Are antihistamines performance enhancing drugs?
The short answer: maybe. The long answer: it’s not clear. Here’s more information about why antihistamine ingestion qualifies as doping in sports and what this means for the everyday athlete, whether competing or just running with hayfever and seasonal allergies. Read more on Runtastic.com
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Everyone seems to be doing yoga these days, from Russell Brand to Madonna. Many of us Runtastics started doing easy yoga for beginners at Runtastic’s free weekly yoga sessions. It was an “ah-ha!” moment for a lot of us. After we personally felt the benefits of yoga, we decided to make yoga a central part of the adidas Training workouts.
Here, we share some of the fun facts that we’ve learned about yoga. We’ll also explain four scientifically-backed benefits of yoga. There’s more! Stay tuned to this blog for more information on why we love yoga and think you will, too. Read more on the Runtastic website: https://www.runtastic.com/blog/en/benefits-of-yoga/ Popular media is full of stories of people conquering challenges no matter what. New employees learn the company’s goals first and their own tasks second. Every year Olympic athletes break their own personal records. We’re led to believe that setting goals, and then working arduously to achieve them, will lead to success.
But what if you’ve been working toward a fitness goal for weeks, years, or months, and suddenly hit a plateau? Here’s how to cope with a workout plateau. The first thing to recognize is that it won’t last forever. The second thing is that you don’t deserve all the blame. There are many factors at-play when it comes to workout goals, including sports nutrition and overtraining... Read the full article HERE Most of us have been taught to believe that health is determined by visible body fat and weight. Actually, “looking fat” and the number on the scale are poor determinants of health. This blog post tells you the truth about body fat, body mass index (BMI), body composition, and how to find your body fat percentage.
Remember: Only you can determine what health means to you! Educate yourself so that you can be your best self, naturally. READ MORE at Runtastic The body is an incredible machine. It can heal and protect itself, so long as the mind listens and adapts to the body’s needs. That includes respecting any injury that might occur. Just like all machines, the body can break down. But with regular maintenance and check-ups, small accidents are unlikely to result in long-term damage. Here’s common types of sports injuries, their causes, prevention, and treatment...
Read more: https://www.runtastic.com/blog/en/sports-injuries/ England, 2016
I had to sneak into my roommate’s kids’ room, shuffle some toys around, and then search YouTube to get a workout in. It was England, 2016, when I was broke and renting rooms in family homes. I was also writing a book. If you’ve ever written a book, you’ll know that you’ve gotta’ honor the flow when the flow is there. I’d spend days in my room writing like a madwoman. Until then, I’d been a gym rat. I was the person who’d plan my entire day around my workout. I’d been a seeker of group fitness classes since age 15. Suddenly, desperately, I’d found something that took priority over fitness. But, still: I noticed that if I didn’t get some sort of movement during the day, my writing suffered. My eyes started to burn and my fingers became less responsive on the keyboard. My thoughts were less creative, thorough, and funny. But to leave my home-- nay, to leave the bedroom-- would have broken the writing spell. So, I searched online for fitness classes. Finding Online Fitness My first experience with online fitness was Fitness Blender on YouTube. God Bless that couple. They set the stage for everyone else. Not only did they make workouts happen at home, for the masses, but they offered professional fitness instruction: concise cues, modifications, a positive attitude, and excellent demonstration. They sweated with us! To this day, Fitness Blender is THE OG for online workouts. (Please note: the love is legit. Fitness Blenders has no idea who I am and did not sponsor this post). As soon as the last chapter was complete, you better believe that I jumped straight back into the gym. In retrospect, I probably should have stayed home and edited. My book is an editing disaster. But I LOVED being part of group fitness classes. Returning To the Gym Which is odd, considering that I am not the most outgoing group fitness student. While I accidentally make my presence known by being physically rambunctious, I prefer the community vibe without too much chit-chat. Anyone who has taken my classes is either rolling their eyes or manually lifting their jaw after it fell open in shock. Seriously: I’m a secret introvert! Surprisingly, after my self-imposed exile and then wholehearted return to the gym, I missed at-home fitness. I could work out in my pajamas, save a lot of time commuting, and choose my exercise format and intensity with specificity. Plus, I could cut and refresh my gym membership depending on how much I earned every month. I began mixing classes at the gym and outdoor exercise with online YouTube courses. Three Ways To Love Exercise Exploring fitness in such a variety of ways helped me to better understand my mind and body. Now, I see that I love working out in three different ways.
Why Am I Telling You This? I want you to understand why I believe you should pay for my online fitness classes. And why I believe that you should try to work out with me in person. And why I think that you should also find fun exercise outdoors. I create my fitness offering based on two things: experience and training. Yes, I am a professional who’s trained to help you maximize movement. But I would also never ask you to do something that I wouldn’t myself do. And I’d never exercise in just one way. Moreover: I’ll never coach you on something that I haven’t already completed successfully. The Value Of Seeing You As a professional, I love being able to see my students LIVE every so often. It only takes a class or two for me to notice my students’ movement patterns, their tolerance for intensity, and any limitations they might experience. After that, I continue to cue those needs in online classes. That’s why I offer private online and in-person classes without subscription requirements in as many time zones and geographies as possible. Do I think that online fitness is dangerous because I can’t see my students? Heck no. I have seen more injuries from folks trying to impress each other-- or just keep up with the pack-- in group classes. I believe that at-home fitness offers a safe space for people to explore their bodies. When you work out at home, you can take the higher-or-lower intensity option without worrying about what the people around you will think. You can press pause and get some water. You can do ½ a class. And because there are few external distractions, you’ll probably hear the cues better and check your form. In Summary Like you, I move for complex and personal reasons. I want to move; I want to be with other humans moving; I want to move with the world. By creating an online fitness habit, I fulfill all fitness motives. I never get bored. My body is fit front-to-back, deep-to-superficial, brain-to-bones fit. Not in a weird veiny kind of way. In an agile and responsive kind of way. I can only credit that with regular exercise in a diversity of formats. That’s possible because I work out at home, online, and in the world. I encourage you to do the same. In an ideal world, every runner would have access to a banana, avocado with sea salt, or a piece of warm toast with jam before a run. Alas, life gets crazy, and there’s not always time to visit the grocery store for a perfect pre-run snack.
Skipping a meal is out of the question: running on a body depleted of glycogen will cause mental and muscle fatigue. But running on a stomach full of hard-to-digest food can lead to cramps, gas, blood sugar variations, and sluggishness. In fact, a pre-workout snack can make or break a run. Running nutrition is complex. There is no such thing as “the best diet for runners.” Everybody is different, and it’s only through trial-and-error that a runner learns what serves them best. The foods listed below are often bothersome to the general population. Yet, they may not affect some athletes. Use this list as an educational guide to crafting your own pre-run snack – even if it seems totally random! READ MORE on adidas Runtastic It’s so important to set goals when pursuing a new workout regimen or training plan. Having success markers in-mind can help you stay motivated on days when you’re tired. Goals help you to choose what kinds of exercises to do and their frequency.
So, after putting in all of this effort, how long does it take to see results? Most new exercisers notice that they feel more energetic within a couple of weeks. Your posture will improve and you’ll feel more muscle tone. Gains in performance, like lean muscle mass and cardiovascular endurance, require around three months of regular effort. (1, 2) Here are five tips that can help you reach your new fitness goals in a fun, sustainable way! Use them, and you’ll cut down how long to see results from working out... READ MORE on adidas Runtastic My MiraBabes: A Testament to Non-Excuses
Now, I don’t want to dismiss ANY of the above worries, especially the ones that relate to pain. Pain sucks and any movement specialist worth their salt will tell you to listen to the pain. But, I have been teaching fitness classes to older adults at a residential facility since 2019. The facility is called Mirabella and it’s located in Seattle, Washington. My students at Mirabella have changed my perspective on exercise excuses. These folks are aged anywhere from 65 to 100 years-old. Some of them had never taken a fitness class with me-- or anyone else-- before coronavirus. When the pandemic hit, Mirabella & I moved group classes from a small studio at the Mirabella facility to Zoom. I suspect that a lot of the residents logged into their first Zoom class due to sheer boredom and curiosity. Maybe, they were glad to start at home. Surely less intimidating to try a new fitness class from one’s own living room than a studio setting. These older adults have proven to me that most excuses not to exercise can be reduced to non-excuses with a little creativity, willingness, and accountability. I call them my MiraBabes. And they prove my point: there’s very few reasons NOT to exercise. Most excuses can be… moved around (punny?). They try When they walked into my first class, the MiraBabes hadn’t the faintest idea what was in store for them. Some of them had worked out with my fitness predecessor, but that instructor had been doing the same routine for years. When word got around about the fresh blood, new students who’d never done fitness before started showing up. They decided to give it a try, knowing that they could walk out at any time and never come back. They kept coming back to class. Then ‘rona hit, and I thought the MiraBabes were screwed. It was hard enough for ME to figure out how to get my classes online, let alone teach others how to access them. But as soon as I offered Zoom classes to the MiraBabes, they rose to the occasion. I taught a couple folks how to use Zoom. They taught a couple more. They taught a couple more. And within a few days the whole crew was able to log-on and start sweating. It’s not just the new technology. The MiraBabes are constantly trying new things-- and mastering them. They’ve all learned how to do a proper squat, a proper push-up (assisted with a chair), how to recognize when their heart rate is too high, and how to push themselves to get it higher. They give Mohammed Ali a run for his money in our kickboxing classes. Heck, the MiraBabes have better form than most Millenails that I work with. They’re dedicated Exercise is a serious struggle for many of my MiraBabes, mentally and physically. We’ve lost family members to Parkinson’s, Coronavirus, and natural causes. Several of them have had surgery, injections, and physical therapy. But they always show up. They know that exercise isn’t always easy, but that longevity outweighs momentary annoyance. Part of their dedication stems from the fact that they truly follow my cue: “I am just here to give you ideas. You’ve got to do what’s best for you.” They use “options” for higher and lower intensity. Every MiraBabe exercises in a way that works for their unique body. They take a rest when they need and level up when they want to. Having to change a movement (i.e., “modify a movement”) doesn’t mean that they give up. It means taking more personalized control of a workout. Guess what? They’ve all gotten stronger because of it. Contrary to popular belief, MiraBabes prove that “taking the modification” actually leads to sustainability, skill, and performance. They make time Do not think that because the MiraBabes are retired “they have more time.” Untrue. The MiraBabes are grandparents making school runs. They’re caretakers who feed, bathe, and move their partners. They’re going to the opera, volunteering at the local kids’ shelter, writing articles in journals, lecturing, and being active in the rotary. They do all of the things that we wish we had time to do AND all of the things that we don’t think we have time to do. Maybe they’ve just figured out how to do it all after so many years of practice. They probably have something else they would rather be doing during our workouts. But they make exercise a priority, so it happens. They exercise on the road Quite organically, the MiraBabes and I started taking out workouts with us when we travel. As I’ve driven across the USA and explored Europe, I’ve brought the MiraBabes with me. They’ve done virtual classes in Moab and the Flaming Gorge. They’ve done hotel workouts in Maine. They’ve laid in the grass at Cheesman Park, Colorado. They’ve worked out below the piste in Austria. And it’s not just me. When the MiraBabes travel, they tune in for fitness classes from wherever they are. MiraBabes have taken their computer down the Pacific beach with me, done push-ups on their patio at a Mexican timeshare, and worked out in the garage at their kids’ houses. They prove that online fitness is the most flexible way to stay active. day. They’re accountable When you sweat with the same people for 5 years, you can’t help but get to know each other. I like to say that when I started working with the MiraBabes, I got +/-20 new grandparents. When someone doesn’t show up for a few classes, the MiraBabes or I check-in with them. When someone doesn’t have hand weights or a band, they share resources. When someone’s spouse passes away, we welcome them back to class with open arms. We hold each other accountable, cheer each other on, and make class more enjoyable by simply being together, no matter what. My point is proven When I returned to Seattle for Christmas last year, I decided to teach a few classes at Mirabella’s exercise studio. We’d been exercising online for a year. I really wanted to see them. To be honest, very few of my MiraBabes set up their camera in a way that I can see their entire body all of class. And, their thumbnails are difficult to focus on when I’m also moving. I was worried that their form and fitness might have degenerated since we’d been 100% online. The only way to find out was to see them up close and personal. To my absolute delight and awe, the MiraBabes were moving BETTER THAN EVER. It seems that working out in their apartments propelled their fitness journey. It could be that they were less likely to miss a workout, since all they had to do was roll out of bed and turn on their iPad. It could be that they had an easier time concentrating on my cues without the distractions of others in a fitness studio. It could be due to sheer repetition: there’s only so many ways to work out at home. Whatever it was, it worked, and it’s still working. Classes are still happening. The MiraBabes are getting better at showing me their entire form in the camera. I’m giving them more complicated workouts because they can handle it, mentally and physically. It’s getting more and more fun. What can we learn from my MiraBabes? Everything. All those excuses at the top? They’re not excuses. They might be obstacles-- and I honor your obstacles-- but they’re nothing that a little dialogue, a little dedication, and little creativity can’t surmount. It’s never too late to start. Try a MiraBabe class! I post many of our classes to an YouTube playlist. That way, the MiraBabes can still get their workout in even when they can’t make it to a live Zoom class. (Yes, many of the MiraBabes do take myYouTube classes. They know how to YouTube, y’all). Here’s the link. Be sure to “like” the class on YouTube if you try it! And, feel free to share the playlist with your older friends. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2O4y865eLDz4stfw58aiL2DO3qkdYRXM |
AuthorWhen not teaching fitness, I write for adidas Runtastic. When not writing for them, I write for myself. Read my sports musings here (sometimes you will be re-directed to my posts at Runtastic.com) Archives
August 2022
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