What Do You Neglect Most in Your Workout Routine?


Updated 11/26/11 5:47 AM · Posted by FitSugar · 4 comments

What Do You Neglect the Most in Your Exercise Routine?

When it comes to a healthy lifestyle, there are many elements that make up the puzzle. Besides just sweating it out, staying fit requires a healthy diet, sticking to a pre- and post-workout routine, and making sure that you get all the nutrients you need. Of course, staying the healthy course is hard work, and many times all of us are guilty of letting something fall by the wayside. During your Read more

Quick Tip: Complement Your Workout With Light-Intensity Days


Updated 10/24/11 11:45 AM · Posted by · 0 comments

Why You Should Do Yoga on Your Rest Day

You've fit in intense 20-minute workouts and slaved away in spin class all week. So when it comes to your rest day, help your body rehab by stretching or taking yoga — it'll complement your normal workout routine to keep you on the right track. A light workout like yoga will complement all the calorie-burning, high-intensity exercises you do in your workout. That's because stretching your Read more

The Lowdown on Warming Up For Workouts and Races


Updated 09/21/11 9:13 PM · Posted by · 0 comments

How to Warm Up Before Running, Racing, and Strength Training

A proper warmup starts your workout on the right foot, prepping both your muscles and lungs for what's to come. Once the staple of readying the body for exercise, stretching has fallen under scrutiny of late. Studies have found that static stretching, holding the stretch for 30 seconds to two minutes, is basically a wash as it neither causes nor prevents injury. And if your workout involves Read more

Stretchy When Wet: Stretches to Do in the Shower


Updated 07/19/11 10:00 AM · Posted by · 0 comments

Stretches to Do in the Shower

The shower is an excellent place to stretch. I stretch in line at the grocery store and I do stretches in my bed, so why not stretch in the shower? I turn on the soothing hot water, close my eyes, and do these simple stretches as the warm water relaxes my muscles. Give them a try next time you hop in the shower. Read more

Do You Stretch Before Working Out?


Updated 07/10/11 4:33 PM · Posted by · 2 comments

Is It OK to Stretch Before Working Out ?

During my high school track days, no runs would start without first a team stretch. We performed all the stretching staples to help relax and release our quads, hamstrings, and upper-body muscles, and only then after would we be allowed to hit the track. Back then, we were told to do stretches in order to warm up our muscles and get them ready to hit the ground running. Now when I run, I Read more

Beyond the Basics: Inner Thigh Stretches


Updated 05/19/11 1:20 AM · Posted by · 0 comments

Inner Thigh Stretches

After a weekend spent doing Pilates and ballet-inspired workouts, I experienced a type of muscle soreness that was entirely new to me — my inner thighs (aka adductors) were on fire. While I have a series of stretches that I do after every workout, I now realize that none of them really target this often overlooked area. If you've also been neglecting your inner thighs the way I have, here are a Read more

Do You Enjoy Stretching?


Updated 03/01/11 10:25 AM · Posted by · 4 comments

Stretching After a Workout Feels Good — Do You Like to Stretch?

It could be my dancing background, or my love of yoga, but stretching is the icing on the cake of a great workout (I badly mixed a dessert metaphor with exercise, but sometimes I exercise with cake on the brain). After sweaty strength-training sessions, my Equinox trainer Lauren stretches me out, making me feel like an important athlete. Lauren helps me lengthen my hip flexors, hamstrings, quads, Read more

How to Stretch It Out After Indoor Cycling Class


Updated 02/25/11 10:21 AM · Posted by · 2 comments

Best Stretches After Spin Class

Indoor cycling offers an hour of sweaty cardio goodness. Your legs power this workout, so it’s best to stretch those tired muscles as soon as you hop off your stationary bike. In fact, that stable bike makes for a great stretching partner. If you only have two minutes to spare on flexibility training, you should focus on your hamstrings and quads. Start with your hamstrings by resting one heel Read more

Before a Run, to Stretch or Not?


Updated 02/19/11 6:41 PM · Posted by · 7 comments

Stretching Before Running Doesn't Prevent Injury and May Make You Slower

I have never been a fan of stretching before a run and prefer a dynamic warmup instead. I like to get my blood moving first and save the stretching for a post-run treat. I also feel like stretching a cold muscle can lead to pulls and tears in the tissue. There's another camp that feels quite the opposite: that not stretching before running can cause muscle injury. Well a new study proves us all Read more

A Reader's Get Fit For 2011 Goals


Updated 01/17/11 2:59 PM · Posted by Fit Community · 1 comment

2011 Fitness Goals: Stretch, Run, and Rock Climb

Meet Sugar user ku002 and check out the fitness goals she posted in our Get Fit For 2011 community group. By doing so, she entered our weekly giveaway! 2011 Goals 1. Stretch every day! This can be in the form of a yoga class, a quick wake-me-up toe touch when I get out of bed, or a little pause in the workday (in the privacy of my office!). But every day I want to take a mindful moment to Read more