Why commit to something you disdain?  Think of your workday like a school day in third grade.  Cursive writing for 40 minutes, and then spelling, and then environment class, and then… Ever see a child get bored with recess?  Some of you have, yes, I know.  But most kids don’t.  You know why?  Because it’s the one time of day that they do whatever they want to do!  And do they play on the monkey bars the entire time!  NO!  They run constantly from 4-square, to tag, to the slide, back to 4-square, and they don’t stop, and they laugh the entire time!  Do that!

There’s one catch.  You have to go to the gym, even if you don’t want to.  But once you’re there, follow your instincts.  You’ll be surprised at how good of a workout you get in.  You may even go longer than you anticipated.  Soon enough, you will think of your workout more like recess, instead of study hall!

OK, so there’s two catches.  If you feel like running 10 miles and you’ve never even walked a mile, then maybe a few rules would do you some good.  Here are the basic rules of unruliness:

1. Warm up.  Even if it’s just for 5 minutes, it’ll help to prepare you for whatever craziness your subconscious has in store for you.
2. Ease into it.  The first few exercises should be a notch up from the warm up.  Consider it warm up part 2.
3. Use proper form.  Do pushups until you collapse if you like, but never compromise your posture.  Bad form = injury = detention.
4. Commit to at least 30 minutes of activity.  It’s a rule.  Even though you get to follow your folly, it must involve activity. 
5. Stretch when you’re done for at least 5 minutes.  You probably worked some muscles you forgot about; they’ll probably be sore and tight tomorrow; stretch.

Here’s an internal dialogue that goes through my mind during a typical strength workout:

I feel like doing pushups…9, 10, 11…I feel like stopping…on to a standing 1 arm chest press…8, 9, 10…feels pretty good, although the weight is a bit light, oh well…18, 19, 20…it’s starting to burn, I like this one…32, 33, 34…that’s enough…I think I’ll hop on an elliptical now…

That’s it.  Do what you want, have fun, play, and unleash your unruliness!

Checkout the website or go straight to registration!

Here’s a classic picture from last year’s event, taken by Ross Bothwell of Elegant Images & Photographs.

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Cardiovascular conditioning is defined by many variables.  For the purpose of this article, the “cardio” portion of that term is most notably defined by heart function— the strength of your heart to pump more blood with fewer beats.  The “vascular” portion of the term refers to your ability to transport blood and oxygen.  As you get in better shape you build a greater framework of capillaries (tiny arteries) that transport blood and oxygen to the deeper crevices of your trained muscles.  The harder you work the greater the cardiovascular demand and therefore

the greater the benefit.  But there’s a catch: injury risk increases with exercise intensity.  Going “fast” is hard on your joints, connective tissues, muscles, bones, and energy system.  That is true in any sport.  Fortunately, Cross-Country Skiing is mostly muscular (i.e., there’s little joint pounding going on, only moderate bone stress), and is very fluid—if done correctly J.   The reason this matters to you is because you get to work your system more without pounding your body into the ground!  Here’s a video that showcases Cross-Country Skiing’s graceful movements.

Now. . . let’s compare Cross-Country Skiing with other great sports.  In regards to return-on-investment, cycling and swimming rank right up there, and even incur relatively low injury risk.  However, cycling only works half your body and swimming isn’t weight bearing; both have their strengths, but their weaknesses keep them from taking podium positions.  Running, on the other hand, comes in as a close second to Cross-Country Skiing.  But the risk of injury is relatively high for impatient athletes and/or beginners who tend to over-train (in other words, they take a sport that would otherwise be low-risk and make it unhealthy).  For more information on this topic checkout a previous article I wrote titled, “Running is Good for You, Yes You”.
 
There is one downside to Cross-Country Skiing  –  access.  It requires gear and snow!  Fortunately the gear is pretty cheap.   But, snow may be hard to come by.   As a great alternative, modern athletic clubs (like The DAC)  carry Nordic Cross-Country Skiing machines.  If you try it, you may just love it.   And if that’s the case, try training for The Birkie!!  You’ll have a blast!

Rest assured, Cross Country Skiing is not short on endurance junkies!

Start now.  While watching the new House episode, do the following:

A. 50 squats with just your body weight.  Go slow, pause at the bottom of the squat, and take a commercial break if you need one.

B. 20 half-squats on each leg (yes, one leg at a time), just your body weight, only to 45-degrees, with the other leg extended out in front.  Go slow and take that break if necessary.

C. Another 50 squats, but this time don’t pause at the bottom.

D. Stretch your quads, hamstrings, and calves and enjoy the last 50 minutes of the show.

It doesn’t sound like much (because it isn’t) but it’s plenty for October, and it lays the foundation for a long ski season!  In November, the pace of the reps quickens and you’ll be ready to add a jump to your squat!

PS: You could have finished your first set of squats while reading this article!

by Scott Poston

Although often boring and occasionally lab rat reminiscent, treadmill running does have its advantages. Most runners are pace-challenged and treadmills are a quick fix—i.e., pace can be easily and accurately monitored on a treadmill. A runner can set his or her preferred pace and concentrate on important things such as good technique, breathing patterns, and leg cadence. Another advantage is simulated hill training, which burns a lot of calories, gets people into shape quickly, and incurs a relatively low risk of injury due to the imposed slow pace and absence of downhill running! Maybe those rats don’t have it so bad after all…

One of my favorite workouts is to get on a treadmill that is capable of exceptionally high grades (e.g., the FreeMotion Incline Trainer–pictured below), and do the following:

2. Set the grade to “barely joggable”, but walk instead for 1 minute.

3. Set the grade to “easily walkable” and do so for 1 minute.

4. Set the grade to “hardly walkable” and do so for 6 minutes.

5. Set the grade to “easily walkable” and do so for 2 minutes.

6. Complete steps 4 and 5 a total of three times.

7. Set the grade to zero, the speed to something easy, and cool down until you stop sweating.

8. Immediately stretch your calves and hamstrings (don’t leave the gym without completing this step!)

But before you head to the gym, climber beware. Like my writing skills, nothing is perfect. A disadvantage of working out on a treadmill is that a cloud of hot air inevitably builds up around your body, which increases your body temperature. Increased core temperature equals increased sweating rate. However, at a certain point core temperature is conversely related to performance and therefore caloric burn.  So, direct a fan at your torso and/or legs to maximize your ROI.

Bottom line: raise the grade to get in shape!

There are many benefits to strength training: decrease injury risk, increase performance potential, to look and feel better.  Maybe you have experienced these benefits, but maybe not.  I hate to use the phrase, No Pain No Gain (it’s so two decades ago), but there is some truth in any cliché.

No Pain, No Gain

Your muscles get worked with every subtle movement you make.  Walking from the office to the water cooler doesn’t leave you burned and sore the next day, but if an elevator breaks down and you’re forced to walk 13 flights of stairs, well, consider it a free gym membership. 

Each of your 640 skeletal muscles has a threshold

 of exertion before it fatigues (i.e., gets in a workout).  Most of the time our muscles are working below threshold.  And everyday you are raising or lowering that threshold by tiny micro adjustments.  For example, if the message you send to your quadriceps today is that getting up out of a chair is their only job, then they adapt.  The body, after all, is just a factory that produces whatever you demand.  And the threshold is lowered.  Thirty years of that and you’re left with a dusty factory floor, 4 part-time workers, and an empty vending machine.

 So move already!

Snail on the move

Walk the 30 flights to your office once a week.

Close your office door and do 25 or 50 squats (no warm up required!).

Go on a walk after lunch.

Join a gym and start doing something, anything.

Don’t get stifled by the what, when, where, and why’s.           

Just Move It!

Are free weights better than machines?  Ask a group of

Dumbbells @ The DAC

muscle heads and I bet I know their answer.  But, the fact is, strength gains are the SAME (assuming the levels of intensity are equal with both modalities).  A 10-week study compared groups training three times per week with either free weights or machines.  All groups had significant increases in strength and lean body mass and a decrease in body fat.  There were no significant differences between the groups.

A muscle must experience an appropriate level of fatigue with a workload that is progressive from one workout to the next in order to increase in size

Machines @ The DAC

and strength.  Since muscles do not have a brain, or cognitive ability, they cannot possibly “know” the source of the workload.  So, it doesn’t matter whether the muscles are fatigued with a resistance that comes from a machine, a barbell, a cinder block, or a human being.  In short, there is no documented difference in relative strength gains using one form of resistance over another.  The sole factors in determining your response from strength training are your inherited characteristics and your level of intensity – not the equipment that is used.