One of the best deals in peated scotch today is Laphroaig’s annual limited edition Cairdeas series (pronounced “car-chuss” and meaning friendship in gaelic). This year’s “Port and Wine Casks” edition delivers proudly on a growing dynasty of tasty releases.

The 50 Best Whiskeys in the World
We found your new favorite bottle.

Cairdeas has a few things worth admiration, even amid a saturated market of limited edition whiskies: It’s always affordable (around $100); it’s always tasty (a variety of cask finishes keeps things exciting); it’s always relatively easy to find.

Past releases have showcased single wood finishes—smaller quarter casks from bourbon country, and fino sherry casks from Spain’s hallowed fortified wine producers.

This year’s “Port and Wine Casks” release keeps the streak alive with an unexpected blend of cask influences that come together in beautiful fashion. For 2020, Laphroaig blended whisky aged in second fill Ruby port barriques with a second batch of whisky aged in ex-bourbon barrels, then finished in red wine casks for about three years. According to Laphroaig, the ratio ends up being about 85 to 15, port to red wine barrels.”

Multi-element whisky finishes can get a little muddy, particularly when you’ve got more than two in the mix, but this Cairdeas does an impressive job of highlighting all three in the final product.

The bourbon barrels bring subtle lightness and sweetness to the whisky; the port casks bring heft and a chewy, mouth-coating syrupy character. But the wine is doing the real work here, bringing depth and tannin to the party, which cools Laphroaig’s typically acrid and medicinal coastal peaty character to a smoky shoreline rumble, while adding fresh, jammy intonations.

The nose of this whisky is misleading, though pleasant: It’s where you’ll find the most smoke in the entire dram. On the palate, though, the whisky becomes surprisingly herbal. Tea notes quickly become buttery whole grain toast spread abundantly with strawberry jam, before a refreshing, soft, briny finish with honey cream.

It’s hard to call a Cairdeas release an unexpected winner—their disappointments are few and far between. But Laphroaig once again has taken a number of parts and delivered a greater sum for the whole.

Cairdeas Port and Wine Casks is available for a suggested price of $100 for July, and while it’s a popular dram, we’re happy to say you shouldn’t have a problem tracking down a bottle. You can probably snag some releases from previous years here as well.

Hi friends! How’s the day going so far? I hope you’re having a good morning. I’m working on getting a barre video edited – it will be up in the am!- and catching up on chores before heading out to the pool with the crew. I can’t believe that it’s the last day of June already and that the 4th will be here this weekend. Last year, we had an amazing time in San Diego with friends and stayed at the cutest Airbnb. 

July 4th is undoubtedly going to be on the weird side this year, but we’re still looking for ways to make it fun and festive. We’ll probably hit up the pool, grill for dinner, and do sparklers in the front yard.

For today’s post, I wanted to share some healthy and fun meal ideas for the weekend. If you have any staples you love or recipes you’re trying out, please leave them in the comments section below! I’m always looking for summer meal faves.

Healthy 4th of July recipe ideas

Entrees:

The best pasta salad ever! Seriously, it’s SO good and one of the most popular recipes on the blog. To amp up the protein content, you could absolutely add grilled chicken or chickpeas.

Lobster street tacos

Steak and arugula salad

Smoked salmon sliders

Grilled chicken thighs. We’ve used Julie’s marinade recipe before and it’s amaaaazing.

Sides and salads:

Buffalo chicken dip and white Tuscan bean dip

Vegan artichoke dip

Glowing grilled summer detox salad

4th of July grazing board

Shrimp ceviche cocktail

Elote aka Mexican street corn

Desserts:

S’mores in a jar with vegan chocolate mousse 

4th of July cookie cake. Going to make this one with the girls!

Peanut butter cookie bars

Mixed berry crumble in a jar

Vegan chocolate chip cookie icebox cake

Boozy beverages:

Kombucha cocktails

My favorite sangria

Sparkling watermelon jello shots

7 low-calorie cocktails

Watermelon mojitos. These sound soooooo refreshing.

So, tell me, friends: any plans for the upcoming weekend? Any fun ideas for the kiddos?

xo

Gina

The post 20 healthy 4th of July recipe ideas appeared first on The Fitnessista.

Sharing the details on how to train for a half marathon and keep up a running routine while making time for strength training.

Hi friends! Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Since so many of my friends are taking advantage of outdoor workouts and planning fall physical or virtual races, I wanted to re-share this post about a somewhat tricky topic: training for a half marathon while strength training.

I think it’s SO important to complement your running with some type of strength training. It can help to strengthen and protect your muscles, particularly the ones surrounding your knee and hips, to help you run faster and more safely. It’s very common for runners to get injured during training because they push it too hard and don’t train efficiently. It’s very easy to overtrain, especially with the myriad of “training plans” that are out there.

When a good friend reached out about getting injured during her beginner’s half marathon plan, I took a look at it for probably 3 seconds before saying,

“That’s too much running.”

Of course, if you’re used to running and do it daily, it’s NBD to slowly increase mileage and keep running almost every day. If you’re an elite runner, of course you’re running a lot! If you’re a beginner or novice runner, it doesn’t make a lot of sense from going to “a few miles every few days” to “6 miles one day, speed intervals the next, 3 miles after that, and a 50-minute run the day after that.” It’s too much.

When you’re a beginning runner, you need to be strategic about how often you’re running (and the purpose of each run!) in addition to strength training or cross training to prevent injury and improve strength.

Please keep in mind that I’m NOT a running coach. I’m a certified personal trainer and weight loss specialist who has run a handful of half marathons. Some of them were great, some of them were roadkill. (Thankfully as time went on, I learned what worked for me and what would help me PR. In my case, it was only 2 strategic runs per week in addition to the classes I was teaching and my own strength workouts.) If you need a specific training plans for your needs, please reach out to a running coach near you, or hit up my friends Teri or Janae and see who they recommend!

I took the plan my friend sent me and tweaked it. I eliminated a couple of run days – instead of running 5-6 times a week, it’s 3-4 – and added in strength training workouts that I’ll post below.

Spoiler alert: she followed this plan exactly as written (a couple missed days because life) and ran a sub-2 hour half marathon! YESSSS!

(To download a full PDF version, click here.)

For the HIIT training, you’ll do 30 seconds of sprints and 30 seconds of rest for 15 minutes total. For your hill days, you’ll focus on adding resistance to really challenge your hamstring, core, and glutes.

In a time crunch? Eliminate the Monday 2 mile easy run or the bonus training on Tuesday.

Want to take a class? Add in spinning or another cardio class you love (dance, kickboxing, step) for cross training on Fridays, or try taking a barre workout on Tuesdays for your leg day. You can also skip upper body on Tuesday (only easy run) and do an Orangetheory workout on Tuesday. Please let me know if you need help shuffling things around! Instead of ADDING in more times and classes, see what you can swap for maximum effectiveness.

Strength training and half marathon plan:

These workouts use basic (but efficient) strength training moves. If you haven’t lifted weights regularly, I would make a personal training appointment to make sure your form is on point before venturing into strength training on your own. (The goal here is to keep you injury-free!) As always, talk with a doctor before making any fitness changes.

Upper body workout:

Lower body workout:

Core workouts for runners:

Barre ab workout

Standing core workout

Diastasis recti safe exercises

Hip strengtheners are in this post! I recommend adding these in on recovery days.

I hope this helps a little!

Are you training for any races this fall?

What fitness goals are you going after right now?

xoxo

Gina

The post How to train for a half marathon while strength training appeared first on The Fitnessista.

The Watermelon is one fruit that has been the emphasis of extensive study in recent times, even as more of its health benefits are being deciphered every day. Belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family, the watermelon is related to other fruits like cucumber, pumpkin, squash, and also cantaloupe. It’s not a surprise in all that the watermelon is supposed, offered its remarkable 92% water structure that makes it exceptionally juicy and also refreshing specifically in hot weather. Surprisingly, every part of the watermelon is nutrient-rich from the thick green external rind to the red or pink inner flesh. Moreover, the watermelon is a very abundant source of essential nutrients varying from minerals and vitamins to important antioxidants, for this reason, the numerous wellness advantages that this remarkable fruit deals. Additionally, investigates have exposed that the watermelon is much more nutritious when it ends up being completely ripe. For example, the lycopene web content of watermelon comes to be richer and a lot more concentrated as the flesh turns from white-pink to pink and also ultimately to red. Consequently, a ripe watermelon offers extra benefits as complies with:

Below are The Top Health Benefits of Watermelon:

Loaded to rupturing with antioxidants

Watermelon has actually been blessed by the fruit god with lycopene. It’s a super-powerful antioxidant that makes watermelon red. Tomato as well as other red fruits and vegetables are likewise loaded with lycopene, however recent researches show watermelon to have the greatest web content of them all.

Bid farewell to the influenza

Long believed the world of oranges, high Vitamin C is additionally among the advantages of watermelon. This has the result of improving the body’s immune system and slowing the body’s aging processes down.

Rehydrate

Among the terrific health and wellness benefits of watermelon is that it’s high in electrolytes and 90% water. So as opposed to spending money and health on sugar electrolyte beverages, grab some watermelon! It’s a healthy alternative and it tastes incredible.

Reduce weight immediately

When among the health benefits is that watermelon 100% fat-free, it’s difficult not to obtain excited. This indicates you can consume as much as you want as well as you will not get fat. Heck, you will not even put any kind of weight on. So not only is this bright red fruit tasty and scrumptious, you can have a watermelon banquet and you never ever have to worry about the waistline.

Cool yourself down

All foods are either cooling or warming foods as well as have a large impact on body temperature. It’s straightforward – consume warming up foods in winter season as well as cooling down foods in the summer season. To make sure that implies, eat, and drink watermelon to your heart’s web content in summer. Take it to the soccer field, take it to the beach … takes it anywhere if you like.

Watermelon … gives you wings!

Cough coughing … that is substantial quantities of power. It’s one of the fantastic health advantages of watermelon, though unfortunately you most likely will not have the ability to fly. If you do, well you might want to keep it silent, or else, we will certainly have turmoil in the air as everyone eats watermelon.

Defeats Viagra

Recent researches have located that one of the strange wellness benefits of watermelon is that it loosens up the capillary. This then has an impact comparable to Viagra as well as stops impotence.

Helpful for your Skin

Watermelon is a fruit that has actually shown very useful for the skin. Apart from maintaining the skin well moisturized, it is likewise abundant in vitamin A, a vital nutrient for sebum production which maintains the hair and also skin supple and also moisturized. On top of that, Vitamin C is required in the development of collagen which is needed to maintain the framework as well as the integrity of the skin.

Safeguards Against Diabetic issues

Being a delicious, high-fiber, and also low-calorie fruit, watermelon is a fruit of choice for diabetic people. The L-citrulline content is converted to arginine which has actually been revealed to enhance the feature of the sugar-lowering hormone, insulin. In the very same vein, potassium and magnesium located in watermelons additionally promote the effect of insulin in the body as well as thus aid to maintain blood glucose within risk-free restrictions in individuals with diabetes mellitus.

Reduces Cancer Cells Threat

Watermelon has actually been shown to offer some defense against cancer cells. Free extreme development contributes to DNA anomalies that lead to cancer cells. Fortunately, watermelon has a rich material of anti-oxidants like vitamins C and A which assist to mop up free radicals. A lot more still, watermelon and also tomatoes are obviously your best sources of lycopene which has actually been linked to a minimized danger of cancers of the prostate, breast, colon, and also lungs.

Excellent Hydration

Watermelon is 92% water thus in hot weather, it can be particularly rejuvenating as it aids to renew the insensible water loss from your skin, consequently securing you from dehydration and heatstroke.

Aids versus Impotence

Research has actually revealed that when sufficient amounts of watermelon are consumed, it can supply a Viagra-like result in dealing with impotence. It has arginine which can be transformed into Nitric Oxide (NO), a compound that aids to dilate the capillary of the penis and thereby enhance erection.

Lowers Threat of Kidney Problems

Good hydration offered by watermelon assists to purge the kidneys on a regular basis as well as keeps them functioning ideally. On top of that, by decreasing the focus of uric acid in the blood, watermelons lower the occurrence of calculus (rock) development in the kidneys. Moreover, since watermelon is rich in anti-oxidants, the chance of free-radical damage to the kidneys is less in people that eat watermelon.

Reduce Muscle Mass Pain

This is especially good information for professional athletes that frequently experience muscular tissue discomfort after indulging in laborious workouts. The study has attributed this muscle-relaxing effect to the L-citrulline web content of watermelons.

Response from Canada Federal Government:

If you are a Canadian resident or long-term resident, you might make an application for public health insurance. With it, you do not have to pay for many health-care services.

The universal health-care system is spent via tax obligations. When you use public health-care services, you must reveal your health insurance card to the health center or clinical center.

Each province and territory has its very own medical insurance strategy. Ensure you know what your plan covers.

All districts and also areas will certainly give complimentary emergency medical solutions, even if you do not have a federal government health and wellness card. There may be limitations depending upon your migration condition.

If you have an emergency, go to the nearest hospital. A walk-in clinic might bill costs if you don’t reside in that district or region.

(American Asked about Health Care Free in Canada) – Response from Canadian Citizen:

A lot of it, and none of it – relying on just how you look at things.

The picture you have insurance coverage. Not just insurance, the very best insurance coverage. One of the most trusted insurance in your entire region.

With your insurance coverage, you can most likely to a healthcare provider. Any type of healthcare provider. They’re all in-network. Every one of them. In the entire state. And your insurance company has a contract with all the various other states that they’ll cover you there, as well, as long as you don’t remain also long.

You approach your doctor. They request for your policy number. You give it to them. They enter it into their system. Then they’re done. No co-pay. No insurance deductible. No added expense. You’re covered. You move ahead and obtain treatment by your medical professional. He sends you to an expert.

Exact the same point. You provide your plan number and go on. That’s it for non-health relevant administration. No charges. No settlements. No wrangling with insurance firms. You never ever see an expense. Your insurer handles every little thing. And also each and every single health care company knows and also trusts your insurer. They’ve already obtained expense strategies in position to ensure that there’s no need for arrangement on their end. Your healthcare providers have a minimal team as they do not need to wrangle with insurance firms. They simply bill the insurance company and make money. At all times. Whenever. With every customer.

And also, equally, as a tip, you never ever see the expense. You never pay a co-pay. You never deal with an insurance deductible. Not when. Not ever.

How much does this expense you?

Well, it appears of your taxes (which are roughly the same as they are right now – Canadian and also American earnings tax obligation rates are comparable). If you have no money, you’re still guaranteed.

Lose your work? Still insured.

Homeless? Still guaranteed.

Rich as Croesus? Still guaranteed.

The system isn’t excellent. No system is. Drug stores aren’t yet fully covered (yet our medication rates are means more affordable, and if you get offered medications in the medical facility … That’s covered. Say goodbye to $500 Tylenol pills). Most oral isn’t covered yet, neither is most optometry. For those three you desire an extra insurance plan, which works normally.

Wait times are occasionally bad if your community doesn’t have enough medical professionals or tools. Same as in the UNITED STATES. Emergency situations are always triaged, as well as high-priority emergency situation procedures are constantly bumped approximately promptly.

Unlike the USA, everything is ‘in-network’, though, so if your preferred specialist has a 3-year waiting list for your non-critical surgery, well, any other doctor nearby is an alternative.

There are no death panels. I’ve never come across a person being rejected clinical treatment – with the exception of treatments so unusual we simply do not have any person to execute it (this is incredibly rare).

What’s the expense? Well, as I said, it comes out of your tax obligations. So it’s tough to tell specifically how much you spent on your insurance policy. When we do the math, however, the ordinary per-person expense works out to being concerning 1/3rd as long as the typical per-person health care expenses do for you Americans.

So there you have it. We never obtain refused solution, and we never ever see a bill, neither do our costs ever obtain bumped for ‘pre-existing conditions’ or other such nonsense.

However, we do pay for it. Simply … regarding 1/3 to 1/2 as high as you do.

For years we have all seen our health insurance costs boost rapidly regardless of remaining in good health. With the existing financial situation, locating budget-friendly health insurance can suggest the difference in having insurance coverage or being uninsured. Health and wellness Savings Account combined with a High Insurance Deductible Strategy could be the best choice for lots of with a bit even more understanding. A lot of traditional health insurance with co-pays cost a lot more, as well as the confusion bordering the conventional plans’ advantage outline discourages most individuals. It has actually been revealed that Health Interest-bearing accounts customers take charge of their very own health care choices, and also this helps them conserve later on. Understanding Health Financial savings Accounts completely, might lead to the perfect option, as well as in today’s economic situation the tax financial savings alone might delight all Americans’.

Many people feel they overspend for their health insurance benefits. Typical strategies with doctors’ co-pays have a higher rate connected with them, as well as most of the time people visit their physician just once or twice a year. As a result, they wind up paying more for a benefit hardly ever utilized. With Health saving accounts, you spend for your physicians’ browse through, however, by having insurance you pay the same bargained cost the insurance coverage provider would pay. When taking a look at an insurance bill you will certainly observe there is little distinction between the co-pay and what the insurance company has ended up paying, this is why. Also, co-pays never quit with a typical strategy, leaving even more financial danger than the stated max-out-of-pocket. Wellness Financial savings Accounts’ cover all doctors’ brows through once the deductible and co-insurance are implied. If you end up being unwell you might essentially be co-paid to death after meeting deductibles and co-insurance on a standard strategy.

Health Insurance Premium be Tax-Deductible? The answer is: Yes and No

Standard strategy advantage outlines are difficult to comprehend with all the terminology. Customer confusion prevails and reasonable. Health And Wellness Savings Accounts’ are easier to comprehend considering that first, you should fulfill the deductible, and afterward the co-insurance optimum out of pocket. After satisfying those demands most strategies pay 100%. The deductible as well as co-insurance chosen not just minimizes the insurance coverage premium yet assists lower the total monetary exposure.

Consumers with Health Savings Accounts’ are given access to clinical procedure expense distinctions between companies by many insurance policy service providers. By doing these service providers’ have discovered a lot more customers’ contrast stores, since they personally are responsible for the higher deductible and also co-insurance quantities. Price can vary dramatically in the exact same city. To cover these expenditures customers add funds to their Health Interest-bearing Accounts, which creates a tax obligation financial savings. This comes to be a win-win situation for both the insurance coverage provider as well as the consumer since it assists maintain set you back down for both.

For those that have come to be self-employed after that, you have the benefit of being able to subtract your health insurance premium from your tax obligations. This includes people who are in a partnership along with employees who have 2% or more of supply in an S-corporation. The precise quantity you have the ability to take is based upon your revenue. Therefore, if you are reporting a loss from your self-employment then you cannot take the deduction. However, if you certify after that speak to an expert regarding the specific formula to make use of to determine the quantity you can subtract from your tax obligations.

If you are utilized by a business that offers a cafeteria plan sort of insurance policy that includes a health savings account (HSA) then the payments you make to that account might be tax insurance deductible. There are restrictions; $5,950 for a family as well as $3,000 for an individual, as well as you will certainly require speaking with your human resource manager to ensure. This is because the majorities of these HSA accounts are moneyed with pretax money as well as, for that reason, have already been made up. The last thing you want to do is bring a tax obligation audit down on your head because of a simple blunder concerning your health insurance premium.

For everybody else that does not fit in either of these groups, the IRS does allow you to declare a tax deduction of clinical prices. Nonetheless, out of pocket expenses should more than 7.5% of your modified gross earnings in order to certify. Thankfully, the health insurance premiums you pay do count towards this complete quantity. The best method to optimize this reduction is to maintain a careful record of what you have spent on your health care throughout the year. If need be, collaborate with a tax specialist that can ensure that you get all the deductions you receive.

In recap, the five things you can do to reduce your health insurance costs are:

(1) Correct diet regimen and also workout

(2) Get rid of tobacco use

(3) Reduce weight

(4) Rise existing health insurance deductible

(5) Change to a High Deductible Health Insurance Plan.

Inspired by a nomadic sense of exploration, adventure photographer and polar guide Ben Haggar attempts to be the first person to traverse the Arctic Circle Route in West Greenland by bike in the ‘summer’ months. But first, he has to get there.

With the goal of slowing down to the pace of the Arctic, Ben works as a polar bear guide and Zodiac driver on a small ship exploring Canada’s fabled Northwest Passage en-route to Greenland. Beginning at the Greenland Icecap and finishing in the coastal town of Sisimiut, Haggar finds himself battling through rough terrain, loneliness, trench foot and extreme weather. But, also finding solace in the simple act of moving across the barren tundra, as well as a few kilometers of beautiful singletrack.

Read Ben’s print feature from the same trip HERE, which originally ran in the March 2018 issue of Bike.

This article originally appeared on Bikemag.com and was republished with permission.

The benefits of getting enough water are innumerable; they run the gamut from more luxurious hair to a more alert brain (which makes sense, considering the brain is mostly H2O). The average healthy male living in a temperate climate needs about 13 cups of water per day, and women need about nine.

Even if you follow the “8×8” rule (eight glasses of water by 8 p.m.), you’re better off than a huge majority of the population.

There are other factors involved, of course. Athletes who sweat a lot, people who live in drier climates, illness and pregnancy all up your required water quota. Some of the water you need to get in your system can come from fruits, vegetables and other beverages.

If you’re struggling to get enough water every day and are starting to feel sluggish, tired or even sick because of it, here are a few ideas for committing to a healthy new habit.

There’s a time and a place for workouts that leave you drenched in sweat—heart pounding and muscles quivering. But sometimes you don’t want to max out your Garmin Suffer Score or Whoop Strain; sometimes, you want to do feel-good workouts.

That’s true now more than ever, considering how much stress people are under as they deal with the ripple effects of COVID-19. Prolonged mental stress can actually increase the amount of perceived effort people experience while training, which can cause fatigue and soreness that lasts up to four days post-workout, according to research published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Translation: Exercise feels harder in the moment, and the negative effects linger longer.

That doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel on working out if you’re feeling a little stressed. You just need a routine that’ll sustain fitness without so much of an emphasis on intensity. These five workouts will help you work up a sweat without taxing your joints or putting your heart into overdrive.

5 Feel-Good Workouts to Do When You’re Tired and Stressed

1. Fartlek Workout

If you’re an avid runner—or picking up the sport for the first time in a while (or ever), ditch your watch and specific interval training for a fartlek workout. “The word means ‘speed play’ in Swedish,” explains Raj Hathiramani, a RRCA- and USATF-certified running coach at Mile High Run Club in New York, NY. “It’s a type of workout that alternates between slower and faster running to help you become a more efficient runner.” A classic fartlek workout may involve one minute of hard effort followed by one minute of recovery for as many repeats as you’d like, he adds; or you can be more lax with it and pick up the pace at certain checkpoints in your favorite park or during the choruses of every song on your playlist. Feel-good workouts might entail different intensities and protocols depending on your mood and energy level.

2. Lightweight Dumbbell Circuit

Lifting weights doesn’t always have to be about grunting and straining. This dumbbell-only routine “uses the entire body to address some of the most functional movement patterns you use every day,” says Prentiss Rhodes, a NASM-certified personal trainer and C.S.C.S. You’ll need two pairs of dumbbells—one at a weight you can comfortably do 10-12 reps with and one slightly lighter. For each of the drills below, you’ll do 45 seconds of work followed by 15 seconds of rest. Do 2 to 5 circuits total.

• Stepup to bicep curl to overhead press
• Renegade row
• Single-leg deadlift to lateral raise
• T-drill with crawl (In a tabletop position, crawl forward 4 steps, then crawl laterally to the right 4 steps, then return to the midpoint; crawl laterally left 4 steps, then return to the midpoint; crawl back to the starting point)

3. Hatha or Vinyasa Yoga

The true purpose of yoga is less about a killer workout and more about being present in your own body, which can ease stress and boost relaxation. But not all yoga classes are created equal. If you’re looking feel-good workouts that’ll leave you more blissed out than burned out, “hatha yoga is a great place to start, as it’s gentle,” says Erin Motz, a NASM-certified personal trainer and co-founder of Bad Yogi. “So is a vinyasa class that isn’t heated or is labeled ‘gentle’ or ‘moderate.’ Avoid classes that are categorized as power or longer than 60 minutes, and you’ll be able to get the benefits without taxing your body.”

Try this vinyasa flow and this primer to hatha.

4. Hip-Opening Mobility Flow

Sitting all day (especially working from home) can wreak havoc on your hips, which can throw off your movement patterns in general. “These exercises [below] focus on key muscles in and around the hips: your glutes, piriformis, adductors, and tensor fascia latae to increase your mobility,” says Austin Martinez, director of education for StretchLab. Focus on your breath and technique, and try to increase the reps or duration each time you do the routine.

1. Standing hip circles x 5 each side (Lift one knee as high as you can without rounding lower back, then move knee to side; rotate hip inward, then bring leg behind you; return to start).
2. Deep squat x 30 seconds (Keep your chest up and knees pressing out.)
3. Seated internal hip rotations x 10 each side (In a seated position on the floor with legs slightly bent in front of you, drive one leg down toward the floor without letting your hips come off the ground.)
4. Pigeon pose x 30 seconds each side
5. Shin box position x 20 seconds each side. (From a seated position on the floor, swing one leg behind you so you create a triangle with the front and back leg. Fold forward and hold, then lean back and hold.)

5. REHIT

Going HAM on HIIT workouts too often can be exhausting. If you want similar feel-good benefits without committing to a 45-minute class, try REHIT, or reduced-exertion high-intensity training, which uses supra-maximal intensities over shorter periods, says ACE-certified personal trainer Chris Gagliardi. An ACE study on REHIT featured a 2-minute warmup, 2 x 20-second maximal intensity intervals with 3 minutes of recovery in between, and a 3-minute cooldown for a solid workout that lasted just 8 minutes and 40 seconds. “Any method of exercise can be plugged into this model depending on the type of equipment you have, access to outside space, and what you enjoy: running, walking, cycling, stairs, skipping rope, mountain climbers, etc.,” says Gagliardi.

Follow six world-class slackliners as they venture deep into the Norwegian mountains to attempt something that’s never been done before. This group of thrill-seekers endured the harshest of conditions in order to get themselves suspended high in the sky, between two massive cliffsides to walk a thin-line under the glow of the magical Northern Lights.

With all rugged elements relentlessly working against them throughout this journey, the team persevered, and ultimately witnessed something indescribable. Their drive to achieve their goal is illustrated beautifully in the latest release from Raised by Wolves Films: “PATHFINDER.”

The short film wonderfully captures their experience, with cinematography and a soundtrack that paints an epic picture of the allure that challenges like this provide to people with otherworldly visions. With the goal to inspire people across the world to step outside of their comfort zones, this film and its team set out to trigger something deep within the souls of its viewers to follow their passions and fulfill their dreams.

From the filmmakers: “A rich and meaningful story, the 10-minute film explores the physical and spiritual aspects in the world of six slack-liners with insights from Norwegians on the folklore and mysticism surrounding the Northern Lights, the nature of the setting, and the indigenous people of the north: The Sámi. With a goal of inspiring others to get out of their comfort zone and overcome fears, PATHFINDER embodies true passion and resilience from these individuals.”

Sit back, take a 10-minute break from what you’re doing, and press play. This film is a true testament to the beauty of the human spirit.