100 No-Equipment Workouts – by Neila Rey

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For those of us who for whatever reason prefer to exercise at home rather than at the gym, we must make do with what exercise equipment we can reasonably install in our homes. This book deals with that from the ground upwards—literally!

If you have a few square meters of floorspace (and a ceiling that’s not too low, for exercises that involve any kind of jumping), then all 100 of these zero-equipment exercises are at-home options.

As to what kinds of exercises they are, they each marked as being one or both of “cardio” and “strength”.

They’re also marked as being of “difficulty level” 1, 2, or 3, so that someone who hasn’t exercised in a while (or hasn’t exercised like this at all), can know where best to start, and how best to progress.

The exercises come with clear explanations in the text, and clear line-drawing illustrations of how to do each exercise. Really, they could not be clearer; this is top quality pragmatism, and reads like a military manual.

Bottom line: whatever your strength and fitness goals, this book can see you well on your way to them (if not outright get you there already in many cases). It’s also an excellent “all-rounder” for full-body workouts.

Click here to check out 100 No-Equipment Workouts, and find the joy and freedom in not needing anything at all for full-body training!

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  • Eggplant vs Okra – Which is Healthier?

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    Our Verdict

    When comparing eggplant to okra, we picked the okra.

    Why?

    In terms of macros, there really isn’t much between them. Technically okra has about 2x the protein, but 2x not a lot is still not a lot. So we’d call this round either a tie, or the slenderest of nominal wins for okra.

    In the category of vitamins, eggplant has a tiny bit more of vitamin B5, that is the say, the vitamin that’s in almost every food and that it’s almost impossible to be deficient in unless literally starving to death, while okra has lot more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B7, B9, C, E, and K, winning this round by a country mile.

    Looking at minerals, eggplant is not higher in any minerals, while okra has more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, for an overwhelming win in this round.

    In other considerations, okra also has more polyphenols, so that’s another point in its favor.

    Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for okra, but by all means do enjoy either or both, as diversity is best!

    Want to learn more?

    You might like:

    What’s Your Plant Diversity Score?

    Enjoy!

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  • Gut – by Dr. Giulia Enders

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    On account of being an organ (or rather, a system of organs) whose functions are almost entirely autonomic, most of us don’t think about our gut much. We usually know there’s acid in the stomach, and we usually know there are “good and bad” gut bacteria. But what of the rest of what goes on?

    For anyone who has a hazy half-remembered knowledge from school, this will serve as not only a reminder, but a distinct upgrade in knowledge.

    Dr. Giuliua Enders talks us through not just the processes of what goes on, but, as a medical doctor, also many instances of what can go wrong, for example:

    • Why do some people’s bodies mistake nuts for a deadly threat (and consequently, accidentally elevate them to the status of actually becoming a deadly threat)?
    • Why are some people lactose-intolerant, and why do food intolerances often pop up later with age?
    • Why do constipation and diarrhoea happen?
    • Why is it that stress can cause stomach ulcers?

    The style of writing is light and easy-reading, and the illustrations are clear too. This is a very accessible book that doesn’t assume prior knowledge, and also doesn’t skimp on the scientific explanations—there’s no dumbing down here.

    Bottom line: knowing what goes on in our gut as akin to knowing what goes on under the hood of a car. A lot of the time we don’t need to know, but knowing can make a big difference from time to time, and that’s when you’ll wish you’d learned!

    Click here to check out Gut and be prepared!

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  • Artichoke vs Onion – Which is Healthier?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing artichoke to onion, we picked the artichoke.

    Why?

    It wasn’t close:

    In terms of macros, artichoke has more than 3x the fiber, more than 3x the protein, and about the same carbs. An easy first-round win for artichoke.

    In the category of vitamins, artichoke has more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B7. B9, C, E, and K, while onions are not higher in any vitamins, though they do at least equal artichoke for vitamin B6. In any case, an overwhelming win for artichokes in this round.

    Looking at minerals next, artichokes have more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc, while onions have more selenium, yielding an 8:1 victory to artichokes here.

    In other considerations, artichokes are much higher in polyphenols, so that’s another point in their favor.

    Adding up the sections makes for a very clear overall win for artichoke, but by all means enjoy either or both, as diversity is best!

    Want to learn more?

    You might like:

    What’s Your Plant Diversity Score?

    Enjoy!

    Share This Post

  • The Midlife Cyclist – by Phil Cavell

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Whether stationary cycling in your living room, or competing in the Tour de France, there’s a lot more to cycling than “push the pedals”—if you want to get good benefits and avoid injury, in any case.

    This book explores the benefits of different kinds of cycling, the biomechanics of various body positions, and the physiology of different kinds of performance, and the impact these things have on everything from your joints to your heart to your telomeres.

    The style is very much conversational, with science included, and a readiness to acknowledge in cases where the author is guessing or going with a hunch, rather than something being well-evidenced. This kind of honesty is always good to see, and it doesn’t detract from where the science is available and clear.

    One downside for some readers will be that while Cavell does endeavour to cover sex differences in various aspects of how they relate to the anatomy and physiology (mostly: the physiology) of cycling, the book is written from a male perspective and the author clearly understands that side of things better. For other readers, of course, this will be a plus.

    Bottom line: if you enjoy cycling, or you’re thinking of taking it up but it seems a bit daunting because what if you do it wrong and need a knee replacement in a few years or what if you hurt your spine or something, then this is the book to set your mind at ease, and put you on the right track.

    Click here to check out The Midlife Cyclist, and enjoy the cycle of life!

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  • Healthy Hormones And How To Hack Them

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Healthy Hormones And How To Hack Them!

    Hormones are vital for far more than they tend to get credit for. Even the hormones that people think of first—testosterone and estrogen—do a lot more than just build/maintain sexual characteristics and sexual function. Without them, we’d lack energy, we’d be depressed, and we’d soon miss the general smooth-running of our bodies that we take for granted.

    And that’s without getting to the many less-talked-about hormones that play a secondary sexual role or are in the same general system…

    How are your prolactin levels, for example?

    Unless you’re ill, taking certain medications, recently gave birth, or picked a really interesting time to read this newsletter, they’re probably normal, by the way.

    But, prolactin can explain “la petite mort”, the downturn in energy and the somewhat depressed mood that many men experience after orgasm.

    Otherwise, if you have too much prolactin in general, you will be sleepy and depressed.

    Prolactin’s primary role? In women, it stimulates milk production when needed. In men, it plays a role in regulating mood and metabolism.

    Read: What Causes High Prolactin Levels in Men?

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  • When Did You Last Have a Cognitive Health Check-Up?

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    When Did You Last Have a Cognitive Health Check-Up?

    Regular health check-ups are an important part of a good health regime, especially as we get older. But after you’ve been prodded, probed, sampled and so forth… When did you last have a cognitive health check-up?

    Keeping on top of things

    In our recent Monday Research Review main feature about citicoline, we noted that it has beneficial effects for a lot of measures of cognitive health.

    And that brought us to realize: just how on top of this are we?

    Your writer here today could tell you what her sleep was like on any night in the past year, what her heart rate was like, her weight, and all that. Moods too! There’s an app for that. But cognitive health? My last IQ test was in 2001, and I forget when my last memory test was.

    It’s important to know how we’re doing, or else how to we know if there has been some decline? We’ve talked previously about the benefits of brain-training of various kinds to improve cognition, so in some parts we’ll draw on the same resources today, but this time the focus is on getting quick measurements that we can retest regularly (mark the calendar!)

    Some quick-fire tests

    These tests are all free, quick, and accessible. Some of them will try to upsell you on other (i.e. paid) services; we leave that to your own discretion, but the things we’ll be using today are free.

    Test your verbal memory

    This one’s a random word list generator. It defaults to 12 words, but you can change that if you like. Memorize the words, and then test yourself by seeing how many you can write down from memory. If it gets too easy, crank up the numbers.

    Click here to try it now

    Test your visual memory

    This one’s a series of images; the test is to click to say whether you’ve seen this exact image previously in the series or not.

    Click here to try it now

    Test your IQ

    This one’s intended to be general purpose intelligence; in reality, IQ tests have their flaws too, but it’s not a bad metric to keep track of. Just don’t get too hung up on the outcome, and remember, your only competition is yourself!

    Click here to try it now

    Test your attention / focus

    This writer opened this and this three other attention tests (to get you the best one) before getting distracted, noting the irony, and finally taking the test. Hopefully you can do better!

    Click here to try it now

    Test your creativity

    This one’s a random object generator. Give yourself a set period of time (per your preference, but make a note of the time you allow yourself, so that you can use the same time period when you retest yourself at a later date) in which to list as many different possible uses for the item.

    Click here to try it now

    Test your musical sense

    This one’s a pitch recognition test. So, with the caveat that it is partially testing your hearing as well as your cognition, it’s a good one to take and regularly retest in any case.

    Click here to try it now

    How often should you retest?

    There’s not really any “should” here, but to offer some advice:

    • If you take them too often, you might find you get bored of doing so and stop, essentially burning out.
    • If you don’t take them regularly, you may forget, lose this list of tests, etc.
    • Likely a good “sweet spot” is quarterly or six-monthly, but there’s nothing wrong with testing annually either.

    It’s all about the big picture, after all.

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