7 EASIEST DAILY ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE BRAIN HEALTH

Improve the power of your brain by doing these daily activities. Read the article and learn about the easiest daily activities to improve brain health.

Improving your physical health is one of the most important aspects to keep going in life. However, the improvement in mental health is also of similar importance as physical wellbeing is! That is the reason why improving your brain health is one such factor you should never ignore. If you are lurking around just to get some brain health improvement hacks, your wait is over since we have come up with the easiest activities to improve brain health of any person without even letting him/her know!

Yes, we are going to mention some of the simplest stuffs you can endeavor in order to improve your brain health to the extent. The workouts include some of the easiest activities like meditating, exercising, drinking more water, and even doing nothing! Sounds insane, right? But in reality, small habits like this can add up to offer you a healthier brain which will lead you to a healthy life. We are eliminating the obvious exercises like Yoga out of our article since you have already got some idea about it. Without pushing it further, let’s get into the activities you can do in order to embrace your mental health and fitness.

SPEND TIME IN MEDITATION

Well, it’s quite an obvious one since the fact is quite well-known that meditation improves concentration and memory. But according to the researchers and psychologists, that’s one of the reasons for getting into this healthy habit. Meditation has also been observed to increase the gray matter in the human brain including the parts of our brain which are responsible for learning and emotion processing. Moreover, meditation has also helped in reducing the anxiety and depression in the human brain!

If you are not meditating, it’s time to add this activity to your daily routine without delaying further. You need to start with a shorter interval and increase it to a greater time; probably, from a few minutes to 20-30 minutes per day!

SLEEP MORE

Your brain health and overall health can be extremely benefited and managed well by a quality sleep time between seven to nine hours. Your body and brain get recharged, manage life stressors and help in filing away the reminiscences and data into the long and short-term memories in this period of time while you are asleep!

You can ensure that you are getting enough rest by getting to your bed in a fixed schedule every night and adhering to a fixed sleeping schedule. Moreover, you also need to sleep in a comparatively cool, dark, and calm environment. Sleeping more is one of the most efficient daily activities to improve brain health

DO SOME EXERCISE

Making time for exercise a few times a week is always preferred, regardless of your busy schedule. When you exercise, that impacts your brain health directly from multiple angles. When you engage yourself into regular exercises, that will release the healthy growth factors along with a reduction in inflammation which will have an enormous impact on keeping your brain health at the highest extent. By getting involved into the exercises, you are most likely to be able to diminish the risk of brain issues caused by inflammation.

THINK HAPPY

While this one may sound a bit Utopian, thinking happy thoughts, in reality, is a wonderful way to improve your brain health! Well, the theory is quite simple – the more pleasant your thoughts are going to be, the more serene and functional your mind will be! Moreover, researchers have also shown that the blood flow also gets improved with better thoughts and happy hormone secretion in the human body. Thus, if you are finding yourself stressing out or going to a negative spiral, it’s time to stop right now and turn your negative thoughts into a happy one with some positivity. It’s difficult at the beginning, but with regular practice, it will get easier!

READ MORE

Reading is an inevitable way and one of the best daily activities to improve brain health. The practice of daily reading helps your brain exercise which initiates the complex cognitive functions and increases the blood flow to the brain. Moreover, reading different kinds of things also activates different areas of your brain, ignites the creativity, and modifies your brain structure for the betterment. In order to avail the benefits of reading, you may select any book from your favorites and start reading it in the morning, during lunch or after your dinner! Regardless of what you do, make reading a part of your life.

DRINK MORE WATER

According to researches and studies, our body is comprised of 70% of water. But what about our brain? Well, guess what! The human brain contains 85% of water! Like our body, our brain also needs fuel to function well and the water is the best way to give our brain the required energy!

For instance, if you are experiencing fatigue or brain fog, more water consumption can come to your rescue. This also signifies the decrease in the feeling of anger and depression as well as better sleeping. Each of these aspects is great in terms of brain health.

EAT HEALTHY FATS

In order to get better mood-stability and optimal brain function, human brains need Omega-3 fatty acids. Therefore, you need to add foods like flax and chia seeds, wild caught fatty fish, walnuts, and avocado into your meals. The health of your brain cell membranes is improved by Omega-3 and the healthy fats also make sure your brain is strong enough to fight the anxiety and depression.

You need to keep the above habits in mind at the moment and as you get older. Your brain health does not rely entirely on your genetics since the health of your brain is 70% lifestyle and just 30% genetics. This means you have control over your brain and your feelings. It’s never late to start a new habit which is ultimately going to embrace your health and mental stability over time. So, practice these daily activities to improve brain health and live like a champion.

7 STRESS BUSTER EXERCISES THAT REDUCE ANXIETY LIKE MAGIC

Do you go through stress more often? Well, we have the best stress buster exercises that can end your stress and anxiety like magic. Read to know more!

Different individuals have different ways of dealing with stress! Some read book, some listen to music, some go for a trip and some find a friend to lean on. However, there’s another proven way of fighting your anxieties and stress and get the upper hand – Stress-Buster Exercises! Hitting a gym and involving yourself with exercises not only builds your body but makes you mentally stronger along with bringing you out of your stress and anxieties!

Well, we are not pitching for a gym admission! According to the researches done by Harvard Health have proven that daily exercise reduces the secretion of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline in the human body. Moreover, the endorphin produced by exercises gives a natural high to humans and distracts them from everything else that’s bothering them.

However, it’s wise to remember that not all workout will be able to match your expectations when it comes to reducing your stress. There are a few selected workouts which are crowned as the finest stress-busters of all time! In this article, we are going to discuss the best stress-buster exercises you can start practicing.

YOGA

It is no surprise that Yoga is one of the best exercises for combatting your stress and anxieties. This ancient Hindu exercise is a mind-body exercise which involves postures and poses with control over the breathing and the right amount of relaxation. Apart from de-stressing our mind, Yoga comes in handy for helping us reduce the musculoskeletal tension and spasm which can grow in the key areas of our body such as shoulders, neck, face, back, fingers, jaw, and wrists. Therefore, Yoga becomes the most reliable exercise to lessen your anxiety and stress!

RUNNING

Have you ever felt that Feel-Good factor after a running session or a jogging session? Well, if not felt good, you must not also have felt stressed mentally! This is because running is an exercise that works great for reducing the stress since your heart rate is elevated and thus, the endorphins are released naturally by your brain. The endorphins are the feel-good neurotransmitters which reduce the perception of stress in your head and offers a sense of euphoria to you which is often called “runner’s high!”

TAI CHI

While the above two exercises are very much known to everybody, Tai Chi can be a term which may lift your eyebrows a bit up! Well, Tai Chi was originally innovated by the Chinese (as you can already assume by the name) for the self-defense. The exercise contains a series of movements performed slowly and with the utmost focus with a controlled and deep breathing. Tai Chi does the same as Yoga with stretching, twisting, and rotating muscles which helps the muscles relax.

HOUSECLEANING

You must be surprised, even shocked and thinking about how is it possible! Well, let us tell you that your daily household chores like sweeping, mopping floors, raking leaves or snow shoveling are nothing less than effective stress buster exercises. They also have a similar physiological effect like running, swimming, dancing, or walking! Moreover, you get a de-stressing bonus as you have actually completed the household chores! Fairly a win-win situation, right?

DANCING

Dancing is without any doubt one of the best stress-busters! Well, it has physical involvement as well as mental happiness during practice and later. Dancing is a cardiovascular activity which works the same as running does – it enhances your heart rate and keeps the endorphin flowing. Multiple studies have shown the fact that dancing not only helps you in reducing your stress but also helps you more than the other exercises or meditating alone. Dance forms like Zumba is available at the best gyms near you just like Starmark has the service to offer its members.

KICKBOXING

Have you ever felt punching somebody or something out of stress and anxiety? If it happens to you, kickboxing is an awesome activity which can take your anger out as well as offer you a relaxation that you have been looking for. Kickboxing is a form of martial arts which engage most of the muscles of your body and release the stress out of you! It not only makes you stronger mentally, but physically as well!

PILATES

Pilates is a great stress-buster exercise since most of the exercise focuses on your breathing. Pilates let your muscles and your brain relax! Just like Yoga, Pilates will also serve you with an increased mental concentration which will let you focus on positive things and reduce your stress in a great way!

These are the 7 Stress-Buster Exercises you need to start practicing today for reducing your stress and anxiety! Anxiety often holds you back from achieving heights and you look for a way to diminish the stress you are going through. In that scenario, exercise is a great way to help and these seven are the finest of them all! If you need expert consultation, Starmark is there with all the expert trainers, dietitians, and nutritionists who can help you get healthy – both mentally and physically!

5 HEALTH BENEFITS OF CARDIO WORKOUT YOU SHOULD NEVER IGNORE

Explore the top 5 health benefits of Cardio Workout that will drag you to the gym. Read the awesome healthiness of Cardio and start your daily cardio session.

For a few people, Cardio is a feared workout whereas the others are extremely passionate about it. Either way, Cardio workout is one of such key components of fitness that can never be eliminated from your fitness plan. Cardio or Cardiovascular exercise is the movements that increase your heart rate and get the blood circulation up throughout the body. Various methods and forms of cardio workouts can be found – all of which have specific guidelines and benefits. In this article, we’ll be taking a tour of the health benefits of Cardio Workout.

Most of the individuals, who are performing the cardio workout, use the exercise as a way to burn off the excess calories and the exercise also enhance the need for energy because of the continuous movements in your body. While a few cardio workouts work a little better when it comes to the fat loss, all the cardio exercises, however, come in handy for the calorie burning. Considering the fact that fat loss depends on the balance between calorie consumption and calorie burning, stepping to the cardio workout can be a viable decision. Now, we are going to portray the benefits you can enjoy with cardio.

IMPROVEMENT IN HEART HEALTH

One thing you need to bear in mind at first is that your heart is a muscle just like any other muscles in your body. So, what do you do to keep the muscles strong and healthy? You exercise focusing on those muscles! Thus, the same goes for your heart as well. It must be worked in order to become strong and stay strong! If you fail to work it, your heart will be weakened over time and that’s going to call for a range of negative health effects.

When you pump your heart at a faster rate on a regular basis, it comes into a good shape and becomes healthy. If you do some easy and everyday exercises like walking up the stairs and a little running, your heart rate would be on the positive side.

ENHANCED METABOLISM

There are never-ending health benefits of cardio workout which can be practiced on a daily routine. And metabolism is another reason to practice and perform this particular workout program. Alongside speeding up your heart rate, the Cardio workout works great for enhancing the rate of other vital health processes like your metabolic abilities!

In general, the more intense your cardio workout becomes, the more noticeable the outcome can be seen in your metabolism rate. Intense Interval Sprints, also known as HIIT, increase the metabolism considerably. When you increase your metabolism, it promptly makes it easier to maintain your weight (losing weight or gaining weight, as the case is).

IMPROVED HORMONAL PROFILE

You may get surprised but in reality, the cardiovascular exercises greatly improve the hormonal profile in your body! Yes, the cardio workouts change the hormonal profile in your body and release the ‘feel good’ hormones which come in handy for comforting the signs of depression and exhaustion in a great way. Also, practicing the cardio exercises discharges the hormones that reduce the appetite. Those individuals who are regularly partaking the cardio workouts are often seen to have a way more positive outlook towards life simply because the cardio workout is offering them the stress relief benefits.

BETTER RECOVERY ABILITY

The lower, more moderately paced forms of cardio workouts will be a great help in lessening your recovery time as well! Right after spending a hard session in the gym doing penetrating sets and reps of intense workouts, walking or light jogging or hopping on the treadmill can outstandingly help you remove the by-elements created during the lifting session in your body.

In this scenario, the cardiovascular workouts will aid you in deducing your Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Moreover, the workout will carry more oxygen-rich blood to your muscles tissues which will augment the repairing and rebuilding process of your body. In a nutshell or in simpler words, this will help you to be capable of getting back to the gym faster and work on your precious muscles once again.

However, remember that making the fine balance between the rest and workout is important since having no rest or having too much rest would lead you to see no positive outcome at all! Once the full recovery is achieved, you need to be frequent in terms of cardio workout in order to give birth to new muscles. But make sure, in that quest, you are not having too intense cardio or an excessive amount of cardio will be a roadblock in your recovery.

DIABETES MANAGEMENT

Good news for the diabetes patients – if you practice cardio workouts, you will be able to manage diabetes in your body! Yes, that’s right. When you perform the cardio workout in an ideal environment at a good multi gym in your area, it enhances your muscle’s capability of utilizing the glucose. Those individuals who perform the workout on a regular basis are more likely to have good control over their blood sugars and less likely to experience the blood sugar swings compared to those who don’t exercise!

FIND A GOOD GYM NEAR YOU AND START EXERCISING

Cardio workouts can be tricky and the intense workouts can damage your body too! Thus, it becomes immensely important to find a good nearby gym and start the cardio workouts under expert supervision. At Starmark Fitness Studio, we have the finest cardio professionals who can help you improve your heart health, hormonal profile, metabolism, recovery rate, and blood sugar level with the topnotch and most intuitive cardio workouts. If you want good health, we are just a call away! Join us and get all the health benefits of Cardio Workout.

7 LIFTING FACTS FOR WOMEN NOBODY HAS SAID YET

Know about the lifting facts for women you did not know before. Before you start your lifting sessions at your nearby gym, know these facts.

Weightlifting has earned a fair amount of popularity in the world of fitness for a long time as of now owing to the immense outcome and health benefits it serves. However, the women have been noticed not to participate in the weight lifting very much (a few exceptions are there though). Lifting weight is mainly considered to be the arena of the men. However, there are some facts about lifting which can leave you spellbound owing to the incredible health benefits it carries for the women! So, if you are a woman, you do not need to consider weight lifting out of your league as women can do everything a man is capable of. However, there’s a caution! If you are pregnant, skip the lifting as it may harm your health. In that situation, there are some safe pregnancy workouts you need to follow. So, let’s have a look at the 7 lifting facts for women.

1. OFFERS YOU STRENGTH FOR OTHER WORKOUTS

Lifting will make you better at everything you do and want to do! This is not to say that the yoga, barre or the Zumba class you have been attending or the marathon you have been training for are wrong for your fitness or health! It’s just that there’re always 2 sides of a coin and the workouts we have mentioned are on just one side and the strength stays on the other one! When you add strength to these workouts, you become a better yogi or a runner, and a better athlete, in a nutshell. Lifting and Strength training is the missing element between the commoners and the winners.

2. HELPS IN DIET AND NUTRITION

Lifting will surely alter your mindset regarding foods and daily intakes. Basically, the strength and muscles take a ton of energy to build and maintain. What we mean to say is, you will get to eat more and you must eat more when you do the lifting and strength workouts. Rather than an issue that needs to be resolved, the foods become your friend that works as a positive force that moves you towards your goals.

3. MORE WOMEN LIFT BEYOND IMAGINATION

This is one of the most surprising lifting facts for women. There is a hoard of an extraordinarily positive community of strong ladies waiting to be noticed and wowed! This can be a surprising (often shocking) fact for a range of women who have a bad experience regarding fitness and exercise from their adolescent years. But to be serious, it’s not like junior high anymore. However, if it still is like the junior high, your gym has an issue and you surely require joining a new gym near you. The female lifters can be encouraging and competitive at the same time in the best way possible. We, as the finest gym in Kolkata, always want the women to do better because it makes us better and makes us feel great to watch women getting stronger.

4. LIFTING DOES NOT MEAN BULKY

It’s no fact that lifting would make you bulky. Especially, when it comes to women, it’s not true at all! Basically, the hormonal profile of women is different than the men and that restricts the women to gain the muscles as the men do by accident. Unless you are a woman who is training and eating (particularly, eating) actively with the precise goal of getting larger (which is appreciated by Starmark), you are not going to see any excessive amount of weight gain.

5. LIFTING HAS DIFFERENT DIFFICULTY LEVELS TO BE DECIDED BY TRAINEE

The difficulty level of lifting would depend on how you want it to be! Let us make it clear that the lifting is not something you require living up to, it is an exercise which can meet you wherever you are at the moment. It’s okay not being able to lift a barbell over your head because there are more ways than you can imagine to build strong shoulders. If you are injured, do not think your strength workout has stopped as a dream, there are other ways of working around it. Even if you feel you have no capability of doing anything, a smart trainer will surely make you do the unimaginable things in the safest way possible and would prove you wrong.

6. LIFTING IMPROVES HUMAN BODY’S CAPABILITY

The human body becomes more capable with the weight lifting. Many individuals often get obsessed with how ‘functional’ their training is but you don’t have to! Simply, lift steadily and gradually getting stronger trains your body to do more, be more, and to cross the old limitations. Whether it is changing the water cooler’s jug, moving the couch on your living room or something else from your daily jobs, these small but intuitive tasks would let you use your strength to take over the radar of your life.

7. LIFTING FOR LONGER PERIOD GIVES BETTER RESULTS

One fact about lifting is quite certain – the longer your training is, the better results you get. For instance, the goals you set at the year of, say, 35 (with regular training in the past) would have left you stunned at the age of 25! One thing that you need to bear in mind is you need to be consistent and push yourself to be better every single day.

So, these are the lifting facts each and every woman should know. If you are serious about your fitness, then there’s way more to explore than the usual Yoga, running, and treadmills! Lifting can be an efficient workout for the women and being one of the best multi gyms for women in Kolkata, Starmark always persuades the women to achieve optimum fitness.

TIPS TO CREATE A REALISTIC TRAINING PLAN TO ACHIEVE FITNESS

A realistic training plan is a fundamental necessity for any fitness goal; or else, you’ll give up in between. Know how to create realistic training plan!

Whether you are a newbie in the world of fitness and health or have already been trying to get in great shape for a while but failing miserably, you need an efficient training plan on your side in order to have the finest result. This will be applicable for all your needs – whether you want yourself to be marathon-ready or want to perk up the number of bench press! Thus, we are here to help you create a realistic training plan to meet your fitness goals and get the results you have been aiming at.

HOW TO CREATE A REALISTIC TRAINING PLAN

Being the largest multi gym in Kolkata, we have studied a number of individuals as well as observed their improvement with different training plans. After a day-to-day detailed observation, we have finally crafted the finest principles you need to follow in order to derive the finest outcome in terms of health and fitness.

RECOGNIZE YOUR FITNESS GOALS AND PUT YOUR EFFORTS INTO A SPECIFIC DISCIPLINE FOR A CERTAIN PERIOD

“If you don’t know where you’re trying to get to, you’ll never arrive”. – this particular saying goes apt with what we want to convey! If you do not understand your fitness goals, you will never be able to structure a good training plan which will be productive and result-driven.

Fitness is a vast word indeed with multiple layers and different meanings for different people. Fitness may mean strength, flexibility, anaerobic conditioning, and more! During your gym session at any particular time, you are going to work on multiple aspects of the fitness equation. But all of them have one thing in common – the primary focus is essential to have.

Bodybuilders’ ‘bulking’ and ‘cutting’ cycles are performed differently at different times just because of the fact that losing fat and gaining muscles is far more manageable when they are performed separately rather than pursued at the same time.

HAVE SIMPLE FUNDAMENTALS. DO NOT OVER-COMPLICATE THINGS

Fitness world is a place where you will find almost an unlimited amount of complexities and anybody could be forgiven for a small break-down or giving up prior to even starting the training!

Thousands of articles and books are there which give us details about the best training process, principles, and training methodologies. Also, there can be many supplements and training tools found more than your imagination. In most of the cases, the training tools and fitness approaches would have a positive impact but no visible progress will never come out if you don’t focus.

Thus, structuring your training process and workout regime with simple fundamentals would be the best way to kickstart your training plan and have a realistic goal. Afterward, you can add in some complicated stuff but avoid the over-complications.

In a nutshell, remember one very important factor for success – consistency is the king! Start with small workouts, be consistent with it and proceed by adding up difficulties. Never miss a session – that’s the secret to create a realistic training plan and meet the fitness goals.

TRACK DOWN YOUR CALORIE IF YOU WANT TO BULK UP OR LEAN OUT

If you need to gain a good amount of muscle, you will surely need to eat at a caloric surplus. On the contrary, you need to eat at a caloric deficit in order to lose a considerable amount of fat from your body.

It’s not often possible by the people to calculate and estimate the accurate amount of food they are eating from one day to another. In that quest, you can track down your calories via intuitive tools like MyFitnessPal or something that works.

So, these are the three most considerable aspects to create a realistic training plan for meeting a fitness goal. If you want to get fit, the foremost activity you should do is to create a fitness goal that you want to achieve and plan your training accordingly. What we mean to say is that you should never make a training plan at the very beginning that is not possible for you to follow or pursue. Always remember, the success that sticks around comes gradually. So, you need to focus on sustainable development if you want your body to get fitter than ever. However, if you are not able to find the right regime for yourself, you can consult the most luxurious gym in Kolkata i.e. Starmark Fitness Studio.

SAFE EXERCISES DURING PREGNANCY – BEST TIPS FOR PREGNANT LADIES

Know about the safe exercises during pregnancy in our article. Each exercise is made for the fitness-loving women who are about to give birth to a new life.

It’s an established fact that the maintenance of fitness level during pregnancy is one of the most crucial aspects of any woman’s health. Not only the fitness exercises keep you healthy during your days of pregnancy but it also offers your body the strength to cope with labor! Apart from these benefits, certain safe exercises during pregnancy can help you regain your shape after giving birth to your child.

In contrast with the popular belief, doing exercise when you are pregnant is not fundamentally risky. Even NHS reports state the fact very clearly that women involved in exercises during their pregnancy are way less likely to experience issues after pregnancy and labor! However, what you need to keep in mind is that not every sort of exercise is safe and can offer you the benefits. In order to give you a better idea of the exercises you need to practice when you are pregnant, we have crafted a useful list of such workout programs.

A LIST OF SAFE EXERCISES DURING PREGNANCY

The following exercises you will discover are specially crafted considering the safety of pregnant women. So, you will be able to perform these exercises despite your current health conditions.

YOGA

Yoga is a multipurpose workout that offers a great deal of flexibility and helps in maintaining your muscle tone. Yoga is also a low-impact workout which makes it easily adjustable along with the progress of your pregnancy. Even if you have not done Yoga before, it is an exercise even the beginners would be able to catch up with and perform during their phases of pregnancy.

SWIMMING

Swimming is apt for each stage of your pregnancy and one of the safe exercises to practice during pregnancy. Especially, during the third trimester, Swimming is an exercise that would help you relieve your stress as the water comes in handy for lightening your load by supporting your weight. If you perform light swimming for 30 minutes (maximum), nothing can be a better exercise than this. It will be the perfect exercise for all your muscle groups as well as your overall fitness while being safe for you and your baby at the same time!

WALKING

Walking is an exceptionally effective daily-life exercise that keeps your blood circulation running and burns calories. Also, walking or brisk walking can be a risk-less exercise which will be immensely useful at each stage of your pregnancy as it will keep you fit and active. Include 30-minute walking into your daily pregnancy exercise plan as it is designed for your everyday exercise routine. Whether it’s an open-air walking or a treadmill, walking will matter if you are pregnant.

EXERCISES TO AVOID WHEN YOU ARE PREGNANT

As you have already explored the safe exercises during pregnancy you need to perform each and every day, it’s time to know the exercises you need to avoid while you are about to give birth to a new life! If you are used to running, you may run at a low pace, that also after consulting with doctors and physicians. Here is the list of exercises which are a strict ‘NO’ for a pregnant lady.

  • Ball sports like Football, Cricket, Tennis, etc. can be lethal for you since there is a huge risk of your bump being tackled or hit!
  • Risk sports like rock climbing, trekking, ice climbing, horse riding and more are never preferred if you are a pregnant woman as they are too physical and may result in a fall!
  • The body contact games like boxing, martial arts, or wrestling should not even be among your considerations as it can cause a serious injury for you and your baby!

In conclusion, you need to avoid the strenuous and exhausting exercises and should always go for the low-impact workouts which will keep you fit and fine without causing any injury or harm! It is always your responsibility to keep yourself and your baby harm-free so that you can live happily and healthily in the future as well! The above-mentioned safe exercises during pregnancy will be the ones you should opt for as they are the ones which will help you to be fit without any injury or harm!

Starmark has always been one of the pioneers where you will find all the exercises which are especially crafted for women. If you want to join a gym later your pregnancy for an improvement in your fitness, you can claim your place at our gym and get trained by the personal and group trainers along with the finest nutritionists and dietitians.