5 Things Happy People Do

By Jennifer White

All of us have the ability to be hard-hearted. Life brings pain and trauma, and our ability to love and be vulnerable becomes compromised. Physically, our upper spines round, our pecs become too tight, and metaphysically our heart chakras become imbalanced. So why are some people perpetuallyhappy and successful in life? They obviously have pitfalls and struggles too. Here are five tips to help you stay smiling.

1.  Happy people are resilient. 

Life knocks everyone down, but staying down only leads to misery. Have your day of wallowing and then get up, dust off, and try again.

2. Happy people are open. 

Being hurt makes you never want to feel pain again, but if you want to be happily successful in life you have to open yourself up to new opportunities—and the chance to get hurt again.

3. Happy people know sadness is temporary. 

Viewing the snowstorms—and occasional blizzards—that we all go through in life as showers before the sun shines is a must. Yoga teaches us balance. Call it yin and yang, light and dark, because whatever you choose the meaning is the same. Unfortunately, we all have to experience negativity in life. How you deal with it is where the true challenge lies.

4. Happy people choose to be happy. 

Here’s another thing my physical yoga practice teaches me—how I react to stress on my mat is a choice. I can be angry and frustrated or I can choose to lighten up and take it one breath at a time. Sometimes that’s all you can do in life off of your mat as well—smile, breathe and choose to see the world as a generally good place that occasionally flat-out stinks.

5. Happy people fake it. 

When I was waitressing, I had to put on a smile and be kind even if I just had a terrible fight or some other personal distress in my life. The way I looked at it was that for all I know, this could be someone’s special anniversary or birthday and who am I to spoil it when my job is to bring these people food and a good experience? That carried over into the realization that misery doesn’t have to love company, and that sometimes simply pretending to be happy makes you feel better. I’m not suggesting that you hide your feelings—I’m big on communication and sharing. What I am suggesting is simple—sometimes you have to fake it to make it.

Happiness doesn’t have to be some pie-in-the-sky dream that we only see in movies, but the thing is that we often have to work at it. We see these happy, successful people and assume that they are “born that way” or “lucky.” The reality, though, is that like most wonderful things in life, happiness is mindset that for many of us takes—wait for it—practice. Learning that we have the ability, more often than not, to deal with a situation in more than one way is liberating because it gives us some semblance of control over things that we have no control over. So when life hands you lemons, try making some kick-butt limoncello—and try choosing to be happy during the process. I think that’s step one.

3 Things Toddlers Can Teach You about Fitness

To watch videos: http://news.menshealth.com/3-things-toddlers-can-teach-you-about-fitness/2012/05/08/?cm_mmc=Twitter-_-MensHealth-_-Content-MHNews-_-FitnessLessonsfromKids

Scaling an indoor climbing wall is no easy feat.  It involves nearly every muscle in your body. Think about it: Your fingers and forearms contract to grip the inch-thick overhangs, your core stabilizes to fight against falling back, your lats work to pull you up, and your glutes, quadriceps, and calves activate to push off the wall.

So when we saw this little man speedily scramble up the walland make it look like child’s play, we couldn’t believe it.

Your first thought might be, “I sure hope he doesn’t fall.”  But your second thought is probably, “That kid can climb!”

Now, we’re not condoning parents taking their 22-month-old child to an indoor climbing wall or that anyone climbs without the proper safety equipment. But we are showing this video to prove a point: Human beings come into this world ready to move. Ready to run, climb, jump. Your body moves certain ways because it’s designed to move like that. As we grow older, however, we teach ourselves bad habits. We sit behind desks all day or we try to move our body in ways it shouldn’t move. (Cue the sore muscles and aching backs. Before cashing in the prescription, try these 6 smart ways to beat pain.)

“Babies are mobile. They have to learn stability. But as adults, we become stable. We need to learn how to become mobile again,”  explained Gray Cook, P.T., at a recent Perform Better Seminar at the Parisi Speed School in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.

Sure, they can’t talk. Heck, they can’t even dress themselves. But babies can move better than any of us. Forget the experts and pros—here are 3 fitness tips from babies.

HOW TO SQUAT

When done correctly, a squat is one of the most effective muscle-builders there is. It trains a lot of muscles, particularly big ones like your quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes, and burns more calories per rep than almost any other exercise. The problem is, many guys do it wrong.

Ever watch a toddler drop to pick up a toy from the floor, though?  A tot keeps his weight on his heels. His lower back stays naturally arched. The tops of his thighs go parallel to the floor or lower. His torso remains upright. It’s the perfect execution of the squat—and he doesn’t even think twice about doing it.

You can train your body to move like this again. Behold the goblet squat. Holding a dumbbell in front of your chest—like a goblet—forces your upper body to stay rigid. That means your lower body has to do most of the heavy lifting and your torso has to stay upright as you push your hips back and and glutes down. (Check out even more tips on how to master the squat.)

 

HOW TO REFRESH YOUR WORKOUT

At a certain age, you stop playing. Gone are the days you swung from monkey bars or ran through sprinklers or sped a bicycle around the neighborhood. Instead, you’re lucky to find the time to work out. If you do make it to the gym, it’s usually a race against the clock to finish.

But who says you can’t sweat and smile? Fitness expert Jeremy Frisch, U.S.A.W., owner of Achieve Performance Training, went to the playground with his daughter and came away a new exercise idea. He watched her crawl and roll in one movement, and realized it was a great total-body exercise. Frisch named it the Swiper, after a character on his daughter’s favorite show, Dora The Explorer.

Recharge your tired routine and start playing again.  “Most people who are unfamiliar with these movements will look uncomfortable and  uncoordinated,” says Frisch. “But training shouldn’t always be comfortable and familiar.” That’s because you’ll ask your body to move in ways it hasn’t moved in forever, challenging your muscles and shocking your metabolic system. Plus, swipers are super fun, so your mind and body won’t want to stop—no matter how challenging it gets. (Love swipers? Here’s another great total-body move that melts fat.)

 

HOW TO DEADLIFT

Men’s Health Executive Editor and former Fitness Director Adam Campbell has taught many fellow MH staffers how to deadlift at the gym (this editor included). For such a simple exercise—picking up something heavy and putting it back down—there sure are a lot of things that can go wrong with technique.

So imagine Campbell’s surprise when he watched his 2-year-old daughter deadlift a water cooler—with perfect form. She was a natural. Turns out, the proper deadlift pattern is ingrained in us from birth. Somewhere along the way, though, we stop doing it correctly. Why? Well, deadlifts work wonders on your body, but they go against the number one rule of the weight room: Don’t lift with your back. That’s because the deadlift requires a collaborative effort from lots of muscles, including those in your lower back. In order to protect our backs, we change our form or avoid the lift altogether.

You lift heavy things—lopsided grocery bags, unruly kids, overflowing laundry baskets—almost every day, so make this classic, total-body exercise a staple in your workout. Watch this video to learn how to deadlift safely and effectively like Campbell’s daughter. (Interested in more ways to build a massive back? Try our latest workout,  the V-Shape Shortcut.)

 

Look how cute my dinner looks

I made grilled hamburgers with steamed asparagus. On the hamburgers I’ve got some onion and mushroom relish along with romaine lettuce, ketchup, mustard, and few spritz of WishBone Ranch Spritzer. I can’t wait to dig in. I hope your dinner is as delish!

Workout of The Day

Weighted hands and toes to the ceiling crunches. Don’t try and do too much weight. I use an extra 15 lbs. bring legs up like a leg lift along with your hands at the same time. Literally try and fold your body in half flexing your abs the whole time.

Spice Up Your Sex Life: Straight Men

Get Moving
Exercise unleashes dopamine, the feel-good chemical, but did you know that it can also trigger testosterone production? Head outdoors and get to work. Hit the beach for a game of volleyball, take a surf lesson, or if you see a cutie in mid-game, join her: A recent study found that working out can help her orgasm. (Read The Testosterone Transformation and unleash your most powerful hormone to build muscle, lose fat, and last longer in bed!)

Hit the Books
That California sextress on the beach with a book in her hand isn’t just sweating it out in the sun—she’s putting her brain to work. “Explorers could be reading everything that Shakespeare wrote, and then watching all of his plays,” Fisher says. Remember how you secretly enjoyed reading Faulkner in college? Pick up a few of his books. A University of California-Davis study found that women prefer smart men when it comes to one-night stands.

Be Spontaneous
The folks in Lubbock, Texas—who scored lowest on the survey—had a high population of what Fisher calls “builders”: the cautious, traditional, conventional type. “This type of person generally has higher levels of serotonin in the brain which can lower sex drive,” she says. While you don’t have to go jump off the nearest cliff, seeking adventure certainly isn’t going tohurt your libido.

Man Crush of the Day

Adam Ayash. He’s 5’11″ tall, has a 32″ waist, 11.5 inch shoe size, brown hair, brown eyes. In addition to modeling Adam has a MS in Exercise Health Promotion, is a certified conditioning and strength specialists and is a certified sports nutritionist from the International Society of Sports Nutrition.