Whether you don't have access to gym equipment like dumbbells right now or just ~need~ a break from the day-to-day and are looking for a solo form of exercise, there's never been a better time to set a running goallike running a mile a day.

As long as you have a pair of sneakers and a safe place to put one foot in front of the other, you're just minutes away from basking in all of the endorphins (and hopefully the sun) that come with a good run.

Even if running has never been your thing, working toward a daily mile is totally doable. "Most peopleincluding kidscould safely run or walk a mile per day with little to no risk of injury," says Steve Stonehouse, CPT, USATF run coach, and director of education for STRIDE. (Yep, walking breaks are totally acceptable, guys!)

Even seasoned runners should consider running a mile every day. "If you already have a regular running routine, increasing up to daily runs could improve your stamina and mood, too," adds Rebecca Kennedy, CPT, Peloton Master Tread Instructor.

So, yeah, if you needed a little extra push to get moving, this is it. But before you set that daily reminder to get out there and log that mile, there are a few things the pros want you to keep in mind.

As long as you do it safely (more on that soon), running a mile a day is a great way to support your overall health and fitness.

"You get all the benefits of running in general, like supporting cardiorespiratory fitness and bone health, without the volume of mileage that can potentially cause injury," says Stonehouse.

It's also a great way to guarantee you spend some time outdoors every dayand exercising outside has been shown to have greater psychological benefits, like a boosted mood and feeling calm, than sweating indoors, according to research from the American Psychological Association. (If you log your mile on a tread, though, even looking at nature scenes on a screen enhances your run's happiness-inducing effect, found a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.)

The average 150-pound person burns about 370 calories in 30 minutes of running at a 10 minute/mile pace, according to Harvard Medical School. Run a single mile at that pace and you'll burn about 123 calories.

While that's definitely something, it's likely not going to keep you progressing toward your goals long-term. "Your body is an incredibly adaptive machine and will adapt to the stresses of running a mile a day relatively quickly," explains Stonehouse.

If weight loss is your ultimate goal, you'll want to focus on training that helps you burn fat efficiently and build muscle. Which is why, ultimately, just running a mile a day won't do much to move the needle towards your long-term weight-loss goals; it simply doesn't burn enough calories. (Need a little inspo? Try one of these top calorie-burning exercises instead.)

Though logging a daily mile can be a great way to get moving and support your health and fitness goals, whether or not it supports muscle growth, too, depends on how you run it.

"Low-intensity cardio does not lead to muscle gain, a.k.a. hypertrophy," says Kennedy. If you run a mile at an easier or more moderate pace, you rely on type I (a.k.a. slow-twitch) muscle fibers, which support endurance exercise. (Picture a marathon runner.)

However, "sprinting is a great way to focus on muscle gain," Kennedy says. Sprinting recruits more muscle fibers, specifically type II (a.k.a. fast-twitch) muscle fibers, which support power production.

A surefire way to build that muscle? This equipment-free workout sculpts your lower body from home:

That said, sprinting just a total of one mile a day likely isn't enough to make noticeable muscle gains, says Kennedy. "In order to really put on muscle, you need to lift weights, eat enough to support muscle tissue breakdown and protein synthesis, and get adequate recovery."

Ultimately, can sprints support your progress? Totally. But will they do the job on their own? Not so much.

Before you vow to lace up your running shoes seven days a week, consider this: "If you don't run regularly and begin running every day, the steep increase in stress and impact puts pressure on your joints and ligaments. This could lead to potential injury," Kennedy says. So, if you don't have a current running routine, start with just one day of running per week and work yourself up to every day over the course of several weeks, she recommends.

Still, though, "running daily is not for everyone, just like power lifting every day isn't advisable," Kennedy says. So don't feel like if you haven't tried running a mile a day that you're missing out. There are plenty of other ways to reap similar benefits.

One of the biggest things to keep in mind is that, while you can totally build a tolerance to daily runs, switching up how you move from day to day can keep you feeling fresh, both in body and in mind.

Kennedy says her go-to way of incorporating a one-mile run into daily exercise is as a finisher. "It's an incredible way to feel accomplished at the end of a workout," she says. Whatever gas you've got left in the tank, burn through it in that mile.

Or, if you take your daily mile at an easier pace, it works well as a warm-up, too.

The bottom line: Running a mile a day can support your overall fitness and cardiovascular health, but don't expect it to build major muscle or eliminate the need for other types of exercise.

Here is the original post:
Running A Mile A Day: The Pros And Cons For Your - Women's Health

This story was initially printed on 2019/07/06 7:00am PDTJul 6, 2019 and final up to date 2020/04/09 2:25pm PDTApr 9, 2020.

With many people working from house, it may be exhausting to get paperwork signed and despatched the place they should go if you do not have a scanner round to show them into PDFs. Paper remains to be a persistent a part of life nowadays, even when it would really feel a bit dated, and coordinating the conversion from real-world object right into a file youll be able to e-mail may be obnoxious, however your telephone can really deal with it for you. The truth is, you could not even want to put in a separate app.

There are many methods youll be able to generate PDFs in a pinch, and possibly 100 apps that declare to do it, however well be specializing in three good methods from three particular and well-known apps to generate PDFs from real-world paperwork: Google Drive, Adobe Scan, and Microsoft Workplace Lens.

Since every has its personal benefits, youll be able to determine for your self. Basically, I would suggest Drive for those who solely have to scan a doc a few times, because its most likely already put in in your telephone and can prevent time. Nevertheless, our readers favourite is Workplace Lens, and for those whore coping with scanning paperwork continuously, it is undoubtedly your most suitable option.

The explanations to make use of Google Drive in your PDF wants are:

Creating PDFs in Google Drive on Android is straightforward:

Left: The floating motion button opens a menu (proper) which incorporates the Scan possibility for creating PDFs.

Simply open the app, faucet the + floating motion button within the nook, and within the ensuing menu, choose scan.

Line up, assessment, and tweak the images youre taking for PDFs in Drive.

Line up the doc within the viewfinder, making an attempt to verify all 4 corners are seen and that your view is largely flat, and take the photograph. (Holding the doc together with your fingers whereas scanning is feasible, however you may must be cautious.) After a little bit of processing, Drive then offers you the choice to assessment and settle for or reject the photograph earlier than importing it into the PDF. Faucet the large checkmark whenever you assume the photograph is nice sufficient, and the app will appropriate for some distortion and import the doc in black and white (by default) to the PDF.

Drive can robotically appropriate for perspective, too, so that you neednt fear too a lot if you cannot snag the proper shot, it would stretch and tweak issues to compensate all by itself, although some content material would possibly find yourself a bit off-kilter.

Extra choices are nested in different menus.

From this display youll be able to add extra pages to the present doc (+ icon), re-capture any web page that has already been added (the reload/redo icon), alter the crop/distortion correction (crop icon within the prime proper nook), change shade settings (palette icon within the prime proper nook), and delete, rotate, or rename the scan (all by the overflow three-dot menu prime proper). Additional choices within the nested settings menu can help you change paper dimension, orientation, and picture high quality, although the defaults must be high-quality for many of us.

When youre pleased with the outcomes, simply faucet the checkmark within the backside proper. Drive will ask you the place to put it aside in Google Drive and what to call it. After you faucet Save within the backside proper nook, it must be there. Congrats, youve got simply made a PDF together with your telephone.

Google Drive can do OCR, but it surelys a separate operate.

You may also get PDFs captured on this method to generate into textual content paperwork through OCR, but it surelys a multi-step course of. You may have to both open the PDF once more later in Google Docs as a doc or toggle a setting in Google Drive to vary how uploaded paperwork are dealt with (Convert uploaded information to Google Docs editor format in Settings -> Normal from the desktop website). Googles OCR is fairly good with textual content, however unusual formatting or uncommon languages, symbols, or graphics can typically confuse it, so plan to assessment it later for errors.

In the event you want a distinct set of options than what Google Drives app can present, and also youre keen to surrender the deeper integration with G Suites providers, Adobe Scan could also be extra your type. Its benefits embody:

The method for Adobe Scan is not rather more sophisticated than its on Drive, however Id say its a little much less user-friendly.

Adobe Scan can seize images robotically and do perspective correction, too.

While you open the app (and grant it the permissions it requires to operate), you may be introduced on to a digicam viewfinder. Scrolling left or proper by the carousel on the backside lets you choose between sorts of paperwork. The Aperture icon subsequent to the shutter button controls Auto-Seize, which permits Adobe Scan to take images of paperwork robotically as soon as theyre in body, and I would encourage you to have it on since it may possibly save a while. Both means, youll be able to nonetheless seize paperwork manually with the shutter button.

Adobe Scan is not fairly pretty much as good at selecting up the perimeters of paperwork for perspective correction in my expertise, but it surely affords the possibility to appropriate the crop for every merchandise as its scanned (by default, after sufficient scans it would ask if you would like to disable that).

The UI is not fairly as clear as Drive relating to advancing steps. The gallery icon is how you progress ahead as soon as youve got taken all of your images.

Upon getting captured the entire paperwork you wish to be included in a given PDF, faucet the gallery icon to the underside proper and it takes you to a display the place youll be able to assessment the contents.

Adobe Scan could make PDFs from photos youve got already taken or downloaded.

(In the event youd desire to make a PDF from photos that have been beforehand taken, the icon to the underside left on the seize display which appears to be like like a stack of images lets you import them into the app to generate a doc from.)

Choices for tweaking PDFs are higher labeled in Adobe Scan.

From the assessment display, youll be able to rename the PDF (textual content/pencil icon prime middle), or use the navigation bar on the backside to do issues like add extra pages, reorder gadgets, change the crop, rotate photos, choose shade settings, or delete pages.

When you may have the PDF and its contents in a spot that you just prefer it, tapping Save PDF within the prime left nook saves it domestically, dumping you to the default current record of paperwork in Adobe Scan.

A number of methods to open and share PDFs.

From right here youll be able to share present paperwork, open them in Acrobat, and fill them out/signal them through the Adobe Acrobat app. After a brief little bit of processing, the information listed right here additionally embody OCR textual content. If you might want to get them off of your machine (which might be the entire level of producing a PDF), youll be able to share the information through that aptly-named share button. Choices embody capturing off a hyperlink to the file saved on Adobes Doc Cloud, sending the file through E mail, or youll be able to cross the file to a different app through an intent with Share a duplicate.

One phrase of warning: Ive run into points with non-link, standalone PDF information generated by Adobe Scan. It is clear that Adobe tries to push customers into sharing PDFs through hyperlinks over providers it may possibly cost for slightly than the information instantly (there is no possibility to simply save/export the PDF as a file to a selected location, for instance). Nevertheless, a few of the information it has generated for me have had points and could not be opened, although the web hyperlinks created on the similar time labored high-quality. YMMV, in my expertise, Drive does a greater job dealing with PDFs as precise information.

Adding Microsoft Office Lens

Originally, this list didnt include Microsofts app, but we were urged to add it by our readers. They werent wrong, its the easiest and most intuitive scanning solution weve tried, and were sorry it took so long to check it out.

Of the three options here, Microsoft Office Lens is probably the best. Whether youre deeply integrated into Microsofts Office suite and services or not, its pretty fast and easy with a dead-simple interface and all the tools you probably need.

If youre scanning documents regularly from your phone, this is the app you should be using. Its perks include:

Of all of the apps on this record, it is the simplest to make use of:

Left: Firing up the app for the primary time. Middle: Viewfinder. Proper: Deciding on photos from the digicam roll.

Simply obtain the app, hearth it up, grant it the required permissions, and also youre off. Other than an interstitial display that you will see the very first time you launch it (above left), you may at all times be dumped straight to the viewfinder (above middle), as with Adobes app.

The viewfinder has all of the instruments you want instantly accessible with only a few faucets. Alongside the underside of the viewfinder, beneath the shutter, are completely different modes youll be able to change between primarily based on what you are scanning. You may most likely simply use the default doc mode, however youll be able to shortly change to scanning enterprise playing cards, images, and whiteboards as effectively, every of which triggers its personal preset modes. Above the shutter is your digicam roll, providing easy accessibility to photographs youve got already captured together with your digicam app simply faucet the photographs you want so as to add to a doc after which faucet the orange arrow that seems to the best of the shutter button (above proper). You may also faucet the /gallery icon to get to a file picker if you might want to manually navigate to photographs exterior the digicam roll.

While youve obtained the doc lined up within the viewfinder, an orange-red rectangle signifies that it has a stable lock on its perspective and dimensions (which it may possibly robotically crop and proper for). Simply be aware that for those who take images on a grid-like background such as you see pictured above, it would bug out a bit with that computerized cropping. Theres a guide crop instrument if that occurs, although, and solely very particular circumstances like that triggered any misbehavior for me.

Tweaking photos earlier than you flip them right into a doc could be very straightforward.

While youve captured a web page in your doc, the workflow to tweak its easy. If you might want to add one other web page to your doc, faucet the Add New button, and youre taken again to the viewfinder so as to add one other picture repeat that course of as obligatory with every web page of the doc.

When a number of photos are loaded in, youll be able to swipe between pages by scrolling left and proper. There are filters for those who desire to transform your paperwork to black and white, and many others., simply accessible with a fast swipe up.

Alongside the highest of the display, you may have many of the different, much less continuously used choices. You possibly can delete photos within the present doc, change their crop, rotate photos, change their doc kind (which adjusts pre-set filters), make a textual content overlay, or draw on the doc. With pinch-to-zoom working, youll be able to even add a signature or annotate, if you might want to.

Easy export course of.

While youre achieved, faucet Achieved, and also you get choices for how one can save your doc. In the event you reserve it to your Android telephones gallery, that saves it as a JPEG picture, however there are alternatives to save lots of a PDF file to your telephones storage as effectively. You may also ship the picture to OneDrive, PowerPoint, or OneNote, and paperwork may be imported to Microsoft Phrase for OCR for those who desire to transform it into textual content.

When the doc has been saved in a selected format, you are dumped to a listing of information youve got created within the app, from there youll be able to share or delete them through the three-dot menu on every. If I needed to provide you with one grievance about this app, it is that a share possibility may very well be built-in into the export display earlier than this one, however that is a really minor concern.

Now you already know three other ways of constructing a PDF in your Android-powered telephone. Drive is probably going essentially the most handy alternative for customers in a pinch, however for those who scan paperwork commonly, you owe it to your self to strive Microsoft Workplace Lens, it is simply the very best doc scanning resolution we have used.

No matter you select, youve got obtained choices greater than we even listed right here. So the following time you assume you may should discover a scanner to place collectively a PDF, keep in mind that the telephone in your pocket is completely able to dealing with it.

See the article here:
Why Amazon shipments are slow during this pandemic - Best gaming pro

This story was initially printed on 2019/07/06 7:00am PDTJul 6, 2019 and final up to date 2020/04/09 2:25pm PDTApr 9, 2020.

With many people working from house, it may be exhausting to get paperwork signed and despatched the place they should go if you do not have a scanner round to show them into PDFs. Paper remains to be a persistent a part of life nowadays, even when it would really feel a bit dated, and coordinating the conversion from real-world object right into a file youll be able to e-mail may be obnoxious, however your telephone can really deal with it for you. The truth is, you could not even want to put in a separate app.

There are many methods youll be able to generate PDFs in a pinch, and possibly 100 apps that declare to do it, however well be specializing in three good methods from three particular and well-known apps to generate PDFs from real-world paperwork: Google Drive, Adobe Scan, and Microsoft Workplace Lens.

Since every has its personal benefits, youll be able to determine for your self. Basically, I would suggest Drive for those who solely have to scan a doc a few times, because its most likely already put in in your telephone and can prevent time. Nevertheless, our readers favourite is Workplace Lens, and for those whore coping with scanning paperwork continuously, it is undoubtedly your most suitable option.

The explanations to make use of Google Drive in your PDF wants are:

Creating PDFs in Google Drive on Android is straightforward:

Left: The floating motion button opens a menu (proper) which incorporates the Scan possibility for creating PDFs.

Simply open the app, faucet the + floating motion button within the nook, and within the ensuing menu, choose scan.

Line up, assessment, and tweak the images youre taking for PDFs in Drive.

Line up the doc within the viewfinder, making an attempt to verify all 4 corners are seen and that your view is largely flat, and take the photograph. (Holding the doc together with your fingers whereas scanning is feasible, however you may must be cautious.) After a little bit of processing, Drive then offers you the choice to assessment and settle for or reject the photograph earlier than importing it into the PDF. Faucet the large checkmark whenever you assume the photograph is nice sufficient, and the app will appropriate for some distortion and import the doc in black and white (by default) to the PDF.

Drive can robotically appropriate for perspective, too, so that you neednt fear too a lot if you cannot snag the proper shot, it would stretch and tweak issues to compensate all by itself, although some content material would possibly find yourself a bit off-kilter.

Extra choices are nested in different menus.

From this display youll be able to add extra pages to the present doc (+ icon), re-capture any web page that has already been added (the reload/redo icon), alter the crop/distortion correction (crop icon within the prime proper nook), change shade settings (palette icon within the prime proper nook), and delete, rotate, or rename the scan (all by the overflow three-dot menu prime proper). Additional choices within the nested settings menu can help you change paper dimension, orientation, and picture high quality, although the defaults must be high-quality for many of us.

When youre pleased with the outcomes, simply faucet the checkmark within the backside proper. Drive will ask you the place to put it aside in Google Drive and what to call it. After you faucet Save within the backside proper nook, it must be there. Congrats, youve got simply made a PDF together with your telephone.

Google Drive can do OCR, but it surelys a separate operate.

You may also get PDFs captured on this method to generate into textual content paperwork through OCR, but it surelys a multi-step course of. You may have to both open the PDF once more later in Google Docs as a doc or toggle a setting in Google Drive to vary how uploaded paperwork are dealt with (Convert uploaded information to Google Docs editor format in Settings -> Normal from the desktop website). Googles OCR is fairly good with textual content, however unusual formatting or uncommon languages, symbols, or graphics can typically confuse it, so plan to assessment it later for errors.

In the event you want a distinct set of options than what Google Drives app can present, and also youre keen to surrender the deeper integration with G Suites providers, Adobe Scan could also be extra your type. Its benefits embody:

The method for Adobe Scan is not rather more sophisticated than its on Drive, however Id say its a little much less user-friendly.

Adobe Scan can seize images robotically and do perspective correction, too.

While you open the app (and grant it the permissions it requires to operate), you may be introduced on to a digicam viewfinder. Scrolling left or proper by the carousel on the backside lets you choose between sorts of paperwork. The Aperture icon subsequent to the shutter button controls Auto-Seize, which permits Adobe Scan to take images of paperwork robotically as soon as theyre in body, and I would encourage you to have it on since it may possibly save a while. Both means, youll be able to nonetheless seize paperwork manually with the shutter button.

Adobe Scan is not fairly pretty much as good at selecting up the perimeters of paperwork for perspective correction in my expertise, but it surely affords the possibility to appropriate the crop for every merchandise as its scanned (by default, after sufficient scans it would ask if you would like to disable that).

The UI is not fairly as clear as Drive relating to advancing steps. The gallery icon is how you progress ahead as soon as youve got taken all of your images.

Upon getting captured the entire paperwork you wish to be included in a given PDF, faucet the gallery icon to the underside proper and it takes you to a display the place youll be able to assessment the contents.

Adobe Scan could make PDFs from photos youve got already taken or downloaded.

(In the event youd desire to make a PDF from photos that have been beforehand taken, the icon to the underside left on the seize display which appears to be like like a stack of images lets you import them into the app to generate a doc from.)

Choices for tweaking PDFs are higher labeled in Adobe Scan.

From the assessment display, youll be able to rename the PDF (textual content/pencil icon prime middle), or use the navigation bar on the backside to do issues like add extra pages, reorder gadgets, change the crop, rotate photos, choose shade settings, or delete pages.

When you may have the PDF and its contents in a spot that you just prefer it, tapping Save PDF within the prime left nook saves it domestically, dumping you to the default current record of paperwork in Adobe Scan.

A number of methods to open and share PDFs.

From right here youll be able to share present paperwork, open them in Acrobat, and fill them out/signal them through the Adobe Acrobat app. After a brief little bit of processing, the information listed right here additionally embody OCR textual content. If you might want to get them off of your machine (which might be the entire level of producing a PDF), youll be able to share the information through that aptly-named share button. Choices embody capturing off a hyperlink to the file saved on Adobes Doc Cloud, sending the file through E mail, or youll be able to cross the file to a different app through an intent with Share a duplicate.

One phrase of warning: Ive run into points with non-link, standalone PDF information generated by Adobe Scan. It is clear that Adobe tries to push customers into sharing PDFs through hyperlinks over providers it may possibly cost for slightly than the information instantly (there is no possibility to simply save/export the PDF as a file to a selected location, for instance). Nevertheless, a few of the information it has generated for me have had points and could not be opened, although the web hyperlinks created on the similar time labored high-quality. YMMV, in my expertise, Drive does a greater job dealing with PDFs as precise information.

Adding Microsoft Office Lens

Originally, this list didnt include Microsofts app, but we were urged to add it by our readers. They werent wrong, its the easiest and most intuitive scanning solution weve tried, and were sorry it took so long to check it out.

Of the three options here, Microsoft Office Lens is probably the best. Whether youre deeply integrated into Microsofts Office suite and services or not, its pretty fast and easy with a dead-simple interface and all the tools you probably need.

If youre scanning documents regularly from your phone, this is the app you should be using. Its perks include:

Of all of the apps on this record, it is the simplest to make use of:

Left: Firing up the app for the primary time. Middle: Viewfinder. Proper: Deciding on photos from the digicam roll.

Simply obtain the app, hearth it up, grant it the required permissions, and also youre off. Other than an interstitial display that you will see the very first time you launch it (above left), you may at all times be dumped straight to the viewfinder (above middle), as with Adobes app.

The viewfinder has all of the instruments you want instantly accessible with only a few faucets. Alongside the underside of the viewfinder, beneath the shutter, are completely different modes youll be able to change between primarily based on what you are scanning. You may most likely simply use the default doc mode, however youll be able to shortly change to scanning enterprise playing cards, images, and whiteboards as effectively, every of which triggers its personal preset modes. Above the shutter is your digicam roll, providing easy accessibility to photographs youve got already captured together with your digicam app simply faucet the photographs you want so as to add to a doc after which faucet the orange arrow that seems to the best of the shutter button (above proper). You may also faucet the /gallery icon to get to a file picker if you might want to manually navigate to photographs exterior the digicam roll.

While youve obtained the doc lined up within the viewfinder, an orange-red rectangle signifies that it has a stable lock on its perspective and dimensions (which it may possibly robotically crop and proper for). Simply be aware that for those who take images on a grid-like background such as you see pictured above, it would bug out a bit with that computerized cropping. Theres a guide crop instrument if that occurs, although, and solely very particular circumstances like that triggered any misbehavior for me.

Tweaking photos earlier than you flip them right into a doc could be very straightforward.

While youve captured a web page in your doc, the workflow to tweak its easy. If you might want to add one other web page to your doc, faucet the Add New button, and youre taken again to the viewfinder so as to add one other picture repeat that course of as obligatory with every web page of the doc.

When a number of photos are loaded in, youll be able to swipe between pages by scrolling left and proper. There are filters for those who desire to transform your paperwork to black and white, and many others., simply accessible with a fast swipe up.

Alongside the highest of the display, you may have many of the different, much less continuously used choices. You possibly can delete photos within the present doc, change their crop, rotate photos, change their doc kind (which adjusts pre-set filters), make a textual content overlay, or draw on the doc. With pinch-to-zoom working, youll be able to even add a signature or annotate, if you might want to.

Easy export course of.

While youre achieved, faucet Achieved, and also you get choices for how one can save your doc. In the event you reserve it to your Android telephones gallery, that saves it as a JPEG picture, however there are alternatives to save lots of a PDF file to your telephones storage as effectively. You may also ship the picture to OneDrive, PowerPoint, or OneNote, and paperwork may be imported to Microsoft Phrase for OCR for those who desire to transform it into textual content.

When the doc has been saved in a selected format, you are dumped to a listing of information youve got created within the app, from there youll be able to share or delete them through the three-dot menu on every. If I needed to provide you with one grievance about this app, it is that a share possibility may very well be built-in into the export display earlier than this one, however that is a really minor concern.

Now you already know three other ways of constructing a PDF in your Android-powered telephone. Drive is probably going essentially the most handy alternative for customers in a pinch, however for those who scan paperwork commonly, you owe it to your self to strive Microsoft Workplace Lens, it is simply the very best doc scanning resolution we have used.

No matter you select, youve got obtained choices greater than we even listed right here. So the following time you assume you may should discover a scanner to place collectively a PDF, keep in mind that the telephone in your pocket is completely able to dealing with it.

Here is the original post:
Microsoft Reportedly Changes Windows 10X Plans, Won't Launch Surface Neo This Year - Best gaming pro

When it comes to quick-and-easy staples to have in the the kitchen, everyone knows that chicken is king; this lean white meat is not only a healthy dinner option, it's also a versatile meat that can be prepared in so many different ways, from tasty finger foods to delicious grilled chicken breast dishes. Of course, despite all of those amazing chicken breast recipes you have bookmarked, it's inevitable that you'll someday find yourself with the chicken still in the freezer come dinnertime which is when you'll need to know exactly how to defrost chicken safely and quickly.

Luckily, there are several different ways to safely thaw your frozen chicken just in time for a delicious, no-fuss meal. Here, we've outlined three different methods to defrost chicken as recommended by the USDA, so you can decide which one best suits your current needs. One thing to remember, though, is that you should never thaw your chicken by leaving it out on the counter or submerging it in hot water, as this will allow bacteria to multiply rapidly. (Of course, you could also skip the thawing altogether and just cook it frozen as is, but this method will make the cooking time about 50 percent longer.) Whether you're cooking up chicken to include in a healthy sandwich or planning to bake it with some veggies, here's how to defrost chicken in three safe methods:

This method takes the most amount of planning ahead, as it takes at least a full day for the chicken to thaw, but it's also the safest and most recommended. To defrost using this method, simply place your frozen chicken in the refrigerator; make sure your refrigerator temperature is set at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below, and keep the chicken wrapped and placed in a container, tray, or dish that will prevent the juices from leaking onto other foods (you can also place it in the bottom shelf of the fridge for this purpose).

As for the length of time it takes to defrost, a large whole chicken may require at least 24 hours for every 5 pounds of weight, while a smaller amount of chicken such as a pound of boneless chicken breasts may take a full day. Once thawed, your chicken can remain in the fridge for an additional day or two before cooking; it can also be refrozen without cooking, though there may be some loss of quality.

Though faster than refrigerator thawing, this method requires more attention. First, place your chicken in a leak-proof package or plastic bag; this step is important as it prevents any bacteria from the air or surrounding environment to be introduced to the food, and also prevents the water from damaging the meat tissue. Fill a large bowl (or your kitchen sink) with cold water; then, submerge the bag containing the chicken in the water. Remember to change the water every 30 minutes so it continues to thaw.

Small packages of chicken (about a pound) may defrost in an hour or less, while packages of 3 to 4 pounds can take 2 to 3 hours, according to the USDA. Chicken that is thawed by the cold water method should be cooked immediately or if refreezing, should be cooked before being placed in the freezer.

If you're short on time, using a microwave is the fastest method to defrost chicken. To safely thaw chicken in the microwave, remove any packaging before placing it in a microwave-safe dish or container and covering the dish loosely. Use the defrosting setting on your microwave to defrost for two minutes at a time, checking the meat and turning or flipping it periodically to ensure even thawing. (If you don't have a defrost setting, set your microwave to cook at 2030 percent of its full power.) Depending on the wattage of your microwave and the size and thickness of the chicken, defrosting will take seven to eight minutes per pound.

One important thing to remember is that chicken that's thawed in a microwave should always be cooked immediately after defrosting. Since microwaves may heat up the chicken to temperatures in which bacteria thrive, promptly cooking the chicken to proper temperatures is the only way that will ensure that the potentially dangerous bacteria be destroyed. Only once the chicken is cooked is it safe to refreeze.

More here:
How to Defrost Chicken Safely Using Three Methods - Quick Ways to Thaw Chicken - GoodHousekeeping.com