Whether they are new trends or seasonal fitness problems, you can turn these #Fitnessfails into #FitnessFaves
Trends: Fitness Fail #1
Corset or “Waist” Training – It’s wearing a corset while exercising or going about your normal life activities. There have been some celebrities posting photos of themselves wearing them to work out. What people need to realize is that they are doing it for shock value and attention, they are not trained fitness professionals. Many companies claim they make your waist smaller if you wear them while working out, but it’s not true. When you work out wearing them it can restrict your movement and breath, both uncomfortable and lessening your calorie burn when you can’t do the full workout. I could also see novices passing out from not being able to breathe, corsets crushing your internal organs, and people not eating enough because you are trying to cinch your waist and belly. Some companies are selling workout corsets for 70 dollars! I say save your money.
The only time I see that makes sense to wear one is if you have Diastasis Recti – a condition where your abs separate during pregnancy – and you should see a doctor or physical therapiest first. They may recommend you wear one (like they did with me) after you deliver the baby to help the damage heal. (And it only works with some people, I was not one of them.) If corset training doesn’t even help recently injured abs come together, why would anyone think they would help a normal person’s abs shrink?
INSTEAD, make your actual abs act as your natural corset – what they were meant to do. That’s how you get a 6 pack! Do cardio, work your core (like in my videos www.nikkifitness.com) and eat a healthy diet… if you want something drastic, become vegan and see how the results change your body (in a usually healthy way) after about a month… it may be something that works for you as a lifestyle. People are always looking for a magic pill or an easy out. The best way to lose weight and tone up is to eat right and exercise every day or your life. It’s a lifestyle, not a diet, for long lasting effects…
Trends: FitnessFail #2- IV Nutrient Therapy and Vitamin Infusions. OUCH!
Ouch on your wallet (starting around $250 a pop) and your arm! These companies claim to give you an immune boost, more energy, and some offer cleanses where a medical professional comes to your home, office, or hotel for the IV treatment. The product claims include “a shortcut to rejuvenation to help maintain balance in a fast paced lifestyle and workouts.” Also, if you’re working out to look sculpted and toned, who wants water weight gained around your ankles and other places, as what often happens with IVs?
INSTEAD, drink water, eat nutrient-dense foods, and take your vitamins! Duh.
Seasonal: Fitness Fail #3 -Beach yoga with a regular beach towel or sticky yoga mat that gets sandy and wrinkled up, so you spend your session straightening and dusting off instead of de-stressing!
INSTEAD, fix it with Twisted Guru http://www.twistedguru.com/Twistedguru.com/Home.html beach yoga blanket mats. They are large like a beach blanket (5×7), and non-slip like a mat. They are reversible, have bright Zen designs, a security locked waterproof pocket for valuables while you’re relaxing in Savasana, and corner pockets to weigh it down with sand during vigorous vinyasa even on windy days. They are a bit pricey at approx $189, but think of it as a gym membership for the whole summer! (I got one for my birthday).
Seasonal: Fitness Fail #4- Deciding to build an expensive home gym. Maybe you’re thinking it’s too hot/rainy/cold to go to the gym or work out outside… don’t spend thousands on a #FitnessFail, INSTEAD, do it on a budget and use your body as a machine!
A favorite site of mine, uniquefit1.com , is a great place to do your one-stop-shopping for equipment around 50 dollars or less, like agility cones, weighted jump ropes, agility ladders and other great options that double as a home gym AND you can take outside for your own boot camp! They even have kids’ equipment. Then try Amazon.com or iTunes for video downloads and DVDs. (My NikkiFitness line of 12 fitness videos happens to be on both!)
Common Fitness Fail #5 – Working out then sitting the rest of the day.
You’ve heard the saying, “Sitting is the new smoking” and that “sitting disease” can make you sick in many ways. Recent fitness studies even show that skipping a scheduled sweat session, and instead, walking and standing for most of your day (yes, without a workout), is better than making time for a tough workout and then sitting at a desk, car or couch the rest of the day.
Those are some of the reasons that I created my two new Walking Workout DVDs/Apps/Video Downloads – so that anyone who is starting their fitness journey as a beginner, people rehabbing from injury/sickness/pregnancy, or those looking for more gentle workouts as they age, can get into a walking routine.
Problem is, that after many people workout, they then wear uncomfortable shoes which cause sores, bad alignment, muscle imbalances, the legs to ache, fatigue and future calorie burning routines may be jeopardized.
INSTEAD…
I’ve finally found the solution for flats and flip-flops that leave you blistered and bleeding: Vionic’s Tide Flip Flops ($64.95) http://www.vionicshoes.com/women/sandals/tide-ii-toe-post-sandal.html These are the closest open summer shoes I have found to actual running shoes, and they let your feet breathe while being super-stylish. For anyone who has fallen arches (overpronation) like me, they are critical to making sure your legs stay healthy enough for future workouts and walkabouts.
Traditional flip-flops are notoriously bad for people and are flat as a board, which causes feet to flatten against their natural form. On the other hand, Vionic flip flops hug the arch of the foot for full support. With Vionic’s podiatrist-designed, supportive Orthaheel Technology, the gravitational forces that cause the arch of the feet to collapse can be reversed, raising them back into their neutral position helping to re-align the entire leg and preventing plantar fasciitis, so wearers can move to move dynamically in complete comfort as intended. Vionic with Orthaheel Technology offers the ONLY sandals recommended by both the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) and renowned integrative medicine doctor, Andrew Weil, MD. Vionic.
I also love their selection: from dark and muted colors, to jeweled, sequined and floral styles, and masculine brown leather for guys…. they have something for every outfit and style. And now they are endorsed by this Walking Workout expert and celebrity trainer (me)!
Common Fitness Fail #6: Outgrowing your fitness tracker app.
Fitness tracker apps are great for beginners, to give you a reality check of just how little you move. Once you set goals of steps per day and calories burned, you tend to outgrow them. Hopefully by this time you’ve made fitness and healthy nutrition a part of your lifestyle and are addicted to feeling great.
Don’t stay at the same level. INSTEAD…That’s when you’re ready to Rock your Run!
This app lets you you can run to the beat of your own drummer. Literally.
RockMyRun is a fantastic new app that not only blends music to a set workout-paced BPM (beats per minute), it also gives you the option of sensing your own beat – how fast your feet like to run, jump or do cardio in general – and pacing the music to your very own speed! (See below for a free offer!)
app, available for iOS and Android devices, provides professionally created, seamless mixes that are designed specifically for exercise. The app then takes in data like steps and heart rate from smartphones and fitness tracking devices to adjust music tempo in real time to improve exercise enthusiasm and performance.
RockMyRun features seamless, high energy mixes created by DJs (125-175+ BPM) that are sortable by genre, artist, latest, bpm, lyrics, and duration. Users are able to choose from a variety of genres including house, rock, pop, hip-hop, 80’s, dubstep, country, Latin house, oldies, drum and bass, 90’s, Christian rock, bmore, classical, reggae, R&B, and season.
I even used this in the NYC fitness classes I teach, and it was great to be able to pick 122-25 BPM for my chisel-type classes, and 135+ for my HIIT cardio plyometric days!
This music adjustment feature, called myBeat™ Body Driven Music utilizes algorithms to read steps per minute, heart rate and more. This information is then processed and adjusted to deliver content (music tempo – BPM) in real time to match, motivate or calm someone at just the right moment. Users are also able to manually change the BPM of the mixes on RockMyRun to help them achieve a personal goal.
myBeat™ is available in three forms:
1) myBeat™ Manual: Users manually adjust the tempo of any of the mixes and run/walk/cycle/workout in time to the music.
2) myBeat™ Steps: Using data from the iphone accelerometer and pedometer, RockMyRun dynamically adjusts the tempo of the mix to match footstrike. This feature is specially designed for runners and walkers looking to be in sync with the music wave.
3) myBeat™ Heart: Adjusts the tempo of the music to respond to physical exertion as measured by a user’s heart rate using heart rate data transmitted via Bluetooth from any wearable heart rate device. While this feature is great for runners and walkers, it also brings the excitement of personalized, body driven music to users
Scientific studies have proven that music synched to your body can have a powerful and positive effect on people running or working out. This includes increased time to exhaustion, decreased oxygen needs, increased distance covered, and more positive emotions about the workout.
Rock My World recently completed a study with the one of the leading exercise research laboratories in the world, the EPARC lab at the University of California, whose results indicate that the Body Driven Music available exclusively on RockMyRun leads to statistically significant improvements in motivation and mood during exercise.
The basic version of the app is free, so you can chose a pre-selected playlist, genre, and beat and stream your music when you work out.
The Rockstar (premium) membership lets you work out to your own natural BPM, and gives the ability to use the full music catalog (hundreds of mixes ranging from 30 minutes to four hours long), as well as continuous play feature allowing users to play their mixes back to back without interruptions or commercials. RockMyRun Rockstar is free of display and audio ads for $35.99/year (works out to $2.99/month).