Fitness And Health

July is a time for sunshine, swimsuits and serious sweat sessions. It’s also a time to make sure we all stay cool, covered and safe. That’s why MISSION Instant Cooling Gear and their proathlete founders are dedicated to spreading the importance of National Heat Safety Month this July. Co-founder Chris Valletta, former NFL player, experienced heat related illness during his college and professional football playing days — so this initiative is personal for him. Mission is so passionate about Heat Safety they invested in The Mission Heat Safety Lab at UConn’s Korey Stringer Institute. Mission products have been tested on athletes with state-of-the-art equipment like high speed treadmills, advanced bike ergometers and a comprehensive physiological monitoring system — so you know these items are legit! “Mission and the Heat Safety Coalition has the ultimate goal of improving heat safety in the consumer and industrial settings. These cooling products are a vehicle to get there.” —Dr. C...

J uly is a time for sunshine, swimsuits and serious sweat sessions. It’s also a time to make sure we all stay cool, covered and safe. That’s why MISSION Instant Cooling Gear and their proathlete founders are dedicated to spreading the importance of National Heat Safety Month this July. Co-founder Chris Valletta, former NFL player, experienced heat related illness during his college and professional football playing days — so this initiative is personal for him. Mission is so passionate about Heat Safety they invested in The Mission Heat Safety Lab at UConn’s Korey Stringer Institute. Mission products have been tested on athletes with state-of-the-art equipment like high speed treadmills, advanced bike ergometers and a comprehensive physiological monitoring system — so you know these items are legit! “Mission and the Heat Safety Coalition has the ultimate goal of improving heat safety in the consumer and industrial settings. These cooling products are a vehicle to get there.” —Dr. ...

Everyone has their spirit of choice, but not many can say that theirs comes with added health benefits. If tequila isn’t your favorite spirit, you may want to rethink your go-to drink. 100% agave tequila is one of the cleanest liquors out there and, when consumed in moderation, can actually improve your overall health. So, drink up (responsibly, that is) and enjoy in more ways than one. LOW CAL + GLUTEN FREE For the calorie conscious, tequila is the way to go with around 60 kcal per shot — much lower than wine, champagne and hard seltzers. 100% agave tequila is also gluten free and even helps aid in digestion by promoting growth of good bacteria. GOOD VIBES ONLY Contrary to other spirits, tequila is an upper rather than a downer, so it’s more likely to elevate your mood. It also contains less congeners (fermented products found in most spirits), which is much less likely to give you a hangover the next day. SWEET DREAMS Relaxation and calming are also some of the positi...

During this pandemic-prolonged absence of competitive sports, we can at least count on C-SPAN for a daily dose of distraction and entertainment. The cutthroat arena of political MMA that can only be viewed in the U.S. Senate recently produced a real-world underdog tale for the ages with longstanding implications for outdoor aficionados of all walks. Earlier this month, the notoriously gridlocked chamber took a major step toward attaining what many consider the Holy Grail of conservation legislation in the modern era. Known as the Great American Outdoors Act, the landmark legislative package—one that provides unprecedented benefits to the nation’s system of public lands—passed through the Senate with a rare showing of bipartisan support. The anticipated slam dunk victory now moves to the U.S. House of Representatives and eventually the Oval Office for the president’s signature. Should the bill emerge triumphant, it’s the American public that will ultimately reap the spoils. Everyone f...

When travel becomes more ubiquitous (and safe) again, you’ll likely want to prioritize remote adventures. We found the most epic trips on all seven continents, from Ethiopia to Italy and beyond to give you some inspiration. The Most Epic and Remote Adventures to Experience on All 7 Continents Tuscany, Italy: An Adventure Renaissance Even just saying the word Tuscany feels relaxing. But don’t mistake this part of Italy for being only about vineyard tours and villa escapes. The region has long been an under-the-radar haven for plucky Italians seeking out an adrenaline buzz, as I learned last year. COVID-19 Travel Tips: How to Stay Safe in Airports and on Planes Mountain ranges like the dramatic Apuan Alps, which rise 6,000 feet from the Mediterranean Sea, and dormant volcanoes like Monte Amiata provide thrilling downhill mountain-bike runs and networks of forest hikes. There are quiet roads and gravel trails for road cycling, plenty of crags and ridges for climbing, and even ...

A scrappy, rebellious, brand founded by a dirtbag bike and ski bum, Ripton & Co. might be the first company to positions cutoff jeans shorts as technical mountain biking gear. Call it hokey, but Ripton has hit a nerve with the millennial crowd. The company sold through its first order last winter. With sales of Action Jorts 2.0 proceeding at the same blistering pace, expect to see them on a trail near you soon. Outdoor Brands Stepping Up to Support Racial Equality and Social Justice “I never wore jeans when I lived in Vermont—they were too heavy and hot,” said Ripton founder Elliot Wilkinson-Ray, who named his company after a town in the Green Mountain State. “I moved to California, and everyone was wearing denim. It was the fancy hip alternative vibe.” Photo: Courtesy of Ripton & Co. Wilkinson-Ray worked on the marketing team for California-based Kitsbow, makers of stretchy cycling jeans, and other bike commuter-styled apparel. That’s where his obsession with technical ...

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 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 fin...

Remind yourself that the lockdown is an opportunity to take time to rest, heal some nagging injuries, and pause and reflect on your training goals. Before the Great Lockdown, many of us refused to take time away from the gym. The forced absence might have been a blessing in disguise for you. At the very least, it will have forced you to take some rest and let nagging injuries heal .   read more from Breaking Muscle https://ift.tt/2Zg2bEi via IFTTT

Remind yourself that the lockdown is an opportunity to take time to rest, heal some nagging injuries, and pause and reflect on your training goals. Before the Great Lockdown, many of us refused to take time away from the gym. The forced absence might have been a blessing in disguise for you. At the very least, it will have forced you to take some rest and let nagging injuries heal .   read more from Fitness https://ift.tt/31u5quy via IFTTT

Yosemite National Park is now open (with limits; campgrounds remain closed). As a local climber, this means I’m taking day-trips into the nearby park and revisiting my favorite famed routes in the “Center of the Universe,” as it’s known to climbers all over the world. The park offers climbing options unmatched anywhere for their length and grandeur—waterfalls flow down giant golden granite, cracks split the rock vertically for hundreds of feet, and slender spires pepper the canyon walls. Finally, after months of training at home on hangboards and trail running to stay fit, I’m scrambling over the boulders in historic Camp 4, jamming splitter cracks, and running up cruiser lines like the 2,000-foot Royal Arches route . The walk-off for this route snakes its way across the precipice of Yosemite Valley, following a faint climber’s trail of worn lichen before descending slabs and narrow ledges. Half Dome commands the view. The final descent gully is one of the most scenic—not to mentio...

Chef Gordon Ramsay took up triathlons to get in shape. Little did he know they’d set the groundwork for the most physically demanding TV program of his career, Uncharted . — as told to Charles Thorp Gordon Ramsay Gets Candid: Doing Triathlons Saved My Life In Uncharted , I’m parachuting into places for a week, trying to keep up with regional chefs on their home turf, collecting ingredients from the tops of mountains to the bottom of the ocean. The lifestyle required to be at your best for a triathlon keeps me in check. And being fit allows me to say yes to more opportunities. 12 Ways to Improve Your Triathlon Time Going Uncharted I took the preparation for  Uncharted seriously. In Guyana, I had to rappel 250 feet out of a helicopter, so I did a special upper-body routine with pullups and holds to help me grapple onto the rope with the rotor wash and winds. That training also came in handy in Indonesia during a traditional race called the pacu jawi , where I had to hang ...

On the muggiest, swampiest days of summer, you’ve no doubt questioned if running shirtless is the best way to beat the heat. But before you start thinking about how to kit up or strip down, you should understand what happens to your body in the heat. “When you exercise, you use energy that’s stored in your body to perform the work,” explains Samuel N. Cheuvront, Ph.D. , a research physiologist who studies fluid balance and endurance exercise. “But only about 20 percent of all the energy we’re generating when we exercise actually goes toward performing the physical work; the rest of it is turned into heat.” Your body has a limited capacity for storing that heat energy. So when your brain senses your body temperature has increased, it elicits two responses: It shunts more blood flow to the skin, where increased vasodilation—a widening of the blood vessels at the skin’s surface—prepares your body to start dumping heat, explains Chris Minson , a professor of human physiology at th...