GymPact Reps: Favorite Fitness Tips
We asked our fabulous official GymPact Reps for their favorite tips and will be posting them to our blog over the next week or so. First up is @CaitlinHTP with her favorite tips for staying motivated and working out smart!
Photo via Healthy Tipping Point
- I think it’s important for runners to set non-mileage goals because – trust me – you can’t always be increasing mileage and speed. Even if you’re not prone to injuries like me, life gets in the way of doing lots of distance or you could experience mental burnout. When it comes to setting non-mileage fitness goals, I think it’s important that the goal is somehow quantifiable (or, if its not tied to a specific number, you decide in advance how you’ll know you’ve achieved it). Some of my favorite non-mileage goals include: working towards a certain number of push-ups, learning to swim, or holding a plank for a certain amount of time.
- Remember that a training plan builds in room for laziness, illness, or boredom. You don’t have to follow a training plan 100% – I aim for 90%, which means I completely miss a run (and don’t reschedule) 1 out of every 10 times. The most important thing is to try to get most of your long runs in, but if you miss a few, it’s OK! It’s more than OK to miss runs if you’re feeling ill or really rundown and sore. That’s your body’s way of telling you the plan isn’t perfect for your bod, so take a few days off.
- I have tried Vaseline and Body Glide to prevent chafing while running. Vaseline and Body Glide make your skin slippery and therefore less likely to burn as it rubs against your other body parts or clothing. Chap stick also works well in a pinch (and is easy to carry on long runs). However, I literally sweat through Vaseline and Body Glide if it’s very hot out, and I’ve discovered that lining my chafe areas with athletic tape works wonders. If you chafe in between your legs, wear spandex shorts underneath your running shorts.
- Invest in a CoolMax-style hat. Normal baseball hats made of cotton won’t let your head breathe and get too soaked in sweat. I prefer the visor-style hat, which keeps the sun off my face but doesn’t feel so stuffy.
Happy exercising!
