Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Blog Moved!
I have moved my blog to Wordpress due to its improved functionality and design: runningwithstrength.wordpress.com
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Motivation and Inspiration
This blog has completely motivated and inspired me as of late. Definitely read his story. It is tempting me to run an entire marathon...
Interval Training for Fat Loss
I came accross this article that debunks the myth that slow, steady state cardio burns fat most efficiently. Though, I can't really get into sprints yet due to my training schedule and maxed out weekly mileage, I am always trying to improve my overall time or mins/mile during my regular runs. I wouldn't call myself slow =)
Monday, February 9, 2009
Third Week Review
It's been three weeks since I officially started my 1/2 Marathon training schedule. Just this last Sunday, I ran the longest distance I have ever ran in my life - seven miles. Overall, it was a good run. Since I ran at a comfortable pace, I was cardiovasculary comfortable the whole time. In fact, at the end of the run, I felt hardly winded. The last mile or so started to get a little hard on the knees though. I somewhat expected this, since it took me about 80 minutes to complete. That's a lot of pounding on the pavement! A little sore in the morning. Nothing too bad.
Also, this last week, I incorporated a gym visit to do some weight lifting. My upper body was so weak that the entire rest of the week I was sore. Seriously, this morning was the first day since last Monday that my arms haven't been sore. Thus, I went to the gym this morning and did my upper body and also some leg work. I did some research and found that strength training with heavy weights can improve running economy. I believe what this means is that, when running long distances, our strides decrease over the duration of the run. By strengthening our legs with weights, our stride doesn't decrease as much.
This week--week four--I hope to incorporate two gym visits in addition to my training schedule: 3,5,3,8
Also, this last week, I incorporated a gym visit to do some weight lifting. My upper body was so weak that the entire rest of the week I was sore. Seriously, this morning was the first day since last Monday that my arms haven't been sore. Thus, I went to the gym this morning and did my upper body and also some leg work. I did some research and found that strength training with heavy weights can improve running economy. I believe what this means is that, when running long distances, our strides decrease over the duration of the run. By strengthening our legs with weights, our stride doesn't decrease as much.
This week--week four--I hope to incorporate two gym visits in addition to my training schedule: 3,5,3,8
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Weight Lifting
The following is a strength training routine I found on Calorie-count.com by Floggingsully:
Think of working movements instead of muscle groups. Your body is designed to move in ways that incorporate multiple muscle groups working together, so if you lift like that you'll get better results with less risk of injury. There are 4 main movements your upper body is designed to do, I'd pick one exercise from each (and change the exercises every now and then) and do 3 sets of 8-12 reps for each.
1) horizontal push - bench press, incline bench press, decline bench press, etc.
2) vertical push - military press, dips, arnold press
3) horizontal pull - bent over rows, seated cabel rows
4) vertical pull - lat pulldowns, lat pullovers, pullups, chinups
For your lower body there are two main movements, quad dominant movements and hip dominant movements, pick one of each and forget the isolation exercises (leg extensions, leg curls, abductors) with the possible exception of calf raises
1) quad dominant - Squats, front squats, overhead squats, hack squats
2) hip dominant - deadlifts, sumo deadlifts, romanian deadlifts, good mornings
You can add lunges or step ups also if you like (there is a term for this type of exercise, but I can't remember it, could be unilateral movements, I don't know)
Think of working movements instead of muscle groups. Your body is designed to move in ways that incorporate multiple muscle groups working together, so if you lift like that you'll get better results with less risk of injury. There are 4 main movements your upper body is designed to do, I'd pick one exercise from each (and change the exercises every now and then) and do 3 sets of 8-12 reps for each.
1) horizontal push - bench press, incline bench press, decline bench press, etc.
2) vertical push - military press, dips, arnold press
3) horizontal pull - bent over rows, seated cabel rows
4) vertical pull - lat pulldowns, lat pullovers, pullups, chinups
For your lower body there are two main movements, quad dominant movements and hip dominant movements, pick one of each and forget the isolation exercises (leg extensions, leg curls, abductors) with the possible exception of calf raises
1) quad dominant - Squats, front squats, overhead squats, hack squats
2) hip dominant - deadlifts, sumo deadlifts, romanian deadlifts, good mornings
You can add lunges or step ups also if you like (there is a term for this type of exercise, but I can't remember it, could be unilateral movements, I don't know)
High intensity interval training (HIIT)
I found a website that has a great schedule for beginners in sprinting/ HIIT. It has "8 weeks" of intervals, but the author states that they are more "levels" than "weeks." I'm not going to start sprinting quite yet since I am running my maximum weekly miles in preparation for the 1/2 marathon, but after the marathon, I will be starting interval training.
The first week will look life this:
-5 Min Warm up
-6 Sprint Intervals - 30 Seconds each
-6 Rest Intervals - 90 Seconds each
-5 Min Warm Down
-Do the routine 3 times in the week with a rest day in between each workout
The website uses a 1-10 intensity measurement. The sprint intensity for this week is 7. The author states that a 5 is equal to a light jog. I'll probably start on Week 2 or 3, but this is just an example.
The first week will look life this:
-5 Min Warm up
-6 Sprint Intervals - 30 Seconds each
-6 Rest Intervals - 90 Seconds each
-5 Min Warm Down
-Do the routine 3 times in the week with a rest day in between each workout
The website uses a 1-10 intensity measurement. The sprint intensity for this week is 7. The author states that a 5 is equal to a light jog. I'll probably start on Week 2 or 3, but this is just an example.
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