Exercising Tips While Traveling

Summer is here! The kids are out of school, there are camping trips to be had and traveling to be done. So how do we maintain all the hard work we have put into our bodies and exercise routines while we are on the road? Sounds a bit challenging, yes, but not impossible. All you need to do is take the time to plan ahead, prepare and keep your eye on your goal of staying on track.

Where are you going and what do you have to work with?
The best way to stay on track is to do your research before you leave and make preparations from home. When staying at a hotel, call ahead of time and find out exactly what they have in the workout facility. You maybe in luck and find everything you need from cardiovascular equipment to weight machines and free weights. If there isn’t a workout facility and/or not enough exercise equipment to work with, check the hotel front desk for a health club nearby.

Now, if you are heading out into the great outdoors or somewhere that doesn’t offer exercise equipment, getting creative and making a plan is going to be key. Be realistic in your expectation that your workouts will be different and most likely not your typical club workout. But hey, different can be fun and your body will most likely embrace the change. When traveling, the goal is to stay on track with your workouts.

What to Do?
Energy, better sleep and an overall feeling of wellness are just a few of the benefits you feel by staying on track with your workouts. It only takes a little bit of physical activity to feel these benefits and so many more. Shoot for 20 or 30 minutes of just cardio or do follow sample strength workout below with burst of jumping jacks and jump rope to get your heart pumping.

Cardiovascular
When staying at a hotel with no cardiovascular equipment you do have options. If the weather is nice, go outside for a walk/jog/run or find a trail nearby to walk or hike. If the weather brings rain or it is too cold to go outside, try to walk/run stairs at the hotel. Other options include: Jumping Jacks, Jump Roping (bring one along if you have one) or try High Knees. You can also add these cardio bursts to the sample workout plan below.

Strength
With strength training keep it simple. If you have access to free weights or machines you can make a workout plan ahead of time. If you are without anything, your bodyweight will be just as beneficial and effective as your regular workout.

Body Weight Workout Sample:

Cardio Burst
Jumping Jacks, Jump Rope (with or with out a jump rope), High Knees

Dynamic Squat (50 sec or 20 reps)

1. Stand with feet just wider than hip width apart, toes at a natural angle forward or slightly out.
3. Bend the knees and squat, pushing your rear out as though you're about to sit in a chair. Your knees should stay behind the toes.
4. As you are squatting, keep the knees going in the same direction as the toes and avoid arching or rounding the back.
5. Squat as low as you can, touch your hands to the floor and then explode up reaching your hands up to the sky. Repeat.

Push Ups (To Fatigue)

1. Lie chest-down with your hands at shoulder level, palms flat on the floor and slightly more than shoulder-width apart, with your feet together and parallel to each other.
2. Look forward rather than down at the floor. The first contact you make with the floor with any part of the face should be your chin, not your nose.
3. Straighten your arms as you push your body up off the floor. Keep your palms fixed at the same position and keep your body straight. Try not to bend or arch your upper or lower back as you push up. Hold for a second.
4. Lower your body slowly towards the floor. Bend your arms and keep your palms in fixed position. Keep your body straight and feet together throughout this movement. Once you hit a 90 degree bend in your elbow, exhale and push yourself back up.

Cardio Burst
Jumping Jacks, Jump Rope (with or with out a jump rope), High Knees

Reverse Lunge with Straight Leg Kick (50 sec each leg or 20 reps)

1. First, stand with your feet shoulder width apart and keep your trunk upright. Your arms should hang down to your sides or find a place on your hips.
2. Take a large step backwards with your right foot, to make a right angle.
3. Lower your hips until your left thigh, is parallel to the ground and hold for one count. Your left knee should be directly above your ankle. Your left foot should be pointed straight ahead and your right heel should be lifted.
4. Pushing through your left leg, power through your glutes and hamstrings to make a straight leg kick to the front. Once you get the hang of it, extend your opposite arm to touch your toe as you kick through.
5. Bring your leg back to the reverse lunge position again and repeat.

Tricep Dips (To Fatigue)

1. Use a bench or chair that is sturdy enough to hold your body weight.
2. Place your hands on the bench with palms down and your knuckles facing forward. Your hands should be right next to your hips on the bench or chair.
3. Lower your body by bending at the elbow. Inhale slowly as you lower yourself for a count of two. Elbows should not point out away from your body as you lower, keep them in close.
4. Exhale as you straighten your arms pushing your body back up. Repeat.
5. Tip: Keep your body close to the bench and your weight primarily on your heels.

Cardio Burst
Jumping Jacks, Jump Rope (with or with out a jump rope), High Knees

Back Extension – Opposite Arm and Leg Lift (each side 10x’s) then both arms and legs together “Swimmers” (10x’s)

1. Lie on your stomach on the floor or hard surface. Extend your arms overhead with the palms facing the floor.
2. Keep your chin and head neutral with your spine.
3. Engage your core muscles by pressing your hip bones down into the floor and squeezing your buttocks. Tightening these muscles will help stabilize your back.
4. Exhale and lift your right arm and your left leg off the floor, pause a moment. Keep the arms and knee as straight as you can. Inhale and lower down.
5. Lift the left arm and right leg up, pause and then lower down.
6. Repeat for desired reps.

Back Extension - Swimmers

1. Same instruction as above except you will lift both arms and legs at the same time and make a swimming motion. Both arms will move up and down and both legs will move up and down for 5 seconds, and then lower both arms and legs down to the mat.

Bicycle (50 sec or 20 reps)

1. Lie on an exercise mat with your back flat against the mat and your hands placed behind your head and your fingertips just barely touching each other
2. Bring your shoulder blades off the mat into a basic crunch. The shoulder blades need to be kept off the mat the whole time you are completing this exercise.
3. Keep your neck in line with your spine, resisting the urge to bend and strain the neck. It may help to imagine that you are holding an orange underneath your chin as you complete this exercise.
4. Lift your legs off the mat and place one leg in a 90-degree angle and the other leg in a 45-degree angle.
5. Move your legs in a bicycle motion, like you are pedaling, bringing your left one up to a 90-degree angle as the right one moves back into a 45-degree angle.
6. Meet your right knee with your left elbow as it comes closer to your upper body. As your left knee comes close to you, meet it with your right elbow.
7. Repeat the bicycling motion.

Cardio Burst
Jumping Jacks, Jump Rope (with or with out a jump rope), High Knees

Plan your daily activities.
So now that you have your workout plan, the next important step is to plan your daily schedule so you can figure out the best time to get your exercise in. The most successful people, traveling or not, take a peek at the beginning of each week and figure out when exercise is going to happen for them. Let’s be realistic here, if your workout is not done in the morning it will most likely not happen while traveling. Keep in mind that life happens and last minute things come up but planning will keep you accountable and you are more likely to stay on track.

You are Ready
Now that you have a plan, all you have left to do is pack your workout gear. This will be the last piece to keeping you successful and on track. Make sure you pack workout clothes, shoes, water bottle, mat, and resistance bands if you have them, jump rope, anything that you regularly use to keep you on goal and “excuse free”. Follow these tips and you will find yourself on track and will avoid sacrificing your workouts while exploring new and summer vacation favorites.

Written by Crystal Kennedy
Wellness Director / Personal Fitness Trainer, Seattle Athletic Club Northgate

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Common Injuries to Watch Out For As a Runner

As a runner, our worst fear is to be sidelined by aches and pains and have to take a break from running. God forbid our overall running fitness be affected or we don’t get our usual endorphin fix, but in reality running injuries can happen to both the novice and elite runner. Here are a few common injuries to watch out for that may help before a single symptom strikes.

Area of Pain: Shins. You think it could be: Shin Splints. It could very well be: Stress Fractures

Only a doctor can tell you for sure. Usually you need an x-ray (though many stress fractures won't show up until they start healing), bone scan, or MRI to tell for sure whether it's shin splints or a stress fracture of the tibia.

In general the differences between shin splints and stress fractures are that shin splints will hurt over a larger area. With a stress fracture, you usually can find one small spot (often you can cover it with one finger) that hurts a lot if you press on it. The spot will be located right on the bone.

Shin splints are often worse when you first start exercising, but do get better as you warm up, only to usually come back at the end. Where stress fractures will hurt more and more the longer you exercise, often to the point where it makes you have to stop.

Also, shin splints usually stop hurting once you stop exercising. A stress fracture will often hurt even after you stop exercising, including while walking and might even keep you up at night.

Lastly, stress fractures will often hurt if you walk up or down stairs. A quick test is if you can hop up and down on one foot on the affected leg ten times without causing severe pain, you probably don't have a stress fracture, but rather shin splints. If you had a stress fracture, it would be almost impossible to hop up and down like that without causing a lot of pain.

Treatment: Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate (R.I.C.E), proper footwear, try pool running or the stationary bike, limit excessive training and follow a consistent stretching routine. Seek a personal trainer for ideas and extra support.

Area of Pain: Knee. You think it may be: “Runners Knee”.It could very well be: Illiotibial Band Syndrome

In general, the kneecap (also known as the patella) can move up and down slightly because the foot evenly distributes the impact of your body weight when running. Runners’ knee is where the kneecap is pulled inward because the foot rolls in when it touches the surface. When this happens, the quadricep muscle pulls the kneecap outward which causes rubbing on the thighbone. So these two opposing forces cause the friction which causes the pain and inflammation in the knee. No Fun! Now, Illiotibial Band is the connective tissue that runs from your hip to your knee. A tight IT band can cause friction on the outside of the knee and create inflammation to this connective tissue which keeps it from gliding properly and in effect causes the pain in the knee. A runner can be more prone to Illiotibial Band Syndrome if mileage has increased to quickly, the gait of the runner is off due to overpronation or runners who are bow-legged.

Treatment: Stretching (Foam Roller), Icing (R.I.C.E.), Cross-Training, Rest and/or work with a Physical Therapist.

Area of Pain: Pain in the lower calf, near your heel. You think it may be: Ankle Strain. It could very well be: Achilles Tendonitis

The Achilles tendon is the large tendon at the back of the ankle. It connects the large calf muscles (Gastrocnemius and Soleus) to the heel bone (calcaneus) and provides the power in the push off phase of the gait cycle (walking and running). Achilles tendonitis is a running injury that typically occurs from abnormal foot stroke in push off and too-tight calf muscles. A runner that pronates when running to the side and at an improper angle, can cause the area to become stressed and inflamed. An orthotic would work well to correct the biomechanics of the foot stroke at push off.

Treatment: R.I.C.E., wear a heel pad to lift the weight off the achilles tendon, wear proper running shoes and /or seek medical help for rehabilitation and treatment.

Below are general tips on how to avoid injuries:
Avoid Overtraining.
Cross-Train: Stationary Bike, Pool Running; or something low or non-impact. Wear proper shoes.
Integrate a stretching routine.
Seek out a personal trainer for specific stretching and training needs.

Lastly, to speed healing use R.I.C.E.:
Rest the injury. As much as possible, try to avoid putting weight on the injured area.
Ice to reduce pain and swelling. Do it for 20-30 minutes every 3-4 hours everyday, or until the pain is gone.
Compression. Use an elastic bandage, straps, or sleeves to give you’re the area extra support.
Elevate (if you can) the injured area on a pillow when you're sitting or lying down.

Take anti-inflammatory painkillers. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ( NSAIDs), like Advil, Aleve, or Motrin, will help with pain and swelling. However, these drugs can have side effects, like an increased risk of bleeding and ulcers so check with your physician first.

Keep in mind that running injuries are often hard to diagnose, so at the first sign of pain take a break from running for a few days and cross-train instead. Most runners misdiagnose, so if pain persists after you head back out again seek medical help to get to the root of the problem.

Written by Crystal Kennedy
Wellness Director / Personal Fitness Trainer, Seattle Athletic Club Northgate

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Understanding Hydration and Exercise

Understanding Hydration and Exercise

Here are some general guidelines before you venture outside:
- Drink at least 17-20 oz. 2-3 hours before exercise
- Drink 7-10 oz. every 10-20 minutes during exercise
- After exercise drink enough water to replace any weight lost during exercise.

First, let’s look into how water plays a role in your body. For your body to properly metabolize calories, one needs to be properly hydrated. If you are even 1% dehydrated, this can slow down your metabolic efficiency to 5%. For example, if you have solid calories in your belly any water ingested will go straight to the belly to help with digestion instead of hydrating working muscles. During activity this leads to muscle cramping and in cases of high impact activity, undigested foods and fluid will be bouncing around in your belly which can cause side aches, diarrhea and even nausea.

If you grab a sports drink make sure the carbohydrate content is less than 6-8 percent of the calories. Anything more can cause intestinal distress during exercise due to slow gastric emptying and can increase the chance of dehydration.

As I mentioned above, dehydration leads to muscle cramping but can also contribute to achiness of muscles, pain in your joints and headaches. So stay hydrated and keep your muscles and joints lubricated.

Another aspect to look at is heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Our bodies perspire in order to decrease our internal temperature; as blood moves toward the skin, the heat generated evaporates through sweat. With the rapid increase in temperature the body has not had time to acclimate to the heat and you can be more susceptible to heat related illnesses. Even by losing 1-2% in body weight through dehydration it can affect your performance. Be on the lookout for heat cramps, heat syncope (dizzyness) and heat exhaustion. Some signs and symptoms could be cramping, nausea, incoherence, fatigue, vomiting, etc. As an athlete, you may notice your skin blotchy and flushed. If dehydration becomes severe, an athlete may get the goose bumps and the chills because the heat generated is not being evaporated effectively. This is serious and can be life threatening.

Keep in mind, for every 1% decrease in hydration you will experience a 3-5% decrease in performance. As a runner, that can be an additional 3 added minutes to your running time. Avoid letting your thirst be indicative of whether you are hydrated or not. Your thirst mechanism isn’t triggered until you are about 3% dehydrated, which right there is well into 10% decrease metabolic efficiency, cooling, muscle function and performance.

How do you know what your sweat rate is?
As an athlete this is very important when preparing for peak performance.
First weigh yourself both pre and post workout. Take note of whether you were inside or outside, specific weather conditions and intensity of the workout. For every 1lb of weight lost during activity, this would equate to 16oz of water. So for an hour of activity, you are looking at replenishing your body with 32oz of water. For activity over an hour, especially in heat, adding sodium to water helps against electrolyte imbalances. In general, .5 to 1liter of water per hour with .5 to 1 gram of sodium during longer more endurance type of activity will be beneficial.

With the warm weather approaching us, take caution and make sure you are adequately hydrated. To optimize performance and be at the top of your fluid game as an athlete, it is important to understand what is really going on in the body.

Written by Crystal Kennedy
Wellness Director/Personal Trainer, Seattle Athletic Club Northgate

The Perfect Squat

Do you FEAR the Squat?
Squats are one of the most avoided exercises in the gym but truly beneficial. Why you ask? Squats help facilitate overall body strength, balance and functional independence. They are responsible for strengthening some of the largest muscle groups in the body (i.e., quadriceps, gluteals and hamstrings) which means we are talking about burning some serious calories. Squats also help with strengthening of the knees, back and mid section. Contrary to popular belief, squats can be beneficial to those with sore knees and backs if modified and performed properly.

The following are steps for a basic squat:
1.) Stand up straight with feet shoulder width apart. Make sure toes, knees and hips are in a straight line.
2.) Shoulders back and chest out.
3.) Pull your belly button into spine and keep your abdominals tight and contracted.
4.) Slowly lower yourself bending at the hips and knees so your thighs are parallel to the floor. Avoid letting your knees pass your toes. The movement should feel like sitting down on a chair.
5.) Keep the weight of your body in your heels while maintaining good posture. Head up, shoulders back and chest out.
6.) To return to starting position, you will want to stand up by pushing through the heels of your feet.
7.) At the top, try not to lock your knees. Keep them soft with a slight bend.
8.) People tend to hold their breath while performing this exercise so making sure to breathe is important. Inhale on the way down and exhale on the way up.
9.) Repeat this movement 12-15 times for 1-3 sets.
10.) Remember to stay slow and controlled throughout the movement and avoid performing this exercise too fast. Maximize your rep by counting 1, 2 on the way up and 1, 2 on the way down.

Written by Crystal Kennedy
Wellness Director – Personal Trainer
Seattle Athletic Club Northgate

Keeping Kids Active Indoors

Winter is upon us and that means freezing rain, wind and snow. Unpredictable weather like this can make it unbearable for kids to play outdoors as often. You may hear your kids say, “There is nothing to do” or “I am bored”. On the contrary, there are many fun activities to do indoors. These cold months can be a great way to spend some quality time with the family and get kids to use their imaginations and be creative.

According to the American Heart Association, exercise and increased physical activity are important for kids not only for decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, such as obesity and diabetes, but physical activity promotes overall physical, psychological and social benefits.

It is recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine that kids get at least of 30 minutes a day of physical activity. This can be broken up into 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon, not all at once. One way you can make this fun for them, is to join in and be a role model. The more you are active with them and physical activity is valued, they will see the importance and start forming healthy habits. They look up to you, so be the change you want for them. The old adage holds true, “Like mother like daughter”. Still stuck? Here are some idea’s!

Indoor Activities at Home
• Build indoor forts with blankets, pillows and cushions. Gather empty cardboard boxes and let their imaginations run with it.
• Play “Follow the Leader” and lead them up the stairs, crab walk on the floor, jumping jacks and hopscotch, etc.
• “Duck-Duck-Goose” and “Musical Chairs” are fun with a few extra kids in the house.
• Hoola Hoop.
• Invest in a WiiFit.
• Have a Dance Party. (My girl’s favorite.) Make a dance routine to a favorite song.
• Play “Charades”. There is so much energy and fun trying to act out animals and objects.
• Have a Scavenger Hunt.
• Get creative and create an obstacle course for the family.
• Play Dress Up.
• Clean out a clothes closet or toy closet and donate any extras to charity.
• Set up a mini bowling alley or golf course in your basement or garage.
• House work help can be fun with music.
• Practicing T-Ball with squishy Nerf balls by hitting them against the garage walls.
• Play indoor soccer or hockey by setting up plastic cones or anything around as goals.

Indoor Activities away from Home
• Visit an indoor swimming pool for swimming or take swim lessons.
• Rock Climbing Gym
• Roller Skating Rink
• Ice Skating
• Check out your local gym youth programs.
• The library and library activities.
• Go to the movies.
• Go to the Mall and walk around.

Written by,
Crystal Kennedy
Seattle Athletic Club - Northgate
Wellness Director