As I push closer to forty, I worry if my arms tell my true age.  Do my saggy arms greet others before I actually wave hello?  

Well, it’s time to say GOOD RIDDENS to jelly arms!  

In our quest to be hip and fit moms, Running Betty and Run DMT have teamed up to present our readers with the ultimate challenge.  During the month of July, we’re pushing the limits with our push-up challenge.  Our goal: 100 push-ups before the end of July. 

With help of hundredpushups.com, this goal can be  painfully easily achieved. 

From hundredpushups.com

Push ups are one of the basic and most common exercises for the human body. Push ups are not only great for your chest, but do a tremendous job of defining your abs, triceps, shoulders and torso.  Your core strength will also go through the roof too!  

Hundredpushups.com offers a week-by-week plan to help make this an attainable goal.  Commit to 30 minutes three days a week and you will be on your way to one lean mean, hot momma machine. 

Are you up for the challenge?  If so, drop and give me twenty ten five two and sign your name in blood Mr. Linky to commit to the challenge.  Also, add a comment to this post with your link so other readers can visit your blog and support you through out the challenge. 

We would love for you to help spread the word about our “Pushing the Limits Challenge” by sharing it with your readers.   Add our “Pushing the Limits” bloggie button to your site and link back here. 

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<img src=”images/pushups” height=”102″width=”207″ border=”1″ alt=”Pushing the Limits July 2009″></a>

 

Feel free to tweet about it, too!  Pushing the Limits- 100 Push-ups by 7/31 http://tiny.cc/Fnls0 @denisermt @raffi #100pushups

Did you know that women athletes are much more likely than men to experience an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury?  In fact, some experts say they are 10 times more likely than males. 

Scientists have long speculated that female hormones play a role in this and that there must be a particular phase of the cycle during which women were more vulnerable to injury.  

Recent studies published in British Journal of Sports Medicine and The American Journal of Sports Medicine did indeed find increases in joint laxity as a result of hormonal shifts throughout the month – but the laxity occurred in different parts of the menstrual cycle for different women. 

Researchers now theorize that there is indeed a connection between female hormonal fluctuations and ACL injuries, but unfortunately it may not be in predictable “one-size-fits-all” way. 

Some other reasons that women are more likely to experience ACL tears include:

• Women have a more narrow space (called the intercondylar notch) for the ACL to move within making it more likely that ends of the femur bone (the femoral condyles) could pinch the ACL and rupture it. 
• Women have a wider “quadriceps angle” (aka “q angle”).  The q angle is the angle at which the femur (or upper leg bone) meets the tibia (or lower leg bone).  Because females have a wider pelvis there femure comes in at more of an angle relative to their tibia, which means more force on the ligaments of women’s knees whenever the knee twists.  
• In general, women have looser muscles, tendons and lligaments than men (again because of those darned hormones!) potentially providing less protection from rotational forces.
• Women have less muscle strength relative to bone size than men do, meaning that the ACL needs to work harder in women to keep in the knee aligned properly. 
• Women are often not encouraged to participate in sports as young girls and/or to the extentthat young boys are and therefore may not develop the muscular coordination, proprioception and reflexes as well, making them less able to handle the stresses of competitive play much later on in their physical maturation.  (Even more reason to get girls playing sports earlier!)

Coming up next…more on what the ACL does and what you can do to reduce your risk of injury.
Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, author of Fit + Female:  The Complete Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women.  It’s a first of its kind program designed to fit into a busy women’s life.  Lose weight and look great — 90 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!!

I’ve been wanting to share this Photo Story for some time but decided to save it for a rainy day.  Well that given that it has been rainy for days here and the rain has made me so lazy, there’s no better time than the present to present my poochy past.  So, today is the day I have selected to share my junk in the trunk Photo Story.  

I’ve always struggled with my weight and I was never the athletic type.  The chunky little girl inside still craves Kit-Kats and Dr. Pepper for breakfast, which is what I ate every day during high school.  For most of my high school years, I wore an 11/12 and weighed 136.  For a girl just barely 5′ 1″, that is not good.  

Fast forward to my college years…Somehow the weight began to melt away.  I supposed I became more active, particularly dancing all night long at the clubs.  Then, my best friend died and I became severly depressed and dropped down to a size 1.  My family thought I was anorexic.  When I met my husband, I weighed 105 lbs.  

While dating Allan, I remained active with aerobics and rollerblading.  Allan and I would rollerblade for 16 miles on any given Saturday. We would pack a lunch and explore new trails.  It was our little weekend excursion.  In a time B.C. (before children), we were also avid SCUBA divers.

About a year after we were married, I became pregnant with our first daughter.  I was under the disillusion that you can eat whatever you want when you are pregnant because it will burn right off breastfeeding.  I satisfied all my cravings by eating everything and anything I wanted.  Snowcaps and sirloin were a staple in my pregnancy diet.   The little chunky girl inside happily ate cake for breakfast once again and I gained 90 pounds all due to my diet.

Despite popular belief, breastfeeding did not melt the pounds away, but rather stored all the extra fat.  As I weaned my daughter off, the pounds slowly slipped away.  It took two years for me to lose the weight.

I didn’t shrink down to a size 1 again, but felt comfortable at a size 6.  Honestly, I didn’t think I would ever see a size 1 again after having children.

For my pregnancy with DD#2, I watched what I ate the second time around and only gained 40 pounds.  

 The irony is it still took two years to come off!  Life is so cruel!

When we moved to our new two story home in 2006, the constant climbing up and down the stairs helped to shed a few more pounds. 

Then, my new friends introduced me to running and taught me how to overcome the hurdles associated with it.  I discovered I could run and that I could be lean and muscular after all.   In 2007, my fellow marathon moms encouraged me to run my first race, the Turkey Trot. 

Every day I struggle and fight with fat girl still inside me.  Fortunately, she is a runner now that only moves forward.  

For this week’s edition of 5 Minutes for Fitness, I offer you another one of my favorite strengthening exercises: Squats!  Squats are great for the gluts, quads and hamstrings. 

With your legs shoulder distance apart, sit an invisible chair.  Dig your heels into the floor to tighten your gluts as your squat.  Remember to not let your knees bend over your toes.  But don’t take my word for it!  Here’s a video to show you proper form. 

How low can you go with these songs?

 Flo Rida- Low (3:53)

Push It- Salt-N-Pepa (4:28)