Fitness Friday

By: Morgan Dougherty

     In about 100 days I will be in Mexico for Labor day weekend. That means I have about 14 weeks to prepare my body in order to be fit enough to go surfing. I'm healthy for the most part and have maintained a pretty normal weight. However, I am baffled by the way I lose pant sizes and lose little to no weight.

     This post won't be about why I want to lose weight for aesthetic reasons, I'm more concerned about gaining muscle and becoming more balanced so that I can fulfill fitness goals. My game plan isn't meticulously drawn out at this point, but I hope writing weekly will motivate me to get serious about my goals and encourage anyone reading to offer any suggestions they might have.

     Here are some activities that I plan to dive deeper into this summer and will discuss my progress in depth for future "Fitness Fridays".

• Skating:

     When I got to college I noticed that a lot of people used longboards as transportation on campus. I had friends who were passionate about skateboarding in grade school which motivated me to dabble into the sport a little myself. A few of those friends and myself forgot about the sport, but picked it up again recently. I stopped skating because I was never any good at performing tricks, but I still enjoyed the ride. I liked seeing how longboarders on campus sped down hills and glided through crowds of students. They were basically street surfing! 

     Skateboarding is an excellent workout, especially if you're doing tricks that can also improve coordination and precision. I'm pretty clumsy so I think before I try learning any tricks on a regular skateboard, I will ease back into skating by cruising on a longboard. Both skateboarding and longboarding improve cardiovascular health, strength and flexibility, so I hope practicing on the streets will prepare me for the sea.

• Yoga:

     I took a free yoga class at the beginning of last semester through my university's rec center. After an hour of not knowing how to position my body and slipping over my mat because of my sweaty hands, I felt confused but refreshed. I know if I started going to classes again and committed to the exercise, I could probably strengthen my core and tone my arm muscles, which could help me pop up faster and give me enough time to catch a wave.

     After doing a little bit of research, I found that there are 8 different styles of yoga: anusara, ashtanga, bikram, hatha, hot yoga, restorative yoga, and vinyasa. Hot yoga is a popular style that surfers practice. It helps them focus their breathing and concentrate when they're out in the water. I'll figure out what style is be best for me and document them in future posts.

• Strength training and running:

     When it comes to arm strength, I have issues lifting any single item if it weighs more than 50 lbs., and I definitely can't sprint for more than 2 minutes. Toning my limbs is something I have no idea how to accomplish and i have almost no endurance. I hope that being able to hold difficult yoga poses and "Kick, pushing" will give my limbs a good starting point to help me ease into weight lifting and run longer. 

     I want to strengthen my body so it can handle whatever I throw at it later in life. If I shared this post with you, I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions that could help me meet my fitness goals and motivate me to write future blog posts. I also didn't include any photographs because of copywriting fears. I will try to add photos I've taken personally in future posts but I need to get my hands on something other than my phone to do so.

Thanks for reading my first blog post!