Don’t let the heat keep you from exercise
Walking is a great way to exercise — except when the weather is … well, pretty much the way it is out there right now.
You don’t like going to the gym, or walking at the mall. So how can you get some exercise during Southern Nevada’s sizzling summer months?
"Something they can do is tubing," said Jason Lutz, and unfortunately he’s not talking about tubing-down-the-river tubing. No, Lutz, a certified strength and conditioning specialist whose company is Ariginal Fitness, is talking about resistance tubing, "kind of like surgical tubing."
It’s available, Lutz said, at most sporting-goods stores; a quick check found it priced starting at $10.99 for a set of three.
Lutz said a variety of exercises can be done with the tubing. You can stand on it and do bicep curls, he said. Or stand on it, bring your hands to shoulder height and do squats, to strengthen your legs. Or stand on it and pull your arms over your head to do a shoulder press to strengthen shoulders and arms.
Or step on it with just one foot, put the other foot behind you and bend your knees into a lunge to strengthen your legs. Or hold one end of the tubing behind you and pull the other end up over your head to work on your triceps.
Another good choice, Lutz said, is a stability ball, which can be found for about $12 and more.
Put the ball against a wall, Lutz said, and press your back against it; then squat, rolling the ball down the wall, and stand up again, in a rolling motion. That’s good for the legs, Lutz said. You can do crunches with the ball, to strengthen the abdominal area. Or back extensions, in which you lie on your stomach atop the ball and arch up off the ball and down again. You can even do pushups with the ball, placing it under your waistline and keeping your body in a straight line while you do a pushup motion.
"Do the ball and the resistance tubing, and then you’re doing cardiovascular activity along with resistance training," Lutz said.
And there’s always the pool, which will feel particularly good in the summer. In your own or a community pool, Lutz said, you can do various strokes, or jog in place, do cross-country-skiing motions or do flutter kicks against he wall.
And dream about the other kind of tubing.