Weight Management

If you want to get fit fast, bicycling may be the best sport for you. Its intense cardiovascular workout will whip your body into great shape in no time. It’s also easy to learn, with most of us developing this simple skill years ago during our childhood. Bicycling is also a great way to get outdoors and see the sights in your neighborhood or in a nearby area. The intensity of your workout can be modified by changing your riding environment--if you want an easier and slow-paced workout try riding in a flat and even area; if it’s a fast-paced and intense workout that you crave, try riding in areas will hills and curves.

Getting Started
Obviously, to be able to go biking you first need a bike. If you don’t own one, you can easily rent one from a bike shop. For those who haven’t ridden a bike in awhile and want a little practice, using a stationary bike can help rebuild confidence without the worry of pedestrians and traffic on the road. Novices can ask a friend to teach them how to ride or take a clinic at a local bike shop. You should learn the rules of the road – like how to signal when making a turn and who gets the right of way – before hitting the streets.

Sitting on a bike for a long period of time can make you sore so you may want to invest in a padded seat or padded biking shorts. Also, if you lean too far forward on your seat, you may damage nerves and blood vessels in the genital area, which can lead to sexual dysfunction, especially in men. If you experience tingling or groin pain, stop biking and consult your doctor.

Body Benefits
In addition to being a great cardiovascular workout that burns a lot of calories, biking also builds endurance and muscle strength, particularly in your calves, glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps. Because it is a low-impact sport that is gentle on your joints, you can ride often without a high risk of repetitive-use injury.

Warming Up and Cooling Down
At the beginning of your ride, go for about five to 10 minutes at an easy pace. This will warm your muscles and allow your heart rate to increase gradually. At the end of your ride, you should also bike for five to 10-minutes at an easy pace to let your heart rate decrease slowly.

Be sure to stretch your calves, glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, and upper and lower back before you start to bike and again after cooling down to avoid injury and soreness.

Downhill skiing is one of the ultimate winter sports. There are few things that compare to the rush of racing down the side of a mountain on a crisp, winter day. Because ski resorts offer beginner, intermediate, and expert trails, everyone can enjoy the sport, regardless of their experience.

Getting Started
If you’re a beginner, it’s a good idea to sign up for ski school (ski resorts usually offer group classes or one-on-one instruction). You’ll learn how to snowplow and make turns, which will help you master beginner slopes.

When starting out, you should choose skis that are no taller than your body – this will make it easier for you to learn basic techniques. Once you progress to intermediate slopes, you can look for skis that are longer. Since skiing requires you to be in snow, it follows that the location where you will be skiing will be cold. It’s a good idea to wear the proper clothing to keep yourself warm, including gloves, thick socks, and thermal underwear. Also, just because it’s cold don’t assume that you cannot get sunburn. Snow reflects about 90% of UV light, so if you’re out skiing on a sunny day, make sure to apply a sunscreen of at least spf 15 or higher on all exposed areas of your skin.

Body Benefits
Skiing can be a very rigorous workout. It not only builds muscle strength and endurance, but also improves balance and coordination. Skiing is particularly good for toning the hamstrings, quadriceps, and glutes, as well as the abdominals, calves and arms. On longer runs, you’ll get a great aerobic workout.

Warming Up and Cooling Down
Carrying your skis from your car to the mountain should be a sufficient warm up – if you’ve broken a sweat, your body is ready to go full throttle. If not, walk around the base of the slopes for five to 10 minutes to warm your muscles and to elevate your heart rate. Opt for an easy trail on your first trip down the mountain.

On your last run of the day your body will be tired, so choose a slope that is not difficult to get down. Ski slowly to avoid wiping out (and getting injured) and to allow your body to cool down.

Be sure to stretch your arms, calves, glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, and arms before and after skiing to prevent injury and soreness.

Golf may be one of the most frustrating games around, but with the mental challenge it provides and the beautiful courses to play on, it’s no wonder that millions of people are hooked. It is a low-impact sport that can be enjoyed throughout your life.

Getting Started
The best way to learn to play golf is to take lessons. One-on-one instruction with a professional golfer will go a long way in teaching you how to swing, what clubs to use, and how to control where the ball goes. There also many instructional videos on the market that will teach you the basics of the game . You don’t have to own a set of golf clubs to start playing; generally, you can rent them from sporting stores or pro shops.

After your lessons, you’ll want to practice the techniques you’ve learned. Finding a place to play shouldn’t be difficult: there are hundreds of golf courses and driving ranges all over the world.

On the course, you’ll learn the rules of the game as well as the etiquette. For example, it is polite to let faster golfers play through. To avoid slowing down other people’s games, you may want to play in the middle of the week when courses generally tend to be less crowded.

Body Benefits
Golf is not the most aerobic of all activities, however it does offer some physical benefits, especially if you walk the course and carry your own clubs. Most golf courses are several miles, so walking the entire distance can definitely give you a good, low impact workout. Golfing helps to build upper body strength, tone your leg muscles, and improve your hand-eye coordination.

Warming Up and Cooling Down

It’s a good idea to warm up before playing a round of golf. You can take a brisk walk or gently stretch your muscles to warm them up. You should stretch your neck, back, and arms to prepare your body for the swings of the club. After playing, you generally don’t need a cool down, but you should stretch your arms, shoulders, and back to avoid injury and reduce soreness.

Hiking is a great way to enjoy the wonders of nature while boosting your level of physical fitness. It’s a great sport for exercisers of all levels – beginners can start on gentler, flat terrain while experienced hikers can set out on steep trails up the mountain.

You don’t need to live in the country to find a place to hike; most towns have parks and nature preserves with plenty of trails to explore.

Getting Started

To go for a hike, all you need is a pair of sturdy sneakers or hiking boots and a park or nature preserve. Since you can hike in a variety of areas, your experience will depend on the environment and trail that you choose to explore. It’s a good idea to do some research on the hiking areas you want to try so you can pick a trail that meets your needs. Many hiking areas offer a variety of terrain, magnificent views, and spectacular sights of nature along the way. You should also find out the distance of the trail and approximate time to complete before you begin.

Hiking is a great group activity, although many people enjoy hiking on their own. If you do go solo, tell someone where you are going and when you expect to return in case you get lost or injured. Whether hiking solo or with a group, it is a good idea to bring water to keep hydrated. Also, check the forecast and prepare for the worst weather - bring a heavy coat if the temperature is expected to dip or a slicker if there is a chance of rain. Whether you go on a two hour, two day, or two week hike—have fun, bring a guidebook or map, explore the area, and enjoy nature.

Body Benefits
Hiking is a great way to burn fat while toning your body. It helps improve muscle strength in your calves, hamstrings, quads, and glutes, and also is a great exercise for building endurance. For an extra challenge, carry a backpack with water and snacks; this will help you burn off more calories.

Warming Up and Cooling Down
For the first five to 10 minutes of your hike, walk at a slow pace to allow your muscles to warm up and your heart rate to increase gradually. Once you’ve broken a sweat, you can increase your pace. At the end of your hike, slow down your pace for several minutes to let your body cool down.

Be sure to stretch your calves, glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps before your hike and again after your cool down to prevent injury and reduce soreness.

You don’t have to be a professional ice hockey player or know how to do a triple axle to enjoy the sport of ice-skating. For most people, putting on their skates and doing laps around a rink is an enjoyable way to have fun while getting a moderate aerobic workout.

Getting Started
Even if making your way around the rink without falling is your only goal, taking a lesson or two may be a good idea. You should be able to sign up for lessons at any indoor ice-skating rink. During a skating lesson you’ll learn basic techniques like how to stop and how to skate backwards, skills that will come in handy when you’re on your own in the rink. Before you step out on the ice, make sure your ice skates fit snuggly and support your ankles. Since you’ll be skating on ice, it’ll probably be cold so make sure to wear warm and comfortable clothing.

There many areas where you can enjoy the sport of ice skating—on outdoor frozen ponds and lakes or on indoor or outdoor skating rinks. If skating on natural bodies of water, watch for cracks, holes, or objects on the ice since these areas do not have Zambonis smoothing out the ice.

You don’t have to be physically fit to take up ice-skating, but keep in mind that as a beginner, you will probably take many spills on the hard ice.

Body Benefits
How much benefit you reap from ice-skating depends largely on how much effort you put into it. The better and faster you are, the more of a cardiovascular workout you will get. Keeping your body upright on the ice helps strengthen your abdominals, calves, glutes, hamstrings, and quads. Skating also improves balance and coordination.

Warming Up and Cooling Down
After lacing up your skates, take five to 10 minutes to skate around the rink slowly. This will allow your muscles to warm up and your heart rate to increase gradually. Before you call it a day, slow down your pace for a few minutes before stepping off the ice to give your body time to cool down.

Be sure to stretch your calves, glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps before and after skating to prevent injury and reduce soreness.

Do the minutes creep by when you’re exercising, because you’d rather be on the golf course? Do you long for your snowboard or skis when you’re jogging in the dead of summer? Instead of sticking to a run-of-the-(tread)mill workout, why not try getting in shape to improve your game, whatever it may be? Engaging in a workout with a purpose can give you the motivation to stay fit and avoid burnout.

On the other hand, maybe you’d just really like to be able to keep up with your kids and not get quite so out of breath when you shoot hoops. Perhaps your swing isn’t what it could be and you’d like to be able to really take a good whack at that ball. If you find yourself vowing to improve your game, the secret to success goes beyond basic practice – you’ve got to get in shape to be good at your game. And if you find a good sports conditioning workout, you’ll not only find yourself hitting a home run, you may just save yourself from a few sports-related injuries.

It’s All About You: Personalizing Your Workout

Once you’ve identified the sport you’re working out for, you’ll find a wealth of workouts waiting for you. If you’re into ball sports like basketball, soccer, baseball or volleyball, it’s a good idea to build up your core muscles via weight and strength training or even through the practice of more whole-body forms of fitness training, such as Pilates or yoga. You’ll also need to work on your cardiovascular fitness so you can run around the court or up and down the field.

There are many fitness programs available that target training for a specific sport. Most gyms have some form of core muscle strengthening program and the personal trainers should be able to help you find the particular focus areas you need to work on for your sport. If joining a gym is not in your plans, you still have lots of choices. Conditioning workouts for specific sports are available almost anywhere. Check out the workout videos at your local video store, favorite online store, or even at your local library. You can also simply search for specific conditioning workouts online via any search engine. Many web sites offer workout suggestions and even detailed programs for a variety of sports. Check out your local library and bookstores for books on sports conditioning and training for specific sports. Last but not least, if you’re in school, ask your physical education instructor for tips and check in with your friends who enjoy the same sports.

Keep Your Eye on the Ball: 10 Ways to Stay Focused

• Remind yourself that your workout has a purpose. You are improving your game (serve, balance, etc.) and reducing your risk of injury.
• Work out with a friend or family member. Find someone who likes to play the same game and get fit together so you can form a killer team.
• Find some images or photos that inspire you. Stick them on the fridge or your bedroom walls or make them your new screen saver on your computer.
• Set specific, realistic goals for yourself. If your sport requires cardiovascular fitness like basketball or soccer, set a goal of running a certain distance in a specific amount of time.
• Instead of one huge goal, set many smaller goals.
• Reward yourself when you reach a goal. Give yourself a pat on the back and share your successes with others. They’ll be proud of you, too. And if you reach a real milestone, instead of treating yourself to a sweet, treat yourself to a new soccer ball or other piece of equipment that you’ve been wishing for.
• Be patient. Your body won’t change overnight.
• Track your progress in a fitness journal. Write down your goals, how you plan to achieve them, and create a fitness chart to track your workouts (how often you exercise, what you do for each workout, how you felt).
• Make it convenient. If you have to drive an hour every time you want to work out, you’re defeating the purpose.
• Make sure you’re eating a balanced, healthy diet. You’ll feel better and you’ll have more energy for your workout if you stay away from sugar and saturated fats. Whole grains, veggies and lean meats and fish will help your body build muscle and shed fat.