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San Diego has a great outdoor life all year round. One great way to enjoy the great outdoors is by taking your run off the road and on to one of the many running trails the area has to offer.
Trail running is different from road running and track running. Trail running is often done on hiking trails or fire roads. These trails tend to cross terrains such as hills, mountains deserts or forests and can include sleep inclines or rough patches of trail.
Some trail runners prefer training on trails for exercise while others would rather be out in the wild. Many trail running aficionados will take part in trail running trips, which involve camping and carrying light backpacks and gear.
Trail running has gained special popularity in recent years in the Western U.S. and California. It is now one of the most prominent sports in the outdoor community. It is a great way for those who enjoy road running to get out and enjoy the softer trails and beautiful scenery they have to offer.
Trails can vary in difficulty, length and terrain. A more difficult trail may involve leaping over logs, rocks and roots. These types of trails can cure the doldrums that one can experience after many years of monotonous exercise.
Before taking your run off the pavement and onto the trails, it is important to make sure the legs and joints are ready for their new challenge. SD PERSONAL TRAINER is always ready to help get you in shape for any new fitness activity you are willing to try.
Summer has finally arrived to San Diego. A great way to take advantage of the great weather, as well as get some excellent physical activity is to hop on your bike and discover some of the ideal riding spots that San Diego has to offer.
There are places you can take your bike for a ride throughout the county that you may not have discovered yet.
Here are a few:
Balboa Park
This a mostly a beginner course that can be between three to eight hours. Florida Canyon offers a short, but very fun hiking and biking trail all around the park. Enjoy the scenery! You can park at the dog park near the San Diego Zoo off Park Boulevard, just north of Morley Field Drive.
Lake Hodges
This ride is about one to two hours at a distance of ten to fifteen miles. There is some climb involved and the time is usually between one and two hours.
This ride is both run and scenic, as you wind around Lake Hodges in Escondido. The ride is mostly along fire roads and climbs to the peak where you will find the water tower. There are some steep, single track roads along the way.
The east end of the ride stars off of Via Rancho Parkway, across from North County Fair Mall.
Mission Trails
Mission Trails can be anywhere from five to 25 miles long and can take up to three hours. There is a lot of climbing so this is considered an intermediate ride. The park is located in Tierrasanta, a short drive from most parts of San Diego and is about six thousand acres in size. The trails are a combination of fire roads and single track trails. There isn’t much flat terrain, so it can be a great workout.
Start at the park’s visitors’ center where you can find a map. It is located off of Mission Gorge Road where you will take Jackson Drive. Follow the signs.
Lake Poway
This intermediate course is about eleven miles long. These up and down trails take about three hours to complete so count on needing strong legs!
Take Poway Road east to Espola Road, then head north to Lake Poway Road and follow the signs.
Cuyamaca
This 20 mile course is for the more advanced rider. You will climb to about 2500 feet.
These fire roads start off smooth for a few miles and then turn steep. Once at the top, you go through some single track roads until you get to the street, but will find yourself climbing again along another fire road.
Take I-8 East to Highway 79 North. Go about five miles to the park headquarters where you can start the ride.
Hopefully, you have been dedicated to your workouts at CrossFit 619 and are ready for these tough, but fun rides!
Electrolytes are ionic substances necessary to our body for our muscles to work properly. They provide necessary electric charges to expand and contract muscle tissue. As you know, the heart is a muscle too, so we are not just talking about the muscles you use to exercise, but also the ones that keep you ticking. Our electrolyte levels can be affected by diet, stress, illness, medications and physical stress.
There are different types of ions that make up electrolytes – those that are positive and those that are negative.
Positive ones are potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium. Negative ions are chloride, bicarbonate and phosphate.
There are some simple and not-so-simple signs that you could have an electrolyte imbalance.
1. High or low blood pressure
2. Fatigue
3. Immune deficiency
4. Poor circulation
While the elderly and ill are often plagued by electrolyte imbalances, it is not exclusive. Even some of the greatest, healthiest professional athletes have been known to have the same problem. Any daily physical activity will take a toll on your electrolytes.
As we mentioned, there are a number of prescription and over-the-counter drugs that can throw your electrolytes off kilter, such as antihistamines, tranquilzers, some antidepressants and diuretics.
It is important to keep one’s electrolyte balance in check because they can lead to other more serious health problems. Be sure to monitor your electrolyte balance with your doctor or through a food log if you have a stress disorder, heat-related illness, sweat excessively or too little or have poor circulation resulting in cold hands or feet. Also use caution if you have high or low blood pressure or a compromised immune system.
Even if you are in great health and engaged in regular physical activity, like your CROSSFIT 619 workouts, you should also keep your electrolyte balance in check!
As we have seen, electrolytes are elements like sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium that are essential for the healthy function or organs, nerves and muscles. We can get them in the foods that we eat and lose them through sweat and elimination. After being sick, many people have electrolyte imbalances. This can also happen from working out and sweating heavily. Since SD PERSONAL TRAINER emphasizes a healthy, heavy workout, how can you ensure that you have a proper electrolyte balance in your diet?
If you are concerned that you may not have a good balance in your electrolytes, you can start by asking your doctor to make an electrolyte test. This is a basic blood or urine test that will tell you if you have too much or too little of the important electrolytes like calcium, magnesium or potassium. You can often treat any deficiency with a daily supplement, but also making sure that you eat enough of the proper whole foods such as yogurt (calcium) or yams (potassium) can be the best way.
Most people do not get the recommended daily intake of potassium. Try logging your foods and checking their potassium richness as a double check. You can do this to check on any kind of potential electrolyte deficiency. Not only will this help restore any imbalances that you may have, but it will also fuel your energy for the day.
Calcium-rich foods like kale, broccoli and wild salmon, as well as low fat yogurt, will help maintain a healthy diet.
Magnesium is found in such foods as brown rice and avocado. These are easy additions to the diet and work with calcium to properly form bones and muscles.
Another unsung hero of the electrifying electrolytes is potassium.
Potassium is potassium is a positive ion found inside the cells, also essential for normal cell function, such as regulation of the heartbeat and muscle function. The chemical notation for potassium is K+.
An abnormal increase in potassium in the body is known as hyperkalemia, while a decrease is known as hypokalemia. They can distinctly affect the function of the nervous system and increase the chance of irregular heartbeats. In some cases, this can be fatal.
Potassium is normally excreted by the kidneys, so those with kidney disorders are most at risk for irregular potassium levels. Potassium in the blood is also measured in millimoles/Liter and normal levels are bout 3.5 to 5.0 mmol/L.
Another important electrolyte in the body is the friend to sodium, chloride. Chloride is a negatively charge ion found in the fluid outside of cells and in the blood. Sea water has almost the same concentration of chloride ion as human body fluids do. Chloride also helps the body maintain a normal balance of fluids.
Increased chloride levels are often a result of certain kidney disease and parathyroid gland over-activity. Chloride is lost in urine and sweat and can be lost through excessive sweating or vomiting. The normal range for chloride is 98 - 108 mmol/L.
Bicarbonate levels, also an important electrolyte, are measured by monitoring the acidity of the blood and other body fluids. Acidity can be affected by foods are medications we ingest and it affects the function of the kidneys and lungs. The normal range for bicarbonate is 22-30 mmol/L.
Many of our electrolyte woes can be avoided through proper fluid intake. At SD PERSONAL TRAINER, we always hydrate during and after our workouts!
We’ve all seen sports drink commercials. They tell us that electrolytes are important. But what are they?
Electrolytes are substances in the body that become ions and can conduct electricity. When present, they give the body a balance that is essential for normal cell and organ functionality.
Common electrolytes that doctors watch with blood tests are sodium, potassium, chloride and bicarbonate.
Sodium is one of the most commonly known electrolytes. We know that the body needs it for many of its functions and that excess sodium is excreted in sweat and urine.
The chemical notation for sodium is Na+. By combining it with chloride, it becomes a household staple – table salt.
Many of the processes in the body, especially the brain, nervous system and muscles, require electrical signals for communication. Sodium is critical to generate these electrical signals.
An imbalance of sodium – too much or too little – can cause cells to malfunction and, in some cases, death.
Increased sodium levels in blood occurs whenever the ratio of sodium to water is off. This can result in kidney disease – often caused by deficient water intake or loss of water from illness.
Low sodium levels occur when there is too much in relation to water levels. This happens with some diseases of the liver or kidney and in patients with heart failure. It can also happen to burn victims due to the loss of water in the body from injury.
Blood sodium levels are measured in millimoles to liters (mmol/L) and normal levels are 135-145 mmol/L.
As you can imagine, sodium levels in the body are often controlled by fluid intake. This is one reason why we encourage drinking plenty of water during our challenging CROSSFIT 619 workouts. It is important to ensure that they body does not lose too much fluid when you work up a good sweat.
There are several types of activities and exercises you can perform to naturally lower your blood pressure.
Most people that have high blood pressure do not show any signs or symptoms, even at dangerous levels. Some people with early stages of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, may experience dull headaches or nose bleeds, but if high blood pressure goes unchecked, most people are not even aware of the problem until it has already reached dangerous or even life-threatening levels.
Therefore, it is important to watch your diet, perform proper exercise, and periodically check your blood pressure. Annual physicals are always recommended.
It is recommended to have your blood pressure checked by your doctor at least once every two years starting at age 20, and more frequently as the years go on. If you have already been diagnosed with high blood pressure once in your life, you should be checked frequently. It is easy to check your own blood pressure with a machine at home, or you can often even find one at the mall or local pharmacy. However, these machines can give variable results, so they are not a replacement for a doctor’s exam. Even children age three and older get their blood pressure checked. It is important for everyone!
There are many types of exercise that will help improve your high blood pressure, as well as experience the other benefits they have to offer.
Endurance exercises, such as walking, jogging, swimming, stair climbing and biking are great ways to improve your overall health, as well as your blood pressure. Resistance exercises, done at high repetitions and lower weight levels, are another great way to help improve hypertension. Combining two of the above exercises will help improve your health, appearance, stamina and blood pressure levels. They types of endurance exercises performed in a setting like CROSSFIT 619 are also a great option.
If you are overweight, losing the extra pounds will also help hypertension. Following a healthy diet of whole foods, combined with exercise, will show almost immediate results.
Many times we can catch ourselves doing something that may potentially cause an injury. By becoming aware of our mistakes in form and paying attention to soreness or irritation while running or performing any other exercise, we can correct a potential problem before it starts.
If you start to sense soreness in the knees or ankles, think about what you are doing that could be the problem. Humans have been running throughout history so you shouldn’t just give up. The human body may be made to run, but the environment has changed. We may no longer be running in bare feet across the soft ground of the plains, but we can still keep ourselves in motion.
As we have mentioned, proper footwear is key. Make sure to review past information at SD PERSONAL TRAINER to make sure you are wearing a shoe that is appropriate for your foot shape and running style. Try using an orthodic insole.
Also, re-education yourself on proper form and start the healing process. There are several rule that will help you not to aggravate your potential problem.
1. Don’t land on your heels.
2. Don’t land ahead of your center of mass.
3. Don’t push off with your ankle.
4. Don’t straighten your knees.
Try taking your knees and make sure to always stretch your thighs before a run. Use athletic tape or an athletic bandage to wrap the knees. Also, by keeping your thighs strong by performing strengthening exercises, you will be more prepared for your run. Studies have shown that runners who cross train with strengthening exercise regularly had less instance of osteoporosis of the knee.
If you don’t feel a quick improvement, make sure to consult your physician and fitness professional. You won’t get very far without healthy knees and ankles!
A potential injury is serious business.
If you are experiencing pain in your knees, start by treating the area with an ice pack. Rather than applying ice directly to the affected knee or joint, some runners prefer to refrigerate a wet towel and apply it to the area. For focused pain relief, you can also use a commercial ice pack.
Alternating cold and heat treatment can be affective to help in the healing of any soft tissue damage to the area.
Many injuries can be treated or often avoided by ensuring that the surrounding muscles connecting the joints are strong enough to sustain the stress added by your sport. For example, resistance training exercises for the quadriceps can help ensure that your legs are strong enough for the stress of running.
Some sports studies have shown that “retro-running,” running or walking backwards, can help to stretch and strengthen the quadriceps and hamstrings. When “retro-running” make sure to choose a smooth, flat surface that is free of obstacles. A treadmill with handrails could be a good choice to start. Begin with a slow walk and move toward an easy jog.
It is also recommendable to use a sport orthodic insole. These can help ensure that you are supporting your feet properly and striking the ground in the correct manner to avoid excessive stress on the wrong parts of the foot, heel, ankles and legs.
If your knees are irritated by running, consult your doctor and a fitness professional such as CROSSFIT 619. Try taping the knees when running for extra support and make sure to stretch the leg muscles.
Make sure to listen to your body. A small problem left unattended can easily turn into a bigger problem which leaves you on the sideline.
