Tag Archives: fit

Join the mile-high yoga club with Qatar Airways

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Doha: Lifestyle guru and author Deepak Chopra has devised a yoga fitness programme for flying exclusively for Qatar Airways aimed at rejuvenating passengers on long-haul flights.

The new four-page “Fly Healthy, Fly Fit” guide has been prepared with “The Chopra Center for Wellbeing” and its world-renowned co-founder Deepak Chopra.

The guide contains a simple and effective range of relaxation techniques, which have been specially created by Deepak Chopra for the airline’s passengers.

Deepak Chopra’s holistic approach fuses modern medical knowledge with the ancient science of Ayurveda and the art of yoga. It provides passengers with easy exercise routines, enabling them to feel more balanced and relaxed during long flights.

Gentle stretches to encourage blood circulation, with soothing self-massages of the neck, arms and hands, as well as step-by-step yoga postures to relieve tension can all be done from the comfort of their seat even with the seat belt fastened. The guide, printed in English and Arabic, allows passengers to easily navigate their way through a variety of techniques with clear illustrations of the exercises.

In an attempt to make the in-flight experience more enriching and less a means to pass time, the guide contains meditation practices to reduce stress, so travellers reach their destination relaxed and rejuvenated. In particular, being aware of one’s breathing – the conscious in- and exhale process – is a powerful tool to fight anxiety and jet lag.

While Qatar Airways’ “Fly Healthy, Fly Fit” guide has been tailored to enhance the quality of the in-flight experience, all of the techniques shown can be used pre- and post-flight for a more healthy and balanced life.

With the new wellbeing in-flight programme, Qatar Airways emphasises its most important goal of enhancing the customer experience onboard.

Speaking about the new programme, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: “Qatar Airways is delighted to have teamed up with the world renowned Deepak Chopra and his Chopra Center for Wellbeing to offer our passengers the ultimate relaxation techniques during their flights.

“We recognise the importance of air travel for today’s travellers, particularly frequent fliers, and how essential it is for them to remain healthy during long journeys. The new programme administered in association with Deepak Chopra will help ensure passengers have a positive, stress-free and fully refreshing flying experience.”

The Indian-American medical doctor Deepak Chopra is regarded as one of the world’s greatest leaders in the field of mind-body medicine. He has written numerous best-selling books, is a popular keynote speaker at prestigious events and has lectured at renowned universities such as Harvard Medical School. Alongside Deepak Chopra’s travelling tips, the guide also provides passengers with useful health advice on motion sickness and travelling with medical conditions.

For more information on Deepak’s workshops and healing center, visit www.chopra.com

Loose weight, get fit – get on your bike

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Fed up with overcrowded public transport or bored of sitting in traffic?Why not ride to work and reap the benefits?

Evans Cycles, the UK’s largest specialist cycle retailer, gives you a few reasons why cycling to work could be more beneficial to you than you think.

The list of why cycling is better is endless. It’s clear that by bike you’re more environmentally friendly, save time and money especially through the busy streets of the countries major cities. With the government announcing a £140 million cycling plan for the next three years, it is going to make travelling by bike so much easier.

Cycling is low intensity and as hard as you want it to be. You can choose a long or short route depending on how confident you feel and what you want to achieve. If you don’t like revealing all at the swimming pool, or find that running is too intense then cycling can beat all that. Steady pace cycling burns fat and has the added value of taking you from A to B.

“Cycling to work has many more health benefits than you think” says Claire Beaumont, Evans Cycles’ fitness expert. ”We all think of it as an alternative mode of transport but the workout you get from riding helps keep you fit without realising it and is so much better for your wellbeing especially this time of year when everyone is coughing and sneezing on public transport”.

Can help weight loss

When you cycle a simple bit of mathematics happens, you eat food to put energy in the body, you then burn energy from food to power your body to cycle. There is then a negative energy intake and you lose weight, or if you didn’t want to slim down then it means you can have an extra cream cake at the weekend!

Feel better

What is also great about cycling is that although your using energy and tire the body in the long term the feeling of well being will make you feel more energised because exercise takes you out of your daily routine, helps you focus on what your body is doing and take you away from things happening from day to day.

Defence against Coughs and Colds

A regular bit of cycling is a way to boost your immune system, after moderate exercise of about an hour your body will recognise this and release more bacteria fighting cells into the blood stream over time the levels of cells from the immune system will rise to a new baseline which means the body becomes more effective at fighting infection compared to someone who is sedentary.

How Much?

Government guidelines recommend that adults should to at least 30 minutes of activity everyday and cycling is an easy way to get this recommendation into your daily routine. Ideally 1 hour of cycling is great for your body it doesn’t have to be strenuous and not done all in one block, how about a cycle to the shops.

No gym fees

A decent bike, that won’t fall apart after a month of riding, will set you back about £300. Mountain bikes, road bikes, hybrid or folding bikes are now more affordable than ever. £30 gets you a comfortable, lightweight helmet that passes all relevant safety standards. Waterproof jackets with reflective strips that combine comfort, practicality and safety start from around £50. With winter gloves from around £20 you can have all the gear you need to get started for around £400, that’s usually less than a year’s gym membership!

Web: www.evanscycles.com

Moderate exercise relieves arthritis symptoms

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Adults with arthritis tend to be less fit than their peers, but a new study from the University of Carolina has found that moderate exercise increases fitness.

Lead researcher Leigh F. Callahan of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C., said the study examined 346 patients with an average age of 70 who had self-reported arthritis.

The participants were divided into an intervention group that took part in the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program – exercise classes at basic and advanced levels that met for one hour twice a week for eight weeks – and a control group that was offered the program after eight weeks.

The intervention group completed self-report assessments at three months and six months after completing the program.

The study, published in Arthritis Care & Research, showed that the intervention group had significant improvements in pain, fatigue and managing arthritis at eight weeks, and maintained improvements in pain and fatigue at six months.

Fitness watch – the perfect present for a fat friend!

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London:It’s time to burn off all those festive calories, and what better way to do it than with the new JML Fitness Watch!

It has all the fancy stuff that you expect from heart rate monitors and all that other nerdy exercise stuff and whittled it down into a very accessible timepiece. The Fitness Watch works in two ways: it takes accurate readings of your heart (by touching a sensor on the watch); it also has an Exercise Mode that can measure the amount of calories you burn.

The Fitness Watch closely monitors your heart to identify how to get the most from your exercise. Work too hard or below your target, and the alarm sounds. The LCD display will indicate if you are below or above your target. It also comes with a sturdy bar grip enabling you to attach it to your bike. It’s an excellent choice for a tubby friend, exercise fiends and those of you looking to stick to New Year’s resolutions. What time is it? Time to buy the JML Fitness Watch. Available at $40(£19.99 €30) from the UK stores Boots and Robert Dyas and online at www.jmldirect.com

Staying fit – free guide

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London: UK health experts recommend 30 minutes of exercise AT LEAST three times a week but research shows that more than one in five men and women do LESS than one 30 minute session of physical activity in a month! Staying active as you get older is the recipe for a healthy and fulfilled life – but it isn’t always as easy as it sounds. What exercise to do, where to do it and how to fit it within your busy lifestyle?

Written in association with Crampex, an over the counter cramp medicine, Getting fit, staying active – guide to a healthier lifestyle is a free leaflet that answers all of these questions. It gives tips and practical advice on how to build exercise into your life, on choosing the right activity for you, on how to avoid injury and ways to stay motivated. It also includes five top tips to become more active, including entering an event, discovering the delights of an exercise class and getting into gardening.

Personal trainer and fitness expert Kristoph Thompson says: “Studies show that exercise is one of the most effective methods of keeping the mind and the body young, as well as helping to prevent injuries and reducing the onset of illnesses. Yet many people become less active once they reach a certain age, sometimes without really realising. Even small periods of exercise can greatly improve your health and quality of life. This leaflet is an ideal reference point for people of all ages that want to start exercising again.”

The leaflet is available for free by calling Crampex on 01484 848264 or by e-mailing your name and postal address to stayingactive@thorntonross.com

Crampex is the only product available without prescription for the treatment and prevention of muscle cramp at night. More common than you may realise, cramp regularly affects over 13 million people in the UK.

Local massage, heat or movement of the affected limb may help to temporarily relieve the pain but Crampex tablets taken before going to bed at night may help to actually prevent nocturnal cramps in the first instance. Available over the counter at pharmacies, Crampex is available in a pack of 48 tablets (£6.49) or a pack of 24 tablets (£4.25). Always read the label.