FitSugar

Meet Poppy, a New Collection From Coach

Sponsor — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:45:00 -0700

Poppy is a lot like you: smart, creative, playful, and fun. Check out this assortment of Poppy and fly into Summer with new spirit and style. See more Poppy at www.coach.com/poppy

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Sign Up For PopSugar Daily and Win a Coach Planner!

PopSugar — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:45:00 -0800

To kick off the new year in a big way, PopSugar Daily has four weeks of awesome Coach giveaways! Each week we're giving out different fabulous goodies to jump-start 2009 starting with five gorgeous daily planners in black and gold.

To enter, all you have to do is sign up for PopSugar Daily, our newsletter of what's hot to shop, see, or do every day. You'll also get an entry for every friend you invite to sign up for the newsletter. Read the official rules here, keep checking back to see what we're giving away every week and of course, tune in to PopSugar Daily to stay on top of what's hot every day of the week.

How to Get Lance Armstrong's Trainer

FitSugar — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 03:07:12 -0800

Chris Carmichael is not a household name, but he is the coach behind the legend Lance Armstrong. Who, although he participated in one of the least popular sports in the U.S., is a household name. Want to know some of the secrets behind training to become one of the world's top endurance athletes?

Then head on over to trainright.com, the website of Carmichael Training Systems. Check out the free videos, there's a slightly goofy one about peanut butter, or pay $9.99 for pod cast running or cycling work outs. You can also sign up for a free nutritional news letter.

Okay, so it is not like really having Lance's trainer, but it is cool to get some tips and inspiration from the man behind the Man.

Gear Review: miCoach by Adidas

FitSugar — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:30:18 -0800

After spending much of my day telling other people what to do - in a nice way of course - it's oddly comforting to have my miCoach Pacer ($139) tell me to speed up or slow down when I am out for a run. The miCoach is Adidas's answer to the Nike+ running system, but it offers real time audio coaching. This means a voice, you select the accent (I have chosen British male and like to think James Bond is coaching me), interrupts your music to let you know if you're running too fast, too slow, or just right for the selected workout. Some runners might find this annoying, but it does help me stay on track. No pun intended.

I have learned a couple things from my miCoach, which I've been using since Adidas unveiled the product at the Consumer Electronics Show, where the company gave me one to test. First, I am a visual person. I had become quite accustomed to checking my heart rate monitor watch for my stats: heart rate, time, and if I am using my foot pod, distance and pace. With the miCoach Pacer all this data comes to you in audio form. It is a bit of a tricky transition, but once made, all will go smoothly. You can press the center button on the Pacer to hear your real time stats. You pre-select what you would like to hear using the Adidas website, where you manage your information and select your workout schedule.

For more on the miCoach keep on reading!

Adidas Unveils miCoach at CES

FitSugar — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:30:37 -0800

The Consumer Electronics Show, aka CES, is taking place in Las Vegas right now. And it makes sense that at this convention of electronic gadgetry Adidas chose to introduce its portable coaching device, the miCoach. Adidas brought a handful of fitness bloggers up to Vegas to attend the press conference, and I was lucky to be among them.

The miCoach takes heart rate training to a whole new level and an audible one at that. After going to the miCoach website and figuring out your running workouts and regimen (from beginner to race training), it works like this: You place the small stride sensor on your shoe (or inside, if you have a pair of Adidas miCoach compatible shoes) and wear the heart-rate-monitor strap around your chest. Theses two devices send information about your speed and heart rate to the miCoach Pacer you have attached via wire to your MP3 player (including iPods), as you run the miCoach lowers the volume on your MP3 player to tell you to speed up or slow down and which heart rate zone you should be in.

I have yet to play around with the miCoach, but I sure am excited to. Stay tuned for a review of the gadget.

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Fit Tip: Coach a Youth Sports Team

FitSugar — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:30:00 -0700

Lately we've been seeing Reese Witherspoon throwing the softball around, both preparing for a movie and playing with her kids. Even if you don't have kids of your own, coaching a youth team can be a great way to get in shape and feel good at the same time.

Even though you're not actually on the team, you'll run around plenty when trying to keep a team of teens or kids in check. You might want to try coaching a sport you played in high school, but you can also sign up to help coach a game you've only played recreationally. Many local teams can always use coaches, even if they aren't super experts.

So check out the volunteer opportunities at the National Alliance For Youth Sports or your local YMCA. Better yet, enlist a friend to coach with you, so it becomes a social activity, too.

Flynet

Life Coach in a Box

FitSugar — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 14:05:00 -0800

It seems like they are putting everything in a box these days. From water to Justin Timberlake's genitalia, you name it, they are boxing it up.

It was only a matter of time before they but a Life Coach in a Box ($14.50). This great little box kit is designed to invigorate your life and help you to attain your goals. The deck features 48 cards on six themes - spirituality, work, relationships, finances, recreation and health - offering practical steps to achieve your goals.

Want your own Life Coach in a Box, buy it from UncommonGoods.com.

Red Carpet Ready: Valerie Waters Teaches You How to Eat

FitSugar — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:43:13 -0800

Celeb trainer Valerie Waters helps get the ladies of Hollywood in shape for events like bikini shoots and walking the red the carpet. She's even named one of her lifestyle makeover programs Red Carpet Ready. But kicking your butt into shape, and I mean that literally (check out Val's booty-toning moves), is only part of the body transformation puzzle. This why Ms. Waters is a self-described food coach who tells all of her new clients, "If you don't change the way you eat, you won't change your body."

Valerie's mantra when it comes to food is: plan, prep, prepare. Not only is this part of her snacking philosophy, but she applies it to restaurant meals too. She explains that when you're staring at a menu starving, "You don't need more will power; you need a better strategy." This means researching the restaurant's healthy options and limiting yourself to those, taking temptation out of the picture.

To learn what food Valerie thinks you should avoid completely, keep on reading.

Virtual Active Video Treadmill Is Cool!

FitSugar — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:00:58 -0800

I have never been one to watch TV while working out. I use exercise to escape my reality, not read the ticker on CNN. When the guys at Virtual Active asked me if I wanted to take a virtual hike through Lake Tahoe on their Matrix treadmill, however, I said yes without hesitation. Lucky for me the fitness video start-up's office is two blocks from Sugar HQ.

Virtual Active makes high definition videos of popular tourist spots in the US, from the canyons of southern Utah to the urban canyons of downtown Chicago. These hyper-real videos of virtual runs and hikes play on the video screens now found on many pieces of high-end cardio equipment. Through some fancy programing, the video speeds up as you increase your running speed, helping to fulfill the illusion that you're actually moving in the great outdoors. Even cooler, when you approach a hill, the incline on the treadmill, whether you're running or walking, automatically changes to match what is on the screen. You can even set the machine up to give you reading points, brief facts and tidbits of history, about your running environs.

To experience these videos and learn what is on the horizon for VA, continue reading.

Tips For Tackling Your First Marathon

FitSugar — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:00:37 -0800

Back in January, many of you wrote that running in longer races was one of your fitness goals in our Get Fit For 2010 community group and contest. Hopefully you signed up for a race, and are steadily training and staying injury free. The magazine Outside shared some training tips for newbie marathoners, and I'm going to share them with you.

First things first, the magazine suggest you "go for a run." Easy to do. Lace up your sneaks and go. Check!
The second suggestion is the same as the first. Endurance, like Rome, isn't built in a day.
Now "hit the brakes," says Outside: "If running feels hard, you're going too fast." Going slow helps avoid injuries.

For more helpful tips, keep on reading.