Product Review: Reebok Easy Tones

Sunday, February 21, 2010

I was totally sucked in by the Reebok Easy Tone commercials they kept airing in the fall, and so I put them on my Christmas list. My mom very kindly bought them for me (and she actually had a coupon & free shipping on http://www.shoes.com/ so she got them for $75, so they were about the price I'd pay for sneakers anyways), and since I've now had them for a couple months, I thought I'd give my thoughts (oh, and I got the Easy Tone Inspire, pictured below):

- They are very comfortable to wear/walk in. You feel a bit of a burn in your butt mainly, and some in your legs, if you do serious walking in them (like if you do a brisk walk for like 2 plus miles), but on a normal day of walking to work in them, you feel only a tiny burn. But the burn is good, cuz it means they're doing something, and like I said, on a normal day it's quite minor, you wouldn't get to work and be like exhausted or have sore legs. Even when I did a 3 mile brisk walk in them, my legs only felt a little sore for like 30 minutes after the walk.

- For awhile I was just walking in them, but this past week I tried them to run in on the treadmill and really liked them. I ran faster in them, and also felt afterwards like I had both ran and done a leg workout. I think I will be using them for this more in the future, though I can't attest to how they'd do running outside - it's been way too cold here for that!

- I have honestly noticed a difference in the tone of my legs. Previously, I had done leg workouts with a trainer, running, classes, the elliptical, etc. - and although my legs might have burned, or I might have lost weight, there had been NO difference in the tone of my legs, they still looked all jiggly. I don't wear the Easy Tones on a daily basis, but even from the amount I have used them, I have seen a difference, my butt and the upper part of my legs in general just looks smoother and more toned, I don't see all the cellulite bumps.

In short, I give these two thumbs up! Anyone else try these out?

Interval Running - Sample Workout

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

I have been doing a good bit of running lately to try to start training for another half-marathon. But I am not someone who can just get on the treadmill, set it to 7.0 and go for miles - not even close! I usually have to change the speed frequently so I can get a little rest, then do some bursts of faster running.

I found a good sample interval workout on the treadmill, and just wanted to share it:

1 - 5(minutes) brisk walk at 5.0
6-7- jog at 5.5
7-8 - run at 6.5-6.8
8-9 - jog at 5.5
9-10 - run at 6.5-7.0
10-11- brisk walk at 5.0
11-12 - run 6.5-7.0
12-13 - brisk walk at 5.0
13-14 - run at 6.5-7.0
14-15 - jog at 5.5

Also, this can of course be adjusted for however fast you can go - you can start out the walking at 3.0 or 4.0 and adjust the other speeds accordingly.

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!

Running for Beginners

Thursday, September 24, 2009

So I am the first to admit that I have never a "runner" nor will I really ever be - well at least in the sense that I'll never just get up and run 5 miles, no problem. 3 miles is still my maximum, and that wasn't at any great speed. Anyways, my mom has always been the same way, and in seeing in how we both "learned to run" I've realized that everyone definitely has their own method of doing it, and it's definitely very individualized.

The Walk/Run Method - so my mom is definitely a walk/runner; and she made it all the way from not being able to even go a half mile to doing a half marathon, all in about a year's time, which is impressive! She basically just started out with a method of like Walk 4 min/Run 1 min; and then slowly worked all the way to Walk 1min/Run 4 - every day she just ran a little bit longer than the day before. And this really works well if you just are the kind of person who could never run a mile all at once, but could do a good distance if you just were able to do some walking breaks in between.

The "Just Do It" Method - so, there's really not much to teach in terms of my method of how I learned how to run finally - for me, I think it was mainly mental. I did try doing some walk/running, but for me, every time I would slow down to like 3 mph, it was SO hard to go back up to running like 5mph. So, I just always do like a 1 minute warmup at around 3mph, then crank it up to 5-6mph, run at that speed until I can't take it anymore, then dial it down to like 4.5mph. And I basically just run as much as I can - and then if say I could only run a mile, I'll still do other cardio so that I didn't only have a 15 minute workout. And over time, if I really do it every day, I can run a little farther each time. And I realized that I really need to start out at like the highest speed I can handle and go down from there; because like I said, a lot of this is mental, 5mph doesn't seem as bad when you've just been doing 6, right?

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!

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).

One Mile at a Time

Sunday, January 4, 2009

On Friday, like I mentioned, I decided to try some running just to switch things up. I generally have always been terrible at running - it makes my heart rate go up really fast, and it gives my stomach cramps, and no matter how much people said I would get used to it if i just did it enough, it didn't happen. I have done the treadmill for like an hour before, but that was like walk 1 minute, run 1 minute - the furthest I had actually consistently run without stopping was like 1/4 mile. So on Friday, I did "run" a mile - but it was a walk/run situation, so I only really ran 1/2 mile, and not all at once either.




Anyways, so I went to the gym yesterday and decided that perhaps the walk/run thing just wasn't helping me at all, and I needed to just go for it. I got on the treadmill, set it at 5 mph, and then, somehow, I just ran a mile. I have no idea how I did it, b/c I have tried this many times before and never gotten even to a 1/2 mile. But somehow it just happened, and I was very proud of myself - no stopping, no walking - I am going to try to see if I can keep increasing this :) I think the whole walk/run thing actually makes it harder for me personally, because once I slow down, it's so hard to get going again.