., increments until French toast is cooked and egg has set. Keep a close eye on jars as they might bubble up.
3. Top with maple syrup, sliced fruit, berries and whipped cream (if using). Close jars with lids for a breakfast on-the-go.
TIPS:
* Try using egg bread for a sweeter version of French toast on-the-go.
* Add different spices like a pinch of nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice.
* Let bread soak in French toast mixture overnight and microwave in the morning for breakfast.
8 Vitamin-packed Foods to include in your Diet for Beautiful Skin
Do you love to have healthy, glowing, beautiful skin?
Well, who doesn’t?
But, the truth is, only people who take very good care of their skin manage to impress others (with their skin). Factors like nutrition, pollution, and stress play an important role in the well-being of the skin of a person.
Even aging does. Did you know that natural aging process for human beings begins in their early 30’s itself? As you grow older, your diet and other external factors will have a big say on the appearance of your skin as well as your physiological functioning.
If you desire to have beautiful skin, then you need to motivate yourself to have nutritious food and exercise every day. Lack of nutrition, in particular, can lead to skin diseases like acne, wrinkles, rosacea, and eczema besides many others. But don’t worry,face creams and masks can help to some extent.
Our body needs vitamins, minerals, proteins, and good fats to function properly. Among these, vitamins are considered the very basic essentials of a healthy body and skin. They help protect the skin from bacteria and also boost the regeneration process. In the rest of the post, you will discover a list of vitamin-rich foods that will help youfix your skin.
Cabbage
Cabbage is one of those vegetables that is abundantly rich in Vitamin B6. It also contains adequate quantities of manganese, folate, collagen, and fiber – all of which are very important for the skin. Additionally, cabbage also consists of calcium which is essential for bone strength, and potassium which helps controls blood pressure.
What’s more, cabbage is also a powerhouse of antioxidants and vitamin K which help improve skin elasticity.
Red bell pepper
Your skin needs plenty of vitamin C on a daily basis and one of the best ways to obtain that is to include red bell pepper in your diet. Having adequate quantities of vitamin C helps regulate moisture in the skin and prevents wrinkles as well.
Avocado
Avocado is known to be a powerful source of vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin E, Vitamin B6, potassium, folate, and folic acid. Including avocado in your diet can help cure dry skin problem and prevent the breakage of the skin. Vitamin E is known to protect the skin from the sun’s harmful rays. What’s more, avocado also provides the required antioxidants and vitamin C to your skin to help improve its firmness so that you look younger than your normal age.
Pomegranate
People don’t call pomegranate the “fruit of Gods” without reason. It is one of the best sources of antioxidants among all foods – in fact, it has higher antioxidant content than green tea and wine itself.
The vitamin C present in pomegranates can help your skin look radiant and look younger. As for the health, this fruit is believed to help minimize the risk of cancer.
Papaya
Papaya is a natural source of iron, vitamin C, and vitamin E. Having enough vitamin E in your body helps keep your skin moisturized, and look soft and smooth. It also prevents the formation of dark spots and stretch marks, which are common among ladies. Studies say that one fresh papaya can supplement 17% of your daily vitamin E requirement.
Lemons and Oranges
No prizes for guessing, lemon and oranges are the go-to fruits for everyone who is looking to get vitamin C in his or her body naturally. In fact, having more vitamin C also helps boost collagen, which plays a major role in the appearance of your skin. People who take collagen regularly are safe from wrinkles and many age-related skin problems.
Mushrooms
Including mushrooms in your diet is a good idea because they are loaded with vitamin B2 and Riboflavin. In particular, vitamin B2 is said to be water-soluble in nature and helps safeguard the cells from regenerative damages. Lack of vitamin B2 can cause wrinkles and other health problems like migraines, cracks, and sore throat. What’s more, mushrooms also contain collagen which is believed to improving the elasticity of the skin.
Kale
Kale is rich in several important vitamins for the skin. It has vitamin A which helps repair the tissues during radical damage. It has vitamin K which is known to prevent dark eye circles and pigmentation problems. Most importantly, it also has vitamin C which is a powerful antioxidant. On the whole, you need kale to get a radiant skin that is free from blemishes and abrasions.
Also, taking kale on a daily basis helps boost cell growth and even prevents dryness.
Conclusion
The foods covered in this post are loaded with the most important vitamins that prevent everything from dryness to acne to age-related problems. What’s even better is that they are also delicious and can be eaten raw or half-cooked. If you have a great cook at your home, then try tossing these foods to make a tasty, health-rich recipe and have a fun way of protecting your skin.
To learn more about the types of vitamins and their benefits, please take a look at this Infographic
Go Bananas Over Bananas
It’s no surprise that bananas are a fruit favorite around the world, packed with nutrients and antioxidants, rich in fiber and low in fat, they are little powerhouses of good nutrition. In our never-ending quest to stay healthy without sacrificing our taste buds, bananas are a clear go-to and they are quite versatile. Dr. Christopher Calapai D.O. a highly accredited New York City anti-aging and stem cell specialist, and long-time nutrition advisor to the New York Rangers hockey team explains, “Bananas are packed with health benefits throughout every stage of their lives, from green to fully ripe. As the banana ripens some of these health benefits change, making it a rare fruit that is enjoyable in many forms.”
Typically when we think of bananas we think of a lunch-box addition or a quick on-the-go snack, more so than a cooking staple? Here are 5 healthy ways to incorporate bananas into your meals and the health benefits of each.
When they’re green...
Fill Up on Mashed Plantains.
Green bananas are often referred to as plantains, they are not sweet like ripe bananas and they contain most of their fiber in the form of resistant starch. “Plantains are rich in starches that regulate appetite,” says Dr. Calapai. “Resistant starch may even slow stomach emptying, making you feel full longer and thus reducing the urge to eat sooner after a meal.”
Bonus! Mashed plantains could not be easier to whip up. Simply peel and cut the green plantains into chunks and boil in a full pot of water for 20-30 minutes or until tender, then mash with a fork until they achieve the consistency of mashed potatoes. Sautee garlic and onions in olive oil and add to the plantains along with salt and pepper and any other seasonings you enjoy. You can serve the dish with fish, chicken or meat, sprinkle with bacon bits or eat plain.
Satisfy your craving for something salty, crunchy with plantain chips.
“All bananas, green, ripe or in between are very low in calories, about 105 per fruit” explains Calapai “So you can get away with frying them in your choice of light, heart-healthy oil.” Plantain chips are a great snack or side dish and are also incredibly simple to whip up. Peel the plantain completely and cut off about half an inch on both ends, then thinly slice the rest of the plantain into chips. When the oil is piping hot fry your chips until golden and salt to taste. Voila!
When they’re semi-ripe...
Eat "Maduros" for younger, healthy skin.
"Maduro" (pronounced mah-doo-row) means "ripe" in Spanish and it’s what Latin Americans call this tasty plantain dish. You can eat plantains this way once they are very yellow and spotted, or have turned fully black. Simply peel, cut into thick diagonal slices and deep fry until golden brown in heart-healthy oil. Bonus! “Bananas at any stage of ripeness are very rich in Vitamin C, an antioxidant also known as called ascorbic acid,” says board certified dermatologist Dr. Kally Papantoniou. “Vitamin C assists in collagen production, which keeps your skin healthy and also blocks free-radical damage which is believed to potentially contribute to the aging process.”
When they’re ripe...
Manage blood sugar with a banana smoothie.
This one takes five minutes and a blender. Cut up two nice yellow, ready to eat bananas into chunks, add milk or yogurt of your preferred variety, some ice, and blend until thick! “Bananas have shown by studies to possibly regulate blood sugar as they are very moderate in the glycemic index, meaning they don’t cause dangerous spikes to your blood sugar levels,” says Dr. Calapai “Having a good banana smoothie for breakfast or as an afternoon snack, as opposed to high-sugar options make sure you are balanced throughout the day.”
Amp up the flavor!
If simply eating a banana starts to get boring amp up the flavor with a healthy pairing. Cut up your banana into chunks and add a healthy spoonful of peanut butter, sprinkle with some almonds or cinnamon, or mix with some dark chocolate chunks!
Bananas are a great, affordable way to add some goodness into your meal plan. Enjoy!
WRAPPING YOUR MIND AROUND THE “NEW YOU” AFTER WEIGHT LOSS
Whenever someone chooses to commit to a weight loss journey, it’s not just a physical transformation that happens, but a mental transformation as well. Regardless of how long it takes for people to reach their goal weight, there are significant things that occur along the way that impact their body image and confidence. For all of the positive reinforcement once receives, they might also notice some negativity or odd reactions from those they are close to. Read on for tips and insights from leading experts that will offer clarity and solutions for anyone seeking to transform or who already has.
You shed friends along with pounds.
Dr. Sanam Hafeez PsyD a NYC based licensed neuropsychologist, a teaching faculty member at the prestigious Columbia University Teacher’s College, explains that, “It is normal to lose friends as you lose pounds. As you see the payoff from the lifestyle changes you’ve made you may feel disconnected with friends who may still eat and drink things you no longer do. You’re evolving,” offers Dr. Hafeez. She also adds that, “It’s common to notice jealousy, and digs. You may even experience exclusion from dinners out presuming you wouldn’t want to indulge.”
Have faith that your true friends will love you at any size. “It will actually be difficult to tolerate any gossip, negativity or activities that are counterproductive. The last thing you need are people who bring you down when you are doing something positive for your well being. Look out for yourself. At times that may mean distancing from certain people,” advises Dr. Hafeez.
Loose skin becomes the new thing you notice.Once you reach your goal weight, you may love how you look in clothes but naked in or a bathing suit is a whole other story. This is most common when weight loss is significant. Even when weight training is part of the regimen, loose skin does happen.
Dr. John Zannis a board certified plastic surgeon based in New Bern, North Carolina frequently sees and treats patients who went through a weight loss transformation. According to Dr. Zannis, “Loose skin can gather at the stomach, under arms, breasts, buttocks, inner thighs, face and neck. The more significant the weight-loss is, say 50 pounds and above, the more likely a plastic surgeon is sought out to explore body lifts that specifically address loose skin after weight-loss.”
You have more energy, are excited about life and can do more!
As you change your diet, add daily exercise to your new lifestyle and see the weight melt off, you gain energy! You don’t feel the need to hit the snooze button anymore. You may wake up energized for that 7am powerwalk or you may be inspired by that beautiful new dress you get to wear to work, another dress size dropped. Yay!
“Use newfound energy to your advantage, encourages Dr. Hafeez, your brain is forming new neuropathways as your perception about your body starts to change. That flight of stairs that was once an obstacle is much easier. Simple things like putting on shoes, picking up toys and pushing a vacuum are done with ease. As you take notice of what your body can do, you gain more confidence and want to do more. This energizes you both physically and mentally,” she adds.
Shopping gets interesting.
It is common to get overwhelmed with options now that you can shop the way you always dreamed of. Perhaps your new strong, shapely legs have inspired you to wear dresses again for the first time in years. Or after always covering your arms, you may opt for sleeveless tops. Either way, trying new looks outside of your comfort zone can be daunting. Dr. Hafeez advises to, shop on your own or with someone you really trust. “It is important that shopping is made to be fun by approaching it as a style experiment. Don’t expect everything to look perfect just because you are a much smaller size. Some things will work, others won’t. Look for clothes that feel good. When you smile in the mirror that’s a sign you’re on track.”
You make yourself, your health and well being top priority and start to inspire others.
When you lose a noticeable amount of weight other people want to know how you did it and how you are keeping the weight off. Your immediate family may also adapt to your dietary changes and experience weight loss by association. When your kids see you wake up every morning to exercise they see that anything worth having requires commitment. Your significant other may be inspired to also lose weight. “When you take care of yourself and are in a positive mindset, it has a positive impact on everyone you interact with. When the mind and body are aligned you love the way you look and feel, you’re happy and someone others can look up to.”
Every gym enthusiast appreciates that diet plays a massive role in achieving their goals. After all, muscles are built in the gym but are revealed in the kitchen.
For many people, this is the hardest part of the whole process. However, with the right plan of action, you’ll have no trouble getting this crucial aspect under control. I’m sure you’ve got the determination, so this push in the right direction can make all the difference.
Follow these four simple tips, and it should set you on the road to success.
Drink More Water
Food is undoubtedly important, but there’s no doubt that water intake is the most important part of your eating and drinking habits. Increasing your daily consumption is one of the easiest upgrades you can make, but it’s also one of the most influential.
Better hydration will improve your body in a whole host of different ways. Skin and hair will see vast improvements while it should help your level of performance too. If you’re looking to lose weight, have a glass before meals to suppress your appetite slightly.
Our bodies are two-thirds water, so it’s imperative that you top up your levels.
Cook From Fresh
One of the main issues with nutrition is knowing what you’re actually putting in your body. As easy as it is to fall into the trap of cooking processed foods all the time, it’s not a great option to take.
With a slow cooker, you can make food from scratch just as easily. Meanwhile, cooking up several days’ worth of meals and freezing it makes it very convenient to get a healthy midweek treat.
Once you’ve taken the time and effort out of cooking from fresh, you’ll have no excuse to take the processed option. This will make a vast improvement to your nutritional habits.
Take Supplements
Your body needs the right energy to perform. If your food isn’t providing the right nutrients, then it’s time to seek a boost.
Some people wrongly view supplements as cheating. But it’s actually one of the best ways to ensure your body is getting everything it needs. Moreover, fat burners can give your progress a healthy push in the right direction. Visit https://www.garciniacambogia6000.com.au for more information.
It doesn’t matter how your body gets its nutrients. The important thing is that you give it the fuel needed to succeed.
Appreciate The Benefits Cheating
They say cheaters never prosper, but that’s not always true when it comes to your fitness goals. For starters, going on a detox plan could get your body transformation up and running in style.
As a more permanent plan, though, understanding the benefits of cheat meals is essential. This is a great way to keep your body on its toes and can actively enhance your results. The key to this success is moderation.
Essentially, a little treat never hurt anyone. If nothing else, knowing you’ve got this break to look forward to can prevent you from throwing in the towel altogether. Embrace this crucial part of your nutrition, and you should see great results.
It is universally agreed that a balanced diet is the best way to meet nutritional requirements. All the vitamins and minerals your body needs to function at an optimal level can be found from natural sources. This cannot be disputed. The subject of nutritional supplements, however, brings more polarising views. For those with deficiencies, they are absolutely required to give their body the boost it needs. Others see them simply as a marketing gimmick, cashing in on the health conscious generation.
With so many contrasting views to wade through, it can be difficult to understand the possible benefits. Just what is the truth about supplementing? Well, for starters, let's make a few things abundantly clear. Supplements are NOT to be used as a substitute for clean eating. Their makeup is simply not designed to replicate the micronutrients and essential dietary fibre of whole foods. But when consumed alongside a well-planned diet, there are health benefits to be found in supplements.
So, who are the kind of people that may find the most benefit from supplements?
Vegans, for example, may lack Vitamin B12 as this can not found from plant-based sources.
Pregnant women are advised to take folic acid and iron supplements as a means of increasing their daily intake.
Those with eating disorders or a lack of appetite may need to supplement their nutrient intake to remain healthy.
People whose bodies struggle to break down or absorb nutrients in food.
Bodybuilders and gym goers may need protein supplements for muscle growth and repair.
You should always seek medical advice if any of these issues affect you. Consult a dietician about how supplements may be helpful in maintaining good health. Speak to your doctor about introducing them into your regular diet.
So, you've decided that you'd like to give them a try. What next? Most reputable supermarkets and health stores stock a wide range in powder, liquid and tablet form. You can even find supplements online very easily. Remember always to read the label carefully. You want to look for products specifically designed to provide all the essential nutrients your body needs. The best supplements generally supply an even amount of your recommended daily allowance for all vitamins.
Some supplements contain many different kinds of multivitamins. You may instead choose to take a specific product depending on your needs. You can buy a variety of pills that are specifically targeted towards certain vitamins in which you may be lacking.
Be careful about taking in too much. If you normally have a good diet, you'll likely get a good variety of vitamins and minerals from your food alone. Supplements are designed to give your intake a boost and maybe make up for areas in which you are already lacking. Watch what you eat and adjust your consumption accordingly. Food products like fortified cereals have added vitamins and minerals. Taking too many could be harmful. An overdose of iron, for example, could cause unpleasant side effects such as nausea and vomiting. Always consume supplements before their expiration date.
Complete minimally to perform maximally
Guest Blog by Steve Morley
It’s marathon season. Adult distance runners are a funny lot. They’ll declare sometime in the year “I’m going to run a fall marathon”. They may even commit to a training plan. What happens though is that they are like a dog that sees a squirrel. They focus on the squirrel. Then another squirrel goes by, and then that’s all they see.
For a distance runner the squirrel might be a local 5k race that happens the week before. It could be some event that happens like a corporate relay fitness challenge, or a charity 15k run. These are all great things to do, and can be incorporated into the training plan. That’s the key. If you get a training plan from an online source, and you print it off and put it on the fridge that’s good. What happens when life gets in the way? You have to drive the kids to track practice, or they have to stay late and band, you have a conference to go to, all these things can make you modify your training plan. You should modify it.
That’s not what happens though. You’ll do all of those things, and then you’ll try to cram in your marathon pace long run next Sunday. So as a result of juggling a full life you get hurt. Some people will muscle through the injury and they’ll do the workout, and get even more hurt.
Probably very few of these plans mention cross training, like non-impact activities like biking or inline skating, or even cross training by doing hill repeats or the occasional speed session.
The body of an adult distance runner is funny too. Even adults adapt. Those muscles that do the same thing over and over again adapt. They become more efficient and as a result they have to do less work to produce the same output. There is less overall muscle recruitment so therefore you need to change up what you’re doing, to trick your body into working harder.
Stare at the fridge, is your training diet in need of some super charging?
So what are you going to do about it?
You may not do anything – this time. Consider the principle of adaptation again. The training plan says you will do a 25 minute tempo run on Thursday. It’s in your plan, and you know from last Thursday that your tempo pace is X, so therefore this Thursday your pace will be X. What many people fail to consider is that their fitness improves with training. If it didn’t, everyone would perform the same and everyone would arrive at the finish line at the same time.
So given the principle of adaptation, your pace for any given workout throughout that plan your times will change. For the tempo run example, a far better indicator of how to perform, would be perceived level of exertion. In the example of the 25 tempo run it should feel comfortably uncomfortable and you should feel like you could do it at that effort for an hour.
How do you compete minimally to perform maximally when all these squirrels are around? It seems like every weekend brings on a new race, and you could jump into many of them, and while you might be fit and see some great results, if the marathon is your thing, then doing one of these events “out of season” will negatively impact your goal that you have set for yourself. A goal without a plan is just a dream.
Pick your events. A 5k doesn’t really fit, so pass it by. You might say “well I can just do this race as a tempo”. Then the gun goes off and you’re racing it, and then it takes 3 days to recover to get back on your training plan. Then the next weekend is a 10k, or a duathlon, the cycle perpetuates itself and you never get back to your plan, and then when race day comes you are so tired, that you don’t even want to be on the start line.
Remember what’s on the fridge needs to be modified as your life is modified. If you had the greatest of intentions to follow this training plan 100% of the time and life throws you a curve, take yourself off the hook and reboot your goal. Listen to your inner voice and trust what it is saying to you. Have a three tiered goal strategy. Have a goal that you can drive home after the race is done where you aren’t saying things like “I should have done”, or “I wish I had done”. Next have one that is a little more challenging, even if your training didn’t go as planned. Finally have one that is for when all the planets align and everything goes right.
On the day of the race, when you’re warming up, remember what you did to get to the day of the race. If doubts creep in on what you may not have done, refocus back to what you did do. The hay is in the barn. Go have fun.
Did you know that you don’t necessarily have to pick up a weight to get a good workout in? Using your bodyweight can be just as tough and rewarding. Here are some of the best bodyweight exercises for your body parts:
Chest/Triceps
Very little needs to be said on this matter; everyone knows that the push-up is a great bodyweight exercise for your chest. The great thing about push-ups is that there’s room for alterations. You can drop your knees down if you’re unable to do a normal push-up. You can do clapping push-ups if you find normal ones too easy. You could even try one handed ones if you’re arong enough.
Also, you can alter the angle of your body to target different parts of the chest. Put your feet on a bench and do incline push-ups to target more of your upper chest.
Or, if you bring your hands in close and do a push-up, you’ll be targeting your triceps more. This is actually one of the best tricep exercises you can do.
Shoulders
For shoulders, you can do a variation of a push-up. It’s called the pike push up and starts off in the classic downward facing dog yoga pose. You then let your forehead drop close to the floor then push back upwards. It can be tricky to get the movement right, but when you do you really feel it in your delts.
Alternatively, you can do a handstand presses if you’re experienced and strong enough. Do your handstand up against a wall for safety and stability.
One of the best exercises you can do for your back is the pull-up. It’s a simple movement that involves grabbing a bar overhead and pulling yourself up off the ground.
Of course, pull-ups are a hard exercise to do, and not everyone can do them. If you can’t do a pull-up, or don’t have any way to do on in the home, do an inverted row instead. This is a much easier exercise to do, and you can alter the difficulty based on where you place your legs. If you’re in the gym, you just need access to a squat rack or smith machine to do this.
Biceps
Bodyweight exercises for the biceps are similar to the back. The best one is called a chin up. It’s like a pull up only you grab the bar with an underhand grip. Plus, you should focus on using your biceps to curl your chin up over the bar.
Likewise, you can do inverted chin curls, which are similar to the inverted row. But, you grab with the underhand grip and use your arms to curl your body up. This is an absolute killer, and your biceps will soon feel pumped.
Legs
The best bodyweight exercise for legs is squats. Doing loads of squat variations is a great idea to build leg strength without needing weights. You can do jump squats for an extra challenge, or one legged squat if you feel up to the challenge.
Another favourite bodyweight exercise is the lunge. There are many lunge variations that are fantastic for strengthening legs and building muscle.
Injury prevention: Tennis Elbow
No doubt you have heard of this injury in past while either watching sports or have personally experienced some symptoms of it. Tennis elbow (properly known as Lateral Epicondylitis) is a chronic, nagging pain on the lateral (outer) aspect of the elbow joint often caused by weakness leading to overuse and overexertion of certain movements. Some other signs include pain when gripping an object, pronation and supination while holding an object or by stiffness throughout the forearm and elbow. The reason it was given the common name of tennis elbow was it was a common injury that was popping up in tennis players, with those at higher levels having a greater incidence of the injury. While not a completely debilitating injury, it is commonly a nagging, persistent annoyance for many while it can manifest itself as a very sharp shooting pain very much like other tendonitis type pains.
Rapid extension of the elbow joint coupled with either forceful pronation (turning palm down) or supination (turning palm up) is one of the primary causes of tennis elbow with both direct impacts and overuse also being major contributors to the frequency of the debilitation. Typically there is minimal inflammation from this but is indicated with pain along the radial nerve as micro tears and adhesions in the tendons at the wrist and/or elbow signal pain.
To help prevent the injury from occurring in the first place or to reverse the symptoms of it, one must directly focus on the structures involved. What this requires is properly warming them up to allow greater blood flow and also performing various stretches for the muscles around the elbow and wrist to ensure that there is adequate flexibility in the muscles and tendons and also that the joints themselves are able to move through their full ranges of motion. Some simples ones are wrist circles, wrist extension and stretching out the hand. As well, ensuring that the muscles and joints are “conditioned” enough to handle repetitive use like in tennis/racket sports by gradually increasing their work capacity over time and learning proper mechanics. One population known for this are the older population who take up tennis, doing some general fitness and stretching before and after will help alleviate symptoms.
Also strengthening up specific muscles will immensely cut down the risk for injury. A few of the major points are the supinators and pronators of the arm, excluding the biceps brachii as it is typically already sufficiently strong. I speak of the smaller, supinator muscle, Pronator quadratus and teres. Some simple ways to do this is at a twin pulley station, adjust the pulley height to be at roughly waist height (approximately the same height as the hand when the elbow is bent to 90 deg). From here using either a small straight bar or a rope attachment, perform both pronation and supination of the wrist while keeping the elbow bent to 90 degrees. To do this, stand beside the pulley with it beside your elbow while you are looking sideways to the pulley, grab the attachment with your furthest hand (if right side is beside pulley, grab with left hand) for supination and closest hand for pronation. From here if you are doing supination start with the palm facing the floor and turn your palm up, in the case of pronation, do this in reverse. This will help strengthen the muscles to be able to handle greater external load demands like striking a ball in with a racket. Performing relatively higher reps, 10-15 reps with a slow eccentric and fast concentric is best while holding a pause at the end of each range.
Another common issue is that people are generally far stronger in elbow flexion movements when the hands are supinated (regular bicep curl) while being pronated (reverse curl) they are significantly weaker. This large imbalance on its own over time can manifest it in the form of tendonitis so as opposed to always doing regular curls, for a time being exclude them completely and focus on reverse grip and neutral (hammer) grip curling movements to bring these muscles all up to par.
