Posts from — May 2009

Target: total body
Move: softball

Play the field!

Originating from the British game Rounders, this popular summer sport is a variation of the American baseball game with three bases and a home plate, but played with a larger soft ball with pitches thrown underhand in windmill motion. Slow or fast pitch, a 90-minute game of softball burns 555 calories. That’s not exactly major league energy-burning when compared with inline skating because this outdoor team game is not an aerobic sport.

However, aerobic conditioning is part of the practice regime as it helps recovery from bursts of exertion when advancing around the bases. The pros call those standing starts to all-out sprints energy system work. That kind of training is designed to improve powerful acceleration and quick agility when moving between bases and the infield. Hitters also have to work hard on bat speed to manufacture runs with powerful swings or bunts for hits to get on base. The sport places demand on quads, hamstrings, hips, stomach, shoulders, triceps and rotator cuff muscles along with assistance muscles: calves, back, biceps and erector spinae, making softball a total-body toner.

Inning after inning when played three times per week softball will put your body in a league of its own. Visit softball.ca for a league near you.

Target: heart & legs
Move: salsa dance

Make your fitness sizzle

If you think you can dance, Canada, try salsa. It has all the attitude and moves to add passion, excitement and rhythm to your fitness making your love life hotter than Havana. You’ll sizzle 340 calories in 60-minutes with a fusion of dance styles from the Caribbean and North America.

Start on your own by learning from health club cardio classes, DVDs or dance studios. Lessons help breakdown moves to develop confidence and coordination. Then lose your fears with a partner in the clubs. Average gal and guy-friendly, salsa has no strict steps to follow and improvisation is encouraged to show off your flirtatious, sensual style. Salsa music’s dynamic Latin American vibe embracing elements of jazz are infectious and the social feature of dancing adds to its attraction. That means your gym attire might take on a glamourous new spin with strappy heels and flouncy summer dresses — just to show off your newly toned dancer’s legs.

Melting away inches with this high-energy aerobic dance is such fun you won’t realize until the end of the night how much exercise you’ve done. It leaves you breathless. Salsa is everything your heart desires from fitness.

Target: heart, arms, core & legs
Move: aquatic workouts

The coolest workout!

Want to enjoy summer without that sticky feeling? A pool or lake are the only places where you can get both an aerobic, muscle toning and stretch session without sweating it out. And if you’re not a strong swimmer, the new aquatic workouts are no longer limited to swim/walk circuits.

Aqua dance, bootcamp and pool Pilates have replaced laps at community centres and health clubs. While its true water make us buoyant, reducing resistance of many exercises, these classes make up for the lack of intensity. By taking advantage of water’s flowing power, group classes deliver an effective upper and lower body toning workout making you stronger while conditioning your heart and lungs with moves that are easy on the joints. In this way you’ll get effective results from your favourite weight-bearing moves performed on dry land.

Aquatic workouts enlist quadriceps, hips, glutes and develop that oh-so enviable sexy swimmer’s body: defined back, shoulders and taut abs – without doing a single lap. Try web gloves, noodles, dumbbells and ankle cuffs to maximize results by keeping muscles challenged. You’ll think you didn’t workout hard, but you’ll be feeling it the next day.

When humidity threatens to foil your exercise plans, water workouts are essential to summer-proof your routine and keep stick-with-it-frustration low when temperatures get high.

Target: mind & body
Move: meditation

Not your mother’s navel gazing

The hustle bustle of big city life can make you tense or depressed. That’s when you feel compelled to get on a golf course, yoga class or run the heck out of the road. These activities convey a calming contemplative aspect. But if you don’t have the time or energy, consider being still. Meditation is an active mind-body breathing practice that frees your head from sensory stimuli overload. That allows the mind to condition itself for inspired living. Studies prove regular practice of meditation gives you greater-than-sleep-type rest, improves immune system function and increases your positive sense of well being.
Try it now: Sit in a quiet place on the ground with your back up against a wall or tree. Close your eyes, breathe in through your nose filling and expanding your rib cage with each 4-second inhale and exhale for 15 to 30-minutes. Repetitive breathing cycles engage your mind with an energized focus keeping you absorbed in the activity while it releases stress from your body in a positive way.

Enrich your sessions: spark aromatherapy, listen to music or envision a beautiful image. Reciting positive self-talk or prayer connects you to a state of grace.

With meditation you won’t sculpt muscle, blast calories or spike the game winning point since the purpose is to simply relax and let go. But it develops mental stewardship, an essential skill to achieve psychological and physiological fitness morning, noon and night.

Target: total body
Move: aerobic gardening

Unearth your fitness!

Garden tools as fitness aides? You swim, run and climb on the stairmaster at the club, but you can burn as much body fat push-mowing the lawn. And after pulling weeds and hauling top soil bags, you’ll grow stronger muscles in your arms, back, core and legs. Raking, digging holes and planting veggies and herbs for healthful meals make these activities equivalent to sports such as volleyball and brisk walking.

The most challenging gardening workouts include chopping wood, shoveling and tilling, which are on par with softball and doubles tennis so you won’t need a workout after that. Although 30-minutes of gardening daily promotes healthy heart function and reduces the risk of Type 2 Diabetes, tending a garden is one of those activities that even fitness enthusiasts don’t think of as exercise because it’s so enjoyable.

Landscaping might be the perfect summer activity for busy people who need exercise and crave a connection with the beautiful pleasures of nature. When it comes to fitness, you reap what you sow. Yard work makes your health bloom.