Physical Fitness

Physical Fitness

Common Athletic Injuries and How to Avoid Them

Don't get sidelined by an injury. Here's how to build strength and prevent injuries in the first place.

Injured soccer player
Physical Fitness

Find Your Fit: Sneak a Full-Body Workout in at the Playground With These Tips

If you are one of those people that struggle to fit a workout into your busy schedule, you can be efficient and accomplish two things at once by working out on the playground while looking after your kids.

Physical Fitness

Easy Ways to Introduce Yoga to Your Kids

Yoga is known for its health benefits, including increased flexibility, increased strength, improved sleep and the ability to help with chronic pain and inflammation. Many of these benefits apply to kids as well. Learn how to introduce yoga to kids with these tips and yoga poses.

Physical Fitness

Is Running Marathons Healthy for Your Heart?

Regular running and exercise are associated with better overall heart health and other health benefits. Americans who follow the American Heart Association guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week have healthier hearts and avoid diseases at higher rates than those who don’t, and those who get 3-5 times that amount of exercise have the best health outcomes.

Physical Fitness

Add More Fiber to Your Diet with These High-Fiber Snack Ideas

The recommended amount of daily fiber is between 25 and 38 grams, but most Americans eat only 10-15 grams daily. A diet high in fiber can help reduce the risk of chronic diseases and help you to feel fuller for longer and more energized compared to refined carbohydrates.

Physical Fitness

Workouts That Work for Me as a College Student

I’ve found that college is a great time to create healthy habits through regular practice of physical activity. While every person is different, here are some workouts that work for me as a college student.

Physical Fitness

Michigan Bucket List: Paddle Antrim Festival

Paddlers are welcome to join an epic adventure in September. The Paddle Antrim Festival celebrates the waterways and local communities of Northern Michigan Sept. 13-14. The festival includes community events and a non-competitive two-day paddling event from Ellsworth to Elk Rapids on the Chain of Lakes Water Trail.

Physical Fitness

How to Train Like an Olympic Athlete

If you watched the Paris Olympic or Paralympic Games this summer, you might have gotten swept away seeing your favorite athlete compete. While they seem to perform with such ease, you know there are hours of work put into their physical training. Let the inspiring efforts of these athletes motivate you to achieve your workout goals this year.

Physical Fitness

5 Ways I Rely on my Smartwatch

A smartwatch does much more than tell you the time. Using a smartwatch makes it so that you don’t need to always have your phone on you. You can make calls, send texts, and use a GPS from your watch.

Physical Fitness

Women’s Health: Workouts to do on your period

It can be easy to ignore your workout goals when on your period, but the physical and mental benefits of exercise can help. Although it feels counterintuitive, avoiding exercise isn’t going to save energy or make you feel better.

Physical Fitness

How to Pick Out Running and Walking Shoes

It’s easy to ask a friend for a recommendation, but their body, stride and injury-risk are different than yours. Learn how to pick out running and walking shoes that will help you stay healthy and meet your goals.

Physical Fitness

The Pros and Cons of Running on Different Surfaces

Running is one of the only sports that can be done nearly anywhere, on any surface. The key is finding a route and a terrain that best suits your physical needs. While running is a great form of exercise, there are advantages and disadvantages to running on different surfaces.

Physical Fitness

10 Health Benefits of Tai Chi

Are you looking for an activity that is good for all aspects of your health like physical, mental, and social? We have just the activity. Originating as a mixed martial art from China, tai chi is an activity that involves a series of gentle and slow movements, a meditative state of mind, and physical postures.

Physical Fitness

Does Heat Affect Blood Pressure? 

As temperatures increase, people might notice that their blood pressure is increasing as well. High heat causes blood pressure to increase. It is important to focus on your blood pressure during the summertime because Midwest summers present high temperatures and high humidity.

Physical Fitness

Hiking in Mid-Michigan: Where to Go

Do you think you have to go “up north” to get an authentic Michigan hiking experience? You will be surprised by the diversity of sites to explore in mid-Michigan. Whether you are looking for a riverfront experience, big rocks or an urban adventure, there is plenty to discover in the middle of the Mitten state.

Physical Fitness

Ken Hayward Reflects on Opportunities Baseball Granted Him After Induction Into State of Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame

Before he led BCBSM's social mission and community affairs efforts, Ken Hayward was an incredible college baseball player. He didn't realize it at the time, but his years as a ballplayer shaped his future in a major way.

Physical Fitness

The Science Behind the Perfect Workout Playlist

If you listen to music when you work out, you've got to read this post to design the perfect playlist to pump you up.

Physical Fitness

Easy Ways to Incorporate Strength Training in the Summer

When you start a workout plan, it’s easy to do too much too soon. That can leave you sore, tired, and feeling dejected, as well as increase your chance for injury. If you’re not in the habit of a regular strength routine, start small.

Physical Fitness

Accessible Beaches in Michigan 

Access to beaches and waterfront spaces is improving across Michigan as state parks and city beaches become places that people of all abilities can navigate.

a handicapped man at the beach. electric wheelchair. with assistant on bicycle.
Physical Fitness

Tips to Prevent Shin Splints

Shin splints are a common and painful overuse injury or condition usually caused by running, tennis, pickleball, dancing, or other standing exercises for extended periods of time. With some preparation, there are self-treatment tips for preventing shin splints or minimizing the pain from shin splints.

Physical Fitness

Mental Health Exercises to Help Alleviate Stress

Avoiding stress can be a tall task with the demands of life and everything going on around you. There are lifestyle changes or habits that can help to alleviate routine stressors or triggers for stress or panic.

Physical Fitness

What is Wild Swimming?

Wild swimming, or open-water swimming, refers to swimming in natural waters, open water, or generally swimming outside and in natural waters. Wild swimming and open-water swimming has become more popular in recent years, especially with Americans looking for a mental health boost, since it ties together exercise and connection with nature.

Physical Fitness

The Importance of Exercise Variety for Seniors 

Exercise is extremely important for building and maintaining a good level of personal fitness and physical health. Regular physical activity – including a mix of aerobic exercise, strength training and balance training – can help seniors live independently longer and with a better quality of life. It can also help in managing chronic diseases. 

Physical Fitness

What are Awe Walks?

An awe walk is a hike or walk focused on enjoying and taking part in the natural world around you. To take part in awe walking, all that is needed is to focus on the world around you and awe-inspiring aspects of nature while you walk.

Physical Fitness

Top 5 Reasons You Should Walk at Lunch

National Walk at Lunch Day is the perfect excuse to get outside after lunch and rack up some steps. Do it every day and the health benefits will rack up, too.

Two businesswomen walk, talk and drink coffee in the middle of a workday.
Physical Fitness

How Gen Z Uses Karaoke as Exercise

Karaoke fits the bill when it comes to many of the preferences Gen Z has for exercise. Karaoke can be a great group workout or exercise, it is a social and communal activity, and it can easily be done at home, at work or in social settings.

Physical Fitness

What Are Exercise Snacks?

Exercise snacks are short periods of intense workouts, usually only two to minutes. The idea behind energy snacking is to have a few of these brief, intense workouts interspersed throughout your day.

Physical Fitness

Why Walking Isn’t Enough Exercise to Stay Fit While Aging

Adults 65 and older need at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week, such as walking, but also at least two sessions of strength training a week. Besides moderate exercise and strength training, balance training and exercises are also recommended routinely for older adults.

Physical Fitness

5 Ways Alcohol Can Affect Your Health and Fitness Progress

The use and overuse of alcohol limits and inhibits your overall level of health and fitness. Alcohol suppresses many of your body’s main functions to different extents and can affect your ability to recover from illness and injury.

A group of women sitting on a grass field after playing soccer, sharing bottled beers.
Physical Fitness

Does Running Destroy Your Knees?

For a long time, there has been sentiment among runners and doctors that long-distance running, especially long-term and regular running, would predispose runners to arthritis or joint issues as they age. However, there's evidencethat challenges this long-held belief.

Physical Fitness

How to Stay Healthy During Spring Break

Make the most of the wonderful weather by getting your body up and moving. Springtime outdoor workouts can reinvigorate you after a long cold winter. Make sure you are staying healthy and moving this spring.

Staying Healthy During Spring Break
Physical Fitness

Improve Your Walking or Running Form in 3 Steps

Simple tweaks to your running or walking form can help you go farther while preserving the condition of your back, joints and other body parts.

An older couple jogs in the park.
Physical Fitness

Triathlete with Cerebral Palsy Writes about “Impossible Mile”

Johnny Agar, who competes in triathlons with his dad, is the author of the bestseller, "The Impossible Mile: The Power in Living Life One Step at a Time."

Johnny Agar with his dad, Jeff.
Physical Fitness

What’s the Best Diet for Workout Recovery?

Feeling a little tired or run-down after your last workout? Here’s what you should be eating afterward to speed your recovery.

Physical Fitness

How My Workout Became a Part of My Social Life

Working out with friends has its benefits. Added motivation is usually one of them. That was the experience for Maria Cassel, who details her health journey in this first-person writing.

Physical Fitness

The Health Benefits of Golf

Gracefully Greying health correspondent Lila Lazarus explores the health benefits of golf for both the body and the mind.

Senior women enjoying the health benefits of golf.
Physical Fitness

Why I Started Hiking for Mental Clarity

Contributor and summer intern Olivia Durkee shares how hiking has helped her mental health and become an outlet for her stress.

Olivia Durkee
Physical Fitness

Mental Health and Fitness: My Experience Becoming a Gym Regular

Summer intern Jenna Natwick shares how becoming a gym regular has helped her with her anxiety.

Jenna Natwick
Physical Fitness

Biohacks to Boost Your Health 

Ready to use biohacking to improve your mental and physical health? Here are some of the best biohacks to improve your health.

Interpretation Of The Electrocardiogram Of Young Athletes
Physical Fitness

Reduce Your Load if The Weight is Too Heavy

Licensed therapist, NASM master trainer and integrative health expert Angela T. Moore shares signs you're carrying too much weight — mentally and physically.

Woman with a heavy weight doing a dead lift
Physical Fitness

The Fuel, Fitness and Physicals Men Need for Good Health

Getting appropriate and timely preventive care is an important part of a well-rounded, overall health strategy for men.

Mature Hispanic Man Jogging in Central Park
Physical Fitness

Life and Basketball: Senior Detroit Women Play to Stay Young

For two hours every Monday afternoon at the Lasky Recreation Center in northeast Detroit, time doesn’t matter – only basketball.

The Michigan Spirits senior women's basketball team practices at the Lasky Recreation Center in Detroit.
Physical Fitness

How to Do Squats

Find the best squat exercises to build muscle and burn calories.

Woman doing squats
Physical Fitness

When Do You Need an Electrolyte Drink? 

Sipping an electrolyte drink can be a trendy thing to do, but when does your body actually need one?

Gorgeous young female tennis player drinking energy drink
Physical Fitness

Five Reasons to Start Playing Pickleball

Gracefully Greying health correspondent Lila Lazarus dives into the pickleball craze — and finds it can be good for your health.

A group of men and women play pickleball outside.
Physical Fitness

Mountain Bike Trails in Michigan 

Load up those knobby tires and try out these cool trails near you.

Couple mountain biking together
Physical Fitness

Michigan Hikes to Get Your 10,000 Steps In 

There are big health benefits to getting 10,000 daily steps. Here are some great places to do that with a view.

Hiking Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore In Michigan
Physical Fitness

4 Practical Ways to Start Living in the Present

Do you ever ask yourself, “Is it the weekend yet?” If you do, it might be time for you to start trying to find joy in the present.

Two teenagers have fun playing in the rain.
Physical Fitness

Urban Nature Trails in Michigan to Move Your Workout Outside 

Grab a pair of sunglasses and your best workout shoes. It’s time to move your next exercise session outdoors.

Rainbow Over Detroit Riverwalk
Physical Fitness

You Can Do It! The Easiest Way to Prepare for a 5K

This 5K training regimen is for beginners, experienced runners and everyone in between. Training starts two months before race day.

Runners racing a local 5K around a lake on a dirt path on a early summer evening.
Physical Fitness

The 7 Most Popular Fitness Questions

Burning calories. Proper weight lifting. Squeezing workouts into busy schedules. These are among the most commonly asked fitness questions.

A couple exercising at home watches a training video on an electronic device.
Physical Fitness

Packing a Punch: Learning Tactical Self-Defense 

Contributor Mia Gallucci writes about her experience trying a tactical self-defense class — and what she learned along the way.

Woman practicing self defense
Physical Fitness

Cardio Doesn’t Have to Hurt: The Best Low-Impact Workouts

Exercise is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself at any age, but as you get older, regular exercise becomes more important than ever.

A water calisthenics class is taught at an indoor poor.
Physical Fitness

4 Easy Ways to Get More Vitamin C

Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant to protect the body against external factors. This valuable vitamin is found in these foods and supplements.

A countertop full of fruits and vegetables.
Physical Fitness

How Much Water Do You Need?

Are you drinking enough water? Find out why staying hydrated goes far in keeping you healthy.

A woman stands at a kitchen sink filling her teal water bottle.
Physical Fitness

Best Exercises to Fight Off Anxiety and Depression

Are anxiety and depression putting a damper on your mood? Think about retooling your exercise routine to give yourself a feel-good boost.

Overweight woman has done New Year resolution for weight loss in new year. Obese hiker walking on forest trail in winter cold weather. Nordic walking in Czech National Park Sumava.
Physical Fitness

How to Start an Exercise Routine that Works for You

Focusing on your target heart rate and switching up your workouts can help unlock an exercise routine that works for you. Here are more keys:

Woman doing yoga with her dog
Physical Fitness

Dry January? Tips to be Successful 

Ready to put away the beer and wine? Ditch the liquor? Here’s how to make a Dry January work for you.

Reminder on a calendar for January that it is Dry January, an alcohol-free month of sobriety
Physical Fitness

What is SMART Goal Setting?

Have you heard of “SMART” goal setting? It’s a goal-setting approach that can help you set goals that are attainable and realistic.

Man cheerfully rides a stationary bike while conversing with the woman beside him.
Physical Fitness

Meditation for Mindfulness and Mental Clarity 

Meditation, mindfulness and mental clarity may be just what the doctor ordered as we head into this busy holiday season.

FO40MeditationScreen
Physical Fitness

Are You Doing These Things to Prevent Skin Infections at the Gym?

Read this list of five skin infections commonly caught at the gym and what you can do to prevent catching them.

Man disinfecting workout equipment at the gym.
Physical Fitness

How to Care for Your Interstitium, Which May Be Your Newest Organ 

A large network connecting tissues and fluid under your skin? Meet the interstitium.

Interstitium
Physical Fitness

Busy? Yes! Believe It Or Not, You Can Be Healthy Too!

Angela T. Moore, certified therapist and fitness coach, offers tips for finding ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle even when you are busy.

Side View Of A Happy Young Businesswoman Doing Push Up At Workplace
Physical Fitness

How to Refresh for Spring 

It’s time for more than just spring cleaning. Learn how to refresh your life to celebrate spring.

Happy mixed race family mother with little daughter holding hands and walking together in the garden. Smiling mom with cute child girl enjoy and having fun in summer outdoor weekend holiday vacation
Physical Fitness

Winter Self-Care Guide: Exercise  

Daily exercise doesn’t mean spending an hour lifting weights. Moving your body for 30 minutes a day in moderate ways can improve your mental and physical health

Senior women exercising with dumbbells at home
Physical Fitness

Steps to take for a Safe Return to the Gym  

Statewide COVID-19 cases are on the rise, so if you’re returning to the gym, you should take every precaution possible to keep yourself and others safe.

Tips for a Safe Return to the Gym
Physical Fitness

Too Cold to Walk Outside? Try These Winter Workday Activity Tips  

Many have relied on outdoor walks to break up the monotony of working from home. Here’s how to replace that activity level during the winter.

Too Cold to Walk Outside? Try These Winter Workday Activity Tips
Physical Fitness

Want to Live a Healthier Lifestyle?  

The most important thing you can do when striving to live a healthy lifestyle is to create environments that support healthy actions.

I like my weights heavy and my squats low
Physical Fitness

Mental Health Tips for Your Inner Athlete 

You don’t have to be an Olympic star to see that your mental health can affect your sport. Here are some tips for your inner athlete.

hands of girl in gymnast grips before performing on horizontal bar
Physical Fitness

Kick Your Workout into High Gear with Cardio Boxing 

In this edition of Fitness Over 40, host Ann Marie Wakula takes you to a cardio boxing workout. It's a high-energy and fun way to boost your heart rate.

F040 cardio boxing
Physical Fitness

Diet and Exercise Take Teacher from Diabetes to Marathons 

In this episode of Fitness Over 40, Ira Goldberg shares how proper diet and exercise took from nearly 400 pounds to running marathons.

Ann Marie Wakula and Ira Goldberg.
Physical Fitness

Find Your ‘Why’ For Living a Healthy Life

Angela T. Moore, certified therapist and fitness coach, explains how to find your 'why' for living a healthy life. The answers will fuel your motivation.

A mother exercises with her young son inside their home. She is teaching the boy the importance of a healthy lifestyle by proper stretching and exercising.
Physical Fitness

How to Start Moving Your Workouts Outside 

More daylight means more chances to move your exercise routine outside. This shift comes with perks you can’t always get with an indoor workout.

Group of young hikers walks in mountains at sunset time
Physical Fitness

Are You Making These Five Post-Run Mistakes?

What you do after a run can be as important for your overall health as the miles you just ran. Here's how to avoid the most common post-workout mistakes.

Silhouette of young woman jogging on shore at sunrise.
Physical Fitness

Ways to Encourage Seniors in Your Life to Maintain Independence 

As people get older, it can become difficult for some to keep the lifestyle they want. But there are ways for seniors to preserve much of their independence.

Portrait of a daughter holding her elderly father, sitting on a bed by a window in her father's room.
Physical Fitness

How to Stay Healthy This Winter

Cold weather arrives with its own lineup of health challenges. With a little planning, you can be proactive in staying healthy when the temperatures drop.

One man, senior adult guy preparing for jogging outdoors in park, on a cold winter day alone.

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