That's Fit

I signed my daughter and I up for yoga class this summer. She's been doing the upward and downward dog poses since she was about 18 months, so I figure she's ready. And so am I, after practicing very sporadically throughout the 15 years since I took my first Hatha class in college.

At first, yoga for a 3-year-old might seem silly. Efforts to get my daughter to hold any pose for more than 5 seconds, let alone something specific that requires following instruction from a teacher, can be futile at best. My daughter has definitely hit a stage during which focused activity has become necessity to get through the day. Discipline has become more of an issue. But I'm hoping the novelty of the yoga class will play big. And listening to a stranger is always easier than listening to Mommy or Daddy.

But we might get more than that. Experts suggest yoga for kids can increase self-esteem and body awareness in a noncompetitive way and can even help children who suffer from hyperactivity disorder.

Of course going jogging on a trail is a super form of exercise. I specifically like what trails have to offer hips and ankles over a flatter surface. The inconsistency of the trails' surface causes the joints in our lower body to constantly adjust which makes them uniquely beneficial for strengthening hips, knees, and ankles.

Trails are also great for other types of training as well. I think Women's' Health magazine did a super job of taking a few simple items we'd all eventually stumble across while trail running, and turning them into fitness equipment. As your fancy online Fitzness Trainer, these are the types of skills I want you to learn.

A recent study revealed that stretching exercises may be effective in reducing preeclampsia risk. In fact, the study shows that stretching may be even more effective than walking or other exercises for women who have had preeclampsia before or were inactive before pregnancy.

Preeclamspia -- or pregnancy-related high blood pressure -- is one of the top risks of pregnancy. Up to 8% of pregnant women experience the condition. During the study, 79 pregnant women who had had preeclampsia before and were inactive were assigned to different groups -- one group walked five times per week, another group followed a non-aerobic stretching exercise video. While almost 15% of the women in the walking group developed preeclampsia, less than 5% of those in the stretching group developed the condition.

If you're pregnant, talk to your OB/GYN about what exercises can be beneficial to your health and are safe during pregnancy.

Curious to know how celebrities squeeze fitness into their daily lives? Want to know the secrets of the stars? Bi-weekly our That's Fit fitness expert Fitz sits down with the celebs we want to know more about, and digs out their great and not-so-great methods to staying healthy.

Feet are, in my opinion at least, one of the single ugliest parts of the human body. That doesn't, however, mean they're not important. They're so important, in fact, that if they're not healthy and well taken care of, the whole rest of the body suffers.

How well do you treat your feet? If you're like most people, probably not so well. Most people stand on them too long while wearing shoes that are too tight and heels that are too high, all the while expecting their feet to go everywhere they want to go every day without giving them any care at all really -- until there's a problem of course. And according to statistics, seven out of 10 of us have problems, varying from simple things like sore feet and blisters to much more complicated and damaging disorders like hammer toes, tendinitis, and unexplained back pain.

I ran really far on Sunday, and when the time came to go to the gym with my husband on Monday, I thought I'd be too beat to perform. I literally was contemplating stretching for an hour as I walked through the front doors. But then! Then I saw something beautiful to my left. Over the dozens of cardio machines to my side, I saw Tom Cruise plopped down on the couch with Oprah and was drawn over to the treadmills.

Curiosity got my goat, and up I climbed on to the machine before me. Now strangely enough, because of a back injury, walking hurts more than running. So with emotional bricks in my shoes I cranked up the speed to six miles per hour and got going. I swear to you that before I turned that darn machine on, I would have never imagined my legs would take me half a mile. Apparently I was wrong.

Turns out that even though I felt sluggish and was full of doubt, I was capable of running for an hour straight! Isn't that insane? I think so. Listen. I've been in this business a long time, and have made a living out of proving to people that they could do the things they thought they couldn't! Feeling slow, tired, and unmotivated is not unusual. What is unusual, though, is finding the inspiration to yank out your personal best, even under those circumstances.

Thinking of ways you'll save your skin this summer when the sun's rays come beating down upon you? Don't forget the standards: Avoid the sun between 10 am and 4 pm, use sunscreen with a sun protective factor (SPF) of 15 or higher, steer clear of artificial sources of ultraviolet light, and wear sun-protective clothing when exposed to sunlight.

Wearing clothing that offers UV protection can be more effective than using sunscreen alone, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. Look for clothing that offers an ultraviolet protection factor of at least 30 -- it will offer six times more protection than a t-shirt.

Columbia Sportswear offers one option for those seeking to shield themselves from the sun: The Seaside Stretch Tunic with UPF 40. It costs $48 which may seem a bit steep. But the savings your skin will enjoy may be well worth the price.

Got any recommendations on UPF clothing? If so, leave a comment and we'll share your suggestions with our readers.

For years, the prevailing belief about stretching was that it was an integral part of warming up for training and playing sports. However, recent studies have shown that all this prolonged reaching, twisting, and bending may actually be doing more harm than good.

Greek researchers published their findings, from a study they conducted on the effects stretching has on performance and strength, in a 2007 issue of the journal Experimental Physiology. The gist of what they discovered is that static stretching lasting longer than 30 seconds decreased strength by 8.5 percent and stretches lasting 60 seconds or more decreased strength by 16 percent.

It is important to note that the researchers also found that holding a stretch for less than 30 seconds did not have any effect on strength or performance. Therefore, you may not want to rule out your limbering up routine just yet. You just might want to consider only holding a stretch for a little less time.

Every day I learn something new from my son. He's so much better at forgiving and forgetting, he throws himself into all his activities with his whole heart, and the second he meets someone new he considers them his friend. They're beautiful lessons to learn and I'm constantly reminded that while I'm the parent and it's my role to teach him, it's also my role to put my jaded adult heart aside and learn from him, too.

When it comes to physical activity we could all take a tip from our kids. Dietblog has a list of 5 things we can learn from toddlers:

• They stay on the move. Toddlers wake up and don't slow down until it's time to go to sleep. They play, play, and play some more. Just the simple act of being in motion more can make an impact on adults' weight control and energy level. If you find you're stuck behind a desk all day, make an extra effort to move a bit more -- by a small stepper for use underneath your desk, get up and walk around the office, stand up and stretch, and make some extra trips up and down the stairs.

I distinctly recall being a freshman in high school and taking a typing course. Being that it was the early '90s, computers at that point were still mostly used for programming and only occasionally for word processing. So, there I was, all of 14 years old, sitting in a classroom full of typewriters and wondering why on earth I would ever need to know how to type.

A bit naive of me, don't you think? Fast-forward to today, and half my day is spent writing scripts, articles, blog posts, and emails. Although the specific writing tasks may differ, many other people spend just as much time (if not more) typing on their computers, too. All this keyboard punching has to be the reason for carpal tunnel syndrome, right? Not so, say researchers from two different studies.

According to a report, released in 2005 by Harvard Medical School, titled "Hands: Strategies for Strong, Pain-Free Hands," heavy keyboarding may not be responsible for incidences of carpal tunnel syndrome. The report states that causes instead include heredity, body weight, genetics, and even pregnancy.

Stretching is an important part of any exercise routine. It develops your flexibility -- increasing your range of motion. Stretching will ultimately improve your performance and reduce your risk of injury from exercise.

Stretching a "cold" muscle, however, can be counterproductive. Cold muscles are tight and stretching them in this state can actually cause injury. It's best to warm up with gentle activity for 5-10 minutes before stretching. This minimizes the chance of injury while stretching and ensures that you'll get the most benefit from your flexibility exercises.

Stretching is usually done in one of three ways:

1 - In a Yoga session, where they are performed with precision and purpose;

2 - Before and/or after a workout, when they are done as more of an afterthought;

3 - Not at all.

Save for the first way, stretching is something most people kind of do (or don't do) because they think they're supposed to. It loosens you up before exercising, and it helps ease muscle tension caused by a workout. But does it really do those things?

There's plenty of research that suggests stretching doesn't do anything in the way of preventing injury. What's more, some studies even show that pre-exercise stretching can reduce strength and power during a workout. Does that mean that we are just wasting our time?

Not entirely. Just as there's plenty of evidence suggesting that stretching is worthless, there's also plenty that demonstrate the myriad benefits. Most recently, the National Institute of Health released the results of a study showing that stretching and strength training twice a week may help reduce the risk of exercise-related injury by as much as 45 percent.

So, until we know for sure whether all that reaching, twisting, and contorting is either good or bad for us, I guess it's a personal judgment call. If it works for you -- great. Keep doing it. If you hate it, well, it seems as though you can safely do without it. Well, depending on which study you believe, that is.

I took up running a while back, and one of the major challenges for me has been my knees. I've always had problems with them, and running makes them worse. But I've been doing exercises to strengthen my knees and they've paid off -- I'm usually pain-free when I run, and I'm loving it. If you have the problems with your knees but are aching to be a runner, consider these knee-friendly tips from Fitsugar:

• Lose weight to reduce the pressure on your knees.
  
• Start slowly, and get in good physical condition overall before beginning to run.
  
• Always stretch before and after running.
  
• Wear supportive braces if needed.
  
• Practice good form, running with your knees bent and leaning forward slightly.
  
• Watch where you run -- surface matters!

What have you done to reduce knee pain when running?

Even though tons of studies have been done on pre-run stretching, results continue to be inconclusive. Does stretching first increase or decrease your risk of injury? What if you don't stretch first? Depending on which expert you ask, you're likely to get a different answer.

USA Track and Field is conducting a very comprehensive stretch study that they hope will give the running world a definitive answer. Participation is open to anyone who is:

• 13 years old or older
• injury free for at least six weeks prior to start
• running at least 10 miles a week
• able to continue running for at least three months (the duration of the study)
• willing to commit to either stretching or not stretching, depending on which they are randomly assigned.

If you're interested in participating, you can click here to get started. And, rest assured, when the results come back, I'll let you know!