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10 Best Races in the World

Posted on September 11, 2014 by ashleyharris22

If you’re looking for your next fitness challenge, then look no further! We’ve put together a comprehensive guide of the ultimate races from around the world so that you can challenge yourself in some of the world’s most iconic settings.

Inca Trail Marathon

There are several Inca Trail races, but this one has the best reputation for organisation: it’s currently measured and fully supported, with clear course markings, marshals and aid stations. The route is incredible too, starting from the Llactapata Inca ruins it climbs to Warmiwanusqa Pass, before heading down through Inca sites and mountain passes, offering superb views of the Andes, to perhaps the most thrilling race finish in the world, Machu Picchu.

Next Race: 9^th July 2015, www.eriksadventures.com

Bay to Breakers

First run in 1912, this annual event is one of the oldest footraces in the world. It’s a 12k run through San Francisco from the Bay to the Great Highway, where huge waves (breakers) crash onto Ocean Beach. In 1986, this event set a Guinness World Record, when 110,000 runners took part.

Next Race: 17^th May 2015, www.baytobreakers.com

Everest Marathon

Starting at Everest base camp and finishing in Namche Bazaar in Nepal, this race is every bit as ruthless as you’d imagine from the world’s highest marathon. It takes extra time to prepare for this high-level event as runners must sign up for a 26-day trip to allow for proper pre-race acclimatisation.

Next Race: November 2015, www.everestmarathon.org.uk

Walt Disney World Marathon

Over a long-weekend festival in Disney’s Florida resort, you can tackle a 5k, 10k, half or full marathon. The routes go through the resort’s four theme parks and Disney characters interact with runners along the way.

Next Race: 7^th January 2015, www.rundisney.com

Great Wall Marathon

Hitting the wall becomes literal over 26.2 miles and 5,164 steps of China’s 2,200 year old great wonder. As well as enjoying the great atmosphere created by the 2,000 runners, and the up close look at one of humanity’s greatest feats of engineering, you’ll be treated to dramatic views of Tianjin province.

Next Race: 16^th May 2015, www.great-wall-marathon.com

Polar Circle Marathon

The ‘coolest marathon on earth’ starts and finishes in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, inside the Arctic Circle. The course takes in a 3km loop on Greenland’s ice cap, then runs through the tundra against the backdrop of huge glacier tongues and the stillness of the Arctic desert. Cool, indeed!

Next Race: 25^th October 2014, www.polar-circle-marathon.com

Marathon des Sables

This event, commonly referred to as MDS is one of the great badges of honour for endurance runners. MDS, ‘the toughest footrace on earth’, is run over six stages, ranging from 21-82km for a total of over 150 miles, and all through the stunning Sahara desert.

Next Race: 2015 (date TBC), www.marathondessables.co.uk

City2Surf

With over 80,000 runners, this is currently the world’s biggest running event. At 14k, it’s an unusual but manageable distance and the course, which takes you from downtown Sydney to a Bondi Beach finish is a real treat.

Next Race: 2015 (date TBC), www.city2surf.com.au

Angkor Wat International Half Marathon

There’s a hefty ‘wow factor’ from this course, which takes runners through Cambodia’s Angkor Wat World Heritage Site. The event raises funds for victims of antipersonnel mines in Cambodia, which makes it all the more worthwhile.

Next Race: 7^th December 2014, www.angkormarathon.org

Midnight Sun Marathon

The sun doesn’t set at all from mid-May to mid-July in northern Norway, which gives TromsØ’s showpiece event its unique magic as 8,000 marathoners run under the midnight sun. The ‘capital of the Arctic’ provides a thrilling back drop to this phenomenon, surrounded by mountains, fjords and islands, with a largely waterside course.

Next Race: June 2015, www.msm.no

If our guide has inspired you to take up a future challenge, Tanita products can help you on your way to peak health and fitness. Our range of sophisticated body composition monitors use advanced Bio-electrical Impedance technology (BIA) to provide accurate measurements of your body fat percentage, muscle mass, Basal Metabolic Rate and hydration level. Each of these measurements can significantly impact your training and help you achieve your fitness goals faster and more efficiently. Read more about how Tanita can help you get race-ready here.

Tanita’s Top Tips to Up the Fitness Factor

Posted on August 27, 2014 by ashleyharris22

Is your fitness motivation taking a dip? If so, we want to help you put the fun back into your workout, by sharing our top tips to up your fitness factor and make sure you’re getting the most out of your training sessions!

Go Online

It might be tempting to quit your gym membership to save money, but how can you spruce up your at-home workouts? Lots of great fitness brands are now taking their classes online, with everything from yoga to ballet barre just a click away. Some of our favourite online workouts include this one from Gillian Michaels and this ‘Insanity’ style workout

Get ‘appy

If you’re lacking that bit of oomph too get started, downloading a new fitness app can be a great way to help you set and achieve your fitness goals. For some inspiration, check out this article which details the best fitness apps of 2014.

Be a Good Sport

Learning something new is a great way to distract you from the panting and puffing of a hard work out. This way, you will be challenging your body in new ways, so you should see and feel a difference in no time. Plus, while weight loss is a great goal, doing well in a new sport or having fun while you work out can be a better way to inspire you to exercise than waiting for the pounds to drop off.

Spin Some Tunes

Research suggests listening to your favourite music can improve your exercise performance and boost your enjoyment of sport and exercise. So why not spend a lazy Saturday morning compiling a fun workout playlist?

Join the Gang

Training with other people is a great way to up the fun factor. Small group settings give you more attention and can add value for your money. Why not try signing up to a new fitness class with a friend? Aside from having a friendly face beside you, you’ll also be more motivated and less likely to miss a session!

Take on a Challenge

A good goal is a sure way to reignite your passion for training. Set yourself a goal that is tough, but not so hard that you’ll work yourself into the ground to get there – a mucky obstacle race is a great option or you could try the 30 day squat challenge.

Train Somewhere New

Take yourself away from it all and treat yourself to a week of fitness to give your regime a boost. For example, why not try a boot camp or fitness holiday? This may be the kick-start your body needs!

Get Competitive

Not everyone has a competitive nature, but being competitive can be one of the best ways to motivate yourself. Find a way to add a competitive edge to your workouts, whether you challenge yourself or one of your gym buddies, you’ll certainly up your game!

Winter-Proof your Workout

Posted on November 4, 2013 by ashleyharris22

The nights may be drawing in, but that doesn’t mean your workout has to go into hibernation. This week we will be sharing our winter workout tips to ensure you keep up the good work!

Winter- Proof Your Diet

When the weather is cold, it’s important to pay careful attention to your diet so that you’re fuelling your workouts correctly. You don’t need extra energy when you exercise in cold weather, but it’s important to remember that you’ll burn extra calories when your body temperature drops, so you need to fuel up accordingly.

Failing to drink enough fluids is a major mistake that people often make in the winter. As well as losing fluids through sweat, you’ll also lose it via the water vapour that gets exhaled when you breathe out. Additionally, the cold weather blunts the thirst mechanism so despite training hard you may not feel like you need to drink, even though your body needs it to perform. With this in mind, always take a bottle of water with you when exercising.

Winter- Proof Your Warm Up

When it comes to doing your winter warm-up, you need to double the time you would usually spend on it during the hotter months. Your joints are surrounded by a substance called synovial fluid, the warmer the synovial fluid is, the better it is at lubricating your joints; protecting them and your muscles from injury. During the winter months, this fluid is colder and more viscous, so you need to spend longer heating it up.

Winter- Proof Your Run

Running in the winter often means pounding the pavements in the dark. Try lifting your knees high with every step as this will minimise the likelihood of stumbling on uneven surfaces, which can be hard to spot in low light. Try landing on the balls of your feet rather than your heel – this will help you to maintain your balance too, plus research shows this style of running means you’re less likely to damage your joints.

Winter- Proof Your Cycle

If you’re heading out in the cold on your bike, try standing up and pedaling from time to time to help get your circulation going. This relieves the pressure on your bottom as having your weight constantly bearing down on it can constrict the blood vessels, which restricts blood flow to the lower body, making your legs and feet cold.

Always remember, if you are heading outside to exercise this winter stay safe and visible by sticking to well-lit areas, reflective clothing and why not even head out with a friend?

Tanita Takes Part In Leisure Industry Week 2013

Posted on September 23, 2013 by ashleyharris22

This week marks the annual return of the UK’s biggest leisure trade show, Leisure Industry Week (LIW). The Tanita team will be out in force showcasing the latest developments in technology from our ever expanding range of products; the MC780, MC980 and SC240 body composition monitors.

Taking place on 24^th – 26^th September at Birmingham’s NEC Centre, LIW brings together brands from all sectors of the leisure industry, offering everyone from Health Club owners to Hotels to Personal Trainers the chance to preview the latest and greatest innovations in leisure equipment and accessories.

Tanita are proud to be showcasing our bestselling and new in-depth analysers including:

The MC780, a brand new Segmental Multi Frequency Body Composition Analyser, working across three frequencies to take a multitude of accurate readings from your body
The SC240, the world’s first lightweight, high capacity composition monitor which is medically approved. Highly portable, it offers in-depth readings on the go, with further features available when connected to software via USB.
The MC980 Multi Frequency Body Composition Analyser, which offers total body composition readings, segmental readings for specific areas of the body and automatic data storage through non-invasive, and easy-to-use, methods of analysis.

Visitors to our stand will also be given the chance to enter a fantastic competition in association with Boditrax, helping professionals from the fitness, weight loss, and medical sectors create and manage personal profiles for clients online or via the Boditrax App. Used in conjunction with Tanita body composition monitors, clients can reach their fitness goals so they become fitter, healthier and happier.The lucky winner of this competition will take away a year’s licence with Boditrax, as well as a Tanita SC240 portable body composition analyser to help track your clients progress throughout the year.

Attending LIW? Make sure you visit our stand, H233. We can’t wait to see you all there!

If you can’t make the show this year, you can also keep up to date with our LIW activities via our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Guest Blog- Ste Smith- Manchester 100 Mile Cycle

Posted on August 1, 2013 by ashleyharris22

Stephen Smith is 30 years old from Preston, Lancashire and an eCommerce Manager for Scalesexpress. He is training for the Manchester 100 Mile Cycling Challenge in September. This week, we catch up with him as our guest blogger to see how his training is going.

“I’ve always had a competitive spirit and enjoyed taking part in sporting challenges. After completing the Manchester to Blackpool 60 miles bike ride in 2011, I caught the ‘challenge bug’, and immediately started looking for my next big event.

My little boy kept me on my toes throughout 2012, which meant my training was put on hold until this year, as I signed up for the 100 mile cycling challenge. It seemed a logical next step to go for 100 miles, and a great way to stay fit. Having an event to aim for means that I’m more committed to going out cycling every week, and commitment ultimately gives results.

I started training in January when it was very cold, and unsurprisingly not particularly enjoyable! However, I have persevered and since then have been going out on the bike around the forest of Bowland and Fylde area almost every Sunday. I’m conscious not to miss out on any family time at the weekends, so I stick to a 3 / 4 hour ride starting at 10 miles and going up to 40. I want to push myself and see how far I can get, so I’ll be increasing my training to full day rides soon! The next step is 80 miles…

As a result of my training, I’ve lost a few pounds and I’ve noticed my arms are slightly larger, but the best thing is that I feel so much healthier! I’m not a fan of diets and I tend to eat fairly balanced meals with a portion of meat and vegetables. I ‘cancel’ out any fast food or naughty treats with a good cycle at the weekend so I still get to enjoy myself.

I’m hoping for a race time of around 7-8 hours, based on an average speed of about 13 mph. Hopefully I’ll have some faster miles too which will make it even quicker. I’m loving the training so far and can’t wait for the big day in September. ”

Stephen is raising money for The Christie which raises funds to help provide services and undertake vital research for cancer patients. It is one of Europe’s leading cancer centers, treating more than 40,000 patients a year. To find out more or sponsor Stephen, visit his Just Giving page: http://www.justgiving.com /Ste-Manc100

Keep updated with Stephen’s progress via the Tanita Community; we’re sure you’ll join us in wishing Stephen good luck with his training and on the race day itself!

Guest Blog- Kerry McCarthy, Runners World

Posted on July 17, 2013 by ashleyharris22

This week’s blog is from Kerry McCarthy, a senior writer at Runner’s World UK. Kerry has recently taken on the mammoth challenge of running 12 marathons in 12 days to raise money for Hope HIV.

To aid his training, Kerry used the Tanita BC-545N to monitor the changes in his body composition refine his training regime. We were lucky enough to catch up with Kerry and find out more about his and race experience:

Can you tell us a little bit more about your 12 in 12 challenge?

25 friends and I spent 2012 doing various challenges (one each per month) raising money for HopeHIV, a UK-based charity that helps kids whose lives have been affected by AIDS or HIV in sub-saharan Africa. There have been ultramarathons, bog snorkeling, triathlons, paddling over waterfalls on a lido, half ironmans, 1,200 press ups by one person in a single day, 12 Krispy Kreme donuts eaten by one person in 12 minutes, dragon boat races, one person running back and forth over the same bridge for 12 hours straight, 24 hour football matches…so many things!

What training were you doing to get yourself ready for such a tough challenge?

Under the advice of the personal trainers I used in preparation of the challenge, I didn’t run at all for two months in advance! Their view was that I had already committed so many distance runner crimes (trotting out long slow runs again and again without any strength or cross-training or proper recovery in between sessions) that I had ruined my body.

They also believed that since my aerobic system was fine I just needed to concentrate on making my body strong enough to take the pounding of what was ahead; running 42,000 steps every day with 2-3 times my body weight sending shockwaves through my joints with every step. So I spent ages in the gym doing lunges, squats, chin ups, kettlebells, skipping and all sorts. I was extremely nervous about turning up on day one having not run for ages when my team-mates had spent months running 80+ miles a week, but it worked!

I started fine, running for 4.5 hours on day one but got slower and slower each day, with day five taking me nearly eight hours! But on day six I woke up and something had adapted in my body. I knocked two hours off the previous day’s time and got faster each day until the end. It’s amazing what the human body can achieve when it works out what you’re doing to it.

Tell us about your race days

Over the 12 days I ran 315 miles, plus an extra eight due to getting lost a few times! I burned 48,000 calories, lost 12lbs in weight, endured temperatures of -5, rain that would have made Noah put down his tools and go home in despair, tried to map-read on the run through strange towns while allowing for the fact that Google maps sometimes said ‘left’ when it actually meant ‘right’. How I laughed! I ran alongside massive lorries on A-roads with no pavements, had many hours of elbow-digging-into-bum sports massages and daily ice baths. I waded through long stretches of thigh-high river water on flooded sections of the Thames towpath, suffered blisters, black toenails, cuts, scrapes, muscle tears/pulls/strains, ligament damage pain, pain and more pain and also had to hear rapier-witted teenagers the length of the country shouting ‘Run Forrest, Run!’

How did you use the Tanita BC-545N as part of your training?

My training wasn’t just a case of losing weight: I needed to strip away fat and put on lean muscle – but not too much as I didn’t want to carry the extra weight around. Over the two months I was training with my PTs I lost 3% body fat and put on 3kg of lean muscle which I was able to track with the Tanita scales. They were a pretty handy tool and much more accurate than most other similar products on the market due to the hand held sensors. This means the electrical signal that passes through your body to measure your body composition travels through your whole body instead of just your lower body as it would do if you were just using the more common foot sensor scales.

We’re sure you’ll all agree that Kerry has done a magnificent job for Hope HIV and if you’d like to find out about his future challenges follow him on Twitter @RWKerry or to find more about Kerry’s 12 in 12 challenge visit his website.

Guest Blog – Simon Bradeley

Posted on June 27, 2013 by levzek23

This week, we hear from Former Guinness World Record Holder and personal trainer Simon Bradeley, who explains why body composition monitoring helps to keep him motivated and understand his body better.

When you sign up for your first challenge the last thing you think about is your current body composition, or even appreciate what a difference your body composition can make to your results. But you’d be surprised!

Benchmarks and reference points are important with any form of training or diet. Monitoring body composition is one of the most useful ways of measuring the success of your plan and the effectiveness of your training; motivating you to continue your excellent progress, and helping you to understand the changes your body is undergoing.

I’m actually a bit of a technology and data addict, and I measure my own body composition weekly with my trusty Tanita BC-1000. I have around three years worth of date stored on my PC and on the Garmin Connect software, which is a fantastic way of tracking my long-term progress. This is especially helpful when I am preparing for a particular event or goal. It always amazes me the regular patterns that my body composition undergoes throughout the year. My body fat will always increase by around 10% during the festive period and through to January, but then decreases as I step up my training in Spring.

Body composition monitoring caters for the individual, so it is important to understand what shape and condition you are in currently, to allow you to set yourself targets and see how your condition compares to recommended healthy levels of body fat and body water.

So it’s time to set yourself some goals, and let body composition monitoring help you reach them.

Guest Blog- Extreme Cyclist Jacob Zurl

Posted on June 12, 2013 by ashleyharris22

Here at Tanita, we pride ourselves on creating precision scales and body composition monitors that are renowned for being the most accurate on the market. For this reason, many elite athletes from around the world use Tanita products to aid and improve their training. This week, we put the spotlight on Jacob Zurl, the world’s youngest extreme cyclist, to find out how using a Tanita monitor allows him to tailor his training.

Jacob Zurl turned professional in 2010 and since then he has been taking part in long distance cycling events and races and has even broken a world record!

He currently holds the world record for cycling the most vertical meters in 48 hours, which saw him cycle 28,789 meters in really tough weather conditions – take a look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkZb2pbym7A

Jacob has been training hard for two events this year and, as with all sporting disciplines, maintaining the optimal body condition is key to his success. Every extra pound carried adds 15-20 seconds onto every mile of a climb, so cyclists need to strike the right balance with their weight. You need to be heavy enough to power uphill but not too heavy to slow you down.

It is essential to be strong, not skinny so the proportion between muscle and fat also needs to be fine tuned. Fat plays a key role in immune-system function. Energy levels will suffer without enough fat but on the flipside, becoming too lean will lead you to burn muscle which will see your power plummet. The idea is to find the perfect balance to help you ride strong and be healthy.

Jacob uses a Tanita BC-1000 to monitor his body composition, using the detailed readings to tailor his training plan to either strip fat or build muscle as needed.

Jacob’s 2013 season started at the beginning of June with the Glocknerman, which is a 1,015 km race with 16,000 vertical meters. Jacob came fourth in the race in 2011 and placed second this year with an overall time of 37 hours and 3 minutes.

August sees him start the Race Around Austria which is a 2,200km race with 28,000 vertical meters to scale.

We wish Jacob all the best for this year and make sure to keep up with his progress by liking his fan page on Facebook.

Guest Blog – Andy Keates, Professional Boxer

Posted on April 11, 2013 by levzek23

In this week’s guest blog, professional boxer Andy Keates tells us about how his dedication to training and nutrition has been the key to his success.

Vital Statistics

Weight: 63KG

Body Fat: 6.2%

Muscle Mass: 56.4

Hydration Baseline: 67%

Training schedule: 2-3 hours per day, 5 days per week.

About:

Being a professional boxer you have to remain motivated and have great determination to be the best you can be both physically and mentally.

The key to my success so far in my boxing career is hard training. Ever since I was young I have had the ability and commitment to push myself hard in training sessions. I have also been able to focus myself to stay committed and train week in week out. This is where a lot of athletes struggle as you can get distracted in life by other things. Seeing friends and socialising can be really distracting, but in order to succeed you have to forgo your social life and commit to the training and job at hand.

Training consists of many areas of development; stamina, power, technique and balance all play a vital part in a well-rounded training schedule. A typical session can consist of three minute intervals sessions that include sparring, speed and strength work. Most sessions will last around 2-3 hours per day.

You have to be 100% focussed and alert during training, especially when sparring as you can get caught or injured, which can have serious effects short term and on training plans.

Nutrition:

It is really important to get the right balance with my diet. I always ensure I get optimum volumes of protein in to my body to aid recovery and development, using protein shakes daily when training.

My nutrition plan has to be balanced to ensure optimum replenishment of essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, proteins and essential salts which can be lost when training at high intensity!

Monitoring hydration levels is incredibly important to me as it indicates when I need to replenish vital fluids that I lose throughout training. Body composition monitoring also ensures that my body is growing and developing at optimal levels.

I use a Tanita Body composition monitor to regularly monitor my total body water and to measure my body fat and muscle mass levels. It becomes really obvious when my body is in peak condition. I track my body fat and muscle levels throughout the year, so my coach and I now understand when my body is ready.

Anyone wanting to try boxing should know it is a great calorie and fat burner and uses most of the muscles in your body. Punching a punch bag for four two-minute rounds can burn off around 700 calories per hour.

Follow Andy Keates on Twitter https://twitter.com/Andykeatesboxer

Tanita presents my.tanita.eu

Posted on March 20, 2013 by ashleyharris22

Here at Tanita, we’ve been working incredibly hard to develop an online software programme that allows you to keep a diary of all your fitness activities and track changes to your body composition, all in one place.

Compatible with one of our best selling body composition monitors, the BC-601, users can store their body composition measurements on the SD card provided and then upload their data to their my.tanita.eu profile.

On my.tanita.eu, users can analyse all of their measurements on easy-to-understand graphs to assess the effectiveness of their training programme over time, and modify it where necessary to maximise performance.

my.tanita.eu is also compatible with most heart rate monitors including Garmin, Polar and Suunto devices, so all data that they record, from maximum heart rate to calories burned, can also be uploaded to your profile.

The advanced software can store and analyse additional health data, such as resting heart rate and lactate levels and allows you to personalise your sports diary to include a wide variety of activities ranging from archery to Zumba.

As if that wasn’t enough, my.tanita.eu also allows users to upload and share training information via Facebook and Twitter; so you can challenge your friends or team mates and add a competitive edge to your training.

It’s so simple to register, upload your data and begin using my.tanita.eu, sign up here!