- January 2008
- Volume 1
Inside this Issue
- Feature Article – Checking in on New Year’s Resolutions
- Exercise of the Month – Dynamic One-Legged Balance
- Sports Training and Technique – Building Your Aerobic Base
Checking in on New Year’s Resolutions
It is the end of January, nearly a month since you began practicing your New Year’s Resolutions, how’s it going? If you haven’t accomplished what you set out to do, take heart, you are not alone. It’s said that one-third of New Year’s Resolutions are abandoned before the end of the first month of the year. There are many reasons why these Resolutions are not fulfilled. Ask yourself the following questions.
Was this the right time for me to take on a behavior change? Although the beginning of a new year is a natural time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future it might not be an appropriate time for you to take on such a commitment. Changing behavior is difficult. It takes time, energy, motivation, perseverance, and focus to achieve.
Did I take on too much? You don’t have to do everything right now! Often we are at different places of readiness to change various behaviors. Concentrate on what you most want and are willing to do today and once that is reached move on.
Was I focused only on long-term outcomes? It is important to set shorter-term resolutions/goals so that you will experience success and maintain motivation. Whenever possible goals should also address aspects that you can control such as your performance and attitudes.
Why did I set that resolution? Losing weight is one of the most common New Year’s Resolutions. Society tells us that we should all be thinner with a flat stomach but have you ever asked yourself why you want to lose weight? How your life will be different if you weighed less? There are pros and cons to every behavior change, make sure you have more pros before you go forward with yours.
Did I reward myself for small successes? Any small step toward achieving your goal is reason to celebrate. Give yourself credit for what you have done rather than always looking at what still remains.
If you didn’t succeed this time – try, try again. Any time can be the right time to start living healthier!
Dynamic One-Legged Balance
Sports such as running, cross-country skiing, and soccer along with the daily activity of walking requires balancing on one leg while the body is in motion. Try the exercise below to strengthen your legs and lower body stabilizing muscles.
This exercise involves standing on one foot while in motion by moving arms, legs, or by using an unstable surface. There are several variations and progressions.
- Standing Surface: start on the floor and advance to an unstable surface such as a balance disk or Bosu ball as pictured right.
- Shoes: balancing will be easier when using shoes that have built in support, strive to balance with no shoes.
- Movement: begin small only using the arms or legs. Gradually move both upper and lower body together in a coordinated way such as in a running stride. Higher speed, greater extension, and longer duration will increase the balance challenge.
Building Your Aerobic Base
If you are a competitive summer athlete winter is the time to focus on over-distance and endurance aerobic workouts, strength development, and technique refinement.
Over-distance and endurance workouts are often referred to as Long, Slow Distance (LSD). I have found athletes (myself included) can be resistant to these workouts because it’s boring and it doesn't feel like you are working hard enough. The truth is that there are many physiological benefits gained during LSD workouts that cannot happen at higher intensities. Since ample oxygen is available at lower effort levels slow twitch muscle fibers benefit the most from this training. These fibers grow stronger and more efficient so that fewer muscle fibers and less oxygen is needed so that you can work longer with less fatigue which can be very important in a long race. Other changes include an increase in the number of mitochondria in the muscle cells – think more power. The circulatory system is also strengthened – increases in blood volume, red blood cells and capillary density translate to better delivery of oxygen and removal of waste produces in the working muscles.
There is a reason this is called base training. These workouts are the foundation on which you will build to more intense efforts. So don’t skip your LSD workouts. Keep in mind, however, that these workouts will not increase your V02 Max and some higher intensity work can also be included during this time, just don’t sacrifice the LSD workouts and don’t over do it.