Sample Workout: Running & weight training

I can't believe it's almost October! My favorite month is days away and I'm already in the mood for pumpkin. Instead of hitting the sugar-bomb Pumpkin Lattes I add a tbsp of pumpkin pie puree to my oats in the morning (along with a pinch of cinnamon) and it hits the spot. Let's not forget Halloween, the spooky rides at Disneyland, Oktoberfest, the changing of the leaves, and the option to wear scarves and close-toed shoes in Southern California :-).

I WISH I carved these guys.

Source

I've noticed that my website SeeMeFit has been getting a lot of hits (thank you!) but not too many buyers. I think that might be due to the lack of flashy testimonials (which I couldn't legally bring with me from my last employer) and possibly due to the lack of sample workouts. You'd like to know what you're getting if you're spending your hard earned money on a service, right?

Running 101

It was a few weeks ago that I christened myself a “jogger, but not a runner”. Fast forward 5-6 weeks and I’ve run enough miles (74.5 since the Urban Dare post) and read the blogs of enough running coaches that I think I’ve got the basics down. This is a far cry from a year or two ago when I’d decide to go running once in a blue moon, covering far too many miles on my non-runner legs, and hobble back home with an injury.

A little background: I haven’t always been athletically inclined, although I did play field hockey in high school for a semester. My jock phase abruptly ended in 2001 when I was in a car accident that forced me onto crutches for about 2 months and into physical therapy for 6 additional months. I regained full range of motion but lost a significant amount of muscle, mobility, and strength as well as suffering nerve damage. On paper I was doing fine (I didn’t require any more physical therapy aside from a cortisone shot to the knee every 6 months or so), but I felt lethargic and much weaker than before.

Shopping for Fitness: A Guide to Heart Rate Monitors

Last month I covered the basics of training within heart rate zones, detailing which zones are good for which aerobic/anaerobic adaptations. I also discussed the various formulas for calculating your heart rate zone, the age-based formula and the Karvonen formula. Luckily for us there’s a much easier way to figure out which zone you’re in, while you’re exercising (no need to stop and do the math). 

The heart rate monitor, my absolute favorite piece of fitness equipment. Nothing has motivated me to work harder, work smarter, and work longer than my heart rate monitor (henceforth referred to as HRM). 

Focus Your Efforts with Heart Rate Zone Training

Perhaps this post could be called an ode to the heart rate monitor, my favorite training tool. It gives instant feedback and lets me know how hard I'm truly training, based on my cardiac output. If you're a gym-goer you've probably jumped on a cardio machine and seen this familiar sticker or one of its familiar variations. Why so complicated, cardiovascular machines? I'll explain why one (heart rate) zone doesn't fit all because we all have different training goals.

Cardio: Keeping Humans in Shape Since the Dawn of Mankind

No, this won't be a post about evolution and how we're anthropomorphically built to run/walk/jog long/medium/short distances over long/short periods of time while wearing shoes/no shoes. OK, one line dedicated to evolution: people believe all of the above.  For now, the basics! It's a challenge to stick to the bare bones issues because topics like cardiovascular exercise lead to heart rate zones which leads to intensity levels which leads to fat storage burns versus glycogen storage calorie burns...and to that I say, one thing at a time! Exercise doesn't need to be so complicated.