Nike Women en_GB Blog

SAVE MORE THAN BREAK POINTS

nikewomen_en — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 10:39:05 GMT

Join Nike and Serena Williams in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Show your support by lacing up or wearing a limited edition Save More than Break Points tee* - 100% of profits go to the Global Fund. To learn more check out Facebook.com/joinred.

*Tees only available in UK at Niketown London, Covent Garden and http://bit.ly/REDtee

New Year's Resolutions

nikewomen_en — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 18:12:15 GMT

The month of January; a chance to recover from December’s festivities, but more importantly, make my New Year’s resolutions! Last year I pledged to go to the gym every day, do sit ups whilst watching TV, eat less sweets……..the list was endless! Unfortunately, by March, life had got in the way of my good intentions and I found myself no closer to achieving the toned abs that I dreamt of. Sound familiar?

Unfortunately, it seems my problem of sticking to a rigid exercise routine is becoming an increasingly common issue for females across Britain. The UK government recommends that adults should aim to do thirty minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on at least five days of the week. Worryingly, figures from the British Heart Foundation suggest that only 28% of women achieve this, meaning that the remaining 72% could be risking their health and missing out on the many benefits that physical activity can bring. It is commonly known that regular exercise can offer protection from health conditions such a heart attacks, strokes and some cancers, and for women can be especially important for safeguarding against osteoporosis in later life. Physical activity has also been shown to relieve stress and help control weight. Why then, despite these benefits, are physical activity levels among females so low? One possible explanation could be that we are confused with what the government are recommending; they say we should be active for half an hour nearly every day, so unless we religiously go the gym Monday to Friday and sweat it out on the cross-trainer, then we’re not achieving the guidelines, right? Wrong!

First of all, being “physically active” doesn’t mean you need to become a slave to the gym and have a personal trainer on speed dial. In fact, you don’t even need to join that swanky health club at all if you don’t want to. Moderate intensity physical activity includes everyday pursuits like brisk walking, housework, cycling and dancing, as well as more structured activities like exercise classes and playing sport. Basically, any activity that brings about an increase in your heart and breathing rate can be counted towards your thirty minutes.
“But we don’t have time”- the most common reason given by women for not being active. And on the face of it, can you blame us? Nowadays, us girls are expected to juggle working, having a family, keeping fit and having a social life with whatever else life throws at us, without the bat of an eyelash! So how then, can we afford to take thirty minutes out of our busy schedules to exercise? The solution is to not view the thirty minute guideline as one chunk of time, but to break it down into, for example, three ten minute bouts of activity. Obviously, some of us prefer to do one larger burst of exercise, but for those struggling with time pressures, splitting your activity into manageable chunks and building up to thirty minutes may be the key to you becoming more active.

And now, the age old problem of money. Because, in order to be fit and active, we have to part with our hard earned cash, correct? Wrong again! Yes, memberships to private gyms can be pricey, but they are not the only way to be active. There are loads of exercises that are fun, great for your body and crucially, free! Activities such as brisk walking, running and dancing can all be done at little or no cost. You can also fit them in around your life and priorities, so no more having to stick to strict exercise class timetables. If the thought of beginning an exercise routine on your own seems daunting, get your friends involved! Research has shown that support from your friends and family is a key element to becoming, and staying, active.

Most importantly, do an activity that you enjoy! There is little point in dragging yourself to aerobics every week, cursing the instructor throughout, and at the end feeling no better for it. Why? Because in the long run, it just isn’t sustainable. Personally, I am a not a great fan of the treadmill, or any other cardio machine for that matter, which could explain why my “gym every day” resolution failed! Anyway, from learning what I like (taking long walks, swimming and going to circuit classes), and what I definitely don’t like, I now do a programme that suits me. For those that aren’t quite sure what they like, or don’t know where to start, why not try Nike Training Club? You can sign up for it for free at nikewomen.com. By creating your own virtual mini me, you can get all your friends involved, and if you want, compete against them in different fitness areas. The programmes are downloadable, which puts you in control of when and where you exercise, goodbye awkwardly timed exercises classes! Nike Training Club focuses on five fundamental components of sport and fitness, which are strength, cardio, balance, speed and flexibility. I’m still chasing my toned, Shakira-esque six pack dream, so I’m following the strength and cardio programmes, which will also help my overall fitness for swimming competitions. So why not give Nike Training Club a go? Pick your programme and be inspired knowing that now, the power to improve your own fitness is back with you, rather than in the hands of the gym manager.

Katy Taylor

NIKE+ HUMAN RACE WIN

nikewomen_en — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:05:43 GMT

24th October 2009. The time is 6am and it’s absolutely POURING with rain! With 3 and a half hours until the start of the Grazia and Nike+ Human Race 10k in Victoria Park, the doubts start creeping into my mind - ”Oh it’s raining… it’s too cold to run… I think I’ve got a cold coming on…” But then I realise I am being a wimp and that I can’t let down the 20 girls from my uni (King’s College London) who I’d got to run with me. It had to be done!

As soon as I get to the park all my doubts disappear. The music is blaring, girls are starting to arrive in the thousands and we’re all loving our red race shirts! The group warm up with Nike Master trainers Sonja Moses and Brian Cochrane is exactly what we need to get us ready to run and, before we know it, we’re on the start line with the one and only Paul Radcliffe starting the race!

The race starts and I’m feeling strong. In no time at all, my fellow Nike Select Gemma and I are at the front of the race. We work together all the way around the 2-lap course with amazing support from everyone on the sidelines. It’s great doing the race with someone I know, and the music helps us to keep going whenever we start to feel tired. With 2k to go, I’m still feeling really good and decide to push on. I get a bit of a lead on Gemma and look at my watch, realising I’m on my way to a personal best time! I really push it for the last kilometre and get to the finish line in a new PB! It’s a brilliant feeling breaking the tape at the finish line and I am really proud that I’ve won!

Winning this 10k has given me loads of confidence for the forthcoming cross country season and I can’t wait for all the upcoming university races. The British University Cross Country Championships are in Scotland this February. They are going to be tough, but if I put the hard work in now, who knows what could happen!

Stronger Together

nikewomen_en — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:39:59 GMT

Getting to the top of your game takes dedication. With Nike Training Club you can rise to the challenge and increase your overall fitness.

For Let Yourself Out we took our workout to the streets with a series of outdoor Nike Training Club sessions. From toning to strengthening, from abs to glutes – Nike Training Club gives girls like you the power you need to train at your best.

Watch the video.

How to turn your closest friends into your toughest trainers

nikewomen_en — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:18:48 GMT

If you’re a gym loner you might be surprised how rewarding working out with your friends can be. Choose the right friends and they will help you stay motivated, make sure you are always challenging yourself, keep an eye on your technique, get you to try new things and make your workout experience a lot more fun.

This is particularly true for outdoor workouts, which require an element of creativity. Simply grab your friends, hit a park, playground or running path and challenge each other to see who can think of the most exercises to do there. Once the competitive instincts are engaged, you might be surprised how easy it is to give yourself a great workout and how much fun you’ll have in the process.

Friends not into the workout scene? Asking gym buddies if they would be into an outdoor workout is an excellent way to turn them into lifelong friends.

Looking for a bit more structure? Sign your friends up for a Nike Training Club team and get a complete customised workout.

Playgrounds: the perfect outdoor gym

nikewomen_en — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:11:46 GMT

If you’ve been following the blog, you know that creating the perfect outdoor workout requires finding things to climb, pull yourself up on, hang from, push off of or dip from. With that in mind, it should be no surprise that a well-equipped playground is just about the ideal setting.

To give you an idea of just a few of the things you can do with a good playground, check out the exercises we’ve listed for the playground image above.

1. Incline push-ups (feet on ground)
Decline push-ups (feet on ladder)
Hand-stand push-ups (feet higher up on ladder)
Step-ups
Pull-ups (from inside of ladder)

2. Parallel bar arm walk
Dips
Dips with raised legs

3. Inverted rows
Incline balance push-ups (hands on swing)
Decline balance push-ups (feet on swing)
Unstable surface plank (incline or decline)
Ab roll-out (plank with hands on swing, push-away hands and bring them back in)

4. Seesaw walk (walk along the beam of the seesaw)
Side lunge (stand on the pivot point of seesaw with feet shoulder width apart. Shift weight from right to left to lunge side to side)
Unstable surface push-ups. (hands on either side of the pivot point)

5. Dips off the end of slide
Incline or decline push-ups
Step-ups
Box jumps
Split squat jumps

6. Pull-ups

7. Stretching rack

Did we miss any? Feel free to add your own in the comments.

Need more workout ideas? Join Nike Training Club for free customised workouts you can do on your own or with friends.

This is not a swing set

nikewomen_en — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:10:57 GMT

You’ve seen the videos, now it’s your turn to show us how creative you can be. How many exercises could you do on today’s piece of equipment – a swing set. List your ideas in the comments.

For more exercise ideas, join Nike Training Club for a complete customised workout.

England Women at Twickenham

nikewomen_en — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:51:14 GMT

The Nike Selects were set the “Holiday Challenge” of inspiring university women to embrace physical activity through the Nike Training Club. As a reward for all our campus planning and promotions Nike Women gave us the experience of a lifetime, in the form of box seats to the first EVER female international rugby match to be played at Twickenham!

As we approached the stadium we were met by thousands of disappointed fans who had just witnessed England men get convincingly beaten by the All Blacks. We felt as though we were swimming upstream against an angry current... If they’d have known how the women’s game was going to pan out then they would have definitely stayed seated. Despite losing half of the crowd to the weather, there were still 15,000 present to witness England women’s glorious victory.

The Black Firns are seeded no.1 in the world. The passion and aggression they demonstrated through their Hakka at the start of the game echoed around the stadium, igniting an explosive response from the English supporters. The atmosphere was electric. Everyone was excited to see a competitive match full of agility, pace and precision. With limited knowledge on women’s rugby, we assumed that the result would follow the pattern of the men’s game, with New Zealand storming to an emphatic win. However, from the very first whistle we were pleasantly surprised. The England team set out to cause an upset and never once looked like the underdogs they were billed as. The defence were solid, restricting territory gains and limiting New Zealand’s running game. To add to this England looked dangerous in possession, taking every opportunity to break a line and create try scoring opportunities.

There was sheer elation when the referee blew his whistle for full time. The women had achieved a momentous victory in a classy fashion and were now heading into next year’s World Cup ranked second only to the Black Firns they had just demolished. The entire team embraced in celebration and everyone in the crowd could feel the unity and team spirit the women had.

Some perceive women’s rugby to be unnatural and unfeminine, but the Nike selects and 15,000 fans at Twickenham simply appreciated a fantastic athletic display. At the end of the day sport is one of the few genres that can translate across nationality, language and gender. Sport is compelling, competitive and awe inspiring, and this was certainly the case under the floodlights on November 21st. Will the Selects be trying to get tickets for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in August 2010...Definitely!

Liu Batchelor

Sofia Boutella on challenging yourself

nikewomen_en — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:24:28 GMT

After two successful tours dancing with Madonna, you’d think Sofia would be past getting her hands dirty. Turns out there’s nothing she loves more.

Ready to start your own outdoor training regimen? Visit Nike Training Club for a customised workout program based on your goals.

Sport-specific outdoor training: train to win

nikewomen_en — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:22:31 GMT

The whole idea behind sports-specific training is to train using the motions and muscle groups that you use when you play your sport. You can do this with strength training, speed work and agility. You can even break down the motion into parts to work on improving your form.

For instance, if you’re a volleyball or basketball player that doesn’t have much of a vertical leap, you can do one-legged squats to build up your leg strength or jump squats, where you go from the bottom part of a squat into an explosive vertical leap and then back into a squat, to try to build your speed and height. You could try to do fast standing jumps onto a bench. It’s all about targeting the areas you want to improve and thinking about how you move your body and what you need to do to get where you want to be.

Training outside is perfect for this. Say you’re into mixed martial arts and you want to work on putting more power into your punch. You could try to do a push-up where you explode from the bottom position to the top position then control the motion back down. Done on a gym floor, it would help build your strength, sure. However, if you do that same exercise on the ground, the uneven surface will force you to recruit more of the stabilizing muscles in your shoulder and core. Take it even farther and do that same motion with your hands on a swing and your body will have to stabilize even more, helping you further strengthen these supporting muscles.

A footballer that wants to work on their agility and speed might try to do a zig zag drill where you quickly leap on the diagonal from one foot to the other as fast as you can for a set distance. When you do this on grass or turf, it will also strengthen your ankles, helping to reduce your risk of injury in a game.

Stuck for ideas? Visit Nike Training Club for a complete customized outdoor workout based on your needs and goals.

These are not stairs

nikewomen_en — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:11:24 GMT

You might be surprised how easy it is to use everyday outdoor objects to give yourself a serious full-body workout. Today’s object – stairs.

Stairs are everywhere and, chances are, you’ve never given them a second thought. Nike athlete Anouk Hoogendijk shows us how you can use one of the most common outdoor objects to give yourself an excellent full-body workout. From side planks to dips to step-ups, you’re only limited by your imagination. Can you think of some exercises Anouk has missed?

Looking for more outdoor exercise ideas? Join Nike Training Club for a complete outdoor workout programme based on your goals.

For footballer Anouk Hoogendijk, it’s all in a day’s work.

nikewomen_en — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:39:28 GMT

When you play for one of the world’s top football teams, hitting the turf is just another day at the office. How does she keep it from being routine? Turns out, all you need is a little help from your friends.

Ready to take your own training on the road? Visit Nike Training Club for a complete outdoor workout based on your needs and goals.

Varying the intensity of your outdoor workouts

nikewomen_en — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:07:26 GMT

At the gym, slowing things down or kicking them into a higher gear is as easy as hitting a button. How do you do that in the real world where there are no buttons to press or knobs to twist? Actually, it’s easier than you think. You just need to learn a few basic principles.

1. No rest for the wicked.
The shorter you rest in between exercises, the tougher those exercises get. If your usual rest time is a minute and a half in between sprints or push-ups or step-ups, take it down to a minute and you will notice your second and third set feeling a whole lot harder.

2. It’s all about leverage.
For exercises like planks and push-ups, use a raised platform like a bench or stair to increase or decrease the difficulty. For example, if you do a plank or push-up with your hands on a bench and your feet on the ground, it will feel much easier as most of your weight will be on your feet rather than on your arms. If you reverse that so your arms are on the ground and your feet are on the bench it will feel much harder as the bulk of your weight will be on the muscles doing the exercises.

3. Use unstable surfaces.
Want to really up the intensity? Use unstable surfaces like swings, sand, hobby horses or anything else you can find. When you try a plank with your hands on a swing, for instance, you are forced to recruit additional core strength just to hold yourself steady. Or if you can find a swing low enough, try a one-legged hip raise with your leg on the swing. You’ll definitely feel it the next day. Even doing your regular exercises on the beach will take the intensity up a notch. However, take it slow, be smart and always remember to stay safe. Keep the bulk of your weight on the ground until you get the hang of it.

4. Feel the need for speed.
Another way to increase the difficulty of a standard workout is to pick up the pace. Do your normal routine, only 10% faster and you will be surprised how much tougher it gets. Or you could add a 20 second sprint in between each set to get your heart rate up and burn extra calories.

5. One more for the road.
The last technique is simple enough. If whatever you’re doing isn’t enough, do more. So if you’re doing three sets of push-ups with 15 reps per set, try doing 20 push-ups per set or adding a fourth set of 15. Even just adding one extra per exercise will help build your strength and endurance.

Need some more help? Join Nike Training Club for a complete customised workout based on your needs and your level.

This is not a wall

nikewomen_en — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:33:36 GMT

No matter where you live, you’ve got one of the best-equipped gyms in the world waiting just outside your front door. You only have to learn how to open your eyes to see it. In this series, we’ll show you how to use the objects you pass outside every day to give you an excellent full-body workout. Today’s object – a low wall.

Watch the video to see how many exercises Nike athlete Christina de Medrano can do using only a wall.

Ready to start your own outdoor training regimen but need a few more ideas? Visit Nike Training Club for a complete customised outdoor programme.

Cristina de Medrano on doing what you love and loving what you do

nikewomen_en — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:25:45 GMT

With the best gyms in the world at your disposal, why on earth would you want to work out in the real world? For Nike athlete Cristina de Medrano, it’s all about fun.

Not sure how to begin? Visit Nike Training Club for your free customised outdoor training program.

Nike Women en_GB Blog

SAVE MORE THAN BREAK POINTS

New Year's Resolutions

NIKE+ HUMAN RACE WIN

Stronger Together

How to turn your closest friends into your toughest trainers

SEE ALSO

Playgrounds: the perfect outdoor gym

SEE ALSO

This is not a swing set

SEE ALSO

England Women at Twickenham

Sofia Boutella on challenging yourself

SEE ALSO

Sport-specific outdoor training: train to win

SEE ALSO

These are not stairs

SEE ALSO

For footballer Anouk Hoogendijk, it’s all in a day’s work.

SEE ALSO

Varying the intensity of your outdoor workouts

See also

This is not a wall

SEE ALSO

Cristina de Medrano on doing what you love and loving what you do

SEE ALSO