Category: You and your body

September 20, 2019 at 02:16PM by CWC Raise your hand if you’ve always been under the impression that your “core” and your “abs” are basically the same thing. After all, you know that a plank works your core, and a plank also works your abs, so if A equals B, then B must equal A…right? Not quite. Your core is actually just a nickname for the group of muscles that runs through the center of your body, and your abs are just one small piece of them. The actual number of muscles that comprise your core varies a bit depending on what you include (and who you ask), but according to Lee Wratislaw, manager of digital programming at Gold’s Gym, it’s at least fourteen (you’ll find ’em below). “The core is the system of muscles that stabilize, align, and move the trunk of the body,” says Wratislaw. This, he explains, is what allows for proper posture and movement patterns throughout your body. “A well-developed set of core muscles will prevent injury, improve posture, and deliver better balance and coordination. Strengthening the core will also prevent lower back pain and other hip and knee complications.” Think of your core as your center of gravity: Every movement in your body starts with this group of muscles, and making them stronger can help with most everything you do. There are three different “systems” throughout your core—the global stabilization system, the local stabilization system, and the movement system—which are each made up of different

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September 20, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC Though it’s not an everyday occurrence, I wont lie to you: I’ve done my fair share of crying at work. I’m human being who sometimes finds work to be emotionally exhausting, and sometimes tears are my reaction to that. That said, I’ve always strived to avoid these cry sessions. But I’m done—crying is a biological trait that I should be allowed to express so long as it doesn’t compromise my work or distract others. I’m a working woman who has bigger fish to fry—like the gender pay gap, imposter syndrome, and unequal division of labor—than defending my right tear up at my desk. So I hereby call for the normalizing of crying at work without worrying about how I am perceived or whether letting the tears flow will kneecap my career trajectory as a result. After all, it’s natural to cry every now and then. So, why is it that I’m so keen to button up my emotions for fear of making my manager and co-workers wonder if I’m solid, strong, and capable? In large part, the reason is thanks to an old guard standard of work. (Hint: It’s the same reason office temperatures are always so freaking cold.) That’s right—since office situations have historically been male-dominated, they cater to the male experience with and reaction to crying. For her book It’s Always Personal: Navigating Emotion in the New Workplace, Anne Kreamer surveyed 700 people and found 41 of women have cried at

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September 20, 2019 at 04:30AM by CWC No matter how personally accomplished you feel after completing all the steps of your skin-care routine, you might want to hold on your mental high five until you’ve added one last step. According to John P. Salerno, MD the medical director at Salerno Center NYC, if your serums and moisturizers aren’t lined up next to ingestible supplements in your medicine cabinet, you could be missing out. Translation: Your topical efforts might not be as effective as they could be if you aren’t supporting them at the source of your skin’s woes, says Dr. Salerno—AKA, in your cells. “Ingestible beauty can help increase collagen protection as well as help limit free radicals, supporting our skin at the cellular level, from the inside out,” Dr. Salerno explains. “Thus, it has the potential to be more powerful than a topical option.” “[Ingestible beauty] has the potential to be more powerful than a topical option.” The ingredient he cites for cellular support is CoQ10, an antioxidant found in supplements like MitoQ that helps your body create cellular energy and neutralize free radicals, according to Dr. Salerno. And since free radicals are basically the arch nemesis of skin-care lovers everywhere, CoQ10 could help you work toward a generally glowier complexion. “Internally, free radicals caused by environmental factors [such as UV radiation and pollution] can cause damage to the skin if not managed by the body’s own supply of antioxidants, including CoQ10,” Dr. Salerno says. “This can lead to

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September 20, 2019 at 12:01AM by CWC Some people swear they can drink coffee all day—even after dinner—and still drift off to sleep minutes after their head hits the pillow. Others won’t touch caffeine at all after early afternoon, saying if they did, they’d be “up all night.” My colleague’s doctor advised her to should stop drinking coffee by 10 a.m. in order to avoid disrupting her sleep cycle. But is there a specific time of day when we should cut ourselves off from caffeine? To find out when exactly when to put down the mug, I turned CEO and co-founder of FitnessGenes Dan Reardon, MD, who has studied how coffee affects different people. “The speed at which you metabolize caffeine creates a natural cut off point through the day,” he says. “Whereas a fast metabolizer might clear 100-200 milligrams—what’s in a typical cup of coffee—in just a few hours, it might take a slow metabolizer 12-hours plus, which could impact sleep.” If you’re a fast coffee metabolizer, Dr. Reardon recommends having your last cup by 5 p.m. (Sorry, coffee isn’t recommended for anyone much later.) “Let’s not forget that even for a fast metabolizer of caffeine, there could still be a cumulative effect of drinking lots of coffee early in the day, which could slow down the rate at which they break down their caffeine later,” he says. If you are a fast metabolizer who enjoys multiple cups a day, he says, cut yourself off by lunchtime so your

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