Health & Fitness in Highland Park

Weightlifting gets a bad rap. Whether it’s intimidation by complicated equipment, fear of injury, or frustration from slow results, many gym novices might be tempted to skip the weight room and seek refuge in the reliable whirr of cardio machines or the simple pleasure of a run around the block. But according to Jessica Wilson, CSCS- and ACE-certified personal trainer and founder of Wilson Fitness Studios, these feelings are misguided. Here, she tackles five weightlifting myths to explain why strength training is nothing to be feared, and how it can actually improve your health for decades to come. Myth #1: Weightlifting doesn’t help you lose weight, and losing weight is the best way to improve your appearance. “Lifting weights is not a weight-loss program,” Wilson admits. But the number on the scale doesn’t necessarily determine the way your body looks. That’s where weightlifting comes in. “The only way to truly change the shape of your body through exercise is strength training,” she declares. “I say ‘shape’ because you can do a lot of different things that make you lose weight through exercise, but that’s not going to change your shape. Any type of weightlifting is supposed to reduce your body fat, make your clothes fit better, make your body look tighter—just make you look healthier.” Myth #2: Weightlifting doesn’t burn many calories. This one is a simple case of misperception. “The amount of calories that a piece of cardio equipment or those calorie counter apps say you burn—they’re all wrong,” Wilson says. “When people actually ask me, ‘How many calories does this workout burn?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know. I don’t know anything about what’s going on in your body. That’s not really a fair question to ask.’” According to Wilson, many cardio workouts that claim to burn 800 calories in an hour really burn about a quarter of that amount. But because the number is nearly impossible to check, it’s an easy thing to advertise. “Instead of saying drop 10 pounds in 10 days [...] now people are starting to break it down even further, saying you’ll burn 800–900 calories doing this workout.” The fact of the matter is, bodies with more muscle burn more calories, even when they’re at rest. That means the more you hit the weights, the more calories you’ll burn beyond the weight room. Myth #3: Weightlifting makes women bulk up. “Genetically, you have a certain body,” Wilson explains. Limb length, bone thickness, and the size of a person’s “muscle bellies”—the pockets that house the muscle fibers—all play a role in how large they get through strength training. “Women specifically tend to have smaller muscle bellies and less testosterone within their system.” In short, that means that most women cannot bulk up to the level that men can, no matter how much they train. “Most women that you know in real life that lift a lot of weights, or talk about lifting weights, are usually the ones that want to look bigger. They want that frame,” Wilson says. “I think that’s the biggest fear in women—the women that they know that lift weights. I think more women coming forward to say all they do is strength training [...] [would be] a big thing to help push it forward and make women less afraid.” Myth #4: Weightlifting takes too long to show results. If you feel like weightlifting isn’t getting you the body you want, chances are that you’re not exercising correctly. “I call it the difference between actually lifting weights and moving,” Wilson explains. “[When] most people [...] lift weights, they’re just moving. They think that lifting weights is getting on a machine, doing 10–20 repetitions, and then resting. You’re not doing anything.” Instead, Wilson recommends a full-body approach that breaks each muscle down to momentary failure, one right after the other. Instead of focusing on repetitions, keep each muscle engaged for a certain amount of time—1.5–3 minutes with moderate resistance to build lean muscle mass, and 90 seconds or less with heavier weight to build raw strength. What’s most important is to keep the muscles engaged throughout the workout. Myth #5: Weightlifting is hard on your bones and joints. “It actually increases bone density,” Wilson says. “For longevity and quality of life, strength training is one of the single most important things you can do.” In fact, certain cardiovascular exercises may be the true culprits of joint damage. “The constant and consistent pounding on your joints is actually really bad for you. But it’s so drilled into people’s heads...that cardio burns so many calories,” Wilson says. “This is a key point: whatever exercise you’re doing for your workout is not for the one hour that you’re working out. It’s about how that one hour impacts the rest of your day, the rest of your week, two weeks, a year from now. Whatever exercise you choose to do at the moment that you’re going to the gym, it should directly correlate with how you want your quality of life to be in the future.”

"Are you training for anything right now?" In any other context, this sentence might have been considered small talk. But I had just walked into Universal Sole, a specialty running store in downtown Chicago, where such a detail could turn out to be crucial in choosing your perfect running shoe. Asking the question was Universal Sole event coordinator and five-year retail veteran Ryan Dolan, who represents one of the best reasons to visit a specialty running store over a standard shoe store: the staff can typically assess dozens of physical factors to determine which shoe is right for you. Ryan has other ways to evaluate a runner besides asking questions, particularly when it comes to your gait—the unique way in which your foot strikes the ground. Among the brightly colored running shoes, stylish athletic apparel, and novel training accessories sits a treadmill, which Ryan uses to analyze each customer's running style. Before I got my turn, Ryan fitted me with a shoe that was pretty close to the ones I owned, making sure the sole was flexible so the shoe wouldn't hide any oddities in my running pattern. I hopped onto the treadmill, he turned on a video camera behind me, and I started to run. The Three Stages of a Step When I finished, we both watched the recording, slowed down to 1/8 speed. This was new to me—I've run on shoe-store treadmills in the past but have always been at the mercy of the expert's analysis, which was sometimes difficult to understand. When I watched myself run, Ryan's words made sense, since I could see the angle and position of my feet on screen. As we watched, he divided my foot strike into three stages. The first stage, when the foot touches the ground, is known as the initial point of contact. Oddly enough, each of my feet lands differently at this stage. On my right foot, I land on the outer portion of my heel—a very common pattern, according to Ryan. But on my left, I land closer to the middle of my foot. The second stage, where the foot is firmly on the ground, is known as mid-stance. Here, foot position is crucial, since the force exerted at this point is three to five times the body's weight. The inside wall of the shoe should keep a perpendicular angle to the ground during mid-stance—bend any further, and you're verging into overpronation. That's where stability shoes can help, since their structure forces the foot outward. The angles of both my feet were spot on, but I couldn't celebrate just yet. Ryan could see the toes of my right foot peeking out from behind my heel ever so slightly. He attributed this to a weakness up the "kinetic chain," or the sequence of muscles moving up from the foot to the ankle, lower leg, knee, upper leg, and hip. Guilty as charged: my hip muscles are pretty feeble. He had a feeling. "With a lot of runners, unfortunately, since we're only running in the sagittal plane—the front to back—these lateral muscles can weaken." He suggested a few strength exercises to get my muscles back in shape. The final stage of the foot-strike cycle is known as the late-stage push-off. "You should be able to draw a straight line from the outside of your calf to the back of the shoe," Ryan said, gesturing. If the heel veers out further, it's known as late-stage pronation, a condition usually caused by tightness in the calf muscle or a lack of support in the mid-foot. Good shoes can help here, too. Finding the Right Fit Once Ryan determined the best stability level for my feet—neutral, just as I thought—the next step was to fit me with a variety of brands, a process that presents a whole new set of questions. For example, how much room should you have in the front of the shoe? "The recommended amount is to have a half-inch or a thumb's width, maybe even a little bit more if you're training for a longer-distance event," Ryan said. In the end, it depends on what you feel best in. He's seen some people go for pairs that fit like a glove, others who swear by wearing two sizes up. Whatever the size, Ryan stressed that the shoe should be snug around the mid-foot and heel with extra room around the forefoot to let the toes splay naturally. I tried a few pairs on the treadmill. One felt too loose in the heel, another placed its arch support a few millimeters short of where my arches were. Another was just too small, even though the size on the box was the same as the other brands. But finally, I found my pair. The Mizuno Wave Rider, in my favorite color ("The number-one rule with getting a running shoe is not picking a shoe based on color," Ryan chided). My last shoes were also Mizunos, so these just felt right—not too cushy, not too constricting. I was afraid my love of my old shoes might be creating an unfair bias, but Ryan said this was a good thing: "Not changing too many variables is important. If you get a good pair of shoes in the beginning of your marathon training season, don't change it up halfway through." There was one more step to the selection process before I handed over my credit card: the outdoor test. Because running on a treadmill can feel unnatural for many runners, Universal Sole lets its customers try out their new kicks on a run around the block. I was very glad I did: the squeaking plastic of the treadmill was nothing like the trusty thud of the pavement, and the shoes suddenly felt firmer and springier as I jogged along the sidewalk. I was sold. Photo: © Michelle Klosinski, Groupon

With 18 miles of paved, car-free terrain that edges the lake and grants majestic views of the skyline, the Lakefront Trail is a no-brainer route for runners in Chicago. But for inland residents who can't get there without running an extra 10K in the process, there's hope: public parks, forest preserves, and even abandoned railroads offer westward athletes scenic routes away from the traffic. Here are four trails that make their homes far from the shore. North Branch Trail | Devon and Caldwell to the Chicago Botanic Garden This 20-mile trail may have everything you'd want in a running route: shade-giving trees, moderate hills, and the modern niceties of mile markers, water fountains, and public restrooms. As its name suggests, the route runs by the North Branch of the Chicago River, so runners and riders can still enjoy the sparkle of the water this far west. It even comes with a built-in reward: run all the way north, and you'll finish in the lush, peaceful atmosphere of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Bloomingdale Trail | Ridgeway to Ashland along Bloomingdale Bloomingdale Trail runs on a 100-year-old rail line that was decommissioned in the early '90s. It's gritty, it's elevated, and it's never congested since it’s actually not open to the public. But that doesn't stop many residents of Bucktown and Humboldt Park, who squeeze through a fence hole at the Ashland Avenue “entrance,” or scramble up the grassy embankment where the trail passes over Milwaukee Avenue. An extra hit of adrenaline spurs them along the 4-mile trail that's flanked by overgrown foliage and meanders by a handful of public parks. A renovation project to make the trail fit for public use is set to finish in late 2014. In the meantime, be careful of broken glass and avoid the path during nighttime hours. Horner Park/Riverbank Neighbors Trail | California between Montrose and Irving Park Fifty-five-acre Horner Park has it all: baseball fields, soccer fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, a playground, picnic tables, and a path that measures about a mile around. Not surprisingly, the place can get packed in nice weather and isn't the safest at night, which is why savvy runners go across the river to Riverbank Neighbors Trail. The residential path exchanges throngs of people and plumes of barbecue smoke for the tranquility of trees, ducks, and a trail lined with wood chips. It only spans a half mile, but the picturesque scenery is worth a few extra laps. North Shore Channel Trail | Lawrence and Francisco to Ladd Arboretum in Evanston A successful run requires lots of distractions—music, scenery, anything to keep your mind off of your blistering feet and throbbing muscles. The North Shore Channel Trail may have the mother of all distractions: it runs right through the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park, granting surprising encounters with bronze statues, steel horses, and colorful abstract figures around every bend. The 6.5-mile riverside trail, which was named the Best Alternative to the Lakefront Path by the Chicago Reader, is fully paved and dodges many street crossings with convenient underpasses. Finish your trek with a cooldown in the verdant surroundings of the 23-acre Ladd Arboretum.