Planning a healthy vacation–or one that’s simply healthy for the soul? Save yourself some headaches by knowing what to pack, and if you can save yourself some time by getting by on a carry-on, go for it!
Here’s an article that we love about packing. Check it out!
http://www.travelinsurance.org/whats-in-your-bag/
If you don’t know the answer to this question, you’ve either never had shin splints or you don’t know how to avoid them. The tibialis anterior is the muscle that runs in front of the shin, essentially from your ankle up. It helps your foot tilt up and down in exercises like running. When you overtrain, this muscle tends to get the brunt of it, and you can wind up with tendonitis, all kinds of muscle strains, and shin splints.
Fortunately, you can seriously reduce your chance of injury by conditioning the tibialis anterior properly. You can do this with simple flexion exercises. Our favorite is standing flexion. When you do bicep curls or other simple upper-body exercises, add this extra step: Check your balance, then shift your weight to your heel as you lift the front of your foot up toward the ceiling. You can also flex your feet upward while sitting to condition during your workday.
Another important piece of advice: If you DO experience pain in this area, stop exercising, rest, ice and call your doctor. You don’t want to wind up with a tear or a chronic injury.
Feeling you’ve hit a fitness plateau? Try these quick fixes to rev up your calorie burn and get your muscles working harder again.
- Increase your weight. Your body may be used to the weight you’re using presently and therefore working less hard.
- Change the exercise. Muscle develops memory for movements that it does over time. You need to create NEW movements.
- Speed up. We would never recommend going an exercise so quickly that you lose form, but for cardio particularly, try going faster to burn more calories.
- Do a completely new activity. If you spin, try running or a cardio boxing class.
Still thinking you need more? Talk to your trainer! That’s what we’re here for! We can give you some great options for shaking up your workout routine and getting more out of your time at the gym.
We had so much fun watching the Oscars—and we know you did too! In honor of the Academy Awards, we’d like to share our favorite workout moves used by our favorite stars and starlets.
George Clooney’s strength training workout: http://relativestrengthadvantage.com/george-clooney-workout-for-the-american-an-analysis/
Angelina Jolie’s Butt and Abs from Fitness Magazine: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/real-plans/celebrity/angelina-jolies-butt-abs-workout/
Halle Berry’s Cardio. (She hits the hills.) http://www.shape.com/celebrities/halle-berrys-workout-secrets
Penelope Cruz’s weight training routine: http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/general/photos/0,,20225467_20225469_20509010,00.html
Sandra Bullock’s tricep sculptor: http://www.self.com/healthystars/2011/03/celebrity-red-carpet-training-secrets-slideshow#slide=1
Gweneth Paltrow: Gweneth uses a Pilates Reformer. In lieu of giving you a link, we offer you this advice: A reformer can dramatically change your body. However, you need to learn from an expert. Call us for rates!
And as always, the red carpet is a great reminder to bring your shoulders back when you are being photographed!
Having wrist pain? You may or may not be able to exercise, depending on the degree of your injury. In most cases, wrist pain is simply due to using the joint in a new way, but we always recommend calling your doctor first to make sure there’s nothing seriously wrong.
Once you have that clearance, there are a few things you can do to make your workout more comfortable while you’re recovering.
1. First and most important, pain is a sign to stop. Ask your trainer to adjust you or find a different exercise.
2. If you’re practicing yoga poses, ask your trainer to give you options in which you can balance grasping a weight instead of placing your hands flat down. A straight versus a bent wrist can sometimes make a difference.
3. Last work on strengthening your wrists. Do hand circles 10 times in both directions twice a day. Place your forearm on a table or the arm of a chair and bend your wrist to lift your hand up and down 10 times twice per day. Stay in that same position and “wave” your hand from side to side.
4. It can also help to apply warmth or massage you’re the part of your forearm closest to your wrist.
We hope this helps! Please remember to always make your trainer aware of this or any other regular joint pain that you have. It helps us do our jobs better and gives you better results.
Short on time? Don’t skip breakfast. We have all kinds of ideas for you to get a quick meal in without rushing to a fast food place or ignoring the most important meal of the day.
Here’s why: When you don’t eat breakfast, your metabolism doesn’t get going. This both wreaks havoc on your ability to process calories for the day and slows your metabolism over time. In short, skipping breakfast is a great big diet “don’t.”
That’s why we’re giving you the following list of easy, healthy options to keep in your kitchen and grab when on the run.
1. Bananas. They are high in potassium and travel easily.
2. Individually-sized yogurt. Another grab-and-go item.
3. Hard boiled eggs. These are our go-to perfect protein.
4. Cuties. They’re in season and easy to grab.
5. Granola bars. Even better, package up some Cheerios into plastic baggies. You’ll get less sugar for your carbs.
6. Animal crackers. They’re not our first choice, but they are relatively low in sugar and better than a donut. Pair them with a glass of milk for better nutrition.
We hope this helps! If you have health or diet questions, please post a comment. We’d love to answer!
If you haven’t, you should! We have a new one up, and some great classes being offered. Whether you’re a morning workout junkie or like your evening routine, we have something that will work for you and complement your training package. And if you’re working out weekly with a trainer, classes are FREE! Just call us for details. Here is what you can expect in our classes.
In the morning, we start at 6:30 on Wednesdays with Fit Bootcamp. Too early for you? We also offer 9:15 Dream Yoga on Tuesday and Friday mornings and 10:30 Core in Motion on Thursdays. Both of these classes are amazing for your muscle tone as well as your overall flexibility. On Fridays, we have a noon ballet fusion class, and Monday through Thursday, we offer solid toning classes between 6 and 7:30—a perfect time for you to hit the gym on your way home from work.
Are you a weekend warrior? We can help you there as well. On Saturdays, we have 9 a.m. Detox (a great cardio-toning-yoga combo workout), 9:30 Ripped (hard core toning) and 10:30 Core Impact (more of a Pilates-centered toning class). And on Sundays we have the ever-popular and friendly 10:30 Yoga Flow.
Come check a class out! Make us a part of your week. And remember to call us to learn about free classes to complement a standing weekly training session.
Is the Chicago winter starting to get to you? You’re not alone. In fact, most Chicagoans get some sort of the “winter blahs” around this time of year, ranging from cabin fever to legitimate depression.
While we know it’s easiest to hole up and reappear around St. Patrick’s Day, fight the urge! Get out of the house. Visit lots of friends. Most importantly, stay active! Exercise will both help your mood now and make you feel better about yourself when you can finally shed your bulky sweater and winter coat.
One way that we love to give ourselves some incentive during the winter is by choosing a race or vacation destination that we can train for. Planning for an upcoming trip to somewhere warm can do the trick, but so can signing up for a local race, whether its’ a 5K, Warrior Dash or Marathon. Just find something to get your mind thinking forward.
Last, try to make the most of the winter. Go ice skating, or find a sledding hill near you. Bundling up and getting moving can bring out the kid—and the optimist—in all of us.
January tends to mark the beginning of makeover season. Before the month is over, we suggest that instead of tackling your hairstyle or wardrobe, you go after your fridge. Here are some great ways to give your fridge a makeover in 2012.
We said this last week, but we mean it: Start regularly hard boiling eggs and refrigerating them. You can easily add them to a salad or eat them alone for a protein boost.
Toss out any sweets that you haven’t eaten in the last two weeks. If you really liked them, you’d have already eaten them. Don’t waste calories on something that you only “sort of” like. The same goes for the ice cream in your freezer.
Check the expiration dates on your dressings and condiments and throw those out, too. Once you can better see your shelves, wash them!
Go to the grocery store and buy skim milk and low fat yogurt. Now throw out your sour cream and heavy creams. You can substitute yogurt or milk in virtually any winter recipe.
Get rid of your white bread and replace it with whole wheat. Fiber is good for all of us.
Fill up your fruit and veggie drawers! Go seasonal, and buy lots. Then be sure to add veggies to every recipe and have at least two pieces of fruit per day.
Happy refrig-imaking!
© 2010 Fit Lincoln Park