Tag Archives: outdoors

Member Spotlight: Susan Palombo

Susan with her sweet dad

Roots:
I was born and raised in Tulsa, OK, went to UT Austin for undergraduate (Plan II), then moved to Minneapolis, MN and lived there for 30 years. We have been back in Austin for 1 year and are loving it!

Basic Family Stats:
I have been married for 32 years to John Palombo. We have three children. Nick, 26, is a middle school science teacher in St. Louis. Michael, 22, and his twin sister, Megan, graduated in May — Michael from Vanderbilt and Megan from UT Austin. Michael has moved to Austin for a job with GLG Consulting, and Megan is interviewing.

Current/Previous Occupation:
I love my career, which is helping individuals and families feel better about their path to reach their family, foundation and financial goals through our Wealth Management practice with Merrill Lynch.

Biggest lesson learned through iGnite experience:
Working out with positive trainers and friends outside in the Austin sunshine with iGnite is such a fabulous experience. Working out doesn’t have to be “bootcamp with pain and suffering!”

Best advice I’ve been given:
Through his wonderful examples, my 90 year old active and healthy father has taught me so much. One particularly pertinent lesson is: Listen more, talk less.

In my free time, I like to:
Be outdoors in nature, read and get together with family and friends.

If I were a pair of shoes, I would be:
I still have my hiking boots from 5th grade, and I think I would be them. They are long-lasting and reliable, strong and functional, outdoors-loving, well-loved leather
with beautiful patina and comfortable and sturdy boots. They have traveled a lot of miles, covered a variety of terrain, scaled some altitude, grown up and matured, made some mistakes, saved my life and witnessed a lot of conversations by hundreds of bonfires. These boots have lots of energy and endurance. They have been a good friend to me. I hope that I can be that good of a friend to others.

You May Also Like:

Enjoy the Great Outdoors

3 Replies

iGnite - Enjoy the Outdoors

by Alli Phillips

I encourage you to watch this short video summarizing new research on the positive effects of outdoor exercise on emotional state and mental health. What I find especially interesting is the finding that not all outdoor exercise is equal in its effects on our mental/emotional health…. Supporting what most outdoor exercise enthusiasts and iGniters already know, the research indicates that exercise in natural outdoor environments has a greater effect on mood and mental-emotional health than exercise in man-made outdoor environments. Although similar in some short-term affects on physical health, exercise in nature compared to indoor or even other outdoor “city-dweller” environments, is vastly more effective in improving mental and emotional state, and therefore important for overall health in the long-term.

Living in Austin, we have so many great opportunities to workout in nature.
Here are some suggestions:

Running/Hiking:
Barton Creek Greenbelt
Bull Creek Trail
Brushy Creek Trails
River Place Preserve Trails
Walnut Creek Trails
McKinney Falls Trails
Hamilton Pool Nature Trail

Swimming or Water-Running/Treading:
Barton Springs Pool
Twin Falls on Barton Creek
Bull Creek
Hippy Hollow
Hamilton Pool

I do hope you’ll get out and enjoy the great outdoors right here in Austin! Add hiking and/or swimming in nature to your summer bucket list…It’s cheaper and more effective than therapy and medicine!

You May Also Like:

4 Benefits to Working Out in the Great Outdoors

4 Replies

workout outside

by Kathleen Parker

This is great info! You will love it 🙂

There are numerous benefits of working out in the great outdoors:

1. It’s Harder and More Effective

Studies found that outdoor running/walking is more strenuous than the indoor treadmill/eliptical. In studies comparing the exertion of running on a treadmill and the exertion of running outside, treadmill runners expended less energy to cover the same distance as those striding outside, primarily because indoor exercisers face no wind resistance or changes in terrain, no matter how subtle. The machines are obviously doing some of the work for you. When you run outside, YOU provide the movement. Running outside increases your work load from 2% to 10%!!!!

The same dynamics apply to CYCLING:

Where wind drag can result in much greater energy demands than going the same distance on a stationary bike. That means if you have limited time and want to burn as many calories as possible, you should head outside instead of the gym!

2. It Improves Your Mood

In a number of recent studies, volunteers have been asked to go for two walks for the same time or distance — one inside on a treadmill and one outdoors. In all of the studies, the volunteers reported more enjoyment outdoors, scored significantly higher on measures of vitality, enthusiasm, pleasure and self-esteem and lower on tension, depression and fatigue after they walked outside! And of course exposure to direct sunlight greatly affects your mood.

3. You’ll Do it More Often, for Longer and Be More Active

In another study, those who exercised outside exercised longer and more often than those working out indoors, and were significantly more physically active than those who exercised indoors!

4. Stress Reduction

A few studies have found that people have lower blood levels of cortisol, a hormone related to stress, after exerting themselves outside as compared to inside!

We are blessed to live in Austin, Texas where we can work out outside most of the year, so keep moving!
~Kathleen