But those lists are often missing the most miniscule habits of your life that are actually hindering us from being that better version of our 2012 self. And, you may have even ditched those resolutions already. So here are four habits that you could still change right now – in fact, you’re probably doing three out of four of them as you read this.

Unhealthy Habit #1: Sitting

If you’re one of the lucky ones with a cozy cubicle and a great view, you probably spend most of your time on your caboose. Of course when you think of a new year’s resolution, seldom do you consider “sitting less,” but you should. Making a point to become more mobile and active throughout your day could change the shape of your body. It won’t be drastic and it won’t be buns of steel, but it will certainly provide you some midday circulation that gets lost in that chair.

According to a recently published study, people who spent significant time sitting were at higher risk for diabetes, heart disease, or even death. There are zombies and terrorists taking over the world and now we have to worry about death by sitting.

With evolution came complacency and laziness. Everything is given to us and we hardly have to physically work for anything. While our ancestors battled for a moment’s peace, we barely have time to spare for a thirty minute cardio session. I don’t recommend quitting your job and becoming a park ranger but it would be beneficial to get moving. Any excuse you can find to walk, stand up, stretch, or avoid sitting will serve as a great benefit to you and your rear.

Unhealthy Habit #2: Technology

According to the American Optometric Association, forty percent of U.S. residents spend at least three hours a day on a computer or handheld device. We officially can no longer function without the advancement of technology or more specifically computers and smartphones. With the amount of hours we spend going between reading from our computers and then refocusing on real world dimensions, our eyes are working overtime to keep up with our habits.

Because of this constant refocusing and strain, Americans are visiting their optometrists complaining of blurred vision, fatigue, and neck strain. No, these aren’t signs of a hangover that ninety percent of people are found to experience. According to an article published in the Wall Street Journal, it’s a syndrome known as computer vision syndrome, or CVS. Add that to ass flattening syndrome as referenced above and you’ve got quite the problem. In other words, if the world reverted to fighting for shelter, safety, and food, you’d be chum and you probably wouldn’t see it coming.

Like sitting, it’s not realistic to say you’re giving up technology. We live in a society where it’s no longer an option to live naturally and survive. What you can do is put the device down. I’ll admit I’m the first to reach for my Samsung Galaxy during a Real Housewives reunion and tweet my judging opinions of them. Eventually, though, there must be a time of day when you are disconnected from being overly connected. If you know the due date of Kim K’s baby, you need to E-tox.

Silencing your phone an hour before bed and grabbing a book will give your eyes a break from a screen and give your brain a chance to wind down. Instead of killing time on your phone, take it old school and remember what you did when you didn’t have an app for that. You waited. You people-watched. You cleaned your purse. You sat and enjoyed the silence. We may not be able to revert to our prehistoric habits but we can certainly take a break from our futuristic ones.

Unhealthy Habit #3: Touching

Our anatomy gave us these two wonderful things that aid us from the moment we wipe the sleep from our eyes to the moment we readjust our pillows at night: our hands. Animals have features like feelers or even their mouths that allow them to investigate what the hell they have discovered. I’m pretty excited we don’t have to taste everything we see, but we do use our hands much in the same way. With that we touch our food, our cell phones, our computers, our friends, our animals, and ourselves. Not like that.

I’m no germaphobe but I am aware of the germs around me and how little we pay attention to spreading them. Think about something as simple as your debit card. When is the last time you took a Lysol wipe and cleansed that thing? Exactly. Who the hell has time to clean their germ-laden debit card in times of economic downturn and red carpet season? It’s the little things we touch and share that are overlooked in the cleansing process.

It’s not necessarily you that’s the cesspit of disease – it’s everything and everyone else around you. During your day your body becomes a carrier for all the germs around you. Over time you build immunity to some that have little effect on your immune system, while others hit you like the bubonic plague. Unless you experience a horrific accident and lose the use of both of your hands, they’re not going anywhere. With that, take care of them and make sure you think twice before you touch an object of unknown origins.

Unhealthy Habit #4: Unorganized Meals

We can thank Edward Bernays for the invention of a full, protein-packed breakfast. The public relations genius helped change the way Americans consumed their first meal of the day from a piece of bread to eggs, bacon, and a cup of Joe. Somewhere throughout the years, we turned breakfast into a sugary meal to sometimes non-existent. In that same time, dinner remained the focal meal of the day, but the unhealthier we made our meals, the bigger and greasier dinner became.

Experts argue that to lead a healthy diet, you should eat six meals a day. Three of those meals should be larger and two of them should be smaller or more of a snack. This concept is to help your metabolism boost itself in anticipation it will be getting more fuel very soon. The problem is a lot of people still skip breakfast, they binge at lunch, and binge again for dinner. With this type of diet, many people are only eating two, oversized meals in a twenty-four hour time span. What’s worse is that the two meals they are eating are very seldom nutrient packed and what your body is looking for in terms of fuel.

Whenever someone interested in changing their diet asks me how often I eat, they look at me like I’m sabotaging their attempt at weight loss. After the awkward stare they tend to comment, “I’m not hungry in the morning or even for any extra snacks.” The body is a magical thing that tends to adjust itself to what it’s used to. If your body hasn’t had a meal since 8:00pm yesterday and knows it won’t get another until 12:00pm today, it’s probably not going to waste its time sending you hunger pangs. Without a breakfast, it doesn’t even have the energy to send you those messages.

Teaching yourself how to eat or even how to be hungry for those meals won’t take long. The Internet is your friend and offers a bounty of websites that answer every question you could have about your diet. Just like you trained your body to wake up for work at 7:00am, you can train your body to be ready for a banana at 11:00am.

For some it’s a scary thing but you are in total control of your body. If you don’t know how to make the right decisions, you could be steering it down a path of destruction and diabetes. Instead of those giant resolutions and goals that seem impossible, and that maybe you’ve already given up on, start with adjusting a few small ones and get some momentum going. Putting down the cell phone, getting up from your desk and making smarter food choices just might be the little kick start you need in your 2013 health and fitness goals.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post 4 Simple Fitness Resolutions You Overlooked appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

While created in the late 1800s, artificial sweeteners seem to have overtaken food products in recent years. Food producers substitute sugar in everything from coffee to ketchup, significantly assisting people in a sugar-free lifestyle. However, as with any product, concerns of artificial sweeteners’ long-term side effects are being examined. If you’re one of the billions who consume these products there are some serious items to consider before chugging another soda. While some data is yet incomplete, the research that has been conducted may serve as projections for what to expect in years to come.

Currently, there are four main sweeteners dominating the market. Each sweetener contains a different ingredient, different color packaging, and has different affects. Therefore, examining them individually only seems fair.

Saccharin aka Sweet’N Low (pink packet)

As the most popular artificial sweetener worldwide, much debate has arisen from this infamous product. In the 1970s, the FDA originally banned saccharin because of animal studies conducted showing bladder cancer in male rats.¹ However, when the ingredient was studied on mice, monkeys, and hamsters, there was no consistent evidence that it would increase bladder cancer in humans, even at the highest levels of consumption.²

Aspartame aka Equal (blue packet)

Second to saccharin, aspartame is the most used artificial sweetener in the world (Soffritti et al. 2005). Since it’s approval by the FDA in 1974, it can now be found in over 6,000 products and represents 62% of the value in the global sweetener market.

When consumed, aspartame is absorbed into the gastrointestinal tract in three forms: aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol.³ I know, what does that mean for my innards? Aspartic acid and phenylalanine are amino acids, two of the twenty amino acids that make up proteins. Methanol is also no stranger to humans in that it can be found in fruits and veggies. When broken down in digestion, it is metabolized first to formaldehyde, then formic acid, and finally to water and carbon dioxide.⁴ While methanol has been rumored to cause health concerns like headaches or blindness, the levels in our sweeteners are too low for this to occur.

The only serious, long-term affect that has been discovered is the consumption of aspartame in people with phenylketonuria (PKU). PKU is a rare disorder where the individual is unable to metabolize phenylalanine. The discovery of PKU is detected at birth through a mandatory screening program so those who have it are likely aware of it.⁵

Sucralose aka Splenda(yellow packet)

Approved by the FDA in 1998, sucralose became known as a “second-generation sweetener.”⁶ Sucralose is made with dextrose and maltodextrin, which adds the bulk required to measure it like sugar. While sucralose is stable at high temperatures, there have been concerns that the breakdown of its ingredients may be toxic to humans. However, in an article by Caroline Sham from 2005, the author stated “In an acidic environment, sucralose will hydrolyze into two chlorinated monosaccharides…but there is no evidence that sucralose or any of its breakdown products dechlorinate in any species and therefore are stable in the human body.”

Stevia aka Stevia in the Raw (green packet)

According to their website Stevia in the Raw is a low-calorie, gluten-free sweetener made from the “sweet leaves of the stevia plant.” Stevia has over 180 species but only stevia rebaudiana yields the sweetest taste that equates to over three hundred times sweeter than sucrose.⁷ Because so little is known about this product, researchers studied its effects on the body of diabetic and hypersensitive patients. While changes were found in “blood sugar levels, insulin level, blood pressure, urine sodium excretion, lipid profile and weight of the subject,” nothing was significant enough to draw statistics on.⁸

These sweeteners were created to substitute sugar, which used to be a household staple. But like anything else, we abused our consumption and now sugar is scary and has helped lead to the obesity epidemic. Now the only time sugar gets any real hype is during the holidays and at Paula Deen’s house.

So if we want to avoid sugar, many of us are left with the dilemma of figuring out how bad artificial sweeteners really are for us, while simultaneously using them. In the research conducted on laboratory animals, the levels of sweeteners they were fed were extremely large amounts. While we may not be consuming what is equivalent to mass quantities on a daily basis, it is unsure what prolonged consumption might equate to in the future. The safest method would be to consume artificial sweeteners in moderation. I know it’s hard for us not to order seven Splendas at the drive-thru but making the effort could make the difference.

Another consideration is to use natural alternatives to sweeteners. Ingredients like honey, spices, vanilla bean, and agave nectar will add the taste you’re missing. As with anything else though, even these products need full examination on their production before consumption, and may have their own drawbacks, as well. Just because it’s ‘natural’ sugar doesn’t mean it’s not sugar.

Be safe by being informed about what you’re eating. The FDA is there to protect us but even they don’t know the long-term affects we may face.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

References:

1. Mann, Denise. Are Artificial Sweeteners Safe?

2. Soffritti, M., Belpoggi, F., Esposti, D.D., Lambertini, L., Tibaldi, E., & Rigano, A. First Experimental Demonstration of the Multipotential Carcinogenic Effects of Aspartame Administered in the Feed to Sprague-Dawley Rats. Environmental Health Perspectives. 114 (2005): 379-385. DOI: 10.1289/ehp.8711

3. Health Canada. Aspartame last modified October 14, 2005

4. Sham, Caroline. A Safe and Sweet Alternative to Sugar. Nutrition Bytes. 10 (2005)

5. In the Raw. Stevia in the Raw. accessed October 2012.

6. Savita, S.M., Sheela, K., Sunanda, S., Shankar, A.G., Ramakrishna, P., & Sakey, S. Health Implications of Stevia rebaudiana 15 (2004): 191-194.

The post What You Need to Know Before Eating Artificial Sweeteners appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

My love affair with running has been the Mr. Big of workouts, but still cannot fully hold my interest. Because of my lingering behavior, I’m constantly finding new methods to get a burn. In my muscles, that is.

As much as I love and practice monogamy in my marriage, I’m a bit promiscuous when it comes to exercise.

My love affair with running has been the Mr. Big of workouts, but still cannot fully hold my interest. Because of my lingering behavior, I’m constantly finding new methods to get a burn. In my muscles, that is.

Recently, I found an elitist-looking dance studio that piqued my “latest trends” radar into doing some research.

Despite my assumption that it was a ballerina boot camp, I Googled on and found it was a Bar Method studio. As I discovered, much to my surprise, the method was established by a badass ballerina, Lotte Berk, long before our current fascination with health and wellness. As in seventy years before it.

In the 1930s, Berk peaced out on those crazy Germans and headed for London. During this time, Berk sustained a back injury and so spawned the Bar Method. She created it to help her and other athletes heal from injuries, but as the success of it grew, so did her studios.

A student of Berk’s, Lydia Bach, brought the method to Manhattan where actors, dancers, and athletes of all types became the clientele. To be cliché, the rest really is history as the method spread nationally and can be found in many if not most states.

Essentially, “the method” fuses yoga and body pump into a fat-blasting routine that sculpts and shapes your body like nothing else.

The smiling website models looked tickled pink to have round rumps by way of the method. Jealousy overcame me and I, too, needed to look so happy holding a wooden bar.

My first class was pretty intimidating for a gym rat who wears boyfriend tanks and Nikes.

This studio was a little out of my comfort zone with smiles and lululemon around every corner. At one point I was even complimented that I had “great energy.” Worried I was being summoned into another yogi cult, I joined the class.

The class begins with upper-body work using light, two-pound weights. The routines are designed to be repeated at high repetitions with little to no weights.

After my flagella arms finished the last pump, I was happy I used finger weights. The remainder of class is spent using your own body weight, which can be an untapped resource to many of us.

You don’t realize how much your leg weighs until you’re lifting it, squeezing it, and rotating it for ten minutes. Everything the instructor challenges you to do on one side must of course be repeated on the other.

This makes the class increasingly more difficult as your limbs face fatigue just holding you up. The class continues to each major muscle group – thighs, booty, abs, then “back dancing.”

An interesting and life-saving aspect of the method is after each circuit is completed, there is an immediate thirty second to one minute stretch and recovery opportunity.

I’m confident that few could complete the class without these. Because your extremities are being squeezed so tightly, the muscles become very tight.

A common experience your first several times is pretty intense body shaking. Nothing like a seizure, just tired muscles firing warning signals that they may be failing you soon.

The immediate stretching allows your muscles to relax. It stretches them back out and elongates them to give them that lean, yoga look.

While I didn’t sweat, I did take excessive breaks to regain what little energy my muscles had left. If training for the Black Swan was anything like this, Natalie Portman is a saint.

Not just for ballerinas, the Bar Method has become increasingly popular workout among athletes of all backgrounds.

After only one class, I understand how quickly and effectively it shapes and tones. Despite the cost, the method is totally worth the dough it expends both from your bum and your bank.

The post Ballerinas Are Badass: The Bar Method Examined appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

read about why you should drink them or actually consumed them, you’re well aware they should be a part of your exercise regimen. Because the business of protein supplements has become so lucrative, there is much competition between these products. This is why looking at the great wall of supplements can be pretty intimidating. Yes, that pit in your stomach is normal when cowering down before the eighty million selections.

“GET BUILT TOMORROW!”

“Made with protein, designed with love.”

“Inexpensive and conveniently premixed for your busy life.”

These aren’t exact labels, but they are close to some of the marketing geared to get your green. Arguably, you should be consuming what works best for you. Sometimes that does mean going with the “Beefcake Builder.” Other times you may want to pick up a four-pack of “Cheap and Easy.” But of those selections you may want to be leery of their contents.

This starts the debate of whether premixed supplements or powder (self-made) supplements are better for you. Before making declarations and waiving our all-knowing flags, it’s vital to understand each side individually.

Premixed Protein Supplements

There is no disputing. These. Are. Awesome. Premixed shakes are usually in a perfect serving size to quench your post-gym thirst. They generally taste delicious and come in an assortment of flavors. Most importantly, the manufacturers have already included the nutrients they think belong in your protein shake. That is also a problem.

While these are the easiest shakes to buy, you also have the least control over what you’re ingesting. For some, having someone else responsible for that is an attractive quality. But for those of you who don’t trust the FDA one hundred percent that could raise some concern.

The key factors you want to examine when purchasing premixed shakes are:

• Protein content (this should be comparable to other supplements)
• Carbohydrate content (this should be higher)
• Ingredient List (what the heck are you drinking, anyway?)

Protein Content:

This is obviously important because it’s the reason you’re purchasing the product! If you’re paying six dollars for a four-pack and each shake only contains eight grams of protein, keep searching. You aren’t getting your money’s worth and even Greek yogurt has more protein in it than that. Plus, yogurt is delicious and cheaper so you might as well stick to going Greek.

Carbohydrate Content:

So you just beat yourself to a pulp. You lifted weights like the Hulk and sprinted like the Hulk was chasing you. When you head home you need to replenish all of that expended energy quickly and efficiently. You can do this by consuming high-carb and high-sugar shakes because your body won’t abuse them in ways it normally might. What I mean is after a workout is when your body is using sugar and carbs effectively and is less likely to convert it to fat, but rather use it to avoid falling into a fainting spell.

Ingredient List:

Arguably the most important aspect. Sure it contains calcium, protein, and some fat, but what did they use to get that in there? Products are approved by the FDA, but not all the ingredients have to be disclosed if they are under a certain amount. Sorry, I don’t care if there is only .6% of animal waste, I don’t really feel up to that.*

(*Not an actual ingredient…I hope).

In a report released by Consumer Reports, a test was run on approximately fifteen, premixed and powder supplements. In the study they found traces of heavy metals in the products. Most had very little but there were three popular and well-known brands that contained dangerously high amounts.

The chart they created was based off of a three serving test but if you consumed three shakes per day, you would surpass the daily maximum levels using several of the products. The products that carried the highest or most lethal amounts of arsenic, cadmium and lead were:

• EAS Myoplex Original Dark Chocolate Shake (liquid)
• Muscle Milk Chocolate (powder)
• Muscle Milk Vanilla Crème (powder)

Notice that two of the supplements are the powder mixes. Uh oh, weren’t expecting that curve ball, were you? Before you toss your Cake Batter Muscle Milk drinks, let’s fairly examine powder or self-made protein shakes first.

Powder Protein Supplements

Calling powder protein supplements “self-made” is kind of an oxymoron. If it was really self made you would be skimming the whey from the cow’s teat and drying it into a powder. You are not doing that – this is America after all.

Sure, powder protein supplements (PPS, because that’s too much to keep typing) let you decide what you will mix it with. You can choose water, dairy milk, almond milk, soymilk, or any liquid you think will mix well with it. You can add peanut butter or a banana. You can be a self-proclaimed physicist of PPS if you want. Go crazy.

But at the end of the day there is no disputing the powder was made for you. As careful as you must be about premixed drinks, you have to be equally as inquisitive over powder.

As the chart showed, two of the three supplements tested were in powder form. But don’t throw in the towel just yet – it is still safe to drink powder, but just do some research first. In a time where so much of our food is genetically altered or created with more fluff than we need, you should be the Sherlock Holmes of your nutritional life. This includes protein supplement consumption.

Here’s another shocker. Just because it’s dry doesn’t mean you shouldn’t examine the same items as premixed drinks: protein content, sugar content, and ingredient list. Even if all of those check out, make sure there isn’t a strange or high-level of an unidentifiable ingredient.

It’s okay. Come out from under the covers, the monsters are gone. Protein supplements exist because after depleting your body of nutrients, hydration, minerals, energy, and protein, liquid is the quickest way to revitalize your aching physique. It allows you to absorb everything you need very quickly and help your body repair itself.

With that, however, it’s safe to say that the right selection is…to be in control. That’s right. This is a variation of the two, fused into the perfect answer.

Using protein powders can be effective, but so is using natural proteins. These would be foods such as yogurt, beans, eggs, lean meats, and vegetables. I know, not all of these will taste good in blender, but try adding apples to your shake along with a scoop of carefully researched protein powder. Some very good and reputable proteins powders are available at your local GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, or even grocery store and won’t break your bank.

Powders to consider would are:

• Whey Protein – Derived from cheese production and quickly digested.
• Organic Protein – Some whey protein powders are considered organic as well, which offers an all-natural approach.
• Casein Protein – Slowly digested, but may act as a benefit to sustain protein consumption over longer period of time.

Reverting back to being a scientist will be the safest and most effective way to consume protein. This will leave you in control of what you’re consuming and ultimately, you to blame if something goes awry. Only kidding!

The post Protein Shakes: Which Is Better – Premixed or Powdered? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

When you’re a kid or, better yet, a toddler, your parents buy you all kinds of toys to help stimulate brain development, so you don’t end up only counting to “potato.” They buy us building blocks so we can decipher if we want to be architects (I suppose), memory cards to help build our ability to recall thoughts and ideas, books to enhance our language skills, and other such items to kick-start the development of future geniuses.

After this phase of our lives, however, the toys stop gathering under the Christmas tree as we find them useless or uncool. Sure we have junior high and high school to stimulate some brain growth but for some, that ends outside of school hours. By the time we’ve made it to college, we are reality-slapped that we have to depend on ourselves to maintain our cognitive health and development, which can be a frightening thought through the blackouts and cheeseburgers.

All joking aside, many people overlook the concept of actively treating their brain like a vital organ or muscle when in fact it’s one of the most important features of the human body. It is the source of control over, but not limited to, our motor skills, judgment, emotion, language, perception, memory, thought, attention, ability to plan and carry out tasks, and ability to live a purposeful life.

Like other muscles and organs, our brains tend to become less sharp as we age leading to diseases like Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia that significantly alter the way we operate on a daily basis. While these diseases set in later in life they are not entirely attributed to age and can be caused by several outside factors such as poor diet and lifestyle, as well as heredity.¹ Sadly, Alzheimer’s has become the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and as of yet, is not curable.

Now that I have torn apart your heart strings and poured lemon juice into your wounds, I wanted to discuss ways to prevent the debilitation of cognitive health and encourage you to begin your journey to staying forever brain young. Like your quads or your abs, your brain also needs nourishment if it’s going to last you the next few decades. As careful as we are to work our legs and drink protein shakes after each workout, your brain also requires specific attention to ensure its and your quality of life.²

4 Tips for Long-Lasting Mental Health: 1. Get Fit

As if this isn’t beaten into our heads enough, we now have another reason to get our butts, or brains, to the gym. Your brain needs circulation, blood flow, and oxygen just as much as other organs and muscles do in order to function productively. Accordingly, aerobic exercise has been found to reduce brain cell loss in elderly patients and allows for new cells to grow. There aren’t requirements on duration so long as you are actively exercising each day or regularly.

4 Tips for Long-Lasting Mental Health: 2. Feed Your Brain

Research shows eating a diet specifically low in fat and cholesterol but high in protein and sugar can reduce the risk of developing dementia and side effects leading to the disease. We are all pretty much aware of what “body healthy” is but what is “brain healthy?” If you’re on a clean eating diet now you’re on the right track. Staying away from foods high in fat will greatly reduce the risk of blood clots as they greatly increase your risk in the development of Alzheimer’s.

Products such as vegetables and dark-skinned fruits promote excellent brain health because of the antioxidants, vitamins, and nutrients they provide directly, rather than from a pill. Also recommended are nuts and cold-water fish for the omega-3 fatty acids they contain.

4 Tips for Long-Lasting Mental Health: 3. Become a Social Butterfly

Staying close with friends and family and being involved in social activities and social situations can greatly contribute to a long life of strong cognitive health. (NOTE: This does not promote ditching Tips 1 & 2 and only maintaining a large social group!) Along with physical exercise and a healthy diet, you should be incorporating activities into your life to maintain those social skills we developed and honed as kids. Keeping your brain active through conversation can make an enormous difference as you age. Not only that, but if you work out with a friend or work with your partner to maintain a healthy diet, you can kill two birds with one stone.

4 Tips for Long-Lasting Mental Health: 4. Let your Brain Work

If you’ve nailed Tips 1-3 you’re doing great but Tip 4 is where many people struggle – including me. In a time with so much technology around us, it’s hard to turn off Angry Birds or the Kardashians and take 30 minutes to get lost in a book. When is the last time you did a crossword puzzle? What about Scrabble? Using games where you have to use strategy to participate, are great ways to keep your brain sharp and active on the inside. We may need exercise to bring our brain some much needed blood flow but let it out of its proverbial cage and play sometimes.

Studies show that lower levels of education led to higher risk of Alzheimer’s, which is possibly due to less mental stimulation. That’s not to say those with higher education levels can’t develop Alzheimer’s as well, but research has shown those individuals developed the disease much later. If you can’t possibly read a book or Zen out and prefer to be glued to the computer, do some research on a topic you’ve always wanted to learn about. If you’re going to get butt sores from wasting away on the couch for six hours, make one of the shows you watch a documentary.

The great part about these tips are that a lot of people are already using them in pursuit of other health benefits – so building brain health doesn’t take that much more work. It’s important to remember, however, that in using these methods to nourish your brain, they work best in combination with one another. Don’t be running off telling your friends you found the cure to dementia and it requires a couch and “Super-High Me.”

Great hair will get you noticed, a great body will give you confidence but a great brain is the sexiest and strongest thing you have, so take care of it!

The post 4 Easy Tips for a Happy, Healthy Brain appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I consider myself a runner by every standard in the book because of the time, energy and work I put into becoming one. Call it desperation to fit into the elite running club or call it a general interest in becoming a better athlete, either way you spin it – I AM A RUNNER!

The main reason most people don’t realize I’m a runner is because I haven’t always been. In fact, I once faked an asthma attack in high school to get out of running. Turns out they just thought I was terribly out of shape and made me keep running.

As I got older and started incorporating fitness into my life, I took a notice at the runners at my gym and became envious of the shape they were in. Once I started dabbling in the running world, I quickly realized you can make yourself a runner, but it’s a process that few people warn you about.

Looking back I wish I had someone to tell me how to become a better runner before my first half marathon. So, I put together a list of 5 things that will help you become a runner even if the only running you do is to the fridge:

1. Set Multiple Goals

It’s important to realize you will not be able to crank out a marathon on your first run and that’s totally ok. The sooner you realize running is hard work and you need to pace your body, the better off you will be in achieving your goals. Setting goals like “I will run for 5 minutes without stopping,” and “I will run outside for 10 minutes,” will help you become acclimated to the sport and it will give you a better understanding of your body’s capabilities.

2. Invest in Running Shoes

No, your Euro Pumas will not suffice and neither will those flat Converses. Shoes come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and comfort levels for all types of feet. Do some research and find some of the top-rated running shoes like Brooks or Asics. Make a list of those and take them to your nearest athletic shoe store where you can try them on and see how they feel. Having a comfortable pair of shoes to run in will make the difference in achieving those goals you work so hard to set. Having a bad pair of shoes can cause severe injuries and give running a bad name.

3. Run Indoors and Outdoors

No matter where you live, the weather won’t always be nice enough to run outdoors or the time of day won’t lend itself to that (at least not if you’re female). Become familiar with running on a treadmill, but don’t get stuck on the unrealistic trail it provides. Running on a treadmill with zero percent incline is actually equal to running downhill. If you run inside, put the treadmill on a 1-2 percent incline and take off some speed if you need to. Once you feel good about your pace, you can always adjust the speed and utilize the treadmill to work on becoming faster.

Once you feel comfortable here, hit the trails around your neighborhood. The weather conditions outside can cause a lot of changes in the way you run. The air might be more humid causing you to be unable to breathe as clearly or the natural curves of the trail may be like running at a 5 percent incline. In either scenario, be sure you are comfortable if you had to run in either but don’t get stuck.

4. STRETCH!

No one is too cool to stretch. In fact, avoiding the task is the most uncool thing you can do to your body before or after a run. I’ll say it again, running is hard and your body needs to be prepped for it and cared for after it. Take 5 minutes to stretch your legs and back before you start your warm up. Accordingly, when you complete your run, take another 5-10 to slowly stretch your worked muscles. It feels amazing after pounding on the cement and your body will be very grateful you helped it avoid an injury.

5. Own Your Pace

Before we ran together, a friend of mine was so worried she was too slow for me. Turns out, our paces were perfect for each other so I guess inadvertently she was calling me a slow poke, too. Either way, set a pace that works for you. There will always be someone faster than you when you’re starting out but there will also be those slower than you, or even walking. Don’t get hung up on what others think about the way you run and also, don’t judge others and their habits. Set a good pace that is comfortable to complete your runs and own it. Shout it off the roof tops if you feel like it! Well, maybe not to upset the neighbors, but don’t be embarrassed about it, ever. You’re running and that is plenty to be proud of.

It’s not rocket science but these were things I became more aware of after I made a few mistakes. Like most kids listening to a lecturing parent, I’m sure there will be a couple of you who rebel and sprint your first day without stretching all while laughing at the walkers, but hopefully karma will bite you in your quad.

These may seem straightforward and common sense to you now, but when you start second guessing yourself, refer back to them to give you a confidence boost.

Remember, you are runner, you are awesome!

The post You ARE a Runner: 5 Tips for Getting Started appeared first on Breaking Muscle.