It’s the time of year when goals are made and determination is renewed. We all hit the gym excited and overzealous to make this the best fitness year ever. It’s also wintertime, though; the time of year when people spread germs, get sick, run fevers, and lose progress or motivation to achieve their fitness goals. There are numerous factors that go into how likely you are to get sick, your fitness and exercise being a couple of them, and a bunch of super sciencey physiological things, too. In an effort to help you achieve your goals with fewer bumps along the way, it helps to have some understanding of how training affects your immune system and what you can do to avoid getting sick this winter.
5 San Diego Parks For Bodyweight Exercise
In some of the past posts we pointed out places in San Diego you could take your workout outside the gym with stair sprints. Keeping with the theme of getting you out outdoors more, I’ve put together a compilation of San Diego parks where outdoor exercise equipment is available. Outdoor exercise equipment is like a playground for adults and it enables exercisers to get some fresh air and build strength with a greater variety of bodyweight exercises, gymnastics, and calisthenics.
6 Holiday Gifts For Strength and Fitness
Need some gift ideas for the gym rat, strongman, weightlifter, powerlifter, or bodybuilder in your life? Here are some ideas for just about any iron enthusiast or gym-goer without getting too expensive.
Exercise Motivation: Adjust Your Focus For Action
For many getting past the anticipation of starting an exercise regimen or a new training program is more difficult than the program itself. And while Woody Allen likely wasn’t thinking about exercise when he said “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” it holds true nonetheless. The problem is that showing up becomes incredibly difficult when you are battling your own negative thoughts. You can find a 100 excuses to procrastinate instead of starting a personal training program if you allow dread to hold you back.
Loaded Carries with Dumbbells: Farmer's Walks and More
Despite the many benefits of loaded carries, they are often a missing movement from training programs. Carrying exercises are usually associated with specialized equipment like farmer’s handles and heavy sandbags without handles. But these aren’t really all that necessary to begin incorporating loaded carries into your training. Dumbbells, however, are available at most gyms with a smidgeon of self respect and that should be enough to get acquainted with loaded carries and create some significant progression.
Running Stairs in San Diego: 4 More Challenges
If you have conquered the first four sets of San Diego stairs and are ready for a new challenge I have another batch for you interval enthusiasts. Interval training is a great way to improve your aerobic and anaerobic fitness without a treadmill. Sites like these allow you take your training outside the gym for some fresh air in a way that will no doubt improve your work capacity and performance.
Strength Standards For Beginning Strongman Training
I’ll be one of the first to tell you there are huge benefits to incorporating strongman style movements and events into your training program. But I’ve also pointed out that depending on your goals and level of conditioning there are particular exercises which are inappropriate and more specific to competition than general strength or fitness. Strongman starts with strong, and as that implies, it is helpful to have some basic tenants of strength before going all out with strongman (or strongwoman) training and implements.
4 Places to Run Stair Sprints in San Diego
Running stairs beats a treadmill any day of the week. You can sprint and create intervals without any real thought. The shorter stride makes it a better way for beginners to start sprinting than flat out on a track. Here are four great places to run stair sprints in San Diego.