What Running Has Taught Me

Running isn't only great because it keeps you healthy and fit. It has taught me many life lessons over the five years that I have been a runner. They are lessons that aren't specific to running, they can be applied at any time, during anyone's life. Running has helped me through struggles and hard times in my life, because of the lessons that I have learned while doing it.
1. You can't get anywhere without a little bit of hard work. This may seem obvious, but its the truth. I went into my first cross country season not wanting to work hard, but I still wanted to do well. I realized that the amount of effort that I put into running, is the amount of success that I see come out at the meets. Success is my biggest reward.
2. Even when you do your best, you may be disappointed. There would be meets in which I tried my hardest and ran as fast as I could possibly go, but I was still upset with the time that I received. It is only motivation to work harder and do better the next time.
3. You are lapping everyone on the couch. Even if you feel like your having a bad day or if you are feeling down about yourself, you are still doing better than those who don't even try.
4. See the glass half full, not half empty. Don't look at how far you still have to go, look at how far you have come.
5. You are stronger than you think. Stop thinking about yourself as having limits, you are strong and can do anything that you can put your mind to.
6. Train your mind. Your mind is a powerful thing; running is 10% body, 90% mental. You have to not only train your body, but also train your mind.
7. Stay confident. Confident is the key to success, and you are better than you think you are.
8. Set manageable goals. If you continue to meet your small goals along the way, it keeps you motivated and working hard, leading up to even bigger and better goals.
9. If at first you don't succeed, try try again. Never give up on your goals, even if you fail time after time, pick yourself up and keep on moving.
10. Stay positive. There are going to be bad days, the key is to be able to get over them and realize that it was just a bad day. It is always easier to run if you are in the right frame of mind and you have no regrets.

Competitive Sports Too Soon

Children nowadays start competitive sports at a young age, sometimes as young as 3 or 4 years old. How do these children know that they want to do dance or soccer when they are so young? The truth is that they don't. Parents in today's society have the power to choose what sport their child grows up competing in. I think that children start competing when they are too young, they are not old enough to decide what they want to do. I think that they should be able to try a few different sports before they choose one that they want to play competitively. Unfortunately, it can't work this way. If you wait too long to put your child into sports, the other children have already been at this sport for 4 or 5 year, making your child struggle to keep up with the rest of the kids.
Not only are children forced into sports that they may not even like at a young age, but they are also forced to do it competitively. Competitive, year-round sports start about as soon as kids can begin walking. I believe that this pressure is unnecessary and too much for kids. Their days should be spent playing outside and watching TV or reading a book that they enjoy. Not going to 2 hour long practices 3 nights a week.
Long practices also interfere with kids' sleep schedules. Coaches often can't reserve gyms or practice fields until later in the night during the school week, kids therefore don't get home until later and after eating and finishing school work they miss out on valuable hours of sleep.
Lastly, starting kids too young can cause them to get burnt out on the sport that they once loved. My brother, for example, started playing baseball when he was 5 years-old. He loved the sport and started playing it year-round when he was 9 years-old. By the time he made it to high school, he was tired of the pressure and the politics involved with the sport and quit. He loved the sport but he just got burnt out.
However, there are some benefits to getting your kids into sports young. On a team, they can learn how to make new friends and be respectable. They also learn how to be dependable to your team and others as well as learning teamwork and being a good sport, even when they lose. Also, some kids really love the sports that they do their whole childhood. It is great for them to be able to participate in the sport they love for as long as possible.
Still, I believe that kids are rushed into sports too young. They should be able to wait until they have tried different intramural sports or noncompetitive sports before they have to decide what sport they want to continue playing competitively.

Should we be afraid?

According to a CNN article, the Ebola virus has entered the U.S. through Texas. People around the country are concerned that this deadly disease will spread to other parts of the U.S. Personally; I don't think that we should be concerned. As of right now, only two people have gotten this disease. The doctor only got the disease because she was in contact with the Ebola patient for extended periods of time, therefore I don't think that it is much of a threat to the public. However, I do think that we should take certain precautions just to air on the safe side of things.
People with Ebola should continue to be isolated as they have been, and doctors with open cuts or wounds should not be attending the patients. Also, public should not have any contact with Ebola patients. Hospitals should have rooms sanitized and open for Ebola cases and doctors should be properly dressed, in gloves, sanitary suits, and masks. I also think that there should be two doctors attending to each patient, so that there is not a single doctor that has extended contact with the patient like the doctor that contracted the disease from the patient in Texas.
Some people are concerned that the virus that is now transmitted by body fluids, will transform into a virus that can be transmitted through the air. I don't believe that there is a very high chance of this occurring and I think that this is the least of our concerns. I believe that we should be concerned about it possibly spreading due to the fact that the doctor in Texas was not aware that she had it until recently. This means there is a possibility that someone that has come in contact with her could have contracted in. I don't think that we should be alarmed by this because the possibility of that happening is low, but I think that it is important that doctors release information about how we can prepare in case it does start to spread.
I honestly don't think that the two people in the U.S. that have/had Ebola should cause panic. I think that officials have it under control and they are handling the situation well, based on the article, and that while we should be informed, we should not be alarmed. It is not time to worry yet, it is time to be patient and let the doctors and officials handle the virus. All we can do is hope for the best.

Dealing With Stress

There are many reasons why both teens and adults experience stress in their everyday lives. It may be because of health, emotional struggles, relationships, major life changes, or stress within your family or friends. It is important to learn how to minimize the stress in your life because it can have many negative effects on your body.
So how do you know if you are having stress? Common symptoms of stress include:

• increased heartbeat
• headache
• stiff neck or tight shoulders
• back pain
• fast breathing
• sweaty palms
• upset stomach or nausea

Over time stress can have more harmful effects on you body. Stress can cause you to have a weaker immune system. Any exposure to germs could potentially make you sick, and when you get sick your symptoms could be worse than if you were not stressed out. 

Stress could also cause problems with your heart. Stress has a correlation with higher blood pressure, abnormal heart beat and blood clots. It is also linked to heart disease and heart failure. 

Too much stress can cause problems with other organs as well. If you have stomach problems, like reflux disease, or irritable bowel syndrome, stress can make your symptoms worse. It can affect your reproductive organs. Stress has been linked to lowered fertility and pregnancy problems. Stress causes many people to have trouble keeping clear skin, they have more acne breakouts. Lastly, it affects the lungs by making diseases such as asthma worse.

Sometimes, if you have a large amount of stress built up over a long period of time, you can have something called a panic attack. People who experience these can't always determine why they occur but they often feel out of control or as if they are experiencing a heart attack. 

Stress often times affects people emotionally. Most people know at least one person that has been cranky or upset just because of an overload of stress in their life. However, stress can affect people different emotionally depending on their personality and coping strategies.

It is important to know how to deal with stress. It can be harmful to your body and to people around you. Too much stress can change your personality for a long period of time, making it hard for people to be around you. Learn to minimize your stress as much as possible to make you and everyone around you much happier.

There's an App For That

Today's society has placed a priority on the latest technology. It is something that has become part of our everyday lives, and it makes things easier. Well, it can also make calorie counting and monitoring our fitness much easier. There are many apps that are designed to help us with our fitness goals, however, not all of them are user friendly or highly beneficial, but here are a few that are.

My Fitness Pal Diary

1. My Fitness Pal
My Fitness Pal is an app that my family members, friends, and myself use daily. It allows you to calculate calorie intake for each meal of the day. You are able to scan the bar code of any food package and it will add up the calories. It also allows you to submit any type of workout that you did during the day and it lets you know how many calories that workout burned. It takes those calories off of your total calories for the day. I also find it handy because it tells you how many calories you've consumed throughout the day and how many calories you have remaining.

                                                         2. Six Pack Abs

Six Pack Abs

This app has nearly 20 core strengthening exercises that have life like animations demonstrating the correct form. This is helpful in ensuring you are doing to exercise correctly and it prevents injury. The app also allows you to choose music to sync to your workout, making your workout slightly more enjoyable. Also, it connects to "MyFitnessPal",  allowing it to automatically submit your workouts.

Sleep Cycle

3. Sleep Cycle
I believe that this app is such a good idea. The app tracks your sleeping patterns and can wake you up during a light stage of sleep to create an easier transition while waking up. It allows you to choose which music you'd like to wake up to. It can also tell you when you were awake or in deep sleep or light sleep throughout the night. Lastly, you can take notes on your day such as if you had coffee or were stressed out to see how it affects your sleeping
patterns.

These are all apps that I have used myself and are popular worldwide. I would recommend them to anybody from their teen years or older.

Celebrity Fitness Regimes

Dwayne Johnson

Celebrities in today's world know that media critiques every piece of their lives, especially their appearance. Celebrity women want to stay thin and fit while men want to stay fit and muscular. In order to maintain their ideal body shapes, they must keep a strict diet and workout plan. Dwayne Johnson, also known as "The Rock" is known for his massive gains in muscle over the past couple of years, how did he get so strong? Another celebrity that is praised for her slim figure is Jennifer Aniston. You may think that they have fitness trainers and access to every kind of fitness equipment so it is easier for them to lose weight or stay in shape. However, you can try some of their fitness techniques and see if they also work for you.

Jennifer Aniston

Dwayne Johnson has to have a large amount of muscle for the majority of the movies he stars in, so he works out 6 days a week, every week. No exceptions. He uses a pyramid technique to maintain his muscle mass. He starts with a low amount of weight and a high amount of reps at the beginning of the month. Then, throughout the month he keeps adding weight, while doing a lower amount of repetitions. Each month he starts over, with low weight (however higher than last months starting weight) and a high amount of reps. He does pretty much every kind of lift, every day. Dwayne Johnson also does a cardio workout before he lifts, for about 50-60 minutes.

Like Dwayne Johnson, Jennifer Aniston works out almost every day. She does about 40 minutes of cardio, such as spinning, running, or using the elliptical, or sometimes a combination of all three. She also does yoga and Pilates throughout her week. When she stays at hotels she always brings 8 lb weights with her, they are great to use if you are watching TV or talking on the phone. She also sticks to the strict 40 30 30 diet. This means that 40% of your diet should be carbohydrates (fruits and vegetables), 30% protein (any kind of meat or fish), and 30% fats (olive oil or fish oil).

It may seem like it is easier for celebrities to stay in shape, but it is equally as challenging as it is for anybody else. It requires a strict workout and dieting plan, however you can make it easier by following these celebrities fitness plans to get started.

Fast Abs

Who doesn't want a nice set of abs? Whether male or female, these are the exercises that I have found work best for gaining ab strength, they don't take much time and they are worth it. Of course, I gain most ab muscle from running, but these are beneficial as well.

1. Sit-ups

Lay flat on your back on the floor with your knees bent at a 90 degree angle. Have someone hold your feet or place them under something such as a couch to keep them on the floor. Place your hands crossed over your chest. Sit up and lay back down. As you sit-up try to keep your eyes on the ceiling. Do intervals of 25-50 depending on your level.

2. Planks

Lay flat with your stomach on the floor. Hold yourself up with your elbows, keeping your elbows equal with your shoulders and your hands straight ahead on the floor. Hold for at least 15 seconds at a time. Repeat 5 times.

3. Leg Lifts
Lay flat on your back with your arms flat by your sides. Lift up your legs to about 6 inches above the floor. Hold for about 25-35 seconds. Repeat 4 times.




4. Bicycles
Lay flat on your back with your arms flat by your sides. Tuck your legs up to your chest. Push one leg straight out so that it is about 6 inches above the ground. As you pull it back in push the other leg straight out in the same position. Do intervals of 25-50 depending on your fitness level. To increase the difficulty of this workout, put your hands behind your head and touch your opposite elbow to your opposite knee (the knee that is tucked to your chest).


5. Opposite Arm and Leg Raise 
Begin on all fours, with your knees equal with your hips and your wrists equal with your shoulders. Raise your left arm to shoulder height and your left leg to hip height. Hold for 2 seconds. Repeat this on the opposite side. Do it 15-20 times, switching sides.