Category: Lifestyle

Well+Good 

When a trainer gives you a particular move, and tells you to do as many reps as you can in, say, 30 seconds, how do you know how fast to go?

Well, that’s up to you. Often called AMRAP workouts (for “as many reps as possible”), this way of structuring a training session allows you to easily adjust the intensity level to wherever your fitness is at, and however you’re feeling that day. You’re in charge of how much energy you give it. An AMRAP can be a chance to completely fatigue your muscles, or to take it slow and steady to zero in on your form.

“AMRAP workouts are about achieving your goals—big or small—through dedication, hard work, limited distraction, and focus,” Jason Khalipa, author of As Many Reps As Possible: Succeeding In Competition, Business, and Life By Making The Most Of Every Single Minute previously told Well+Good.

Certified personal trainer Elisabeth Akinwale, founder of 13th Flow Chicago, gives a series of AMRAP intervals in this new eight-minute, full-body workout video to kick off Well+Good’s four-week ReNew Year movement program. “You can take it however fast or slow you want—that’s up to you,” she says.

Akinwale designed this multidirectional strength workout specifically so that it can be easily customized to your fitness level. You’ll be circling through reverse lunges, Supermans, windshield wipers, and a handful of other exercises to work multiple muscle groups in multiple planes of movement. She spends 30 seconds on each move, allowing you to do as many repetitions as feels comfortable in that timeframe. “Any speed that works for you, works for me,” she says. “It’s your workout, so you can make what you want out of it.”

Some exercises will inevitably come easier, and you’ll be able to flow through them quickly. Others may force you to slow down to get the hang of proper technique. Juts make sure you’re not rushing so fast that you aren’t going through your full range of motion, or your form starts to fade, or you get so exhausted you have to stop all together. Akinwale says, “Our goal is just to move consistently throughout the interval.”

If you sign up for the ReNew Year plan, you’ll get a week’s worth of daily workouts like this one delivered to your inbox every Sunday this month, all programmed with Akinwale’s expertise as a trainer, former gymnast, Olympic weightlifter, CrossFitter, and social worker.

One thing she underscores: Don’t feel like you’re being “soft” if you have to ease off the gas during a workout. True strength is being in tune enough with your own body to know what it needs, and honoring that. “If it’s feeling like too much, just slow it down a little bit,” she says.

If you’re following the ReNew Year program, we’ll be coming back to this same workout multiple times so you can not only get more comfortable with each of the exercises, but also so you’ll get a solid sense of your progression as the month goes on. “You can push it even further next time,” Akinwale says.

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Carscoops 

U.S. labor board NLRB alleges that Tesla illegally coerced employees in Florida by restricting them from discussing certain workplace issues.

The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board’s Tampa division says that Tesla instructed employees to not discuss their pay with other persons and to not discuss another employee’s termination. The filing uncovered by Bloomberg through a Freedom of Information Act request also states that Tesla management told employees “not to complain to higher level managers” about working conditions.

Read: Tesla Stock Has Plummeted Nearly 70% This Year Marking Its Biggest Ever Annual Drop

All of the incidents are alleged to have happened at the car manufacturer’s Orlando office over the last year.

While Tesla and its attorneys have not yet provided public comment about the matter, this is not the first time it has been scrutinized by the National Labor Relations Board. Last year, members of the NLRB ruled that the car manufacturer had violated labor law on multiple occasions, including when it fired a union activist and via a threatening tweet published by Elon Musk. Tesla is currently appealing this ruling in federal court.

Complaints such as this one issued by NRLB regional directors are considered by agency judges and can be appealed to NRLB members in Washington and in federal court. While the agency usually can’t hold company executives liable for wrongdoing, it can order companies to reinstate fired workers and provide back pay when necessary.

A federal judge will hear arguments about the Florida complaint at a hearing in February.

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Carscoops 

Kia’s facelifted Carnival was spotted for the very first time and it looks set to have a design inspired by the upcoming Kia EV9.

The current Carnival is already one of the most striking minivans on sale and this new model is shaping up to be even more intriguing. A heavily-disguised prototype was recently snapped by The Korean Car Blog while sitting in a parking lot in South Korea.

Kia has done a good job of disguising the front end of the new Carnival but we can see that it has headlights somewhat similar in shape to those of the EV9. Whereas the headlights of the current Carnival are fairly traditional in shape with complex LED daytime running lights, the headlights of the new Carnival appear to be positioned vertically, much like the brand’s forthcoming electric SUV. An LED light bar also appears to be visible.

Image via The Korean Car Blog

Unfortunately, we don’t yet have any spy shots of the new Kia Carnival from the rear but given how significant the changes made to the front are shaping up to be, we wouldn’t be surprised to see similarly comprehensive changes made to the rear.

Read: Kia Recalls 2022 Carnival After Finding That Sliding Door Can Fly Open While Driving

The facelifted Kia Carnival won’t just bring with it new looks as a hybrid variant is also thought to be in the works. This new variant of the Carnival will likely share its hybrid system with those available in the Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe.

This system consists of a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder producing 177 hp (132 kW) and 195 lb-ft (265 Nm) of torque working alongside a 59 hp (44 kW) electric motor. All up, the powertrain is good for 227 hp (169 kW) and 258 lb-ft (350 Nm) and while it is available with all-wheel drive in the Sorento and Santa Fe, it will apparently only be offered with front-wheel drive in the Carnival Hybrid.

Image via The Korean Car Blog

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Well+Good 

Life gets busy (read: chaotic), and, too often in the mayhem, the things that are most important to us—our loved ones, travel, hobbies, big dreams—often get placed on the back burner as finding a way to make a living takes priority.

In the moment, we may not realize regret is looming, but when the end of our life rolls around, that notion tends to become very clear upon reflecting on all the things we didn’t make time for when we had a chance. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Regret is optional, which is why Jordan Grumet, MD, a hospice doctor and author of Taking Stock: Hospice Doctor’s Advice on Financial Independence, Building Wealth, and Living a Regret-Free Life, recommends conducting regular “life reviews,” which are a common practice for dying patients in hospices. 

Why doing a life review early (and often) is beneficial

Once a dying patient’s medical needs are taken care of, hospice workers help them conduct a life review, which is a structured series of questions that asks about the person’s past and present, as well as the things that are most meaningful to them. “The whole point is for people to go back and really start thinking about what had purpose and meaning in their life and come to terms with the fact that they’re dying soon,” Dr. Grumet says.

So why do a life review now, even if you’re not nearing the end of life? The short answer: time. “One thing we often see in the dying is that only when they realize that the end of life is near do they give themselves permission to really start thinking about those things they really want in life,” Dr. Grumet says. The problem, he adds, is that by waiting until their deathbed to do this life review, hospice patients often find it challenging to do some of the things they’ve always wanted to do in their last days because they may not be physically well enough to do those things. 

The biggest benefit of doing a life review now is that it allows us to really think about what is meaningful and important to us and do those things while we’re alive and well. “If we start doing this as a young person, maybe once a year, maybe once every six months, we can start working on these things now so that we don’t have regrets,” Dr. Grumet says. “Life is finite, and we don’t know when our last month will be here.” 

How to do a life review to live without regrets (or at least fewer ones)

To give a life review a try, first, set the scene. Carve out some quiet time to really dive in, turn off all distractions, and get comfy. Next, Dr. Grumet instructs envisioning your doctor informing you that you only have one year to live. (Side note: This may be a bit anxiety-inducing, but it’s part of the process. Take a few deep breaths and let it pass.) Then begin reflecting on the life review questions and answering them with as much specificity as possible.

Dr. Grumet notes you can find many of these big-picture, end-of-life questions by Googling “hospice life review,” but as a starting point he shares a few questions here. 

What do you most want to do, experience, or achieve before leaving Earth? Include life-long goals and dreams you had as a child. 
What are your biggest regrets?
What were your biggest successes?
What needs have you yet to fulfill? 
Who are the most important people in your life? What relationships need repair? 
What moment in life if you could go back and redo, would you go back and why?

Dr. Grumet says you’ll likely need to return to your life review and repeat it a few times. “Usually, when people first sit down to do this, they’re not very good at it because we’re not used to sitting down and thinking about these things,” he says. “It may take you a few hours, days, or weeks to get through.” 

Another tip he shares is to focus your answers around the big life themes like purpose, identity, connections, and legacy—you know, the stuff that really matters. Once you’re clear on what those important and purposeful things are for you, he says you can start building a life that supports them. Given that our careers and finances are two significant parts of our lives, he says those are good places to start. For instance, if your job isn’t fulfilling your sense of purpose, begin shifting to a job that does align with your values. 

This implementation process is, of course, not an overnight thing. The important thing is that a life review brings the things that are most important to us (not what society, our parents, peers, etc., deem necessary) to the forefront so we can start pursuing them sooner, rather than later. 

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Carscoops 

This year the BMW 5-Series is in for the biggest shakeup in its 51-year history. Along with the introduction of the eighth-generation car, we’ll be formally introduced to the first ever electric 5-Series production car, the BMW i5, snapped here undergoing winter testing.

Unlike the BMW i4, iX, and XM, which are standalone products, the i5 follows the i7 in being based on the same platform and body as a contemporary combustion-powered BMW. In the case of the i5, that car is the all-new 5-Series, and as these pictures show, the first EV variant will be offered in both sedan and wagon body styles, just like its gas-guzzling brother.

One of the images showing the i5 Touring and combustion 5-Series sedan on the top of a car transporter reveals that visual differences will mostly be limited to a blanked-off grille on the EV. Both get the same body panels and the same flush-fit door handles, but just to banish any doubt that the wagon is packing an electric drivetrain, our spy photographers snapped the underside of the Touring while it was up on the transporter, revealing that it has no exhaust system.

Related: 2024 BMW i5 Touring Spied As An Electrifying SUV Alternative

If this is a top-dog M60 version of the i5 it’s probably powered by the same 610 hp (619 PS) dual-motor setup found in the iX M60 SUV, which should give the all-wheel drive wagon a zero to 62 mph (100 km/h) time of 3.8 seconds or less. But BMW will have plenty of electric alternatives for drivers who don’t need that much muscle. The iX is also available as a 516 hp (523 PS) xDrive50 mated to the same huge 111.5 kWh battery, or as a 322 hp (326 PS) xDrive40 with a more modest 76.6 kWh power pack.

And of course, if you prefer tailpipes on your 5-Series Touring (or sedan), BMW will have you covered with a range of mild-hybrids, plug-in hybrids, diesel, and eventually, a range-topping M5 with the availability of each of those models depending on your geographical location. Diesel models won’t make it to the U.S., but it’s rumored that the Touring could be back on the menu for North America very soon.

Image Credits: CarPix for CarScoops

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Carscoops 

It’s over four years since Porsche revealed the 992-generation 911, which means we can expect to see the facelifted 992.2 later this year. But the existing 992 still has a few tricks up its sleeve, including this high-performance 911 ST.

The next of Porsche’s Heritage Design projects, the ST takes its name from a rare lightweight 911 built for competition in the early 1970s, though Porsche has no plans to race the new car. It follows a similar path to the Sport Classic, cherry-picking some of the best bits from Porsche’s other 911 models and bundling them together in a limited-run car with a huge price. Both feature manual transmissions but should be very different in character.

Why? Because, while the ST shares the Sport Classic’s double-bubble roof, it is likely to swap that car’s 911 Turbo engine for the 4.0-liter naturally aspirated motor from the GT3 RS, meaning it’s more like a successor to the 2016 911 R. Unlike the 503 hp (510 PS) GT3, which comes with a choice of transmissions and can be specced with or without the big wing, the 518 hp (525 PS) RS is only available with a seven-speed PDK and the full spoiler package. So the idea of a 911 with RS power, a manual box, and a super-stealthy visual presence has real appeal.

Related: Facelifted 2024 Porsche 911 GT3, Touring And New ST Spotted Holding Their Own Winter Sports Festival

Not that you’re likely to mistake the ST for a basic Carrera. These spy shots reveal the GT3 hood vents and center-lock wheels, a boxy front bumper with a large central air intake, and the slash-cut carbon doors and similar front fenders (minus the saw tooth top vents) to those on the RS.

At the back, there’s a circular heritage badge. Still, no sign of the retro ducktail spoiler seen on the Sport Classic – the original ST predated the legendary Carrera RS 2.7 that made the ducktail spoiler famous. Hence, the modern version also goes without.

Porsche only built around 24 original STs between 1970-71, but its modern namesake won’t be so rare. Porsche offered 1,250 Sport Classics at $274k (£214k), and it’s possible the ST could come close to matching both of those numbers, though it’s worth remembering that Porsche only built 991 examples of the 911 R. Either way we think Porsche will unveil the ST this spring, giving the high-revving special plenty of time in the limelight before the 992.2-generation 911 is launched late this year.

Image Credits: CarPix for CarScoops

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Carscoops 

TOM’s Racing has previewed the six creations it is bringing to the Tokyo Auto Salon.

The first car heading to Tokyo is a modified Toyota Century. TOM’s Racing has made numerous changes to the exterior of the luxury sedan, painting it in gloss black and equipping it with a set of black wheels. It also benefits from new front and rear bumpers and has tinted taillights. The tuner also offers a host of interior upgrades and can reupholster all surfaces should the customer wish.

Joining the Century will be two versions of TOM’s Racing’s Toyota Supra that was unveiled 12 months ago. The standard model is equipped with a striking widebody kit inspired by the Super GT race car. It is also equipped with a towering rear wing and has a unique exhaust layout similar to the original Lexus IS F. Numerous interior upgrades have also been made, including the fitment of new carbon fiber parts. TOM’s second Supra is known as the Tourer and is essentially identical but makes do without the rear wing.

Read: TOM’s Racing Releases Toyota Supra, GR86, And Lexus GS-F With More Horsepower

Next is the tuner’s take on the Lexus LC 500 Convertible. It includes a widebody kit for the stunning grand tourer and also adds many carbon fiber parts, including the front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser, and lip spoiler. It also has a new exhaust system, aftermarket wheels, and additional chassis bracing.

A modified Lexus GS F is also heading to the Tokyo Auto Salon. Changes made to it are minor and include a carbon fiber splitter, side skirts, diffuser, and lip spoiler.

Last but not least is a widebody Toyota GR 86. Finished in a bright shade of orange, this striking GR 86 doesn’t just have flared arches but is also equipped with a new splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser, wheels, and quad exhausts.

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Carscoops 

Hot on the heels of various spy shots, the new Hongqi H6 has been unveiled in full at the Guangzhou Auto Show.

The H6 adopts a dynamic and sporty design that should help it appeal to a wide range of buyers. It includes a large grille, aggressive split headlights, LED daytime running lights that run down either side of the grille, and a number of black accents.

We’re particularly fond of the H6’s side profile with its dynamic design lines, complex wheel design, and the sleek D-pillar. The rear of the H6 completes the dramatic look with a complex split-taillight design that includes a light bar, a stylish rear diffuser, and dual tailpipes exiting out from the center of the bumper.

Read: Hongqi Launches Three Bold Electric Concepts In Its New Metaverse

Found in the cabin is a portrait-oriented central infotainment display, a digital instrument cluster, flat-bottomed steering wheel, contrast stitching, and sport seats clad in leather. A panoramic sunroof and paddle shifters are also featured.

Car News China notes that the Hongqi H6 is 4,990 mm (196.4 inches) long, 1,880 mm (74 inches) wide, and 1,455 mm (57.2 inches) tall while sporting a large 2,920 mm (114.9-inch) wheelbase. Despite its size, it isn’t too heavy at 1,665 kg (3,670 lbs).

The Chinese automaker will sell the H6 with just one powertrain, namely a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that is good for 248 hp and 280 lb-ft (380 Nm) of torque. This engine is coupled to an eight-speed automatic transmission and launches the sedan to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 6.8 seconds.

Heaps of impressive technologies also come standard on the H6, including a Level 2 semi-autonomous driving system that includes active braking, lane departure prediction system, lane keeping assistance system, and traffic sign recognition.

Hongqi will start accepting Chinese orders for the H6 on January 23 but dates for its global launch are not yet known.  

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Carscoops 

The Guangzhou Auto Show has attracted all manner of intriguing new vehicles and the Haval H-Dog is one of the most interesting.

This new SUV has been designed for younger consumers who live in urban areas but like to escape the rat race and head outdoors. This dual-purpose nature of the H-Dog is reflected in its design that has a boxy shape as has become quite common of off-roaders but also has some smoother and more refined surfaces.

The unique design is perhaps best seen when comparing the front end to the rear. Visible up front are squared wheel arches, straight design lines along the hood, a rectangular grille, and squared headlight surrounds. By comparison, the rear looks more fitting of an SUV you’d see driving around any large city, complete with round taillights, a curved rear window, and some more subtle creases and shapes.

Read: Haval Cool Dog SUV Debuts In China As Big Dog’s Sidekick

Found in the cabin of the H-Dog is a massive central infotainment display, a digital instrument cluster, a beefy steering wheel, plenty of carbon fiber accents, and a 2+3 seating layout.

Two powertrains will be offered, Car News China reports. The entry-level model has a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder delivering a total of 238 hp and coupled to an eight-speed automatic transmission driving the front wheels. Those after more grunt can opt for the PHEV variant that pairs a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine with an electric motor and battery pack system powering all four wheels. It produces 326 hp and 391 lb-ft (530 Nm) of torque and has an all-electric range of up to 93 miles (150 km).

Haval has not yet given an official launch date for the H-Dog. It is also unclear if it will be available in markets outside of China.

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Carscoops 

Alfa Romeo published a short video montage on Instagram which included the first-ever teaser of its upcoming supercar, giving us an early preview of its taillight.

The video is welcoming 2023 saying it will be a “thrilling, visceral, and emotional” year for the Italian brand. It starts with footage of the Tonale as well as the recently facelifted Giulia and Stelvio asking us if we are ready for the new year. The most important part however is the ending, where the taillight of an unknown model makes a brief appearance in the “We Are” (Ready) phrase.

Read: Alfa Romeo Giulia SWB Zagato Is A Manual V6-Powered One-Off Special

The much-anticipated Alfa Romeo supercar is expected to debut in March 2023 and this is the first time we see a part of the model. The LED taillight looks like a 6 and a C, fuelling the rumors about the possible return of the 6C nameplate. The latter was used in various two-door sporstcars and racecars produced between 1927 and 1954. A new Alfa Romeo 6C would also be a fitting addition to the range following the front-engined 8C Competizione (2006-2010) and the mid-engined 4C Competizione (2013-2020).

The teaser doesn’t include any actual information about the upcoming halo model, but Alfa Romeo officials have given us a few hints in past interviews with the press. Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato has revealed that the design of the supercar will be inspired by iconic models from the past, hinting at the gorgeous 33 Stradale. Design boss Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos backed up the rumors saying they are up for a surprise reveal soon.

Reports on the possible underpinnings of the model suggest it could use an upgraded and more powerful version of the biturbo 2.9-liter V6 that was used in the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTAm. There are also rumors about a fully electric variant using tech from the Maserati Folgore range. In any case, the model is expected to offer impressive performance credentials and sharp driving dynamics.

The supercar will likely be a limited-production offering, translating to a hefty price tag and a high collectability status. There is a high chance it will be marketed as Alfa Romeo’s last ICE-powered model before the brand goes EV-only by 2027. We will keep an eye out for new teasers of the 6C as we suspect a lot of them in the next few months leading to its reveal.

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