It’s one of the most profitable, expansive businesses in the
world today – fitness. Everybody wants to get fit and everybody wants to look
their best. But with so much information out there, what are some of the best
strategies? Eat heavy, train heavy? Eat light and do lots of cardio? What’s
your diet, what are your goals, what are you aiming for? It can all be
confusing. And with a myriad of myths and a gaggle of gurus, who and what can
you trust? If you read that standing on your head and eating grapefruit burned
extra calories, would you do it? (Maybe!)
For
your fitness road to the Beast, we have Dave Hopkins, fitness extraordinaire
from LECOM Fitness and Wellness Center giving you tips and exercises along the
way. But, naturally, Dave can’t cover everything, and that’s where we’ll come
in. We’ll pick up some of the smaller details – what shoes to wear, what kind
of foods we’ll have available on race day and what you should eat, obstacles
reveals, and more! This week we’ll debunk a few fitness myths that are total
bunk.
Myth #1: You can ‘crunch’ your way to great
abs. So you want to wear your crop
top to the Beast on the Bay but you’re currently rocking a muffin top? We could
have a conversation about body image and why it’s so important to love yourself
and what you have to offer (it really is!), but that’s a topic for another day.
If you’re looking to improve on your abs before race day, don’t go with
crunches – or at least don’t expect crunches to do the job alone. While they’ll
help abs that are already showing, they won’t eliminate fat because you can’t
spot eliminate fat. Exercises like squats and deadlifts and cardio, along with
a stricter diet, are ways to begin eliminating fats and see the results you
want.
Myth #2: Cardio is the only thing you’ll need to focus on for the Beast. You
hear ’10 miles’ and you panic – how can I run 10 miles? Not to add to your
stress, but you’re also going to be doing 20+ obstacles. Aaaah! It sounds
scary, but let’s break this down. Yes, cardio is important, but remember that
you can handle the Beast at your own pace. If you need to skip an obstacle,
skip it. If you’d like to walk or jog or moonwalk it, do it. The cardio is
important, but don’t act like you have to be able to sprint 10 miles or you’re
going to fail. Work in some strength training and endurance to make sure you
can handle the obstacles that you want to take on. And, the more energy you
have to take on those obstacles, the better you’ll do.
Myth #3: You should focus so much on the
fitness element of the Beast that you forget to have fun. OK, OK, this
isn’t a widespread fitness myth, per se, but it needs said. This is a fun event
for a great cause. You’ll be helping children and adults with disabilities by
participating in the course on September 10. Isn’t that awesome? What’s a
little running in the sand and a few obstacles if it means helping the cause?
Get your family involved, get your friends involved, get your neighbors
involved. Help us help others and have a great time while doing it! Make a team,
train together. Build endurance but also build memories.
A reminder that our April sign-up
promotion ends at the end of April. Imagine that? When your friend registers,
they'll get a drop-down menu that asks how they heard about the event. They
select "A Friend," fill in your name, and you're both entered. Learn
more: http://www.barberbeast.org/Refer-a-Friend
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