FitSugar

Running Tip: Strengthen Quads With Wall Squats

FitSugar — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 08:00:00 PDT

If you're a runner and you want to increase your speed, build your endurance, and have the ability to tackle hills with a breeze, you need to have strong quads. Strengthening your thighs can also prevent injuries such as runner's knee. This common injury, which often happens to new runners, is tied to a combination of weak quads and tight hamstrings and calves. Wall squats (also called wall sits) are the perfect exercise to strengthen your upper legs.

To find out how to do this essential move for runners,

Stand with your back against a wall, placing your feet about two feet out in front of you. Feet should be hip-distance apart.
Bending your knees, slide your back down the wall until your knees are at 90 degree angles. Your knee joints should be over your ankle joints, so you may need to inch your feet further from the wall to create proper alignment. Your thighs should remain parallel.
Hold for 30 to 60 seconds, and then stand up. Repeat for a total of three reps.
To make this move more challenging, alternate between lifting your left heel for a few seconds and then your right. This helps to target your calves.

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Need For Speed? Relax When You Want to Run

FitSugar — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:30:00 PDT

The more I race, the faster I want to go. My competitive spirit gives me that "need for speed." A recent article in the New York Times detailed one often forgotten element of moving quickly - relaxing. It seems counterintuitive, but tension makes you tight and that tightness interferes with your groove and slows you down. You need to learn how to get in that relaxed state while working hard and find the illusive state of being in the zone. You know, when running hard actually feels good.

According to the article, one way to loosen up while on the move is to relax your face starting with your eyes. Tense wide-opened eyes indicate a tense face and jaw, which translates into a tense upper body. A tense upper body is hard to move and can interfere with finding your rhythm. This reminds me of something that I always tell my Pilates clients: relax your face while you're working out because the tension interferes with correct and efficient muscle patterns. Good to know that this trick can help me run faster, too.

So next time you're out for a run or working out, try running "sleepy eyed" and see if that helps relax the rest of your body enough to help you move a little more quickly.

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Fit Tip: Run With Someone Who's Faster Than You

FitSugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:30:00 PDT

One of my running goals is to run a little faster and I've found that when I run outside alone, I'm not that motivated to push myself. When I run with someone else, whose pace is slightly faster than mine, it totally encourages me to kick it up a notch and keep up. So if increasing your speed is something you want to do, find a running buddy who'll give you that extra push.

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Fit Tip: Pick Up Your Pace, Just a Little

FitSugar — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

I know I may have busted your bubble when I told you that one mile doesn't equal 100 calories. The truth is, the faster you move, the more calories you burn. For a woman, walking a mile in 19 minutes burns 43 calories, and jogging one mile in 9:30 minutes burns 91 calories. So if you're looking to lose weight, increasing your pace - even just a small amount - will help to burn some extra calories.

Whether you enjoy walking, jogging, biking, or using a cardio machine, pick up your speed slightly. That means if you usually walk 3 mph (20-minute miles), increase your speed to 3.5 (17:08 minute-miles). Or if you're jogging at 6 mph (10-minute miles), increase .1 or .2 mph, and you'll have covered more distance and burned more calories by the end of your workout. Making these small increases won't seem like huge difference to your body, but it's a great way to gradually increase your speed and burn more calories per workout.

Fit's Tips: If you're not sure how fast you're moving because you don't use a cardio machine, you can purchase the Nike+ iPod Sports Kit. You wear it while walking or running, and with one touch of a button, it'll tell you how fast you're moving. If you're a biker, they make bike computers that will tell you the same kind of info.

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Burn Calories and Fight Belly Fat: 45-Minute Treadmill Workout

Susi May — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:46:25 PDT

Intervals are the antidote to boring treadmill workouts. Playing around with speed and timing rest periods keeps both the mind and body busy. Interval training is also one of the best ways to beat belly bulge. We've created a fun interval workout to help you get ready for the beach. After torching serious calories in 45 minutes, you'll be ready to lounge poolside.

Keep reading to check our latest treadmill workout.

One-Minute Slimming Food Tricks That Work

Prevention — Mon, 21 May 2012 04:34:33 PDT

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

By Sarah Robertson, Prevention

Here are successful strategies to cut calories and burn fat that take 60 seconds or less. With about 1,000 waking minutes in every day, you'll find plenty of opportunities to slip these tips into your routine and watch the scale go down. If you've already begun your weight loss, these tricks can maximize your efforts and speed results.

Sip green tea before a walk
The caffeine frees fatty acids so that you burn fat more easily. And the polyphenols (antioxidant compounds) in green tea appear to work with caffeine to increase calorie burn. (If you have high blood pressure, skip this tip.)

Dip your bread
Use olive oil in place of butter. It's healthier and may also help you eat less. In a recent study, dippers ate a total of 52 fewer calories on average than those who used butter.

Seven Reasons Your Diet Isn’t Working

Learn more one-minute diet secrets after the break!

Challenge Your Run: 4 Training Techniques Every Runner Needs

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 09 May 2012 02:16:04 PDT

Whether you're a beginner or have a few marathons under your belt, every runner can benefit from a little extra training. Here are four techniques to incorporate into weekly workouts that will make you stronger, faster, and more efficient on your feet.

Intervals
Running at a consistent pace is great for longer training runs, but make workouts more intense by doing intervals. By alternating between running a few minutes at a moderate pace and throwing in bursts at a quicker pace (or even sprinting), you'll burn more calories, build endurance, and become a faster, stronger runner. Not to mention, intervals have also been proven to fight belly fat. Here's a 30-minute treadmill interval workout for you to try.

Hills
Doing hill work on inclines targets your thighs, calves, and booty, so aside from giving you the tight tush you always wanted, your stronger lower body will make you a faster, more efficient runner. Doing hill work also burns more calories and strengthens the calves which is one way you can help prevent the dreaded shin splints. Here are tips for incorporating hills into your run.

Keep reading to find out two other techniques all runners should incorporate into their workouts.

Dealing With the Descent: Tips For Riding Downhill

Susi May — Tue, 08 May 2012 02:35:31 PDT

While many people love the thrill of biking fast downhill, I am not one of them. I love biking uphill. Call me crazy, but I crave the burn in my lungs and legs. But once you've climbed a hill - and in my neck of the woods, hills can be miles long - you have to get yourself down the other side. Aside from just getting out there and riding, having a few tricks up your sleeve can help. Here are three tips on downhill cycling former pro cyclist Alison Dunlap shared at the Luna Chix summit, a female-focused weekend of training workshops and clinics put on by Luna Bar.

Move to your drops: It might seem counterintuitive, but you have more control over your bike with your hands placed on the drops (the curved, lower part of the traditional road bike handlebar). "Using the drops means you're lower, giving you a lower center of gravity, making you more stable," explains Alison. "Stability is important not only when moving fast, but when taking the twists and turns of a hilly descent." Before riding downhill, practice moving your hands from the top of your handle bars to the drops to build confidence. Also, make sure you can comfortably reach the brakes while in your drops.

Feather your brakes: You never want to hit your brakes hard or abruptly, especially when rolling down a big hill. Use the feathering technique instead: applying the brakes gently and slowly increasing the pressure, then releasing the pressure a bit, and repeating until you have slowed to a speed you feel comfortable with. It's important to apply both brakes simultaneously so you don't fishtail or flip over the handlebars.

Be your own shock absorber: It's natural to tense up when you're nervous, but stiff arms will amplify all the bumps in the road, making you feel even more unstable. Alison recommends "keeping your elbows bent, shoulders soft, and arms generally relaxed as you go down a hill." If you hit a large bump, your upper body will absorb some of the shock, making your descent less jarring.

What do you prefer? Biking uphill or down?

Learn to Love the VersaClimber With This Short Workout

Susi May — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:15:34 PDT

No doubt you've seen the VersaClimber at your gym - that tall piece of equipment, lurking in the corner behind the more popular cardio machines. But the VersaClimber's unpopularity is also its saving grace: there is never anyone using it, so you hop on it without a wait. Since the machine is often empty, you can also use it to add short bursts of cardio to your circuit training sets, just like my Equinox trainer Lauren had me do recently. It was my first time on the VersaClimber, and I have to say I liked using the machine but it's a killer. I felt like I was climbing up an almost vertical wall.

The VersaClimber works both your arms and legs while making your heart rate soar. Decreasing the tension on the machine's gearing forces you to use your upper body more; when you increase the tension, the work is more in your legs (I felt it more in the hamstrings than my quads) but your arms will still be feeling it.

Keep on reading to get the short interval workout from Lauren.

5 Moves to Make Running Hills a Breeze

FitSugar — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:50:52 PDT

Running up hills is tough, which is why many runners avoid them as much as cotton socks. Incorporating hills into your runs is the best way to increase your speed, build your endurance, and tone your lower body - something running on the flats just won't do. In order to power up those steep rises, you'll need strong quads, calves, hamstrings, and glutes. Here are five exercises all runners should include in their strength training routines in order to tackle those challenging hills.

Source: Thinkstock