March 28, 2024

So you’re ready to start an exercise program? By Jennifer Austin

So you want to start an exercise program? Making the decision to get fit doesn’t have to happen on January 1st, and it doesn’t have to happen on a Monday either, you can decide to get fit…today! So, where do you start? Here are your first five 5 steps to getting fit:

Medical clearance to exercise. If it’s been over a year since you’ve done blood work, do it. If it’s been awhile since you’ve been cleared from all your age-appropriate tests, do them. Blood pressure should be checked, as well as reviewing family history with your doctor.

Start moving daily/take breaks. Any kind of moving is good for your mind and healthy for your body. Start carving out scheduled breaks during your day. Walk out to the mail box, walk around the block, play with the kids.

Get a pedometer to find a starting point. How do you know where to begin if you don’t know your base? Wear your pedometer for one week consistently.

Find a professional. Be sure you’re making every minute count by building structure into your workout. Seek direction from a Fitness Professional to for proper instruction as to how the different systems of your body function. He or she can outline exact steps to safe and effective exercise.

Set goals. Grab a pen and paper. Write down a 3-week goal, 6-week goal, and 3-month goal to start. Beside your first goal, write down your action step to take immediately. Build momentum!

Is the Foam Roller for you? By Nicole Bryan

For an investment of just under $25.00 a Foam Roller offers provides many purposes and benefits to the everyday exerciser. Massaging muscles, offering a balance component to workouts, as well as providing an abdominal challenge and stretching are just a few of the uses. You’ll find varying lengths, however a 6 inches in diameter and 3 foot length foam roller is the most versatile for many. Proper body mechanics are important when using the foam roller. This means pay attention to your body position as you’re working on the roller. As always, consult your physician before adding in this or any new component to your exercise regime.

Rolling on the foam roller should not be painful. It’s important to keep the roller moving much like a massage. Roll up and down your muscle only. For example, place the foam roller perpendicular to your body just under your calf or lower leg muscle. Position the roller to be under only one leg at a time. Sit on the floor, stay seated on the floor or for more pressure on your calf muscle, lift your body up on to the roller. Roll up and down your calf muscle about six inches of total movement. Keep the duration of your rolling limited to less than a minute at first.

The foam roller can offer a balance challenge to your workouts. Because of the round shape, your body must work to stabilize the roller. For example, lie on the roller face up lengthwise with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Now move your feet and knees together and place your arms across your chest. Hold for 10 seconds before returning your hands to the floor to help balance.

Adding an abdominal challenge to your workout using the foam roller provides unaccustomed work for your muscles. For example, begin on the floor on your hands and knees. Place the roller under your knees. Pull your belly button up toward your spine, pull your shoulders down. Hold your torso and the roller in place. Now lift your right hand up off the floor and hold for five seconds. Return your right hand to the floor, and lift your left hand up off the floor and hold for five seconds.

Stretching on the foam roller allows gravity to assist your stretch without allowing any compensatory patterns. For example, lie on your back lengthwise on the roller. Keep both knees bent with your feet flat on the floor. Now reach both arms straight out along side your body and roller with your palms up.

Check out this super versatile and multi purposeful piece of exercise equipment next time you are at the gym. Consult a Fitness Professional to outline specifics for you and your workout program. Roll, improve balance, challenge your core and stretch for posture all on one foam roller!

Ignore Negativity! By Jennifer Austin

It’s sure to happen. Resistance and negativity on the way to your fitness goal, that is. You’ll simply share your fitness goal only to be told you can’t do it, don’t have the time, know-how or fitness ability. Instead of allowing negativity to sabotage your workout efforts, use the emotion to power-up your motivation to reach your goal against all odds.

What makes a great athlete? They have the well-trained ability to ignore nay-sayers, negators and unsupporters and maintain focus to achieve their athletic and fitness dreams. Having the ability to not engage, debate or defend yourself with those who are not supportive takes practice. Great athletes have the courage to continue moving against the grain when others question what they are doing and why they are doing it in the first place, and what are they trying to prove anyway. Staying focused on your fitness goal can be tough. Here’s how to do it when you encounter opposition:

Say nothing. Sometimes no words are a better choice. Why fill the silence with sarcasm or a joke.

Keep it general. When your friend asks about your fitness goals, keep the details to a minimum.

Don’t quantify.  Resist the temptation of offering specific details about sets, reps, timing or training cycles.

Keep questions simple. If your friend wants to talk about details, they will ask about details.

Don’t take it personally. Remember their negativity is not about you, your dreams or athletic endeavors.

Build Confidence in Your Fitness

On your healthy living journey there will be triumphs and there will be doubts. How do you know if you’re on the right track? Pick up workout tips and exercise inspiration by chatting with others sharing your journey. Build confidence in your fitness by connecting with fellow athletes who share your struggles. You’ll find encouragement, support and accountability every Monday as you interact with others all across the country, and the world. Log in to #HealthyWayMag Fitness Chat to solve your workout challenges and share your success!

Join #HealthyWayMag Fitness Chat on Twitter every Monday at 5pmP/8pmE!

Simply log onto your Twitter account and follow @HealthyWayMag to participate. Questions for discussion will be posted as Question 1, “Q1″, Question 2, “Q2″ and so on. Contribute your answer and experience via answers to Question 1 noted as “A1″, answer to Question 2 as “A2″ and so on. Interact with others, chat, exchange ideas, training tips and have fun!

 

 

Monday August 3, 2015 #HealthyWayMag Fitness Chat Giveaway from Momentum Jewelry:

Momentum Jewelry’s athletic and inspired jewelry will motivate and empower your workout! Their signature piece is a delightfully comfortable bracelet that blends function with purpose. Workout friendly, it is washable, lightweight, and non-tarnishing. Many athletes have also found their shoe charms energize their exercise to the next level. Their motivational and inspirational sayings are personalized and therefore become internalized. They take your personal training mantra on-the-go! Check them out on Twitter @MomentumJewelry for more information.

Is Walking Worth It? By Nicole Bryan

If you think all cardio has to be high intensity, all out, all the time, to gain health benefits, think again! Walking is a realistic, sustainable, effective and efficient cardiovascular exercise option for many. Proper walking for fitness form is important for increased efficiency. Increased efficiency means increased effectiveness, decreased risk of injury, reduced risk of falling, increased energy and sustainability of intensity during the workout.

Here are a few quality control check points to be aware of during your walking workout:

Even stride length between your right leg and your left leg. Uneven stride length could signal dysfunction of how your body is moving, which may lead to injury.

Walking in a heel to toe pattern. Walking flat-footed increases risk of falling. Walking or shuffling feet also decreases the distance covered (decreases energy expenditure) of each step.

Proper spinal alignment. Avoid the forward shoulders hunched over and head forward posture by keeping your ears lined up over your shoulders. Keep your shoulders lined up over your hips, hold your chin parallel to the floor, and keep your feet pointing forward.

Here are exercises to gain additional benefits and effectiveness in your walking for fitness workout:

Focus on increasing the turn-over of your steps. Basically shorten your stride and step faster. Moving at a faster pace will increase energy expenditure and burn more calories.

Power from your arms. Move more muscles, burn more calories.

Pull your belly button in, and pull your shoulders down and back. Why not get a core workout and strengthen your posture muscles at the same time? The result is additional benefit out of the same effort.

Practice deep breathing while walking. Slowly inhale through your nose for a count of 4, exhale out your mouth for a count of 6. The result will be an increase in energy and decrease in stress.

Does walking offer health benefits? YES! Choose to move your body aerobically, on a regular basis. Find what you enjoy, and you’ll enjoy doing it.

Are you on the right track to fitness? By Nicole Bryan

The complex and multi-faceted experience of living a long-term healthy lifestyle is ongoing. In the journey to wellness there will be accomplishments, setbacks, days of confidence, as well as days of uncertainty. And that’s the way it should be! If we’re not experiencing all of those, maybe all within one week even, then the regime needs reevaluating. Just as other life experiences are all emotionally and physically encompassing, the path to wellness is no different. However, somewhere along the line many of us got the impression that getting healthy is easy. The truth is, making the choice to get fit is easy. The “getting fit” part of getting fit takes sacrifice, effort, and often the daily renewal of commitment to the goal.

Here’s how to know if we’re on the right track with our fitness regime.

Are you experiencing results and progress? Results will most likely not be ongoing in a dramatic capacity in a long term fitness program. The body adapts in stages, and that’s often how we’ll experience results. So if results have temporarily slowed, try some unaccustomed exercise to ramp up results again. If progress has taken a back seat, change your regime entirely.

Do you experience feelings of being unsure and doubt that you’ll be able to stick with it? Uncertainty is part of setting goals that force us to stretch our comfort level to reach them. The goals should be big and far out enough to inspire a feeling of “is this really possible.”

Does your regime require effort? If you’re day dreaming through your workout, or cruising through class on auto-pilot, time to mix it up. Your regime should require taking day in and out action steps.

Do you have to build a strategy and think about how you are going to approach your goal? If you walk into the gym and do the same thing, in the same order, with the same weights, reps and sets without a thought as to how you’re going to approach or complete your regime, time to change approach. Your regime should make it necessary to develop a plan of attack regarding how you are going to get to your goal.

Do you miss your routine when you’re away from it? If you miss how your exercise makes you feel better, miss the energy it brings and satisfaction you experience from completing each workout you’re definitely on the right track.

Is it fun, does it bring you joy? It won’t be all laughs all the time, but more often than not it should be an enjoyable, fun, happy experience. If you’re not smiling even once during the workout, change it!

Is Obstacle Course Racing for you? By Jennifer Austin

Should you consider an Obstacle Course Race?

Pick up just about any race calendar or fitness magazine and you’re sure to read about the latest craze of obstacle course racing. And for good reason, they are challenging, inspiring, and so much fun!

Here’s why you should consider adding an obstacle course race to your fitness schedule:

Total body workout. The multi-dimensional format for races consists of running from obstacle to obstacle. Shorter course races of three to five miles usually include 10+ obstacles which challenge upper body strength, lower body strength, muscle endurance, balance, flexibility and agility. Your approach heading into a race should be, be prepared for anything!

Prep requires cross-training. Instead of focusing on only one activity like training for a marathon, obstacle courses force training in many disciples and athletics. Crossing ladders, swinging across rings, climbing walls, pulling ropes, carrying sandbags all require unique training. Limited only by your imagination.

Super charged motivation. You’ll be racing with 500+ of your new best friends…or new rivals! Many mid-pack racers find they are encouraged by fellow competitors and push harder than they would (or thought they could) otherwise. For many races, the tone is supportive and motivating. Many racers are competing for the first time and accomplishing tasks they never dreamed possible.

Builds life confidence. Whether racing for the podium or for the finish line. During a race you will undoubtedly be faced with a task you never thought you could accomplish. You’ll have to control your mental focus, negotiate your approach, practice positive self-talk, push through physical discomfort, battle fatigue…and you WILL! Through mastering this discipline, you’ll build confidence in your ability to conquer fears, master anxiety and uncertainty. The feeling you’re left with, empowerment! This empowerment will transfer into all areas of your life because you’ll know you’re able to accomplish whatever you set your mind to accomplish.

The element of PLAY! Running, jumping, hopping, crawling, swinging, balancing, throwing are all included in the obstacles you’ll encounter. You’ll feel like a kid again on the playground at school! Not all exercise has to be structured to count toward fitness. Not all reps have to be counted and quantified. You’ll have one approach, GO!

Better your Fitness

Better your Fitness!

Join #HealthyWayMag Fitness Chat on Twitter and stay current on top gear, best exercise practices and keys to motivation. Interact with others who are also on their fitness journey. Together we solve challenges and share successes.

Mark your Calendar NOW: Every Monday at 5pm(Pacific)/8pm(Eastern) #HealthyWayMag Fitness Chat on Twitter.
 

It’s easy to join in: Simply log into your Twitter account. Enter #HealthyWayMag to follow the chat feed. Questions for discussion are posed as “Q1″ Question 1, “Q2″ Question 2 and so on. Reply to offer your tips, ideas and experiences by notating your answer as “A1″ to designated your answer to question 1,”A2″ to offer your thoughts on the second question and so on.

 

 

Monday July 13, 2015 #HealthyWayMag Fitness Chat is Sponsored by RecoFit Compression Gear.

If you don’t know about RecoFit Compression Gear, you should! Competitive athletes and fitness-enthusiasts alike have designated RecoFit as their personal training partner. Their technical-fit and uniquely designed gear helps you get more oxygen to your muscles, reduce swelling and delay fatigue. What does that mean for your fitness? Better performance and faster recovery. RecoFit is the only compression gear that cuts their fabric in a cross-grain process for effective compression and no-slip positioning! Check out their product line and experience the RecoFit difference for yourself. Proudly made in the USA! Contact your compression gear experts via Twitter at @Recofit.

Learning from your Kids by Jennifer Austin

School is out! Look no further than your children to gain inspiration how to enjoy living active. Add a little “recess” into your exercise and fitness program. Here’s what kids can teach US about having fun during physical activity:

Running as fast as you can feels great! Running wildly is fun. Rather than focusing on tensing this muscle and relaxing that muscle, stride length and time splits, etc, just run! Leave your watch at home and go. Adjust your stride by how your muscles feel. When you’re tired slow down, if you have a burst of energy, run faster. Keep it simple.

Abandoning structure is fun! Structured workouts do have a place in living healthy, but so do impromptu workouts. Bring the play back into your fitness. Adopt an anything-goes attitude with your exercise. Try a crab walk contest across the living room floor with your toddler, play tag with your dog in the backyard or see who can bring in the groceries from the car the fastest, do an impromptu set of walking lunges down your hallway. No rules, anything goes. Workout clothing and set exercise location are not always required to gain healthy living benefits.

There’s always room for one more player. There’s always room for a fellow-exerciser. Meeting others with the common interest of living healthy is a great way to find a new activity or training buddy. All exercisers have a common goal of improving health. Instead of allowing ego to interfere, it’s more fun to embrace them than to resent or feel threatened by a new player.

Get excited! Ever watch kids getting ready for recess? The teacher barely has time to open the door before the children are darting outside, practically climbing over one another to reach the school yard first. What excites you about your fitness? Find something! Crank up your favorite tunes, invite friends, try a different location, bring along your dog. If you don’t enjoy it, you won’t do it long-term.

Making up the rules as you go makes fitness fun. Diverting from your usual walking route to check out a house under construction provides extra interest and motivation. Deciding last minute to walk to lunch, instead of driving allows sunlight to boost your energy and mood. A simple walking the dog can become an interval training workout. Create a game you can play while at the park or beach with friends. Make up a scoring system, start a round-robin tournament, set up goal-posts using sticks or picnic tables. Before you know it, everyone will be chiming in to determine the game rules. Creativity with your healthy living adds spontaneity, go with it; be open to where it leads you!

Shouting, laughing and singing as you’re active is invigorating! Exercise doesn’t always have to be so serious. Having a sense of humor makes it more enjoyable…for everyone. Smiling is okay!

Full body moves are way more interesting. Climbing on a jungle-gym requires both arms, both legs and core muscles. Swinging requires arms holding on while kicking legs to create momentum. Playing handball against the backboard requires bending arms and legs, rotating our torso, running to retrieve the ball. Pulling on the ropes and bars means all of our muscles have to work together. Full body moves like Squat/Press and Lunge/Bicep Curl are great go-to total body exercises.

Exercise opportunities are everywhere. Bending, twisting, hopping, bouncing, twirling. Ever notice how a group of kids simply cannot sit still? As adults, we tend to only sit still. Stop it! Standing in line? Do heel and toe raises. Stuck in traffic? Pinch your shoulder blades together and pull your belly button in for 30 second intervals. Waiting for an appointment? Walk around the building.

Kids can teach us lots about adding the fun back into our fitness. Embrace your healthy living efforts as the one time during your day in which you can, have permission to, are able to…relax, enjoy yourself and have some fun moving, twisting, shouting, laughing, dancing, smiling, singing, running, climbing!

Traveling? How to keep your fitness on track. By Nicole Bryan

Take your strength/stretch routine along for the ride this summer! This combo workout series is a great fit to maintain condition while traveling. The following series is for intermediate exercisers and those without injury or illness concerns. Always consult your physician before beginning exercise.

Knees to chest stretch. Lie on your back and pull both knees into your chest. Hold ten to twenty seconds.

Hamstring stretch. Lie on your back. Extend your right leg straight up, perpendicular to the floor. Hold ten to twenty seconds. Change leg position; extend your left leg straight up, perpendicular to the floor and hold.

Bicycle for Abs. Lie on your back and pull both legs up off the floor with knees bent. “Bicycle” your legs to work abdominal muscles. Do ten times total.

Figure 4 stretch. Lie on your back. Cross your right ankle onto your left thigh, pull both legs off the floor and in toward your chest. Hold ten to twenty seconds. Change leg position; place your left ankle on your right thigh, pull both legs in toward your chest.

Floor plank. Lie on your stomach on the floor. Place your forearms and toes on the floor, lift the rest of your body off the floor and maintain parallel to the floor. Hold thirty seconds.

Low back stretch. Begin on your hands and knees on the floor. Inhale, round your back up. Exhale, and arch your back. Do five times.

Standing squats. Begin standing with your feet hip width apart, hold your arms straight out in front of you. Bend from your knees and hips and sit back into a squat. Lower your body down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Return to your starting position. Do ten repetitions.

Standing lunge stretch. Standing, step your right foot back about three feet. Keep both feet flat on the floor and pointing forward. Bend your left knee and hold ten seconds. Change leg positions; step back with your left foot back about three feet, keeping both feet flat and pointing forward, bend your right knee and hold ten seconds.

Standing front thigh stretch. Stand on your right leg. With your left hand, grab your left ankle. Keep your knees together and your torso straight. Hold ten seconds. Release and change leg positions. Stand on your left leg only, with your right hand hold your right ankle. Hold ten seconds.

Don’t let travel plans leave your strength and flexibility on the sidelines. Maintenance is not regression after all! Use this stretch and strength combo routine to take easy conditioning along during travels!

 

*Disclaimer: Result may vary from person to person.