Fortnightly Fitness Fridays - Exercise essentials, at home and away

With this post going out from Adelaide, and some longer stretches of travel on my horizon, I thought today would be a good time to reflect on my exercise 'essentials'. These are things that feature almost daily when I'm at home and which come with me when I'm away. There are no gym products or large pieces of equipment here - these are the basics and (I think) suit just about any activity you want to do.

When I'm travelling, my exercise is mostly in the form of running and walking. To keep things varied, I usually do a bit of both, alternate speeds and seek out hills. I always exercise in the morning, and unless I'm checking out of somewhere at 6am, I usually manage to find at least 30 minutes to do so.

Here are the things that feature during that morning time slot.

Running shoes

This is an obvious one, but I'm embarrased to admit that as recently as 5 years ago, I thought I could get the right shoes for my feet by picking them off the shelf with no help. My approach was to buy cross-trainers (not a good stance if I wanted to run in them...), by New Balance (because I'd heard they were a good brand for people who need support in their shoes...), in a nice colour.

It's not surprising I had knee difficulties whenever I tried to run.

4 years ago, I got running shoes fitted at a sports store and have never looked back. I spent 3 years in Mizuno Wave Renegade before switching to my current Brooks Ariel's, and both styles have worked well to balance my over-pronating (rolling in) feet. I replace them yearly and think I'll move back to Mizuno when I get my next pair in another month or so. The Brooks have been good but I found Mizuno to be a slightly better fit.

Cost per wear? Good running shoes are expensive, and prices in Australia are generally higher than in the US or Europe. Prices for supportive shoes also seem to be higher than those for people with well-behaved feet. Thus, my shoes usually cost me close to $250, although I normally manage to get some sort of discount on that. Given I wear them almost every day of the year, the cost works out at around 70c per wear.

Running shorts

I imagine that everyone has a style of shorts that works for them. I like these Everlast ones for three main reasons.

First, they are comfortable. The material is soft and wicks moisture away.

Second, there are two parts to the leg. The outer layer is relatively loose, whilst the inner layer is fitted like bike shorts. This is good if you want to sit down, cycle in them, or do any activity in which your shorts might ride up, but you don't feel comfortable walking around in tight bike shorts.

Third, they have a decent sized pocket on the front left side. It fits house keys, change, and even hotel swipe keys if you squeeze them in.

These days, I mostly wear these for gym work, cross-training, and shorter runs (see below for why). Up until this year I also wore them on long runs, and they remain my favourite choice for long runs when it's very hot.

Cost per wear? I have two pairs of these, one with white trim and one with pink trim. I've had them for 3 years now (!) and I think they cost me $40 each at the outset. Working on the conservative estimate of these being worn for exercise 200 days per year, the cost per wear is down to about 13c at this stage. I'm not sure if Everlast still makes them (I couldn't find them online), so I'll be trying to get a bit more wear of of them yet.

Skins compression tights

These are a recent addition to my list, and 6 months ago I would have called them a luxury and not an essential. However, I am now a convert.

I bought these three-quarter versions of the women's A200 Skins series after reading Liz's review of the tights on Last Chance Training. I'd been debating buying a pair for some time, and Liz's review prompted me to jump in and make the purchase.

These retail for around $110, so they aren't cheap. I had intended to buy just one pair, but about a month after my purchase Rebel Sport had them on sale at 30% off. It seemed too good a discount to pass up and so I added a second pair to my rotation. As it turned out, I ended up with the same colours as my shorts - one with white trim and one with pink trim.

I bought these because I have always experienced swelling in my legs after my long runs. The Skins company claims that their compression fabric improves circulation and thus facilitates muscle recovery and reduces swelling. It may be a placebo effect but I have noticed improvements in my muscles after running since wearing these. The tights are also comfortable, help with temperature control (the fabric wicks moisture effectively), and are one of the few styles of fitted leggings I'm happy to wear for running, cycling and to the gym. 

The only minor disadvantage of these is that the pocket is small and located at the back. It's difficult to get much into it, although I am grateful there's a pocket at all.

Cost per wear? I've only had these for a few months, and given their starting price, the cost per wear is currently at around $4. I expect these to last several years though.

Cap, phone carrier, and Map My Run app

These aren't strictly essential but they do make exercise easier and more enjoyable. 

The cap is an Adidas one I've had for years. It keeps the sun off my face when it's sunny, the rain off my face when it's rainy, and birds from swooping me if I happen to run near a protective mother bird during spring. Irrespective of season, wearing a hat helps to keep my hair contained.

I bought the phone carrier earlier this year after I moved to an Android mobile phone. I think it's designed for iPods as much as for phones, but whatever you put in it, it straps around your upper arm and has a clear plastic front with a fabric back.

I was really thrilled to discover that Map My Run, an online mapping program I've been using for years, has a free app for Android phones. It follows your route via GPS and will upload the details when you get into wifi range. For free! I now wear my phone on most of my runs and on our longer bike rides, and the mapping app is one of my favourite things about having a smart phone.

I am not sure if this app works outside of Australia (I am guessing it would, given it's not designed by an Australian company), but I enjoyed using it in Sydney earlier this year and in Adelaide this morning (thankfully during a break in Adelaide's rain!). It's nice to be able to see the map when I've finished and look at exactly where I went.

Cost per wear? The cap cost me $10 and I think I must be down to 1c per wear by this stage. The phone carrier was $30 and is probably tracking at around $1 per wear.

So there we have it - the things I use just about every day, at home and when away.

On a final, non-exercise note...I went back to Menchie's. Cookies and cream, cake batter, sugar-free peanut butter, and red velvet flavoured soft-serve frozen yoghurt was definitely better than the food on offer at this evening's conference social event. It was also just a tad too sweet, but that has had the benefit of fueling an evening of reading work documents.

What are your exercise essentials?

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