FitSugar

Winterize Your Ride: Bicycle Trainers and Rollers

FitSugar — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:00:59 PST

Boo, it's too cold or wet to ride your bike outside, you say? So ride it inside. I'm not talking about hitting a spin class or getting the stationary bike out of your grandma's attic. You can ride the same bike you took on the road, bike path, or woodsy trails, in the comfort of your home. All you need is a bicycle trainer or roller to transform your road or mountain bike into a stationary bike.

The one pictured on the left is known as a bicycle trainer. It requires less thinking and balance than the roller, pictured on the right. To work out with the trainer, you attach your back wheel into the mount, which elevates your wheel off the floor. The front wheel is propped up with a plastic block, so you are essentially riding in space.

You'll need to decide what type of resistance you want; fan, fluid, or magnet. Fan trainers tend to be less expensive, but they're also noisier. You can find decently priced magnet trainers, which will provide a smooth, quiet ride. If you want the most lifelike ride and less heat buildup on your tires, go for fluid trainers. Know that some models require that you remove your front wheel, so if you're able to ride inside and outside this Winter, you might not want to deal with constantly removing and attaching your wheel.

Learn how the roller provides a more challenging ride when you

read more. Using a roller offers a much tougher ride because your bike isn't attached to anything forcing you to balance on your own. You just ride on top of three spinning drums, kind of like a treadmill. You really need to pay attention to steering and balancing so you don't fall off the rollers. It's the best choice if you have a road bike, but tends to be pricey. Cycle trainers and rollers range in price from about $80 to $300, which is cheaper than buying a stationary bike or joining a gym. Plus riding your own bike is more comfortable, and allows you to continue your training if you're planning on racing in the Spring.

Green Exercise: Ride Your Bike Inside

FitSugar — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 14:30:00 PST

Riding your bike is perfect exercise for your heart and a wonderful way to tone your lower body. It's also great for the environment, because it doesn't require any gas or electricity to get it going. If you live in a place where Winter means cold, ice, and snow, I'm sure you've put your bike away till the Spring, but you can still get the benefits of riding your bike without having to go outside.

Transform your favorite bike into a stationary bike by using a cycle trainer like the Blackburn TrakStand Mag ($159.99). All you do is remove your bike's front wheel and mount your back wheel into the cycle trainer's mount, which elevates your bike and keeps it stable, turning your road bike into a stationary bike. This bike mount even folds up for easy storage.

Want to make your indoor ride even more challenging? Then

If you're a more experienced rider, you can also use a cycling roller ($169.99) like this one from CycleOps. These are a little harder to use, and you really need to pay attention to steering and balancing so you don't fall off the rollers. They require more concentration than just hopping on your bike and going for a ride since you're not attached to the rollers.

Although cycle trainers and rollers can be pretty pricey, ranging from $100 to more than $300, they're cheaper than having to go out and buy an expensive stationary bike. This is a lot smaller than a huge piece of equipment too, so that means less space taken up in a landfill someday.

From the Community: the Best Exercise You Aren't Doing

Fit Community — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:10:46 PST

FitSugar community member (and fitness instructor) livinginthin has shared a how-to on an overlooked exercise that everyone should be doing.

Running, cycling, squatting, jumping, curling, crunches, and lunging - you do it all, right? Well, the one move you aren’t doing is probably the one that can keep you doing all those things (and more), pain and injury-free for a lifetime.

What is it? Dorsiflexion. In layperson’s terms, dorsiflexion is the action of the foot that occurs when you pull your toes back toward your shin, engaging the foot and ankle muscles (the tibialis anterior, extensor hallucis longus, and extensor digitorum longus).

Weak muscles in this part of the leg can cause everything from muscular imbalances to an impaired gait and even tripping and falling (as we age, we lose even more strength in this area, which makes it harder to step properly), says Dr. Yoav Suprun, PT, Dip. MDT, a certified personal trainer, physical therapist, and owner of SOBE Spine in Miami Beach, FL.

Learn what exercises you should be doing to combat these muscle strains, after the break!

RX For Shin Splints: Ice Massage

Susi May — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:39:21 PST

Shin splints are the bane of many new runners. The tight calves that accompany mileage increases can spell pain for the lower leg. If running causes any discomfort, take time off to allow your shin splints to heal. But you need not sit idle on the sidelines while you recuperate: ice massages help, too. A serious runner, my Equinox trainer reminded me of the healing combo of ice and massage to decrease the inflammation around the tibia (anatomy speak for shin), caused by this overuse injury. The technique is simple, but first you need to make the ultimate tool: the icing cup!

Make Your Own Icing Cup
Used in gyms and physical therapy clinics, an icing cup protects your fingers from freezing and provides a perfectly sized contact point for massaging troubled spots. Take six Dixie cups, fill them with water, and freeze. When it comes time to ice, peel back the paper and begin the massage.

The Massage
Starting by your foot, place your icing cup on the outside of your shin, on the tibialis anterior muscle. Making long strokes toward your knee, massage the muscle with an amount of pressure that feels good. Mix up your massage strokes and try small circular patterns, once again starting at the ankle and working up toward the knee. After five minutes of massaging, finish your 20-minute icing cycle with 15 minutes of static icing by placing an ice pack (or frozen peas or corn) on your shin. Aim to massage and ice twice a day.

If you're not up for an ice massage, you can always show your shins some foam roller love. Do keep stretching your calf muscles, and once the pain diminishes try these easy exercises to strengthen the tibialis anterior.

5 Reasons Your Workout Isn't Working

Shape — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 03:44:13 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

Have you been working out consistently for months (maybe even years) and yet the scale is creeping up? Here are five ways your workout could be keeping you from losing weight, and what our experts recommend to start shedding pounds again:

1. Your workout routine is making you eat too much.
Is your workout causing you to use the "I burned it, I earned it," excuse when it comes to your diet? "Studies show that people tend to eat more calories when they take up exercise," says Michele Olson, Ph.D., professor of exercise science at Auburn University Montgomery, and creator of the Perfect Legs, Glutes & Abs DVD.

Think your 45-minute morning run was enough to burn off that slice of chocolate cake on the dessert menu? Consider this: the average, 140-pound woman burns about 476 calories (at a 10-minute mile pace) running for 45 minutes. The average restaurant dessert clocks in around 1,200 calories (or more), so even if you only eat half of a slice, you'd still easily eat away your run - and then some - in less than 10 minutes.

The solution: Make your workouts count by pairing them with a healthy diet that stays within the appropriate calorie range your body needs in order to lose or maintain your weight. Olson recommends writing down what you are eating to keep track of calories consumed, and then subtracting the calories you burned, for your true daily number.

See even more reasons why your workout isn't working after the break!

Healthy Dose Link Time: Anti-Aging Benefits of Apples

FitSugar — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:24:09 PDT

An apple a day may be exactly what you need to keep wrinkles away - Health
Easy ways to shave 250 calories from your diet - Fitbie
Skip the spandex: five ultra-stylish cycling looks - Vital Juice
Urban, suburban, rural - how yoga differs depending on the area - Mind Body Green
25 things you probably don't know about trainer Bob Harper - Fit Bottomed Girls
How Pilates makes it all OK - Fitness

3 Injury-Prone Workouts and Tips on Avoiding Harm

Anna Monette Roberts — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:47:05 PDT

You might avoid certain workouts because you are fearful of injury. Or if you are like me, you might migrate toward certain classes or equipment because you are trying to maintain some fitness level while recovering from an injury. I'm currently working through back and leg injuries, so when it comes to protecting my body from further damage, I've learned that proper alignment is absolutely key for prevention. If you're also dealing with an injury (or worried about getting one), keep reading to see which workouts you should be aware of and follow these simple tips to avoid injuries while doing them.

Spin: Cycling can easily lead to hip, back, wrist, and knee injuries if your bike is not properly aligned. In addition, since biking consists of a lot of repetitive motion, taking several spin classes a week can lead to a muscular imbalance. You can overexert certain muscles, especially the tops of your thighs, while deconditioning other areas like the inner and outer thighs. To avoid these problems, always ask the instructor to help you properly set up your bike and cross train with other types of workout classes that target your core and thigh muscles.
High-intensity cardio: Fast-moving, intense classes like boot camp can lead to a variety of injuries, including sprained ankles, muscle pulls, low-back pain, dehydration, and overheating. If you are new to the class or technique, it's important to trust your body and modify moves or weights depending on your level of expertise. If you don't know a particular move, try it out at a slower pace to get the feel of it. Focus on proper alignment and your strength level rather than keeping up with the pace of the class. Remember, slow and steady win the race, and with gradual training your muscles and endurance will become stronger.
Weight lifting: Lifting heavy weights can cause a plethora of injuries, including stress fractures, sprains, strains, overexertion, and muscle pulls in wrists, shoulders, knees, and backs. However, proper weight lifting does have several benefits like helping weight management and improving strength. Sign up for a personal trainer to walk you through the weight room or see if your gym offers a group training session. By using correct alignment, you will target and strengthen the right muscles as well as save your tendons, muscles, and bones from some serious, unpleasant damage.

Still worried about injury? See three alternative low-impact workouts after the break!

10 Reasons Why You Should Try P90X

Shape — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:17:26 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

Chances are you've already seen Tony Horton. Built like Brad Pitt but with a sense of humor like Will Ferrell waving a cowbell, he's hard to miss whether he's on late-night TV (pick a channel, any channel) pimping his 10-Minute Trainer workouts or on QVC selling out his wildly popular P90X workout program. When he enthuses, "Just give me 90 days and I'll get you huge results," it sounds a little too good to be true, but having done two cycles myself, I can tell you this is one workout that lives up to the hype. And since Tony, as he asked me to call him in our interview, is coming out with P90X 2 in December 2011, now is the perfect time to try P90X!

Here's why:

1. No more plateaus. The core idea behind the P90X workout is what Tony calls "muscle confusion." By doing a different type of workout every day you'll keep your muscles guessing, which means you'll keep them working hard.

2. Entertainment. Tony and his crew crack jokes and do all kinds of hilarious moves (my favorite is The Rockstar) to keep your mind off the pain. And the dude is funny.

3. Well-rounded workouts. Drawing from weight lifting, interval training, yoga, plyometrics, and martial arts, among other things, you'll work your body from every angle thereby increasing your power, strength, balance, and athletic ability.

See more reasons to try P90X after the break!

The Lowdown on Warming Up For Workouts and Races

Susi May — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 02:18:00 PDT

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 sprinting and jumping, slow passive stretching can result in a loss of muscle strength and power, which is no good if you're in it to win it.

So if slow, meditative stretching is out, how exactly should you warm up? Well if soccer or any other high-intensity sport is your game, orthopedic physical therapist Colleen Birmingham, of the Running Center at CPMC in San Francisco, suggests some dynamic stretching - moves that lengthen muscles while you're in motion, like walking lunges and leg kicks. Active stretches "increase blood flow to muscles in a functional pattern of movement without impairing performance," explains Birmingham, who has a sports conditioning background.

I'm into plyometrics workouts (read: will jump when my trainer says so) and will suffer through speed drills, but the majority of my workouts fall under the low-intensity category - endurance running, cycling, and swimming. For these workouts, Birmingham reminded me that research has shown no benefits to stretching, either dynamically or statically. For this reason, Colleen recommends warming up by going "slow for the first 10 percent of your run, bike, or swim and steadily ramp up. This tactic allows your muscles to warm up so you can go the distance without wasting time and energy stretching." However, Santa Monica-based trainer and owner of Training Adventures, Paul Vincent, likes a short dynamic warmup pre-run complete with "running drills and different muscle activations." For the seasoned Ironman triathlete, the warmup is also a time to assess the state of your body: "The objective is to not only get the body warm, but to check in and see what’s tight or sore so you can deal with that before training."

Get the skinny on race-day warmups when you read more.

Why You Need to Add Jumping to Your Cardio Routine

Self — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 04:29:14 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Self here on FitSugar!

Back in the day, when we played double-dutch on the playground (or some simpler incarnation of that), we hardly cared about the value of the workout. All we cared about was having fun. It turns out that jumping offers a lot more than a good time: in fact, depending on the type of jumping exercise you choose, you can get a cardio and strength building workout simultaneously.

From jump roping to squat jumps to trampoline classes, for regular gym rats and even Hollywood A-listers, jumping is the new black.

I. Jump Roping

Celebrity trainer Marco Reed - who authored upcoming book The Get Beyond Fit 3+1 Diet based on his lauded nutrition programs - integrates jumping into the majority of his personal training and popular outdoor workout classes.

In fact, jumping rope is one of his favorite exercises to incorporate. "It's been around for a long time with athletes, but I think it's become more popular with everyone else lately. I even see jump roping classes popping up." Reed is right, if celebrity fans like Katy Perry are any indicator and classes like Aerojump at NYC's Aerospace. Read on to find out why Reed thinks you should be jumping.