Blog Posts

Moving From Indoor to Outdoor Workouts in Puyallup

If youve been working out or training in your Puyallup apartment for the past few months, you might be looking for a way to keep the spark alive in your daily routine. While the transition can be invigorating, it can take the body a while to acclimate to your new surroundingsincluding some outdoor variables. To make that process as seamless as possible, weve brought together some tips and information below. The Indoor To Outdoor Gradient Because it can take up to two weeks to adjust to seasonal weather changes, however small, its best to gradually ease into your outdoor routine. While the mind craves the variety of potholes, bumps, and rocks that neighboring running roads and trails can provide, it also takes time for your treadmill feet to adjust. In the end its worth it. By spending more time exercising outdoors, youll be improving your balance and proprioceptionthe unconscious awareness of movement and spatial orientation. Since outdoor running is generally more difficult than indoor training, be sure to not immediately increase your pace or daily distance. A good rule of thumb here is to listen to your body. If its feeling exhausted, or tense, its okay to ease up a bit. The Benefits Of Being Outdoors Once youve acclimated to your outdoor workout, youll be able to enjoy an array of healthy benefits. Recent research has shown that people who exercise outdoors typically had much longer workouts, and showed higher rates of vitality, enthusiasm, pleasureand much lower tension, fatigue, and depression . Coupled with the already well-known benefits of being outside, like a heightened sense of optimism and motivation, its easy to see what makes this transition so appealing. Achieving A Balance Between The Two But its important not to abandon your indoor routine altogether. By maintaining a healthy balance between indoor strength training, and outdoor cardio workouts, you can avoid most of the common injuries that befall even the best runners or cyclists.

Making a Home Theater In Your Puyallup Apartment

Have you been wanting to take that courageous first step of making your own apartment home theater? If youre one of the brave souls that wants the entertainment ecosystem you fully deserve, you might not know where to start. Add to that the desire to keep things under budget, and maybe that wonderful dream of yours starts to slip away. But hold on a sec! Thanks to trending DIY hackery, that dream is now more feasible than ever. So where should you go to map out your master plan? Here are the websites we would use if we were you: 1. IKEA Hackers IKEA is well known for their stylish and modular furniture thats sold at affordable rates. And youre not the only one thats seen the inner Lego in their design. This website is perfect for taking advantage of the hidden flexible nature of even their available furniture. Whether you want to turn a bookcase into a projector mount, or transform a coffee table into a speaker stand, a simple search on their site will provide you with some highly useful results. 2. Instructables Looking for something outside the realm of IKEA? This site provides a more comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach. Everything from acoustic panels to projector shelves is featured on this site . And because its a part of the DIY scene, most of their projects often utilize items you might already have in your home. Plus, once youre done with your theater, youll even be able to find the perfect recipe to accompany you on your theaters maiden voyage. If youre looking for tips on how to set up projectors, speakers, and what to look for in equipment, lists like this can also be resourceful. Just remember to take out any of their suggestions that wouldnt work in your apartment! Do any of you have experience with building your own theater in your Puyallup apartment? What tips and tricks worked best for you? What advice do you have for our readers? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

Photography Tours near Puyallup

Every now and then, I get the urge to load up what little photography equipment I have and go take some beautiful pictures. Theres beauty everywhere, of course, but it never hurts to have a gorgeous place to go if you want to take some really first-class pictures. Our residents at Willow Hill are extra fortunate, however, because they have easy access to guided tours of the Seattle and Puyallup area through Shutter Tours. Shutter Tours was founded by professional photographer Terry Divyak. When taking photographs on a trip to New York in 2007, he began to wonder if there were any tours of the area that would cater to photographers, helping find the best shots of landmarks both famous and unknown. It turned out there werent, so he was forced to wander the city on his own looking for great shots. When he returned to his hometown of Seattle, he began putting together Shutter Tours so that he could share his intimate knowledge of the best photography locations in the city with other photographers. The companys most popular tour begins at Snoqualmie falls in the Cascade foothills, and then moves on to Seattle and some of its most historical and beautiful sightsincluding the Fremont Troll, Theo Chocolate, the Ballard Locks, and the best view of the Seattle skyline at Kerry Park. The tour is packed with stories about Seattle and its history, from the Klondike Gold rush and how the city got its name to how Starbucks became the company it is today. Tours are open to guests of all ages, and reservations need to be made ahead of time. The tour does require some light walking, so wear some comfy shoes. You dont have to bring a camera, but it would almost be a waste if you didnt! Fortunately, there are no requirements as to how nice your equipment has to bemany guests simply take photos with their phones or with disposable cameras. You can check out their website here to make reservations or for more information.

Staying Cool In the Puyallup Summer

Springtime means that temperatures in Puyallup are beginning to rise. Though Washington wont be seeing its higher temperatures until the summer months ahead, you can adopt some of these outdoor exercise tips now to make sure youre more than prepared. Run Early Or Late One of the easiest ways to beat the heat is to plan on running in the cooler parts of the daybefore the sun gets a chance to fully rise, or right after its starting to set. If your schedule doesnt have any room for an early or late night run, look for a route that includes lots of natural shade. It can also be helpful to find an area with more grass than neighboring asphalt. While youll still want to find a strong surface for your feet, like cement, lighter surfaces and surroundings will shave off some of the extra degrees of heat. Hydrate Throughout The Day While it may seem obvious, this is an all-too neglected way to cool off. Its important to stay hydrated well beforeand afteryour run. Your body depends on having the right amount of fluids to use its internal and external cooling mechanisms. For longer duration workouts, its important to utilize sports drinks, like Gatorade or otherwise, to replenish your salt and mineral levels through essential electrolytes. Plus, the electrolytes in sports drinks help increase your water-absorption rate, and taste a little better, making it easier to stay hydrated in the moment. Lean Into The Wind If you can, try to pick days with a slight breeze. By having a back-up cooling system, youll be able to keep your core body temperature down. Runners World recommends running with the wind at your back in the beginning, and using the headwind on your way back when youll need it the most. Do you have any tips for our readers? Whats worked for you as youve adjusted to warmer temperatures? Where are your go-to spots for an early morning or late night run? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

Benefits of Drinking Coffee in Your Puyallup Apartment

If youre someone thats been on the fence about drinking coffee, youre not alone. With 54% of Americans over the age of eighteen drinking coffee everyday , its easy to wonder what youve been getting out of our morning cup of Joe. But recent research suggests there are some surprising health benefits that come from daily cup of coffee. Below, well outline some of those exciting health benefits. 1. Coffee Is Full of Antioxidants Surprisingly enough, coffee contains more antioxidants than both green tea and cocoatwo of the standards in antioxidant stardom. Research has shown that before coffee beans are even processed, they contain nearly 1,000 antioxidants. And during the roasting process? They develop even move. Antioxidants fight inflammationthe root cause of arthritis and many different forms of cancer. By disarming the free radicals that can over oxidate cells, antioxidants help protect our cells from the damage the results in chronic disease. 2. Coffee Is Good for Your Heart Were not speaking symbolically. Recent research at Harvard School of Public Health showed that drinking the right amount of coffee can reduce your future chances of heart failure by 11%. Another Dutch study found that moderate coffee consumption gave participants a 20% lower chance of heart disease. So how does it work? The theory exists that coffee can help shield your body from the arterial damage thats caused by inflammation. The key between both studies? Trying to stick to just two cups a day. 3. Coffee Safeguards Cognitive Health Trying to keep your brain in tip-top shape? A recent Finnish study discovered that there was a link between drinking three to five cups of coffee as a middle-aged adult and a 65% decrease in Alzheimers. The theory here? Apparently, caffeine consumption through a beverage like coffee helps bypass the build-up of plaque that might be connected to the disease. What do you think? What benefits have you seen from drinking a morning cup of coffee in your Puyallup apartment? What are some of your favorite healthy coffee recipes? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

Surprising Things You Can Recycle in Puyallup

Its always a great idea to save and recycle anything you can. Most of us know about basic recyclablesthings like paper, metal, and plastic. But if youre looking for a little more that you can do to help the environment, here are a few items that most people dont know that they can recycle: Holiday lights it doesnt matter what holiday theyre from; if youve got a strand of burnt-out old lights, the folks at HolidayLEDs are eager to have them. You can simply mail them in, and they will shred them up and sort out the recyclable PVC, glass, and copper to be used for something new. Mattresses because of their size, mattresses can often be difficult to dispose of. Fortunately, services such as 1-800-GOT-JUNK are happy to take old mattresses off of your hands. Recycling factories can separate the wood, metal, foam, and cloth to be used in various recycled products. CDs because theyre made of polycarbonate, CDs wont decompose in a landfill. But you can send them to The CD Recycling Center, where theyll be shredded and then malted down to be used in automotive and building materials, or could even become part of the pavement in the roads you drive on! Shoes there are plenty of charities that take gently-used shoes to be given to those in need. But what about your shoes that have almost fallen apart from wear? Send them to Nike Grind, where theyll be ripped apart for re-use. The rubber is melted down for running track surfaces, the foam is converted into tennis court cushioning, and the fabric is used to pad basketball court floorboards. So far, theyve shredded over twenty-eight million pairs of shoes. Crayons do you have a box full of broken, worn-down nubs of crayons? Send them to the National Crayon Recycle center, where theyll be melted down, remade, and resold. The program has saved over forty-seven thousand pounds of crayons. Roofing Materials you might not be worried about roofing materials here at Willow Hill, but if the day comes where you find yourself with a pile of old roofing materials, make sure you recycle them! Most roofing materialsincluding tile, shingles, asphalt, wood, clay, aluminum, and steelcan be recycled. Fishing Line fishing line is specifically designed not to biodegrade, so that it will endure years of use in harsh conditions. However, that also means that it cant be recycled in normal recycling bins. Instead, you can send it in to Berkley Fishing, where they will recycle the material (along with other recyclables) into fish-friendly habitats. Wine Corks companies like Terracycle and Yemm and Hart can turn your old wine corks into tile for flooring, walls, and veneer. Another company, Recork, passes them along to Canadian sandal maker SOLE. Pantyhose most pantyhose are made of nylon, which can take over forty years to decompose. But if you send them in to No Nonsense, they will grind them up into all sorts of new productpark benches, playground equipment, carpet, and even toys. Were sure theres lots of other surprising things in your Puyallup apartment that can be recycled. If you know of any, let us know in the comments. If we get enough, we can do another article to let everyone know.