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When we are positive, we find that our interactions with the world and ourselves become brighter, more productive and perpetuate the “feel good” factor. This in turn makes us healthier and more peaceful.
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Workout Tips
For Cardio Week 2015 at Men's Health, we'll feature a brand-new, equipment-free workout every day. These routines are fast, they're hard, and they're a heck of a lot more fun than spinning your wheels on a treadmill.
Your first bodyweight cardio burner is only one exercise: the split squat runner hold. “The exercise has no impact on your ankles, knees, and hips, but it will have a major impaction your calorie burn,” says MH Fitness Advisor BJ Gaddour, creator of the Lose Your Spare Tire–exercise program–a cutting-edge training plan that can help you lose 30, 40, even 50 pounds. Watch the video above to see Gaddour perform the workout.
Here's how it works: Hold a split squat position with your right foot forward. Drive your arms back and forth as if you're running for 20 seconds, and then rest 10 seconds. Repeat with your left leg forward for 20 seconds. Continue to alternate sides for 8 rounds total. If that's too easy, drop your back knee closer to the floor during the split squat and hold that position. (Looking for more quick calorie-burning routines to try? Check out The Fastest Cardio Workouts Ever.)
And don't forget to check out the other workouts from Cardio Week 2015. Each one is totally different, so you'll never get bored.
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It pays to jump ship: Workers who stay with an employer an average of 2 years or longer tend to make 50 percent less during their careers than those who frequently move from one company to another, finds a report from the non-profit research firm Catalyst.
If you're promoted within your organization, your raise is tied to your current salary. (In 2014, the average raise was 2.9 percent, according to a survey by HR consultant Towers Watson.) Move to a new employer, however, and your pay isn't tethered to what you used to make.
You love where you work–but you'd also love to beef up your bank account. By wrangling an offer from another company, you can finesse a job-switch-sized raise from the people who currently sign your paychecks. Here's the smart way to do it.
(For more genius tips to help you climb the corporate ladder, check out The Better Man Project. You'll also learn how to shrink your gut, have hotter sex, and live a kick-ass life!)
STEP 1: Flirt with Other People to Make Your Boss Jealous
Your employer is like someone you've dated for years: After being attached for so long, sometimes it feels like they take you for granted. Attract new suitors, however, and you'll amp up your sexiness in your boss's eyes.
It starts with raising your profile outside the office. Along with the obvious moves–regularly attending networking events and industry conferences–you need to be a LinkedIn superstar, advises Dan Schawbel, a personal branding guru and author of Promote Yourself.
Flood your feed by posting industry-related articles and insights every day, and comment on your connections' posts–especially the people at places you might want to work, Schwarber advises.
LinkedIn offers recruiters special subscription-only search tools to identify job candidates. To increase the chances those search bots land on you, flesh out your profile's “Summary” section, recommends Catherine Fisher, LinkedIn's career expert. But don't make yours a total snooze fest.
Most people simply copy the one-sentence objective statement from their resumes and paste it into this section, but if your summary is fewer than 40 words, you won't appear in as many recruiter searches, Fisher says. Be witty and unforgettable, scattering in slick humble brags like, “I'm the only Top Performer in company history to face-plant on my way up to the award podium.”
Avoid the top 10 most overused, underwhelming buzzwords in LinkedIn profiles from 2014: motivated, passionate, creative, driven, extensive experience, responsible, strategic, track record, organizational, and expert. Enlist a writer buddy to help make the section sing, and pay him back with a sixer of beer.
STEP 2: When the Other Guy Calls, Lead Him On
Whether you're contacted by a recruiter or another employer, “always, always, always” take the call, says career counselor Roy Cohen, author of The Wall Street Professional's Survival Guide.
Regardless of where the conversation leads, establishing relationships with recruiters can pay off huge, says Eric Kramer, author of Active Interviewing. “They have reputations as headhunters, but they know everything about your field and competitors and salaries,” he says. “They can be your career's best friend.”
Learning other salaries will help you benchmark what you currently make versus what the industry is paying, Cohen says. And this is super important to know: This exercise may not be worth it if you only stand to gain a 5 percent increase.
Be kind to your suitors, but project passive interest, Schawbel says. “Companies want to steal talent, not hire job seekers,” he explains. “Being too direct about your interest is going to hurt your appeal.”
Throw out a line like, “I'm very happy where I am, but I am interested to learn more about new opportunities.” Being coy will make you more alluring.
But the courtship changes once you're invited to an interview. At that point, your objective is to make yourself as attractive as possible, even if you're not particularly interested in the job. Prepare a 10-minute pitch that includes your relevant accomplishments, projects in which you've exceeded, and how much monetary value you've added in your current role.
Lots of candidates just answer questions, Kramer says, “but you can't rely on an interviewer to get at what makes you special,” he explains. “Most interviewers are really bad at assessing talent, so you have to sell yourself.”
STEP 3. Talk Business with Your Boss
You've landed an offer. But before you take it to your employer, you have to think specifics, like the size of the pay bump you'd need to stick around.
“It costs about $ 20,000 for a company to replace the average millennial employee,” Schawbel says. You can find more insights into industry pay scales on GlassDoor.com.
Arm yourself with these numbers–and any you picked up from recruiters–and calculate what you're worth to your employer. Factor in the costs of potential moves, your new commute, and other differences between your current and potential role to come up with a reasonable pay raise request.
Keep in mind that if a lot of other people at your company do what you do, your boss isn't going to give everyone a huge bump. “That will limit how much he can raise your pay without also promoting you,” Kramer points out.
Once you have a fair number in mind, it's time to approach your manager. Remember that pitch you put together for your job interview? Break it out again. In most cases, your boss will be going to his boss to ask for your raise, so you need to give him as much ammo as possible to justify a pay raise, Kramer says.
Related: 6 Rich Guys Tell You How to Make More Money
Don't throw out an ultimatum like, “Pay me this or I walk.” You won't bully your company into paying more than you're worth, Kramer says. Instead, be straight with your boss: Say something like, “Listen, I don't want to leave. But they're throwing life-changing money at me. Can we try to meet in the middle?”
If your request is rational and you make it clear you're doing what any guy would do–exploring new opportunities–your boss should be willing hit your number. But if he can't make it work, the grass may just be greener somewhere else.
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Workout Tips
Recovering from knee surgery, a runner gets up on a slackline in his backyard to regain strength and core stability and return to the trail.
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WSJ.com: What’s Your Workout
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Workout Tips
Diabetes is a disease of disturbed carbohydrate metabolism. It may be caused by various factors like low pancreatic activity, hypothyroidism or lack of exercises, or excessive intake of carbohydrate etc.
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If you've ever been out climbing or hiking, you've probably seen guys slacklining–using nylon webbing as a sort of tightrope, with trees or rocks as anchor points. It looks hard enough just balancing on two feet, but a group of yogis have taken it to the extreme with Slackline Yoga. Jason Magness and his friends were at a yoga conference in 2005 when they started playing around with doing yoga poses on a slackline. What they found was a whole body workout that not only built functional strength, but helped heal Magness's IT band injury. Plus, it's one of the toughest core strengtheners we've ever seen. But don't worry, we're not asking you to tackle the high beam to get your rock-hard abs.
Go Steady
“Slackline Yoga is a low impact, therapeutic workout, but it really builds a lot of heat in your body,” says Magness. “We taught a huge ex-body builder and he was pouring sweat in minutes.” Unlike traditional sit ups and crunches, every move in Slackline Yoga integrates your core with the rest of your body, making it the center of gravity.
Training toward this fluid balance will get you that six-pack, and it won't just be for show. “With sports like surfing, soccer, climbing, you're going in and out of balance all the time. On the slackline, the line never stops moving so you've got to [work and] integrate your entire core to stay on,” he says.
Slackline Yoga forces practitioners to stay completely focused (a plus for athletes in competition), control their breath, and let go of anxiety. If you don't stay present, you'll fall off the line. The less you think about your next date or big work deadline, the longer you'll be able to stay steady.
But let's be realistic, there aren't many of us who'll just go out and string up a rope to do our at-home practice. Instead, here are some Slackline-inspired poses that'll really get your abs working.
Each pose uses dynamic movement to tap your core as you try to stabilize. If you're working too hard and breathing unsteadily, it's time to stop. “You can push the edge, but shaking violently because you want to do 2 or 3 more is going to build negative reinforcement between your mind and your body,” says Magness.
The Workout
Unlike traditional sit ups and crunches, every move in Slackline Yoga works your core in combination with the rest of your body, making it the center of gravity. This fluid balance will get you that six-pack but they won't just be for show. “With sports like surfing, soccer, climbing, you're going in and out of balance all the time. On the slackline, the line never stops moving so you've got to integrate your entire core to stay on,” says founder Jason Magness (pictured here).
Praying to the Robot God 1
Start on all fours. Lift your feet and shins off the ground so only your knees touch.
Praying to the Robot God 2
Extend your right arm forward while you lift your left leg behind you. Only your knees and left hand touch the floor. Hold for 30 seconds (about 6-8 full, slow breaths)
Praying to the Robot God 3
Bring your right hand and left knee back to the ground simultaneously.
Praying to the Robot God 4
Do not let your feet touch the floor as you switch so your left hand is stretched in front and right leg extended back. Hold for 30 seconds.
Do 10-20 reps back and forth.
Praying to the Robot God 5
Advanced: As you switch, first bring your knee to the ground, then hold your hands in front of you in Prayer position so only your knees touch. You'll be slightly tipped forward. Then switch sides.
Side Plank 1
Come into a normal Side Plank, either on your right hand or on your forearm.
Free your bottom (right) leg so that you're balancing on your top (left) leg. Extend your top leg forward to contract your abs. If you can, straighten it so that you form an “L” with your legs. Hold for up to 30 seconds.
Side Plank 2
Tuck your bottom leg through center and reach it backwards as you lean your torso forward. Reach your left arm up and forward. Hold for up to 30 seconds.
Do 10-20 reps. Concentrate less on doing a lot of reps and more on breathing smoothly and moving with control. If you start to shake, it's time to come down.
One Leg Rock 1
Start in Plow. Rock yourself backwards with your arms on the floor by your ears.
One Leg Rock 2
As you rock forward, bend your right leg so your right foot is flat on the floor. Bring your arms overhead. You're not trying to stand up, but just lift. Extend your left leg straight forward so that your torso is upright.
One Leg Rock 3
Bring your arms straight in front of you. You'll be balanced on your right foot, with your butt off the ground.
Roll back into Plow. Switch sides so your left foot is flat on the floor, right leg extended forward. Don't let your butt touch the floor!
Do 20 times in a row, 10 on each side.
Rolling Pike 1
You'll need an exercise ball for this move
Come into a Plank/Pushup position on the ball. Your hands are on the floor, shoulders stacked over your wrists. Your knees are on the ball, bent so your feet are up.
Rolling Pike 2
Inhale as you roll the ball towards your hand by lifting your hips. Eventually you'll have your toes on the top of the ball. Your body is hinged from your hips, arms are straight and strong. The full position of this is almost as though you're about to do a handstand.
Exhale back into plank. Work towards 20 in a row.
Rolling Pike 3
As an option, when you exhale, instead of going back to plank, roll the ball back further so that your stomach and shoulders stretch. Then you have to use your abs and shoulders to get you back to plank and up into the pike.
Standing Ab Balance 1
Use a strap or sock for this pose
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Put the strap around the arch of your right foot and bend into a forward fold. Let your arms dangle by your sides or rest lightly on the ground.
Standing Ab Balance 2
Lift up your chest and flatten your back. Bring your weight into your left foot and lift your right foot straight out to the side, keeping the leg straight. Try to get the leg up to 45 degrees. Put arm out to the side to stabilize yourself.
Do 5-10 reps on each side.
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Workout Tips
Think of your relationship like a college course: A couple months in, you need to give it a midterm evaluation to see how you're progressing.
If you pass the test with flying colors, your chances of making the final grade are great–but if you flop, there's still time to drop the class and search for a new major.
Luckily, this relationship quiz doesn't require any late-night cramming. It's called the “awesomeness factor,” and it might be the best predictor of whether you and your partner are headed toward lasting success or imminent failure, says couples therapist Melissa Schneider, L.M.S.W.
Your awesomeness factor is high–and your long-term prognosis is good–if you can ace these two questions once you've been dating for 4 months or longer. “By that point, most people will have already encountered any serious problems they don't think they can live with,” Schneider says.
Pencils ready? Good luck.
(For more wise relationship tips and amazing life advice, check out The Better Man Project, the brand-new book from the Editor in Chief of Men's Health!)
1. Is She Your Almost-Perfect Fit?
Take 5 minutes and jot down a list of the qualities you think a perfect woman should have.
Maybe you've always dreamt of someone who's intelligent, funny, and culture-savvy. Fortunately, you found a girl who listens to NPR on her daily commute, has a mouth as foul as Amy Schumer's, and can recite every line of Return of the Jedi on command. Check!
“Everyone has their own quirky sense of what they want in their ideal partner,” says Schneider. If she fits most of your must-have criteria, that's the best sign she'll make you happy for years to come.
Keyword: most. If you always thought you'd end up with a Yankees fan, but fell for a babe from Boston, that's okay: “You might meet The One, think she's great, and alter the list you had all along,” Schneider says.
But when you start making a ton of exceptions–she's a world traveler but she lacks a sense of humor, she's hilarious but hasn't touched a book since high school–that could indicate your union isn't built to last.
(Want help landing the woman of your dreams? Make her come to you. Use these Scientific Ways to Attract Women.)
2. Is Your Relationship Better Than Everyone Else's?
Think about your buddies' romantic relationships. How does yours stack up to the competition?
You and your partner barely trade barbs, you try a new position every time you hit the sheets, and in your humble opinion, she's way more fun to hang with than any of the other girlfriends. If you think your pals would be jealous of your flourishing fling, give this one a check.
But ignore the surface-level stuff, says Schneider. Of course you think your girl is the most beautiful of the bunch; your goal is to be sure you have the strongest all-around bond.
“And the funny thing is, every guy in the room could be thinking that,” says Schneider. “It's not about actually being the best couple–it's your perception that counts.”
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