Only one month to go....

We are just one month away from our biggest Health Days Celebration yet! We have so many things going on this year that we are pumped about.  From the bike rides to 3 on 3 basketball tournament to live entertainment and the annual Fun Run, there is something for everyone to participate in! Here are just a few examples of the fun we have had in years past...

Racers getting ready....

And they're off!

Chip timing on your shoe. So convenient.

Just a couple of our beautiful Health Days Scholarship recipients.

Bungee trampoline at Forrester Acres!

We couldn't have pulled it all off without the help of the Smithfield Youth Council!

Come see Mile Marker 6 play live at Forrester Acres!

So many activities for so many ages....

So come on down during Health Days week to help us celebrate Utah's Health City! Find the schedule of events on our website www.smithfieldrecreation.com and let us know if you have any questions!

Don't Forget the Cool Down

One of the first segments of a work out that often gets overlooked is the cool down. It makes sense, your time is precious and so you do a quick warm up, grab some weights and get started. When you're finished with your cardio or strength program you consider the walk to your car good enough for a cool down.

But it's important to remember the major benefits to performing a proper cool down after a hard and intense work out.  Proper cool down should include low to moderate- intensity, large muscle group activity for 5-10 minutes. Changes in the body associated with performing a cool down include: enhanced venous return, or blood flow back to the heart; a gradual decrease in heart rate and blood pressure to pre-exercise levels. Both of these help to decreases blood pooling and the chance of experiencing dizziness and/or feeling light headed.

A cool down also helps encourage improved transport of metabolic byproducts away from skeletal muscle. Which basically means that performing a cool down can decrease muscle soreness.

The cool down is also a great time to include stretching and enhance flexibility. This is when you will see the most benefit in performing static stretches; slowing stretching to the point of discomfort then holding the position for 15 to 30 seconds.

So the next time you work out, try and leave 5 to 10 minutes to cool down and stretch, your body will thank you.


References: American College of Sports Medicine

Happy Easter from Health City!

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter full of good food, great company, and, of course, lots of candy!  Every year here in Smithfield, the Chamber of Commerce holds a community wide Easter Egg Hunt on the Saturday before Easter.  Over the years it has grown to be quite the event.  It began at the small park just north of the Smithfield library but, due to size, has migrated to Mack Park at the mouth of Smithfield Canyon.  Just to give you an idea of the excitement the hunt generates....

Lots of kids and tons of fun! The hunt is open for children 12 and under and a separate hunt is set up for kids under the age of 3. Come join us in 2014 on Saturday, April 19 for our next Health City Easter Egg Hunt!

3-on-3 Basketball

Remember when we mentioned that there might be new additions to this year's Health Days celebration.... well, Smithfield Recreation is super pumped to announce our first annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament!  This tourney is held in conjunction with our Health Days celebration and we hope to continue it for many years to come.  We wanted to add more healthy activities that include all different ages and encourage everyone to participate in events that will boost health and fitness levels.  There were so many ideas flying around but we chose to focus on 3-on-3 for this year.  If you have any suggestions on contests, games, activities, etc., that we can add in the future just let us know!

Anyways, 3-on-3.  Oh man, this one is going to be awesome.  Have you ever been a part of a fast-moving, high-intensity, extremely exciting round of games that bring out the best talent in each player?!  We highly recommend it.  The tournament will be held on Friday, May 10, here at the recreation center.  We have 3 different gyms that we will be using with 10 hoops in total.  So we have plenty of room to accommodate tons of teams!  We are currently taking registrations for teams aged from 12 to 99.  The games will be formatted into a double elimination tournament so you are guaranteed multiple games.  You can find the flyer and rules on our website on the main page, under Adult Sports  as well as City Events.  You can also register online or here at the recreation center.  Come be a part of what is sure to be a long-standing tradition of Health Days!

Smithfield Recreation

Start off Strong and Warm-up first

Performing a warm-up is an important part of any work out. There are several physiological benefits to making a warm up a part of your exercise routine.

Most people do a warm up when starting a work out. A warm-up is just that, warming up the body before engaging in higher intensity exercise. A good warm up involves low-intensity, large-muscle-group activity that is specific to exercise to be performed. So if you are going to perform 100 meter sprints you could warm-up with some light jogging. Your weight training with sets of squats at 80% of your 1 RM (one repetition max), include some squats with out weight or just the bar in your warm-up.

You can also include some dynamic stretching (rhythmical movements that comfortably stretch and lengthen the muscle)  in a warm up after the large muscle activity if desired. An example of this would be knee hugs; while walking bringing one knee up to your chest, repeating with the other leg.

Performing a warm up will increase muscle temperature, increase muscle blood flow increase the body's ability to utilize oxygen, and increase elasticity of muscle. With these physiological changes occurring your body will be better prepared to engage in high intensity exercise, enhancing performance and preventing injury and cardiovascular complications.

Here comes the sun...

Well, welcome to spring in Cache Valley.  Just when we maybe begin to get a small impression that the weather might smile down on us, we get a snowstorm in the upcoming forecast.  Locals who have been here for years are more than used to the sudden changes in temperature. Those who are new to the area.....don't worry, spring is just around the corner!  And we are all looking forward to it. 

Here at the recreation center we are gearing up for Youth Soccer.  We are still taking a few late registrations for U-8 Girls as well as U-10 Boys and U-10 Girls.  The coach's meeting will be held this Wednesday and participants will be getting calls after that.  Coaches will inform their players of practice and game schedules.  If you don't hear from a coach in the next couple weeks, please let us know. 

Other happenings: Adult Softball and Basketball registrations are still going on. Basketball will begin in the middle of April and the softball starts at the beginning of May.  Check out the website for specifics. 

Another sign that spring is almost upon us.....Health Days!!! We are very excited for our 89th (yes, you read that right - 89 years of Health City celebrations) annual Health Days celebration!  This year's dates are May 6th through 11th.  We have so many exciting activities and events, with new ones currently being added.  Stay tuned for more information on that.  As for now, get ready to sign up for the Health Days Fun Run.  Sign ups begin next Monday, March 25th. The race is on Saturday, May 11th at 7:30 am.  It is a great way to start off the biggest day of our Health Days celebration so come on in and register!

Next Monday, we will also begin to take registrations for our third annual Half Marathon and 5k.  We are switching things up a bit this year and the race will be held at the end of July.  Prices are better than ever this year as we are one of the lowest priced half marathons you will find.  Anywhere!  It is $35 for the Half and $15 for the 5k.  This race is a ways out but we want you to be able to prepare as best you can for our Health City Half!

Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions for us.  More information on these and all of our programs can be found at www.smithfieldrecreation.com. 

Health Days Info

Happy (almost) beginning of Spring everyone! It's not looking too great outside but we are already thinking way ahead and getting ready for our 2013 Health Days Celebration. Did you know this will be the 89th year that Smithfield has put on this celebration? That's a lot of health. And you have the opportunity to help us keep it going! We are now taking entries for our parade that will be held at 10 a.m. on May 11th.

The parade begins on 250 East traveling north, turns down 400 South and then heads north again on 100 East to 100 North. More information can be found at www.smithfieldrecreation.com as well as downloadable entry forms. Just email, mail or fax it back to us!

We are also taking registrations for booth space for the celebration down at Forrester Acres! The party begins at 11 a.m. after the parade and goes until about 4 p.m.  If you are interested in being a vendor, concessionaire, or bringing any rides/inflatables please call Dani at (435) 563-0048. Once again, more information can be found on our website. Please let us know if you have any questions!