Harvard Recreation - Blogs

By Christine Whitmore  Harvard Recreation Personal Trainer & Hiking Enthusiast         As you know, during this current health crisis we have been told to stay at home as much as possible. While in this region we have done pretty well, the weeks have turned to months and people have been venturing outside more and more and discovering what the trails in New England have to offer. Being outdoors seems to be the safest option for interacting with friends and family. As an avid hiker and someone who lives next to conservation trails, I have seen that outdoor exercise has become increasingly popular. While there are hundreds of miles of easy rolling trails within a short drive of the city, this article will focus on safety guidelines for the more difficult trails and mountains in Northern New England. It contains information that is useful anywhere, specifically day hikes lasting 3-12 hours. TEN HIKING ESSENTIALS   The most basic rule of hiking is to ALWAYS...

By Rachel Rowenhorst, NASM CPT Personal Trainer at Harvard Recreation What is it?              In the most basic sense of the term, unilateral training is a training style that exercises one limb at a time as opposed to having both limbs perform the movement together (bilateral training). For those at home with only one dumbbell or kettlebell (or even those with weight sets) unilateral training is an effective way to create a challenging and robust workout.  Why do it?  Aside from the convenience standpoint (if you only have one DB/KB/etc), unilateral training offers many benefits if performed correctly.              First, it exposes and corrects muscle imbalances. Generally speaking, everyone experiences muscle imbalances in one way or another. Whether this means one arm or leg is stronger/weaker/tighter/looser. Performing singl...