Hit The Waves

Now that the weather is warming up, making a visit to the beach opens up a variety of ways to get in a workout. I went the other day, and let me tell you... I felt like I was exercising even when I wasn't trying to!

Here are some things to do at the beach:

• Swim
• walk or run in the sand - burns more calories than when done on a sidewalk
• walk or run in the water - the deeper you go the more calories you burn
• fight the waves - when the current is good, it's a workout just trying to remain standing!
• fishing
• skiing
• surfing - I really want to learn how to do this!

Just get creative! Even walking down the coast looking for shells still counts as walking and you get to enjoy a bit of sunshine and some beautiful scenery!

For those who don't live near the beach, you can still get exercise at a nearby lake or river!

Photo was taken by me. All Rights Reserved

Squat and Lunge Your Way To A Toned Rear

Two moves I'm working on this week are lunges and squats. So, this week I am adding in Lunges and Squats. Here are a few tips to making sure that both are done in the proper form.

Lunges

Lunges can be done to the side or to the front. When doing lunges make sure that you are standing straight with your abs pulled in toward your spine. Maintain this form even when lunging. When stepping out for the lunge, make sure that you step far enough outward so that:

*You have plenty of room to actually lunge downward

*Your knee doesn't touch the floor

*When you lunge, your knee does not extend farther than your toes. (Click here for a photo of an INCORRECT lunge. Notice how her knee extends much further than her toes.)

Squats

Squats only work if they are done correctly. Start standing straight, feet shoulder width apart and your ab muscles tight. When lowering into the squat remember a few key points:

*Don't let your knees extend past your toes

*Stick your butt out. This helps to make sure your knees don't go out too far.

*Keep your back straight and your abs tight.

You can cross your arms over your chest or you can stick them straight out in front of you. I find that holding my arms out helps me to balance.

Are you having trouble keeping your knees from extending too far? Here is a trick I learned from a personal trainer. Stand in front of a low stool, chair, weight bench, and then pull something in front of you (this could be a chair, box, or even the wall), directly in front of your toes. When you squat, if your knees attempt go out too far, they will bump the block in front of you and will not be able to go too far. If you hit the block and you haven't squatted very far, stick your butt out farther. (Click here for a photo of a CORRECTLY done squat) This might throw off your balance the first few times, but that is why there is a chair or stool behind you. Eventually, you won't need the block or the chair!

Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Photo can be found here.

But That's Not Exercise!

When do you have fun while working out? 

When it doesn't feel like working out!

Sometimes the best forms of exercise are right under your nose and you don't even realize it! Anything that gets your heart pumping and your muscles moving can count. You just have to be creative. Do you want to boost your cardio stamina and maybe your coordination? Take a dance class. My gym offers Zumba classes, but it can be any kind of dance. Maybe you always wanted to learn ballroom or tap dancing. Now is a great time. Dancing burns calories like crazy!

Is your yard in need of care? Lugging around sod and bags of fertilizer is exercise. Digging ponds, planting flower beds, building a house; These all count as exercise!

It's warming up outside. This means that swimming is on the table. You don't have to rely on your indoor gym pool. Go outside. Hit the beach, the river, a pond. Swimming is the best cardio exercise you can do because it has little to no impact on your joints and bones.

Still need more ideas? Try these: skating, bowling, fishing, playing with your dog/kid. The list is really endless. Just find something you love and get moving!

The dance photo can be found here.
The swimming photo can be found here.

No More Flabby Arms

 Wave Goodbye to Mr. Pizza-man.

Have you ever waved to someone you know and realized that your arm flab was doing it's own waving too? Oh yeah, most of us know a little something about that. So we've got to get those arms ship-shape!

Push-ups are a great answer to this problem! Not only do push-ups work our whole arm, they help strengthen other areas too: shoulders, back, abs, even our wrists! Push-ups can even help our posture.

Can't do a push-up? No problem. You have to ease yourself into it slowly, and eventually you'll be doing push-ups like a pro and you can kick those girly knee push-ups to the curb.

Step 1: Find a wall - Start your push-ups against a wall. Stand in front of the wall. The closer you stand to the wall, the easier the push-ups will be. Make sure you don't make it too easy or you won't get any benefit from the workout. Place your feet together and your hands on the wall just wider than shoulder width apart. Don't lock your knees.

Step 2: Push! - Lower your body toward the wall, keeping your head aligned with your back. Make sure your abs are tightened. Lower and raise your body slowly - too fast means you are using momentum, and not your muscles to do the work.

Step 3: Go Lower - Once you can do a few sets of wall push-ups easily, you need to progress to harder types of push-ups. You can make the following transitions once your sets become easy for you:

*Stairs/Chair - Stairs are great because you can pick a level and when that level becomes easy you can simply go down one stair until it becomes easy. If you don't have access to stairs, improvise! Look around. You can use a chair, dining room table, counter top. Just make sure the object is stable and secure. You don't want to fall on your face!
*The Floor - Finally! Now you should be able to do properly formed push-ups, without using your knees.

Just remember, it might seem like it is taking for ever while you are in the moment, but once you master it, it doesn't seem anywhere near as long. Plus, it's a great confidence boost!

Simple push-ups not enough for your competitive soul? Mix it up! Try one-handed or one-legged push-ups for extra variety.

Happy Monday!

The photo can be found here.

Liven Up Your Walk

Good Tip for any walk? Bring along a friend!

We all know a universal truth about walking: It can get down right boring. So the key is to find ways to stay interested!

To liven things up this week I'm aiming for 3 or 4 days of  30 Minute* interval walks. This plan can be tweaked to your liking, but here are the basics to get you started..


Start off slow - Walk at a very casual, leisurely pace for 5 minutes. This is your warm up, but make sure you do a few stretches before actually starting to walk. During this 5 minutes, you can also pump and stretch your arms to get your circulation going.

Speed up a little -This speed should be about half way between your fast walk, and your warm-up walk. 2 minutes

Start the intervals - This section is 14 minutes of alternating Fast and No-So-Fast. Start out walking slower than your fastest comfortable speed, but you should still be faster than you were just walking. Do this for 1 minute. Then you alternate to 30 seconds of your fastest comfortable speed (As fast as you can go without hurting yourself). Initially, this doesn't feel like much, but by minute 14, you will feel the difference!

Ease up a little -You should be a half-speed again. 2 minutes

Slow it down - This is your 5 minute cool down. Remember to stretch again when you're done.

*Average 30 minutes - some days are a little more, some are a little less.


So that's it. You can do this walk several times a week, or just once. But, like strength training, don't do this two days in a row.

Additional ideas can be found here for treadmill users.


Happy Walking!

The photo can be found here.

Lets Get This Started

 May Our Treadmills Get More Use Than This One!

Before I post anything, let me add in this teeny tiny disclaimer. I'm not an athlete. I'm not a trainer, but I do know a small thing (or two) about working out. Ok, so maybe I don't know all that much. I know what I've read, researched, and done (and I'm learning more all the time), but I'm nowhere near knowledgeable enough to give any real advice to anyone. I'm simply posting what I DO just in case you might need a little more inspiration. If I post something that you don't think you can do, then don't do it. Or check with a trainer or your doc first. Deal? Ok then let's get this show on the road.

The general structure of my routine is pretty basic:

Warm up- You know, get my heart pumping a lil bit.

Daily walk - I like to change the locations of my walks so that the scenery is always fresh and new. But I also like to spice up the TYPE of walk once in a while too. 

Daily Strength Moves - I do strength moves daily. My laziness and procrastination requires this. It doesn't take much for me to fall out of the habit. However, we have to remember the Number One Rule for strength training: Don't do it on consecutive days! So how do we get around this so that we can work out two days in a row? We get creative.The following is an example of what I might do in a given week:

Day 1 - Cardio & Upper Body (arms and shoulders)
Day 2 - Cardio & Lower Body (Legs)
Day 3 - Cardio & Core (Back and Mid-Section)
Day 4 - Cardio Only
Day 5 - Repeat Day 1
Day 6 - Repeat Day 2
Day 7 - Repeat Day 3

Of course, Day 1 and Day 5 of the following week will be days of Cardio Only.

By doing the routine this way, we are still obeying the rules. We are never working out the same muscles two days in a row. One thing to make note of: Some moves work out more than just their main targeted muscle groups. For example, some upper and lower body moves also target the core. However, if you just did the core the previous day (or if you are going to do the core the following day), pick upper and lower body moves that have minimal core interaction. We don't want to over stress your muscles. This could cause injury.

If you have a move that you love that targets multiple areas significantly, you could go ahead and combine those areas for that day, making sure that you don't do them again the next day.

Cool Down - This is usually similar to my warm-up. The idea is to ease your body into less activity while still moving. An effective cool down can limit or prevent soreness the following morning.

So, that is the basic skeleton of my workouts. Since we all know how much I like to change things up, some weeks might look different, but I'm still going for the same goal: Getting my rear off my desk chair and getting outside.



The photo can be found here.