Oct 1st, 9th, and 22nd I will be the yoga instructor. I love this opportunity to meet new yogis in the community as well as share Eischens Yoga. Eischens Yoga focuses on realignment and restoration of the body to natural alignment. The quality of movement is emphasized over flexibility and range of motion. Engaging all of the muscle fibers especially those often underused is grounded in each of the poses. The more muscle fibers that are engaged, the higher the caloric expenditure of your practice!

Lululemon Athletica is a self-described yoga-inspired athletic apparel company, produces a clothing line and runs international clothing stores from its company base in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

For more information check out yoga events in Madison (like the Salutation Nation event that was held early this fall in Vilas Park with the zoo adding its unique sounds to the brilliant view of the lake during our practice)

Downdog in Ephesus, Turkey 2011

Traveling can seriously hinder exercise routines and especially derail healthy eating habits. Last week we took a round trip world tour with music hits from around the world.  I provided some tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint as well as your caloric intake while exploring this blue planet.

Today we will take a roadtrip and discuss ways to be healthy on your adventures.  Lets kick it off with some sweet tunes to start your roadtrip!

‘Get myself into it’– The Rapture

‘For the girl’ – The Fratellis

I hope those tunes got you moving,  as a sweet mix is essential for long road trips.

My first tip for staying healthy on your roadtrip is to pack a kooler of healthy snacks that keep well like cut up fruits and veggies, and plenty of water.

If your trip is a bit longer and a kooler wont last look for places like Quik Trip that have ’500 Club Meals’, which are meals under 500 calories and include reduced or only healthy fats.

This is Caitlin Iverson with WSUM 91.7FM Madison.  Stay tuned for more healthy traveling trips.

Air France ‘Beach Party’

Chairlift ‘Bruises’

On long roadtrip your body tends to lose energy from being stagnant in the car. Make sure to take advantage of breaks by moving your body at rest stops. I like to do a few yoga poses like forward flexion, front warrior and walking lunges. You could also pack a jump rope, soccer ball or even a Frisbee to get that heart rate up and enjoy some much needed playtime.

Thanks for tuning in today to Fit for Feats – aka feats of strength. Today we are chatting about staying healthy when you are traversing the terrain on the road.

Obviously packing food is nice in that you know exactly what you are eating, but if you can find a grocery store wherever you are staying, many hotels have refridgerators to store your fresh foods.  Also, park the car and take a hike to explore the land!

These next few tunes have something to do with driving – hope you enjoy!

Gotye ‘Night Drive’

Gladys Night ‘Midnight train to Georgia’

Various Artists ‘I drove all night’

That last song needs a bit of introduction. Last year I was in costa rica and I asked a friend I had made to make a mix cd for my road trip. After he asked if I had ever heard of a man named Carlos Santa up in America, I wasn’t sure what would be on the mix. Of course I responded with a casual afrermation that Carlos Santa has made himself known up in America!  This song was one of the many interesting and pecular tunes.  Sometimes staying healthy also means being flexible with what is available!

My last travel tip for the day has to do with packing. As I mentioned before, packing healthy foods is ideal. Packing your own gym, to do your favorite body workouts, jump rope, p90x, suspension trainer like TRX or Jungle Gym are excellent additions to your trip. Whatever you do stay happy, as stress an derail even the best healthy intentions!

Thank you for sharing your time with me.  Enjoy your day – make it healthy and happy!

The Beatles ‘All Together Now’

The byline:’What does health mean? Turns out you don’t need to sweat at the gym everyday in order to stay fit. That said, we do need to move, play and explore our environment. Speaking of our environment, what have you done for yours lately? Let’s chat about sustainability and how small changes overtime really do make a difference. I will ask some health professionals to join the show to help pique your interest in learning about your health: nutrition, fitness and that of this blue planet. Fit for Feats will also inspire and prepare you for feats of strength like swimming across Lake Monona, hike Devils Lake and bike the MS 150 (nothing too far out of reach for the typical Madisonian) plus the only bicep curls I’ll ask you to do will be with your water bottle!

My first show was on August 9th, literally the day after I got back to Madison from a summer of: Jamaica, Minnesota Wedding, 4th of July Madison, Istanbul for a Communication Conference, Turkey, and Montauk, New York.  My show was more music than talking as I was a bit exhausted, but it had a stay healthy while you travel theme.  Here is the playlist and my script.  Currently wordpress wont let me upload an hour long mp3, but I will figure out how to podcast my show for you to listen … stay tuned!

‘Good Afternoon this is Caitlin Iverson hosting ‘Fit for Feats’. Its summer time which for most of us students that means travel/adventure and explore!

• Traveling can seriously hinder exercise routines and especially derail healthy eating habits.  I have some tips for how to travel and stay healthy but first lets check out some tunes from around the world.

From Jamaica:

Sound dimension ‘Heavy Beat’

Major lazer – (recorded in Jamaica) ‘I’m not your lemonade’

I started this summer with an adventure in Jamaica thus started this program with some Jamaican beats. That first song was from sound dimension followed by Major Lazer who recorded that track in Jamaica

Before we get into tips for how to travel and stay healthy,  lets hop across the pond to Africa.

Hop the pond to Africa

From Mali: Amadou & Mariam ‘I Follow you’

From Senegal: Youssou N’Dour ‘Wiri-Wiri’

I follow you from the Album Welcome to Mali was followed by Wiri-Wiri recorded in Senegal

• Traveling usually means that you are eating out more and cooking less. Grocery stores often have fresh fruits and veggies that you can snack on between meals – this helps both the pocket book and the body as hungry people tend to order more food.

Let’s head north around the globe to Europe.

Europe

Fever ray – Swedish – ‘Seven’

Apparat – German – ‘Hallin’ From the Edge’

Im from Barcelona – Espanol – ‘Collection of Stamps’

This is Caitlin Iverson with Fit for Feats here at WSUM 91.7 FM Madison– today’s program has a healthy travel influence as I just flew home last night from Turkey with a stop over in Long Island, New York – so far we have heard beats from Jamaica, Africa, and Europe.

• Healthy traveling isn’t just about your body but also about how you treat the planet. Many countries have different disposal rules and regulations and my advice is do the best you can do to reduce your carbon footprint.  Buy a water purifier so that you don’t need to buy plastic water bottles everyday

Let’s spend some time in Europe but check out some fantastic music from the UK

Florence and the Machine ‘Howl’

Fujiya & Miyagi ‘Collarbone’

Burial ‘Archangel’

Welcome back to Fit for Feats.  Today’s topic: stay healthy while traveling this great blue planet!

• Sometimes the only exercise you can get while traveling is walking and dancing. My suggestion is to walk and dance as often as possible!  Where ever you are when you travel one of the best ways to understand a culture is to listen to their music.  Dancing is a way to communicate universally.   I hope some of these tunes have made you want to move those bones.

Lets hop back across the pond on our round trip of the traveling beats – leaving the UK stopping over in Canada this is Elisane with Vaporous before coming home to the US.

Elisane ‘Vaporous’

Beats Antique – Cali with tribal influence, belly dancing – ‘Beauty Beats’

That last one was from Beats Antique a band from the US.  Our round trip is complete thanks for tuning in and traveling to Jamaica, Africa, Europe and back to America. Tune in next week and I’ll discuss more healthy traveling tips, maybe with a more local vibe like a perfect playlist for hiking devils lake, or a road trip! This is Caitlin Iverson enjoy your beautiful day!

I’ll leave you with a song called Uncharted as this life certainly is!

Sara Bareilles ‘Uncharted’

WSUM streams live online at WSUM.org 

Fit for Feats airs Wednesdays at 12pm

This list is not exhaustive – and I know plenty of people with more on their plate! After a yoga class I taught the other day a fellow graduate student asked me

‘How do you find the time? How can you fit in both teaching and exercising… and school?’

To the overworked graduate students and workaholics:

~ First, Take Time To Breathe ~

~ Second, nothing good was ever accomplished while you were rushing ~

If you are running late, be late.  Showing up a day late and a dollar short is not the answer.  Instead, show up late with a smile and a dollar to spare. I find when I have the urge to run out the door in the morning, I usually forget something important.  (I take a deep breath and focus – sometimes I do a hand stand – It helps me to put things into perspective!)

Third, Make time for you – take breaks and move!

Schedule workouts into your daily planner and make them as much of a priority as a meeting with your boss.  I have seen people working from their laptop while on the treadmill! I doubt productivity increased as much as it would if they would have taken a mental break. Your health, mental and physical, is more important than any due date or deadline. Understand your limits ~ the overworked are often exhausted, unhealthy eaters, and too young to look that old.

It is easy to lose sight of what is important when you have bosses and professors requesting your time. Commitments, tasks and obligations can fill every aspect of your day if you let them.  Remember …

This is your life ~ and time is not something you will ever have enough of nor will you get it back once its gone

Recently I was on an outdoor adventure with a friend I truly admire and she said her wish for this year is to find

‘Balance Between Living In the Moment and Living For the Future’

For more information on finding that work-life balance:

‘Striking a Balance’ By Kelly Grace From Experience Life Magazine

• After some perusing of actually healthy homemade granola I found delicious and nutritious alternatives to oil, butter and artificial sugar.  (You are so excited to find out that natural fructose sugar from a banana makes for an ideal substitution!)

• Granola has recently become my favorite thing to make for my friends and neighbors. I try something new every time and if you are reading this and plan to make your own, add your own flair!

• Like I mentioned, I try something new each time and I’m not big on measuring out ingredients but here are the portions I use:

Tip: 1 part Liquid for 5 parts Dry mixture seems to work best

Experiment & Enjoy!

Dry Mix:

2 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of sunflower seeds (a friend of mine really loves this addition!)
1 cup of chopped almonds, walnuts, cashews, and/or pecans

Tip: I typically make a mix of nuts and chop until my almond/walnut/whatever is available mix is about 1 cup – depending on your fancy I keep medium chunks of nuts as it tends to please my audience

Blend:

1 ripe or frozen banana
3/4 c water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp sea salt
optional (tbsp honey or maple syrup)
optional and fun (tbsp all natural peanut butter)

Dried Fruit:

1 cup of dried raisin, cherry, cranberry, blueberry mix yum!

Tip: I get a dried mix of cherries, cranberries and blueberries that is locally grown and dried  from cherryland’s best – then I mix in raisins!

Tasks:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F
2. Mix Dry Ingredients in a large/medium bowl
3. In a blender, magic bullet or mini food processor – blend the banana, honey/maple syrup, salt, and cinnamon, vanilla and any other added flavor bonus
4. Add blended concoction to the bowl and stir until saturated
5. Spread in to a single layer on a non-stick cookie sheet (or lined with baking paper)
6. Bake for about 40 minutes or until your desired crispiness

• Check every 10 minutes to either flip the oats or break up the chunks
  • Also – Give the sheet a shake up every 10 minutes for even crisping of your granola. (I wear my handy-dandy Ove Glove – thanks Dad!)

• For my friend who likes big chunks of granola I pack the granola together like a big cookie layer on the sheet, then using a spatula I flip the oat chunks every 10 minutes while it is baking

7. Let cool then add the dried fruit mix

8. Food is meant to be shared – Enjoy your granola with someone who makes you smile!

Yesterday I made a

Cherry · Berry · Almond · Walnut · Peanut Butter · Banana · Sunflower Seed · Granola

Let me know if you have suggestions/requests for my next batch!

Here is my first report:

‘New Years Resolutions – Keep Motivated throughout the year’

Nutrition Tips, Setting Goals, Exercise Tips, Healthy Snacking, Health and Fitness Education ~ Enjoy!

Although this video has footage from before snow was on the ground, the point is workouts can be enjoyed anywhere! The weather is never a good excuse not to enjoy the outdoors – do yourself a favor and get proper gear! Rent some skis, dust off your skates or snowshoes and get outside!

Madisonians – if you find yourself near Lake Monona, make the trek to the spiral of trees on the lake (from Olbrich Park head toward the Capitol, from Olin Park head North East).  There is a box in the center with fabric and a marker to write your wishes for 2011.  This experience is beneficial for the physical and mental fitness!

The original ‘target-heart rate’ formula is 220 – age.  This formula came from research conducted on exercising heart rates of men.   Doctors use the formula when they test patients for heart disease, asking them to walk on treadmills while the speed and incline are gradually increased until their HR reach 85% of the predicted maximum (known as the stress test).

After examining 5,500 healthy females, Dr. Martha Gulati from Northwestern Medicine of Chicago presented a revised target-heart rate formula for women. As with many things, the formula is more complicated for women!

206 minus 88 percent of a woman’s age = Target Maximum Heart Rate

The revised heart rate formula for women is an excellent step in the right direction but Gulati et al left out an important part of the equation which is the resting heart rate (RHR).  The study calculated heart rate reserve and yet left that important component out of the new equation. (Heart rate reserve is the change in heart rate from maximum exertion to resting)

Gulati herself stated more research needed, but also a closer look at the data is also needed for a better maximum exertion heart rate formula.

Women, its time to do some math!

Understandably most of us will not want to use a longer formula, however without taking RHR into consideration your estimate can be 10-20 beats off.  10-20 beats could mean the difference of burning fat calories and simply burning sugar.

The difference between exhilaration and exhaustion!

As a fitness professional I recommend incorporating resting heart rate as I know that some 40 year olds are triathletes while others flex their biceps only to get their beverage to their mouth. (Their resting heart rates will be different and thus their target heart rates while exercising should reflect that difference!)

Your maximum heart rate is basically fixed, but your resting heart rate is a measure of fitness.  The more fit one is, the lower their resting heart rate.

Let’s look at some numbers:

I am a 26 year old female.  My Resting Heart Rate is 55.

Target Max Heart Rate:  220 – age = 194 (too high!)

Adjusted Formula for Women: 206 – (age x .88) = 183.12

My actual HR max is 191 but at I try not to exceed 183.  Fitness Professionals have been using the Karvonnen Method to calculate target heart rate because it factors in resting heart rate.
Karvonnen Method: ((HRmax – RHR) x %Intensity) + RHR = THR
using 85% intensity and my Resting Heart Rate of 55

(183-55) x .85 + 55 = 163.8

If calculators are not your thing ask a trained fitness professional to assist in finding your estimates.

This video shows poses that help to release tension in your neck and shoulders. In addition there are essential poses for core stability, and hip opening.  Watch the outstanding Eischen’s Yoga Instructor, Ali Dwyer take me through a 3 minute Yoga for Bicyclists session.

Another pose that is perfect for opening your hips after a bike ride is supine bridge.  Jessica Rucker is an excellent Eischen’s Yoga Therapist. This next video she is instructing a warm up for the body power class at the Monkey Bar Gym.

Don’t waste your time being sore

Recover Fast

~ Realignment takes minutes and benefits are infinite ~

ride instead of drive — ecofriendly folks!

wear helmet – mom always said ‘Safety First, Fun Always’

have a super cool ‘Bicycle Benefit’ sticker on their helmet  (they are blue or pink)

You can acquire your sticker at any of the participating businesses for $5.  Here in Madison, WI there are 97 local businesses and counting (cafes, taverns, stores from Ace Hardware to Willy St Co-op)  who support this national sustainable program. The Monkey Bar Gym has just partnered up with Bicycle Benefits offering One Free Class when you buy a class.  The objective of Bicycle Benefits is to reward cyclists for their commitment to physical activity, helmet usage, clean air, and decreasing parking demand.  In combination the program rewards participating businesses with new customers, free advertising, and increased customer loyalty.  What could be better than decreasing contamination while increasing commerce within the community?

Get Your Sticker ~ Promote Healthy Living ~ Build Community