Most people try to stay fit and healthy by exercising regularly, but even if you are a fitness enthusiast, there are times when life gets in the way, and it’s hard to stick to your routine. Fortunately, technology can help. Here are six ways technology can help you stay fit and healthy:

1.   Monitor Your Nutrition With an App

Eating healthy is an integral part of staying fit and healthy. But knowing what foods are good for you and keeping track of your intake can be difficult. That’s where apps like MyFitnessPal come in handy. With these apps, you can input your foods and get nutritional information like calorie counts and macronutrient ratios. This information can help you make better choices about the foods you eat and ensure you get the nutrients your body needs.

2.   Access Expert Advice Anytime

Technology gives you access to expert advice 24/7. If you ever have a question about nutrition, an exercise move, or anything else related to health and fitness, chances are there’s an article or video online that can help answer your question. If not, there’s always the option of reaching out to an expert directly through email or social media.

3.   Take Advantage of Online Workouts

Various online workout programs can now be customized to your goals and schedule. Many websites and apps offer workout routines you can do at home without expensive equipment. You can use a coaching app to access wellness guidance and classes led by certified coaches. Ensure it’s easy to use and has a good user interface. Consider using an app with accountability features like badges or leaderboards for extra motivation. In addition, many online workouts are free or low-cost, so you don’t have to break the bank to get fit.

4.    Try Virtual Reality Workouts

Virtual reality workouts offer a unique and immersive experience that is impossible with traditional workout methods. You can forget about the outside world and focus solely on your workout by being in a realistic, virtual environment. This can help to improve your motivation and results. In addition, virtual reality workouts offer a great way to vary your routine and keep things interesting. Whether you’re looking to cycle in a tropical rainforest or swim with dolphins, there’s sure to be a workout that appeals to you.

5.   Make Healthy Living More Convenient

Sometimes eating healthy and working out isn’t convenient, but thanks to technology, there are now plenty of ways to make healthy living more convenient for busy people on the go. For example, there are now delivery services that will bring fresh meals right to your doorsteps, workout classes that can be streamed from the comfort of your own home, and apps that allow you to schedule everything from doctors’ appointments to workouts all in one place.

6.   Find a Workout Partner

If you find it challenging to stick to your workout routine, having someone to exercise with can make working out more enjoyable and help you stay on track. There are many online communities dedicated to fitness and have tools that can help you find someone to work out with. For example, some sites allow you to search for people who live near you and have similar fitness goals and interests. This makes it easy to find someone to work out with regularly. In addition, many sites offer forums where you can ask questions and get advice from experienced people.

If you’re looking for some motivation to get started on your fitness journey, don’t forget to harness the power of technology. With the right tools, you’ll be well to reaching your fitness goals in no time.

Although it’s essential that we regularly exercise to maintain our physical health, working out can actually have a negative impact on our oral health. From high-impact sports causing tooth loss and the need for dental implants to dehydration causing plaque build-up, exercising, unfortunately, brings some downsides. Despite this, there are measures you can take to help you maintain your oral health and physical fitness in tandem. Anyone who executes an intense workout more than once a week should certainly pay attention to the following when it comes to caring for their teeth.

1.   Keep Hydrated

Firstly, it’s no secret that exercising leads to decreased saliva flow due to dehydration and mouth breathing. Did you know that drying up your mouth in this way can contribute to plaque build-up, which increases the likelihood of tooth decay and gum disease? In order to avoid this fate, everyone should drink plenty of water before, during, and after their workout. Similarly, they might sometimes drink coconut milk as an alternative. Although it can be tempting, high-sugar sports drinks should be avoided, as the acid and sugar within them can lead to decay.

2.   Increase Your Salt Intake

When we exercise, we sweat, meaning we lose a lot of salt. Although it gets a bad rep, salt is essential to our physical well-being and helps our body retain water. Retaining this water makes it easier to avoid dehydration, which can have a negative impact on your teeth. With this being said, you should increase your intakes of healthy salty food, such as nuts, sardines, sweet potatoes, olives, and goats’ cheese. These are just some of the options you can use to up your salt intake – a quick Google search will present you with a whole new world of possibilities.

3.   Chew Sugar-Free Gum

Chewing gum helps increase your saliva flow, so it’s always a good idea to chew gum after your workout. Despite this, sugary chewing gums can quickly lead to tooth decay, meaning you should certainly make the switch to sugarless chewing gums. It’s a good idea to limit your gum chewing solely after your workout; otherwise, this much gum could have the opposite effect on the teeth you’re looking to achieve. After all, even excessive sugar-free gum won’t be doing your teeth any favours.

4.    Read Food and Drink Labels

In this day and age, there are so many workout foods and drinks on the market; however, for energy purposes, they’re often packed full of sugar. Although this sugar will give you a burst of energy before your workout or replenish your energy levels once you’re finished, it won’t be beneficial to your oral health. Therefore, if you find that something is especially high in sugar, it’s wise to avoid this. Some prime examples include sports drinks, which are okay once in a while, but not for every workout.

5.   Maintain a Good Oral Hygiene

If you’re dehydrated, this will mean that food is more likely to lodge itself in your teeth after meals. Therefore, it’s essential to adopt a diligent brushing and flossing routine if you don’t want your teeth to decay at an accelerated rate. In addition to carrying out a thorough dental hygiene routine yourself, you might also visit your dentist regularly for professional check-ups and hygiene sessions. This way, your dentist will be able to guarantee you’re not developing decay while also keeping your gums nice and healthy.

6.   Wear a Mouth Guard

Last but not least, if you engage in high-impact sports, you should wear a well-fitting mouth guard to prevent tooth damage and loss from occurring.

When you’ve never ran previously, hitting 5K for the first time feels like the biggest accomplishment; however, in order to stay motivated, you need to keep setting goals. If you simply run 5K after 5K, you’ll soon grow bored and start to lose your motivation, which can severely impact your running performance. If your running performance takes a hit, it’s not uncommon for your confidence to do the same. Therefore, if you wish to continue with your running goals, it’s essential you’re always on the hunt for ways to improve your running performance. Discover some of the top tips below.

1.   Manual Lymphatic Drainage

Firstly, Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) might be exactly what you need to give yourself that competitive edge you need to optimise your running performance. This is because MLD facilitates accelerated healing, due to the way in which it increases the flow of fluid through the lymphatic system. This is achieved via a light massage technique, ridding the body of metabolic waste. From this, scar tissue can be softened, healing can be accelerated, and pain can be reduced. As a result, not only does MLD aid recovery, but it also delays any onset muscle soreness or swelling.

2.   Practice Low Heart Rate Training

If you have the time and dedication to optimise your running performance, practising low heart rate training is one of the most effective ways of doing so. To begin with, it’s likely that you’ll have to run at an incredibly slow pace to keep your heart rate low. Despite this, as time goes on and your body adjusts, you’ll grow to be able to run much faster while maintaining a lower heart rate. This is something that will take a lot of time and effort; however, it’s certainly worth it for those looking to run faster for longer.

3.   Increase Your Cadence

When you first begin running, this is typically when your technique is at its best, as you have no choice but to focus on it. Over time, though, you’ll likely find that you grow lazy with your technique as you become more confident. Therefore, in order to optimise your running performance, you should always draw your attention back to your cadence, shortening your stride as you do so. This helps promote a mid-foot strike, which is the healthiest place to land when running. In fact, many injuries can occur from overstriding and landing on the wrong part of your foot.

4.    Adjust Your Fuelling Strategy

As previously mentioned, runners should constantly be setting themselves goals, so they don’t find themselves losing motivation. Lost motivation can present itself in the form of fatigue and sluggishness, and the biggest cause of these feelings is improper fuelling. If you’re looking to up your speed or mileage, it’s essential that you’re fuelling your body with the right foods. It’s not just about putting the right number of calories in your body, it’s also about putting the right type of calories in your body. For instance, you should be looking to incorporate nutrient-dense foods into your diet on a regular basis.

5.   Incorporate Speed Workouts and Interval Training

Last but not least, you should incorporate speed workouts and interval training into your programme. Even if you’re not looking to reach a certain time goal, speed workouts are essential for continually increasing your fitness. One of the best ways to achieve this is by setting out a timetable in which one day is designated for speed training. Not only will this improve your physical strength, but it will help you bolster your mental strength, too. What’s more, new accomplishments will drive you to keep pushing forwards.

Ultramarathon runner Aleksandr Sorokin has broken world running records 7 times so far. Currently, he is preparing for the 2022 IAU 24-hour European Championship, which could turn into a new personal best. But his story wasn’t always about victories – it also includes several occasions when he planned to quit running altogether.

Today, Sorokin holds records for the distance covered in 12 hours (192.3 miles, 309.5 kilometres), in 24 hours (110.2 miles, 177.4 kilometres), as well as the fastest times for 100 miles (10:51:39) and 100 kilometres (6:05:41). To put this in perspective, his 24-hour record would mean he has completed 7 marathons with an average pace of 4:39‘/km.

On top of that, he broke his own records multiple times.

How did he achieve all that, and what challenges did he meet along the way?

The shoulder injury that ruined a kayaking career

Aleksandr Sorokin was an active kid. When he was 13 years old, his dad suggested trying kayaking, one of the sports both of them enjoyed. He showed promise and even won the junior league championship, representing Lithuania in the world championships.

Sadly, during one of the more intense workout sessions, Sorokin strained himself too much and got hurt. “My shoulder injury stopped me from going further in my kayaking career, and that, in turn, led me to quite a dark path,” explains Sorokin.

In 2005, he quit sports altogether, got a job, and entered a new era full of parties and fast food. He thinks he probably tried to catch up to all the years on a strict regimen of working out and eating healthy.

“There is this restaurant in Lithuania near Kaunas that is famous for its zeppelin dumplings, the traditional local dish made of potatoes, meat, and heavy cream. In this place, one dumpling weighs around one pound. My friend and I would order three dumplings each,” Sorokin remembers.

Unsurprisingly, all the bad habits tend to add up. Sorokin says that he spent years eating unhealthy foods, and that started to show – he would have difficulty looking at himself in the mirror. But all of that changed on April 1, 2013, when he decided to transform his life completely.

A poster that changed everything

He started running because it was one of the easiest ways to exercise. But simple daily runs didn’t cut it. After two months of running and completing a half-marathon, Sorokin felt he needed a real challenge. By a lucky incident in a local park, he found a poster inviting runners to join the 100-kilometre race.

“Running without a big goal in mind is boring. If you want to keep going, you need a challenge,” he explains. He signed up for his first ultramarathon that was going to happen in 50 days.

Soon after, the day of his first big competition came. He finished it in 8 hours 34 minutes. Even though everything hurt, Sorokin felt cathartic.

In the same competition, Gediminas Grinius, another Lithuanian ultramarathon runner, broke the record and completed the 100 kilometres in 7 hours and 7 minutes. “That got me thinking – should I try to do that, too? Next time, I will try to run faster,” – says Sorokin.

In the next race, he completed the competition in 7 hours and 20 minutes, which got him noticed by Aidas Ardzijauskas, the leader of local ultramarathon runners. Ardzijauskas offered to try out the 24-hour running competition.

“My first reaction was that this is complete nonsense,” laughs Sorokin. “With a 100-kilometre run, you can at least understand the end goal. It was hard to wrap my head around running 24 hours non-stop. But I agreed.”

How to run for 24 hours straight

The 24-hour race rules are pretty simple. You run laps and win if you manage to run the farthest distance among other racers. You can stop, rest, or run only 5 miles during those 24 hours – it’s entirely up to you. But of course, it’s a high-level competition, and most of the participants come in ready to elevate their game and bring their teams with them.

“I was lucky enough to have my brother helping me out every step of the way. Other participants would bring huge teams of masseuses, chefs, or medics. All I needed was my brother, who is so dedicated that he uses up his vacation days to come and support me,” says Sorokin.

The first hours are quite easy. Then, the first signs of tiredness set in, and Sorokin says that the runner starts to understand they must enjoy the moment since it will get harder soon. The first big crisis emerges when the sun sets down. “Your body wants to sleep, but you cannot. You have to control the exhaustion, or it will defeat you,” he summarizes.

According to him, the exhaustion comes in waves. Sometimes you feel quite well, and then the crash awaits. You cannot even think straight, and that’s why the support team is essential here – they would tell you to eat and drink to keep up your energy levels.

“Sunrise marks the hardest part of the race. Only when the sun rises will you know if you will manage to complete the competition,” says Aleksandr Sorokin.

Running for a hand in marriage – and away from the sport

“To win the next competition that happened in Greece, you would need to break the current record and complete the 252-kilometre run. I thought to myself – if I manage to do this, I will propose to my girlfriend,” says Aleksandr. And without a doubt, he completed the competition with 260 kilometres under his belt – and a wedding to plan.

The next big challenge was supposed to be the IAU 24H Ultramarathon European Championship of 2016. But a couple of hours in, Sorokin understood that he came in too fast and would not be able to keep the pace. “I became the spectator of the race – watching how other runners passed me, waiting for all of it to end.”

This gave him a good lesson – don’t start off too strong, or you will struggle to finish.

Another competition was even worse since his running tracker malfunctioned and didn’t show the real results. Two exhausting losses in a row discouraged him and he was even willing to quit the sport altogether. “So much work went into these competitions, but so little results came out. I thought I would quit and start working in construction,” remembers Sorokin.

The series of breakthroughs

Luckily, he had already signed up for another race, Spartathlon in Greece, and decided to give the sport one last shot. He returned to his old tactics – and mostly focused on the first part of the race. And he finally came first!

It seems that this unlocked a new stage of running for him. What followed was a series of records.

In the 2018 IAU 24H European Championship, Sorokin almost made the same mistake – he started strong and got exhausted, seeing how other runners passed through. Another runner joined him and restored the motivation for both. Sorokin won the bronze medal in that race, but more importantly – he regained his confidence.

In the next race in 2019 in Switzerland, he ran 272 kilometres in 24 hours, 2 kilometres more than the past world championship winner. This ignited the thought that Sorokin could win the world championship, too. So he started to prepare for the next race in autumn.

“During the race, I look up to the tableau, and I see that my laps are not properly counted. It has happened again! My dad goes to the jury and asks them to update the results, even though he doesn’t speak English that well. He managed to get my results back in,” says Sorokin.

That wasn’t the only issue in this race. He managed to have a nice distance between him and his competitors, but the energy crash came later than expected, and the distance started to vanish.

Despite having to overcome all of these obstacles, 40 minutes until the finish, he had already broken the national record and decided to finish his final lap walking. And he still became a winner.

Sorokin won gold in one of the world’s most difficult endurance races six years after he began running. Breaking world records has become a tradition for him since then, and so far he has broken seven world records.

In 2022, Sorokin decided he wanted to share his experience with other runners. He became the ambassador at Joggo, the running app for people that helps build a solid foundation for anyone who’s just starting out. “I am excited to share all of these lessons with beginner runners. Hopefully, they won’t need to make the same mistakes as I did,” he says.

About Joggo

Joggo is a running assistant designed to help novice runners avoid the most common mistakes of starting a jogging routine. Joggo’s features include a personalized running plan, educational content, an engaging reward system, and runner-inspired meal plans. The app is available for download for both iOS and Android. The app is developed by Kilo Health, the leading company in the digital health and wellness industry.

Most back pain issues and impaired mobility start becoming prevalent in people over 30. Typically, medical treatments for these problems are invasive, which are expensive, and pose safety concerns. Unsurprisingly, many people are turning to alternative remedies for their non-invasive nature and lack of adverse side effects.

Chiropractic care is one of the most renowned substitutes for traditional medicine and has proven to be almost as effective. Many doctors recommend it over medicine and surgery for chronic pain. If you want to learn more about the benefits of visiting a chiropractor, keep reading:

1.   Improves Neck Pain

Having poor posture, sleeping in the wrong position, or looking down for hours to use your phone are common contributors to neck pain. Realigning your spine and alleviating the tension in your neck muscles with the help of chiropractic care can help reduce or even eliminate this pain. Spinal manipulation has been found to be more effective than medication. You can treat neck pain by altering the neuropeptide level in your blood. Neuropeptides are protein-like molecules that function as neurotransmitters or hormones, such as beta-endorphins that inhibit pain. In this way, chiropractic care is an attractive choice compared to traditional methods of relieving neck pain.

2.   Good for Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is a pervasive problem that affects many people. Chiropractic adjustment delivers various benefits for this condition and can replace high blood pressure medication in the right situation. Considering the number of adverse side effects high blood pressure medication can have, like dizziness, fatigue, weight loss, anxiety, and nausea, visiting the chiropractor might be a more suitable alternative. You should check with your doctor whether chiropractic care would be a better solution for you.

3.   Back Pain

Treatment for back pain is often invasive and painful, such as injections, and surgery. Additionally, opioid pain relievers can be addictive. For this reason, doctors recommend that patients with back pain first turn to non-invasive and non-medicated treatments. Chiropractors perform spinal manipulation through soft tissue, manual, and exercise therapy. Other methods you can consider include acupuncture, tai chi, or yoga.

4.    Helps Improve Posture

If you feel insecure about your poor posture, chiropractic care can help correct it and alleviate pain. It can also treat extreme cases such as hyperkyphosis, which refers to excessive curvature of the spine and is commonly known as the hunchback posture. This can result in headaches, neck pain, and back pain. Undergoing chiropractic treatment can lead to significant improvements in this condition.

5.   Improves Athletic Performance

Since a healthy lifestyle and regular activity is vital for an athlete, many professional sportsmen and women visit the chiropractor frequently for physical therapy. Injury amongst athletes is very common. A chiropractor can help relieve the strains in your ligaments and reduce inflation. Since a full recovery is essential to go back into the field and thrive, scheduling regular check-ups with a chiropractor can improve your performance in your chosen sport, even if you’re a part-time athlete.

6.   Improves Immunity

Our immunity is closely linked to our nervous system, which controls the function of our cells and organs. If your nerves fail to function properly, they can cause your immune system to suffer significantly. Through precise, controlled manipulation of the 24 vertebrae, they can be placed back into proper alignment and inadvertently improve your immunity. This enables the body to fight off bacteria and viruses, boosting overall health.

Endnote

Chiropractic care can help ease pain, reduce muscle tension, and improve posture and athletic performance. Due to its many benefits, it has gained much popularity over the years. It is also a more affordable option than expensive medical procedures.