Healthy happy you.
You're asking, and I'm answering . . . Hey Fit! For the past few weeks I have been experiencing incredibly painful Charley Horses in my sleep once or twice a week. I have never endured this kind of cramping before, and it is beginning to interrupt my sleep schedule, not to mention my workout schedule. I do at least an hour of cardio every day (usually on the elliptical or treadmill) and I'm not Read more
Believe it or not, no one can definitively explain the cause of muscle cramps. Unfortunately many endurance athletes are eager to know why cramps occur and how to prevent them. There are several plausible theories on what causes these debilitating involuntary spasms of muscles including: excessive heat, dehydration, and the loss of electrolytes, to muscle fatigue, insufficient training, and poor Read more
So last night I was sitting on the couch and suddenly my foot cramped, leaving my toes spread wide apart for a good couple of minutes -- Of course I was running around the house screaming like a banshee. About 30 minutes later, the same thing happened, just on the other foot. What gives? Well I did the research to see what the deal was and I found a wealth of information in this article on Read more
If you're looking to amp up your fitness routine, you need to get unstable. Performing classic single-leg exercises while standing on a foam pad, like the one pictured above by Aeromat, is simple way to do this. The squishy surface forces your core and legs to work harder, increasing your strength gains and caloric burn. Standing on the soft surface also strengthens your feet and ankles, which Read more
With last week's Boston Marathon kicking off marathon season, there's been a lot of talk about how to tackle long-distance runs and how to recover from an endurance run once it's over. All great advice, but for many of us, a 30- to 40-minute run is all we want to handle. For all you short-distance runners out there, here's a list of things to never do during your workout. Skip the warmup: Even Read more
Competing in a race is already a challenge in itself; add to that a bit of travel, and you've got a new set of factors to consider. To find out how to achieve race-day success when traveling across the country — or world — we went straight to the expert, Thom Gilligan, founder of Marathon Tours, a specialized travel agency for runners that provides travel packages to destination marathons. Read more
If you used to run regularly before there was a little bundle of joy growing inside you, doctors think it's safe to continue with your running routine while pregnant. You should def get the OK from your OB though, and once you do, you may find it helps with some common pregnancy symptoms such as constipation, leg cramps, lower back pain, and fatigue. Yeah, being with child is fun! Running with a Read more
From pimples to bloating, cramps to spontaneously bursting into tears, PMS and period symptoms not only have the ability to ruin your day, but they can also put a damper on working out. Since exercise actually alleviates many of these uncomfortable feelings, here are some of the best ways to handle common PMS symptoms while working out. Bloating: Swelling in your lower abdomen doesn't always Read more
There are many things you shouldn't do before a workout, such as cold stretching (learn more prewrokout no-nos here). To make the most of your actual workout, here are a handful of things to avoid while getting your sweat on. Exercise on an empty stomach: Used as a common weight-loss technique, exercising on an empty stomach can actually prevent weight loss. Without fuel in your system, Read more
You might not be able to swing a professional ergonomic evaluation, but you can make simple changes to your desk environment to sit up a little bit straighter and avoid neck, wrist, and back strains. While ergonomics is about proper seating position, it also includes common habits you might be unaware of, like your line of sight toward a computer screen and how you type. Try out these adjustments Read more
