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Health & Wellness

Fitness Challenges Work…Here’s Why

Alice Halvorson · September 11, 2023 ·

Fitness challenges have the potential to help people make lasting changes to their habits, physique, wellbeing and other physical and mental attributes such as sleep quality and mood. There are many ways that joining a challenge can benefit you, so should you do it? What makes them work and why should you participate?

Read on for why we think challenges are worth it every time. 

  • Challenges provide structure. Ever been to the gym and wondered what to do? Challenges provide structure such as a time-frame (6-weeks), workout parameters (30 min/day) and ways to measure success (# of workouts completed, body measurements, strength measurements). Structure is the backbone of the entire thing and without it, you are going nowhere quick. 
  • Challenges provide a specific plan. Whether that is the actual workout and/or nutrition plan or guidelines for what to do, you need a plan to follow. It takes out the guesswork so you know if you are on track or not.
  • Accountability is built in. We need to be on the hook by something or someone otherwise we may not follow through. With challenges, there is the support of the group, text support, email support, perhaps an in-person or virtual meeting..all of these things ensure you are not alone and instill a sense of not wanting to let others down.
  • Challenges are a great source of motivation! Either from the leaders themselves or the participants in the group. Feed off of each other, share tips, workout together and see how much better you feel and how excited you become to continue.
  • The Fun Factor. Challenges are fun! They add novelty and excitement to exercise when it can sometimes seem boring. Harness this and find the joy in the experience. 
  • Rewards and prizes! Challenges often involve rewards or prizes for completion or just for participating. Prizes can also help motivate people to keep going. Prizes sweeten the deal and make things fun. Another reason to say “yes” to a fitness challenge…you just might win!


The more of these elements you have provided for you within a challenge and the more these elements fill in areas that you struggle with, the better your chances of success! So sign up for that challenge and make the decision to go “all in”.

Ready to dive in? Visit
Flostate’s Challenges page to find out more about our latest fitness challenges!

Exercise for Better Metabolism

Rachel Larson · August 7, 2023 ·

How does exercise impact metabolism?

For the purpose of this article, we’ll think of “activity” and “exercise” as separate activities. Activity can be defined as natural movement that is part of our activities of daily living (moving the lawn, cleaning the house, walking to the mailbox, walking around during our errands, shopping, etc.). Exercise is defined as structured and intentional movement at a higher intensity and purpose than our usual activities. Examples: Lifting weights, running or brisk walking, aerobics classes, Yoga or other.

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We impact our metabolism (energy used/needed) with exercise in three ways:

1. Calories burned during the workout session.

This is what we see in our workout summary on our fitness trackers. How many calories did I use? What was my average heart rate? How hard did I work? Etc. The very act of exercise causes us to consume more calories than if we didn’t do it. This is the obvious part of the story, right? Of course we exercise to burn calories, but there is more. (Of course!)
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2. Calories burned immediately after your workout session.

This is the “after burn” – the phenomenon known as EPOC or Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption. When we workout hard enough to reach an anaerobic state, the body requires more time and energy to “recover” and restore back to a steady state. This means more energy burned after the workout is over. At least there is a bonus to super tough workouts! A typical HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout will deliver these benefits. The drawback is, many of us don’t like pushing so hard or have physical limitations that prevent us from working out at this level. If you are up for it – great!
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3. Muscle built during workouts.

  • This is the exciting part. When we build muscle, we use more calories in general. According to Johnstone, et al. (2005), muscle is 5 times more metabolically active than fat. This means that if you build more muscle, your body will need more calories or energy to just maintain those muscle cells. Strong people can consume more calories and maintain a healthy weight. Lifting weights, doing weight-bearing activities and keeping fit allows you more flexibility with your eating. Finally some good news!
  • Think of muscle building as a weight maintenance strategy. Investing dedicated time each week to build muscle will reap rewards over time as you build a more robust metabolism. Not only will you have an easier time maintaining a healthy weight, you might find your shape change and inches lost as your body adjusts to your new svelte self.
  • The good news is that strength training is accessible for everyone. You can lift weights or use your body weight to generate strength without high impact (jumping), or uncomfortable cardio.

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Ready to get started? Try Flostate’s Total Body Strength Circuit (30 min) or Sunrise Strength & Stretch (30 min) class formats. Commit to 2-3 strength workouts each week and make an investment in your health that will pay dividends in the future!

How to Boost Mental and Physical Resilience

Alice Halvorson · August 7, 2023 ·

RESILIENCE. It’s a pretty strong word, right? We want to be resilient. Have a resilient body. And be able to count on a resilient mind. So what exactly does that mean, and how do we become more resilient?

Definition of Resilience
The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

Resilience is multidimensional and encapsulates the mental, emotional, physical, spiritual parts of us. Let’s focus on the mental and physical aspects here.

Mental Resilience is the ability to adapt to change and uncertainty.


Physical Resilience is the ability to recover and optimize function in response to the stressors of disease, injury, or age-related physical decline. 

Resilience is what gives people the emotional strength to cope with trauma, adversity, and hardship. Those lacking resilience get easily overwhelmed, and may turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms. Resilient people do the opposite. They utilize their resources, strengths, and skills to overcome challenges and work through setbacks. They have healthy coping mechanisms and support systems.

You can increase resilience by:

Mental:

  • By creating support systems, healthy coping mechanisms, stress relieving strategies and using them
  • By getting out of your comfort zone and flexing your “resilience muscle”
  • By fostering overall mental health

Physical: 

  • By consistently moving your body in different ways
  • By trying different things that challenge or scare you (hint: this is mental too!)
  • By fostering overall physical health

Resilience is also built through “reps”: The more times we face mental and physical challenges and overcome them, we build resilience. The learning and confidence that results from overcoming challenges is powerful, and reminds us that we can do it again the next time we encounter adversity.

5 Resilience Building Self-Care Strategies 


Mindset Muscle
Having the right mindset is essential. Each thought has power. Are we powering constructive or destructive thoughts? Practice having empathy for others and reframing your situation in a more positive way.

Breathe Through It
Breathing is proven to calm the mind and body and increase awareness and attention. The next time you are stressed or overwhelmed, close your eyes and inhale/exhale for 4-6 seconds each.

Get Moving Now
Movement helps create a strong, mobile, healthy body and a clear mind. Also, try something new physically that gets you out of your comfort zone or requires you to learn a new skill. Sign up for a race, try snorkeling on that vacation, etc. When we overcome nervousness or fear we flex that resilience muscle!

Create a Margin
Intentionally creating space for what’s meaningful to you reduces stress levels and creates freedom to actually be present. It takes us out of scarcity and panic mode and allows us to be more flexible and tolerant. Create space in your calendar now. 

Get Vulnerable to Connect
Vulnerability encourages connection. And connection fosters relationships and a
support network that you can rely on when things get tough. Open up and share your struggles.

We can’t escape stressful situations and the challenges placed on us, but we can equip ourselves to handle it all just a little bit better and in doing so, make ourselves a little more resilient each time.

Desk Job? Improve Your Health in 5 Minutes Today!

Rachel Larson · August 7, 2023 ·

We know that sitting for most of the workday is bad for our bodies, but what do we do when this is part of our job? Is there a way to “offset” the effects of sitting?

What is optimal?

According to Columbia University researchers Duran et al., 2023, walking 5 minutes for every 30 minutes of sitting is the optimal dose of movement to improve blood sugar regulation, mood, fatigue and blood pressure. Five different movement patterns were tested and the dose of 5 minutes of walking for every 20-30 minutes produced the greatest positive effect physiologically and mentally in participants.
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Can I “store up” my minutes and walk 80 minutes at the end of the day?

Although a long walk is great for our health, the point is that even small doses of movement have big effects! Ideally, we would break up the workday and add movement between meetings. This study tested participants actually getting up every 30 minutes to move for 5 minutes. This means that instead of “saving up” our 5 minute walking times to apply at the end of the workday, we should get up during the workday to walk and move.
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How do I apply this? It seems a little daunting…

This may seem like a daunting task, but with planning and intention, we can make this happen! Here’s how:

Start small

  • If you sit all day and don’t currently walk or exercise to break up the day, you can start by setting a timer once per day to get up and walk for 5 minutes. Arrange your schedule so this actually happens.
  • Alternatively, get up each hour for 1 minute and walk around. You can fit that in, right? Yes- you can! Even 1 minute of movement every 60 minutes has been shown to improve blood pressure.

Decide that this matters

  • You can improve your health by moving more frequently and strategically each day. You work so you can enjoy your life and have the things you need. News flash- you will need your health to enjoy your life! So, get moving. Decide that it matters and do it.

Check in with yourself daily

  • How close did you get to moving 5 minutes every 30 minutes? Write down each time you get up to move during the day. How many check marks do you have at the end of each day? Set a goal to maintain or improve everyday.
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Movement does matter! What you do each day consistently, even small things, add up to big results over time.

Exercise for brain health

Rachel Larson · August 3, 2023 ·

Everyone knows that exercise is good for humans.  But, did you know that exercise is one of the most effective ways to maintain brain health?  

Why is improving brain health important?

  • 5.8M people in the United States over the age of 65 have dementia. 80% are 75 or older. Two thirds of them are women (Alzheimer’s Association, 2020).
  • By 2050, a projected 13.8M people aged 75 and older will have dementia. (Alzheimer’s Association, 2020)

Incorporating exercise into daily routines is a foundational strategy to maintain brain health and improve quality of life with higher levels of energy, strength and brain function.  The best results happen when we combine cardiovascular, strength and mind-body exercise (cognitively challenging) exercise into our weekly routines. This is good news for Flostate members – we are already doing this!  You just have to show up for class (or planfully use the on-demand library).

Here are some benefits to each form of exercise:

Why do Cardio?

According to the work of John Ratey, in Spark, increasing heart rate to 60-70% of maximum heart rate for even 10 minutes positively changes the brain. 35 minutes increases cognitive flexibility and executive function.  This means faster thinking and better decisions!

Strength Training Perks:

Strength training builds not only muscles, but bones.  A stronger and more active body means healthier mitochondria and faster metabolism.  The boost in circulation and healthy cells enhances your brain health.

Yoga/Pilates and MindBody Fitness:

Practicing balance, connecting with one’s abilities, and challenging the mind and body to move in multiple patterns while learning new skills is critical to brain health.  Increasing body awareness, strength, focus, and balance all lead to a great sense of confidence, increase neuroplasticity (flexibility and growth of the brain). It also reduces the incidence of falls and fear of falling.

Your weekly exercise recommendation:

Strength Train: 2 times per Week.

Join Alice’s live Dumbbell Essentials class or grab other strength training classes from our on-demand library.

Cardio: 2-5 Sessions per Week.

Need a jolt of higher level thinking?  Do some cardio before your next important presentation.  Even 8-15 minutes makes a difference.  Challenge yourself to 25 minutes at least 2 days a week. Try our live Cardio Core with Arm Tone Blast or sample other cardiio classes from our ono-demand library.

Yoga/Mindbody: 2 Sessions per Week.

Try our signature Yoga Restore Flo or Balanced Body Method class live or on-demand. Any class that requires you to be breathing, and thinking carefully about your body movement while challenging your balance and concentration is key.

Questions?  Reach out to Rachel at info@theflostate.com.  See you in class!

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