Is your morning workout the only time you are active during the day? Do you feel like you are stuck in a rut? Trying breaking your workout in two. Do half in the morning and half in the evening. Give your body two chances to rev your metabolic engine. You’ll also get that nice flood of endorphins twice too. If nothing else, try adding a light walk in the evening. Great for stress relief and a great way to keep your body moving and burning.
Most of us don’t have a manual labor intensive job. That means that if we don’t set a piece of our day aside, the exercise often doesn’t get done.
Case in point. Last night I thought that it would be nice to run or walk a few miles today. If I got up early enough before school I would fit it in. I didn’t set my alarm. Do you think I rolled over naturally at 6 ready to move. Uh no.
Now it’s the end of the day. It’s hot. And there’s no one to watch my kids. All this adds to a day that I won’t fit it in unless I shift some stuff around.
It would have been so much easier if I had planned for it in the first place. Look at your calander, set aside an hour and pencil it in. Just like any other appointment. Then keep it. Because your health is everybody as important as lunch with your mother.
I warn you ahead of time. This is a rant.
I read an ABC News story yesterday about radical star diets for the roles they play. The one featured was about Anne Hathaway, the new Catwoman. I have always loved Anne Hathaway in the past because she looked more like a real girl as opposed to a stick puppet. However, to prepare for her roles as Catwoman and an ill girl in Les Miserables, she has at one point dropped her caloric intake to 500 calories per day, and puts 5 hours a day in at the gym.
“The Catwoman suit. It was a psychological terrorist,” she said. “… the suit, thoughts of my suit, changing my life so I would fit into that suit … it dominated my year. I went into the gym for 10 months and didn’t come out.” -Anne Hathaway Allure magazine
Why?!! Why are we doing this to ourselves as a society? Think of some of the past greats. Liz Taylor… Marilyn Monroe. They were women, not barbies. Let’s look at Julie Newmar who played Catwoman in the 1966 movie.
Girl had some curves.
Next up we have Eartha Kitt.
Here’s my current lament. Intense cardio for long periods of time,- ie marathon training- eats muscle. Your heart rate surpasses that fat burning zone and starts eating the carbs and protein, not the fat. So whenever I hit this stage in training, all the hard work I put into my triceps and thighs – totally gone.
So as soon as my training is over (two and a half weeks!) it’s back to the weight room to tone up. Just declaring my intention so you can hold me accountable.
But glean the bit of information from the top, it’s hard to tone up and build muscle if you do regular high intensity (2 hours) cardio a few times a week. By high intensity, I mean your heart rate stays at darn near max the whole time.
Late night snacking has recently become the bane of my existence. After the kiddos go to bed, I’ll usually catch an 8 oclock zumba or yoga class. Then I’ll come home and lock myself away in my writer’s cave with a few cans of Diet Coke and a bowl full of cereal.
I know, not the smartest behavior on the planet. And I totally know better. Right now I can get away with it because I am running 40 + miles a week. But in less than a month, my training will be over, and I will need to batten down the hatches.
Why am I eating? Because I’ve gone and revved my metabolism by taking a late class. True, but also just because I like to have something to pop in my mouth while I’m writing. A very bad habit I need to break. Or at least substitute for grapes or berries.
Food is fuel. Do I need fuel right before I go to bed? No, probably not. So why am I filling up my tummy, go so it can sit and turn to fat while I attempt to sleep. Or have weird food dreams. (Who here hasn’t had the late night cold pizza dream)
So my new goal is to stop. If I workout late, I will have a glass of chocolate milk or protein shake when I get home, then nothing. After 7, no solid food shall pass these lips.
I’ll post an update next week and let you know how my resolve is going. Let the fridge raids cease!
Some people like to workout without music. They like to focus on their breath and how each muscle feels. If I did that my muscles would tell me its time to go home.
I tried reading a book on the elliptical. The up and down made me sea sick. I tried listening to audiobooks, but my panting was louder than the narrator.
So I ended up making a playlist. And because I am a brat, some of the songs are somewhat sarcastic digs at myself. But it makes me laugh and motivates me.
An example: Dixie Chicks- Ready to run, Beck- Loser, Ting Tings- That’s not my name
I’m kind of weird, in that, I have had the same playlist for a year and a half. It’s my running playlist. I have found that I can kind of zone out and chill my brain out if I know the songs that are coming. It’s a little OCD, but it works for me.
Find what works for you. What keeps you in the gym. What helps you get through that last mile. Find what makes it fun 🙂
Milk… does a body good. And for some athletes, chocolate milk can do your body even better.
Studies suggest that for some athletes, after an intensive cardio workout, (cycling, swimming, running) chocolate milk can be better for your body’s recovery than gatorade or the like. It has just the right mix of sugars and proteins to replenish sore muscles.
This is not for the “I just worked out for 15 minutes” crowd. But if you are dead beat after a 45 min or 60 workout, give some low fat chocolate milk a try. Say 6 oz. or 4 oz if you are trying to lose weight.
I’ve been doing this pretty religiously on anything 5 miles or higher. So far, I am able to run back to back days much easier, and my sore limping time has decreased. Give it a shot.
Here’s one of my sources for the article.
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/03/08/chocolate-milk-wants-to-be-your-post-workout-drink/
Have you ever seen those people that do like 200 stomach crunches a day? But their crunches are super fast and only come up part way.
Well guess what. If you did one songs worth of ab exercises, at rhythmic pace, you’d get a much better workout. First off, when you take your time, you create resistance and use strength of muscle as opposed to momentum. Secondly, if you use about 3 different ab exercises in one song, you can exercise upper, lower, and side abs.
Next week, I will post my favorite ab workout that’s helped me have a really strong core. For now just remember that it doesn’t matter how many repetitions you do, if your form is off. You won’t be working the right muscles or getting the most out of your time and sweat.