We are busy girls; there is no doubt about it. We’ve got class, and study groups, and student groups and work, and somewhere between all of that, we need to work out. And we need to get the most out of that limited time we have.

So we run to the gym, hop on the treadmill for 45 minutes, pack our things and move onto the next item on our daily agenda: the shower. We don’t have time to waste on stretching – we’ve got beer and pizza calories to burn, baby. Stretching is just an extra little thing, anyway; it’s not that important.

That’s what I used to think, but it turns out that stretching can be the most important part of a workout. Well, if you don’t want to mess up your body and do want to see more obvious results. Read More »

Water aerobics gets a bad rap. If it were a category on “Family Feud”, a survey of 100 people would probably tell you it’s for middle-aged women in gaudy glittering swimsuits, the elderly, those recovering from sports injuries or people who can’t do dry-land workouts. While water aerobics does fulfill a lot of those needs, it is also a great alternative to a traditional workout, especially in these warm summer months.

I’d tried out water aerobics before but it had been a few years. I was called back to the pool by a good friend of mine who insisted we try something different. This time, it was the deep stuff: AquaCardio in the diving well of one of the university pools.

We arrived early and exchanged nervous greetings with some other first time students while we waited for the instructor to arrive. She rolled in with 5 minutes to spare and looked like a woman on a mission. She wheeled in giant carts of buoyancy belts, Styrofoam weights and aqua noodles. At the same time, three middle aged women came out of the locker room. Fears of a future filled with floral-print, skirted swimsuits entered my thoughts. What had we gotten ourselves into?

We put on our belts, grabbed the noodles and a pair of weights and jumped into the pool. I sat on the edge of the deck before launching myself into the water. My belt kept me from going under and it was nice to be in the deep end without having to work so hard. I thought, “This is going to be a breeze. A little kicking, maybe some floating on my back and we’ll call it a day.” I really should’ve known better. Read More »

Just when I had you convinced I’m a lazy cow, I took some action. The weather’s gorgeous, I have many a short little dress waiting to come out, and frankly, the time has come for me to take your advice, which has been much appreciated. I’ve started walking to and from work rather than hopping on the subway, and so long as it’s sunny and nice, I’ve decided that my new habit is going to be a post-work run, and that the thirty-block walk home can be a nice little warm-up.

I started slow, running about three quarters of a mile outside without falling over dead, and walking briskly after for another twenty or thirty minutes. May not seem like a lot, but in the city, speedwalking is essentially a slow jog. I have to say, it felt pretty damn good to take in the scenery of New York while bobbing and weaving through crowds on the sidewalks.

Fortunately I live fairly close to a park on the East River (one of those waterways that’s pretty from a high-rise, but should never ever be touched for fear of hepatitis or happening upon a dead body), and was able to set my route accordingly. I’m actually looking forward to going out again tonight, with my goal of extending by a few blocks and hopefully getting that extra quarter mile into my routine by the time next week starts. Read More »