I ran across this article.
It is basically a hybrid of a desk and a treadmill. My first thought was to laugh. And then I was curious whether people actually used it. After seeing the pictures at the bottom and read the article, I realized that they actually do. My thoughts: if you are able to run/walk and type at the same time, more power to you. I just don’t know if your coworkers will appreciate the smell of sweat eminating from your workspace.
Today Washington was submerged under ice. As I ventured to and from work, trying to make it in one piece, I decided to post 5 exercises that will help you survive the icy conditions.
1. Single Leg Squats
2. Lunges
3. Squats on BOSU Ball
4. Single Leg Arm Curls
5. Lunges on BOSU Ball
All of these exercises force your body to do two things: work on core and leg stability. They train the legs to work in unison with the core to ensure proper and efficient functionality. If you throw in these exercises within your workout, I guarantee that you will have a much easier time with the present wintery conditions.
Thanks to Charlotte for sending this to me:
Happy New Year!
It’s 2008 and it’s time to get in shape.
Try the following workout to figure out exactly where you stand and what you need to work on from here on out:
-5 minute warm up on treadmill
-15x lunges
-15x chest press on stability ball
-10x pullups or inverted rows
-500 meters on the rower
-25x body-weight squats
-20x chest press on stability ball
-12x pullups or inverted rows
-500 meters on the rower
-15x lunges
-15x chest press on stability ball
-10x pullups or inverted rows
-500 meters on the rower
-25x body-weight squats
-20x chest press on stability ball
-12x pullups or inverted rows
Taken from Runner’s World’s Article, “What’s The Best Way to Train For a Marathon”:
“9. Sidestep injuries
I recently asked exercise physiologist, author, and two-time U.S. Olympic marathoner (1984, 1988) Peter Pfitzinger what he would do differently if he were 22 years old today. He said that he’d rest and/or cross-train for several days a week at the first hint of a problem. And that he’d include core training in his regimen. “I’m convinced that core stability helps runners maintain good running form and pace late in a race,” says Pfitzinger, now the CEO of the New Zealand Academy of Sport North.”
So there you have it. I’m not the only one that believes that crosstraining is an essential component of training for long-distance running.
USATF, the governing body for track and field within the US recently passed a controversial measure: the ban of ipods at all USATF sanctioned races. IHT recently published an article which criticises the new policy. I completely agree with the author of the article. The use of ipods should only be prohibited for elite runners trying to win the race. It should not apply to the recreational runner that needs that extra piece of motivation. I myself train myself to run with and without an ipod, so as to not become dependent on it, but have used it during my last two marathons. My last race was the Marine Corps Marathon and there were a number of people with headphones in their years.
What do the rest of you think? Do you think that music offers an unfair advantage? Should they be banned from official races? What role does music play in your training?
If you are looking for a great website that has tons of information about proper nutrition, then look no further. The people over at the USDA have outdone themselves with the creation of MyPyramid.gov. This is the official website for the new Food Pyramid and has lots and lots of great stuff on there. You can learn about all of the food groups in great detail. The best thing about the site, in my opinion, though is the Pyramid Tracker. The Pyramid Tracker requires for the user to input all of the foods that they ate for that day, and then analysis their nutritional intake. The analysis provides a breakdown of all the macro and micro nutrients that the person got within their diets and compares that with the recommended daily intake.
Proper nutrition is obviously a major component within living a healthy lifestyle. What you put into your body has a big impact on what comes out (figuratively speaking). This site is an excellent resource in helping people make the right nutritional decisions and the tracker is a great tool for knowing exactly where they stand in relation to their daily requirements.
I highly recommend that you check it out, it’s easy to use and pretty cool.
“Apperance is a Consequence of Fitness.”
-Mark Twight
Think about that. Appearance is the consequence of fitness. Not too many people understand this concept. It makes sense, though; true fitness leads to good appearance. I is more than just pure strength. It is also about performance, endurance, power, balance, coordination, agility, and speed. To obtain true fitness, one needs to excel in all of these areas. And excelling in these areas leads to a better appearance. This means that fitness is not the end result of apperance, but rather, the other way around.
Not too many people adhere to this principle and that’s why they plateau and become stuck in one place. They go about training the wrong way and get lost. I see too many people in the gym following routines designed for professional bodybuilders and not follow a regimen that is tailored to their own needs. And in doing so they are wasting their time. For instance, if you are a tennis player and want to improve your game, “chest and shoulder day” is not going to help your serve. Instead, you need to focus on improving your fitness, which would help with that. Better appearance will also come along with it.
Bodybuilder workouts are not the best way to get in shape nor to become more fit. They are appearance-oriented and miss the point. They revolve around isolating muscle groups, long resting periods, and lack functionality. This is not the way to get fit. As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, intense cross training is the solution. Cross training done properly hits all the aforementiond components of fitness. This in turn leads to a higher level of fitness, and a higher level of fitness leads to a better physique.
Does this all make sense? It is important to take a break from the mold that working out means training like a body builder. Working on the various components of fitness will naturally lead to a number of positive benefits, better appearance being one of them.
If what I have just said interests you, you can read more about this philosophy of fitness here, on the Gym Jones website.
