The 7 Healthiest Cities in the U.S. and Canada

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Choosing to be healthy seems like a no-brainer. But it’s far easier said than done. Dieting or exercising all by yourself can feel miserable or restricting, and it often ends without a ton of success. It’s proven that we’re far less likely to lace up those running shoes or grab the boxing gloves if we’re tackling this fight against obesity and heart disease alone. According a study published in the Journal of Social Sciences, people “gravitate towards the exercise behaviors of those around them.” This means you’ve got a much higher chance of shattering those fitness goals and maintaining a healthy existence if you’re surrounded by like-minded individuals.

So what places promote wellness most, and how can you join them? We decided to comprise a list of the seven healthiest cities in the US and Canada to make it easier. Note that cities were judged based on nutrition and eating habits, access to exercise and recreational space, and overall health statistics.

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN

Minneapolis-St. Paul is, year after year, considered one of the healthiest cities in the country. But to land a spot at the top of the list year-after-year comes through a structural dedication to promoting fitness. With over 230 miles of bikeways in the city, the Twin Cities is ranked as the number two cycling commuting city by the U.S. Census Bureau. Many of these folks bike their way after work to Lyndale Farmers’ Market, a year-round source of fresh, local produce supported by over 200 vendors. And if that wasn’t enough to convince you of how fit our friends in Minnesota are, the city has even installed a skywalk system that connects buildings for over 50 downtown blocks, making it easier to walk to work even in subzero temperatures.

Seattle, WA

The Pacific Northwest is a traditionally healthy area of the country, boasting legendary hiking trails, literally thousands of lakes and rivers fit for outdoor activities, and greenways in every major city. Seattle chooses to promote wellness in other ways by supporting its massive downtown Pike Place Market, a local source for fresh fish, fruits, and vegetables. On top of that, the city recently passed a Sugar Tax which they hope will help to reduce childhood obesity rates and improve the overall health of kids and adults.

Vancouver, B.C.

The largest city in Western Canada is also the country’s healthiest, stemming mostly from its citizens’ devotion to curating healthy habits. Vancouver is proud to report lowest smoking rates amongst large cities as well as the smallest overweight population in the country. Not only do the residents of Vancouver shun the bad, they also promote the good: the city is incredibly friendly to gluten-free, organic, and vegan diets, and make access to these sort of ingredients incredibly affordable.

Calgary, Alberta

Physically, the fit folks of Calgary are a bunch of studs and studettes. The population of the city is expanding rapidly, catering especially to young professionals seeking a high standard of living. While Alberta itself is the least healthy province in Canada, the young adults of Calgary are choosing to prioritize health, as shown by the exceptionally low rates of obesity and high blood pressure. This is likely due Calgary being one of the cleanest cities in the world, offering tons of outdoor parks and very strict anti-smoking laws.

Ottawa, Ontario

The next time you complain that you can’t work out because the weather is awful outside, look to the people of Ottawa. Canada’s capital might have awesome summers with tons of bike trails, outdoor recreational facilities, and a river perfect for kayaking, but the winters there are long and brutal. But it’s citizens find a way to stay healthy by consuming a diet rich with fruits and vegetables and staying active in the winter months. Keep it up!

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

In 2016, Saskatoon scored an “A” in overall health as part of a report evaluating health performance in major Canadian cities. This is no shock to anyone who’s been there and taken a walk or canoed down the South Saskatchewan River. Locals find awesome and creative ways to stay active during the winter months as well, including cross-country skiing, snowboarding, and hockey. All of this activity has contributed to reducing health risks like stroke and heart disease in the majority of the population.

Washington, D.C.

According to Forbes, Washington, D.C. is the second healthiest city in America because of its higher than average number of recreational facilities. Not to beat a dead horse, but it goes to show that routine exercise is one of the biggest factors in leading a healthy life. Atop that, D.C. residents eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day–thanks to the multitude of farmers markets in and around the city.

By Jayson Goetz

Jayson is a recent graduate from Arizona State University who lives in Phoenix.  Being a lover of nutrition and travel, he’s always ready to try new restaurants and visit new places.  He started writing in hope of sharing his experiences with fellow foodies and travel bugs.

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Workout Exercises at Home

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Let’s face it. We’ve all been there – those painful days when it’s difficult to go outside especially when it snows. So what would you do to exercise? For those who don’t have a gym membership to rely on, your best shot at staying healthy is to exercise at home on a budget.

In this article, we would be looking at some workout exercises that you can do indoors at home without spending too much.

1. Jump Rope

One of the problems you could face when you work out a lot is that your body might get sore after a workout which leaves your body needing a post-exercise recovery equipment which would provide you with a deep tissue massage which could speed up your recovery. Jump rope is great for a good cardio at home without burning out. It would make you run out of breath but it won’t make your calves feel sore. For a good cardio in a matter of minutes, jump ropes are quite good to get you there.

2. Stair Stepping

As simple as this sounds, it works well and is quite effective. This is a great exercise that you can try at home even if your home doesn’t have a set of stairs. You can get the biggest book you own and place it in front of a TV and step up and down while you watch the network news. You may not work out much sweat as you would with other equipment in your home, but it’s a great way to keep your body active and blood pumping. If you have the budget for it, you can also purchase a stair stepper to increase your workout from home.

3. The Plank

This home workout exercise is for those who don’t have a lot of time but still desire to build up their core muscles. The first thing you want to do is to get into a push-up mode with a little twist. Instead of bending your arms as you would, moving down to the floor, hold that position with your arms extended far. Hold this position for 10 seconds, then 20 seconds and 30 seconds. It looks easy at first but when you hold that position for 40 seconds to 2 minutes, you’ll realize how hard it is. The Plank is one of the most challenging exercises that you can ever engage in.

4. Lunges

Doing lunges at home is a bit different from what you’re used to in the gym. Rather than exercising with lunges and stepping back into place, step forward and continue to go forward till you make it to the farthest room from you. You can try this when you go down the hall or from one room to another. When this gets routine or too easy for you, you can add weights in your hands to make them more challenging. Another form of workout that you can do at home is to workout while cleaning. You can perform lunges while mopping the floor and vacuuming. This allows you to workout on your body during chores.

5. Weights

Lifting weights and cardio are the building blocks of an effective workout. If you have a goal to strengthen your arms and shoulder, you can water bottles in your home with other forms of containers as a makeshift weight. If the water bottles are not giving you the desired results, you can switch to milk jugs as well as to tailor your exercise to the exact weight level that you need. Another substitute for weights is a small bag of rice. These substitutes work well for endurance butt work like the glute presses for women. Set yourself down on all fours and squeeze one of the items below in the crease of your knee. Take a step and drop to your forearm to engage your butt as you flex your foot. Repeat this on the opposite side as well. You will feel the burn in the muscles of your upper arms. You can also go through high knees to get that heart pumping – but only if you do double time. March down to the hall and lift your knees as high as possible.

6. YouTube Workout

Planning for workout exercises at home? There is no better way to do it than with YouTube. A simple search for “workout” on YouTube will reveal a list of workouts that you can use for your home workout training. If you want to learn how to perfect traditional strength training workouts like push-ups and crunches, YouTube is a great resource for this as well.

By: Emmanuel Domingo

Few things are more important to Emmanuel than staying active and fit. In addition to regularly hiking and dancing, he also loves focusing on nutrition by cooking healthy, but flavourful and exciting meals for himself and his girlfriend.

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Massage Alternatives to Soothe Painful Muscles

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Muscle pain, also known as myalgia, is not new to fitness buffs. Spending long hours training at the gym can lead to microtrauma to the muscles as a result of overuse. Although the pain means that you have pumped your muscles hard enough, it can also render you incapable of doing daily tasks for a brief period of time.

Massaging your painful and sore muscles can help soothe the achiness. However, it’s encouraging to know that there are alternative remedies you can try as well if you suffer from painful muscles. These alternative remedies go beyond the usual administration of analgesics like paracetamol, mefenamic acid, naproxen, or ibuprofen to alleviate muscle pain. Some examples of these are:

Compression Machine

A compression machine is a handy tool to ease muscle soreness and fatigue after an intense physical activity. It comes in various lengths and cuff sizes. The machine generates an adjustable cuff pressure via a wearable cuff that inflates and deflates to provide muscle relaxation, improve blood circulation, and release lactic acid from the muscles.

Acupuncture

This treatment stems from the belief of 16th-century Chinese doctors that pain is caused by the imbalance of energy in a person’s body. Stainless steel needles are used to stimulate your body’s energy-carrying channels, all 14 of them, to correct imbalances. Aside from balancing energy flow throughout the body, it also increases blood flow and enhances the production of natural painkillers known as endorphins.

Yoga

Stress can make myalgia symptoms worse and yoga happens to be a great antidote to stress. It also involves a lot of stretching, which can improve circulation and decrease inflammation.

Alternative Treatments for Muscle Pain

Aside from the methods mentioned above, proper diet is likewise suggested if you want to manage muscle pain. At the same time, there are certain natural remedies you can try to soothe your aching muscles. These include:

Chamomile

Chamomile doesn’t only contain high quantities of zinc, selenium, and other minerals that work together to enhance the immune system. It also has soothing and calming properties that can greatly relieve muscle pain.

Cayenne pepper

Cayenne pepper contains capsaicin, a natural pain reliever, and is being used as an active ingredient in most ointments and lotions. A body chemical called substance P is present in capsaicin and when the amount of substance P decreases (provided cayenne pepper/capsaicin was applied to the affected area), the pain subsides together with it. The pain-reducing property of cayenne pepper makes it a very useful herb in treating myalgia.

Calendula

Calendula is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent with active compounds known to relieve inflammation and pain by bringing down the swelling of the nerves. That’s why calendula is recommended as an herbal remedy for myalgia. Take calendula tea two to three times a day to relieve the symptoms.

Ginger

Ginger is considered one of the top healing herbs produced by nature. Aside from serving its purpose as one of the spices in most Asian cuisines, ginger root is a great medicinal herb as well since it contains natural anti-inflammatory properties. Thus, it can naturally reduce and soothe muscle pain.

Relieve Symptoms of Muscle Pain at Home

They say prevention is better than cure. Hence, to prevent muscle pain from getting worse, do these tried and tested home treatments:

Soak up the sun

Vitamin D, known to everyone as the sunshine vitamin, actually has some effect on muscle and nerve functions. So make sure to soak up the sun if you want to relieve yourself of muscle pain.

Sweat it out

Experiencing muscle pains doesn’t mean that you have to lay off exercise completely. Instead of doing high-impact routines, opt for low-impact ones such as yoga, swimming, and tai chi.

Get better sleep

Muscle pain might disturb your sleep pattern. In order to achieve better sleep quality, you should adopt good sleeping habits. Avoid foods, beverages, and activities that can keep you up until late at night, and instead, try going to bed early and waking up at the same time every day. Make sure that your room is comfortable. Keep the room temperature moderated, dim the lights down, and reduce sources of noise.

Diet

If your muscle pain is caused by overuse, you need to do something to help your body heal the microtrauma in your soft tissues faster. It helps to incorporate protein-rich foods into your diet such as beans, seafood, lean meat, soy, and eggs as protein is known to aid tissue building and repair. Omega-3 fatty acids have an anti-inflammatory property that can help in relieving muscle inflammation so you might want to eat a healthy dose of salmon, sardines, and walnuts as well.

Hydrate

Your muscles are composed of 70% water. Keep them well hydrated by drinking an adequate amount of fluids during and after your workouts to enhance your recovery. Keep in mind that dehydrated muscles are more prone to injuries which can lead to muscle pain.

Massage isn’t the end-all and be-all of muscle pain relief. There are other ways to soothe painful muscles and none of which are too complicated to follow through. Keep these list of remedies in mind if you want an alternative way to manage painful muscles.

By: Joe Fleming

Joe Fleming is the President at ViveHealth.com. Interested in all things related to living a healthy lifestyle, he enjoys sharing and expressing his passion through writing. Working to motivate others and defeat aging stereotypes, Joe uses his writing to help all people overcome the obstacles of life. Covering topics that range from physical health, wellness, and aging all the way to social, news, and inspirational pieces…the goal is help others “rebel against age”.

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Forearm Exercises and Fitness Tips

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Many people go to the gym with the purpose of shaping their abs and glute muscles. Most often, forearm exercises are overlooked. Your forearm is an essential part of your body that also needs to be trained and strengthened since it serves several purposes such as:

• Powering your lifting and grip strength
• Aiding coordination of your hands, wrists, and fingers
• Helping you to move more weight

Performing forearm exercises also helps you reach your fitness goals. Even if the exercises are focused on training and developing your forearms, some of the forearm exercises involve your entire body. Don’t miss these forearm exercises that you can even do at home:

1. Push-ups

Push-ups are a common yet great forearm exercise that you can do with zero equipment. As long as you have enough space where you can perform it, you’re ready to go.

How to do push-ups:

Place your hands on the ground, raise your body with the support of your hands and your feet slightly apart. Make sure that your head is aligned with your back and hip. Start doing push-ups by lowering your body toward the ground, then push yourself up. Repeat this 10 times for three sets.

2. Chair-ups

In this forearm exercise, all you need is a chair which can be found in your home. Performing this exercise can help you develop thicker and stronger wrists which will lower your risk of sustaining wrist injuries.

How to do chair-ups:

Grab a chair and place it in front of you. Lie down on your stomach, face the chair in front and stretch your arms to grip the chair’s legs. Then try lifting the chair’s rear using your wrists. Repeat this 15 times for 3 sets.

3. Hand grip exercises

Hand grip exercises allow you to develop stronger forearms as well as improve your grip and dexterity, which diminish with aging. This exercise is easy enough to include in your daily exercise routine. You only need a hand gripper to perform this forearm exercise.

How to do hand grip exercises:

It’s quite simple. Just squeeze your hand gripper for as many sets as possible. You can even do this hand grip exercise while you are watching television, commuting, or even while you’re in the bathroom. Repeat this for as many times as you want.

4. Wrist circles

This is another type of forearm exercise that doesn’t require any equipment. All you need are your hands.

How to do wrist circles:

Stand with your feet apart. Extend your arms in front with your palms facing down. Then rotate your wrists in a circular motion. To increase intensity, you can hold small weights in your hands such as dumbbells or a bottled water.

5. Palms-up wrist curl

This forearm exercise makes the use of dumbbells. If you don’t have a pair of dumbbells, you can use a water bottle filled with sand.

How to do palms-up wrist curl:

While sitting on a chair, hold one dumbbell on each of your hand with your palms facing up. Raise the dumbbells and lower them slowly. Repeat this 10 times for 3 sets.

While you’re on the goal of having stronger forearms, you can maximize the results of exercises through the following fitness tips:

1. Eat whole grains before you do your workout. Doing forearm exercises are also tiring so you need to fuel your body. Whole grain foods such as oatmeal and fruits contain fewer carbohydrates but are enough to energize your day.
2. Portion your meals. Just because you want to attain a slimmer and stronger body, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t eat. Portion your meals and don’t eat too much before your workout since this can make your body feel sluggish.
3. Drink plenty of water. Doing forearm exercises that involve the movement of your entire body is likely to make you sweat a lot. Replace your body’s lost fluids by drinking water or beverages that will also help replace your body’s electrolytes.
4. Observe proper rest intervals. Have at least 10-15 minutes of rest for each set of exercise that you do. With proper rest, you’ll be able to rejuvenate your body and be energized to do the next set of exercise.
5. Be consistent. If you want to build and strengthen your forearm muscles, you should also observe consistency. There’s no point in exercising if you don’t perform your exercise regularly.
6. Gear up properly. When exercising, make sure that you are wearing the proper protective gear. For forearm exercises, wrist supports might be needed depending on the intensity.

If you want to perform a more intensive forearm exercise regimen, it is best to consult with a specialist, either your gym instructor, a doctor or a physiatrist, about what exercises and routines are appropriate for your body.

By: Joe Fleming

Joe Fleming is the President at ViveHealth.com. Interested in all things related to living a healthy lifestyle, he enjoys sharing and expressing his passion through writing. Working to motivate others and defeat aging stereotypes, Joe uses his writing to help all people overcome the obstacles of life. Covering topics that range from physical health, wellness, and aging all the way to social, news, and inspirational pieces…the goal is help others “rebel against age”.

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Getting Back on Your Feet: Training After an Injury or Illness

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Endurance training is effective if you are looking to run a marathon, climb a mountain or swim a long distance. It can also be incredibly useful as a tool to get back on your feet after an injury or illness and back into your normal exercise routine, especially if you have been out of the game for an extended period of time. There are significant benefits such as helping to speed up the healing process, continued improvements in range of motion, flexibility, functional strength and reduction of inflammation. It can also help with improvements in cardiovascular performance, as well as reduction of chronic disease risk factors. Below are some key factors in starting or resuming endurance training after an injury or illness.

Assessing the Dangers

Before you jump back into training regularly there are some definite dangers that you should be aware of ahead of time. Always speak to your physician to ensure that you are not putting yourself at risk for additional health problems.

If you have recently had surgery, you may want to speak with your doctor in order to assess whether you are at a stage of recovery where physical activity won’t have an adverse effect on damaged tissue or cause possible infection. Make sure to be specific. If your doctor says they want you to rest for a set period of time, then you should ask what type of physical activity is okay for the duration.

Most importantly, after asking the hard questions you must listen carefully to your physician.

Pace Yourself

You are coming back from an injury or illness. Whether you have been out of the game for a couple weeks or a couple months, you should make sure that you are training at a comfortable pace so that you don’t cause additional damage to your body. Pace is key since the point of endurance training is to build up muscle, tendon and ligament strength in order to sustain extended periods of activity.

Whether you are resuming or just starting endurance training for the first time then you are going to want to focus on taking your time building up to more strenuous levels through a combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercise. You may feel like you are not exhausting your full potential here at times, but that is okay.

The muscles, tendons and/or ligaments are going to need time to get back into the full swing of your regular exercise. Alternatively, if you are recovering from an illness, like a stroke, you might shift focus to improving cardiovascular function without the excess stress that may aggravate any existing physical weaknesses.

Listen to Your Body

Your body is going to communicate with you. Pain is a good indication that your body is telling you something is wrong. Avoiding painkillers pre-workout will allow your body to let you know what is going on without cutting off or dulling one of its lines of communication.

If you do experience pain while exercising you could try limiting your range of motion, reducing the weight that you are using, or switch activity altogether. If you cannot find a pain free exercise then it may be time to seek out a physical therapist with endurance training knowledge or personal trainer with post-injury experience.

Modifying Your Exercises

Depending on the type of injury or illness that you have experienced you are going to want to modify your exercise. It is vital to tailor your physical activity to assist with your recovery. Using different types of exercise is going to be the key, and if you are not familiar with exercise modification, seek out a professional with the appropriate experience.

Remember that during your modified exercise low-intensity resistance training can be some of the most beneficial activities to help restore balance, redevelop neuromuscular function and control, develop reflex control, and rebuild endurance and strength of damaged tissues. Examples of low resistance exercises could include walking, elliptical, cycling, rowing, kayaking, tai chi, swimming and/or water aerobics. As an example, If you were running previously, you might consider non-impact exercise such as a stationary bike so you can start working your quads and hamstrings again.

Orthotics are useful tools when it comes to adding support to the musculoskeletal system, especially after an injury or illness. They are designed to help control weakened and even deformed sections of the body for proper alignment, range of motion support, weight bearing and shock absorption. Depending on the injury or illness that you are recovering from there is a wide range of options including braces, insoles, or corrective shoes.

These options will help immobilize, limit and/or guide body segments in an effort to aid with rehabilitation while improving movement capabilities and possibly even reducing pain. For instance, an injury such as an ankle sprain could benefit greatly from a brace. The best ankle braces for running can stabilize and support the joint allowing for functional use of the limb while properly strengthening the ligaments until it has healed properly.

Final Thoughts

Endurance training has the ability to shorten recovery time post injury or illness compared to inactivity and help reduce chronic disease risk factors, improve cardiovascular performance, range of motion, flexibility, functional strength, and reduce inflammation. In order to reap the benefits of endurance training, you should consult with a physician for clear answers about the amount and type of physical activity that they are comfortable with during the recovery period.

You should also keep in mind that you should take it slow, listening to your body for signs that you should rest or completely stop in order to avoid aggravating a previous injury or illness. Most importantly you should be modifying your exercise to ensure that your body is getting the appropriate amount of physical activity without over-stressing the affected area.

By: Joe Fleming

Joe Fleming is the President at ViveHealth.com. Interested in all things related to living a healthy lifestyle, he enjoys sharing and expressing his passion through writing. Working to motivate others and defeat aging stereotypes, Joe uses his writing to help all people overcome the obstacles of life. Covering topics that range from physical health, wellness, and aging all the way to social, news, and inspirational pieces…the goal is help others “rebel against age”.

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Orgain

How to Achieve a Balanced Diet

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In the pursuit of lifelong health and happiness, balance will play a leading role. Balance is the portrayer of love, positivity, serenity, but balance in physical exercise and nutrition as well will be essential in ensuring general wellbeing, allowing you to enjoy life to the fullest.

Maintaining a balanced diet is the base of health and prosperity, as you truly are what you eat. No extreme can be good for you, and while certain individuals will have to skew the balance line a bit in order to reach their specific goals, for the majority of people looking to lead a healthy lifestyle, adhering to a balanced nutrition plan will be most beneficial.

Calorie in, calorie out

First and foremost, calorie intake should be your priority. While calorie source is of the utmost importance in ensuring a healthy macronutrient and micronutrient intake, calories play a pivotal role in balancing your body fat percentage and maintaining your lean muscle mass. You can easily get a rough estimate of your daily caloric needs via an online calorie calculator, after which you will increase or decrease your total calorie requirements according to your goals, habits and aspirations.

A healthy weight loss regime will entail decreasing your daily calorie intake by 200 calories, gradually losing weight (1kg per week at most), and then slowly increasing your calories by 100 as you reach your desired weight class. On the other hand, if you are struggling to put on weight, you will start by increasing daily calories by 200 and gradually decreasing them when the digits on the scale say you’ve reached your goal.

A gradual increase or decrease in your caloric intake will ensure you gain muscle and not fat, or lose fat without losing your much-needed muscle mass in the process. However, the story doesn’t end here.

The macronutrient balance

Contrary to popular belief, a calorie is not just a calorie regardless of its source. Calories from vegetables are vastly different from calories obtained from meat, dairy or eggs, and a balanced, healthy diet will contain all of these sources.

Moreover, a balanced diet has no room for unhealthy foods, such as processed meats, trans-fats, and excess sugar consumption. While you should indulge in your cravings every now and then, you should always remember one simple piece of wisdom: if you take enough rides with the devil, soon enough he is going to be driving.

This is to say that processed foods and sugar create a state of addiction over time, stifling your progress and ruining your health in the process.

Luckily, you won’t experience any unhealthy cravings if you substitute them with healthy solutions, sticking to whole grains and a moderate fruit intake along with plenty of nuts, seeds and natural sweeteners, such as honey or stevia.

Macronutrients are divided into proteins, fats, and carbohydrates – a balanced diet contains all. Contrary to popular belief, carbs are not bad for you, provided they were obtained from complex sources such as lentils and whole grains. Just as well, too much protein can cause a myriad of health problems, and if you do not control your fat intake, it could have long-term consequences.

Therefore, a good rule of thumb is to divide your macronutrient intake into diverse sources, entailing 35% vegetables, 25% whole grains, 20% dairy, 10%meats, and 5% supplements, which will help you attain a desired level of micronutrients.

The importance of micronutrients

Micronutrients are the vitamins and minerals you obtain through diet and supplementation. Unfortunately, tailoring your diet for optimal micronutrient intake is time-consuming and stressful, and it often does not deliver desired results. This is because every micronutrient has a different bioavailability percentage, meaning that magnesium is hard for the body to absorb through diet, while selenium is not, and so on.

Additionally, given the wide range of necessary micronutrients, it is best to complement your diet with vitamin and mineral supplements, ensuring you get the right amount that is imperative for your wellbeing. People who are physically active and partake in challenging training sessions are encouraged to supplement with minerals that will boost their joint, muscle tissue and nervous system health, such as glucosamine, in order to avoid injury and promote optimal recovery and strength gain.

Maintaining a balanced, healthy diet day in and day out is not hard, it simply requires some adjustments, mental fortitude and before you know it, it will become an inseparable part of your lifestyle!

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