Doonya describes themselves as “your at-home solution for fun dance-fitness! We bring the energy and dance of Bollywood, India’s movie and music industry, straight to your living room.” With loads of energy, Doonya co-founders Kajal Desai and Priya Pandya give you a taste of their high-powered dance routines with this four-minute video that’ll leave you wanting more. http://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/best-videos-dance-workout#8
As a runner you may think that strength training doesn’t necessarily apply to you as running is all you need to either stay or get in shape. I had that thought once, and it didn’t work out too well for me. Achy knees and a lot of hip pain from poor mechanics. Don’t let my mistake be your downfall. Let’s learn from it.
Mechanics or Phases of Running
Breaking down the mechanics of a stride, it’s a series of single leg exercises, with 2 different phases:
Stance- This is where the all your bodyweight is on a single leg and typically where breakdowns occur. This phase can also be broken down into smaller phases:
Initial Contact- Your foot first hits the ground, and as you touch down, the knee and ankle flex a little to absorb the force of the ground, and the foot pronates or turns in slightly. This can create the first break down if we don’t have a requisite amount of strength or motor control.
Midstance- Once the foot and leg are underneath the hip, you enter what is the midstance phase. This is where all your weight is on the one leg. Again, there is potential for injury here. An over pronation at the foot can cause a chain reaction up the leg into the knee and hip. Hip stability is also vital here as you need to be able to load the base leg in order to set yourself up for the propulsion phase. It’s a basic load and explode situation. Your muscles, tendons, and fascia are all storing up elastic energy from the previous phase, waiting to use it. Lacking necessary joint stability and strength will hinder your stride, and really, your ability to run efficiently.
Propulsion- The final stage where the foot starts to come off the ground, starting with the heel. This is where you will use all that stored/absorbed energy and push off to get into the next phase. The ankle, knee, and hip all go through extension in order to achieve this. Additionally, your foot/ankle should supinate, however this doesn’t always occur due to poor mechanics or poor shoes. Either way, this is another instance in which we need to corrections during running.
Swing- From the moment your foot loses contact with the ground, till the moment it touches down again is the swing. In this phase, your body needs to prep the leg and foot for that initial contact phase again.
There is a third phase where both feet are simultaneously off the ground, and if you freeze frame a runner, they appear to be floating or hovering off the ground.
So as you can note above, each phase of running comes with the potential for injury if the right mechanics aren’t in place. This means a combination of strength, stability and mobility. Thankfully we can incorporate strength training that focuses on those three aspects, and we can likely avoid injury or any aches and pains. Then we can get back to doing what we love, which is running.
The Training
Putting together a strength program for a runner is a little tricky as you want to build as much strength as you need to avoid injury and resist the forces of running, but without putting on weight that may potentially slow you down.
Single Leg Exercises– Being that running is largely a single leg exercise repeated over and over again, it’s important to include these into your program. That doesn’t mean eliminating bilateral exercises like squats and deadlifts, as those will set a large strength base. It just means adding in more single leg variations to maintain or improve hip stability.
Examples:
Lunges
Single Leg Deadlift
Step-up
Split Squats
Core Strength & Stability– Everyone uses these terms, but no one really knows what they mean. In terms of running, the core needs to be strong and stable in order for the body to transfer forces from the lower body to the upper body, otherwise we just look like one of those wacky inflatable tube guys outside car dealerships. And no one wants to look like that when they run. Nor do we want to have any injuries or pain when we’re running. If we lack the necessary core stability, meaning the control of the movement of the hips, it could result in hanging out on passive structures instead. Have you ever gone for a run and your back was killing you halfway in or when you finished? Yea that’s one, poor mechanics, but also lack of muscular strength and the ability to stabilize the hips.
Examples:
Anti-Extension – Plank
Anti Lateral Flexion – Side Plank
Bird/Dog
Anti Rotation – Pallof Press
Chops
Hip Extension Activation & Strength– The main mover for hip extension should be the glutes, however many end up predominantly using their hamstrings. Hamstring injuries occur in part because they aren’t strong enough to control the eccentric contraction of the muscle, meaning a contraction as the muscle lengthens. But also because the hamstrings compensate for a lack of glute strength. It’s vital to the health of your hamstrings to get your glutes strong. Then you can focus on strengthening the hamstrings via eccentric exercises.
Glute Bridge
Hip Thrust
Lateral Band Walks
Clamshells
Supine Hip Extension
Nordic Curls
Hamstring Curls via TRX, Glide Discs, Stability Ball
Running is a simple way to exercise and probably one of the most accessible to those of all levels, from beginner to advanced. Now that the weather is getting nice, more and more people will be out there running. Just because you can run, doesn’t mean you have to run or should. Take account of your strength and stability, but also look at your own mechanics to see if running is for you. Then you can move on to what could be the most important, whether or not you actually enjoy running.
What does strong enough mean? Or in the case of this title, strong enough to run? Would deadlifting 200lbs make you strong enough to run? Maybe, maybe not. When it comes to running and being strong, expressing strength is more a matter of resisting forces put on it, than creating them. although you will create force into the ground to push you forward.
Everybody runs or can run, but not everyone that runs does so efficiently with good form. Sometimes it looks a little wonky, like Elaine Benes trying to dance or like a calf trying to walk for the first time. While running is a natural movement (for some), it does require a number of things to work synergistically so as not to get injured. How often are you thinking of stride length, frequency, how your foot is landing, hip shifts, arm movement, etc when you go for a simple run or jog. Or maybe its yogging, it might be a soft ‘J.” Probably never.
Strength has more to do with running than you think, and it doesn’t just stop at the legs. Think of running as a full body exercise, where all your muscles are coordinated to fire to ensure you absorb the forces appropriately. And if there is a weak link in the chain, you can bet that your body will find it, and expose it.
Everyone can run, but not everyone SHOULD…..right away.
At the beginning of the spring, apparently everyone is concerned about the body weight. In the case of women, the most problematic parts of the body include their thighs and hips, as it is extremely difficult to lose extra centimeters from these areas.
However, there is no doubt that you should follow three golden rules if you are trying to lose weight and burn excess fat on your thighs:
You should reduce the calorie intake
You should drink lots of water
You should regularly do some exercises.
What is best about out exercises today is the fact that you can do them at home, so you do not need to visit the gym.
We guarantee that this set of exercises for your legs will provide incredible results, and due to that, numerous women all around the world do exactly the same exercises on a daily basis!
Namely, in only 12 minutes a day, you will lose a centimeter in the thighs and hips a week!
The video below will provide all the needed instructions, and even though the exercises may appear intense and difficult at the beginning, you will definitely be thrilled with the results!
Rest days are a standard part of exercise programs, but they’re not the only way to avoid overworking yourself. Let’s look at the difference between rest and recovery, and when you can bend the rules.
The Reason for Rest Days
Most strength-focused programs like weightlifting either work your whole body and then skip the next day, or else they have you split up your workouts so that, for example, your arms get a rest on leg day. The idea is to let each muscle recover from a workout before you ask it to do the same thing again.
But not every activity works this way. Runners, for example, often run every day, and may only take one or two true rest days a week. But within that pattern, they will alternate days of hard running (like speedwork, hill running, or long runs) with easy runs that feel less challenging to the body.
Other sports may fall somewhere in between, but nobody expects to work every body part to exhaustion every day. Even when elite athletes do workouts every day that look killer to us, it’s because our “hard” is their “easy”. You can bet their coaches schedule in just enough of the easier workouts to keep the athlete’s progress on track with minimal risk of injury.
Rest days and splits help us to pace ourselves. Too much hard running, if you’re not used to it, sets you up for tendonitis and other overuse injuries. And too much exercise of any kind can lead to a syndrome called overtraining where your body may develop flu-like symptoms and disturbed sleep because it just can’t keep up with the demands you’re putting on it.
There’s Nothing Magic About Resting for One Day
Taking a single rest day after a hard workout isn’t the only way to keep yourself from overtraining. There are a few reasons it’s a good rule of thumb, though:
Delayed-onset muscle soreness often takes two days to peak. If you did a too-hard workout on Monday, you might be feeling only a little bit sore on Tuesday and think you’re okay to work out some more. If you waited until Wednesday instead, you would have a better sense of how sore or injured you are. Then you would be able to make a better judgment call about whether, and how hard, to work out again.
Resting every other day means only half of your days will be hard workouts. The other half will be rest days or easier days, so the schedule keeps your total workout intensity manageable.
Mentally, it’s easier to stick to a workout when you enjoy it. Hard workouts aren’t always fun, and you may need to psych yourself up to try something really challenging. It’s okay if you don’t feel up to that every day. Having some easier, almost relaxing days can help you stick to your schedule.
If you can accomplish those goals with another schedule, though, feel free to do so. If you enjoy all your workouts, even the hard ones, slowly include more hard days in your schedule. If you feel okay with that, keep doing it! But if you end up sore or fatigued, listen to your body and put those rest days back in.
If soreness is your problem, be aware that skipping one day may not be the best way to deal with it. Soreness peaking at 48 hours is just an average, and the true timeframe can vary. Your muscles might only feel sore and weak for one day, or if you tried something new and difficult, you might feel it for a week. At the beginning of a new workout routine, you might even need three or four easy days.
Recovery Doesn’t Have to Mean Total Rest
Some people prefer the term “recovery” to “rest” days, because total rest isn’t necessarily your goal. After all, lifting a fork to your mouth is a similar action to a bicep curl, so if you just did a heavy arm day, would you be unable to eat? Clearly, some amount of activity is fine on a rest or recovery day.
This is where you have to calibrate your own sense of effort. If you’re new to exercising and you just did a day of heavy squats, a five mile bike ride is probably not a great choice for the following day. But if you bike five miles to work every day, you should be able to keep doing that even on your “rest” days.
When I did push-ups every day for 30 days, a few people suggested that I was setting myself up for injury by not taking rest days. But as I wrote in that article, I ramped up my fitness very carefully. A few sets of pushups every day is my new normal, and it’s no more taxing to me than a bike ride is to a bike commuter. Some days I might try a more challenging type of pushup or I might do more reps than usual; but I balance out those harder days with, you guessed it, easier days that are closer to my baseline effort level.
As you learn your own strengths and limitations, you too can alter your workout schedule according to what works for you. That might mean you only take one or two rest days per week, or it might mean you do mega-hard workouts and then lay low for a few days. If you’re getting a reasonable amount of exercise in total, and if you aren’t getting sore or injured, you’re probably doing okay.
Explaining the Effects of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)
We’ve all had those days after an intense workout where all you want to do is curl up into a little ball and never move. Your muscles feel tight, stiff and make getting out of bed feel just plain terrible. So what causes our body to become sore after a workout?
Soreness results when you workout or do physical activity that is greater than normal. It is known that you body’s eccentric muscle contractions, cause more soreness in the days following the workout than either isometric contractions or concentric contractions. Okay, that was a quite the mouthful! So, what do those things even mean? Let’s take a step back for a moment and break it down.
Eccentric Muscles: The muscles that lengthen when you are lowering a weight for example.
Isometric Muscles: The muscles that does not change length. For example, like when you are holding a weight.
Concentric Muscles: The muscles that shorten like when lifting a weight for example.
You’re probably asking “why do your eccentric muscles cause the most pain?” I’ll be getting to this in a moment, first, let me explain more about what you are experiencing. The soreness you are feeling in the days after your intense workout can be referred to asdelayed onset muscle soreness or “DOMS.” Your muscle mass is always being broken down, and is also always being synthesized at some point. When you work out, the stress that you are putting on the muscles activates chemicals that causes your body to build up your muscle tissue. If you feel soreness or the “tearing” as some refer it as, you are noticing one of the signs of this chemical process. There are many other things that affect the way your body responds to physical activity. Some of these include metabolic, hormonal, and dietary changes that function in various ways.
If you’re currently looking for ways to massage your muscles or relax them after an intense workout, I’d suggest checking out the Trigger Point Total Package. With the Trigger Point Kit’s patented design mirroring the feeling of a human hand, you are able to massage almost any part of the body safely and effectively on your own. If you’d like to learn more about this product, click the image on the left or visit the Fitness Town website.
“No Pain, No Gain” Misconceptions.
One of the biggest misconceptions is the saying “no pain, no gain.” Some believe you need to workout until your muscles feel sore or exhausted. I definitely disagree with this belief, I believe you do not need over-do it for them to grow. While working your muscles until they’re achy means you technically did tax your muscles, which helps them get stronger, it’s actually not beneficial in the long run. So why do eccentric muscles hurt more than others? DOMS tends to begin 24 to 48 hours after exercising and you can feel the discomfort peak between 48 to 72 hours. Studies have shown that eccentric muscle activity, which is actively resisting lengthening of the muscle (like raising or lowering a weight), gives the most discomfort. When overworked, DOMS could be due to high tension on muscle fibers and connective tissues which is less common in isometric, concentric, or static tension activity.
Consistency is Key!
At Fitness Town, we believe that keeping active on a daily basis is important. Pushing your muscles past your comfort line on one day means your muscles are going to feel extremely exhausted for days after. This means when you go to workout the following day, you’ll be more likely to skip your routine. I find more often than not that many people struggle with keeping up with their fitness routines overtime. This is why it becomes a very big issue! Why? Well, because when getting back into shape, consistency and determination is key! Personally, I believe it is about developing and learning how to maintain a different lifestyle. It is easier to do this by working out less intensely every day, than to go all out on one day and dread every second of the few following days. Ultimately, if you dread the effects of your workout, you are going to be less motivated to continue on with your fitness goals. If you’re looking for something that will speed up your recovery time and give you that extra “umph,” I suggest looking into PurePharma.
Cons of Over-doing It.
Picture this, you have overdone your previous workout to the point you feel like you’re in a full-body cast. You then decide to lay on the couch while muttering all sorts of “I-hate-exercise” and swear words. Like I said previously, you can’t justify to yourself “I went hard a few days ago so I’ve done my time for the week.” Unfortunately for some, working out requires commitment. You can’t be a couch potato for the following 6 days of the week, that’s like one step forward and two steps back! Your muscles will respond better when they’re being constantly worked which allows them to gradually get used to your workouts. By doing this method, you’ll find that is will prevent your muscles from becoming weak and sore.
How Can You Tell You’re Over-doing It?
So, how can you tell when you’re overdoing your workout? If you are into weightlifting and find yourself starting to shake, twitch, get restless, or numb during your reps, that’s a sign you might be hurtin’ tomorrow! If you do find yourself in this situation, I suggest you step farrrrrr awaaay from the weights. Instead of continuing to workout that area of your body, move on to a different area of your body. As soon as you start feeling noticeably exhausted, I would suggest you end your workout session. This way you ensure that DOMS does not get the best of you and instead, you can workout comfortably the following day or so. Remember, the key to successfully reaching your fitness goals is to…
Skill-related fitness activities are designed to improve both fitness and performance, especially factors like speed, reaction time, co-ordination, power, balance and agility, as reported by the BBC. At public schools, elementary school students are exposed to skill-related fitness exercises and activities that are relatively easy to perform. Some simple skill-related fitness activities include line jumping and side shuttling to improve agility, short sprinting to improve speed, backward hoping to improve balance, standing long jumping to improve power and coin catching to improve reaction time.
Participating in skill-related fitness activities and exercises has been known to improve one's overall health and physical abilities. Skill-related fitness activities help refine and develop gross motor skills, and are the foundation for more complex activities.
Agility refers to the body's ability to change positions whereas balance refers to the individual's ability to retain their center of mass for support. Coordination refers to the ability to use two or more body parts at the same time with control and skill while power refers to the ability to use strength at certain speeds. Reaction time refers to the individual's ability to respond when a stimulus is presented and speed refers to the rate of which the activity or movement was exercised.
Ideas to make a cardio workout fun range from running with a dog or watching a movie while working out to teaming up with a workout partner or using a creative app that changes things up. During a snowy winter, fun cardio workouts can include snowboarding, snowshoeing or skating.
Tech Hive suggests using some fun motivational apps to make a basic cardio workout more fun. Zombies, Run! takes the users on an audio adventure that makes them believe zombies are chasing them on their morning run. Ghost Race lets users race against themselves or other players and has settings for running, road biking and mountain biking. Cardio Smackdown uses the same basic idea, pairing the user with a real workout partner for some virtual competition.
Other ideas for making a cardio workout fun are to create a playlist filled with motivational music. Choosing a sport or game that provides a cardio workout is more exciting than just going for a run. Workouts like Zumba or Wii Fit exercises can be done indoors using a video game console. Doing cardio on a treadmill or elliptical machine allows the exerciser to watch an episode of a TV show, which is usually just the right length for a cardio workout. Switching the type of cardio done from one day to the next helps make the workout less boring as well.
