Urban Hike and Eat this Sunday: from Hollywood to Inglewood!

End of the hike from Union Station to Santa Monica Pier last month

Given how happy I was with last month's Urban Hike and Eat Street Foodventure, I decided to make this a recurring (hopefully monthly) affair, discovering Southern California on foot, checking out sights and scenes I would usually miss behind the wheel - and grabbing some interesting bites and sips along the way too.

This Sunday, I'll be tackling the entire length of La Brea Avenue, from Hollywood to Inglewood. This urban hike clocks in a little under 12 miles, and with my planned start time of 7:30 a.m.--I expect to the hike to conclude by 3 p.m.-ish at La Brea & W Century - after which we can ride the bus back up to the starting point for a cool $1.25.

View La Brea restaurants in a larger map

As for the eats along the route, I've chosen a sundry of places on or near La Brea: some ethnic finds (El Nido for Nicaraguan, Ngoma for "Pan-African",) healthy joints (Stuff I Eat, M Cafe de Chaya) classic favorites (Susina Bakery, Campanile) and some meaning-to-trys (Food Lab Cafe, Soul Food Kitchen.)

Of course, I don't intend on stopping and eating at every stop cited on this map -- but these are just some fun options to consider along the way (and almost all of them are cheap-moderate price eateries) and there probably will be a lot more cool, funky joints to check out once we hit the streets (which is the beauty of the hike, we can stop whereever and whenever) If it's anything like my last Urban Hike and Eat, I don't expect the day's food bill to run more than $35.

So that being said, if you care to join me on this Urban Hike and Eat (the more the merrier, and the more grub we can try and share!) contact me! But I'm planning to be at the start of the hike by 7:15 a.m.-ish; hope you can make it too!

Don't Ignore Flexibility!

One of my favorite stretches after a cardio or lowerbody strength workout -- great for hip, butt and thigh muscle groups.

In the three primary areas of fitness, flexibility is often the most overlooked aspect; I see it all the time from observing and hearing about my friends' routines, they may pump some major iron or go on uber-lengthy running/cycling sessions, but when I inquire about their warm-up/cool-downs or any flexibility-related component, more often than not I get a blank stare or a quick "that's for sissies" brush off. Oh, what a big mistake.

On the surface, stretching and flexibility exercises aren't as outwardly sexy as muscle-building strength workouts, nor does it compare to the calorie burn of a cardio session, but it definitely has its own benefits that makes it an important part of any well-rounded exercise regimen. Experts agree that it helps with:

- muscles' range of motion
- injury prevention and recovery
- reducing post-workout soreness
- stress relief

And most importantly, being flexible actually improves your ability with strength and cardio workouts, since your body is less likely to be fatigued, better able to stay in proper form and recover faster afterwards, letting you work harder and longer without setbacks such as lactic acid buildup, muscle tightness and injuries, not to mention gently setting a positive mood in preparation for, and recovering from, a session too!

Personally, I do a combination of yoga, pilates and active stretches (the last is particularly great for Type A folks too impatient to stay in one posture for an extended period of time.) Sometimes it's a simple 5-minute warmup and cooldown around my usual workout, other times it may be a 30-60 minute routine dedicated to improving flexibility, but I try to incorporate it in at least three times a week.

I may not be a human pretzel anytime soon, but I'll at least be happily finding my calm in a sun salutation instead of limping around looking for ice, pain cream or pills after a race or a game.

P.S. Of course, it should be noted that if you have already strained/pulled/injured a muscle, do check with your doctor before stretching it since that may aggravate the injury -- and when it is OK to engage that body part again, just like all other workouts, ease into it progressively and with caution rather than immediately doing the "regular" full load.

Every little bit counts . . .

Shadow of me urban hiking last month

Given recommendations that we should exercise anywhere from 30 minutes a day to five hours per week to maintain fitness (and even more to actively lose weight!), it can seem a bit daunting to accomplish especially for people with a busy enough lifestyle or trying to ditch their sedentary lifestyles. Don't worry, even active folks have their days of exercise dread too.

In any case, if the idea of continually working out for 30+ minutes seems impossible, break it up! As I've noted in an Associated Press article, by breaking up a regimen in smaller segments 1) it's a lot easier to squeeze into the schedule (three 10-minute sections versus a half-hour block) 2) psychologically the routine is a lot easier to accomplish, since the partial goal is so much closer and 3) even if you manage to only partially complete the day's worth of mini-routines, you are still getting SOME fitness-building activity in, which is definitely better than getting NO activity because you can't set aside the time/energy for a longer workout session.

Now, longer stretches of exercise have their advantages too (more intense calorie burn, building endurance and prolonged cardio-fitness, not needing to change in and out of activewear so often, etc.) but it just leaves so much room for the "all or nothing" mentality, which can easily cause one to fall off the wagon, particularly the newly active.

Even now I regularly break my workouts up and almost always completing that first segment gives me the encouragement to finish the rest. And for truly long sessions like my daylong urban hike last month from downtown LA to the Santa Monica pier, I gave myself "mini goals" along the way (Silver Lake for breakfast, West Hollywood for lunch, so on . . .) to make that 21+ mile journey a lot less intimidatng.

If you think shorter segments might the way to go for you, here's a tip from me: do your first 5- to 15-minute workout first thing after you wake up, since it sets the tone for the rest of the day and you'll be more likely to want to finish what you started, and rest any tempting treats that may offset your hard-earned fitness.

A real no-effort trick to developing abs!

Despite my weight fluctuating about 10-15 pounds throughout the year, one feature that I'm always proud of are my core, which range from a full-on six pack at best and noticeable definition at the very least.

The trick is not in doing an inhumane amount of crunches every single day, but from one very simple substitution -- switching out my chair for a stability ball, a.k.a. Swiss/exercise/balance ball, something I've done at both my workplace and at home for four years and counting.

Photo courtesy of exercise-ball-exercises.com

The underlying idea is simple, by using a stability ball as a chair, the core muscles are being continually engaged on a low-intensity level -- stabilizing the body due to the ball's innate imbalance. And if you are like me and glued to the desk for most of the day, that's a good 7-8 hours of effortless ab workout.

And the ball also gives me chances to do some mini-exercises during downtimes at work. From the upgraded swiss ball crunch in above video to pelvic tilts, or even just a relaxing ab & back stretch -- it's great knowing I am already sitting on the only equipment I need for those exercises, and that I can do them whenever I want.

As an additional perk, since I am on a ball, it forces me to maintain a proper posture instead of slouching against the back of a chair.

Of course, if you already have existing back problems, check with your doctor first before committing yourself to a ball for chair (not to mention the HR/safety departments if you're doing it at work.) And if you still want the occasional back support, good alternatives include using a balance ball chair, or a Bosu on top of your existing chair. And when you do invest in a stability for a chair or just for workouts, be sure to get the right size (as a general rule, your thighs should run parallel to the floor when sitting, and your shins vertical and perpendicular)

Slackin' but not for long!

Wow, July 31st and the first time I'm touching this blog for a month; heh, alas -- been a bit busy with my other half's events lately. But I'm still holding steadfast to regularly exercising (though at a somewhat reduced frequency of 4-5 days/week instead of usual 6-7) and eating healthfully whenever possible (i.e. not going out with a bunch of foodbloggers!)

Anyways, hope to get back into fitblogging groove soon but in the meantime, here's some great reads as motivation to keep on moving!

- Mayo Clinic's 7 benefits of regular exercise - from better sleep to mood enhancement and even putting in that extra spark under the sheets.

- LA Times goes even more specific, citing studies and experts on exercise and its effect in preventing (or reducing severity) of various chronic conditions, from cardiovascular disease to diabetes and even mental sharpness.

See? It's not just about looking good (though that's a great perk too), you'll feel and live better too!