Heading down to your local community pool or outdoors for a relaxing swim is an activity that many look forward to. Swimming is a fabulous low-impact cardiovascular workout that definitely will strengthen and tone your entire body – upper body, lower body & core! Most of us probably learned how to swim when we were younger and yet, most adults find it an incredibly challenging activity. But if your body isn’t conditioned for swimming, your shoulders and low back may take a beating.  Here are a few exercises you can try to help prepare your body for swimming.

Anterior and Posterior Arm Lifts: 

Lie on a bench holding light handweights (2-5 pounds).  Keeping your abdominals contracted and your chest slightly lifted, slowly raise the weights forward until they are horizontal with your body.  Then return to the starting position and press weights backwards.  Keep your arms only slightly bent during the entire range of motion so the motion comes from the shoulder joint not the elbow. Repeat 8-20 times.

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Cycling is a fabulous low-impact cardiovascular workout that definitely will strengthen and tone your legs! And even if you haven’t rode a bike since elementary school, riding a bike is just like, well, riding a bike! However….

……whether you cycle recreationally or competitively, cycling requires a great deal of leg strength and endurance in your torso muscles to hold your body in a forward flexed posture safely while you ride.

Here’s a few exercises to enhance your cycling enjoyment and overall performance on your bike.

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There’s nothing like fresh mountain air and beautiful terrain. But hiking can be hard on your body and knees if you’re not conditioned – especially with the challenging inclines here in the Gorge, Mt. St. Helen’s and Mt. Hood area.

So try some of the following exercises to get you in tip-top hiking shape:

Dog Mountain will be a piece of cake for you this year!

Step Ups: 

Start by standing behind a step or bench with one foot on the bench. Slowly step up onto the bench concentrating on pushing from the leg that’s on the step, standing tall, and keeping abdominals contracted throughout the entire exercise. Control the lowering portion so that only your toes lightly touch the floor.  Repeat on both sides for 13-20 reps. To increase or decrease intensity either raise or lower the bench height.  Using weights for added resistance will also challenge the legs to a greater degree.

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It seems like we all have a little spring fever with this fabulous sunshine and long warm days. Many people will experience a renewed sense of energy at this time of year and will start spring cleaning, yard work, gardening, walking the trails and hitting the golf courses.

It’s also that time of year that many will launch a new health and fitness program to get into shape to guarantee a fun-filled summer.

Golfers, in particular, love their sport so much they spend a lot of hours and money on the golf courses attempting to perfect their swing, fine-tune their skills and lower their score. But…

…..very few gung-go golfers spend any time on improving their basic physical conditioning which ultimately, will improve their overall golf game.

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Spring is here and summer is just around the corner. This time of year always seems to motivate people to start taking better care of their health. We start to experience some good weather and people head outdoors in swarms walking, hiking, cycling or just playing with their kids at the park.

But not only do people start becoming a lot more active, many also start to become really conscious of the extra layers of fat they’ve been storing throughout the winter months. There seems to be a common interest in shedding some of this extra body fat in order to look our best once we begin donning our summer attire.Unfortunately, a crash diet is not only unhealthy but it actually won’t provide you with the long-term results most desire.

Small changes to your lifestyle and a consistent effort will get you where you want to be come the warmer months.

Realistically with 2 months until summer, if you do this the right away, you can expect to be 15 pounds lighter, lean and fit!

Read more on Spring Into Summer Fitness!…