How to grow old healthily and keep your brain young at the same time
This week there was a fantastic article in "der Standard" on the subject of healthy ageing, in which the proven specialist Martin Halle from the Technical University of Munich talked about the subject.
All the right stuff and we want to go into more depth with tips on a few things. [read more]
Can you get fat through sport?
The short answer is yes.
Find out if you are affected and what you can do to avoid it.
[learn more]
Training in the menopause - Making the most of female potential
In the following article, we explore how menopausal women best exercise with the physical changes. [learn more]
Why now is the perfect start to training!
July and August are over. The big heat is no longer coming and the days have become noticeably shorter than in June. All good reasons to start endurance training now. Find out why here. [learn more]
Running and stretching - when, what and why?
With the cooler temperatures, running is more fun again. But one question comes to mind: When should I stretch? The short answer: when it's good for you. The more detailed answer comes now. [learn more]
Strength training in diabetes mellitus type 2
It has been known for a long time that exercise is helpful for diabetes. In particular, we discussed the positive effects of endurance exercise at the right intensity last week. The fact that strength training can also have positive effects was less well known until recently. Why this is so and how you can use these effects (preventively), you can find out here. [learn more]
Tour de France and diabetics. What you can learn from cyclists.
The coach of 2020 (and likely 2021) Tour de France winner Inigo San Millan is a doctor and scientist who deals with elite endurance athletes for a reason: he wanted the greatest possible contrast with diabetics and found it in mitochondria and their function. [learn more]
Sport for our brain
In line with our focus on sport and the brain, today we are looking at the topic of self-efficacy and its importance in older age. Several studies suggest that a bundle of three skills can maintain agility into old age: Education, self-efficacy and exercise. We want to look at the connection between the last two today .
A healthy mind in a healthy body?
"Mens sana in corpore sano." Is there a healthy mind in a healthy body? The fact is that Juvenal formulated wishful thinking in his satires, since only the subordinate clause is ever quoted. Indeed, the full sentence "orandum est, ut sit mens sana in corpore sano" means "One must pray that there is a sound mind in a sound body. [read more]
How much exercise is needed for better health? (2)
We had a talk with a client this week and the question was how much exercise is enough and whether you really have to torture yourself in training. The World Health Organisation's lower limit is about 2.5 hours of exercise per week. So where is the upper limit? [learn more]
Sixpack
How do you get a beautifully defined belly? One thing first: it's not endless abdominal workouts that burn our belly off, but a combination of many things. Let's go through the topic step by step. [learn more]
Running - how do I get fast?
We are often asked this question and the answer is very simple: Run fast! Really fast. What does that mean? To run fast over a longer period of time, you need not only endurance, but a few more components. [learn more]
Osteoporosis
Last week we were asked by a very active participant about osteoporosis. We would like to state at the outset that we are not doctors and can therefore only shed light on the subject from a trainer's point of view. If you suspect osteoporosis or if you are over 40, we recommend that you consult your family doctor, who, unlike us, will be able to help you competently... [learn more]
Running in the heat
Last week we did a general introduction to the topic of running. This week - hopefully in keeping with the weather - there will be a focus on running in the heat. The ideal running temperature, if you are aiming for best times, is around 12 degrees.
You might even feel cold here at the beginning of the session, but the exercise ... [learn more]
Running - how do I keep up?
Running as a sport has many advantages: It requires neither an exorbitant investment in equipment nor a sports facility. Put on your shoes and let's go! In terms of calorie consumption, only cross-country skiing can come up with even higher figures. The sport can be practised all year round.
But why do so many people take up running and then stop again after a few weeks? There are a few good reasons.... [learn more]
What is pain?
As an introduction to our lecture "Body a construction site", today we will look at the topic of pain. Joint pain in particular can spoil our enjoyment of exercise and lead to us not taking up any sporting activities at all. But is there such a thing as good pain? [learn more]
Fit but fat?
Being fit and still having a few kilos too much are no contradiction. A new study has now investigated the extent to which fitness counteracts the consequences of being overweight. First, however, no short definition of the term. [learn more]
Next winter...
But now it's summer for once! (Ok, spring...) With increasing day length and rising temperatures also comes the motivation to do more for yourself again. Hormonal regulatory circuits are responsible for this, and light and temperature get them going again.... [learn more]
When do I start losing fat?
In our last lecture on the topic of losing weight, we got a very interesting question: At what point in training do you go to the fat reserves? This question is easy to answer: from the beginning. We always burn carbohydrates and fat in parallel. The proportions, however... [learn more]
Breathing School 1.0
We often refer to breathing in the trainings and today we want to take the time to illuminate what correct breathing is. Basically, it is not possible to breathe incorrectly. Breathing takes place but is an indicator of many different sensitivities in our everyday lives ... [learn more]
How much exercise is needed for better health?
Even though they say the more the merrier, even short, moderate walks will do your heart health some good. One of the first studies to do this in a large population was by British physician Jeremy Morris,... [learn more]
Proper pacing - no pain, no gain?
One point that we as trainers in "Functional Fit Training" like to repeat prayerfully is the importance of the right intensity. Especially in the final part. In times of the Internet, many opinions circulate about this and we want to create clarity. We have deliberately designed the workouts to make you more flexible, stronger and more enduring in a short time. You will get the most out of our workouts if you follow these steps. [learn more]
The best time to train?
Is there a time of day that is best for exercising? In an older article we showed that fixed times (no matter when) help to develop exercise as a habit. However, a new study has now shown that there may well be a particularly good time for a specific target group. [learn more]
Genes and aging
We all know the examples of less healthy people who lived to a comparatively old age and very healthy people who died early. This is where epigenetics plays a role. Some of these anecdotes can be explained by the behavior of previous generations. [learn more]
The fat burning section! Does that even exist?
On many (older) cardio machines they are still written, the recommendations with the optimal fat burning pulse. GPS watches and heart rate monitors also provide us with this information. But what is it? Is there a range in which you can burn fat to the maximum? Yes! [learn more]
Survival instead of New Year's resolution
Aside from the obviously unpleasant coronal conditions that will see us through to 2021, January is the awful time of year when it's really cold and has been dark for a long time: the lowest temperatures usually await us now and the day length has been worryingly short for months. [learn more]
HIIT - and what you should absolutely pay attention to
Many of you have probably heard about high intensity interval training (HIIT). The workout is characterized by an interval of short intense sections followed by short recovery breaks. HIIT is a fast way to improve your fitness even more [learn more].
Outdoor training in winter
Exercise outside strengthens our immune system. Light, fresh air and the cold stimulus initially bring our body out of balance. When the necessary recovery then takes place, our immune system is "trained". But it doesn't always have to be exercise. A walk, a light hike are perfectly sufficient here. [learn more]
Sitting as a health risk - new findings
There's been a lot going on in the world of exercise and health science in recent days. In an early post of ours, we reported on a study that looked at exercise and sedentary time in subjects in terms of mortality. Now here are some new findings! [learn more]
Motive hole? Motivated high!
Normally, there should be another motivational article here that makes exercise in the fall palatable to you. Today we make the hibernation tasty for you!
The danger of the Haudrauf motivational articles we find on social media and elsewhere is not to be underestimated. First, you might take them seriously as a newbie to sports. Second, as an actually motivated athlete, you might fall prey to the fallacy.... .[learn more]
Can you sit and lift properly?
This question implies whether you can sit wrong or lift. The answer is not clear and not easy. At the end of this article, however, you should get a feeling for what you should consider for yourself and where dangers might lurk. [learn more]
What you should do after a workout!
The joy when a training session is completed is great! Satisfaction and pride, but mostly also a feeling of tiredness and hunger are noticeable. But the steps after the training are as important as the training itself, because this is how you can achieve the best training results. In the following article you will find out what you should do after training [read more]
Movement for your brain
When we train, it not only has positive effects on our health and mental well-being, but also on our memory, which unfortunately loses its efficiency with increasing age. How exercise and training can influence this process is explained in the following lines. [learn more]
Why you should train in the morning!
Regular exercise reduces the risk factors for chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Exercise also helps to reduce or even maintain weight. It is usually of great interest what should be trained and to what extent in order to reach the desired weight. [read more]
When is a performance test (ergometry) useful?
After an initial familiarisation phase of two to three weeks, ergometry is very useful. Especially for beginners*. "Yes, but I'm not a professional" is a frequently given answer. Read here why you, as a beginner, can benefit from ergometry. [read more]
Exercise, sports, training - how much does it have to be?
No matter what performance class you are in - we as trainers ask ourselves one question every day: How much training does it have to be? Does it have to be training at all or is "only" exercise and sport enough? How do sport and training differ? [read more]
Is the new smoking sit?
If James Levine has his way, yes! More people die from sitting than from smoking. Sitting in excess is dangerous. As coaches we know that athletes also suffer from the consequences of long periods of sitting. Why this is so and what you can do about it, you can find out here. [read more]
What does tonus mean?
The term often appears in our trainings. It refers to the state of tension of the musculature. This results from the properties of the tissue and the stimuli of our nervous system.
For use in our own everyday life, it can be said that neither too high nor too low a tone is desirable. If it is too high, [read more]
Make yourself winterproof!
Our last program "The body of your life" has gone by in a flash. Starting next week we will start with: "Make yourself winterproof"! Find out which program you can expect and why we are already thinking about winter [read more].
Does exercise make you smarter? (2)
Sport and exercise help our cognitive performance. In the last article we showed that training stimulates the release of neurotransmitters, which in turn lead to the formation of BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor). The increase in BDNF causes an increased formation of connections between neurons and prolongs their survival time. However, neurotransmitters can .... [read more]
Does exercise make you smarter? (1)
In the last article we showed that at medium training intensity (60%) - an easy run or a brisk walk - we can better think about complex problems. Whereas this is no longer the case at very high intensity.
But how does regular training affect our health in the long term? [read more]
The best training intensity to think about
Too little exercise is a problem of our modern society. Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or metabolic disorders are usually mentioned in one breath with too little activity. But regular exercise also has an influence on our brain... [read more]
Fit even in the heat?
Some love them, others prefer cooler temperatures. What is the best way to deal with the heat? For the European phenotype, temperatures around 15 to 20 degrees are ideal when it comes to (sporting) performance. Below this temperature the body has to provide energy to maintain the core body temperature... [read more]
Sore muscles
One thing in advance: Sore muscles are not a training success, but a sign of overwork, which can have several causes. Basically, aching muscles has nothing to do with lactic acid formation during training. Rather, it is the unusual mechanical strain on the muscle which leads to small tears in the muscle fibres. It acts ... [read more]
Bingo Wings
It is perfectly clear to us why we could use strong arms. Lifting and carrying heavy purchases is more comfortable with strong arms. However, well-trained arms can also make a positive visual impression. ... [read more]
Strong Back - Your strong back
The back muscles include the trapezius muscle, the latissimus, the rhombic muscles, the saw muscle, the shoulder blade lifters and the back extensors. These muscles keep us upright. They move our spine but also protect it by keeping it protected when lifting heavy loads. [read more]
It's all about the booty
With our focus "it's all about the booty" we concentrate on your buttocks in addition to the other three important muscle groups! The buttocks include these three muscles: gluteus minimus, gluteus medius and gluteus maximus. Together they are involved in the following movements... [read more]
Do you (sometimes) have to force yourself to train?
The decisive question here is whether you don't feel like it or whether you are really overtired and training really makes no sense. Both are ok of course, but it is also clear that even in training continuity brings success and too frequent failures slow you down. Also us trainers [read more]
Video: Is sitting a health risk?
In less than 2 minutes, our head coach Christophe will give you an answer to this question and will also explain how much exercise per day is necessary to compensate for hours of sitting. [Click here to watch the video.]
What is fitness and what are the contents of our trainings?
From a purely sports science perspective, fitness is described as a bundle of the following characteristics: strength, endurance, speed, agility and coordination. An athlete's goal is to combine these parameters optimally for a competition: A weightlifter should be strong, a runner endurance and a sprinter fast. Our goal is to help you manage your everyday life better, be it [read more]
The goal of our exercise program
Our current situation in the home office wears on us: perhaps lively children rob us of the necessary focus, you start the day slower and the furniture at home is not as optimally adjusted as our actual office. On top of that, we are also affected by the uncertainty on a professional, individual and family level. Here, exercise and training can help. How do we explain [read more]