I think Alli Mckee read my mind, she wrote in her blog about a commercial that came on while she was working and it stuck with her. I saw that same commercial and thought WOW. Nike did a great job with this ad. Basic premise is how every athlete goes through steps of practice for their sport and how it’s not always easy taking those steps –you may stumble at first but in the end it was worth it.
The ad is for Nike and the song The Hours – “Ali In The Jungle”
It says:
“It’s, not, how you start, it’s how you finish.
And it’s, not, where you’re from, it’s where you’re at.
Everybody gets knocked down,
Everybody gets knocked down,
How quick are you gonna get up?!
Just how are you gonna get up?!”
Great lyrics and it applies to life, we’ve all been there. Most of us can relate to this message whether it’s job, school or family. And if you’re training for sport or training for competition you know it’s not always easy. For those of us who are working to change their bodies and drop weight you know what I’m talking about. We train hard, eat well and put in many hours trying to reach our fitness goals and sometimes we slip up, this is where we get knocked down. When you slip up, it could be food related, missing a workout, doesn’t matter. DON’T DWELL ON IT. Brush yourself off and get back into the fight.
If you slip up don’t fast or workout for 3 hours, just get back to eating clean. Don’t let one bad meal turn into a week of bad meals. How quick are you gonna get up?!
Remember it’s not about deprivation, it’s smart eating and training. It’s staying with it. It’s about not beating yourself up and keeping your head up!
We’re all going to stumble and fall, maybe more than once. But think back to what Hulk Hogan used to say, “Whatcha Gonna Do?” Get back up! Keep training! Keep working hard for your goals no matter what the goal may be…that goal is for YOU and when you reach it, it will be worth the effort!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Interval Training --how hard to push!
Those of you who work with me know I’m not a huge fan of distance running for weight loss or transforming your body. But I could talk about this subject till I’m blue in the face and I will still see the “speed limpers” running endless miles without changing their bodies.
If you want to transform your body –here’s the best plan.
1)Clean eating –not a diet, it’s a LIFESTYLE.
2)Resistance training –lifting weights that are challenging with good form. 3-4 days per week.
3)Interval Training –many options here, find something you can do for short bursts. 2-3 days per week.
If your plan includes just running your body will eventually stop responding. This type of exercise is considered steady-state cardio. Your body adapts extremely fast to steady-state cardio and you'll burn fewer and fewer calories the more you do. But on the positive side –HEALTH ---yes this type of training is “heart healthy” and is very beneficial in that regard. The bottom line with steady-state is that it’s not the way to train if your goal is fat loss and body composition change; there are better methods for training (resistance training, intervals, boot camp).
Who should run?
Folks training for an endurance event.
If your sport requires running.
If it’s the only type of exercise you enjoy.
If you love the outdoors and look forward to that “runners high” –I’m not going to discourage you.
If your running is intervals –hills, walk/run or sprint.
Remember Interval Training is NOT for everyone. Because it’s tough and if you do it correctly, your body is not going to like you— but it will get better. Please use caution and make sure you’re prepared to do it. Sometimes you’re not feeling 100% maybe an easy 30-40 minute session is better that day than an all-out interval session. You can't go all-out every workout-you have to take it easy every once in a while - yes I said it. Doesn't mean you sleep walk through every session. Get out of your comfort zone and keep hard Interval training sessions between 12 -30 minutes. Listen to your body!
My wife LeeAnne was at one time a “cardio queen” (sorry dear), her body responded at first, but eventually it adapted. Last year she finally added Interval Training to her routine and guess what –she got GREAT RESULTS.
Here’s what she wrote in her latest blog entry:
My husband Mark help me put this together basically because I'd hit a plateau and couldn't figure out how to push past it.. My diet had been pretty clean and I thought I was working out hard enough, but we figured out my cardio was the culprit...
Cardio days should be intervals not steady state cardio. Meaning you’re not going to just hop on a treadmill and walk for an hour. This is the area where I had to make a huge adjustment with my training, specifically the intensity. I like most people believed that the best way to burn fat was just walking or running longer not harder. The best thing about intervals is that you burn calories hours after you finished your workout, not just during the workout. With steady state you just burn calories WHILE you’re doing it, a huge difference. When I shortened the workout and increased the intensity, I got better results.
It was tough at first because I never pushed myself hard enough to find that level where I needed to be. The key is to get to a level that’s uncomfortable for you and then taper off – so your heart rate is going up and down. If you’re just starting out then a simple walk/run routine will get you familiar with the training.
The key is understanding how your body feels at the different levels of intensity. The best way to do this is by monitoring your body through the workout. You do this by using the Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale.
It’s a subjective rating system that rates your effort level so you know how hard you’re working. It’s a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being very easy and 10 being maximal effort. Keep in mind, your level 7 might be different than my level 7 in terms of speed or incline, but both of us will be having a hard time talking non-stop.
Level Intensity Ability to Maintain Talk Test(the percieved rates are from Valerie Waters Red Carpet Ready book)
1 – 2 Easy --- Easy to maintain for a long period of time can carry on a conversation with no effort
3 - 4 Easy – Moderate----- Possible to maintain with minimal effort can carry on a conversation with min effort .
5 - 6 Moderate -----Possible to maintain but requires work Can maintain conversation with some effort.
7 - 8 Moderate – Difficult ----- Difficult to maintain this level of intensity Conversation requires much more effort.
9 - 10 Difficult – Peak Effort ----Difficult to maintain for more than a couple of minutes No talking zone BE CARFUL this level can make you feel sick.
So after you’re used to a walk/run routine or want to change up your routine you can organize the workout a little different. A simple example is a 30 minute workout like this:
Time Type Intensity Level
5 minutes Easy - moderate 3 out of 10
5 minutes Easy - moderate 4 out of 10
5 minutes Moderate 5 - 6 out of 10
5 minutes Easy - moderate 4 out of 10
5 minutes Easy - moderate 3 out of 10
5 minutes easy 2 out of 10
30 minutes
You can build on this and eventually jack up that intensity to a level 7 or 8 instead of a 5 -6 –But remember a good rule of thumb, the more intense the interval, the shorter it will be.
For me I think I never knew how it felt to be at that level 7 or 8 but once I figured it out, I started to get better workouts and I got leaner. Another big step for me was buying a Heart Rate Monitor, then I knew what my heart rate number was when I was at a level 8 or 9 – this is where talking became very difficult –this was then my HIGH number and I could use my Monitor to adjust my intervals.
Remember we’re all going to be different with our numbers and some of us can’t use a formula for calculating max heart rate, I’m one of those people. My resting heart is super low and it fluctuates from day to day, so using a standard formula doesn’t work for me. The TALK TEST is best for me.
So what I did was by using my monitor I did my intervals and tried to push myself hard to get to that level 8 (where talking was REAL tough) once there a read that number on my watch and recorded it –THAT WAS MY TOP NUMBER. Now going forward I can monitor myself using my watch during my intervals.
My plan for a while will be doing an interval for time say 30s try to reach my HIGH number than instead of resting for a specific amount of time just let my heart rate drop 30 beats before I repeat the next interval.
There are so many routines and interval workout options out there, it’s endless. But the key is the intensity –
If you want to transform your body –here’s the best plan.
1)Clean eating –not a diet, it’s a LIFESTYLE.
2)Resistance training –lifting weights that are challenging with good form. 3-4 days per week.
3)Interval Training –many options here, find something you can do for short bursts. 2-3 days per week.
If your plan includes just running your body will eventually stop responding. This type of exercise is considered steady-state cardio. Your body adapts extremely fast to steady-state cardio and you'll burn fewer and fewer calories the more you do. But on the positive side –HEALTH ---yes this type of training is “heart healthy” and is very beneficial in that regard. The bottom line with steady-state is that it’s not the way to train if your goal is fat loss and body composition change; there are better methods for training (resistance training, intervals, boot camp).
Who should run?
Folks training for an endurance event.
If your sport requires running.
If it’s the only type of exercise you enjoy.
If you love the outdoors and look forward to that “runners high” –I’m not going to discourage you.
If your running is intervals –hills, walk/run or sprint.
Remember Interval Training is NOT for everyone. Because it’s tough and if you do it correctly, your body is not going to like you— but it will get better. Please use caution and make sure you’re prepared to do it. Sometimes you’re not feeling 100% maybe an easy 30-40 minute session is better that day than an all-out interval session. You can't go all-out every workout-you have to take it easy every once in a while - yes I said it. Doesn't mean you sleep walk through every session. Get out of your comfort zone and keep hard Interval training sessions between 12 -30 minutes. Listen to your body!
My wife LeeAnne was at one time a “cardio queen” (sorry dear), her body responded at first, but eventually it adapted. Last year she finally added Interval Training to her routine and guess what –she got GREAT RESULTS.
Here’s what she wrote in her latest blog entry:
My husband Mark help me put this together basically because I'd hit a plateau and couldn't figure out how to push past it.. My diet had been pretty clean and I thought I was working out hard enough, but we figured out my cardio was the culprit...
Cardio days should be intervals not steady state cardio. Meaning you’re not going to just hop on a treadmill and walk for an hour. This is the area where I had to make a huge adjustment with my training, specifically the intensity. I like most people believed that the best way to burn fat was just walking or running longer not harder. The best thing about intervals is that you burn calories hours after you finished your workout, not just during the workout. With steady state you just burn calories WHILE you’re doing it, a huge difference. When I shortened the workout and increased the intensity, I got better results.
It was tough at first because I never pushed myself hard enough to find that level where I needed to be. The key is to get to a level that’s uncomfortable for you and then taper off – so your heart rate is going up and down. If you’re just starting out then a simple walk/run routine will get you familiar with the training.
The key is understanding how your body feels at the different levels of intensity. The best way to do this is by monitoring your body through the workout. You do this by using the Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale.
It’s a subjective rating system that rates your effort level so you know how hard you’re working. It’s a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being very easy and 10 being maximal effort. Keep in mind, your level 7 might be different than my level 7 in terms of speed or incline, but both of us will be having a hard time talking non-stop.
Level Intensity Ability to Maintain Talk Test(the percieved rates are from Valerie Waters Red Carpet Ready book)
1 – 2 Easy --- Easy to maintain for a long period of time can carry on a conversation with no effort
3 - 4 Easy – Moderate----- Possible to maintain with minimal effort can carry on a conversation with min effort .
5 - 6 Moderate -----Possible to maintain but requires work Can maintain conversation with some effort.
7 - 8 Moderate – Difficult ----- Difficult to maintain this level of intensity Conversation requires much more effort.
9 - 10 Difficult – Peak Effort ----Difficult to maintain for more than a couple of minutes No talking zone BE CARFUL this level can make you feel sick.
So after you’re used to a walk/run routine or want to change up your routine you can organize the workout a little different. A simple example is a 30 minute workout like this:
Time Type Intensity Level
5 minutes Easy - moderate 3 out of 10
5 minutes Easy - moderate 4 out of 10
5 minutes Moderate 5 - 6 out of 10
5 minutes Easy - moderate 4 out of 10
5 minutes Easy - moderate 3 out of 10
5 minutes easy 2 out of 10
30 minutes
You can build on this and eventually jack up that intensity to a level 7 or 8 instead of a 5 -6 –But remember a good rule of thumb, the more intense the interval, the shorter it will be.
For me I think I never knew how it felt to be at that level 7 or 8 but once I figured it out, I started to get better workouts and I got leaner. Another big step for me was buying a Heart Rate Monitor, then I knew what my heart rate number was when I was at a level 8 or 9 – this is where talking became very difficult –this was then my HIGH number and I could use my Monitor to adjust my intervals.
Remember we’re all going to be different with our numbers and some of us can’t use a formula for calculating max heart rate, I’m one of those people. My resting heart is super low and it fluctuates from day to day, so using a standard formula doesn’t work for me. The TALK TEST is best for me.
So what I did was by using my monitor I did my intervals and tried to push myself hard to get to that level 8 (where talking was REAL tough) once there a read that number on my watch and recorded it –THAT WAS MY TOP NUMBER. Now going forward I can monitor myself using my watch during my intervals.
My plan for a while will be doing an interval for time say 30s try to reach my HIGH number than instead of resting for a specific amount of time just let my heart rate drop 30 beats before I repeat the next interval.
There are so many routines and interval workout options out there, it’s endless. But the key is the intensity –
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