Red and yellow bitten ice pop or popsicle isolated on white background with clipping path
Hard seltzer rocked the beverage market in 2019, causing an explosion of brands to flood store and bar shelves. Even beer makers like Bud Light, Coors and Corona got in on the action, releasing cans of the sparkling, alcoholic fruity drink.
This summer, the hot new party store find is boozy ice pops: frozen wine, seltzers or cocktails in a plastic sleeve like the Fla-Vor-Ice from childhood, but this time with an AVB percentage on the label.
Many have been around for a season or two, but this summer were seeing stores flooded with a wide variety. Many are coming from the same brands that brought us hard seltzer.
Some are claiming to be low in calories, which can be deceiving considering there are only a few ounces of actual drink in each pop, about 3.4 ounces. One pop is going to get you about as buzzed as a big gulp of chardonnay would, which may be what youre looking for as low-alcohol beverages are definitely in vogue.
Another thing to note is that these are usually sold unfrozen. So if youre planning on getting some for a party, make sure theres time for them to freeze first.
Heres how some of the most widely-available alcoholic ice pop brands measure up.
Cutwater Cocktail Pops: Maker of award-winning spirits, canned cocktails, mixers and now cocktail pops, Cutwaters flavors are bold. The San Diego-based companys frozen pops have no artificial sweeteners and come in all-nature flavors like lime margarita, rum and cola, gin melon and vodka mule. You can really taste the ginger in the mule, and the gin melon has a natural watermelon flavor. These run about $22-$25 for a 12-pack. 7% ABV. 80 calories. Available at Kroger and other markets.
Truly Lemonade Freeze Pops: These are, truly, great flavors for summer. A trusted name in hard seltzer, Trulys new adult frozen treats come in original lemonade, mango lemonade and strawberry lemonade. The frozen seltzers are more sweet than tangy and are sold for around $20 for a 12-pack. 5% ABV. 80 calories. Widely available.
Slim Chillers Skinny Freezers: This company makes frozen pops with wine and spirits. I think their best products are the peach mango bellini wine cocktail and the orangeberry mimosa. You can taste the wine, and the experience is more like a real frozen drink than a popsicle. For being branded skinny, these and the vodka versions clock in a bit high at 100-114 calories. The Skinny Threezer pops are three layers of frozen drink, two with tangy fruit flavor and a third with a cream center, giving it more of a blender drink vibe. The three layers seem to separate, though, and dont always blend together. At 160 calories for three ounces, they arent really skinny, either. Sold in 8-packs for $18.99. All versions are 8% ABV and the cream in the Threezers are 11% ABV. Widely available.
Dailys Poptails: You may have seen this brands other frozen cocktail products in the past; they are not new to this game. Their wine-infused poptails come in strawberry, green apple and watermelon. At $14.99 for a 12 pack, they are the most thrifty of the bunch and taste like wine coolers. 6.8% ABV. 90 calories. Available at Target and other stores.
Bud Light Seltzer Frozen Icicles: Just released last month, these pops come in cherry limeade, blue raspberry and summer ice. Theyre branded Bud Light, but these are frozen seltzers, not beer. Reportedly available only for a limited time, theyve been hard to spot in stores. Bud Light Seltzer Frozen Icicles are smaller than the others at just 2 ounces. 5% ABV. 100 calories.
Swimming is often touted as a great workout for all ages, offering benefits not only for the body, but also for the mind. As a form of exercise, swimming keeps your heart rate up and builds muscle strength. It also can be a great form of stress relief.
Swimming is a wonderful sport. I definitely recommend swimming for people of all ages, says Dr. Matthew Crowe, a Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine expert who spent many hours in the pool as a competitive swimmer in his youth.
Swimming is easy on the joints, and its very good for both cardiac health and your core strength. And it also can give you really excellent strength around the shoulders, and hips and knees, says Dr. Crowe.
While the benefits of swimming and aquatic exercise far outweigh the risks, injuries can occur, especially with competitive swimmers who often train upward of 20 hours a week.
Kicking and lower extremity injuries are pretty rare. Most of the issues we see are overuse injuries, especially shoulder injuries in teenagers and young adults, says Dr. Crowe.
These injuries usually come as a result of improper form, overtraining and from not using the core muscles correctly, he explains.
Swimmers need strong legs and strong arms. But what really protects people from injuries are core musclesthe abs, the lower back muscles and all the muscles around the shoulder blades that are stabilizing the shoulder blade to prevent injury.
For most competitive swimmers, Dr. Crowe says activities outside the pool are just as important.
Swimming is about 60% in the pool, about 20% strength work and 20% endurance.
But no matter the sport, he adds: The primary way we can prevent injuries is to have athletes be well-rounded and involved in multiple activities that target different parts of the body.
Running is one of the easiest ways to work out and stay fit. But for beginners, how do you get started?
I think the best part about running is that its a very simple exercise. All you really need is a pair of shoes and the motivation, says Dr. Chad Asplund, a Mayo Clinic sports medicine physician.
But he says its important to start a running routine the right way.
Take a step back and sort of do a self-assessment on your fitness level. How long its been since youve exercised previously? And whether you have any underlying medical conditions that may become an issue if you start a vigorous exercise program, says Asplund.
Once you have the all-clear, dont overdo it right out of the gate. Instead, begin with a walk-to-run program.
Start with a mix of walk/run, then gradually build up to a smaller amount of running. And then increase that running until you get to your goal, he says.
And for runners, the most important piece of sports equipment is on their feet.
What the research has supported is the best shoe is one thats comfortable and fits well, says Asplund.
Using these tips, youll be a regular runner within a few weeks.
I think most people over the course of a month could go from zero running to 3 miles of running with an adequate progression, says Asplund.
Ready steady go. Man sportsman start running. Runner handsome strong guy isolated on white. Workout training. Run faster. Running sport. Keep running every day. Healthy lifestyle. Gym run club.
