Spring Training

The BC4C Spring Train­ing is in full swing, as March kicks off arguably the best time of year to play in the park with your favorite home­town team. This month’s crew has pro­vided fans with a taste of what’s to come in the rest of 2012. Many fran­chise play­ers are back for more this sea­son and some young phe­noms are mak­ing their debut.

This month, the team is wear­ing #50 on their backs to cel­e­brate the $50,000 donated to many won­der­ful orga­ni­za­tions, includ­ing Pied­mont Park Con­ser­vancy and Kate’s Club. (And, the 50,000 push-ups com­pleted this month!)

Please post your results and improve­ments from today’s PT test — we want to hear your suc­cess stories!

See you next week and next month — Tues­day, April 3rd!

App Thursday: Personal Running Trainer

This app offers train­ing pro­grams for 1 mile, 5K, 10K, a half-marathon or a full marathon. Choose the pro­gram you want, and get a sched­ule of work­outs with coach­ing instruc­tions that are voiced over your own music. The app offers a free trial for each of the avail­able pro­grams so you can try before you buy!

After some brief test­ing, our tester found the work­outs were well-designed to help you grad­u­ally build endurance over a period of weeks.

Descrip­tion
Lis­ten to audio train­ing pro­grams voice-over your own music from time to time to let you know when to run, when to change your pace and when to rest. No need to wear a stop-watch or mem­o­rize a work­out plan — sim­ply down­load the run­ning train­ing app and go!

Cost
The app is free. The train­ing pro­grams cost $1.99–5.99.

Com­pat­i­bil­ity
iPhone
iPad
iPod
Android
MP3 players

Learn more →

Sug­gest an App to Fea­ture
What fit­ness apps do you use? Let us know if you use an app that should be fea­tured here. Share it in the Com­ments, or email lauren@​bc4​c.​com with some details. Thanks!

Eat This, Not That: Wake Up and Go

Thank you to all the friends that joined us today. We had a huge turnout, which is good news for our push-up challenge!

We hope that all of our new friends enjoyed the work­out as much as we always do. When you have a moment, sign up and join us for a full month. In the mean­time, enjoy this arti­cle about the best way to start your day…

Here’s the 6th and last install­ment of the six research-backed quick cures wait­ing for you in the fresh pro­duce bins and super­mar­ket shelves.

When You Need to Wake Up and Go…

Eat This:
Eggs and Whole-Wheat Toast

Eggs are a great source of pro­tein, and hav­ing them for break­fast sets you up for a per­fect day of eat­ing. Saint Louis Uni­ver­sity researchers found that peo­ple who eat eggs for break­fast con­sume 264 fewer calo­ries the rest of the day than those who eat bagels and cream cheese.

Not That!
Bagel and Cream Cheese

At 500 calo­ries and 20 grams of fat, this deli dis­as­ter is one of the worst ways to start your day. Sixty grams of fast-burning car­bo­hy­drates will cause a dip in energy and a spike in hunger, long before lunchtime. The same goes for crois­sants, dan­ish, donuts, and pancakes.

Eat This, Not That: Under the Weather

Here’s #5 of six research-backed quick cures wait­ing for you in the fresh pro­duce bins and super­mar­ket shelves.

When You’re Under the Weather…

Drink This:
Gin­seng Tea, Hot or Iced

In a Cana­dian study, peo­ple who took 400 mil­ligrams of gin­seng a day had 25 per­cent fewer colds than peo­ple who popped a placebo. Gin­seng helps kill invad­ing viruses by increas­ing the body’s pro­duc­tion of key immune cells.

Not That!
Caf­feinated Bev­er­ages and Energy Drinks

Exces­sive caf­feine messes with your sleep sched­ule and sab­o­tages key immune agents. And insuf­fi­cient sleep opens the door to colds, upper res­pi­ra­tory infec­tions, and other ills. What’s more, caf­feine can dehy­drate you, and hydra­tion is vital dur­ing ill­ness: Flu­ids not only trans­port nutri­ents to the prob­lem zones, but also carry away toxins.