The Internet continuously tells us to put some new foodstuff in our hair or on our faces, but how can you tell what to trust without risking the sticky hairball or bitter backlash? Why, you allow your faithful servants at the Newswire to try them out for you. Therefore, we risked our appearance, health and sanity to educate the masses.
By: Ray Humienny ~Campus News Editor~
Trends in health and fitness are usually met with a lot of skepticism, in my opinion. The supplement industry is a lucrative business, and every website I typically come across has some quick way to get fit only “after you buy my book.” Planning a workout and diet is not that hard, and there is certainly no reason to overthink things. Just to give an example, here’s a program I follow to feel my greatest.
StrongsLifts 5×5 – this is one of the most straightforward workout plans for anyone who is relatively busy but looks to build strength and accomplish personal goals in the gym. You only work out three to four times a week for 45 minutes each visit to the gym.
There are two workouts: squat, shoulder press and deadlift is “Workout A,” and squat, bench press and row is “Workout B.” As the name implies, you do five sets of five reps for each exercise at the same weight. You alternate A and B every other day for three times a week. To spell this out, you can choose to workout Monday, Wednesday and Friday; Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday or some other variation of these days, so long as you are letting your body rest for a day between workouts.
The name also implies that these are strong lifts, since each exercise is a compound lift – you are working a major group, if not several already, during each motion. If you frequently visit O’Connor, starting off at 80 percent of your max should not be too much of an issue, but if you’re a first-timer, it is always good to start light and work your way up. This is an important concept to keep in mind. You are squatting every other day for an indefinite period of time. StrongsLifts is not a 12-week program; 12 weeks is just the beginning.
This program has helped me manage my time in and outside of the gym. Coupled with intermittent fasting, my mornings have become more productive and I’ve been able to squat 1.5x my own body weight with confidence.
The creator of this workout program, Mehdi at stronglifts.com, based this regiment off the original 5×5 concept designed by bodybuilder Reg Park, who Arnold Schwarzenegger considers his inspiration. Be sure to check out his blog for any tips on how to get started.
By: Jessica Griggs ~Campus News Editor~
Women can try a number of different hair trends while on the quest for luscious locks. Though the name may raise some eyebrows, the “no-poo” method is currently a favorite among online hair bloggers. Since the internet can never steer you wrong, I decided to try it.
My results were less than luxuriant. Depending on whose blog you read, there are a few different ways to implement the “no-poo” method, but all of them entail washing your hair with only baking soda and apple cider vinegar. The formulas for the baking soda and vinegar rinses varied as well, but typically they were something like one part baking soda to three parts water and one part apple cider vinegar to four parts water. In some directions, a threeweek ban on hair washing of any kind is required before you start the rinses, but ew.
I normally wash my hair every morning because it has a fine texture and gets oily overnight, so when I tried the “nopoo” method I just replaced my normal shampoo and conditioner with baking soda and apple cider vinegar rinses.
Day one of the experiment wasn’t bad. My morning routine, which includes blow-drying and styling my hair, was completely the same except for the replacement of shampoo and conditioner with the rinses. The rinses got the job done, although maybe not quite as well as shampoo. I didn’t notice that my hair was any softer or different than it had been before. I did notice that by the end of the day my roots were slightly more oily than usual, which was annoying.
The longer I continued the method, the less I liked it. My roots continued to be oily and gross, and the “healthy” look that the blogs promised was nowhere to be seen. I finally gave up on the treatment and washed my hair with a clarifying shampoo in order to remove all of the gunk. My hair felt so much better.
As far as hair trends go, this wasn’t the worst. If you’re looking for an alternative to washing your hair all the time, this might be something to try every once in a while, but I wouldn’t recommend doing it every day.
By: Emily Brennan ~Staff Writer~
When was the last time you had a little free moment with yourself and thought “man, I am so excited to spend time with my thoughts and be present in this precious moment of life?” It probably happens more unconsciously, like “can’t wait to stimulate my mind with trash-fillers like stalking ex-bae’s sister’s friend of a friend on Instagram.”
This might not have been how you intended to spend your time, yet somehow it always seems to happen. There are so many major distractions nowadays that encourage us to worry more about the future or the past, or what others are doing, than listening to our mind in the present. When we do, it’s easier to judge our thoughts rather than just acknowledge them and understand why we are thinking that way.
There is, rightfully so, a lot of hype about the benefits of meditation and mindfulness. If you don’t want to improve your concentration, reduce your anxiety, become more empathetic or increase your willpower, then meditation isn’t your cup of tea.
Note: Do not expect to listen to a two-minute meditation and feel yourself become enlightened by peace gods. It takes a lot of time and practice but is definitely worth it.
After having taken somewhat of a break from these practices, I decided to delve back into spending time in my mind. The first couple of days are certainly a bit discouraging, but don’t stop there. After taking the time to actually meditate for five minutes each day, I found myself more aware of my surroundings and thoughts, was genuinely considering other people points of view and wasn’t judging myself so harshly.
The best thing about meditating is that you are tapping into something within you that is already there and, with practice, you can connect to at anytime. With the right amount of dedication, I would highly recommend daily meditation.