Why I Love to Run

When we were kids, we used to love running. In fact, when a child learns to walk, if you notice, he/ she is not actually, walking  but running. Amazing but true. Then why do we stop running when we grow up. Maybe because of the pressures of life or simply because we get lazy or obese.

Yesterday, I read this beautiful quote, which used to be there at my place of work a year back. It goes like this:-

Every morning, when a Deer wakes up, it knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning, when a Lion wakes up, it knows it must outrun the slowest Deer or it will starve to death.
It does not matter whether you are a Lion or a Deer.... when the sun comes up, you better be RUNNING.

I will highlight the reasons as to why I love to run. It may happen that the reasons might motivate you to start running.

1. Stay Fit - There is no denying about the fact that running is the best cardiovascular exercise. It helps keep your heart in a super healthy condition, blood circulation is top form, joints healthy and muscles strength and flexibility intact.

2. Stay Lean - Lean is the new IN. Runners are leaner than others because their fat percentage is lesser and lesser weight means faster running.

3. Clears Clutter - Running helps me in clearing the clutter, in my mind. It works for me. Try it! Whenever you are stressed, go for a run. Running helps you think of a better solution to the problem and helps reduce tension. Running helps release an hormone called Endorphins which creates a sense of euphoria. The bottom line is that I feel happy and strong after every run, good or bad, and feel fresh and relaxed.

4. Patience - I have seen that I have become more patient and calm in my dealings in day to day life. Why? I don't know exactly but I guess, when I am running, I am at peace with myself and have got exclusive time to mull over issues, without any distractions.

5. Discipline - Since the time I have started enjoying running, I have become conscious about when and where to run. I have started managing my time better to accommodate running in my schedule. I have started to eat better while foreseeing my runs.

6. Sleep - My wife says that I have got nothing better to do in life than to eat and sleep. And I know that I can't help it. I sleep off early to get up early in the morning for my run. It is a fact which has been proved by scientist that exercises helps in getting a sound sleep. So, I am sleepier than her!

The benefits I have mentioned above are in addition to the benefits like:-

1. It delays ageing.

2. It prevents bone and muscle loss.

3. It prevents a number of physical and mental health problems.

4. It improves immune system.

5. It improves skin tone and texture.

So, you see that the immense benefits of exercising. So, stop being a lazy bum and get off the couch after reading this post. Wear your joggers and head out to run. Run for a better life and health.

Today's Workout - Interval Training

Who says interval training is easy. Trust me, it is not. I am still catching my breath after my morning session. As per my earlier blog on Running Workouts, today I had an interval session planned for myself. It went off like this.




1. Warm Up


  - 10 Surya namaskars.

  - 10 walking lunges on each leg.

  - 5 high kicks with each leg, keeping the keg straight to open up the hamstring.




  - 2 km slow jog and 500 metres strides.

2. Interval Running


  - 3 x 400 metres at a non-conversational or even non-mono syllable pace with a 1 minute break .

  - 3 x150 metre sprint with a 1 minute break.

3. Cooling Down


  - 400 metre slow jog.

  - Hanging leg raises.

  - 50 crunches.

  - Yoga to include bhujangasana, pigeon pose, halasana, downward dog and ended with deep breathing.

  - Icing my legs on reaching home and a hot cup of tea with a banana (weird combo, but works for me).

Interval training is a very important workout for an athlete as it helps develop better base speed, activates fast twitch fibres, improves metabolism and promotes weight loss, even hours after finishing. It is important to remember to, first, develop base fitness to start with this kind of sessions. This type of training really improves performance.

Improve Running And Stay Injury Free With Proper Posture

Everybody say that running is tough and ridden with injury. On the other hand, I will say it is easy and fun provided you maintain a proper posture while running. In any kind of a workout or say, any sphere of life, we look for efficiency. Efficiency means to put in less effort for achieving maximum benefits. Isn't it? Then, why can't we achieve efficiency in running?

Running is an amazing workout, which I discovered couple of years back. Though being from army, I have been running since last 12 years, but that was a compulsion. But a couple of years back, I started enjoying it. Why? Because I read about this sport a lot and the science behind it. Knowledge about the sport made  me love it. I may not be a great runner but I love running. That's the bottom line. You will say, what's the big deal in studying it. It's just putting your foot in front of the other one, continuously. No, it is not as simple as it looks. Then, why so many runners keep getting injured now and then or blame our creaky knees to running, in old age. It is all about correct technique and efficiency which prevents injury and promotes a healthy and strong body.

There are different types of running like Chi Running and Pose Running and number of others. I have studied few of them and have drawn few basic elements and my own analysis.

1. Warm Up - It is the most aspect of injury free running. Most of us tend to ignore it completely or do a very lousy warm up. Warm up promotes active blood circulation to the muscles and makes them elongated and flexible. It is important to remember to include dynamic stretching in your warm up routine and not static stretching (save it for cooling down). Studies have shown that static stretching leads to more injuries.

2. Heads Up - Keep your head in a neutral position while running. Tilting it forward or backward leads to neck pain and difficulty in breathing while running especially at faster pace. How? It is simple. When the wind pipe is not straight, you will expend more energy while breathing in and out. Try this simple exercise. While you are sitting, try tilting your head forward and backward and try to find the position where it is naturally aligned to the spine. That is the position you need to keep your head in. Head is quite a heavy part of the body and if it is not aligned properly, it may result in excess expenditure of energy and hence, result in inefficiency while running.

3. Shoulder It - Keep them square and relaxed. Any tension or slouching, results in excess expenditure of energy. Shoulders should be back but not tensed. Ever seen a fit gal or a girl slouching? Shoulders square and back means a strong posture. Plus if you slouch your shoulders, you are contracting your rib cage, which means more effort required to breath in and out.

4. Hands of Glory - Hands balance the body while running. So you must swing them to and fro to generate power and balance. Remember your hands should not, at any point of time, cross the center of the body. Imagine a line running between eyebrows, center of neck, chest and abdomen. This is the center line of the body. Swinging hands, straight to and fro minimises rotation of hips, in return prevents loss of energy. Also, keep a lightly held fist as if you are holding a potato wafer. While swinging hands, the hands should be at 90 degree angle and at level of the top end of your shorts or lower. While running uphill, remember to throw your elbows back, more than normal, to generate power in strides.

5. Back It Up - Most of the runners suffer from low back ache. Why? Because they round their back or slouch or bend from their waist while running. Do we bend from waist or slouch our back while walking? Then, why do we do it while running? While running at a faster pace, body is supposed to tilt forward from the ankles and not from the waist. So, while running try to keep your back straight and keep the abs braced. Again, if we slouch our back, it becomes difficult to breath and we experience a side stitch in our abdomen.

6. Legs - I will cover the most important part of a runner now. What comprises of leg muscles? Quadriceps or front of thighs, hamstrings or back of thighs, calf, ankle and feet. Every part has got a role to play while running. The most basic and important thing to remember is FOOT STRIKE. Studies have shown that maximum number of injuries occur to runners who are heel strikers. How to avoid heel strike? Simple, don't land on your heel. Hahaha. Sorry for the PJ but first we need to understand why heel strike is bad. Consider this example. Try and run barefoot at some place comfortable. What do you observe? Automatically, you will start landing on your mid foot or fore foot, but not on heel. Because it hurts if you land on heel. If you see, too much of cushion in the shoes actually is altering your natural running posture. We start landing on our heels, while running, and get injured, eventually. We don't realise it that our running form is poor. Try to shorten your strides when you run and land consciously on your mid foot. Remember, always land your foot under the knee. The moment your leg goes ahead, it means you are landing on your heels. Gradually, increase stride length, when the hind leg in able to generate enough power to propel you further ahead. Your stride length will increase while maintaining mid foot strike. If you want to run faster, take faster steps but short strides. Avoid HEEL STRIKE. It is the root of all running injuries.

You can get detailed analysis of your running style at a Sports Medicine Center but I don't know how many of us will be able to afford it. So, if you want to stay injury free from  running, practice the techniques given above. This is the gist of all the study and practical I have done for so many years. It is important to maintain your fitness level for year's to come. It doesn't matter if you were a gold medalist runner at 20 years of age and now you even can't run a step and have become obese.

Best Upper Body Exercises

Want a rippling and toned upper body? I will tell you the most basic bodyweight and yet, important exercises to achieve that dream upper body. First, let's find out, what all is included in the upper body. Upper body comprises of:-

1. Chest or the pectorals.

2. Back to include trapezius (upper back) and latissimus dorsi (lower back).

3. Biceps and triceps.

4. Abdominals or abs.

Now that we know the major muscle groups of upper body, let's move on to the exercises.

1. Lose FAT - Yup, lose fat. Till the time the extra lard is not melted from your body, how is the muscle underneath going to show. Logical, isn't it? Hit the road and do cardio workouts to include more of interval training. Combine any kind of workout with cardio to maximize benefits.

2. Push Ups - We all know what a push up is. It is an excellent exercise to strengthen and tone up the entire upper body. Remember to keep the body in a straight line while doing a push up and do as many as you can while maintaining that line. Do atleast 2 sets of push ups in a good form. Gradually, increase the repetitions and sets.






3. Tricep Dips - Many a times we ignore Triceps, which forms the major part of arm muscle and gives it size. Dips are easy to perform and can be done anywhere. Again, as stated above, do atleast 2 sets and increase gradually. Remember to keep the neck straight while doing this exercise.

4. Chin Ups - This exercise is tough but not impossible to do. It is excellent to strengthen forearms, biceps, shoulders, back and abs. Aim to do atleast 10 over a period of time. Initially, you can take help from someone to help you up. There are many variations to this exercise with respect to hand grip like under grip, over grip, wide and narrow grip.







5. Plank - Plank is an wonderful exercise to develop a strong core which includes abs and lower back. Hold the position to start with 30 seconds and gradually build up to more than a 1 minute. It is important to maintain a ram rod straight line of head, shoulders, back and lower body. Avoid any sagging in the middle.

6. Hanging Leg Raises - One of  best exercises for the core region as it brutally activates the abs and helps in achieving your dream six-pack. Doing it is simple. Just hang on a chin up bar and either keeping your knees straight, make a 90 degree angle and hold it for some time or fold your legs and bring it as close to your chest as you can.












A strong upper body is the foundation of a overall strong body. Remember always to exercise the opposite muscle groups to prevent muscle imbalance. For eg. if you are exercising the back, then do exercise the chest and if biceps, then exercise the triceps.

The above mentioned exercises can be included alongside the cardio workout and also can be performed in isolation. Also, there are a number of variations of above exercises to challenge yourself. Keep changing them to surprise your body now and then to avoid stagnation. In any kind of exercise, it is important to have QUALITY rather than QUANTITY.

Neelanjan Banerjee 

Am I Fit?

Are you fit? Today I was just wondering that how to know whether someone is fit or not. It is very simple in Army as we have got a number of physical test to measure the fitness level of soldiers like :-

1. Run 5 km with approx 5 kg load under maximum 28 minutes.

2. Run 2.4 km under maximum 10 minutes.

3. Do 10 chin ups.

4. Climb 4 metre rope.

5. 100 metre sprint, 30 pushups and crunches and etc etc. The list is quite long. If somebody is interested to test himself/ herself, I can tell them separately.

The above list is for soldiers, who are required to be extremely fit to perform under battle conditions. But what about our civilian counterparts? I guess, following tests can measure simple and functional fitness levels.

1. Is your Blood Pressure normal?

2. Can you touch your feet with hands, without bending your knees?

3. Can you walk up a flight of stairs, without loosing your breath?

4. Can you carry your small child continuously for half an hour, during shopping?

5. Can you change your flat tyre, alone.?

6. Can you run continuously for 15 minutes, at an conversational pace?

7. Can you squat completely and get up without any support or placing your hands on your knees?

8. Can you do 10 push ups?

9. Can you do 30 crunches?

10. Can you do 15 squats?

11. Can you blow air in a balloon?

12. Are you in your BMI range?

13. Can you carry a bucket full of water from one room to another?

14. You are a non smoker and occasional light drinker.

If you have answered yes to most of them, then I will say that you are quite fit but need to work harder to improve further. These are few challenges I could think as of now. If you have got any more challenges, please do mention them in comments box. These above test will measure just functional fitness required to carryout your day to day chores, without fatigue. There are more tougher challenges, which I will write about subsequently.

It is necessary to maintain and keep your fitness level at check all the time to lead a healthy and active lifestyle. So, keep challenging yourself and enjoy your sweat.

The Killer IT Band

Today again it was raining in the morning. I was out of the door at 0520 hours for my weekly long run i.e it was 10 km today. It was fantastic when I started. After 5 km, damn the IT Band. It struck again.

IT Band Syndrome

Iliotibial Band or IT Band is an irritating problem. It happens on the outside of knee while running, cycling, hiking or weight lifting(squats) and stops when you stop the activity. Again recurs when you start again. One just cannot keep running with the pain, if it is severe. But it is still not so bad, as after proper rest and rehabilitation, one can resume the physical activity.

CAUSES


1. Sudden increase in mileage or distance. Remember the 10% rule.

2. Uneven leg length. In fact, my left leg is slightly longer than the right one and this IT band strikes on my left leg.

3. Always running on the banked side of the road.

4. Worn out shoe especially on the outer side.

5. Improper running technique.

6. Leg muscle imbalance.

TREATMENT


1. Use the 10% rule.

2. Warm up properly.

3. Stop running when the pain starts.

4. Trying to change the speed helps a number of times.

5. There are a number of stretches to strengthen and improve flexibility of the hip and the connected tissues.

6. Use foam roller to open and relax the hip flexors and outside of the thigh.

7. RICE.

8. If pain persists, consult a Doctor.

Anyways, I completed my 10 km run, somehow. After run, did some stretches and  iced the affected region and wore my compression socks for recovery. Then had a bowl full of Chocos and milk. I feel great now.

Weight Loss : Is It So Difficult To Achieve

I left cigarettes after smoking it furiously for 10 years. I tried before also to quit but didn't succeed. But what is it, which will keep me away from the deadly stick this time? It is not my will power. It is just that I have thought of the following :-

1. It is not essential for my survival.

2. Waste of time and money.

3. I become a social outcast except smoking with smokers, in some corner away from the gathering.

4. Not good for my health and also for my family's health.

5. Is it worth?

You will be now wondering that the title of the blog and introduction seem to be different. Well, there is a connection. Here is how.Yesterday, I was discussing the issue of weight loss with my wife. I told her about my previous blog on Secret of Weight Loss Revealed. To this, she had a very simple opinion. She said it is all okay to say :-

1. Eat less.

2. Exercise more.

3. Stay active.

4. Avoid eating junk food and etc etc.

However, what we fail to do is that we fail to incorporate healthy habits in our lifestyle. At the beginning of the blog, I highlighted the issues which I thought before stopping smoking and later analysed to find that it holds true for weight loss also and staying away from obesity for the rest of our lives.

How? We have to ask ourselves the following questions :-

1. Is overeating good for health?

2. Is binge eating healthy?

3. Do I need to eat this burger or look for some alternate healthy food or fruit?

4. Do I need to stay awake late at night, unnecessarily?

5. Do I need to watch this TV programme or should I go for a walk outside with my wife or kids or friends.

6. Is exercising bad for me?

7. Are people going to make fun of me if, I get fat?

If you have answered YES to anyone of them and NO to the last one, then YOU NEED NOT READ THIS BLOG ANYMORE. I try and convince myself, everyday, about the above issues and try to choose what is best for me. To be honest, I do falter in making correct decisions sometimes. We need to understand that overweight people are FOOD ADDICTS, just like smokers are DRUG ADDICTS. Just go through my blog entry on Stopping to Smoke, the reasoning is applicable to this problem also. If you want a healthy life, eat to live and not live to eat.

I guess, this has to be the base of motivating yourself and sticking to the plan of weight loss for the rest of your life. Don't think that you are sacrificing food or pleasure. In fact, when you loose that excess lard of your body, you will feel good and confident about yourself. Trust me, you will not die if you don't have that ice-cream or hot-dog or burger or an extra serving or some other junk food. Opt for healthy foods. Enjoy and value your life. It comes only once. Live it to the fullest by staying fit, healthy and active.

This blog entry was my point of view. You may have a different opinion about it. Please feel free and share your thoughts.

Neelanjan Banerjee 

Surya Namaskar - Great way To Start The Day

Surya namaskar or sun salutation is a very powerful set of  yoga poses that makes the body and mind strong and supple. I found it to be an extremely challenging exercise which I perform everyday as part of my warm up routine.

Surya namaskar comprises of 12 poses. Each pose has got it's own benefit and importance. Though I have not studied yoga as a subject but I can tell you that it is AWESOME. I will just list out the benefits of this exercise.

1. Warm Up - Surya namaskar involves the whole body. So, it's an ideal warm up for any athlete. It opens up and strengthens the shoulders, back, hamstrings, calf, quads, elongates the spine, enhances better body balance and calms the mind. I perform around 10 of them as one of the warm up exercises and trust me, I break into sweat in these 10.


2. It can be performed by anyone irrespective of sex, age or weight. It promotes strength and flexibility in the body, helps reducing weight and helps delay aging. Anybody, who are always short of time to workout, can do this for 10 minutes, first thing in the morning.


3. Recovery - Athletes can include this in their recovery process. And also post pregnancy, mothers can practice this asana to loose weight, gain lost strength and get back that charm on their faces. It also helps them to cope up with the new born child. Though, Doctor should be consulted before starting any exercise regime.


It is very simple to master and 100s of videos are available on YouTube. Include this in your routine and you will thank me later.


Neelanjan Banerjee 

Recover Faster From Workout

For an athlete, injury is a scary movie. An athlete which includes simple walker, jogger, recreational runner or a professional, can get injured anytime. He/ she may be feeling absolutely fine at one moment but suddenly, can stumble over an injury.

It is very common to get injured while training and can put us off for sometime, depending on the intensity of the injury. But getting scared of getting injured and not working out at all, is not the solution. What we need is be better informed and educated.

I will dwell in detail about specific injuries in subsequent blogs, but for now, I will focus on basic recovery technique from workout or injury.

1. Build - Up Slow

Sometimes, in over exuberance and keenness, we generally avoid building up gradually in our workout. And then, snap goes the hamstring or calf or achilles or back. It is very important to remember to graduate slowly in increasing the intensity of workouts. We should give time to our body to adapt to stress gradually. The basic rule to follow can be to keep building up by10 % every week. That means, if the longest run of your previous week was 5 km, then next week, you can safely run 5.5-6 km. This way you will avoid injury and build up slowly. Remember, results are not achieved over night.


2. RICE


It is the most basic method of recovery from a workout or injury, I am sure most of do not know about it. Any aches and pulls can be cured with this technique or at least can be stopped from aggravating. RICE means Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. I will now dwell upon each aspect separately.


REST - There no denying of the fact that we should give rest to our body or to the injured muscle group after a workout. The body is such a wonderful machine that it has its own system of troubleshooting some of the injuries. Do not force it to stop doing it's job. It gives us clear indications to stop doing some activity by  showing fatigue, muscle pull or cramps etc. Don't ignore them. 


ICE - After any workout, ice the joints especially knees, ankles, quads, hamstrings and calves. Not everybody has the luxury of owning a bathtub, which you can fill up with ice cold water and sit in it for 15-20 minutes. What we can do is apply ice pack on the joints, immediately within half an hour of completion of workout. Ice treatment has many benefits like it reduce muscle soreness and swelling, prevents tissue breakdown, constricts blood vessels and flushes out waste products like lactic acid, out of affected tissues and etc etc. The point is that it really helps and infact, I follow it quite religiously and totally rely on this method for recovery. Remember not to ice a specific area for than 15-20 minutes or you suffer from chillblain and always keep an ice pack ready in the refrigerator.


COMPRESSION - It implies use of pressure bandage or wearing of compression socks or tights. While wrapping a bandage on the affected area, remember not to wrap it very tightly that you can feel the throbbing. According to me, it is best to invest in a pair of compression socks or tights which you can wear under your clothes during the day. I can swear by this because after I bought myself a pair of compression socks and it has really helped me recover from a lingering calf muscle strain.


ELEVATE - It means when you are sleeping or sitting, try and keep the effected muscle group, above the heart level. It helps reducing swelling and pain.


3. Hydrate - Water is magic. After a workout, it is very important to drink plenty of fluids to help recover faster. It helps to flush out toxins and prevents muscle cramps and stiffness. Also remember to take in important salts if you have lost lots of body fluids.


4. Balance Muscles - Understand and recognise the strong and weak muscles of your body. Sometimes, it is the major reason for an injury. For eg if your left leg is weaker than the right one, then concentrate on the left leg to make it equally stronger. It pays to understand the body which in turn will help you in better performance.


5. Core Strength - Strong core muscles helps in balancing the body and helps prevent injuries. In my previous post, I have given few exercises for strong core muscles. Basically, core will include your abs and back. Better core strength equals to fewer injuries.  


If you want to continue exercising or achieve any goals, always listen to your body. Also, check with a Doctor before starting any exercise regime. And, if injured and following the above mentioned ways to recover, if pain or discomfort persists, do rush to your Doctor. 

Rain Run

It is raining in Hyderabad. And it is a beautiful city, if one is out on the streets, running. That's what I did today morning and got inspired while running to write this blog immediately after I reach home. So, here I am writing after my 10 minutes warm up, 40 minutes run, 20 minutes cooling down cum yoga and meditation and icing my legs.

Yesterday, in fact today morning at 0300 hours, my wife woke me up and told me that she is going to make me cheese sandwich at 0800 hours. My wife gets funny ideas once in a while but I smiled and felt happy and again dozed off. Got up one and half hours later i.e at 0430 hours for my morning workout. At 0500 hours, after getting ready, I found it was raining. I grumbled and cursed the rain as today was my weekly long run. Then I sat down in front of the laptop and started wasting time on FACEBOOK (it is sometimes a very big time waster). Then I remembered that my wife had promised me the CHEESE sandwich which I need to  earn(I guess that motivated me enough). So, I decided to hit the road in the rain.

I will now write about my routine of today's run.

1. Every Saturday is my weekly long run i.e today, it was 8 km and next week it is 10 km.

2. I took out my Adidas water proof wind-cheater as I did not want to catch cold due to the wind and also did not want to soak till my bones.

3. Did a 10 minute warm up to include 10 Suryanamaskars, 15 walking lunges per leg and 50 skip jumps.

4. Started of at slow pace for 5 minutes.

5. Picked up the pace at which I could converse in mono syllables or short sentences.

6. Climbed a flyover at a increased pace and jogged down the other side to regain breath and again climbed back with the same pace and jogged down.

7. Last 5 minutes of the run at a gentle pace to start cooling down.

8. Reached home totally drenched. However, before entering the house, did some walking lunges, squats, stair stepper and skipping on the spot.

9. Took out my shoes before entering and scared Polki (my dalmation).

10. After changing into dry clothes, did yoga for 10 minutes to include primarily stretching my hamstrings, quads, calves and lower back. Slow long runs, especially, takes a toll on my lower back. Finished off the session with meditation while listening to falling rain drops and kapalbhati.

Few things I observed while running in rain today(after a long time).

1. The world looked so peaceful and beautiful.

2. Hardly any traffic on the roads, so felt as if I owned the roads.

3. Saw stray dogs under the shelter of trees.

4. Saw humans also under the shelter of trees.

5. Saw crowd at an tea stall.

6. People looking at me with amazed look as if I have gone crazy enough to run in rain.

7. There were only few oldies on a walk with an umbrella and an cross-country team whizzing past me.

In the end, few things to remember while running in the rain.

1. Always try and avoid wind atleast. Wear an wind-cheater.

2. Do a proper warm up indoors as cold temperature, outside, can cause injury to cold muscles.

3. Keep an open eye on the vehicular traffic as it is slippery on the road. Preferably, run on the wrong side of the road to see the oncoming traffic.

4. Never stop for long during the run to avoid cramps.

5. Be wary of the slippery patches on the road.

6. After reaching home. take extra care to do cooling down and drying yourself properly.

I guess, that's it for now. I am really happy that I didn't miss my run and am going to get a Cheese sandwich for that. Just kidding. Remember, come hail, storm or rain, never postpone your workout. You will always  feel  better after a hard workout.

Neelanjan Banerjee 
2PPMBPV4ETPD

Top 10 Anytime Anywhere Workouts

We are always short of time. I will say that it is just an excuse to skip or avoid exercising. But still some of us do find themselves in a heavy time crunch. So does it mean that due to a busy schedule some day, we can afford to miss out a chance to workout. You know, it is the only difference between a successful man and a failure.

Just follow any or a combination of exercise which suits you. Also, incorporate these habits in your lifestyle.

1. Get up atleast half an hour earlier every morning to take out time to exercise.

2. If you have only half an hour to spare for exercise, then perform a 5-10 minutes of warm up. Then, do 6 X 400 metre intervals with a minute to  regain breathing. In the end, cool down for 10 minutes. It is an excellent fat buster workout.

3. Got only 15 minutes before getting ready for work, no probs. Do 3 sets of 15 push ups, 3 sets of 20 squats and 3 sets of one minute planks.

4. While shaving, brushing teeth or waiting in a line at the bus stop, do calf raises.

5. When on the phone, you can perform half squats and calf raises.

6. Before moving out of the office for some meeting or conference, do 10 push ups. You will feel confident because of the pump from the exercise.

7. If you are baby - sitting, perform lunges with the baby in the room. The baby will act as weights and she/he will have a ball of a time while going up and down.

8. Take the stairs and avoid the elevator. And also, if possible, run up the stairs.

9. While travelling in flight or bus or cab, perform deep breathing and anlom-vilom. It will calm your mind and enhance your concentration.

10. Brisk walk, if you are moving in office or home or going to market. Also, if possible park your car as far as possible from the office or market entrance.

These are few things which I perform sometimes and find them quite helpful. If you have got any idea, do give for the benefit of others. Remember, it is very important to include an exercising regime in our life to lead a healthy life. Stay active and be positive.

Neelanjan Banerjee

Non Smoker's Diary, Part - 1

Stop Smoking in a Easyway

I had smoked for around 10 years(that's an awfully long time). Kicked the habit twice for around 4 months, the first time and then for two months, the second. But this time, it's different. It really is.

It's been around two and a half weeks that I have freed myself from the deadly trap of smoking. In this series of articles, I will provide you with first hand experience of myself with regards to life after becoming a non - smoker.

I will say life is good, in fact, it's great. Smokers do not realize it. Stopping smoking this time was different. I was enjoying the nicotine withdrawal pangs like a sadist. It is a state of mind in which we have to get ourselves into. I will list out the differences or changes which I observed in these last two and a half weeks of leaving smoking.

1.  I am an fitness freak. I was preparing for Hyderabad marathon, when one and a half months back, I tore my calf muscle. After a month of rest  and rehabilitation, the injury didn't improve. That was one of the reason to stop smoking. In these last two weeks, I have completely recovered from my injury. I guess, my muscles are receiving more oxygen than before, which is also scientifically proved.

2. I wake up fresh in the morning, even if, sometimes, I sleep late. I get up everyday at 0430 hours and am out of the door at 0530 hours. Earlier I used to wake up tired but now its totally the the opposite. In fact, I am more alert and energetic before my morning run.

3. I used  to smoke around 20-25 sticks a day. If I calculate, I used to spend around 10 minutes on one stick. That means, on 25 sticks I used to spend, 25 X 10 minutes = 250 minutes i.e 4 hours approximately. Now, suddenly I have found this lost time in my entire day and that's the only reason I am, now, blogging so regularly. Here, some may argue that we don't smoke 20-25 sticks a day like you, but I will say that you must be spending more time on thinking about when or how to smoke the next stick. Trust me, stopping this evil habit will save a lot time.

4. I am getting back my old strength  back. Today, I ran 5 km under 22 minutes and I was not at all tired or huffing - puffing for breath like before. I will turn 30 years this September and I am already feeling proud that I can run faster than guys younger to me. Whenever, I am climbing stairs nowadays, I am running up, which was not the case before. When I was smoking, I was forever tired. Stopping it completely, I have found my lost energy back.

5. I have put on 3kgs in these two and a half weeks, which is quite an obvious issue. But I am not worried because after some time, the withdrawal effects are going to go away and I will come back to my original weight. In fact with my workout schedule, I am going to melt away these extra 3kgs and even more.

6. I, now, generally feel good and happy. I look at other smokers with pity. I see office goers visiting the Paan shop and smoking a quick one before entering the office or people smoking before entering for a conference etc. The bottom line is that now, I don't have to worry about smoking a quick one before some event. I am free from that undue pressure.

7. I have increased my savings by 3000 bucks now or I will say that I am now 3000 bucks richer. That means, I am saving 36,000 bucks an year. WOW.

That's all for now. I will come up with more updates later. Got to fast forward my training for the upcoming Hyderabad marathon. And I think that after kicking this habit, I will be able to do it.

Neelanjan Banerjee 

3D Taj Mahal

http://www.airpano.ru/files/Taj-Mahal-India/2-3

The Taj Mahal in 3D interactive.... amazingly beautiful with Vaishnava
Janato tune in the background.There are more than 20 views from
different locations & also views from elevated heights.


Enjoy it and pass it on.

Six Pack Abs Without Doing Crunches

Admit it that we all want washboard stomach. But it seems so impossible for some of us to achieve that sexy mid line. Probably, we have been doing the wrong exercises or not doing at all.

First of all, we need to understand what maketh the six pack. Six pack will only appear on your body if you have strong abdominal core muscles and sufficient amount of body fat. It appears so easy to achieve but in reality, it is equally hard otherwise we all would have had our own six packs. But in the end of all the hard work, it is worth it. To achieve flat stomach or six pack, we need to achieve two things - lose fat and build muscle. A six pack won't show over a thick layer of fat.

Okay, let's get started with the two aspects we discussed above i.e lose fat and build muscle.

LOSE FAT (Also refer to the previous blog entry)


1. Do cardiovascular activities like running, walking, cycling, rowing, any intense sport like football, hockey, rugby, squash, tennis, badminton etc.

2. Follow a healthy diet and eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day. Just ensure that you should not be excessively hungry prior to the main meals and don't overeat during the snacking meals. Also focus on eating organic lean proteins, natural fats, fruits and veggies.

3. Drink lots of water. It is important to note that if you are sweating excessively, then adequate amount of salts is required to be replenished.


4. Follow an active lifestyle.


5. Avoid eating out too often. Eat what you cook or your wife cooks or mother cooks at home. If it is unavoidable, then opt for healthy foods like grilled food items or salads without mayonnaise. The restaurants also, nowadays specify in their menu cards about healthy food items or best will be to ask the Chef itself. He will really appreciate your concern and will try to do his best. 

BUILD MUSCLE - Now I will list out some exercises which will target your core and help you in achieving the long awaited flat stomach. However, do remember, it also very important have a strong lower back because a strong core is complimented, only, by a strong back.

1. Hanging leg raises - Hang on a chin up bar with a overhand or underhand grip. Flex your shoulders and slowly raise your legs till waist level. Hold as long as possible and repeat for as long as you can hang on the bar.

2. Planks - Lie down on stomach. Then support yourself on both elbows and hold the position. It is very important to note that your body should be in a ramrod straight line. Gradually increase the time to hold the pose to 4-5 mins.

3. Squats and Deadlifts - These two exercises are excellent for building strength in quads and hamstring and also strengthens the core region. Points to note while doing these exercises is that first, the back at all point of times should be straight, second, knees should not go ahead of your toes while squatting and lastly, thighs should be parallel to the surface.

4. Kapalbhati - It is an excellent yoga asana to help reduce the belly fat. Sit in a comfortable position without any tension in the body. You can sit on the floor or on a sofa, as long as you are comfortable. Now, forcefully exhale from nose and tuck in your stomach. Repeat this action in a rapid rate for not more than a minute or when feeling uncomfortable. Do this asana for five minute on an empty stomach in the morning and evening. Results are visible in a week's time.

There are many variations in the exercises I have mentioned above which can be done as you graduate from the basics. Remember, it is very important to build gradually to avoid injury. It will take some time for results to show but it is worth the wait.

I will post more similar exercises. So, keep reading and keep working out. Enjoy.

Neelanjan Banerjee

Secret to Weight Loss Revealed

The mere title of this blog itself is going to attract a lot of heavy people...I mean heavy traffic. After so many years of working out, loosing weight, exercising to keep it off, reading and experimenting the techniques to loose weight and getting married has taught me few simple techniques to loose weight easily and to keep it off.

I will not dwell upon the scientific aspects of exercising and nutrition. All these things can be GOOGLED for the detailed explanation.  I will just tell you few do's and don't, which, if you follow, will lead you on the path of weight loss and healthy well being.

First of all, if you are reading this blog means that you want to loose that excess weight. Remember, there are no shortcuts in life. So, if somebody tells that you can lose weight without sweating out, is absolute nonsense. Also, before starting an exercise regime do consult your GP. So lets start.


1. Food is the biggest enemy. Eat to live not live to eat.

2. Never skip meals. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. It means to have lesser carbs progressively as the day ends.

3. If already overweight, eat everything but cut down the size of food portion to half or two third .


4. Drink a glass of water before and during meals. It will help you feel fuller. And also chew food properly.


5. Avoid binge eating i.e avoid unhealthy snacking between meals.


6. Avoid junk food and aerated drinks. Instead look for healthy food alternatives.


7. Include more of fiber in your food.


8. Exercise atleast three days a week for minimum 30 minutes.


9. Use stairs instead of lifts.


10. Squat to pick things from the floor.


11. Carry your small kid while shopping.


12.Observe the  habits of a healthy person. They don't overeat or they don't like fatty foods or they lead a very active lifestyle.


13. Early to bed and early to rise still holds good.


14. Sleep atleast six hours a day.


15. Avoid company of lazy and overweight people or try to motivate them to start an workout group.


16. Play with your kid. Believe me, your kid will overtake you in stamina.


17. Take up running or walking, depending on your current fitness level. 


18. Start thinking that you are in your ideal weight and are fit. It helps psychologically to overcome the obstacle to start and makes you feel good. 


19. Don't procrastinate your workout for tomorrow. Start today and now. 


The bottom line is GET YOUR ASS TO MOVE AROUND AND EAT HEALTHY FOOD. We all know about healthy food and activities but we tend to ignore them. WHY? That is the question we need to ask ourselves. We all want to look good and shed the extra fat and fit into skinny clothes but we still overeat and are being lazy. 


My only advice is to stay active. Six pack abs is not the only definition of being fit. Being fit means having enough energy to keep going on with work without feeling fatigued. I will being posting more tips on loosing weight. If you have any suggestions which I have not covered, please feel free to share them.


Neelanjan Banerjee

Remove Side Stitch While Running

While running, we sometimes get stitch/ cramps on one of the sides of stomach or lower side of the rib cage, especially on the left side. It is a really annoying pain which slows us down considerably or worse, force us to stop the physical activity. HOW TO GET RID OF IT? Follow any one or combination of the methods and see which one works for you :-

1. Forcefully breath out through nose using stomach i.e force the diaphragm down, as in Kapalbhati. This technique works for me.

2. Close the fist of both the hands, keeping the thumb in between.

3. Slow down a bit and gently rub the area of stitch with fingers.

4. Try and change the breathing pattern. For eg. if you are breathing out on every left foot forward, then try to change it to right foot forward.

5. Try to maintain a good running posture and avoid hunching while running.IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT.

6. Wear a scarf or a neck warmer during winters as breathing cold air may also induce side stitch.

7. Slow down and take deep controlled breaths.

8. Warm-up properly.

9. Eat atleast an hour or two prior to running to give time for digestion.

CAUSES


A side stitch can be caused due to a variety of reasons. The exact one is still not known but scientists say that improving the running posture, not eating to close to the time of run and warming up properly will help a lot in avoiding this painful cramps.

Neelanjan Banerjee