Your Workout Program Is Useless

Your workout program is useless.

You spent hours researching the best program on the Internet, and you found the one that is going to help you get stronger thighs, get bigger biceps, or lose 50 lbs. You might eve have paid money to hold that program in your hands. Well, I hate to break it to you, but that program is useless.

The program that you hold in your hands, the program that is going to help you achieve all those goals... it's not going to help you for long. That program is going to entice you to go to the gym for a couple of weeks, maybe even a month. But eventually, you'll get bored, work will get too busy, the kids will need you because they are sick, you will get sick, and before you know it, that workout program will be sitting in a drawer collecting dust, and it will be the most useless piece of paper you've ever spent
time or money on.

That program is particularly useless when it advises you to perform activities that don't truly bring you joy. When exercise is a chore, there's always something more important to do. Gym rats and lifting cults members (I won't name names) love to poke fun at aerobics and dance classes. But if someone loves to dance, chances are, they'll stick with Zumba, not with a place where people poke fun at their true passions.

A workout program is useless unless it is something that the participant truly enjoys. Because when working out feels like a chore, it's highly unlikely that a person will stick with it. If what brings a person joy is putting on some music and dancing wildly around the living room, then that's the right way to be active for that person.

If punching the living daylights out of a punching bag, without much rhyme, reason, or choreography, is what de-stresses a person and leaves them wanting more, than, as long as their form is good (to prevent injury), then let them punch that bag.

If playing tag in the park for an hour with his kids and then playing on the monkey bars is what puts a smile on a parent's face, then let him make a point to make the park the destination of choice each and every day.

Whereas structured programming may be extremely helpful and even necessary for those wanting specific results (more defined triceps, finishing a sporting event, passing a professional physical fitness test), for the majority of the population, just choosing active pursuits that makes them happy is a much more realistic way to stay active for the long run.

So if you feel like you need to be more active, think back to when you were a little kid, and what kinds of games you truly enjoyed playing. For most of us, the answer will be something active - playing tag, playing catch, racing each other on bikes, pretending to put on a dance recital. Just because you're not a kid anymore doesn't mean you can't play like one. Find the activity that brings you joy, and go for it. If you have kids, even better -- join them in all their active games, and learn to be a kid again. The benefits an active lifestyle can bring are better than any structured, but basically useless workout programs can provide.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Your Workout Program Is Useless

Your workout program is useless.

You spent hours researching the best program on the Internet, and you found the one that is going to help you get stronger thighs, get bigger biceps, or lose 50 lbs. You might eve have paid money to hold that program in your hands. Well, I hate to break it to you, but that program is useless.

The program that you hold in your hands, the program that is going to help you achieve all those goals... it's not going to help you for long. That program is going to entice you to go to the gym for a couple of weeks, maybe even a month. But eventually, you'll get bored, work will get too busy, the kids will need you because they are sick, you will get sick, and before you know it, that workout program will be sitting in a drawer collecting dust, and it will be the most useless piece of paper you've ever spent
time or money on.

That program is particularly useless when it advises you to perform activities that don't truly bring you joy. When exercise is a chore, there's always something more important to do. Gym rats and lifting cults members (I won't name names) love to poke fun at aerobics and dance classes. But if someone loves to dance, chances are, they'll stick with Zumba, not with a place where people poke fun at their true passions.

A workout program is useless unless it is something that the participant truly enjoys. Because when working out feels like a chore, it's highly unlikely that a person will stick with it. If what brings a person joy is putting on some music and dancing wildly around the living room, then that's the right way to be active for that person.

If punching the living daylights out of a punching bag, without much rhyme, reason, or choreography, is what de-stresses a person and leaves them wanting more, than, as long as their form is good (to prevent injury), then let them punch that bag.

If playing tag in the park for an hour with his kids and then playing on the monkey bars is what puts a smile on a parent's face, then let him make a point to make the park the destination of choice each and every day.

Whereas structured programming may be extremely helpful and even necessary for those wanting specific results (more defined triceps, finishing a sporting event, passing a professional physical fitness test), for the majority of the population, just choosing active pursuits that makes them happy is a much more realistic way to stay active for the long run.

So if you feel like you need to be more active, think back to when you were a little kid, and what kinds of games you truly enjoyed playing. For most of us, the answer will be something active - playing tag, playing catch, racing each other on bikes, pretending to put on a dance recital. Just because you're not a kid anymore doesn't mean you can't play like one. Find the activity that brings you joy, and go for it. If you have kids, even better -- join them in all their active games, and learn to be a kid again. The benefits an active lifestyle can bring are better than any structured, but basically useless workout programs can provide.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Smart Fit Tips for Entrepreneurs Who Want to Stay Healthy On the Road

Staying healthy on the road can be tough because you're the sort of business leader whom has to deal with business meetings, conferences, and Skype calls. But this is where your progress begins to suffer and things get harder to get a handle on. The fact is that staying fit on the road is something that many entrepreneurs accept is never going to happen.

But if you go out of your way to make it happen there's no reason why you can't stay fit and healthy. Two-thirds of US companies now offer wellness programs, so you usually have a variety of different wellness options available at all times. This guide is going to show you some smart fit tips for staying healthy when on the road.

Pack for Fitness

You should always have your workout clothes with you on any trip. This is not because you absolutely have to have them if you are going to have a workout, but they're crucial for stating your intent. If you have them with you, it's easy to commit to staying fit and healthy.

Make sure you pack some other compact fitness aids. One of the best fitness aids you can have with you are resistance bands. They give you the benefit of an awesome workout, while at the same time being compact enough to fit snugly in a corner of your bag.

Throw some supplements and vitamins in your bag so you have your nutritional needs covered as well.

Choosing the Right Hotel

While it's possible to workout anywhere, the right hotel can make all the difference. These days' hotels are in the fitness business because they are catering to entrepreneurs who want to stay fit on the roads by implementing gyms. A small fitness center is a big attraction, and hotel owners are realizing this.

Make sure you book a hotel that has these facilities in place. If this isn't possible, try to book a hotel that's near a local gym. You could run to the nearest gym, perform your workout, and run back again.

Creative Ways to Workout

Sometimes you're not going to have everything handed to you on a plate as a digital nomad. You will have to get creative if you are going to get an effective workout. Use the resistance bands to work your limbs and your core. Use the hotel stairwell to your advantage. Run up and down a few floors to get some cardio in. You can even just go outside and run around a few blocks; which is also a fast way to see the city.

If you want to work out in your room, use the hotel Wi-Fi to pull up some exercise videos. You'll be surprised at the number of workouts on YouTube specifically targeted at people who are in hotel rooms.

Bodyweight movements will be your best friend when you're working out on the road. Push-ups, sit-ups, and crunches will form a core part of your core-busting workout.

Make Sure You Get Enough Sleep

A hefty travel schedule rarely allows you to get the sleep you need. The quality of sleep is important, rather than whether you manage to get the full eight hours. The quality of sleep is about replicating the effect of sleeping in pitch darkness. Instead of curling up in the chair in your hotel room before a conference, close the shades, and turn on your alarm, while also putting the "Do Not Disturb" sign outside of your door.

Disrupted sleep can make you more tired than you were before you went to sleep. Try to place an alarm on in 30-minute increments. This is how long the average sleep cycle is, according to most experts.

Conclusion -- It's Never Ideal

If you are an expert in travel, the chances are you have already managed to get yourself into a routine for working out on the road. But what you should understand is that a life of constant travel is never ideal for keeping yourself in perfect shape. The workouts you perform on the road are designed to maintain your current level of fitness. They are not designed for pushing boundaries.

Don't get upset if the local gym doesn't have a squat rack. Be prepared to compromise and use what's there. You'll soon get into a rhythm and you'll soon find out what works for you.

After all, you only have to survive a few days with fitness on the road before you're back home again.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Smart Fit Tips for Entrepreneurs Who Want to Stay Healthy On the Road

Staying healthy on the road can be tough because you're the sort of business leader whom has to deal with business meetings, conferences, and Skype calls. But this is where your progress begins to suffer and things get harder to get a handle on. The fact is that staying fit on the road is something that many entrepreneurs accept is never going to happen.

But if you go out of your way to make it happen there's no reason why you can't stay fit and healthy. Two-thirds of US companies now offer wellness programs, so you usually have a variety of different wellness options available at all times. This guide is going to show you some smart fit tips for staying healthy when on the road.

Pack for Fitness

You should always have your workout clothes with you on any trip. This is not because you absolutely have to have them if you are going to have a workout, but they're crucial for stating your intent. If you have them with you, it's easy to commit to staying fit and healthy.

Make sure you pack some other compact fitness aids. One of the best fitness aids you can have with you are resistance bands. They give you the benefit of an awesome workout, while at the same time being compact enough to fit snugly in a corner of your bag.

Throw some supplements and vitamins in your bag so you have your nutritional needs covered as well.

Choosing the Right Hotel

While it's possible to workout anywhere, the right hotel can make all the difference. These days' hotels are in the fitness business because they are catering to entrepreneurs who want to stay fit on the roads by implementing gyms. A small fitness center is a big attraction, and hotel owners are realizing this.

Make sure you book a hotel that has these facilities in place. If this isn't possible, try to book a hotel that's near a local gym. You could run to the nearest gym, perform your workout, and run back again.

Creative Ways to Workout

Sometimes you're not going to have everything handed to you on a plate as a digital nomad. You will have to get creative if you are going to get an effective workout. Use the resistance bands to work your limbs and your core. Use the hotel stairwell to your advantage. Run up and down a few floors to get some cardio in. You can even just go outside and run around a few blocks; which is also a fast way to see the city.

If you want to work out in your room, use the hotel Wi-Fi to pull up some exercise videos. You'll be surprised at the number of workouts on YouTube specifically targeted at people who are in hotel rooms.

Bodyweight movements will be your best friend when you're working out on the road. Push-ups, sit-ups, and crunches will form a core part of your core-busting workout.

Make Sure You Get Enough Sleep

A hefty travel schedule rarely allows you to get the sleep you need. The quality of sleep is important, rather than whether you manage to get the full eight hours. The quality of sleep is about replicating the effect of sleeping in pitch darkness. Instead of curling up in the chair in your hotel room before a conference, close the shades, and turn on your alarm, while also putting the "Do Not Disturb" sign outside of your door.

Disrupted sleep can make you more tired than you were before you went to sleep. Try to place an alarm on in 30-minute increments. This is how long the average sleep cycle is, according to most experts.

Conclusion -- It's Never Ideal

If you are an expert in travel, the chances are you have already managed to get yourself into a routine for working out on the road. But what you should understand is that a life of constant travel is never ideal for keeping yourself in perfect shape. The workouts you perform on the road are designed to maintain your current level of fitness. They are not designed for pushing boundaries.

Don't get upset if the local gym doesn't have a squat rack. Be prepared to compromise and use what's there. You'll soon get into a rhythm and you'll soon find out what works for you.

After all, you only have to survive a few days with fitness on the road before you're back home again.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Robert De Niro Pulls Controversial Anti-Vaccination Documentary From Tribeca Film Festival

A controversial anti-vaccination documentary has been pulled from the Tribeca Film Festival lineup after it was met with fierce criticism, festival co-founder Robert De Niro announced on Saturday.

De Niro, who had just a day earlier defended showing "Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe," said in a statement "we do not believe it contributes to or furthers the discussion I had hoped for."

The actor and the festival were hit with an onslaught of criticism for showing the documentary by the disgraced anti-vax doctor Andrew Wakefield. The documentary claims that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concocted a conspiracy to cover up the "true" reason for America’s rising autism diagnosis rates: vaccines. Extensive research, including studies by the World Health Organization, the Institute of Medicine and the CDC have all found that there is no link between vaccines and autism.

Wakefield first achieved notoriety with a 1998 study that claimed the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine was linked to autism. His work was found to be based on fraudulent data and the study retracted from the journal that published it.

(For more on the inaccuracies of Wakefield’s film, read this explainer from The Huffington Post's Anna Almendrala.)

De Niro said on Saturday that "concerns" with the film prompted its removal from the lineup.

"My intent in screening this film was to provide an opportunity for conversation around an issue that is deeply personal to me and my family," he said in the statement. "But after reviewing it over the past few days with the Tribeca Film Festival team and others from the scientific community, we do not believe it contributes to or furthers the discussion I had hoped for."

"The Festival doesn't seek to avoid or shy away from controversy. However, we have concerns with certain things in this film that we feel prevent us from presenting it in the Festival program. We have decided to remove it from our schedule."

"Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe" claims to explore the "long-debated link between autism and vaccines” and "features revealing and emotional interviews with pharmaceutical insiders, doctors, politicians, parents, and one whistleblower to understand what's behind the skyrocketing increase of autism diagnoses today," according to a description that has since been removed from the festival's website.

A day earlier, De Niro had defended showing the film. "Grace and I have a child with autism and we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined,” he said in a statement Friday. “I am not personally endorsing the film, nor am I anti-vaccination; I am only providing the opportunity for a conversation around the issue."

Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik wrote that the prestigious Festival was “sullying” its reputation by hosting the film. "Careless actions such as those of the Tribeca Film Festival don't contribute to 'dialogue and discussion,' as the festival's PR would have it; they just spread misinformation and pseudoscience and undermine public health,” he wrote.

Documentary filmmaker Penny Lane, a two-time grantee of the Tribeca Film Institute, had written an open letter to the festival, saying that it had a made “very serious mistake” in hosting Wakefield’s film and calling him a “widely discredited and dangerous anti-vaccination quack."

The 2016 Tribeca Film Festival runs April 13-24 in New York.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

6 Amazing Tips for Staying in Shape While Traveling

Staying fit while on the road (and otherwise) is extremely important and somehow I feel that fitness and travel go hand in hand. If you travel a lot , you tend to stay fit and if you are not fit, traveling is just not as much fun, or important anymore -- after all, health always comes first, right? I would like to think of myself as a fit traveler though I am always striving towards harder fitness goals. Staying focused and motivated is the key.

As a traveler, any sort of "regular" gym sessions are impossible , however, if you are focused, you can exercise literally anywhere in the world. You don't need a fancy gym and regular classes to keep yourself in shape.

People often ask me how I stay fit (modestly isn't my virtue, as you see) and the answer is simple -- I am always "on the move" and it helps me towards my goals rather than hampering them. Here are my own tried and tested tips towards being a fit traveler:

Walk, walk and then walk some more
Walking is a great exercise as we all know, but do we walk enough? When you are traveling, do you jump on a tuk tuk or bus the first chance you get? If that's you, this is the first thing that needs to change. Not only is walking around a new place exciting and gives you the true vibe of the city, it helps you stay in shape. Plus, did I mention you save money too? So, its a win-win situation.

Learn something new during longer vacations
Whenever I am traveling for a longer time frame, I like to enroll in some sort of fitness classes which are available in that city/country. So that gives me a flavor of local culture as well as learning something new. For example, I joined Muay Thai in Indonesia -- I got to meet lovely local people, learnt something new AND stayed in shape. Another win-win ,you say? If you take up a local cooking class, it can help you stay off junk food and add to your fitness mantra.


Kayaking in Laos Image Credit WanderWithJo

Adventure sports/Activities
Always do some sort of fun activities on your trip. If its a beach vacation, its natural you will spend 80 percent of your time lazying around on the sun beds with a pint of beer. By all means, do that. Do spend sometime doing something adventurous. For example, I did diving in Gili Islands , surfing in Bali and lots of hiking, zip lines, short treks around the globe. Another way to meet new people (instructors, other students etc) and have a lot of fun doing something "different." Oh and of course that means staying fit and avoiding that beer belly.

Dance
Make it a point to dance. Go to clubs and let your hair down. Dancing is great cardio and for me, it is a "must-do" on all vacations. If you don't like clubs, dance on the beach, dance where you are -- it's as simple as playing some music and going with the flow. It's also a stress buster, might I add. So go and dance away to glory.

Swim
I always try to book a hostel/hotel with a swimming pool. Trust me, they are not so expensive -- especially hostels with pools -- they are almost always (if you search properly), the same price as the ones without a pool. If you have a swimming pool in close vicinity , you will be more inclined to take a dip...and we all know swimming is a great exercise. Many hostels in Southeast Asia have pool parties -- so go refresh yourself, have fun and stay fit in the interim.


Snorkeling in Philippines Image Credit WanderWithJo

Cycling and bike tours
Want to explore more than you can cover on foot ? Hire a bike. It's the best way to go around a place and explore every nook and corner at leisure. You can even take a guided bike tour if you want to meet people and check out the hot spots. I prefer to rent bikes, when I can, and just go around the place. Holland is one of the best countries and you can cover so much on bike. My longest biking experience was when I biked around Giethoorn with my Dutch friend on bike - we covered 40 kms and had a blast. So bike around town to cover more kms (than foot) - better than taking a bus/tuk tuk or taxi and you are on your way to becoming fit as a fiddle.

Apart from your traveling times, be sure to squeeze in workout sessions in your daily routine as well. I have joined a local gym where I go "in between my travels" and I use the "pay as you go" system. That way, I don't have to spend for the days I don't go.

If you have absolutely no time for gym , just work out whenever you can. Always take the stairs, sprint to catch the bus (even if you are not running late) or just do squats in the shower while waiting for hot water. You can incorporate fitness in every way and form in your routine as long as you are focused.

There you go -- here were my top tips for being a fit traveler. So, Are you a fit traveler? Do you have any more tips to share with our readers? Do comment below as I would love to hear your thoughts.

Stay tuned for more travel tips, photoblogs and escapades at - WanderWithJo.com

This post was original published on - http://wanderwithjo.com/6-tips-to-being-a-fit-traveler

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