Tag Archives: Holiday

Fitness away from home – The elastic band

Ok, I am going to dive straight into this but first, I would like to apologise for the slight “neglect” of the fitness section. Here’s hoping you going to see my fitness side a bit more regularly.

It is the holiday season and some of you may have already booked holidays overseas or somewhere far away from homes. Or should I say far away from your beloved gyms. Anyway it’s a fact that our visit to the gym increases a lot just before we head off to a holiday (especially a beach holiday) to make sure we look our best.

Whiles some ladies may opt for that special diet that will work wonders in no time, the guys cannot stay away from the gym, in our quest to convert a one pack into six packs. Guys you know exactly what I am talking about. You have been sitting on that couch 360 days in a year eating crisps, whiles knocking back the six packs from the corner shop. All of a sudden, you have an epiphany to swap the six packs from the store for the one on your abs. It’s a lot to ask from your body don’t you think? Anyway this is not a post on how to work out a miracle abs before holiday. This is about maintaining the fitness levels you already have with the use of “The Elastic band”.

The elastic band is very useful fitness tool/equipment that is massively underrated by many. If used well, it could be your best workout partner. It is one of the best toning and strength building equipment out there. It also helps with increasing muscle mass, endurance and reduces body fat. The elastic band provides training by increasing the resistance as the band is stretched.

Its portable and versatile nature means you can fit it anywhere including your hand luggage, bags or even pocket if you so desire (but please don’t put it in your pocket). Basically you can take it on holiday using next to no space at all. I can carry on about the huge benefits of the elastic band but I’d rather keep this post relatively short. So now that you have no excuse to work out on holiday using the elastic band, AugustChild and I have put together a few routines to show you some of the things you can use it for.

Bicep Curl

With one foot forward and the other slightly apart and behind, pass the elastic underneath your front foot making sure the elastic is properly balanced. Firmly step on the elastic to prevent it coming undone. With a nice grip in both hands, pull the elastic towards your chest as you would when using dumbbells. Do as many reps as possible

2. Tricep

Find a strong and firmly fitted bar or surface that is at least the same height as you and wrap the elastic around it so you are facing it. With slightly bended knees and a straight back, pull firmly but gently downwards as you would with a cable extension at the gym.

3. Lunges – with elastic in front

Do lunges as you normally would but with the elastic stretched in front of your chest. With stretched back leg, go down with your front let whiles pulling the elastic across your chest as shown in the picture. Make sure to keep the movement as one motion.

4. Lunges – with elastic at the back

Perform the same action as in number 3 above but only this time the elastic should be on your upper back. So you would pull across your back with arms stretched wide

5. Overhead Tricep extensions

Wrap the elastic around an object above you making sure it is behind you. Gently pull over your head in a forward motion. Go back to the start and repeat several times.

6. Side pull-downs

Again with the elastic tied to a strong object overhead, pull the elastic firmly but cautiously down towards one side and then back to the start. Repeat this several times before swapping to the other side.

7. Push ups

Push ups are just amazing. By themselves they work out several muscle groups including chest, arms, shoulders, back and neck simultaneously. They are part of an exercise regimen that helps strength the upper body and shoulder with stability to the torso. Push ups are self-sufficient and do not require any equipment or elastic.

In normal push ups, you lower your body towards the ground with arms apart and then push back to the start. Repeat several times and rest.

Yoga push ups on the other hand words slightly differently. There are three stages in one a push up. The start where you create an arch with your body with your bum sticking upwards, the middle where your body is in a parallel position with the ground, and end where your torso is higher from the ground compared to the rest of your body. You connect all three in one go.

Phew! Typing this makes me feel like I have been working out some muscles. Sideye. Please pack one of these bad boys into your travel luggage as you head off somewhere exotic. I hope you continue using it at your local park when you get back from your holiday.

Anyway I hope the above helped and gave your insight into using elastics but please speak to your gym instructor for a detailed explanation especially if you have not done this before. The above steps works for me, hopefully they will for you too.

Travel

Prague: The style capital for architecture in Europe – 2

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As promised in a previous post about Prague, I have put together another set of photos of this wonderful city. This city does not need introduction when it comes to architecture. If you are into architecture then you would definitely appreciate the architectural diversity Prague has to offer. Lonely planet wrote “Prague is a living laboratory of 1000 years of European architecture. Fans of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, neoclassical and art nouveau will all find plenty to gawk at. Gothic marvels such as the Charles Bridge and St Vitus Cathedral rival the best in Europe. More eclectic 20th-century styles like cubism, functionalism and even ‘communism’ are represented as well, creating an entrancing labyrinth of contrasting styles that complete a remarkably cohesive whole”.

I would even challenge anyone who isn’t bothered about architecture to visit Prague and not be intrigued and stimulated by this. If and when you visit Prague, here are a few places, buildings and points of interest I would encourage visitors to see: Charles bridge, Old town square, St. Vitus Cathedral, Astronomical clock, Prague castle, Petrin Lookout tower, Dancing house, Prague national theatre, Kampa Island, Church of our lady before Tyn, National Museum, St Nicholas Church, and Powder gate.

I am sure there are many other places to see but these are just the ones from the top of my head.

Before you browse through the pictures, here are a few facts about Prague you might find interesting:

– Prague Castle is the biggest ancient castle in the world.

– Prague’s nick name is the city of a hundred spires.

– The population of Prague is over 1.2 million

– The Vltava River which is Czech republic’s longest river flows through Prague.

– Prague was the seat of two Holy Roman Emperors

Enjoy the photos and please leave a comment or share your experiences from Prague (if you have any) for other readers. Prague by River

Art and culture, Travel

Prague: the style capital for architecture

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Ok, first of all, why haven’t I been to Prague before? And how come no one ever mentioned to me how beautiful this European city was? As someone who loves travelling, why do I know so little about Prague? In fact the only thing I have heard about Prague is that it is a hotspot for stag dos and cheap beer. Cheap beer of course naturally attracts young British tourists. As someone who is not a huge beer fan, this was hardly a selling point and would rather sit in front of the lake in Geneva watching people go about their business. But here I was in the middle of the old town in Prague on a Friday evening with a look of bewilderment and surprise. Surprised at what my eyes were seeing. Just in case I haven’t already said it, Prague is incredibly beautiful.

The fact that I was blown away by its beauty is probably down to me having little expectations. If anything, I had this notion that the city is overrun by old Gothic looking buildings and architecture with beer houses dotted all over the place.

In fact I know so little about Prague or the Czech Republic in general that I only found out their currency is Koruna when I was on my way to Heathrow airport to catch my flight. I mean seriously what on earth was I thinking? All along I assumed it was the euro.

Waiting for my flight at the airport with little to look forward to, I began to plan how I could explore the fashion scene in Prague, which based on a link a friend sent me, hardly exist. Knowing at least that Prague is not a city associated with fashion and trends; I was determined to discover up and coming Czech brands that I could blog about. I mean there has to be more to Prague than stag dos and cheap beer and if I should spend my time exploring anything, then it has to be fashion. Well that was the plan at least.

The reality of what I ended up exploring couldn’t have been any more different to what I had in mind. The architecture! All of it and I mean Romanesque, renaissance, gothic, functionalist, cubist, classicism, historicism, post 1989 and by far my two favourites, Baroque and Rococo. The architectural styles span several centuries and makes the city looks like it wears it history on it sleeve.

If architectural diversity and taste were fashion, Prague would have been the capital of Europe ahead of London, Milan and Paris.

Anyway, enough typing for now as I would rather the photos speak for themselves. I hope they do justice to this wonderful city. I will do another blog post about Prague in the near future to share more photos.

Enjoy!

The view of the city from Vyšehrad castle