Want To Get Fit? There’s An App For That

Was losing weight, gaining muscle, or otherwise increasing your fitness level one of your goals for 2011?  Here are five iPhone apps that will help you accomplish your goal.

5 Great iPhone Fitness Apps

1. LoseIt – Keep track of your calorie intake and your calories burned with this handy app that comes pre-loaded with data for hundreds of foods, including restaurant items. You can also customize your own foods and recipes.  For me the best part of LoseIt is that it lets you add friends for your own built-in support group. LoseIt will even update your accomplishments to Twitter for you if you like.
2. RunKeeper Pro – RunKeeper Pro uses the GPS in your iPhone to track your route for you, much like an expensive GPS watch would do.  It can be programmed to give you audio cues for time and/or distance through your headphones, while playing music from your playlists.  You can program it to give cues for splits and intervals, and all of the data can be uploaded to runkeeper.com where you can view your entire activity history.  While the name indicates that the app is meant for running, it can actually be used for a wide variety of activities including cycling, skiing, hiking, skating, and rowing.  And right now, through January, it’s FREE! (regularly $9.99).
3. C25K – Most people have heard of the Couch to 5K program, but if you haven’t I highly recommend it for non-runners who would like to get into the sport. It’s a nine-week program that takes you from not running at all to being able to complete a 5K, and it does it by starting you off slowly and gradually working up to longer run intervals.  I love this program, and the C25K app makes it so easy because you no longer need to time yourself with stopwatch.  Just listen to the audio cues that tell you when to run and when to walk, all while listening to your playlist, through your headphones.
4. Couch to 10K – If you’re feeling a little more froggish, there’s also the Couch to 10K app.  This app has longer workouts than the C25K app, and it goes for 13 weeks instead of 9.  At the end of that 13 weeks you will be able to run a 10K without stopping.  Quite honestly, I use both of these apps and switch back and forth between them, depending on how I (and my trick knee) feel.  The C210K workouts are all around 60 minutes, while the C25K workouts run about half that time.
5. Jillian Michaels’ Slim Down Solution – This free app from Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels is loaded with tips, recipes, calorie blasting circuit workouts, and advice for Self, Science, Sweat, and Sticky Situations.  It’s not perfect, some of segments are obviously pieces of a larger excerpt, but it’s free and there is a lot of good information packed in this little app.

Apps can be a great tool to help you reach your fitness goals.  What are your favorites?

Featured Photo used under Creative Commons license by: Griffintech

Gear Up: Spin Class

The New Year is fast approaching and we all know what that means – resolutions!  January 1^st is when most people want to shed those holiday pounds, and move toward a healthier lifestyle.  A great way to do that is to take a spin class.

What’s a spin class?  It’s a group cycling class that utilizes stationary bicycles and is led by an instructor that keeps you moving for the entire hour.  It’s a fantastic cardiovascular workout, and with the loud music and an enthusiastic instructor, it’s a whole lot of fun!

For your first class you don’t need any extra gear except a water bottle and a towel.  You can wear your regular gym clothes and tennis shoes, as most spin bikes have double-sided pedals with toe clips on one side while the other side can accommodate bike shoes.

When you go to your first class make sure you arrive early. Tell the instructor it’s your first class and ask her to help you adjust your bike for a proper fit. Make a mental note of where they moved each component so that you can do it yourself the next time.

The instructor will probably also explain the commands and hand positions they are going to be shouting out during the class.  If they don’t, just ask them if there is anything else you need to know about the class.  They want you to have a good experience and don’t mind your questions.

Most classes last about an hour.  During that time you’re going to hear commands to go faster, and to increase or decrease your resistance.  There will be times you sit on the seat, the “saddle,” and times you will be up out of it.  Go at your own pace.  This is your workout!  Challenge yourself, but keep it real.  You don’t have to increase your resistance every time the instructor says to, and you don’t have to be out of the saddle every time the class is. You are less likely to want to do this again if you push yourself into the barf zone during the first class. I recommend taking it slower for your first class so you can make it through the hour and see what a full class is like. There’s plenty of time to really push it later!

Make sure you are hydrating throughout the class to replace the fluids lost to the 84 gallons of sweat you will produce during one class. A water bottle you can use one-handed is best.  I like the Camelback bottles because the bite straw is convenient.

After your first class you’re going to have a pretty good idea whether you want to do this again.  Hey, it isn’t for everyone!  You’re also going to be pretty sure you want some padding for your butt, because you will be sore even with padded shorts.  It takes about a month to break in your sitting area, but I promise it does get better.

You can spend anywhere from $30 to $100 on bike shorts.  I bought a $30 liner that goes under my regular shorts, but I plan on buying a pair of cycling shorts like these Pearl iZUMi shorts because the compression of the spandex really does help your legs tire less quickly.

Some people bring gel seat covers to class with them, but I’m not a fan.  They’re inexpensive at about $30 and they offer padding, but they also soak up sweat and the ick factor is a deterrent for me.  I like that I can peel off my shorts and throw them in the wash.

If you start to get serious, you might want to invest in cycling shoes. Most spin classes use SPD (Shimano Pedal Design) pedals, but ask your instructor to make sure before you buy. There are a lot of options out there, so there is something for everyone. My favorite are the Shimano WM61, which are women-specific mountain bike shoes that have a ratcheting closure you can tighten or loosen on the fly. You will need to buy the SPD cleats separately, but most retailers will install them for you if you purchase them together.

Spinning is a fantastic workout and I hope you love it as much as I do!

Featured photo by Ben Alford/Flickr

Dumbbells for Women

I want to get dumbbells for my home so that I can have Michelle Obama arms.

What?  That is a completely acceptable reason to start thinking about fitness and exercising and stuff.  The first lady has fantastic arms.

My husband has some of those adjustable dumbbells with the plates you have to put on and take off to adjust the weight, and they intimidate the hell out of me.  I am fully aware of how pathetic that sounds, but it’s true.

What I’m looking for is a dumbbell set with multiple weights (so I can increase the weight as I get stronger) or adjustable dumbbells that are easy to use.  I don’t want a huge rack that will take up a lot of space in my house because I just don’t have the room for a full gym in my home.

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Yoga Is Awesome. At Home.

I am an inherently lazy person.

I’m convinced that God made me that way.  That’s why I am not one of those people who glistens when they workout.  I sweat.  And get red faced.  And swell.  And my legs itch when I run.

I’m practically allergic to strenuous exercise.

Which makes yoga perfect for me.

What is not perfect for me is a yoga class.  That you take with other people.  In front of mirrors.  In a room that discourages swearing.

If I’m going to fall over trying to stand on one leg, I’d like to be able to do it in the privacy of my own home where only my children can mock me and be scarred by my inevitable cursing.

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Women’s Workout Clothes – 4 rules for buying workout clothing

I just recently started working out again.  At a gym.

If you’ve ever been to a gym before you know that it is where the female spawn of satan go to make you feel fat. Some people will try to tell you that those women only hang out at the fancy gyms, but they’re lying.  Even the women at the YMCA have the ability to make you feel like stuffed sausage on feet when you first start to work out.

My first day back to the gym, I made a classic rookie mistake.  I dressed like a mom who was just starting to work out again.

I wore capri pants instead of shorts to cover up the cellulite on my pasty white thighs.

I wore a sensible tank top with wide straps to conceal the sports bra that I’m wearing for function instead of fashion.

I put all of my efforts into concealing my body instead of showing it off.  Because, hello?  I just started working out again.  And also?  I’m going to be red faced and sweating like a pig in about .02 seconds.

Unfortunately, my modesty and sensibile thinking just made me feel more self concious about the way I looked the entire time I was there.  The problem was I didn’t get workout clothes that were flattering to my body.  At all.

Yes, some women’s workout clothes are more flattering than others.  And it’s not necesssarily the workout clothing with the most coverage that looks the best.

And before you start to lecture me on how trivial it is to care about what you look like when you workout – well, suck it.  It’s distracting to be thinking about what a turd you look like when you’re trying to concentrate on things like form and breathing and not dying.

Here’s what I learned about women’s workout clothes that work better for my body.

Women’s Workout Clothes Rule 1 – wide straps  and sleevless tops are not your friend.

This is similar to the tank top I wore my first day.  Great coverage, right?

Maybe if I had some definition in my arms.  As it is, the only thing I have going for my upper body at this point is the fact that I have shoulders.  of course, in this top you couldn’t see that.  All you could see was my pudgy little arms plugged into my top.  Instead of emphasizing my shoulders or my chest, the focus was on my very undefined upper arms.

Women’s Workout Clothes Rule 2 – Work what your mama gave ya, even if it’s just a shoulder blade.

This is a much better option for me. It’s not much of a difference, but the straps are small enough that you can see that I actually have joints, not just plug-in limbs.

Women’s Workout Clothes Rule 3 – it’s perfectly OK to cater to the girls.

Even better, a top that shows off my shoulders and the little bit of chest I have. Granted, my boobs aren’t much to get excited about, but any positive attention I can bring to the top of my body takes away from my very pear shaped lower half.

And even little boobs are sexy when it’s done with class.

Women’s Workout Clothes Rule 4 – just say no to pseudo maternity wear.

Um, no.  The only person this looks good on is someone who doesn’t have anything to hide.  And do you know what the benefit of good workout tops is?  Spandex.  Spandex is your friend and will hold your stuff up and in.  This?  This is begging to have your jiggling belly peeking out from beneath your maternity top the first time you bend over too far or lift your hands too high.

Of course, I’m still in the beginning stages of my adventure in women’s workout fashion.  So far I’ve figured out how to flatter the top half of my body, but the bottom half is still screwed.

I’ve tried shorty shorts, mesh basketball shorts, and stretchy capri pants.  None of it’s making me feel less self concious about potential camel toe or butt jiggle.

I don’t suppose there’s another 5’2″ pear out there with some words of wisdom for my lower body, is there?  (I mean, BESIDES more cycling classes.)