Remember, 2019 is your year. I can feel it! This is the year of no excuses and the year to be good to you.

February is typically the month where many tend to focus on your special relationship. Whatever the relationship you choose to celebrate you need to take care of yourself in order to take care of that someone special. So let’s celebrate the month of love by showing some love to our own selves by taking care of our mind and body. You can incorporate taking care of yourself with the love you show to your significant other and your family.

There are a lot of us that sacrifice a lot for our family or our significant other that takes its toll on our body and mind. For most of us this is a choice out of love and goodness of our heart so we need to prepared to do it well.

Some of us work a lot of hours (guilty here) and by the time you get home you’re not able or willing to take time to take care of yourself. It’s the family or significant other first then dinner then bed. If you’re like me you go a million miles an hour during the day and very actively do not sit down too quickly once you get home because you’re absolutely done for the night if you do. If this is your situation you can take some steps during the day to help out.

Here are a few ways you can help feel great in your body and your mind while you’re away from your family:

• Stay Hydrated – keep a bottle of water with you at your desk and in your car.
• Avoid Sugar – Limit the trips to the candy bowls scattered throughout the office.
• Avoid complacency – Stand while you take that phone call go take a walk while you’re on your break.
• Go the extra mile – Park further away in the parking lot and take the stairs instead of the elevator.

When you’re with your significant other or your family try to do some things during that time that are healthy in mind and body for all of you:

• Go to the park – spring is coming and taking a walk or playing a ball game outside is great exercise and a great way to bond with your family and get some air.
• Take a group exercise class – CAC - Silver Lake caters to families and offer classes for everyone.
• Get the bikes out – A family bike ride on some of the trails of our beautiful state is a fantastic way to stay healthy and bond with one another.
• Family Fun Nights – Many places have these programs. Our club has one every month that includes activities such as Movies in the pool, family yoga, family badminton, family dodgeball and Nerf wars.

Some of us might find ourselves spending this month alone. Many of us make this an active choice but many of us don’t and it can potentially cause some real health issues. If you find yourself alone or just feeling that way during the month of love, do your best to find ways to help reduce the stress that it inevitably leads to:

• Exercise – Do it because it’s good for your soul and not so much your outward appearance. Do it not as trying to reach a specific goal. Do it because it makes you feel good.
• Try not to compare yourself to others – They’re not you and you’re not them. Besides, deep down they may want to be you if they really knew you.
• Treat yourself – If you can afford it, treat yourself to something you don’t necessarily need. A plane ticket to your dream destination, tickets to a concert or play… How about a cruise?
• Be good to others – no matter your situation it’s so important to treat others well despite how you may have been treated. Do this because it makes you feel good in the end and not because it’s expected of you.

You really do deserve love in your life. We all do.

– Dan Engle

If you’re active, you’ve probably experienced foot pain at some point. Plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of foot pain, affecting 1 out of 10 Americans at some point in their lives. I have experienced it myself a couple of times. If you have pain in your heel or arch that’s worse in the morning, following long periods of sitting or standing, or feels better during activity and worse after, you might have a case of plantar fasciitis.

What is plantar fasciitis?

The plantar fascia is a thick band of connective tissue that attaches at your heel and runs to your toes. It provides structure to the arch of your foot and acts like a shock-absorbing sling when you walk. Repetitive stretching and trauma to the tissue can cause microtears to develop, resulting in pain. The most common causes are:

• Certain types of exercise, typically high-impact like running, jumping, or dancing
• Poor foot mechanics (flat-footed or high arches)
• Obesity
• Standing on hard surfaces for long periods of time

The most common symptom is sharp pain under the heel, most often felt first thing in the morning when you step out of bed. Your plantar fascia has just spent hours in a shortened position (toes pointed under the covers) trying to heal overnight, and then you step out of bed, abruptly stretching it as your foot hits the floor. The microtears keep recurring.

What can you do about it?

For active people, runners especially, plantar fasciitis can really throw a wrench in the works. But there are several things you can do to keep yourself on your feet:

• Catch it early. Don’t let yourself be lulled into ignoring your plantar fasciitis because you only feel it in the morning. Chronic heel pain can lead to compensation in your gait and create even more issues up the kinetic chain into your knee, hip, or low back.
• Wear a plantar fasciitis splint to bed. You can find these at most drug stores, and they’re not uncomfortable to sleep in. The splint keeps your ankle flexed so your plantar fascia isn’t in a shortened position all night. When the microtears heal, they heal with the fascia at a proper length. It also avoids the abrupt stretch as your foot hits the floor. If you’re opposed to sleeping in the splint, this simple trick can help: before getting out of bed, roll your ankle around and point and flex your toes to stretch the plantar fascia before bearing any weight on it.
• Ice after workouts or long days on your feet. Freeze a water bottle and roll it around under your foot for an ice massage.
• Strengthen your calves and feet. Calf raises, toe walking, and toe scrunches will help build stability in your arch and reduce the stress on the plantar fascia.
• Wear shoes with proper support for your foot. Visit a reputable running store (like our local Plateau Runner) where they do a basic gait analysis before making shoe recommendations. If you have structural issues like flat feet or high arches, you may need additional corrective support from inserts or orthotics.

You can implement these strategies as soon as you notice symptoms, but as with any chronic pain, it’s still important to see your doctor to rule out other conditions.

–Nikki Brown, CSCS

Workout fads come and go, but virtually no other exercise program is as enduring as yoga. Believe it or not, it’s been around for more than 5,000 years!

Yoga does more than burn calories and tone muscles. It’s a total mind-body workout that combines strengthening and stretching poses with deep breathing and meditation or relaxation.

The benefits of yoga have been long established and touted through the health and fitness community. Yoga can increase flexibility and strength, improve balance, help manage stress and fine tune mental focus. Those that participate in yoga lose weight, decrease blood pressure and lower bad cholesterol. There is a vast growing body of research that shows yoga can help combat health issues, such as chronic pain, fatigue, asthma, and obesity.

There are more than 100 different forms of yoga. Some are fast-paced and intense, while others are gentle and relaxing. Here at CAC - Silver Lake, we offer variety of classes to appeal to all levels of participant.
Examples of different yoga forms include:

Vinyasa: A series of poses that flow smoothly into one another.

Power: A faster, higher-intensity practice that builds muscle.

Hot Yoga: Also known as Bikram Yoga. A series of 26 challenging poses performed in a room heated to a high temperature.

Yin: A slow steady practice that is often stationary. Using props, postures are held for several minutes allowing body to soften and nourish fascia and joints.

Hatha: The form most often associated with yoga, it combines a series of basic movements with breathing.
The intensity of your yoga workout depends on which form of yoga you choose. Techniques like hatha and yin yoga are gentle and slow. Hot yoga and power yoga are more powerful and intense.

Great news–Yoga is a full-body workout! If you’re hoping to strengthen and define your mid-section, there are yoga poses to target just about every core muscle. With yoga, you don’t build arm strength with free weights or machines, but with the weight of your own body. Some poses, like the plank, spread your weight equally between your arms and legs. Others, like the crane and crow poses, challenge your arms even more by making them support your full body weight. Yoga poses work all sides of the legs, including your quadriceps, hips, and thighs. Yoga squats, bridges, and warrior poses involve deep kneebends, which give you a more sculpted rear. Moves like downward-facing dog, child’s pose, and cat/cow give your back muscles a good stretch. It’s no wonder that research finds yoga may be good for relieving a sore back.

Because yoga poses stretch your muscles and increase your range of motion, with regular practice, they’ll improve your flexibility. Yoga isn’t considered aerobic exercise, but the more athletic varieties, like power yoga, will make you sweat. And even though yoga is not aerobic, some research finds it can be just as good as aerobic exercise for improving health.

Yoga is a “practice” and is non-competitive! As you continue to come to class, you’ll see improvements in the way you look and feel. If you haven’t tried yoga before, now is a great time to attend a class. Bring a friend and introduce yourself to the instructor—they’ll get you started on your way to a successful yoga practice.

For more information on Yoga classes offered at our clubs, visit these pages:

Juanita Bay, Pine Lake, Silver Lake

The winter months provide enough challenges with shorter days and stressful commutes in the rain, ice and snow; do not let your fitness goals become victim to the dreary weather. Here are 3 steps for winter-proofing your workout.

1. Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals

S.M.A.R.T. = Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Relevant. Timely.

As you embark on, or continue on, your fitness journey- it is imperative that you set goals. Whether they are short term or long term, these goals should follow some simple parameters. The S.M.A.R.T. system was established by Paul J. Meyer in his book, Attitude is Everything, and it is a wonderful guideline for helping you to choose your own personal fitness goals.

Let’s look at an example of a well thought out goal that uses the S.M.A.R.T. system: “I will be able to do 30 pushups in 60 seconds by my 30th birthday.” First and second, is it Specific and Measurable? Yes, this goal is clear and unambiguous. There are a specific number of pushups that you will be able to execute in a particular amount of time. Third, is it Achievable? Yes, as long as your birthday is not next week and the number of pushups that you can do right now is zero! If you can already do 10 pushups or so and your birthday is a few months away – you can achieve this goal with a proper training schedule. Do not go to extremes because you set yourself up to fail – choose something that is within reach. Fourth, is the goal Relevant? Determine if it is worthwhile to you. If you have been wanting to improve your upper body and core strength, this goal may be a way to help get you there. If you can already do 25 pushups in 30 seconds, maybe you want to reassess this goal or the timing for it. Finally, is this goal Timely? Giving your goal a target date or deadline helps to keep you focused and allows for you to plan. If your goal starts off with, “Someday I might be able to…” You are setting yourself up for failure.

2. Be Held Accountable

Once your goals are set for the winter – share those aspirations with others. If you tell someone else your goal, it increases your chance of successfully completing it. Family, friends, and co-workers are all wonderful catalysts to keep you moving and hold you accountable to your goals. One of them might even want to join you on your quest. These people can also help you to eliminate excuses. Excuses can be crippling to a goal can and destroy any chance you have of achieving success. It is easy to make excuses to yourself, but when you have to give an excuse out loud to someone else- it often sounds silly.

3. Branch out

Try something new. One of the worst things you can do during the winter is get too comfortable with your habits. Enjoying your soy latte from Starbucks™ and performing the same old routine at the gym may not be enough. Find a class or small group training you have not tried before. Sign-up for a session with a personal trainer. Get in the pool for a few laps. Tap into your inner Federer or Williams’ sister and take a tennis lesson. Register for Pilates and find your center. Use a new piece of equipment that you have been curious about, like the TRX. Whatever you choose- challenge yourself. Push yourself beyond your comfort zone and the results just might amaze you.

– Bobby Sorensen, Fitness Director, CAC- Silver Lake

Most of us already know the health risks we all have around Thanksgiving. Even though we all recognize these health risks we seem unable to resist. Face it. It’s nearly impossible to scroll through social media and food websites showing you photos of the most delicious (and possibly the most evil) desserts and comfort food meals you’ve ever seen and not make them.

The cycle starts around Halloween:

• We increase our calorie intake and, perhaps, gain some weight.
• We eat foods that we know will not make us feel very good.
• We increase our consumption of sugars and processed foods…Thank you Aunt Mary and your office co-workers for all the cookies and fudge.
• Our dinners may lean more toward more comforting foods that may contain a higher fat and calorie count.
• We over-schedule ourselves and can’t take a walk or go to the gym

According to the Calorie Control Council, the association that’s been around since the 60’s to study calorie intake for the diet food industry, they estimate that the average caloric intake on Thanksgiving Day is 4,500 calories. The average caloric intake on every other day is 2,000.

On Thanksgiving most of us older folks have figured out that we are definitely going to overeat and try to plan our day based on how much LESS uncomfortable we can be this year over previous years.

Here are some suggestions to navigate your Thanksgiving this year:

Start your day active and stay active: You probably don’t have to work today so stretch out and take a brisk walk. Go to CAC in the morning on Thanksgiving. We offer special group classes to prepare you for the day. Don’t sit for long periods of time. Get up and move around if your surroundings allow for it.

Don’t skip breakfast: Eat a normal breakfast and a few snacks before the big meal. You’ll be less likely to consume as many overall calories plus your body will have a much harder time digesting a high calorie meal after skipping your normal meals.

Drink Water: Drinking a large glass of water before your meal can help fill you up and help you feel fuller sooner.

Use a smaller plate: This equals smaller portions in most cases. You can focus on smaller amounts at a time and possibly less calories overall.

Take a walk after your big meal: Many studies suggest that taking a 15 to 30 minute walk after your meal will help aid in digestion and help improve your blood sugar levels

Focus on others: Many organizations and churches need volunteers for helping to feed the less fortunate every Thanksgiving. Putting things in perspective have a way of making your heart fuller than your stomach could ever be.

-Dan Engle, Membership Director, CAC – Silver lake

The triathlete may be tempted to avoid a Masters swim group for a number of reasons. Perhaps they feel that Masters groups are for former high school and college swimmers, or perhaps they feel that they should follow their own swim training program, prescribed by a triathlete coach. I’m here to tell you differently, a triathlete in training should absolutely join a masters swim group and here are six reasons why:

1. The Importance of Knowing More Than Freestyle
It’s doubtful that any triathlete will break into butterfly during a triathlon. But, there are actually several benefits to knowing all four strokes. When conditions are rough in the open water, or when an athlete takes in an unexpected gulp of water, swimming backstroke or breaststroke for a minute or two could be a life saver. Getting your head out of the waves for some survival swimming, some sighting or to regain your composure and settle down, could be critical to even completing the event. Another reason to actually swim a few strokes of breaststroke or backstroke during a triathlon is to switch up the muscle groups. If an athlete encounters an unexpected muscle cramp or muscle fatigue during their open water swim, it may be necessary to give those freestyle muscles a rest and switch to breaststroke or backstroke for a portion of the swim. As for butterfly, you probably won’t need this one in the open water, but practicing this stroke in the pool will improve your overall fitness and prepare you for your swim, bike and run.

2. No One Will Push You Harder Than Your Lane Mates
Swimming your triathlon driven workouts in the pool is not only lonely, it is not the best you can do! Even if you follow prescribed intervals, you simply will not push yourself as hard as you would if you were leading a group of 5 swimmers in a set in your lane, or racing the guy next to you in his lane, or trying to keep up with the other 4 swimmers ahead of you in the set in your lane. Bottom line – swim with others and you will train harder!

3. Embrace the Waves
Any triathlete or life-long swimmer enjoys hopping into an empty pool and being the first and only to make waves as you cruise down the lane; no water splashing in the face, no choking, no waves, just you and the clear calm waters. But, in reality, this is not how your triathlon is going to go and it also isn’t how a typical masters swim workout goes. Swimming with others during a masters workout is a great way to embrace the choppy waters and get used to feet in your face and the occasional hand hit.

4. Improve Your Stroke Technique
Swimming speed has been said to be 80% efficiency and 20% fitness. The point here is your stroke technique is critical to your speed. Your swim workouts should focus on improving your efficiency just as much as they focus on improving your strength in the water. Having a masters swim coach to share drills and technique tips is key to your success in the open water.

5. Variety
Let’s face it, swimming laps can be boring. Swimming with a masters program is a great way to keep your swimming interesting. Most programs focus at least 20% of their workouts on drills, utilizing these drills not only helps to improve your technique, it also keeps things fun. Additionally, masters workouts typically include pull buoys, paddles, kick boards, fins and other gizmos. Using these correctly and effectively in a masters workout will add a ton of fun to your swims.

6. Consistency
Be accountable for you swim workouts! Masters programs meet the same times every week, this is one way to help you stick to your workouts and ensure consistency in your training! – Laurie Jones

Please refer to our Pine Lake, or Silver Lake Aquatics Departments for more information on our current Masters Swim Programs.

It’s hard to describe joint pain to those that don’t know how it feels. Let’s focus on some exercise that may help with easing joint pain and can also help you sleep better at night and feel better the next day.

Rhonda Reininger, associate director of the physical therapy and occupational therapy department at NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, tells us that “Exercise can be a key component in keeping joint pain at bay. It can also give you more energy and improve your mood. Walking, cycling, swimming, and light weight training done three times a week for 30 minutes can offer these benefits, but check with your doctor to make sure they are safe for you.”

She also recommends that we start with short exercises, avoiding heavy weights, in order to assess how we will feel when we workout. And that if you experience pain for more than an hour or so after, you may have overdone it.

The most important thing to keep in mind when considering exercise with joint pain is to avoid strenuous exercise if it is painful. Try a short walk or easy peddle on a stationary bike instead. Additionally, if you start to feel joint pain during your workout, try changing your position or activity. And, as always, stay hydrated!

Here are some things to consider when exercising with joint pain:

Stretch – Stretching allows your muscles to better take the weight and strain of your workout. Otherwise, they may pass it on to your joints. Here are three easy stretches to get you started (remember — don’t bounce):

Hips – Lying on your back, bend your knees upward then cross one leg over another. Pull them toward your chest for 20 to 30 seconds. Switch legs and repeat.

Knees and Quads – Kneeling on your right knee, place your left foot ahead of you. Keep that left knee over your left ankle. Hold that position for up 30 seconds and feel the stretch in your right quadriceps. Switch legs and repeat.

Back – Starting on all fours, lift your butt into the air, creating an upside down V with your body. This is a yoga position called “Downward Facing Dog”. Hold this position for up to a minute.

Warm Up – As we get older, our joints and muscles stiffen up and lose some flexibility. After your stretch, go for a short walk of 5-10 minutes.

Cardio – If you’re just starting out, it’s best to first find out where your limits are. Begin with a recumbent stationary bike. If you find that you’re completely comfortable after 10 minutes or so, move to a traditional upright stationary bike. If you start to feel strain in your joints, that’s a good place to stop. Note your progress as you go. Eventually, try moving on to an elliptical or a treadmill.

Yoga and Pilates – The slow, gentle, low-impact activity that Yoga or Pilates provides may be just the thing you need. Yoga and Pilates focuses on, among other things, the mobility, stability and flexibility of joints. Additional benefits include increased body awareness, improved balance and better body alignment. A study by the Arthritis Foundation found that a one hour yoga class, twice each week, helped eased pain and swelling associated with rheumatoid arthritis.

Dive In – As well as reducing the perceived weight of your body, the buoyancy of the water takes much of the impact of a workout off of your joints. The deeper the pool, the better support you get. Water provides resistance. This will build and strengthen the muscle, which (as above) supports and protects your joints.