6 WAYS TO STAY HEALTHY THROUGHOUT THE HOLIDAYS AND INTO THE NEW YEAR

During the holidays it is often difficult to manage our healthy habits. It seems like every time around this year you get a little lax and start the New Year with the same weight you were trying to lose from the last New Year. There are many factors like family visits, less activity and even colder weather that affect our fitness, but here are 6 ways that you can stay in shape throughout the holidays and into the New Year.

       Do something you don’t normally do.  If you don’t work out, obviously my advice to you would be to begin a workout regimen. If you do workout, try something different that you haven’t normally done. If you normally walk outdoors, try a different path. If you use the treadmill at the gym normally, try a workout that involves the elliptical. Variety is the spice of life and so should it be with your workouts. Keep them interesting and varied so you will have something to focus on other than what’s coming out of your headphones.

  Drink more water Whether you realize it or not, you need just as much water in the winter as you do in the summer. Even though it is cold outside, your body uses a lot of energy to keep you warm. The colder it is, the more your body has to work to keep your core temperature stable. You may not feel like you are working hard, but your body is expending quite a bit of energy to keep you from experiencing hypothermia in your limbs and especially your core. Staying hydrated throughout the day can also keep you full. Water doesn’t have any calories so what better than something that can not only replenish your fluids from being out in the cold, but can also keep you from significantly increasing your calorie intake. You can’t snack if you are full so drink up!

 Talk with your food With family and friends around; you are more likely to eat more food than if you were alone. That being said, trying to cut back on the multiple plates can be difficult. The best way to prevent this is to talk while you have your food. It takes the brain 15-20 minutes to pick up the signal the stomach is full. If you spend more time talking and less time eating, that signal will get there before you reach for that next plate. You can also try eating fewer portions when you do eat. Eating a little bit of food throughout the day is much better for you than sitting down to scarf down a gigantic meal when you are hungry.

   Get Some sleep There is a lot of activity during the holidays as well as planning for these activities. Don’t forget to get an ample amount of sleep during this time of year. The amount of sleep needed by each individual varies from person to person, but most people need between 6-9 hours of sleep. Depriving yourself of sleep can prevent your body from fully recuperating and can lead you to gain more weight during the holidays as your metabolism begins to slow down. You can’t catch up on sleep either; the best thing is to try to stay as consistent as you can with your sleep on a daily basis.  

Shop often Why not? It’s the holiday season, people are expecting gifts from you and all the stores are having their end of the year sales. Walking burns calories and just as long as you aren’t spending most of your time in the food court, you’ll be spending some quality time thinking about gifts for loved ones while happily burning off calories. If you actually buy something, you get the extra benefit of carrying around weight and adding an element of resistance training to your cardiovascular mall workout.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Remember the Pyramid The food pyramid is going to be your best bet to eating right during the holidays. If you can stick closely to the FDA recommendations for consumption within each food group, you give yourself a good chance of staying healthy throughout the holidays and into the New Year.

If you are looking to jump start your New Years weight loss resolutions, or are just looking to maintain your healthy lifestyle throughout the holidays, these six steps will help navigate you through the gingerbread houses and chocolate fountains of temptation to happy and healthy you…Forge ON!

The 12-step workout program

What HAPPENED?? Not so long ago you were in good shape, could see your kneecaps and could touch your toes. Now the only fingers touching your toes are the fast food chicken strips you dropped on the floor. The office is what happened. You spend a minimum of 8 hours of day confined to a small space and its taking a toll on your waist line. Here is a very short and basic workout you can do anywhere for all you workout fanatics and weekend warriors to get you back you on the right track to a summer beach body. Its only 3 weeks away so let's get to it. 

1. 10 minute warm-up. This could be anything from a walk to a jog. Maybe even a combination of the two to get your heart pumping and your body moving. 

Upper body exercise

2. 50 big arm circles both directions (forwards and backward)

3. Pushups. You can do these a number of different ways, from your knees or from your hands and toes. Start with ten and work your way to 25.

4. Bench dips. Keep your hips close to the bench as you move downward towards the floor.
 

5. Crunches. Don't stop until you get to 50.

6. Plank. Hold for 60 seconds from your hands and toes (pushup position) or challenge yourself in low plank on your forearms and toes for 90 seconds.

7. Pull-ups. Find a bar of any kind and pull yourself up to it. Maybe even find a low hanging tree branch (make sure it can support your weight!). Go for 5 and work your way up to 15 in a row.

Lower body exercise 

8. Hand squats. Put your hands on the floor 24 inches from your feet and bend your knees so your hips come down toward your heels then raise them back up as high as you can. See if you can do 50 without toppling over.

9. Hip press. Lay on your back with the bottoms of your feet flat on the floor and press you hips off the ground. 25 should do the trick. 

You can also try a Heel press, where you point your toes toward the sky. On this one, the further your feet are from your hips, the harder the exercise. Press your hips up for 15 reps for a nice burn in your hamstrings and gluts.

10. Dirty dogs. Go to your hands and knees and lift your leg to the side while bent like a dog peeing. Make sure the opposite elbow is locked during your 25 reps.

11. Knee squeeze. Lay on your back with the bottoms of your feet on the ground and squeeze your knees together as tight as you can while you slightly raise your shoulders off the ground to reach your palms to the top of your knees. After 60 seconds you should start to feel the fatigue in your inner thighs.

12. Calf raises. This is one of my favorites. You can hang your heels off of a stair or a platform of some sort and raise them as high as you can 50 times. If you want to work on balance try it with one leg and if you really want to challenge yourself, try doing it without holding on to anything.

This is a great workout that works your full body. If you are going to do this routine, I would suggest doing it 3 times a week with cardiovascular exercise or a just day of rest in between. Stay healthy everyone and Forge ON!

Workout for your bed workouts

There are pills, pumps and everything in between to make you better in bed. Some are done to increase your stamina; some are keep you primed so you are ready to go at any given time. All of these things can be accomplished just by working out. Getting a good an effective workout for just a short amount of time can have lasting effects in bed. Here are some ways that exercise makes you better in bed and some exercises that you can do to please your mate…or whoever you are trying to impress.

Exercise increases stamina When you exercise for long periods of time (over 30 minutes), you can increase your stamina. This does not mean going to the gym for 45 minutes and drinking a smoothie however. Your exercise should be at least 30 minutes of continuous movement. This gets the body moving through the aerobic cycle, going from anaerobic to aerobic. Training your body to maintain itself in the aerobic portion of the cycle increases stamina in your workouts and gives you the ability to do more, while using less energy. Going for a light jog for 30 minutes or a brisk walk are some things you could do to help pump your stamina up to the next level. Speaking of pump… 

Exercise improves your thrusting ability There are exercises that you can do that increase your thrusting ability. Everyone knows how important that is for both men and women to be able to use your hips. To increase your thrust you must strengthen your hips and gluteus. Squats are one way you can do it. Obviously, the more weight you can handle with squats, the more you are strengthening your thrusting muscles. There is another exercise that is also very effective. I call it the heel press and it is executed by you lying on your back with your feet on the floor while pressing your hips and butt off the ground. You can hold it up or you can try to press till exhaustion. 

Exercise strengthens your core When your core is strong, your posture improves significantly. Along the lines of posture, you also have the ability to hold yourself more upright (no pun intended). I'll let you use your imagination about how being able to keep yourself upright might be useful in bed. Exercises that can help you to keep in those precarious positions are crunches, sit-ups and planks. Try your hand at 100 crunches and sit-ups, I guarantee your abdominals will not be the only thing the opposite sex will notice.

Exercise increases readiness Make up sex is nothing in comparison to post workout sex. People say they have the best experience in bed after a fight. This is because they have their engines running high. They are already primed for excitement. Studies show that blood flow to the genital region was significantly increased following a physical activity. The general school of thought before was that relaxation for both men and women would help to increase readiness for that partner who was not quite up to the task. However it is shown that vigorous activity such as that from exercise releases hormones, such as testosterone, that rev up your engines and will have you prepared to be crowned the best that they ever had.

Exercise increases flexibility I shouldn't even have to tell you why flexibility is good, but I will anyway. That position that you read in that one book or you saw on that one movie can't happen unless you both have flexibility. Take time to stretch before your workout and after your workout and you'll see a distinct decrease in pulled muscles across the board. 

All in all exercise can be fun and have more than its fair share of benefits. Exercising with your partner can also be a great bonding experience as you help to push and challenge each other, thus strengthening your relationship in a non physical manner. That is also a great way to ensure that you and your partner stay fit and the mutual attraction continues for a long time to come. Forge ON!

Laziness is the key to success

Some of the world's most successful people were lazy. Ronald Regan was successful in only focusing on a few objectives, while the president before him, Jimmy Carter had many objectives, but was not viewed as being nearly as successful. Christopher Columbus was successful on accident, buy yet he was focused on one objective. Winston Churchill, a popular British leader and inspirational speaker for the people also had few objectives. The issue is that if you want to be successful you must focus your energy on those things that you love and enjoy.

The laziness that leads to success is not the laziness you typically encounter from the average person laying on the couch watching Maury in the middle of the day. The laziness that I am referring to here is to be honest to yourself and focus on your interests. It is often difficult to be honest with ourselves. We are told from a young age that to succeed in life, we must sacrifice and do those things that are not enjoyable to us. It is impossible to succeed in doing what we don't enjoy doing, or else our success would be directly correlated to the amount of effort we put into each of our activities. The old adage is that is one thing to work hard, but it is another to work smart. We've all heard of working smart to achieve results faster, but do we really know what it means?

The concept is very simple. To work smart, we have to find what interests us. For some it may be literature, some music, some science and others, sport. The next step is to find what attributes are the strongest in your personality type. Some have are more teamwork oriented, some have a sense for creativity, and there other that have a concern for community. These attributes and interests can be used to focus your efforts on your future objectives.

Once you find those few objectives you can focus you energy on these things that make you happy. The key is then to act on these objectives. If you focus your energy to your immediate surroundings, you can affect them and eventually find that those surroundings will help you to create more of what it is that makes you happy. Laziness is a stigma that we place on those that do not do the activities that make them unhappy. It should be that we see laziness as a sign of a true leader who does not focus on those things that are outside of his realm of control or expertise.

Put a price on your life

Money isn't everything. Many of us, including myself have a tendency to chase the sparkly, shiny things. This has proven time and time again to deter us from what is really important. Why do we chase these things? What's in it for us? The answer is very simple and two-fold. We chase these things because we are Americans and Americans are a country founded upon the very belief that we should all have the best and should accept nothing less. What's in it for us is the thumb to the nose we get in saying that we have the shiny sparkly thing that no one if not few have (don't forget to stick out your tongue).

I come from meager backgrounds. My mother divorced when I was young and for awhile, we were all we had. She worked her butt off, sometimes with 2-3 jobs just to make sure we had new clothes every school year. She was a tough woman and I have no doubt she learned that from her migrant worker mother who saved all her money to send her to America on her own to live a better life than in Jamaica. We never had much, but we didn't need much because we loved each other and did not really know any better.
Flash forward through college and into my first real job. I was a behavioral counselor in a middle school located in an urban area of Philly where the population was 80% Spanish and 19% black. I helped to run a successful pilot program that targeted at risk students and helped them by providing personal on site therapists. Because of the relationships I built with the families in starting the program, I was given the opportunity to help them using my own personal perspective from my past while I managed the daily task of keeping the program in step with the standards and regulations set forth by the Department of Health Services. I learned a lot from these kids, but mostly that they were almost frighteningly similar to me. They loved their family, they didn't have much and all they wanted was a comfortable life where they could succeed without having to look over their shoulder every day that they did succeed.
As the program grew and became more successful, I decided to go my own separate way and looked to take on what I thought would be a completely different set of challenges. Sitting in an office and visiting with families was not what I envisioned myself doing for an extended period of time. Although, life changing, this experience was not doing wonders for my physique and I found it harder and harder to fit into the clothes that I had purchased the previous year. I had to find something that required more activity fast. So I decided to become a personal trainer in 2005.
As a personal trainer I found what I had originally loved about being a counselor. I got a chance to help people, but I was even more hands on because my clients worked directly with me. I found it very easy to get close to these families and found that these families had many of the same aspirations and issues that every other family had in my previous job. My clients told me about problems in their lives and told me of the hopes they had for themselves and their families. I even had the chance to help some of their children in making their respective teams and some even got scholarships.
What I learned was that even though these families had more money and therefore more opportunities than the previous ones, they still wanted the same thing for themselves and others. They all wanted something that money cannot buy. You can try, but you cannot buy a healthy lifestyle or healthy life choices for that matter. All of these families have taught me that the basic element of happiness is not money or even the awesome stuff you can buy with it, but the feeling that comes with knowing that you do not need these things because you are living a happy, healthy lifestyle.

Your Fitness Your Religion

For traditional Judeo-Christians, this week is the holiest of weeks which kicks off with what was a Seder (the last supper)on March 29 and ends with Easter (the resurrection of Jesus). There are many reasons why we have religion in our lives, but most of those reasons all stem from creating some sort of order in our lives and maintaining the discipline to reach a higher realm, be it during life or after death. Religion often parallels fitness in that if we are to attain a higher state of being, be it on earth or through some other realm, we must sustain the discipline needed to continue to grow. There are times when everyone believes they are too busy to stay in shape, but one must stop and think, if maintaining a healthy lifestyle is going to improve functionality throughout the world, then why do we spin our wheels doing everything but? Take a page from our ancestors (minus the sacrificial lambs) and dedicate yourself to making your life better. There is nobody on this earth that can make you a better you, but you. Do not complicate your life by adding more than is necessary. By simply maintaining the dedication to you, you will easily achieve a greater focus to solidify your place in fitness heaven. Happy Holy week everyone!

Yoga...Its History and Practice

We will be starting our spring yoga series soon so I asked our yoga instructor, Ashleigh to give us a little info about what she does. Here is a little history about yoga and what the practice is really all about. Thanks Ashleigh! Yoga has been part of Eastern societies for thousands of years. The word literally means to “yoke” or “bind,” and is often interpreted further as meaning “union.” Some scholars believe yoga grew out of Stone Age Shamanism at the onset of human civilization. Dating back to as early as 3000 BC, drawings of yoga postures can be found on artifacts from the Indus Valley, but the exact history yoga remains uncertain. As a practice, yoga is a combination of breathing exercises, mediation, and physical postures that encourage not only alignment of the body, but also stillness of the mind. The benefits of yoga are far-reaching, including greater physical strength and flexibility, resilience to illness and injury, and a sense of contentment and well-being. Although in the West we mainly practice the physical postures (“asanas”) of yoga, yoga is actually a broad philosophy of living that has many tenets. The purpose of the physical practice of yoga is to achieve balance, lightness, and stability. When practiced consistently, this bodywork reflects positively throughout every aspect of a person’s life. We are looking forward to seeing you in the spring! Ashleigh

What is boot camp??

I was having brunch with an associate of mine the other day and we were sitting around talking about other people’s perceptions of the various boot camps we run, and of boot camps in general. We talked for awhile and came to the conclusion that most people really have no idea what a boot camp really is. Boot camps have become so convoluted with props, toys and gimmicks that the average fitness fanatic has no idea what to expect from a typical boot camp.

Let’s start with what it’s not. Boot camps are not sports or athletic teams. Too many specialized exercises Boot camps are also not one on one training. Not enough people. Finally, boot camps are not exercise routines like the aerobic classes at your local gym or recreation center. There, Everyone is expected to do virtually the same exercise with really no attention paid to injuries or limitations which is dangerous when working with groups of over 10 people.

So what is boot camp?

Simply put, the essence of a boot camp is group training. And creating a motivation to succeed within a group atmosphere is its staple. Everyone is given a specific exercise with modifications available for injuries and limitations and virtually Every exercise is done with a specific cadence or rhythm. That cadence helps to maintain congruence within a workout and also ensures that boot campers are accountable for the completion of any given exercise. That last one is the most important, because I have seen quite a few of these so called boot camps where everyone is doing an exercise given to them by an instructor with a stop watch timing each individual exercise as he walks around trying to encourage his troops to go harder or move faster.

So that in a nutshell is a Fitness boot camp. They are fun and exciting and can give you great results, not to mention you share a common bond with some awesome people. I hope this gives you a little bit of insight into Valley Forge Fitness and maybe boot camps as a whole. Have a healthy day everyone! Forge On!

Nature versus gym equipment 3.

A great way to work your legs is to do leg extensions. By kicking upward from either a sitting or standing position, you can work the four headed muscle group known as the quadriceps. Resistance is increased simply by increasing the weight that you are kicking upward. Many say that this is the exercise they opt for when low on time and want to work out the legs. This exercise is good for keeping the muscles strong and stable for the push phase of any lift and also helps to lengthen the stride while running. From a seated position, a leg extension isolates the quadriceps. From a standing position, the extension turns into an isometric exercise an it mainly focuses on the upper quad and hips while, the opposing foot it left to maintain balance for the rest of the body. When outdoors you can also isolate the quadriceps with a variety of movements. The one we use most often in our boot camps is called a hand squat. This is performed by placing your hands on the ground approximately 24 inches from the front of your feet. Then you while keeping the weight in your fingers, (or palms if you are flexible) you proceed to bend your knees so your heels touch your butt and then straighten your legs so your heels go into the floor while your hips raise into the air. This movement is very similar to the first movement a track athlete makes while coming out of his/her starting blocks. I have yet to meet a person who doesn’t feel a little burn after doing 25 of these. You can even increase the intensity by putting one foot on higher ground than the other. When comparing the leg extension with the hand squat, they both have their benefits, but a standing leg extension slightly edges the hand squat for effectiveness in working the quads for its ability to help with balance while strengthening the quads and hip flexors. The hand squat works on the endurance of the leg, but even while done with one leg, the hands provide extra support so balancing is not an issue. The leg extension comes in a distant third because of its lack of any focus on balance and its high rate of knee injury due to cartilage erosion. A brighter day looms over the horizon for outdoor exercise. We’ll continue next time with another focus on the lower body. Remember, there is always a great workout hiding in plain view. See you Outdoors!

6 Ways to a Healthier Back

1) Strengthen your abs. Your abs do half the work in carrying you. Your abs and lower back are also referred to as your core. By strengthening your abs your core stays strong and upright. This helps in creating better posture when you sit and when you are moving about through the world. No matter what your back ailment, strengthening your abs will help to alleviate you from most pain you may be having in your back. 2) Lift by bending your knees, don’t bend at the waist. When lifting objects, no matter what the weight, you should bend your knees. Many people injure their lower backs when lifting objects that are below waist level. To execute a proper lift you must try to get your belly button as close to or even below the object you are attempting to lift. This can only be done by bending your knees to decrease the amount of stress in the lower back to virtually zero. 3) Avoid twisting motions when carrying heavy objects. If you are carrying a heavy object, it is not a good idea to twist while holding it. The twisting motion puts that same twist on your lower vertebrae plus the weight of the object. You can easily twist a vertebrae, more so than by lifting with your back. If you are lifting and transporting an object, move your feet in the direction you want to move rather than plant your feet and turn your shoulders. 4) Keep objects you are lifting close to the body. The further you hold an object away from your body, the more your back has to compensate to try and keep you up right. When you bring things in closer to your body, you can use your abs to keep you up right and maintain your posture. 5) Push don’t pull. The back was made for pushing not pulling. When possible, opt for pushing heavy objects. You can exert more force with your stronger muscle groups in your legs by pushing instead of pulling. 6) Sit-up straight. Dad wasn’t joking when he said if you don’t sit up straight you will grow up to have a hump in your back. When you slouch your shoulders, you put excess pressure on your lower back and in your upper back and shoulders. Your lower back suffers because there is excess weight in the front of your body and your back along with your ribs become the only thing keeping you from falling all the way over. Your neck was not meant to carry a lot of weight, but by sitting with your shoulders forward and slouched, you put the weight of your head on your neck instead of your shoulders. This often leads to neck and shoulder soreness. By following these simple rules you should see an improvement in your posture and will feel more confident in moving anything that mother nature throws at us.

Yoga Adventure

The other day, something came over me. I needed to take a yoga class. I am not normally the one to jump up for a yoga class, I’d much rather just stretch on a mat, but something was telling me that is what I was needing at the time. When I first went in, I did not know what to expect, my only real experience with yoga was with our outdoor yoga instructor Ashleigh, who I may add, did a phenomenal job teaching Valley Forge Fitness yoga last year (Thanks Ash! Can't wait till spring!). The environment is totally different so I was not sure I would get the same “oneness with the universe” so to speak. After a light stretch we proceeded in a progression of stretches, binds and twists that had me feeling quite limber. There were of course some in the beginning that I didn’t even attempt for fear that I would not be able to get back out of the pose in one piece. I found myself becoming more confident with each pose and feeling my body release tightness and tension. Not bad for my first indoor yoga class. I left feeling renewed and refreshed and the effects lasted not only through the next day, but weeks at a time. When I left that yoga class I had realized something that I hadn’t realized when I was more active. Sometimes we go through the motions, but if you consciously stretch each muscle you can get more in tuned with what our body is trying to tell us. It is easy to muscle and power through the stretches, but if you are conscious of what each stretch is supposed to do, it feels so much better and you subsequently become even more relaxed. I have not studied yoga, but now I know it is more than just stretching. Its an internal journey. Indescribable by word and only properly expressed through movement. I can‘t wait for our yoga classes to start back up in the spring. I can feel my chakras aligning for some interesting experiences. Forge On!

Traffic laws: Are they for everyone?

The road was built for more than one mode of transportation. On any given road on any given time of day you will see bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, cars, small trucks, large trucks and slew of other modes of transportation. For most of these modes of transportation you need a license of some sort and you must obey the traffic laws or you will receive a citation. The two that don’t need them came up in a recent controversy in Oregon. Oregon was considering passing a law where bicyclists would now not need to stop at stop signs. When I first heard this, I was completely in favor of it. I ride my bike just about everywhere and find it tedious to have to stop at signs when there is no traffic. It breaks my concentration, breathing, induces cramping etc. I often find myself blowing through stop signs or jumping on the curb to save time or reduce the potential that I might meet a sign or any potential stoppages altogether. I thought about this a little longer after reading the town hall discussion for reasons both for and against it and came to a different conclusion. The issue with mopeds was raised and how they are a vehicle in which you do not need a license, but yet still have to obey traffic laws. They say that whatever traffic laws are put forth should be abided by everyone on the road. What do you think? Should bikers be allowed to blow through stop signs in our city?

Nature versus gym equipment part 2

We compare the standard bench press to the push-up in this article. The standard bench press can be done while lying on your back and pressing upward on either a machine, dumbbells or a barbell and weights on each side of it. To increase the resistance usually you would increase the weights. The standard bench press is a fundamental part of most workouts because of its focus on auxiliary or major muscle groups in the upper body. The face-up technique in this exercise works at both an advantage and disadvantage when strength training. The advantage to facing upward is that not only do you have the weights and gravity giving you resistance, but you also have to fight your own muscles to control the weight up and down especially when not using a machine. The advantage to the standard bench press can also a be a large disadvantage. Normally when looking to get any satisfactory gains from this exercise, you need to use a sufficient amount of weight. This also means that you would most likely need someone to supervise your lift. This is one great advantage of a push-up. A push-up is done while facing downward so gravity is the main resistor in this exercise. To increase the resistance of this exercise, you would add more weight. In this case it would help to grab a buddy to add more body weight to the exercise. The best part about this exercise is that not only works your upper body like your chest, arms and back, but it also works your abs. Your abs are used to hold you up and keep your lower back from falling so you get the added bonus of core work when doing a push-up Another advantage to a push-up is that is can be done at different angles. In my boot camps we have a wide variety of push-ups that we incorporate into each upper body class. The variety of push-ups focus on specific muscle groups that you would not have the ability to focus on with a bench press. Looks like nature wins another one with its ability to focus on more muscle groups and to help in getting a rock hard stomach. Remember there is always a great workout hiding in plain view. See you Outdoors!

Office Workouts (calves)

Fitness tips: Office workouts Tapping your toes can make you run faster. You can do it almost with the click of the heels. Your gastrocnemius and soleus muscles (calves) help to flex your foot, while the Tibialis anterior, Extensor hallucis longus and Extensor digitorum longus (shin) muscles are right above your ankles. These two groups of muscles are some of the main movers in aiding you to push off and absorb the corresponding shock that is absorbed with each step. The stronger your muscles are in this area, the more you are able to exert and absorb power. That power is an important factor to helping you to walk and run faster. Office Workout: Try heel raises while standing at the filing cabinet. Use the filing cabinet for support as you lift your heels off the ground as high as you can while distributing your weight throughout all 10 toes. 2 sets of 20 reps should get your calves burning and get you ready for that quick jaunt off to the copier. While you are resting at your computer, try lifting your toes as high as you can . This helps to strengthen your shin muscles in the front of your leg which absorb a lot of the shock while running. Pick a song to hum to yourself or sing out loud (if your coworkers don’t mind) while you tap your toes along. Stronger calves and shin muscles help to create balance while you walk and/or run faster. Whether you are striding it out to the copier or tapping your toes at your office desk. Keep yourself healthy and try something fun each day.

Nature versus gym equipment part 1

An associate of mine asked me the other day about exercise equipment. I must first say that even though I am an outdoor enthusiast as it pertains to training the body, but I also my way around exercise equipment and could tell anyone the benefits of the each equipment sometimes without even having to use it. It is interesting at times, to see how we can get washboard abs with just the swivel of a chair or firm glutes with a ball that is the size of the palm of my hand. How do they all work? Why do they all work? Most importantly, do they all work? We should explore this for the sake of a new series of posts I like to call nature vs. gym equipment. There are a variety of exercises that can be done outdoors. Many of these exercises and movements are mimicked and modified to create new exercise equipment. Exercise equipment will be an industry that will last forever for the shear fact that there are a plethora of movements that the body can make in just a single day. If you add resistance to any of these movements and do it repetitively, all of a sudden you have an exercise and subsequently, a workout. Today we will discuss the newest workout craze, the perfect pull up. These new contraptions are simply a bar that you can put up in your home and do pull-ups from a door frame. This is a very handy device. I have actually been tempted to buy it a few times for myself. This bar is built to strengthen the muscles that help you pull, mainly your back muscles and those muscles to the outside of your shoulder blade called latitimus dorsi (known as your lats for short). You also can strengthen your abdominals, but as with almost all exercise, your abs will come into play someway or another. There are exercises that you can do outdoors that replicate this and are actually more effective as they help you with stability and balance while working targeted muscle groups. The outdoor equivalent of the perfect pull up bar is of course, the monkey bars that you used to use in grade school. There are still many of these located in almost any park and playground in your area. If you are not by a park or do not have monkey bars at your park, you can also find a tree (make sure the branches are strong) or you can use the base of a light post. You can always find a great adventure outdoors if you are looking. Just make sure you are paying attention to your surroundings. There is always a great workout hiding in plain view.

Balance Your Life

The feet are made up of many bones and muscles to help you move fluidly throughout the world If we did not have feet, you could imagine that we would have a tough time walking or running. Biologically speaking, without our ankles we would not be able to push off our feet with any stability and it would be extremely possible that we would increase the chance of foot pain or much worse, knee and back pain. Those who work in office setting or are not incredibility active, suffer the risk of losing overall stability in the feet and ankles. Increased knee pain was one symptom to have been recognized in a 2002 study of strength and balance. The results from this 30 month long study showed that an overall correlation to balance and joint pain. “…an overall significant decline in knee and ankle strength , and balance..,” (Messier, Glasser, Ettinger, Craven, Miller, 2002). If you experience pain in any of these areas you might want to read on. The most common thing people do when they experience back or knee pain is to take an over-the-counter pain killer. While this may relieve you of the pain symptoms, this can actually further damage the joint and create more pain in the long run. The best thing to do is to take a brief second to analyze the activities in your life. Active people are not necessarily exempt from the pains. As a runner, I used experience pain in my knees all the time. I had tried every stretch possible and even resorted to prescription esthetics. It was not until I had taken a ballet class in college (thank you liberal arts education) that I had found that the strength in my ankles was extremely weak. After a semester of ballet, I never experienced any knee pain while running and subsequently broke the 200 meter record by almost a second in the NCAA conference championships. Many of the exercises employed by instructors at Valley Forge Fitness are designed to strengthen you in ways that would other wise be impossible with barbells and treadmills. No matter if you are training for a triathlon, strong man competition, or specific sport, you have to train properly. Let nature train your body; not machines.

Get Better in Bed

Sleep is something that most people take for granted. It is the one thing that people are willing to compromise even more than food or money. It is estimated that between 40 to 60 million Americans are sleep deprived. Different people can get by with different amounts of sleep, but the average person actually needs anywhere from between 7-9 hours a night. Why does one need sleep? When human bodies do not get enough sleep they tend to lose strength, the immune system decreases, and there is an increase in blood pressure. Dr. Stanley Coren, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, says that the best thing for your body is consistency. This can be fulfilled by simply going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every day. But, it is important to note that making up for lost sleep on the weekends is a big negative. It is preferable that if one likes to sleep on the weekends wake up at the same time Saturday and Sunday. As you sleep through the night, your body produces a "hum," vibration, or waves during the delta wave sleep. Scientist are not sure how, but this event causes organs to manufacture vital hormones, during the next phase in your sleep cycle, your body mobilizes those hormones. Not having a good night sleep will restrict your body from producing human growth hormone (HGH) and other natural hormones, like thyroxin (that makes you lean). Consistency is the key to all things healthy, including sleep. A sufficient amount of sleep, can make you less prone to injury, have more cognitive functioning and decrease your appetite. Get some sleep tonight. References Sleep and Wakefulness: Nathaniel Kleitman. (The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, and Cambridge University Press, 1939. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 21:370-371. J., E. (1940).

Your Workout Play List is Too Old

Variety is the spice of life. It is also the spice of exercise. When exercising, your body develops a sensitivity to the exercises that you are doing. This explains why Michael Jordan was not great at baseball and why Deion Sanders did not have a particularly high on base percentage. Think of exercise as music, Each individual note is an exercise and every movement is a melody that composes your full workout “song”. If you hear the same song enough, you are going to eventually develop a certain sensitivity to a song. You will be able to recognize the melody and have the ability to recite some if not most of the words. When your body has the sensitivity to recognize the “melody” to your workout you loose the shock factor and your muscle growth is going to be limited. Every form of exercise is based on the idea that the muscles of the body adapt to what you are doing. If you can constantly vary what the muscles are doing you become stronger faster. Strong is a relative word and some would say that being able to push 50 pounds off your chest is strong, but how many times can you do it or in how many different directions can you push that 50 pounds? This is the basis of functional strength training at Valley Forge Fitness. Exercising on all planes of anatomical possibility is what makes the body stronger. Having the ability to train the body to do that will only help your workouts. When designing workouts, the more you can train the body to do, or the more songs you have on your “play list” of workouts the better your body will respond to all your training.

5 Rules to Exercising Outdoors

Nothing beats working out outdoors. Natural light, grass, fresh air. It can all be an exhilarating experience. Here are 5 rules to outdoor training that will keep you outdoors longer and make your exercise routine a more enjoyable experience. 1. Proper training shoes- When working out outdoors, make sure you have the right shoes for the activity you are doing. Walking shoes are good for walking, but not as good for running or cross training. They normally have a little more cushion on the bottom making them heavier. The instep of a walking shoe is also a little less pronounced than a running or cross training shoe. Opt for a cross training shoe if you are unsure of what activity you may be doing outdoors. These have good ankle support and are good for a majority of outdoor activities. 2. Weather- A beautiful day can attract a lot of people outdoors, but sometimes it can be too hot or too cold for even the hardest of hardcore people to exercise outdoors. There is no magical temperature or limit for your exercise. You know your body best. What you should know, is that you must dress for the occasion. If it is cold outside layer to keep your body warm. The most danger is when it is cold and windy and or rainy. The wind can take the heat away from your body faster than you can generate it. When it is hot, dress appropriately and stay hydrated. 3. No pain no gain- This is not always true. There is a difference between training through soreness and working out till the point of injury. The general rule is that if you have an ache or soreness that lasts more than 5 days, you should see a doctor. Runners should be especially wary of joints (e.g. your ankles or knees) that are consistently sore or achy because that could mean something more serious than just a cramp or a strain. 4. Rest- The key to staying in shape is to let your body recover. Athletes and everyday Joes alike need to let their bodies rest. If you are working out vigorously 7 days a week that might be too much for your body to handle for the long haul. Think about switching up your routine. Try a Pilates class or maybe yoga. You can even try just taking a day off just to get your energy levels back up and to let the creativity in your workouts return. 5. Eat-So many people have tried and eventually failed with fad diets where you don’t eat this or you don’t eat that. You only eat one thing all day and it helps you to get in great shape. Well the only diet is really no diet at all. You may remember that food pyramid that you got in third grade that had the grains, dairy, fruits/vegetables, meat/beans and oils. This is the only way to get into and stay in shape by giving the body what it needs to work efficiently and turn fats into energy.