Blog

Lindsey Haithcock- Marketing Employee
Even though it may not feel like it quite yet, spring is officially here. Although Spring comes with warmer weather and beautiful scenery, it can be a busy time – and a sneezy time. Between trying to finish out the school semester, and getting allergies from the beautiful newly blossoming trees, it can be easy to forget about your self care.
Be sure to take time to refill your personal well with these spring self-care strategies:
Spring Cleaning
Spring is the perfect time to clean both your physical space and your emotional space. It can be a time for you to let go of the things that don’t work for you anymore, like unhealthy diets or unhealthy habits. It can be a time for you to get rid of those clothes you haven’t worn in months, or those shoes you’ve been holding onto for far too long – getting rid of unused items can be extremely therapeutic. A clean space (and head space) makes all the difference.
Get Outside
There is something so special about getting out into the fresh air of spring and getting in some Vitamin D from the sun. It’s proven that these two things will be sure to lift your winter spirits. If you struggle with those pesky spring allergies – here are a couple tips that may help you:

Plants release pollen early … Read More

Alivia Chenoweth- Marketing Employee
This Saturday, we will be having our first ever 2.5 hour Cycling and Yoga Workshop! Instructor Morgan Staub will be leading this workshop, incorporating a full Cycling and Yoga Class. Normally, one would not pair these two activities together as one is fully aerobic and the other is more focused on muscular activity. However, there are many benefits to actively participating in both and here’s why this workshop is extremely beneficial for your body.

Yoga helps you create a body that is pain free
Cycling is about having your body in a linear motion where yoga is about twisting
Cycling uses “big” muscle and your sympathetic nervous system and yoga uses “small” muscle and your parasympathetic system
It helps soothe and stretch your muscles
Yoga calms your mind and washes away stress
There is improvement of core stability, strength, and lung capacity and endurance

If you are new to the world of cycling or yoga or both, don’t let this workshop scare you away. Morgan always makes sure to emphasize that you can go at your own pace. Someone’s workout may be different than yours and as long as you are pushing yourself to the hardest you can go, that’s what counts.
If you wish to pursue taking Yoga and Cycling classes, Rec Centers offers a wide-variety of Group Ex Classes to the student body for free every day! From Lunch Time … Read More

Karolina Gawlak- Marketing Intern/ Member Services Manager
Yoga trains the mind and body, but in order to maximize your practice and feed your mind, you have to fuel your body the right way. Your body needs to be properly hydrated and fueled in order to make the most of your mat time. Here are a couple tips to help ignite your metabolism, improve your digestion, and regulate your emotions.  

Drink Plenty Of Water

A few hours before your yoga class make sure you come well-hydrated and avoid caffeinated products. If you had an intense yoga workout, chances are that you were sweating quite a bit. It is extremely important to drink plenty of water after your workout. Not only does water refuel and replenish your body with plenty of essential vitamins and nutrients, but it also hydrates your skin and muscles. If you are looking to enhance your digestion and neutralize AMA toxins, try this recipe:

3 thin slices of fresh ginger
¼ tsp. fennel
½ tsp. cumin
2 black peppercorns
2 sprigs of mint

Boil 8 cups of water and add the herbs, allow it to steep. Enjoy.

Post-yoga Nutrition

To keep your soreness to a minimum after a yoga workout, try eating plenty of foods that have high levels of protein. While … Read More

Written by Maria Campanella
It’s pretty obvious during these rainy springs, that not every day is a perfect “outside” day. Everyone has days where they want to stay inside or times where the weather forces us inside.  It is on these days that I get to combine two of my favorite things; the outdoors and movies.
These are four movies that focus on the outdoors, traveling, or adventure.  Obviously, your opinions may differ, but these are the movies that I have enjoyed watching and make me appreciate and enjoy nature and the fun of adventures.  I encourage you to give them a watch, they are well worth the time!

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
This movie is all about adventure and accomplishing the things you dream about. Walter Mitty is an employee of Life magazine and he works with the negatives of a cryptic photographer, Sean, whom Walter has never met. He also has a continual daydream problem and regularly “zones out”, thinking about the things he would do if he was bold and brave. Walter seems to be missing a crucial negative and he realizes that he will need to come up with it or be out of a job.  Walter summons his courage … Read More

Gabi Mims- Marketing Employee
We’ve always been told posture is important, but how important is it really? It feels impossible to maintain good posture, since we’re constantly sitting in class, hunched over a laptop or notebook desperately trying to jot down notes. Even when we’re outside of class, we’re working tirelessly on our homework, and our constant forward-bending persists still.
Keep reading to see exactly how poor posture affects you and how to counteract it.
Effects of Forward-Bending
Constant forward-bending has a variety of physical effects. One of the most noticeable is a change in the spinal curve. This can cause an increase in pressure in your spine and can diminish your body’s ability to absorb shock and maintain balance. This added pressure can also cause chronic back pain and disc degeneration.
One of the lesser known side effects of poor posture is digestive issues. When your spine is unnaturally curving forward, you compress your organs, making them incapable of functioning how they should. This not only slows down your metabolism in the short-term, but it can also impair your body’s ability to digest food in the long-term.
Having poor posture can also restrict blood flow throughout your body, hindering it from getting the circulation it needs. This can cause … Read More

Lexy Rutt- Marketing Employee
If you’ve maintained your New Year’s resolution this long, congrats! You’re in the 8% of people who actually stick with theirs. If you’re like the other 92% of us who had good intentions (or chose not to make one in the first place), well… this is for you.
Everybody has at least one bad habit they’d like to kick and ideas of good ones they want to start. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait until next January 1st rolls around to initiate lifestyle change. Start today by taking that first mental step!
Of course, some habits may take more concentrated effort to break or form depending on what they are. Keep in mind that what works for one person may not work for you, and that’s okay – don’t give up! No health magazine, motivational speaker, or lifestyle blog (not even this one) has the answer to what you’re specifically going through, but the following tips can point you in a direction that may help.
Positive Reminders
Some people say it takes 3 weeks to form a habit, others say it takes 66 days – in reality, though, it depends on several factors. It may feel like it’s taking forever to get rid of a bad habit or start a new one, but remind yourself why you … Read More

Karolina Gawlak- Marketing Intern/ Member Services Manager
What is Tabata?
Tabata is a form of interval training that falls under the umbrella of HIIT exercise (high-intensity interval training). Tabata is normally a 20 minute workout, but the level of intensity means it pushes your body extremely hard. You’ll want to complete 4 minute circuits for 20 minutes—5 total rounds. Tabata uses a massive range of exercises, from running and cycling to squats or burpees.
History:
Tabata is one of the newer forms of exercise that was developed by a doctor from Japan, Dr. Izumi Tabata. He was studying the science behind exercise and decided to carry out a study, focusing on interval training. This program went on for 6 weeks with different routines each day.
Benefits:
Tabata improves your stamina, increases metabolic rate and fat loss, and muscle tissue retention. During your exercise, you’ll improve your aerobic and anaerobic threshold, by learning how to breathe correctly. Your body requires more oxygen when you work out, and the anaerobic capacity refers to the maximum amount of energy your body can produce without oxygen. Also, high-intensity interval training increases our metabolic rate by almost 15 times the basal metabolic rate (BMR). This allows you to burn calories a lot faster and your … Read More

Written by Hunter Steadman

 It’s no secret that Lynchburg has a lot to offer the outdoor enthusiasts in the area. The Appalachian Trail, multiple national forests and, Smith Mountain Lake are just a few attractions that are within an hour and a half from Lynchburg. Though the James River is right in our backyard, most people have never experienced it because we just don’t know where to start. Where do I go?  What do I do?  What do I need?  These are the questions that I want to help answer so that you can safely plan and execute your next adventure on the James River.
The Upper James River (Lick Run in Botetourt County to Lynchburg) offers a wide array of trips suited for paddlers of all skill levels. From long sections of flat slow-moving water which are ideal for fishing to class III rapids that can both fun and challenging to more experienced paddlers.
The Section from Buchanan to Arcadia is a 6 mile (2 ½ hours) float with good rapids and current. The trip includes three Class II rapids that can be challenging in higher water conditions (above 4 ft. on the Buchanan River gauge).  The ideal water level for this trip in 2 ft. -3.5 ft. The trip features some impressive mountain views and is fairly remote once you leave the Buchanan area. Remains of  … Read More

Ashley Mauzy- Marketing Intern
For many of us, recreational activities are meant to bring forth emotional enjoyment from heavy routine schedules. But unfortunately, physical activities that we usually consider to be fun and enjoyable can sometimes be taken in by that dreadful trap that we call, competition.
We’ve all been there. You’re sitting at the gym near your lifting station, scanning the room to see what you want to hit next. Then out of the corner of your eye you notice someone hitting their lift with way more weight. You know what comes next. Feelings of envy kick in. Questions of, “why can’t I do that? Or, “why am I not good at this?” kick in. You doubt yourself and your ability to do what you enjoy doing. You that you are stuck in the comparison trap. Whether it comes to fitness or any other recreational activity, the comparison trap can become one of your worst enemies. So, here are some truths and tips that you can tell yourself when you feel this way:
1. Realize that comparisons strain us of our joy.
Comparison, like many other innate thoughts, is pretty much a lost battle. Comparison to others will bring no benefit to you and will only distract you from what your meaning of life is. A way to start battling this strain is to be good to yourself. Find joy in the things that you do by focusing on the joy that you had when … Read More

Alivia Chenoweth- Marketing Employee
Recreation Centers is focused on positively impacting the holistic well-being of the Liberty University community, as stated in our mission statement. The growth of students and staff through the use of our facilities and service to the Liberty campus is one of our core values that we strive to maintain. Holistic-growth is a hard thing to come by but can be done in many ways besides participating in recreational activities. It can also be found in the slowing-down of life through the process of fasting and focusing on your faith and walk with God.
Fasting is commonly seen as a time where you take an absence of food to focus on spiritual growth. That often turns people away from the concept of fasting, but instead think of it as this; the act of humbly denying something of the flesh to glorify God, enhance our spirit, and go deeper in our prayer life.
Fasting can be more than abstaining from food. It can be taking a leave from social media, sports, sleep, friends, etc. It’s usually something in your life that is taking up a lot of time and distracting you and pulling you away from spending time with the Lord and preventing you … Read More