Lessons On The Run

Sorry I have been away for a few days. Life gets busy sometimes. In fact, I will probably slow down the pace of the blog a little over the next month. Expect to see 2-3 posts a week unless I can find some extra time.

I promised some fitness tips last week so here comes a few. Use the ones that work for you and throw away the ones that don’t!

1. Get in a workout routine – Find a schedule that you can stick to with your workouts. What works best for you? Is it mornings, afternoons, a combo of the two. Try to workout a minimum of 3 days and even better if you can get in 5. Shoot for a minimum of 45 minutes each workout.

2. Mix cardio with strength training – The treadmill, bike, and eliptical are great, but much is to be gained by lifting weights as well. You can do strength training at the gym or with things at home like resistance bands, or exercises like push-ups that use your own weight as the resistance.

3. Set goals – I  have talked about this before but it will be very helpful if you set goals along the way. Journal your progress. An example might be run 10 miles this week on the treadmill at a 12 minute pace, or do 3 sets of 10 reps on the bench press machine at 40 pounds 3 times this week. Every couple of weeks increase your goals.

4. Invest in good shoes – You will be surprised how much better you will do (especially if you are running), if you invest in proper fitting shoes. Yes, they will cost more, but they will be worth every penny.

5. Hydrate – Your muscles need water so drink plenty of it.

6. Energize – Your body needs fuel to burn when you exercise and protein to build muscle. Look for the right nutrients to maximize your workout.

7. Make yourself sweat! – It is called a WORKout for a reason. If your routine amounts to a lazy stroll in the gym, you are not doing enough. Get your heart rate up for at least 20 minutes, and push your muscles to exhaustion. Anything less and you are cheating yourself.

Have a great week getting fit! It all starts by getting out there and going for it on a consistent basis.

gotta run,

steve

Well here we go on fitness week 2. I hope you had a great weekend, going after goals, staying disciplined, and growing stronger mentally, physically, and spiritually.

A lot of times at the gym I run on a treadmill that faces the parking lot. I have been quite amused lately at the number of people who get out of their car to come work out, who are carrying fast food bags to throw in the trash on their way in. It makes me wonder how many people are killing the effects of their exercise by terrible eating habits. Let me give you some thoughts on the nutrition side of healthy living.

If you are trying to lose weight you must burn more calories than you eat. If you are trying to tone or build muscle, you must put the right calories into your body. If you are trying to avoid health issues you need to limit certain things you eat while consuming more of other things. Today let’s talk about some things you need to limit in your diet.

Fats – Do you ever look at the fat content of your foods? Fatty food will carry more calories and will also be worse for your cholesterol levels. There are some good fats, especially those found in many nuts, but even those you need to consume in moderation. For instance walnuts and almonds are great for your “good cholesterol” number, but you need to only eat about 12-15 a day. Look for lower fat alternatives to foods and try reducing your fat intake in total.

Sugar – Sugar is one of your biggest enemies toward health and fitness. They create energy spikes and crashes and they create cravings for more sugar. Also, as you pare down fats, understand that many foods try to cover for lower fats with increased sugar. That is not a helpful trade-off.

Salt – This is the silent killer! The amount of sodium that we eat as Americans is crazy, and it is primarily because we eat so much prepackaged foods. Salt is linked to increased blood pressure. There are probably very few of us that would not benefit from some salt reduction.

Here is something I want you to do this week. Start to research the things you are eating. Keep a journal of what you eat this week and try to get the nutrition info on those items. See how far, or how close you are to the suggested per day totals on calories, fat, protein, sugar, sodium. Remember, it is impossible to improve on the things you do not know. If you eat out, get the restaurant’s nutrition info online or on-site. Look at the labels of the snacks you eat and the grocery items that make up your meals.

If you are trying to get fit with your weight, try to start backing down your calories, fats, sugars, and salt. Just take a first step this week in this regard. Giant leaps are only for the super disciplined people and most people cannot stay with a hyper regimented diet. Remember that health and fitness are lifestyle changes and not “programs” that end when we get to the goal.

Tomorrow, I will talk a little about the things you need to add to your diet!

gotta run,

steve

How can I help you get to the fitness finish line? Today I am going to throw a list of things that have worked for me and I think could work for you as well. The key to any tip is that they have to become personal. If you cannot own an idea for yourself, try something else. Over the years I have tried things that have worked and other things that just did not help me. I have also had to change things up over the years so do not be afraid to add something new or take away something that has become stale. The key is to keep moving forward. Here are some of the basic things that I think are ground level tips.

1. Find out where you are and record it somewhere. Get on some scales and face up to the truth no matter how it might hurt. Record your weight and BMI at a minimum. I would add resting heart rate and blood pressure, and if you can get them your cholesterol numbers.

2. Set a target goal and a target date to get to that goal. You have to know where you are going if you hope to get there. Once again, write it down. Here is an example. By Aug 1 I want to be at _____ pounds, logged _______ miles/hours in fitness training, and have my resting heart rate at ______ .

3. Create a fitness routine that you will commit to for the long haul – What is a schedule of activity that you can reproduce a minimum of 3-4 times a week. It needs to be at least 45 minutes long and it needs to have some cardio and some strength training. The key here is to schedule it just like you would any appointment. You only miss it in an emergency.

4. Drink water, lots and lots of water. – I used to hate water, but I knew I had to change that habit so I just started drinking it. I adapted quite quickly. I went from 2-3 diet cokes a day to maybe 1 a week. I drink around 1/2 gallon to a gallon of water a day. Go buy a good water bottle and just refill it several times a day. If you live in Columbia, you get the added bonus of having one of the best tasting tap waters in the country according to taste tests. Don’t waste money on bottled water.

5. Know what you are eating. – Start to read the nutrition labels on things from the grocery and on things you eat out. Now, be warned that at first it will scare you to death, but it will also cause you to rethink that third Krispy Kreme when you realize each one represents two hard miles on the treadmill. Did you know that some popular fast food meals are more than your entire suggested calorie intake for the day?

6. Log your progress – It is important to monitor your steps along the way. Get you a notebook and start logging what you eat, how much you workout, etc. I log my workouts with an iphone app (more info later), but find a tool that you can use to keep up with where you are going.

7. Don’t obsess but be disciplined. This is a fine line to walk. I would probably tell you to lean toward too much discipline at first because let’s face it, we are a pretty lazy, undisciplined culture. Our top of the western world obesity rate was earned by carefree living.

There you go. Seven initial steps to get going toward a fit and healthy future. I think I am going to keep this track going for at least one more week so stay tuned as I dig down deeper on each of these topics. Tomorrow, how your smart phone can help you get to where you want to go.

gotta run,

steve

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