Exercise Articles

Fitness for All Firecracker Frenzy: Fourth of July Fitness Challenge

The Fourth of July brings food, picnics, swimming, fireworks and so much more.

Why not kick off this Fourth of July with a bang and not just end it with one?

This month we offer you this “Firecracker Frenzy: Fourth of July Workout Challenge”.

Start off with these warm-ups:

*30-second march in place

*20 glute kicks

*20 squats

*20 jumping jacks

*30-second march in place

And the workout:

 *25 jumping jacks

*20 side lunges

*25 jump squats

*15 push-ups

*10 burpees

*20 crunches

*20 sit-ups

*30-seconds to 1 minute plank

Repeat full circuit one time.

Cool Down:

*30-second march in place

*Stretch

Have fun and Happy Fourth of July Everyone!

Healthy Living: It’s Swimming Season!

With the warm weather comes the opening of public pools and home pools and people break out the bathing suit for another season of swimming. For many people, swimming is a good way to wind down after a long day.  But others are using swimming as another means of exercise, and they are finding that exercise in the spring and summertime can be fun!

Swimming is an excellent way to lose weight and strength train all the while enjoying the beautiful outdoors. 

Exercise experts recommend swimming as a form of exercise because of the great cardiovascular workout you get from swimming.  It is considered a great aerobic exercise because it is an action that maintains an elevated heartbeat for a minimum of 20 minutes. 

You can simply add swimming to your pre-existing aerobic workout to help switch things up and keep your workouts fresh.  Alternate days that you decide to use swimming as your cardio for that day, so you don’t get bored with any one workout.

Like any exercise, you should also start any swimming workout routine by stretching first. You may not realize the affect swimming has on your entire body until it is too late, so be sure to stretch appropriately before you begin. Then start off slow by swimming strides and gradually increasing your speed in the pool.  This will help to elevate your heart rate at a safe pace and help you to last longer during your workout.

Swimming, and using swimming as your key workout, is more about endurance than quickness.  Experts suggest starting out swimming laps for approximately 20 minutes for women and 30 minutes for men.  You can begin to increase your time as necessary and as you continue your workout over the course of weeks or months. 

Again, this will prevent you from getting too tired, too sore, wore out or disappointed in your swimming workout. Try out different strokes when you are swimming, too.  Do some laps using the breaststroke, then switch up and do the backstroke, or even the doggy paddle.  Each swimming stroke using a different variety of muscles and therefore will give you the best overall workout.

Fitness for All Jump Rope Into June: 30-Day Challenge

Get jumping into June with this 30-day Jump Rope Challenge.

Each “rep” would be one jump over the rope or revolution.

Day 1: 50 reps

Day 2: 150 reps

Day 3: 90 reps

Day 4: 150 reps

Day 5: 125 reps

Day 6: REST

Day 7: REST

Day 8: 165 reps

Day 9: 150 reps

Day 10: 200 reps

Day 11: 150 reps

Day 12: 235 reps

Day 13: REST

Day 14: REST

Day 15: 225 reps

Day 16: 150 reps

Day 17: 310 reps

Day 18: 150 reps

Day 19: 350 reps

Day 20: REST

Day 21: REST

Day 22: 385 reps

Day 23: 150 reps

Day 24: 425 reps

Day 25: 150 reps

Day 26: 465 reps

Day 27: REST

Day 28: REST

Day 29: 500 reps

Day 30: 150 reps

Fitness for All Muscle May: 31-Day Push-up Challenge

This May it’s time to build that muscle! A great exercise to do just that is by the good old-fashioned push-ups. Good luck!

Day 1: 5 push-ups

Day 2: 7 push-ups

Day 3: 9 push-ups

Day 4: 11 push-ups

Day 5: 13 push-ups

Day 6:  15 push-ups

Day 7: REST

Day 8: 17 push-ups

Day 9:  19 push-ups

Day 10: 21 push-ups

Day 11:  23 push-ups

Day 12: 25 push-ups

Day 13: 27 push-ups

Day 14: 29 push-ups

Day 15: REST

Day 16: 31 push-ups

Day 17: 33 push-ups

Day 18: 35 push-ups

Day 19: 37 push-ups

Day 20: 39 push-ups

Day 21: 41 push-ups

Day 22: REST

Day 23: 43 push-ups

Day 24: 45 push-ups

Day 25: 47 push-ups

Day 26: 49 push-ups

Day 27: 51 push-ups

Day 28: 53 push-ups

Day 29: 57 push-ups

Day 30: 60 push-ups

Day 31: REST