Tag Archives: exercise

New Study Shows 15 Minutes of Exercise Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

We all know smoking is terrible for our health, yet so many of us still decide to light up despite the many risks it involves, including heart disease and lung cancer. But for those who are addicted to smoking, there’s hope, and it comes in the form of exercise.

A new study based in Taiwan has shown that exercise can help make quitting smoking easier, and even sliding back into the habit far less likely.

The study monitored the health status and daily habits of 434,190 people in Taiwan between 1996 and 2026, and found that smokers who exercised even 15 minutes a day were 55 percent more likely to quit smoking than people who weren’t active in the slightest. And that for those were were able to quit, researchers found that they were 43 percent less likely to take smoking back up in the future. (more…)

Posted on April 23, 2026 by Dana

Nike’s ‘Make it Count’ Video Inspires Us to Live Life Boldly

Yesterday we came across this awesome video from Nike made by a young film producer who took the company’s ‘Life is a Sport Make it Count’ motto to a whole new level. Producer Casey Neistat documented his experience as he traveled the world in 10 days while wearing Nike’s New FuelBand.

We love the feel of the video. Its carefree, adventurous spirit made us instantly want to get out and travel, run, eat delicious food, and live life to the fullest. And we loved the inspiring quotes it shared like “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all” (Helen Keller), and “Do one thing every day that scares you” (Eleanor Roosevelt).

Ultimately, it made us think, this is worth sharing.

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Posted on April 13, 2026 by Dana

The Easiest and Fastest Way to Fix a Trouble Zone

Everyone has a trouble zone, or a certain area of their body that want to change, fix, shrink or enhance. While “spot reducing” is impossible, focusing more energy on that particular area over time will of course head great results. You can’t drop the rest of your workout routine in favor of focusing all your energy on your saddlebags, abs, etc., a little extra effort is going to be needed. You can devote extra minutes in the gym to working out your trouble zone, but this may take time away from the rest of your body, or have you resenting that spot.

You gotta learn to love you trouble zone and give it a little more attention because you are excited to see it change, not because you want to beat it into submission. If you make a habit of working that spot in ways that take very little effort, but on a consistent basis, you will soon have to find a new trouble spot to focus on.

Now when I say habit, I really mean it. Think about it: External cues prompt you to do things every day that you barely think about. A red light turns green, you hit the gas.  Turn on the computer, you check your Facebook. Those are habits. You didn’t always have them, but you developed them over time and now they are second nature. Most experts say that a habit takes about 3 weeks of solid effort to develop, and after that, you barely have to think about it.

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Posted on April 12, 2026 by Kelly

5 Ways for Couples to Get Outside and be Active this Spring

Warmer spring weather is here and if you’re like me, you’re itching to get outside and shed your winter skin.

If it was a long winter for you and you’re seeking some new ways to exercise outside, why not do so with your significant other? It’s long been known that there are some serious benefits to getting healthy with your partner, including a better sexual relationship, and being able to support each other’s individual fitness and diet goals. Not to mention, couples that are active together have been shown to be 90% more likely to stick to a routine than if they were going it alone.

So with these motivators in mind, talk to your partner about how you can get active and healthy together this spring, and beyond. Because if one person is on board, the other is far more likely to be on board, too.

DietsInReview.com’s yoga expert, Jill Lawson, offers up her five fun and easy ways to get outside and get moving with your significant other. We especially love the idea of gardening and window washing together – so simple yet productive. (more…)

Posted on April 11, 2026 by Dana

Exercise During Your Commute for a Daily Dose of Fitness

The biggest excuse people give for not working out is that there isn’t enough time in their day, and the biggest mistake they make is thinking they need to block out time specifically for a workout. If you can do that, and I am entirely convinced 99 percent of people can, great. Spend an hour in the gym getting your sweat on and cross it off your list. For those that truly can’t, usually because of a crazy work schedule, you aren’t off the hook, you just have to get creative. 

Most people have to commute to work, and whether your commute is an hour each way, or 20 minutes total, that’s a significant amount of time doing relatively nothing. Whether you drive, carpool, or ride the bus or subway, you spend some time each day going to and from your work. And you go to work most days of the week. Viola! The perfect built in time to sneak in some fitness. You multitask all the time on your commute any way by checking emails, Facebook, reading the paper or simply catching a few more Z’s, all of which can be done at a later time. Why not knock out your workout- you know, that thing you don’t have time for?

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Posted on April 9, 2026 by Kelly

Saturday Morning Drill: Easter-themed Exercises

During this Easter weekend you may be spending time with your kids and family and what better way to have fun together than with exercise!

This weekend, we have been inspired by the Easter bunny so we are going to combine cardio and plyometrics with a fun Easter theme.

If you haven’t heard of plyometrics, it’s a type of exercise designed to produce fast, powerful movements. It also helps improve the functions of the nervous system. It is also referred to as explosive exercises.

These activities will be particularly useful if you’re looking for ways to help your kids come down from their sugar highs from all those goodies the Easter bunny left behind.

And as always, make sure everyone has gone through a good warm up before doing these exercises. For great ideas on how to warm up, refer to the ‘Also Read’ section below.

Bunny Hop

This is probably best to do outside, or where there is plenty of room and no risk of running into something. The Bunny Hop is a spin off of a plyometrics exercise. While standing, you jump forward several times, covering 20-30 yards.

To make this fun with the kids and family, tell them to jump like a ‘bunny’ to the finish line. (more…)

Posted on April 7, 2026 by Kristina

Jersey Shore’s JWOWW Shares her Bikini Body Workout Secrets

Spring is here, which means it’s time to get in bikini shape now. No one knows that better than the cast of the Jersey Shore, who spend their summers on national TV in skimpy outfits.

While Snooki is making room for her expanding baby bump, Jenny “JWOWW” Farley has been sporting a more fit and toned body recently, which she credits to spending quality time in the gym with her juice head gorilla boyfriend, Roger. Wanna know how she does it? Here is her beach body workout she swears by, with just 3 exercises for every body part.

For flat abs that rival The Situation‘s, try:

1. The Bicycle Crunch
2. The Vertical Leg Crunch
3. The Exercise-ball Crunch

Firm up your arms with these three tricep exercises:

1. Triceps kickback
2. One-arm Triceps Push-ups
3. Skull Crushers

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Posted on April 2, 2026 by Kelly

Prepare for Workouts Any Time, Any Place

There is nothing I hate more than a wasted opportunity to work out. When I unexpectedly find myself with an hour to kill between appointments, I curse the heels I without fail chose to wear that day which prevent me from getting in a nice brisk walk around the city. Or when a friend flakes on me for coffee, I have a huge hole in my afternoon, but not enough time to make it home, to the gym, and back.

There are opportunities for fitness everywhere. Most people complain they don’t have time to go to the gym, but most of that time is devoted to getting ready to go to the gym. Changing clothes, grabbing your iPod, water bottle, a snack, driving to the gym, finding parking, navigating the locker room, and the commute back home means you spend more time prepping for your workout than you actually do working out.

Ten minutes here and there can add up to an hour or more of exercise per day, so make sure you are ready when the opportunity presents itself. Have a back up pair of sneakers in the trunk of your car so you always have workout appropriate shoes at your disposal. Walking is a workout anyone can do, and you don’t have to worry about getting sweaty before work, a date or even if you just don’t want to waste a face of makeup. If you use public transportation to commute to work, wear your sneakers in the mornings and pack your dress shoes in your purse or a small duffle bag so you can walk to, from and around the bus stop.

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Posted on March 26, 2026 by Kelly

Vigorous Exercise May Hurt Your Chances of Getting Pregnant

We know that exercise is absolutely essential to having a healthy body and the benefits of regular exercise are numerous. A recent study has shown that exercise can even help the impact of fertility functions in women of all shapes and body types.

Moderate levels of physical activity for any length of time appeared to give a decrease in the amount of time it takes to conceive for women. The study, conducted by researcher Lauren A. Wise, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health, looked at 3,000 different women that were actively trying to conceive with no outside fertility help or treatments. Each woman’s activity level was tracked through one self-answered questionnaire that was completed after the study began. The key to achieving the improved conception time was to keep the activity levels moderate.

When engaging in five or more hours of vigorous exercise per week, women of a healthy weight dropped their likelihood to get pregnant by 42 percent when compared to women that did no exercise. With women of a normal weight, the more vigorous the exercise, the lower the chance for conception was. “We were surprised to find that even relatively small amounts of vigorous activity seemed to impact fertility,” Wise said. Vigorous exercise didn’t delay conception for women that were obese or overweight though.

“The take-home message for overweight and obese women is that any exercise seems better than none. Being overweight is a risk factor for infertility, and these findings suggest that exercise may improve fertility in these women,” said Wise. (more…)

Posted on March 20, 2026 by Descygna

Cooler Hands Help You Exercise More Consistently

A simple solution has been offered for helping obese women exercise longer and stay faithful to their workouts: cool palms.

Research scientist and exercise physiologist at Stanford University School of Medicine Stacy Sims ran this study and got some pretty amazing results. “If you think about adipose fat tissue, it’s a great insulator. For people who are obese, that means they often get too hot while exercising,” Sims said. Her goal was to see if cooling the palms of the women participating in the study would help them overcome fatigue and overheating while they were exercising. Professional athletes currently use the same palm cooling device that was used in the study. She chose to test this theory on obese women because she found they tend to abandon workouts due to overheating and fatigue.

Within the study, 24 women, ages 30 to 45 were evaluated. None of the participants had a history of long-term exercise and all of them were obese with a BMI between 30 and 35. The women were broken into two groups. Both groups used the cooling device, but only one group had cool water in their device. The other group’s devices held water that was body temperature. The groups did three exercise sessions per week for a total of 12 weeks. The sessions were broken down to include 10 minutes of body weight exercise, 25 to 45 minutes of walking on the treadmill while holding the cooling device followed by 10 minutes of core exercises. On the first and last day of the study there was a timed 1.5 mile walk. The group that used the devices with cool water managed to trim over five minutes off their time for the 1.5 mile walk, took more than two inches off their waist and lowered their blood pressure.

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Posted on March 15, 2026 by Descygna

Portion Sizes, Exercise, and Good Examples are One Doc’s Prescription to Cure Childhood Obesity

The fact that our country is experiencing an obesity crisis is not news. However, until it is reversed, praise goes to the doctors and advocates who won’t give up the fight. One of the hardest battles in the obesity epidemic is that of the children. Natalie Sollo, the Childhood Obesity Clinic Medical Director in Wichita, Kansas offers some fresh insight to the problem and how portion sizes may be a key to solving children’s weight problems.

One of the hardest facts to face about childhood obesity is that our kids are commonly experiencing diseases that were once only considered “adult” diseases. These afflictions include high blood pressure, diabetes, and even sleep apnea. Sollo pointed out the downward spiral an obese child is more likely to fall into. As obesity is known to commonly cause depression and low self-esteem, a child is more likely to emotionally overeat. These habits will easily lead to adult obesity which brings on even more health problems. Heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, many types of cancer, and osteoarthritis are all common diseases an obese adult faces.

The problem is growing every day, but why? Why are our kids in such risk today verses even 20 years ago?

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Posted on March 14, 2026 by Lacy