FitSugar

Home Fitness Test: Quad Strength and Endurance

FitSugar — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 09:30:00 -0800

Ski season is rapidly approaching and with it means sore quads. That is if you don't do any preseason conditioning. I would start with the simple assessment of the your quad endurance, which is also a great exercise to add into your routine.

Wall Sit Test
Assesses: Quad strength and endurance

Place your back against the wall, and walk your feet out and away from the wall about 3 ft.
Bend your knees allowing your back to slide down the wall.
Bend both your hips and knees to 90 degrees and adjust your feet as needed. Imagine you are sitting in an invisible chair.
Start your stop watch now and see how long you can hold the position. Don't forget to breathe!

To see what your results mean read more

76 seconds or more = very good
58-75 seconds = average
57-30 seconds = below average
30 seconds or less = poor

Interested in more at home fitness tests? Then check out these assessments you can do in the comfort and privacy of you own home.

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Now Is the Time to Get Ready For the Slopes

FitSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:41 -0800

Even though we're in the middle of Fall and I've yet to see any real signs of snow, experts say now is the time to get your butt in gear for Winter sports. Days on the slopes can be long and require a good amount of endurance, especially if you're the type who likes to visit the mountains for an extended weekend or even longer.

Veteran Winter Olympic athletes like ski racer Daron Rahlves and snowboarder Elena Hight recommend doing specific training for Winter sports six to eight weeks before the season starts. They say the key to lasting all day, weekend, or week on the slopes is to work on flexibility, strength, and cardio. A good mix of this will ensure you can snowboard from sunup to sundown. Being in tip-top shape will also help cut down on injuries.

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle asked a group of Winter Olympians and trainers their advice on getting in shape for Winter sports. Here's some of their advice.

Stretch for 15-20 minutes every day or do 10 minutes of sun salutations. Skiers should focus on their lower bodies, while snowboarders should focus on their upper and lower areas.
Two to three times a week, focus on strength training with emphasis on your quads, hamstrings, and core muscles. Keeping your legs and core strong helps with balance and endurance, and helps cut down on ACL injuries. If you can, use kettlebells and also make sure to do tons of squats, leg curls, and lunges.
Do some sort of aerobic activity for at least 15 minutes every day, keeping your heart rate elevated the entire time.

Sounds doable to me. Who's hungry for powder?

Show Your Running Knees Some Love

FitSugar — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:00:26 -0700

Running as a convenient form of cardio may be the bee's knees, but it can leave my knees aching. Although studies have found there is no connection between running and an increased risk for arthritis, there are some easy ways to show your knees some love.

Stay flexible: Tight hamstrings or quads can prevent the knee from going through its full range of motion, which can negatively impact the soft tissues that work the knee. Hamstrings can get especially tight for runners, and here are five easy ways to lengthen the muscles in the back of your legs. Don't forget to stretch your quads postrun, as well as your calves. Tight calves can create knee pain as well.

Keep reading for three more tips.

You Asked: What to Do For Weak Quads?

FitSugar — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:30:00 -0700

You're asking, and I'm answering.

Hi FitSugar,
I am working really hard to lose weight and get in shape for the first time ever. I've been working on this goal all Summer, and I've lost 21 pounds and many inches. However, I'm trying some forms of exercise for the first time and need a little help. I've heard that using the elliptical machine and spinning class are easier than running; however, I find it much easier to run three miles. After about 10 to 15 seconds of those activities, my quads can't take anymore. Is that unusual? Or am I just extremely weak? What can I do to improve?
Thanks so much!
- Not a Thigh Master

Congratulations on getting in shape and losing both pounds and inches. I think it is great you are trying to diversify your cardio workouts. To see what I have to say about your quads, just read more.

Since you are running, which tends to strengthen and tighten the hamstrings (muscles on the back of the thigh), having weak quads puts you at risk for developing runner's knee. Runner's knee is an overuse injury that causes pain around the knee, especially when going down stairs. It is a condition you want to avoid, for it can seriously derail your fitness regimen. For this reason alone I strongly recommend you strengthen your quads. Also, the quads are an important muscle for everyday activities like lifting, since you want to lift with your legs, not your back.

I would begin with basic quad strengthening exercises like the wall sit, which you can do anywhere there is a wall to lean against. I would start with three sets of 20 seconds, and do two sets during a workout. Each week add five seconds to the sits. The leg extension machine is a great quad strengthening exercise since it works the quad muscles through a large range of motion. Squats, the classic exercise many people love to hate, are a great exercise for strengthening the legs. Start with no weights, and gradually work to holding hand weights while squatting. Since you are looking to try new forms of exercise, yoga is full of many poses that work the quads. You should try Warrior One or Fierce pose.

Also, don't avoid the elliptical (press with your toes to work your quads more), the StepMill, or spin class. You need to take these classes to build endurance in your quads as well. If spin class is too intense, work on an exercise bike to build up to the class.

One last bit of advice: make sure that your hamstrings are not overly tight. Since the hamstrings and quads are opposing muscle groups, if the backs of your legs are tight, your quads won't be able to work through their full range of motion. Here are some stretches for your hamstrings. Good luck and keep up the good work!

If you have a quad exercise to share, do so in the comments section below.

Source

Running Tip: Strengthen Quads With Wall Squats

FitSugar — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 08:00:00 -0700

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, read more.

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.

Source

Class Act: CrossFit Training

FitSugar — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:00:00 -0700

When I showed up to meet my CrossFit certified trainer, Sean Murphy, I found myself approaching a co-ed group performing Olympic lifting as part of an ongoing group class. The outdoor facility was as simple as it gets - a group of mats under a weather-protective tarp, a set of monkey bars, a shed for housing basic supplies like jump ropes and weights, and tractor tires resting about. The rugged scene was a far cry from the luxury home of my morning workouts at Equinox, but the fitness element challenged me in an entirely different and refreshing way.

Sean handed me a jump rope to warm up and then took me through the basics of what would make up my workout. In a completely encouraging and noncondescending way, Sean guided me on how to perfect a simple squat (lead with your booty!), challenged me to do the most perfect push-up that brought my chest barely an inch from the ground, and taught me how to do jumping pull-ups. We did a series of stretches for my hips and quads and it was time for the real workout. To see what it consisted of and what I thought, read more.

My workout was scrawled with a piece of chalk on a mat under the monkey bars: 15 jumping pull-ups, 15 deep squats, 15 perfect push-ups, and a 200 meter run, all to be completed three times. He challenged me to do the entire workout in under eight minutes, and that gave me the extra competitive push that always gets me going. This workout is deceivingly simple - I was breathing heavily after round two. I completed my workout in just under seven minutes, but there was ab-work to follow that challenged my core and we finished with some stretching.

This was just a sample of the workouts offered at CrossFit facilities. Sean described how no workout is ever the same, but they always incorporate exercises that build strength and power while increasing endurance. Typically, the workouts last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, and after my experience I can see why the CrossFit methodology has so many dedicated followers. I would definitely recommend checking out Boost Athletics (Sean's training business) if you're in San Francisco, and if you're looking for an ever-changing outdoor workout look into CrossFit facilities in your area.

Photo courtesy of Boost Athletics

Spring Running Prehab: Roll Your IT Band

FitSugar — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Longer days plus warmer weather equals longer runs, especially if you're training for an endurance race. While you can often feel that your muscles have taken a beating, the IT band, the fascia that lines the outside of your quad, takes a beating too. Often you don't feel how tight the IT band is until it interferes with your knee joint function and you end up with the Iliotibial Band Syndrome. Here are some classic signs:

Pain on the outside of knee that increases when running, especially running downhill, and the pain disappears soon after you stop running.
Tenderness when you touch the outside of the knee, with signs of inflammation.
As the syndrome progresses there may be a sharp stinging pain, or burning on the outside of the knee.

Now you know the signs of the syndrome, learn how to treat and prevent it when you read more.

The best way to deal with ITB syndrome is to prevent it before it starts. I find that releasing the ITB with a foam roller is the best and most direct approach. It can be a little uncomfortable (that is an understatement) at first, but if the fascia is super painful you really need to roll it. The video below will teach you how.

Folks with excessive pronation are prone to ITB syndrome, so if you pronate and run, look into getting a pair of orthotics (podiatrist made insoles) or motion control sneakers designed to lessen pronation.

When I talk to folks that have been running for years, they tend to give me unsolicited advice and a lot of them tell me to take care of my knees. So roll those ITBs out, even if you don't have knee pain since a little prehab goes a long way.

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Back to Basics: Supersets

FitSugar — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:30:00 -0800

Gym jargon is often tossed about like a lightweight medicine ball, and if you don't know the lingo you can end up not only feeling lost but skimping on your workout. One term likely to be skipped over is "superset." It sounds intimidating and therefore not at all super, but supersets are a great way to move beyond a strength training plateau. Essentially, a superset is two exercises performed one right after the other, rather than simply resting between sets. You can work opposing muscle groups or challenge your muscular strength and endurance by working the same muscle group with different exercises. Reducing rest time increases the cardio component of strength training and keeps the calorie burn going. Plus, supersets save time, and less time in the weight room means more time for a post-workout sauna.

For a few examples of supersets read more:

Supersets for opposing muscle groups:

Bicep curls followed by triceps kickback create an upper arm combination.
Alternate a back extension exercise, like superman, with ab work, like bicycle crunches, to work the front and back of your body.
To work the chest and back, mix a set of push-ups with seated rows with a cable or a resistance band.
Tone the thighs by starting with the leg press machine to work quads, then move to the hamstring curl machine to work your hamstrings and glutes.

Supersets for the same muscle group:

To work the quads one leg at a time, combine single leg squats and step ups.
Combining side lunges with side step downs will work both the outer and inner thighs.
For the hamstrings, pair donkey kicks with reverse lunges - working in two completely different configurations changes your relationship with gravity and challenges your muscles in different ways.
Target the back of your arms with triceps dips followed by triceps presses on your back.

You should repeat each superset two to three times, resting for a minute between supersets, which is much more efficient than resting between each individual set. If you have a strength training superset combo that you love, share it in the comments section below.

Source

Strike a Yoga Pose: Warrior 1

FitSugar — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0800

All you runners and skiers out there are going to love Warrior 1. Not only does it strengthen your quads to build your endurance, but it helps to open your tight hips. This pose may seem easy at first, but work on holding it as long as you can to reap the benefits.

Sanskrit Name: Virabhadrasana 1
English Translation: Warrior 1

To find out how to get into it read more

Begin in Downward Facing Dog, with both hands and feet pressed firmly into the floor.
Then step your right foot forward between your hands. Turn your left heel in, press into your feet, and lift your torso up. You want your right foot to be slightly to the right of the center of your mat (not directly in front of your left heel). With this positioning, your hips can be parallel with the front of your mat. You can place your hands on your hips, and gently direct your right hip back and your left hip forward. This is called squaring your hips.
Once your hips are square, lift your arms up, and press your palms together. Draw your shoulder blades down towards your hips and gaze up toward your hands.
Stay here for five breaths. Then come back to Downward Facing Dog, step your left foot forward and do Warrior 1 on the other side.

Squat Options

FitSugar — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:00:00 -0700

If you're pressed for time and feel like strength training has been pushed aside, I am here to tell you that you have squat options. While adding a smattering of squats throughout your day might not be ideal, it is better than nothing.

Here are some suggestions:

Laundry Squats: Combining two unpleasant tasks makes them both somehow sweeter. It is a multitasking move the whole family can love.
Potty Squats: If you're desk bound and feeling disembodied, take a trip to the ladies and do some squats.
Chair Squats: Chairs might be for sitting, but if you hover just above your seat your other seat will get a nice workout. This one is easier to get away with if you work at home.

I have a couple more suggestions so read more.

Water Cooler Squats: A nice way to build endurance in your quads while you fill your water bottle at the water cooler. The larger your bottle the longer you work your quads.
Dishwasher Squats: Just like folding laundry, squat instead of bending at the waist to unload or load your dishwasher. It is actually a much more back friendly way to bend and works the backside.

If you have a great way to fit squats into your everyday routine, please share them in the comments section below.