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Distance Swimming

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Many of us who use the pool are accustomed to a quick workout – put in a few springs, some IM, a few 200’s, and call it a day. We tend to focus on the variety of activity and intensity of the workout, rather than the duration. But distance is a major factor in the success of your swimming workout! When you focus on building speed alone, you may find that you lack the strength training necessary to maintain that speed for a distance. Distance training can also be incredibly useful in triathlon, open water, or really any kind of race training. To get a maximum return on your workout, it’s best to vary the types of workout you complete through the week. For every spring set you do, put in a quick 300-500 yard freestyle. It can even be helpful to set aside an entire workout dedicated to a mile or two at a time. Remember, in the swimming world, we consider 1650 to be a mile. Here’s a starter distance set to get into the swing of things; remember that as you grow stronger, your workouts should increase in difficulty as well. Challenge yourself this summer; train outdoors, in the pool, go for the strokes and distance you’re not comfortable with! The only way to improve is to test yourself, so get to it!

Warm-Up
1×200 swim
1×200 kick with board
1×200 pull with buoy
1×200 sprint

Main Set
1×400 IM at 90% effort
1×200 freestyle easy
1×500 freestyle build to spring
2×100 choice easy
4×50 freestyle spring

Cool Down
1×300 freestyle cool down pace

Total Yardage: 2600

BAC Night with the Bells

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The Bellingham Bells are back in town! As one of the sponsors of the Bells, we are welcoming them to come work out at BAC! They will be part of our community through the summer.

Join us for our annual “BAC Night with the Bells” on Wednesday, July 25th. Pick up your tickets at the front desk and bring the whole family to enjoy a night at the baseball field!

Junior Racquetball Camp

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Junior Racquetball Camp will take place July 23-26. The camp is taught by Professional Instructor, Wanda Collins. This year we’ll have special guests: BAC Junior Players who have represented the State at Junior Nationals. The Camp consists of Racquetball basics including strokes, servers, off the back wall shots, game strategy, foot drills, speed and agility exercises, camp shirts, and a mini-tournament on Thursday.

Beginners/Intermediate Camp
Ages 7-11
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Monday – Thursday

Intermediate & Advances Camp
Ages 11-16
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Monday – Thursday

$125 for members
$140 for non-members
$10 off for siblings
Registration deadline is July 16th

Contact Wanda Collins (wandac@bellinghamathleticclub.com) for more information.

“The Stork” Outer Gluteal Activation

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The “Stork” is a static hip exercise for strengthening and activating the lateral Gluteals, Gluteus Medius, Gluteuas Minimus, and the Piriformis muscles. This set of external hip rotators are responsible for abducting the leg out away from the body, rotating your leg outward, and stabilizing your femur at the hip. Non-activity and injury can cause this group to become weak which can affect the overall performance of your hip complex, affecting your gait and in some cases cause knee, hip, and lower back pain.
A static exercise like the “Stork” means that the exercise requires you to hold the position for a set duration, much the same as an isometric where the limbs and joints do not move but the muscles are contracted. The duration can be as short as 10-20 seconds to as much as 30-60 seconds depending on the prescription.
To perform the “Stork” take an inflatable balance disc, foam pad, or even a moderately firm pillow and place it against the wall. Turn sideways to the wall so that your shoulder is next to the wall with your feet about shoulder width a part. Lift the leg closest to the wall and trap the disc between your lower thigh and the wall with your leg not quite 90 degrees. Stand tall and put your wall side hand on the wall for balance. Begin by driving your body into the disc with you outside leg. Your wall side hip should not touch the wall. Keep the outside leg straight throughout with the body tall. Hold for the prescribed duration and repeat on both sides 2-3 times. Please see our BAC Personal Trainers to learn more about the “Stork”.

“Standing Donkey Kick”: Glute Activation

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The Static Hip Series is called the “Donkey Kick”. The “Donkey Kick” is a static hip exercise for strengthening and activating the Gluteus Maximus and the Hamstrings. The Gluteus Maximus and the Hamstring muscles work in concert with each other to extend your hip. Extremely important muscles for gait in walking and in running. Injury and inactivity can dramatically affect the performance of these two groups which in some cases may cause modifications to gait and running mechanics, increasing the chances of injury and or pain.
A static exercise like the “Donkey Kick” means that the exercise requires you to hold the position for a set duration, much the same as an isometric where the limbs and joints do not move but the muscles are contracted. The duration can be as short as 10-20 seconds to as much as 30-60 seconds depending on the prescription.
To perform the “Donkey Kick” take a “Ballast Ball”, Stability Ball with sand material in the bottom, or a regular Stability Ball. Note that a “Ballast Ball” has a little more stability that a standard Stability ball. Pin or trap the ball at the base of a wall, a corner works even better as the ball will not roll around as much and you have a wall to stabilize and balance yourself with. Turn your back to the wall and the ball and then place the sole of one foot against the ball. Your support leg should be far enough forward, that the knee of the foot that is on the ball is slightly behind the front leg. Standing tall drive the heel of the foot on the ball into the ball. You should feel a contraction in the Gluteus Maximus and hamstrings. Hold for the prescribed duration and repeat on both sides 2-3 times. Please see our BAC Personal Trainers to learn more about the “Donkey Kick”.

Meet Jeri Winterburn

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Jeri WinterburnJeri Winterburn has been teaching fitness classes for over 35 years. She is also a syndicated fitness columnist and wrote weekly columns for the Bellingham Herald for several years. Jeri has been featured in a R.I.P.P.E.D video available online.

In her spare time, she enjoys camping and hiking with her family – as well as breeding Bernese Mountain dogs, and creating unique jewelry and wreaths, and dried floral arrangements which she sells online. Whether you are new to exercise or a seasoned athlete, Jeri is always eager to help you attain your fitness goals.

Peace Health Foundation Care, Share, and Inspire Gala

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BAC gang at the Peace Health Foundation Care, Share, and Inspire Gala on Saturday, June 9th: Mike Locke, Maria Jenkins, Amy Wolsdorf, and Tina Schumacher. Amy was awarded the Philanthropist of the Year Award by the Foundation.

Also, here is Hanna Ornes’ inspirational video.

Racquetball Tournament Schedule

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I know its super early but you should mark your calendars now for the 2018 – 2019 tournaments that will be held at BAC. We are looking forward to a fun season!
– Fall Classic – November 16-18, 2018
– State Doubles – Jan 18-20, 2019 (yes this is what would normally be the Winter Shootout, but we were asked to host a state tournament by the WRA and thought we would give it a shot!)
– Northwest Open – March 14-17, 2019
Keep your eyes open for the WRA to release their tournament calendar, it will have all of the tournaments in the state of Washington listed on it. As always, we are looking for sponsors to help make these tournaments even more successful than they already are. If you or anyone you know would be interested, have them contact Jessie Scott, Racquetball Director.

Rehab

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The 4-Letter Word! I know, it’s not really 4 letters nor is it a real word. But when you’re doing it, there are plenty of 4 letter words that are used, at least by me. Rehab means I’m injured and not doing what I want to be doing. Rehab also means pushing muscles, finding new muscles and is generally boring and monotonous. I know what I’m talking about because I’ve done a lot of it.

Fortunately, it also means that the acute pain associated with an injury needing rehab has ebbed enough to do some physical work. Yippee – there’s that. You also get to meet new friends; the front desk staff, the doctor, the assistant and all of the people in the waiting room with their own issues. It’s like a whole new social circle. Unless of course, you are a chronic “rehaber” – then the only new people are in the waiting room. Unless they’re frequent visitors, too.

Sitting here with my hair smelling like chlorine, I’m going to sing the praises of the magic of the pool. Again. Yes, I’m in rehab mode. Again. The pool is a helpful place for healing just about every injury and surgery (once you’ve got an ok from the doctor). The water helps takes some stress off of sore joints, provides resistance to build muscles, including your heart and lungs without the need for weights. Swimming can be a whole body workout, or specific areas can be targeted. Swimming, water aerobics and just walking in the water have overall health benefits while improving your specific injury. A side benefit is that you’re meeting new people again, broadening your social circle. Unless the people you met in the waiting room at the doctor’s office are who’s in the pool.

Back to the 4 letter word. Whatever specialist is helping you get back into enjoying your regular activities, is going to encourage moving and stretching in the pool or out. They have a certain knack of finding the weak spots that need to be cared for, and will probably hurt a little to work. Hurt and work – real 4 letter words. However, these exercises count as, exercise! You’re leaving the injury behind and getting back into shape. This is awesome because before you started the rehab process, you were just injured. Now, you are actively getting better – progress.

Ultimately, if you do your exercises and go at the pace your doctor recommends, you will make the necessary physical improvements and get back to your regular activities. During rehab, maybe you’ll have found a new sport to love or new ways of moving that feel better or met a new friend. Bottom line, that nasty 4 letter word becomes a better word, healthy.

Susie Landsem
Aging in Place by Design

Summer Weight Training

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As we head into summer it is important to stick with our fitness routines, especially weight training. It has become increasingly apparent just how important weight training is to our long-term health. Summer is a great time to take your cardio workout to the great outdoors, but if you drop your weight training over the summer months you will lose ground in your overall strength.

This is particularly critical because during the summer we participate in lots of varied activities, regardless of physical preparedness. Summertime is often filled with weekend warrior syndrome – from waterskiing to softball, hefting heavy coolers to swimming, summer is more than ever a time to continue your weight training workouts.

The goal is to keep doing all those things we love, which does mean continuing your training routines. If we were kids who spend the majority of their days running, climbing, and wrestling their siblings, we wouldn’t have to train, but alas most of us are working or working at being adults, which seems to leave out recess and playtime. So don?t forget to build some time into your summer activities to stay in shape so you can enjoy the whole summer free of injury!

One of the benefits of being a member at BAC is direct access to talented trainers who can assist you in the process of improving your personal fitness, whether hiking, biking, skiing or camping. We have developed some new Outdoor Fitness Programs to help you stay fit and still enjoy the great outdoors! One great example is Jeremy?s bootcamp; they move things outdoors in the summer so come join us on Monday and Wednesday nights for a little extra weight and cardio training. Give us a call and make the time you spend in the club this summer really count!