Sports Performance

As you train your body for the swim, bike and run remember that each event will require a unique training regimen in order to prepare you for a win. When it comes to the run, think like a marathon runner would. Would you start out running 10 miles per day every day? If you’re like most people, you neither have the time or the stamina to start out that way. Can you really fit 50 miles a week into your schedule? How about a run every other day?

“The single best way to stay injury-free is to run every other day,” says former Olympian Jeff Galloway, who created a popular three-day program that incorporates frequent “walk breaks.” “Three days gives you all the ingredients you need, plus rest and recovery.”

Although much depends on the quality of your workouts, researchers with the Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training have shown that experienced runners can improve their times using three runs a week.

These “Marathon-lite” plans usually involve two short but purposeful runs: a speed workout done several times throughout the week and a longer paced run on the weekend. Cross training (swimming, strength training or cycling) can be incorporated as well so that you get an all around body workout and can prepare for your other events. Not to mention, three day plans like this can also reduce your risk of injury and allow for you to recoup and rest your body in between regimens.

We have all done it before.  Someone is about to take a picture of you so you suck in your gut to look thinner.  You probably do the same thing when you look at yourself in the mirror.  Well guess what.  There is more to that reaction than vanity alone.  It is your mind telling your body to straighten up and it is a key change in your posture that you can practice ALL THE TIME.  The benefits are overwhelming and it won’t take a single extra minute out of your day. 

A strong core forms the base of all movement. You can strength train 5 times a week and do sit ups for hours, but you will still lack the strength and conditioning required in your deep core muscles.  That is because a stronger core does not necessarily mean going to the gym.  It involves an awareness of the muscles that surround your pelvis and support your spine.  Imagine you are balancing a yard stick in the palm of your hand.  If you tilt your hand forward, you lose control and the yard stick falls over.  Now image that your spine is the yard stick and your pelvis is the palm of your hand.  Most of us walk around with our pelvis tipped forward requiring our back and shoulder muscles to fight to keep us from falling over.  This is a bad thing, but the solution is simple.

Fixing your posture problem is so easy and doing so means you will look sexier, run faster and feel better for the rest of your life!  Here is the answer to your problem. Whether you are driving in your car, walking through the grocery store or running a 100m dash, suck in your gut.

Try this right now.  Stand up. Suck in your gut. Tighten your glutes a bit and make yourself as tall as possible. Now make sure your shoulders are back and relaxed.  What you have just done is properly aligned your upper body and spine, rotated you pelvis into a more upright position and relieved stress on the muscles of your back and shoulders.  Can you believe something so good for you could be so easy? 

Start by practicing while you are in the car.  Suck in your gut, keeping your shoulders back a relaxed.  If you are driving, you may need to move the seat up so you can still reach the steering wheel.  Sorry, you can’t get your “gansta lean” on anymore.  You will look more like “Driving Miss Daisy”, but so what? It’s good for you. Do this for as long as you can.  Oh yeah, don’t forget to breath and to use your turn signals.  Next try it while you are walking to class or standing around at a party.  Suck in your gut and tighten your glutes.  This is an isometric workout you can do anytime and anywhere.  It sounds simple, but if make a conscious effort to do this as much as you can, you will notice the difference in just a couple days!

So, here’s to a better you.  SUCK IN THAT GUT

It may surprise you to find that many top athletes also enjoy playing music and vice versa. This is true because top athletes, musicians and artists all have something very important in common.  They all enjoy exploring their personal potential.  Whether you want to be a world class musician or an international sports star you will follow the same path to success.  This quest is called practice.  Practice is all about bringing yourself closer to perfection one small but specific and very targeted step at a time.  Once you have accumulated a broad palate of these fundamental competencies you are rewarded with the indescribable joy of performing almost effortlessly and with great skill. 

The first thing to understand about practice is that at some point it will involve a certain degree of either mental or physical discomfort.  It either causes physical pain like calluses and muscle strains or mental stress like when an exercise feels so awkward at first it’s like someone is dragging their finger nails across the chalk board of your mind.  If this were not true then everyone would be a combination of Roger Federer and Jimmy Hendrix. What gives the best performers the motivation to continue in spite of the long and meticulous path is the value they place on achieving their own perfect individual expression.  Once you have experienced, it something goes off inside you and  you are driven to continue.

Artists and athletes achieve greatness through practice. Either they instinctively recognize the fundamental skills required and practice them on their own or they find a coach.  With guitar that might involve playing progressions or practicing rhythm and counting out strumming patterns over and over again. In Track and Field it is doing drills like the “B-skip” or “falling starts” to single out and perfect one specific movement from all the coordinated mechanics involved in perfect running form.  First, practice drills use biomechanical feedback to help you identify in your mind what the right way is supposed to feel like.  Second, drills are a quick and convinient way to repeat that specific activity or movement until you have mastered it. 

In a nut shell, here’s how practice really works.  Create in your mind a clear picture of what you want to achieve. Be proud of this vision knowing that your ambition for personal discovery will be infinitely rewarding. Finally, learn everything you can about the fundamentals of that activity (This is where a coach comes in handy) and remember that you will reach your goals one practice at a time. 

For both recreational and competitive athletes, an Ultimate Body Press workout can provide all the upper body and core strength you need, but at some point you will need an exercise like running to develop cardiovascular endurance and leg strength for sports.  Running can do ALL that for you.  Unfortunately, when many people start running longer distances they experience a loss of sprinting speed.  This is a problem because most sports require a combination of speed and endurance.  Luckily, there is a way to get a great endurance workout without sacrificing speed. 

The reason distance running often comes at the sacrifice of top speed is because the athlete has falsely chosen an entirely different running pattern for longer distances. They have moved from a sprinting pattern into a heel-toe jogging pattern that more closely resembles walking.  This is a common misconception and has much to do with current shoe technology.  If you want proof, just look at the shoes worn by top distance runners.  They are nothing like the running shoes you will find in most stores. 

The shoes are known as “racing flats” and they are remarkably similar to the shoes worn by sprinters.  Just like with track shoes, marathoners’ shoes have no bulky heel pad because good distance runners do not actually land on their heels.  This is a more biomechanically efficient way to run.  Learning this proper running technique that eliminates the heel strike will increase your foot strength and means you will always be reinforcing good sprinting technique no matter what distance you run.

**Racing flats are extremely useful for learning how to run properly because they are more flexible and give you really good feedback.  However, they do not offer much support.  Use them for training then once you’ve learned the new technique you can go back to a shoes with more support.

In the quest for physical well being, it is imperative that we get the right amount of exercise. Furthermore, we should also consider the quality of that exercise. The more muscle groups we work, the better of we’ll be, and that’s where the Ultimate Body Press comes in. If you’re looking for a well-rounded workout, you needn’t do so any longer.

While the Ultimate Body Press is a simple-looking piece of equipment, the benefits it offers are massive. With each exercise, you’ll work multiple muscle groups, greatly facilitating your daily workout. Ideally, we want to get the exercise we need in the shortest amount of time, and with the Ultimate Body Press, this dream can come true. Workouts can last as little as ten minutes, but they will give you a metabolic boost that lasts for hours.

With its unparalleled efficiency, the Ultimate Body Press is a force to be reckoned with in the world of fitness. So, if you’re ready to give your body the workout it deserves, be sure to order one today!