Strength tip for February 2010

Here is a video of the whole body strength tip described in the WoW Power Walking February Newsletter. Enjoy!

Side plank PLUS for that extra workout

The attached video shows the exercise as described in our September newsletter. Try it! you'll like it!

Early morning strength

This is moonset over Oakville harbour! It's a special treat for those of us who get up to begin our 6am early morning strength class.

On mornings like this the workout is secondary to the view!

But the workout is great..it's good to train our walking muscles in other ways.

Strength for a powerful power walk!

This is the video referred to in the WoW Power Walking Newsletter of June 2009

Massage as passive cross training

The slow tightening of my muscles has begun as I get into some of the long distance training and speed work for the spring race season. Also, have I mentioned that my computer screen went black several months ago and I have been able to continue working on the computer's keyboard only with a computer moniter hooked up off to the left? It's creating a muscle imbalance in my neck that is becoming debilitating. If you see me and notice my head seems unnaturally turned to the left, please feel free to stand to my right so that I am forced to contract the muscles on the right side of my neck to speak to you.

In any case, all of this led me to the door of my favorite massage therapist today in search of some muscle balancing. And, oh, it felt good when I walked out of there. It got me thinking that perhaps massage therapy could be justified as a form of cross training. Passive, but effective, cross training.

Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to describe massage as the yin to the yang of marathon training.

Cross country skiing

With today's snow covering up some dangerous ice patches, cross country skiing might be a welcome form of cross training. Seriously, it's a good exercise to extend the range of motion through the hip joint and if you like using poles, they work better with skiis on your feet. And, your upper body will love the workout.

Of course, nothing beats the convenience of putting on your shoes and going walking - even with a bit of snow. This is the time of year to pull Yaktrax or some other ice gripping device over your shoes. When it's Yaktrax weather, I like to wear old shoes. Yaktrax mean snow, and snow means salt, and salt kills your shoes. It's my experience that Yaktrax work best when there is some snow or slush on the road. They can handle bare asphalt for a few hundred feet but after that, my feet and body get tired of walking on them. Also, remember to take Yaktrax OFF before getting to the tile floor in your mudroom - your feet will be facing the ceiling in short order.

Walking strength and balance

The WoW Power Walking program was created to help people get more fit from walking. We based the program on setting a goal for a distance event - whether it's 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half marathon, 30k, 21 mile, or full marathon.

We believe that setting a fun and tangible goal is one important factor in the continued success of our programs and its participants. Still, a goal is only as good as the committed journey toward it. The coaches at WoW are our secret ingredient for making the journey work for you. We are committed to hiring coaches who are professionally certified by professional fitness certification bodies.

In addition, we are always prepared to re-evaluate our programming based on the latest research in the fitness and health industry - so long as the research appears authentic and comes from reputable sources. We're not prepared to jump on the latest band-wagon but we do constantly evaluate our programming.

Take for example, the addition of our walking courses that offer strength training programming. We added these courses because, as safe as walking is, the constant repetitive movement can produce imbalanced muscles with the potential for injury. We introduced a Walk Circuit class that includes strength training to add diversity to the walking workout while building strength in propulsive and stabilizing muscles for improved performance.

The strength exercises we do complement your walking. We take care with this, as there are strength training programs that can reduce your effectiveness as an endurance athlete. And we will continue to pay attention to new research and to evaluate our programming vis-à-vis your continued success.

Indeed, after some research and evaluation of the Walk Circuit classes, we have determined that a better title would be Walking Strength and Balance. This reflects the fact that we will be doing 15 to 20 minutes of walking cardio in the class. This cardio portion will get the feel-good neurotransmitters, endorphins and serotonin, kicking in. Some days that portion of the class will be at the beginning and some days it will be at the end. Because research has shown that strength exercises on leg muscles will not be as effective if those muscles have been used for cardio exercise prior to the strength exercise, those days that we will focus on leg strength the walking cardio portion will follow.

The name change also reflects the fact that I’d like to see people working both strength and balance. Strength exercises will focus on a variety of muscles for general aesthetic toning (!) as well as improving walking performance for those participants who are interested in improving race times. Stability exercises do not have the same effect as strength exercises in terms of toning but they play a very important role in preventing injury. Also, have you ever noticed that what makes people look young is their ability to maintain balance (read stability) when their extremities are moving through all ranges of motion?

You may be working with a personal trainer or attending other programs that work on strength and stability, in which case it would be a good idea to review these with your coach to ensure that your program is complementing your walking goals.

Heat makes it a good time to cross train

4o degrees celsius with the humidity!

At about 12:30pm this afternoon I saw someone out running in long black sweatpants and a cotton t-shirt. Now there's a glutton for punishment. If someone came to class dressed like that on a day like today, we'd send them home.

Seriously, when the triple environmental killer is on - heat, humidity, and smog alerts, it's a good day to consider some cross training alternatives. In today's newsletter that went out, I describe the side plank as an excellent strength training exercise. There's a photo of me in Vera's garden doing a plank. I've posted it here too for your edification. One minute of the side plank on each side may be enough effort for today!

If you do go out walking, go out in the early morning or evening. Wear clothing that keeps you cool. Slow down and take the opportunity to think about your form. Even just concentrating on landing with your front leg straight is good practice and is often easier to do when you are not walking at top speed.

Most of all stay hydrated and watch your electrolyte balance! Don't just carry water, consider carrying a sport drink or some orange juice.

A messy walk

There are people who know I am not a neat person by nature. It's not that I don't try; it's just that tidying up always seems to be something I decide can be done later. Still, there are aspects of the chaotic nature of my personal space that baffle even me. Didn't I just clean out my purse last week? So, why is it that today I can't find my way to the bottom where I know there is a pen?

The other day, I bought a book called The Perfect Mess - The Hidden Benefits of Disorder. Even though I have justified my messiness with the explanation that it's good to be able to live with chaos - I mean, the world is a chaotic place - I do suffer from some guilt that somehow I could be more productive, if I could be just a bit neater. At the very least, the people around me might be happier. I thought this book my assuage some of my guilt.

The truth is I didn't really plan to read the book. The title was good enough for me. I bought it for my husband to read who is having a particular issue with the stack of books beside our bed. Well, chances are very high he won’t read it, since it will soon be buried under that stack. And, as it turns out, I have been hogging it. I even experimented applying the theory of messiness to walking which is I why I am writing about it in this blog.

While I was on my walk yesterday, after spending a good part of the afternoon reading about the benefits of disorder, I decided I might try a messy walk. What would a messy walk entail? Well, basically I applied disorder to the walk. Instead of following one of my more typical plans for a training walk where I might set about with some application of orderliness, such as hill repetition, or walking at a specified pace, I just walked fast and tried stuff as I went along. I may have a messy desk and a messy purse, but I tend to orderliness when it comes to my walking workouts. This might be interesting.

Here is what my messy walk looked like. When I came to my first hill I decided to walk up lunging. That was a good challenge and, as it turned out, a good way to stretch out while warming up. Within a few minutes along the path, I passed a children’s playground. Since no children were using it I decided to try a chin up. I’ve never been successful at chin ups but since I notice that limitation never stops children from trying, I just did what I could until my arms were ready to fall off. Then, I continued walking. I came to a place where the trail was hidden from view of houses, so I skipped. I skipped until I couldn’t skip any more. Then, I continued walking. Soon I found myself at another children’s playground. This time I climbed on a swing. I swung until I got bored. It took another few minutes after that to determine how to get my butt out of the swing. I’m sure when I was 12 I could just jump off. Thirty-five years later I lack confidence with this skill. Now I was on my final few blocks back to my house and I decided to race as fast as I could until I felt like stopping. I did that a few times. When I got in the door, I felt great.

I’ve decided the messy walk may have to become an integral part of my training. And I have a theory that the hidden benefit of disorder that results from a messy walk is that my body was surprised by the change in activity. As we know from research, the body greets change as challenge and that challenge with adaptation and improvement. Besides, it was fun. Try it and let me know what you think.

Water walkers

Summer solstice is almost here, school will be out soon, and I am blessed with some excellent friends who happen to have spectacular cottages and inviting backyard pools. If you find yourself beside the water, playing lounge lizard and you are overcome by the need to get some blood moving, you could take advantage of the deep-end to try some water walking. Many of us have been giving our feet a pounding this spring season and they would welcome the break. Just jump in the water and tread water by moving your legs in the walking motion. It will work those walking muscles without pounding the joints. Another idea would be to move your legs out and in mimicking the jumping jack motion – great cross-training. These ideas are the perfect antidote to some other activities that happen around the pool and the lake!