According to Workplace Insight, 80% of workers sit at their desks for between four to eight hours a day. This equates to an overwhelming 67 sedentary days per year for each person.  To make matters worse for office workers, office and technology manufacturer, Fellowes, released pictures of what the future holds of the average office worker in 2030. The experts at Fellowes believe office workers will suffer from varicose veins, have a hunched back due to the position they’re sat in daily, red eyes from looking at a computer screen and overweight due to the sedentary nature of an office job. If you’re one of many UK workers currently working from home due to coronavirus, these exercises can easily be carried out in your home office, too.  P.S. If you thought our blister prevention pads were only for your trainers - think again! You can position the PelliTec blister pad in your work shoe. Watch this video and learn how to position them in your shoe.    Chair dips/tricep dips This exercise is easy, and you don’t even have to leave your seat. Chair dip or tricep dip movements help you work out the muscles at the top of your arms. To perform this exercise, you need a chair that doesn’t have wheels, or has wheels you can lock - you don’t want to be rolling backwards! Shuffle forwards on your chair and hold the edge of your seat with your palms. Keeping your legs straight or bent, lower yourself with your arms toward the floor, and lift back up again. Repeat this motion 10-15 times. According to Healthline, this movement is one used every day when lifting shopping bags or reaching for items overhead, and the muscle also helps to stabilise the shoulder joint.  Take the stairs or go for a walk If your office block has a lift, take the stairs. This small swap in your daily routine can help you elevate your heart rate and get your moving more. If this isn’t an option, or you want to complete more physical exercise - take a walk.  Your lunch break is the optimum time to give your eyes a rest from your computer screen and to escape the stress of your working day. Most offices allow employees an hour or a 30-minute lunch break - this is plenty of time to get your daily exercise in. Go for a brisk walk around the block - you’ll feel more energised after the bout of fresh air. (Don’t forget to keep blisters at bay with PelliTec!) Read our next blog post if you’re wondering what you should eat before and after your workout. Swivel chair ab workout If you’ve got a swivel chair and the office flooring is carpet or non-slippery - then this workout is for you! This exercise targets your obliques - abdominal muscles. Not only does having toned oblique muscles look good - they’re also great in supporting your back and overall posture - perfect for office workers [...]

It’s been proven that exercise can reduce stress and depression, and it can lower your risk of early death by up to 30%! Aside from the eye-opening health benefits, exercise can also boost your mood, energy and sleep quality. But how does the food we fuel our bodies with affect how our bodies perform when exercising? We all know how important food is to sustain a healthy body, but do you know which foods you should be eating before and after a workout?  This blog post is to help you shed some light on the foods that best support your exercise regime. If you’ve noticed your feet are taking the brunt of your workout - our blister prevention pads help heel and prevention blisters from forming on your feet. Our blister pads stick to the inside of your shoe - not your foot! So say goodbye to one-time blister plasters. What should you eat before a workout? According to Heart.org, you should aim to fuel up two hours before working out. This should include adequately hydrating by drinking water, eating healthy carbohydrates (such as fruit and whole-grain pasta) and you should avoid saturated fats and over-loading on protein. Foods high in saturated fat and protein can take longer to digest in your stomach, making you feel sluggish. Water helps to regulate your body temperature, which is essential when you’re working out - so you don’t overheat and become dehydrated. Water also lubricates your joints and enables your body to perform at its highest level.  You should eat depending on the intensity of the workout you’re about to undertake. For example, when on a jogging session, your body will burn fat so carbohydrate loading is not necessary for this workout. But, if you’re running a race or a longer distance, then your body will require you to top your body up with foods high in carbohydrates.  What should you eat after a workout? Carbohydrates help you replenish the glycogen you lost in your muscles when working out, so that’s why you must eat foods that contain both carbohydrates and protein. Protein in your muscles can be broken down and damaged after a workout. Protein helps you build and repair muscle, so you must eat foods containing protein after your workout. Your body will be exhausted after running a race - whether it’s 5k, 10k or a marathon, you need to ensure you give your body what it needs. Foods you can eat after your workout include: Greek yoghurt or cottage cheese (protein)Chicken (protein)Pasta (carbs)Dark, leafy green vegetables (crabs)Rice cakes (carbs)Chocolate milk (carbs) Exercise is a cheap and easy way to keep your body, and your mind fit and healthy, but it’s important you understand which foods weigh you down and which help support and better your workout routine. We hope this blog post has given you some foodie fuel tips - got a spare £6.95? Read below! For the price of just two cups of coffee, why not invest in your [...]

We all have fitness goals at some point in our lives, whether it’s to get fit for your wedding day, your honeymoon, or the summer months - we’ve all probably tried a variety of diets and exercise regimes to help us reach our goals faster. But sometimes, if we don’t see results almost immediately, we either give up altogether or over-exercise - to a point where you could be doing more harm than good for your body.  This blog post is to help you understand just how much the average adult should be exercising and how long you need to stick it out until you’re getting the results you want! What is over-exercising?  Exercising has been proven to make you feel happier - helping to reduce stress, depression and anxiety, and can even improve cardiovascular health. Research conducted by Yale and Oxford recently found that exercise can also make you happier than money!  With that in mind, doing more exercise seems like it would be better for you, right? Wrong.  According to the NHS guidelines, adults should be active every day and aim to fit in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise a week. If you’re currently exercising drastically beyond 150 minutes, you could be in for a shock, according to a post published by Business Insider: “A study showed that women were less likely to have a heart attack or stroke if they were physically active at least once a week. But that risk of heart attacks and strokes shot up for women who exercised strenuously every day.” But how long do you need to exercise to see results? Keep reading below. When you exercise, do your feet take the brunt of the force? Is there friction between your skin and your shoe causing blisters? If you’re a typical sufferer from blisters, PelliTec’s blister prevention pad can help heal and prevent blisters from occurring. How long does it take to see results from exercise? If you’re wondering ‘how quickly will I see results from exercising?’ the simple answer is: it depends on what your fitness goals are. Maybe you want to lose weight, tone up your body, increase overall stamina or build muscle - or perhaps you want to do all four? If you’re starting on your fitness journey, you should focus on achieving one goal at a time - that goal might be to work up to completing a full workout or finishing the exercise a little quicker.  Starting slow and setting small goals can keep you feeling motivated as you witness your progress within a matter of weeks.  With exercise such as swimming, you can expect to notice weight loss results if you dedicate seven hours a month to swimming (roughly 2.5 hours a week) - this would help you hit the NHS activity guidelines of 150 minutes. If you’d prefer to keep dry on land, why not try out HIIT training? You can see physical changes to [...]

Sometimes it can be hard to muster up the will power and the motivation required to reach your fitness goals. When you’re dealt setbacks, including illness or injury, lifestyle changes or changes in your personal life, it can be challenging to get yourself back on the exercise horse. We hope this blog post will inspire you to keep trying to reach your fitness goals - whether it’s to improve technique, speed or even if it’s just to keep you on track and motivated to get your exercise gear on and go for that run, swim, cycle - whatever it is you want to do! We’re sharing a selection of our favourite inspirational quotes from equally inspirational sportswomen. If you start your run with negative thoughts including ‘I’m never going to achieve a personal best’ or ‘I’m going to injure myself’, then adopting a positive mindset could be the key to unlocking your success.  Experts suggest thinking positive thoughts can help you achieve more. Reported by Runner’s World, Dr Terry Orlick, author of In Pursuit of Excellence, says “when you focus on the negatives, you are giving yourself permission to perform poorly.” To increase your confidence, you need to believe in yourself. You need to visualise yourself finishing the race, or getting to the distance you want to accomplish - two silver medals later Jessica Ennis-Hill is living proof that her mindset works.  With 23 winning grand slams under her belt, Serena’s quote above could easily apply in both daily life and training. You can’t rewind time so there’s no point focusing on events you can’t change. If you’ve suffered injury setbacks in your exercise regime, it can be a hard barrier to conquer - it can prevent you from achieving your fitness goals. Although you can’t just get over it, it’s essential to focus on the positives, just like Jessica Ennis-Hill states above. Focusing on past events can change your mindset, but you should only let it influence your mindset positively.  Don’t cling on to the past - move your training forward by looking forward. Just as with any aspect of your life, you should never compare yourself to others in a competitive sense. Everyone is different, and that applies when exercising, too. If you notice someone else is lifting heavier weights than you at the gym or running faster than you in your park run, don’t take that to mean you’re not good at what you do. You need to focus on yourself and try your best - it’s all you can do. Don’t let the success of others get you down and knock your confidence or your fitness goal out of focus. As Michelle Wie states, there’s no point in viewing your chosen sport or exercise as a rivalry - everyone is playing their own game, so solely focus on your fitness goals. If you struggle with blisters on your feet when exercising, it could be stopping you from reaching your fitness goals. Our blister prevention pads stick [...]

If becoming a better runner is in your goal list for 2020, we’ve got some top tips and professional advice for you to sink your teeth into. Whether you’re a seasoned runner or you’re just starting, our tips cover running technique, your mindset and, of course, why it’s important to choose the correct running shoe. On your marks, get set, go! How to improve your running technique The best way to improve your running technique is by practising. Getting your running gear on and going for a run will help you get to grips with how your body reacts as you run. When you next go for a run, take a mental note of how your body feels - are your calves aching, or are your shins sore?  Shin splints are a common running injury - mainly for beginners, but they can affect runners returning to the exercise after a break. Healthline suggests the best way to ease the symptoms of shin splints is to practice RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. If you’re aiming to get faster or run further, fitness magazine, Shape, advises you should take an interval approach to your training. Splitting your workout up into run and walk segments can help you focus on pushing yourself faster or further while also allowing your body to rest in your walking breaks. Don’t push too hard too soon, know your limits and listen to your body. If getting blisters is preventing you from enjoying your run, check out our blister prevention pads. They stick to your shoe - not your foot! Find out how it all works here. How to get into the running mindset Sometimes, just mustering up the will power to take yourself out on a run can be difficult and to keep up momentum and energy when you’re running, can be a considerable barrier, too. To conquer mental blocks such as these, it can be helpful to break your run up into smaller, manageable segments.  Suddenly your run doesn’t seem as colossal as you first thought and getting from point A to point B becomes achievable and even enjoyable.  Other tips on overcoming the mental block: Accept that it isn’t going to be easy, prepare yourself for the tough daysGet yourself a mantra - keep saying to yourself when you feel like you want to give upWork towards measurable goals - whether it’s to complete your first 5k race or to feel and look fitter for a holiday - always keep focused on your fitness or physical goalsUsing running apps can help keep you motivated, too - check out these workout apps for women who hate the gym. The importance of a good running shoe Getting the wrong running shoe can make or break your run. Our PelliTec Podiatrist, Michael McColgan, explains why it’s so important you get the right fit: “It’s important to select sport-specific footwear, after all, you wouldn’t play cricket in swimming shorts! If your footwear choice is wrong, then you’re on [...]