Tag Archives: fitness

Two Ways to Track Your Fitness and Running Progress

In this Fit and Fab segment we are talking about journaling. Keeping a journal of any kind helps us track the day and remember (hopefully with fondness) the events of that day. The following are two ways to track your fitness and running progress. One is with a fitness journal, and one is with a running journal. My Fitness Journal My Fitness Journal allows you to put structure into your workouts. Those who have a plan will find that they do not stagnate. This book encourages growth. My Fitness Journal has a hardcover which makes less likely to get damaged when traveling with it to the gym. It can take the wear-and tear of travel and still be useful. Inside, there are 365 days of entries where you can record your workout and the progress that you make. Additionally, you can place photos of yourself to see how you are developing through the year. Both fitness enthusiasts and newbies to the exercise world can enjoy watching themselves grow in health. Recording your progress will help to motivate you to continue with your fitness routine. Using My Fitness Journal can help you become fitter and healthier. Mike Diehl co-authored the book with Felix Grewe. Mike is a graduate trainer for performance sports. Felix is a German sports journalist, a tennis and fitness specialist in addition to training regularly using the methods of Mike Diehl.   Your Personal Running Journal Olympian, Jeff Galloway, has put together a running journal that details some “how to’s” for those who want to record their running progress. In Your Personal Running Journal, you will learn: How To Set up a training program Monitor your progress Schedule each workout Your Personal Running Journal also contains information on standard warm-ups, improvement drills to make running faster and easier, and it also offers information on troubleshooting performance and injuries. This 52-week journal is easy to use and analyze. Jeff Galloway was an average teenage runner who kept learning and working harder, until he became an Olympian. He is the author of the best-selling running book in North America (Galloway's Book on Running) and is a Runner's World columnist, as well as an inspirational speaker for more than 200 running and fitness sessions each year. He has worked with over 200,000 average people in training for specific goals and Galloway's quest for an injury-free marathon training program led him to develop group training programs in 1978. Galloway is the designer of the walk-run, low mileage marathon training program (Galloway RUN-WALK method) with an over 98% success rate.   If you would like to know more about Cardinal Publishers Group, our distribution services, the books we distribute, or general information, you can contact us here or give us a call at 317-352-8200. One of our skilled representatives will be ready to help you. This blog has been brought to you by CPG News & Information Services. Content of this blog was compiled by Ginger Bock

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Your Ancestors Didn’t Have Gyms, Computers, or Machines

In this Fit and Fab section, be inspired by function fitness expert, Lamar Lowery. he discusses the fact that our ancestors didn't have gyms, computers, or machines - they had functional fitness. He’s penned Functional Fitness and  co-authored Functional Fitness at Home . with Chris Lowery. Here he offers helpful hints to getting fabulously fit. By Lamar Lowery If we’re being honest, before the modern era, functional fitness was basically the only kind of fitness there was. Ancient humans hunted stuff and gathered stuff. That’s how they survived. If they couldn’t run fast enough to catch their prey or were not strong enough to wield their weapons they simply would not live. Ever hear of the phrase “survival of the fittest”? This is how the human race was able to evolve over millennia. Our bodies adapted to our environment and what we needed to do to survive. By training for functional fitness you are training your body the way it was designed to be used. If you are only training your body in a gym to get big muscles and look good, you are doing your body a disservice. Your muscles are supposed to be working together to accomplish tasks and movements. Isolating your biceps or triceps may help you add some mass to them, but you have to ask yourself: “why am I doing this”? I understand this may not be everyone’s mindset initially, but once you start training for fitness and overall health instead of just training to look good or impress other people you will reach a new level of understanding with your body.   Lamar Lowery is the author of Functional Fitness. This book provides intense workouts to reach maximum results. Detailed descriptions and photos make this an easy-to-understand guide for any personal trainer. In Lamar’s personal training sessions, he uses his expertise in endurance, coordination, and biomechanics to receive the best result.  Lamar was born in New York City and received sports scholarships for multiple colleges. He graduated as a Mental Health Specialist. In the late 1980's, he was transferred to a U.S. Army base in Germany. There he worked as an Army Physical Fitness Master. After he left the Army, he decided to stayed in Germany and built his own fitness academy.

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Understanding Fascia’s Role in Your Body

Fascia is a building network in our body that gives us support, structure, and form. Train Your Fascia Tone Your Body, offers you the successful method to form firm connective tissue.  Loaded with illustrated and detailed full-body workouts, this book presents toning for the seven important fascial chains. If your connective tissue is weak, this book will direct you in how to strengthen it. The following is an excerpt from the book. Until just a few years ago, only insiders were familiar with the fascia. Next to a few alternative manual therapists and some proverbial die-hard scientists only the meat industry was interested in that fibrous white stuff. After all, tender meat sells better than tough. Tender or tough, this question is essentially settled on the intramuscular connective tissue. A smaller group of chiropractors, led by the osteopaths, were already aware of muscular connective tissue in the last century.  The forefather of osteopathy, Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917), had already attributed exceptional properties and profound knowledge was not founded on a specific scientific basis. From there, Dr. Ida Rolf, an American biochemist, developed Rolfing, a deep-tissue massage, which inspired manual therapists to apply myofascial techniques with remarkable healing effects. Still, from today’s point of view, the explanatory models used were outdated and not very convincing. From Cinderella organ to the limelight The whole body network is one of the most underestimated tissues in our body. Current research proves that the fascia forms an important basis for physical health and athletic performance ability. Scientific discoveries by international fascia researchers are generating ground breaking findings, resulting in a reorientation of sports performance and medical rehab. This also applies to all exercise programs that focus on health and physical fitness. The fascia participates in every movement – not just walking, dancing, and skipping, but also throwing and stretching. Healthy fascia structures form protective joint capsules, contribute to core stability and a strong back, and are responsible for the body’s muscle definition and contour. As a sensory organ they facilitate smooth, elegant movement, and they have a determining influence on how good and at home we feel in our bodies. So after years of neglect, there are plenty of reasons to pay more attention to this fascinating network.   Divo Mueller is a health practitioner and body therapist. She is known internationally as a pioneer of modern movement programs. Together with Robert Schleip, PhD, a renowned researcher of fascia, she has developed the successful training program Fascial Fitness. Karin Hertzer is a health journalist, PR consultant, and author. She has been engaged in several books and a number of publications, has successfully run the PR for Fascial Fitness Association and closely works together with Divo Mueller and Robert Schleip, PhD. Train Your Fascia Tone Your Body (Meyer & Meyer Sport 2017) is distributed by Cardinal Publishers Group.   For more information on Cardinal Publishers Group, you can contact us here or give us a call at 317-352-8200. This blog is brought to you by CPG News & Information Services

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Be Prepared Be Concentrated

By Lamar Lowery You must be prepared for any situation. You also must have good concentration. Be prepared. Be concentrated. Here’s why. Big muscles may look great, but they are not really ideal for anything besides being able to lift heavy stuff. Functional fitness training can prepare you for the unexpected and lower your risk of injury during those activities. Physical altercations, climbing things, lifting yourself up, and running around are all kinds of situations where this type of training can benefit you. Have you ever wondered what kind of training Special Forces soldiers do? You guessed it: functional training. And there’s a good reason for doing so. The fact of the matter is: Navy SEALs or Army Rangers could not care less how much they bench or curl because they know that when it comes down to it, they need to be able to out run, out maneuver, and out last their enemies. Now I’m not saying that these guys never bench or do curls like the rest of us, but A LOT of their training is definitely functional. Oh, not to mention the 60 pounds of gear they have to carry around at all times. Yeah, there isn’t really a specific back workout that will prepare you for that. Being fit allows you to function as your best  you.     Lamar Lowery is the author of Functional Fitness. This book provides intense workouts to reach maximum results. Detailed descriptions and photos make this an easy-to-understand guide for any personal trainer. In Lamar’s personal training sessions, he uses his expertise in endurance, coordination, and biomechanics to receive the best result.   Lamar was born in New York City and received sports scholarships for multiple colleges. He graduated as a Mental Health Specialist. In the late 1980s, he was transferred to a U.S. Army base in Germany. There he worked as an Army Physical Fitness Master. After he left the Army, he decided to stayed in Germany and built his own fitness academy.  

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