Author: Monica

Training for an activity can be empowering. Learning to do something new, training hard, and coming across the finish line or riding up that big hill can give us a wonderful sense of accomplishment. The process allows us to access places in ourselves that our normal day- to- day comfort zone usually doesn’t touch. Training can be humbling for nearly the same reasons – learning something new and training hard forces us to be beginners again, and as adults this can sometimes be a difficult place to be in.
  • Benefits of Aerobics

    Aerobics in our Daily Lives We’ve all been told about the importance of aerobics in our daily lives. But what constitutes an activity as an aerobic one and how do we integrate it into our all ready busy lives? Why we need Aerobics? Without a doubt, aerobics are particularly helpful for weight control. Research consistently…

  • Snowboarding

    A Fun Winter Sport Snowboarding involves descending a snow-covered slope on a flat board with bindings for attaching boots. Snowboarding is a popular activity for people of all ages and skill levels, and is a great way to enjoy the outdoors and get some exercise during the colder months. One of the most appealing aspects…

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    Snowshoeing

    Why Snowshoeing Snowshoeing is a great exercise because it provides a full-body workout that engages multiple muscle groups, including the legs, core, and upper body. It takes more effort than just walking because you have a frame covered with webbing or fabric that helps to distribute your weight over a larger area. Snowshoeing also burns…

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    Swimming

    Swimming for your health For years, experts have been saying that swimming is great for your health and simply one of the best exercises out there. Yet, many of the benefits of swimming are unclear to the average person. So what really makes swimming such a wonderful exercise? Swimming uses almost all the major muscle…

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    Walking

    Make Walking a Part of Your Everyday Life It’s less costly than a gym membership, more fun that a stationary bike, more convenient than swimming, and easier on the muscles and joints than running. Many would-be pedestrians never take the first step toward making walking the center of their fitness regimen. Some get tripped up…

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    Elements of Fitness

    Fitness is defined as “the ability to carry out daily tasks with vigor and alertness, without undue fatigue, and with ample energy to enjoy leisure time pursuits and to meet unforeseen emergencies.” Yet physical fitness means different things to a dancer, marathon runner, lumberjack, mailman, and weight lifter. It’s also a relative term, in that…

  • RAMROD Cycling Event

    The biggest one-day ultra-marathon cycling event in the Pacific Northwest is RAMROD [Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day]. It combines the breathtaking beauty of Mount Rainier National Park with a strenuous 152-mile course that climbs 10,000 feet. John Dixon organized the first RAMROD competition in 1984, which had 45 finishers in total. The gathering…

  • RAMROD Part One

    First off, let me say that this is a “do as I say and not as I do” lesson….as a fitness trainer, I would never advise anyone I know to do what we did. With that being said, I can go on to say that I am totally AMAZED that we finished this ride and…

  • RAMROD Part Two

    I haven’t mentioned the weather We were all really lucky. The majority of the morning was overcast with a little fog hanging in the valley when we started. Perfect riding temperature. The fog started to burn off by the time we got into Mt. Rainier National Park (high 70s?) but was not unbearable. So I…