The push pull squat exercise program

This article is written by Rob Maxwell, M.A. Exercise Physiology, CSCS and ACSM CPT from www.fittothemax.net. Follow him on Twitter.

There are many different types of workout designs.

Some make sense. A few are designed by pros.

Some are on the opposite end of the spectrum. They aren't effective.

I’ve been in the personal training business for 25 years. I have learned that workout design is especially important to get results. I’ve also learned that as trainers we must also be time managers.

The workout we pick must fit into the schedule that we and the client have. Personal training sessions are typically 30, 45, or 60 minutes. Time must be used efficiently.

The push squat pull format

One of the workout structures that I like to use is a Push/Squat/Pull format.

It’s really what every workout is based around anyway. Let me explain.

The body only has so many main movements. Our body pushes, our body pulls, and our body squats.

This is an oversimplification but these main movements, when done correctly, work most of our body's musculature.

There are only so many major muscle groups of the body. There are over 650 muscles in the body, but the major muscle groups that move the body are far fewer.

The major muscle groups are the gluteals (butt), quadriceps (anterior upper thigh), hamstrings (posterior upper thigh), pectoralis major (anterior upper torso), latissimus dorsi/rhomboids (posterior upper torso), deltoids (shoulders), biceps (anterior upper arm), triceps (posterior upper arm), erector spinae (posterior lower torso), abdominals (anterior lower torso), and gastrocnemius/soleus (posterior lower leg).

The 11 major muscle groups

1. Glutes

2. Quads

3. Hamstrings

4. Pecs

5. Lats/Rhomboids

6. Deltoids

7. Biceps

8. Triceps

9. Lower back

10. Abs

11. Calves

Stimulate each group effectively.

These muscles each have specific functions. I won’t bore you with a complete kinesiology lecture here.

The point is for you to understand that there aren’t as many movements of the body as you may think.

If we select exercises correctly, we can avoid training exercises that may be wasting our time or not being as efficient.

Compound exercises versus isolation exercises

When designing a program, it is important to understand the difference between compound exercises and isolation exercises.

The difference between compound exercises and isolation exercises

Compound exercises use more than one joint and therefore more than one muscle group per exercise. Isolation exercises are exercises that only use one joint and therefore one muscle. The squat is a compound exercise. The leg extension is an isolation exercise.

A squat is a compound exercise because you bending both your hips and knees. You use your glutes, quads, and hamstrings. Compound exercises are more efficient. You train more than one muscle at the same time.

The leg extension isolates the quads, but doesn’t work the other upper thigh muscles like the hamstrings. Isolation exercises have their purpose - especially for body building.

When you are trying to get stronger and add muscle, and you are on a time budget, compound exercises are best.

Compounds exercises are the best.

Muscle actions

Another thing to understand about exercise design is the actions of each muscle while we exercise.

When we do an exercise, our muscles either take on the role of the agonist, antagonist, stabilizer, and/or synergist.

The 4 different muscle actions

1. Agonist

2. Antagonist

3. Stabilizer

4. Synergist

What is an agonist?

The agonist is the prime mover meaning the main muscle doing the work during an exercise. The agonists for the squat are the glutes, quads, and hamstrings.

What is an antagonist?

The antagonist opposes the main mover, so it acts like a brake in the joint. The antagonists for the squat are the hip flexors, the quads and hamstrings (because these two muscles oppose each other).

What is a stabilizer?

The stabilizers keep your body in place while you exercise. The anterior abdominals (abs), obliques (side of your middle torso) keep your spine straight as you squat. The lower leg muscles keep your feet safely planted on the ground, so they are stabilizers as well.

What is a synergist?

The synergist helps the prime mover. The synergists during a squat are the hip flexors and the erector spinae (lower back). They help the body complete the motion.

The squat uses almost all of your major muscle groups at the same time.

Exercise selection for the push squat pull program

When we do a push/squat/pull program, the exercises need to be compound so that all of the major muscles can be activated.

You can choose your own exercises for this program. Choose a set of exercises for each section: push squat and pull.

Push exercises

When picking a push exercise, it can be a chest press of any type.

This may include the bench press, machine press, dumbbell chest press and/or push-up.

An overhead press motion is good as well, but it does not work the big pectoral muscles. The overhead press works the deltoids and triceps. It is a nice supplement to your main push exercises of choice.

Squat exercises

The squat exercise can be any version of a squat. It may be a standard squat, dead lift, split squat (lunge), and/or leg press.

This decision depends on what equipment you have and whether you have a spotter.

Pull exercises

The pull exercises can be a lat pull down, any version of rows, and/or pull-ups. They are all great compound exercises. A variety would is always best.

All of these exercises use stabilizers and synergistic muscles. That means that your arms, abs and other muscles will get enough stimulation as well.

Sets, reps and structure for the squat push pull routine

Do 3-6 sets of 8-15 reps of each exercise

Sets should be anywhere from 3 to 6 for each muscle group.

Naturally, this is just a range and there are many variables such as form, tempo, and load. But it does give us a good starting point.

The repetitions depend on your overall goals. I think that for most people, the best rep range is 8-15.

In this rep range you get strength, size and endurance.

You can simply do each exercise in straight sets of 3-6 per exercise. For most of my clients I prefer circuits.

Use circuit training to make your workout more efficient

The most efficient way to do a workout like this would be in the form of a circuit.

A circuit incorporates inactive rest. You rest one area while working another. Circuit means going from one exercise to the next with little to no rest.

A circuit also burns more calories because you keep moving. It is far more time efficient. It increases endurance on a whole new level.

There are two different ways that you can split up circuits.

Circuit training with 3 different exercises

Pick 3 compound exercises. 

One should be a type of squat exercise. One should be from the push type of exercise. The other is a pull movement.

Keep the reps at 12. 

Here is an example: Use the incline dumbbell press, Smith squat and pull down exercise.

Set the load for the heaviest weight you can do for 12 reps while keeping good form and completing all of your reps.

Move onto the second exercise as soon as you complete the first exercise. Once you have done all three exercises, you have done one set.

Do 3-6 of these sets.

Go up the next time by adding 5% to the load if you can complete all of your reps in good form.

Pyramid circuit training

You can also do a pyramid type set routine while doing this circuit.

An example would be 15 reps on the first set, 12 reps on your second set, 10 reps on your third set, 8 reps on your fourth set and 5 reps on your fifth set.

The structure of sets and reps can be varied.  

Circuit training of 6 alternating exercises

I use this form of circuit training more often because change increases the amount of stimulation that you give your body.

Do two main circuits of 3 rounds of reps.

Each exercise gets 3 sets.

Here is an example of this.

In the first circuit, do 3 rounds of 12 reps of the following exercises:

- Machine Chest Press

- Dumbbell Squat

- Seated Machine Row

After that is complete you can take a 30 second break and set up for the second circuit.

In the second circuit do 3 sets each of:

- Bench Press

- Split Squat

- Pull Downs

This is a hard circuit.

When picking your pull exercise, you want to stay away from an exercise that would put strain on your lower back.

This is because you are already doing a squat in the circuit.

A row with the back supported would be better than a bent over row for back because your lower back is already tired from squats.

What about core exercises?

Too many people obsess over core exercises.

Abs are made in the kitchen.

This means that the flat stomach that people desire does not come from doing abdominal exercises.

They come from losing weight by eating less.

I am not saying never train them. I am saying de-prioritize them.

I guarantee that you will get a great core work if you engage them in all of the above exercises.

I call it the 'no core, core' plan. I say it to my clients all the time.

If you brace your spine whenever you exercise (especially during squat and pull exercises) you will target the transverse abdominis (ab muscles) just like you would during a plank exercise.

This is the job of the ab muscles. By doing this you work the abs in the same natural way that they were meant to be stimulated.

Remember from above that your core muscles act like stabilizers. If you are mindful (focus on form) during your workout, they are engaged.

Warm up and cool down

Like with any good workout plan, begin this workout with a 5–10-minute warm-up.

A warm-up is not stretching. A warm-up is raising your core temperature through light cardio.

You will exercise more effectively when you warm up properly beforehand.

Make the warm-up exercise light cardio of whatever you like. Break a sweat and you know that you are warmed up.

It is also recommended that you do a warm-up set per each exercise.

Use about 50% of the load you are going to use for your sets and do 10 reps.

It is good to do specific warm-ups like this as well so that the body is ready to work the target muscles with intensity.

Cool down for 5 minutes after your workout doing light cardio again.

This allows your body to recover better for next time.

You will return your system to homeostasis and help move lactic acid (the byproduct of exercise that gives you a burning sensation in your muscles) out of the body.

You can do the push pull squat program anywhere

The Squat/Push/Pull program is one of my favorite routines.

It can be done anywhere.

If you are traveling and can find a gym with a few dumbbells, you can do it there.

You can simply do push-ups, body weight squats and rows if you don't have equipment.

A body weight option can always be done if you have the strength to do it - and it is the hardest of them all.

This would be a push-up (or dip), squat, and a pull-up version.

It’s a terrific way to cover the body, move fast and reach your goals.

I use a semblance of it with most clients I see on a regular basis.

We must be effective as trainers. To do that, we need to manage time.

This is one of the best ways that I’ve found to do so. 

This article is written by Rob Maxwell, M.A. Exercise Physiology, CSCS and ACSM CPT from www.fittothemax.net. Follow him on Twitter.

Gratitude improved my life.

I kept a gratitude journal for 30 days

I have heard a lot about how beneficial writing in a gratitude journal can be.

Gratitude is a great long term strategy to cope with depression and mental lethargy because it trains your brain to focus on the positive aspects of your life.

Our minds are constantly adapting to the information that we feed it.

Left to its own devices, the brain will naturally focus on negativity

It is natural to focus on the negative instead of the positive. In fact, it helped us to survive many years ago.

Obsessing over possible dangers helped us to avoid situations that could potentially kill us. Focusing on the things that were wrong with our lives helped us to fix them so that they did not become permanent.

Focusing on the negative helped to keep us safe and build a life that had as little resistance as possible.

In today’s world where survival isn’t that hard to accomplish, the things that bother us mentally aren’t matters of life and death.

They have morphed into less consequential things like what other people think of us and what our future will look like.

Although the things that bother us don’t threaten our survival, our minds will still fixate on them with the same measure of intensity.

By focusing on the positive, we give our minds a break from negative emotions that can destroy our health. 

We slowly learn how to enjoy the comforts that we do have: good food, beneficial relationships and enjoyable activities.

Positive emotions improve our health and negative emotions cause health issues.

Happy brain, happy body

Positivity is physically good for your health

Positivity has a whole range of health benefits.

Good feelings increase physical energy and learning ability.

They also help us to avoid bad habits and stick to good ones. You need less motivation to do something when you are in a good mood.

Serotonin, the happiness hormone that is associated with comfort and feeling good, helps to regulate mental function. It increases the rate at which your body can recover from injury and facilitates the resting process.

This can lead to better sleep quality and feeling more refreshed.

Dopamine increases the brain’s learning capability and increases the length of time that we can spend doing certain tasks.

Dopamine release, for example, explains why we can focus intently on a series that we enjoy, but struggle to pay attention 5 minutes into a work meeting.

Dopamine is also a major contributor to the kind of habits we have. Addictions like smoking, drug and alcohol abuse keep us coming back for more because they stimulate dopamine release (but decrease it over time). 

People with naturally lower-than-usual levels of dopamine are more likely to partake in addictive behavior.

People who naturally produce higher amounts of dopamine are more likely to make better life choices and gravitate towards healthier activities like exercise, self-improvement and learning.

Improve your mood.

My experiment: How I felt to begin with

My story is less extreme than many who would typically benefit from keeping a gratitude journal.

I don’t struggle with depression.

You might be wondering why I would try this experiment if I don’t feel any urgency to reshape my emotions.

I wanted to see if keeping a gratitude journal would show me any noticeable differences in the health benefits that I described above.

The rules of my experiment

To make sure that I stayed on the right track, I chose to abide by the following rules:

1. Write a gratitude journal once a day

I decided to do this at night because I could focus on it without being distracted by all the tasks that I had to get done.

Doing it at the end of the day also meant that I had an entire day’s worth of thoughts and experiences that I could be thankful for. 

2. Write in two separate sections every day: Things I feel thankful for and things I should be thankful for

I decided to separate the list into two parts.

The first part consisted of things that I am actually glad about.

If I needed to think of something that I should be thankful for just because some people don’t have the privileges that I do, or simply to fill up the page, I’d add it to the other side.

3. Write a quick anecdote about any changes that I experienced because of the gratitude journal

I thought that it would be very interesting to see how my experience changed over the course of the month.

Would there be any differences between day 1 and day 10? The anecdotal notes would make up the report that I could share with you.

Hold yourself accountable.

The results of gratitude

Here are some of the highlights of the notes that I took about this experiment.

Day 1

I was planning to spend 5 minutes on this, but it ended up taking just under an hour. It was easy for me to think about things that I am thankful for.

I feel a little guilty about not feeling thankful for things that I take for granted. I’m worried about whether I can think of new things to write down tomorrow.

Overall, I feel really energized and happy. I’m in a much better mood than I thought I’d be!

Day 2

I was in such a great mood last night that I struggled to fall asleep. I was too excited about how well I'm actually doing to calm down.

I’m not grateful for that! I slept lighter than usual. It was easy for me to get out of bed this morning.

A few people asked me why I was so happy. This is weird because I have only done this once so far and haven't told anybody about my experiment.

I thought that I acted normal - just like any other day.

Whenever something good happened to me, I felt good about having something to write about later.

Today made me realize that a lot more good things happen to me than I realize.

I was tempted to write some of these things down so that I don’t forget, but decided to limit this experiment to my nighttime routine.

Day 3

I struggled to fall asleep for the second night in a row because of the excitement.

I’m wondering if I should do this in the morning instead.

I felt sleepier during work – most likely because I haven’t been sleeping as well as usual.

Day 9

My sleep has finally returned back to normal. I might be sleeping better than usual now, but not sure.

I get sleepy when I start writing in my journal - probably because I associate it with bed time. Maybe it lowers my stress level (which is known to interfere with sleep).

I have noticed that I am a lot calmer and I don’t stress about certain things like I used to. Everything else feels the same.

Day 10

It is just me or is my life actually improving since I started this!?

Not intrinsic like my energy levels and stuff, but more good things are happening to me.

I’ve had really great opportunities come my way the last few days. People are being super nice and generous towards me for no reason. Maybe being positive has somehow set something off?

It's worth the effort.

End of gratitude notes

The other days were typical ‘I feel good’, ‘nothing out of the ordinary’ and ‘I like the way I feel’, etc.

I must say that my life has improved in ways that I didn’t expect.

I was more successful at things that I was trying to accomplish with work and people seemed to gravitate towards me.

Maybe they sensed the positivity and wanted it for themselves?

It has also been a lot easier to stick to my workout and diet plans. I’ve made less bad health decisions during the last 30 days than usual.

The last two benefits are definitely worth the time that it took to complete this task.

Last word on gratitude

This experiment was a big eye opener for me. I get why gratitude journals are all the rage right now.

I have since decided to keep doing this - but in a slightly different way.

Instead of writing in a journal, I am going to make an effort to think about the things that I am grateful for throughout the day.

Every time that I do this, I must mentally list all the good things that have happened to me since the last time that I did it.

I highly recommend that you try this for at least a few weeks to discover the benefits for yourself.

Gratitude is awesome.

Portions are out of control and it's killing us

This article is written by Rob Maxwell, M.A. Exercise Physiology, CSCS and ACSM CPT from www.fittothemax.net. Follow him on Twitter.

Out of (portion) control

Where have we gone wrong?

It is not so hard to figure out.

Our obesity rates have skyrocketed in the United States and the rest of the world. I hate to say it being an American, but we own the prize. The United States has the highest obesity rate in the world.

We take home the gold, but I am not sure it is an award that we want to win. Over 70% of the American population is either obese or overweight according to BMI numbers.

A BMI of over 30 is considered obese and a BMI of over 25 is considered overweight. BMI or body mass index is not a perfect evaluation of body composition, but it gives us a good estimate. 

There is a significant difference between being overweight and being obese.

Regarding health, being obese is far more problematic than being overweight. The obesity trend is what needs to decline. How do we reduce obesity?

Before we figure out how, we need to look at how it got this far.

Obesity is a big problem.

What happened?

Portions have grown exponentially.

We have gotten out of control as a nation with our portion sizes of food.

When you go to a fast-food restaurant or sit-down restaurant, the portions have increased drastically compared to decades prior.

Restaurants are businesses. We can’t blame them. We must take responsibility for the foods we eat and how much we eat.

We first take responsibility by learning the calorie content of the foods we eat. Secondly, we take responsibility by deciding how much of it to eat.

Later I will give examples of how much the portions have changed.

We eat more at every meal.

Food basics

The only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than what you eat.

You must put fewer calories in your mouth than what you use - period. It’s plain and simple.

I understand that it’s not easy.

It’s a simple concept, but I know that it’s very hard to learn how to eat moderately.

I’ve worked with people for over 25 years in the personal training industry and I know that diet is the hardest part for some people.

It takes a calorie deficit of 3500 calories to lose one pound.

This comes from eating less or moving more - or a combination of both (which is preferred).

If you create a deficit of 500 calories per day you will lose one pound per week. If you create a deficit of 1000 calories per day you will lose 2 pounds per week.

Knowing this is easier than doing this, but understanding this helps you get started.

Eat less. Burn more.

Macro nutrients

Another nutritional basic that we should understand is macro nutrients.

The type of food that you put in your mouth makes a big difference.

What are the 4 macro nutrients?

1. Carbohydrates

2. Proteins

3. Fats

4. Water

Caloric content of the macro nutrients

1. Carbohydrates have four calories per gram

2. Protein has four calories per gram

3. Fat has nine calories per gram 

4. Water has zero calories per gram

Our diet should be 45-65% carbohydrates, 15-35% fat, and 10-20% protein.

The ranges depend on your activity levels and type of activity. If you are active you will need more carbohydrates.

Protein is the most over-eaten macro nutrient in the American diet.

The myth is that we need more when we are active. What we need is more carbs.

We eat too much protein.

Back to what caused widespread obesity

How did we become so obese?

Food sizes have gone up exponentially.

In the 1960’s a basic McDonald’s meal was a hamburger or cheeseburger, French fries and a milk shake. They only had nine items total on the menu.

A hamburger at McDonald’s in the 1960’s had 250 calories and a cheeseburger had 350 calories.

Today a Big Mac, which is the more commonly sold item, has 563 calories.

French fries in the 1960’s at McDonald’s had 350 calories. A large fry now has 610 calories. A total meal at McDonald's in the 1960’s was 590 calories. The soda sizes were 12 ounces and 150 calories. Today they are 32 ounces and 370 calories.

If you order a total meal now at McDonald’s here is the calorie content: 1543 calories compared to 590 calories in the 1960’s.

That is a simple increase in size my friends. What happened? It’s clear.

I am not picking on McDonald’s. They are clear and open about their calorie contents.

All restaurants and convenience stores have increased their serving sizes. They are simply responding to consumer demand.

At Burger King a Whopper has 677 calories. The Baconator from Wendy’s has a whopping 970 calories.

There are now places like WAWA and 7-11 where people can go in and get fast food whenever they want. In the 1960’s this “convenience” was not there.

We've gone too far.

There are a lot of calories in coffee products

Now, let’s look at coffee.

If you went to McDonald’s in the 1960’s, your coffee would cost you five calories.

Good luck ordering mocha Frappuccino in the 1960’s! They did not exist.

Now if you get a latte at a Starbucks or similar place it will cost you 160 calories or 360 calories if you order mocha!

What happened to just a coffee?

Back to the Frappuccino; it has 520 calories.

These places wouldn’t make these super high calorie drinks if Americans weren’t demanding them.

We eat too many calories at ball parks

Next on the list are ball parks. We used to go to games and watch games!

In the past a hot dog was 150 calories and a soda was 150 calories. You won’t climb up the BMI scale too much with that home run.

Now you can get it all.

A common food item at the ballgame is cheese fries with 629 calories.

You can order a corn dog with 460 calories and a basic hot dog has now grown to 290 calories - almost doubling.

Why is that? American’s want more beef (or whatever it is).

You can’t fault the companies. They wouldn’t serve it if Americans didn't buy it.

Over eating has become too easy

It could be argued that people could have eaten more in the 1960’s and obesity rates would have been just as high. This is true.

It’s not like humans have simply learned how to eat more than we used to.

It’s simply that it’s easier to eat more than it used to be.

Again, I’m not making any excuses. The sizes have gotten bigger and we’re gobbling them up.

Decades ago, if you wanted to consume those kinds of calories in a brief period you would have had to work for them.

You would have had to make extra food in your own kitchen or doubled up on serving sizes. This would have cost you money.

The fact is that it’s quite easy to consume way more calories than you need.

We move less than we used to

This isn’t the only reason that obesity rates have skyrocketed.

I mentioned that energy in must be less than energy out to lose weight.

The energy out part is activity.

We don’t move like we used to.

We don’t have physical education in schools like we used to. Kids aren’t moving outside like they used to. So many devices do simple things for us that we used to do. Adults have far more sedentary jobs than they used to.

Our portions are out of control and we don’t move like we used to.

The obesity crisis has been explained.

Technology does the work for you.

What do we do about obesity now?

I believe that the first step to any change is awareness.

I believe that if most people knew how many calories are in these high calorie convenience foods, they wouldn’t choose them.

The restaurants are giving calorie numbers now. It’s not like they’re hiding them.

We need to be aware that these high calorie numbers are making us gain weight and that we don’t need them. 

Another thing that people really need to understand is that it’s not about carbs, proteins, and fats.

Quit going on the internet and finding the next fad diet. The enemy is too many calories - period.

If you always choose the lowest calorie food with the highest nutrients you will stop battling the bulge as much as you do.

For example, broccoli is a very nutrient dense food because it’s low in calories and high in micro nutrients (vitamins and minerals). A Big Mac is the opposite. It’s extremely high in calories and extremely low in most nutrients.

Be mindful. Places serve fast foods are aware that you choose them because you are in a hurry. Slow down.

Do you really need that big drink when you're simply fueling up for gas? Do you have to stop at the 7-11 and grab food out of a bag?

The other thing that’s quite different from decades ago is that families don't sit down and eat together anymore. It’s fast food - food on the run.

Why do you have to eat like that? I always tell my clients to delay the gratification. The food ads at these places pop up on purpose.

People get paid big bucks in the marketing department to get you to buy food on impulse. Marketers know that humans are very impulsive.

We see that tasty drink sign and order it when we are not even in need. Say no.

Delayed gratification doesn’t mean forever. It means for now. Just wait unit your next meal. Eat then. You won’t miss it.

Just wait.

Summary

See your eating habits like a budget.

We have gained weight over the decades worldwide because we consume far more food than we used to. We consume much more that what we need.

The places that sell food have made it easier for us to eat more. We can’t blame them. They sell food to make money.

We need to be aware of what is best for us.

We can all be better. In this case, better means smaller food choices.

Fast food restaurants will most likely not change any time soon. Convenience stores are not going to stop selling Big Gulps.

We need to understand just how costly these choices are. Our best defense is to understand what the real problems are.

Examine your choices.

This article is written by Rob Maxwell, M.A. Exercise Physiology, CSCS and ACSM CPT from www.fittothemax.net. Follow him on Twitter.

Every emotion affects your physical health

Emotions affect health.

How negative and positive emotions affect our health

1. Anger causes insomnia and heart issues

2. Loneliness and sadness make people feel cold and depressed

3. Jealousy weakens your immune system

4. Crying gets rid of stress chemicals

5. Laughing makes you live longer

6. Excitement increases energy and decreases pain

7. Happiness improves immunity

How do different emotions affect your health? It's a well-known fact that your stress can negatively influence your physical condition.

Few people know that every single emotion, be it happy or not, has an impact on your body. All of your feelings have physical consequences.

Some people are so negative that they say no seven times before saying yes once. This will affect their physical health. Let's look at some of the things that occur as a result of negative emotions. 

Emotions and health are connected.

1. Anger causes insomnia and heart issues

Anger is a healthy and normal emotion. We get angry in response to a threat that we need to take care of. It would help hunter-gatherers to defend themselves and kill prey.

It is also considered a negative emotion. Too much anger will lead to insomnia.

The kind of anger that leads to insomnia is chronic (long lasting) and tends to spiral out of control.

Anger increases the blood circulation to your limbs and your heart. This stops you from relaxing to rest and sleep properly.

Too much anger, too often, does more than negatively affect your sleep.

Anger has similar long-term health effects to stress.

Staying in this state for too long can result in diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and a weak immune system.

Let things go.

2. Loneliness and sadness make people feel cold

People who feel lonely, sad, or excluded tend to estimate the temperature around them as a few degrees colder than it really is.

This makes them long for hot food and beverages to compensate for the unwanted emotion.

Moreover, sadness and depression have the ability to influence your appetite. This may lead to weight gain and consequently increased blood pressure.

Find a good friend.

3. Jealousy weakens your immune system

Jealousy is one of the most unwanted, but extremely strong, human emotions.

Since it is a mix of anger, stress and fear; jealousy can lead to elevated adrenaline levels, an increased heart rate and blood pressure.

What's more every time you feel jealous it weakens your immune system.

Jealousy hurts you.

4. Crying gets rid of stress chemicals

Surprisingly, not all tears are the same.

Dr. William Frey, an American biochemist, compared the chemical composition of tears from emotional distress and those produced when a person was cutting onions.

He was amazed. Emotional tears have significantly higher levels of stress hormones and neurotransmitters.

Dr. Frey drew the conclusion that the main goal of emotional crying is to get rid of stress chemicals.

If you hold back tears; you might weaken your immune system, ruin your digestion and even impair your memory.

Cry when you need to.

Health benefits of positive emotions

1. Laughing makes you live longer

2. Excitement increases energy and decreases pain

3. Happiness improves immunity

Negative emotions have a bad effect on our health. Positive emotions have a very good effect on the body.

You may have noticed that people who laugh a lot or who are very positive have good health in comparison to negative people. Why is this?

Emotions have a strong effect on your health.

Positive emotions such as laughing, happiness, joy, and excitement strengthen the immune system.

Positivity is healthy.

5. Laughing makes you live longer

You will live longer if you laugh more often.

Laughing not only encourages you to live more but it has many other benefits also. It boosts the immune system and works as a natural painkiller.

Read more (16 amazing benefits of laughing).

Laughter is the best medicine.

6. Excitement increases energy and decreases pain

When you feel excited, the sympathetic nervous system is engaged. The heart rate increases and signals are sent to the brain to release more endorphins.

These endorphins help in recovering damaged cells and thus decrease pain naturally. 

This will give you an enormous amount of energy because excitement engages the cardiovascular and nervous systems.

Encourage healthy emotions.

7. Happiness improves immunity

Happiness helps to manage stress and lowers blood pressure.

It boosts blood circulation throughout the body which results in better heart health.

Happiness releases endorphins and strengthens your immune system. You are less likely to catch a cold or get an infection when you are happy.

Your heart loves happiness.

Check out some articles from Sparkle Purpose:

8 benefits of drinking water in copper vessel

6 easy at-home drinks to lose belly fat

7 surprising benefits of honey

Cyber security & IP protection for online fitness brands

Protect your fitness brand online.

This article is written by Sarah Cordiner from www.sarahcordiner.com.

Cyber Security & IP Protection for Online Fitness Brands – with Caitriona Forde

The fitness world grows online every second. More of us publish important information online.

We put our intellectual property out online as health course creators, exercise experts, nutrition coaches and wellness consultants.

Most fitness brands depend on the online space for their primary source of income.

New entrants into the fitness world depend on the online space to move forward and reach their full potential.

The online fitness world has the power to reach audiences and change people's lives around the world.

While publishing fitness content online benefits many people and helps us to earn an income, we are also putting ourselves at risk. In many cases we put our health business at risk and potentially (even without realizing it) break the law.

In this article I have an incredible qualified expert in cybersecurity, Caitriona Ford. She is going to help us to keep our fitness business cyber safe.

Caitriona is going to give us some useful tips about how we can stay cyber safe when we depend on the cyber world of health and fitness.

Be proactive.

What if my fitness brand gets hacked?

Many online businesses are getting hacked by hackers and criminals. That can have a devastating effect on your fitness business.

It can cost a huge amount of money and negatively affect your health brand. Many online brands don’t recover for a long time. A lot of them never do.

One of the scariest statistics that I heard about 2 years ago was that 95% of all cyber-attacks happen because of human error. If you get hacked, it's almost entirely because of something that you did wrong - or something that you didn't do at all.

Most fitness professionals think that they are too small to concern themselves with online security.

"I'm a small one-man-band, so this doesn't apply to me". "I'm just creating my wellness courses". "I' just do wellness coaching online, so cyber-attacks won't affect me".

This simple mistake makes you an easy target. Cyber criminals prey on brands with people of this kind of mentality.

Every effort makes a difference.

Change your passwords to all of your online fitness platforms

This is probably one of the first things that you thought of neglecting when you thought about how you haven't prioritized your online security. You'd be right.

Everybody hates changing passwords. It takes work. I was one of these people as well.

This was until I started studying the online security space. 

I realized that hackers already have my passwords. If you haven't changed the passwords for your social media platforms in the past 12 months, anyone can get access to your passwords.

The chances are high that your passwords are sitting in databases that can be sold in large batches to anybody who wants them.

There are a few online sites that you can use to check this out. You can enter your email address and see everywhere that your password has been stolen. This happens through data breaches that people can capitalize on.

Most cyber criminals' goal is to make money. They build long lists of personal information that they can sell. Your information is waiting for the right seller.

People sell personal information to other people on the dark web. Most people purchase this information and use it to scam you.

Cyber-crime is the new form of burglary. People are looking for new ways to use your information for their financial gain. They do this with long lists of details from many people.

Solo entrepreneurs and smaller businesses like most online fitness professionals are at the greatest risk. This is because you are considered to be the low hanging fruit (easy to access but less reward than the larger targets that take more time).

You probably don’t invest any money in your IT at all. You don’t look at your online security - not even enough to change your passwords.

You probably use the same password for everything. Someone only needs one password and they have access to your whole business.

This makes you a super easy target.

Most cyber criminals that would focus on your level of account come from third world countries. A hundred bucks to them is worth a lot more than it is to you. It could feed their family for the next month.

Change your freaking passwords frequently!

Consistency brings rewards.

Password storage tools for online fitness brands

Many people who work online use password storage tools. Most health and wellness brands don't do this because they focus so much on content that can inspire their potential audience.

Most health brands focus on the next piece of content before they finish the current one. We focus on growth instead of protecting what we've already built up.

Most other online professionals use password storage tools. This is particularly because a lot of them use contractors that work all over the world with them. People need to share account access with a lot of different online profiles.

People in the health and fitness world (at least when it comes to one-man influences) don't rely on more than a single profile to build their content. This makes them focus less on security and therefore makes them neglect security in general.

Your false sense of security puts you at greater risk.

Password managers are much better compared to using the same password over different online platforms. You can let them generate a password that is difficult to remember.

You don't have to remember your passwords. If you can't remember your password, you are forced to use a different one each time.

If you can remember your password, there's a chance that a database has your password in its memory storage as well.

Do it for the sake of prevention.

Keep your password security up to date

I personally always use the random generator. You should get into using it too.

Never use the same password for any of your online accounts. If one account gets hacked, you can lose all of your accounts. This is one of the first things that people check for when they break into your account.

Let a password manager generate passwords for you - especially your social media platforms. Social media is like a gold mine of information for people who need personal information and know how to get it.

Get into the habit of changing one of your passwords for one of your accounts once a month. Rather be too safe.

Two-factor authentication deters a lot of entry-level hackers. Why bother with one of these when you can get all the information that you need from the next account?

You won’t have to invest a huge amount of money to keep yourself safe if you do these basic things. It will feel like a bit of a chore the first time that you do it, but it will become automatic after time (juts like most other healthy habits).

A false sense of security gives other people the gap to take chances. It is better to prepare like it is going to happen - because it will happen eventually if you don't.

You need to look up your intellectual property. What is of most value to your online fitness brand? What do you need to recover if you lose everything?

If you plan for the worst, the worst will never happen to you. 

Small actions avoid big costs.

Keep your intellectual property safe

How do we keep our IP safe as health course creators?

Look at where you save your IP. Is it on a cloud resource or a cloud server? Check if you have full control and full ownership of that data when it is online.

Some platforms hide very well in their T&C's that any data that you publish or save on their platform becomes their data and they own the rights to that data.

This used to be a big issue many years ago. It isn't so much of an issue on most platforms today, but you should check to be certain.

In some countries, you need to store data within your own country if you want to claim the right to it. It is wise to be aware of the legislation regarding your fitness content online.

Check for small things like this. Big platforms make sure that they cover their bases legally. This can sometimes impede on your own content that you've worked so hard to produce.

Don't lose to negligence.

Back up everything

And the big one is: always backup, backup, backup!

If your data is stolen by any chance, how do you get it back? What do you do if someone deletes all of your content?

You should be able to recover everything with a backup of your most valuable content.

If you don’t, you might have to pay the ransom if criminals ask for that.

I like to have multiple copies of my data everywhere - protected with different passwords. Make this more complicated in accordance with the size of your fitness brand.

Multiple copies in various locations make you practically invincible to data theft online. If these copies have time stamps, you can also prove that the specific content belongs to you.

Prepare for everything.

This article is written by Sarah Cordiner from www.sarahcordiner.com with the help of qualified cyber security expert, Caitriona Ford.