12/21/2005

Exercise Activity

By Laura Moncur @ 5:00 am — Filed under:

Click here to read Ballard Street

When I talk about an exercise that makes you excited about exercise, this is what I’m talking about. Look at that guy’s face. He’s so excited to be out today! Next time you get on the treadmill feeling drugery, pretend that the most fun thing is right in front of you. If you could only run fast enough, you could catch it.

12/19/2005

Barefoot Running & Barefoot Shoes

By Laura Moncur @ 5:00 am — Filed under:

There has been some press about barefoot running recently. In response, Nike has released some shoes that are supposed to mimic the act of running barefoot. Mark, The Running Blogfather, is a barefoot runner and has something to say about Nike’s new shoe.

My biggest fear of running barefoot is injury. I mostly run on a treadmill, so it’s not likely that I’ll step on a pinecone or into some glass. I’m worried about running on my feet and hurting myself just by running on bare feet. Am I so brain washed by the running shoe industry that I don’t trust my own feet?

I know that man ran without shoes for years, but they were always short sprints getting away from predators or after prey. Plus, shoes were invented about 5000 B.C., so we’ve had cover and support for a LONG time. There are some people who believe that modern running shoes are responsible for the abilities of humans to break the four minute mile and be able to run over ten miles every day. We didn’t evolve from cavemen running that many miles every day. Sure, the hunters and gatherers WALKED a lot, but actual running was reserved for desperate situations.

I guess if it was good enough for King Tut, footwear is good enough for me. I think I’ll stick with my running shoes now that I finally found some that feel good.

12/18/2005

Aerobic Vs. Anaerobic Exercise

By Laura Moncur @ 5:00 am — Filed under:

When I was in gym class in high school, I would have liked to learn the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercising. Both were presented as “good for you” with little differentiation between running and weight training. I would have liked some more detail.

Aerobic exercises tend to be the kind of things that workout videos concentrate on. Jumping around, walking, running, riding your bike, working out on an elliptical trainer and dancing. They are exercises that can be performed continuously for a long duration, usually at moderate intensity. Aerobic exercise builds endurance and is said to be helpful for strengthening the heart. When most people are saying they’re going to start exercising, they usually mean some form of aerobic exercise.

For a more detailed article about aerobic exercise, see this Wikipedia entry:

Anaerobic exercise is something that usually can’t be maintained for more than a minute or two. The act of lifting weights is considered anaerobic exercise. For more detailed information, here are a couple of Wikipedia articles:

When we talk about losing weight, aerobic activity is usually suggested far more than anaerobic activity, but both are important. Weight training can increase your muscle mass, making you burn more calories naturally. Aerobic exercise burns more calories than the same amount of time weight training. I’ve seen people lose weight with both activities and it really depends on what you enjoy and are willing to do on a regular basis.

12/17/2005

Learn The Major Muscle Groups

By Laura Moncur @ 5:00 am — Filed under:

This exercise and muscle directory is a comprehensive list of all the major muscle groups, exercises to work them out and stretches to help cool down. It’s the first place I turn to when the stretch that I’m using isn’t working for a particular muscle.

I’m not really into weight training, but if I were, this would be the place to find new exercises for each muscle. There are small animated movies for some of the exercises, showing proper form to prevent injury.

This sort of training would have been so helpful in one of those gym classes that I took over the years. The weight training class would have been especially helped by this knowledge. This is your chance to learn the major muscle groups and what to do if they hurt and need stretching or how to exercise them to increase their size.

No one said that you get to stop learning when you get out of school. Here is a huge list of things to find out about your own body. Enjoy!

12/15/2005

Working Out With An Indoor Bike Trainer

By Laura Moncur @ 5:00 pm — Filed under:

The CycleOps Bicycle Trainer

A couple of weeks ago, I got an indoor bike trainer so that I could exercise on my bike all winter indoors. I got the CycleOps Bicycle Trainer, but there are lots to choose from out there. It’s a gadget that turns your trusty bike into an exercise bike in your house without all the extra cost and no need to store a huge exercise machine. If you already have a bike, then a bike trainer only takes about five more inches of space. I did a first glance review of the trainer for the Gadgets Page and I also wrote up an article on how to make my speedometer work with my bike when it’s on the trainer. These articles are a little technical, but they give you a good idea of what setting up will be like.

On the whole, I’ve found it harder to ride on the bike trainer than riding outdoors. The trainer can put far more resistance on the bike than even riding up the huge hill over I-15 and the train tracks. I’ve been really happy with it so far.

The truth is, I could take my bike outside and get the same workout as I’m getting in the house if I rode around the hills in the Avenues. At this time of year, however, I don’t want to go outside. I just want to hide in the house. If you find that you want to hibernate this winter, don’t let the weather get in the way of your workouts. Find a way to get sweating every day, whether it’s indoors or out. There are ways to get your workout in all year long. This is only one of them.

12/14/2005

Big Burlesque is Beautiful!

By Laura Moncur @ 5:00 am — Filed under:

The Fat Bottom RevueLoving our bodies, no matter how they look is the first step toward a healthy lifestyle and psyche. I love these women and when you see the videos that they have on their website, you KNOW that these babes can DANCE!

After looking through their website, here is my favorite quotation:

“There are a lot of hot, big girls out there who want to learn how to shake it and I’m the one who’s going to show them.” – Heather MacAllister

Before I found DDR to feed my dancing demons, I used to go dancing at all the clubs of Salt Lake City. I really enjoy dancing and after years and years of grandparentally forced dance classes in an effort to thin me down, I am a pretty good dancer. I’m naturally pretty clumsy, so I end up not looking like the best dancer, but I know how to give a good shimmy.

I was always amazed at the reactions of other women to my dancing. The hot girls would make fun of me and point. I always wondered if they thought that I wasn’t allowed to dance because I was fat, or if they just were jealous of my “mad dancing skillz.” Probably the former since I pretty much dance exactly how I did in 1987 when vogueing was still in style.

A sad thing is that I rarely get to see really good dancers that are overweight. This makes everyone think that fat people just shouldn’t dance. As if no one wanted to see it. Good dancing is good dancing, folks. Even people who are overweight can shake it. It takes grace and strength, not skinny thighs.

Even sadder, it discourages fat people from dancing, whether it be in clubs or for performances or even playing DDR. Dancing and the movement of the body to music is such a healing and cathartic act. I remember waiting all week just so I could go dancing on the weekend. It had less to do with the guys that I would meet at the clubs and much more to do with dancing until I was sweaty and exhausted. There is something tribal and instictive about dancing that EVERYONE should enjoy, whether you’re graceful or not.

Next time you’re looking for an exercise to mix up your routine, give dancing a try. You might just find a healthy habit that you love.

12/12/2005

What I Wish I Had Learned In Gym Class

By Laura Moncur @ 5:00 am — Filed under:

Denise Austin - Portrait Photography by Peter KroghI learned more about my body and muscles from Denise Austin than I did in gym class. Why is that? I took a weight training class in high school. Why didn’t I learn the difference between my hamstrings and quads there?

What should I have been learning in gym class? To this day, I’m a little unclear? Was I supposed to be learning the rules to the games that we were forced to play? They didn’t really give us any instruction on that. They just had us choose teams and everyone assumed that we knew the rules. Were we supposed to gaining strength, endurance and balance? If that were the case, why weren’t we tested on that. Even in the weight training class, all we had to do to get an A was attend every day and do one more repetition on our Max Test than we did when we started the class. Even I got an A in Weight Training.

Here’s what I would have liked to learn in gym class:

  • Why physical fitness is just as important as intellectual training.

  • The difference between strength, endurance and balance and why each one is important.

  • All the major muscle groups: the technical names and the abbreviated or nicknames.

  • How to stretch every muscle group in a variety of ways to prevent injury and ease muscle soreness.

  • How to exercise every muscle group to increase strength.

  • The difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise and why each is important.

  • How to find an exercise that you will enjoy and fits in with your lifestyle.

It would probably take several years to teach all this stuff and the class would never have to choose teams. I used to feel angry that I had to take gym class. I was a straight A student and I felt that sports had no place in our schools. I thought they siphoned off money away from academic pursuits. I had to sell advertisements and candy bars to help fund the Literary Magazine, but the football team was treated to pizza lunches all the time.

Looking at my own mortality and knowing that all the 100% on tests will not give me one more year of life has shown me that physical fitness IS just as important as intellectual pursuits. Now I’m even angrier that I got such poor training in gym classes. It’s a sorry state of education when a straight A student learns the major muscle groups from a television show about aerobics.

12/9/2005

Underwater Hockey

By Laura Moncur @ 5:00 pm — Filed under:

Of all the sports I’ve heard of this is the one that gives me claustrophobia:

Underwater Hockey, where a puck is scuttled across the bottom of the pool and you have to resurface to breathe. The kids who play don’t seem to be affected by the whole “lack of air” thing at the bottom of the pool.

“It’s really easy once you get the hang of it,” said Rademacher, a junior who plays on Roger Bacon High School’s club team.

I feel like slapping this kid on the back:

“I didn’t do sports at all,” said Rademacher, who plays clarinet in the school band. “I tried this out, and it was amazing.”

For me, I think I’ll stick with running, biking and DDR. I’m so competitive that I might just die there at the bottom of the pool rather than let someone else get a goal.

12/7/2005

Exercise Intensity Levels Using a Heart Rate Monitor on Weight Watchers

By Laura Moncur @ 5:00 am — Filed under:

Timex Ironman Triathlon Digital Heart Rate Monitor # T5C351I was perusing the Weight Watchers website and I found this article about using your heart rate monitor to measure your Exercise Intensity Levels.

The levels are surprisingly low. They use the typical calculation for Maximum Heart Rate:

Maximum Heart Rate = 220 – Age

They state you can calculate your activity levels based on the following:

  • Light is about 40-54% Maximum Heart Rate.
  • Moderate is 55-69% Maximum Heart Rate.
  • Heavy is equal to or greater than 70% Maximum Heart Rate.

I used much more vigorous percentages in my estimates, so this bit of news has made things much easier for me.

For more information on the Weight Watchers Flex Points Program, please read the following entry:

12/3/2005

A Poem Dedicated to Yourself! Fitness

By Laura Moncur @ 5:00 am — Filed under:

Yourself! Fitness for Xbox

I haven’t worked out with Yourself! Fitness in a long time. I really enjoyed working out with Maya, but playing DDR is a little more fun and running on the treadmill is a little more intense. It appears that Glen at Videogame Workout is more dedicated to working out with Maya than I was.

I can’t believe that I have owned Yourself! Fitness for over a year. I kind of got sick of it after the first couple of months. There was a lot less repetition than a workout video, but there were still problems with the game. I would have liked to adjust the intensity on the cardio without increasing the intensity on the weight training. I would have liked to be able to say that I wanted to workout with the stability ball or weights. Just because I told Maya that I had those items didn’t mean she would use them. All in all, Yourself! Fitness is an amazing workout program that eclipses anything else on the market, but it still isn’t quite enough to prevent boredom.

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