mint | Shweta Taneja

February 3, 2017January 23, 2017

The 8 best translation apps for travellers

What are the best translation apps for travellers? When Douglas Adams invented the Babel Fish, “a small, yellow, leech-like odd thing” that would help you instantly understand anything said in any language in the whole wide universe, in The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, little did he know that 39 years after the radio comedy was first broadcast, such technology would actually exist. New devices and updated translator apps are making it easier to understand a foreign language and are much simpler than “plugging in a fish into your ear”. Though the technology of machine translation still needs the wrinkles ironed out, it’s fun to try out some of these apps and devices when you’re travelling. Here’s a list of some of them. However, do expect errors and misunderstandings—up to 40%, in fact.

WayGo

Heading to China, Korea or Japan and want an app to read the signboards and menus for you? WayGo fills this need by giving you the English translation for street signs, menus or anything that you point your smartphone camera at. All this without the use of the Internet.

Free for 10 translations per day and a one-time payment of Rs418 for the Pro version. Available in Google Play and App Store. Waygoapp.com.

iTranslate voice

iTranslate Voice 3 translates conversation between two people using smartphones. So if you’re speaking to someone in Spain, you hear English, and the other person hears you speak Spanish. The feature, called AirTranslate, needs two people talking on two iOS devices. Last updated in December, the app also offers text-to-speech, offline and text translation in 40 languages.

$6.99 (around Rs480) in Google Play and App store. Itranslatevoice.com.

SayHi

Talk into your iOS devices and hear what you’ve said in a different language. SayHi is designed for instant communication. You can have a conversation with anyone without switching languages, even type rather than speak. The app works for around 40 languages, including Arabic, French, Italian, English and Spanish.

Free in App Store. Sayhitranslate.com.

Read the complete article on livemint.com

January 6, 2017December 8, 2016

Make time travel with time-lapse video apps

A sunset crunched in 3 seconds. A party shortened to a few minutes. Time-lapse videos used to be a pain to shoot but now with smarter apps they’re as simple as, well, taking a selfie. Here are a few apps to turn you into a video pro.

Hyperlapse

If you’re an Instagram workhorse, Hyperlapse is the app for you to capture a speedball video. The app smoothens hand-held videos using a fantastic image-stabilization software that uses data from your phone’s gyroscope to measure and remove frames that are shaky. Run, walk, jump, fall, drive and take a video and get a cinematic feel without lugging around a selfie stick or a tripod. All you need to do is hold the phone camera up, shoot a video, choose how fast you want it to go (it can speed up your videos up to 12 times)and upload. The only downside of the app is that it is available only on iPhones.

Free on iPhone and iPad. Hyperlapse.instagram.com

Microsoft Hyperlapse

One of the few apps to create timelapse on Windows Phone, the Microsoft Hyperlapse Mobile comes with a simple, easy-to-use interface. It offers 32x speed, so you can crunch hours of videos into a few minutes. And you’re not limited to just the app. You can import any video, taken anywhere and speedball them up. What we also loved is that it can record 1080p videos. That’s pro- quality video for free and just right to be seen on the biggest screen in your home. This app can also stabilize videos, though that happens only if you choose 1x speed.

Free on Windows Phone and Android. Research.microsoft.com

Framelapse

Build by Noida-based computer engineer Nishant Singh as part of his project in the last year of his B.Tech course, the app comes loaded with features to take a hyper video. You can adjust the frame interval, speed, zoom, autofocus, adjust white balance, choose the front or back camera, set video resolution and take a video in landscape or portrait. You can also set up a video duration to stop recording automatically. So just place it in a corner of a party and let it do all the work while you mingle. The Pro version, which costs $2.99 (around Rs204), has added advance functions like sleep mode that reduces battery drain while recording and customization of the length of the video, exposure and frame interval.

Free on Android. Neximolabs.com

Read the complete article on Livemint.com

December 2, 2016October 27, 2016

Bad habits you need to avoid at work

Picture this: In your 20s, you skip breakfast to reach office early. Once the meeting is over, you have coffee and two-three biscuits. You work till late evening. A decade later, you struggle to work, for your shoulder and neck are stiff from slouching in front of the computer for too long; you are overweight, constantly tired, depressed and stressed.

Working in a closed office can damage your health in more ways than you can imagine. Here are some work habits you should get rid of at the earliest.

Walk, stand and stretch

On an average, most of us spend 8-10 hours a day in office. This adds up to 50-60 hours every week. And most of these hours are spent sitting. According to a study published last year in the International Journal Of Epidemiology, the lack of movement, whether sitting or standing, is cause for concern. According to a report, “Is Your Job Making You Fat?”, published in 2010 in the journal Preventive Medicine,office workers have become less active over the last three decades—this partly explains the rise in obesity levels.

Navneet Kaur, senior consultant, internal medicine, at the Apollo Spectra Hospitals in New Delhi, says, “Even simple steps like walking up to a colleague to discuss an issue instead of writing an email or calling on the phone can help.”

In fact, a study published in June in Preventing Chronic Disease, another journal, says that changing even one seated meeting per week at work into a walking meeting can increase the work-related physical activity levels of white-collar workers by 10 minutes. “Sitting increases the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease even if you exercise later in the day,” says S.K. Gupta, senior consultant cardiologist at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in the Capital. “Heart disease happens when the blood flow is blocked and cholesterol builds up in the arteries, and sitting does both effectively,” he says, adding that it’s essential to stand for 8 minutes and stretch for 2 minutes for every half-hour of sitting.

Remind yourself constantly to get up for a drink, stand in meetings, sit on something uncomfortable and wobbly like an exercise ball or backless stool and be constantly on the move, says Dr Gupta. And always take the stairs.

Continue reading “Bad habits you need to avoid at work”

November 24, 2016October 27, 2016

Apps for the last minute parties

New Year’s Eve brings with it stress. And last-minute parties to arrange. So we’ve put together a list of apps and sites you can use to get everything you need to prep for a party at the last minute, from venue to balloons. Sorry, last we checked, ordering an elephant and booze is still illegal in this country.

Invite the gang

What’s a party without an invitation? Forget the humdrum Google Hangouts, Facebook events or WhatsApp groups and create a proper invitation. Continue reading “Apps for the last minute parties”

November 18, 2016September 8, 2016

Go green to counter pollution

Eight plants that can help you counter pollution, improve the air quality in your home and office, and breathe better

Most of us try to block outdoor pollution by closing doors and windows and by using air conditioners and air purifiers. But a simpler solution would be to opt for a few plants, says Anand Sankar, co-founder of Springfinity, a start-up that sells garden kits for urban apartments.

“The quality of air is one of the biggest problems we face in our times, and the simplest solution is to invite nature back into our homes,” says Sankar, who is based in Gurgaon, near Delhi.

But that’s not the only reason you should grow plants around you, in offices and homes. A growing body of research points to mental, physical and even performance benefits from doing so. “Plants and flowers are programmed into our DNA,” says Sangram Jagtap, vice-president, Indian Nurserymen Association. “The sight of plants and flowers makes us feel calm and relaxed,” says Jagtap, who runs a nursery in Pune.

Improves work performance

A Stanford University, US, study published in the Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences journal in May found that mental illness in urban cities can be reduced by 90 minutes of exposure to nature every day. The brain scans of participants who walked for 90 minutes amid trees and shrubs showed reduced activity in an area associated with risk of mental illness.

A Harvard University study, published in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal in October, found that people who worked in well-ventilated offices, with below-average levels of indoor pollutants and carbon dioxide, have higher cognitive functioning scores—and, therefore, better reasoning power, attention span and memory. The study looked at the impact of ventilation, chemicals and carbon dioxide—that make indoor air quality poor—on cognitive function in employees.

“We spend 90% of our time indoors, yet indoor environmental quality and its impact on health and productivity are often an afterthought,” writes Joseph Allen, director, Healthy Buildings Programme, Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment, US, and lead author of the study, in a press release by Harvard. “These results suggest that even modest improvements to indoor environmental quality may have a profound impact on the performance of workers.”

Harmful volatile compounds released from furniture, painted surfaces and everyday cleaning products make the quality of indoor air pretty problematic. “Air-conditioned spaces can contribute to sick-building syndrome, leading to problems like headache, nausea, sore and itchy eyes, and even loss of concentration. All of this can be treated with just a few plants around the office,” says Seema Singh, chief clinical nutritionist at the Fortis Flt Lt Rajan Dhall Hospital in Vasant Kunj, Delhi. Once office spaces breathe free, employees can concentrate better. “You perform better and get better results if you have nature around,” says Anirudh Garg, chief executive officer at the Institute of Urban Farming and Sustainability in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, which encourages urban residents to grow their own food. “Your memory performance and attention span increase, and you tend to have better interpersonal skills and more compassion for fellow workers,” he adds.

Makes you fitter

Plants influence not just mental health but physical health too. “Indoor plants decrease the incidence of dry skin, colds, sore throat and dry cough,” says Suvarna Pathak, dietitian coordinator at the Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital in Mumbai. An avid gardener, she grows tulsi (holy basil), ajwain (carom seeds), coriander and wheatgrass in her kitchen garden and rose, jasmine and money plant in her balcony. “They maintain blood pressure, eliminate stress and skin irritation, flush out toxins from the air and improve your lung capacity with a personal oxygen supply,” she says.

Click here for enlarge

MONEY PLANT

A plant that can be grown in discarded bottles and looks pretty as a picture in hanging pots, on bathroom sills and kitchen windows, the money plant feeds voraciously on pollutants. “Money plant sucks up formaldehyde and other building pollutants and absorbs benzene, an air pollutant found in car exhausts that can cause dizziness, drowsiness and headaches,” says Seema Singh. The plant grows well in the shade.

SPIDER PLANT

One of the cheapest plants to grow at home, the spider plant has thin and narrow leaves that fall limp on all sides, making it look like an inverted spider. “It counters air pollutants like benzene, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and xylene,” says Sangram Jagtap. The plant is easy to grow in a pot, and can also be suspended from a window; it looks pretty and adds moisture to the atmosphere. “It does not require much sunlight, so it can be grown in your drawing room,” says Suvarna Pathak.

Read the complete article at livemint.com

November 11, 2016October 27, 2016

Seven quick and nutritious breakfast fixes

Looking for a recipe of a perfect breakfast? Most traditional Indian meals, like poha, upma and idli, are high in starch and calories, which is great if you need a shot of energy— but what you also need is a healthy dose of protein to keep you going for the day. Choose what Madhuri Ruia, founder of Integym, Mumbai, and a Mint columnist calls “first-class proteins”. “Egg white, paneer, chicken or fish ensures balance in blood sugar and insulin levels,” she says. And when it comes to carbohydrates, adds Ruia, “opt for grains like oats, muesli, nachni (finger millet), bajra rotior multigrain roti, which give you energy but keep you feeling full for longer”.

The body needs essential nutrients like calcium, iron and vitamin B, as well as protein and fibre in the morning, says Shikha Sharma, founder and managing director of Nutri-Health, a Delhi-based wellness clinic. She says an ideal breakfast should be split into three parts: “One-third should be carbohydrates, another third should be filled with proteins and the remaining portion should be fruits and vegetables.”

It is also good to add variety to your plate. “It’s like exercise. If you keep doing the same set of exercises again and again, your body stops responding,” says Mumbai-based sports nutritionist Deepshikha Agarwal. A variation will ensure you don’t get bored—and that you consume different types of vitamins and minerals.

Agarwal suggests choosing between idli-sambhar with fruit, milk with cornflakes, vegetable poha, pancake with a milkshake, or a vegetable omelette with a bran muffin and orange juice.

7 RECIPES THAT ARE EASY TO MAKE

Continue reading “Seven quick and nutritious breakfast fixes”

October 21, 2016July 25, 2016

Free ways to automate your posts

Tired of updating your social media accounts individually? These apps will do the work for you

You wake up in the morning with a tweet-worthy topic. But it’s still early and no one will be checking their Twitter accounts for a few hours. So your spectacular construction of 140 characters could get lost in inane tweets of sentiments equalling: “I’m up, world!” or “Off to the loo”. You worry about it, rushing to office, trying to hold on to your sentence construction for a few more hours. And after you post it on Twitter, you worry about reposting it on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media accounts. Before you know it, half the day has gone by.

Fret not. Here’s a collection of apps that can do the menial work for you. Just sit back, think up brilliantly constructed posts and schedule them at the right time to showcase to your audience.

IFTTT

Free on iOS, Android and Web

Ifttt.com/products

Short for IF This Then That, IFTTT offers a delightful range of possibilities for those who want to create connections between their social media accounts, connected devices, gadgets, smart-home devices, even cars. For example, if Curiosity Rover, US space agency Nasa’s Mars mission Twitter account (@MarsCuriosity), posts a photo, you can automate your app to send an email to your astronomy group. Or if you post a tweet about milk, you can set up an action-reaction trigger to send a notification to your spouse’s smartwatch and remind him/her to get milk.

The possibilities are endless, for IFTTT offers a whopping 306 types of online accounts to work with: Message your roommate when you reach a grocery store; save your favourite tweets on Evernote, or share Facebook status updates on Tumblr and LinkedIn. Even post videos you like on YouTube or your blog. These action-reaction relationships are called Recipes in the IFTTT world. You can create your own recipe of action-reaction or use what others have created.

Our favourite is the one IFTTT recently put up on its blog—it automatically updates your Twitter profile image whenever you post a new Facebook profile picture. In case a person wants different profile photos on Twitter and Facebook, s/he can simply choose to not use this Recipe.

HOOTSUITE

Free for up to three social media accounts; $8.99 (around Rs.600) a month for more accounts; available on Android, iOS and Web

www.hootsuite.com

Be it for an individual, a start-up or a company, Hootsuite automates social media, making it easy to share photographs or posts across multiple social media accounts. It shortens links and photos using the ow.ly service and gives you a preview of your post across all social media. You can schedule multiple posts, and set the time and day when you want a post to be released.

Hootsuite also allows you to see feeds of multiple accounts in the same window and reply to comments or tweets. You can also track a particular hashtag, and reply or comment on it, from within this app. No more toggling between Twitter and Facebook to see who’s saying what in response to your post. The Analytics tab shows which tweets are getting the maximum clicks.

Hootsuite has launched Hootlet (www.hootlet.com), a plug-in for the Chrome browser, to share links, photos and geo-location tags from your browser to your social media accounts seamlessly.

BUFFER

Free for up to 10 scheduled posts; plans of $10 a month for more posts; available on iOS, Android and Web

www.buffer.com

This is the app to use if you want to schedule posts tailored to a particular audience. You can select which social media account you want your post released on, be it an image, a video or an animated GIF. You can also schedule certain posts to repeat weekly or monthly.

Buffer allows you to choose from 50,000-plus royalty-free images to post on your social media, or create collages of exactly the right size for a Facebook profile or cover photo, add watermarks and post an image. In addition, Buffer has a Chrome browser extension that makes it easy to read and share links, funnelling them through your Buffer account so they can be posted online at the right time. Currently, Buffer works for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest.

TWEETDECK

Free on Web

Tweetdeck.twitter.com

For active Twitter users, TweetDeck might be an efficient way of going about things. A smart social automation app, which began as a start-up and was acquired by Twitter, TweetDeck lets you join and track multiple Twitter accounts from the same window. You can organize tweets according to topics, interests, conversations or real-time events or hashtags. You can track any account and actively see the tweets of that account. You can see your own notifications, the activities of other Twitter users, the messages you get in all the connected accounts, the retweets, what’s trending, collections (lists of Twitter accounts that you would like to follow), as well as mentions of your account. If it’s a start-up’s account, TweetDeck gives access to team members without forcing them to share passwords.

ZAPIER

Free for 100 tasks a month. Plans start at $20 a month

www.zapier.com

With Zapier, you can create a connection between two sites and ask it to act automatically, pushing your content from one place to another. The app automates tasks within a particular network (reposting the photograph you posted on your Facebook timeline on a Facebook Page) or between different ones.

Complete article at livemint.com

September 2, 2016July 25, 2016

Eating fat is good for you

Dietitians and nutritionists agree with your grandmother: ‘Ghee’ and oil are good for vitamin absorption as well as the muscular and skeletal systems

Think you’re living healthy by avoiding fats? Think again. The 2015 dietary guidelines issued by a panel of nutritionists in the US for the agriculture department earlier this year have recommended adding an egg or two in your everyday diet to keep type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease at bay. Fat, the recommendation proves, is suddenly fashionable.

“Our body needs a certain amount of fat to function since it can’t make triglycerides, cholesterol and other essential fatty acids on its own,” says Seema Singh, chief clinical nutritionist and head of department, Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. The breakdown of fats provides energy, helps in growth, immunity, reproduction, and protects organs. Fat also helps proteins do their job and stores certain fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K, explains Singh. The National Institute of Nutrition and the Indian Council of Medical Research recommend an equal ratio of saturated fatty acid (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acid (Mufa), and polyunsaturated fatty acid (Pufa) in oil. “Rotate vegetable oils, ghee (clarified butter) and butter in your daily diet and consume two teaspoons every day if you’re an adult with ideal body weight,” says Singh.

For those who like adding a dollop of ghee to their rotis, there’s more news. A paper published in 2014 in the journal Annals Of Internal Medicine, which analysed existing cohort studies and randomized trials on coronary risk and fatty acid intake, found no evidence of a direct relation between saturated fats and cardiovascular disease. Another study, published in the Open Heartjournal in February, found that diet guidelines which have been in force in the US and UK for over 20 years now, recommending people reduce dietary fat consumption to 30% and saturated fat content to 10% to cut the risk of heart disease and death, are not based on scientific evidence.

“I have never recommended fat-free diets for any patient,” says Suvarna Pathak, a dietitian and nutritionist coordinator at Mumbai’s Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital who has been providing diets to patients for 23 years. “Fat is important for smooth metabolism, vitamin absorption, lubrication of joints, the working of our muscular, skeletal and organic systems, absorption of vitamin D and strengthening of muscles and bones. Even the functioning of heart muscles needs fats,” she adds. In Pathak’s experience, even patients with cardiovascular or liver disorders shouldn’t be barred from fats, for these help essential body functions. She recommends 10-15% of the total calories consumed every day should come from fat sources like eggs, nuts, oil, fish and cheese.

Of course, there’s fat and there’s bad fat. Trans fat, made when natural-occurring fat sources are processed, give nutritionists the heebie-jeebies. “Trans fats and refined oils, and oils that are polyunsaturated like sunflower, are refined through chemical processes, which make them rancid and toxic if used at higher smoke points,” explains Madhuri Ruia, a Mint columnist and fitness and nutrition professional who heads Integym in Mumbai. Fat is good if had from natural sources, she says.

Avocado

This fruit is high in Mufa, a heart-healthy fatty acid, dietary fibre and phytochemicals, according to a study published in theNutrition journal in 2013. “This fruit has 75% fat, but it is Mufa,” says Mumbai-based dietitian and sports nutritionist Deepshikha Agarwal. She recommends having it once a week. “Add a slice to a sandwich, salad, or even desserts,” she says.

‘Ghee’

Ghee made from cow’s milk has been used in India as an essential Ayurvedic therapeutic agent and a cooking oil.

According to a paper by the National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal, published in the Indian Journal Of Medical Research in 2012, cow ghee decreases the activation of cancer-causing carcinogens in the liver. “Ghee decreased the activities of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, CYP1A1, CYP1A2, CYP1B1 and CYP2B1, responsible for activation of carcinogen in liver,” the study states.

“If used in moderation, it prevents cardiac disease and reduces bad cholesterol,” says Singh. Around 5-10g of ghee every day provides not only saturated fat but also vitamin A, boosts libido, and results in brighter skin and a healthy gut. “Have one teaspoon daily to keep up your energy and fat requirements,” says Divya Choudhary, chief dietitian, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, New Delhi.

Egg

“Eggs are high in Mufa and Pufa, which are cardio-protective fats,” says Agarwal.

August 26, 2016July 25, 2016

The zero-baggage webapps

Smartphone users are tired of downloading and updating apps. It’s time for businesses to think about Webapps

Gunjan Jain, a Delhi-based media professional, spends most of her time on her iPhone 5s, which has 16 GB space, with no memory card slot to add more. To save battery, she has switched off the auto update feature for the 20-25 apps she has on her phone. She manually updates apps on her phone every month. “Sometimes I have to delete old apps before I can try new ones as there’s no extra space for them on the phone,” she says, wishing there was a simpler solution.

It was storage space issues that made Bengaluru-based Kiran Jonnalagadda, a technologist and founder of HasGeek, a community of technologists, buy a OnePlus 2, with 64 GB extendable space, six months ago. “I’m a heavy app and data user and have over 100 apps on my phone,” he says.

What are Webapps?

Although mobile applications, as we know them, have proved to be quite useful, they’re also inconvenient. The ones you can download on your Android, iOS or Windows 10 smartphone are called native apps. If your phone doesn’t have enough storage space, these apps can become a massive headache. The solution lies in using apps on Web browsers, such as Google’s Chrome or Mozilla’s Firefox, on your phone. Continue reading “The zero-baggage webapps”

August 19, 2016July 25, 2016

7 health boosters from your gym

You may have been working out at a gym for years, but we’re willing to bet you haven’t heard about these little secrets

If you thought you’ve mastered all the techniques of using a dumb-bell, treadmill, exercise bike, stepper, upper body and kinesis stations, think again. New studies show that gym equipment might be able to offer you much more than the usual brawn-building exercises. In fact, hopping on to the treadmill more often can help your memory.

A study published in the Neurology journal in April 2014 found that cognitive skills improve with higher levels of cardiovascular fitness. The study, which tracked 2,747 participants in the age group of 18-30, concluded that those who had exercised at this age had better verbal memory when they were in the age group of 43-55. “Training four times a week has a very positive effect mentally and physically,” says Deepshikha Agarwal, a Mumbai-based sports nutritionist. “Exercise increases blood flow to the brain and triggers nerve cells which, in turn, signal the brain to release new neurons.” According to her, it’s so effective that it can even delay degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

We sifted through studies and asked experts to tell us how equipment in the gym can help elevate your daily workout.

Hop on the rower

“The indoor rower is an effective cardio machine which has gone out of fashion in recent years,” says Shraddha Sheth, vice-president, sales, operations and marketing, Gold’s Gym India. “The rowing workout is a challenging one that targets the entire body since you have to move both arms and legs simultaneously.” The workout improves cardiovascular and muscular endurance, burns calories like no one’s business and engages the core muscles. Wanitha Ashok, a Bengaluru-based fitness expert, agrees. “Rowing aims at major muscle groups like the legs, arms, chest, shoulders, upper back, abdominals and buttocks, taking them through a wide range of motion, and also helps tone the thighs and buttocks and firm up arms and back muscles,” she says. The rhythmic style helps the body switch to the fat-burning zone. “Within 10 minutes, the body is burning fat and calories, so your workout time is reduced,” she adds. Ashok suggests beginning by rowing for 10 minutes a day.

Click here for enlarge

Dumb-bells are more effective than push-ups

Want to pump up your shoulders? Dumb-bells might be more effective than push-ups, according to a study conducted by the American Council on Exercise, a non-profit fitness education and research organization. “For an optimal workout, you’re best served doing the dumb-bell shoulder press to target the front of the shoulders,” says Cedric Bryant, chief science officer, ACE Fitness, at Kirkland, Washington, DC, US, over email. He suggests combining that with a 45-degree incline row or the seated rear lateral raise for the rear part of the shoulders. Channa says body-weight exercises such as push-ups and pull-ups are harder to perform. “On the other hand, even with lighter weights, you can gain muscle and strength,” he says.

Click here for enlarge

Resistance bands add zing

Want to improve muscle strength? Agarwal suggests alternating weights with resistance-band exercises . “Ignored by most people going to the gym, the resistance band is durable, low maintenance and works all parts of the body,” she says. She suggests adding 15-18 sets with different resistance (strength from 1-3) before your cardio workout, or combining it with weight training.

Click here for enlarge

Boost the core with a Bosu ball

Mumbai-based Vinod Channa, a celebrity trainer and fitness expert, believes people often underestimate and ignore the smaller gadgets in a gym. “Wall slides, Swiss ball, medicine ball, ladder, Bosu ball, battle rope…all of these are very good for improving agility, balance and speed, as well as strength and flexibility.” His personal favourite, something he suggests regularly to his clients, is the Bosu ball. This half-sphere-shaped ball can increase the muscle involvement in squats, push-ups, upper- body movement, shoulder and side press. “When you do the strengthening regime on the floor, you work just one muscle, but add the Bosu ball to the same workout and you’ll also work your core and improve your balance,” he says. Since your core will become stronger, this will help you perform better in other sports and avoid muscle tear and injury. He suggests a mix and match with your current weight training. “Just add Bosu to your regular workout and weight training, for 10-20 seconds maximum in a set, to boost your core,” he says.

Full article over at Livemint.com

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7 RECIPES THAT ARE EASY TO MAKE

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Tired of updating your social media accounts individually? These apps will do the work for you

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