After a busy school week—or school year—it’s tempting to take a break and just veg out. But don’t drop your healthy habits just because you’re out of school. Whether it’s exploring new activities that you’ve always wanted to try—like hiking or playing a sport—or getting an active part-time job, there are lots of fun and easy ways to incorporate more activity into your life.
You’ve probably got tons of daily commitments even in the summer: jobs, volunteering, chores around the house, and maybe even summer classes or college preparation. Maybe you also have a boyfriend who takes up a chunk of your time. We get it! But you can’t put your workouts on the backburner just because you’re busy; you’ve got to prioritize to get it all done. Just like you wouldn’t miss a dentist appointment or an important family event, you shouldn’t miss your workouts. Schedule your fitness just like you set aside time for brushing your teeth or taking a shower—and we promise workouts will be way easier. As long as fitness is a priority, it’s easy to make time for it.
Get Fit Online
You already use Facebook, Twitter, and other social media websites to keep up with your friends, so why not use them to help you reach your fitness goals, too? Free websites such as SparkPeople.com, PeerTrainer.com, and FitDay.com let you track your workouts and even your meals and snacks to help you see where you’ve been and how you’re progressing. Many also have a community aspect, so you can also get hot new tips from other fitness fiends!
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR WEEKENDS AND SUMMERS
Weekends and summers give you some extra time to literally go the extra mile and do the things you can’t normally squeeze into your busy weekday schedule. A little extra free time is all it takes to really kick up your fitness fun! Hit the gym to try out fun group exercise classes, or schedule a workout with a personal trainer. Walks, runs, and 5Ks can also be a blast; the enthusiasm at organized group events like these is contagious and helps keep you motivated. Plus, these events often benefit charities, so you can feel extra good about participating.
The summer is also a good time to join sports teams. Softball is the perfect summer sport to get you outside with friends. Swimming is also a quintessential summer activity. Going on a hike a little farther from home is a really fun group activity on the weekend; just be sure to pack plenty of water and a picnic or snacks to keep your energy up. Longer bike rides are also an ideal weekend pursuit. Into adventure? Try a totally new activity! Find a zipline course in your area, take a trapeze class, or find a rock-climbing wall to pick up new skills. If you have access to a boat and a lake, waterskiing will work your entire body!
Take advantage of the weekends to prepare for the week ahead, too. Plan and shop for healthy meals and snacks, or cook a healthy meal with your family. It’s a lot easier to follow a recipe when you aren’t distracted by the craziness of the weekdays.
How I Stay Active During the Summer:
“I love swimming in the summer. It’s a great way to cool off, and you just bring your friends along and have a really fun time.”
— Christina Gillespie, 13, Irvine, California
WORKING IT
If having a part-time job is a necessary part of your nights, weekends, and summers, make “work” part of your workout! So many jobs for teens require being active, so choose a job that gets you moving. Restaurant jobs—hosting and waiting tables—will add lots of walking to your day. You’d be surprised at how many miles you can walk in one shift! Stocking shelves is another way to keep moving. Painting is also a physically demanding job; school districts often hire people during the summer to paint classrooms while school isn’t in session. Love kids? Babysitting is an awesomely active job. Kids are built to run around, and chasing them and playing games is a great way to stay moving. Just don’t lounge around all day, watching movies and snacking!
If you love to be outside in the summer, mow lawns in your neighborhood. Pushing a mower is a cardio and strength bonanza. Cleaning pools in your neighborhood will also get you active, and maybe even earn you pool privileges! If you land in retail, don’t just stand at your register when business is slow. Walk around and straighten aisle displays or clothing when you’re bored. Not only will you get a little activity and help the time go by more quickly, but your boss will love you! Bagging groceries and bringing in carts at the supermarket are also great active ways to earn some spending money. Can’t step away from sports? Get a job as a referee, or coach a little league team. If you land in the fast-food workforce, you’ll be on your feet a lot, but you’ll also face constant temptation from fatty, high-calorie foods. (On the other hand, it may turn out that seeing how the food is prepared could turn you off completely!) When you work at the local burger joint, it’s inevitable that you’ll occasionally munch while on the job. Avoid it as much as possible by eating a healthy, filling meal before your shift. Know what the healthiest menu items are for the times you absolutely have to eat at work. And order the small sizes—no supersizing allowed!
Stay Fit During Winter Breaks, Too
The weather outside might be frightful over winter break, but don’t let that stop you from being active! You may feel less inspired to get outside during the colder months, but winter has tons of unique opportunities. Whether it’s shoveling your neighbor’s driveway for a little extra spending money, going on that school ski trip, ice skating with your friends, or trying snowshoeing for the first time, try to break out of the indoor rut!
If you do happen to get a sit-down office job, take breaks to walk around the office every now and then. Walk down the hall to deliver a message rather than emailing or picking up the phone. Use your lunch hour for a stroll outside or time at the office gym if there is one, and always take the stairs. No matter what job you do, wear your trusty pedometer to track your steps throughout the day!
HOW TO MAKE IT SOCIAL
When you’re not working or studying, you probably just want to chill with family and friends. No need to skip a workout to do it! There are lots of ways to work fitness into your social life.
Family
Family members can be perfect workout companions. Because they live with you, it takes less planning to get an activity going! If you’ve got siblings, get outside and play soccer, basketball, or Frisbee. Go hiking and have a healthy picnic. Play a game of catch with your mom or throw around a football with your dad. Get your family together to do some volunteer work, too. You can help build houses for Habitat for Humanity, or pick up litter in your town.
Friends
Workouts are way more fun when you’re having a good time. Plus, your friends can offer encouragement and help you stay motivated. It’s harder to skip a workout when your friends show up dressed and ready to go. Invite a few people over to try a new workout DVD. (Sharing exercise videos with your pals is a great way to keep workouts fresh and find new fitness favorites.) Go for a group jog or walk to a local park to play like kids. Get outside with a kickball tournament, a game of dodgeball, or sand volleyball. Bad weather? Stay inside to play on the Wii Fit and the Kinect, or play an old-fashioned game of Ping-Pong!
HOW TO EAT WELL DURING THE SUMMER AND WEEKENDS
While it can be easy to get into a healthy eating routine during the weekday when you’re in school and generally have set times to eat, the weekends and summer have more possibilities for unhealthy eating. Whether it’s a late-night pizza out with your friends, or your family’s annual barbecue with all of the fixings, when it comes to healthy eating, a good philosophy is, “All things in moderation.” It’s unrealistic to think that you’ll ever have a perfect diet. After all, life would be pretty sad without cake on your birthday, a burger on the Fourth of July, or stuffing at Thanksgiving. Food is such a big part of our lives and culture. You should enjoy eating! So how do you eat the foods you love and have a healthy diet at the same time? Simple: Just follow the 80/20 rule!
The 80/20 Rule
The 80/20 rule is like putting the “All things in moderation” philosophy into a formula. And even if you’d rather bang your head against a wall than do the math, we promise it’s easy to follow. Just make sure that 80 percent of the food you eat each day and week is healthy (fruits, veggies, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean proteins). Then the other 20 percent can be pretty much whatever you want! So if that ice cream is calling your name Friday night after the movie, enjoy it! Just get back on track with a healthy breakfast and lunch the next morning. Following the 80/20 rule is simple and works like a charm for keeping cravings fulfilled and your health in check.
“I can’t afford to work out.”
Working out doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg! You don’t need expensive gear or gym memberships. Aside from all the active stuff you can do for free, you can also easily build a workout DVD library on the cheap. Netflix has a huge variety of exercise videos that you can get for a monthly fee. And if you have your eye on something specific, check online for tons of great used options. (Reviews on most sites will give you a good idea of what you’ll be getting for your money.) Also, don’t forget about your local library; you might be surprised by the selection there! Goodwill is worth checking out, too. You can also trade videos with friends to save money and keep your workouts from getting boring. If you find a DVD you know you’ll love and it’s not available used, ask for a new copy as a gift!
Three Tips for Eating Well During Summer and the Weekends
1. Stay Away From Junk Food, Alcohol, and Drugs: There are certain foods that should be avoided if at all possible, even in the 20 percent of the 80/20 rule. Although you can have junk food like chips, fast-food, and candy in moderation, as you get fitter and start eating a healthier diet, you’ll start to realize that these foods just make you feel blah. So unless you’re really, really craving the stuff, hands off the junk food. And if you do eat some, keep your portions small so that they fit within that 20 percent. Other things that you should avoid entirely are alcohol and drugs. We won’t lecture you here about how bad these are for you (um, not to mention illegal), but try to remember that they’re like the opposite of a healthy lifestyle. Instead of giving you energy and making you feel your best (which is the whole point!), they’ll make you feel worse: drained, tired, and weak.
2. Don’t Cave to Peer Pressure: We know how it can be. There’s a lot of pressure to eat certain foods. Whether it’s being forced to eat a second helping of Aunt Nora’s peach pie or buy a candy bar for the school fundraiser, sometimes we get pressured into eating when we’re not hungry or munching on foods we really don’t even like that much. At the end of the day, you’re old enough to make your own healthy decisions. And as long as you’re eating a healthy diet most of the time (remember that 80/20 rule so that you’re eating the goodies you really have a hankering for!) and following the MyPlate guidelines, you can feel confident that you are eating what’s right for you.
3. Eat Your Food, Don’t Drink It: In order to get the most out of your meals—and keep yourself at a healthy weight—it’s best if you eat your calories instead of drinking them. It’s super easy to chug a big soda or a sugary iced coffee or tea and then eat your regular dinner without thinking twice. Those drinks don’t fill you up, and the calories can add up faster than you can say “Justin Bieber.” So avoid the soda, energy drinks, sports drinks, lemonades, and other sweet drinks as much as you can. And if you really, really want them, consider them part of your 20 percent.
While 100 percent juice is a better option than some drinks, we still say eat your food and don’t drink it. So instead of having OJ with breakfast, eat an actual orange. It’ll give you more fiber than just the juice, and you’ll fill up from it. The only beverage that this rule doesn’t apply to is Mother Nature’s best drink of all: water!
These days there’s an app for almost everything. But instead of using your phone to play yet another round of Angry Birds, use it to make yourself a little bit healthier. Here are five free apps worth checking out.
1. Daily Burn. With a sleek interface and plenty of photos, this app can help you track your workouts along with the foods you eat.
2. Foodpics Log. If you have trouble remembering what you last ate or don’t have time to track your snacks until later, download this app; it allows you to take a photo at every meal, save it, and even add details. That way when a cupcake is calling, you can see how many carrots—or how many additional cupcakes—you’ve already eaten that day!
3. MapMyWalk. Set up a free account on MapMyWalk.com and then download this app, which will calculate how far your walk was and how fast you did it. Happy walking!
4. Hydrate Yourself. If you have trouble drinking enough water throughout the day, this free app tracks your water intake and gives you reminders to drink up!
5. Nike Training Club. We saved the best for last. This app is like having a personal trainer with you at all times. Download workouts, get rewards, and even share your workouts on Twitter and Facebook!
You know what makes every workout just a bit more bearable? Good music! Pick out your ten favorite summer songs—five that are moderately paced but still energizing, and five other faster songs that make you want to dance—and enjoy this cardio and strength workout, which alternates fun strength-training moves with high-octane dance sessions.
SONG #1: CARDIO Play a fast party song (think “On the Floor” by J-Lo), and dance so hard that you can’t sing along without taking a breath every few words.
SONG #2: STRENGTH TRAINING: DANCE FOR YOUR LIFE! Play another medium-paced song (think “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry), grab some weights, and do the dance move from Staying Alive. (If you don’t know what we’re talking about, just Google it. At the very least, you should enjoy seeing John Travolta put on his best ’70s face.)
How to do it properly: Standing tall with your knees slightly bent and your abs in, hold a one- to five-pound dumbbell in one hand. Bring that same hand across your body, so that it’s resting next to your other hand. Then, lift the dumbbell diagonally up and across your body, turning your palm upward until it’s at ear height. Then press the weight straight up overhead. Repeat the move with the weight in the other hand. Keep alternating from one side to the other until the song is over.
SONG #3: CARDIO Dance along to another fast party song—one with a really thumping beat—and focus on keeping your feet moving.
SONG #4: STRENGTH TRAINING: KICK IT Play a medium-paced song again, and then use this standing lunge exercise to work your upper and lower body at the same time!
How to do it properly: Get yourself in a lunge position and hold it. With a one- to five-pound dumbbell in the same hand as your back leg, lean forward and bend your arm, tucking your elbow into your body. Then press, or “kick” your arm out and back so that it’s straightened and parallel to the ground. Repeat ten times. Then switch to the other leg and arm. Keep going from side to side until the song is over.
Tip: To make sure that you’re working both your upper and lower body, be sure to keep that lunge low, with your front leg at a 90-degree angle.
SONG #5: CARDIO Dance along to another fast party song, and now that you’re starting to feel the burn, use that as an excuse to incorporate—or create—some new freestyle moves.
SONG #6: STRENGTH TRAINING: DROP IT LOW Here’s another two-for-one routine for your next moderately paced song. As soon as the dance track ends, it’s time to “drop it low” and combine squats with a set of bicep curls. (And don’t take any time off, either!)
How to do it properly: Pretend you have a chair behind you, and bend down into a low squat where your legs are bent at 90 degrees, and your knees aren’t going beyond your toes. As you’re squatting, do bicep curls with one- to five-pound weights, rotating your palms to face your chest as you lift. Stand up as you release your arms back down to your sides. Repeat until the song is over.
Tip: For extra toning, be sure to squeeze that bicep muscle as you bring the weights up.
SONG #7: CARDIO Dance along to another fast party song. (Try the running man for an extra shot of energy when you start to fade.)
SONG #8: STRENGTH TRAINING: PUMP IT UP For the next slow song it’s time to “pump it up” with this core and back move where you hold a plank position while lifting dumbbells.
How to do it properly: Get yourself in plank position (on your hands and toes, like you’re about to do a push-up) with your hands holding one- to five-pound dumbbells. Bring one dumbbell up, driving your elbow straight up and along your body. Then bring your weighted hand back into the plank. Repeat on the other side, and continue that series until the song is over. And remember, in order to really work your back, be sure to squeeze those shoulder blades together. If plank is too hard to do on your toes, you can drop to your knees. Just be sure to keep those abs in at all times. Good form is key!
SONG #9: CARDIO Dance along to another fast party song—something that sounds triumphant, because when this workout is over, you’ll feel like a champ.
SONG #10 COOL DOWN Play a slower song (think “Good Life” by One Republic) and dance slowly until your heart rate begins to slow down. Then do some light stretching. Stretching at the end of a workout not only helps you cool down, but also improves your flexibility.
How to do it properly: From a standing position, slowly bend forward, trying to touch your hands to the ground. (If you can’t, that’s totally fine! Grab your shins or knees instead.) Hold here for 20 seconds. Then, take your legs slightly wider than hip-distance apart. Reach down to your left leg. Hold for 20 seconds. Do the same on the right leg. Go back to the center and hold for another 20 seconds. Then slowly roll up until you’re standing. Repeat this entire stretching series until the song is over.
Tip: If a particular area of your body feels tight or your heart rate is super high, feel free to play two or even three songs here to give yourself plenty of time to cool down!