Category Archives: Fitness

Fitness

5 Exercises to Get You Ready for a 5K

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As is the case with training for all distances from 800 meters to 100K, optimal 5K training programs incorporate strength and power training to optimize performance. Although strength training is often excluded from many runners' training programs or treated as occasional cross-training to be completed on non-running days, it is the backbone of great endurance training. The following exercises, as well as additional exercises to develop strength and endurance, can be found in Running Science.

1. Side Sit-Up

Lie on one side with both legs extended and raised slightly off the floor. The side of the upper torso in contact with the floor should lie relaxed on the floor. Place the hand of the bottom arm on the floor to the front so that the arm is perpendicular to the body. Place the hand of the top arm lightly on the back of the head. (Do not pull on the head or neck during the exercise.)

Slowly raise the torso, contracting the abdominal muscles on the top side of the trunk and raising the legs at the same time. Slowly lower the upper torso and the legs back to the starting position on the floor to complete one rep. Don't let the upper body fall to the floor in an uncontrolled manner. Complete 15 reps on one side and then 15 on the other.

More: 8 Best Core-Strengthening Exercises for Runners

2. High Lunge

Stand on a six-inch platform or step so that the forward, lunging foot will undergo an exaggerated downward acceleration. Start with erect posture and feet directly under the shoulders; step down and forward with one foot. After the forward foot makes contact with the ground, move into a squat position so that the thigh of the forward leg becomes almost parallel with the ground. The upper body may incline forward slightly as this happens. Emphasize action of the gluteal muscles and hamstrings to reverse the squat and return the forward leg onto the platform, under the trunk. Complete one rep by returning to the start position.

More: Hip Strengthening and Mobility Exercises for Runners

3. Low-Back Extension with a Twist

Lie on the stomach with arms by the sides, hands extended toward feet, and palms touching the floor. Contract the back muscles to lift and twist the upper body to one side during the first rep. Return to the starting position and then lift and twist the torso to the other side during the second rep. Continue alternating sides for the desired number of repetitions. Be sure to fully untwist the upper body each time the trunk moves back toward the ground so that the stomach and chest, not the sides, touch the ground. Perform these movements rhythmically and smoothly while maintaining good control.

More: 5 Core Exercises That Increase Stability and Running Efficiency

4. Sprint Hop

Hop as quickly as possible for 20 meters, or 66 feet, on one foot, emphasizing extremely quick contact with the ground and forceful forward explosions each time the foot hits the ground. Without stopping or resting, hop 20 more meters on the other foot. Without interruption, repeat the exercise on the first foot and then the other foot. Recover by doing one minute of light jogging. Repeat this hopping and recovery sequence five more times.

A key progression with sprint hopping is to begin performing some of the reps on a hill. Start with a gently sloping incline of about three percent and gradually work up to a 10 percent incline, if possible, and hop both uphill and downhill. Maintain good form and balance at all times and avoid the temptation to look down at the hopping foot.

More: 7 Best Plyometric Exercises to Improve Running Economy

5. Two-Leg Hurdle Hop

Position eight hurdles in a row, 45 inches apart, with the height of each hurdle set at 23 inches. Starting from one end, jump over each hurdle, landing and taking off on two legs until all eight hurdles have been cleared. Maintain continuous movement. Minimize ground-contact time with each landing, and try to be as explosive as possible. Once you have cleared the eighth hurdle, jog back to the beginning point and repeat four more times for five reps in all. Avoid taking little hops between hurdles and making more than one contact between hurdles. This exercise may also be performed on one leg at a time as a progression.

Running Science is a one-of-a-kind resource that offers the most advanced and in-depth coverage on running. In addition to providing detailed information on strength-training exercises for runners, it includes a wealth of insights distilled from great sport and exercise scientists, coaches and runners. The easily comprehended repository of running research offers an array of the most credible and widely used training principles and programs, and is a celebration of the latest science-based know-how of running. It is available in bookstores everywhere or online at HumanKinetics.com.

More: How Do I Run a Faster 5K?

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This article originally appeared on Active.com

2 Steps to Start Walking: Pick a Pedometer and Plot Your Route

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Ready to ramp up your walking routine? Here's one place you probably shouldn't cut corners: Your pedometer. Pedometers that gauge movement with a flimsy mechanism called a hairspring and that cost less than $15 (like the ones you get with fast-food kids' meals, for example) often wear out within six months and may give you wrong information, according to a recent Real Simple article.

But you don't have to spend a fortune to track your steps: Springing for just $25 should get you a more sturdy coil-spring or electronic device that lasts longer and promises better accuracy, found researchers at Montana State University.

In fact, additional stats, such as distance, speed, and calories burned tend to be inaccurate no matter how much a pedometer costs (unless it's equipped with additional instruments such as a heart rate monitor or GPS)—so don't be swayed by expensive devices that promise these extra numbers without the science to back it up.

Here are some of our favorite pedometers on the market, for every price point and fitness level.

  • Oregon Scientific Pedometer with Calorie Counter and 7-Day Memory ($25) is a great basic model that clips to your belt and is easy enough for even the least tech-savvy walkers. If you're willing to spend up to $50, Oregon Scientific also has smaller and sleeker wrist-watch or "AnyWear" models, and models with features like an FM radio or a panic alarm.

  • The Strollometer ($40) is great for new moms who want to walk off the baby weight—baby in tow. It fits to any stroller with an easy to read display. While it doesn't measure steps, it will give you a good idea of your total miles traveled.

  • Omron's Hip Pedometer ($17.28) clips easily to your belt and resets every midnight; it also has a 7-day memory. A larger Digital Premium model ($22) has dual motion sensors that let you carry it in a bag or purse, to track your true progress all throughout the day.

  • Sportline's 303 Thinq Pedometer ($30) won Health magazine's pick for best pedometer in 2008, and it's still a favorite more than a year later. The cute, credit card–size device slips into your pocket and includes a sports timer, as well.

  • Garmin's Forerunner 50 ($99–$199) wristwatch includes an optional heart rate monitor and "foot pod" that measures distance via GPS technology when clipped into your shoes. Data is wirelessly transferred to your computer after your workout, so you can easily track your progress.

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Now that you've got your gear, the next thing you need is a great place to walk—an enjoyable route that will keep you coming back and actually looking forward to your strolls. Visit MapMyWalk.com or U.S.A. Track and Field's America's Running Routes database to search for walk, run, and bike paths near you—complete with user reviews and Google Maps distance calculators.

If you're looking for a workout buddy or you're ready to take things up a notch, sign up with Health's Girls Gotta Move Club: There you'll find walk-to-run transition plans and events being held around the country.

No matter what speed you walk or run, aim for a minimum of 10,000 steps a day (or five miles)—the amount recommended by experts to maintain good health and stave off disease.

Hot Mama! Blake Lively Lost the 61 Lbs. She Gained During Pregnancy: ‘Feeling Very Proud’

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Blake Lively’s stats: mom of two, owner of six-pack abs.

The actress, 30, showed off her newly-ripped body after 14 months of hard work with her trainer, Don Saladino, to lose the weight she gained during her last pregnancy.

“Turns out you can’t lose the 61 lbs. you gained during pregnancy by just scrolling through Instagram and wondering why you don’t look like all the bikini models,” Lively joked on Instagram. “Thanks @donsaladino for kickin my A double S into shape. 10 months to gain, 14 months to lose. Feeling very proud.”

Lively is mom to daughters James, 3, and Inez, 16 months, with husband Ryan Reynolds. After her pregnancy with James, she felt like her body was different, but she was okay with that.

“After I had a kid I thought, ‘Okay, this is what my body looks like. This is amazing — I earned this body,’ ” she said in 2016. “‘And it’s not as good as it was before I had a kid, but, oh well.’ ”

But then Lively quickly jumped into shooting The Shallows, and had to be in surfer shape within 10 months, which she said was a “nice advantage.”

“I’ve never been in that great a shape in my whole life,” she said. “So to do it after having a kid was actually really nice. Because you see your body after having a kid and it’s beautiful because you just gave birth, but it’s also ‘Oh my god, this is not what my body looks like.’ You feel like you’re never going to get your body back again.”

Lively also worked with Saladino ahead of The Shallows, and followed a strict gluten- and soy-free diet.

“I did no gluten and no soy,” she said. “Once you remove soy, you realize you’re eating no processed foods. So that’s basically what I did. No processed foods and then working out. [It] seems like, ‘Oh, that’s really easy to cut that out,’ but then you realize, there’s soy in everything. Like, everything you eat, there is soy in it. Even if it’s healthy, Whole Foods-organic stuff, there’s always soy in it.”

But luckily, Lively didn’t have to cut out everything delicious.

“I was still able to have sugar and all of those things. It’s all in moderation. You just have a balance of protein, carbs, and vegetables. And it wasn’t the worst. Like, I was eating rice and sushi.”

Behind the Body: How Marathoner Desi Linden Trains for 26.2 Miles

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Two-time U.S. Olympian Desi Linden is coming off a runner-up finish at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in February and preparing to put the U.S. on the medal stand at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Linden seeks revenge at the Summer Games after a stress fracture in her femoral shaft in London forced her to drop out of the marathon before the five-kilometer mark. She was second at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and a series of injuries never allowed for her to find her full fitness before the Summer Games.

“I think I kind of struggled coming back from that marathon due to a lot little nagging things and we got to the point in the build-up where we needed to start pressing no matter what the body is telling you,” Linden says. “We got two or three weeks into the segment and when something is nagging just a tiny bit, it can snowball into something much larger. It came to head in late July.”

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Linden never regained her full fitness until preparing for the 2014 Boston Marathon but now considers herself at 100% health with no signs of hurt. Linden took a three-week break after Los Angeles and is ready to regroup and put in the necessary work for Rio.

“We were cautious going into L.A. so we can regroup and I’ll feel good. I do feel good now,” Linden says. “I’m conscious of my body and taking care of my body but I don’t feel like I’m being overly cautious where I sacrifice training. I’m going to push as hard as I can and be smarter about it. It’s a delicate balance.”

Linden trained on an indoor treadmill where she ran for an hour at 89 degrees (33 C) and 75% humidity to simulate the conditions for the Olympics. The USOC provided the training session and gave her a pill in morning (3 hours before her run) that allowed them to test and monitoring her core temperature.

inden will stay in Rochester, Mich., to train for Rio as the average summer highs there are about two degrees warmer than Rio de Janeiro in the next few weeks, according to her coach Keith Hanson.

The women’s Olympic marathon will be held on Sunday, Aug. 14.

RELATED: How Sarah Brown ran at Olympic Trials, four months after giving birth

Part of her body that is critical to running strong (besides legs)

"You have to get the core strong. If you’re a runner and have some sort of problem, it could be weak hips. It’s the first thing a PT or chiropractor will tell you. I’m always working on my core. For me that’s planks and ab strength."

Workout essential to marathoning

"If I could just one thing, I would do long runs. You can do tempo runs within your tempo."

RELATED: Batman in training: Bershawn Jackson's 400 meter hurdles workout

Favorite exercise in the gym

"Planks. They’re just really valuable and an easy position to hold."

Favorite workout

"Long run."

What her off-season break looks like

"I love taking my two weeks off after a marathon segment but I also get in the pool. Not necessarily for aqua-jogging but being in the water and having that buoyancy is beneficial. It seems like a little but it goes a long way."

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​On how much cross-training she does

"As little as possible. If I’m cross-training then it means I’m hurt. I do a little bit of yoga and maybe I should do a little more."

On how to build the base for a marathon

"It’s slowly building into it. It depends on whether you’re coming off a big break. It could start with one week at 70 miles, another at 85 or 90 and then just working into those 100-mile weeks. Two or three weeks of mileage and then sprinkle in lighter workouts."

On how long she holds peak mileage

"Two or three weeks. You just touch on it and then come down."

RELATED: Training to failure: Myth or method to muscle mass and strength gains?

Off-track activities

"I grew up playing soccer. I’m not sure if I’m coordinated enough now but I kick around the ball."

On how nutritional intake changes from the beginning of marathon training to race day

"In my downtime, my appetite drops. As I pick up my mileage, I’m hungry all the time. I try to put healthy things all the time so I’m snacking on healthy things but I’m not over-the-top."

On counting calories

"Not at all. My weight is crazy because if I’m on downtime, I’m 98.6 pounds. If it’s race day, I’m 96.8 at every marathon I’ve every marathon I’ve done. I’ve just dialed in my appetite."

Takeaways from the Kenyans' diets after training there

"A lot of Ugali (a cornmeal porridge). That’s a staple at every meal. They’ll sometimes have goat or chicken for protein. I haven’t come home to make a bunch of Ugali but my plate will look similar with a protein, a vegetable and some kind of rice or carb." (Editor’s note: Linden gives credit to her husband for the cooking in her home.)

Pre-race meal

"It’s very bland. I go with white rice and sweet potatoes with maybe a plain pasta or a basic marinara spaghetti. It’s really boring."

RELATED: Ultra-runner Scott Jurek's interval training tips for the everyday athlete

On staying hydrated during a race

"I use a PowerBar electrolyte for the first 20K, where I try to take in eight to 10 ounces every 5K. I switch over to a double latte PowerBar gel that I mix in with water for the rest of the race."

Post-race treat

"Pre-race is food for function. Post-race is food for fun. I like a massive burger and beers. Just keep them both coming."

On staying cool during a hot race

"Over your head soaking happens. Any time you can wet the skin that’s great because you get a cooling effect from the wind and helps bring the core temperature down. You just delay the slowing down as much as you can."

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​​​Future fitness outlook

"I haven’t put a cap on that. I’m trying to win one of the World Marathon Majors. I haven’t thought too much about the time it takes to do that but if I felt like I was really sharp and running quick, everyone wants to flirt with the 2:20 mark. I do kind of have limited days in my career so I need to be a little picky in how I do that over the next few years."

Working out with music

"If I’m forced to be on a treadmill, I will have music on."

What’s on her iPod

"Girl Talk. It’s all this mashed up stuff that leads to a 70s song stuck in my head."

Food guilty pleasure

"Definitely donuts. I sneak those in all the time…it’s not even sneaky. I tell myself that I earned it."

Advice for aspiring marathoners

"Just be patient. It’s a process. From the very first day, you’ll get out there and think, 'Wow. That was hard.' It’s going to be like that for 10 days. You’ll want to quit for 10 days but once you get over the hump, you establish a routine. Getting in shape is hard but being in shape is awesome. Ease into it and stick with it."

 

This article originally appeared on SI Edge. 

Simple Tips for Setting Up a Home Gym

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By DailyBurn Cross off not having time to go to the gym from your list of excuses! There are a few simple tricks that can help you transform any space into your own personal workout space. Learn how to set up a home gym with these three tips from DailyBurn trainer Keaira LaShae. Now roll out your mat and jump in!

Priyanka Chopra’s ‘Plank Attack’ Move Will Tone Your Glutes and Core at Once

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With all the butt-kicking Priyanka Chopra does on ABC’s Quantico, it seems only right to highlight her, um, assets. After all, those glutes are the foundation for the running, jumping, and kicking the actress does on set. A move that can help amp up your backside: the Plank Attack. "It forces you to engage your core, while the leg repetitions lift your butt," explains Isaac Calpito, a SoulCycle and SoulAnnex instructor in New York City who has trained Chopra in the past. Be consistent with this move and your strength, endurance, and perkiness will soar.

How to do the Plank Attack

Start in a forearm plank with hands clasped, abs tight, and toes tucked (A). Hold the position for 30 seconds. Next, lift left leg, pulsing it up for 20 reps (B). Lower left leg, and then lift right leg and repeat that pulsing motion for another 20 reps. Repeat the entire sequence from start to finish 3 times.