Fitness

Dancing with the Stars Week 3: Will Jacoby Be Crowned Prom King?

April 2, 2013 at 4:05 pm
By FITNESS Editors

Jacoby Jones admitted getting kicked out of his actual high school prom last night on Dancing with the Stars, and hopefully he won’t get kicked out of a second one tonight! Read on as Karina Smirnoff gives us the scoop on how they prepared for their dance and how the team is doing so far.

Written by Karina Smirnoff

What a week it has been! Unlike previous weeks Jacoby and I stayed in LA, which I think was beneficial since he had to learn both the rumba and the group dance. I was so excited to have rumba and knew that Jacoby would be able to pull off the moves; however I was really impressed by his depth of character and his gracefulness. On our first day of rehearsal for the week, I couldn’t believe how well he picked up the movement. We worked hard on the fluidity and rhythm of our hips and on his extensions. We were also really looking forward to going to the DWTS Prom and couldn’t wait to share our work with all of you! It’s funny, normally I get really nervous before I perform and last night I was extremely calm. I think it’s because I trusted that Jacoby would be there to catch me, turn me and move with me. It was certainly a special moment for us.

On top of how well Jacoby danced, I was honored to be able to pay tribute to his high school destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and to all the victims of these tragic natural disasters. I always say that when you dance for something bigger than yourself the connection the audience feels is that much greater. It is definitely a dance I will never forget and we hope it touched all of you. Read more

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Music Monday: March Madness Final Four Workout Playlist

April 1, 2013 at 1:22 pm
By Karla Walsh

The men’s NCAA March Madness Final Four is officially set. Congratulations to Syracuse, Wichita State, Louisville and Michigan (and their fans)! The ultimate winner will be decided one week from today, but there’s another heated competition going on for a fitness-related trophy this week: Gold’s Gym’s March Music Madness.

In this battle, fans and celebrities, including Will Ferrell and Gabby Reece, nominate their favorite workout songs. Each round, tracks are voted on at marchmusicmadness.com and winnowed down until a victor emerges on April 18. “We thought it would allow for some spirited debate and, more importantly, help people discover new music for their workout playlists,” says Dave Reiseman, vice president of communications for Gold’s Gym.

This program caught our attention with the awesome, varied selection of tunes, but we were completely sold once we heard that the person who nominated the winning song gets $5,000 to award to their charity of choice.

After listening to the sweet 16 with us, go vote and make your voice heard. Fans who select the most winning songs win sweet gym swag and memberships!

“Music is just as much a part of the workout experience as a towel or water bottle. The right song can be just the motivation you need to push through when you feel like quitting, or the inspiration you need to take your workout to the next level,” Reiseman says. We couldn’t agree more.

Now tell us: Which of the contenders do you hope to see come out on top in the music bracket?

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Get Your 10,000 Steps (or More!) on National Walking Day

March 29, 2013 at 1:07 pm
By Marianne Magno

Have you taken the time to go for a walk today? Lacing up your sneaks for a 30-minute walk daily has been shown to help you lose more weight, boost your heart health and get legs you’ll want to show off when it’s warmer. To help you stick to this healthy habit, world-renowned podiatrist Phillip Vasyli,  health expert Dr. Andrew Weil and celebrity trainer Juliet Kaska have teamed up to kick off a nationwide Walkabout campaign on National Walking Day this April 3rd.

What exactly is a Walkabout? The idea behind this campaign comes from the Walkabout, an Australian journey during which one reflects on life and reconnects with family and the community. This version of the Walkabout aims to promote well-being and create healthy habits during the 28-Day Quest for Good Health.

You don’t need to be an Aussie or celeb trainer to join in; anyone can commit to walking 30 minutes a day for 28 days. Once you’ve signed up here, you’ll receive daily email tips and get the chance to win prizes. Now put on your sneaks and get going!

 

 

 

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Who Inspires You to “Run the World”?

March 29, 2013 at 11:10 am
By Christie Griffin

To celebrate 10 incredible years of the More® Magazine/Fitness® Magazine Women’s Half-Marathon, we’re honoring Women who Run the World—fearless game-changers who’ve paved the way for women over the last decade. These leaders will no doubt inspire you to run faster, train harder and work smarter.

From a U.S. Congressman to the CEO of Girl Scouts USA to a co-host from “The View,” these women are changing the face of business, education, women’s health, sports, and more. We’re thrilled to welcome these leaders to the biggest women’s-only half-marathon in the country!

As you train for your 13.1 mile journey, we want to know: Who inspires you to “run the world”? Let us know in the comments below, on our Facebook, or through Twitter. (Please us the hashtag #womenruntheworld.)

View the 10 honorees’ pics and mini-bios here.

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Yoga on the Go: Practice Anytime, Anywhere with Yogify

March 27, 2013 at 10:00 am
By FITNESS Intern

Written by Carrie Stevens, editorial intern

Wouldn’t you love to have access to a studio-quality yoga class whenever the desire to practice strikes? A calming atmosphere and knowledgeable instructor make for a restorative flow that keeps yogis coming back for more. So if you can’t get your om fix live, we recommend checking out Yogify, a new app from EA Sports.

Studio yoga flows promise different sequences every time you unroll your mat, and Yogify offers more than 30 hours of practice across 50 progressively challenging classes. The app can be downloaded for free and contains five complimentary classes. Think of it this way: once you master sun salutations, then you can try warrior poses. And thanks to audio cues and photos, you’ll have no trouble applying the basics to a beginner flow class. For intermediate and advanced yogis, there are three levels of classes available, so there’s no reason why you can’t up the ante when you feel mat time might be getting mundane.

After you’ve used the five complimentary classes, the app offers pay-to-download programs that focus on building strength, balance and flexibility.  Like its free classes, these workouts span three levels and help you perfect certain poses and engage specific body parts. We bet workouts like “Superman Abs, “Teddy Bear to Tripod,” and “Inversion Excursion” will fire up your muscles and keep your practice fresh.

For more information, visit the Yogify website.

Right now, Yogify is only available on iOS. For you Android lovers, we recommend checking out yogatoday.com – the website posts one free yoga class per week, and you can get an unlimited access for $9.99/month. Keep calm and om on, friends.

Now you tell us: What’s your favorite fitness app?

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Dancing with the Stars Week 2: Jazz Hands with a Side of Harlem Shake

March 26, 2013 at 3:18 pm
By FITNESS Editors

This week on Dancing with the Stars the contestants stepped up their fancy feet to perform a jazz routine. Below, our guest blogger and dancing pro Karina Smirnoff dishes on the week of training leading up to last night’s performances, plus a hilarious Harlem Shake video you need to watch to bust your midday slump.

Written by Karina Smirnoff

There is never a dull moment with Jacoby Jones! This week we traveled to Houston, TX to train. It’s been really cool to experience the various places around the country that mean so much to him. I love learning more about where he’s come from and what he’s gone through, it all helps when putting together the vision for each of the dances.

This week, we had Jazz, which is one of the new styles DWTS has added this season. I was really excited about incorporating the roots of jazz into this piece. However, I also realized that this week we needed to put more time into rehearsals, since Jacoby’s recovery from knee surgery had kept us back a bit leading up to the premiere. Jacoby and I are both competitors and want to improve from week to week. We also wanted the judges to see us improve in areas they had previously critiqued. Read more

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Fit Blogger We Love: Running to the Kitchen

March 21, 2013 at 1:04 pm
By Samantha Shelton

 

After a tough workout, the first place we tend to head isn’t the shower, but the kitchen – gotta squeeze in that recovery fuel within a half hour! As someone who loves food just as much as we do, it’s safe to say Gina of Running to the Kitchen does the same thing. After all, it’s in her blog name! This CrossFit junkie makes us drool with all of her beautiful recipe images, and she’ll make you do the same. Go ahead and check it out – we bet you can’t prove us wrong.

My favorite way to work out: CrossFit! I know, I know, it’s all the rage right now and that’s a totally predictable answer, but I started CrossFit when it opened in my town last July and have been hooked ever since. It’s efficient, effective (hello, muscles I’ve never seen before) and an absolute blast. I think every box (read: gym) has  different vibe, but something that seems pretty consistent across the board is the rapport among members. It’s not only my workout for the day, but a time I get to hang out with like-minded people and have fun. An hour of endorphins pumping, music blasting and people cheering each other on beats any other workout I can think of.

On my fit life list: A strict unassisted pull-up. No marathons, no triathlons. Just one darn pull-up without a band or kipping.

My “I Did It” moment: Finishing my first half-marathon in less than two hours. 2010 was a year of a lot of change for me. I lost 20 pounds, revamped the way I ate (slowly) and started running. Having played sports all my life as a kid, running was always something I was “forced” to do, not a sport I enjoyed. When I decided to pick it up as an adult in an effort to live a healthier lifestyle, I had no idea I’d grow to love it as much as I do. What started as a little competitive bet with myself to run my first 5K ended with my first half-marathon seven months later. Finishing it in under two hours, when I couldn’t even run one mile eight months prior, was pretty awesome.

I’m happiest when I’m: Doing anything with food. Eating it, cooking it, photographing it – anything. As cliche as it may sound, food is definitely my life passion. I contemplated going to culinary school in my mid-twenties, and while that didn’t actually happen, my blog has become the perfect creative outlet for that passion.

Olympic sport I’d love to try: While I think I’d be horrendous at it, I would pick gymnastics! Considering I can stay in an unassisted handstand for about three seconds, at best, and still haven’t come close to mastering the muscle-up in CrossFit (both gymnastic-type skills), it would be interesting.

Do you have a favorite fit blogger you want us to highlight? Leave a comment below or email blog@fitnessmagazine.com

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Why Do You Run? Check Out This Inspirational Campaign

March 20, 2013 at 1:06 pm
By Marianne Magno

We all have different motivations behind our fitness goals. Regardless of what they are, we’re happy to have you join us in getting fit and strong.  Which is why we were touched after seeing Dick’s Sporting Goods’ “Every Runner Has a Reason” campaign. Each week for 13 weeks, Dick’s is sharing a runner’s story about why they’re lacing up and getting on the road. This week’s video is about Sally, who was encouraged by her friend Lisa to start running to help cope with her husband’s death from melanoma. She’s gone from barely running a mile to completing marathons.  Watch it below and head over to DicksSportingGoods.com in the next 12 weeks for more moving stories.

(You might want to have tissues handy for this.)

 

 

Now tell us: Why do you run?

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Kicking Off Dancing With the Stars Season 16 with Karina Smirnoff

March 19, 2013 at 1:39 pm
By FITNESS Editors

Last night, a new batch of stars put on their dancing shoes to do the Cha Cha and Foxtrot on Dancing With the Stars, Season 16. We can’t get enough of the glittery costumes and fancy footwork, so we’re even more excited to have pro Karina Smirnoff recap each episode here on The Fit Stop every Tuesday! Check out her thoughts on last night’s show and get behind-the-scenes info and her fitness tips below.

Written by Karina Smirnoff

Hey guys! Thank you for tuning in last night and for reading my new Fitness blog! I can’t wait to share all the behind the scenes fun as well as give you some of my favorite health/fitness and nutrition tips!

I am extremely excited to have such an  athletic, charming and hardworking partner in Jacoby. I can’t wait to dance more with him this season! As most of you know, training and rehearsing for a dance is extremely challenging both physically and mentally. This coupled with the fact we only had a solid week to prep made us have to fast track what is normally 3+ weeks to rehearse. Jacoby had to get knee surgery after winning the Super Bowl and his team of doctors had to clear him to dance. You can imagine my anticipation when we finally got the good news! PHEW! Even though time wasn’t on our side, we dug in and gave it our all.

I was thrilled to see how well Jacoby moved his body and especially those hips! Wow those hips can move! I had been doing a lot of visual “training”, where he watched me marking the dance and showing him what was to be expected. I think that really helped because once we finally started dancing Jacoby’s Cha Cha was pretty impressive. I have to admit, I got excited!

Rehearsals and training for this show and/or any competitive dance is a lot like training for a marathon, you need a good amount of stamina and you have to be focused, so this week in rehearsals I wanted to not only focus on stamina, but also his movement, lines and getting his footwork right. Even though we didn’t have the same amount of time as everyone, I knew we had to stay on track and focus, which helped us to get quite a bit accomplished. Read more

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Music Monday: Spring Into Action

March 18, 2013 at 12:30 pm
By FITNESS Intern

Written by Carrie Stevens, editorial intern

Even though Mother Nature doesn’t seem to know which season she wants to stick to (and we don’t really believe Punxsutawney Phil anymore), spring is on the way—in fact, the first official day is this Wednesday! A new season means fresh jams, so rev up your reps with iTunes’ top 10 tunes of the week.

Now you tell us: What new songs are you loving this season?

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