Yoga for Your Eyes

Trataka, or steady gazing, is a simple yogic meditation technique which helps improve internal and external eye function. It also helps develop concentration and visualization abilities.

Directions:

Set a candle at an arm's distance, level with eyes.

Gaze steadily at the candle's flame, keeping your eyes open.

After a minute, close your eyes and continue gazing steadily, but this time at the after-image.

Stay as still as possible.

Let your breaths lengthen and deepen. Relax.

Note: Feel free to substitute any other object for the candle. What matters is your focus and relaxation.

Running Intervals

UNDERSTANDING INTERVALS
(I honestly do not remember where I found this, but it explains intervals perfectly)

You don’t have to be a high school athlete to benefit from weekly track workouts. By pushing your oxygen consumption to its maximal threshold (VO2max) on a regular basis in a controlled setting, you’ll run farther, race faster and feel better than you did when every run was an ordinary training run.

There is no end to the variations you can create on the track to keep these sessions fresh once you understand the basic principles of intervals.

Ideal intensity. You should aim for a running speed that you could keep up for 10 to 15 minutes in a race. Most runners might cover 3 or 4K in this time; it’s a full 5K for a professional. If you’re out of shape you may use a 5K pace as an intensity reference until you improve. The distance of each work bout in a session of intervals should not determine the intensity. You should run 400 meters at the same pace you run a mile.

Ideal duration. The main goal of an interval workout is to achieve VO2max for prolonged periods. With this in mind, while interval workouts are most often referenced by distance (“I ran six half-mile repeats”), the real issue is time. Running at the ideal pace outlined in the above section, you would typically reach VO2max only after two minutes of running. In this way, time dictates the workout. Going for over five minutes results in too much blood lactate accumulation, so avoid mile repeats if your interval pace is above a five-minute mile. You might find you can schedule at most three times around the track in a single bout; so be it.

Note, though, that five-minute bouts are excellent to achieve prolonged running at VO2max. You should run these often in your sessions regardless of how far you get. Rely on the feeling of stress you experience, and not on a pre-determined distance goal over a certain time. The distance of each work bout in a session of intervals should not determine the intensity. You should run 400 meters at the same pace you run a mile.

Ideal recovery. If VO2max is reached only after two minutes of running at interval pace, and shorter work bouts like quarter miles may well be only 80 seconds long, how is maximal oxygen
consumption reached without going faster for shorter distances? The answer is by varying the amount of rest between the work bouts. Generally, running intervals less than 30 seconds in length is of little benefit. But knocking back one-minute bouts on the track can work for you if your recovery periods are sufficiently short. As you fail to allow a full recovery in between bouts, you will reach VO2max more quickly in subsequent bouts, and there remain for large portions of the overall session. Don’t play with intensity. The stress of running shorter intervals comes from shortening the recoveries, not from running at faster speeds. Recover with easy jogging, which helps clear blood lactate and keeps muscles loose, in addition to further preventing a return to resting VO2. Keep the time of recovery less than or equal to the time running at interval pace—again, regardless of recovery distance.

Here’s a sample workout for a runner at 6:00/mile interval pace (:90/400m):
six 2:00 runs with 1:00 recoveries;
eight 1:00 runs with :30 recoveries;
eight :30 runs with :15 recoveries.

This totals 24:00 at interval pace and 12:00 easy, for a 36:00 session. The time spent at VO2max is comparable to a workout of three- and five-minute runs with longer recoveries.

Ideal mileage. Finally, cap your intervals at 8% of your weekly mileage, with a 10K maximum regardless of how much you’re logging on the roads. And drop your interval training when
serious race season begins.

Jump, Jump Around

I love my jump rope. And my jump rope loves me. I jump rope in between sets while lifting weights. I jump rope on vacation (ultra portable). I jump rope sometimes just for the heck of it to get the heart pumping. I love it! Don't get me started on my obsession with the "lemon twist" back in the day!

So, I thought I would pass on a few links to fun jump rope workouts. TRY THEM! You may find you love jumping rope and feeling like a kid again. (Hint to all the gym rats: You look really hardcore jumping rope in between sets at the gym!)

10-Minute Jump Rope Workout:
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/arms/express/jump-rope-workouts/?page=1

Jump Rope Boxing-esque Routine:
http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/diet-fitness/the-jump-rope-workout.html

Hardcore Jump Rope Workout:
http://fitnessblackbook.com/workout-routines/a-jump-rope-workout-that-burns-belly-fat/

Ropesport DVDs, etc:
http://www.ropesport.com/

Run Those Hills

Need a little metabolism boost? Feeling blue because summer is nearly over?

Head out for a run tomorrow. No matter how short or how long -- just run!

While You're at it hit a hill.
The optimal hill to run hill repeats will take you between 60 and 90 seconds to reach the top. You should be panting at the top if you are really pushing yourself.

A Hill Workout For You:

1. Warmup with a slow jog for 1-2 miles.
2. Jog slowly up and down the hill a couple of times.
3. You might even do walking lunges halfway up the hill then some exaggerated skips downhill.
4. Now SPRINT up the hill, then slowly jog down to catch your breath.
5. Start with sprinting the hill 4 times, then slowly progress to add more repeats over the next few weeks.
6. Cool down with a slow 1 mile jog or brisk walk.

STRETCH!!!!

Date Night Superset

Want to primp for your hot date tonight? My husband and I often workout together. Just so happens we have "date night" tonight. This is how we primped:

DATE NIGHT SUPERSET:

Supersets of Pushups then L-seats (tricep dips).
8 reps of each,
then 7 of each,
then 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1

No rest in between exercises or supersets.
(I threw in 60 reverse crunches and 60 knee-ins at the end just for fun)

THEN REPEAT starting with 8 reps again.

Now you're pumped, primped and ready to go!

Enjoy!

Genius! Have Your Salsa and Bean Dip!

My fabulous aunt/uncle-in-law had us over for swimming and dinner last night. It was a great evening. They are some of the most genuine, gracious people I've ever known. Also, Aunt Janice is a darn good cook.

Last night for appetizers I brought some of my homemade peach/watermelon salsa and she served homemade black bean dip -- but to save calories...

SHE SERVED WEDGES OF PEPPERS INSTEAD OF CHIPS!!! Genius!! Why hadn't I ever thought of that?

I've never been thrilled with carrots and celery served for dipping. But yellow, red, green, and orange peppers were a DIVINE way to enjoy the salsa and bean dip.

So good, in fact, that I felt the need to share this info with everyone who hadn't tried this before.

Enjoy!

Performance Based Comparison of Kettlebell Methods

Kettlebell lifting has gained popularity and is a very effective mode of exercise.  Please read the attached article!  Kettlebells will enhance athletic performance!  

Pilates for Your Feet!

If you're a runner you've probably experienced the feeling of tender feet in the morning. You put your foot on the floor and feel an ache or a tightness mid-foot.

Here is a cool little workout you can do for your feet to make them, well...HAPPY FEET!

http://bit.ly/tlM7j

Benefits of HIT Technique

Sprint to Lose
By Ryan Halvorson

With its low cost and accessibility, running is often the exercise modality of choice. Those looking to drop pounds and gain improved metabolic function may want to pick up the pace. A study published online January 28 in BMC Endocrine Disorders (2009; 9 [3]) provides promising evidence in favor of extremely short duration high-intensity interval training (HIT) as a method for improving insulin action. Study participants included 25 “young, healthy sedentary or recreationally active men” who were placed in an HIT group or participated in a “separate experiment to determine intra-individual variation in response to an oral glucose tolerance test, and did not perform HIT.” The HIT group performed four to six 30-second sprints at maximum effort with a 4-minute rest between exercises six times over 14 days. This accounted for a time commitment of 17–26 minutes and only 2–3 minutes of sprinting per session. By the end of the short study, the HIT group had improved insulin sensitivity by 23%.

“The efficacy of a high-intensity exercise protocol, involving only ~250 kcal of work each week, to substantially improve insulin action in young sedentary [adults] is remarkable,” stated the authors. “This novel time-efficient training paradigm can be used as a strategy to reduce metabolic risk factors in young and middle-aged sedentary populations who otherwise would not adhere to time-consuming traditional aerobic regimes.”

Fitness Food Pyramid

Here are some basic health tips to feel better and improve our athletic abilities.  There are a lot of important diet tips to improve fitness performance as well.

Going to Prison

I'm going to prison tonight - well, sort of. Try this workout with me! It is all burpees. I love to hate burpees. So intense. So painful. And it really does make you feel like you're being punished!

"The Prison Workout" is simply a crazy label for this oldie but goodie exercise!

Who's with me?

http://weighthefaqs.com/fitness/the-prison-workout

Fitness Facts

Here are a few fitness facts you may not know!

1. The human body has more then 650 muscles.
2. Each muscle fiber is thinner than a hair and can support up to 1,000 times its own weight.
3. By the age of 65, individuals who haven't engaged in exercise on a regular basis may incur a decrease in their muscular strength by as much as 80 percent.
4. About 42% of the more than 10,000 runners who finished the 1989 New York Marathon were over the age of 40. Of these, 56 runners were over 70-years-old. The oldest finisher of the race- in 6 hours and 43 minutes- was 91-years-old.
5. Your lungs are light enough to float on water.
6. It takes only about 23 seconds for blood to circulate throughout your entire body.
7. Between birth and old age, you will walk about 70,000 miles. Walking is one of the best activities you can do to keep your heart-lung complex in good working condition.
8. Aerobic exercise is one of the best preventative medicines available and one of the cheapest.
9. All factors considered, several cardiovascular-related, physiological differences exist between men and women-- most of which place women at a disadvantage in aerobic endurance activities.
10. People with more education tend to be more physically active.
11. The heart is a hollow, muscular organ that is roughly the size of a man's fist, averaging approximately 5 inches in length, 3.5 inches in width, and 2.5 inches in thickness. It weighs about 10.5 ounces in the male and 8.75 ounces in the female.
12. Although you can't just go to a human spare-parts store to buy a new replacement body part, organ transplants take every day. The cost of a transplant to replace either your heart or lung would be approximately $100,000 each.
13. Placed end to end, the blood vessels in your body would stretch almost three times around the equator.
14. If you can't carry on a conversation while you're exercising, you may be training too hard.
15. Consistent exercise teaches your body how to be an efficient fat-burner, rather than a fat-storer.
16. If you are 25 pounds overweight, you have nearly 5,000 extra miles of blood vessels through which your heart must pump blood.
17. Muscle is the primary target organ of aerobic training. The effects of aerobic training on muscle involves the use of oxygen as it relates to energy production.
18. Research shows that cardiac rehab programs that include exercise reduce risk of death by 20 percent.
19. When you stand up, if you didn't have valves in your veins, all the blood in your body would literally fall downward, filling up your legs and feet.
20. Aerobic training improves the condition and efficiency of your breathing muscles so that your body can utilize more lung capacity during exercise.

Registration Opens Aug 1st

This Fall could be your best Fall EVER! On August 1st registration opens for the NEW Fairfax CityFit outdoor fitness classes. Our first set of classes will be held in Van Dyck Park near downtown Fairfax, VA.

These classes are not your typical gym workouts.

1. You'll be outside in the fresh air.
2. Our instructors are absolute pros who hold you accountable for pushing yourself to the limits and keep you MOTIVATED.
3. Our classes are truly innovative using techniques from many different fitness styles and sports.
4. At the end of our 8-week session you are invited to join all other CityFit students to participate in a local athletic event to celebrate your success.

Check back here for nutrition tips, sports therapy advice, mind and body motivation, and workouts. For more info visit www.fairfaxcityfit.com.