Before we reveal how our bear crawl differs from others, first, a quick anatomy lesson. The body has eight load-bearing joints—the shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles. When those load-bearing joints are in alignment both vertically and horizontally, the body is symmetrical and functions the way it was designed to. However, when one of those joints gets out of alignment, the body begins to compensate in other areas, leading to postural dysfunction. This can lead to many unwanted consequences, including a limited range of motion in your other joints. Most bodies become out of alignment largely because of our sedentary lifestyles. I won’t claim sitting is the new smoking, but I do see it as a sport that we need to train our bodies for. (If you prepare for the chair, sitting can burn calories and create energy. Here’s how!)

One very common unwanted consequence of a compromised posture is pelvic dysfunction, and this has an unfortunate effect on the psoas muscle. The psoas is a major, complex set of three muscles that extend from the lower middle spine down to the top of the thighs, or femurs, and includes something commonly called the hip flexor. In its original design, the body uses the psoas and hip flexor for a great number of activities, including walking, running, standing up, and sitting down. But for many of us, that hip flexor—and the psoas in general—has gone long underused, and the pelvis has grown so accustomed to never having to engage the hip flexor that, in many instances, it simply doesn’t anymore.

Related: The Muscle You’ve Never Heard of But Need to Know

That’s amazing, right? I never cease to marvel at how incredible the human body is in its ability to work for us even when it’s not functioning properly. That said, we are healthier when it is fully functional.

Now, back to the bear crawl. When most people do the bear crawl, they do so with the pelvis up higher than the head and in trunk flexion, which means the back is humped up. I will refer to this as the traditional bear crawl, and it looks like this:

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Our modified version of the bear crawl in Elev8d Fitness anticipates and counteracts pelvic dysfunction. The move starts in the same position as the traditional bear crawl on your hands and feet. Next, focus on keeping your hips on the same plane as your head so that your back resembles a table top—flat and un-arching. Lastly, drag the hips back to your heels, creating a straight line through the shoulders, hips, and knees. It looks like this:

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In this position, the psoas is engaged, and that has major benefits: It causes the big posture muscles in the front and back of your body to activate the eight load joints throughout this exercise in a range that they’re designed to achieve. Thus, it becomes a total-body exercise so that you are getting twice the workout in half the time. You are now maximizing the efficiency of the exercise.

What’s more, when done correctly, our bear crawl is fatiguing, and in a good way. You emerge from doing it feeling more energized, and that’s neither an illusion nor a fluke. Engaging the entire body—especially parts that have been long dormant like the psoas—facilitates a utilization of glucose through all of your cells and promotes a huge upsurge in blood oxygen. In other words, the Elev8d bear crawl gives you a natural sugar high and oxygen high.

While most people perform this exercise in only one direction, Elev8d challenges you to move backward and sideways too, kicking one leg out wide and using the hands to move you to that leg before you bring the other along. Aim to pinch your shoulder blades together throughout the movement to achieve the best form.

By doing Elev8d’s bear crawl correctly in all directions, you are overcoming any inherent postural dysfunction, engaging the psoas, and compelling your joints and limbs to have full range of motion as the body was intended to move. The exercise, then, is an unbelievably demanding total-body activity. As you’ll see in our Elev8d Fitness workouts, it is incorporated with other exercises in a very specific sequence to help align your body and maximize your effort in minimal time. But don’t wait. Start practicing Elev8d bear crawls now—in your living room or at your gym—and start reaping the rewards of this game-changer.

Photography by Hailey Wist

Discover how efficient and effective Elev8d Fitness workouts are! Try the 8-Minute Weight-Loss Workout Series and the Total-Body At-Home Workout Series.

The post Master the Bear Crawl, Change Your Body appeared first on Sonima.

When you perform drills and exercises at full-tilt, your body’s stronger muscles overpower the small-but-all-important stabilizers. Those little muscles play a huge role in protecting you from injury.

If you slow things down and force those tiny muscles to work, the results can be profound as 30-year-old former pro lacrosse player Roy Lang discovered.

“Slowing down is the hardest thing,” Lang says. “The lacrosse mentality is that if you aren’t moving as fast as you can all the time, you aren’t working hard. Everything I did throughout college and high school was about how to be the fastest and how to do the most reps.”

So it was surprising, to say the least, when Lang launched into his first-ever Elev8d Fitness workout and “got my butt kicked.” How could that happen to a guy who trains sometimes twice per day? Because when you focus on movement quality, rather than quantity (number of reps), resistance (how much weight is on the bar), or speed, you challenge your body in an entirely different way. It’s a training technique that Lang wishes he’d tried years ago.

“The reason I got injured after college was because I wasn’t paying attention to those little things,” Lang says.

Like many gifted athletes, Lang got by on raw talent, strength, and speed for years. Those traits took him far: He earned all-everything honors as a captain at St. Ignatius College Prep, one of the top-rated lacrosse high schools in California. He was then recruited by Cornell University, where he played in the National Championship and the Final Four. He was a First Team All-American Midfielder, a two-time First Team All-Ivy, and a two-time Academic All-Ivy. Lang was then drafted by the Rochester Rattlers and played two years professionally. But early in his pro career, he paid a hefty price for his all-out, all-the-time approach to training.

“My lower back gave out at 24,” Lang says. “It was the off-season. I was doing a workout with heavy power cleans and heavy squats when a shooting pain went through my left leg. I’d never missed a game in my life, but suddenly I couldn’t lift my leg for a few months.”

The injury, along with some of the financial realities about playing lacrosse at the pro level (let’s just say there isn’t NBA money in it), led Lang to switch careers. He’s now a salesman at a Silicon Valley software firm. And while he walked away from the pro athlete life, he’s just as demanding on his body as ever, regularly competing in basketball and club-level lacrosse, and training in the weight room to stay sharp for both.

Lang’s hardcore workout regimen is evident when you meet him. He’s tall and chiseled with formidable shoulders. Visible veins run down his arms and marble his forearms. How could someone who’s already in such great shape benefit from adding Elev8d’s short workouts?

Related: Low-Intensity Interval Training: Better Results by Doing Less

“An extreme athlete can view this training as a ‘work up’ rather than a ‘workout,'” says Brian Bradley, director of Elev8d Fitness. “Consider it like the dynamic warm-up soccer teams use in Europe.”

Elev8d Fitness is an alignment-based, home workout program co-founded by Pete Egoscue, renowned physiologist and creator of the Egoscue Method. There are two elements of method that make it even more effective than a typical dynamic warm-up. First, the moves help you develop better body awareness. Second, they are distinctly effective at improving your alignment and balancing your musculature. So not only do you get a great workout, but the benefits last long after your training session ends.

Lang, who did an Elev8d Fitness workout before training and games with his club team, says he noticed big differences.

“[During workouts] I noticed that I was ready to go a lot faster,” Lang says. “I used to need the first 5 to 15 minutes of a game to loosen up. But having those muscles activated helped a lot. I definitely plan on using it before lacrosse from now on.”

Meanwhile, off the field, Lang is standing a little taller, feeling more energized, and generally has a better idea of what’s going on with his body overall.

“I’m slowing down and actually listening to my body,” Lang says. “You start to realize how you’d let some things go, like hip mobility and alignment. Now, I can tell when my hips are tight—and I know how to fix it.”

Related: How Working Out 4 Times a Week Will Change Your Body

Those are a lot of benefits to reap from workouts that can take as little as eight minutes to complete. (Some old habits die hard, however, so Lang consistently took on the 16-minute versions.) As his new job has taken up more of his time and led to some travel, he found that the workouts gave him a way to stay in shape on those days.

“I think I’ll be doing Elev8d Fitness even more as I get older. I have kids and can’t spend an hour and a half at the gym,” Lang says.

Lang wanted to be clear, however, that he’d recommend Elev8d Fitness to any athlete, especially younger ones. In fact, it may be even more important for up-and-coming athletes because the program helps strengthen the things that other training methods miss.

“My advice would be to take it slowly and seriously. I would recommend [Elev8d Fitness] even more than yoga because it’s strengthening the joints. And the joints are what goes first,” Lang said. “You’ll find a lot of value in correct posture, hip strength, and mobility. This is 100 percent about taking care of your body.”

Boost energy and athleticism and feel amazing with Elev8d Fitness! Try the Move Better, Feel Better, Look Better Workout Series or the 16-Minute Challenge Series.

The post The 8-Minute Cross-Training Workout Every Athlete Should Do appeared first on Sonima.

“The fitness world has convinced us that you can be fit only with extreme effort,” says Pete Egoscue, world-renowned physiologist and co-founder of Elev8d Fitness, the new home workout program from the experts of Sonima. “They’ve convinced everyone that fitness is hard and that the key is the more effort you apply, the better your results. In essence, more is better.”

But the focus on quantifying anything and everything in your fitness routine is counter-productive. Doing so takes the focus off of the goal—being healthy—and puts it on numbers and ever-increasing levels of effort.

First, there’s no correlation between an increase in numbers and fitness. We’ve all seen the guy with hulking arms who can bench press 400 pounds but can’t lift his arms over his head. In no way should that lack of mobility be construed as fitness. Indeed, one of the primary ingredients that defines fitness for Egoscue is a full range of motion. So much of what we do, especially in gyms, provides zero benefit for our range of motion.

But there’s another reason that obsession with numbers can lead to an unproductive cycle: It’s not very fun. “That’s why so many people who join gyms stop going after a few weeks,” says Egoscue, who considers fun the second ingredient that defines fitness.

Remember How to Play 

In an effort to track and quantify, we’ve lost our ability to simply play. Think about play in decades past—a sepia-tinged, nostalgic vision of kids playing. It’s one part Calvin and Hobbes, one part summertime stickball, a dash of “Ring Around the Rosie”—all innocence and effortless joy. No one calls it fitness; they call it childhood. There’s no counting reps or judgments about whether Sally ran faster today than she did yesterday. It’s just about having a good time.

Related: How Your Feelings Affect Your Workout

“Play is fun because there are no judgments associated with it,” Egoscue says. “There’s just the joy of participation. There’s the joy of self-actualization. That’s where games came from. That’s where sport comes from. All sport started with a sense of play.”

It may be tough to scare up enough players for a game of stickball in the street, but it’s probably not especially difficult to go for a run in the woods. Or instead of today’s trip to the gym, why not head to the local playground for a half-hour of tag with your kids and see how you feel afterward? Or say you do go to the gym. Rather than follow a prescribed workout, just do what you feel like doing. Jump around or do a few somersaults. A sense of play can breathe life into your fitness routine. You just have to let it.

Fun Is More Effective

I ran a lot one summer and fall, training for the New York City Marathon. Spend 15 seconds Googling and you can find any number of marathon training guides, every week mapped out, each day with its own goal. (Even rest is programmed.) I had a GPS watch that I’d wear on training runs, which told me how fast I was running, how far I went, and how many strides I took per second. I was constantly aware of numbers, times, speed, and more. Information overload.

On one long run, I left the watch at home. I had an approximate path mapped out in my head, but I let my body guide me. If I wanted to turn left, I turned left. If one street looked interesting, I ran down it. I saw my surroundings and enjoyed the run. And when I got home and checked my time, I realized that I ran faster than I had previously. By letting go and having fun, I improved.

Related: This 8-Minute Beginner Workout Will Make You Love Exercise

Elev8d Fitness is predicated, in large part, on having fun. It’s full of exercises that recall childhood freedom. The workouts get you down on the ground and moving around in ways many of us haven’t in far too long. What’s more, there are no set numbers. Yes, the workouts are structured in eight, 16, and 24 minutes, and within each workout, each exercise is prescribed for a timed interval. “But you don’t have to do it for the whole time,” Egoscue says. “Do it as long as you can. If you can only do it for 15 seconds, fine. No one’s judging. That freedom takes away all the sense of drudgery and duty with fitness.”

The key to returning to play is to change what you’re experiencing. When it comes to working out, you should be looking to have a good time, have fun, experiment, and enjoy. Forget numbers and reps, and the neurosis of perfection. You’ll love the change and see the benefits.

Take it from Egoscue, a man who knows: “If you’re not having any fun in life, then what’s the point?”

Looking for more fun, playful workouts? Try the Elev8d Fitness eight-minute Get Back in Shape Workout or the Weight-Loss Workout Series.

The post The Secret to a Better Workout? Have More Fun with It appeared first on Sonima.

But here’s the thing: These aches or knots often give you insight into other areas of your body (not just that specific muscle) and your overall alignment. For instance, tight hamstrings could mean you have a limited range of motion in the joints above and below the muscle, or your pelvis, knee, or lower leg, says Pete Egoscue, co-founder of Elev8d Fitness, a total-body eight-minute workout program developed by the experts of Sonima.

Of course, massaging the area—or spending some time stretching—might help temporarily, but it doesn’t address the root of the problem. Here’s how to get to the bottom of poor flexibility and muscle tension.

Activating One Muscle to Stretch Another

“Instead of stretching a tight muscle, we’d rather ask why is the muscle tight,” says Brian Bradley, fitness director of Elev8d Fitness. Typically speaking, “tight muscles are essentially doing what the non-activated muscle group should be doing,” he explains.

In other words, if you have tight hamstrings, that could mean they’re working in overdrive to make up for the lack of effort from your hip flexors. Or if your lower back is feeling uncomfortable, that might reveal your core is putting in zero work. That’s why stretching that hamstring or your low back might feel good for a little while, but without addressing the opposing muscle group, it’ll just keep going back to its uncomfortable state.

Let’s focus on the core for a second and how weakness in your midsection can lead to discomfort and tightness in other areas. This is particularly true of your back. Research actually says there’s a strong tie between back pain in runners and weak core muscles. But strengthen your middle, and you could relieve those aches.

Related: The Surprising Muscle Weakness Linked to Back Pain

Taking that even further, many runners also often experience IT band syndrome. Often times, they’ll spend days on a foam roller trying to work it out and loosen it up. But really, they should look to their core. “Stretching alone will generally not be successful,” says Theodore Shybut, M.D., assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. “Many people don’t realize that tightness or contracture [shortening and hardening of the muscles] is usually secondary to a core weakness or muscle imbalance. A program of core strengthening that addresses the underlying deficiency and corrects running posture and mechanics will be much more successful.”

This same principle holds true in strength training. Take the deadlift, for instance. If you teach your core to fire properly, then you take the movement out of your back into your hamstrings and glutes where it belongs, Bradley says.

Why It’s Time for More Active Stretching

The debate about stretching—whether static works better before or after a workout or whether you should do more dynamic movements—has been going on in research for some time. But experts have come to a pretty agreeable conclusion: To get your body to move most efficiently during your workout, warming up with movement is key. In fact, one review concluded that static stretching pre-workout could hinder your performance, while another said it doesn’t reduce your risk of injury anyway.

“Your body is designed to warm to the task naturally. Walking warms your muscles for running, and running warms you up for jumping,” Egoscue explains.

The Best Way to Increase Range of Motion

Besides simply warming up the body with light movements, another solid way to get started in improving range of motion is with proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF), or a contract, relax, repeat approach to stretching or strengthening, according to research.

This is the exact approach Elev8d Fitness takes in their GLAM sequence, a workout to help improve your body alignment and range of motion. “Elev8d exercises go after balancing mechanics, which allow your body to become driven by, say, the hips, which are a load-bearing joint, rather than driven by the peripheral, tight muscles,” Bradley explains.

GLAM specifically fires up your glutes and hamstrings. “The GLAM sequence is great because it helps activate your balancing mechanism by using your big leg muscles, so your hip flexors can turn back on and your lower back and glutes won’t be firing all day or all workout,” Bradley says.

Ready to improve your flexibility and gain strength, in less than 10 minutes? Try the 8-Minute Strength Series or the 8-Minute Total-Body Transformation Workout.

The post A New Approach to Improving Flexibility appeared first on Sonima.

We asked Brian Bradley, fitness director for Elev8d Fitness, the new home workout program from the experts at Sonima, to tackle three frequently cited tips on creating a healthy routine. Below, he debunks each and offers a fresh, flexible way of thinking.

Old School Rule #1

Leave your gym clothes out at night so you can exercise first thing in the morning.

New school advice: Work out at a time of day that feels right for you.

If you’re an early bird with time to spare first thing, fantastic. But what if you need to be at work at 6 a.m. or work the night shift? What if you tend to wake up as Crabby McSloth and don’t feel human until your coffee kicks in? “The advice has to fit your lifestyle and your personality,” explains Bradley, a self-declared non-morning person. He also notes that morning workouts are often endorsed for their ability to jumpstart your metabolism for the day, “but a night workout can increase your metabolic rate in a similar way, keeping it elevated all night long while you sleep.” With an eight-minute Elev8d Fitness workout, specifically, “your body will be awake and more functional for the following 23 hours and 52 minutes, no matter what time of day you do it.”

Related: How Your Feelings Affect Your Workout

Another point to consider: “Scheduling tough workouts for the morning can be dangerous because your spine isn’t necessarily ready,” Bradley says. “As you spend all night in a horizontal position, the discs in your back are rehydrating with fluid. When you stand up in the morning, it takes time for those discs to return to a healthy thickness. Before they do, they have less give, leaving you more vulnerable to injury.” (That’s also why bending over first thing in the morning often feels so uncomfortable.)

Old School Rule #2

Set aside 30 minutes to an hour every day for exercise.

New school advice: Work out for eight to 16 minutes.

Elev8d Fitness workouts emphasize alignment and quality of movement so that you yield results without diminishing returns. You’ll break a sweat, but for less than 20 minutes. In other words, you can get the job done in far less time and with much better results, and still have 30 minutes left over to read a magazine, nap, play with your kids, or just veg out. Elev8d Fitness strongly believes that, when it comes to improving your fitness, alignment, and health, quality matters far more than quantity.

What’s the point of slogging away for 45 minutes on a recumbent bike if your body functions the exact same way afterward, if your hip flexors are just as tight, if your glutes still aren’t activated, and if your upper body hasn’t gotten a lick of action? Bradley likens the phenomenon of whiling away an hour at the gym, mindlessly bouncing from machine to machine, to a family staying home to spend “quality time” together…while everyone is glued to their phones.

Related: Low-Intensity Interval Training: Better Results By Doing Less

Elev8d Fitness rallies against the “more is better” philosophy and prioritizes sequence and efficiency. The eight core movements that underpin the program are designed to align the load-bearing joints (shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles), so that your body can function as it was designed to—as a unified, synergistic system. And the exercises are arranged in a specific order intended to align your body, activate deeper muscles, and take your joints through a full range of motion in fun routines that take only eight, 16, or 24 minutes. (Try the 8×8 Challenge.)

Old School Rule #3

Schedule your workouts in your calendar.

New school advice: Find your motivation.

Scheduling your workout in your smartphone calendar or day planner makes it feel like something to get out of the way. But you should enjoy moving, not think of it as a chore that needs to be ticked off your to-do list. Schedule your work meeting, not your workout.

Instead, find a workout you love, that feels joyful, free, and fun, and you won’t feel the need to slot it into the same “must-do” category as “dentist appointment”.

Bradley wants you to create an inherent motivator, or as he likes to say: “Find your why.” Your why is your main motivation for exercising. It doesn’t matter what it is—health, appearance, stress relief—so long as it speaks to you and gets you moving. Once you’ve tapped into your inspiration, fuel it with moves that set your inner kid free: jumps, crab walks, bear crawls, and backbends. The more you do them, the less they feel like work and the more fun they become. Pretty soon, these eight to 16 minutes will organically weave themselves into your everyday routine—no calendar alarms required.

The post The New Thinking on Old-School Workout Advice appeared first on Sonima.

The truth is, soreness doesn’t have to be the inevitable side effect of intense exercise. Efficient warm-ups, proper hydration, and natural remedies can have a powerful impact on the human body. Here are eight ways to fight (and prevent) post-workout pain the natural way.

1. Have a dedicated warm-up

Workouts that call for overexertion, like high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and CrossFit, can often leave you aching. But it’s not so much the workout itself that’s to blame. Rather it’s the body you’re bringing to that workout, says Brian Bradley, fitness director of Elev8d Fitness, the new eight-minute home workout program from the experts at Sonima. If you bring a misaligned, stiff body to fitness, you could be unknowingly welcoming increased muscle soreness and strain.

Fortunately, a little prep work pays off. Just a simple eight-minute workout that brings your body through its full range of motion and aligns your major joints can dramatically decrease soreness. Dynamic movements wake up your deep, core muscles and help correct your posture so that you move more efficiently during the rest of your activity. “You’ll get so much more out of your actual workout because you’ll be able to stand more erect, where your lung tissue and diaphragm can function correctly, feeding your body more oxygen,” Bradley says.

Related: How Much Muscle Soreness Is Too Much?

2. Fill up on H20

Soaking yourself in an ice bath can constrict blood vessels and halt inflammation, thus delaying muscle soreness associated with exercise. But simply drinking water can provide relief too. “Many times, people get muscle soreness and a general inflammatory response from being dehydrated,” says Janet Zand, a leading practitioner of natural medicine and Sonima’s naturopathic medical advisor. Research even demonstrates that being dehydrated during a workout can exacerbate DOMS.

If you’re sweating a lot or feel thirsty throughout the day, skip the coffee and sip some pure H20, Zand says. The average person needs about 12 cups a day, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). But that number is higher if you’re active. Also, it’s best to drink small amounts of water over a period of time, as too much at once can disrupt your stomach.

3. Massage with Ayurvedic oils

In Ayurvedic medicine, muscular pain or discomfort is seen as an aggravation of vata energy, which behaves like the wind, says Jayagopal Parla, M.D., a professor of Ayurvedic medicine at the American University of Complementary Medicine in Beverly Hills. When you move your body to the extent that it’s stressed and depleted, that deficiency can be filled by vata, leaving a dryness in the muscles, manifesting as achiness or soreness, he says. Massaging the body with an oil such as Mahanarayana Thailam before or exercise can prevent inflammation and keep vata from reaching abnormal states, Parla says.

4. Try arnica

This potent flower has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties that soothe sore muscles. One small study of runners found that people who applied topical arnica to their muscles after a tough workout reported less pain and muscle tenderness 72 hours after exercise. Apply it topically or take the dissolving supplement under the tongue every hour for two to three hours, Zand suggests.

5. Soak in a peppermint and rosemary oil bath

Epsom salts are a well-known sore-muscle solution, but there are other bath rituals worth adopting. Zand favors anti-inflammatory peppermint oil. The National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy agrees that the oil can be beneficial for muscle aches and pains. Add it to your bath water for a rejuvenating (and fragrant) soak.

Related: 8-Minute Sculpted Butt and Hips Workout

6. Experiment with CBD oil

Cannabidiol (CBD)—one of the cannabinoids found in marijuana (but not the chemical that’s responsible for the drug’s high)—is the latest pain reliever du jour. And research, including a review from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, confirms that cannabinoids can indeed be potent pain relievers.

“For many people, CBD oil works very nicely in relieving sore muscles,” Zand says. As for now, the data is still playing catch-up with the array of products on the market, but some preliminary research suggests topical CBD could be beneficial for pain.

7. Find the right herbal concoction

Certain herbs and spices can reduce muscle soreness and tenderness, Parla says. Turmeric, cumin, coriander, ginger, and dill seeds are known to increase blood and lymph flow to the muscles, he says. Add these to a meal or steep with tea to sip throughout the day. Parla also suggests Vidarikanda or Kapikachhu, Ayurvedic plant powders to mix into nut milk for a post-workout drink. This can work to pacify vata and prevent muscle soreness, he says.

8. Take a dip in the ocean

You’ve probably heard someone preach the powers of salt water after a long vacation. There might be something to it. “The ocean is replete with all sorts of minerals such as magnesium and iodine, and it’s also typically cold, which can be anti-inflammatory,” Zand says. Consider it nature’s (cooler) Epsom salts bath.

Transform your body without all the soreness! Try the Move Better, Feel Better, Look Better Home Workout Series. You’ll build strength, boost energy, and have better posture without beating up your body..

The post 8 New Secrets to Ease Muscle Soreness Naturally appeared first on Sonima.

When most people exercise, they are not utilizing a full range of motion. For example, when you go for a run, walk, or bike ride, your hips move in only one direction (forward), while your shoulders generally don’t move at all. Or at the gym, you may do an array of exercises and a multitude of reps, yet how often do you lift your arms above your head or rotate your torso in either direction or move your body sideways?

If you are not using a full range of motion when you exercise, your body will work in a compensatory fashion: Rather than recruiting the major muscles originally designed to do the work, it will call upon only the smaller muscles that don’t require as much energy to function. For instance, when most people perform push-ups, they rely on their biceps and forearms to do the work. However, when you’re properly aligned, push-ups are a great total-body exercise that engages larger muscles, especially your abs, which in turn expends much more energy.

Having more than 40 years of experience in the fitness world (much of it working with some of the world’s top athletes), I also know that how you work out impacts what you eat and how much you drink. When you put those bigger muscles to work, you alter the body’s cravings for fuel. Your muscles need protein, nutrients found in fruits and vegetables, and water to recover. So if you find yourself wanting more lean meats and salads and less chips and soda when you move more, that’s why.

Related: Why a Dehydrated Person Might Not Get Thirsty

The Fun, Quick, and Effective Workout You Need

I want everyone to achieve optimal fitness in less time. So I’m excited to announce that I teamed up with Sonima to create Elev8d Fitness. This program is for everyone, including the super busy and non-busy, those with aches and without, and longtime fitness junkies as well as folks just starting out with exercise or coming back after a long hiatus.

Elev8d is based on eight core movements that compel a full range of motion. The exercises in the eight-, 16-, and 24-minute workouts are arranged in a very specific order, which helps align your body. These short, fun routines will improve your fitness, no matter your current level, and they can be used as a warm-up to other activity.

The only requirement is that you do an Elev8d routine at least four times a week. That might sound like a lot, but remember, each workout is short, and a body responds to the stimulus it’s provided. If the body is going to respond effectively to a new routine that involves a full range of motion, then that routine needs to happen regularly, thereby, convincing the body that there’s a change to the daily stimulus pattern it receives.

Elev8d is also based on fun. I have long said that two essential ingredients to fitness are full range of motion and fun. I am extremely excited about the advent of Elev8d Fitness and hope you are too. Fitness really can be more enjoyable and less time-consuming than we’ve come to think. Just wait and see!

Transform your body in less time with these popular Elev8d Fitness workouts and programs!

8-Minute Sculpted Butt and Hips Workout
16-Minute Core Stability and Strength Workout
8-Minute Strength Workout Series
Flat Belly Workout Series
Total-Body At-Home Workout Series

The post Your Workouts Really Don’t Need to Be That Long appeared first on Sonima.

You’ve probably already heard, but this sitting habit is really, really bad for you. According to a 2017 study in Annals of Internal Medicine, even if you exercise regularly, not moving for excessively long periods of time increases your risk for early death. It can also negatively affect your posture by conditioning your body to position itself in an unnatural way.

Unfortunately, sitting is inevitable. But rather than resigning yourself to a sedentary slump, you can train for sitting in order to avoid some of its negative effects, Bradley says. In fact, there are certain movements you can practice while sitting in a chair to improve your posture and overall well-being.

How Does Sitting Affect Your Posture?

The way the body tilts and torques to sit in a chair is in opposition to its natural, functional alignment. When you sit, your pelvis tilts back and your butt tucks under. This deactivates your hips so that they’re no longer supporting the top half your frame or engaging your glutes and core to support your spine. As a result, your spine shifts into one long C-curve instead of the natural S shape. When working at a desk, your shoulders round as your hands reach for your keyboard, and your head juts forward to get closer to the computer screen.

This “desk slump” affects more than just your ability to stand up straight—it may also contribute to your mid-afternoon energy slump. Korean researchers found the posture most of us take on while sitting and typing on our phones actually restricts our ability to breathe properly and efficiently. And a lack of oxygen translates to less energy and lower concentration, Bradley says.

If you think you’re exempt from this biomechanical malfunction, consider this: A 2015 Australian study found when people sat in a position that felt natural to them, they naturally slumped at the lumbar spine. When they were encouraged to correct their position just based on their own intuition, their lumbar angle was still overly curved. In other words: We need directions.

Related: Move Better, Feel Better, and Look Better With This Workout Series

How Can Posture Exercises Help?

“The amazing thing is that we can correct our posture by just moving the body the way in was designed to naturally move,” Bradley says. “To put your body back in the most ideal alignment, you need to use 100 percent of your deep, stabilizing muscles.”

That’s why the experts of Sonima developed Elev8d Fitness based on this straightforward principle. The at-home workouts incorporate a variety of dynamic movements that reset alignment. By adjusting and stabilizing key muscle groups, the exercises create foundational strength and symmetry in the body.

Although daily Elev8d Fitness workouts are the most comprehensive solution for improving posture, you can apply the following elemental movements while sitting at a desk or on the couch to dramatically enhance the quality of your sitting position. Do this routine in the order specified halfway through every sitting session (i.e., a day at the computer, a two-hour train ride). Not only will you find yourself standing straighter after hours spent sitting, you’ll also experience improved blood flow and deeper breathing, which boost oxygen flow for increased acuity and improved focus.

Related: An 8-Minute Workout for Total-Body Transformation

Chair Arm Circles | 40x each direction

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1. Put your thumbs up, and fold your fingers forward so that the tips are on the top pads of your palms.

2. Sit in a chair with your feet hip-width apart, flat on the ground, and pointed straight ahead.

3. Extend your arms directly sideways, straight out. Point your thumbs forward, palms down, and pinch your shoulder blades back.

4. Move your arms up and forward in a circular motion 40 times. Keep your shoulder blades pinched.

5. Next, flip your hands palms up, thumbs pointed backward, and move your arms up and backward in circles 40 times.

Cats and Dogs in Chair | 5x each direction

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1. Sit in a chair with your feet hip-width apart, flat on the ground and pointed straight ahead.

2. Beginning the movement at the hip, roll your back slowly upward so that it finishes in a rounded position like a mad cat, your head down, chin resting on your chest. The lower half your back should be touching the chair back but your shoulders should not.

3. Then, beginning the movement with the hip, lower your back into an inverse arch, your head and tailbone up, your shoulder blades pinching toward each other. Your low back and shoulders should be touching the chair back but your mid-back should not.

4. Repeat 5 times each direction.

Da Vincis in a Chair | 5x each direction

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1. Sit in a chair with your feet hip-width apart, flat on the ground and pointed straight ahead.

2. Make sure to create a small arch in your lower back, reestablishing the natural S curve.

3. Extend your arms straight to the side, your hands palms-forward with the fingers spread wide.

4. Keeping your hips and head stable, bend to one side using just the spine and bend back to the other side.

Cats and Dogs in Chair | 10x each direction

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1. Sit in a chair with your feet hip-width apart, flat on the ground and pointed straight ahead.

2. Beginning the movement at the hip, roll your back slowly upward so that it finishes in a rounded position like a mad cat, your head down, chin resting on your chest. The lower half your back should be touching the chair back but your shoulders should not.

3. Then, beginning the movement with the hip, lower your back into an inverse arch, your head and tailbone up, your shoulder blades pinching toward each other. Your low back and shoulders should be touching the chair back but your mid-back should not.

4. Repeat 10 times each direction.

The post 4 Posture Exercises to Do While Sitting at Your Desk appeared first on Sonima.

Each exercise is geared toward shifting your body back into alignment. When the body is in alignment, oxygen flows freely to the muscles and creates more energy. This way you can burn calories and skip the afternoon coffee. Give it a try!

If you like this video, check out more quick routines from Elev8d Fitness, the new home workout program brought to you by the experts of Sonima. Every routine uses only your body weight to help tone your body, boost fat burning, and become functionally fit. Try these eight-minute weight-loss workouts or the Flat Belly Workout Series.

Thirty Cubed

Exercise #1: In a standing position, reach your arms straight out and run in place, bringing your knees high, for thirty seconds.

Exercise #2: Drop your arms and run in place so that your heels kick your butt for thirty seconds.

Exercise #3: Squat low with your feet pointed straight forward. Then spring up as if to jump, driving your arms straight up, but do not let your feet leave the ground. Repeat these ‘fake jumps’ for thirty seconds.

The post Burn 100 Calories in 90 Seconds appeared first on Sonima.

But of course, staying active can be a challenge. That’s where Sonima’s Elev8d Fitness plan can help. The Elev8d program focuses on eight core body movements that are combined into a variety of exercises and workouts designed to target specific fitness goals such as weight loss, increased strength, or overall functionality. Most important, Elev8d uses the power of your body’s own weight to deliver a complete workout that can be done virtually anywhere—your apartment, your yard, your park—it’s your choice.

Elev8d Fitness workouts range from 8 to 24 minutes and provide total-body results because they utilize the larger, deeper muscles rather than just the smaller muscles closer to the surface. Engaging these deeper muscles burns more energy in a shorter amount of time and maximizes the overall results.

Try it for yourself with any of our free workouts below—and keep moving! (And check out the Sonima Elev8d streaming platform for the full library of all of the workouts.)

8-Minute Total-Body Transformation

This is a quick and efficient way to tighten every limb, move every joint, and target every major muscle. And you’ll feel fantastic!

8-Minute Sculpted Butt and Hips Workout

Everybody wants a tighter butt. And the way to it is through the calves, quads, hams and hips. This workout targets all of these areas, giving you an enviable rear.

8-Minute Get Back in Shape Workout

Need to get back in the fitness swing? This workout reboots your body in just 8 quick minutes. You’ll be on your way back to doing all the fun things you used to love to do in no time.

16-Minute Flat Belly Workout

Flat abs look great, but they also support the whole body. This workout has you moving your arms and legs so you have to engage your abs to stabilize the rest of your body. And that leads to a flatter and stronger belly.

16-Minute Core Stability and Strength Workout

A strong core provides muscle stability throughout your system, but because of postural dysfunction, many “core” workouts actually don’t reach the core. This one does. You will feel the difference right away and every day after.

24-Minute Fat-Loss Workout

The most efficient way to burn more fat is to engage more muscles. This workout focuses on all the major muscle groups, helping you drop pounds.

The post 6 At-Home Workouts That Will Keep You Moving appeared first on Sonima.

Stand on One Foot

“When you stand on one leg and feel that wobble, you are gathering information coming into your feet—neural impulses traveling to your spinal cord and brain, and then a volley of neural impulses coming back into your muscles to tell them how, when, and where to contract. It’s called proprioception, and it’s your body’s sense of where it is in space, designed to keep you from falling over. Proprioception is vital to how your nerves interact with your muscles, and it happens in a fraction of a second! I work on mine every morning by doing balance exercises when I brush my teeth. My electronic toothbrush goes for two minutes, so I balance for one minute on one leg and one minute on the other.” –Stacey Pierce-Talsma, DO, RYT, Chair of the Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine Department at Touro University California in Vallejo, CA, and a registered yoga teacher

Bear Crawl Around

“This classic kid move engages the psoas, a vastly under-appreciated muscle that extends from the lower middle spine down to the top of the thighs. When most people do the bear crawl, they do travel across the floor on all fours with the pelvis higher than the head and with the back humped up. Instead, start on your hands and feet, keeping your hips on the same plane as your head so that your back resembles a tabletop—flat with no arch. Now drag the hips back to your heels, creating a straight line through the shoulders, hips, and knees.” –Brian Bradley, Fitness Director for Elev8d Fitness

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Just Hang Out

“The next time you are playing with the kids, out for a run near a park, or taking a stroll with some friends, hop up on the monkey bars and just hang for 30 seconds. It’s a fantastic stretch for the upper body. If you can hold it for 30 seconds or longer, now you’re building up strength and creating lean muscle.” –Eric Botsford, Creative Director at ToughMudder Bootcamp and a well-known CrossFit star

Related: This Home Workout Makes You Move Better, Feel More Energized, and Look Leaner!

Roll With It

“One of my favorite yoga moves is rolling back and forth on the mat. Just as you roll up, you extend both your arms and your legs as wide as you can, and then you roll back. It makes it more fun if you add Lion Pose face (opening your eyes and mouth wide and sticking your tongue out as far as you can while exhaling, making a haaaaaaa sound). It’s fun for balance, a good stretch for your face, and you can’t help but laugh at yourself—or everyone in the room if it’s during a yoga class!” –Pierce-Talsma

Try an 8×8

“There are eight core movements that work the body through a full range of motion, recruit your largest muscles, and help align your eight load-bearing joints (shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles). The movements are surprisingly simple, including “over” (jump over an object, such as a log, fence, or bench, using your hands and arms to propel yourself forward); “under” (step forward or sideways to squat as if under a low doorway or branch); and “sideways” (move laterally, in both directions, in a variety of ways, including shuffling your feet or doing a crab walk.) Elev8d Fitness Powered by Sonima offers a variety of fun workouts derived from the eight core movements. The 8×8 incorporates these moves in a quick but efficient eight-minute workout. You can try it here.” –Bradley

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Use Sliders

“These small, slippery discs are great for building strength and balance because they require you to engage a lot of muscles at once. Try them while doing Mountain Climbers for a solid core- and rotational core-strengthening exercise that also helps strengthen the glutes and hip flexors. For something more advanced, try the Alligator Drag: Find an area with enough room to move forward 30 feet or so. Starting in push-up position with your feet on the slides, “walk” forward on your hands as far as you can, letting your lower body drag behind you. Don’t have sliders? Paper plates can work on carpeted floors, and towels or thick socks can work on wood. This move works the shoulders, core, and glutes, and will get your heart pumping, too.” –Rachel Fisher, Fitness Coach at Shift, an integrative health and wellness practice in Chicago

Get High

“Rock climbing provides the trifecta of fitness benefits: Full-body strength, endurance, and mobility. Traversing routes—both indoors and outdoors—develops coordination, grip strength, core stability, and range of motion. You’re also challenging your brain, as you have to think out every move ahead of time, so it’s an organic way to improve your problem-solving skills.” –Fisher

Experiment with the Jumpboard

“This board attaches to the foot-bar of the Pilates reformer to create the simulation of jumping. While lying on the machine horizontally, you can adjust the spring tension and ‘jump’ on the board as if it were the floor and you were standing up. It’s challenging, gets the heart rate up, and is low impact while still challenging your core, legs, and coordination. Like ballet, the focus is on rolling through the feet and landing with control. Clients can also try to hover and find their own ‘hangtime’. It’s a really fun addition to a Pilates reformer class.” –Mary Kate O’Sullivan, Master Trainer with San Francisco-based Pilates ProWorks

Belly Dance

“As an osteopathic physician, I treat a lot of patients with back pain. Most back pain is musculoskeletal and often this pain is due to muscle imbalances and lack of core strength. Often I prescribe belly dancing for my patients who need more core work. It utilizes core strength and core control in order to move the body, and brings a lot of awareness and activation to muscles that don’t get used during other activities, even traditional exercises.” –Pierce-Talsma

Be a Tourist in Your Hometown

“Explore your own city by foot or bike (or canoe, if you’re lucky enough live near water) and check out all the must-sees you’re always suggesting to your out-of-town guests. Visit museums. Join a walking tour. Hike the most scenic trail around. You’ll get your fill of cardio for the day just by moving around, plus you’ll gain a new appreciation for the place you call home.” –Rebecca Scritchfield, RD, owner of a mindfulness-based behavioral change and wellness practice in Washington, DC, and author of Body Kindness: Transform Your Health from the Inside Out and Never Say Diet Again

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Try Your Competition

“My husband and I have a quick workout that really gets our blood pumping, and we try to beat each other, which adds some friendly competition. It’s called “The Tens.” You start with 10 burpees, 10 pushups, 10 sit-ups, 10 lunges, and 10 squats. Then you do nine of everything, then eight, then seven, all the way down to one. I like to time myself and see if I can get it done in record time. I enjoy this workout because it usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes, yet I’ve totally gotten a good workout in and strengthened most major muscle groups of my body.” –Pierce-Talsma

Related: The Most Effective Total-Body At-Home Workout Series

Do the Grapevine

“The Grapevine is a multi-faceted movement that can offer fantastic toning. It’s a great warm-up movement that works the quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes, and core all at the same time. It’s not a common thing you see your friends at the gym doing, but just put on your headphones, find 50 yards of open space, and feel the body get itself warmed-up. You’ll be in better shape for your next yoga class because of it.” –Botsford

Inject Speed Work into Your Walks and Runs

“Fartleks means ‘speed play’ in Swedish; you switch up running fast and running slow. I will see something off in the distance and run as fast as I can to get there, and once I’m there, I’ll slow my pace or walk. It’s a great way to build speed and stamina, and it makes running really fun. Similarly, sometimes I put my headphones on and hit shuffle on my music library. If a slow song comes on, I slow my pace or even walk. If a fast song comes on, I run. I often try to keep the pace of the music.” –Pierce-Talsma

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Throw a Medicine Ball Around

“A super-fun exercise is tossing eight to 10 pounds or so with a friend, or even two or three friends. You can do them standing, squatting, and with sit-ups. This is a fantastic core exercise that will give you an added boost for the toughest yoga movements.” –Botsford

The post 14 New Workout Ideas That Will Make You Love Exercise appeared first on Sonima.

Most of us view post-workout soreness as an indicator of a solid sweat session. But soreness isn’t necessarily a good measure of the quality of the workout, says Carlos Uquillas, M.D., sports medicine specialist and orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles.

What Causes Muscle Soreness?

It’s pretty simple. If you tax a muscle that isn’t used to being taxed, you’re going to feel sore. “Eccentric loads create tension on the muscle fibers, which breaks them down and disrupts certain elements of the muscle cells,” Uquillas explains. Breaking down the muscle fibers initiates a cascade of inflammatory responses, leading to pain, swelling, and soreness.

Related: 7 Natural Pain Relievers That Really Work

Soreness and inflammation are mostly attributable to eccentric movements, such as dropping down for a squat (rather than standing back up, which is concentric movement). The soreness response can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days to develop, which is why sometimes you work out and don’t feel stiff or achy until three days later. That’s totally normal and more common when you do unfamiliar movements.

“Soreness isn’t a marker of not being in shape; it just means the exercise is new to your body,” Uquillas explains.

Similarly, soreness isn’t a marker of the quality of your workout. “You can get a great workout—increasing strength, increasing endurance—and not be sore,” Uquillas adds.

When Is Soreness a Warning Sign?

There is definitely a threshold that separates good and bad soreness. Extreme soreness can develop into a condition called rhabdomyolysis—when the muscle tissue is so broken down that the fibers actually die instead of repair, releasing toxic contents into the bloodstream. This will make you crazy sore, but could also potentially land you in the hospital.

Don’t worry—rhabdomyolysis is pretty rare and you’re really only at risk if you’re hitting super intense workouts all the time, says Brian Bradley, Fitness Director of Elev8d Fitness, the new home workout program from the experts at Sonima.

The grey area of being just sore enough and too sore is totally a personal thing. “Aside from rhabdomyolysis, being ‘too sore’ isn’t bad for you, except that it dissuades a lot of people from working out,” Bradley says. “Personally, I can’t stand being super sore.”

Uquillas agrees: “If you work out really hard and feel so terrible for two to three days that you take the next two weeks off from working out, then when you try again, you’re going to be sore all over again, and that cycle becomes super discouraging.”

Related: The New At-Home Weight-Loss Workout Program

Being over your threshold for tolerable soreness can also inhibit your ability to feel better. “When you’re so sore it hurts to move, you’re inclined to just sit with that feeling,” Bradley says. “If you do a less intense workout, though, you have that satisfaction of feeling sore but also the ability to flush out your muscles and move the next day.” 

How to Prevent Being So Sore You Can’t Move

Ease into a new workout gradually rather than going from zero to 60 on something you’ve never tried before. And stay hydrated: “When you’re dehydrated, your muscles are working with beef jerky instead of filet mignon,” Bradley says. You need water to help flush out your system, including metabolic particles that contribute to the post-workout pain and swelling.

You may also benefit from a low-intensity exercise program such as Elev8d Fitness. “The intensity of Elev8d workouts has been perfected to be the minimal effective dose your body needs at the chemical level, creating change so you can move better, be more balanced, and lose weight, without feeling like you’ve worked painfully hard,” Bradley says. So even if you’re sore from yesterday’s new eight-minute routine, you’re not too sore to move again today, flushing out your muscles and allowing you to work out again.

Transform your body without all the soreness! Try the Move Better, Feel Better, Look Better Home Workout Series. You’ll build strength, boost energy, and have better posture without beating up your body.

The post What Causes Muscle Soreness? And How Much Is Too Much? appeared first on Sonima.

As organic bodies, we are designed to move in diverse ways—through all the planes of motion; going over, under, and around; working our joints through their complete ranges of motion; and more. Moving in all the different ways nature intended keeps our bodies healthy. “When you move in diverse and functional ways, you free up your range of motion and unlock your body so you can move more efficiently,” says certified personal trainer Brian Bradley.

This type of all-over-and-around movement is intrinsic to outdoor adventures, but today’s gym culture has removed the innate human necessity to get outside and run around in the fresh air.

If you tend to stick to indoor exercise, you may want to reconsider your workout environment. “Low-level aerobic movement in nature tends to be more powerful than movement in a fitness studio,” says holistic coach Jator Pierre, C.S.C.S. Here are six reasons to take advantage of the remaining warm fall days and, as winter approaches, to layer up so you continue to reap the benefits of outdoor workouts.

Outdoor Workouts Are Powerful Stress-Relievers

Plenty of research finds that simply being surrounded by nature has the power to relieve stress, increase creative output, and soothe both body and mind. And pairing a natural environment with movement amps up the benefits.

When we’re stressed, the body releases neurotransmitters and hormones to shift us into fight-or-flight mode. While this is super helpful if the stress is caused by a bear chasing us, if the stress is something like a work deadline and we can’t move, glucose, cortisol, and adrenaline can build up in our bodies, leading to oxidative damage to the tissues, Pierre says. On the other hand, moving in a natural environment helps us use those natural chemicals, in turn lessening our angst, he explains.

Related: Do-Anywhere Weight-Loss Workout Series

Additionally, other studies have demonstrated that, compared to working out indoors, outdoor exercise helps people feel more revitalized, energized, happy, and satisfied.

Nature Forces You to Be “in the Moment”

“When you go for a run and get out in the wind and the trees, it requires you to be present, and this can make a huge difference in your workout,” Bradley says. Your run is more efficient because you’re paying attention to your surroundings, drawing energy and joy from your interaction with the trees. In turn, rather than feeling like your workout is just another item on your to-do list, it becomes an experience—one that can pull you out of a stressful day or your autopilot functioning.

You Move More Naturally

“Running on a treadmill or even on a track gives you zero variability in your ankle and your foot,” Bradley says. “You lose the effect of the ankle on the leg, and that does nothing to activate the load-bearing joints.” Research confirms that runners who work out on treadmills have decreased range of motion in their ankles compared to those who move outdoors in nature, a change attributed to foot strike. The research suggests that natural shifts in landscape and terrain offer opportunities for a full range of motion. Other studies have found outdoor exercise to be more challenging than indoor exercise, in part due to hilly terrain and wind resistance. You’ll naturally work a bit harder on a three-mile run outside than on a treadmill, thus making the run and the time spent more efficient.

You’ll Keep Coming Back

Spending time in natural environments positively influences our intentions surrounding exercise, increasing the likelihood that we return to fitness time and time again, according to a research review of studies involving more than 1 million people. It makes sense: When you feel good and have fun in your daily workout, you want to keep doing it.

Related: It’s Time to Bring Happiness to Your Workout

Being Outdoors Enhances Interactions

If you work out with others, your conversations are sure to be better outside. In his book Blue Mind, marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols discusses the ability of a seascape—in the absence of technology and the day-to-day hustle of modern-day society—to change the nature of conversations, giving way to more meaningful and thoughtful discussion. The same can be said about green and natural spaces. “Getting outside moves you to another level of consciousness,” Bradley says. “It gets you to think differently.”

Getting Outside Removes Limitations

Taking your workout to a nearby park, beach, or simply your open backyard provides unrestricted space to move your joints through their full ranges of motion and be active in the setting that nature intended. You don’t have to worry about square footage, turning around once you hit a wall or furniture, or other people’s space. Walking to your outdoor workout space of choice also tacks on more movement to your overall daily quota—an important aspect of overall health and well-being. For an added bonus, when you arrive, take off your shoes to walk in the grass or sand. It’ll help you take in your surroundings and connect even further to your activity.

Another easy way to get more from your workout? Do less! Try the Elev8d Fitness 16-Minute Challenge Series. The low-intensity interval training targets both the larger, deeper muscles and the smaller stabilizing muscles, firing up your entire body for maximum results in only 16 minutes.

The post The Easiest Way to Get More Out of Your Workout appeared first on Sonima.

“Discomfort is a layered process. We expect the physical discomfort of a workout and maybe even the emotional, but if you then add discomfort with big groups or discomfort with boredom, that amplifies the pain,” says certified mental performance consultant Angie Fifer, PhD, executive board member for the Association for Applied Sports Psychology and owner of Breakthrough Performance Consulting in Pittsburgh, PA.

In other words, forcing yourself to do things that feel unnatural—making small talk with strangers before class starts, motivating yourself on a solo run—is going to make your workout more difficult and less enjoyable. And when you think about what it takes to form ingrained habits—whether it’s to get to yoga class every day this week or to become a lifelong runner—enjoyment is everything.

“In your typical gym scenario, people work out because it’s habit—it’s what they’ve always done or what they think they’re supposed to do,” says postural alignment specialist Brian Bradley, vice president of Egoscue. “But this makes them not truly present, which means they won’t really enjoy it, they won’t push themselves, and they’ll never make any progress or get that satisfaction that makes them want to stick with it and come back day after day.”

Finding a Fitness Routine That Aligns with Your Personality

Forget the new class your friends are raving about, the best new routine you read about in a magazine, and maybe even your current go-to exercise method. The questions below will help you take a step back and consider what type of workout works best for you and you alone.

1. How comfortable are you when trying new things around other people?

“Extroverts not only enjoy the energy of others but are also more willing to get out of their comfort zone in front of others,” Fifer says. A study from the British Psychological Society found that extroverts were more likely to exercise at the gym. Fifer adds they’re also likely to enjoy group runs, group fitness classes, and anything new and challenging that involves other people.

Introverts, on the other hand, can be quite perfectionistic and prefer to try things out on their own. They enjoy running solo, using a home gym, and following workout videos in the comfort of their own living room.

2. What are your goals?

“Regardless of personality type, the only way most people stick with a workout routine is if they get the results they’re looking for,” Bradley says. If you’re looking to burn fat quickly, you probably won’t be happy with the results from a slow-moving sport. High-achievement-motivated individuals—people driven by success—usually want something they can see tangible gains from, like an increase in speed or strength, Fifer says, so they’re better suited for endurance sports, powerlifting, and high-intensity interval training, where you typically see big results fast. Then again, your concept of success might always be in a constant state of flux, so it’s important to check in with this on a regular basis.

3. Are you competitive?

While the desire to win drives high-achievement-motivated individuals, there’s a whole class of people for whom simply finishing is enough—they won’t be shattered if they don’t hit a personal record or make it on the leaderboard, Fifer explains. “They are the average people who want to go and do their workout to gain the health benefits, but it’s not going to ruin their day if they miss it or if they aren’t the sweatiest at the end of a spin class,” she says.

If seeing how you stack up compared to others doesn’t drive you, consider steering clear of uber-competitive CrossFit or HIIT workouts, which burn you out fast. Instead, stick with lower-intensity routines with less risk for injury, such as walking. “It’s one of the most sustainable forms of exercise, making it great for people who just want to move their body and are happy to squeeze a workout in where they can,” Fifer adds.

4. What exactly motivates you?

We are all driven by either internal motivation or external competition. Each has pros and cons, and ideally you’re run by a mix of the two, but considering which side dominates for you can increase the chances you’ll stick with a new routine, Fifer says.

Those who are internally motivated compare themselves to themselves. They often enjoy endurance sports like running and cycling, which are solo but also involve a lot of data collection to gauge personal improvement, she says. Meanwhile, if you are the type to compare your success to the success of your peers, you will probably fare better in group workouts, particularly the kind where competition is encouraged, like spin classes with leaderboards or powerlifting.

Related: What’s Your Personality Type?

5. How happy you are with your current routine?

A lot of people find a workout or sport that speaks to them but over time lose motivation or joy in it. Don’t worry—it’s just a sign you need to make a small tweak or two, Fifer says.

Luckily, this is the easiest thing to do. If you love running, the shift can be as simple as switching up your morning route or as big as signing up for an obstacle race. “Keep doing the thing you originally liked and are good at, but add enough variety to get the body and mind re-energized,” Fifer says.

6. So what are you good at?

If a workout aligns with your personality, you’re more likely to enjoy it and stick with it. But there’s one exception to that idea: “If you’re good at a sport or a workout, that feeling of success often overrides feeling like an activity isn’t a match for your personality,” Fifer says. The draw of feeling good at something is worth a little bit of social or mental discomfort and encourages you to find work-arounds. So if you’re an introvert, you might want to try heading into a group fitness class right on the hour in order to minimize socializing and still get that rush of being good at cycling.

The post Are You Doing the Right Workout for Your Personality Type? appeared first on Sonima.

Though I am in good shape with a healthy body and healthy BMI (21.7) and I eat my share of kale nicely balanced with chocolate, I still—like every other woman I know—spend an inordinate amount of time fretting about what I eat. I occasionally (okay, regularly) feel guilty or conflicted about food choices and bad habits (tortilla chips, the aforementioned chocolate, and maybe ice cream), and I care about how I look.

This craziness around diet advice and food/body/image/reality simply comes with the territory of being a human these days. 

A History of Diet Advice

I grew up with a grandmother who fried chicken like nobody’s business and served it with golden baked crescent rolls—a sublime flakiness of pure white flour and butter. “Go ahead, have another. One roll isn’t going to hurt anybody,” she’d say as I reached for seconds, or thirds, defying the stern look of my weight-conscious mother. Then I’d go home and pop in the Jane Fonda video to “feel the burn.”

That was 30 years ago, and the commercial empire around diet, exercise, and body image since then has been like the American waistline, ever expanding.

“Go to any bookstore and the diet section is the largest section,” says world-renowned physiologist Pete Egoscue. There’s always a new trend, a new weight-loss fad, a new study touting the health benefits of some spice or herb or esoteric ancient grain. “You can ascribe to the Dean Ornish camp that embraces plant-based nutrition, or the Dr. Sears/Atkins camp that’s all about high fat, high protein and dairy, low carb approach to weight loss. Both have mountains of research backing them up. Both have thousands of devotees,” says Egoscue. “So who’s right?”

Plenty to read as you sip your kombucha. But try swallowing this radical idea: “It isn’t what we eat. It’s what we believe about what we eat.”

Forget Diet Advice, It’s About Attitude

Egoscue has come to believe—after decades and decades of working with people to align their bodies and observing the connection between diet and exercise—that how you think about food is key.

Sounds a little woo-woo? Well, perhaps no more so than a kombucha cocktail, but let’s unpack it.

Related: How Your Feelings Affect Your Workout

Back to the question about who’s right? The paleo/protein advocates or the plant-based: “They both are,” says Egoscue. “Because it’s not what we eat, but how you feel about what you eat. Your choices matter, but they don’t matter as much as what you believe about your choices. And you always have a choice,” he says.

The fundamental shift, Egoscue suggests, is to start to think of food as fuel for the body’s motion. “If you think of food as fuel, then you begin to choose those things that give you energy and are good for your body,” he adds.

The Key Role of Alignment

It’s not just a fantasy food pyramid built on the power of positive thinking. It’s more about body over matter. Because the more your body becomes structurally balanced and aligned, the more energy you have, the easier and more pleasurable it is to move and exercise, and your metabolism naturally cranks up, Egoscue explains. And then your body naturally craves healthier foods.

Related: The Most Effective At-Home Total-Body Workout Program

“And the more balanced you are structurally, the more balanced you are in choices of food, in the habits you form, in your work and profession, etc.,” he says. For Egoscue, “health is not the absence of pain but the presence of peace of mind,” and freedom from beating yourself up over every calorie you consume can bring extraordinary peace of mind. Believe me, this I know.

To me all this makes sense when I think of it in terms of appetite alignment. Doing bear crawls, I feel a subtle shift in my core strength and improved posture, and when I run, my lower back doesn’t hurt like it used to. My flexibility is improved and I’m sleeping better. I still struggle with Crab Walks but I’m working on it. Without a doubt, improved alignment gives me improved range of motion and more energy. And by re-aligning my diet with subtle shifts – less processed food and more nuts, whole grains and vegetables, drinking more water—I have more energy too.

They work together, this balanced body and (more) balanced diet. I still enjoy a scoop of Mocha Chip ice cream after dinner, regardless of what Pete says about the evils of sugar (that’s another post), but I’m working to make choices empowered not by what the culture says, but by what my body wants and needs.

“The more balanced we are, the more self-aware we become, and better choices we make. And we shouldn’t regret our food choices either, unless we’re eating sugar,” Egoscue says.

So I guess I still have some things to work on.

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