Mid Workout Stretching

Out of breath during your cardio or weightlifting workout?

Pause and do some stretches.

Why?

#1. Regular Stretching increases and maintains flexibility.

#2. It gives you a moment to catch your breath and recharge available energy in your blood.

#3. Stretching exercises smaller muscles that most people forget about, like your obliques (side muscles).

#4. Stretching reduces muscle tension. Ergo, less pain in your muscles and joints.

#5. It also improves your muscular coordination.

#6. Improves balance.

#7. Exercises core muscles.

#8. Increases circulation and energy levels.

#9. Prevents sports injuries if done properly and regularly.

#10. Decreases the likelihood of injuries as you get older (eg. falls and breaking your hip).

#11. Mid exercise and post exercise Stretching helps with muscle recovery and helps condition your tendons/muscles.

#12. Because sometimes it just feels really good to have a good stretch!

Kicking and Kickboxing as Exercise

Not all exercises have to be cardio or weightlifting or yoga / stretching (which reminds me, I need to write more posts about proper stretching)... Sometimes activities can just be fun.

#1. Dancing - Yes, technically its a cardio, but you forget that it is and just have fun exercising without realizing it.

#2. Sex - Again, its a cardio... and it can also be weightlifting, depending on what you are doing. *wink*

#3. Martial Arts...

The simple act of kicking as high as you can kick does two things:

#1. Its cardio. So you can get a decent workout by doing 100 high kicks with each leg per day.

Note: If you have a sedentary lifestyle don't start with 100 per day because you could injure yourself since your legs aren't used to it. Start with 20 per day and work your way up gradually. (See the comments near the bottom about patience.)

#2. Its stretching. You feel it especially in the back of your leg, where your muscles aren't used to being stretched like that. Stretching helps to increase and maintain flexibility.

So if you're exercising at home and you want to add some flexibility exercises to your routine, kicking is a good place to start. Just make sure you have plenty of room to practice your kicks.

If you get really into it you may be tempted to get into Kickboxing, which as the name implies, combines boxing with various kicks into a martial arts-based sport.

Note: I did kickboxing back when I was in high school and later I did Taekwondo when I was living in South Korea (Taekwondo is focused on kicking and tripping opponents), so I feel confident speaking on the topic of kickboxing and Taekwondo even though I don't formally teach either of them. And frankly I prefer traditional boxing.

Kickboxing, is also sometimes referred to as "cardio kickboxing" or "boxing aerobics", because it is often employed as an exercise routine combining a mix of boxing, martial arts and aerobics that really packs a workout wallop.

Because Kickboxing uses both the muscles of the upper and lower body, as well as the core muscles, you get a great all-around workout in a short amount of time. You may discover that many sports have a tendency to do provide a full body workout, with several exceptions (eg. golf is a lazy man's game).

A typical martial arts class begins with some stretches and a light cardiovascular warm-up including push-ups and jumping jacks. The remainder of the class is usually comprised of a series of repetitive punches, alternating hand-strikes and kicks - typically switching between all three -- followed at the end by some kind of cool down/floor work/stretching combo.

Unlike other cardio exercises like running, cycling, etc which focus on only your legs, martial arts training (boxing, kickboxing, judo, karate, etc) requires a full body workout and also fuels an adrenaline rush, making it an adrenaline high workout too - which burns added calories in a hurry and helps tone muscles. And its good for developing functional strength, balance and coordination.

According to the American Council on Exercise, a kickboxing workout will burn about 350 to 450 calories/hour. That is a huge number when you consider its recommended that you only eat approx. 2,000 calories per day.

HOWEVER!


Because kickboxing is such a strenuous exercise the risks for beginners are also higher. People with back or joint problems (eg. arthritis) should avoid this kind of workout. Beginners are always wanting to learn something in a hurry. They have no patience and no commitment.

Kickboxing is very strenuous and the problem with a sedentary person trying to get into a kickboxing program is that they end up in over their heads very quickly. They're trying to do something that's too hard for them and they don't have the patience to practice just a little bit daily and instead they are trying to do a lot daily, which results in muscle fatigue and injury.

An hour of kickboxing for someone new to the sport is too much. 30 to 45 minutes is more recommended and then after 10 or 20 lessons they can work up to an hour. They have to build up gradually and be patient about it otherwise they will either injure themselves or give up due to lack of patience.

This perhaps explains why so few people get into any of the martial arts. They simply lack the patience and determination to keep at it and learn gradually. Learning patience and humility are arguably the two biggest steps.

Note

If you live in Toronto you can hire me as your personal trainer and we can add kickboxing lessons to the list of things to do if you are interested. Kickboxing (and boxing in general) is a lot of fun and makes a great cardio exercise.

All About Vitamins - What do they do?

Vitamins are important to your healthy diet, but what do they actually do?

Here is a handy chart which not only shows why various vitamins are useful, but also where you can find them.

When looking to buy a multivitamin its recommended that you find one that pick one that has all the vitamins in it, and if you have a very active lifestyle pick one with higher dosages. So remember to read the label instead of just buying the one which is on sale.

Although if its on sale AND turns out to have all the vitamins you are looking for, absolutely, buy it.

Vitamin	What the vitamin does	Significant food sources
B1 (thiamin)	Supports energy metabolism and nerve function	spinach, green peas, tomato juice, watermelon, sunflower seeds, lean ham, lean pork chops, soy milk
B2 (riboflavin)	Supports energy metabolism, normal vision and skin health	spinach, broccoli, mushrooms, eggs, milk, liver, oysters, clams
B3 (niacin)	Supports energy metabolism, skin health, nervous system and digestive system	spinach, potatoes, tomato juice, lean ground beef, chicken breast, tuna (canned in water), liver, shrimp
Biotin	Energy metabolism, fat synthesis, amino acid metabolism, glycogen synthesis	widespread in foods
Pantothenic Acid	Supports energy metabolism	widespread in foods
B6 (pyridoxine)	Amino acid and fatty acid metabolism, red blood cell production	bananas, watermelon, tomato juice, broccoli, spinach, acorn squash, potatoes, white rice, chicken breast
Folate	Supports DNA synthesis and new cell formation	tomato juice, green beans, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, okra, black-eyed peas, lentils, navy, pinto and garbanzo beans
B12	Used in new cell synthesis, helps break down fatty acids and amino acids, supports nerve cell maintenance	meats, poultry, fish, shellfish, milk, eggs
C (ascorbic acid)	Collagen synthesis, amino acid metabolism, helps iron absorption, immunity, antioxidant	spinach, broccoli, red bell peppers, snow peas, tomato juice, kiwi, mango, orange, grapefruit juice, strawberries
A (retinol)	Supports vision, skin, bone and tooth growth, immunity and reproduction	mango, broccoli, butternut squash, carrots, tomato juice, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, beef liver
D	Promotes bone mineralization	self-synthesis via sunlight, fortified milk, egg yolk, liver, fatty fish
E	Antioxidant, regulation of oxidation reactions, supports cell membrane stabilization	polyunsaturated plant oils (soybean, corn and canola oils), wheat germ, sunflower seeds, tofu, avocado, sweet potatoes, shrimp, cod
K	Synthesis of blood-clotting proteins, regulates blood calcium	Brussels sprouts, leafy green vegetables, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, liver

All About Minerals - What do they do?

Earlier today I was in a Shoppers Drug Mart on Yonge Street in Toronto and I was buying vitamin pills because I was starting to run low.

The pills I purchased had higher dosages of various vitamins, which is a good thing because I lead a pretty active lifestyle. But it also had a long list of minerals in it too.

Now most people know what calcium does (stronger bones) and perhaps also knows what iron does (increases cardiovascular circulation), but a lot of the other minerals I can bet most people don't know what they do.

So as you can see below I've gone ahead and added little explanations for what the various minerals actually do for your body.

Calcium - Strong bones and teeth, nerve function, muscle contraction, blood clotting.

Chromium - Associated with insulin and is required for the release of energy from glucose (converting sugar into energy).

Copper - Necessary for the absorption and utilization of iron, supports formation of hemoglobin and several enzymes.

Iodine - Helps regulate growth, development and metabolic rate.

Iron - Red blood cells and muscle function, white blood cells and the immune system.

Magnesium - Converting energy from food, cell repair, building strong bones, teeth and muscles and regulating body temperature.

Manganese - Facilitates many cell processes.

Molybdenum - Facilitates many cell processes.

Potassium - Maintains fluid and electrolyte balance, cell integrity, muscle contractions and nerve impulse transmission

Selenium - Antioxidant. Works with vitamin E to protect body from oxidation

Sodium - Maintains fluid and electrolyte balance, supports muscle contraction and nerve impulse transmissions

Vanadium - Used for treating diabetes and anemia and is great for improving performance in weight training; and helps prevent cancer.

Zinc - Immune system, the breakdown of protein, fat and carbohydrate, important part of enzymes.

So as you can see they're all pretty important. Thus having a shortage of several minerals in your diet can be a problem for your health and will harm your efforts to lose fat / gain muscle. When in doubt, best to make sure you have enough of everything you need.

Javelin Throwing

I was recently curious about getting into the Olympic sport of Javelin Throwing. I tried it back in high school, but didn't really get the opportunity to get into it.

So I asked around to see if anyone knows where I can buy Javelins in Toronto and the best answer isn't even in Toronto. The company has Toronto in the name, but its located in Markham.

Sports Equipment of Toronto Ltd.
250 Telson Road
Markham
Ontario L3R 1E6
Canada

I warn you in advance however that javelins can be a tad expensive. (Which makes sense why so few people get into the sport.) The prices listed at sportsequipmentoftoronto.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=223 range from $1,115 to a mere $50.


So yes, you could get into the sport for a mere $50... but lets be realistic. Do you really want to throw ONE javelin and then have to go pick it up? No. You're going to want at least 4 or 5 javelins that you can throw, and then go pick them all up at once.

So if you want to get into it as a sport you have to be thinking of spending $200 to $6,000, plus you may want to get books about throwing technique, a coach who can teach you how to run and throw properly, or even special gloves or track and field shoes.

But hey, extra equipment is pretty standard with almost any serious sport.