FIVE FITNESS FINDS

Need more energy? Ten minutes of exercise is more invigorating than caffeine

Next time 2pm hits and your energy levels start nosediving, don’t reach for coffee or a soft drink. Swap caffeine for a short burst of exercise. A new study from the University of Georgia suggests walking up and down stairs for 10 minutes is as energising as 50ml of caffeine — about the amount as you get in a can of soft drink, or a weak cup of coffee.

Are you a fan of the Smug Selfie? The Fitness App that helps make exercise contagious

Filling your social media posts with smug Strava proof of your 6 am run, 60-mile bike ride or sweaty selfie may irritate your non-BMF buddies, but if new research is anything to go by, you may actually be doing them a favour. Research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, published in the journal Nature Communications, analysed the social media and activity tracker data of more than a million runners and calculated that:

1. For every km you run (and post about), a friend is encouraged to run an extra 300 metres, on average.
2. For every 10 minutes you run, that friend is encouraged to run for an extra three minutes.
3. And for every 10 calories you burn off, they burn 3.5 extra calories.
4. It’s also the friends who perform at roughly the same level as you who are more likely to motivate you to exercise — particularly the ones who perform a little bit worse. So keep boasting about your BMF prowess!

Prefer to keep that boasting to a like-minded community? 

There’s a relatively new app that can help you do that. PumpUp is a combination of Instagram, a fitness tracker and a workout app. You can search for hashtags, follow people and share your own snaps. The app promises that the PumpUp community is positive, will support you and cheer you on. You can also choose from thousands of workouts created by other users — or design your own!

Experiencing a bit of DOMS after you BMF workouts this week?

Here are some yoga moves to help ease it off.  “Exercise excites the nervous system, while a subdued yoga flow calms it,” says Ryanne Cunningham, author of Yoga for Athletes. “That’s crucial to finishing your workout feeling optimistic, peaceful, and inspired—and hopefully, a little more appreciative of what your body just did for you.”

Finally, if you’re looking for a tough new event to take part in, try this little 400m sprint. Oh, and you’d better like hills!