Oct
13
Try This Evening Workout
Filed Under Work Out | Leave a Comment
I’ve always had issues with evening workouts. At the end of the workout I’m too sweaty and too awake to go to bed, which means I don’t get enough sleep. And since I’m not a morning person, I usually work out in the afternoon. However, I recently found a little evening workout that sounds really promising.
The Key Is Pace
Rather than being an all out workout, this one is more of a stretching routine. It doesn’t involve high weights or high reps, just a low number of reps with body weight exercises done at a very slow pace. In fact, it’s a VERY slow pace. Each rep should take you about 10 seconds, which is slow enough to be relaxing.
The Exercises
Toe Touches - Stand up straight. Now slowly start bending down, keeping your legs straight, until your finger touch your toes. Do this very slowly (take at least 5 seconds to get all the way down) and go back up at the same slow pace. Do this five times and take a five second break between each rep.
Calf and Arm Raises - Stand up straight with your arms at your side. Now slowly go up on your tip toes. As you do this, raise your arms as far up above your head. Again, keep a slow pace. Going all the way up should take you at least 5 seconds and the way back down should be as slow. Try to inhale on the way up and exhale on the way down. Again, 5 reps and take a five second break between each rep.
Leg Lifts - Lie down flat on your back. Now slowly raise your feet until your legs form a 30 degree angle with the ground. Keep your legs straight and your feet together while you do this. 3 seconds to move the feet up, followed by 4 to 5 seconds of keeping them in place (you may want to try moving your feet around in little circles while you do this) and then take 3 seconds to bring your feet back down. Take a five second break between each rep.
Arm Lifts and Curls - Stand up straight with your arms at your side. Slowly raise your arms up while keeping them straight until your arms are pointing straight out ahead of you. At this point, make sure your palms are facing up. Now slowly curl your arms in by bending the elbow, keeping your upper arms steady. Once you’ve completely curled your arms in, pause for a second, uncurl your arms to the straight out position and then lower your arms back down to your side. Again, 5 reps with a 5 second break in between each.
That’s it, that’s the workout.
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By the way, this workout can also be used as a good stretching routine for times when you’ve been sitting down for too long, like on an airplane (although you may want to take out the leg lifts at that point).
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Oct
12
Weekend Roundup - Dogpark Edition
Filed Under Weekend Roundup | Leave a Comment
We just came back from the dog park where our little puppy, Daisy, spent a couple of hours running around like mad chasing everything in sight and playing with any dog that looked willing. She came home covered in mud and exhausted but also very happy. We’re tired just trying to keep up with her.
And now, on to some interesting health articles.
Earlier in the week I talked about ways to spot a fad diet. Well, the Diet Blog has a similar post which asks “Is your diet a cult?”
@The Diet Blog
Over at Almost Fit, they’re talking about 10 ways to build momentum with your weightloss plan. I liked this article even though it focuses a bit too much on weightloss, which I think is only one component of fitness. Motivation is key and the tricks mentioned in this article are a great way to keep yourself motivated.
@Almost Fit
The following article is not for people who are easily offended. It features a man by the name of Jack Lalanne who, for those who don’t know him, is one of the legends in the fitness community. Jack is extremely outspoken and can sometimes get a bit graphic, but I think he’s spot on in most cases. I just hope I’m in as good a shape as him when I hit my 90’s. So take a look at this article from the IF Life which introduces Jack to a whole new generation.
@The IF Life
And if you want more information about Lalanne, here’s an article from Outside Magazine which features more of the man and his philosophy.
@Outside Magazine
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Oct
10
Filed Under Eating Healthy, Healthy Meal Ideas, Snacks | 1 Comment
As a nation, the French tend to be on the wrong end of many jokes. However, as a nation, the French are also in far better shape than many other countries, even though they don’t exercise a lot. Most experts attribute this to two things:
- A more active lifestyle that involves a lot of activities like walking and dancing.
- A better diet that doesn’t involve as much processed junk.
So today, I thought we would look at a great snack idea that’s been a French tradition for centuries.
Yep, you got it, it’s a simple dish of apples and cheese.
Surprised?
You shouldn’t be. This is one of the simplest and yet healthiest snacks out there. No empty carbs, plenty of fiber to fill you up and enough fat and protein to keep you from feeling hungry later on.
A Few Tips
- Don’t overdo the cheese, it is high in calories, and try to choose healthier options. Avoid the dreaded “cheese slices” in their individual little plastic wrapping. I don’t know what those are but I think they’re the cheese equivalent of twinkies.
- Don’t peel the apple. The skin of an apple has much of the nutrients and quite a bit of fiber. If you peel it off, you’re left with something too high in sugars.
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That’s it, a perfect snack for any day of the week.
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Oct
8
Actually, maybe I should add “If you’re a guy” to the end of this post’s title. That’s because the two exercises I’m talking about are Lying Leg Adductions and Thigh Abduction. For some reason, whenever you mention thigh exercises to men they automatically think those are not for them. It’s as if only women should have strong thighs while guys should focus on strong biceps. Well, I happen to think that’s ridiculous. Strong thighs are part of a strong core which is going to keep you fit and in shape, and that’s good for both men and women. So without further ado, here are two exercises you may want to incorporate into your routine.
Benefits
Abductions and Adductions both reach a muscle that many of us neglect. Unless you’re a competition horse rider then you might not have very strong thighs. That could lead to injuries and less than peak performance in any activity that involves your legs. That’s because your thighs are the support for your legs. They keep you stable and prevent you from collapsing to either side.
Body Weight Only
First of all, both of these are usually body weight exercises. There are variations with added resistance in the form of exercise bands but that’s a nice to have, not a must have. So assuming you’re doing these as a body weight exercise, that means you don’t need any weights or machines to do them. If you’re trying to decrease or increase difficulty, you’re going to need to do that through slowing or speeding up and changing the number of reps. That said, these exercises are also a great way to stretch and I frequently do a set or two before I run.
Thigh Abduction
This one is pretty easy. just lie down on your side, hold your legs straight and lift up your outside leg. That means that if you’re lying on your right hand side you should be lifting your left leg. Keep lifting until you reach a 45 degree angle but don’t push that too much if you feel any pain in your inner thigh. Now lower your leg and you’re done. You’ve just done a single rep of Thigh Abductions for one of your legs.
If you want to see a video showing this, this link will take you to Cooper’s Guns:
Lying Leg Adduction
If thigh abductions workout your outer thigh, then adductions workout your inner thigh. The idea is the same. Lie on your side and lift your leg. However, instead of lifting your outer leg, you’re going to lift your inner leg. So if you’re lying on your right side, you’re going to lift your right leg. This is a little trickier than abductions because you’re lifting the leg you’re lying on, but with a little practice, it will get easy. Again, don’t push up too high, you don’t want to strain your ligaments. A little 30 degree rise is enough with these if it’s done in a slow and controlled fashion.
Again, if you want to see a video, click on the following link:
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Too many men focus just on their upper body just like too many women focus solely on their legs and butts. Remember, being fit means keeping your whole body in shape, not just a single muscle group.
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Oct
6
I’ve been getting more and more emails lately asking for my opinion on fitness and health plans. The questions range from specific diet regimens like weight watchers or Atkins to exercise machines like the abdominizer or bowflex. I try to answer each of these questions but I’d also like to make a general statement.
There is A LOT of crap out there when it comes to health and fitness plans.
Yes, that’s my statement and yes, I absolutely mean it. There are so many plans and ideas out there and the vast majority of them are absolute crap meant to cheat you out of your hard earned money. So without further ado, here are some quick tips on how to spot these scams.
Focus On Weight Loss
Everyone say it with me “fitness and weightloss are NOT the same thing”. I could lose 20lbs right now and actually be in worse health. That’s because the majority of my body weight is not fat, it’s muscle, bones and other vital organs. You can be thin and out of shape and you can be slightly overweight and in great shape. Of the two, slightly overweight but in good shape is the healthier condition to be in. So if your program focuses just on weight loss and has no other fitness or health goals, you’re doing something wrong.
Unrealistic Weight Loss
Along the same lines, if your fitness program promises more than 2lbs per week of weightloss, it’s probably a scam. Realistically, you’re not going to lose more than 1 to 2lbs per week. More than that is unrealistic and unhealthy. Sure, you can starve yourself and lose a lot of weight in a couple of weeks, but is that really what you’re going for?
Focus On Just One Exercise
All those late night informecials talking about the perfect lunge or the newest ab machine? They’re the health equivalent of a used car salesman trying to rip you off. No fitness program focuses on just one part of your body. A good program focuses on your entire body and combines resistance exercises with cardio workouts.
Focus On Just One Food
I don’t care if Acai berries are the newest superfood or if Kefir yogurt is supposed to make your heart stronger. If your diet focuses on just one food, you’re doing something wrong. One food is not enough for your body to get all the nutrients it requires. By all means, keep eating those berries, the yogurt and even that cabbage soup, but combine them with other dishes to get a more balanced eating plan.
Relies On Supplements
Unless you’re some kind of high end athlete, are trying to lead a very unique diet or have a serious health issue, you do NOT need supplements. Your body, in combination with a healthy and varied diet, makes or gets all the nutrients you need. You don’t need to pop 10 pills every morning, you don’t need to add a ton of protein powder to every fruit smoothie and you really don’t need those meal replacement shakes. Also, if your fitness plan includes injecting anything, you should probably see a doctor.
Temporary Program
Fitness is not temporary. It’s not something you get from a two week plan and then can retain for the rest of your life. It’s something you work on and keep working on FOREVER. Sounds bad? It’s really not and it can be a lot of fun. However, any program that tells you it can shape you up in a temporary amount of time and then you can go back to whatever it was you were doing before is lying to you. If you go back to what you were doing before then you will go back to the same condition you were at before. I’ve been fit and healthy for four years now and if I stopped now I would go back to that same out of shape, out of breath and overweight person I was before.
Starvation Level Eating
Any program that tells you to starve yourself through fasting, cleansing or some kind of ultra low calorie diet is a sham. Besides lying to you, these kinds of programs are actually bad for you. You do NOT need to starve yourself to lose weight. You just need to eat healthy, in moderation and combine this diet with a good exercise program.
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There’s no magic bullet, there’s no easy solution. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (and again and again and again), being healthy is easy.
- Eat healthy foods - That means more veggies and less processed crap.
- Eat in moderation - Yes, I’m looking at you Mr. average American consumer
- Exercise
That’s it. It really is that simple. Everything else is just a commercial for services you shouldn’t be paying for.
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Oct
5
Weekend Roundup - Construction Edition
Filed Under Weekend Roundup | 1 Comment
Forgive me for the late post, I spent the day building a new stall for my wife’s horse. It was a good day, but I’m a little sore. If you ever want a good workout, I highly recommend construction 
And now, on to some interesting articles from this week:
From the IFLife, here’s an interesting article about exercise which might be keeping you fat. I’m not sure I agree with all of this but it’s certainly interesting reading.
@The IF Life
And here’s one thing that WILL keep you fat and that’s energy drinks. Mark’s Daily Apple has a great article about these toxic beverages. By the way, in case it wasn’t obvious, I think these things are horrible and highly recommend avoiding them.
@Mark’s Daily Apple
Ok, this isn’t the most scientific of articles but I really liked it. It’s from Best Of Mother Earth and illustrates a really interesting fact about junk food. I won’t spoil the surprise by giving it away here, but trust me, you may not want to try another big mac after reading this one.
@Best Of Mother Earth
And let’s finish things off with this great article from Modern Forager about cravings and what they mean. Remember, often times your body’s communications are difficult to understand. Before reaching for the snack food, try to figure out what it is that your body really wants.
@Modern Forager
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Oct
3
Cardio Pole Dancing
Filed Under Alternative Workouts, Work Out | 3 Comments
Well, it had to happen some day and I guess today is that day. I got an email asking my opinion on stripper fitness courses.
Huh?
In case you’ve missed this odd little trend, stripper fitness (also called cardio pole dancing and a variety of other names) is a type of exercise where women imitate the moves of strippers. Yep, you heard me, dance like a stripper and call it a workout. Yes, it’s a bit silly and yes, it was probably thought up by a man (really honey, dancing like a stripper is good for you!) but is it healthy?
So Is It A Workout?
Depends. Most of these are too slow paced to be real workouts. They don’t get your heart moving and they don’t really challenge your muscles the way a real workout should. I’m sure that some of them do but the majority do not.
So We Should Avoid This?
Not at all. While it may not be a complete workout, these kinds of courses do get your ass off that couch and moving (quite literally) and that’s a good thing. If you think this is fun then by all means, enjoy. Anything fun and physically active is great.
Any Downsides?
Are there any harmful side effects to this? Not really, unless you count looking silly at times as a harmful side effect which I don’t. The only word of caution I have is that some of these courses have ridiculous requirements like wearing high heel shoes. That’s just crazy and is practically begging for injuries.
Summary
I don’t know if it’s a fad or something that will be around years from now, but if it gets people moving then it’s alright in my book. Just don’t mistake this for a real workout.
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There are just so many jokes I could close out this post with… However, I will exercise some amazing will power and refrain.
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