April 22, 2019 at 12:45PM by CWC In the world of fitness, HIIT (high-intensity interval training) is a precious DIY gem. By adjusting the time and content of your intervals, you can spice up your workouts and design them to target every muscle from your nose to your toes. For the noble cause of burning out your muscle groups, no breed of HIIT is better than Tabata workouts. “Tabata workouts are high intensity interval workouts that take as little as four minutes to complete,” says Mauro S. Maietta, trainer and district fitness manager for Crunch Fitness. “They can be done in a gym, outside a gym, and with or without equipment. They are broken up in to 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest for eight rounds.” You can then stack round after round of the 4-minute workout together to make your gym routine as long as you so desire. Don’t let their relatively short duration fool you. Tabata is i-n-t-e-n-s-e. And if you follow your increments to the letter—super effective. Phil Timmons, a trainer at Blink Fitness, tells me that doing these types of workouts two to three times a week can improve your endurance and boost your metabolism for the 24 to 36 hours following the HIIT session. Before you try Tabata on for size, Timmons has a few words to the wise. (Sorry, unintentional rhyme!) “The 20 seconds of high intensity effort needs to be at perceived max effort for the individual,” says Timmons. “Due
Category: Fashion
We’ve ironed out the confusion with 53 cryptic laundry symbols
April 22, 2019 at 10:50AM by CWC Let’s be honest: The symbols on the tags of T-shirts, skirts, dresses, and leggings might as well be ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Please @ me if you’ve uncovered a cypher that unlocks the secrets of the rinse and repeat cycle. Until that day, I’ve consulted experts (and Google) to break down 53 of the most confusing squiggles you’ll find on care tags—from cryptic triangles to opaque ironing icons. “The symbols on care tags are designed to be a universally handy shortcut, but we find that many people gloss them over and look for the text instructions on the care label instead,” says Hannah Yokoji, brand manager at The Laundress. “The instructions found on care tags are not necessarily the best way to clean and care for an item, but are instead a way for manufacturers to avoid getting blamed for irreparable damage when instructions aren’t followed.” It can’t hurt to know what kind of cleaning your most-treasured garment requires. That way, you’ll be aware of the risks involved when you (dare to) throw your silk pillow case in with the hot water load. “Understanding the laundry language is helpful for properly washing and caring for your items, otherwise you may find yourself irreparably damaging your clothing,” Yokoji explains. Ready to own laundry day? Here’s the secret meaning behind 53 garment tag symbols. All Graphics: Well+Good Creative Washing As we dive into the the basics of washing, I would like to congratulate you on simply
This 7-minute, core-strengthening workout tops boring old crunches any day
April 22, 2019 at 07:16AM by CWC Ab exercises are like friendships: Quality is a whole lot more important than quantity. Which means that even if you only have seven minutes to spare in the midst of a jam-packed day, you can get an effective workout. That is, as long as you’re doing the right moves. Thankfully for us and our core muscles, Charlee Atkins has us covered. All month long, she’s been sharing a series of core-quaking, at-home ab workouts in honor of our inaugural month of Trainer of the Month Club. Even though the moves this week require nothing more than your own bodyweight and a towel—which doubles as a piece of equipment and something you can use to help mop your sweat—the final installment might just be the most challenging one yet. Read on for Atkins’ fourth and final core series, and check back in May for the start of a new regimen with a totally new trainer. View this post on Instagram TRAINER OF THE MONTH CLUB Week 4 is here! 💥👏⠀ ⠀ For the final week of our April workout challenge, @charleeatkins is introducing us to more bodyweight ab exercises. Complete each move for 30 seconds, 2x through. Want more explanation on the moves? Head to the link in our bio for a full breakdown on each exercise. ⠀ ⠀ MOVE 1: Reverse Curl⠀ MOVE 2: Penguin Crunch⠀ MOVE 3: Corkscrew Crunch⠀ MOVE 4: Side Plank Hip Dips⠀ MOVE 5: 1/2 Kneeling Tower Chop (Right
How to find the perfect pair of leggings? Borrow the blue jeans trick
April 22, 2019 at 07:06AM by CWC I’m crap at trivia. Seriously, never ask me to join your team. Most of the stats and random facts I know come from banter-packed opening segments of Live! with Regis and Kelly from the summers of 2006 to 2010. In one such episode, Kelly dropped a bit of knowledge about denim. Aside from little black dresses and strappy footwear, the most coveted item is a pair of really, really good-fitting jeans. Fast forward a decade or so, and my guess is that nowadays the perfect leggings would give denim a run for its money in a similar survey. No, really. Data from the United States Census Bureau from 2017 indicated that imports of leggings outpaced imports of jeans. As it happens, the trick to finding a very good pair of spandex isn’t all that different from finding a pair of raw-edge denim (which in case you haven’t heard, you shouldn’t be tossing into the wash). According to Girlfriend Collective co-founder Quang Dinh, whose background is in the denim industry, you want your leggings to initially be a bit snug, so that you can live in them and they can adjust to your body. “Our compressive leggings have the highest compression possible, so they’re designed to fit like a great pair of jeans that feel tight at first, then mold to your body as you wear them,” he says. “We recommend choosing a size that feels a little extra snug so your leggings will
6 things your spin instructor wants you to know before you clip into the bike for the first time
April 21, 2019 at 10:02AM by CWC Of all the workout classes out there, spinning tends to be the one that brings on the most intense “gymtimdation” for beginners. With the strobe lights, loud music, and rapid-fire choreography, walking in for the first time can be nothing short of overwhelming. In fact, if I had a dollar for every time someone had told me that they’d never tried spinning because they were too scared, I’d practically be able to afford a year’s worth of SoulCycle classes. And unless you have the luxury of doing a digital class in the privacy of your home where you won’t be surrounded by professional-level cyclists who look like they could do tap-back crunch push-ups in their sleep (which in most tiny NYC apartments, is nothing short of a pipe dream), finding a beginner spin class workout can admittedly be challenging. But even so, that shouldn’t deter you from at least trying it out for yourself. To help, I asked spin instructors to share the advice that everyone should have before their first spin class. Read on for what they had to say, then get ready to clip in and tap it back like it ain’t no thang. 1. Listen to your body: Spinning can be unexpectedly intense, which may come as a surprise during your first time at the rodeo. “Cycling is an epic cardio event that can catch you off guard—don’t push at the level your body pushed at five years ago, or
How EMDR can help people process traumatic events
April 19, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC Do you remember the scene in Netflix’s Russian Doll where Nadia’s adopted aunt and psychologist, Ruth, coaches a client through a traumatic past experience while offering advice on how to improve his marriage? The bleary-eyed client recalls a troubling incident while his eyes follow green dots traveling back and forth across a light bar. No? I don’t blame you—at first glance, the scene didn’t seem related to the plot. However, it depicts one of the multiple tools used in Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (or EMDR), a form of psychotherapy that, according to some Reddit theorists, plays a significant role throughout Russian Doll and might have influenced the name of the show. However, it’s not just a TV thing—EMDR is a real (albeit somewhat controversial) mental health treatment. Kerry Mack, a filmmaker living in New York, has been using EMDR to cope with her traumas over the last eight years. “When I was 12, my older brother passed away very unexpectedly at the age of 17, and I have used EMDR to process memories inside the hospital when he passed, during his funeral, and a lot of the associated aftermath,” she says. But what exactly is this, and how could something seemingly as simple as looking at blinking lights be so helpful? What is EMDR? The short version: EMDR is a type of psychotherapy that helps people desensitize and reprocess triggering or traumatic memories so they’re no longer emotionally charged. “When a person is upset,
The common pitfall of conflating self-worth with career success: fulfillment failure
April 19, 2019 at 05:46AM by CWC As I write this, I’m staring at a pair of shoes that I’d been meaning to return to Nordstrom since March…of 2018. A few months ago, I thought I made progress when I printed the return label. But it’s just sitting in one of my many tote bags, along with other paperwork I need to deal with, like an RSVP card to a friend’s wedding in May. I’ve delayed mailing that because I’m grappling with what accepting the invite would mean for the big side-hustle deadline I have the following weekend. This kind of failed adulting is what BuzzFeed writer Anne Helen Petersen dubbed “errand paralysis” in her widely-shared piece about millennial burnout. A lot of people have argued that if burnout is an epidemic, it’s likely more societal than generational. And I have to agree that our cultural, not generational willingness to put work ahead of everything in life else can leave us feeling so spent that the simplest tasks (hi, UPS!) require more mental energy than many of us can muster. That is, it’s hardly just millennials putting work ahead of everything else in life. Because so many of us put all our personal-fulfillment stock in our jobs, thus deemphasizing other aspects of life, we’re very much subscribing to the dangerous notion of “you are what you do.” “All of the must-dos of life are being shoved aside because work feels urgent, and sometimes feels like it’s the only place that’s
These graphic T-shirts subvert gender roles in the best way
April 18, 2019 at 11:22AM by CWC Wearing a graphic T-shirt is one way to make your outfit scream your personality. Sport a shirt featuring, say, an avocado practicing yoga, and I immediately know we’re going be best friends. Cheeky illustrations aside, though, how we choose to clothe ourselves can also make a statement. Twitter account @manwhohasitall believes reversed gender roles are a message worth stamping on your chest—and frankly, I’ve never had such a strong urge to add a shirt to my collection. The series of garments twists classic gender roles into pithy text that’s at once clever and thought-provoking. There’s oh-so-many T-shirts to choose from, but notable standouts include ones that read: “Crazy Cat Gentleman” or “Boys Will Be Boys: Kind Caring Thoughtful,” and (my personal favorite) “No.” Many of them also take phrases you might normally roll your eyes at, like, “Female Engineer,” and subvert it by making the women’s shirt read, “Author,” and the men’s read, “Man Author.” The editorial choices behind these phrases are a matter of a few letters, but wow, do they make a difference. The male engineer T-shirt is actually selling fast! Who knew there were so many men engineers? You go boys! https://t.co/XVZH8qVnGq pic.twitter.com/Pxv43rRB6w — manwhohasitall (@manwhohasitall) April 15, 2019 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Taken at face value, the manwhohasitall’s project might be interpreted as a simple play on words. To that, I say, “No!” Each shirt is a reminder that the words we use (and don’t use) when we talk about people’s hobbies,
This 10-in-1 kitchen gadget is all you need to cut and peel every fruit under the sun
April 18, 2019 at 07:36AM by CWC A unique kitchen gadget is my weakness. It doesn’t take much to convince myself that I need yet another newfangled tool. Clip-on strainers, lemon zesters, veggie keepers—you name it, it’s in my cart. Admittedly, some of these gadgets do little more than collect dust after purchase, since old-fashioned way of doing something is sometimes the best way. But there’s one impulse buy that I’ve actually been putting to good use every day. At a glance, my new Fruit Slicer Set ($15) looks like a puzzle. With all the different parts and bold colors, there’s a lot going on. But it solves more problems than it creates—promise! Once you actually break it down, it becomes clear that the 10-in-1 gadget is just as utilitarian as it is pretty. Each tool is designed specifically to helps you cut, peel, and slice any type of fruit like a professional chef. Photo: Amazon Here’s what you get with our new favorite kitchen gadget, the Fruit Slicer Set: avocado scoop fruit masher apple cutter citrus cutter fruit mesh cuter lemon squeezer a fruit bowl fruit grater orange squeezer little fruit forks Phew! My favorite is the mesh cutter for soft fruits like kiwi, which are notoriously annoying to peel! Sure, it might seem a little excessive, but considering this kitchen gadget keeps everything neatly stacked, it might just be the best purchase you’ll ever make. If you’re also a fan of gadgets of all kinds, check out these
Everlane is finally (finally!) getting into the sneaker game
April 18, 2019 at 04:10AM by CWC To know me is to know that I have strong opinions about footwear. (I do not care if you live by the beach, flip flops are still terrible and I stand by my thoughts.) But in a show of my ability to be flexible and open to new ideas, I have done a 180 on my feelings about sneakers. I am a recent inductee into the sneakers club. A few years ago, I was convinced that sneakers only belonged in the gym. Now I am obsessed and will attempt to make sneakers work for pretty much any occasion. However, and it pains me to say this, sneakers are not the most sustainable fashion items, often using lots of virgin plastic and generating something like 30 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. (Insert John Oliver’s sarcastic “cool”.) We really (really, really!) don’t need to be putting that into the environment. But thankfully, we’re moving into an era where brands are increasingly conscious about their environmental impact. One such brand is Everlane, which is launching the sustainable sneaker line Tread by Everlane on April 25. Everlane was founded in 2011, but it took the brand eight years to launch a sneaker because they wanted to do it sans the negative environmental impact. The line will launch with the Trainer, which retails for $98. This unisex trainer that has—drumroll please—zero carbon impact. Snaps for Everlane. “In a world where we are becoming more conscious of our plastic