At-Home Workout

When there is snow and ice, it can be dangerous to go jogging outside or to drive to a gym.  However, there are plenty of cardio exercises you can do in the home without equipment or even a whole lot of space.  A quick google search will lend you some good ideas.  Personally, I am a fan of rope-less jump-rope!  This site explains how to do it and what you are exercising, as well as offering some other ideas for cardio in the home.  I cohabit with two other people, one of which shares my bedroom.  It is not easy to find space in a room with two beds in it, nor is it easy to exercise in privacy in a share home, but I do my best to get at least 30 min of cardio in a day whether I can get to the gym or not.  I recommend this to everyone for a healthy heart!

Remember that cardio exercises in the home will be different than, say, jogging on a treadmill or around a track.  You will have to judge for yourself when you feel sufficiently pushed!  If you are not feeling the burn, you may need to amp up the workout.

Being the Straggler

A great way to keep motivated is to exercise with other people.  On days that we don’t have practice, I go jogging with two of my team mates.  If that mood comes over me where I don’t really feel like running, I am more likely to force myself to go when I know that my friends are counting on me to be there.  However, I tend to tire out much quicker than my team mates and have trouble keeping up.

Being the straggler can be discouraging.  I don’t want to feel that I am holding them back, nor do I want to be left behind.  However, I also don’t want an overuse injury, such as shin splits.  During a game I am inclined to “work through the pain”, even at some risk to my health.  I do not think that this is uncommon in the realm of sports.  However, this kind of competitive attitude has no place in your routine jogging.  Being the straggler is okay among your friends-your health is more important than your pride.  Aggravating an overuse injury, such as going back into the running routine before shin splits have healed, can cause permanent damage.  In your workout time, you want to feel the burn, but you don’t want the sharp pain of permanent defect!  Stay with your workout partners and set short-term goals for yourself.  While it can be discouraging to be behind, it can also encourage you to work hard and reach your goals!

Short-Term Goals

The routine began with us jogging a mile.  We would jog half a mile, then walk for 1/8 a mile or so, then jog for another half-mile.  When I began this routine with my mates, my long-term goal was to be able to keep up with them and this routine.  However, it can be discouraging to have a long-term goal since it may take a very long time to reach it.  Some short term goals I made were as follows:

1. Jog first half-mile without stopping to walk before break.
2. Jog both half-miles without having to stop and walk (aside from break between half-miles)
3. Jog both half-miles without having to stop on outdoor track (hills)

Once I had reached these goals, the next step was my long-term goal of keeping up with my jogging partners.  Some techniques that helped along the way was to play “The Alphabet Game” with my jogging partners to take my mind off of my legs.  Any kind of word game will do (such as 20 Questions), but I find the alphabet game works well because it goes pretty quickly and you can switch topic quickly as well.  For example, “animals” or “names” as a category instead of roadsigns.  Mind over matter!

In short, if you need to straggle a little bit during a routine with friends, go for it.  If your friends aren’t nice about it, explain that you need to take care of your body and you will catch up with practice.  Remember that progress is not immediate; you may be doing the same thing for a month before you see progress.  This is why it is important to set short-term goals, or checkpoints along the way to reaching your long-term goal(s).  Remember to stay hydrated, and don’t take ibuprofen before you work out.  Keep mindful of your body and your needs.  Don’t increase the intensity until you’ve mastered your current routine.  If you do find yourself stuck with an overuse injury, don’t go back to running until you have fully healed.  Try other cardio, such as swimming and biking instead.

And, as always:

Heat to relax muscles, cold to decrease inflammation after a work-out!

Nasal Health

During this time we’ve got a couple things agitating our nasal passages.  We’ve got allergies, colds, the whole shebang.  Too much agitation can cause nosebleeds.  As you probably already know, nosebleeds are caused by burst blood vessels in the nose.  When you experience a nosebleed, put a tissue to block it from coming out, and lean forward.  In high school, we are taught to lean back, but this will actually cause the mucus and blood to drip into your throat.  In this case, what goes down, must come up-you will find yourself hacking up this disgusting mixture.  So, lean forward, and pinch the bridge of your nose to stop the flow.  You can use a cold pack or some ice to slow the f;ow of blood as well, but be sure never to put ice directly on your skin for long.  Use a paper towel or cloth between the ice and your skin.

Once your nosebleed is over and the blood has coagulated, you can use a gloved finger or q-tip to put some petroleum jelly (Vaseline) on the affected area of the skin inside your nose.  What happens during this season is that the vessel keeps opening up again and the nosebleeds keep happening.  However, occasionally soothing the area with a dab of petroleum jelly can help soothe the area and prevent further agitation.  Make sure you don’t stuff a whole lot of jelly up your nose, though.  You only need a little bit, and you don’t need to stick the q-tip up very far, otherwise you may end up injuring yourself.

If your blood does not coagulate after an hour, you may need medical attention.

Thirst vs Hunger

I’ve got a break in my AstroPhysics course today long enough to talk to you about mistaking your thirst for hunger.  I personally have trouble keeping hydrated because I often forget to drink.  I have remedied this problem by keeping a bottle of water on my person whenever possible.  I use a filtered water bottle so that I can refill it at the tap or water fountain when I’m out of the house.

It’s important to drink something before you eat because hunger and thirst can get mixed up.  When you feel hungry, drink and wait for it to take effect before eating.  If you are preparing a meal, the prep time should give the water (or whatever you happen to be drinking) time to hit you.  If you are going out to eat, drink something before you leave the home.

When offered a drink (such as water) accept it, even if you don’t feel thirsty.  (Obviously this rule does not stand for drinks that will dehydrate you such as beer.)  You will find yourself reaching for the drink despite not thinking you needed it earlier, which will help keep you hydrated.  It’s an absent-minded technique to make sure you eat because you’re hungry!

Running Pains

Doing too much running at once can overwhelm your body.  It’s important to warm up ad cool down with walking and stretching when you run.  This is why before a game, we always stretch and jog around the field instead of going straight into the game and sprinting.

If your body is not used to the amount of work you put it through and you haven’t done your warm-up and cool-down exercises, you will most definitely feel it in your legs.  I discovered this personally when I skipped stretches and began to have lasting pain in my calves.  If you find yourself in this situation, there is a cure!  You’ll need to do stretches, keep hydrated, and do some calf muscle exercises as usual, but if the pain is lasting, it’s likely inflamed.  For this you can take anti-inflammatory medication and put ice on the sore muscle.  Massage the muscle if you can.  You may need to take a break from running while you do this.  If you have severe pain, you should visit your doctor to make sure you do not have a blot clot or sprain.  A little burn is usual when you work out, but sharp/severe pain is a warning from your body that you need to rest and heal.  As a general rule, if it hurts, don’t do it!

Stretching

Few understand the importance of stretching more than the athlete.   Whenever you put your muscles to work, it is important to stretch.  Stretching before and after you work out can reduce the soreness you feel the next day.  Drinking water will also help with this.  It is important to flush your system and stretch out the muscles you exercise.  For the jogger, you will want to stretch your hamstrings.  You can do this in a standing position by spreading your legs shoulder-length apart and reaching down to one leg with both arms.  Hold for 15 seconds, then move to the middle.  Hold again and then move to the left leg.  When you do this stretch, make sure you keep your back as straight as possible.  Bending over with your back is harmful.  You won’t be able to reach as far down, but keeping your back healthy is more important than showing off how far you can stretch.  With time, you can stretch further.  You can find more information on stretching here.

Keeping your Heart Rate Up

I mentioned briefly in another post that when you are trying to lose weight (or even to maintain the weight goal you’ve reached) you’ll want to do cardiovascular exercise.  For cardio work-outs to be effective, you need to keep your heart rate up.  I’m sure you’ve seen at some point in your life wrist-watches that measure your heart rate or the treadmills that record it for you, but you can keep track of it without these things by checking your pulse against a clock.  When you get your heart rate up, your heart is beating faster.  You can place two fingers on your wrist or neck to count how many times your heart beats in one minute (your heart rate).  What you do when you place your finger(s) on your pulse is count the beats in 10 seconds and multiply that number by six to figure out your heart rate.  Do not use your thumb, as the thumb has a pulse of its own which is liable to confuse the count.  Your normal heart rate, maximum heart rate, and desired heart rate for exercise will depend on your age or any medical condition affecting your heart.  You can find information on your heart rate at this website or talk to your doctor.  Here are some cardiovascular exercises you can do without a gym:

Cardio Exercises

Summation of Ball Tag Rules

With Time Limit:

• To score a point, player must hit the opponent with the ball (not a hard ball, please)
• Players may not tap opponents with the ball still in hand; it must be relieved of player’s grasp before touching the opponent for the point to count
• Opponent may not steal the ball from player’s hands
• Should opponent catch the ball or pick it up, opponent gains control of it and player does not get a point

With Point Limit:

• To score a point, player must hit the opponent with the ball (not a hard ball, please)
• Players may tap opponents with the ball still in hand
• Opponent may steal the ball from player’s hands
• Should opponent catch the ball or pick it up, opponent gains control of it and player does not get a point

(Certainly you may make changes to this game.)

Calorie-Count Site and Cheap, Fun, Cardio Activity

I’m really quite taken with this http://www.caloriecount.com site.  I’ve been playing with it today… There were no activities for “Quidditch“, though, and I was not sure how many calories an hour a person might lose playing, nor dodgeball (which would have been a near perfect substitute as I play “beater”), so I used Rugby as a replacement.  I’m really happy to find that my endurance for running around has increased, though I only have practice twice a week.  I have, however, recently added jogging the track to my Tuesday and Thursday post-weight-lifting exercises.  I find it is easier to jog on the track than the treadmill (especially since my endurance is not quite that extensive at this moment).

A cheap, easy way to have fun with cardiovascular play is to acquire a ball (nothing fancy-I’ve got a ball from WalMart for a dollar) and a playmate.  You can with this play ball-tag, which is a combination of dodgeball and tag.  You will need to toss the ball at your playmate, and should it hit her, you gain a point.  Should she catch it or should you miss and she manages to grab it before you, she gains control of the ball and is able to throw the ball at you for points.  You may set up the points system however you wish, but I would recommend a time limit instead, with the winner being the one with the most points at the end,  25-minute games with rests for water between them is most like sports practices, but you will have to figure out what works for you.  Should you use the time limit, however, rather than points to be reached, I would suggest making it possible for your playmate to be able to capture the ball from you by stealing it from your grasp, which begs for the following other rule: You may not tag the playmate with the ball still in your hand.  You must let go of the ball before it hits her in order for the point to count.

Short-Cuts

Yesterday I attempted to walk home with some shortcut I had not explored yet.  While this was certainly cheap (free) exercise, it was not easy, and I managed to trip over a rocky surface and fell.  ‘Twas not very fun.

Anyway, I’ve found that in the past what had worked for me when I wanted to lose weight was to count calories.  As a kid in middle school, this was surprisingly easy.  As an adult living on my own, not so much.  It helps to keep record in a notebook or a computer document to keep track of how many calories you take in.  Remember, though, to look online or ask your doctor how many calories are necessary to stay healthy.  Omitting as many calories as possible is not the objective; everyone needs a different amount of calories in order to maintain their health depending on variables such a height and age.  Want you want is to find a healthy amount of calories for someone of your height and age and try to stay as close to that as possible.  Start with small goals; Don’t say you’re only going to eat 1200 calories a day at first any more than you would say “I’m going to lose 50 pounds”.  You want to start out, maybe 5 or 10 pounds at a time.  Starting out with huge goals or going “cold turkey” on anything (such as soda or sweets) is difficult and exasperating.  One glorious binge after months of abstinence can be the ruin of you, as well as incredibly disheartening.  It is also important to note here that weight gain and loss are different for different people.  You may lose 5 pounds at once after a month of no change, or lose bit by bit throughout the month.  Likewise, when you gain weight, chances are you won’t see it immediately on the scale.  It may take a day or two.

Counting calories is nice because you can allow yourself some treats, so long as you make room for them on your list.  However, you don’t want to do this frequently.  What I do is allow myself to get away with this only on the weekends, because if I take up space on my list with treats, that’s less space for something with protein in it.  Allowing yourself once a week to do this, however, quells that desperate need to cheat during the week.  When you go cold turkey, there is no relief for that desire, and it is easy to crash into the wagon.  Weaning yourself off when you want to eliminate something from your diet is a practice that I have found easier, but other people do better with the cold turkey rule, so it really depends on what works best for you; trial and error, my friend!

Well, I’ve got practice tonight, so I’ll be seeing you!