Super Bowl shape-up: Get your game on!
By Gina Lombardi
It’s the most exciting time of the year for sports fans – Super Bowl! I LOVE football (maybe partly because Vince is in my family tree), so I am feeling the excitement as well as the sadness of another season of football coming to an end. But as that last hurrah approaches, so do the fat-laden snacks, calorie-packed alcoholic drinks and, of course, the couch!
This year, make it your choice to change tradition. Start Super Bowl Sunday off right with a pre-game game of your own. Get your buddies together, put on your favorite team jerseys and play some good old-fashioned flag football in the yard. A 150-pound person can burn an average of 576 calories per hour this way!
You could also pair up and work out with a weighted football. A regulation football weighs 1 pound, while these training footballs come in 2-pound and 3-pound sizes. You’ll improve your arm and grip strength while getting resistance exercise during exchanges, hand-offs and passes.
Now that you've earned your food and have that post-exercise calorie burn in your favor, choose the right snacks so you can stay "in the game." Replace regular chips with baked versions, regular beer with lite beer, thick pizza crust with thin.
Don’t forget the water. Playing hard requires hydrating the body afterwards. And since alcohol dehydrates, guzzle the water first -- then you may not even want the beer. (OK, I tried.)
During half-time, do Giant sets of indoor football tosses with squats (the receiver catches the ball in a squat position, throws it back while standing up; repeat for 20 reps). Or be Patriotic: During replays and commercials (the ones you don’t like) challenge a partner to see who can do more sit-ups or push-ups and try to go 19 and 0.
The winner for each round gets control of the recliner and, yes, the golden remote. Then sit back and enjoy the rest of the game. After all, at least one Manning made it to the Super Bowl!
