The Evolution of the Fitness Industry

Sports

fitness industry

The health and fitness industry continues to evolve around the world, and in the US it surpassed $30 billion alone. It has been a similar process in the UK, as more and more of us become aware of the benefits of keeping both physically and mentally fit. The fitness industry has shown no sign of slowing down, so this is only set to continue to grow in the coming years. Whether this is sorting your health out or simply getting in shape for that Vegas summer holiday, in which you may want to use the Book of Ra bonus, ahead of the slots in the major casinos. Here we cover some of the key changes that have taken place in recent times.

  • Virtual training is now available

Fitness classes are still a growing fitness trend and a popular choice for many alongside personal training. However, this has now all become available from your own home through virtual training, which is a popular choice for those who dread training in a gym in front of others. There are a vast number of training options available both free and paid, so it does not have to cost for you to get training. You can also fit this in with your busy lifestyles and train at any time of the day.

fitness industry
Source: https://www.guysgab.com/top-5-fitness-video-games/

          

  • Fitness Apps

Similar to the previous points with the freely available access of Apps. A large amount of us now have smartphones, so many of these apps can be acquired easily, with many at zero cost. These include the likes of the popular Nike running app or Freeletics training. Zwift run and bike are also becoming a very popular choice for a man, as it brings a fun element for training within your home, which many do during the winter months.

  • Active wear

There are now a vast amount of options available when choosing your clothing whilst training. This is completely changed from the days of spandex and neon colors, which were rather embarrassing back in the 80s. You can now acquire high-quality products for very little cost, due to the competitive nature of the industry. With these high-level products, it means it has never been a better time to be getting involved in fitness training.

  • Wearable technology

Whether competitively training or not, many of us are looking to keep track of our training and progress. This can now be done through some top end smartphones but it is wearable technology that is the best for this. As with everything in the fitness industry, it is a competitive market, which means you can get a lot for your money. These watches can track virtually anything you need to know from max heart rate to overtraining. These products are a fantastic addition to get you improving yourself each time you train. Polar offers some of the best products on the market with their Vantage series proving popular.

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College Stress Management Tips You Want To Try Out

Education

Stress naturally appears when tension levels are higher than energy levels. As a result, you end up feeling overloaded. College students know the feeling more than most. Student life is always exciting but there are also so many things that have to be done that it is quite impossible to not be stressed out.

Fortunately, there are always ways in which you can deal with stress. Before you applied to college you read American Musical And Dramatic Academy Reviews or similar articles. During college, there are many things that can be done, like the following.

Make Sure You Get As Much Sleep As You Need

Student life is always so busy. There are many things that you can do so you may often find yourself awake at 4 AM in the morning, only to then have class at around 8 AM. When you first go through this schedule, it will not be a problem. However, as time passes, it gets more and more difficult to deal with all the stress you will feel.

You want to be sure that you get as much sleep as the body needs. A failure to do this will lead to numerous health problems, like obesity, depression and diabetes. Generally speaking, you do need at least 8 hours of sleep every single night. Follow this tip and your body will be much more equipped to deal with stress.

Make Sure You Eat Well

When you just eat fast food, you can be sure your health deteriorates and you end up stressed out of your mind. The body’s energy levels go down when your diet is not a good one. Be sure that your diet is rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables. At the same time, do all that you can that you get all the macronutrients the body needs.

Start Exercising

Stress management is not as easy as you might initially think. Whenever you are stressed, the best thing you can do is to work out, even if you really do not feel like it. The great news is that you just need around 20 minutes per day in order to drastically reduce your stress levels. According to specialists, all exercise types work, as long as you enjoy it and you get the body moving. Options like yoga and swimming are very popular among college students but you can also go full out on MMA training or power lifting. Just do what you enjoy.

Do Not Use Fake Energy Boosters

You surely heard about countless students that rely on artificial stimulants like prescription medication, caffeine pills or energy drinks in order to stay awake when study sessions are long. The problem is that when you put the body through a diet that includes these fake energy boosters, you end up depriving it of sleep. This brings us to the problem already mentioned above.

Emotional Support Helps

It is sometimes really tough to adapt and adjust to college life. A way to do this is to have friends so that you can vent all your frustrations. Choose family members or friends that will not judge you or try to give advice. You can so easily reduce stress when you just vent a little.

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Dementia Often Manifests in Bouts of Rage – A Look at Alternative Treatments

Health & Fitness

Sometimes it is quite difficult to detect the onset of Alzheimer’s or dementia of any cause because it starts slowly with little bits of such things as absentmindedness or distraction which can happen to anyone of any age. However, as the disease progresses, other behavioral changes begin to take place and this is where a loving family member or friend begins to understand that medical intervention must be sought. It can be a really hard road ahead and medical treatments are not always as effective or as safe as they might be so growing numbers of people are seeking alternative treatments. Here are a few of the most popular.

Acupuncture

For centuries acupuncture has been used in the Far East as a treatment for literally any disease imaginable from the common cold to rheumatoid arthritis. If you are unfamiliar with the practice, it has to do with tiny, tiny needles being inserted into the body at very specific locations where nerve centers reside. In the UK there have been some studies as to the efficacy of acupuncture as an alternative treatment for Alzheimer’s but what was concluded was that the reason why sufferers found some amount of relief was due to a relaxation in muscles controlled by the stimulation of nerves in those areas.

Bright Light Therapy

One of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s and dementia is the inability to sleep for long periods of time and to be a light sleeper who is roused easily. Studies show promise in which patients were seated in front of a light, a very bright light many times brighter than an office light, for a half hour a day. The results were amazing and many patients were then able to sleep a good part of the night.

CBD Oil

Another of the big symptoms in later stage Alzheimer’s is the manifestation of bouts of rage, extreme rage for seemingly no apparent reason. Regular consumption of CBD oil is found to lesson both the frequency and duration of those fits of rage. CBD, cannabidiol, is a substance found in marijuana and is found to be effective as a mild sedative or relaxant. There are also studies coming out of Australia from the Neuroscience Research team that suggests some of the cognitive disorders associated with Alzheimer’s may even be reduced with the regular consumption of CBDs and CBD oil, the non-psychoactive constituent of cannabis.

While other alternative therapies such as massage may also have a calming effect on those suffering from those bouts of rage, few alternative treatments (if any!) show such promise as CBD oil. While further studies have yet to be done, according to Ian Weisberg, Dr. Tim Karl and his colleagues have proven that mice who were bred with the same type disease as Alzheimer’s are getting positive results. Because of this, scientists around the globe are now looking at alternative therapies such as CBD oil as the hidden key they have long been looking for. There are a great number of other treatments which many claim to work but those do not have enough research to support their claims. To date, the above have shown proven signs of efficacy and are likely to be the treatments that further research will target.

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How Did Online Forex Trading Become So Popular?

Finance

Using different styles of financial trading has long been something that people have done as a way to invest or generate a secondary income. However, one of the most popular forms of online and mobile trading in the modern world was actually relatively unheard of until fairly recently. While almost anybody with an interest in financial markets, economics, or current affairs these days is familiar with forex, it wasn’t so long ago that currency trading simply wasn’t accessible to normal people. Rather, it was something only done by banks.

Today, advances in the internet have made forex a part of modern trading for everybody who wanted to try it.

Currency Trading Before Mainstream Internet

Louis Hernandez Jr highlights that there have been mechanisms in place to change money between currencies for about as long as organized currency has existed. However, up until the mainstream internet really took hold, it wasn’t possible for ordinary people to get prices on international currencies and make instant transactions in a way that could really leverage currency pair fluctuations. Banks were able to work with different currencies thanks to their infrastructures, but for the average person, the only time they were really concerned with changing money was to obtain currency when they traveled abroad, usually from a bureau de change or, later, by using cards at foreign ATMs and letting their bank handle the prices.

There was certainly no way to trade currency in any meaningful or profitable way.

The Biggest Advances to Help Forex Gain Traction

Forex trading online became possible because the internet made it possible for people to access trading platforms, hold online accounts, and make transactions. This was possible even in the late 1990s, however, it still wasn’t really something people found reliable. With slow dial-up internet speeds and problems with connectivity, it was hard to trust that your transactions would go through at the price you were seeing. Equally, there just wasn’t the knowledge and technology in terms of online security that there is now. Essentially, it wasn’t until broadband internet became widely accessible that forex trading online began to really ‘work’ as most people wanted – and to be trusted.

The Mobile Revolution

The second big change after broadband was the smartphone revolution. With apps that can connect people to trading platforms and forex resources, the 24-hour nature of forex became more accessible. Traders were no longer tied to their computers for a session and could be notified when conditions they have set up as triggers for them to act are met, allowing them to be available to trade and to avoid missing out on profitable transactions. Between mobile and fast internet speeds, people can now get the most out of forex trading and can also use a lot of analysis and news tools on their mobile devices to help them become more effective as traders.

As you can see, forex has come a very long way in just two decades and it will be interesting to see how its popularity continues to grow moving forward.

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Important Tips For The First-Time Manager

Business

There are numerous situations in which people just end up promoted to a management position because of the skills that they show at their job. Unfortunately, being good at a job does not mean you are going to be a really effective manager. This makes people have to learn so many new things that can easily become overwhelming. Because of this, German Trujillo Manrique highlights the following really important tips that first-time managers have to always think about.

Always Keep Learning

If you are promoted to the management position even if you have no management training, there is a pretty good possibility that upper management knows it. This means you are often given the benefit of a doubt and room to learn.

One thing that is not often highlighted about management is that you always need to keep learning. This is practically the only way to keep thriving. You have to be patient and build the skill level in practically all management areas. A great way to do this is to get help from mentors.

Start with learning all that you can about time management and how to deal with the stress associated with the new position. This can do wonders to help you to effectively manage whatever happens.

Work With Your Team

Because of the overwhelming nature of being a first-time manager, it is common to see beginner managers break contact with the team. This is one of the worst things that can be done. You cannot simply use a management strategy that you see somewhere and expect great results. This is because what works great for an organization or an individual does not necessarily work in other situations.

Remember that the manager is the liaison between employees and upper managers. This means that you have to take into account what both of these sides say, with the main purpose being adaptability. The way in which you communicate with the team and other important people in the company dictates results.

Some of the things you absolutely have to remember include:

  • Make sure services are properly budgeted and funded.

  • Never ignore problems and try to solve them as soon as possible.

  • Do create urgency when it is needed.

  • Analyze past practices. You want to question them and see how they can be improved.

  • Do research absolutely all things associated with the issues that appear.

  • Make decisions and stick to them.

  • Take initiative.

Offer Constructive Feedback

As a manager, you need to offer feedback. However, if something goes bad, so many first-time managers fail to talk as they are afraid critique will make them less popular. Management has nothing to do with popularity. It is vital that you offer both negative and positive feedback. Whenever a project is over, you need to discuss positives and negatives. A failure to do this can easily lead to two unwanted situations:

  • Staff members only receive negative feedback so they end up feeling like nothing they do is right.

  • Staff members only receive positive feedback so they gain false confidence.

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Healthcare IT Professional Mahesh Navani Discusses New Innovation in Medical Technology

Tech

According to one of eClinicalWorks leading forces, Mahesh Navani, the world of healthcare is changing as we know it. Technology has affected the daily lives of individuals around the world, but it has also revolutionized the world of healthcare.

Technological innovations have not just influenced how we communicate with one another or utilize social media. Major steps have been made to also improve technology in relation to medicine. Here’s what Digital Health Buzz has to say on the topic:

“Aside from improving how we communicate with others, technology has also paved the way for innovations which revolutionized the healthcare industry. There are health technology innovations which only seemed to appear in sci-fi movies, but now, we can use these to prolong or improve our health as well.”

Mahesh Navani completely agrees with this statement. According to Mahesh, these are the main ways that tech innovations in healthcare are changing the world as we know it.

Robotic nurse assistant

A robotic nurse assistant might not be able to accomplish the same bedside manner as a human nurse, but when it comes to medical practices and treatment a robotic nurse can pretty much do it all. Not only can it remind you about your daily medications, but a robotic nurse can perform more difficult tasks (such as carry you from your bed to your wheelchair).

3D printed prosthetic limbs

The idea of using a 3D printer to create prosthetic limbs has been in the works for a while now. Finally the time has come where it is actually possible. If a patient is in need of a new limb, like an arm or leg, there is still hope for functionality with the use of a 3D printer. This innovative technology can actually create a prosthetic limb with the proper dimensions to fit your body perfectly.

Augmented reality

Augmented and virtual reality has changed the concept of healthcare education entirely. Medical students and residents are now able to use a pair of virtual reality goggles that play footage in 3D in order to optimize the learning process. They can learn about specific surgical techniques and how the body works by sliding on a pair of these goggles and letting them work their magic.

Studies have shown that augmented reality provides the best learning experience since it simulates real-life scenarios. It is also an interactive method of learning which is the optimal way of learning for plenty of individuals.

Electronic Aspirin

If you are prone to frequent headaches or body aches, this next innovation could be for you. Electronic Aspirin involves implanting a tiny nerve stimulating device in the side of your head that can detect the early signs of a headache. It has the ability to block certain receptors and prevent a headache from ever surfacing.

No more will you need to pop Aspirin pills throughout the day to keep your headaches or migraines at bay. This method might seem extreme to you, but if you experience frequent headaches your overall well being will improve.

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Snifter. Tatiana Kukanova investigates a new app for finding drinking partners.

Entertainment

A new app.

There’s a mobile application for drinking partners now available on both Android and iPhone platforms called Snifter. It’s name refers to the glass commonly served with a brandy and is colloquially used as a way of inviting someone out for a drink. Anyone up for snifter?

It uses the same software technology as Tinder, Facebook and Travel Adviser, like an amalgamation of all three into a handy application. Relying on GPS functionality, profile management to match matching suitable partners along with a helpful local pub listing and review. The app simply finds like-minded members in local areas and links them up via a profile matching message. From that point on, it’s up to the new friends to enjoy their time as they see fit.

When would it be useful?

For those with different work patterns to that of other friends or parents with the odd hour to spare but would rather share it with another, it could actually be of benefit for people needing a bit more sociability in their lives.
I decided to put it to the test on a close friend, Tatiana Kukanova. Tatiana is a mother and part time researcher at University of Arts, London who despite having a busy schedule, finds those odd times of the day when her child is at day care, her work assignments are done and her partner is still at work. ¨I have always loved the pub but have found it hard to find anyone to match my schedule to join me for pint she has mentioned on occasion.

The experience.

Tatiana creates a profile by answering basic questions on politics, cultural pursuits, education and career. Very quickly it starts to feel like a social cleansing experiment and makes her feel uneasy. ¨ I wouldn’t ask these things straight off when I meet a new friend ¨ she admits.
After a few hours, she receives a notification along with a proceeding message from another member asking her out for a pint. Happy that she can make that time and assured by short duration (only 45 mins) she headed for ´The Nags Head´ to meet her drinking partner.

Whilst enjoying a lager top with a packet of crisps, she found her buddy ( writer and cartoonist Ian Weisburg) to make for interesting and pleasant company.
That being said, she didn’t foresee the added complication of meeting random men for drinks in the day with some sense of judgement from her partner. ¨He´s not the jealous type but he did find the whole thing slightly weird¨.

On reflection Tatiana concedes that meeting women for social drinks might actually be better, although disliked the sexism that it implied. She felt it would make the whole thing more comfortable for herself and her partner.

Could it last?

From the brief experience Tatiana had, it would be interesting to see from a range of people who might benefit from such an app. The gut feeling is that it might be a guy thing, where there’s a sense of security to the situation. Rather depressingly woman are having to be so guarded around strangers and drinking.

The phrase ´Tinder for Boozers´ was bandied about the office when I mentioned this app. One can foresee where there’s drink and the unknowing of strangers, could lead unpredictably towards difficult circumstances.
Ultimately, perhaps people should get off their phones and strike up conversation naturally? I’m sure pretty soon you will know if that person is a suitable drinking buddy or not.

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Reputation Management Consultants Reviews – How a Reputation Management Firm Can Immeasurably Help Your Business

Business

Do you know what your online reputation looks like for your business? If the answer is no then you aren’t alone and there are a worrying number of companies who have no idea what is being said or written about them online. There is hope however and it comes in the form of a reputation management company, dedicated companies who can greatly help you to clean up and increase the stature of your online reputation, in fact you only need to look at the online reputation consultant management reviews to see just how much they have helped a number of companies. If you aren’t sure whether or not this is a service which you need, here are just a few ways in which they can help you.

Measure

The first step is of course to understand what your online reputation is, before the team can set about maintaining it, improving it or fixing it. Within a day you will have a full idea of what your company’s reputation looks like online and this will set the ball rolling for improving the fortunes of your company.

Social Media

Does your social media reflect the values of the company? If not then the rep management team will first set about to fix this. The power of social media is absolutely incredible and on one hand you can go viral and bring in huge amounts of success to your company, unfortunately you can also bring disgrace to the company with an ill-timed Tweet or Facebook post which can cause irreparable damage. The rep management company will first clean up your social media and then they will help you with what to post and most importantly, when to post for maximum engagement.

Reviews

Word of mouth has long been a favorite marketing tool and in the modern era this type of conversation is had online, via online reviews. You may be blissfully unaware that your business is being slated on the online review sites and this could be preventing more customers from coming through your doors. The reputation management team cannot delete poor reviews but they can give you the chance to respond, which can often turn a bad situation into a good one. The reputation management guys will also set up alerts so that you know whenever someone is leaving a review, good or bad.

Relegation

When someone searches for your company’s name on Google what will they find? If the answer is some negative articles then the reputation management company will be able to help you. Using SEO tactics the reputation management company will be able to produce lots of positive content about your business and then this will ensure that those negative articles are then stuffed further down the search rankings so that nobody will see them.

If you are not managing your online reputation then you could be damaging your business.

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TitleCard Capital – Tips on Choosing the Right Private Equity Firm

Business

TitleCard Capital is a real estate private equity firm who work tirelessly for their investors to provide the very best returns that they can on their investment. I began working with TitleCard around 9 years ago and I have been incredibly happy with how it has all gone so far. Private equity firms are the same across the world, whether they invest in real estate, stock options or oil futures and if you want to invest your money into a diverse portfolio which will be managed by experts, this is a great way to do so. I spent a lot of time weighing up my options before investing with TitleCard and I wanted to offer you a couple of tips on what to look out for when you are searching for a private equity group to invest in.

Returns

The first and most important thing to look at is of course the returns which you should be looking to make from these investments. It is important that you do not focus on the returns which the investment group tell you that you can make, but rather the returns which have been paid out in recent years. Whichever firm you are looking to use, ask them to see some historical data of the last 5 years, marry that up with the returns that they are promising in order to make an informed decision.

Management

I have learned that they key to success for these companies is the right management team, with that they can deliver great results. To make sure that you have a high profile management team looking after your money you should simply look into each member of it, check out their history and make sure that they are the real deal. The team at TitleCard is filled with people with a track record of success and this was part of the reason for my choosing them. If you are looking at a firm who have high turnover and management who don’t have a proven history of success, they may not be the best option.

Investors

This vehicle of investment only works when there is lots of investment coming in and this is something else which you need to be sure of. You should have a basic understanding of how much money is in the pot because if there are limited funds then you won’t be able to enjoy all of the benefits which a firm like this should be able to offer you. Speak with the investment manager to gain an understanding of the financial power which they have.

Gut

It may not be very scientific but your gut will also tell you a lot about whether or not you should invest with a certain firm. If things don’t feel right or the management team just don’t give you the confidence that your money will be safe with them, don’t do it, it is better to wait than make a mistake.

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Jared Seyl – How to Map Out Your Career

Careers

Jared Seyl is a man who I have come to respect greatly and a man who has inspired me a great deal. I first met Jared when I was working as an intern for a Denver-based insurance company which was dedicated to farmers insurance, Jared was actually in his last couple of months with the company before he was heading off to pastures new to work in financial advising. Prior to meeting Jared I never really had a plan for my career and in truth the thought of one felt rather mundane. Jared used to speak to me about how he had achieved all that he wanted to in his career and this really resonated with me, so much so that I began to map out my own career, in order to achieve what I wanted to.

Specific Goals

When considering what it is that you wish to achieve from your career you must be specific, it isn’t enough to simply say ‘I want wealth’ or ‘I want power’ or even ‘ I want happiness’. If you set vague and broad stroke goals for yourself in this way then it will become difficult for you to focus on what it is that you are actually looking to achieve. Drill down into your desires, if you want power then think about what kind of power, what position do you want and with what kind of company? If it is happiness then what does that look like? Kids? Partner? Living conditions? The specifics are the most important part of mapping out your career.

Obstacles

We cannot plan for every obstacle that is in our way but we can certainly spend some time thinking about them and how we may find our way over the obvious obstacles which exist. Let’s say for instance that you want to become a CEO of your firm, you need to think about who is in that position now and why, then start thinking about what you need to change about yourself and your performance in order to put yourself in contention for that position. These are the obstacles to overcome and once you are aware of them, and you highlight how to get past them, that is when you can put yourself on the right track.

Plausibility

Don’t think about the probabilities of you being able to achieve your dreams because if you start thinking that they are improbable then you will be defeated before you start. Whether or not you achieve your dreams in the end is completely irrelevant, this stage of the process is about understanding what those dreams are, and working out what the path looks like to go and get them. If you fail then so be it but don’t fail before you even start, that goes against everything that you are trying to do.

Map those dreams out, work hard and stay focused, you will get there in the end.

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