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…the livin’ is easy

dmartin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:25:41 +0000

After the rush of activities associated with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and starting the New Year – STRONG – with our goals, work and school related activities, even weather challenges, well, it’s time to B R E A T H E. Right now, just breathe in, count to 4, hold, and exhale for a count of 6. Didn’t that feel good? Breathing exercises have been proven to help some individuals with High Blood pressure.

February’s challenge…it is time to de-stress!

The following article from the Dr. Oz website, is a reminder to us of some simple pleasures “…to refresh the body and mind: Taking baths, Reading, Doing breathing exercises, Receiving back rubs/massages, Listening to relaxation tapes, Writing in a journal, Meeting with a friend, Napping, Walking, Dancing, Engaging in spiritual reflection, Stretching, Listening to music.”

When was the last time you took a “mental getaway“? Or, during this season of “love”, how about a little pampering? Make some time for you this month. I know it’s not “Summertime“, but take some time to make “the livin’ easy.”

“Who will separate us from the love of Christ…” – Romans 8:31-39 (NASB)

Winter is a great time to begin running

jbrooks — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:35:54 +0000

For much of the country it is a funny time to talk about running. What with the biggest snow storm of the decade raging in the Virgina area, schools and business’s closed up and down the east coast and no break in sight. Running is not limited to an outside endeavor, for many with treadmills this is the way to avoid cabin fever, reduce the stress and anxiety of closed quarters and for many a way to stay in shape for when the weather does break. It is also a way to start your training, attend to a resolution and develop some good habits. Like with any new exercise program you definitely want to be careful not to over do it and to do some advance preparation. Some helpful hints to remember:

1) Use a quality treadmill. Nothing worse than using a treadmill with the wrong specs, have it breakdown and derail your regimen or out grow it.

2) Buy comfortable and well designed shoes. Heavy padding is not as important as making sure they are a little long and a little wide for your foot to avoid discomfort. Actually a minimalist approach to cushioning might be best in the long run.

3) Run for minutes and not for miles. Concentrate on good form and increasing your duration in minutes. It is an easier goal to hit and maintain and will keep you from getting discouraged.

4) Get plenty of nourishment. If you are hungry, eat, your body will tell you what you need as long as its not dipped in chocalate or fried you should be good.

5) Run relaxed, shake your hands every once in awhile and avoid bunching your shoulders up. The more relaxed the less chance for muscle tension and pulling.

6) Vary your workouts. If you only have time for a short run, 10 to 15 minutes, then do it. Something is always better than nothing.

7) Always stretch after running. Do some light warm ups to start and save the stretching for a warm and flexible state.

8) Drink lots of water and stay hydrated. This does not only mean while you are on the treadmill but all of the time.

9) Listen to your body and remember to run through annoyance, not through pain. Your body knows.

Take these suggestions to heart and enjoy yourself. Before you know it the snow will melt and you will be ready for that Summer 10k. Read Friday’s post for 10 more tips for the beginning runner!

Curious about Yowza?

Joe Alter — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:52:32 +0000

My name is Joe Alter and I am one of the founding partners or Yowza Fitness. I’ll be blogging on a regular basis on all things fitness, including treadmills, elliptical trainers, and especially our unique products like the Captiva VME variable motion elliptical and our brand new Core X trainer.

Sign up to the left of this screen to receive our newsletter, special offers and of course links to our latest blog. You’ll get new workout routines, industry news, information about new product breakthroughs and much, much more.

When you are browsing around our website you may notice that we have a lot of technical terms and industry-specific language associated with our products and manufacturing processes. Well that is because we all come from a background of fitness purists who believe that there is a right way and wrong way to build fitness equipment and it is well worth the extra time and effort to get the bio-mechanics right when it comes to “feel-based products like elliptical machines.

Speaking for myself, I have always been fascinated by the physiology of exercise dating back to my days in College as a pitcher and 3rd basemen for coach Eddie Stanky at the University of South Alabama. I would spend hours trying to understand how to get more mileage out of the human body whether it was trying to crack 90mph on my fastball, hit the ball out of the park without over-swinging, or just avoiding injury with the proper mechanics.

Not surprisingly, I surrounded myself with like-minded people over the years resulting in the formation of Yowza Fitness – America’s premier factory direct fitness equipment company. Feel free to give us a call or drop us a line to discuss our products and how they were developed. We would love to chat with you!