Tag: physical activity

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Just about any yoga pose that challenges you can help strengthen your core. But some can be particularly helpful for targeting those muscles.

Yoga has a lot going for it. It can help you tune in to your breath, relieve stress, and improve your balance and flexibility. It can also help tone your muscles — including your core.

“Understanding how to activate your core and utilize your core muscles is central to the physical practice of yoga,” says yoga instructor Valerie Williams, E-RYT 500.

Williams shares ways that yoga can help strengthen your core muscles and guides us through five poses that target your midsection.

Yoga poses to strengthen your core

Just about any yoga pose that challenges you can help strengthen your core. But some can be particularly helpful for targeting those muscles.

Start by holding each of the following poses for about two to three breaths at first. As they become easier, challenge yourself by holding them longer.

1. Tabletop balance

This pose can help strengthen your core and lengthen your spine, but it may not be right for you if you have chronic knee problems or difficulty with mobility in your arms or shoulders.

Person doing tabletop balance yoga pose
  1. Start on your hands and knees.
  2. Engage your core by pulling your belly muscles inward and keeping your lower back flat.
  3. Reach forward with your right arm. Keep your chin tucked.
  4. Lift your left knee and straighten it behind you. Keep your hips level and toes pointed downward.
  5. Return your hand and knee to the floor.
  6. Repeat on the other side.

2. Plank

This simple pose can help develop strength in your upper body, forearms, wrists and front abdominal muscles.

Person doing a plank yoga pose
  1. Start on your hands and knees.
  2. Lift your hips and straighten your legs out behind you, like you’re about to do a push-up.
  3. Engage your core by pulling your belly button upward.
  4. Pull your shoulder blades together and squeeze your front thigh muscles.
  5. Keep your body in a straight line from the crown of your head through your heels.

Variation: Drop to your knees to lighten the load.

3. Side plank

Side planks can help improve your balance and work your core without putting too much pressure on your back.

Person doing side plank yoga pose
  1. Start in a plank position.
  2. Plant your left hand on the floor as you turn your body and raise your right arm above you.
  3. Balance on the outside of your left foot, with your right foot on top.
  4. Make a straight line from your left palm, through your shoulders and all the way to the tips of the fingers on your right hand. Keep your hips stacked on top of each other with your bottom hip lifted away from the mat.
  5. Repeat on the other side.

Variation: To make this pose easier, bring your bottom knee to the floor.

4. Boat pose

This pose can be challenging at first. But it can give your core a good workout.

Person doing yoga boat pose
  1. Start in a seated position, with your knees bent.
  2. Lean back about 45 degrees and place your hands, palms down, on the mat behind you, bending your arms slightly.
  3. Lift your feet off the floor and hold your shins parallel to the mat. Balance on your sit bones (butt).
  4. Pull your belly muscles inward. Keep your chest lifted and your back straight. Point your toes up.

Variation: For an added challenge, extend your arms in front of you, parallel to the mat, or straighten both knees. At its most challenging, your body will take the shape of the letter ‘V.’

5. Chair pose

This standing pose puts a lot of focus on your thighs and ankles, demanding more from your core muscles.

Person doing yoga chair pose
  1. Stand up straight with your feet together.
  2. Bend your knees slightly and press your inner thighs together as you shift your weight to your heels.
  3. Drop your tailbone toward the ground, like you’re sitting in an invisible chair.
  4. Bring your palms together and raise your arms above your head.

Variation: To make this pose easier, bring your palms together in front of your chest. For an added challenge, sink your butt deeper into your “seat.”

Tips for your safety

Before you jump in, consider these guidelines to build your core strength with yoga safely:

  • Focus on your breath. Throughout your practice, keep your breath slow and deliberate. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.
  • Move with care. Transition in and out of poses slowly to protect your muscles and joints.
  • Be gentle. Don’t try to force poses that aren’t working for your body. You should feel a stretch, but never pain.
  • Seek advice. If you are in pain, are recovering from injury or are concerned about whether yoga is safe for you, talk with a qualified health care provider, like a physical therapist, before starting any exercise program.

And, above all, enjoy the many benefits.

“Yoga is highly adaptable to your skill level and your goals,” Williams says. “And while it can certainly help strengthen your core and promote stronger muscles, it can also help you to live more mindfully and get in tune with your body.”

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5 Ways to Boost Your Child’s Immune System for Life @ClevelandClinic Adriane Lioudis, MD.

We all want to protect our kids whether it be from falls, bumps and bruises — or avoidable infections and diseases. To help your child avoid illness, it’s important to encourage good habits and take steps to boost their immune system from an early age.

“Most of what makes a child’s immune system strong is common sense,” says pediatrician Adriane Lioudis, MD. If you keep these five tips in mind, you’ll stack the deck in your child’s favor for a healthier life.

1. For newborns, consider breastfeeding

While it’s a very personal decision (that isn’t always possible), if you are able to exclusively breastfeed your child for at least six months, it may have benefits. Some research shows that breastfeeding your child might possibly reduce allergies, Dr. Lioudis says.

2. Promote regular hand washing

Eighty percent of infections are spread by touch. Teach your little one to take the time to wash their hands after sneezing, coughing and going to the bathroom. Washing hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds can remove bacteria and viruses and can reduce the chance of lung infections by up to 45%.

3. Don’t skip immunizations

Follow your pediatrician’s advice when it comes to the childhood vaccination schedule. Immunizations start in infancy and continue to adulthood and prevent measles, mumps, chickenpox, rotavirus and other infections.

“Get the flu shot for your child yearly, as well,” Dr. Lioudis says. This is particularly important for children with asthma and other chronic health conditions.

Also, if your family will be traveling internationally, it’s important to seek advice from your child’s healthcare provider about any needed vaccinations.

4. Make sleep a priority

To maximize immunity, children must get enough sleep.

Sleep requirements for each night vary by age:

  • Babies between 0 and 3 months need 14 to 17 hours of sleep. Those between 4 and 12 months need 12 to 16 hours of sleep.
  • Children between the ages of 1 and 2 need between 11 and 14 hours.
  • Kids between the ages of 3 and 5 should get from10 to 13 hours.
  • Children ages 6 to 12 should get between 9 and 12 hours.
  • Teens between the ages of 13 to 18 need 8 to 10 hours.

Not getting enough sleep limits the body’s ability to produce proteins called cytokines that help fight infection and reduce inflammation.

5. Encourage a healthy diet

A healthy diet is also important for your child’s immune system.

Dr. Lioudis recommends encouraging your child to “eat the rainbow” when it comes to fruits and vegetables. A good selection of whole grains should be part of their diet as well. Keep processed foods to a minimum. Proper food choices can help ensure that your child gets enough vitamins — such as vitamin A and E. These vitamins are needed to maintain good health and a strong immune system.

You can’t avoid all illness, but some kids need extra protection

“Even if you follow these tips, your child might still get between seven and 11 colds each year,” says Dr. Lioudis. She adds that you can expect each one to last up to two weeks.

Also, keep in mind that some things billed as common “remedies” aren’t effective in boosting immunity. For example, there’s no definitive proof that large amounts of vitamin C or echinacea help prevent colds or shorten them, she says.

However, if your child has a compromised immune system, work closely with your pediatrician to find ways to improve his or her immunity. Each child needs a personalized approach because their individual immune system varies, Dr. Lioudis says.

“There’s generally a different protocol with immunocompromised children. There are some vaccines we have to add in on top of what most children have, but it’s something that we must determine on a case-by-case basis.

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The 5 pillars of longevity: Movement, nutrition, sleep, stress reduction, and social connection. Dr. David Barzilai,Harvard Health

If you hear the term “longevity” and think only about living longer, you’re missing half the point.

“What we actually want is both more years and more of those years lived in good health,” says Dr. David Barzilai, a longevity physician and the medical editor of Harvard Health Publishing’s Special Health Report Pathways to Longevity. “Almost no one wants additional years of frailty and dependence; they want more years of feeling well, moving freely, thinking clearly, and staying engaged with the people and work they love.”

To that end, recent years have seen an explosion in interest in longevity and healthy aging, largely driven by “science that’s genuinely more exciting than it was a decade ago,” says Dr. Barzilai, also a lecturer at Harvard Medical School.

Lifestyle integral to longevity

While it’s clear that genetics play a role in living longer and staying healthy, lifestyle appears to be just as important. Five lifestyle patterns consistently show up in longevity research: movement, nutrition, sleep, stress management, and social connection.

“Good health is surprisingly unglamorous,” Dr. Barzilai says. “What matters most are the basics people already know about but rarely execute consistently over decades. There is no magic to it.”

Here, Dr. Barzilai expands on each of the five pillars of longevity.

Movement

Movement is the closest thing people have to a “master signal,” he says. “It improves nearly every system at once, from insulin sensitivity to brain health to bone density. And cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the strongest predictors of mortality we have ever measured.”

Dr. Barzilai recommends combining various forms of movement to maximize health, including twice-weekly resistance training and 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity each week. “And everyday movement counts on its own,” he says. “Breaking up long stretches of sitting with two to three minutes of light activity measurably improves glucose and blood-pressure responses.”

Nutrition

Nutrition shapes the metabolic environment our cells live in day to day, governing blood glucose, inflammation, and the raw materials for muscle and repair, Dr. Barzilai says.

Healthspan vs. Lifespan

We’re living longer than ever—but are we living well?

Harvard Medical School’s Special Health Report, Pathways to Longevity, looks beyond “anti aging” hype to share what science really says about extending your healthspan—the years you stay strong, independent, and mentally sharp.

From nutrition and movement to sleep, stress, social connection, and the latest longevity drugs, this report turns complex research into clear, practical steps you can start now.

“The principles that have held up across decades of research are unglamorous and durable: build meals around whole foods,” he explains. “Get enough protein, which becomes more important, not less, as you age. And avoid the large blood glucose spikes you get from refined carbohydrate eaten on its own, which in practice means anchoring meals with protein, healthy fats, and fiber.”

Sleep

Sleep is fundamental to longevity because that’s when the body takes care of essential maintenance — clearing metabolic waste from the brain, consolidating memory, and resetting the hormones that govern appetite and stress, Dr. Barzilai says.

Experts recommend adults get seven to eight hours each night. Research also shows that consistency matters more than quantity. “That is encouraging,” he says, “because a steady wake time, weekends included, is something most people can actually manage.”

Stress reduction

Stress itself isn’t a problem, since our body’s acute stress response — which sharpens focus and fuels energy levels — can protect us from genuine threats.

“The trouble comes when it never switches off,” Dr. Barzilai says. “Chronic stress holds the body in a low-grade alarm state that, over years, wears on the cardiovascular and immune systems, disrupts sleep and metabolism, and appears to accelerate several of the underlying processes of aging.”

The most dependable ways to regulate stress are physical and social rather than purely mental, he says. “People reach for a relaxation app and overlook that movement, sufficient sleep, exposure to daylight, and time with people they trust are often the more powerful levers. Regular exercise in particular is one of the best-validated stress and mood interventions we have.”

Social connection

Social connection is probably the longevity pillar people neglect most, Dr. Barzilai says. “People will track their macros and their step count to the decimal and never think to protect their friendships with the same intentionality, even though the survival data on relationships rival the data on much of what they are measuring,” he says.

If you’re feeling isolated, try to make connecting with others a regular commitment rather than a grand gesture, he says. “Begin with one recurring, low-pressure point of contact: a standing weekly call with one person, a class or volunteer commitment that puts you in the same room with the same faces again and again, a daily walk somewhere you will see neighbors. Pick one recurring contact and protect it like an appointment, and treat a few real relationships with the same seriousness you would give your blood pressure or your exercise.”

Which pillar of longevity is most important?The habits most strongly linked to living a longer, healthier life are also some of the simplest: move regularly, eat well, sleep sufficiently, manage stress, and stay connected to others. But which one counts most? It’s impossible to gauge, says Dr. David Barzilai, a longevity physician and lecturer at Harvard Medical School.“How much each pillar matters depends heavily on where a given person is starting from,” he says. “For someone sedentary, adding movement is transformative. For someone running on five ragged hours of sleep, fixing sleep will do more than another workout. For someone isolated, rebuilding connection may be the highest-yield change of all.”“What I can say with confidence is that the most underrated pillar is social connection, and the most foundational day to day are sleep, physical activity, and nutrition, since they are the ground the others stand on,” Dr. Barzilai adds. “But the useful question is not which pillar wins in the abstract. It is which one you are personally weakest in right now, because that is where your next improvement will pay off most.”