Hannibal crazy mud race in Lebanon!

So it's been a while since I last blogged, obviously, but I came across an event that I believe should not be missed. This event is mentally and physically challenging, mostly muddy, seems tough but most importantly, extremely fun!

Photo courtesy of hannibalrace.com

So according to the guys at Hannibalrace.com, a 'Hannibal warrior' is a leader, controls his sentiments, shows action, pushes his spirit and physique to their limits, and doesn't stop learning. I'm fine with all this, but I'm not quite sure about the "controls his sentiments" part because based on their YouTube video, I don't think anyone will control anything together! So long story short, I signed up for this crazy mud race that I am completely sure I will finish, not in one piece though.

Hannibal races are organized all over the globe. So for the first time, it's going to take place in Lebanon. They usually have different types of races, ranging from 7 km as the speed race, up to 18 km aka hell. On Sunday the 7th of September at 8 am, Zaarour Club- Lebanon will witness the cutest kind of those races, the 7 km mud race + 15 obstacles.

The challenges that we are going to face range from crawling, bag carrying, uphill running, wheel flipping to wall climbing.. you know the regular kind of stuff that we sure don't do everyday! There will be waves of 100 racers every half an hour to avoid racers' "traffic". You can either choose your wave when you buy your ticket or pick yours when you reach Zaarour club.

I personally passed by Decathlon store to get my ticket but you can actually buy it online from Virgin Ticketing and choose your wave.

• I bought my pretty 35 USD voucher on which there's a code
• Visited http://www.hannibalrace.com/>>'register' section
• Typed in my code and registered my information in
• And voila! I received an email with my BIB and ID numbers.
• On the day of the race, all I gotta do is show up with my signed waiver + my ID + my printed email with the BIB and ID information (and of course, some clothes to change)

There will be transportation arranged from Dbaye to Zaarour and back, but details will be posted soon. And if you want to train in the coming 2 weeks, the warriors are working their butts off at Praia every Saturday at 6 pm [photos here]! All you gotta do is say the magic words "I am a Hannibal Warrior" and you're in for free.

Anyone over 18 can join the race, even if you are not an athlete! This is a fun race to push your limits, know your weaknesses and your strengths and what better way to do it than a muddy fun race!

More information:
Hannibal race website
Hannibal race Facebook page
Hannibal race event

Update: Any updates (transportation, meeting points, etc.) will be mentioned here.

Aaand we did it! 

Winter Exercising, the right way!

Nancy Clark is a complete sports nutrition genius [most of the times]! So I'm reading a lot of her work, articles & books lately!

When the temperature drops outside, the last thing we want to do is get detached from the warmth of our homes; however, given that I vowed to increase my physical activity this year and that I prefer exercising outside as opposed to the gym, learning 'how' to exercise in the cold is a must!! 

Hiking in Barouk, Chouf - Lebanon
Shot by Bassam ZeinEddine

Winter Hydration - To start with, keep in mind that cold reduces the thirst mechanism; you will feel less thirsty and may not think to drink more often even if you are sweating. This actually happens with me all the time so whenever I am exercising outside during winter – whether bicycling, hiking, running or skiing, I am doing my best to consciously consume fluids to replace what is lost from sweat as well as water vapour exhaled when breathing. Nancy also suggests not to drink icy water, one that is kept in your backpack or on your bike. Instead, keep an insulated bottle of water filled with lukewarm/hot water to avoid any chills! Some choose to skip fluid breaks to minimize the need to urinate (yes, this is true!), but dehydration hurts one's performance so remember to drink!

Winter Food – Fuel up on food before you start any exercise with a high carb, medium protein, low fat meal. Not only does food provide you with fuel to pump up your exercise, but it also generates 10% extra body heart, aka thermogenesis for warmth, just 30-60 minutes after you eat!

For example, I am having 3 hours before my workout:

- peanut butter & toast with an apple/banana
- yogurt with fruit & almonds
- sandwich of thyme & oil/cheese/labne with cucumber

Or an apple/banana/grapes before 30 minutes to an hour before my workout!

Now in your backpack, always keep a source of quick sugars, preferably fruits or dried fruits, but chocolate and energy bars can come in handy as emergency foods! I also tend to keep raw nuts, but I rarely eat them while hiking, it's right after I finish that I have my fruit &/or nuts. Now during winter, your energy needs do not increase per say; however when your body temperature decrease, you will start involuntarily moving to generate heat, which burns extra calories. In case your temperature further drops, you will start shivering which can burn up to 400 calories/hr depleting muscle glycogen, this is why emergency food is needed, especially if you are injured or get lost in the cold. Keep them in your backpack either way!

Dress for the weather – Hats, scarves, waterproof shoes, and lots of layers! Experts suggest that the 1^st layer (closest to your skin) should be made of a synthetic material (like polypropylene), not cotton, in order to minimize sweat contact. Fleece or wool is good as an insulating 2^nd layer, and a 3^rd top layer should ideally be made of a waterproof and breathable cloth. Lose heavy jackets for they will overheat you! Keep an extra dry layer in your backpack, you never know! Nancy suggests to lose layers as we become warmer, but this still depends on the weather outside.

Winter Recovery Foods – No cold/frozen food and fluids for they will definitely chill your body no matter how hot you think you are. Instead, have warm fluids, soups and food to replenish what you have burned. Carbs & proteins are both needed so you can go for oatmeal with nuts, lentils soup, pasta with meat red sauce, toast and eggs, or cheese & turkey heated sandwich!

Make sure to protect your skin from the sun, especially on higher altitudes! Winter is not a good excuse to dump your outdoor activities, after all, summer bodies are earned during winter!

Reference The Athlete's Kitchen 

Mindful Exercising this Winter

Whether you are kicking off your year with healthy and active resolutions or you decided to take things slow, exercising in a proper conscious way will help you make the most out of your workouts! When it comes to me, I decided to exercise more regularly this new year, and I'm off to a good start! I've walked, ran, hiked, bicycled, and lifted weights in just 2 weeks from new year's day!

Mindful exercising is when you are fully aware of what you are doing while exercising, without overthinking, with no judgement, no day dreaming, no random thoughts, no life distractions – it’s nothing but you, your body, your breath, your muscles and your exercise! It's actually hard to dominate at first, especially that I am used to think my life through when I am exercising. This is fine sometimes, especially if you’re being positive and motivated; nevertheless, focusing on yourself and your exercise is much more important to fully benefit! In fact, a study conducted by a Harvard psychologist was able to improve blood pressure & decrease body weight, body and waist circumference in women just by making them more aware of their regular physical activity! That's why mindful exercising is my primary goal this year.

Hiking in Marj Besri - Chouf, Lebanon
Shot by Ghandi Tarabay

To start with, the next time you hit the gym, hike, go for a jog or swim – learn the right techniques of the exercise you are engaged in. Wearing the right clothes, using the right gear and learning proper muscle techniques & moves are much needed to make the best out of your exercise.

In addition, listen to your body - whether in heart rate, joints, tension points, muscles stress, feeling of dizziness and thirst. For one, this will help you avoid overstressing your muscles and help you avoid injuries. It will also aid you in becoming more vigilant & aware of your surroundings, in improving your performance, in perfecting your reactions and thus making you a better athlete.

While exercising, focus on your breathing techniques as well. This seems the hardest for me so far! Feel your breath move in and out of your body. Pay attention to your nostrils as air passes in and out. Notice the way your abdomen expands and collapses. Focus on the sound of your exhalation and inhalation. When your mind wanders, unconscious breathing will follow your heart beats, leading to shorter and faster inhalations and exhalations - my obstacle :p. Redirect your attention to your breath and expand breathing. This will allow proper flow of oxygen in and carbon dioxide out. This will also help in pumping blood more efficiently throughout your body.

Focus on the here and now of exercising - what your body is doing and how your brain is reacting. With time, mindfulness in your exercise will become effortless. Attend your full range of sensations into what you are doing! Muscles, heart beat, breath, sweat! This will distract you from everyday challenges (which you have plenty of time to go back to!) while alleviating your stress and anxiety. 

I'll be looking more into winter exercises now that it snowed all over the place so I'm guessing my upcoming post will be icy!

What's It Like Gym-ing in Curves?

Curves is an international gym for women in which you can exercise for 30 minutes a day on both strength training & cardio machines. More people are talking about it around me so I decided to decipher this worldwide known gym!

Pro

Circuit demo of 13 strength training
& recovery stations for 30 mins

• The program starts with a pre-assessment test asking participants about their eating habits, in/active lifestyle, medical history, readiness and motives for seeking a healthier lifestyle
• Staff members take anthropometric measurements such as weight, height, body fat percentage, waist to hip ratio, etc. Then they calculate your BMI and compare the anthropometric measurements to "ideal" or healthy standards >> personalized coaching is definitely a plus! This way, the trainer will keep track of any body changes; you'll be followed up all the way!
• Exercising is by stations. As seen in the photo above, a circuit demo with 13 strength training machines with recovery stations in between. You spend 30 seconds on each station with 30 seconds recovery for 30 minutes total.
  >> The strength machines increase your heart rate such that you can burn 500 calories per a 30-minute session. You focus on both upper & lower muscles like your biceps, triceps, abs, hips, chest, hamstrings, etc.
  >> The recovery stations are placed in between exercising machines on which you can run, walk or jog in place to maintain your heart rate.
  Thus both stations provide you with interval training of muscle toning and cardio.
• Trainers work on motivating you in your 1st interview by asking you to repeat statements like "I am my own boss, I'm doing this for my own self, I am willing to exercise at least 30 minutes, 3 times a week." They also motivate you throughout your 30-minute workout.
• The music is new, lively and timed - asking you to change station every 30 seconds.
• The facility provides you with showers and lockers
• They offer you a 1st visit discount and discounts for students. This way you'll pay 32 $ per month instead of 50$.
• They have 7 different Locations in Lebanon and 10,000 locations in 85 countries so if you want to travel , there's actually a travel card you can take to enable you to keep on exercising worldwide.

Con

• To start with, the Zouk Mosbeh's location has a valet parking! Well that's fine, I mean if you don't want valet, you can park it yourself. But nope! That's not the case, there's no parking so you are bound to give it to the valet. So now, gyms have valets in Lebanon.
• The 30 minute rule is seriously strict. You can't exercise more. Now the recommendation is 60 minutes per day, so let's say you are that motivated and want to spend 30+ mins exercising, you can't actually do that! You might be short on time today but can exercise 2 hours tomorrow, like my case - Nopes!
  The 30 minutes could be considered an advantage especially if you're reluctant about exercising - it's a good strategy to at least start exercising and finish the whole 30 minutes - if you're not active at all. I mean one could say 30 minutes are achievable and reasonable to do per day and that's what could classify the "30 minutes" as pro as well
• In Curves' Zouk Mosbeh location, there were no dietitians and no trainers - Only students working as part time trainers. Now they are in fact trained to assess & motivate you, but I really think graduate trainers & dietitians are ought to do this! I have heard that other Curves facilities have trainers and dietitians, so they could be short on staff in this location.
• You can't enroll for one month only and renew if you like the gym/whenever you can. Memberships are by 4, 6 or 12 months only.
• They don't open on Sundays and open from 8 till 8!

So if you're thinking of joining a gym:

>> If you are self motivated, ready to commit and you want to exercise more than half an hour per session, almost all gyms have licensed and certified coaches while some even have dietitians. Get in contact with them before enrolling in your nearest gym and ask them if an exercise could be tailored specifically for you, with constant follow up!

>> If you need the push and the motivation but lack the commitment, Curves staff will make sure you finish the whole 30 minutes you're exercising with funky music & muscle strengthening along the side! 

References:

Curves banner photo

Demo circuit photo 

Aim to Exercise Regularly - Even Without Brad Pitt!

Having a sedentary life while waiting for Brad Pitt to become your exercise buddy is pretty unrealistic! So don't set impractical goals that keep your from having at least 60 minutes of health hearty, muscle building exercise per day! If you don't exercise at all, start with a simple 20-minute exercise and increase your workout 5 to 10 minutes per day till you reach the 60 minutes you aim for. Then, hold on to this habit!

For many more cartoons, please visit Randy's site @ www.glasbergen.com.

Shoot for Life - in Lebanon

The Children Cancer Center in Lebanon is organizing a full healthy day of sports and entertainment under the title of "Shoot For Life" next Sunday - the 8th of May starting at 11 am! 

There will be an all-star basketball gala game featuring many Lebanese basketball players as well as Lebanese celebrities. Tickers are for 10,000 LBP.

Such events make it pretty easy for everyone to enjoy a heart-healthy weekend, bring on the best game and in the same time help alleviate cancer for children in Lebanon!

 

For more info, call 70351515 or visit www.cccl.org.lb! Pretty good cause!

Working Out? Hydration is a Must!

As you exercise, whether to lose weight, to be fit, to have fun or as an athlete, be alert for conditions that increase fluid loss through sweating. With more perspiration, your body dehydrates faster.

Temperature: The higher the temperature around you and the more humid it is, the greater you sweat
Intensity: As you increase intensity of your workout, this increases fluid losses
Body size: The larger your size, the more you sweat. In addition, males by nature sweat more than females

Duration: As you increase the time of your workout, this increases perspiration

Fitness: Well-fit people sweat more because they sweat at lower body temperatures. This occurs because sweating cools off your body and thus well trained athletes cool their body more efficiently than untrained individuals

Now it’s important to know that if you are a swimmer, you are just like any athlete that perspires to keep your body from overheating. However, you probably don’t notice that you are sweating because you are all surrounded by water!

Moreover, even if you are exercising in a cold environment, you sweat. It could be ice skating, skiing or even ice hokey, you need to stay hydrated especially that winter sports clothes may not allow your body to breathe efficiently.
Now, we have been talking about how important it is to stay hydrated!
But what are we going to drink to ensure proper hydration?


Water is simply a good choice to replenish the fluids that are lost. It helps you lower and normalizes your body’s elevated temperature due to exercise and moves water quickly into your tissues. Now we have heard that cold water causes stomach cramps. Well, luckily that’s just a myth. Stomach cramps may be just caused by dehydration and this is good news because statistics actually shows that athletes prefer cold water, refreshes them and enhances their performance. However, if you are performing some “cold sports” make sure to rink luke warm water to avoid hypothermia (low body temperature)

Sports Drinks can benefit athletes especially in hot and humid conditions. If you are exercising for more than one hour and your workout’s intensity in high, sports drinks are usually helpful to increase endurance.

What is important is that you make sure that your sports drink’s content of carbohydrates ranges from 6-8%; that is, 14-19 g in 240 mL). This is better than diluted juice drinks because they contain around 8 % of carbohydrates which might lead to a decrease in stomach emptying, decrease the rate of fluid absorption into your tissues, diarrhea, and cramps. Now glucose in these drinks (which is the carbohydrate), fuels you in energy and for muscle glycogen that is how glucose is stored inside your muscles. This will help prevent any depletion of this glycogen, increase your endurance capacity and aid fluid restoration.
Well, that’s not all. Sports drinks contain electrolytes as well. Usually a normal balanced diet could replenish the electrolytes you lose in your sweat and by perspiration, so if you are exercising for fun, for weight loss and just for around and hour/day, drinking water + a good diet would be great. However, if you are an athlete working out intensely, sports drinks are what you need. And don’t go for vitamin enriched drinks, that’s nothing. You don’t lose vitamins while you exercise. One more thing to pay attention to are sports drinks with caffeine. Don’t go there either. One, yes, caffeine is a stimulant but you don’t really know how it affects you during exercising and two, caffeine is considered a diuretic which means it flushes water away from your body, and I am pretty sure you don’t want that.

As for alcohol, get out of here!
- Calories from alcoholic drink do not fuel your muscles
- Alcohol is a diuretic as well
- Alcohol does not have much carbs to fuel you
- It highly impairs your coordination
- And last but not least, your liver would start working on detoxifying what you had just drunk and will not be able to provide extra glucose to help you endure your workout, leading to unpreventable fatigue!
So as you see it’s easy to know what to choose to stay hydrated while you work out, just replenish and revitalize yourself!

11 Tips for Regular Exercising!

Exercise is one of the keys to happiness. Research has shown that people who exercise often are healthier, happier, more energetic, perform better at work/studies, think more clearly, sleep better, decrease their risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and dementia. They get relief from anxiety, stress and mild depression.

Now, even though it is tempting to just flop down and be the couch potato you want especially when feeling tired and exhausted, exercise is actually a great way to boost energy levels. Feeling tired is in fact a reason to exercise more, not to skip physical activity.

Everyone admits that they feel better if they exercise; however, it can be very hard to adopt this habit. This is why these tricks could help you stick to your own personalized exercise plan!

1. Always exercise on Monday - This sets your psychological pattern for the whole week!
2. If at all possible, exercise first thing in the morning - As the day wears on, you will find more exuses to skip your exercises. Get it checked off your list first thing! You will feel energized for the whole day!
3. Never skip exercising 2 days in a row - It is fine to skip a day, but you definitely must exercise the next day no matter how inconvenient it could be. This way you'll keep your psyche in the "exercise" mood.
4. Give yourself credit for the smallest effort - Go ahead put on your running shoes. The first step to commit is the hardest, the step you need to do the most. Many time, by promising myself I could quit 10 minutes after I had started, I got myself to start - and then yes, I found that I didn't want to quit after all.
5. Think about context - I thought I disliked weight training, turns out I hate guys who hung out in the weight training area! Could you be distressed from running in the morning just because it is cold outside? There are many factors that could make you reluctant and discourage you from exercising: examine them thoroughly, there's a solution for it all.
6. Exercise several times a week - The best way to stay in tune with your exercising rituals is to exercise more than twice a week, meaning most days of the week! Twice a month is surely not enough.
7. If you don't have time to both exercise and take a shower, find a way to it - Either find a way to exercise without sweating, kind of impossible OR cut your exercise time in half while increasing intensity and days of exercising!
8. Look for affordable ways to make exercising more pleasant or satisfying - Think of upgrading yourself to a nicer gym, buying a new iPod, working with a trainer, getting a pedometer, trying a new sports you always wanted to adapt, etc. Keep in mind that exercise is a habit you want to keep for life. Make it a part of your lifestyle by making it something you enjoy.
9. Think of exercise as part of your essential preparation for times you want to be in especially fine form - whether in performance (to be sharp for an important presentation) or appearance (looking gooood), or mood (to deal with stressful situations). Studies have shown that exercise does help and make you ready.
10. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good - Please don't decide it's only worth exercising if you can run 5 miles or if you can bike for a whole hour! Know that going for a 10 minutes walk is worth it. You can start by doing 15 minutes of cardio before you shower everyday >> giving a total of 105 minutes per week, great start, no? So do what you can!
11. Don't kid yourself - Paying your gym fees does not mean you go the gym. Or having been in shape in high school or college doesn't mean you are in shape now. And last but not least, saying you don't have time to exercise does not make it true!

Having enough sleep, eating a balanced diet and having plenty of exercise is the key to a healthier body, good psychological health and happiness. Too exaggerated perhaps? Well, research shows that it's a wise step to start there!


Originally published on The Happiness Project!

Can Resistance Exercise Offer Different Cardio Benefits?

Resistance exercise such as weight training affects blood vessels differently than aerobic exercise and offers other cardiovascular benefits, finds a new study.

Researchers compared blood vessel (vascular) responses to two types of moderate-intensity workouts: three sets of 10 repetitions of eight resistance exercises and 30 minutes of aerobic cycling.

There were significant differences in the vascular responses to the two types of exercises!
>> Resistance exercise produced greater increases in blood flow to the limbs and led to a longer-lasting decrease in blood pressure after exercise, while
>> Aerobic exercise reduced arterial stiffness, but without an increase in blood flow.

"Resistance exercise may offer greater benefits from the increases in blood flow to active muscles and could be implemented as a companion to an aerobic training program."

They said their findings support previous research showing that resistance exercise has unique effects on blood pressure and limb blood flow.

This study shows that resistance exercise has many benefits that are unique when it comes to your cardiovascular system. Not only does it increase blood flow to your limbs, but it also helps in strengthening muscles, bones and surrounding soft tissues and burns fat! When I hit the gym, I usually see people on the treadmill or bicycling, but few put an effort to make few bouts of resistance exercise.

My recommendation: combine resistance training and aerobics in your daily exercise training program, you'll benefit from any angle possible!

The study appears in the November issue of Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

Exercise Duration Vs. Weight Loss

Many people ask me how much time do they need to exercise every other day in order to lose weight! Well, the answer in the weight loss factor is total number of calories you consume vs the number of calories you burn.

So at the end of the day, if you've burned 2000 and consumed 1500 then you are in 500 calorie deficit. If you do this for 7 days then you are in 3500 calorie deficit and that is one pound or around 1/2 a kilogram (figure that 3500 calories = one pound). If you burn 500 calories with your exercise, another 300 through the rest of your activities of daily living, and then 1200 for metabolic processes to keep your heart beating, organs working, digesting food, and other essential functions to stay alive, you have burned 2000 calories in one day. If you consumed 1500 calories that day you are in 500 calorie deficit.


As for exercise, for the same period of time and activity, you will burn more at a higher intensity. If you walk on the treadmill at 4 mph for 30 minutes you will burn more than if you walk for 30 minutes at 3 mph.

I suggest working as hard as is comfortable without risking injury. This will get you as aerobically fit as possible, and being as fit as you can has advantages for weight loss because you probably will be able to do more activity (exercise and activities of daily living), and that will contribute to how many calories you burn all day. But keep in mind that no matter how many calories you burn with exercise you still will not lose weight if you consume more calories than you burn. If you burn 2000 calories all day with exercise and all other activities, but you consume 2500, you won't lose weight. And keep resistance exercise like weightlifting in mind since it helps you build muscle, and muscle helps set your metabolic rate, so you want as much muscle as possible!

Is Stretching an Option?

We’ve all heard that stretching should be incorporated before and after exercising, but why all that fuss about it? Simply it's because you can benefit from it for various reasons.

Stretching improves your circulation, prevent soreness and injury and help in elongating your muscles if you are lifting weights. For stretches between exercises, holding a mere of 15 to 20 seconds is actually enough, this is called stretching for recovery. Now after cardio or at the end of a lifting session, a more complete stretching routine is necessary in order to improve our flexibility. Thus, stretching is appropriate between exercises as well as after exercising. Stretching also protects your joints and allow for full range of motion by loosening stiff muscles.

You should note that stretching before at least warming up is not something you want to do. Wait at least 3 to 5 minutes after you begin warming up or working out before you stretch because stretching a cold muscle can actually increase your risk of injury.

So you see, don't ever tell me that you don't have time to stretch before and after workouts, it’s not that stretching is optional, it should actually fit in perfectly in your work out!

Check this photo below and get a small idea of many ways to stretch, each for different part of your body.

Click here for more stretching ideas!

Reference Bachir Mickael.

This Winter - How to Lower Your Risk of Catching a Cold

Work out, simply!

Have you noticed that the most physically active and fit people you know never seem to get sick? They appear to breeze healthily through cough and cold season with nary a sniffle, and what's worse, they tell you it's because they're so darn fit.

And as much as you'll hate to admit it, you're going to have to give them that. It turns out that better physical fitness does actually lower the number and severity of colds, according to a recent study. Dr. David Nieman, director of the human performance laboratory at Appalachian State University, and his team studied 1,000 adults for 12 weeks during the 2008 winter season, and found that those who exercised more than five times a week had 43% fewer upper respiratory infections than those who were more sedentary. But even more important, says Nieman, is that those who reported being more fit than others of their age had 46% fewer infections than those who admitted they weren't in great shape. “Of all the factors we looked at, including age, gender, education level, body weight, diet, mental stress and others, physical activity and fitness ended up being the most powerful predictor of sick days,” says Nieman.

Why? While the study itself didn't investigate the metabolic reasons for the association, previous work hints that exercise, especially moderate exercise, can increase circulation of the body's sentry immune cells whose job is to patrol the body and nab any potential viral or bacterial invaders. Thus having the most efficient immune systems that were able to effectively recognize and eliminate viruses and bacteria.

So if you want to avoid a cold this season, you're going to have to work for it.

References: Healthland.time.com

8th Annual International Marathon

The Beirut Marathon Association is a non-profit organization responsible for organizing the annual BLOM Beirut Marathon. The BMA mission is to “passionately organize running events that inspire unity, promote wellness, positively change lifestyles and provide an experience of challenge, achievement, joy and glory for the benefit of our nation, both now and for generations to come”.

BMA invites you to join in this wonderful celebration of running by registering for one of its races on the 7th of november 2010.

Check their website: http://www.beirutmarathon.org/
There are different events for kids, moms, athletes and adults with different Km for each!
You can also find training prgrams personalized to help you reach your goal.

Run and Have fun!