Fall is a really beautiful season and should be appreciated in nature. In order to truly observe Fall’s greatness you’ll need to head outside of the city. If you’re unsure of where to go here's a few places you can run, hike, bike, and explore. 

 If you’re in San Jose you should check out Almaden Quicksilver County Park and Santa Teresa County Park. Almaden Quicksilver County Park used to be a mining town and you can still see some of the remains of the buildings. There are quite a few trails to choose from and they all link together so you can either long or short loops. Santa Teresa County Park has one of the coolest single trails around, Rocky Ridge Trail. It a cool trail to hike up or down, and use extreme caution if you're biking. There are a bunch of other trails and most of them offer up some amazing views of San Jose. The park is rather exposed, not a lot of tree coverage, so pick a clear Fall day to check it out.

If you live close to Sunnyvale/ Cupertino area there are not enough good things you can say about Rancho San Antonio. This park has it all, an amazing trail system with trails of varying lengths and difficulty levels, open fields, tennis courts, and a small farm. On the weekend mornings throughout the year this place can get packed, but make it on the trails and you’ll see why there are so many folks there. Not a lot of cycling can be done here, so bring your hiking or trail running shoes and have fun!

Looking for day away from the area, head out to Santa Cruz's Wilder Ranch State Park. This place is awesome! Located along Highway 1 you get a little bit of everything. With one side along the ocean you can check out the coast and stop by the Wilder Ranch. If you cut through the Ranch under the Highway there is a huge trail system that you can hike, run, or bike. Some of the trails can really take you out there so make sure you have a trail map before you venture out. Since it’s along the coast it’ll be a bit colder but don’t let that stop you from going, it’s definitely worth it.

Here are a few of the parks you’ll find us at this Fall. If you have some others that you would like to share post them in the comments section!

Start any training program with Kaizen Fitness and we’ll grab a foam roller and get to work. After one exercise with a foam roller individuals will wonder what this self inflicted torture deceive is actually doing. Rightfully so, foam rolling or self-myofascial release does come with a certain amount of discomfort, but it aids greatly in correcting muscular imbalances and inflexibility. The discomforts that one experiences when they hit a “trigger point” or “knot” are adhesions in the muscle tissue. These adhesions affect the muscles ability to lengthen and, in turn, generate force. When a muscle is inflexible it will decrease the range of motion around a joint and prevents the body from functioning at an optimal level. 

The foam roller applies pressure on these trigger points or knots breaking up the adhesions and helps release the muscle tissues. As the adhesions break up it will make the muscle more pliable allowing it to lengthen more efficiently. Once a muscle group has been “rolled out” it will respond more favorable to static stretching and other lengthening techniques. When muscles are no longer shorted they reach the proper length-tension relationship allowing muscle to generate more force. Some of the other benefits including increased blood flow, improving posture, and injury prevention.

There are different types of rollers. There are basic foam rollers, PVC pipe with foam outer layer, lacrosse balls, tennis ball, medicine balls, etc. Picking the right one for you is going to depend on your experience with self-myofascial techniques. Beginners want to choose a roller that on the softer side and intermediate to advanced will want something more dense. For more control hitting a “trigger point” or smaller muscle you’ll want to try a ball rather than a roller.

Foam rolling is a great way to the body functioning properly and optimally. Don’t let the discomfort keep you from staying on top of your foam rolling exercises. If you want more information about foam rolling or what areas you should be rolling out get in touch with us today.