From the category archives:
Clothing
With the warm weather fast approaching, more and more women are pulling out their running gear. Ready to start running in summer style. A quick look into ladies running shorts styles for 2010 shows a trend toward running skirts and skorts, especially on the 5K, 10K, and half-marathon scenes. Women runners are responding favorably to the fun, hip designs, bold colors, and “girly-girl” look of running skirts.
Women’s running short styles have remained relatively consistent throughout the years, focusing on comfort and functionality. Until recently, running short choices consisted primarily of compressions shorts or track-style shorts. Lengths, colors, and fabric choices would change each season, but for the most part running short styles did not. Style was sacrificed for the sake of performance.
Then along came running skirts, also called skorts (since they have a compression boy-short sewn in underneath). Running skirts opened a whole new fashion window for women runners, bored with the conventional running short styles. Running skirt designers have quickly obliged to the recent popularity of running skirts supplying fun designs like: plaid, polka dots, camouflage, and floral designs. Color choices are vast, appealing to a wide range of women. Skirt colour options are anywhere from classic black to bright neon orange.
Running skirts have become popular in the running event world. Women runners participating in 5K, 10K, and half-marathon races have been seen sporting the new hip look of running skirts. Friends are purchasing matching running skirts for running events like the Disney World Princesses half marathon. Teams, like Moms in Motion, are also finishing competitions in matching team skirts. Celebrity runners have fueled the running skirt fire by appearing in custom designed running skirts.
With the popularity of the running skirt on the rise, big manufacturers like Nike, ASICS, and Brooks are continuing to perfect the comfort and functionality of the running skirt; performance properties that were once assumed only by traditional women’s running shorts. This is great news for women who want fashionable style options while running. The 2010 running skirt movement is expected to grow exponentially as the warm summer months lure more runners into events or a leisurely jog outside.
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The best running shoes for your kids are also the best running shoes for your wallet. Not very often do we get to say that and really mean it! Recent scientific studies tell us this is so and who am I to argue with science?
Turns out the more we make our feet work every day, the stronger they become. What does that have to do with your wallet? It means that when you choose to buy less expensive running shoes for your kids, as well as yourself, you are choosing shoes which tend to have less stabilizers, inserts, and great arch supports.
By having little or no support mechanisms in your running shoes mean more work for your feet. The twenty-six bones and dozens of tendons and muscles in our feet will only develop properly if allowed to work. An adolescent’s arches are still under development. Propping your kids’ feet up in more expensive running shoes, that often don’t have these attributes, may lead to muscle atrophy and fallen arches, according to Dr. Gerard Hartman, Ph.D.
The benefits of naturally strong feet are many and they last a lifetime.
- Strong arches make it possible to compete pain-free in sports that require a lot of running or jumping such as basketball, volleyball,football and soccer.
- Strong feet support good posture lowering the risk of back injury and chronic back pain.
- Strong feet provide a solid connection to the ground which can mean fewer accidents, twisted ankles and even broken hips in later years.
Inspire family members by choosing less expensive running shoes for yourself and get your own feet working.
- Go for walks or hikes together as a family.
- If you have a back yard, spend time with your kids playing barefoot Frisbee, badminton, or tag.
- Agree to a “no-shoes-on-in-the-house” pact.
So what if the kids bring their mp3 players on your hike? Go ahead and let them text their friends too. What do you care? If it gets you all moving – one foot in front of the other – it’s all good. So remember, the best running shoes for your kids don’t always have to be the most expensive.
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The research has been done, the results are in and great looking and comfortable plus size activewear abounds! It has not been so very long ago that a larger sized man, woman or child was at a loss to find larger sized clothing for every day life, let alone clothing comfortable enough to work out in. At that time, activewear was limited to tight fitting spandex geared toward a “so-called” perfect size 6 for women. It is now estimated that 64% of adults and 33% of children in the US are considered to be overweight. What could be better for encouraging a healthier lifestyle than the introduction of plus size activewear?
Now, it is possible to feel comfortable and to look stylish and yet adequately covered while working out. Those at the helm of decision making in the fashion industry have finally taken those statistical numbers into account when buying clothing for the retail consumer. Adidas and Nike have introduced plus size active wear lines into their merchandise. It is simply good marketing to promote products to the majority of the population, and it’s a step which would seem long overdue. The good news here is the general trend. You no longer have the need to go in search of the plus sized goods. They are coming to you now. JC Penney and Sears include active wear in their catalogs and on their websites. Lane Bryant has long been a supplier of fashion for larger women, but now they are really expanding their lines to include smart and stylish clothing for younger women. The website for AlwaysForMe.com is enticing. They sport fuller figured undergarments and other lines that are sexy and form fitting. After comparing the prices of the larger sized clothing versus the Small, Medium and Large sizes so long generally accepted as “normal” sizes, one is delighted to find very little difference in pricing.
Here again, over half of the population now falls into the plus size category. This is not a niche’ market any longer. This shift in thinking should also be helpful for the self esteem of overweight children and teens as well. To know they are fashionable and well dressed no matter what their size will, no doubt, make a difference in their over all feelings about themselves. To be able to wear Nike clothing that not only fits, but also compliments them, is something a larger youngster only dreamed of just a few years ago. Now, it’s easy to find absolutely fabulous plus size active wear.