Rock Your Boat: Learn to Love Kayaking

Taking the plunge, contributing editor Christie Aschwanden shares her first kayaking experience.

I don’t like water. The very thought of being adrift on top of it terrifies me. But so many of my friends have become passionately devoted to kayaking that I finally decided to find out why. I booked a trip to Washington’s San Juan Islands—quite a distance from where I live in Colorado, so I couldn’t just give up and go home. Besides, the notion of paddling among seals and whales seemed enticing … at the time.

Now, though, standing on the beach in a storm, with a cold wind and sheets of rain whipping around me, I realize that I’ve chosen a bad day for my first kayaking adventure. My inner voice is chanting, “I told you so. I told you so.”

But my instructor, Allan Willis of Discovery Sea Kayaks, is a man with a plan. He takes me to a calm oasis in an inlet called Smallpox Bay. I’m grateful, but can’t help wondering if I really want to get anywhere near a body of water named after a disease. I try to adopt Willis’ easy attitude as I don a waterproof “drysuit” to keep me warm and a life vest to keep me afloat in case I (gulp) tip. With the kayak still halfway on the beach, I get in and adjust the seat to a comfortable position. Willis shows me how to hold the paddle, and we push ourselves forward into the water.

Ferocious waves slap at the mouth of the bay, and we stay close to the shore, which suits me fine. Then Willis insists that I confront my worst fear: capsizing. The notion of going overboard frightens me, but Willis assures me that it will boost my confidence. He demonstrates, purposely tipping his boat and then gracefully climbing back in. I take a deep breath, then spill into the water. Thanks to my trusty life vest, I quickly pop back up next to my still-upright kayak. He’s right: Falling out is no big deal. But when I try to pull myself back into the boat, it shoots out from under me. After a couple of tries, Willis suggests I swim to the back of the boat, pull down on the end so I can get it beneath me, straddle it, and slide forward to the cockpit. To my surprise, it works.

Next, he teaches me the basic forward stroke: inserting the blade into the water at the front of the boat and pulling straight back. My arms quickly tire, until Willis tells me I can gain more power with less strain by using my ab muscles and twisting my torso like a wind-up spring. I try it, and the pressure on my arms immediately lightens. It’s like I’ve discovered an extra gear.

I then learn to turn the boat by taking the blade in a giant arcing motion and gently tilting my hips in the direction opposite the way I want to go. I realize I’m actually having fun as I rotate in circle after circle.

I make it through my first lesson intact, but I want more. So the next day, armed with nice weather and new confidence, I head out for a sightseeing tour with kayaking outfitter San Juan Safaris. Paddling in the shadow of snowcapped peaks alongside picturesque islands, I finally begin to understand why my friends are so passionate about this. Life feels different on the water. As if to punctuate my newfound appreciation, a harbor seal swims up to my boat and stops, head cocked, eyes fixed on me. We gaze at each other for several moments before he disappears back into the deep.

What’s in it for you
Kayaking burns an impressive 340 calories per hour (based on a 150-pound person) while toning your back, shoulders, arms, and abs.  (Read how kayaking compares with other water workouts.)

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Do Date Rape Drug Tests Really Work?

When Friday rolls around and the stress of the week is finally behind you, the only thing you really want to do is head to happy hour and laugh with your friends. You switch your mind off and order a round of spicy margaritas for the table (and half-priced guac, obviously).

This scene is all too familiar to my friends and me, and it’s exactly what we did this past Friday night. But this week we added something new to our routine. I tucked a new testing kit made by Undercover Colors into my pocket and used it to check my drink for drug tampering.

RELATED: Here’s What Really Happens to Your Brain When You Drink Too Much Alcohol

You might think that sounds paranoid. Yet we’ve all heard plenty of scary stories. A woman goes to a bar or party, orders a drink, and takes her eye off her glass long enough for a creep to put something in it that incapacitates her so she can’t fight off a sexual assault.

My friends and I are very alert and aware. But it’s ridiculously easy to forget about babysitting your drink when you’re getting together and decompressing after a long week. Plus, we tend to hang out on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where happy hour on a Friday looks like a pack of parched desert animals finding a watering hole. In a crowded bar with so many distractions, it’s hard to be 100% vigilant.

It’s impossible to know just how prevalent drug-facilitated sexual assault is. Many cases go unreported, and no reliable statistics exist to quantify how often it happens. But the #MeToo movement has opened our eyes to sexual assault in general, and the case of Bill Cosby—who admitted to putting prescription sedatives in women’s drinks so he could have sex with them—has dominated the media. (Cosby was just convicted and sentenced to 3-10 years in prison.)

While I’m not usually a worrier, I decided to order the kit to see how it worked, and if it was something we could use regularly when we go out, just to be on the safe side.

There are a number of tests out there, like Sabre’s strips and DrinkSafe’s coasters, which both test for GHB and ketamine (two common date rape drugs). But the Undercover Colors test can detect a wider range of drugs, including flunitrazepam (roofies), alprazolam (Xanax), diazepam (Valium), and a few others. This option seemed to be the most discreet and simple to use.

Each Undercover Colors single-use test is about the size of a quarter, making it convenient to slip into your purse or pocket. I kept one in my pocket and the rest in my purse (the starter kit comes with five tests), which made it easy for me to pull one out when I wanted to use it. All I’d have to do is put a drop of my drink on the test sheet, and seconds later I’d know if it had been tampered with.

I decided to try it out when I got up to go to the bathroom. As I left my seat, I didn’t tell my friends to watch my drink like I usually do. When a woman sidetracked me by complimenting my pants (and of course, me then complimenting her shoes), I didn’t worry about my friends forgetting my drink and rush back to my table; I could spend a little time chatting with my stylish new friend. 

RELATED: I Was Sexually Assaulted in College. This Is How I Started Healing, and What I Do to Cope With Triggers in Today’s News Cycle

When I finally returned to the table, a second round of chips and guac had been placed in the center, and my drink was exactly where I’d left it. After opening the test and dabbing a drop of my drink onto it under the table, two lines popped up within about 20 seconds telling me that my drink was drug-free. My friends hadn’t even noticed that I tested it.

I’ll be honest, it was so much easier to trust the test to give me the lowdown on my drink than to trust that my friends hadn’t taken their eyes off of it while I was in the bathroom. Even if they had watched it closely, I have no doubt the new bowl of guac would’ve stolen their attention when it came out. I mean, how could it not?

Had one line shown up on the meter—meaning my drink had been drugged—we would have known it was time to leave our drinks and head to another bar, no question about it. 

RELATED: 5 Real Women Share What It Was Like Giving Up Alcohol for a Month

Having the test to keep me completely informed was seriously liberating. My friends and I also realized we could also use it on each other’s drinks if we thought one of us was acting strange or felt sick out of the blue. By relying on a drug test like this one, you’re not only protecting yourself but also the women around you.

I’m going to continue tucking the test in my purse so I have it on me whenever I go out, and I think it’s a smart idea for other women to do this too. You never know when you could find yourself in an uncertain situation. Even if you don’t plan on using it, you could potentially save a friend, or even a stranger, from becoming a drug tampering victim.

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CrossFit Exercises Anyone Can Do

With its slew of insider-only lingo, intriguingly bare-boned training spaces, and celeb backing (Jessica Biel, Channing Tatum, and Vanessa Hudgens, to name a few), CrossFit has inspired an almost fanatical devotion from its followers.

In addition to being the ultimate (and 4-million-strong) #fitfam, this is likely because the workout program works. Research by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s exercise physiology program found that women who performed two different WODs (that’s “workout of the day” in CrossFit speak) burned over 12 calories per minute and maintained an elevated heart rate throughout the entire workout. Translation: These women were torching calories, building muscle, and improving their cardiovascular endurance in as little as five to eight minutes.

Trouble is, walk into a CrossFit box (or simply scroll through a CrossFitter’s Instagram) and you’ll see someone attempting and banging out reps of brag-worthy, tough-looking moves, which can feel pretty exclusive. “A lot of CrossFit moves look super-intimidating,” says level two certified CrossFit trainer Emmy Simpkins, owner of CrossFit Speakeasy and a CrossFit Regionals athlete. “But once you have the strength and skill to complete them, they’re not as tough as they look.”

Whether you’re a WOD-loving CrossFitter or not, you’ll realize that the below five exercises from CrossFit only look tough, after Simpkins and doctor of physical therapy Grayson Wickham, CSCS and founder of Movement Vault, break them down step-by-step.

RELATED: 5 Full-Body Moves to Do When You’re Sick of Burpees

Front Squat

Equipment: Kettlebell or barbell

How to do it: Hold one kettlebell in both hands at chest level and stand with your feet hip-width to shoulder-width apart. Stand tall and brace your core, then drop your butt back and down as you keep your chest up, sitting back onto your heels. Driving through your heels, come back up to standing and give your glutes a squeeze. That’s one rep. Aim for four sets of eight to 12 reps.

Once you can comfortably complete the above with a 44-pound kettlebell, transition to a barbell front squat. Here, you’ll hold the barbell in a front rack position. “Start out with just an empty barbell, and rock out reps with the barbell. Then, slowly add weight as you feel comfortable,” Wickham suggests.

Why it works: “Any squat variation is going to work the lower body, but because the weight is front-loaded for the front squat, your torso has to be more upright. This front-loaded position makes the movement quad-, glute-, and abdominal-dominant,” Wickham says. Because the rest of your body has to work to stabilize the load of the barbell, this is actually a full-body move, he adds.

Single-Arm Dumbbell Snatch

Equipment: Dumbbell

How to do it: Pick a weight that you can easily hold overhead for 20 seconds, like a 15- or 20-pound dumbbell to start. To begin, stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, hips shifted back. Using an overhead position (palm facing down), grab the dumbbell with your left hand. Bring the weight in between your legs, pointing your right arm straight in front of you for balance. Explosively drive your hips forward as you raise your left elbow up and back, bringing the weight overhead with a straight arm. Stabilize the weight overhead, then release the weight back between your legs to return to the starting position. That’s one rep. Do four sets of 10 reps per side.

Why it works: “The snatch is an Olympic weightlifting move that CrossFit ‘borrowed,’ but the great thing about the single-arm dumbbell snatch is that anyone can do this powerful, hip-driven, lower-body-focused movement,” Simpkins says. “Single-arm dumbbell snatches are a fantastic exercise for developing core strength and stability,” Wickham adds. “But they also work your lower back, hips, shoulders, traps, glutes, and even calves. They’re deceptively full-body.”

Toes To Bar

Equipment: Pull-up bar

How to do it: Grip the pull-up bar so that your hands are slightly wider than shoulder-distance apart. Hang from the bar with a straight back and engaged core. Keep your legs together as you bring your knees to your elbows. Then, kick your toes and feet to the bar. (Depending on your skill level, this can be done with the help of a kipping motion for momentum.) Keep your arms straight as you bring your toes to the bar. Drop your legs back down slowly so that you are in control of the descent. That’s one rep. Repeat for three to four sets of six to 10 reps with as much rest as needed between.

Why it works: “To lift your legs up while hanging from a pull-up bar, your core muscles have to be fully engaged,” Simpkins says. While the movement primarily engages the abdominal and back muscles and taxes your grip, it also targets the hamstrings, hips flexors, lats, and groin, she says.

Toes to bar is a relatively advanced exercise, explains Wickham, so those who can’t yet do them should focus on knees to elbows. “For knees to elbows, the athlete should try to get their knees as high as possible while keeping their legs together,” he says.

Burpee Box Jump

Equipment: Box

How to do it: Start standing with feet hip-width apart about one to two feet from the box. Next, reach forward and drop your hands to the floor. As your hands reach for the floor, jump your feet back into a plank, and immediately lower your entire body to the floor. Release your hands and allow your body to drop to the ground. Replace your palms on the floor, push up into a plank, and hop your feet forward to your hands. That’s one burpee.

Then, as you stand, without pausing, swing your arms back and jump explosively onto the box. Land as softly as possible with both feet on the box in a semi-squat. Then, jump or step off the box and back to the ground. That’s one burpee box jump.

Try doing 30 at the end of your workout as fast as you can while maintaining good form. Or work up to doing 10 to 15 per minute every minute for 10 minutes for a real cardiovascular burn.

Why it works: What’s so great about burpee box jumps is that they translate into strength, explosiveness, and cardiovascular endurance, Simpkins says. “Burpee box jumps are challenging because they get your heart rate up quickly and are full body, so your cardiovascular system will feel it after only a few reps,” she says.

“Box jumps use all the major muscle groups of the legs, while burpees literally work almost every muscle in your body, including your chest, triceps, and abs,” Wickham says.

If you’re not quite ready for a box jump, step up onto the box instead, Simpkins suggests.

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Handstand Push-Up

Equipment: Wall and mat (optional)

How to do it: Kick or walk your feet up the wall into a handstand, so that your back is against the wall and your stomach is facing out. Keeping your legs straight, rest your heels against the wall, and brace your core, glutes, and thighs so that your body is in a relatively straight line.

Then, bending at the elbows, look between your hands and slowly lower your body until your head touches the floor or a mat. (As with the toes to bar, depending on your skill level, this can also be done with the help of a kipping motion for momentum.) Without pausing at the bottom, reverse the movement and return to the starting position by straightening your arms. That’s one rep. Aim for four sets of three to four reps to start.

Why it works: This exercise is all upper-body–triceps, lats, shoulders, delts–but it’s also a core movement, because in order to keep your back from arching, you need to brace your middle, Simpkins says.

Note: This is an advanced movement. The handstand push-up requires the muscles in your upper body to work much harder than standard push-ups because you’re pushing a larger percentage of your bodyweight (a.k.a. all of it). It’s best reserved for people who can do at least 10 standard push-ups and who can hold themselves in a handstand for 30 seconds.

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