Lifestyle
Benefits of Leg Workouts: Why You Should Never Skip Leg Day
When hitting the gym, it’s perfectly normal to desire a muscular body that will grant you the attention of your friends and family. Usually when people define muscularity, large chests, bulging biceps and broad shoulders come to mind. Legs have always been the furthest thing from being at the center of attention, therefore has become forgotten in many gym rats’ routines. The oversight of such an important body part has become a regular joke on the internet and for good reason. Here are a few reasons why you should never skip leg day.
Read:Equipment You Don’t Need at The Gym
What Is Leg Day?
When people tend to take the route of body building, or muscle growth in general, it is incredibly common to split workouts into separate days based on the body part at that time. The reason for this is because when one exerts himself or herself during each workout, they won’t possibly have the same amount of energy to optimise their workouts with multiple compound exercises across various body parts. Leg Day is a day dedicated to just training legs and is often joked as being one of the most skipped days in the gyming community.
Top Reasons Why Leg Day is Important
It’s Half of Your Body
In terms of proportions, neglecting an entire half of your body will look strange. The term “Chicken Legs” is commonly used in the gymming scene to mock those who neglect basic bodybuilding “rules’ for short term gratification. Glutes, hamstrings, calves are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to important muscles to work on. Many jokes have been thrown around about looking like an upside down triangle and you wouldn’t want to fall under that category. Good glutes and calves will bring about a proper balance in aesthetics along with other crucial benefits.
Read:Is There an Age Limit to Put On Muscle?
To Minimise Struggle in Sports
Whether it is a team sport or a solo activity, there are incredibly few sports you’d be able to do if your legs are severely weaker than your upper body. Big bursts of sprints, shuttle run-like movement and even long jobs will become significantly less efficient due to the unbalanced weight distribution. Aside from being susceptible to injury, having an underdeveloped lower body will certainly limit you in the sport of your choosing. Clever movement and technical footwork are important for rugby, football, basketball, running and so much more. If you are keen to start taking your leg days to the next level, working on hamstrings, glutes and quads are the way to go.
To Build a Strong Body
If you’re serious about working out, it’s important to know about the “Big Three’. Squats, deadlifts and bench press are the trinity that defines the journey of every lifter and missing out on one of them would hurt your overall progress. As the big three are compound exercises, you would be getting a “full body” workout when engaging the routine immediately. Putting off squats, the leg exercise of the big three, will be disregarding the body’s ability to progress in unity. Weak legs will affect your strength when you choose to do exercises like standing Military press, flies and even bicep curls. Having half a strong body will hamper your ability to perform certain movements and we highly recommend going for legs weekly.
Read:How Effective Are Machines At The Gym?
To Grow Up Quickly
Your body has a neat way of balancing itself as it grows so that everything will be in proportion. A huge part of this is maximising the amount of hormonal output such as growth hormones and testosterone. By limiting your bodily exertion to literally half, there will not be nearly as much of said chemicals to give you the optimal growing experience. It is noted that the more body parts that are engaged, the more hormones will be released. It means that the big three are optimal to kickstart a healthy chemical reaction, and neglecting even one of them will hurt your overall progress.
To Burn out Extra Fat and Loss Weight
While weightlifting isn’t cardio by any stretch of the imagination, it can increase your body’s metabolism to an extent and it does make a significant difference. Interestingly, lower body exercises burn the most amount of calories in a single workout and tend to keep the metabolism high even after the workout has been completed. Additional factors like default metabolic rate, muscle mass and dieting are all to be considered when assessing your ability to burn fat - but skipping leg day will make a huge difference in your pursuit for weight loss and definition that add to the impact of the other variables.
Read:Effectiveness of Compound Exercises for Muscle Definition
To Minimise the Risk of Injury
It’s no surprise that if you continue to work on your upper body, you will put on weight overtime. As you continue to get heavier at the top, an untrained bottom will start feeling the pain of constantly carrying a heavy top. This will not only hamper your ability to do certain weighted exercises that put pressure on the legs, but it can also result in long term knee injuries too. For example, deadlifts utilise a multitude of leg muscles, and the strain on adding more weight on under trained legs can lead to long term damage and even more severe bone illnesses.
Recommended Leg Exercises
Now that we know important legs are to our gym routines, what are some of the best exercises to get started? As previously mentioned, squats will definitely be mandatory and ideally the first exercise you start off with during your leg session. Following that, dumbbells can be used with lunges. Since lunges are rather hard on the knees, feel free to use lighter weights when moving across your gym. Alternatively, you could do it stationary or without dumbbells too, this exercise is rather flexible.
Read:Best Health Clubs and Gyms in Dhaka in 2021
Lastly, machines are going to be your best friend. Leg curls, leg press and weighted calve raises are phenomenal options to ensure that you target those isolated leg muscles. These are particularly important if you are keen to sculpt your legs and ensure that your legs get a proper, all-encompassing workout. Your legs have the power to determine how much muscle you put on and how much weight you can lose, so don’t ever forget to do legs at least once a week!
Equipment You Don’t Need at The Gym
To many, the gym can be an extremely intimidating place to begin. Although big scary guys may add to that fear, the sheer number of options at your disposal tends to throw many off and go down a route that may not be optimal. Many companies have jumped in on the increasing trend of fitness and see potential to take advantage of a market with an ever growing demand. With that, many products have been shoehorned into the gym setting without much of a place. That is why we are going to give you a breakdown on some equipment you don’t need at the gym.
Which equipment you don’t require at the gym?
Smith Machine (For Most Exercises)
The Smith Machine intends to give users machine-like precision in exercises that are normally free weights. While this may seem good on paper, your movements start to become unnatural as you continue on. Exercises like Deadlifts and Squats for example require a plethora of muscles to ensure that the weights are carried naturally, but when your movements are locked into an incredibly restricted range of motion, it can lead up to poor posture and even slowed growth.
The muscles needed to stabilize the body to achieve proper form are often overlooked but critical for muscle building. For machines that are slightly less reliant on a group of muscles like bench press and seated shoulder press are still doable. Exercises to avoid on the Smith Machine include deadlifts, squats, rows and standing shoulder presses.
Read:Which Swimming Style Is Best For Fat Loss?
Leg Extension Machine
It is true that machines are amazing for isolating muscles to build strength and definition, but the way the Leg Extension Machine works to “enable” the body to do so may cause more harm than good. Simple tasks like walking, jogging or even strafing require many leg muscles to work in tandem with each other; but to isolate all these muscles at different points of time is rather awkward.
For the Leg Extension machine to truly work, it’s important to put in the same amount of time and effort to every other isolated leg muscle to benefit the muscle group as a whole. If you intend to do that, exercises like squats or lunges would work better. Overall, it takes a lot to make the Leg Extension machine work, and if you are strapped for time, it’s not worth it.
Read:Is There an Age Limit to Put On Muscle?
Inner and outer Thigh Machine
This is one of the biggest tricks that many fitness studios refuse to address. Inner and Outer Thigh Machine is more of a gimmick that makes a lot of sense in theory, but falls flat in terms of execution. The machine was designed to define the inner and outer thigh, while burning fat around the waist, but it fails to do that. There is a reason why weighted exercises directed towards the hips are few and far between - it is because there is no need for it.
Like the Leg Extension Machine, the optimal way to target large muscles for your legs is to do compound movements that will inevitably help develop your legs as a whole. Deadlifts in particular put a lot of natural pressure on the inner and outer thighs, while tackling your hamstrings and glutes all at once. A machine like this not only isn’t optimal like many other leg-based machines, but it will not provide much results, despite your best efforts.
Read TRX vs. Other Gym Equipments: A Detailed Comparison
Ab Crunch Machine
If there are any machines out there that are justified for alluring newcomers, it’d be the Ab Crunch Machine. It makes a lot of sense to simulate crunches and situps in the form of a machine, which has the added benefit of stacking on weights for a more challenging workout. The only problem is, that many underestimate the impact a machine like this would have on the user’s back.
The machine forces the user to deliberately hunch which is a direct sabotage to good postures that all your back exercises are made to provide. Additionally, core visibility and definition is heavily dependent on dieting and having a low body fat count. If this is achieved, planks and sit ups are more than enough to give the same results. Abs do require a little bit of bulk for your six pack to be more prominent, but are not nearly as necessary as every other body part.
Read:How Effective Are Machines At The Gym?
Extremely Light Weights
To emphasise on “extreme”, lightweights below 2.5kg are completely unnecessary, regardless of how weak you are. If you can lift a bag of groceries, you definitely don’t need to go backwards in terms of strength just because you have underestimated your strength. While light weights are perfect for definition, going too light will make the point of using weights redundant in the first place.
The golden rule of doing definition-based workouts is that if you can do more than 15 repetitions, you are not lifting heavy enough, even if your goal is to tone. Weights that aren’t even a challenge to carry on the daily will only waste your time at the gym if you choose to continue using them.
Read Barbells vs. Dumbbells: Which is better for Workout, Strength, and Muscle Growth?
Elliptical Machine
This device is probably the least useless on the list, but it doesn’t benefit the user with a whole bunch of benefits either. Many who have joint injuries gravitate towards this machine and it is understandable. It functions somewhat like a treadmill, but is significantly less intense.
In terms of definition, many other exercises like running, jumping and skipping will allow for a wider range of movement that the aforementioned machine will struggle to provide. Because it is less intense, it also fails to stimulate the body’s cardiovascular system, which ultimately results in burning less fat. It isn’t the worst gadget at the gym by any means, but users should quickly graduate from this machine once they are more comfortable with intensifying their cardio workouts.
Read:Effectiveness of Compound Exercises for Muscle Definition
ULAB's DIMFF places 28th in 2021 WURI Ranking
The Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival (DIMFF), a signature event from the Media Studies and Journalism department of University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), has been ranked number 28 in the Entrepreneurial Spirit category in the World's Universities with Real Impact (WURI) Ranking for 2021.
The WURI ranking comprises the global top 100 and top 50 in each of these areas: Industrial Application, Entrepreneurial Spirit, Social Responsibility, Ethics, and Integrity; Student Mobility and Openness for Exchange and Collaboration; and Crisis Management.
This year's WURI ranking acknowledged ULAB which has placed 27th in Crisis Management, 28th in the Entrepreneurial Spirit with DIMFF, and 39th in Ethics and Integrity.
Read WURI Ranking 2021: ULAB among global top 100 innovative universities
Moon Hwy-Chang, the WURI Founding Director, Project Leader and Professor Emeritus of Seoul National University, officially cited this world-standing of ULAB at a virtual ceremony in Seoul on Thursday. "ULAB is the only Bangladeshi university to place within the top 100 universities this year," Prof Hwy-Chang said.
Head of the Department of Media Studies and Journalism Professor Jude William Genilo congratulated everyone related with DIMFF, saying this achievement will help DIMFF to take more new initiatives in the future.
DIMFF Adviser and Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Studies and Journalism at ULAB Mohammad Shazzad Hossain said, "This is the biggest achievement in the history of DIMFF till date, and this recognition came through the dedication and tireless works of the students."
Read Pros and Cons of Reopening Educational Institutions during Pandemic
WURI is the first global innovative university ranking designed to stimulate and evaluate universities' flexible and innovative efforts to foster a workforce that meets the demand from industry and society. Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival 2022 (DIMFF-2022) is all set for its eighth term with a bunch of dedicated team members working passionately on their respective teams. The film submissions are open till 23rd September 23, 2021.
The selected films will be screened at the festival's opening and closing sessions on February 25-26, 2022.
Read 5 conditions set for online recruitment in public universities
'New generation, New tools, New communication' - with this motto, the Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival (DIMFF) commenced its journey back in 2015, mainly to inspire people to create films using mobile phones.
Further information regarding the DIMFF are available at filmfreeway.com/DIMFFand www.dimff.net.
Woke revolution: The latest fad in fashion!
Fashion has always been about fitting in. But the last two decades of the 21st century has witnessed a paradigm shift in the global fashion trends, the latest being "woke" -- a Gen Z and millennial term for being "awake" to the social and environmental issues.
Appearing Woke In Fashion
The views of these young shoppers are critical when it comes to social injustice, and most of them are more than willing to switch or shun brands based on their stance on contentious issues. This trend is increasingly forcing brands to integrate social and green themes into their products.
Read:Best Men's Wear Clothing Brands in Bangladesh
According to McKinsey & Company, an American management consulting firm, the rise of “woke” consumers was nine of 10 trends in the fashion industry in 2019.
They believe that the companies have a responsibility to address environmental and social issues. This category of consumers spends around $350 billion in the United States alone. Some 40 percent of the global consumers is Gen Z. Not only young consumers but also two-thirds of consumers worldwide are certain to evolve with their stance on greening. Half of them are activists and driven by passion while the other half is destined to make a decision based on a given situation.
Brands like Levi's and Nike have taken a clear stance on social issues in recent months. Nike is supporting Colin Kaepernick, the face of the NFL’s anthem protests, and Levi’s is leading a campaign against gun violence in the US. Gucci has also come forward to support a student-led march calling for more gun control in the US.
Read:How Do Sunglasses Protect Your Eyes?
Fast Retailing, the parent company of Japanese retailer Uniqlo, has been recruiting refugees since 2016. British retailer ASOS has launched an exclusive lingerie line in partnership with designer Katharine Hamnett. A fashion player, Balenciaga collaborated with World Food Programme.
Companies like Ben & Jerry’s, Danone, Patagonia, Allbirds, and Eileen Fisher have been certified for the impact of their decisions on people, society and the planet. From just seven in 2010, nearly 200 companies worldwide have risen up to woke as of April 2018. Some 40 percent of their products are made of recycled and sustainable materials.
Woke In Place Of Fast Fashion
Woke goes for companies that are aligned with values and social responsibilities. Rapid production is, in fact, now considered bad for the environment as it pollutes water, dissipates toxic chemicals.
With per annum 100 billion plus global textile production, environmental groups claim that if this trend continues, the environmental balance will be destroyed. As a result, the woke generation has become a conscious fashion movement against this fast trend. The influence of woke precisely gives importance to quality, ethics and sustainability over brief trends, cheap labour and wasteful manufacturing.
Read:How to buy men’s watches: A beginner’s guide
Summary
Developing greener themes into products in order to appeal to woke consumers can be risky for firms, but opportunities galore. The situation is likely to change soon, as stakeholders in the fashion industry currently tend to dominate the movement for environmental and social conscience. The number of consumers in other industries can be expected to rise to ensure the social commitment of global brands.
Gender Dichotomy: Woketopian Impact on Human Lifestyle
The Woke concept has thrived from racial discrimination and intersectional feminism to the freedom of personalization and social activism. This woke culture has influenced a lot of men and women in person. Gradually, some eye-catchy marketing contents place this idea to a new dimension as many have been carrying it as a lifestyle. Due to investing in addressing social injustices, it became a revolutionary phenomenon from individual to public stages.
Background of the Woke in Gender Dichotomy
Previously the call to “stay woke”, Woke was only for Black communities. But in 2014, after the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, “stay woke” suddenly became a great call to action of Black Lives Matter activists on the streets. Six years later, “woke” has become a single word rife with leftist political ideology, based on social and racial justice. Gradually, it keeps assembling other social issues along with it. The male-female dichotomy is one of them.
Read 84% of women facing sexual harassment
Male Woke vs. Female Woke
When it was confined to racial justice, the Woke community raised for black people. It went forward to the social rights of black women. There came the term- “Intersectionality”. It identifies gender, caste, race, class, religion, disability, physical appearance, and height. These intersecting social identities had been both empowering and oppressing.
Intersectionality largely focused on the experiences of women who were both white and middle-class, including black women, poor women, immigrant women, and other groups. Wokeness leads Intersectional feminism to separate itself from white feminism by acknowledging women's different experiences and identities.
Contrarily, this Woke idea gives birth to the idea of changing the socialization of men. Being a man is not only being an adult male. It’s something that needs to be continually proven. The Woke community has been fighting against this traditional aspect.
Read UAE leads countries advocating women's rights at global level
Society forces men to prove manhood rather than anything innate to the behaviours considered masculine. It results in toxic masculinity. When you get pressure to prove your identities to other people, it gets messy. It affects the attitude of many men, and it changes their behaviour drastically. However, decoupled from this force and tied to identity, they become overwhelmed, distorted and, even harmful.
Being "woke" has then become a soul to many peoples. Although "Wokeness" is a bit hard at first. But traditional manhood is even more stressed. The Woke culture has created a situation of precarious manhood. People who would like to be woke, need to keep proving their wokeness and there are social consequences for being unwoke.
Besides, performing feminism, along with similar social justice causes, has become another method of tailoring the wokeness. Like male with female behaviour, females must also have some good reasons for manly attitude and some of those reasons are still valid. However, some expressions of feminism have become exaggerated, distorted, and harmful.
Read Only 1 in 20 women directors of listed companies 'independent'
In the end
Though Woke was initialized for positive ethos, it has broken all stereotypes in race, gender, orientation and ideology. Wold lifestyle critics try to justify them as fair or unfair but the Woke concept has made a remarkable change in freedom and living.
Which Swimming Style Is Best For Fat Loss?
Swimming not only soothes the soul but also helps in fat loss. However, finding a swimming pool, and learning how to swim may pose a challenge to many people. Learning how to exert effectively to burn the most calories is a regimen that many people get wrong. There is a myriad of swimming styles to choose from that vary the amount of calories burned. So here is how we can find out which swimming style is best for fat loss.
Benefits of Swimming
If you are having joint problems, swimming does wonders and can even be seen as a “low-intensity” workout, but being mindful of your limits is important. Every stroke burns at the very least an average amount of calories and is certainly still worth doing if the more intensive strokes are difficult to execute consistently.
For example, doing ten laps of a less strenuous stroke will still burn more calories than ten laps with a harder stroke and the wrong technique. Swimming within your means is a must and being able to identify your strong stroke would be just what you need to get started.
Why Swimming is different from running and cycling?
Running, swimming and cycling are the holy trinities of traditional cardio; all three are renowned for skyrocketing one’s endurance when trained for a certain amount of time. While running and cycling are easily accessible and take very little time to prepare, swimming may present new challenges to some. It’s not difficult to see why this can be a daunting task. Not only can you not gauge your workout by how much you sweat, but you also have to choose the right style of swimming among diverse styles.
Read Running vs. Swimming vs. Cycling: Which Is Best for Burning Fat?
Why is it essential to choose the best swimming stroke?
While cycling does require one to learn how to ride a bike, the skill floor is almost gone once this has been learned. There are ways of adjusting your cycling position to get the most out of your workout, but not nearly to the same degree as swimming. In the case of swimming, mastering the technique is critical before even trying to assess the best stroke for you. Unlike swimming, it’s difficult to run “wrong” or cycle wrong once you’ve properly learned how to do so.
There are four main strokes that everyone will have to learn at some point if they choose to take swimming seriously enough to make it a staple in their everyday life. Swimming is unique in terms of the requirement of actually needing to learn how to perform the strokes, which may take more time than one, might expect.
Focusing on pacing each breath, the motion of the body, and the amount of force exerted can make or break the quality of your strokes, which will eventually lead to unproductive swimming sessions that you may not have known about. To solve this, learning how to float, aligning the body to be parallel to the water floor, and balancing the amount of energy exerted from your upper and lower body are good ways to learn.
Read Muscle Building Diet: Best Foods for Muscle Gains, Definition and Fat Reduction
Advantages of Breaststroke
If we are talking about purely boosting cardiovascular functions, Breaststroke is the optimal exercise. While still burning an average calorie count of 200 per half hour, the main highlight is its ability to stimulate blood circulation better than the other strokes.
While the motion is rather different compared to the other arm-over-shoulder, it is because of this that this style has swimmers focus most of their attention on the core and staying afloat, while being the lowest impact out of the four. While the technique of coordinating your hands and legs to synchronize is slightly trickier than Freestyle, for example, this is the best pick for those who are not comfortable holding their breath.
There are multiple ways of executing this technique, the first being known as the DPS style. IT’s a classic technique that uses traditional methods to optimise energy output in relation to distance. It does so by encouraging large, powerful movements from the swimmer that will have him or her glide across the water with every stroke, rather than expelling energy needlessly with a smaller range of motion.
Read Barbells vs. Dumbbells: Which is better for Workout, Strength, and Muscle Growth?
The Rapid Turnover style exchanges the distance covered within each stroke for the speed at which one retracts his or her arms after extending them during the stroke itself. It is highly technical but has been making waves in the professional swimming scene lately.
Backstroke for fat loss
Moving on to the more conventional styles on the list, backstroke burns approximately 250 calories per half hour and is the third-best style for burning fat - but is by no means bad. Lying on your back while moving poses quite the challenge for newcomers, but after getting the hang of things, you can expect to start seeing more defined legs, arms and shoulders. It does wonders for the hips and can even lengthen the spine if done regularly enough.
Ultimately it strikes a good balance between burning a respectable amount of calories, improving posture, and defining many major muscle groups. However, if you are looking for speed and efficiency, there are better strokes to choose from.
Read Effectiveness of Compound Exercises for Muscle Definition
Freestyle for Muscle Building
Arguably the most basic and most common of the styles, freestyle is normally the standard one many gravitate towards when they learn how to swim. As an added bonus, it is also the style that burns 300 calories every half an hour, the second-best of the four!
Freestyle also has the best reputation for toning muscles such as the back, shoulders, core, and glutes. It is the easiest style to get into and serves as a good starting point before branching out to other strokes. If you are afraid of seeing the definition of your body or wish to test yourself on a technical basis, there are others that would suit you more.
Butterfly for improving Cardiac health
By far the hardest stroke among the four, but also the most effective as it can burn a whopping 450 calories in half an hour. The stroke requires a lot of emphasis on precision when your legs are tucked together and moving in a “wave” like rhythm with the upper part of your body. Both arms need to be extended together and your head must be in sync with each repetition to get proper breathing. It’s quite a lot to manage, but can be the best with enough time and practice. Best to start slow with this style while getting your cardio fix with freestyle or breaststroke first.
Read Best Swimming Games for Android/IOS
Cinema preserves time through narrating real-life stories: KM Khalid
State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid said that film is an important medium of art and culture, especially in today's world that is largely regulated by social media platforms.
“Film is a very timely medium of entertainment and universally admired as the most engaging and close medium for projecting life as realistically as possible through reflecting the joys-sorrows-laughter and tears, within a limited timeframe”.
The State Minister made his remarks while inaugurating the 3rd Bangladesh Short film and Documentary Festival 2021 on Friday, as the chief guest at the virtual inauguration ceremony.
Mentioning Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA)’s various activities in the medium of cinema, KM Khalid said, “BSA has been conducting activities with films since its inception in 1974. As part of its continuation in upholding our films through connecting the filmmakers and audiences, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy organized ‘Bangladesh Film Festival’ in 2015 and 2017, and 'Bangladesh Short Film and Documentary Festival' in 2016 and 2018, in 64 districts of the country simultaneously.”
Also read: Top 5 Most Followed Athletes Across Social Media Platforms
Secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs Badrul Arefin, noted filmmaker Amitabh Reza Chowdhury and prominent film scholar-researcher Anupam Hayat also joined the inauguration ceremony as special guests and shared their thoughts on this special festival.
Also read: The Cultural Hegemony of Social Media
BSA's Director of Theatre and Film department and prominent thespian Afsana Karim Mimi delivered the welcome speech at the inauguration ceremony, which was chaired by BSA Director General Liaquat Ali Lucky. The inauguration ceremony was hosted by media personality Nabanita Chowdhury.
How to sanitise fruits & veggies: Safety tips during the pandemic
Pandemic or not, rinsing fruits and vegetables with water before eating them has always been an important habit -- as it helps remove many harmful bacteria, including salmonella, from the surface of the farm produce.
Covid-19 has only reinforced the need for washing fruits and vegetables under a running tap before consuming them. Not adhering to the practice could turn out to be a recipe for disaster -- food poisoning.
Salmonella, for instance, causes salmonellosis that can lead to an upset stomach, fever and cramps in the belly. Children, pregnant women, and the aged are the most vulnerable. And if the infection gets into your blood, it can lead to serious complications.
How to sanitise the fresh farm produce at home
First step
Wash your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling eggs, raw meat, and seafood.
Then wash fruits and vegetables under a running tap and rub them properly. Otherwise, germs on their surface can get inside while peeling them. Don’t wash the farm produce with soap or detergents.
Also wash utensils, the cutting board, dishes and the kitchen top with hot water and liquid soap after preparing each dish and before embarking on the next one.
Make it a point not to wash raw meat and eggs just before cooking. Otherwise, germs on them can spread to other food items, utensils, and kitchen surfaces.
Read: How to identify adulterated milk at home
Second step
Wash raw meat, seafood, and eggs separately soon after bringing them home. You should wash them in the kitchen sink again but before disinfecting the utensils and the kitchen top.
You should keep the unused eggs in the original carton and inside the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, the cracked eggs should be discarded.
Final step
Using a food thermometer is the best way to ensure that foods are cooked to the right temperature.
Fix the temperature at 63°C for beef, mutton, and fish. Eggs are needed to cook until both the yolk and white become firm. Don’t put cooked food on a plate that has already been used once for keeping raw meat, seafood, or eggs.
Read: Kick-start your day with a healthy breakfast
How to sanitize your kitchen after cooking
Undoubtedly, the kitchen top is the most vulnerable area in the kitchen. It's used most of the time daily -- be it for preparing food or unpacking groceries. So, it is necessary to keep them clean all the time.
Pay attention to the leftovers
Bacteria generally tends to grow in tiny pieces of food lingering on your kitchen top. Wiping the spillover food by disinfecting your kitchen top will prevent the food residue and bacteria from building up over time accordingly.
Read: Intermittent Fasting: Health Benefits and Risks
Keep your sponge clean first
Your sponges and dishcloths harbor billions of bacteria. So you must disinfect them in a bleach solution so that you can reuse them.
Alternatively, you can wash your sponge and warm it in the microwave for 2.5 minutes. You can wash your dishcloths in the washing machine.
Keep your kitchen top dry
Salmonella spreads in a moist environment. So whatever the process you use to disinfect your kitchen top, make sure to completely dry them afterward. It can be as simple as wiping down the surface areas such as around the sink where the place is wet due to accumulating condensation.
To sum up, always disinfect the fruits and vegetables that you bring home.
Read:IKIGAI: The Japanese Secret to a Long Healthy life
Can you mix and match Covid-19 vaccines?
Can you mix and match two-dose COVID-19 vaccines?
It’s likely safe and effective, but researchers are still gathering data to be sure.
The authorized COVID-19 shots around the world are all designed to stimulate your immune system to produce virus-fighting antibodies, though the way they do so varies, noted Dr. Kate O’Brien, director of the World Health Organization’s vaccine unit.
“Based on the basic principles of how vaccines work, we do think that the mix-and-match regimens are going to work,” she said.
Also read: Why do some people get side effects after COVID-19 vaccines?
Scientists at Oxford University in the United Kingdom are testing combinations of the two-dose COVID-19 vaccines made by AstraZeneca, Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer-BioNTech. Smaller trials are also ongoing in Spain and Germany.
“We really just need to get the evidence in each of these (vaccine) combinations,” O’Brien said.
So far, limited data suggests an AstraZeneca shot followed by the Pfizer shot is safe and effective. The combination also appears to come with a slightly higher likelihood of temporary side effects like aches and chills.
That might be because mixing and matching different types of vaccines can often produce a stronger immune response, said Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.
Also read: How long does protection from COVID-19 vaccines last?
In some places, health officials already suggest mixing in select circumstances.
After the AstraZeneca vaccine was linked to extremely rare blood clots, many European countries including Germany, France and Spain recommended people who got it as a first dose get a Pfizer or Moderna shot as a second dose instead.
In Britain and Canada, officials say people should aim to get the same vaccine for their second dose if possible. If they got AstraZeneca as their first shot, they’re advised to get another vaccine only if they have a history of blood clots or other conditions that might put them at higher risk of clots.
Is There an Age Limit to Put On Muscle?
When one dares to put on muscles, the usual remarks have thrown his or her way usually goes like this; “Be careful about putting on muscle, when you’re old they will start to sag”. If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of this or have even dished out a comment along those lines as well, it’s time to pay no attention to it. Muscle building is a process that is specifically engineered by people to go beyond the normal limits of muscle growth. This is done by deliberately stretching and tearing muscle fibers so that they can recover bigger. When people become older, it commonly alludes that muscle-building will start to become an uphill battle. Is there truth to this and is there an actual limit to put on muscle?
What Is Considered “Too Old”?
When comments about becoming too old to put on muscle - many don’t exactly specify an age group, but it is commonly implied that people above the age of 40 tend to face a tougher time preserving muscles. While many consider this to be a natural progression through aging, factors like family responsibilities, career, and a decrease in energy or motivation are often overlooked.
The University of Oklahoma did a muscle-building test between adults between 35 to 50 and those who were between 18 to 22 to see which age group was likely to build more muscle under the exact same training regime. Surprisingly, the muscle growth (measured by weight and strength) was almost identical, which does a lot to debunk the theory of age sabotaging muscle growth.
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On the contrary, surveys from Cleveland Clinic have shown that between 40 percent to 45 percent of males have a much lower testosterone count. This is a huge leap from the previous study - proving that the slightest alterations to the body’s testosterone levels can affect one’s performance drastically. It has also been stated that the ideal age to start bodybuilding seriously is between the ages of 20 to 30 years old, so where does the truth lie?
As for many cases out there, the truth is always somewhere in the middle. Yes, it is true that the body loses more testosterone when it enters its 30s, but not because you’ve officially crossed the milestone of actually hitting that age. As mentioned, usually testosterone starts to deplete once one goes through muscle loss and unhealthy weight gain all at once. Therefore, it has often been interpreted that getting into bodybuilding is impossible in your 40s, where in reality, it was because the body has not been training throughout the years.
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How Can An Older Person Build Muscle?
It’s actually not too different from the standard way of building muscles. If not genetic, classic “old person” symptoms such as joint pains, weakened muscles, and aches are all accredited to inactivity over an extended amount of time, rather than the fact one has hit a certain milestone.
Dieting
By far, the most important attribute to keep the pursuit of muscle building or toning alive; dieting literally makes and breaks the results of your training and how your body will progress in the foreseeable future. Knowing how to moderate your macros like sugar, protein, and carbohydrates will fuel your body for the other 22 to 23 hours in the day that you’re not working out.
Some foods that are rich in fats like Omega-3 also help maintain high levels of testosterone, especially when you choose to take a back seat from muscle building and are moving on to toning. Understanding your calorie intake will ensure that your muscles will grow instead of your belly.
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Getting Your Metabolism Running
While it is true that the body’s metabolic rate starts to slowly dwindle when one approaches his or her 30s, that doesn’t mean that your body is completely not eligible to work out. In 2017 the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology indicated that a batch of caffeine can kick start metabolism for healthy adult males.
This would trigger ketogenesis and can change one’s metabolic rate overnight. Aside from this, regular consumption of fiber and a semi-regular cardio routine can do wonders to ensure that you will burn the maximum amount of fat as you take the steps to build muscle.
Training Smart
While your motivation to train may have dwindled in the past few years, committing a single year will grant results that are akin to the years in your youth if you do so properly. With joint pains and a slowed metabolism approaching as you age, being smart about the amount of weight used for a bulking session must be carefully reviewed by either you or a professional. Practicing safe techniques and ensuring that everybody part is worked to the best of their abilities is crucial. Half-baked forms and weights that are not challenging will only hamper your own ability to succeed.
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Knowing How To Rest
If you are above 30, it is far from being “too late” to build muscles and even go for competition, but this kind of eagerness can often result in overtraining. Overtraining isn’t as clear-cut as simply going to the gym every day. There are times when committing to an extra half an hour doing exercises that cover the same exact muscles as your previous exercise puts your body under an unnecessary strain.
Your muscles should be worked into exhaustion, and focusing on an already exhausted muscle group will not change how much mass is grown during your rest phase. Additionally, resting is the time when your body can take the nutrients your food has provided and use those as fuel to enable your body to recover faster. Progress comes from picking your battles, and sometimes, you’ve won by simply taking the day off after an intense workout.
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