Page 33 - Family Wellness - Spring/Summer 2016

Like Riding a Bike
We live so close to beautiful bike trails and scenery that can make you forget you’re exercising in the first place. If your joints—especially your hips and knees—are causing you trouble, hopping on your bike and hitting the trails or back roads can provide the cardio workout you’re after without putting strain on your ailing joints.
According to Bicycling magazine, riding a bike burns about 10 calories a minute, which means a 150-pound cyclist will burn between 500 and 600 calories. If you
don’t own a bike but you have access to the gym, try a spin class. The bikes have a weighted flywheel, which means spinning is a form of resistance exercise. Pedaling any bike uses all the large muscles in your legs; gluteals, hamstrings, calves, and quadriceps, which means cycling helps you build strong, toned legs and burn calories.
Yoga Means Business
We tend to think of yoga as a means of reducing stress as you work on deep breathing and holding poses that stretch and build strong muscles. But it’s so much more than
that. Depending on the kind of yoga you’re practicing, it can be a sweat-inducing, heart-pounding workout (think hot Bikram) that will challenge you from head to toe,
says Gary Fuschini, a physical therapy assistant at PSSM. “Contrary to popular belief, yoga is much more than simply stretching and delivers the benefits of stress relief and improved breathing, focus, and body awareness as well as increased strength and flexibility.” If it’s torching calories you’re after, keep in mind that active yoga styles such as Ashtanga and Vinyasa Flow burn more calories
than passive styles such as Restorative or Hatha. But whatever form of yoga you prefer, you may want
to implement the practice into your routine long after you’re all healed up. “While the practice can be physically challenging, it leaves you relaxed
and focused,” Fuschini says.
Be a Swim Fan
One of the few truly non-impact exercises, swimming often gets left behind in cardio routines that feature running and cycling, despite the fact that it’s a full-body exercise that burns an impressive 500-650 calories per hour.
If you’re pregnant or have an injury to your joints or muscles, getting in the pool is a smart, sustainable way to maintain and even build upon your fitness. You can take advantage of a local outdoor pool for lap swimming, but it’s also an activity you can do year-round that will help make your muscles longer and leaner.
“There are many advantages to being in water when it
comes to staying fit and decreasing stress on your joints.
The buoyancy of the water can help offset your body weight
by up to 90 percent, while offering continual resistance,”
Tholany says. “Also, the cooling effects of the water allows less
of a chance of overheating. Try switching up styles of swimming if you find it is monotonous or even consider water aerobics.”
Spring /Summer2016
GIVE THE ELLIPTICAL
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ITS DUE
You’ve probably walked past them dozens of times at the gym—the elliptical machines are often thought of as a boring and uninspired form of exercise. But these machines are designed
to be low impact and still burn calories and get the heart going, which is perfect if you’re looking to freeze your fitness in place while you’re on the mend or just need to turn down the intensity on your workouts for a while. Depending on how high you crank it, you can get a good
burn from the elliptical machine. According to the Harvard Medical School, you burn approximately 2.16 calories for every pound of body weight during 30 minutes of elliptical use, so a 160-pound person could burn about 345 calories during that period.
If you have access to an anti-gravity treadmill, which
was originally invented to help astronauts combat bone and muscle loss, it’s another effective way to help you maintain fitness without the impact of a normal treadmill. Tholany recommends
this route, especially if you’re trying to ease your way back into
running. “It is important when trying to run to not conquer the world the first couple times out there, and return with
gradual progression,” Tholany says. “This generally means
scaling back with what you intend to do especially if you are de- conditioned and have hibernated the majority of the winter.”