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Staying fit in the summer |
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Written by Kimberly Gray
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Friday, 03 July 2009 |
With more outdoor activities that have you showing more skin, the summer time is another time of year people think about getting into shape or losing weight.
At this point it may be too late to drop a lot of weight in order to fit into that bikini or Speedo, but the summer is a great time to get started exercising if you haven’t already. Plus, if you start now, you may be able to improve yourself in time for that big summer event or vacation.
In the summer, the warm weather and longer daylight hours provide us with more exercise opportunities. During the warm months of the year we are not restricted to the treadmill. We can go outside. Getting outside and doing something different may be just what you need to give your personal exercise program a boost and get you over that weight loss hump.
With the arrival of summer, there may be a big change in your schedule with the kids around and extra summertime activities. It may be difficult to keep your exercise routine going, whether you belong to a gym or exercise at home. Fitting in physical activity to that schedule when you can will at least help you maintain a certain fitness level.
Workoutsforyou.com offers some ideas for summer physical activities. Swimming, of course, is an activity that you can only enjoy in the summer, unless you have access to an indoor pool all year. Swimming will allow you to stay cool while being active.
The site suggests that swimming is a great activity for people of all fitness levels because exercising in the water prevents a lot of normal wear and tear on the body that you would otherwise suffer outside the water.
Some local pools offer swim time strictly for adults or women, such as the Roscoe City Pool, so you have room to really swim. There are also opportunities at the Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital Physical Therapy Clinic’s pool where they sometimes offer water aerobics classes.
An inexpensive option is one that only requires you to purchase a set of skates and a smooth surface. In-line skating can help you burn up to 563 calories in 30 minutes, according to workoutsforyou.com. If you have never skated, consider borrowing or renting a pair to see if it’s something you can do or would like before you buy a pair.
Just be sure to use the safety equipment such as pads and a helmet in order to protect yourself from injury, and wear the right size and good socks to avoid blisters. You cannot exercise if you’re injured.
Cycling is another great summer activity, and you can ride a bike almost anywhere. As you get more and more in shape, you can ride longer and further and take more difficult routes that include hills to continue challenging your body.
You might enlist a partner to ride with you to keep you motivated.
A partner helps with walking as well. There is a walking track at Newman Park in Sweetwater, as well as some of the schools and between the hospital and Wal-Mart, and the high school allows walkers on its track during certain times.
With walking, all you need is a good pair of shoes and somewhere to walk. Just make sure you wear sunscreen and protect your eyes from the sun when you go, and make sure you drink plenty of water. Walking in the morning or in the evening is usually best to avoid overexposure to the sun or the hottest part of the day. That goes for any outdoor activity during the summer months.
In West Texas where temperatures are in the 90s or get to over 100 on a regular basis, sometimes exercising outdoors is not ideal. If you prefer to work out under an air conditioner, you might consider joining a health club, and Sweetwater is home to four.
Curves Fitness, a health club for women located at 1505 Hailey in Sweetwater, is known for its strength training circuit workouts. Curves’ website states that the fitness center works to “give women a fast, efficient 90-minute workout in just 30 minutes.” To do that they combine strength training, sustained cardio activity, warm-up, cool-down and stretching.
The site further explains that strength training has been a “missing component in women’s fitness” for a long time, “but it’s crucial to a healthy body.” That is because pound for pound, muscle burns more calories than fat. “Dieting without strength training leads to muscle loss, which makes it harder to lose weight,” the site adds.
Those that use the Curves program in clinical trials have burned up to 500 calories in a 30-minute workout. The least fit of the exercisers burned 164 to 238 calories during the same time period. You can see an interactive visual on Curves.com on how the circuit workout works.
Local Curves owner, Haylee Owens, explained that the Curves program is effective in helping women lose weight, gain muscle strength and aerobic capacity, increase bone density and raise metabolism.
Benefits of membership include guidance from Curves staff on how to use the equipment and how to eat right and manage your weight without permanently dieting, and access to MyCurves.com, an online community filled with health content such as recipes and other tools to help you succeed in your fitness goals. In addition, you will have access to a Curves nutrition plan at CurvesComplete.com. All members of Curves also receive Diane Magazine with inspirational stories and information about fitness and nutrition.
Curves also has locations in Colorado City and Snyder.
Thefitmap.com, a site dedicated to men, recommends a similar workout plan that you can do at home if you have the equipment, or in a health club. “Train smarter, not harder,” is what the site says. The site reports that you can get fit with only 60 minutes of exercise a week if you do the right exercises, but also points out that if you work out two or three hours a week, you would be able to “meet your goals in double time.”
This site’s prescribed exercise routine is after a five-minute warm-up to start a 15-minute session of aerobic training at a level that is challenging right form the start. Then perform three squats, three bench presses, three pull downs and three shoulder presses in one continuous circuit. This routine should be completed at least two or three times a week.
This type of exercise program is handy for someone with a busy schedule, like many people in the summer.
TSTC also has a cardiovascular fitness strength-training center. It is open to the public, as well as to TSTC students and employees and located in The Student Center with the green roof at the front of the Sweetwater campus.
TSTC’s center offers a variety of cardiovascular exercise opportunities including stationary bikes, treadmills, stair climbers, upper body exercisers, health riders, rowing machines and an indoor walking track, as well as an indoor basketball court. In addition, there is a variety of circuit strength training available.
Log onto http://www.westtexas.tstc.edu/index.cfm?Action=Student_Center for rates and hours of operation. When class is not in session at TSTC, the hours of operation differ.
Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital Physical Therapy Department also has a fitness facility that is open to the public, alongside its therapy patients. They have a variety of cardio and strength training equipment, as well as an indoor pool where they sometimes offer water aerobics classes when it is not being used by patients.
Finally, 24/7 Fitness, located at 2015 Lamar, offers training on their equipment and 24-hour access. They also offer a variety of cardio and strength training equipment.
Getting started on an exercise program now, may not only improve your physique for the rest of the summer, it can also improve your health overall.
Exercise can improve your cardiovascular health and help prevent heart disease and stroke. Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death, and exercise is one of the best ways to keep your risk factors for those conditions in check. Owens, with Curves, said according to research by Curves International and the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, a 12- to 13- point reduction in blood pressure can reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease by 25 percent. A 10 percent decrease in total blood cholesterol levels can decrease the incidence of coronary heart disease by as much as 30 percent. Exercise can help bring about those reductions.
Engaging in weight-bearing exercise can also prevent osteoporosis. This is especially significant to Curves members since osteoporosis is more common in women. Exercise may also help with osteoarthritis, especially exercises that involve flexibility and stretching, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Curves information provided by Owens said that along with supplements, exercise could also help alleviate pain from arthritis.
Exercise is a great way to help curb the symptoms of diabetes as well. Those with Type 2 diabetes should engage in physical activity at least three days a week, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). The ADA also recommends that such a person should have at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week and participate in resistance exercises at least three times a week.
Exercise can help a diabetic lower their blood glucose level and maintain those levels if consistent. However, Curves officials note that it is important to monitor your blood glucose before and after any physical activity.
It is important for anyone with a health condition, or anyone who has not exercised in some time, to take it slowly at first and consult your physician about what exercise program is best for you before you start.
Curves also discovered that exercise lowers healthcare costs. A 2007 study released by Medica and Life Time Fitness found that a group of women who enrolled in a fitness program through Curves and exercised at least eight times a month at a Curves facility had 64.3 percent less facility claims on their health insurance, as well as 13 percent less physician claims and 9.2 percent less prescription drug claims.
The study also found that the women in the control group who did not participate in the program had 63.6 percent more visits to impatient facilities, 105 percent more visits to emergency room facilities and 43.3 percent more visits to outpatient facilities than did the women who were in the program.
Sometimes it’s tough to stay on track during the summer with all the extra activities like camping, vacationing, family reunions and your kids’ baseball games. However, fitwoman.com suggests that you can keep your healthy lifestyle going while you are on vacation.
This site says that most people want to break away from routines while on vacation and not worry about finding a hotel to stay in that has a fitness facility. They suggest redefining the way you view exercise, at least while you’re on vacation, in order to fit in physical activity that is not only exercise, but also fun.
For example, go for a brisk walk or jog on the beach, hunt for seashells with your kids, or take a long bike ride on a country trail or on the boardwalk. You can also fit in sand volleyball or swimming.
It’s also important to think about your diet during the summer because it is easy to let your eating get out of hand when you’re going to summer parties and vacationing. Food seems to be one of the main attractions when you’re out having fun.
Wei Yin Wong reports on fitness.suite101.com that the first rule of thumb is to drink plenty of water. During the summer heat, the body sweats more when you’re exercising outdoors, and you can become dehydrated faster. She recommends starting your day off by drinking a glass of water, then spread your water intake out throughout the day and make water easily accessible to yourself.
Eating fresh fruit and vegetables will also give you needed hydration in addition to dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals.
Another nutrition rule for the summer is to eat energy foods. Wong defines energy foods as complex carbohydrates and proteins. The most important energy food, she says, are the complex carbohydrates, which includes things like wholegrain breads, cereals, pasta, rice, beans and potatoes. Foods rich in protein like fish, poultry, lean meat, eggs, dairy products, soy products, beans, nuts and seeds, also give you needed energy.
Eating these foods is not only healthy, but compliments an exercise program very well because these types of foods give you the energy you need to exercise, as well as everything else your body needs.
Thefitmap.com offers some simple solutions to eating better as well.
Eat at least three meals a day, or perhaps eat five or six smaller meals a day. That also means to never skip breakfast. Doing these things will help speed up your metabolism, which is your body’s ability to burn energy.
Fill your plate with food in the following combination – half of it with complex carbohydrates, a third with sources of lean protein and the rest with salad or vegetables. “This will allow you to eat the right quantity of food at each sitting,” the site states.
Don’t diet. In other words, eat normally and eat what you like, but eat sensibly all the time. It’s a matter of balance. One example of maintaining sensible eating habits is to eat a smaller, lighter dinner if you eat a fatty lunch, or if you eat out late one night, make sure the next day’s lunch is lighter and healthier.
So getting in better shape may not be as difficult as you think if you are only marginally out of shape, which defines most people, and the summer time is as good a time as any to start thinking about getting in shape and improving your health. That means you can start now.
Plus, you have plenty of options during the summer months if you enjoy being outdoors. If you would rather avoid the sun and heat, there are also plenty of indoor options with area health clubs and home equipment.
It’s also important to remember that if your schedule gets crazy in the summer, you don’t have to fret too much if you miss out on your regular exercise routine or overeat from time to time. Just try to fit fun physical activity into your summer plans and balance out the bad eating with good. |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 06 July 2009 )
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