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By Dale Powell

Lower back pain can be a real pain in the…well, back I suppose. Do you ask yourself, ‘Why me?’ It might be comforting news for you that lower back pain is a very common issue, as 80% of people will suffer its wrath at some time in their life.

It is said that people between the ages of 35 and 65 will suffer lower back pain more than any other age group. No matter what age you are, lower back pain can strike. Often, it is simply caused by our lifestyle and daily habits, underscoring the importance of maintaining a healthy and active life to reduce the likelihood and severity of back pain.

Lifestyle

Do you play a sport? Do you sit for long periods of time? Ever had a car accident or other injury? It is these kinds of factors that can trigger the onset of lower back pain.

I have played an impact sport for years, starting from the age of 11 and remember the day I experienced my first bout of lower back pain. I became stiff, rigid and restricted in my movements, and had no idea what was happening to my body.

For years I played at an amateur level, but once I moved ‘up the ranks’ to semi-professional, I was introduced to physiotherapy, chiropractic and sports massage, as these services were all part of the normal semi-pro lifestyle.

It wasn’t until these treatments became part of my lifestyle that my lower back pain became a nuisance of the past.

Continue reading “Understanding Lower Back Pain”

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By Michael Volkin (aka The Volkinator)

I’ll admit it. I’m hooked on bodyweight exercises.

I’ve been working out for two decades, rotating through dozens of different workout approaches, but one aspect of my workouts has always been consistent – my use of bodyweight exercises.

By the term bodyweight exercises, I mean fitness workouts that don’t require free weights, and where our own weight provides resistance during the exercise. This might make you think of calisthenics and maybe HumanaNatura’s comprehensive calisthenics program. These are great examples of bodyweight exercise.

Bodyweight workouts are extra-efficient, since they emphasize whole body movement and task multiple muscle groups at the same time (as opposed to the muscle group isolation that is typical in weightlifting). In addition to providing resistance or strength training, bodyweight workouts can also provide cardio conditioning, and improve agility and flexibility too.

I never really thought about why bodyweight exercises had remained so important to me until I started developing my new fitness product, Strength Stack 52, a fitness program designed to be fun, flexible, and effective. The project made be better appreciate the many important aspects and benefits of bodyweight exercises.

Continue reading “13 Reasons To Move That Body!”

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With the current craze for Greek-style yogurt, we figured sooner or later people would search for Greek-style yoga. But regardless of how you arrived here – whether by accident, out of curiosity, or some other route – we don’t want to waste this funny play on words and learning opportunity.

After all, there actually is such a thing as Greek-style yoga, though few of us realize this at first. But it’s there right in front of us, even as most of us don’t make the connection – though maybe more of us will once folks read and share this post.

The yoga of the Greeks? You’ve probably heard of it already. It’s called calisthenics, a word created from the Greek roots kalos, which means beautiful, and sthenos, meaning strength.

Though calisthenics is a modern word and fitness practice, it has its roots firmly in the athletics of ancient Greece, making it a rough contemporary of other forms of yoga. And like traditional yoga, when calisthenics is practiced regularly and attentively, it does indeed help to make us stronger and more beautiful, on the outside and on the inside too.

Because of the many health and fitness benefits of calisthenics, HumanaNatura encourages its regular practice as part of our Personal Health Program. The image above is a photo-sized copy of our calisthenics workout poster. The poster summarizes HumanaNatura’s multilevel calisthenics exercises and is available free for personal and non-profit use, along with our step-by-step calisthenics guide, at guide and poster download.

Continue reading “Introducing: Greek-Style Yoga”

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By Michael Volkin (aka The Volkinator)

A typical gym workout lasts 30 minutes to 1 hour, and often includes significant weight-lifting. If exercises are performed incorrectly, the load on the muscles and stress on the joints of these repeated movements causes both short and long-term damage to your body.

Most people continue to work out despite a known injury, aching back, or sore muscles because of the improved appearance of their physique as a result of the working out. However, over time, the improved appearance becomes harder to maintain and a “plateau” eventually occurs.

A workout plateau is when someone continues to exercise and sees diminishing returns on the improvement of their physique.  In addition to these hardships, a gym workout causes a time constraint for many would-be gym goers. In addition to the 30 to 60 minute workout, the average gym member has to factor in the time for driving and parking.

Recently, several scientific studies – see Further Reading below – have been conducted which analyzes the optimal duration and intensity for a proper workout.  Some experts claim high intensity and fast workouts are the most beneficial, others claim slow meticulous movements with heavy loads is the easiest way to maintain a great physique and optimal health.

Continue reading “Mini Workout Theory Tested”