In this article, Firstbeat’s Sport Scientist Graham Stark explains the importance of conducting regular fitness tests with your athletes, the differences in maximal and submaximal fitness testing, and how Firstbeat’s…
Graham StarkSports Scientist
Start of the year often acts as a natural pause point. Some people may have set New Year’s resolutions, while others simply feel a renewed motivation to make changes in…
Satu TuominenExercise Physiologist & Wellness Specialist, Firstbeat
Lift & Lead is a group of 40-something women whose aim is to support each other in well-being and in life. The group members have in common an active lifestyle…
Tiina HoffmanExercise Physiologist & Master Trainer, Firstbeat
The body does not recognize calendars or deadlines – it responds to light and darkness. Yet we spend most of our time indoors under artificial lighting, where natural light no…
Satu TuominenExercise Physiologist & Wellness Specialist, Firstbeat
Cold and heat exposure are widely used methods to support recovery, stress management, and overall wellbeing. This blog contrasts some of the benefits of exposure to cold elements, such as…
Tiina HoffmanExercise Physiologist & Master Trainer, Firstbeat
You might agree that last years have been quite a roller coaster worldwide, to say the least, and of course, we all have our own personal ups and downs. Despite…
Tiina HoffmanExercise Physiologist & Master Trainer, Firstbeat
As we get closer to the end of the year, there seems to be a lot going on, and this can have a significant effect on our physical and mental…
Tiina HoffmanExercise Physiologist & Master Trainer, Firstbeat
The well-being and performance of key personnel and leadership teams is at the heart of the organization’s success. In the midst of leading, decision-making, and navigating change, the leaders’ stress…
Satu TuominenExercise Physiologist & Wellness Specialist, Firstbeat
At times, stress seems like a buzzword that’s used so much that we simply accept it without paying much notice. “We all have stress; just deal with it”… However, we…
Tiina HoffmanExercise Physiologist & Master Trainer, Firstbeat
Menopause marks a significant transition in a woman’s life, often accompanied by a wide range of symptoms that can feel overwhelming. Understanding these changes and implementing effective strategies can empower…
Subjectively speaking (based on self-reporting), women experience more stress than men, and objective, heart rate variability -based data seems to concur with this: women have more physiological stress than men. The result is perhaps surprising because women do more things “right” (or at least better than men…) when it comes to recovery. This blog discusses the differences between men and women in the area of stress, recovery and sleep – and speculates on some of the possible explanations and effects on daily well-being.
Translated from Satu Tuominen’s original blog in Finnish. Would you like to recover better to improve your resilience and be able to meet life’s demands and challenges in a more…
Satu TuominenExercise Physiologist & Wellness Specialist, Firstbeat
An all-inclusive vacation resort recently organized the “best summer vacationer” competition here in Finland and Firstbeat Life measurements were used to determine the winner. The couple who had the best…
Tiina HoffmanExercise Physiologist & Master Trainer, Firstbeat
Restorative sleep is the basis of good health and performance – it helps the body recover from stress, physical exertion, and fatigue, whereas poor-quality or insufficient sleep predisposes us to…
Tiina HoffmanExercise Physiologist & Master Trainer, Firstbeat
Firstbeat’s extensive wellness database (mostly from Finland but including a significant percent of measurements from other countries as well) reveals that December is the most stressful month of the year….
The COVID-19 pandemic forced millions of people into remote work and we have learned that it’s possible to do a lot of jobs and work tasks remotely. Hybrid working, which…
The summer holidays can give you a chance to get away from the sometimes tedious routines that you follow during the rest of the year, but it’s also easy to overbook yourself during your time off, resulting in high expectations and too many things to do. You deserve a break but will feel better afterwards if you look after your personal well-being during your vacation.
Tiina HoffmanExercise Physiologist & Master Trainer, Firstbeat
The body and the mind are closely interconnected. If your physical health is challenged, it will quickly affect your mental well-being, or if your mind is struggling, it’s reflected in…
It’s a popular topic of discussion nowadays, but what does work-life balance really mean? Work-life balance is about how we use our time, resources, and energy between these two aspects…
Traditionally, stress means a situation where the demands and challenges that we are faced with are so great that our resources are stretched to the limit – or insufficient. Quite…