Lunge and Squat - A Runner's Best Friend

Ladies and gentlemen, today I am going to talk to you about squats and weights. For most people these are dreaded words, especially if you are a cardio queen or die hard runner. Take it from me, to become a better and faster runner you must incorporate squats and various other weight bearing exercises. I have noticed changes in my race times when I am focusing on cross training and when I am strictly running. I see a huge difference when I do functional exercises to strengthen my leg muscles and upper body. Squats, weighted lunges, planks, push-ups and any body weight exercise will greatly improve your running form, speed and agility. It will also help to prevent injury. 

Today I did a squat routine outside and loved it. You don’t always have to go to the gym to get in a good workout. Mix up the location of your workout and the drills you do for optimal results and to keep your body guessing. There is nothing worse than getting stuck in a rut! A few things to remember when doing squats are to keep your chest up and your back flat. You also want to make sure you sit deep into your squat and keep your booty low to the ground. As a runner, my hamstrings are always tight and getting low in a squat can be hard. Start out slow and work on the moves each day, trying to go lower and hold the exercise longer than the previous day. 

There are many alternate squat positions you can take. The wide-leg squat, regular squat, weighted squat, pulse squat and more. With lunges you can do jumping lunges, regular lunges, side lunges, weighted lunges, cross-back lunges, and many other variations. Make sure you keep mixing up your workouts by trying out different variations and working different muscle groups. Change is your friend and makes your body stronger. 

Here is a quick and simple at-home routine you can do to strengthen your muscles and become a stronger runner. It includes five moves that you repeat 3-5 times depending on athletic ability. Start slow and work your way up as you get stronger. 

• Wide Leg Squat – 20 Reps
• Lunge with Rotation – 20 reps alternating legs (10 on each leg)
• Jump Squats – 20 reps
• Forward Lunge – 20 reps alternating legs (10 on each leg)
• Push-ups – 1 minute

You should feel the burn in your thighs and glutes. You should also feel your heart rate go up during the exercises. Be intense during the workout and only take a one minute break between sets. The push-up will change up your movements and help you build a stronger core and upper body. 

Cross training is the backbone of any good run program and should be done at least two to three times a week. Try out these drills and let me know what you think! Do you notice a difference in your running when you cross train? 

Top Five Vacation Workout Tips

The holidays are here and that means it gets a lot harder for me to get in regular workouts. Luckily, I have been able to fit them in at least every other day so far. It helps to have a membership to a gym, like Anytime Fitness, that allows you to use any gym they have anywhere in the country with just your one membership. I can also workout in the house using apps on my phone, such as the Nike Training Club app. 

Getting a workout in outside

Here are my top five tips for sticking with your workout and fitness goals during the holidays:

1. Plan ahead - pack workout clothes in your suitcase and research places to workout before you leave for a vacation. Check the weather so you know whether it will be hot or cold weather. 
2. Make sure you plan time in your day for a workout. For me, this means getting up and working out early - before family festivities begin, it I don't do this, I know I won't be able to workout. 
3. Plan holiday activities that involve exercise that the whole family can do together. Hiking, skiing, snowball fights or biking are all great ideas and burn calories without taking time away from family.
4. Spending hours in an airport? Time yourself to see how fast you can walk from one end of the airport to the other.
5. Don't stress it if you miss a workout. Just remember to keep up your normal eating routine, don't binge out on sweets and reschedule your workout for the next day. 

Holidays can wreak havoc on a tight workout schedule, but a few days or even a few weeks off may not be that detrimental to your fitness. It might even allow your body to rest and you may come back stronger after the holidays are over.

For some extra motivation sign up for a race or fitness event in January or February to help keep you on track after the holidays are over and help you have a goal to motivate you to stay active.

Do you have any tips to share with me? Send them my way. Happy Training and Merry Christmas!

W Is For Winners!

Happy Thursday everyone! I hope your week is going as well as mine! I have been having a great week in my running and fitness life and thought I would share a few of the fun things that happened to me this week. One of the first things is that I received my prize from winning the Day 1 photo challenge in the espnW 98 Days to Shine Instagram and Twitter contest. I received a really fun t-shirt and can't wait to proudly wear it around town! Yes, W is for winners! My shirt arrived Monday morning. I went out for a morning run and when I returned it was waiting for me at the door! Thanks espnW, I can't wait to keep entering your contest!

This week was a little cooler in Northern California. In fact, I was scheduled to have a track workout on Monday evening and when I showed up no one else was there. I checked Facebook and saw that the run had been cancelled due to inclement weather. As an Oregonian, 60's and overcast is NOT inclement weather! There needs to by lightening striking close by for me to give up on a run. Needless to say I did a three mile sprint workout anyway. It was nice to run by myself too, just me, the track and the great outdoors. I did 400's and 200's and followed them with a yoga session. In case you were wondering, this is the perfect way to start off a week!

The later half of the week I have been busy with work and getting ready for the Sacramento Capitals World TeamTennis season lately. If you are in the Sacramento area you don't want to miss out on the chance to see these world class tennis players in action! See photo below from the team last year. Yes, that is me with Sam Querrey, the number one American tennis player in the world right now! Go Capitals! For updates be sure to follow their Facebook and Twitter accounts. If you do you just might be interacting with yours truly and have the chance to win amazing box seats to the matches in July!

I am also getting so excited for the upcoming Hood to Coast Relay with Nuun Hydration! There are so many exciting things happening and great sponsors we are working with. I can't wait to try their new products and share my journey with you. The official countdown has begun and now there are only 57 days until the race! Stay tuned here because there are going to be lots of fun giveaways coming up for you guys as well! 

Happy Training!

Merry Christmas to All!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had an amazing day and that all your Christmas wishes came true. I had a great day with my husband and my parents just relaxing at Sun River Resort in Oregon. It was definitely a great idea to rent a cabin and spend time appreciating family. The snow today was gorgeous and I got to go out for a bit of a walk/run and took some great pictures with my family. It's definitely nice to be able to just get away from the everyday life events sometimes and appreciate the small things.

My dad and I went ice skating this evening, and while I don't think the US National Hockey team will be knocking on my door anytime soon, I still had a great time. With only one fall to speak of, I would say that today was a success. I was even getting into a bit of a rhythm near the end of our hour and a half of skating. I was definitely a bit too bundled, skating is a great workout and I was roasting, too many layers! I was a bit worried that I would not reach my Nike Fuel goal today because of all the lounging that we were doing, but ice skating really burned those Christmas calories!

Even when I don't get a workout in at the gym, I still find ways to stay active and keep my body guessing. Aaron and I even tried to get into the gym at the resort but we were turned away because we were not homeowners here. Oh, well, that will come soon enough...I hope! We decided we would make our own workout and instead shoveled snow off the balcony...tough work! I don't think anyone has shoveled the snow all season long, they must have known that some crazy fitness fanatics would be by just in time to clear the deck of three feet of snow!

I couldn't be more thankful for great friends and family this holiday season. How was your Christmas? Did you find any creative ways to stay active and enjoy time with your family? 

Nike+ Kinect Training Review

I purchased Nike+ Kinect Training on October 31st. I told my husband it was my Halloween present. I have been anticipating this game coming out for months, ever since Nike announced its creation this summer. I wanted to put it on my Christmas wish list, but that only lasted a day before I caved and made a late night trip to Target to pick up the game! I love improving my fitness and am always looking for new ways to challenge my body and keep me fired up to improve my speed, strength and overall fitness level. This Kinect game is more like using a personal trainer, than an actual game, but it really keeps me accountable for showing up to workout and making sure I have the correct form during the drills. 

The first think I noticed about the game was how easy it is to set up and link with your Nike+ account so you can track your progress everyday. You do a custom fitness assessment before the Nike Trainer of your choice (Marie Purvis or Alex Molden) sets a program for you to reach your fitness goals. I chose Marie as my trainer and the Get Strong program and I have been doing tons of squats, lunges, pushups, weights and drills to help me reach my goals. I just completed my first week Friday and am on to the second week of my four week program. The program grows with you and gets more intense as your fitness improves. 

My first day with Kinect Training. Got my Fuel Print!

The great thing about Nike products is how well they integrate with the other fitness devices that Nike promotes. I have a Fuelband that tracks my daily activity and earns me Fuel points throughout the day. Along with this same idea, I earn Fuel points with each Kinect workout I complete. Depending how long and how hard I workout with the program I earn Fuel points to track my progress. My progress is automatically downloaded to the Nike+ website where I can see my progress in a timeline. There is also  a Nike+ Kinect Training app that you can check any time throughout the day. I also get reminders sent directly to my phone to alert me that I have an upcoming Kinect Training workout. 

All of my Nike+ devices track my daily activity and show it in one place!

You might be thinking that this is a great game, but what if I want to challenge my friends or see how I rank against others? The challenge section of the game allows you to train live with friends around the globe and challenge them for the top spot on weekly challenges. You can also complete in global challenges that happen every two minutes and see how you rank amongst everyone competing in that same challenge! It's a great way to get your competitive juices flowing! This week I am in the top spot in the Leg Matrix Challenge and I hope I can stay there! 

Top spot in the weekend challenge! 

If you've been looking for a way to up your game and challenge your body, this game is for you. It's also great for these short winter days when you don't want to go outside or when you get snowed in. No excuses for not completing your workout! If you want to challenge me just add me to your friends list, gamer tag: superwomankw. 

Happy Training! 

April NTC Challenge!

Today was a great day, made even better by the excitement of meeting other NTC enthusiasts through Twitter and Nike Women. For those of you who don't know, NTC stands for Nike Training Club, which is a seriously tough and fun workout app created by Nike Master Trainer Marie Purvis. It can be done anywhere from your iphone or ipad device and is sweeping the country at select 24 hour fitness locations. Nike, here is a hint, bring NTC to Roseville, CA (I'd gladly be your instructor)!

This month is my April NTC Challenge. The goal is to complete 1000 minutes of training with the NTC app. I have already had a few people join me, such as the awesome Jenae Frick of YogaEatRun, Larinna Richards of iheartspandex.com, and my new Twitter challengers, @TiaraBeth, @nerissa_ann and anyone else who is joining in on the challenge!

I completed the 45 minute Get Toned, Intermediate, Competitor drills today. I am about to start my stretching with the Shawn Johnson 15 minute stretch workout. It was a good day and I am feeling stronger already. Every time I push myself with NTC I see a difference in my body and feel stronger.

If you want to join the challenge post a comment below or follow on Twitter with the hash tag #NTCApril1000, coined by YogaEatRun, thanks girl! I'd love to hear about your progress and motivate you when you don't feel like working out and getting motivation from you all when I am feeling like skipping a day. Let's stay strong together girls!

I will post my daily NTC schedule in my next post and you can do the same drills as me or make up your own. Good luck ladies! 

Healthy Pizza

I am always looking for a way to add some extra health benefits to common foods I enjoy and pizza is no exception.

This past weekend I was tasked with making pizza and was faced with the challenge of making it healthy. This is what I came up with.

I started with a whole wheat crust, spread a layer of tomato sauce, then added the tiniest sprinkle of cheese, spinach, mushrooms, olives, artichoke hearts, onions and fresh sliced tomatoes. It was the most delicious pizza I think I have ever tasted. Plus, I didn't feel bad after eating it, I just felt like I had actually fueled my body properly. It was piled so high with vegetables it looked more like a salad than a pizza, and I know it was packed with health benefits.

I followed my healthy eating with a tough 45 minute Nike Training Club workout and a 3 mile run. It was a great way to end a perfect day. Give this pizza a try, you'll love it!