Fitness-Friendly Communities That Keep You Moving

Wellness isn’t one-size-fits-all, and Empire’s Atlanta-area communities provide a diverse range of fitness opportunities for every lifestyle. From high-end fitness centers to outdoor group classes in nearby parks, there’s something for everyone.

Alternative Cleaning Products

Traditional cleaning products are filled with carcinogens that get into the air and surfaces of our home – just take one look at the warnings on the back of these products to give you an idea of how harmful they can be to your health. While cleaning our home is vital to remove dust and buildup of toxic debris, cleaning with equally toxic chemicals make little to no difference.

Glass cleaner

 

• ¼ cup white vinegar
• ¼ cup rubbing alcohol
• 8-10 drips of grapefruit of orange essential oil
• Mix all ingredients together into a BPA-free spray bottle. Spray onto glass surfaces and wipe clean with a microfiber cloth

 

Oven Cleaner

 

• ¼ cup baking soda
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/3 cup water
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly to make a paste. Set to the side for at least 5 minutes. Dip your scrubbing tool into the paste and clean the inside of your oven.

 

Surface Cleaner

 

• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 30 drops of orange or grapefruit essential oil
• Combine all ingredients and mix well before transferring to a BPA-free spray bottle.

For additional cleaning tips using household ingredients, see our video here.

Natural Beauty Products

 

Deodorant

Traditional deodorants often contain some of the worst chemicals you can put on your skin. Even more alarming is we use deodorant under our arms, clogging up our bodies natural toxin release mechanism. The following recipe is one alternative, another is a salt-based deodorant you can find at most health food stores that use only mineral salts.

• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 3 tablespoons baking soda
• 1 ½ tablespoons arrowroot starch
• 40 drops of orange or grapefruit essential oil
• In a bowl mix together all the ingredients until well combined into a thick, paste-like consistency. Store in the refrigerator. To use, dip your fingers in the mixture and apply directly to skin.

 

Face Mask

Clay is a powerhouse for drawing out impurities and has been recently become popular with many large beauty companies. The problem is these store-bought masks often contain unnecessary indigents to improve the texture and colour of the clay. Ditch those additives and follow this easy recipe instead:

• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 ½ teaspoons bentonite clay
• Mix the water and honey first, then stir in the clay and mix well to form a paste. Apply to entire face, being careful to avoid contact with your eyes. Leave on for about 20 minutes then rise well. Use 1-2 time per week.

 

Exfoliator

Have some fun with this one as there are literally endless household ingredients you can use to create gentle and chemical-free exfoliators, including salt, white sugar or coffee grounds (a great use for the ones from your morning coffee). Our favourite is the following:

• Juice from one lemon
• ½ cup of brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. of coconut oil
• 1-2 drops of the essential oil of your choice (try peppermint in the summer and tea tree oil in the winter)
• Mix all items except essential oil together in a small bowl; you may need to add more brown sugar depending on the size of the lemon. Mix until the sugar is completely coated in the lemon and coconut oil. Add essential oil last.

Cooking Alternatives

 

Nut Milk

Nut milks are readily available in most grocery stores, but often contain a shocking number of added chemicals and preservatives. The homemade versions require very little preparation and can even be made in the moment when you need them.

• 1 cup of water
• small handful of the nuts of your choice
• 1 date
• Dollop of honey (optional for those who prefer their nut milk a bit sweeter)
• Combine all ingredients in blender until no large chucks of the nuts remain. You can strain it through a cheesecloth to get it smooth, or drink as is. If you’re adding nut milk to a smoothie, make the nut milk first in the blender then add the additional ingredients.

 

Herbs and Spices

Instead of buying dried and packaged spices with contain little nutritional value, try replacing some of your most used items with the fresh variety, and better yet, grow them in your home. If you don’t have a green thumb, try self-watering containers like those at Modern Sprout. All you have to do is add water to the bottom and the plants feed themselves.

Stairs

Stairs are one of the most effective methods for developing lower body strength. Steps engage every major muscle in your lower body 120 times/minute as well as building endurance and strong, lean muscle. Maintaining your balance during stairs exercises engages your core muscles too. If you live in a condo, even better! Take the elevator down to the lowest level of the parking garage and work your way up to the very top of the building.

Push Ups

The oldest and best move for building upper body strength, push-ups are a workout that is quickly built upon; the more you do, the more you can do. This total body workout builds your endurance, core, lower back strength and can be easily modified to keep increase intensity, see more. Work your way up to 50 push-ups by following this 30-day challenge, or simply do 3 sets of push-ups to failure, 4 days a week.

Squats and Lunges

Squats and lunges are two of the most fundamental moves for toning the entire lower body, including glutes, quads, hamstrings, hips, and thighs. For those who get bored easily, try these squat and lunge variations to keep things interesting.

Burpees

If you’ve ever had any experience with burpees you most likely hate them, and for good reason. This killer workout is designed to work you to the bone, as one of the few full body strength training exercises. With every rep, you’ll work your arms, chest, quads, glutes, hamstrings, and abs. After a few sets of burpees, your legs should feel a little bit like lead.

1. Begin in a squat position with hands on the floor in front of you.
2. Kick your feet back to a pushup position.
3. Immediately return your feet to the squat position.
4. Leap up as high as possible from the squat position.

Plank

One of the simplest core workouts, plank can be done with your arms fully extended for beginners, or with your forearms on the ground for a more intense core workout. Set a timer to countdown from one minute and try to hold the pose as long as possible, checking in every few seconds to ensure your core is active and your back isn’t melting downward. Don’t worry if you shake or seem unsteady, you’ll improve with more practice.

Sit Ups

Similar to the ever so popular ab crunch, the sit up is the superior workout for targeting more than just your lower abs. Incorporate the traditional sit-up into your workout, or try these 10 variations.

Pro-tip: Don’t forget to have some fun with your workouts. For an extra challenge, invite your kids, roommate or significant other to sit on or hold down your feet to prevent cutting corners and offer some loud encouragement.

Wall Sits

Wall sits are the perfect exercise to strengthen your upper legs and are particularly beneficial to runners who want to increase endurance and breeze up that hill with ease.

Stand with your back against a wall, placing your feet about two feet out in front of you, hip-distance apart.
Bending your knees, slide your back down the wall until your knees are at 90-degree angles, directly above your ankles (slide your feet back or forward if necessary to achieve proper alignment).
Hold for 30 – 60 seconds, then stand up, rest and repeat 3 times. Once you’ve mastered that, lift alternating legs for a few seconds each for an extra boost to your calves.

Superman

An effective workout for strengthening your lower back, Superman poses are great in conjunction with plank or other core-building workouts. Remember that your core strength won’t progress very far without a strong back, and doing constant crunches or sit-ups without working out your lower back opens you up to injuries.

• Lie on your stomach with your arms stretched in front of you.
• At the same time lift both your arms and legs upward as far as you can. Although it can take some practice,
• use your core and back strength for this, not momentum. A good indicator and way to train yourself is by lifting and lowering both limbs slowly rather than quickly.

Cardio Circuit

Great on its own or as a finale to close off your workout, cardio circuits consist of 3-4 basic workouts done for a set number of time each, then swiftly repeated. In addition to increasing heart rate, these fast-paced workouts can be done in under 10 minutes. They are a great option for a quick burst of energy before your out the door. Our favourite is the following, taking under 8 minutes to complete and hitting up every major muscle group in your body, but you can use any combination of your favourite workouts. To avoid having to count yourself, we recommend setting a timer so you can focus on the moves themselves.

• 30 seconds mountain climbers (start in a plank position with arms fully extended, bring your alternating knees into your chest quickly as show in photo below)
• 30 seconds squats
• 30 seconds jumping jacks
• 30 seconds of push-ups (you’re going for quality not quantity here, go as slow as you need to keep your form and perform a perfect push-up every time)
• 30 second rest then repeat for a total of 3 times.

Yoga

One of our favourite at-home yoga experts is Adriene Mishler from Texas. With many videos ranging in length of practice (some as short as 20 minutes and perfect for a morning stretch), as well as targeting different needs like back pain, anxiety, core, pre-and post-run and beginner’s yoga, there’s a practice for everyone. Remember that yoga is atmospheric as well, so put on some soft music and dim the lights or use candles. Most importantly, up the temperature in the room your practicing, as cold muscles stiffen up and can lead to injuries.

Join at Home Work Outs

Even when working out at home, a little company and encouragement goes a long way. One of our favourite equipment-free joint workout to do with your roommate or significant other is Lying Down Leg Raises as shown in the video below. Not only is it a killer ab workout, it requires both parties involvement every step of the way.

Where to Start

First, consider where you want to put the houseplant and match that space to a plant with similar lighting requirements. 
Decide how much time you’re willing to devote to plant care and choose a plant that fits your lifestyle and schedule.
The ideal number of plants to successful rid the air of toxins is 1/100 square feet. So, in a 1000 sq.ft. home, 10 plants would be ideal.

The Do’s and Don’ts

• Do recreate their natural environment. Tropical plants will thrive in humid environments, such as your bathroom or kitchen and the origins of your plant will give you an idea of how much or little light exposure they require.
• Do use room temperature tap water to care for your plants.
• Do keep your home between 65 – 75° in the day and 55 – 60° at night to help plants thrive.
• Don’t move them too often. Plants have a hard time adapting to environmental changes, pick a spot and stick to it.
• Don’t overwater them. The best way to tell if your plant needs water is to check the soil. In general it’s better to underwater than overwater.
• Don’t wet the foliage when watering, but ensure the soil is moist. Water should be coming out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot when you’ve done a good job.

Plant CPR

If your plant isn’t looking too good, it can be experiencing stress – that’s right, just like humans do. Signs of this are dry, yellowing or wilting leaves. This can be caused by any number of reasons, overwatering, under watering, too much or little sun. The best way to tell what kind of love your plant needs is by researching the conditions for optimal growth. That should give you an indication of where you’ve gone wrong and what you can change. If the leaves are browning, trim the dead pieces but do not pluck the entire leaf unless it’s completely dead, as most plants will replenish themselves when they get what they need.