Best Fitness Blog

... by Karli Taylor

As the temperature drops outside, more and more of us are bringing our workouts in from the cold. After walking, running or cycling outside for months, the unchanging scenery from the cardio deck can get boring pretty quickly. Don’t worry, there are quite a few ways to make exercising indoors more exciting until the snow melts next Spring.

If you exercise at home on a treadmill or other piece of equipment, try playing games with the timer. I know that countdown timer can seem daunting when you are stuck indoors, but if you use it creatively, it can make the time pass much more quickly.

The next time you get on that treadmill, walk at your normal pace for 5 minutes. Every 2 minutes thereafter, add one notch on the incline until it gets to its highest point. Since most treadmills have anywhere from 10-20 levels on incline, your whole workout could be complete by the time you reach the top! You do play a similar game with the resistance on a bike or an elliptical.

Speed intervals are also a good way to pass the time. You can use the time for this by speeding up for 30 seconds every 2 minutes, or for 2 minutes every 5. Another way to time intervals is with your iPod or your TV. If you watch TV while exercising, speed up for the commercials. If you listen to music, speed up every time the chorus plays. You get the idea, right?

If you belong to a gym that has group exercise classes, try a few of those. Feel embarrassed that you are uncoordinated or afraid that everyone else will be better at the activity that you are? Stay in the back of the room until you get comfortable or bring a friend who is also a novice. Once the music starts and you start to sweat, all of those worries will go away and the class will be over before you know it.

Finally, if you want to spice up your exercise routine, make an appointment with a fitness professional to learn something new. Challenging yourself to do something completely different will not only keep you from getting bored, it will also accelerate your fitness progress!

... by Karli Taylor

Let's talk about stretching. Why do we stretch? Some people think that it will prevent injury. Some people think it will prevent soreness. What if I were to tell you that the only thing stretching does is make you more flexible? Yup- that's it. So if you participate in a sport that requires flexibility- like gymnastics or even golf, then stretching will help your performance. But runners, skiers, baseball players- unless you are tight or imbalanced, stretching will not help your game.

Now Stretching does have its place- I don't want to be known as the anti-stretch trainer. If you are recovering from an injury, you should surely stretch. Why? Put simply, a healing muscle tends to be tighter than a normally functioning muscle, and like I mentioned earlier, if you are tight- STRETCH!

But when should you stretch? Every time I go to a race or a sporting event I see people lined up before the start stretching. I want to grab a microphone and scream at everyone! Stretching before an event will make you weaker. It will loosen up a muscle that is about to produce power- not a good thing. Think about a rubber band. When will a rubber band give the hardest snap back? When it is new or when it has been stretched out a few times? Make sense?

Before any event, warm up by moving dynamically. A dynamic warm-up is not a mile jog or walking a bit before the start. It consists of a series of exaggerated motions that take all of the joints about to be used through their full range of motion. Unlike stretching, dynamic warm ups do not require that you hold any one position for more than a second or two. For example, before a run take 10 or 15 steps each time lifting one knee up and pulling it into your chest. Turn around and walk back kicking your straight leg out in front of you each step. Follow that up by walking with a butt kick. Doing these 3 simple warm-up drills will prepare your body for the stress of hip flexion, knee flexion, hip extension and knee extension- the primary joint actions used while running or walking!

Static stretching, or holding a stretch for 30 seconds, comes after you run or work out. Can you ever stretch during a workout? Again, if something becomes very tight- go for it. Or, in the case of weight lifting, stretching the opposing muscle to that which you are training will actually make you stronger! Try it if you don't believe me. The next time you are weight training, stretch your biceps in between sets of a tricep exercise, or your quads in between sets of a hamstring exercise. Let me know what happens!