Top Fitness Apps for 2023

  Welcome to a new year full of new goals! There’s an ever-increasing number of apps that bring fitness right to your fingertips. If you’re looking to establish or change up your exercise this year, we’ve got a list of the top fitness apps you’ll want to check out. AllTrails Available On: App Store & Google Play Price: Free Version or Pro Version for $35.99/Year AllTrails is an app for outdoor fitness lovers. Search and explore nearby trails for hiking, biking, and running. This app helps you find the perfect one to fit your needs, such as being dog-friendly, wheelchair and stroller accessible, or full of scenic attractions. Each trail has a difficulty rating, description, user reviews, full map, and directions to the trailhead. With over 350,000 trails on the app, you'll likely find just what you’re looking for. The [...]

Top Wellness Tips from 2022

Can you believe we’re waving goodbye to 2022? As we set our sights on a new year with new goals, we reflect on the trends that shaped our year. Our overall health and wellness are at the forefront as we emerge from the pandemic, so we’ve compiled our top wellness tips from 2022. Boost Your Immune System Staying healthy and avoiding sickness is certainly fresh on all our minds. Recent years have highlighted how important it is to keep our immune system as strong as possible. Eat the rainbow by choosing different colored fruits and vegetables to help ensure you’re getting the necessary nutrients. Talk with your doctor to find out if you’re getting enough Vitamin D, which can also help regulate your immune system. Other ways to keep your body healthy include exercise, adequate sleep, stress management, and washing [...]

5 Ways to Keep Your Exercise Consistent All Year

It’s hard enough to begin an exercise routine, let alone be consistent with one long-term. Between the change in seasons, fluctuating daylight hours, and holiday seasons, healthy habits can be hard to maintain. We’ve got five ways to help you stay on track with your exercise year-round. Plan Your Workout We often say things like, “I need to be more active” or “I need to be more consistent with my exercise.” But then, the next week rolls around, and we say the same thing. While these are admirable goals to have, action requires appropriate planning. Think about your week ahead and how you can plan specifically to fit in exercise. Plan the days, times, duration, and type of each workout. This gives you a clear picture of your exercise goals for the week. And you’ve already accounted for other obligations [...]

6 Ways to Exercise Sustainably

Did you know you can lend a hand in taking care of our environment by the way you exercise? Sustainability in our exercise starts with treating our resources responsibly. We’re taking a look at six ways we can exercise more sustainably. Drink from Reusable Water Bottles Proper hydration before, during, and after exercise is a necessity. However, plastic water bottles can pile up as waste in landfills. Less than one-third of plastic bottles actually get recycled (Beyond Plastics). Most reusable water bottles hold almost double the amount of water as a typical plastic bottle. This makes reusable water bottles not only a smart choice for the environment but a smart choice for your wallet too! Exercise Outdoors Use natural resources for your workout! Take a walk at a nearby park. Go hiking with friends or family members. Save money and [...]

Top Fitness Apps for 2022

Welcome to the New Year, a great time to re-establish fitness goals! Countless apps make it easier than ever to have exercise resources right at your fingertips. How do you choose the best one for you? We’ve tested and highlighted some of the year’s top fitness apps below.  MyFitnessPal MyFitnessPal has been around since 2005, but its capabilities continue to increase. This is a website and app for tracking daily diet and exercise to help reach fitness, nutrition, and weight management goals. You can log food and water intake, exercise, and weight progress each day. MyFitnessPal makes tracking easy by allowing you to input food from scanning barcodes or choosing from a large database of options. It even lets you set tracking reminders to help keep your goals at the forefront of your day. Most capabilities are free; however, you [...]

Maintaining Exercise Habits While Traveling

Keeping a consistent exercise routine can be difficult when your schedule includes traveling for work or vacation. Being in a new space with a different schedule can easily throw us off track. However, it’s still possible to continue an exercise habit while traveling, even if that routine looks a little different than usual. Use the steps below to help maintain your workouts while on the go. Plan for Exercise Continuing your exercise habit while on vacation starts with planning. If we fail to plan ahead of time, chances are exercise will fall to the bottom of the priority list in a hurry. Before your trip, think about what your daily itinerary might look like and choose a time that would work best for exercise. Research to find out if the place you're staying has a workout facility or equipment. If [...]

Shake Up Your Exercise with a HIIT Workout

    High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a type of workout that alternates brief periods of vigorous exercise with periods of moderate activity, or rest (recovery). For example, a person could run for 30 seconds and then walk for three minutes. The periods of vigorous exercise and periods of rest/recovery can vary, as can the intensity levels of both. This allows HIIT workouts to be very adaptable to each individual and their fitness levels. The popularity of HIIT has remained on the rise thanks to continued research supporting it as an efficient and effective way to get and stay fit. HIIT is an excellent way for you to improve your fitness level and health, but it does require pushing your body to a higher intensity, so take your level of fitness into account before starting. Consulting a doctor before beginning [...]

Get Moving with the Whole Family this Spring

Get Moving with the Whole Family this Spring Read Time: 2 minutes 4 seconds Spring is great time to increase your activity and exercise and carry it through the rest of the year. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, only 1 in 3 children are physically active each day, and less than 5% of adults participate in 30 minutes of daily physical activity. Getting the whole family involved in exercise helps create a support system, healthier habits, and lasting motivation.   Give These Family-Friendly Activities a Try Go Hiking or Biking. Hop on your bike or grab your gym shoes and hit the trails. It is a great time of year to walk or cycle on nearby sidewalks, bike trails, or even at a park. If it has been a while since you have had your [...]

Try a New Move: Getting Active During a Quarantine

Getting Active During a Quarantine Social distancing and self-quarantine are essential for stopping the spread of COVID-19. While many gyms and fitness facilities have temporarily closed their doors, there are still many ways to continue staying active at home and outdoors. Outdoor Activities Unless you are sick or have been directed by your state or local government to remain indoors, stepping outside for some fresh air is a great way to get active. Be sure to practice social distancing when outdoors. Remain 6 feet away from others and avoid gathering in groups larger than 10 people. Take a walk in your neighborhood or local park. Lace-up your sneakers for a run. If you are new to running, download a running app to help you get started. Go for a bike ride with your family. Take care of the yard work [...]

Try a New Move: Strength Training

Strength Training Many people are familiar with the recommendation to exercise for 30 minutes a day or 150 minutes a week. What many Americans neglect, however, is the importance of resistance (anaerobic or strength) training. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends generally healthy adults engage in muscle-strengthening exercises twice a week for all major muscle groups. Routine strength training has several benefits such as building and maintaining muscle mass, improving quality of life, and supporting strong bones. According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, around the age of 40 muscle mass begins to decline due to an age-related condition known as sarcopenia. Incorporating resistance training into your weekly workout routine can help slow and even prevent excess amounts of age-related muscle loss. Weight-bearing exercise also helps build bone mineral density. For most adults, bone loss begins to occur after the [...]