Maybe you’re too busy. Maybe you’re not convinced it’s safe to go back. Maybe you’re just sick of driving over there. Whatever the reason, you’ve stopped going to the gym. We get it. But this shouldn’t mean you stop working out. You just need a home routine that works you hard and, importantly, efficiently. Enter: functional fitness. Part Strongman competition, part practical movement, functional fitness workouts take everyday actions and objects and combine them into strength and cardio workouts like no other. It’s great and any one at any fitness level can benefit from it. Best part? The only travel it requires is walking to the room where you want to exercise.
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Sit All Day? You Should Be Doing These Stretches
Your chair is ruining your body. Here's how to fight back.
1. The Figure 4
Start facing something you can hold onto for support, like the edge of a table, towel rack, or back of a couch. Cross your right foot over your left knee, keeping your bent right knee out to the side so that your legs form the shape of the number “4.” Holding the support in front of you, bend your left knee and sink into the stretch, which you’ll feel in your glutes and iliotibial band (along the outside of your leg). To achieve a deeper stretch, bend the left knee more. Hold 30 seconds, then repeat on the opposite side.
2. The Lunge
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Take a big step forward with your right leg. Shift your weight forward and bend right knee, feeling a stretch along your left quad and hip flexor. If your flexibility is limited, you can also bend your left knee so that it touches the floor, then lean deeper into the stretch from here. Hold 30 seconds, repeat on the opposite side.
3. The Back Arch
This basic move elongates your abdominal muscles and stretches the hip flexors and chest. There are a few variations of this move, depending on how flexible you are. Start standing with your back about a foot from a wall, feet shoulder-width apart. Reach your arms overhead and raise your face skyward, feeling a stretch in your torso. Arch your back and reach arms behind your head, aiming to touch the wall behind you. (You can bend elbows slightly to aid your cause.) If you have the flexibility, let your hands touch the wall, and using this for support, push your hips out in front of you, feeling a deep stretch in your hip flexors. Hold for 30 seconds then release.
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Boot season will soon be upon us. If you’re looking for a new pair, the Captain are an excellent choice. Office appropriate and classed-up enough for date night, they’re made with a low-profile design that makes them easy to wear with jeans or chinos. They're also built with a studded rubber outsole for all-day traction, and the captoe detailing gives them an added touch of class. They punch well above their price point.
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Natural disasters are more common than we like to believe. Is your family ready?
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In my view, Mother Nature is the greatest storyteller of all. Kids can’t be expected to care for the natural world, much less to understand it, unless they spend some time living in it.
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—Jeff Goodell, author of The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World, on talking to kids about climate change. To read Goodell’s thoughts on the best way to discuss climate change with kids, you can read the interview here.
Earlier this year we spoke to NASA’s Top Climatologist, Gavin Schmidt, about the problem with pessimism and what families can do in the face of climate change. His words are well worth taking to heart.
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Support science and (potentially) get protection against COVID by participating in a vaccine trial. Here’s what to know.
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Have a question? Comment? Want to tell us a no-good terrible story? Or a helpful parenting tip? We want to hear from you (and yes, we may publish your response in an article or forthcoming newsletter).
Send your thoughts to [email protected].
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