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I'm sure you've heard the saying, "a calorie is a calorie," and that when weight loss is the goal, you can probably loose weight on a 1,200 calorie/day diet whether it is 1,200 Twinkie calories or apple calories. At this point, you might be thinking, "Cool! I'll go on the Twinkie diet!"   Our bodies are smarter than that though, and I say, thank goodness. I know - I'm no fun at all :-). Last week at the grocery one of my kiddos held up a box of Twinkies and had the audacity to ask me to purchase them. I nearly burst a vessel in my forehead trying to restrain myself from smashing the box with......
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Being that it is summer, and there are vacations, kids home from school, camps, a lot of running around in circles...sometimes a workout is hard to knock out, even when intentions are high. When that happens, I have a 30-minute, total body workout that requires very little equipment, yet will leave you dripping in sweat. Wanna hear it? Here it is... You'll need:  a set of 10 or 12lb wts (lighter if you like), a resistance tube 5-10 minute warm up @ 40-50% max heart rate Set 1: 10-14 Burpees (also called pop squats) 3-way lunges w/ dumbbells: Start with weaker leg leading. Take one lunge forwa......
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Stumbled upon a few deals I'd like to pass along: 20% off planners! For all of you planners out there (you know who you are, planning each workout weeks in advance), get a head start on school year planning at MomAgenda. MomAgenda is offering 20% off small School Year books (use code: schoolyearsmom) Visit MomAgenda.com, offer expires 7.31.2011 *P.S. I LOVE MomAgenda planners. Seriously, love them - totally created by moms, for moms. Enough said. EatingWell magazine has a new book out: EatingWell 500-calorie Dinners for $22.45 (10% off the regular price). While you are planning workouts in you......
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Check out this video if you are unfamiliar with trigger point therapy... TPR Therapy, Ironman competitor Have you ever wished you could afford a personal masseuse? One who could come to your home, preferably daily, to help relieve you of the knots and muscle tightness that inevitably occur from daily workouts and, well, being a mom? In search of a solution to my IT band issues, I tried a chiropractor (not money well spent), stretching, massage therapy (therapist too gentle to release deep tissue), and my O.D. The O.D. provided the most valuable information: without proper biomechanics, the bod......
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The mysterious " fat burning zone " continues to confuse many gym-goers. The theory goes something like this: working out in a "zone" of intensity that is less intense for at least 20 minutes will burn more fat calories than calories from carbohydrate. Is this true? Yes and no, but mostly no. You actually burn more calories from fat right now, sitting still, reading this post, than you do on the treadmill. That is because in the resting state, the body burns a higher percentage of fat calories. As you crank up the exercise intensity, you burn a little less fat per calorie. However, it really c......
Mar

07

Not long ago, if your neighbor had told you she was training for a triathlon, you might have looked at her crossed-eyed and with one eyebrow raised. Once thought of as an endurance sport for athletes who had both an unnatural pain threshold, and oodles of time on their hands, triathlon has in recent years become a sport for anyone who likes variety, has a few hours each week to dedicate toward training, and enjoys challenges small and large. No longer a sport just for the guys, the proliferation of female participants in triathlon events proves its growing popularity: in the late 1990s, women made up 15% of the field. Today, they comprise about 40% of the field. (stats from USA Triathlon). The growth spurt can be partially attributed to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, women’s triathlon was covered for the first time. This was also the most-watched Olympic Games in history.

Tri it inside!

Training for a triathlon is a tremendous undertaking. You can gradually build up your confidence for longer events by starting out with sprint-distance indoor events. Several nationally known health clubs host indoor triathlons in a range of formats: 10-min swim, 20-min bike, 15-min run, or 10 min swim, 30 min bike and 20 min run. Indoor triathlons are fixed time events: you swim, bike and run for the designated time, and whoever gets the farthest in that time wins. Because these events are mostly comprised of “triathletes in the making’” versus the hardcore crowd, you can sample each tri component with less intimidation. Typically, the entire event lasts about 45 minutes (not including transitions from swim-to-bike-to-treadmill). Events are held Nov-April.

Here is a short list of gyms (Chicago-area, and national), that host indoor triathlons:

Life Time Fitness (Nationwide)
Wheaton Sport Center (Chicago)
Fitness Formula Clubs (Chicago)

The Chicago Tri Club website has a list of numerous indoor events. Check it out!

The Cleveland Triathlon Club has an indoor tri series, as well as numerous listings for indoor training classes and events to help you stay in tip-top shape during the off-season.

If you like to combine competition with a cause, TriToHelp.org is a National Indoor Triathlon series that helps raise money for epilepsy research. Visit their website for a complete event schedule.



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