1Life Blog

When we workout, it’s fairly common to focus on muscle groups that are visible, such as arms and legs to achieve a toned appearance or gain muscle mass, but shoulder strengthening exercises are also just as important.  

Stretching is often the activity that most often gets overlooked as part of our exercise routine and at best it might consist of a rushed cooldown before hitting the showers after an intense gym class.  

If it’s abs of steel that you’re after then patience and consistency are key here.  To achieve a chiselled torso, it takes more than endless crunches, so read on for the secret to achieving the infamous ‘six-pack’.

Whether you are an athlete, a fitness fanatic or someone brand new to exercise, it’s likely you’ll be looking at ways in which you can improve your performance and reach your personal goals. And good nutrition is a key part of this.  

Forming good habits when young can be the key to maintaining an active, healthy lifestyle later in life. Given the chance, most young children enjoy being active but even by the time they reach school age, some children’s lifestyles are becoming increasingly sedentary due to increasingly busy family lives, the lure of screen time and other non-active commitments.

It’s ok to admit that some of us need new challenges and goals to keep our health and fitness programme moving forward and progressing. Taking part in an organised sporting events can provide you with the incentive you might need to give your training real focus. These events will not only provide a focus for your training and something to work towards, but they can also act an excellent motivator.  Training with a friend or partner can spur you both on and keep your motivation levels high as you work towards improving your performance ahead of the event.

If you are new to the gym or it has been a while since you last worked out it can be difficult to know where to start.  How much time should you spend on cardio and where do you begin with strength training? These are all questions which might be going through your head.

Whether you’ve just completed the London Marathon or another epic 24.2-mile race – well done.  What an achievement, we applaud you. Having spent months carefully building up your running distance and eating the right foods to fuel your body it is easy to forget about how you should appropriately recover from running a marathon.  Unfortunately, this is true of many runners but recovery after a gruelling marathon is just as important as the training itself and is often the most undervalued part.

Exercise in almost any form has been proven, time and time again, to be an effective stress-reliever.  Not only does being active boost your feel-good hormones, it also acts as a great distraction from day-to-day worries.  If life is getting a bit hectic and it’s leaving you feeling a bit frazzled why not get moving in a bid to manage stress.