Skora Slackline Session

IT’S FRIDAY! And this is my second post in a series involving my Skora Shoes and just how many activities I can do while wearing them. A challenge? I think NOT! The previous post was about boxing and now… SLACKLINING!

So how many of you know what a slackline is?       Bueller?… Bueller?…

I discovered that some places have never heard of this great sport. A slackline is simple. It’s a line that can be stiff or more elastic depending on what kind of line you have. It also can be 1 inch wide or 2 inches wide and the lengths vary as well.

It is a lot of fun once you get the hang of it! Learn to walk and then you can work on tricks and make up your own. You can slackline in shoes or barefoot. I tried it in my Skora FITs and it worked just fine. I was excited that my feet didn’t have to get all dirty for once! I made a quick video of me performing the few things I can do on a slackline. I’m no pro obviously but maybe one day, I will work up the courage to do a backflip… over a pool, or foam pit. But for now, this is all I got.

Some benefits from slacklining are improved balance, focus, leg, core, and arm toning. Balancing is for sure one of the top benefits. The whole time you are balancing on a little piece of material suspended above the ground. A useful skill when the ground below you is covered in lava! Also, your focus will improve. You must really stay in the zone if you want to walk the line and perform without falling. Falling isn’t what you want to do to impress all the people starring. Overall, my body is just worked. My legs from keeping my body stable and even from jumping up on the line. My core is engaged during the entire session while walking on the line. And I keep my arms up for balance… believe me, your arms will get tired from going above your head, over and over again.

Now let’s all go be slackers!

5 Ways to a Tighter Tummy while Running

Some times running makes me feel like a robot… It’s the same thing over and over again. It can get kind of boring and can turn into a downward spiral. Not good. Here are some ways to change up your run for the better. These tips will keep your body and mind more engaged and working hard.

Here are some ideas!

1. Intervals: Tell yourself to sprint/run faster for a certain amount of time and then back off for a little bit with a jog or walk. Do this for your whole workout or start with just a few. Maybe pick a point in the distance and sprint to it. And repeat! Or if you want to time it, you can try and run for a minute then slow down for 30 seconds. This high intensity workout with help your body burn more calories by making it work harder. Warning: You will get tired and feel great after. Want to know why? Because after a workout like this, your body continues to work hard the rest of the day. The post-exercise effect is amazing, even while you are at rest, you will continue to keep burning calories.

2. Increase your distance: This has been happening to me a lot. I usually go out for 4 to 6 miles depending on my mood but I never push myself another half mile or mile or 2 miles. However, last week I ran 8 miles just fine! That’s 2 more than I usually do! It wasn’t even that hard. All you have to do is make sure you have extra time. But now I have the confidence to go further. Making yourself increase your mileage, even if it’s not a significant distance, will definitely burn more calories and it will prove to you that you are capable of doing more than you think.

3. Add some hills or stairs: I love to include stairs or hill training. It makes the workout so much harder. That extra incline will make your body work twice as hard, which means you will burn twice as much. I like to go to a parking garage… at times when it’s not busy… to run up it, then down it, and run up the stairs and then down the stairs. I can get it all done in a parking garage. Or if you don’t have access to that you can find stairs in many places. Hopefully, you can find a hill or even a golf course you can run on too for some hills. Your legs, core and butt will get so much stronger from this workout then just running on a flat course.

4. Pick up those legs: High knees! High knees! This is a quick cardio burst. During your usual run, have a focus on trying to land on the balls of your feet and switching legs fast. This is kind of like interval training but instead of changing the pace of your run, you’re changing your form. You exaggerate the knee lift. And this could even improve your running form in the future. While doing this, your heart rate will be pumping, which is what you want. Do this for a minute of about 30 feet and then rest and repeat 5 – 10 times.

5. Sprint finish: This is a great way to push yourself in that last stretch. If you have a partner, race each other to the end point. In most races someone is usually right next to you and after you give it your all the whole time, you don’t want to slow down at the very end. So you need to practice having that extra push at the end. Imagine a crowd cheering you on and you’re running through the finish. It’s a great feeling to finish your run with an energy burst and fast! Then, slowly come to a jog and walk it out after. This little sprint will keep your body working. Don’t let your body get used to stopping before the finish line. That is a bad habit.

 

A Day on the Water: Paddleboard Training

Today was an absolutely amazing day to be out on the water. And the great thing is I can go in between class. I find myself so fortunate to be able to do what I love when I want.

The weather was great, a little windy, more like a lot… 15 mph, gusting 20 mph. But when that wind was pushing you, you felt like you were flying. Paddleboarding is the most exhausting sport I’ve done. It makes my whole body tired.. back, arms, abs… woooweeee.

This upcoming Saturday, I have a paddleboard race so my friend and I went out to practice the race course. About 6 miles of grueling, nonstop (well I stopped to film some manatees :)) paddling. Well worth it. This is me after the paddle. It was so much fun!

I will post again after the race! It’s going to be so exciting. If you have never witnessed a paddleboard race, you should look into it or better yet, just enter for yourself.

Also, here is a little video of all the manatees I got to paddle with today! I can’t believe so many of them were all around me.

Paddling With Manatees!

Why Your Workout Isn’t Working Out

I see this all the time. Many people workout but don’t see any results. This can be so frustrating. It may make you want to give up and throw in the towel because you feel like you are wasting your time. However, all you have to do is change a few simple things to make that workout start working out! So why isn’t your workout working out… read below.

1. Not enough variety. When working out you can’t repeat the same workouts everyday and expect to see your body continue to change. You have to add variety. Things get easier the more we do them so the more you keep doing those exercises the easier they will get. You will burn fewer calories and they will stop helping you move forward. I don’t know what exercises you are doing but if you are using weights start to increase them. You will burn more calories. If you are on a cardio machine, add more resistance, go harder, faster or longer. Change up your workouts. Make different muscles work. Make your body keep guessing and that will cause you to keep seeing results.

2. Too long of breaks. It’s okay to take breaks in between sets. Depending on what you are doing will determine how long to take. If you are lifting heavy weights you may need a little longer then if you are lifting light weights. Other factors may include your age, nutrition, the intensity of the set, how tired you were prior to working out, or if you may have any injuries. Taking a shorter rest(45-60 seconds) works better for building overall muscle mass. This will keep stress on your muscles without giving them time to recover so when you work them the next set they are still pumped. Longer rest periods(3-5 minutes) are used for people who are training for strength and power. So usually heavier weights and smaller reps. Remember it’s up to your personal goals to decide what exactly you want to do. Also, remember to change up days for working out each muscle group. Allow each muscle group time to recover.

3. Being tricked. I always think to myself while on the treadmill or elliptical, “Am I really burning this many calories?” Don’t go by the calorie readings on your machines. Most machines are known to say you burn 30% more calories then you actually have. Most machines don’t know your weight, height, fitness level, age, etc. so it’s hard for it to give an accurate reading of exactly how many calories you have burned. I’m sorry to say this but from now on, always make your calories burned less then what you see. If you want to know how many calories you burn, try going by this model: to burn 300 calories you can jog for 3 miles, walk for 4 miles or bike for 10 miles. This isn’t right on but it may be close. If you want to make sure its 3oo calories just do a little extra and you will probably hit that mark.

Watermelon… no matter what shape it is, still contains vitamin A, C, and B6. So eat on!

4. Your workout makes you too hungry. It’s good that you are getting hungry but burning calories mean that we can fill our body up with more nutrients not overeat to the point that working out is reversing what we want! Sometimes working out makes people overeat because they are so hungry from working so hard. But eat normally and if you are still hungry fill up on vegetables or fruits. Give your body more of what it wants. Stay in the healthy calorie range of losing weight.

5. You kill yourself in your workout. This is not good. You want to be able to keep up a good workout schedule but if you over work yourself… working out regularly won’t last very long. Don’t workout to the point were all you want to do is lay on the couch because your muscles are too sore to walk. Over training can do more harm then good. It can result in insomnia, sugar cravings and cause injury or illness. You want your workout to be challenging but not to the point of killing your body.

I hope these tips help. If you have more, feel free to share!

Keep Going… and DON’T LOOK BACK

I just signed up for a 5k! Woo! I’m excited. My goal is to just beat my last 5k time of 22:40. In order to do this I must start training. The race is on March 30, 2012. So I was surfing the web, hoping to find doable training schedules and I came across this awesome website!  It has different races you are training for(5k, half marathon, etc.), what level you are at(novice, Intermediate, advance, etc) and it tells you what to do every day. It’s perfect! If you plane on signing up for a race and are new to running I suggest looking at this website. Running is great. I feel like I am getting into the best shape of my life. I feel more energetic. And I feel just overall healthier.

Running has changed my life. It’s new to me, which I love. I feel like I needed a change up. I control everything while running and all I have to tell myself is KEEP GOING. Thats all the motivation I need. You need to keep moving in order to get anywhere in life. It’s simple to. And I like simple. There’s no need to make things complicated. Also, here’s the 5k I’m running if you want to check it out. It’s through trails on a nature preserve. And what I like most is its at dusk. For some reason I have a hard time running in the mornings. It takes my body awhile to wake up… so 8 am – 9 am start times really kill me before the race even begins.

How to get a Flat, Sexy Stomach

How to get a flat, sexy stomach. First, we have to look at the problem. Think about what you are doing now and how it obviously isn’t working since you’re still looking to get that stomach flatter. Also, remember that we all have abs. They are there. However, getting them to be noticed is the problem. We have to get rid of that layer of fat that covers them. It is a challenge and if you sick through it… you will see results you could never even imagine! Which is the best feeling in the world. Alright so now in order to do this there are two things that need to be focused on: Diet and Exercise.

The Diet:

Now since I don’t know everyone’s body type and how exactly your individual bodies work. You have to work on managing what you need to make it work for you.

1. Drink lots of water.Personally, I feel like this is the most important thing to do. Drinking water will keep you hydrated and you will keep flushing out all of the bad toxins in your body, which is great! It will also improve your skin. Drinking water also is good to do when you feel hungry at a time you shouldn’t be. Also, you can tell if you are drinking enough by
   

   Berry your way to a flat stomach!

   simply looking at the color of your pee. If it’s a dark yellow, you need to drink up. The clearer the more hydrated you are.

2. Fiber. Eat lots of fiber. You can find fiber in fruit and veggies. I say the best thing to eat is broccoli. Making sure you get enough fiber will also help clean out your body by keeping your system regular. It can also help lower your cholesterol. Also, berries are great for trying to get that flat stomach and they are delicious.
3. Eat 5 meals a day. Try and eat something every 3-4 hours. This will keep your metabolism going. 2 of the 5 meals are snacks… keep those light and healthy to keep you on track. Good snacks are apples and peanut butter, fruit salad, granola, fat-free yogurt anything small and healthy will do. Pick what you like.
4. No more junk! Get rid of it. Don’t look at it, don’t think about it. Seriously if you want to lose weight in your stomach you have to stop eating chips, ice cream, chocolate, and refrain from fast food as much as you can. If you absolutely need some look to frozen yogurt or sorbet.
5. Eat. One huge mistake people often make is not eating. This won’t work and it’s not good for you. Also, eat breakfast. You should be hungry in the morning if you are eating light before bed and working out. You will become like me… I look forward to breakfast, it’s my favorite meal! I wake up so hungry. I have no idea how people skip it.

The Exercise:

1. Cardio. Cardio, cardio, cardio… learn to love it. You can do anything just get moving for 30 mins a day, do more if you can. More is better. If you are new to cardio start walking and eventually start jogging. But I love the elliptical, rollerblading, biking, running, stair master, dancing, jump roping, golfing(but carry your bag.. don’t get a cart)… find several cardio workouts that you like so you can change it up. Make it fun.
2. Ab workouts. After cardio is the best time to do abs. You are in the workout mood and your body is warmed up and ready to go. There are so many ab exercises out there. Tons of them. Some I like may not work for you. Do exercises that you do right and ones that you can feel it working. Its good to really push it. That’s how you get stronger. When you feel like stopping do just a little longer. I like doing planks, scissor kicks, toe-touches and I don’t know names for a lot of them and incorporate a medicine ball. If you go to a gym watch other people and see what exercises they do to give you more ideas. But it is easy to make up your own.
3. Rest and stretch. If you kill your abs one day, let them rest but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to do cardio. It’s ok to take a day off a week. But if you don’t need it, don’t take it. Also, yoga is great to help recover faster and it prevents injury.

Now that you know what to do. Let’s do it. And remember once you reach your goal, don’t change what you have been doing. You can’t stop. You have to keep working on it. But it takes 21 days to create a habit and I’m sure it will take longer then 21 days to get what you are looking for so that habit will be there when you are done! Good Luck!