7 Steps to Great Skin – Step 2: The Importance of Fresh Air and Exercise
Why do we exercise? For most of us, it’s because we want to feel good, and we want to look good. What’s not so obvious, though, is that exercise is as important to the condition of our skin as it is to the condition of our bodies. When comparing the skin of athletes to that of non-exercisers, researchers found the athletes’ skin to be denser, thicker, more elastic, and stronger. Increased blood flow When you exercise, your cardiovascular system rushes freshly oxygenated blood to the surface to feed your muscles. The same high oxygen content also plumps up your skin making...
Read MoreTechnology – a Few Ways It Can Help Your Workouts
I recently competed in a Race Walking event; my team came in third, which kind of shocked me, because I suck at race-walking. Something that happened right before the event, though, made me realize that there’s a topic I haven’t written about up til now which could prove useful to my readers. Choose your Music The way it happened was – I was approaching the starting line, and had just walked up behind some people I knew, when I overheard one of them mention my name to the other, saying that a few years ago I had written a program to select songs for my iPod that were...
Read MoreIncorporate Stair-climbing into an Intense Cardio Workout
Hmm – spring! Finally the weather is beginning to warm up – take advantage of that by moving some of your workouts outdoors. Especially if you’re lucky enough to live near a wooded trail system, combining fresh air and exercise and trees is a great way to get in shape and feel great. Running through the woods, breathing all that fresh, clean air, is nice – but sometimes running can get a little boring. If you have access to some stairs near those trails, you can change up your running workout while upping the intensity – dramatically! What you need: – a...
Read MoreWorking Out at Home – How to Get in Shape Without Joining a Gym
You’ve read the newspapers; you know that a little bit of exercise would make you healthier, and make you feel better. But you don’t really have a lot of money to join that fancy fitness club, and when it comes right down to it, you don’t really have a lot of time, either. If this sounds like you, then working out at home is probably the best solution. What should a home-based workout include? Ideally, your home-based workout should include each of the ‘three pillars of fitness” – cardio, strength, and flexibility. Cardio: A cardiovascular workout is, to...
Read MoreYour First Half-Marathon – A Detailed 20-Week Training Plan
You’ve been running for a while, and still enjoy it, but maybe it’s getting just a little bit boring? What you need is a goal to work towards, like a half-marathon. The half-marathon is a long enough race that it’s important to go into it properly prepared. Without proper conditioning, your race experience may be a painful one, and that pain may last for days after the race. Consider, for the moment, that during a two-hour half-marathon, you are going to be taking over 20,000 steps. That’s over 10,000 times that you’re going to be lifting your right leg, driving...
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