Are You Drinking Enough Water?

With the weather getting cooler it is important to make sure you stay hydrated, even when not exercising. The cooler weather can fool you into thinking you don't need to hydrate since you don't notice yourself sweating as much. The body is comprised of around 70% of water and water effects pretty much every aspect of your overall health. Cells need water to function, the blood which supplies your body with nutrients contains water, organs and joints work better by supplying lubrication, and the skin stays healthier and less dried out.

So how much water should you drink a day? Well that isn't so straight forward. Weight, activity level, climate, and health all factor into how much water someone should consume every day. A general rule of thumb is to drink enough to where you don't feel thirsty and you can produce a little more than 6 cups of colorless or slightly yellow urine a day. You can also go by the 8 x 8 rule which is to drink eight-8 ounce glasses of water a day to be safe. So be sure to stay hydrated and especially if you are exercising drink water often during your workouts.

Side Stitches

Fall is here and the weather is perfect for lacing up the shoes and hitting the pavement. A lot of people suffer from side stitches or pain in the lower right or left abdomen similar to cramps while running. Although no one seems to know for sure, one cause of this may be consuming too much carbohydrates before you go out for a run. Another theory is that it is caused by the stretching of the ligaments that connect the diaphragm to other internal organs, especially the liver. As the organs bounce around, they strain the diaphragm as it moves up while exhaling. Additionally many runners synchronize their breathing with their steps, so exhalation occurs when the same foot hits the ground on the same side continuously causing a side stitch on that side.

There are a few ways to try to avoid developing a side stitch. The first one is obviously to not eat a large meal before going out for a run. Another is to avoid shallow chest breaths and take more deep "belly breaths" causing the diaphragm to fully lower. Finally, periodically change which foot strikes the ground during exhalation.

Although no one really seems to know what exactly causes side stitches, try these techniques and see if they help for you. Happy running!

Crossfit

Crossfit has been gaining in popularity lately. The advantage of crossfit training are that it combines cardiovascular and strength training using little to no equipment (although traditional gym equipment can also be incorporated) so it can be done just about anywhere. Crossfit focuses on functional training which utilizes muscle groups that mimic movements that are used in a persons daily life. Another advantage of crossfit is that it is scalable making it appropriate for all fitness levels, in other words the workouts remain the same but the intensity is adjusted.

Here are a couple of examples of a crossfit routines to give you an idea of how it works. Most routines are to be done in a certain amount of time or a certain number of rounds.

5 Rounds of:
10 Pushups
100 meter sprint
20 Squats
100 meter sprint

For 20 minutes complete as many rounds as possible:
50 Pushups
50 Squats
50 Situps

These are just a couple of sample routines, but as you can see these are high intensity workouts with no rest between exercises. And because there is no rest it really builds up cardiovascular endurance as well as strength.

To learn more about Crossfit check out http://www.crossfit.com/ and http://crossfitnyc.com