Monthly Archives

June 2021

June 26, 2021
3

THE PLANK TO EASE LOWER BACK PAIN

By | Fitness, Health | One Comment

Everyone knows the plank, not many people love the plank! It strengthens the core muscles involved in ‘anti extension’ which is basically any movement that resists extending the lower back. This exercise uses all of your abdominals, as well as glutes, legs, arms, and shoulders, doesn’t it just sound magical?

In 2018 a study was conducted, where 30 people of both genders who had lower back pain (for more than two weeks) were asked to do 5 plank exercises every day for three weeks. The results have shown that a plank not only strengthens various muscle groups, but also reduces back pain and improves the quality of life.

The key to the perfect plank is keeping your hips in line with the rest of your body, don’t stick your bum in the air and equally don’t let it fall towards the floor making an arch in your back…easier said than done! It is crucial to focus on doing the plank correctly, otherwise you might hurt some muscles, or even worse – suffer for no result!

The best way to start is from kneeling, come onto your forearms with your palms flat on the floor, next you need to activate your thigh muscles to straighten your legs. If you really push your elbows into the floor, then your shoulder blades will open up. Next tuck your tailbone, squeeze your glues and draw your stomach in, try pulling your feet towards your elbows and vice versa. Now for the hard part…hold it!

If you’re not used to it, then try holding for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times. As you get used to holding the plank position, try and extend how long you’re holding it for. See if you can work up to 2.5 minutes and again, repeat 3 times.

As plank activates all your muscled it might be a good idea to do it in the very beginning of your workout as a mini warm up (it does not substitute a proper warm up). Next time you roll your yoga mat out to exercise start with a series of planks switching from the regular elbow plank to the side ones.

If you stick to the instructions and do it often enough, there’s a chance you will love this exercise at some point. Good luck! You can do it!

Your Glow Concierge

June 19, 2021
2

NUTRITION HACKS FOR BETTER PERIODS

By | Food for thought, Health, Nutrition | No Comments

“That time of the month” doesn’t need to mean bloating, mood swings or painful cramps. Avoid period fatigue with these nutrition tweaks and you could be on your way to downgrading or eliminating symptoms all together!

UP THOSE OMEGA 3’s
Good fats, like Omega 3’s, are a dream at helping your body reduce inflammation which is key in reducing cramping. High-quality fats are exactly what your body needs to balance hormones and they even help clear skin. Look to add avocados, olive oil and grass-fed butter to your diet. They are great to sneak into your smoothies and salads – you’ll barely notice.

SAY BYE BYE TO PROCESSED FOOD
Eating whole foods is brilliant for your body and its functions. Your body is intelligent, when you put an apple into it or lean chicken, it knows what to do with it.
Go and check your pantry now, pick up a food that has a label on it. Read the list of the ingredients – if there are ingredients you can’t pronounce, then it stands to reason that your body won’t know how to digest them either!

EAT THE RAINBOW
Increase your consumption of fruits and vegetables. When you get playful and try and eat every color of the rainbow you soon find you have added additional fiber, vitamins and minerals without even trying. With a special shout out to phytonutrients which only exist in plant based food. They talk directly to our cells, helping increase immunity and decrease inflammation.

GET PICKY WITH YOUR PROTEINS.
It’s very simple when you think about it. Our bodies produce our own hormones and then balance them in line with our cycle. If we start to add new hormones – from factory farmed meat – we give our body new work to do and evolution hasn’t yet taught us how to do this and maintain a pain free period.
Buying organic grass fed meat (and where possible keep it local) takes this stress off of our bodies so it can focus on what it does best. Many people have noted that reduced meat consumption provides a more comfortable flow.

Daisy Quin – Yoga Instructor and Nutritionist in LA

@spiritualmixtape

June 12, 2021
3

BENEFITS OF HAVING A WORK-OUT BUDDY

By | Fitness | 2 Comments

In general, we all know that working out is great. Great for our health, mood, eating patterns and overall well-being. Still, for many it is not enough to commit to exercising for a long time. But would having another person doing it with you change something?

Studies show that having an exercise buddy can have positive effects on the life attitude, relationship building and class attendance. But let’s take it one by one.

  1. Improved attendance

When you are on your own, it is quite easy to decide against a workout. But what if there is a coach and a close friend waiting for you just outside your house. You will not only stop creating excuses, but go out there looking forward to spending some time with them.

2.Workouts can get more productive

Generally if we see another individual doing what we are supposed to, it gives us motivation and makes the task seem more achievable. It is also be quite fun to discuss this tough workout with your friend afterwards.

3.Find a fit friend

A 2016 study has shown that people gravitate towards the exercise behaviors of those around them. So, overweight people tend to lose more weight if they spend time with their fit friends — the more time they spend together, the more weight they lose.

And these are just some of the benefits. The main advantage of sharing your workouts with a friend with Glow Concierge is that you get a personal coach for half the price!

Here’s some math, so you get our point:

  1. Workouts with Christina

For 2 – 60CHF per person (10xPackage – 50CHF)

For 3 –40CHF per person (10xPackage – 33CHF)

2.Tridosha Yoga with Melanie (also available online)

For 2 – 75CHF per person (10xPackage – 62 CHF)

For 3 –  50CHF per person (10xPackage – 41CHF)

For 4 –  37CHF per person (10xPackage – 31CHF)

Your Glow Concierge

June 5, 2021
4

FACE LIFTING – BETTER THAN ANY CREAM

By | Beauty, Fashion, Health | One Comment

Why do we believe expensive creams can help our face look younger, and yet exercise to do the same thing for our body? There are 43 muscles in the face, but we only use 30 percent of them. Can it be beneficial to work with them as well?

A throughout massage of the face and daily exercises can lift and smoothen your face better than any cream or serum. We are not telling you to throw away all the beauty products you own. But the next time you stand in front of the mirror, consider massaging your face for a couple of minutes, and you’ll see the results as soon as you do it!

Why exercise?

Let’s take the “abs” for example. In our everyday life there are not so many occasions when these muscles are really working. And yet every single person is willing to die in the gym for a six-pack.

The same happens with our facial muscles. Daily we are using just a little portion of them while chewing, smiling, talking etc. But if we were to spend at least 15 minutes a day on facial exercises, there would be no more complaints of saggy necks, jowls or puffy eyes.

Manual lifting

Manual lifting is another technique to make your face look younger and skin smoother. Done on your own or with the help of a professional, this massage prevents aging, aids lymphatic system and drains excess water from the face.

After just a couple of minutes of rubbing and stroking, you can already feel your face become slimmer and cheekbones more visible. Isn’t it a dream come true?!

Don’t make it worse

Both these procedures, however, need to be done with caution. It is very important not to do any harm or make it look even worse. We recommend consulting with a professional before starting these exercises or massages on your own.

Our providers are always there to help. For example, try out the facial toning with Nadia ONLINE. In just 30 minutes she’ll teach you all the basics of facial exercises which you can easily perform on your own, or even at the elevator, in the car or walking down the street.

(Nadia is also teaching yoga in Zug. To access her online yoga and facial toning lessons, dial 6300 Postcode on our website)

When it comes to manual lifting, both Caterina and Eleftheria are offering 1 hour long facial massages in Zurich Lake and Zug regions. These qualified masters will follow all the essential lines on the face and reactivate the muscles so that the skin becomes smoother and gains elasticity.

Caring for your health&beauty since 2018

Your Glow Concierge