No matter how you feel about crunches, core strength is important. A strong core means a stronger upper body; it takes the stress off your joints and other muscles, and can even help alleviate upper and lower back pain and tension. If you’ve just made the decision to get fit: congrats! Use these moves to help you get started on strengthening those inner core muscles. If you’re back from taking break a break or just sick of your usual ab routine: congrats to you as well for getting back in the game or for mixing things up and pushing through. Now let’s get started!

1. The Anti-Crunches Workout 

This workout posted by Daily Burn is simple and crunch-free because, well, who really enjoys doing a million crunches anyways? There’s a better way! Daily Burn is giving us six crunchless ab exercises, all described in vivid detail. They let you know what areas specifically each exercise targets, and offer modifications so you can complete each move no matter what your level or physical limitations. Simple, informative, and crunchless? Sign us up!

2. Easy [Basic] Ab Exercises 

These easy ab exercises from Ask Men can be done in the comfort of your own home, and are as effective as they are convenient and simple. They’re pretty basic, featuring crunches as their number one easy ab exercise. And let’s face it, they are effective. If you don’t mind dropping and doing a few every day, you’ll be well on your way to tighter abs. But they include other suggestions in this article as well, like torso twists and standing side bends.

3. Simple Belly-Blasting Workout 

Health.com’s Simple Belly-Blasting Workout features four fun, easy moves you can do at home to trim your waist, flatten your belly, and tighten your abs. A healthy fitness routine is all about finding what’s right for you, and having fun with it. These easy moves are designed for anyone to be able to do, and once you’ve mastered them, you can amp up your routine.

4. 5-Minute YouTube Workout

This short, five-minute workout by YouTuber HASfit has gotten rave reviews. The comments section is filled with YouTube users touting their results after adopting this workout into their daily routine. Any easy ab workout producing such phenomenal results is definitely worth a shot!

5. 15-Minute Crunch-Free Workout

We started this article off with a crunchless workout, and we’re ending it with one too. Because we figure if you’re a beginner, it’s likely you’re dreading crunches. And trust us, we understand. This article insists you’re better off without them anyways, and features exercises guaranteed to work your entire core, as opposed to the small amount of midsection typically worked by crunches. They suggest doing this routine three days a week for quick results—sounds like a good deal to us!

We hope these easy workouts get you on your way to tighter abs! Need to stock up on workout attire for the occasion? Check out Athlete Beyond.

The benefits of regular yoga practice are boundless. Yoga has been known to reduce stress, increase flexibility, build muscle, improve posture, and increase blood flow. It can help you focus, sleep better, breathe better—the list goes on .

Daily exercise is already a great way to reduce stress, but yoga in particular has a strong effect on the body and mind by creating mindfulness through awareness of the breath. If you’re skeptic, “mindfulness” and “awareness” might just sound like silly fad words. But even psychologists point to mindfulness as a way to better cope with major and minor life events by observing experiences without judging them as good or bad.

If you’re interested in the calming effects yoga can have on the mind and body, you might benefit from giving it a try. We’ve compiled a list of 10 yoga poses to relieve stress to help you get started:

1. Child’s Pose

Child’s pose calms the mind and helps relieve stress and fatigue. It also stretches the hips, thighs, and ankles, and can relieve back and neck pain. 

2. Corpse Pose

Corpse pose is a great pose for mindful meditation. It relaxes your mind and body, relieves mild depression, lowers blood pressure, and can help ease headache, fatigue, and insomnia.

3. Legs Up the Wall Pose

This deeply relaxing pose calms the nervous system and aids in digestion. Combined with deep rhythmic breathing, this pose can help quiet the mind and get you ready for sleep.

4. Cat-Cow Pose

Cat-cow is actually a combination of two poses in a gentle flow. It warms the body, brings flexibility to the spine, opens the chest, stimulates the kidneys and adrenal glands, and relieves stress and anxiety.

5. Tree Pose

Tree pose helps develop balance and mind/body awareness. It calms and relaxes your central nervous system, while it strengthens your thighs, groin, shoulders, core, calves, and foot muscles. Find how to do it here.

6. Extended Puppy Pose

This pose helps relieve tension in the shoulders, spine, upper back, and arms. It can help ease chronic tension, insomnia, stress and anxiety.

7. Seated Forward Fold

This toe-touching pose provides a deep stretch to the entire back of the body, while calming the nervous system and emotions, and stimulating the reproductive and urinary systems.

8. Eagle Pose

Eagle pose focuses on balance and eases tension in the legs, shoulders, and back. (https://yogainternational.com/article/view/eagle-pose-step-by-step)

9. Reclining Bound Angle Pose

This pose helps relieve stress and mild depression, as well as symptoms of menstruation and menopause. It stimulates the abdominal organs and increases blood flow, and provides a stretch for the inner thighs, knees, and groin (http://www.yogajournal.com/pose/reclining-bound-angle-pose/).

10. Cobra Pose

Cobra pose opens the chest, improves circulation, and reduces fatigue and stress. It also has the added benefit of toning the abdomen while stretching the entire back and shoulders.

Ready to throw on a pair of yoga pants and get started? Check out Athlete Beyond for athletic apparel to keep you cool and comfortable throughout your practice.

During the winter, we can’t help but reach for comfort foods. It’s cold and dreary outside and not only is your body working harder to keep warm, but your mood is probably down, making you more likely to reach for snacks in an attempt to raise your spirits. But summertime is another story. The sunny months of summer inspire fresh fruits and vegetables, garden salads, and light, clean meals. What a relief!

Your binder is stocked with dinner recipes suitable for a warm evening on the terrace, but what about lunch? Leftovers in a Tupperware container? Not so fun. There are plenty of clean eating lunch recipes that you can enjoy at home or at work over the summer.

Summer Salads

Celebrate summer with a fresh tossed salad topped with yummy summer fruits like watermelon, peaches, and cherries. Add some nuts, meat, and/or egg for protein and you’re golden! Here are some delicious-looking summer salad recipes:

1. 17 Loaded Healthy Salads

This list of 17 salads is packed with fresh summer options, like the Spinach, Strawberry, and Peach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing, the Tropical Pineapple Salad, and the Summer Chicken Taco Salad. So many options!

2. 10 Healthy Quinoa Salads

Not only is quinoa good for you, but it’s ridiculously easy to prepare, so you can throw any of these 10 quinoa-based salads together in no time. The Quinoa Salad with Roasted Corn and Mango sounds particularly appetizing.

3. Thai Tuna Power Bowl 

Power Bowls are basically super salads. They’re untraditional in that there isn’t usually a leafy base. Instead, the bowl is just packed with veggies, some kind of protein, a type of grain (optional,) and a flavorful dressing. This one looks like a simple tuna fish salad upgrade that we would definitely be game for.

Wraps

Wraps are an obvious go-to for lunches. Step it up a notch with some delicious summer twists on the ol’ classic.

1. Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps 

Is it obvious that we love Thai food yet? Ditch the flour tortillas and try these lettuce wraps instead. They’re packed with veggies and healthy ingredients, and they’re easy to make!

2. Hummus Veggie Wrap

The great thing about a recipe like this is that you can customize it however you’d like, and change it up every week. All you need is a whole wheat tortilla, hummus, your veggies of choice, and maybe a little homemade balsamic dressing or a sprinkle or feta cheese to jazz things up a bit.

3. Summer Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce

It’s all in the name. These summer rolls are a perfect, healthy way to eat lunch when you have a little more time on your hands. Just slice up some veggies and follow the recipe for the dressing and how to wrap the rolls, and you’ve got yourself a fresh meal.

Eating healthy over the summer is important, and so is staying active! Check out Athlete Beyond for athletic apparel to compliment your healthy lifestyle.

Summer is in full swing, and you know what all this beautiful weather means: time to get outside and get moving. Whether or not you’ve spent the better half of this year hiding inside on the couch, take advantage of the sunshine and channel some serious summer energy to get in shape. Looking for some awesome summer workouts? These are our top 5 summer workouts for men and women—they’re perfect for anyone! Check it out:

1. Get Fit Summer Challenge

This summer body challenge by Buzzfeed is at the top of our list because it’s so detailed. They give you a workout for every day of your routine that combines strength and cardio. They’ve also gone the extra mile to include 25 healthy recipes to eat while you’re on the plan, and we all know how important a healthy diet is! They even help you decide what meals are best for your activity level—Buzzfeed really outdid themselves. This workout plan has it all.

2. The Super Organized Full Body Schedule

Why do we love this summer workout schedule? It’s easy to follow and it’s thorough. Each workout is laid out for you in order: arms, abs, and legs. Every day you simply mix and match which area you’re focusing on—but it’s always the same simple workouts. Do this for a month and you’ll watch yourself get toned right before your eyes. Then repeat until the summer is over and the leaves start to fall.

3. Ultimate Summer Workout Plan 

This workout plan by Active stresses the importance of commitment and consistency. They encourage you to use this plan as a starting point, and to branch out and get creative from there to create your own personalized plan. The workout template incorporates just about every type of workout imaginable—from cardio to bodyweight calisthenics to hill and stair repeats. What better way to get committed than to make it your own? Brilliant.

4. The Yogi’s Summer Plan

Have you always wanted to become a master yogi? Summertime is the perfect opportunity to take your mat outside and get stretching. This article by Yoga Journal has a fun step-by-step flow that’s perfect for summer, and it includes a video as well, which is always helpful to make sure you’re nailing those tricky moves.

5. For Rainy Days 

It’s not always sunshine and butterflies during the months of summer. Rainy days are a drag, but that doesn’t mean you should skip your workout for the day! This indoor cardio routine will get you moving without having to leave the comfort of your home. Afterwards, you can hide in bed all day. We won’t judge you.

The best part about summer workouts? Showing off and taking advantage of your sweet workout clothes. Check out Athlete Beyond for performance athletic apparel that is equal parts efficient and stylish. Their sweat-wicking material will keep you dry all summer and it looks good. It’s a win-win!

During the winter, we can’t help but reach for comfort foods. It’s cold and dreary outside and not only is your body working harder to keep warm, but your mood is probably down, making you more likely to reach for snacks in an attempt to raise your spirits. But summertime is another story. The sunny months of summer inspire fresh fruits and vegetables, garden salads, and light, clean meals. What a relief!

Your binder is stocked with dinner recipes suitable for a warm evening on the terrace, but what about lunch? Leftovers in a Tupperware container? Not so fun. There are plenty of clean eating lunch recipes that you can enjoy at home or at work over the summer.

Summer Salads

Celebrate summer with a fresh tossed salad topped with yummy summer fruits like watermelon, peaches, and cherries. Add some nuts, meat, and/or egg for protein and you’re golden! Here are some delicious-looking summer salad recipes:

1. 17 Loaded Healthy Salads

This list of 17 salads is packed with fresh summer options, like the Spinach, Strawberry, and Peach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing, the Tropical Pineapple Salad, and the Summer Chicken Taco Salad. So many options!

2. 10 Healthy Quinoa Salads

Not only is quinoa good for you, but it’s ridiculously easy to prepare, so you can throw any of these 10 quinoa-based salads together in no time. The Quinoa Salad with Roasted Corn and Mango sounds particularly appetizing.

3. Thai Tuna Power Bowl 

Power Bowls are basically super salads. They’re untraditional in that there isn’t usually a leafy base. Instead, the bowl is just packed with veggies, some kind of protein, a type of grain (optional,) and a flavorful dressing. This one looks like a simple tuna fish salad upgrade that we would definitely be game for.

Wraps

Wraps are an obvious go-to for lunches. Step it up a notch with some delicious summer twists on the ol’ classic.

1. Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Is it obvious that we love Thai food yet? Ditch the flour tortillas and try these lettuce wraps instead. They’re packed with veggies and healthy ingredients, and they’re easy to make!

2. Hummus Veggie Wrap

The great thing about a recipe like this is that you can customize it however you’d like, and change it up every week. All you need is a whole wheat tortilla, hummus, your veggies of choice, and maybe a little homemade balsamic dressing or a sprinkle or feta cheese to jazz things up a bit.

3. Summer Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce

It’s all in the name. These summer rolls are a perfect, healthy way to eat lunch when you have a little more time on your hands. Just slice up some veggies and follow the recipe for the dressing and how to wrap the rolls, and you’ve got yourself a fresh meal.

Eating healthy over the summer is important, and so is staying active! Check out Athlete Beyond for athletic apparel to compliment your healthy lifestyle.