PUSH UP TO TONE UP

Celebrity physique trainer, Prashant Mistry, talks about push ups, the most commonly practiced yet misunderstood part of a workout. These tips will help you tone and strengthen muscles in the upper half of your body and keep you lean.

FOLLOW CONVENTIONS

Take the traditional pushup position. Kneel and place your hands flat on the floor, slightly wider than shoulder width. Straighten your arms to lift your waist and move your feet back, placing your toes on the floor so that your legs straighten. Your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles. It is important to maintain this posture through- out your workout.

TOUGHEN THE TORSO

From the traditional posture, lift your weight on your palms while keeping shoulders square. Begin with doing three sets of 20-30 repetitions.

SHOULDERING ON

Use a bench for working out your shoulder. The variation in this case is that your toes should be resting on a flat bench or chair. Perform three sets of 10-15 repetitions to start with.

BACKING UP

One arm push ups are extremely effective for the back. Ensure that a fitness expert is supervising your exercises especially when working on a part as vital as the back. A variation of the diamond push up can be included in your regime over a period of time. This is done by taking up the traditional pushup position and joining your palms in a diamond shape while placing them on the floor, as opposed to keeping them at shoulder width.

A hop, step, jump guide to keep your gadgets clean

The longevity of your gadgets depends not just on tech updates but on how well you keep them. Here’s a DIY guide to keeping your gadgets squeaky-clean.

To ward off the possibility of an electric shock, unplug power chords and cables leading to other devices.

The gadget world’s biggest adversary, dust, settles on screens and enters gadgets through spaces around buttons and ventilation holes. Wipe off the accumulated dust by using a soft, damp cloth in a downward direction. For cleaning the interiors of a computer, use a vacuum cleaner at low intensity and blow out the dust. For tablets and touch screen phones, o change the scratch guards every two or three months.

Instruments of frequent use such as telephones, microphones and the mouse need to be cleaned and disinfected regularly. For these, use a cotton swab dipped in vinegar.

For removing fingerprints from DVDs and CDs, use a negligible amount of isopropyl alcohol on a muslin cloth and move it from the centre to the circumfrence of the disc.

Small screens of cell phones and MP3 players can be wiped with ammonia-free glass cleaners on a regular basis.