Good Life Fitness

Chances are, no matter where you live, there’s a 5-K, 10-K, ½ marathon or marathon running event in your area this month. These running events are a great way to meet people, get in shape, develop a healthier lifestyle and increase your commitment to fitness and health. Set yourself a goal this month by signing up for an event. Proper footwear and comfortable running clothes are a good investment short and long term. To ensure that you succeed with running, start with short runs three times per week and gradually increase your mileage. Strength train two to three times per week (for a total of 5 to 6 workouts per week) and stretch your muscles daily.

Add forward walking lunges to your routine this month to power up your core muscles (abdominals and erector spinals), strengthen and shape your butt (gluteals) and thighs (quadriceps and hamstrings) and improve your hip joint stability, overall balance and coordination. Walking lunges are fun to do but they may take you a few repetitions to coordinate your balance. Moving your body forward, transferring bodyweight from one leg to the other while twisting (rotating the torso) is also challenging and very eective for building core strength, endurance and power which is needed for sports and recreational activities such as golng, running, trail riding, hockey, racquet sports and dry land training for most winter sports.

To start—hold one dumbbell or weighted plate in both hands and interlace ngers; brace the weight directly in front of the body just below chest level. Relax the shoulders, extend elbows out to the side, squeeze shoulder blades together and pull abdominals in. snap fitness

To lunge forward—stride forward with one foot until the back heel lifts o the ground, lower hips down into a 90 degree bend (both front and back knees) and pause. Twist your torso towards your front thigh and look to the diagonal corner. Bring torso and dumbbell/plate back to center and push o the back foot to step feet together. Repeat the forward stepping lunge with the other leg for one repetition. Repeat in an alternating forward direction “walking” your lunge for 10 repetitions. Rest for 15-20 seconds, then turn around and repeat, returning to the starting position to complete one set. Repeat for 3 sets.

Option for minimizing challenge on the twist is to keep your eye gaze straight ahead as you rotate your trunk on the lunge. (source: goodlifefitness)