Intervals: I hate them but.........

If you have hit a plateau in your desire to lose weight or you would really like to step-up your fitness to the next level, intervals are a good way to do it. Now I must admit that I hate these because there is no getting around it, they are really hard! My favorite sports of bicycling and cross-country skiing require intervals naturally and they are called hills. You are riding or skiing at a moderate heart rate and then you have to push your heart rate up to climb the hill and then your heart rate comes back down as you descend.  In the gym however we need to manufacture these high intensity moments and this is where intervals come into play.

The idea behind intervals is simple and you can do these on the elliptical machines, the stepper, treadmill, in the pool, or my favorite, on the exercise bike. You exercise in your working zone (65 % to 85%) of your maximum heart rate, or at a level where you can still talk, but with some effort if the machine doesn't have a monitor. Now comes the hard part as you push your effort up into the upper limits of your heart rate. How long you keep it there depends on how fit you are and most people can only sustain a few minutes, then you back off and let your heart rate come down again. I use the five minute fit test for my interval period on the exercise bike and sometimes do an interval within an interval; driving the cadence up over 100 for 30 seconds and then dropping it back. After finishing the fit test and as soon as my heart rate drops to 120 (the bottom of my working zone) I do the same thing again. About three times is all that I can take, although sometimes I do four.

Why suffer like this? The answer is that you can gain more fitness faster from intervals than from almost any other method that I know. Instead of staying on a machine for a long time, you work for a shorter period but with much greater intensity. This method can also help you drop weight. No, not drop to the floor although you may feel like it, but to get past those plateaus where your weight has been holding even though you have been exercising steadily. Raising you effort and exertion a notch with intervals can get you past these plateaus.

I am training for a late spring trip to Colorado where we will downhill and cross-country ski, snowshoe and sometimes do some more extreme activities such as ice climbing. I tell people that there is "fit" and there is "Colorado fit," and the two are very different. Regardless of how much one trains at lower altitude you really can't replicate that altitude or the red blood cells that you need. Still, by the use of intervals you can push your fitness to that next level and prepare yourself in the best way possible for the challenges that lie ahead.

Zumba Toning: It's easier and harder........

Zumba has been my favorite of all the YMCA activities to participate in and I am not alone in this regard. Zumba is clearly the most popular single class that the Y has to offer. It is a comprehensive workout that is loads of fun and the music is infectious. You just want to move, and that is the whole idea of exercise!

Since I have been jumping in and out of classes however there is a problem with being a "newbie" in Zumba. The songs go awfully fast, especially those with the Latin rhythms, and it can be difficult to figure out what to do next. Not that anyone is taking notes however, and many participants just go where the music takes them and don't worry about it. The Zumba Cat gave me some good advice that I follow when jumping into a class. Watch the feet and follow those moves first, letting the arm motions follow.

If you would like to participate in Zumba at a slightly slower pace then Zumba Toning may be perfect for you. The music is a tad slower and there tends to be less motions to remember making it far easier to keep in rhythm with the group. There are also some different motions that regular Zumba doesn't utilize as much and this is the toning part. With the use of very light hand weights I could see how this class would certainly help in the toning of leg and arm muscles. All in all, Zumba Toning is a great way to get into the flow or Zumba and tone your muscles at the same time.

Setting goals: How about the Olympic team?

Rikki, our director at the YMCA, actually came close to making the Canadian Olympic team in swimming, but for most of us our fitness goals need to be more realistic. I see a lot of people exercising who of course have weight goals that they would like to reach but there is a real danger in having that as your only goal. There are several reasons for this. First, while weight might come off quickly at the beginning, especially if you pair exercise with diet often there is a plateau where your body tries to maintain its current weight and this can be demoralizing. Second, muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are replacing fat with muscle (a great thing by the way!) you might not see the results on the scales. Third, improving your fitness takes a while, actually longer than most people in our society with stresses immediate rewards are often ready for. I often say, that whether you are an Olympic athlete or a total couch potato, it is always tough to raise your fitness level a notch.

I deal with this issue by using smaller measurable goals and by changing my emphasis from month to month. For example; one month I may try and make my arms stronger with extra exercise there and then in another month I would work on my leg strength. When I am getting ready for a cross-country ski race then I increase the intensity of everything that I do. I keep track of weights that I lift, how many times I can do the fitness test on the exercise bike before I fall off or how fast I can swim. The variety of ways that I do this helps keep my exercise routine from getting stale and allows me to see progress in measurable segments. These little gains add up and almost imperceptibly you find yourself able to do things physically that you might not have been able to before. If you need help in this regard one of the fitness trainers can help you develop a specialized program that will meet your needs.

Rome wasn't built in a day, a month or even a year and neither is fitness. It is actually a life-long commitment that may result in that life being much longer and more vigorous. Research certainly supports this. So, while your goal might not be to be an Olympian, or in some cases it might be, stay with it and measurable goals can help in whatever your long-term fitness goal might be.

Water yoga: It's all wet.....

Water yoga is a weekly part of the water exercise class for seniors and as such, if you want to have an introduction to this activity this is a great time and place. I am slowly catching onto yoga since it is an acquired taste, much like coffee. And much like that morning cup of coffee, I usually feel invigorated after.

Karen, the instructor comes in for the yoga session after the class has already warmed up with about a half hour of fairly easy exercise in the pool. This session is perfect for seniors who might have weight concerns, balance concerns or even pain concerns because the water has a tendency to lessen each of these. Not only is exercise easier on your body in water, in many ways yoga is as well. Obviously we did the exercises standing, typically by the side of the pool. I didn't see any members with gills who could do these underwater. I found that balance was actually a little easier in water and that since we were already warmed up and in the water, I could actually stretch a tad further than if I was on the floor. Karen has done this for quite a while and ran us through several exercises including those that helped breathing. This latter area is one that I have really seen the benefit of yoga. To often, during intense exercise I would either pant like an 'old dog' or hold my breath and either caused me to run out of juice almost immediately. By concentrating on smooth breathing at all times more intense activities such as the exercise bike, the stepper or my beloved cross-country skiing has become easier and my performance has improved.

So yes, water yoga is all wet, but that's a good thing. If you have never experienced yoga this would be a good place to start and even if you are experienced, the water makes it enough different to be interesting.