Hello, St. Olaf HC Fitness readers!
It really does feel like forever since the last time I wrote you. I spent my summer in my new home of Colorado with my family, which was great. I guess the biggest change, however, would be that I’m no longer on the other side of the world. The New Zealand semester has come and gone, and I am now living in an honor house at St. Olaf with my best friends. Pretty good, eh? I’d say so.
I am going to try something different to mix up my blog for the coming school year. First of all, I am using the first semester to focus on losing 15 pounds. I’m calling it the T-15 pounds by my birthday, which is in December, so I feel like that’s a healthy, achievable goal. Each week I am going to log in my weight loss, as well as write a daily food and workout journal. I am not going to write down everything I eat on my blog (because frankly that’s not that interesting for everyone). But I am going to pinpoint something positive I did each day in my diet or workout. I will also continue with different workout tips from you and various fitness magazines.
This week’s fun fact actually comes from going to the gym with my roommate. As I was working out, I saw her doing calf raises on the stairs, and I decided I would join her. I did about 30 before I decided I had to call it quits. Needless to say, I need to work on strengthening that area of my body. So I have decided to figure out the benefits calf raises and learn how I can improve my form and strength. I found this information from a website called “Peek Performance: Sporting Excellence” by John Shepard. I copied a little bit of the article that I thought was the most important below, but to see the full article click on the link:
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/strength-training-for-the-lower-leg-the-…
Strength training for the lower leg: the standing calf raise
Conditioning benefits:
- General: This is a great exercise for the lower leg muscles. Because a straight leg position is maintained throughout the exercise, the prime mover is the gastrocnemius, which is best suited to developing force from this stretched position.
- Sport specific: The calf muscles are often neglected in sports conditioning programs in favor of exercises that focus on the larger thigh muscles – the squat and leg press. However, a failure to condition the smaller calf muscles appropriately will reduce an athlete’s ability to develop power for running and agility-based sports: the lower leg (and ankle and foot) are crucial in this respect, as the more effective these areas are at cushioning and returning force the quicker and more dynamic the athlete will be.
*You can do this exercise on the steps of Skoglund, on the steps going from Ole Avenue to the library, or even on your way to the Caf (kidding about that, but the point is, you can basically do this exercise anywhere!). So until next week, I’ll see you around campus, gearing up for a great fall back on the Hill.
Week 1- Weight Lost: 0
Weight Left to Lose: 15