Hey Everyone! I hope you all had a great Father’s Day, I know I did. I’m back once again with the best health & fitness blog articles from around the web to help you chugging along on your weight loss journey. Keeping up with articles like these helped me get to where I am today and I hope they can help you achieve your goals too!
This week we cover how to keep from overheating during your summer workouts, how kids in the US might not be getting enough water, how exercise can literally change how you think, why your heart rate stays up after workouts, and the US government ban on trans fats in our foods.
The Best Health & Fitness Blogs From Last Week
How to Stay Cool During Summer Workouts
As much as you don’t want to slack off, when it’s a bazillion degrees with 8,000% humidity, lying on the couch in your air-conditioned living room starts to look reeeeeally tempting.
With summer in full swing and workouts migrating to the outdoors, prepping for your workouts is just as important as making sure they actually happen. The nicer weather makes for an amazing change of pace, but the higher temperatures also increase your risk for heat stroke or exhaustion which can make your “Go Hard or Go Home” philosophy land you in the hospital rather than the comfort of your couch.
No matter where you end up working out, listening to what your body’s telling you and keeping these principles in mind during your summer workouts will help prevent heat exhaustion from taking you out of the game.
- Time Your Workout
- Stay Hydrated
- Eat to Beat the Heat
- Dress the Part
- Scale Back
- Heed the Warning Signs
U.S. Kids Aren’t Drinking Enough Water
A study that was recently published in the American Journal of Public Health was originally meant to study the amount of sugary drinks kids were drinking at school, but found that they weren’t drinking much of anything at all. That’s not to say that your kids are dying of thirst while they’re at school, simply that getting better access to water could use a bit of attention.
Another thing to bear in mind is that if your children are having behavioral or learning issues at school, dehydration could be to blame. A dehydrated kid is a tired kid and tired kids lose focus easily which can cause their grades to slip from not paying attention during lessons.
The study found that more than half of America’s youth are not drinking enough water. One in four aren’t drinking any during the day.
Study Shows Exercise May Change the Way You Think
If you took Intro to Psychology in college, you’re probably familiar with scientific studies using identical twins as the subjects. When it comes to studying the effects of one’s behaviors or surroundings over time, you really can’t do much better than two different people that share virtually every single gene with one another. A study was recently published that charted the twins’ life trajectory when one continued to exercise after an active childhood and the other did not.
Data showed the twins who exercised on a regular basis had higher endurance levels, lower body fat percentage, and proper blood sugar levels.
Pretty much what you expected, right? That’s not the neat part. What’s really cool is that the twin who continued to exercise throughout adulthood had increased activity and adaptation in the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for motor function, working memory, problem solving, decision making, etc. Staying healthy not only strengthens your body, but also your mind!
Why Your Heart Rate Stays High After Working Out
First off, it’s not a dangerous situation, so you can choose to let your body handle it over time.
Before we get started, everyone’s different. Some people cool down super quick where others can thirty minutes or more, sometimes over an hour. If it takes you a long time to cool down after exercising, this one’s for you.
Your heart rate isn’t immediately dropping back down because you were working your butt off. That’s a good thing, it’s supposed to happen. Keep it up, that’s how you see results. However, if your elevated heart rate becomes uncomfortable, there are a few things you can do before, during, and after your workout to help ease the transition.
What Should be Banned After Trans Fat?
After declaring it a dietary demon in 2013, the FDA issued a call for a full out ban by 2018 as an additive in U.S. food products.
Health experts rejoice! With the US government cracking down on trans fat as an additive in our food, one of the major causes of stroke, heart disease, Type II diabetes, and obesity is being yanked off the market with extreme prejudice. Though it helped preserve processed foods, which may or may not be a good thing, it also wreaked havoc on hundreds of thousands of Americans’ cholesterol levels by raising LDL (the bad kind) and lowering HDL (the good kind). Though the damage is done, it’s a big win for a healthier diet for all Americans.