Leave No Muscle Behind With This 8-Minute Cardio Workout

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More time spent being active = less time spent sitting. But there isn’t always time to log a complete 45-minute strength and cardio workout. Enter this gloriously short and tough mini routine. The workout below will only take about eight minutes (I tested the timing at my desk this week…just another day at the SELF office). But, you’ll have to work hard (really hard!) during each of those precious minutes. Let’s get started.

First, you’ll need to know how to properly do two different bodyweight exercises:

1. Hip Escape – 30 seconds, alternating sides with each rep

Justin Steele

Works core, arms, legs

• Start on hands and knees; lift knees a few inches.
• Lift left arm as you bring right leg across body, twisting left to flip over and balance on right arm and left leg.
• Extend right leg and reach left hand to right foot.
• Return to start and continue alternating sides.

2. Combo Deal – you’ll start with 10 reps (on each side) and do two less reps each round

Justin Steele

Works glutes, legs

• Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, elbows bent, hands in front of chest.
• Squat, then stand and lunge forward onto right leg (as shown).
• Return to start. Do all reps on one side, then complete reps on the opposite side. 

Now, here’s how to do the full eight-minute cardio workout:

• 30 seconds of Hip Escape
• 10 reps (on each side!) of Combo Deal
• 30 seconds of Hip Escape
• 8 reps (on each side!) of Combo Deal
• 30 seconds of Hip Escape
• 6 reps (on each side!) of Combo Deal
• 30 seconds of Hip Escape
• 4 reps (on each side!) of Combo Deal
• 30 seconds of Hip Escape
• 2 reps (on each side!) of Combo Deal

Got all that? Keep a towel and water bottle handy because you’re going to work up a serious sweat.

These two moves are part of a bodyweight-only agility routine that Alex Silver-Fagan, a Nike trainer and CityRow instructor in New York City created for SELF. If you want more muscle-toning, calorie-blasting agility drills, check out the full no-gear-needed workout here. The Hop To It exercise is brutal. Consider yourself warned.

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3 Very Simple Things You Can Do Every Single Day To Burn More Calories

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Burning calories does not have to involve a trip to the gym. Sure, fitting in a workout is nice if you can find the time. But sometimes you can’t—either because of a heavy workload, personal commitments, or just because you’re totally exhausted. And while there’s no pressure to force a daily workout, if burning more calories is something you’re interested in doing, there are a handful of ways to energize your day—no workout required. 

In fact there are three simple things you can do anywhere, anytime. These expert-vetted tricks are designed to fit into your daily routine, with no equipment and absolutely no burpees (promise!). They’ll help you burn a few more calories than you normally would, and keep you feeling 100 percent all the time. 

Related: 11 Little Ways To Exercise Without Actually Working Out

1. Move your body.

Movement is critical. This trick may seem obvious, but when you have a ton of work to grind out at your desk, it’s easy to forget to get up and get moving. “Being sedentary compresses your spines, stiffens your ligaments and joints, and tightens your muscles,” explains Beth Jordan, American Council on Exercise certified personal trainer. Plus, she says moving around, even just a little bit, will help you burn more calories throughout your day.

A great way to remember to get up and get going? “Set your smartphone to beep every hour or so to remind you to move around,” says Jordan. Use these moments to go to the bathroom, take a meeting, or step out to grab some lunch. 

Related: This Is What Sitting All Day Does To Your Butt

2. Hydrate—often.

Staying hydrated is important for a lot of reasons, and one of those reasons is that it helps keep your metabolism working properly. A healthy metabolism is essential if you’re trying to lose weight and burn calories, says Jordan. She suggests keeping a water bottle at your desk to fill up on throughout the day. And getting up to refill your bottle will get you moving, too. 

According to Lauren Minchen, M.P.H., R.D.N., C.D.N., owner of Lauren Minchen Nutrition, rehydrating in the morning may also keep you from eating too much throughout the day. “Morning dehydration can often masquerade as hunger,” she explains. She recommends drinking one liter of water before eating in the morning. 

3. Use your arms.

According to Jordan, it’s not just your steps that you should be trying to increase—it’s your arm movements, too. “If you watch people while they’re walking, they’re arms are usually just hanging at their torso, not moving at all,” she says. (Or they’re holding a phone and texting.) This is a missed opportunity, Jordan says. Simply moving your arms a bit more while walking will help you burn a few more calories because you’re engaging more muscles. She says you can either opt for increasing your arms natural sway, which is inconspicuous and unobtrusive, or get a little crazy with it and, “lift your arms up over your head or out laterally to your sides.” Do what ever makes you feel comfortable.

Now that you’re pumped, here’s an easy workout to do at your desk. 

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4 Extra-Effective Arms Exercises That Aren’t Push-Ups

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Whether you can’t quite do a push-up or you just cannot do one more push-up, there’s way more out there when it comes to arm-sculpting exercises. Sure, push-ups are a gym classic for a reason–they’re effective. But if they’re a bit too challenging or you’re ready for new horizons, turn to these four moves to mix it up.

Created by Los Angeles-based trainer Astrid Swan for SELF, these moves will hit your biceps, triceps, and shoulders, as well as your booty, because why not do some squats while you’re at it? This workout should take you about six minutes—work it into your usual gym routine or sneak in a quick commercial break sweat if you’ve got dumbbells at home. A couple of important details:

• What you’ll need: A set of medium dumbbells (start with five to eight pounds).
• How to do it: Do each exercise for 90 seconds completing as many reps as possible.

Four moves, two dumbbells, zero push-ups. All set?

Related: The Only 3 Moves You Need To Have A Killer Total-Body Workout Today

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The Superhero Workout X-Men: Apocalypse Actress Sophie Turner Used To Get In Fighting Form

Raf Stahelin

This article originally appeared in the June 2016 issue of SELF.

Sophie Turner is starring in this summer’s X-Men: Apocalypse movie as Jean Grey, as a teenage mutant with telekinetic powers. (She also plays Sansa Stark on HBO’s Game of Thrones). To prep for her superhero role, Turner worked with trainer James Farmer. Here, Farmer shares how the star got in fighting form:

1. Kettlebells

 ”You can use these to target your glutes, legs, and stomach,” Farmer says. He had Turner do circuits with weights ranging from 22 to 35 pounds, focusing on swings, plank rows, and overhead presses. She’d complete four circuits total, resting just 30 seconds between each. Here’s a quick video on how to perfect your kettlebell swing form.

2. Boxing

 ”It’s good for fat loss and coordination,” says Farmer, who would spar with Turner for up to 30 minutes. Along with offensive shots, he drilled defensive blocks and rolls. Every time she missed, “Sophie had to do 20 hard shots to the body protector I was wearing,” he says. “It helped her focus.” Get started by giving this total-body boxing routine at try.

3. Resistance Sprints

“These are very intense,” Farmer says. He would hold a resistance band around Turner’s upper body while she sprinted for 20 seconds, then rested for 40 seconds, for 10 minutes total. “She complained about it at the time,” Farmer says, “but I know she loved it, really.” If you don’t have a workout buddy (or a resistance band), you can kick up your fat burn by trying these treadmill running intervals.

Top, $140; AsteriaActive.com. Pants, Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, $1,385; Boutique1.com. Shoes, $47; Vans.com. Earrings, $160; DoubleDisco.com.

Styled by Jessica dos Remedios. Makeup, Maxine Leonard; manicure, Shreen Gayle at Premier Hair and Makeup.

For more, pick up the June issue of SELF on newsstands, subscribe, or download the digital edition.

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How The Afterburn Effect Actually Works

We’ve all heard a trainer or group instructor talk about how the workout we’re doing will keep us burning calories for days after we’re done. Sounds like a weight-loss dream come true. But how legit is this mythical afterburn effect? We talked to the experts to drill down what’s going on inside our bodies and how to get the most out of each and every workout.

What exactly does “afterburn” mean?

The afterburn effect is formally called EPOC, meaning excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, Cris Dobrosielski C.S.C.S., C.P.T., spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and founder of Monumental Results, tells SELF. After working out at a high intensity, your body needs to take in oxygen at a higher rate than it did pre-exercise so it can cool down, repair itself, and return to its resting state. “This requires the body and metabolism to work at a higher rate, so it continues to burn calories,” Dobrosielski explains. The exact amount will vary for each person, but research from ACE notes that EPOC can increase calorie burn by six to 15 percent.

What workouts boost afterburn the most?

High-intensity resistance training or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) are the most effective for upping caloric burn post-workout. “Fundamentally, the most effective moves are multi-joint compound exercises,” Dobrosielski says. So rather than doing just a bicep curl, do a squat plus a curl, making it a compound exercise. Burpees, squats with a lateral raise, and jump lunges or jump squats are all good examples of dynamic, compound moves. What makes these moves effective is the level of exertion they require (spoiler: a lot). If you’re healthy, work out regularly, and aren’t injured, “a general gauge is you need to be somewhere between level eight and 10 on a perceived exertion scale,” Dobrosielski says. That means reaching that point where you don’t think you can even bang out one more rep you’re so spent.

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How To Read Nutrition Labels

Here is our latest video share. It explains how to read nutrition labels, and while we do not agree with everything the doctor in the video says about nutrition, she gives a pretty good demonstration as to how to read the labels and what everything means. As always, talk to your doctor and your personal trainer before you alter your diet.

You can get more information at our website – Access Change

Original Article: from Access Change

4 Running Rules Zosia Mamet Swears By As She Prepares For Her First 5K

Maarten de Boer, Contributor / Getty Images

Even though there are tons of reasons to run a 5K (y’know, exercise, endorphins, the T-shirts that come with the entry price…), doing it for charity just might be the best reason of all. Girls actor Zosia Mamet knows what’s up—she’s lacing up this weekend to run the last race of the United Relay of America on behalf of War Child (a charity that helps provide education, protection, and overall support to children in countries affected by war). Sure, running can be amazing on its own, but running for a purpose? Even better.

“I’ve never run a race, but I do like to run on treadmills because I find I can kind of space out,” Mamet tells SELF. “I actually truly enjoy running. I’ve run five kilometers before, but I’ve never ‘done’ a 5K.” Why trade the tread for the road now? Not only is War Child a cause she feels passionate about, but the United Relay is a pretty amazing event, too—it started with races on the West Coast back in April, and after a series of runs moving across the country, it all finishes up in Brooklyn on Saturday, June 4.

“Everybody’s running for different causes but we’re all running together, and it feels so cool to be a part of that, especially doing the last leg of it in New York,” says Mamet. Plus, Alicia Keys will be greeting runners at the finish line (United Relay partnered up with her charity, the We Are Here Movement), so that’s pretty awesome, too.

“Even though I’m only running just over three miles, I’ll be like, ‘I did the United Relay!’ and people will think I did the whole thing,” Mamet jokes. And even though she hasn’t been following a training plan for the race, she’s got some go-to running habits she’ll be relying on to cross the finish line (and raise some money for War Child while she’s at it). Here are four things to keep in mind to run your next 5K like Mamet:

1. Fuel up with a rice cake and peanut butter.

“My favorite snack in the whole world is rice cakes and peanut butter—I could eat that all day, every day,” says Mamet. “So that’s also my favorite pre-workout snack. It’s light enough, you get some carbs, and it sustains you for a while, so that’s my go-to.” The nut butter has a little protein in it, too. And registered dietitians recommend carbs + protein = the perfect pre-workout nosh, so Mamet’s onto something with that combo.

2. Opt for running tights over shorts.

Her race-day outfit? “Probably yoga pants, a sports bra, and my Zabar’s hat,” she says. “Because I do a lot of hot yoga, I need stuff that’s really good for when you sweat a lot—I really love the Kate Spade gear and Outdoor Voices is my other favorite.” One thing you won’t catch her running in, though? Shorts. “I’m just not a fan of running in shorts for some reason,” she says. “I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I get sunburned really easily.” Not to mention, the chafing struggle is real.

3. Wear headphones that ~actually~ stay put.

Mamet does not have time to mess with those pesky earbuds that come with iPhones. “I really came to terms with the fact that [those white iPhone] headphones just don’t fit in my ears,” she says. “I used to try and run with them and they would just fall out every 90 seconds, and that was a real hurdle to get over. But I see people at the gym running with them, and I don’t understand! So I stopped wearing iPhone headphones and started wearing big, silly headphones, the ones that sort of make you look like an Ewok.” No judgment.

4. Use an email template to fundraise if you’re running for charity. 

If you’re running a race for charity, fundraising can be a great way to raise dollars and awareness for the cause—but it can feel a little weird at first. “[Actually raising money] sort of made me feel a little bit like I was back in middle school, selling raffle tickets,” says Mamet. “This was the first time in a very long time I had to ask people to donate money, like, since I was a kid going around on Halloween raising money for UNICEF with my little box for coins.”

Her approach was to go digital and send an email to friends and family about what she was doing. “My friend Emma, who runs War Child [in the U.S.], wrote me some copy for an email that included all of the information and a link to the page. I feel like that gave people the opportunity to either read the email and go about their day, or click on the link, and that allowed for some nice separation.” 

Want to get involved?

Image: Lauren Sowa

Mamet with Dr. Samantha Nutt, founder and president of War Child

You can help out War Child and support Mamet’s run by making a donation, or find your own cause to run for—and pick up her tips while you’re at it. 

You may also like: Healthy breakfast cookies under 250 calories:

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