FitSugar

Gym 101: Strength-Training Warmup

Susi May — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:12:55 PST

A solid warmup sets you up for a solid workout. When it comes to prepping for strength training, an active warmup primes the joints and muscles, prepping them for the heavy lifting. Lauren, my Equinox trainer, introduced me to these moves, and after a little light cardio - for me, it's five minutes running on a treadmill at a 6 mph pace, but the elliptical or a little jump rope would work - Lauren has me do three out of these five moves. Mix and match the exercises however you please, or do them all for a very thorough warmup.

Rocking Lunge
Give an active stretch to both your hips and hamstrings with the rocking lunge. Start in a deep lunge with your right leg forward; you can even bring your left knee to the floor. Straighten your right knee to rock your weight back and onto your left foot to lengthen the hamstring. Flex your right toes as you rock into the hamstring stretch. Return back to your deep lunge and repeat for a total of 10 times on each side.

Toy Soldier
A walking kick, the toy soldier stretches out the back of the leg, both hamstrings and calves. Step forward on your right foot, and kick your left leg forward, bringing your left toes toward your right hand. Step onto your left foot and kick the right leg, bringing right foot toward left hand. Take 20 steps total.

Keep reading for three more moves.

Tennis Anyone? Warm Up Before You Hit the Court

FitSugar — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:38:15 PDT

If you find yourself all fired up to play tennis after watching Wimbledon, let me remind you to warm up before you rally. Watching elite athletes can be really deceptive. They lunge, jump, and volley with such ease, but this is one game that can be hard on your body. One way to prevent injuries is to warm up properly. Here are a few things I think you should do before jumping onto the court with your racquet.

First you want to prime your heart and lungs for all the running, bouncing, and sprinting you will be doing on the court. Jog for five to ten minutes to get your blood flowing. Your body should feel warm. I follow this with a minute or two of small jumps, like I'm working out with a fake jump rope. Then do a few grapevines the length of the court to prime your fancy footwork and wake up your coordination.

What else should you do? Find out when you

Walking lunges are a great way to prepare your legs for tennis. This move simultaneously lengthens and activates muscles in your legs, priming them for the court. Follow these with some side lunges too, to warm up your reach.
Twisting is the major action of the torso when hitting the ball. This standing twist stretch is easy to do against the fence of the court. Follow with some basic twisting from side to side to lubricate the joints in the back. You can try this with your racquet tucked under your arms, behind your back.
Warming up your shoulders is essential. To do this, move your arms as if you're doing the backstroke, circling your arms overhead slowly at first and building up speed for 20 repetitions. Follow this by clapping your hands in front and in back of your body. Then pick up your racquet and hit some forehands and backhands with the cover still on the racquet to create some resistance. I do about 10 to 15 of each stroke.

You should be primed and ready to play after completing this warm-up. Remember to get to the court early so you can prepare your body before you start to play. Don't forget to stretch afterward either. Game on!

Olympic-Sized Dynamic Warm Up

FitSugar — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:30:00 PDT

Adding a dynamic warm up to your running routine is a great idea. I am not the only one who thinks so. Check out how middle distance running superstar and Olympic hopeful Shalane Flanagan warms up.

Talk about some fancy moves. To see more of her workout, go here. Is it just me, or do you feel like going for a run now too?

Running Tip: Try a Dynamic Warmup

FitSugar — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:00:00 PDT

When warming up for a run you have more options than just walking briskly or jogging slowly; you can warm up dynamically. Doesn't that sound like fun! Here are a few moves that prime your body for running:

High-Knee Marching: Marching in place while bringing the knees up to at least 90 degrees alternating legs, or better yet even with your belly button, is a great warm up for your hip flexors. If you plan on sprinting, this is your must-do move. Do a total of 20.
Kicking Your Bum: Yes before you let your workout kick you in the bum, you should kick your own. Stand in place and alternate legs, bringing your heel to your booty, by bending your knee. This will warm up your quad and lubricate your knee joint. Kick yourself 20 times.
Skipping: Don't underestimate the joyful childhood movement of skipping. This warms up your entire leg and gets your ankle joint primed for impact. Skip for 30 seconds.

There are three more moves, so

Running 101: The Active Warmup

FitSugar — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:38:44 PST

Stretching before a run has always been a little iffy in our playbook. It's hard to lengthen muscle fibers before they're warm and trying to do so can lead to injury. But warming up is still a good thing, so try an active warm-up.

A dynamic warm-up raises your heart rate a bit while priming your joints for action. We created this video of five moves to do before you hit the ground running. Check it out! And be sure to enter to win running shoes for a year from Asics to help jump-start your January.

Strength Training No-Nos: What Not to Do When in Squats

Susi May — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:02:53 PST

No matter your fitness passion, from snowboarding to CrossFit, you likely do squats in your sweat sessions - they're a fitness staple. Sometimes, the more simple the move, the more careless we become when doing it, and before you know it you have sloppy squats. Here are four common mistakes that plague the standard squat. Next time you head to the gym, take a little time to get back to basics and run through this list. Not only will these corrections make the exercise more effective, but they prevent injuries too.

Mistake: Weight Too Far Forward
To take care of your knees and really engage your glutes, keep your weight in your heels. You should be able to freely wiggle your toes as you sit back into your squat. Weighting your heels also keeps the knees from moving beyond your toes, which can seriously strain that joint.
The Fix:
Practice squatting with a stable chair or weight bench behind you, and aim to lower your booty onto the front third of the seat - quietly and with control, no plopping down. This will help you shift your weight far enough back to truly challenge your glutes.

Mistake: Leaning Forward
When squatting, you want to keep your torso fairly upright, but tight hips can pull the upper body forward, straining the knees and the low back. Leaning forward also interferes with your ability to go deep in the squat, decreasing the amount of work for your backside.
The Fix:
Before a strength training session, do a dynamic warmup to open the front of the hips. Walking lunges work well as an active stretch for the tight hip flexors. To keep your torso upright, use an exercise ball at the wall for your squats and single leg squats too. Here are details on how to set yourself up for ball squats at the wall - just make sure you're going deep enough into the squat so your thighs are parallel to the ground.

Keep on reading for more about squats after the break.

Joseph Altuzarra Talks Resort '12, His Holiday Wish List, and Why He Loves Parka Coats

Brittney Stephens — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 04:00:16 PST

Joseph Altuzarra is one of the coolest, most talented new designers out there right now - as evidenced by his 2011 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund win just a couple nights ago. He has quickly become known for his sexy, utilitarian take on feminine dressing, and his uncomplicated approach to separates. For Resort, Altuzarra went slightly conservative, but still youthful giving off a polished, French insouciant vibe - punctuated by short formal dresses, cropped, shrunken day jackets, and sleek, feminine skirt suits. We viewed the line during a sit-down brunch hosted by Neiman Marcus San Francisco and the designer, and we were delighted to see the sweet, classic-cool pieces up close and personal.

FabSugar: What's your favorite part of this collection?
Joseph Altuzarra: The eyelet! We did a lot of classic eyelets from Switzerland that are hand-embroidered, and also some really cool digital eyelet prints and knit eyelet pieces as well. Putting together the moodboard, we knew we wanted to do a ton of eyelet, and overall wanted a very St.-Tropez, Brigitte Bardot feeling. We also injected a '90s vibe into it, because we wanted it to have a connection to Fall as well. Resort is much more tied to what the customer wants, and because there isn't a show you can design less editorially, and more commercially - which is a great thing.

Find out more about the collection, as well as Joseph's Winter party dressing tips and what's on his holiday wish list when you keep reading.

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.

Tone, Sculpt, and Burn: Diesel Motivation at Crunch

Michele Foley — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:43:18 PDT

Fans of circuit training will love the latest class offering from Crunch Gym: Diesel Motivation. The hour-long class is fast paced, challenging, and, best of all, a total-body workout. Expect to leave sweaty and sore.

If you're not familiar with circuit training, exercises are performed one after the other with no rest in between the moves. In Diesel Motivation, that breaks down to a mix of strength training moves intermixed with sets of high-intensity cardio. For the class, each student needs two sets of dumbbells (both a heavier and lighter set), a Bosu ball, a barbell, and a gliding disc.

Though no class is exactly alike, the same formula is always followed: class starts with a five-minute warmup consisting of light cardio and dynamic stretches followed by the meat of the workout and then a short 10-minute cooldown consisting of deep static stretches. Between the warming up and cooling down, the instructor leads the class through a series of back-to-back strength moves that focus on one area of the body, which is then followed by an intense two-minute burst of cardio (usually 30-second sets of jumping jacks, ice skaters, jump rope, and boxing moves). This intense cycle continues for about 45 minutes; the idea is that by the end of the class, you'll have worked every muscle group of the body. As for the strength training moves, it's about maximizing results - supersets of compound exercises. Some typical moves are lunges with bicep curls, sumo squats with arm raises, and push-ups performed on the Bosu.

See what I think of Diesel Motivation after the break!

Race a Faster 10K: Add Mile Repeats to Your Week

Susi May — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 03:06:24 PDT

The 5K distance is often considered the "gateway" race. Crossing the finish line after running 3.1 miles can set a racing habit into motion with the quest to conquer longer distances and shave seconds off finishing times. In the stepping stones of races leading up to the bucket-list marathon distance is the 10K. Doubling the mileage from 3.1 to 6.2 can be daunting, but it's important to keep your workouts varied. And by varied, I mean adding speed work, which means pushing your pace, and mile repeats are perfect for this. My Equinox trainer Lauren, an avid runner herself, recommends doing a workout featuring mile repeats once a week during your training program, and doing them on terrain similar to what you will be racing on - you can stick to streets if you're prepping for a road race, or find a hilly course if your race is full of climbs.

When training for a 10K, a typical mile repeats workout means running a mile at race pace four to six times with a three to five minute recovery break between miles. This recovery break means you slow to jog, and the time of your "break" (in quotes because you're still moving) should decrease as your fitness level improves. Lauren says, "You want to try to hit your repeat pace at race pace or just under. At the beginning of your training program, you can add as much as 30 seconds on to your repeat time/race pace and take the full five minute rest. If you are in better shape and nearing your race date, drop a few seconds off your mile pace and take a shorter rest." Mile repeats improves both your speed and endurance, and helps you familiarize yourself with how your race pace will feel.

To see an outline of the workout keep reading.