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Summer Family Fitness Ideas by Mollie Millington

June 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Enjoy fitness with your entire family this summer, and enjoy the added bonus of improving your health. How is this possible? 

Set a good example for your kids. They are more likely to follow your example, rather than listen to your lecture. To set a healthy example means you need to be healthy! Join a tennis league, attend Jazzercise, or play on a community softball team. Although this may seem like one more activity to fit into your diary, tending to your own health and fitness simply has to become a priority. Exercise relieves stress, introduces you to new people, and makes you feel good when the endorphins start flowing. These benefits will affect your attitude at home and work in a positive way. 

Start a new family tradition of activity. Desingate a set time each week or month as family activity time. Take turns choosing what you’ll do. Consider going for a walk or bike ride every night after dinner. Or make Sundays the day you go exploring in the woods or along the lake. Enjoy the fresh air and use the time to catch up with everyone.  Regularly scheduling time with another family to get active will also make fitness fun for everyone!

Become involved with your child’s sport. If you’re already active in a sport together, make an effort to get off the sidelines and join in with your child or children more often. Practice together in the backyard or coach or manage their team. Purchasing tickets to see a professional game or local team provides a great opportunity to be active together. Helping your child learn more about the rules and see more competitive matches will help them improve as a player. 

Choosing to be fit can be difficult but it can also be fun when you do it as a family. Competition is motivating, whether it is for bragging rights, an ice cream cone, or a homemade trophy.  Winning and losing (graciously, of course) are also good moments to teach life lessons to your children. Being fit benefits everyone involved and creates memories that will last forever.

London-based personal trainer Mollie Millington is available for in-person and virtual training. She may be reached at www.ptmollie.com, as well as via @PTMollie on Twitter.

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5 Best Gym Exercises to Improve Posture by Julie Mulcahy

June 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Maintaining proper posture during daily activities is very important for reducing muscle fatigue, increasing energy and preventing back pain. Having strong postural muscles to support your spine can reduce the strain on your back from long durations of sitting at a desk.

Try the following 5 exercises to strengthen the middle and lower back muscles as well as neck and arms.
 

T and Y arm raises on Exercise Ball
Lay on your stomach over a large exercise ball. Your head and neck are off the ball in a neutral position. Toes should be touching the floor. For Y position, arms are overhead with thumbs up, like superman. For T position, arms are out to side like wings of an airplane.  Hold a weight in each hand. Raise arms to the horizontal. Keep your spine level. Do 3 sets 10 repetitions of each T and Y position. Use 0-5 pounds in each hand. 
 
Standing Upright Rows
Stand in squat position facing cable column pulley system. Hold one pulley in each hand with palms facing each other.  Pulleys should be adjusted to chest level. Contract abdominal muscles and squeeze shoulder blades together as you draw the pulleys toward you. Try 3 sets of 10 repetitions. 
 
Planks
Lie on your stomach and turn your toes under. Bend your elbows and support body weight on feet and forearms. Raise the middle section of your body to a level plank position. Your belly should be off the floor and not sagging so your spine stays straight.  Your bottom should not be higher than your head. Hold this position as long as possible while maintaining proper form, up to a minute. Don’t forget to breathe! An alternative position is to extend elbows and weight-bear through your hands. Do 2-3 sets. 
 
Lat Pull Machine
Adjust bench so that your feet are touching the floor and knees are under the pad and lean back slightly. Draw belly button in towards spine to tighten abdominal muscles. Pull lat bar toward your upper chest. Repeat 3 sets of 10 reps. 
 
Overhead Medicine Ball Raise
Lay on floor on your back with knees bent. Keep abdominal muscles contracted as your raise an 8-10 pound medicine ball or dumbbell over head with straight elbows.  Keep belly button pulled in tightly so your spine doesn’t lift off floor. Try 3 sets of 10.

Tip: If your muscles fatigue and you can’t maintain proper positioning do not continue that exercise. For postural exercises, quality is always better than quantity.

Julie Mulcahy M.P.T is a licensed Physical Therapist with over 19 years experience in sports medicine and orthopedics. Julie is also busy mom of 4 children and a marathon runner. She may be reached by email jam82296@hotmail.com or @PTrunningmomof4 on Twitter.

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Healthy Summer Smoothies

June 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This article is brought to you by Polka Dot Pond. They offer stainless steel popsicle molds http://tinyurl.com/7evg5ra ideal for a fun and plastic-free healthy way to enjoy homemade smoothies or blended juices. Create all natural blended fruit popsicles without the added sugar to enjoy after a nice long workout in the warm outdoors or out in the backyard with the kids. For those of us that are trying to shed a few extra pounds, pour some fruit infused water into your ice pop molds and enjoy a nice healthy, all natural, low calorie snack! Homemade ice pop molds are guaranteed BPA-free, phthalate-free and PVC free, as well as eliminating plastic wrapping waste from store bought versions. The Polka Dot Pond Shop https://www.polkadotpond.ca carries a variety of environmentally-friendly, safe and healthy stainless steel products. Check out all stainless steel items http://tinyurl.com/7tpwv3f at the POND. Save 15% off any stainless steel product on your next order with the code Steel15.

Healthy Summer Smoothies (Contributed by Experts from Precise Portions)

Summer season is sizzling hot, so a cool beverage is a welcome treat! Choose a nutritious, energizing and refreshing ice-cold smoothie. Save money and blend your own healthy summer smoothies at home.  Fruit smoothies are easy to make, as well as provide an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. So load-up the blender, hit the liquefy button and indulge yourself with one of these healthy treats.

Strawberry Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 cups ice
2 and 1/2 cups of fresh strawberries
1/2 cup of strawberry nectar
1 pitted peach
1 1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt or unsweetened strawberry yogurt, if strawberry nectar is not available.

Directions:
Place all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Should be served quickly, and consumed before the ice starts to melt.

Blueberry Smoothie

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of orange juice
1/2 cup of plain, low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup of washed, and stemmed blueberries
Add honey to taste
2 cups ice

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender until consistency becomes smooth. Serve and enjoy!

Energizing Lemonade Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 cup of lemonade
1 1/2 cups raspberries
1 cup of low-fat lemon yogurt
2 cups ice

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients in the blender until the puree flows smoothly. Serve and indulge!

Smoothies are popular for a reason: great taste and tons of health benefits. They are also among the easiest snacks to prepare. Smoothies are filling, without filling you up with a ton of calories. Add extra nutrients and create your own recipes by choosing fruits that are in season.

Contributed by experts from Precise Portions. Precise Portions provides every day easy portion control solutions – a dietitian designed portion control dinnerware (weight management system consists of plates, glasses, bowls, menu planning sheets, and more!). You can find more smoothies’ recipes on their site http://www.preciseportions.com/ as well as some more tips on healthy eating on their blog, http://www.blog.preciseportions.com/

 

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