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Spring Activities Need The Right Fuel And Tools
If you’re like me, this weather that’s finally arrived has me itching to get out and do something. Whether its lacing up a pair of running shoes and hitting the trails or a running path throughout the neighborhood or getting my bike down from its hangers and taking it out for a spin on the open road or mountain bike trails. All I know is winter seems to be finally behind us and I want to get out and enjoy the sunshine and feel nature hitting me in the face!
If it was a long winter for you and you’re seeking some new ways to exercise outside, why not do so with your significant other? It’s long been known that there are some serious benefits to getting healthy with your partner, including a better maintaining that urge to be active outside by being able to support each other's individual fitness and diet goals. Not to mention that couples that are active together have been shown to be 90% more likely to stick to a routine than if they were going it alone. So, use that enthusiasm that's got you itching to get outside and be more active by encouraging your partner along with you for that ride, jog, even rock-climbing, but do it together and you’re going to increase that feeling of wellbeing two-fold!
Besides, it's a known fact that some outside activities also build strength and stamina, the more you do them and to the greater length that you push your bodies to increase the duration that you're participating together to meet your pre-set goals.
Endurance: Endurance activities increase your breathing and heart rate. They keep your heart, lungs, and circulatory system healthy and improve your overall fitness. Building endurance makes it easier to carry out many of your everyday activities.
Brisk walking or jogging: Getting those running shoes on is always a good feeling. After all, going for a good run is a great way to get your heart pumping and getting the kinks out after being cooped up in your home during the winter months. But as always, you need to work up to last years pace and distance and knowing just how well your doing is important in order to set realistic goals for yourself.
A good way to do this is by monitoring your progress with a good, accurate smartwatch. One equipped with a GPS and heart rate monitor to let you know just how far you’re going and how well your body is reacting to the stress you're putting on it. One good all-around monitor is the Garmin Forerunner 35 GPS Watch It’s a great all-around activity monitor that’s simple and easy to use. It has a built-in GPS function that tracks your distance and allows you to plot your course for repeat runs, or walks. This activity monitor also doubles as a heart rate monitor as well and it’s doing this right on your wrist, no more chest straps are needed. Using Garmin's Elevate wrist heart rate technology. It can keep track of your heart rate when you’re really moving and even at rest, so you know the kind of stress you're putting on yourself. And it has an "All-day” activity tracking capability that counts your steps, calories and intensity minutes and reminds you when to move. And if you desire, it automatically uploads your data to Garmin Connect, where you can see how you’re doing against your friends if you choose to allow them to view your progress.
Yard work (mowing, raking, digging) is another form of outdoor activity that can get your blood pumping while getting your place in order. After all, your yard probably needs a lot of attention if you’ve been stuck inside all winter. Now is the perfect time to get those fall leaves off of the grass, and pick up the fallen branches and sticks and give the yard a rake before you try starting that lawnmower of yours. And if it’s a pull crank, you may just be looking for a little help in yanking on that cord to get it started after its been hibernating like you this past winter season!
No matter what you're looking at doing this spring to get outside and be more active, you also need to remember to provide the fuel your body’s engine is going to need to make all of these things happen. One good form of energy to have on hand is GU Roctane Ultra Endurance Energy Gel. This smooth, great-tasting gel snack that not only tastes good but also gives you a kick of energy! The perfect fuel for those looking for a snack that can also be a benefit to not only their workouts but provides a boost for those that are working their muscles outside doing routine clean up chores that require hours of work to get the jobs done.
So, you can bet you’re not going to be alone this spring as the sun begins to climb higher in the sky every day, and sets a little bit later each day. Taking advantage of the springtime warmth to get back to being outdoors and active is going to be on everyone’s agenda. The key is to keep your activities in moderation as you build up your body’s stamina and in time you're going to be back up to speed to where you were when the leaves started to drop last fall.
Read more
If you’re like me, this weather that’s finally arrived has me itching to get out and do something. Whether its lacing up a pair of running shoes and hitting the trails or a running path throughout the neighborhood or getting my bike down from its hangers and taking it out for a spin on the open road or mountain bike trails. All I know is winter seems to be finally behind us and I want to get out and enjoy the sunshine and feel nature hitting me in the face!
If it was a long winter for you and you’re seeking some new ways to exercise outside, why not do so with your significant other? It’s long been known that there are some serious benefits to getting healthy with your partner, including a better maintaining that urge to be active outside by being able to support each other's individual fitness and diet goals. Not to mention that couples that are active together have been shown to be 90% more likely to stick to a routine than if they were going it alone. So, use that enthusiasm that's got you itching to get outside and be more active by encouraging your partner along with you for that ride, jog, even rock-climbing, but do it together and you’re going to increase that feeling of wellbeing two-fold!
Besides, it's a known fact that some outside activities also build strength and stamina, the more you do them and to the greater length that you push your bodies to increase the duration that you're participating together to meet your pre-set goals.
Endurance: Endurance activities increase your breathing and heart rate. They keep your heart, lungs, and circulatory system healthy and improve your overall fitness. Building endurance makes it easier to carry out many of your everyday activities.
Brisk walking or jogging: Getting those running shoes on is always a good feeling. After all, going for a good run is a great way to get your heart pumping and getting the kinks out after being cooped up in your home during the winter months. But as always, you need to work up to last years pace and distance and knowing just how well your doing is important in order to set realistic goals for yourself.
A good way to do this is by monitoring your progress with a good, accurate smartwatch. One equipped with a GPS and heart rate monitor to let you know just how far you’re going and how well your body is reacting to the stress you're putting on it. One good all-around monitor is the Garmin Forerunner 35 GPS Watch It’s a great all-around activity monitor that’s simple and easy to use. It has a built-in GPS function that tracks your distance and allows you to plot your course for repeat runs, or walks. This activity monitor also doubles as a heart rate monitor as well and it’s doing this right on your wrist, no more chest straps are needed. Using Garmin's Elevate wrist heart rate technology. It can keep track of your heart rate when you’re really moving and even at rest, so you know the kind of stress you're putting on yourself. And it has an "All-day” activity tracking capability that counts your steps, calories and intensity minutes and reminds you when to move. And if you desire, it automatically uploads your data to Garmin Connect, where you can see how you’re doing against your friends if you choose to allow them to view your progress.
Yard work (mowing, raking, digging) is another form of outdoor activity that can get your blood pumping while getting your place in order. After all, your yard probably needs a lot of attention if you’ve been stuck inside all winter. Now is the perfect time to get those fall leaves off of the grass, and pick up the fallen branches and sticks and give the yard a rake before you try starting that lawnmower of yours. And if it’s a pull crank, you may just be looking for a little help in yanking on that cord to get it started after its been hibernating like you this past winter season!
No matter what you're looking at doing this spring to get outside and be more active, you also need to remember to provide the fuel your body’s engine is going to need to make all of these things happen. One good form of energy to have on hand is GU Roctane Ultra Endurance Energy Gel. This smooth, great-tasting gel snack that not only tastes good but also gives you a kick of energy! The perfect fuel for those looking for a snack that can also be a benefit to not only their workouts but provides a boost for those that are working their muscles outside doing routine clean up chores that require hours of work to get the jobs done.
So, you can bet you’re not going to be alone this spring as the sun begins to climb higher in the sky every day, and sets a little bit later each day. Taking advantage of the springtime warmth to get back to being outdoors and active is going to be on everyone’s agenda. The key is to keep your activities in moderation as you build up your body’s stamina and in time you're going to be back up to speed to where you were when the leaves started to drop last fall.
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Spring Has Arrived! Are Your Kids Aware Of This?
Today, more than ever childhood obesity is becoming a real problem with children from every facet of life. Even though schools are making strides to improve the lunch and snack fare available to them during the hours that our children are under their care. It seems like more and more children, from elementary through middle-school are experiencing medical issues such as stage 2 diabetes.
Nearly one in six of all U.S. children and adolescents are obese, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control. And with some struggling schools forgoing traditional physical education classes, health experts view this issue as a growing concern. The regular physical activity encouraged in PE classes not only helps build and maintain healthy bones and muscle, it has also been shown to improve students' academic performance.
"Research shows that school is one of the first places where kids establish health habits," says Jen Ohlson, co-founder of Interactive Health Technologies LLC (IHT), a company pioneering customized P.E. curricula through the use of heart rate monitoring. "As a solution, many health advocates are turning to physical education to positively impact adolescents' overall health. With the right tools and resources available in school that can extend to home, teachers and parents alike can reach students on an individual level, helping them achieve their own fitness goals."
This of course needs to be actively pursued by both parents and the school systems. Today’s children need to be shown that being more physical can help them both in the classroom and out of it as well. Especially if we get them motivated to join in available school sporting venues. We need to get them off the couch and outside participating in physical activities that get them breathing a little hard while using muscles that just aren’t being used when their sitting on a couch watching a movie, playing a video game or simply texting their friends who are also just sitting around their homes.
Physical activity, along with a sensible diet, rich in good proteins, the right carbs and even the right amount of fats will go a long way into allowing your child’s body to function the way it was designed to. You just can’t get fit by playing an action hero in a video game without you taking part in any REAL ACTION!
Set measurable short-term goals.
Motivation is all about goal setting. Teaching your kids to evaluate their habits, showing them just how much out of the day they’re just sitting around, being non-active as sort of a wakeup call, and showing them how they can make little changes that will improve their wellbeing is important and if explained correctly they just may surprise you and start listening to you about how they need to change up their lifestyle.
Setting goals can be a fun project for teachers and parents along with the students so you can all work collaboratively on making sure the goals are measurable, timely and realistically achievable. In order to track everyone’s progress. Yes, we said everyone because its not only the kids that are migrating to a larger pant size, it’s the adults as well. So we can all get on the same bandwagon and start getting in better shape by following through with the goals we mentioned above are so important to make.
Tracking Your Goals:
Use technology to help them understand.
"Research shows kids and adults in the U.S. are spending more than 7.5 hours a day using technology. Alarming as it may sound, we see leveraging that technology as an opportunity to help kids and the adults get and stay active," Ohlson says. Using activity trackers, that also have the functionality of a wrist-based heart rate monitoring device for PE, can make using wearable technology to motivate students and adults to exercise to their own individual potential. Harnessing the power of heart rate zone training, you can reach your goals by running around, jumping, dancing, really any activity that raises the heart rate.
One such tracker, maybe better suited for the adults is the Garmin Vivoactive 3 GPS Smart Activity Tracker. This SmartWatch with GPS, Tracks steps, distance, your sleep and has more than 15 preloaded GPS and indoor sports apps, including yoga, running, swimming and more
You can monitor your fitness level with Vo2 Max and fitness made estimates, plus keep an Eye on how you handle stress with the Stress Indicator feature by First-Beat Technology. This little feature alone can help you stay focused on what you need to be able to do in order to reach your fitness goals.
Now depending on the age of your kids, for those aged from 5-10 years old you can look into the Garmin Vivofit Jr 2 : Kid's Interactive Activity Tracker Parents manage their kid’s activity tracker by using the free app. Add multiple children, and see their steps, sleep, daily activities, and chore data when it syncs to your mobile device.
You can, Assign tasks and chores, set schedule alerts, find out how many reward coins each child has, access adventures, and even invite the whole family to compete in daily step challenges together, all from your mobile device. Keeping track of just how much your kids are actually doing and then offer a reward for good performance. Making a game out of being active, will jump-start their "Competitiveness-Mode" which will keep them looking to outperform their siblings, and or, friends.
So, now that you have a couple of tools available to you to inspire both your children and yourselves, what are you waiting for. Go on, get yourself motivated and get stepping, as a whole family!
Read more
Today, more than ever childhood obesity is becoming a real problem with children from every facet of life. Even though schools are making strides to improve the lunch and snack fare available to them during the hours that our children are under their care. It seems like more and more children, from elementary through middle-school are experiencing medical issues such as stage 2 diabetes.
Nearly one in six of all U.S. children and adolescents are obese, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control. And with some struggling schools forgoing traditional physical education classes, health experts view this issue as a growing concern. The regular physical activity encouraged in PE classes not only helps build and maintain healthy bones and muscle, it has also been shown to improve students' academic performance.
"Research shows that school is one of the first places where kids establish health habits," says Jen Ohlson, co-founder of Interactive Health Technologies LLC (IHT), a company pioneering customized P.E. curricula through the use of heart rate monitoring. "As a solution, many health advocates are turning to physical education to positively impact adolescents' overall health. With the right tools and resources available in school that can extend to home, teachers and parents alike can reach students on an individual level, helping them achieve their own fitness goals."
This of course needs to be actively pursued by both parents and the school systems. Today’s children need to be shown that being more physical can help them both in the classroom and out of it as well. Especially if we get them motivated to join in available school sporting venues. We need to get them off the couch and outside participating in physical activities that get them breathing a little hard while using muscles that just aren’t being used when their sitting on a couch watching a movie, playing a video game or simply texting their friends who are also just sitting around their homes.
Physical activity, along with a sensible diet, rich in good proteins, the right carbs and even the right amount of fats will go a long way into allowing your child’s body to function the way it was designed to. You just can’t get fit by playing an action hero in a video game without you taking part in any REAL ACTION!
Set measurable short-term goals.
Motivation is all about goal setting. Teaching your kids to evaluate their habits, showing them just how much out of the day they’re just sitting around, being non-active as sort of a wakeup call, and showing them how they can make little changes that will improve their wellbeing is important and if explained correctly they just may surprise you and start listening to you about how they need to change up their lifestyle.
Setting goals can be a fun project for teachers and parents along with the students so you can all work collaboratively on making sure the goals are measurable, timely and realistically achievable. In order to track everyone’s progress. Yes, we said everyone because its not only the kids that are migrating to a larger pant size, it’s the adults as well. So we can all get on the same bandwagon and start getting in better shape by following through with the goals we mentioned above are so important to make.
Tracking Your Goals:
Use technology to help them understand.
"Research shows kids and adults in the U.S. are spending more than 7.5 hours a day using technology. Alarming as it may sound, we see leveraging that technology as an opportunity to help kids and the adults get and stay active," Ohlson says. Using activity trackers, that also have the functionality of a wrist-based heart rate monitoring device for PE, can make using wearable technology to motivate students and adults to exercise to their own individual potential. Harnessing the power of heart rate zone training, you can reach your goals by running around, jumping, dancing, really any activity that raises the heart rate.
One such tracker, maybe better suited for the adults is the Garmin Vivoactive 3 GPS Smart Activity Tracker. This SmartWatch with GPS, Tracks steps, distance, your sleep and has more than 15 preloaded GPS and indoor sports apps, including yoga, running, swimming and more
You can monitor your fitness level with Vo2 Max and fitness made estimates, plus keep an Eye on how you handle stress with the Stress Indicator feature by First-Beat Technology. This little feature alone can help you stay focused on what you need to be able to do in order to reach your fitness goals.
Now depending on the age of your kids, for those aged from 5-10 years old you can look into the Garmin Vivofit Jr 2 : Kid's Interactive Activity Tracker Parents manage their kid’s activity tracker by using the free app. Add multiple children, and see their steps, sleep, daily activities, and chore data when it syncs to your mobile device.
You can, Assign tasks and chores, set schedule alerts, find out how many reward coins each child has, access adventures, and even invite the whole family to compete in daily step challenges together, all from your mobile device. Keeping track of just how much your kids are actually doing and then offer a reward for good performance. Making a game out of being active, will jump-start their "Competitiveness-Mode" which will keep them looking to outperform their siblings, and or, friends.
So, now that you have a couple of tools available to you to inspire both your children and yourselves, what are you waiting for. Go on, get yourself motivated and get stepping, as a whole family!
Read more
Unless Your Living Under A Rock, It’s Just About Valentine’s Day!
It’s Just About Valentine’s Day. How About Giving Your Sweetheart, A Heart-Felt Gift Of Knowing Their Heart Is A Healthy One?
Yes, Valentine’s Day usually brings to mind going out and getting your significant other gifts of the heart. Like boxes of candy, flowers, (roses are the most popular), reserving a table at that great restaurant that she or he likes. Spending a quiet night at home with that special person, maybe giving in and watching her favorite “Chick-Flick” with her, while enjoying a bottle of a wine that you both like. After all, it's all about showing the person you really care about, that you do care about, Them!
And yes, some of the above suggestions can turn out being a little pricy, but heck, it’s Valentines Day, and on this day, you’re not putting a price on your feelings, right?
All of this is fine and dandy but if you really care about each other, then you don’t need to remind each other of this day by giving each other gifts. And while this day is great for the candy and flower stores playing on your conscious that you're supposed to let your significant other know you care after you give that gift of self-indulgence, it will soon be only a memory, but a nice memory.
Why not give them a gift that really shows you care about them and want them to be around with you for a long, long time? The gift that I’m talking about is really a gift that targets the heart. Their heart, maybe yours too. I’m talking about giving them a heart rate monitoring watch. A fitness tracker, that has the ability to monitor their heart rate as they go about their busy day and hopefully that includes getting in some exercise. Which will help them be around for a long, long time!
This all goes hand in hand with the month of February, besides being the month in which we celebrate our love for our special friend, friends, and family, it’s also Heart Month! Kind of cute how heart month works right in alongside of Valentine’s Day, isn’t it? Which is why we’re choosing to give a gift that monitors their/your hearts, so you/they can know your numbers and hopefully adopt long term healthy habits that can help keep your heart beating strong, for many years to come.
Our hearts are arguably the most important muscle in our bodies, with all the advances in technology today, it would be a shame if we did not take advantage of this "New Wave" of healthy metrics by picking out a fitness monitor that fits your significant others lifestyle.
There are so many wearable fitness monitors on the market right now that are fun and health-promoting. They track heart rate, steps walked, and calories burned throughout the day, which makes it the perfect gift for keeping track of, and making sure that your heart is in tip-top health!
One of the leaders in fitness tracking and now heart rate monitoring is Garmin. Garmin has a very accurate, wrist-based, heart rate monitor. It’s called the Garmin Vívosmart 4 Wellness & Fitness Tracker! The Garmin Vívosmart 4 will not only track your daily activity, but it will also give smart notifications from your phone, track stress levels and has a pulse ox sensor, and you don't have to worry about it getting wet because it's also waterproof!
This slim, swim-friendly wearable comes loaded with fitness and wellness features to help you make the most of a healthier, more active lifestyle. A wrist-based Pulse Ox sensor lets you estimate blood oxygen saturation while you’re sleeping — or you can spot-check your oxygen levels anytime during the day. The device also monitors heart rate at the wrist and includes helpful tools such as all-day stress tracking, a relaxation breathing timer, and VO2 max readings. Plus, the "Body Battery" energy monitoring helps you know when you’re primed to be active or when you may need to rest.
After all, the gift of good health is a gift that keeps on giving. So why not give your sweetheart a gift this year that puts them on the right track of being healthy, now and for many years to come. I’m sure they and YOU will love this fitness tracker as much as their/your heart does.
Happy American Heart Month and Happy Valentine’s Day!
Read more
It’s Just About Valentine’s Day. How About Giving Your Sweetheart, A Heart-Felt Gift Of Knowing Their Heart Is A Healthy One?
Yes, Valentine’s Day usually brings to mind going out and getting your significant other gifts of the heart. Like boxes of candy, flowers, (roses are the most popular), reserving a table at that great restaurant that she or he likes. Spending a quiet night at home with that special person, maybe giving in and watching her favorite “Chick-Flick” with her, while enjoying a bottle of a wine that you both like. After all, it's all about showing the person you really care about, that you do care about, Them!
And yes, some of the above suggestions can turn out being a little pricy, but heck, it’s Valentines Day, and on this day, you’re not putting a price on your feelings, right?
All of this is fine and dandy but if you really care about each other, then you don’t need to remind each other of this day by giving each other gifts. And while this day is great for the candy and flower stores playing on your conscious that you're supposed to let your significant other know you care after you give that gift of self-indulgence, it will soon be only a memory, but a nice memory.
Why not give them a gift that really shows you care about them and want them to be around with you for a long, long time? The gift that I’m talking about is really a gift that targets the heart. Their heart, maybe yours too. I’m talking about giving them a heart rate monitoring watch. A fitness tracker, that has the ability to monitor their heart rate as they go about their busy day and hopefully that includes getting in some exercise. Which will help them be around for a long, long time!
This all goes hand in hand with the month of February, besides being the month in which we celebrate our love for our special friend, friends, and family, it’s also Heart Month! Kind of cute how heart month works right in alongside of Valentine’s Day, isn’t it? Which is why we’re choosing to give a gift that monitors their/your hearts, so you/they can know your numbers and hopefully adopt long term healthy habits that can help keep your heart beating strong, for many years to come.
Our hearts are arguably the most important muscle in our bodies, with all the advances in technology today, it would be a shame if we did not take advantage of this "New Wave" of healthy metrics by picking out a fitness monitor that fits your significant others lifestyle.
There are so many wearable fitness monitors on the market right now that are fun and health-promoting. They track heart rate, steps walked, and calories burned throughout the day, which makes it the perfect gift for keeping track of, and making sure that your heart is in tip-top health!
One of the leaders in fitness tracking and now heart rate monitoring is Garmin. Garmin has a very accurate, wrist-based, heart rate monitor. It’s called the Garmin Vívosmart 4 Wellness & Fitness Tracker! The Garmin Vívosmart 4 will not only track your daily activity, but it will also give smart notifications from your phone, track stress levels and has a pulse ox sensor, and you don't have to worry about it getting wet because it's also waterproof!
This slim, swim-friendly wearable comes loaded with fitness and wellness features to help you make the most of a healthier, more active lifestyle. A wrist-based Pulse Ox sensor lets you estimate blood oxygen saturation while you’re sleeping — or you can spot-check your oxygen levels anytime during the day. The device also monitors heart rate at the wrist and includes helpful tools such as all-day stress tracking, a relaxation breathing timer, and VO2 max readings. Plus, the "Body Battery" energy monitoring helps you know when you’re primed to be active or when you may need to rest.
After all, the gift of good health is a gift that keeps on giving. So why not give your sweetheart a gift this year that puts them on the right track of being healthy, now and for many years to come. I’m sure they and YOU will love this fitness tracker as much as their/your heart does.
Happy American Heart Month and Happy Valentine’s Day!
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A Fitness Tracker For All Seasons!
If you're excited about upping your running game for 2019 then you need to know your pushing yourself to your maximum. In order to do this right, you need a good fitness tracker. The Garmin Forerunner 935 is one tracker that will go the distance for you, and then some! The Garmin 935 is the ultimate tool for dedicated runners everywhere. Whether you are a triathlete or trail runner, you cannot pass up on the Forerunner 935xt. Super concise data is a runner's best friend and with the Forerunner 935, you'll have all of the data you need. Multi-Sport dynamics (running, swimming, and cycling), VO2 Max, wrist-based heart rate, recovery time, race predictor, and more. The 935 also offers you more ways than ever to store and track your data. Use automatic uploads to Garmin Connect, or use “Strava” live segments to turn every run into a virtual race. The 935 is truly the most powerful Forerunner ever.
Thanks to its impressive array of sensors, the watch offers sophisticated insights into your training status, telling you whether it’s a good idea to train or not. When used with a compatible Running Dynamics Pod (or an HRM-Run or HRM-Tri heart-rate monitor), it also delivers advanced metrics such as ground contact time, balance, stride length and vertical ratio that can help you to better understand your running technique.
The Forerunner 935 also does a great job of tracking your everyday activity.
Design and features:
The Forerunner 935 is a sports tracker first and foremost, so its looks are unlikely to wow you. However, its black casing is subtle and inoffensive enough to wear when you’re not training, and it’s compatible with Garmin’s QuickFit 22 bands, so you can swap the plain silicone band for something fancier if you prefer.
The Forerunner 935’s traditional five-button running-watch design works well for navigating its many menus and allows easy control of the watch during activities. Touchscreens and scrolling knobs are fun, but when you’re sweaty nothing beats a physical button for precise control.
One advantage the Forerunner 935 has over rugged watches such as the Fenix 5 Plus is that its plastic design helps it to be lightweight. At 49g, it’s some 37g lighter than its stablemate. And despite this, it packs plenty into its design. There’s GPS, GLONASS, Garmin’s Elevate optical heart-rate monitor, a barometric altimeter, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, and thermometer.
It’s waterproof (5ATM), and while its 30.5mm display doesn’t dazzle compared to those on smartwatches like the Apple Watch or Fitbit Ionic, it’s always easy to read and only becomes more so in bright sunlight.
Battery life is listed as 24 hours for GPS use, which can be extended to 60 hours with Garmin’s UltraTrac mode. This mode isn’t as accurate because it takes readings less frequently, but it’s a handy feature for ultramarathon fans seeking the ultimate in longevity. In general, I achieved around two weeks of use from the Forerunner 935, even when logging outdoor activities most days, which is terrific. The Forerunner tracks a huge variety of sports, but its running mode is the most feature-rich. I’ve used it through two marathon training cycles and, well, it’s just phenomenal. Hit the Run button and it quickly locks on to GPS plus any sensors you have nearby (including running pods such as Stryd. In my 18 months of using it, the longest I’ve waited for a GPS fix is 60 seconds, and usually, it locks on in less than ten seconds.
Distance and heart-rate tracking are both accurate and I’d say the latter in particular stands out on the Forerunner 935. Wrist-based optical sensors are never totally dependable, but the Forerunner 935’s is reliable enough that you don’t need to use a chest strap, even if you’re following a workout based entirely on heart rate.
You can create such a workout or, indeed, one based on time, distance or pace in Garmin Connect and beam it over to the watch wirelessly. There’s also a simple Intervals mode you can set up on the watch itself. Trainers agree that Garmin is leading the way when it comes to making it easy to create and follow workouts on the wrist, which is a key feature for keen amateurs and pros alike. A host of features kick in after you finish running, starting with an estimate of how many hours of recovery you need. You’ll also be advised on the effect of your session in terms of aerobic and anaerobic benefit, the former marking improvements in your general cardiovascular fitness and the latter your ability to run at speed for longer.
You can also monitor your overall training load and whether a workout is effective in improving your fitness in terms of your VO2 max, which is also measured by the watch. Push too hard too often and you’ll be told you’re “Overreaching” in a counterproductive fashion, risking injury without actually benefiting your fitness.
Ideally, you’re aiming for “Productive” or, if you’re about to race, “Peaking”, which suggests you’ve reduced your training load in a smart way to smash your PB. The Forerunner 935 estimates your times for a 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon based on your VO2 max.
Activity and other sports tracking
Most of the other sports modes on the Forerunner 935 work in a similar fashion to the running mode, measuring distance, pace/speed, and duration of your workout while adding in a few sport-specific stats such as stroke rate in the case of swimming. They all feed into your overall training load too. This is a triathlon watch, so unlike many GPS wearables, there is an open-water mode, plus a few different multisport options including swim/run and duathlon.
The performance of the Forerunner is impressive across all of these sports, with accurate heart-rate and distance tracking, although it won’t attempt to track heart rate when swimming. Many other trackers try this with mixed results, but if you need these insights you’ll need to link to a swim-specific heart-rate monitor like Garmin’s HRM-Swim.
The Forerunner 935 tracks your everyday activity, recording steps, floors climbed, resting and active calories, active minutes (over the course of a week) and even your stress level, which is based on heart-rate variability. The steps target adjusts automatically based on past activity based on its on-going assessment of the data it accumulates.
Heart rate is tracked 24/7 and you’ll get an estimate of your resting heart rate each day, so you can monitor this over time to see if you’re getting fitter – the number going down is a good sign. Sleep is recorded and the Forerunner 935 has Garmin’s advanced sleep-monitoring features, using heart-rate variability among other info to provide a more detailed picture of your night’s rest. Along with total duration, it will tell you the time spent in light, deep and REM sleep, and also depict your movements through the night.
All this information is engagingly presented in the Garmin Connect app. Small tiles on the home page show key data, and tapping these tiles gives you more in-depth data into trends over recent weeks and months. On the watch itself, you can scroll through widgets that show your everyday stats and also set up alerts to move if you’ve been sedentary for too long. Everyday tracking is not what the Forerunner 935 is primarily designed for, but it does it well.
So the results are in and the verdict is that the Garmin Forerunner 935 is a five-star multisport watch that blows everything else in its price range out of the water. As well as offering in-depth insights into running, swimming and cycling, it’s an everyday activity tracker that’s lightweight and comfortable enough to wear, ALL the time!
Thanks to its impressive array of sensors, the watch offers sophisticated insights into your training status, telling you whether it’s a good idea to train or not. When used with a compatible Running Dynamics Pod (or an HRM-Run or HRM-Tri heart-rate monitor), it also delivers advanced metrics such as ground contact time, balance, stride length and vertical ratio that can help you to better understand your running technique.
The Forerunner 935 also does a great job of tracking your everyday activity.
Design and features:
The Forerunner 935 is a sports tracker first and foremost, so its looks are unlikely to wow you. However, its black casing is subtle and inoffensive enough to wear when you’re not training, and it’s compatible with Garmin’s QuickFit 22 bands, so you can swap the plain silicone band for something fancier if you prefer.
The Forerunner 935’s traditional five-button running-watch design works well for navigating its many menus and allows easy control of the watch during activities. Touchscreens and scrolling knobs are fun, but when you’re sweaty nothing beats a physical button for precise control.
One advantage the Forerunner 935 has over rugged watches such as the Fenix 5 Plus is that its plastic design helps it to be lightweight. At 49g, it’s some 37g lighter than its stablemate. And despite this, it packs plenty into its design. There’s GPS, GLONASS, Garmin’s Elevate optical heart-rate monitor, a barometric altimeter, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, and thermometer.
It’s waterproof (5ATM), and while its 30.5mm display doesn’t dazzle compared to those on smartwatches like the Apple Watch or Fitbit Ionic, it’s always easy to read and only becomes more so in bright sunlight.
Battery life is listed as 24 hours for GPS use, which can be extended to 60 hours with Garmin’s UltraTrac mode. This mode isn’t as accurate because it takes readings less frequently, but it’s a handy feature for ultramarathon fans seeking the ultimate in longevity. In general, I achieved around two weeks of use from the Forerunner 935, even when logging outdoor activities most days, which is terrific. The Forerunner tracks a huge variety of sports, but its running mode is the most feature-rich. I’ve used it through two marathon training cycles and, well, it’s just phenomenal. Hit the Run button and it quickly locks on to GPS plus any sensors you have nearby (including running pods such as Stryd. In my 18 months of using it, the longest I’ve waited for a GPS fix is 60 seconds, and usually, it locks on in less than ten seconds.
Distance and heart-rate tracking are both accurate and I’d say the latter in particular stands out on the Forerunner 935. Wrist-based optical sensors are never totally dependable, but the Forerunner 935’s is reliable enough that you don’t need to use a chest strap, even if you’re following a workout based entirely on heart rate.
You can create such a workout or, indeed, one based on time, distance or pace in Garmin Connect and beam it over to the watch wirelessly. There’s also a simple Intervals mode you can set up on the watch itself. Trainers agree that Garmin is leading the way when it comes to making it easy to create and follow workouts on the wrist, which is a key feature for keen amateurs and pros alike. A host of features kick in after you finish running, starting with an estimate of how many hours of recovery you need. You’ll also be advised on the effect of your session in terms of aerobic and anaerobic benefit, the former marking improvements in your general cardiovascular fitness and the latter your ability to run at speed for longer.
You can also monitor your overall training load and whether a workout is effective in improving your fitness in terms of your VO2 max, which is also measured by the watch. Push too hard too often and you’ll be told you’re “Overreaching” in a counterproductive fashion, risking injury without actually benefiting your fitness.
Ideally, you’re aiming for “Productive” or, if you’re about to race, “Peaking”, which suggests you’ve reduced your training load in a smart way to smash your PB. The Forerunner 935 estimates your times for a 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon based on your VO2 max.
Activity and other sports tracking
Most of the other sports modes on the Forerunner 935 work in a similar fashion to the running mode, measuring distance, pace/speed, and duration of your workout while adding in a few sport-specific stats such as stroke rate in the case of swimming. They all feed into your overall training load too. This is a triathlon watch, so unlike many GPS wearables, there is an open-water mode, plus a few different multisport options including swim/run and duathlon.
The performance of the Forerunner is impressive across all of these sports, with accurate heart-rate and distance tracking, although it won’t attempt to track heart rate when swimming. Many other trackers try this with mixed results, but if you need these insights you’ll need to link to a swim-specific heart-rate monitor like Garmin’s HRM-Swim.
The Forerunner 935 tracks your everyday activity, recording steps, floors climbed, resting and active calories, active minutes (over the course of a week) and even your stress level, which is based on heart-rate variability. The steps target adjusts automatically based on past activity based on its on-going assessment of the data it accumulates.
Heart rate is tracked 24/7 and you’ll get an estimate of your resting heart rate each day, so you can monitor this over time to see if you’re getting fitter – the number going down is a good sign. Sleep is recorded and the Forerunner 935 has Garmin’s advanced sleep-monitoring features, using heart-rate variability among other info to provide a more detailed picture of your night’s rest. Along with total duration, it will tell you the time spent in light, deep and REM sleep, and also depict your movements through the night.
All this information is engagingly presented in the Garmin Connect app. Small tiles on the home page show key data, and tapping these tiles gives you more in-depth data into trends over recent weeks and months. On the watch itself, you can scroll through widgets that show your everyday stats and also set up alerts to move if you’ve been sedentary for too long. Everyday tracking is not what the Forerunner 935 is primarily designed for, but it does it well.
So the results are in and the verdict is that the Garmin Forerunner 935 is a five-star multisport watch that blows everything else in its price range out of the water. As well as offering in-depth insights into running, swimming and cycling, it’s an everyday activity tracker that’s lightweight and comfortable enough to wear, ALL the time!
Read more
If you're excited about upping your running game for 2019 then you need to know your pushing yourself to your maximum. In order to do this right, you need a good fitness tracker. The Garmin Forerunner 935 is one tracker that will go the distance for you, and then some! The Garmin 935 is the ultimate tool for dedicated runners everywhere. Whether you are a triathlete or trail runner, you cannot pass up on the Forerunner 935xt. Super concise data is a runner's best friend and with the Forerunner 935, you'll have all of the data you need. Multi-Sport dynamics (running, swimming, and cycling), VO2 Max, wrist-based heart rate, recovery time, race predictor, and more. The 935 also offers you more ways than ever to store and track your data. Use automatic uploads to Garmin Connect, or use “Strava” live segments to turn every run into a virtual race. The 935 is truly the most powerful Forerunner ever.
Thanks to its impressive array of sensors, the watch offers sophisticated insights into your training status, telling you whether it’s a good idea to train or not. When used with a compatible Running Dynamics Pod (or an HRM-Run or HRM-Tri heart-rate monitor), it also delivers advanced metrics such as ground contact time, balance, stride length and vertical ratio that can help you to better understand your running technique.
The Forerunner 935 also does a great job of tracking your everyday activity.
Design and features:
The Forerunner 935 is a sports tracker first and foremost, so its looks are unlikely to wow you. However, its black casing is subtle and inoffensive enough to wear when you’re not training, and it’s compatible with Garmin’s QuickFit 22 bands, so you can swap the plain silicone band for something fancier if you prefer.
The Forerunner 935’s traditional five-button running-watch design works well for navigating its many menus and allows easy control of the watch during activities. Touchscreens and scrolling knobs are fun, but when you’re sweaty nothing beats a physical button for precise control.
One advantage the Forerunner 935 has over rugged watches such as the Fenix 5 Plus is that its plastic design helps it to be lightweight. At 49g, it’s some 37g lighter than its stablemate. And despite this, it packs plenty into its design. There’s GPS, GLONASS, Garmin’s Elevate optical heart-rate monitor, a barometric altimeter, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, and thermometer.
It’s waterproof (5ATM), and while its 30.5mm display doesn’t dazzle compared to those on smartwatches like the Apple Watch or Fitbit Ionic, it’s always easy to read and only becomes more so in bright sunlight.
Battery life is listed as 24 hours for GPS use, which can be extended to 60 hours with Garmin’s UltraTrac mode. This mode isn’t as accurate because it takes readings less frequently, but it’s a handy feature for ultramarathon fans seeking the ultimate in longevity. In general, I achieved around two weeks of use from the Forerunner 935, even when logging outdoor activities most days, which is terrific. The Forerunner tracks a huge variety of sports, but its running mode is the most feature-rich. I’ve used it through two marathon training cycles and, well, it’s just phenomenal. Hit the Run button and it quickly locks on to GPS plus any sensors you have nearby (including running pods such as Stryd. In my 18 months of using it, the longest I’ve waited for a GPS fix is 60 seconds, and usually, it locks on in less than ten seconds.
Distance and heart-rate tracking are both accurate and I’d say the latter in particular stands out on the Forerunner 935. Wrist-based optical sensors are never totally dependable, but the Forerunner 935’s is reliable enough that you don’t need to use a chest strap, even if you’re following a workout based entirely on heart rate.
You can create such a workout or, indeed, one based on time, distance or pace in Garmin Connect and beam it over to the watch wirelessly. There’s also a simple Intervals mode you can set up on the watch itself. Trainers agree that Garmin is leading the way when it comes to making it easy to create and follow workouts on the wrist, which is a key feature for keen amateurs and pros alike. A host of features kick in after you finish running, starting with an estimate of how many hours of recovery you need. You’ll also be advised on the effect of your session in terms of aerobic and anaerobic benefit, the former marking improvements in your general cardiovascular fitness and the latter your ability to run at speed for longer.
You can also monitor your overall training load and whether a workout is effective in improving your fitness in terms of your VO2 max, which is also measured by the watch. Push too hard too often and you’ll be told you’re “Overreaching” in a counterproductive fashion, risking injury without actually benefiting your fitness.
Ideally, you’re aiming for “Productive” or, if you’re about to race, “Peaking”, which suggests you’ve reduced your training load in a smart way to smash your PB. The Forerunner 935 estimates your times for a 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon based on your VO2 max.
Activity and other sports tracking
Most of the other sports modes on the Forerunner 935 work in a similar fashion to the running mode, measuring distance, pace/speed, and duration of your workout while adding in a few sport-specific stats such as stroke rate in the case of swimming. They all feed into your overall training load too. This is a triathlon watch, so unlike many GPS wearables, there is an open-water mode, plus a few different multisport options including swim/run and duathlon.
The performance of the Forerunner is impressive across all of these sports, with accurate heart-rate and distance tracking, although it won’t attempt to track heart rate when swimming. Many other trackers try this with mixed results, but if you need these insights you’ll need to link to a swim-specific heart-rate monitor like Garmin’s HRM-Swim.
The Forerunner 935 tracks your everyday activity, recording steps, floors climbed, resting and active calories, active minutes (over the course of a week) and even your stress level, which is based on heart-rate variability. The steps target adjusts automatically based on past activity based on its on-going assessment of the data it accumulates.
Heart rate is tracked 24/7 and you’ll get an estimate of your resting heart rate each day, so you can monitor this over time to see if you’re getting fitter – the number going down is a good sign. Sleep is recorded and the Forerunner 935 has Garmin’s advanced sleep-monitoring features, using heart-rate variability among other info to provide a more detailed picture of your night’s rest. Along with total duration, it will tell you the time spent in light, deep and REM sleep, and also depict your movements through the night.
All this information is engagingly presented in the Garmin Connect app. Small tiles on the home page show key data, and tapping these tiles gives you more in-depth data into trends over recent weeks and months. On the watch itself, you can scroll through widgets that show your everyday stats and also set up alerts to move if you’ve been sedentary for too long. Everyday tracking is not what the Forerunner 935 is primarily designed for, but it does it well.
So the results are in and the verdict is that the Garmin Forerunner 935 is a five-star multisport watch that blows everything else in its price range out of the water. As well as offering in-depth insights into running, swimming and cycling, it’s an everyday activity tracker that’s lightweight and comfortable enough to wear, ALL the time!
Thanks to its impressive array of sensors, the watch offers sophisticated insights into your training status, telling you whether it’s a good idea to train or not. When used with a compatible Running Dynamics Pod (or an HRM-Run or HRM-Tri heart-rate monitor), it also delivers advanced metrics such as ground contact time, balance, stride length and vertical ratio that can help you to better understand your running technique.
The Forerunner 935 also does a great job of tracking your everyday activity.
Design and features:
The Forerunner 935 is a sports tracker first and foremost, so its looks are unlikely to wow you. However, its black casing is subtle and inoffensive enough to wear when you’re not training, and it’s compatible with Garmin’s QuickFit 22 bands, so you can swap the plain silicone band for something fancier if you prefer.
The Forerunner 935’s traditional five-button running-watch design works well for navigating its many menus and allows easy control of the watch during activities. Touchscreens and scrolling knobs are fun, but when you’re sweaty nothing beats a physical button for precise control.
One advantage the Forerunner 935 has over rugged watches such as the Fenix 5 Plus is that its plastic design helps it to be lightweight. At 49g, it’s some 37g lighter than its stablemate. And despite this, it packs plenty into its design. There’s GPS, GLONASS, Garmin’s Elevate optical heart-rate monitor, a barometric altimeter, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, and thermometer.
It’s waterproof (5ATM), and while its 30.5mm display doesn’t dazzle compared to those on smartwatches like the Apple Watch or Fitbit Ionic, it’s always easy to read and only becomes more so in bright sunlight.
Battery life is listed as 24 hours for GPS use, which can be extended to 60 hours with Garmin’s UltraTrac mode. This mode isn’t as accurate because it takes readings less frequently, but it’s a handy feature for ultramarathon fans seeking the ultimate in longevity. In general, I achieved around two weeks of use from the Forerunner 935, even when logging outdoor activities most days, which is terrific. The Forerunner tracks a huge variety of sports, but its running mode is the most feature-rich. I’ve used it through two marathon training cycles and, well, it’s just phenomenal. Hit the Run button and it quickly locks on to GPS plus any sensors you have nearby (including running pods such as Stryd. In my 18 months of using it, the longest I’ve waited for a GPS fix is 60 seconds, and usually, it locks on in less than ten seconds.
Distance and heart-rate tracking are both accurate and I’d say the latter in particular stands out on the Forerunner 935. Wrist-based optical sensors are never totally dependable, but the Forerunner 935’s is reliable enough that you don’t need to use a chest strap, even if you’re following a workout based entirely on heart rate.
You can create such a workout or, indeed, one based on time, distance or pace in Garmin Connect and beam it over to the watch wirelessly. There’s also a simple Intervals mode you can set up on the watch itself. Trainers agree that Garmin is leading the way when it comes to making it easy to create and follow workouts on the wrist, which is a key feature for keen amateurs and pros alike. A host of features kick in after you finish running, starting with an estimate of how many hours of recovery you need. You’ll also be advised on the effect of your session in terms of aerobic and anaerobic benefit, the former marking improvements in your general cardiovascular fitness and the latter your ability to run at speed for longer.
You can also monitor your overall training load and whether a workout is effective in improving your fitness in terms of your VO2 max, which is also measured by the watch. Push too hard too often and you’ll be told you’re “Overreaching” in a counterproductive fashion, risking injury without actually benefiting your fitness.
Ideally, you’re aiming for “Productive” or, if you’re about to race, “Peaking”, which suggests you’ve reduced your training load in a smart way to smash your PB. The Forerunner 935 estimates your times for a 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon based on your VO2 max.
Activity and other sports tracking
Most of the other sports modes on the Forerunner 935 work in a similar fashion to the running mode, measuring distance, pace/speed, and duration of your workout while adding in a few sport-specific stats such as stroke rate in the case of swimming. They all feed into your overall training load too. This is a triathlon watch, so unlike many GPS wearables, there is an open-water mode, plus a few different multisport options including swim/run and duathlon.
The performance of the Forerunner is impressive across all of these sports, with accurate heart-rate and distance tracking, although it won’t attempt to track heart rate when swimming. Many other trackers try this with mixed results, but if you need these insights you’ll need to link to a swim-specific heart-rate monitor like Garmin’s HRM-Swim.
The Forerunner 935 tracks your everyday activity, recording steps, floors climbed, resting and active calories, active minutes (over the course of a week) and even your stress level, which is based on heart-rate variability. The steps target adjusts automatically based on past activity based on its on-going assessment of the data it accumulates.
Heart rate is tracked 24/7 and you’ll get an estimate of your resting heart rate each day, so you can monitor this over time to see if you’re getting fitter – the number going down is a good sign. Sleep is recorded and the Forerunner 935 has Garmin’s advanced sleep-monitoring features, using heart-rate variability among other info to provide a more detailed picture of your night’s rest. Along with total duration, it will tell you the time spent in light, deep and REM sleep, and also depict your movements through the night.
All this information is engagingly presented in the Garmin Connect app. Small tiles on the home page show key data, and tapping these tiles gives you more in-depth data into trends over recent weeks and months. On the watch itself, you can scroll through widgets that show your everyday stats and also set up alerts to move if you’ve been sedentary for too long. Everyday tracking is not what the Forerunner 935 is primarily designed for, but it does it well.
So the results are in and the verdict is that the Garmin Forerunner 935 is a five-star multisport watch that blows everything else in its price range out of the water. As well as offering in-depth insights into running, swimming and cycling, it’s an everyday activity tracker that’s lightweight and comfortable enough to wear, ALL the time!
Read more
Just How Long and How Fast Can You Go?
Depending on just what type of team sport you’re into. Or if you’re a solo athlete that likes to run, do marathons or someone who likes to push the envelope by taking part in Tri-Athlons on a regular basis. It all comes down to being in great shape and having an endurance level that just keeps you pushing on.
Endurance training can have you reaching pre-set-goals that perhaps otherwise you would not be able to attain. The definition of “Endurance” (according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is: The ability to withstand hardship or adversity; the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity.
Sound like you during your exercise workouts?? If your doing it right, then you know we are always pushing ourselves to go that extra bit further in our routines. But to be able to do this you need to provide your body with the tools it needs to build itself up so that you can meet the goals you are setting for yourself. And it really doesn’t matter if you’re a runner, cyclist, swimmer, football, baseball player or just upping your weight sets to increase your strength. Increasing your endurance levels will help you to reach or even surpass your goals.
Endurance allows people to work out at a certain intensity or for an extended amount of time (hello, marathon!). There are many factors that combine to create an athlete's "endurance profile," and two of the most important are VO2 max and lactate threshold. VO2 max, or the maximum rate at which an athlete's body can consume oxygen during exercise, is the most popular measurement of aerobic capacity (although it’s unclear if it’s necessarily the most accurate). Although endurance ability is mostly a matter of genetics, maximal oxygen uptake can be improved with targeted training. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts have been shown to do the trick of increasing an athletes' VO2 max. Another piece of the endurance puzzle is the athlete's lactate threshold or the level of exertion at which lactate accumulates in the muscles. In simple terms, your lactate threshold is how hard you can push yourself for a prolonged period without blowing up!
Luckily, it's possible for virtually any athlete to improve both of these measures. Naturally, your going to want to measure your performance and in order to do this to the maximum you need a reliable fitness tracker and with a combined heart rate monitor and one that fits this bill is the Garmin Fenix 5 GPS Multi-Sport Watch With its ability to track your heart rate, it in turns also keeps track of your VO2 max levels along with the lactate thresholds based on the profile you enter into your tracker. With this type of monitoring capability, you're going to be able to monitor and track your workouts like you’ve never been able to do before. In this way, your going to know just where your low points are from the various readings and know when to take advantage of your “Rest Periods” in order to have your body to be able to recoup and in turn build your endurance levels up on a consistent basis.
Adequate Rest: Resting up is nothing to take for granted. In order to go long and hard, athletes need fresh muscles, any good trainer will tell you this. You need to "Go hard on hard days; Go easy on easy days; and never string hard days together without adequate rest.” Feeling fresh can help anyone go the distance.
Fueling Up (Eating 😊): When it comes to exercise nutrition, carbs, the right carbs, are key, since the body uses glycogen for fuel when the going gets tough. Once glycogen (a substance deposited in bodily tissues as a store of carbohydrates), runs out, the body turns to energy from other sources and begins to burn fat. For extended cardio sessions, consume 30-60 grams of carbs every hour, depending on body weight. Studies have also found a mix of carbs and protein can enhance endurance performance and reduce muscle damage. Which we do NOT want to do! That said, keep in mind that the best mix of carbohydrates, fat, and protein varies considerably amongst athletes. A lot depends on your body’s metabolism rate, along with the type of physical exercise you opt for your fitness regimen. You need to “Experiment, experiment, and experiment”, some more to find the right combination for you.
Following the above recommendations might just have you going further in your training then you've ever gone before. Naturally, we also recommend talking things over with your physician to make sure everything (body wise) is in good condition for you to start pushing yourself harder, faster and most importantly smarter as you build up your endurance levels.
So, let me ask you, just how far did you go today? From the “Go-Getter Staff” here at HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com.
Read more
Depending on just what type of team sport you’re into. Or if you’re a solo athlete that likes to run, do marathons or someone who likes to push the envelope by taking part in Tri-Athlons on a regular basis. It all comes down to being in great shape and having an endurance level that just keeps you pushing on.
Endurance training can have you reaching pre-set-goals that perhaps otherwise you would not be able to attain. The definition of “Endurance” (according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is: The ability to withstand hardship or adversity; the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity.
Sound like you during your exercise workouts?? If your doing it right, then you know we are always pushing ourselves to go that extra bit further in our routines. But to be able to do this you need to provide your body with the tools it needs to build itself up so that you can meet the goals you are setting for yourself. And it really doesn’t matter if you’re a runner, cyclist, swimmer, football, baseball player or just upping your weight sets to increase your strength. Increasing your endurance levels will help you to reach or even surpass your goals.
Endurance allows people to work out at a certain intensity or for an extended amount of time (hello, marathon!). There are many factors that combine to create an athlete's "endurance profile," and two of the most important are VO2 max and lactate threshold. VO2 max, or the maximum rate at which an athlete's body can consume oxygen during exercise, is the most popular measurement of aerobic capacity (although it’s unclear if it’s necessarily the most accurate). Although endurance ability is mostly a matter of genetics, maximal oxygen uptake can be improved with targeted training. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts have been shown to do the trick of increasing an athletes' VO2 max. Another piece of the endurance puzzle is the athlete's lactate threshold or the level of exertion at which lactate accumulates in the muscles. In simple terms, your lactate threshold is how hard you can push yourself for a prolonged period without blowing up!
Luckily, it's possible for virtually any athlete to improve both of these measures. Naturally, your going to want to measure your performance and in order to do this to the maximum you need a reliable fitness tracker and with a combined heart rate monitor and one that fits this bill is the Garmin Fenix 5 GPS Multi-Sport Watch With its ability to track your heart rate, it in turns also keeps track of your VO2 max levels along with the lactate thresholds based on the profile you enter into your tracker. With this type of monitoring capability, you're going to be able to monitor and track your workouts like you’ve never been able to do before. In this way, your going to know just where your low points are from the various readings and know when to take advantage of your “Rest Periods” in order to have your body to be able to recoup and in turn build your endurance levels up on a consistent basis.
Adequate Rest: Resting up is nothing to take for granted. In order to go long and hard, athletes need fresh muscles, any good trainer will tell you this. You need to "Go hard on hard days; Go easy on easy days; and never string hard days together without adequate rest.” Feeling fresh can help anyone go the distance.
Fueling Up (Eating 😊): When it comes to exercise nutrition, carbs, the right carbs, are key, since the body uses glycogen for fuel when the going gets tough. Once glycogen (a substance deposited in bodily tissues as a store of carbohydrates), runs out, the body turns to energy from other sources and begins to burn fat. For extended cardio sessions, consume 30-60 grams of carbs every hour, depending on body weight. Studies have also found a mix of carbs and protein can enhance endurance performance and reduce muscle damage. Which we do NOT want to do! That said, keep in mind that the best mix of carbohydrates, fat, and protein varies considerably amongst athletes. A lot depends on your body’s metabolism rate, along with the type of physical exercise you opt for your fitness regimen. You need to “Experiment, experiment, and experiment”, some more to find the right combination for you.
Following the above recommendations might just have you going further in your training then you've ever gone before. Naturally, we also recommend talking things over with your physician to make sure everything (body wise) is in good condition for you to start pushing yourself harder, faster and most importantly smarter as you build up your endurance levels.
So, let me ask you, just how far did you go today? From the “Go-Getter Staff” here at HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com.