4WAYS TO GET FIT FOR FREE IN BR
If you want to get in shape for free in Baton Rouge, here are
four ideas, made possible by BREC, the Recreation and Park
Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge.
Go for a Walk, or Climb the Walls
Perkins Road Community Park or PRCP near Kenilworth and
Perkins Road offers walking paths, skateboard and bicycle areas, and
tennis courts. For a small fee, you can even climb the rock wall.
Jog City Park or Play a Game of Tennis
Free parking at the BREC facility at Baton Rouge City Park at
Perkins. Tennis courts are available.
Ride Your Bicycle along a Paved Bike Trail
Park your vehicle at the PRCP and ride your bike along Kenilworth
Boulevard from Perkins to Highland and back.
Get Fit with Fido: Visit a Dog Park
BREC’s dog parks are free and open daily from sunrise to
sunset. The newest park, Raising Cane’s Dog Park at Greenwood
Community Park, located at 13350 Hwy. 19, features a water
station, benches and a pavilion. The three other Baton Rouge dog
parks include the Burbank Dog Park at Burbank Sports Complex;
Raising Cane’s Dog Park at City-Brooks Community Park; and
Raising Cane’s Dog Park at Forest Community Park.
CHILDHOOD FITNESS:
EXPERIENCING THE JOY OF EXERCISE
Obesity among our young people is an epidemic that increases the risk
of chronic diseases: high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol.
Obese children suffer both physical and psychological damage.
A sedentary lifestyle combined with a “supersized” diet of high calorie
foods and drinks are obstacles to overcome in order to solve the obesity
puzzle. Play is critical to the development of young children. “Play more”
and “eat healthier” seems to be a simple cure, but changing our obesitypromoting environment to a healthy environment is a daunting challenge.
We are all responsible for the health of our children. There must be
accountability. Healthy living will not filter down to our children until more
of society gets with the program. One-third of adults are obese and unless
they change their lifestyle, very little is going to change with their children.
The solution is not an exercise prescription and a diet. Lifestyle
By Bill Gvoich,
Medical Wellness Program Director,
Spectrum Fitness and Medical Wellness
modification, enabling children to play and experience the joy of exercise,
may be the better strategy. Lifestyle modification is also more likely to lead
to succe ssful weight control rather than dieting.
An effective lifestyle modification model must provide parents and
children with necessary skills and knowledge to positively affect behavioral
changes toward food and exercise. They need to learn how to effectively
change a sedentary lifestyle into an active one. The program should include
a team of health and fitness professionals. Every child must pass a physical
exam by a doctor. The focus is on the whole family not just the overweight
child. Exercise is more effective when introduced in a group setting rather
than one-on-one. It should be progressive, build self-esteem, increase selfconfidence and enable children to experience the joy of exercise in a noncompetitive, non-threatening and fun environment.
SHAPE UP WITH FREE FITNESS APPS
Before investing in a personal trainer or a formal diet program, check out the free downloadable apps available online for smartphones, from Apple’s
iTunes or the Google Play Store. Take control of your fitness and dietary goals from the palm of your hand.
Workout Trainer by Skimble Inc.
FitnessBuddy : 300+ Exercises by Azumid, Inc.
C25K Couch to 5K by RunDouble
Map My Run by MapMyFitness Inc.
Workout Trainer promises to help you achieve your fitness goals with
thousands of virtual, step-by-step workouts by expert personal trainers.
The selling point? No exercise equipment is needed to use this app. The
Workout Trainer makes it easier to work out with audio instructions,
progress cues as well as instructional photos and videos.
C25K Couch to 5K is a full-featured, two-week trial which includes a
Couch-to-5K allowing the user to train depending on the distance he or
she plans to run, whether it be a 5K, a half-marathon, a full marathon, etc.
FitnessBuddy : 300+ Exercises provides body building exercises using free
weights or weight machines and includes detailed instructions on how to
do each exercise. Users can choose routines, which target specific areas of
the body specific to their own personal fitness goals.
Map My Run features GPS route mapping, voice prompts, real-time states,
tracks and records distance, pace and calories burned during the run. Users
can even add friends and post progress to Facebook and Twitter.
Calorie Counter and Diet Tracker by My Fitness Pal
This free diet app by My Fitness Pal allows users to manage their daily food consumption and caloric intake. Not only does it include the
largest food database of any calorie counter app and a barcode scanner to search the food database for a product, but it also features a recipe
calculator, and an online diet data backup in case of a stolen or lost phone. Users may choose from 350 exercises and track their progress via
charts, nutritional summaries or detailed reports.
Fall 2013 brhealthandfitness.com
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