Category: Writer Samples

Witten by Sai J.
Category: Health & Fitness 

Did you know that a 1.5kmph running (indoor workouts) could burn approximately 550 calories per hour? It boosts your immunity, enhances lung function and lowers the risk of developing blood clots.

“Did you know that a 1.5kmph running could burn approximately 550 calories per hour?

Researchers also point that daily running can help women combat the risk of developing blood cancer. Doctors advise running and jogging for patients suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, depression, high level of stress and low morale.

It is thus a universally agreed fact that running is by far the most effective forms of workout and is good for all age groups. However, there will be days when running is not a feasible option. Imagine a rainy day, cold climate or a difficult terrain.

Running or any form of outdoor exercise in such cases is just an impossible thought. Let us explore the benefits of some alternatives for staying fit even when you can’t run.

6 Best Types of Indoor Exercises With Their Benefits

There are many indoor workouts you can try when running is out of the question, and you need to maintain your physical health.

However, let us look at the top ones, which will enable you to burn calories at the comfort of your home without getting bored.

1. Skipping

I bet that was the first workout that would come when looking at alternatives for running. Imagine the possibility of burning more than 200 calories in a 10-minute workout session.

Skipping makes that possible. Not only that, this form of indoor workouts enhances sprinting speed of athletes, increases their endurance and helps improve your cadence.

Skipping is one of the most effective forms of cardio workout.

You have so many variations to try that you would never get tired of it. Some of the common variations you can try out are:

• Forward skip
• Backward skip
• Cross-over skip
• Lateral skip
• Cyclical and cyclical A-skip

2. Squats

It is worth noting that a half an hour squats workout burns around 112 calories. This exercise works out your buttocks, hamstrings, thighs, and lower-back making it an ideal indoor workouts for running enthusiasts who want to strengthen and loosen their leg muscles.

It enhances your endurance and helps in improving agility and speed. Try jump squats or couple it with an overhead press to get better results and to burn more calories.

3. Cycling and rowing

The stationary cycle and rowing machines found in gyms are your ideal partners for working out indoors. While it gives your body a break from the high impact of running, it specifically targets the quadriceps and shin muscles making you more agile and flexible.

It also strengthens the hip, knee and ankle joints to make it more resistant to injuries. Similarly, indoor rowing machines also provide strength and endurance to your upper body along with your hips, knees, and ankles making it more flexible and toned.

4. Elliptical Trainer

Surprised, aren’t you? An elliptical trainer is an incredible cardio workout and is an ideal substitute for outdoor running.

A half an hour session can do wonders for your lungs and heart, help you tone and develop your core and leg muscles. This being a low impact workout, it does less harm on your joints and can be done alongside other indoor workouts.

Interestingly, using one with arm levers, which involves pushing and pulling movements, enables you to develop stronger and agiler arm swing, which is an absolute necessity for athletes. The next time you are looking an alternative for outdoor running, don’t let all those weights on the elliptical trainer intimidate you!

5. Push ups and Pull ups

These two are the ultimate bodyweight exercise for running enthusiasts. They are known for targeting the large muscle groups and improving your speed, agility, and endurance.

It enhances your overall performance and burns calories quickly. Just like running, these exercises also tone your muscles and boost your strength to a great extent.

If you feel that you can do more than 20 at a stretch try more complex and difficult forms of to get better results while keeping you interested and engaged.

6. Treadmills

I know you’ve got your eyes rolling on this! But believe me when I say that treadmills are not as overrated as you think and it can be worth the time spent if done the right way.

While many running enthusiasts don’t believe in treadmills and prefer the alternate forms of workouts mentioned before, this has its perks as well.

Try different speeds, add hills or add intervals to make your treadmill sessions more challenging and interesting. Unlike normal running, you can’t alter your speed unless you slow down the treadmill while running on it.

You can improve your stride length, ground contact time and work on your agility and endurance level all at once with the help of treadmills. Just give it a chance.

Suggested Reading: 99+ Best Guest Posting Sites To Build Backlinks & Traffic

Conclusion

Running is an excellent workout, but believe me, there are a plethora of options and work out variations available for the running enthusiasts who want to stay fit and in shape. You just need to figure out what works for your body and workout accordingly.

Running is a complete body activity and strengthens your glutes, core, back, arms and legs. Try brisk walking on stairs or do some lunges.

It all depends on your physique, your ability, and endurance level. Indoor body strengthening workouts can definitely save a lot of your time in the gym and give you exactly the same result as your daily quota of running.

Written by Priyanka A.
Category: Education

Teaching is an art that is acquired with experience and inherent wisdom and can be learned through external media only to a certain extent. How to increase student participation in a classroom is unique to each teacher. Every age group of children comes with its special set of needs, wants, and expectations. The methods used to engage toddlers cannot be used for adolescents, and the same goes for pre-teens, teenagers, and college kids. There are, however, some methods that teachers can use to increase student engagement at all levels of learning because they focus more on the psyche of students as learners than just kids. Here are 8 such ways.

1. Create an emotionally and intellectually safe environment

Fostering a classroom environment where students understand that acceptance of each other is significant and primary. You can have a class motto that says, “We will not put anyone down. We will never make fun of anyone. We will work together and help each other”. More importantly, you as a teacher must also follow this motto and lead by example. The reassurance that they can be themselves without being subjected to negativity encourages students to participate in classroom activities more freely.

“You can have a class motto that says, ‘We will not put anyone down. We will never make fun of anyone. We will work together and help each other’.”

An intellectually safe classroom environment stems from creating activities that everyone in the class can manage to do. If you start off by giving students tough assignments or problems, then most of them will lose interest immediately. On the contrary, beginning with simpler tasks that almost everyone can do easily will be a confidence booster and increase their enthusiasm. Add a challenge like – the tasks will keep getting slightly tougher as we go ahead – as this will get your students expectant and excited about what is to come.

2. Up the pace

‘Slow teaching helps students understand better’ is a common misconception. In fact, A slow pace of teaching deters students from actively participating in the lessons and is one of the reasons for class lethargy and diverted attention. Going too fast doesn’t help either. A teacher must be able to find the middle-ground when it comes to the pace of the class. It should be brisk, filled with examples, maybe some anecdotes or jokes, and include questions. You can also ask simple questions that have short answers which the entire class can answer together. This is useful in waking up any dozers too!

“A slow pace of teaching deters students from actively participating in the lessons and is one of the reasons for class lethargy and diverted attention.”

3. The 10:2 Method

This approach entails giving students 2 minutes of processing time for every 10 minutes of teaching. You can ask them to recap what they have learned by writing it down, asking a few students to stand up and share with the class, asking questions, or having them discuss it with their neighbor. It breaks down the lecture into shorter sessions and helps students integrate and absorb what they have just learned, instead of being overdosed with a load of non-stop information coming their way, helping them engage better in class.

4. Use technology

Student engagement in the classroom can be increased quite effectively using technology. When handing out homework assignments, encourage students to use the internet for research. Or, when you are having a class discussion about the status of everyone’s assignment, you can ask students to share their research and study with the rest of the class. Another way to make proper use of technology is to refer to interactive websites or funny memes, pictures, infographics, and even videos that are available on the internet as a part of the lesson. It will keep the students attentive and engaged and make the lesson memorable.

Image source: pexels.com

5. Lateral thinking over Right answers

If a classroom environment bolsters lateral thinking and explanation over a ‘there’s only one right answer’ approach, student engagement increases. As a teacher, you should encourage more than one way to arrive at a solution. The actual process that a student follows to get the answer is more important than the real answer, which is unfortunately not encouraged in most learning environments. When students are made to think about a problem and find their way around it, the victory is more fulfilling than when one method is enforced on them.

“If a classroom environment bolsters lateral thinking and explanation over a ‘there’s only one right answer’ approach, student engagement increases.”

6. Break down the assignment

It is always easier for students to complete an assignment or project if it is broken down into smaller milestones. Simply handing it out with a specified deadline doesn’t help increase students’ engagement. Instead, discuss their progress each day or alternate day, asking them how they are planning to go about it, assisting them where needed will make the assignment easier for them to understand, and help them complete it more efficiently.

7. Make them aware of what they learned

Self-awareness of what they have learned and how much they have understood goes a long way in ensuring that students remained attentive and engaged in the classroom. Many students are confused and unsure about their knowledge of what is taught in class. To make them aware of how much they do and don’t know, have them make three columns in their book – unsure, maybe, definitely sure. Then ask them to mark an ‘X’ under a column for their assurance about their answers. It encourages students to recheck answers and increases their self-confidence on getting an ‘unsure’ answer right.

Image source: teachermagazine.com.au

8. The 3-2-1 Summary Method

At the end of the class, ask students to summarize the classroom session using the 3-2-1 Method. This should include –

• 3 things that they learned
• 2 things that they found interesting in the lesson
• 1 question/doubt that they have

You can ask them to use a journal or diary to jot these things down or ask a few students to share their thoughts with the rest of the class. Don’t forget to give them some ‘think time’; you can end the class a few minutes before the bell for this activity. Remember that being persuasive about this activity will be a real push for students to do it diligently and hence, pay attention in class. In conclusion, most children consider school and studying as an unnecessary burden that is forced upon them when they would much rather be enjoying a carefree time. A teacher can drive change and make learning an activity that they look forward to. Engaging children on their current emotional and psychological level is always effective. If they can relate to you and find your subject interesting, then you have successfully managed to make them look forward to studyin