
EMOM is short for "every minute on the minute." This form of exercise is quick and efficient; it will get your heart rate elevated fast while simultaneously building muscle strength and endurance. To start an EMOM, you select an exercise and choose the allotted number of reps you'd like to perform within the minute. The goal is to finish as quickly as possible, with the correct form, so you can get a longer break between sets.
In the 5-minute EMOM below, you'll complete the designated number of reps for each exercise listed without a break in between, and once you're finished, you'll rest until the next minute begins. At the top of the next minute, you'll repeat all the exercises again and rest until the following minute beings. Your goal is to complete this cycle for a total of 5 times.
A friendly tip before you begin is to make sure you have at least 20 seconds of rest between each set. Also, note if you're finishing with more than 30 seconds on your time. If so, add two additional reps to each exercise. (i.e., 4-inchworms would become 6-inchworms, etc.)
The goal of an EMOM is to challenge yourself and work towards simultaneously developing cardiovascular endurance, as well as muscle strength and endurance.
Exercise 1: Inchworms
Final Notes:
Try to have at least 20 seconds of rest between sets and if you're getting more than 30 seconds of rest add more reps equally by twos to each exercise.
Repeat this EMOM 5 times for a focused warm-up, workout finisher, or when you're low on time and simply need to get your body moving.
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I'm sure by now you've seen a crazy number of people pop up across your "For You" page or in a random YouTube ad doing ice baths, also known as cold plunges. You may be wondering why these people are intentionally sitting in a tub of water between 39 to 50 degrees. I know that's what you're thinking because for the past few years, every time I post about doing an ice bath, my comments and DMs get filled with questions.
Since April 12, 2023, I've been doing daily cold therapy at home in my plunge tub, and I want to share the personal benefits I've seen it have on my life as well as the science behind the process. If doing cold therapy is a goal of yours, keep reading for tips and resources for you to start your cold therapy journey.
Courtesy of Christa Janine
The Physical Benefits of Ice Baths
I originally started doing ice baths in 2018 to reduce muscle soreness after an intense workout, but now I use them as a method to reduce inflammation in my knees and perform at a higher level during workouts. I recently had a double meniscus repair on my right knee, and daily ice baths have helped with my recovery process as well.
Since beginning cold therapy daily, I've seen an increase in my energy levels and improvement in my sleep patterns. Even though my workload has remained the same or slightly increased at times, I've been able to maintain my level of energy throughout the day without feeling completely depleted by the end of the night. Likewise, I used to have intense insomnia, but now I'm averaging 7-8 hours of sleep each night.
In addition to the direct benefits I've experienced in my physical health, science has shown that cold therapy can also boost your immune system, increase blood flow, reduce chronic pain, and boost your metabolism.
The Mental Benefits of Ice Baths
Since incorporating daily ice baths into my daily routine, I've noticed that when I get overwhelmed and feel stressed, I'm able to better manage my anxiety and control my nervous system. One method that is taught to novice ice bathers is utilizing your breath as you enter the cold water. This teaches you how to calm down your fight, flight or freeze response.
By understanding how to use my breath in stressful situations and practicing this usage daily, I'm able to implement this same practice when I feel anxiety or panic attacks coming on in my everyday life. Let's be clear: I still have anxiety, but I’m able to breathe through those moments and quickly move past them.
Courtesy of Christa Janine
In addition, another benefit I've found is mental clarity and awareness. This is one of the top benefits I receive from ice baths. Learning how to direct my thoughts and focus with my breath, I find clarity even in stressful moments. Though I’ve been bombarded with a variety of tasks and obstacles daily, I’ve been able to navigate through with a clear mind. This also allows me to articulate my thoughts and emotions more clearly because I’m more aware of what I’m experiencing in real time.
Lastly, daily cold therapy teaches you discipline and commitment to yourself and your goals. It allows you to focus on one thing at a time and teaches you how to be present in the moment. It's also a daily reminder that you can do hard and uncomfortable things even when they seem impossible.
Resources
If you're interested in learning more about starting your own ice bath practice I'd suggest looking into these resources and following these experienced cold therapists.
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5 Postpartum Yoga Poses To Reengage Your Pelvic Floor That Are Better Than Kegels
As many women know but rarely discuss, there is a huge shift in our bodies after carrying a child for nine months and going through labor. One common occurrence is urinary and fecal incontinence toward the end of pregnancy and into postpartum. This is caused by the weakening of our pelvic floor due to a variety of factors, such as the pressure of the baby pushing down on your pelvic floor, the strain of childbirth, and tears or an episiotomy during the process of pushing.
Though this may sound discouraging, there is hope, and it comes via more than just kegels. Establishing a consistent yoga practice postpartum is a great way to reengage your pelvic floor strength and reconnect with your body. In addition to the five poses below that will help you focus on regaining your pelvic floor strength, yoga can also increase calmness, decrease anxiety and depression, reduce irritability, increase energy, lower blood pressure, and reduce muscle tension for new mothers.
We all know getting back into a routine after childbirth is difficult, but always remember that in order for you to care for your child, you must first care for yourself.
Grab a yoga mat, blanket, or towel to dive into the following postures. Aim to hold or flow through each for 30-60 seconds.
Postpartum Yoga Poses: Chair Pose
Begin in a standing forward fold with your feet together. Reach your fingertips to the outside of your feet, bend your knees, and extend your hands over your head. Lift your chest up, bring your triceps by your ears, and place more weight into your heels.
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Postpartum Yoga Poses: Upward Facing Dog
Start in a high plank position, and untuck your toes so the tops of your feet are pressing into the mat. Press your hips down towards the mat, press your chest forward, and roll your shoulders back and down. Ensure that your thighs, knees, and shins are lifted off of the floor.
Christa Janine/xoNecole
Postpartum Yoga Poses: Bridge Pose
Begin lying on your back, place your feet on your mat, and walk your heels into your butt. Bring your hands by your hips, and press into your heels and shoulders to lift your hips up to the ceiling. Attempt to extend your fingers closer to your heels as you reach your hips higher.
Christa Janine/xoNecole
Postpartum Yoga Poses: Bird/Dog Flow
Begin in an all-fours position with your hands stacked over your wrists and elbows and your knees directly under your hips. Extend your right leg forward and your left leg back. Ensure that your wrist and shoulder are in one line as well as your ankle and hip. Once you find balance, pull your elbow and knee into the midline of your body. Then return your limbs to their extended position. Repeat this movement for 60 seconds on each side of the body.
Christa Janine/xoNecole
Postpartum Yoga Poses: Warrior 2
Begin with your feet hips width apart, and pivot your right foot towards the front of your mat. Ensure that your right heel and left arch are in a straight line. Bend your right knee to a 90-degree angle, and reach your arms out to a T. Press into both pinky toes and squeeze your inner thighs into the mid-line of your body.
Christa Janine/xoNecole
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Before we dive into the benefits of meditation and how it can help take your career to the next level, let's take a step back and speak about what meditation is. In the technical sense, meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique such as mindfulness to focus on a particular object, thought, or activity to train attention and awareness and achieve a mentally clear, emotionally calm, and stable state.
On a spiritual level, I like to think of meditation as the openness to receive a metaphysical download from your higher power or higher self. Meditation opens the mind to receive information that is most important and relevant to the person receiving it.
There are many forms of meditation, but the two main categories are guided meditation and unguided meditation. In guided meditation, a teacher guides you through the basic steps of the practice. In unguided meditation — also called silent meditation — you meditate alone, without someone else explaining the process. When you first begin a meditation practice, it is encouraged that you find a guide to help you navigate meditation.
Always remember meditation was not created to silence the mind completely but instead was formulated to focus your thoughts. Our minds will never completely be silenced, but we can train our minds to focus on the thoughts that are most beneficial to use in each passing moment.
Now that you have a firm understanding of what meditation is, here's how a daily practice can benefit your career.
First, it increases your focus and concentration.
If you find yourself constantly getting distracted at work or missing important deadlines because you're not focused on the task at hand, meditation can help you improve this immensely.
Second, it improves self-esteem and self-awareness.
By having an increased sense of self, you'll thoroughly understand where your strengths and weaknesses lie and can leverage that to your advantage in your career.
Third, meditation reduces stress and allows you to use your breath to regulate your nervous system.
If you have a high-stress job and often find yourself spiraling mentally at work, this will give you the tools to remain calm regardless of what's happening around you.
Fourth, it helps manage anxiety.
If you're someone with high anxiety, meditation will help you regulate your thoughts to reduce the impact anxiety has on your life, and specifically your career.
Lastly, meditation helps exercise your intuition which can give you the upper hand at work during projects or special presentations.
Increased awareness of your intuition allows you to tap into your higher self and enter into a space that athletes call "the zone." When you're in full alignment with yourself, you perform at the top of your game, so think MJ Game 1 NBA finals 1992.
You, too, can create historical moments in your career by simply implementing a daily meditation practice.
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These past few years have completely flipped many of our worlds upside down. As a result of the pandemic and new work expectations from employees, several of us are now working from home. Though many of us are excited by this new reality others of us are finding it has greatly impacted our activity level throughout the day. This has left many of us living a rather sedentary lifestyle, but don’t worry.
I have five tips you can use to stay active throughout your day if you work from home, and the best part is you can start today.
Exercise Before Work:
Getting in a workout before you begin work will boost your energy for the day and help you stay motivated and focused throughout your day.
Schedule Breaks:
At the beginning of your day look at your meetings and workload. Then schedule your own 5-10 minute breaks throughout your day ideally at the top of every hour or every other hour. During this time stand up, stretch, and walk around for a bit. If you have easy access to the outdoors, and weather permits, walk around outside during this time period.
Keep Workout Equipment Close:
During your second or third scheduled break, grab a small set of weights, a yoga mat, booty bands, or whatever you have on hand. Then go to YouTube and search for a 5 to ten-minute workout. Even if you don’t have equipment, there are plenty of bodyweight short workouts on the platform as well. (Example: 10-Minute Core-Focused Yoga Workout With Christa Janine)
Stand More:
In between your scheduled breaks and meetings try to work standing up as frequently as possible. There are many options to support your efforts to stand more. You can stack books to sit your computer on, get a desk extension that lifts and lowers, or a standing desk.
Do Challenges:
Gather a group of friends or colleagues and invite them to do a fitness challenge with you. It can be something as simple as who can do the most pushups, sit-ups, seconds in a plank hold, etc. each day. These challenges can be incentivized by offering gift cards or cash prizes for the winner.
These five tips can be implemented in your daily routine right now. As you add them to your schedule, give yourself grace in the process and know that if you don’t get to them all that’s okay. Also, focus on starting small and then adding on once you master the small editions.
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Valentine’s Day is near and great sex is always a trending topic. As many of you know yoga is great for a variety of reasons, improving flexibility, decreasing stress, and increasing muscle strength. However, did you know that yoga can also improve your sex life? By stimulating your second chakra, the sacral chakra, you increase the blood flow in your genital region which can significantly enhance sexual encounters. This chakra also enables you to open yourself up to true pleasure and liberates you to explore your creativity and desire to experience new adventures.
Additionally, studies have shown when individuals have higher levels of stress their sexual desire tends to decrease. Therefore by establishing a consistent yoga practice and decreasing your cortisol levels you will in turn increase your libido. A regular yoga practice can also improve your body control and awareness which will allow you better to explore aspects of yourself and your partner during sex.
In understanding all these aspects of the physical and metaphysical components of yoga, these five postures will increase your hip flexibility, decrease stress, and lead to an all-around better sex life.
Feel free to grab a yoga mat, blanket, or towel to dive into the following postures.
Note: Hold each for 30-60 seconds.
Cat/Cow Pose
Cat pose
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For our first stretch, cat pose and cow pose will be performed together. Start with cat pose by getting into a tabletop position, pressing into your mat, drawing your chin to your chest, and rounding your shoulders.
Cow pose
Christa Janine/xoNecole
Then move into cow pose by continuing to press your hands down, look up to the ceiling, press your collarbone forward, and pull your shoulders back.
Continue to flow between cat and cow pose for 30-60 seconds.
Camel Pose
Camel pose
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For camel pose, stand on your knees, bring them to hip distance, place your palms on the small of your back, and look up to the ceiling. Begin to take your gaze back, press your chest up to the ceiling, and your hips forward to the front of your mat.
You can also bring your hands to your heels as long as your hips remain stacked over your knees.
Butterfly Pose
Butterfly pose
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Butterfly pose is a classic hip-opening stretch. In order to do it, come to a seat on your mat, bring the soles of your feet together, press your knees towards the mat, and fold forward.
Seated Straddle Pose
Seated straddle pose
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For the seated straddle pose, come to a seat, and spread your legs the width of your mat (or as far as you can without bending your knees). Then, fold forward and extend your hands away from the mat.
Happy Baby Pose
Happy baby pose
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Happy baby pose is great for relaxation in addition to being a variation for the missionary sex position. To do it, lie on your back, bring your knees to your chest, grab for the outside of your feet, bring your knees to the outside of your ribs, and press your feet up to the ceiling. Once settled, press your heels up and flex your toes down.
Use your hands to pull down and ensure your entire spine, including your lower back is on the ground. If your lower back is off the ground, grab for behind your knees instead of the soles of your feet. You also have the option to straighten your legs.
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