The 30 Day Challenge: One mile a day

Workouts can be a chore and as the festive period approaches going outside for a run becomes a lot less appealing. That’s where the 30 day challenge comes in. Instead of going through the motions it’s time to switch up your fitness routine and make it more interesting. The 30 day challenge motivates you to see if you can do just 1 mile a day but for 30 days straight. Sometimes it can be a task to fit in a run and that’s why pushing yourself to do just 1 mile is ideal as it doesn’t take as long, the real difficulty is not giving up over a 30 day period.

So why is this important? As we begin to indulge over the festive period with Christmas parties and family meals it’s crucial that we keep exercising. Research suggests that it takes 21 to 30 days to break old habits and create new ones. A 30-day challenge allows you to build healthy habits and by doing it in December this could be a challenge that you decide to carry through in to the new year.

I’m going to take part in this challenge during the month of December to see if I can increase the speed of my runs. I won’t necessarily be running outside everyday I will also be doing one mile in the pool too on days when my knees need a rest.

You may ask why I am doing this? Well, I need a new challenge. I don’t have the marathon to focus on this year and I fancy a change from my normal routine.

More than this lacing up everyday will help me to learn how to make more time for fitness and also help me to readdress my running style ready for 2014. It’s also a very easy challenge to insert into my current fitness regime.

Would you take the 30 day challenge?

Benefits of swimming

This winter I am going to hang up the trainers – well, once a week – and take up swimming. And this is why…
Swimming offers something no other aerobic exercise does: the ability to work your body without harsh impact to your skeletal system. This means that the pool provides an ideal place to work stiff muscles and sore joints – perfect after a full year of running.

Once you start swimming regularly, it won’t take you long to go from flabby to fit. Swimming is a great way to increase muscular strength and muscle tone — especially compared to several other aerobic exercises. Unlike exercise machines in a gym that tend to isolate one body part at a time (like a bicep curl machine, for example); swimming puts the body through a broad range of motion that helps joints and ligaments stay loose and flexible. The arms move in wide arcs, the hips are engaged as the legs scissor through the water, and the head and spine twist from side to side. Plus, with every stroke, as you reach forward, you’re lengthening the body, which not only makes it more efficient in the water; it also helps give you a good stretch from head to toe.

When it comes to your overall heart health this is a great form of exercise, as it makes your heart more efficient which leads to better blood flow throughout your body. The American Heart Association reports that just 30 minutes of exercise per day, such as swimming, can reduce coronary heart disease in women by 40%. More than this, swimming is also great at reducing cholesterol. Studies have shown that swimming can also keep your endothelium in good shape. What’s your endothelium, you might wonder? It’s the thin layer of cells that lines your arteries, and it tends to lose flexibility as you age.

I don’t think I could ask for anything else from an exercise session, could you?

Fitness: Water runs

A great way to increase your training without the impact on your knees is running in water.

You need to find a pool that has a flat surface but most gyms offer this now. The flat pool will help you workout every muscle in your body that’s required for running without the weight of your upper body. This won’t result in an easier fitness session as the water resistance will still give your body a consistent workout. Your body doesn’t have to deal with the landing part of your run so you’ll also avoid injury. It’s a fantastic form of exercise as it helps with muscle toning and cardiovascular strengthening.

Just avoid getting comfortable during a session; keep pushing so you really work your muscles.

Training: Fitness Splits

This may sound strange but working out twice in one day could work wonders for you. The idea isn’t too workout twice as hard in one day but to split your workouts in two so you work just as hard during each session. It’ll allow you to train at a higher intensity and cause your metabolism to spike twice in one day. It’s a simple change to your workout pattern that could really make a difference.

Don’t make your workout too long – break a 40 minute workout into two 20 minute sessions. You’ll be able to focus on training at the correct intensity without getting bored.

The key to a spilt fitness session is to leave a fairly long rest period in between each workout. Ideally, you want to aim for a morning session when you wake up and another in the later afternoon or evening so you have enough time to refuel and recover.

Make sure that you do rest in between though. Your muscles need adequate time to recover to deal with the increased frequency of training, so make sure you plan a rest day the day after a split session. If you do find this too tough then reduce the intensity of one of your workouts or take an extra day off. And vary the activities that you’re doing too. This will help to reduce the stress on your muscles and help keep you interested. For instance do go for a power walk in the morning and then come home in the evening and do press ups or strength training.

What do you think? Could you fit split fitness sessions into your busy lifestyle?

Image via We Heart It

Outdoor Swimming

I’m not normally one for outdoor swimming. The idea of heading to a lido every morning for a refreshing dip appeals to me but it is far too cold for this in the UK.

But if you enjoy outdoor swimming you’ll be happy to know that it is great for your health. A short dip can reduce your risk of heart attack and boost your cardiovascular fitness; on average swimmers burn 240 calories in just 30 minutes. Outdoor swimming has a meditative effect which can have an impact on your overall health and wellbeing.

Tempted? Don’t just head out to our local pond and jump right in. There are rules and regulations when it comes to outdoors swimming and they have been put in place for your safety. I suggest that you visit a proper outdoor lido where you can enjoy the feeling of being outdoors in a clean water environment. Most will also have changing facilities and warm showers nearby so you can clean up afterwards. If you prefer to be at one with nature there are various locations that you can visit around the country (check out this fantastic list here) or join in with The Great Swim – a series of outdoor swims that take place the UK in a supervised environment.

I may have even convinced myself to go outside and have a swim.