One Mile at a Time

Monday, December 7, 2009

I crazily agreed to run a half marathon with my mom a few days ago - crazy because the race is on Dec. 20th. So I have stepped up my casual 2 miles of running, 3 days a week, to doing a lot more. And while I am still in no way a runner, I have realized that if I just keep doing a bit more each day and do one mile at a time, it isn't so bad.

This past week, I got up to 4 miles, and today I will try for 5. Since I am doing a longer distance, I know I can't run the whole thing, so what I have been doing is running 2 minutes at about 5.2mph, then walking 1 minute at 4mph. It evens out to a good pace overall, but the slowing down to do a brisk walk for a minute really helps me to keep going. Usually, I don't like slowing down to walk, I like to just go for it, run the whole thing and be done. But that only works for about 2 miles, so if I am going to have any chance of doing 13, the walking is necessary.

So, wish me luck!

My First Paycheck Splurge Will Be...

Friday, August 21, 2009

A BodyBugg for sure! ( http://www.bodybugg.com/) If you haven't seen these, they are devices that you strap on to your arm and they can track (with around 90%+ accuracy) how many calories you are burning. Then, it goes along with a computer program where you can track your food. They use this on the Biggest Loser, and it looks very cool. It's somewhat expensive, but not prohibitively so, and since I don't have to pay for a gym membership (I have one in the building), I think I can justify it. And I like the idea behind BodyBugg, b/c, at the end of the day, despite all the diet tips & tricks you hear, it is ultimately a #'s game - burn more calories than you eat.


I was talking to a friend of mine who is getting a PhD in physiology and he was telling me that, yes, there are some differences between the calories burned from running vs. elliptical vs. strength training, etc. but at the end of the day, just look at everything as a numbers game, don't get too caught up in all sorts of crazy theories.

A Gym-Free Workout?

Saturday, June 27, 2009

So, my school gym plan expires on June 30th; I am moving into an apartment with a gym in the building on Sept. 1, so I've got a 2 month gap, too short to really start a gym contract somewhere. I can renew the school membership for July for $75/month, which I was going to do, but now I have come up with a new plan. I'd say it's high risk, high reward - I will either fail miserably or become a much better runner, lol! As for strength training, I have Jillian Michael's workout video at home, along with a mat, free weights, a weighted exercise ball, etc. - not to mention squats, lunges, etc. don't need equipment. So I am good there, I just needed to figure out cardio.



I had gotten decently okay at doing running on the treadmill - I definitely am not good, but there is improvement. However, I am terrible at running outside. So, I have decided to use this time to do some running outside. There is a Target 2 miles from my apartment, and today, Andrew & I ran there (well, I ran 1/2, walked 1/2) and then walked back. Obviously, I am nowhere near being able to run 2 miles outside without stopping, but this is Day #1, so I am planning on trying to run there and back 5 days a week - well, run as much as I can, and walk the rest. Either way, I'll need to get back, so I'll be forced to do 4 miles of some kind of exercise!

A Novel Cardio Warm-Up

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Even when doing a full hour of just strength training with my PT, she always has me do a cardio warmup to get my heart going. Here's some cardio warm-ups that she's had me do that I definitely would not have done on my own :)

Elliptical Intervals - Often, instead of just a few minutes on the elliptical at a medium intensity, Kerry would have me do a minute of lower intensity (about 130 stripes per min) then a minute of super high intensity (at least 180 strides per min). Try it, even just for 5-10 min, it's hard to do!

Bicycle Arms Workout - So, this is a cardio warm-up, but also an arm exercise - and it is pretty darn hard! (Note - you need two people to do this). Here's what you do - get on a stationary bike, and start going; have someone behind you hold the middle of a workout band, and give you the handles of the band. Then, push the band forward while holding a handle in each hand. The motion should be like a chest press:

Good luck with your warmups :)

ZUMBA!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Today I tried out a new class at the gym - after trying out spinning last week, I was feeling dangerous, lol - and did Zumba today w/Nola. It's basically a mix of latin dance moves and strength training exercises.

It was pretty fun, but you have to be prepared to look like an idiot if you have absolutely no rythym like me. And it didn't seem too hard at the time, but I am definitely getting sore now, so it seems like a pretty good workout! My workout schedule for this week has been pefect, it was a great mix of classes, cardio, strength training etc:

Thu: 1 hour strength training w/Kerry, my PT

Fri: 1 hour spinning class

Sat: Day Off

Sun: Strength training (45 minutes)

Mon: Elliptical & strength training (90 minutes)

Tue: 1 hour of Zumba

Wed: I think tomorrow shall be the elliptical or treadmill :)

Like I've said before, I think switching things up is always a good way to get out of a fitness/weight loss plateau!

Running Update: 2 Miles!!!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I went to the gym with Andrew this weekend (it's so frustrating because I am a morning gym person but he always wants to go at like 2pm, at which point my motivation to work out is pretty much gone, lol!) and he has been pushing me to try to get better at running, and so he hopped on a treadmill next to me and did his 5 miles at some ridiculous 8 mph pace or whatever he does, while I did my more leisurely 5mph pace - I often wanted to get off but he kept giving me the thumbs up, telling me to keep going, it was nice :)



And although I had to take a couple 30 second breaks, I did manage to run 2.25 miles! I am so proud of myself! I am never going to be a runner, nor am I really trying to be, but i figure it's good to switch up my exercise between the elliptical, running, strength training, classes, etc. I definitely had a hard time, and wanted to get off after a mile, but I somehow made it! I've just got to try to get better at stopping less! (I have made a pact not to slow down & walk at all because then I never can get started again, but if I really am failing, I will press the stop button and take 10 seconds to get a sip of water and then get back on).

The Workouts

Saturday, December 13, 2008

I have posted a lot about diet, so I thought I should post some on exercise - I definitely don't profess to be any kind of fitness expert, but hey, perhaps I will have some useful tips!

Cardio:

My cardio routine is nothing too exciting, I do the elliptical 3-4 times a week for an hour. One thing to focus on is to try to make sure that you have got a good resistance, your strides per minute (SPM) are high, etc. and monitor your heartrate.

See, the reason the elliptical seems so much easier than the treadmill is that it is easy if you keep it on a Resistance of 2, and put the ramp on 2, and do like 120 strides per minute - that's not to say that it isn't good to do this as a beginning workout, but it's more like walking than running. So, over time I have tried to keep my resistance at 7 (I have worked up from 5-7, I am going to try to go up to 8 at some point, but haven't done it yet), my SPM at at least 150 (before my trainer, I never really realized I was always doing only around 130, so I have bumped it up), and do the weight loss interval workout.

As for heartrate, I think my max heartrate is like 196; and getting your heartrate up is definitely the best monitor of how good of a workout you're getting. I usually get up to like 175 as a max, which I think is decently good.

Strength Training - Ab Workout

So, it's kind of hard to explain strength training on a blog, it's kind of a visual thing, but I'll try to throw out there all the exercises you can do at home with just three things - 5 lb weights, 10 lb weights, and an exercise ball (I got the ball with the weight at the bottom so the ball stays balanced on the floor). I do strength training 2-3 days a week.Today I'll go through some ab stuff you can do:

I have found that the ab workouts that really kill that Kerry has me do are:

(1) Laying down on the floor, a mat, lifting your legs like in the picture and just doing a regular crunch; and not pulling your neck too much. Do 10 of these.

(2) Lift your legs straight up (as straight as possible, that part is hard for me!) like in the pic; place a 5 lb weight behind your head - reach back with your arms to grab the weight (hold one end of the dumbell with each hand) and then lift the weight up to your ankles. Do this 10 times.

(3) Do bicycle crunches - lift your legs up like the first picture and just touch your right elbow to your left knee, then left elbow to right knee, etc. (and the other leg that is not touching your elbow should be completely straight - this is harder than it sounds!)

Repeat all 3 (another 10 times of each) - it doesn't sound that hard, but do it and your abs will really hurt, especially if this is in conjunction with other strength training!