It takes two months of exercise before you look different
If you’re gearing up to get beach-ready, don’t be discouraged if your body hardly looks different after a month.
unbranded – Lifestyle
For Amazon Prime customers, the 10th annual Prime Day means deals abound across virtually all product categories — including health and fitness.
Prime Day officially starts Tuesday, July 16, at 12:01 a.m. and ends Wednesday, July 17, at 11:59 p.m.
While we can’t promise all the products discussed below will be available at bargain prices, they do all have the potential to enhance your fitness and well-being.
Swimmer’s snorkel
Swimming is one of the safest and most efficient forms of exercise. And historically the activity always gets a boost after folks watch the Summer Olympics and are inspired by those swimmers’ physiques.
However, mastering the proper breathing technique while maintaining stroke form can be a challenge for the fitness swimmer.
Now that’s no longer a concern because you can use a specially designed swimmer’s snorkel.
A swimmer’s snorkel is a front-mounted device designed to be worn with standard swimming goggles. In fact, this apparatus is so beneficial for improving stroke consistency that the world’s elite swimmers use it regularly in practice.
If it’s good enough for Katie Ledecky, it should be good enough for you too.
Webbed swimming gloves
Whether you swim for exercise, do aqua aerobics or tread water like I do, webbed swim gloves are a great tool for maximizing your workout.
By wearing webbed gloves during training, you increase water resistance, with the webbed fingers spreading wide to create more drag.
The added resistance makes your upper body work harder. This gives your shoulders, arms, chest and back a more intense session, potentially strengthening and toning them more than if you weren’t using them.
Swimmers may also find that their legs are forced to kick harder to propel their body forward, thus giving their quadriceps, hamstrings, calves and feet a better workout as well.
‘Xtensor’ finger exerciser
We regularly exercise our arms, legs and torso — but our hands? Not so much. Until now, that is — thanks to the Xtensor, which is made by Clinically Fit Inc. Just as you pump iron to make your muscles stronger, the Xtensor lets you perform motions to strengthen your fingers, wrist, forearm and overall grip.
The manufacturer says use of this ambidextrously designed device “helps build strength and flexibility in muscles of the hands and fingers, and tendons of the elbow, as well as can relieve tendonitis symptoms and accelerate the healing process.”
Ideal for anyone who plays racket sports or golf, the Xtensor will also potentially benefit everyone from video-gamers to musicians to white- and blue-collar workers who use their hands extensively.
‘ElliptiGO’
Is it an elliptical machine? Is it an outdoor bicycle? Actually, it’s both — combining the best aspects of each, for a unique, weight-bearing, non-impact workout.
Just be prepared for those few quizzical stares from people who see you riding it on the street. That’s certainly what happens when Delray Beach resident — and sub-2:50 marathoner — Melissa Perlman uses hers for cross-training. However, she believes folks’ natural curiosity is a nominal price to pay for the myriad benefits the equipment provides.
“I love that my ElliptiGO enables me to get extra cardio, burn extra calories, work on my endurance and get a really hard workout without putting a pounding on my joints,” she explains.
Battle rope
If you buy only one piece of fitness equipment this year, consider making it a “battle rope.”
Then learn about the benefits of using these heavy ropes for workouts. Making the rope undulate for even short periods of time taxes muscles you didn’t even know you had.
Battle ropes are available in different lengths and diameter sizes so you should be able to find something that meets your needs and current fitness level.
The concept is simple: Place a long, thick rope in a U-shape around a heavy, fixed object (a large piece of furniture, a tree, an electricity pole or light pole, etc.).
Then take the two ends — one in each hand — and start slamming the rope into the ground.
The effect is incredible: Within seconds, you’ll be sweating, your heart will be pumping, and you’ll be engaging every muscle in your body. That’s because you have to not only create the rope’s kinetic energy, but also absorb it. And perhaps best of all, you can do this workout anywhere.
From your back yard to the beach to your dedicated workout space, a quick session with a battle rope may just be the best bang for your workout buck.
Percussion massager
After all this working out, don’t be surprised if your muscles are feeling a bit fatigued or even sore.
This is when a percussion massager can be an invaluable tool in your recovery.
As UCLA Health explains “lactic acid builds up in your muscles after exercise or other activity. This build-up often causes pain and soreness. When you use a massage gun after a workout, the percussion forces muscle fibers to release lactic acid, reducing the soreness you’ll feel.”
No need to limit your percussion massager usage to only post-workout sessions. Many athletes also use them to warm up muscles before training and/or competition.
Three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and NBA champion Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics believe so strongly in the benefits of percussion massage that they’re brand ambassadors for Hyperice — manufacturer of the Hypervolt 2 and Hypervolt 2 Pro percussion massagers, as well as several other recovery products.
Of course, the pair had good reason to trust Hyperice’s products — one of the company’s early investors was Lebron James, who also uses the Hypervolt 2 Pro and helped it become “the Official Recovery Partner of the NBA.”
Before undertaking any new exercise program, consult your own physician.