Beat The Heat with Indoor Fitness

I have some wonderful friends on my professional Facebook page that helped me pick a writing topic this month. Usually I feel inspired to write something based on what clients are asking me, what’s currently “hot” in the health and fitness world, etc. but this time I was stumped! I wasn’t prepared for the flooding of topics my friends suggested I write on, so thanks to them I’ve definitely got several article’s worth ahead of me. In deciding what to write about first, I paid attention to the top suggestions and saw where I could combine maybe a couple of comments into one topic…and here you go!

One comment made by a friend who also happens to be my next door neighbor (thanks, Kim!) was exercise ideas you can do inside during this heat (or cold, when that season comes), particularly for walkers, runners, bikers, etc. who may be discouraged to exercise outside right now. Another was to write about cardio vs. weight training: how much, how frequently, etc. These two suggestions are super easy to combine into one message and are well within my scope of practice.

Let me start by saying cardio exercise definitely has its role in a healthy lifestyle. When most people begin an exercise routine, it’s most likely a cardiovascular activity. Then some folks become “cardio queens or kings” where all they ever do is cardio…sometimes hours of it. The downside of just doing cardio is that at some point most will experience an overuse injury, may lose some weight but will inevitably hit a plateau, or become so ravenous from all that activity that they just end up eating more than ever and sabotage their weight loss goals altogether. And forget about changing the “shape” of your body with cardio alone. It just won’t happen. I did it myself when I decided I wanted to become a runner in my early 20’s. I was running five miles at a time, several days a week, was starving (and eating) all the time and still couldn’t shake my dreaded pear shaped size eight body. I had one session with a personal trainer and became hooked on weight training from that point on. I still ran, don’t get me wrong, but more so because I enjoyed the meditation time, not for the goal of changing my body with cardio alone. I now incorporate my cardio into my strength training sessions, which is what I’m hoping to help some of you do with this article.

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, the overall recommendation is for most adults to engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise each week, train each major muscle group two or three days each week using a variety of exercises and equipment, do flexibility exercises at least two or three days each week to improve range of motion, and Neuromotor exercise (sometimes called “functional fitness training” that focuses on agility, balance and coordination) is recommended two or three days per week for 20-30 minutes each session. Yikes! Just putting this all down in one paragraph wears me out! No wonder Americans are overweight, right? It seems daunting and unobtainable if you add up all those minutes, days and sessions, unless your job is to exercise like contestants on 'The Biggest Loser' and you have no family or life outside the gym to consider. Don’t worry, I’m here to save the day and show you how you can combine all of these recommendations and still have a life.

I recommend that everyone exercise the way I train each and every one of my clients: with full-body resistance training using body weight, bands and free weights, moving quickly from one muscle group to the next to keep your heart rate elevated, and a 5 plus minute stretch at the end of each session. DONE. Four birds (if you incorporate neuromotor training in this), one stone. Yes, this will take some homework on your end if you can’t afford the luxury of having a personal trainer design the workouts for you to incorporate all this, but it can be done if you make it a priority and utilize some good resources like Livestrong.com, Bodybuilding.com or fullfitness.com. You may not be able to move quickly from one exercise to the next if building muscle mass is your goal or if you are rehabbing an injury, but do what you can to get your heart rate up wherever possible…plyometrics and jumping on a piece of cardio equipment like a bike, treadmill or elliptical in between strength training exercises is great for a quick burst. If you have more than three days a week to devote to exercising, start to split up your body parts into different daily routines, and you can fine-tune and spend more time focusing in on your problem areas, or add some yoga or pilates into your training mix if you enjoy it.

If you’re looking for a resistance band full-body routine you can take with you anywhere, check out my article on Livestrong by clicking the link below, or just search for “Regan Case” on Livestrong’s home page and it’s one of my first articles listed.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/105318-full-body-stretch-band-exercises/

This style of training is typically done in the comfort of your home or gym of choice, so the heat of the summer or snow of winter need not derail you. Good luck, and let me know how it’s going!

Regan Case

American Council on Exercise

ACE-certified Personal Trainer

Lifestyle & Weight Mgmt. Consultant

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Regan-Case-ACE-certified-Personal-Trainer/112509895492780

Regan Case is an ACE-certified personal trainer with continued education in pre- and post-natal fitness, back, shoulder and knee injury rehabilitation, osteopenia and osteoporosis and is a lifestyle and weight management consultant. She has been contributing health and fitness articles to local magazines and online sites such as eHow.com, allexperts.com, Cumming Patch and Livestrong.com since 2006. Contact her at case_regan@yahoo.com.