beastarter-blog

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Download the Latest Version of Starters (1.4)

WHAT'S NEW:

We re-designed the navigation so you can always access the menu and notification at all times.

We also changed how you read your consistency on your profile - from percentage to x days / x days.

Now you don't have to go into notifications if you forgot to send your friend a badge - it will popup automatically when you launch the app.  

There's a basic settings page with "logout" and "send feedback" (keep sending us your thoughts, we love it)!

The rest of the changes are various bug fixes and design improvements.

Go try it out! & let's get started, a little bit every day! Team Starters

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Start early and never stop playing!

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This #workout is called #lazyday! Just perfect for some of us who feel like taking it easy on a #sunday ;)

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Try the first yoga video "Flow Like a Fish"! Amira Haidary, a yoga instructor from UCSF Mission Bay leads our Arvind who's taking the first steps in yoga! Send us a feedback and tell us how it was. More yoga videos coming in the next days for all levels...

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We just turned this #yummy water melon into a #square! Have a fruitful #Friday!

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You influence more than you think!

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Starters Spotlight: Ingibjörg Sumarliðadóttir from Ólafsvík, Iceland

Ingibjörg teaches physical activity in Ólafsvík´s local school and is a mother of two children. Ingibjörg manages to fit exercise into her day, almost every day and is an inspirational woman! Let´s hear how she manages to do this.

  Where do you do the videos?

I usually do them in my living room while my kids watch the TV.

What do you like the most about Starters? 

I like the convenience of it and that I can do it almost anywhere since most of the time, I don’t have time to go to the gym. I also like the variety of exercises and the fact it focuses on the whole body.

  What motivates you to work out?

My body feels really good after the workouts and I love seeing my consistency at 100% on my profile, it keeps me motivated.

Favorite workout music?

I like the Icelandic band Retro Stefson, but usually I listen to what my kids are watching on the Tv.

  How do you use Starters? 

I mainly use the Starters videos and also to check how my team is doing so I can motivate them to keep on going.

  Ingibjörg looking fabulous (photos taken by her husband, Einar)

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"Why Do I Fight In A Cage?"

Our co-founder, Arvind, tells us and leaves us with some spiritual lessons on the awesome wellness blog MindBodyGreen!

Check it out: bit.ly/YO2rGz

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We were featured on China Daily!

Starters was born in China & we are very happy that China Daily featured us in the Sunday edition. They interviewed me, Jason McClure (our trainer) and Joe Luttwak who tried out the very first workout prototypes and inspired me to design Starters.

You can see the article here: http://bit.ly/12y2RjQ

Kristrun Hjartar

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Startup Tips for Expats

I lived in China for 20 months and started Starters there. You can read some of my experience being an expat entrepreneur at the Expat Explorer blog:

http://bit.ly/14K61oj

Kristrun Hjartar

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Women Empower Women in Power!

I was so inspired today after meeting 13 other female Startup founders/entrepreneurs. I found the group, Women Startup Lab, on Meetup (which has several interest groups you can join) and decided to do a co-office day with them today. It was a full day, but very worth my time and effort. We all have different backgrounds and startups, but we are all aiming to solve real-world problems and making great products and customer experience. When so many bright people come together, there´s so much learning and your mind and network expands. Ari, the founder and organizer of the group is an inspiring female who founded MoChiGo and is now bringing women together to empower one another. The group has many similarities to Starters, which got me so excited. We help each other get through the difficult task of building a company by sharing our journey and being proactive in making progress towards the next step. It’s exactly what Sarters is about - to help each other through the most difficult thing - to get started exercising and to share our journey on staying fit and becoming healthier people. Just think of your body as a company. To have a healthy company, we constantly have to work on it, pay attention to what goes in/out of it and if you ignore it, it goes into bankruptcy. Kristrun Hjartar

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Don't be fooled!

I loved April Fool's Day when I was growing up in Iceland. I was told that the only way to do a good prank on this day is to make someone run for something. Maybe I'll try to "trick" someone who hasn't done their exercise today :)

Kristrun Hjartar

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Same Sex Marriage is a Human Right!

We are all the same, and we all deserve a happy life.

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Keep Going!

Our trainer, Jason McClure, reminds us during the workouts that the reason why many elderly people can't lift up their arms is because they haven't been using the muscle groups. Keep exercising for your own good.

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Experiment - Make Gluten Free CHOCOLATE Cookies!

Our trainer, Jason McClure and his wife are total food lovers and makers. He rolled up his sleeve last week and made some chocolate cookies and was so sweet to share the “recipe” with us all. You have to get a little creative and be willing to experiment because Jason guess-timated some of the ingredient portions/sizes. These are the ingredients:

Raw cacao, raw cacao nibs, organic cinnamon, baking powder, vanilla SunWarrior RV protein, water, Real Salt, Chia, organic raw red maca powder, English toffee liquid stevia, 1 organic egg + 2 org egg yolks, organic vanilla powder, organic EV coconut oil, and organic Ground Works Black Gold fresh ground coffee beans…

Now go experiment at your own risk, take photos (Jason snapped this one below) and tell us how it came out!

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Need an idea for a healthy lunch? Try this...

avocado, spinach, carrot, cucumber, tomato, lemon juice, salt and pepper on whole grain california lavash, with a navel orange and strawberries

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What's Better: Longer Workouts or Shorter Consistent Workouts?

What's the best way to fit exercise into your schedule? Fewer, longer workouts or shorter more frequent workouts? Most of us want to work out more, but we all have our reasons for why we don´t do so, and the question often posed is: Which is better? Shorter, consistent workouts, or longer, but less frequent workouts?

Obviously both are important success and motivational factors, and that´s why we built Starters so you could both compete for consistency and time against your team of friends.

I’ve been working out for over 25 years on regular basis, and I was a 5 time Icelandic national judo champion as a teenager, and my hope was to go to the Olympics in 2000. To try and get there, I had to practice huge hours and with great consistency.

My life has changed a great deal since then. I no longer practice to compete – I practice to stay healthy and happy. If you were to ask me which one is more important, consistency or time spent exercising, I will give you a definite answer – just keep reading :)

Let´s look at the cons/pros of short consistent workouts vs. longer but less frequent workouts:

CONSISTENCY

PROS:

You feel better more often. Exercising is a stress reliever for most people and it produces endorphins that makes you feel good, so the more often you exercise, the more often you’ll get those benefits.


When you do things frequently, it automatically becomes part of your daily routine. It’s easier to get into a set routine because every time you take a break, you generally need to put more effort into it, especially when it comes to exercising.


Exercising speeds up your metabolism every time you do it.


You pick up a momentum. When you gain momentum, you feel the need do more, be better, and it makes you feel more confident.

It’s more convenient to fit shorter workouts into your day, as it doesn’t require a huge chunk of your day. That leads to less cancelled workouts and/or a hurried day where you’re desperately trying to squeeze everything in.

CONS:

You might burn fewer calories. Might, because it depends on the activity you do, and the intensity with which you do it, but generally if you go for a brisk walk for 10 minutes, you’ll burn fewer calories than 60 minutes.


You have to get up to work out more often; it takes effort and it´s hard to get started because it takes time away from other things that require less physical effort.

(screenshot of my consistency - need to work a little harder to reach my 80% goal)

TIME

PROS:

You might burn more calories. Again, it depends on the activity you do and the intensity with which you do it, but this will generally hold true.


Quality time for body to warm up and practice techniques (if applicable) and various methods.


More “me” time. Workouts are a great time for you to reflect away from your daily tasks.

CONS:

When you exercise for a long time you are increasing the chance of injuries, especially if you don’t frequently exercise. At those times, your body is more likely to fail you.


It’s hard to schedule a big chunk of time in your busy day to work out.


It can take up a lot of time, especially away from family and friends

(My total minutes last week - compared to my teammates who keep me on the toes)

SO, WHAT’S BETTER?

I go for consistency, because I think it leads to success more often than “binging and purging” on exercise.

If you are a busy person, consistency is the answer, but do try to squeeze in one “time-focused” exercise on the weekend. And If you have time, obviously do both – spend time and be consistent at least 3 – 5 times a week.

Your lifestyle is a choice. I choose to do shorter exercises on a regular basis to feel better and live longer, knowing that a little bit every day can change my life.

Either way, just get started.