SO Many Aspects of Fitness!

  HELLO!

    There has been SO much going on in my life the past two weeks dealing with all aspects of health. This past Sunday, Penn State Fitness held a Schwinn certification training course at the White building (one of our many gyms on campus). It was taught by  Rachel Buschert Vaziralli from Insanity and Asylum! She has offered so much information through e-mail even after the workshop. I am grateful for the opportunity that was presented to me. (THANKS PSU FITNESS)! I loved every bit of it! It was 8 hours long but I feel like all the information I learned could be taught for days. I learned so much about cycling and it motivated me to want to earn more certifications. Rachel led us through two 45 minute cycling workouts. They were tough! My legs felt like JELLO afterwards! LOVED IT :)

  Monday rolled around and I had to teach my usual 12:10 indoor cycling class. I was exhausted because I only have 4 hours of sleep but it is my favorite class to teach so I was looking forward to it. My class was full that day and there were more new people then usual. It was a fun time and hard work out. 

*Was requested to remove this portion* 

  As an instructor, teacher, mentor, it is satisfying to hear that all of my hard work pays off. It is nice to let someone know how much you appreciate for everything they do for you. In contrast, I was happy to hear what she WANTS and how I can improve. We can ALL improve. That's how we grow and become better. 

  Today, I gave a sports nutrition lecture to a kinesiology coaching course at PSU. I think it went over very well. You never know how much people do and do not know. I hope people learned a lot from it! I tried to make it interesting with interviewing people on camera and seeing what the "average" athlete knows. Some of the responses were pretty funny! 

  Tonight, I will be presenting with my three other roommates from the ACSM conference on what we learned to the kinesiology department. Everyone chose what topics they wanted to cover and then attended those lectures. All of us had to create a poster on what we learned. I hope it goes well! 

  Lastly, I would love to help any of you achieve your goals! If you have any questions on nutrition or exercise, let me know! I love to teach! Good luck with the rest of your week! Finish strong!

Fitness Friday

Hello!

 Sorry I have not posted in two weeks! Ever since I returned from LAS VEGAS, the school work has been heavy. In case you're wondering, the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) conference was AMAZING! I was the only nutrition major to attend with the kinesiology department of Penn State. Over fifty of us attended and all of us had a blast :) I ended up making great friends that share the same interests as me. I attended lectures on protein, body image, running, etc. It was quite a learning experience. I also worked out with some of the best people. Some of the workouts I did were:

- Schwinn cycling
- TRX
- Willpower and Grace
- Barefoot Bosu

  It was so different to workout with no shoes on! It really made me conscious on my form and how hard I land when jumping. I loved using the bosu barefoot. TRX was no joke! I wish Penn State had classes like that! Lastly, the cycling kicked my butt! Shannon Fable taught the class and she surely was intense-->I LOVED IT! 

  Other than all of the lectures and working out, the group of people I went with were a good time. The place I stayed was the Paris hotel. Let me tell you, this place was top notch and massive. Overall, I wish I could have stayed a lot longer. I will most definitely be going back!

  I have not been able to do my stair work out in two weeks but I have been finding other ways to kick my butt. I will be starting them again next week! I can never get enough of those stairs.

  Yesterday, I did not feel like working out at all. I made myself go to my friend Emily Stubler's hour long indoor cycling. She is a great motivator and she did just the trick. I pushed as hard as I could for that hour long class and I was drenched in sweat afterwards. She played in her workout an awesome motivational video recording that is on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsSC2vx7zFQ

You should watch it! Emily played it at a perfect time in her class when we were all feeling a bit fatigued and just listening to it made us all dig just a little bit deeper for the end of class. 

 I have ALWAYS loved motivational quotes, movies, etc. Personally, my favorite is ROCKY and all of the fighting movies out there. I always root for the underdog. 

Take a look at this: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z5OookwOoY

HE'S THE MAN! He reminds his son it's what you MAKE of life. It's what chances you take. It's movies like this that remind me not to give up when times get rough. We just have to get up and keep pushing forward. I actually have a poster of Rocky on my wall. The quote states:

"Going in one more round when you don't think you can that's what makes all the difference in your life."

  Life is hard and scary at times. I am at a point in my life where I don't know where I will be in a couple of months from now. But, I am looking forward to the journey ahead of me. I just have to remember all the the hard work I have done at Penn State will pay off. For all of you, try to look at the positive in a situation. Capitalize on your opportunities.  I want to finish off with an awesome quote I found:

Don't wait for time. Make it.

Don't wait for love. Feel it.

Don't wait for money. Earn it.

Don't wait for the path. Find it.

Don't wait for opportunity. Create it.

Don't go for less. Get the best.

Don't compare. Be unique.

Don't fight your misfortune. Transform it.

Don't avoid failure. Use it.

Don't dwell on mistake. Learn from it.

Don't back down. Go around.

Don't close your eyes. Open your mind.

Don't run for life. Embrace it.

Funday Monday!

  Hello everybody!

  Last week was my spring break and it was SO nice not to do ANYTHING! I literally took a break from working out. Sometimes your body just needs a nice long break. I never get to watch T.V. or lay around on the couch and watch movies, so I treated myself to that. Now I am ready to get back into the game more than ever.

  Today I am leaving for Philly and flying out from there tomorrow around 6:30 a.m. for Las Vegas! I am attending an ACSM conference and I am SUPER excited :) I will get to learn all new types of workouts and more. There will be all sorts of health topics ranging from exercise science, to nutrition, to just motivation in general. I'll blog about it when I return.

  Since I am leaving this evening, I decided to do a stair workout before going! My friend Shayna and I woke up and started our workout at the Eastview stairs at 6:45. We ended at 7:30 a.m. sweaty and out of breath. It was perfect ;-) 

  It was the first time Shayna had done it. She hasn't worked out in months due to sickness and injuries. I have to say, I was really impressed that she out of all people woke up and wanted to do this with me. She did an awesome job :-)! It makes out the workout go so much faster when you have someone with you. Today we did:

• 15 minute round of sprinting to the top of the stairs followed by 10 burpees and jogging back down.
• 10 box jumps followed by a 10 sec break with ski jumps for 15 minutes
• 5 minutes of tag. This consisted of Shayna sprinting at the bottom of the stairs and I would be holding a plank or doing mountain climbers. Then when she was done, we would switch. 
• It was really hard by the end of it! Welcome back right?

Getting our knees high!

  I hope all of you continue working out and eating healthy! If you haven't started, it's not too late! Keep pushing through and never give up! Stay motivated! Shayna did this with me because she missed feeling strong. The girl who hasn't worked out in MONTHS is doing this, so can you! She's motivated and driven and got up because she WANTED it. Keep going! Have an awesome week!

Importance of Hydration

What's the Big Deal?

 

  You probably have been told or read somewhere to drink more water. Did you know when you become thirsty, you are already dehydrated? A lot of the time we may think we are hungry so we grab something to eat. Little do you know, you might just be dehydrated. Here are a couple of hydration tips:

 

Exercise

Timing!

• 2 hours prior to exercise: At LEAST 2 cups of water (16 oz)

• 5-15 minutes before: 1 cup of water (8 oz)

• 10-15 minutes before: 1/2 cup- 1 cup water

 

Did YOU Know?

 

• Cool fluids...
• Cool the body
• Leaves the stomach faster for better hydration
• Gulping down water/sports drink hydrates the body faster than sipping
• Sports drinks...
• They have carbs that keep you energized
• Fluid and electrolytes keep you hydrated

 

 How Do You Know You're Dehydrated? 







• Weight: Weighing yourself before and after exercise helps determine how much water is lost and how much you need to drink.
• Every 1 lb of weight lost through sweat= 16 oz of fluids needed
• Thirst: Thirsty = Dehydrated. Drink even if you are not thirsty!
• Urine: Color should be light yellow and not have a strong odor.

 

I hope you learned a little bit more about hydration! Try to carry a water bottle around with you. Not only does it make sure you are drinking water, but carrying a reusable water bottle saves you money in the long run. Good luck with training!