Yet another arms and core focused routine. I made a few gains and upped the weights used on some of the exercises. Once I finish with school I’ll be doing more targeted/specific workouts and start including leg exercises. I also don’t typically couple weight workouts with cardio since it tends to hinder muscle building but again, I’m not looking for big gains I just like to tone and do some maintenance work right now. Plus with such a limited schedule I need to do what I can, when I can. (more…)

Let’s talk about depression. Almost everyone is affected by by it in one way or another. Whether you deal with it directly or you know a loved one struggling with it, depression is a growing mental health epidemic. As a psychology student I see plenty of people dealing with depression, myself included. Before I started getting healthy I used to sit around the house all day doing schoolwork and playing video games. Some days I didn’t want to get out of bed, shower, or even eat. I was tired all the time yet I couldn’t sleep at night. Sound familiar? You may be suffering from depression and not even realize it. People seem to have a misconception that if you have depression you have to be inherently sad all the time, and it’s just not like that. Depression literally means a “depressed” or “lower” mood than normal. Major Depression is by far the most common mental disorder in the U.S. today. It is estimated that at least 1 in 10 Americans has suffered from a depressive episode at some point in their lives. If you’re like me you try to take as natural of an approach as possible when it comes to treating your illnesses. I decided to investigate on my own the possible links between physical exercise and its effects on depression. (more…)