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Summer Fitness for Your Skin
Be Sun Smart!
This is the season many of us move everything from our meals to our workouts outside. There’s nothing like a run along the sand or a game of beach volleyball to mix up your fitness routine! That means it’s also time to step up your efforts to protect yourself from the harmful effects of the sun, especially skin cancer.
Here are a few sobering facts to remember courtesy of the Skin Cancer Foundation:
- Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S.
- One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime.
- Melanoma is the most common cancer in women ages 25-29.
- One person dies of melanoma every 62 minutes.
The good news is protecting yourself from skin cancer doesn’t have to be difficult. Wearing sunscreen is one of the best preventive measures you can take. However, applying it just once if you’re going to be outside for several hours isn’t enough. If you’re active in the sun, even sweat-proof sunscreens need to be re-applied. I admit many of the heavily promoted long-wearing sunscreens can be sticky and streaky, so if you have one that works for you when you’re breaking a sweat, I’d love to hear about it!
For those of us with sensitive skin, finding a sunscreen for the face can be an even bigger problem. I’m one of the 16 million Americans who suffer from Rosacea, a chronic inflammatory skin condition with symptoms including redness, bumps and even small visible blood vessels on the face. Unfortunately, my condition is partly the result of all the sun-worshipping I did in my teens and 20s. Now I have to be extra careful when I’m enjoying time at the beach as sun exposure is one of the triggers that can cause a flare up. Add an irritating sunscreen to the mix, and my skin can really be out of whack after just an hour or two in the sun.
I think I may have finally found a sunscreen that will protect my face from the sun and not aggravate my Rosacea. It’s called Athelios from LaRoche-Posay. I found it at my local Duane Reade drug store. It’s actually a super lightweight fluid that comes in SPF 45 and 60. Along with my Clinique SPF 30 stick for my delicate eye area and lips, I hope I’m all set for the summer!
Along with wearing sunscreen, if you have moles, it’s important to keep an eye on them. I can’t count the number of moles I have on my body but I can tell you I’ve had at least a half-dozen suspicious-looking moles removed in the past 10 years. I visit my dermatologist annually to make sure none of my moles, especially the ones that have irregular borders and different shades of color. In fact, I had my 2012 visit about three weeks ago and got the all clear til next year. Click here for more on the ABC’s (and Ds and Es) of when it’s time to get a mole checked by a dermatologist.
So if you’re busy replenishing your summer stock of moisture-wicking shirts and shorts, don’t forget to replenish your sunscreen supplies, too. Staying sun smart is a surefire way to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Happy Memorial Day!
I hope your extended weekend has been filled with fun in the sun and good times with friends and family. Today, I offer my “wish list” for you on Memorial Day.
1) Take at least a moment to stop and remember the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice so that the rest of us could live in this wonderful land we call the United States of America.
2) Fit some fitness into your holiday fun. I’m excited to take a Zumba class at 10:30 this morning. Not only will it be the first Zumba class I’ve been able to squeeze into my schedule in months, it also ends early enough that the rest of the day awaits! (Click here if you need a few reminders on how to fit some fitness into your holiday fun.)
3) If you’re outside, don’t forget to apply and re-apply the sunscreen!
4) Whether you’re celebrating the holiday indoors or out, stay hydrated. If you plan to drink alcohol, make sure to designate a driver to ensure everyone gets home safely after the Memorial Day fun.
Wishing everyone a very Happy Memorial Day! Here’s to the summer ahead and all the chances we’ll have to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Fitness Fun in the Sun!
Bring on Summer!
TGIF!
I hope everyone’s ready to enjoy some R & R during the Memorial Day weekend. It’s so important we all remember the true meaning of this holiday. It’s a day dedicated to honoring all the men and women who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
Memorial Day weekend also marks the unofficial kick off to the summer! If Mother Nature smiles down on your plans to enjoy some time in the backyard, at the beach or nearby park, keep this in mind: now’s the perfect time to kick-start a whole new season of fitness fun!
Wherever you’re going, when you pack up the sunscreen, sunglasses and snacks, why not toss a football, frisbee or paddle-ball game into your bag or the trunk of the car? Adding some activity to your holiday get-together is a great way to keep some of the beer and BBQ calories in check. It’s also a great reminder that you don’t need a gym for a great workout.
If you’re really inspired, there are plenty of exercises you can perform on a sandy or grassy surface. Some examples include burpees, squats, push-ups and planks. Of course, if you have any knee, ankle, hip or back issues, I’d highly recommend wearing your sneakers when attempting to bang out some reps on an unstable surface.
Whatever you do and wherever you do it, here are some timely tips for the holiday weekend that will take you through the entire season:
- Drink plenty of non-alcoholic fluids, preferably water.
- Apply and re-apply plenty of waterproof, sweat-proof sunscreen. Sore muscles from a game of beach volleyball can be rewarding, but a sunburn never feels good!
- Finally – don’t forget to stretch! After giving those arms and legs a good workout, static or active-isolated stretches can help the body recover. Remember: static stretches need to be held for a minimum of 30 seconds.
Wishing everyone a safe and Happy Memorial Day and an entire weekend filled with plenty of opportunities to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
A Little Motivation
As we kick off another Workout Wednesday, I’d like to thank my fellow St.Mary’s High School Gaels for providing the inspiration for today’s post.
Jennifer recently posed the following question on my LauraLovesFitness Facebook page (which prompted a “like” from Susan):
What are your tips to get motivated? I know that everyone says they are busy and have very little time to work out; I am in that club. I have a full time job, children etc. I know exactly what I need to do to get fit, I have a physical therapy degree. The pounds are not so slowly creeping up on me but I have no motivation. Help!
Kids or no kids, all of us juggle so many daily tasks and activities. Add the time we spend here online to write and/or read blogs; check/send email; post status updates; “like” our friends status updates and create clever tweets, and it’s no wonder we feel we have zero time to do anything “good” for ourselves. Well, guess what? We HAVE to make time because no one else is going to do it for us.
So, where do I get my motivation to move amidst the madness? While we can come up with a hundred reasons not to exercise, my list for why I stick with it is pretty short and sweet:
- Regular physical activity provides countless benefits which include controlling weight; fighting a variety of health conditions ranging from heart disease to arthritis and promoting sleep.
- Stress-busting power! After a 12-hour shoot day or edit session with an intense client, nothing clears my head like breaking a sweat. That doesn’t mean you have to bust your butt in a 90-minute boot-camp class. Spending 15 minutes on a treadmill (which Jennifer admits she has in her home) or taking a brisk walk around the neighborhood can channel negative energy to a much healthier focus.
- Endorphins and Energy! You’ve heard of the “runners’ high.” Well, I don’t run, but the mood-elevating endorphin rush I get from Tabata training or a Club Strength class is probably the biggest reason why I keep moving. Exercise also boosts your overall energy levels more effectively than pumping your body full of crash-inducing caffeine or sugar-fixes. For all you parents, adding some exercise to your life could be just what you need to keep up with your kids!
Along with my motivators, here are a couple of other things to keep in mind:
- Don’t tackle exercise with an all-or-nothing voracity: If the idea of spending an entire hour exercising overwhelms you, simply scale it back. Start with 15 or 20 minutes and build on that. Once you start feeling the positive effects from the activity, you’ll want to spend more time doing what makes you feel good!
- Don’t compare yourself to others: Until I win the lottery and can hire my own personal trainer to kick my butt five days a week and pay a chef to take the guesswork out of making healthy meals that actually taste good, I remind myself everyday that in my reality, I’m doing the best I can to take care of myself. So, while I may never have legs like Cameron Diaz, I do have a strong heart, strong spirit and strong desire to fit my workouts into even the most hectic weeks so I can get that rush where I feel like I’m on top of the world – even for just a little while.
If all else fails, remember this: exercise CAN be fun! The key is finding what that fun is for you: running, boxing, Zumba or even meeting a friend for a daily brisk walk with hand weights. Don’t be afraid to experiment and mix things up. Even if you never define exercise as more than a “necessary evil,” you can still make a program work on your terms so you can have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
A Fitness-Filled Weekend
It’s probably safe to say most of us wonder where our weekends go. This one, however, flew by particularly fast for me as it was one filled with plenty of fitness fun – both physical and mental.
With B2C President Brent Brookbush & “Classmates” the “Intro to Functional Anatomy” Workshop
Mother Nature graced us with one of the most magnificent weekends in recent memory filled here in New York City. Since I wanted to get out and enjoy the sunshine as early as possible on Saturday, I got my butt to the gym before 9 am and put my new love of Tabata training to good use. If you’re looking to make the most of an hour at the gym, here’s what I got accomplished in that time Saturday morning:
- 5 minute self-myofascial release (SMR) with the foam roller and static stretches for my calves, TFL and latissimus dorsi.
- 20-minute”Tabata Derby”: Using my UltraTimerHD app (as recommended by my friend and fitness pro Roberto Murichi), I completed four sets of Tabatas featuring the following exercises: squats, push-ups, sit-ups and planks. Thanks to the app, I simply pressed start and knew exactly when to work for 20 seconds, rest for 10 and continue. Once the first four-minute Tabata was completed, the app also allowed for the crucial 60-second “rest” period before moving on to the next exercise.
- 1000-meter rowing “sprint.” This took me about 10 minutes. Not my best time ever, but I had just finished the Tabata Derby, so I gave myself a bit of a break.
- 20-minute interval elliptical training. (The last five minutes were more of a cardio cool down.)
- 5 minutes SMR and stretching, mirroring what I did at the start of the workout.
Sunday’s “workout” lasted much longer – a little more than eight hours to be exact – but it was a totally different experience. I spent the day at the Sports Club/LA on New York’s Upper East Side for a B2C Fitness workshop entitled “Functional Anatomy 1: Intro to Human Movement Science.” The class was taught by my friend and B2C President Brent Brookbush.
Not only did taking the workshop help me gather some of the needed CEC’s (Continued Education Credits) I need to maintain my personal training certification with the National Academy of Sports Medicine, but it also offered an amazing refresher on anatomical terminology and the interactive function of joints, muscles, fascia and the nervous system as it relates to human movement.
The course was filled with fun anecdotes and interactive activities, and it was also great to meet other personal trainers and fitness professionals with different levels of experience in the industry. Any of my readers who happen to be fellow fitness pros and need some CEC’s (or just want to brush-up on everything from planes of motion to movement analysis), I’d recommend taking any of Brent’s workshops in a heartbeat.
While the physical and mental workouts may make for a groggier Monday than usual, I’m happy to be armed with refreshed energy and knowledge to continue on the quest to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Friday’s Food for Thought
I just realized I often wrap up the work week writing about something related to food or drink. Maybe that’s because one of my favorite ways to unwind after a crazy week is to join family or friends for dinner and drinks. On this Friday, however, I thought I’d address one of the foods many of us struggle with treating ourselves to on any day of the week: candy.
As my fabulous friend Amy recently pointed out, there’s been lots of advertising lately about the low-cal candies made by Skinny Cow™. However, there isn’t a lot of information about how much “better” these yummy options are for our diets. So, thanks to Amy, this blog post was born!
First of all, let me say I am a huge Skinny Cow fan! You’ll always find a box of Skinny Cow Fudge Bars in my freezer. At 100 calories and one gram of fat, they’re the perfect no-guilt dessert, especially after a good workout! (The fact that they blend nicely for a low-cal mudslide option is an added bonus). The other reason I like them so much is that a single bar truly satisfies my ice-cream craving. That makes the box of fudge bars a safer dessert option than a gallon of reduced-fat or “light” ice cream. In all honesty, I could easily eat that whole gallon in one sitting.
That brings me to the crux of the problem with the Skinny Cow candies and most of the lower-calorie options out there: if you’re like me, and you know one serving isn’t going to satisfy your sweet tooth, then you may be sabotaging your diet by bringing boxes of these treats into your home. Again, as someone in complete awe of those who can eat one piece of candy on Halloween and call it a day, I would definitely be at risk of eating the entire box of Skinny Cow “Dreamy Clusters.” Here’s what the damage would look like: while one pouch contains 120 calories and six grams of fat, the whole box – six pouches total – brings you to 720 calories and 36 grams of fat. Yikes!
So, for me, the better option is to “give in” to my chocolate craving and go for a full-size “3 Musketeers” bar. It weighs in at 260 calories and 8 grams of fat, but I know I’ll have only one. This is the reason I stopped buying Weight Watchers® snack cakes years ago. I could easily polish off an entire box of brownies, cookies or chocolate creme cakes during one re-run of “The Golden Girls.” Instead, if I want to “splurge,” I will have a real cupcake from Crumbs and plan out the rest of my menu for the day accordingly. At the end of the day, the key to remember is that lo-cal options may not always be the best option for you and your eating habits.
Finally, as a relentless promoter of the everything-in-moderation lifestyle, if you do go overboard today and find you’ve devoured the whole box of Skinny Cow candies or half the chocolate cake in the break room, brush off the crumbs and remember this: tomorrow brings new opportunities to make better choices so you can have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Tabata Tunes
We made it to another Workout Wednesday!
This week, I’d actually like to address something I’ve overlooked in my past posts about Tabata training. I’m grateful my friend and true fitness pro Amy for pointing out a very crucial component when it comes to this type of high intensity training.
The Rings: One of My Favorite Tabata Stations!
While you can do multiple sets of Tabatas to create killer 20-minute workouts, I forgot to mention that you need to rest for one minute between each four-minute Tabata round to allow for short recovery. (As a refresher, in a Tabata, you push out as many reps as possible of a certain exercise in 20 seconds, follow with 10 seconds of rest and continue until the four minutes are up.)
As Amy reminded me, taking a “big break” of one minute before moving from let’s say a squat-thrust Tabata to a push-up Tabata allows the heart rate to fluctuate between recovery and full exertion. Believe it or not, it’s also a way to make sure by the end of that fourth set, you almost feel like you can’t make that last 20-second work period and your muscles will be shaking and trembling. This is a surefire way to push your body hard, but not to failure!
If you have an iPhone or iPad , there’s a great fitness app that my UXF instructor Roberto introduced me to. It’s called Ultratimer. It does cost $1.99, but as I’ve become “addicted” to Tabatas lately, it’s great to have a tool that alerts me when to work and when to rest. Ultratimer features bells and buzzers and you can listen to your music and still hear all the signals. Click here to check it out.
So, what songs keep me motivated for these workouts? Here are some of my favorite Tabata tunes that come in just over or under the four-minute mark. (I think you’ll find they’re an interesting mix of music genres.)
- “Four Minutes,” Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake (How appropriate, right?)
- “Looks That Kill,” Motley Crue
- “Firestarter,” The Prodigy
- “The Fire,” The Roots featuring John Legend
- “This is How a Heart Breaks,” Rob Thomas
- “Where Have You Been?” Rihanna
- “You Walk Away (Edit),” TyDi featuring Audrey Gallagher
- “Points of Authority,” Linkin Park
- “Time of My Life,” 3 Doors Down
- “Get Better,” KMC featuring Sandy
- “Rebel Yell,” Billy Idol
- “Point of No Return,” DJ Encore
At the end of the day, whether it’s Tabatas, time on a treadmill or taking a Zumba class, finding the workout that works for you is the key to staying on track with all your efforts to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Attention Beautiful Women Everywhere!
I’m not trying to alienate any of the guys who check in here at LauraLovesFitness (and are often kind enough to retweet or “like” my posts), but in honor of Mother’s Day, I thought I’d start off the week with a shout-out to all your fabulous females who somehow manage to do it all.
Love my mom!
I’m beyond proud of my mom who at 71-years-young has embraced a much healthier lifestyle during the past six months. Along with watching her diet, she’s moving more. In fact, we just got back from a lovely walk along the beach not far from my childhood home on Long Island. Her newfound focus on her health is an inspiration to me.
Then I think of my other friends who are moms who somehow fit fitness into their daily schedules. Whether it’s Lori Ann who’s on her elliptical before the sun comes up, Michele who makes a point of getting to one or two Zumba classes each week or Linda who toils away in the garden, they’re a constant reminder even to a fitness lover like me that if breaking a sweat is something that helps you keep an even keel to get through the craziness – it’s important to make that time for yourself.
So, I thought that was the perfect way to encourage women everywhere to take part in a really cool competition going on right now. Even though the official kick off happened a couple of weeks back, my contact tells me it’s not too late to get in the game.
As I’ve mentioned in past posts, Under Armour is my workout wear of choice. Now the brand has launched a social competition for female athletes called “What’s Beautiful.”
It’s a nine-week competition where women are asked to declare a goal and document their journey. As you’ll see at WhatsBeautiful.UA.com, that goal can be anything from running a 5K to helping kids get more involved in fitness. Document the journey and post anything that shows monumental effort.
At the end of three months, UA will pick 10 competitors that blew them away. Eventually, the finalists will be whittled down to three top winners who will win thousands of dollars in gear and be the new faces of the Under Armour brand.
Needless to say, this is something I’d love to be a part of. Unfortunately, based on my current full-time profession and other responsibilities, this will have to wait until the next go around. However, for those of you who think you can find the time to get in on the action, go for it! I’d love to say I know one of the winners and a new face of my favorite workout-wear brand.
Regardless of whether you enter the competition, always remember being active is one of the best ways to stay on track with your lifelong goals to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Just Say No!
What a difference a week makes!
It was only seven days ago I was heading home to New York after one of my more “relaxing” business trips in recent memory. Unfortunately, the professional and personal chaos that erupted since then has been simply exhausting. However, If you’re a repeat reader here at LauraLovesFitness, you know it’s not my style to harp on the negative – and I’m certainly not about to start today.
Instead, I want to focus on something I’ve been working on improving in my life – and that’s recognizing when the things that normally make you happy become a burden. I’m learning – albeit slowly – when that happens, it’s definitely time to take a step back and examine what’s on your plate.
It amazes me how willing we are to remove some high-caloric items from our diet in an effort to shed a few pounds, but we’re not so willing to remove the extras when it comes to shedding the stress. Unfortunately, not taking the time to remove one or two things from our never-ending to-do lists can eventually be harmful to our mental and emotional health.
In my case, exercise has always provided a steady boost of positive energy even when life pitches those inevitable curve balls. Since last July, writing this blog has also been a great outlet for some of my nervous energy. Then this week, I had a couple of days when the thought of working out or writing a post became overwhelming. So here’s what happened:
- I did NOT get to the gym Monday: I had to choose between a normal “hard-core” work out before getting to an evening appointment or burning a few calories on a less-intense walk home and prepping for a busy Tuesday so I could get home from my appointment and get to sleep at a reasonable hour. While I hated “bailing” on the high-intensity cardio burn, I knew my body needed rest and sleep in a big way. So, I opted for the walk and an earlier turn-in time.
- I CANCELLED on a personal training client Tuesday night: I woke up Tuesday morning feeling lousy with a sore throat and sniffles.Then my edit session at work turned into a more intense situation than planned, as did the follow ups I had to schedule with a couple of doctors. (Everything’s fine, by the way) You know what? My client, Kristen, thanked me for not wanting to get her sick, told me to feel better and rescheduled.
- I DID make plans to meet up with a gal pal for drinks after work Thursday night. Sometimes a glass of wine and a few laughs with friends is just what you need!
I think it’s important for all of us to realize saying no to something doesn’t make you weak. Instead, maybe one of the strongest decisions we can make is to figure out a way to focus on you for awhile – whether it’s for an hour or a whole evening.
So as we head into the weekend, I hope everyone – especially all you moms! – finds some time to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Help For Your Hip Flexors
We made it to another Workout Wednesday!
Photo by Leslie Hassler
For this week’s post, I wanted to concentrate on an area of training that should be a key component in everyone’s exercise regimen regardless of his or her fitness level. Unfortunately, it’s also an area that’s often tossed aside thanks to time constraints. I’m talking about flexibility training.
Whether you clock countless hours each week sitting at a desk, commuting or shuttling the kids around town, chances are you suffer from an all-too common problem for modern-day Americans: bad posture. This matched with an ever-increasing sedentary lifestyle make a recipe for disaster and makes flexibility training more important than ever. It’s one of the easiest ways to decrease muscle imbalances, joint dysfunction and overuse injuries.
While I can’t assess how your body moves via this post, I can tell you about one of my biggest “problem areas.” When I’m not “out in the field” producing shoots, I spend way too much time sitting in front of my computer. Since I’m almost always on deadline, I tend to lose track of just how long I sit there. These extended periods of sitting unfortunately cause tightening of my hip flexors, which are made up of five muscles including the psoas.
The good news is it’s not hard to find relief for those tight hip flexors. In my latest video (from the LauraDLovesFitness YouTube channel), I offer an easy stretching solution to this common problem area:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pygoAAbyQE8&feature=youtu.be
So what happens if I I don’t take the time to stretch my hip flexors and just get right into the “heart” of a workout? There are plenty of terms in exercise science to describe the problematic results, including altered reciprocal inhibition, synergistic dominance and arthrokinetic dysfunction. Here’s what those problems look like when it comes to performing one of the most popular exercises known to man: the squat. If I repeatedly perform squats with a tight psoas, the “wrong” muscles end up doing the work. The gluteus maximus should be the prime mover, but tight hips flexors inhibit the gluteus maximus from doing its job and getting strong. Instead, the workload gets picked up by the “B team:” the hamstrings and erector spinae. Not only does this make the butt-kicking exercise pretty much ineffective for actually toning my butt, but I’m also putting myself at risk for low back pain and potential injury.
The bottom line is this: if I had a time machine and could fix some of the fitness mistakes I made in my younger days, I’d try to make up for some of the lost time I didn’t spend on stretching. Making flexibility training a part of your daily routine is truly one of the best things you can do to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
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