Thinking about dieting? 
Here is a simple tip from the staff at Wareing’s Gym. Instead of totally restocking your cabinets, try grabbing a few items each time your at the store. Pick out foods that you could eat anytime because the best way to diet is to feed the fire. Your body is a machine and is continually using energy, or burning calories, so instead of feasting at your three squares, have 5 small meals. Perfect in betweeners are Cliff Bars, yogurt, trail mix, fresh fruit and peanut butter halves, or half sandwiches, all of which, give you the needed carbohydrates and protein to keep your energy level up. Another benefit to this plan is that your blood sugar is at a constant level, so you don’t run the risk of mid-workout hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) that, if you have experienced it, feels like a mix between the flu and doing blind-folded spins. Feed the fire and see how your workouts and energy improve.
Warming up prior to starting your exercise routine, may it be lifting or aerobic, is an integral part in injury prevention.
By generating movement in joints and extremeties you facilitate blood flow to muscles that might not be “awake” yet.
Doing a few simple medicine ball and/or bodyweight movements will activate postural and skeletal muscles needed to complete the tasks of your workout. By firing these muscles we allow our bodies to work more effeciently and with a far smaller risk of injury. Some common movements include: Medicine ball rotations, chops, squats, Hi-Lo rotations, and lunges with rotations. Bodyweight movements include: Hands overhead squats, sustained lunges (hip flexors–runners), reach and touches, Push-up position– knee to elbow. All of these movements facilitate flexibility and dynamic mobility that ready the body for activity. Activating muscles allows for greater efficiency and effort through out activity and will help in the prevention of injury and the gain of strength.
Who has time for an hour of Cardio, honestly? With families and friends cutting in on your workout time, how about making it easier on all parties by using interval training. Studies have shown that doing 15-20 minutes of anaerobic intervals is more effective than doing hours of steady state cardiovascular exercise. By working at a higher pace for shorter periods, your body is forced to use more energy, in turn boosting your resting metabolic rate during rest and drawing from your fat stores in order to recover. A few options we promote are 1 mile Lifecycle sprints, Stairmaster speed interval training, or 45 second treadmill sprints. All of which should use a 1:(2-5) work to rest ratio depending on your physical fitness. Ask one of the managers to show you how to set each piece up, and be on your way to more free time and a metabolism that doesn’t stop.
The bottom line is, going to the gym is more than just lifting weights, getting sore, and doing exercises that don’t seem to relate, in any way, to your sport. However, strength training, in a more functional and progressive manner, can be a huge component to a triathlete’s in and off season program. When the body is in motion, especially while swimming and running, the muscles are all connected through kinetic chain to propel the body.
By training to compound the forces faced during a triathlon; gravity, momentum, inertia, ground reaction forces, and 360 degree freedom of movement, we become a force of our own.
By training in a multi-planar fashion, we create strength within the body, promoting efficiency in movement and the incorportation of the RIGHT muscles through out movement patterns. Carlos Santana said it best, “The incorporation of functional strength training is paramount to the prevention of injury, as well as the development of sport-specific movement efficiency and optimal performance.” By training to compound the forces faced during a triathlon; gravity, momentum, inertia, ground reaction forces, and 360 degree freedom of movement, we become a force of our own. The dynamics of multi-planar training is helpful in power and strength production in every aspect of the sport and is integral in the progression of ones ability. Contact one of the Staff members for your Dynamic program Today.
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Do you really know how hard you are working? If not, check out the Karvonen heart rate reserve formula to see your true potential.
Intensity is the key to any workout, and what better way to gage your output than your own heart rate. May it be on the treadmill or in a class, if your working the way you need to be, your heart rate and breathing patterns don’t lie.
The key factors to the Karvonen Formula are:
Resting Heart Rate
- This can be obtained by taking your heart rate when you wake up in the morning, prior to getting out of bed, and when you wake without the alarm clock. The most commonplaces to feel your pulse are the neck (carotid artery), and the wrist (radial artery)
- Count the number of beats for 10 seconds and then multiply this by 6, or count the beats for a whole minute.
Maximum Heart Rate
- Your maximum heart rate is calculated by subtracting your age from 220. (220 – age) Taking a percentage of this number used to be the way companies and trainers calcutated target heart rate, but recent studies show that the Karvonen Formula is a much more accurate means of calcuating this number.
Intensity Level
- As a general rule, you should exercise at an intensity between 50% – 85% of your heart rate reserve. Your individual level of fitness will ultimately determine where you fall within this range. Use the following table as a guide for determining your intensity level:
Beginner or low fitness level: 50% – 60%
Average fitness level: 60% – 70%
High fitness level: 75% – 85%
Now that you know how to get all of the parts of the formula, here it is:
(Max Heart Rate – Resting Heart Rate) x Intensity + Resting Heart Rate= Training Heart Rate
Now instead of using the chart on the machine, be your own machine and bump up that intensity to get off that plateau.
