Summer & Tanning

Now that summer is really here and heating up, I need to do my annual word of caution about tans. Some of you may think that you will get a jump on it by using a tanning bed. In a word don't do it.

There is now more evidence that using a tanning bed before age 30 increases the risk of melanoma - a potentially lethal type of cancer - by 75%. In the same study, there was consistent evidence that linked melanoma of the eye. So here's the fact you can go blind and have cancer and a death that is most unpleasant.

Be cautious of UV light which the skin absorbs. This can come from tanning beds, sun lamps and the good old sun. Wear sun screen!

Strategies to Improving Your Fitness Part 5

I often get asked if I use a personal trainer. I have never actually had a personal trainer but I know that for some people this is a very helpful strategy to keep you on track.

Trainers can help motivate you to keep going and do more. The trap that I've seen with trainers is that people become dependent upon the trainer and then when they start to fall off or they don't make the progress they think they should, they blame the trainer. Usually this is a result of not following the trainer's advice when you are not in a training session.

The trainer can help you, but you ultimately have to do it.

Strategies to Improving Your Fitness Part 4

Before you start getting fit, sit down with yourself and ask what was it that stopped me before? Why did you stop exercising previously? What got in the way? Be honest with yourself. This is just between you and your state of fitness. Nobody is going to pull out a gun a shoot you for your answer.

Now that you know what stopped you before, make a game plan for how you're going to avoid that trap again. One of mine was, oh I just don't have the time. So OK, I get up 45 minutes earlier and I do my workout because it is for me to be healthier. The side effect is that I feel better when I do it. Sometimes just being aware of what's stopped you before will help you avoid the trap again.

Strategies to Improving Your Fitness Part 3

I'm going to be a little repetitive here. Focus on becoming fit, not on the number of pounds you want to lose.

It's easy to get wrapped up in the notion of losing 25 pounds by exercising, but in reality what happens is that by focusing on the weight loss, you set yourself up to fail in your own mind when you don't reach that goal by a specified date. Celebrate the little wins - like "I did 45 minutes of exercise today" or "look, I have a muscle I've never had before!" Whatever it is celebrate it with gusto, knowing that you are on your way to getting physically fit!

Strategies to Improving Your Fitness Part 2

If you're exercising to lose weight, don't do your exercises and run right to the scale to see if you have lost anything. Make your expectation about getting fit not losing weight. Then if you must weigh yourself, do it only every 2-3 weeks.

Have a plan in mind so that you don't get overwhelmed in the gym. Don't let others derail your progress. You are progressing at exactly the rate that you should be progressing.

Strategies to Improving Your Fitness

Over the next few days, I'm going to give you some strategies to improve your fitness. You say you haven't been off the couch in several months and now that summer is here you want to get fit and be outside. I say GREAT!! Here's your first strategy: Be Patient with Yourself!

Remember, you have exercised in months, so expect that you can start where you left off the last time you exercised. Don't expect that you will be there tomorrow either. It's a new day, be patient. Give your body time to adapt to the new demands being placed on it. Don't even think about seeing results for 2-3 weeks.

If you start out too hard and fast, you run the risk of injury which will just hamper you further or discourage you altogether. So be patient, take some time to get going.

The clue here to move and get going - you don't have to win the race today. Take some time.

Exercises for Running Part 3

Today's exercise mimics and strengthens the runner's line which includes the backside, core, and upper back. It's called the one leg opposite dumbbell reach. To begin, stand with one leg 4-6 inches in front of the other in a comfortable stance. Hold a dumbbell in the hand on the side of the back leg. Bend your knees slightly and stand tall in your posture. Now put most of your weight on the front leg. Tilt from the hips and drop the weight forward as if reaching out to touch the ground in front of your front toe. Keep the back straight, and breathe out as you reach forward. As you rise return to the tall standing position. After you 10-12 reps, switch legs and the dumbbell to the other hand.

What this will do is help you integrate the normal muscle movements of running with the right leg forward and the left arm and the the left leg forward with the right arm.