The Fall Season is a traditional changing time of year. The leaves on the trees change, it becomes darker earlier, and the temperatures start to dip down a bit. It is a favorite time of year for many people. For some people though, they may fall off the health and fitness wagon during this transition. And there is NO reason to! There are many enjoyable activities that take place in the Fall that allow you to remain fit, or even begin a fitness program.

Take Advantage of Autumn Activities
There are many local events that can get you out of the house and getting active this time of year. Remember, exercise does not mean getting your keister to a gym and sweating to the oldies! Autumn events like pumpkin picking, corn mazes, haunted trails, and raking up some leaf piles are active options that can provide you with some additional reasons to get outside and enjoy that crisp autumn weather.
According to health trainers, a 150-lb. person can burn 135 calories by raking leaves for 30 minutes. Turn outdoor chores into a free fitness workout by setting small, achievable goals to help pass time and burn away fat. And you won’t have to wipe off someone else’s sweat from the support rails of the leg press machine or stair stepper!

Now don’t get me wrong, these are supplemental activities that you can fit around your usual exercise routines. (I was just kidding about sweating to the oldies!).

Now, since the sun is rising a bit later in the morning, the early time of day is still a great time to get out and say, go for that walk, run or maybe just a quick bike ride around the neighborhood. If you work out in the early morning, before your busy work or home responsibilities take up most of your time, you can get that feeling of accomplishment that can stay with you the rest of the day!
With the time change, that is taking place later this month, and the sun setting earlier, it can feel as though it's later in the day than it really is. This can make people more tired than usual. Getting into a routine of working out early will guarantee your workout gets done and still allow time in the afternoons and evenings to relax, or better yet, get to that corn maze with some friends and have some fun that will also involve some walking. The laughing will come later after you find yourselves lost in the maze and asking for help!

Now, these early morning exercise routines will probably get you up before those sun’s rays start to make themselves felt. But that also is part of the “Fall Effect”, of getting up in the dark, heading home from work in the dark. This is why it’s important to keep that mental outlook in the right place so you can keep a good attitude to your healthy, fitness routine. The good thing about exercising in the morning before the sun makes an appearance is that it usually cool, so you won’t break as much of a sweat and studies have shown that people that choose to work out in the morning to start their day have a better outlook on their daily tasks. So why not be one of these people? You may even find that your stress levels have gone down a bit since you would still be working off of those endorphin highs you created with your early exercise!

While some of us are thinking of apple picking and maybe enjoying the fruits of our labor by eating a slice of homemade apple pie. Keep the latter in check please, enjoying the fruits of fall apple picking is of course eating those choice fruits and if you’re lucky enough to have someone in your life that bakes a great pie, strudel or any other of your favorite family treats, just remember to eat them in moderation and make up for it by maybe doing some chores for your baker in return for her efforts!
The Fall besides picking some apples or gathering the fall crops from the garden is also a great time to dig that bike out of the garage and hit some biking paths or if your adventuress, some bike trails that lead you up and into the mountains or remote areas around where you live.

Cycling is a great workout for your entire body, cycling strengthens your muscles while going easy on your joints, like your knees, unlike the high impact on your knees and hips from running. And the Fall is a great time of the year to not only reap the benefits of this type of exercise but at the same time you get to see the colors of the trees change right before your eyes as you venture out on your bike enjoying the cool crisp autumn air.

One thing you may want to consider taking along with you on your cycling excursions is a good bike computer, one that offers an accurate GPS function so you can not only keep track of where you’re going but your friends and family can also see where you are when you are!

A good model that fits the bill is the Garmin Edge 1030 GPS Cycling Computer  Easy to use, even when wearing pressure gloves for riding, its touch screen offers a high-resolution screen that even adjusts to the amount of sunlight hitting it. And you don’t have to worry about straying off of the trails because the 1030 has a vast inventory of maps and its GPS capabilities will keep you on track and let you and your friends know where you are at all times, via Garmin Connect. And being the latest in a long line of Garmin GPS products you can bet that using this advanced device you will get all the data you need in order to get the most out of your cycling adventures. This is only going to augment your regular exercise training routines and turn your leisure, outdoor experiences into helping you maintain a healthy body toning lifestyle!

So, again, if you think the autumn season is just a prelude to winter winds, blowing snow and extreme cold, you better start re-thinking your idea of the autumn. Whatever you elect to do, just get out there and enjoy the change in the seasons and take advantage of what Mother Nature brings your way and there’s no reason, why you can’t stay active and fit “All Year Long”!

 

If you're old enough, you may remember the Jackson Brown song, “Running on Empty” It’s a great song with a good tempo to help you keep running or biking out there on the road and if you want to take a listen to it, well, here is a link to when he performed it live for the “Rock n Roll Hall of Fame”  

Now, the reason I chose this lead into this blog, is that often enough, many of us take off on our exercise runs, walks, maybe cycling, with only a basic combination of carbs and a  small amount of protein for breakfast or possibly a snack in the afternoon before we set off. Now that’s fine for a regular stint of exercise that you do either every day or 2-3 times a week. After all, you know your body better than anyone, but sometimes we get either lazy or fall into a habit of thinking stocking up on less is better than over doing it before you begin your exercise outing. But various studies have shown that your body, while it usually has enough carbs and protein stored in the morning from a night of sleeping, or you had a good lunch in the afternoon and think you can “Pony-Up” to your after work training regimen, well think again, it’s still not enough to help you get through a better than average exercise event. You need to be on top of your game when it comes to eating right when you're putting your body through its paces.

One way you can keep track of how well it’s, your body is performing, is to have the right tools with you like an Activity Tracker. The Garmin Vivosport Sport & Activity Tracker comes with a wrist-based heart rate and GPS technology that allows you to either work out inside or use the built-in GPS to accurately track your activities outside. Along with the fitness monitoring tools such as VO2 max and fitness age estimates, the "All-Day" stress tracking helps you stay in touch with your body’s response to potential stressors. And with the VO2 max feature you can measure up against previous results to see just how well you’re performing, along with the Heart Rate monitoring function that is wrist based.

But again YOUR NUTRITION is probably one of the most important things to look after when you’re engaging in an active cardio lifestyle, like running, fast walking and cycling. It can be the make or break when it comes to not just surviving the miles but actually enjoying the paces you’re putting your body through and being able to train without fatigue.

Now for when you’re taking on your first race or long distance run or biking event, your food intake is very important to make sure your body has the right combination of fuel to help you to get to the end point of your endeavor. You don't want to put "Economy Gas" in your engine when you’re training at a "Nascar" event level, do you?

Morning fuel: Your breakfast will be one of the most important meals you consume and will ensure you are fully fuelled when you cross the start line, so make sure you are comfortable with it and it works for you.
On the go feeding: Fuelling while running/cycling is key, so get confident at consuming food and fluid whilst at a good pace. Here at HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com, we have looked into this important aspect of energy replacing foods and recommend the GU Energy Stroopwafel The Stroopwafel is made with a layer of delicious syrup between two thin wafers, and it’s individually packaged to make it portable and easy to take on a ride or run. It can be used before and during training and competitions. The GU Energy Stroopwafel (Different Name, Great Product!) delivers all the nutrients needed to power your performance: quality carbohydrates, and electrolytes that provide immediate and long-lasting energy from complex and simple carbohydrates, along with essential amino acids, which can help prevent mental fatigue and repair muscle damage during long-duration activities.

Then there are also the GU Energy Chews  This Chewy snack packs energy-dense calories in a portable packet to help sustain energy demands of long duration activities. The 90-calorie packet contains carbohydrates to keep you fueled while delaying bonking by sparing your glycogen stores. Sodium, the primary electrolyte lost in sweat, aids in hydration by maintaining water balance.

Now that we have a few energy packed chewable for you to work your teeth on, we want to make sure we quench your thirst with the right combination of drinks that provide you with more thirst quenching relief than just plain water. Remember, in order to remain healthy our body needs to stay hydrated. But during our daily workouts and intensive sweat sessions, water alone cannot help. Though water will quench your thirst, it won’t boost your energy levels so that you can perform efficiently. The engineers at Nuun Energy have developed a product that can provide your body with the fluid it needs to not only stay hydrated but to also help replenish the electrolytes and other minerals and vitamins your body is consuming as you’re putting it through its paces. The Nuun Energy Sports Drink Tablets  It contains important natural ingredients like:
Sodium: which reduces acidity produced in the muscles during intensive workout sessions which in turn improves speed among racers and cyclists.

Potassium: Which is an electrolyte that conducts impulses in our body. Therefore, it is required by our cells, tissues , nd organs to function optimally. It is vital for healthy muscular and digestive functions of our body.

Magnesium: Which is one of the 6 macro-minerals that make up 99% of our body’s mineral content. It is crucial to enable healthy nerve function, build bones and produce energy from the food we eat. In the absence of magnesium, our body will not be able to synthesize energy from food, muscles won’t be able to contract or relax and production of key hormones that control vital body functions will be hindered.

Vitamin C: Water-soluble vitamin, that has numerous health benefits which should be taken with food or health supplements. It boosts our immune system, helps lower hypertension; maintains elasticity of skin and aids healing of wounds by facilitating the growth of connective tissue etc.

Vitamin B12: is required to keep our nerves and red blood cells healthy. It also helps in the efficient functioning of our critical body functions.

Vitamin B6: plays a key role in converting food into energy and also metabolizes fats and proteins. It helps in keeping hair, skin, liver and eyes healthy.

Niacin: helps to lower and control cholesterol levels. It also releases energy into the body cell’s and helps to stay active and energized.
So as you can see, if you’re serious about being active and want to push yourself from time to time to see if you can in fact “Go the Distance”. Then you need to make sure your fueling your body with the proper energy making foodstuffs to see that you in fact, can “Go the Distance”.

There should never be a reason for you to have your body “Running on Empty” again. Like any good engine, you get out of it what you put into it.

See you at the end of the course, from the active gang here at HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com !!

Summertime, just the word can make us feel so much better about this time of year. For most of us that long for the warm, hot weather, the winter months can seem to go on and on and on. It’s no wonder that not only our moods seem to get a lift this time of year but so do our bodies, which benefit from increased levels of absorbing vitamin D from all of that abundant sunshine!

This is a great time for us to get moving and get out and enjoy these warm,  hot couple of months before they’re gone. And it’s also a great time to start putting our bodies through their paces to make sure we are toned and in the best physical shape we can be in, as we take part in all those sport activities that seem to crop up along every beach, local ball park or local runs, walks, and marathons.

Keeping track of all of your activities and just how much you’re actually putting into your daily or weekly fitness programs is a must! And if you’re not keeping track of just how much you’re accomplishing with your fitness regimen you’re selling yourself short on making the most of what you're putting into it.

A great way to stay on top of your game is using a good activity watch or one that also monitors your heart-rate each and every day. One that we like to recommend is the Garmin Vivosmart HR+GPS 
Whether you’re going for a jog, playing a pick-up game with friends or trying out a new boot camp class, it quantifies the intensity of your fitness activities using intensity minutes!

It's able to track distance, time and pace for indoor or outdoor activities. With GPS, you can get even more accurate distance and pace stats as well as a map of your activity when running or walking outdoors. In addition to tracking your runs, steps, and calories, Vívosmart HR+ measures floors climbed and intensity minutes. So when you're wearing it, you don't have to worry about not keeping track of any physical exertions, throughout the day. 

With the Vivosmart activity watch, you're going to be able to take your fitness goals to the next level for all the right reasons. And besides its GPS capabilities, (you won't get lost), it allows you to monitor your heart-rate as you push yourself, and it’s also waterproof. So you can take it from the beach to the pools and stroke your way to increasing the number of laps you’re able to do today and every day you strap it on.

So, while the sun’s still shining and pouring down all that goodness on you. Get yourselves a Garmin Vivosmart watch today and see just how much you’re going to improve between now and Labor Day.

If you keep to a regimen of pushing your limits, you’re going to be impressed with your “End of Summer” results.

So, who’s up for a game of sand volleyball,,,, Are YOU?

We all know getting a good amount of physical activity into your daily lifestyle is the best thing you can do to keep your body performing the way it was meant to. After all, history provides the necessary facts that man is supposed to work for his food and habitat. Today, naturally, we have advanced to the state in man’s evolution that we no longer need to scavenge, hunt, grow or just plain seek out our daily nourishment. Back in the day, it was not unusual for a person to go a few days without having anything to eat because nothing crossed their paths that they could capture and put it into the group food pot.

Naturally, we can thank our evolvement into the societies that we have today that at least in this country and most others, we have abundant sources of food. But with that evolvement, came the complications that come with living maybe a too easy lifestyle. We’ve gotten fat and lazy.

Well, it’s a known fact that those of us who have decided to change their bodies, getting in better shape by exercising and becoming more physical, can not only see their bodies getting leaner and stronger, but we can now affirm that by doing this you can actually live longer.

Not just because of the benefits you are now enjoying with providing your body with the components of living a healthy life. But there was a study done a few years ago that people that exert themselves with exercise on a regular basis, like runners seem to stop the Telomere length of their chromosomes from shrinking or disappearing. It’s explained like this: Every time your cells replicate, they lose a bit of this protective cap, until the telomeres get so short that the cell can’t replicate properly anymore, which is why telomere length is considered one of the markers of biological age.

The good news is that, starting in around 2010, a series of studies has suggested that endurance exercise preserves telomere length as you get older. For example, a study of endurance runners found that their telomeres were 11 percent longer, corresponding to a 16-year decrease in biological age, than non-running controls. How does that sound to you?

But how much endurance running/exercise do you need to do to stave off the hands of time, or at least slow them down a bit?

Researcher Larry Tucker, of Brigham Young University, published 3 studies on the matter, one of which was submitted earlier this year. Tucker analyzed data from almost 6,000 adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, comparing their telomere lengths (as determined during a DNA test) and their self-reported physical activity patterns. Those who exercised did indeed have longer telomeres—but only in the group that exercised the most!

The high-physical-activity group’s cells appear almost nine years younger than the sedentary group’s cells, after adjusting for differences in demographics and lifestyle.

They found that there’s no significant difference in telomere length between the sedentary, low-physical-activity, and moderate-physical groups. To get the benefits, you need to be in the highest third kind of activity. What does that correspond to? Based on the study, Tucker pegs the threshold at around 30 minutes of jogging five days a week for women, and 40 minutes five days a week for men.

Naturally, according to the research provided, they are looking at a good paced run or endurance walk. To keep you on track with the right pace necessary to maintain this new exercise endeavor, a good thing to have with you every step of the way is an accurate Activity Monitor. One that can keep track of your pace, distance and also your heart rate to make sure you are pushing your limits and still performing within a safe limit. One that we like is the Garmin Vivosmart HR+GPS. It not only does all of the above but with it’s GPS capability, you can now get off the beaten paths and make your own trails up the slopes and up and down the valleys and hills to push yourself and not worry about where you end up once you hit those newly found trails.

Another choice that meets with the staff’s high ranking is the Garmin Forerunner 920 XT Multisport GPS Watch Since your going the distance and pushing yourself to the MAX then this sports watch can do everything including measuring your VO2 Max, running dynamics and live tracking. Which keeps track and measures your maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can utilize during intense, or maximal exercise. It is measured as milliliters of oxygen used in one minute per kilogram of body weight.

Along with this research, nutrition consumption was also looked at and it was found that, looking at consumption of nuts and seeds. More is better: Those who consumed about 3 percent of their total energy intake in the form and nuts and seeds were one-year “younger” by telomere length.

And he published a further analysis in Nutrition & Metabolism, this one on the effects of caffeine and coffee. In this case, the results are a little trickier to parse. The short version: Caffeine makes your telomeres shorter (which is bad) but coffee makes them longer (which is good).

There’s previous evidence that caffeine may interfere with DNA repair, which disrupts chromosomes. On the other hand, coffee itself (even decaffeinated) has anti-inflammatory properties that could be beneficial. So which effect wins? That depends on various factors, like how strong your coffee is. But if you keep in mind the advice you’ve heard time and time again, that anything in moderation is ok for you to eat. You can just about live by this statement and enjoy a healthy diet if you keep everything in balance! Naturally, this depends a lot on how you are health-wise, which as you know, before increasing any physical activity or beginning a new nutrition based eating habit, it's best to see your physician and a nutritionist.

In the end, telomere research, though it earned a Nobel Prize in 2009, is still a relatively young field. There’s a long way to go before we can be confident about what telomere length really tells us and how to change or protect it. But for now, it appears that running is a good place to start.

So to end with a phrase made popular years ago, from my favorite sci-fi movie series.

Live long and Prosper,,,, And You can, if, you dial UP your exercise routine a couple of notches!

Ok, it’s now November and the seasons are starting to change over to Fall and Winter  is not too far away, in fact, this Sunday we will be putting our clocks back 1 hour here on the east coast. If you had trouble getting up in the morning when the sun started peeking through your window, just how much harder will it be for you when the moonlight is still shining bright at 5am?
Here below are a few tips and tricks to stop you from hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock and get you up, and your feet on the floor.

Remember those goals you made for yourself to get your body into the shape you would be proud of? Well get them out now and see just how well you are doing. Now be honest! Re-affirming those goals and committing to them can be part of the motivation you need to get you out of bed in the morning and hitting the gym or the local roads as you pile up the miles to a fitter you.

Are you tracking your progress and setting new milestones as you reach the old ones? Nothing works better than tracking your performance or lack thereof then an activity monitor. It doesn’t lie to you and you can’t ignore the fact that you’re not doing what you set out to do, exercise wise. The new Fitbit the Fitbit Charge 2 Activity Tracker HR 
can definitely “Fit” the bill for you. It can monitor all of your daily activities and provide you with the data, that (doesn’t cheat) lets you know just how well or poorly you’re doing. It even tracks your sleep to make sure you’re getting the proper amount so you can perform the next day the way you need to.

Make it as easy as you can to start your morning routine once that alarm goes off. Remember, it’s a lot easier and really better for you if you get that workout in, early in the morning than waiting till after your work day is done. There are way too many excuses for canceling that trip to the gym if you’ve had “one of those days” at the workplace. And studies have shown that exercising at the beginning of your day can set the mood for a more productive day and better overall outlook. Now doesn’t that just make having a protein shake while watching the morning news all worth it?

Eating Healthy, and that means at breakfast too. We’ve all heard the benefits of eating a good nutritious breakfast to get the body’s furnaces fueled up for the upcoming day. This is even more important when you’re going to be working out within the next hour or so. You don’t want to eat too heavy a breakfast before you exercise but you want to make sure you have the right carbs and some protein in you so you can perform at your best. There are plenty of breakfast examples out there on the web that you can try and see what works best for you. Don’t be afraid to consult with your physician or if you have one your dietitian. They can make a nutrition plan for you that will provide you with the best of what you need to eat.

Workout Clothes: Getting everything ready the night before, is a plus when you’re moving a bit slowly in the morning. Having your clothes right there when you open your eyes, in eye level will save time and energy in not having to fumble around picking out what you want to wear.

Getting a Workout Buddy: Is a great way to make sure you’re not going to hit the snooze button on your alarm clock. When you have a workout buddy that takes his or her’s exercise time seriously it makes you want to keep to your commitment to work out with them each day.
Naturally, this works the same for them as well. But its also a great time to stay caught up on each other’s lives and working as a team buddy, provides the opportunity to pace yourself against someone so you can give it that extra push.

Positive Thinking: This is a must for not just getting up to exercise but to also set the trend for how you’re going to react to your day. Positive thinking is key to a motivational morning workout. You will never want to get out of the bed and go to the gym when you’re thinking “ugh I don’t want to do this.” Try waking up, taking a deep breath, and thinking “this morning workout is going to be a great start to my day”!

Remember, these are just a few hint, tips, and tricks to help you embrace your morning workouts when the sun is still working its way up over the horizon. Bottom line, it’s all up to you. You need to want to do this and commit yourself to it. But if you start your day on this type of positive note and put your all into your exercise routine, you will find that the day may just go a little be smoother for you.