No shortcuts!

You may have noticed that I did not post on Monday.  Sorry.  Now let me ask you,  did you work out?  Or did you take a short cut? 

There is no quick solution to getting in shape or for weight loss,  it takes work and dedication.  When I ran in college,  I was always tempted to shorten a workout or "go easy" when the coach wasn't around.  That type of thinking or work ethic  will only hurt you.  If you have to do it alone sometimes,  just remember short cuts are like a bad hair cut they don't benefit anyone and will only hurt you!

If your going to take the time to do a workout make it count!

Take a walk!

There are many fun places to walk near our neighborhood. 

Walk to the water tower!

Walk around Spring Lake!

Take a hike up the canyon - unless there is still too much snow.

Go to Payson and walk the Gold Medal Mile near the high school.

Step Six - Increase the Intensity

One major reason people quit exercising is because they do too much too soon.  We are way beyond that now so no need for me to worry that you are going to drop out if I tell you to do something that might be hard for you. Please make a comment if you are reading this blog and you have been exercising. 

You should have been walking for several weeks so you should feel comfortable to increase the intensity.  Here are a few ways to bump up your intensity:   pick up your speed, increase your time, or start walking on an incline (hills).  I want you working, sweating and breathing hard now.  No more leisurely walks will be counted as your workout for the day. 

When you increase the intensity,  just pick one of the ways to start - i.e. start walking faster.  If that feels ok then next time pick up your speed and increase your time, then after a few times if that is feeling ok then go ahead and add hills.  I want you working hard but not getting injured.  If you are used to walking on a treadmill and want to go outside,  walk on the grass or at the track a few times and then onto the pavement - this is to decrease your chance of getting shin splints. 

Here is one of my favorite workouts which takes about 30 minutes: 

Do a 5 min easy walking warm-up. 

Stretch. 

Start walking at an intensity of a 5 on a scale of 1-10 (one being very easy, ten being very hard) for one minute. 

Go to a 6 for 1 min. 

Now a 7 for 1 min.

Then a 8 for 1 min 

 Finally a 9 for 1 min. 

Go back to a 5 and start over and repeat 2 more times. 

Should be at 15 minutes now.  Only five more minutes left. 

On this last set, 

Start at a level 6 for 1 min

7 for 1 min.
 8 for 1 min.
 9 for 1 min.
 Finally a 10 for 1 min.  This will be hard work. 
 After your 10 go ahead and do a 5 - 10 min. cool down (very easy) walk.

The idea is to increase your intensity every minute for 5 minutes and then bump your intensity back down and start over.  Those of you in good shape should be running at the 10 of this workout.  Good Luck!

P.S.  I would not recommend eating a big heavy meal before this workout or you might taste it agian!!!

Have Fun!

Try to find ways to make your workouts fun!!  Here are a few ideas to have fun with your walking program.  Exercise doesn't seem like work when you make it fun - especially with your kids.

Go on a Penny walk - take a penny on the walk with you and at every intersection flip the penny.  If the penny lands on heads turn right.  If the penny lands on tails turn left.  This is one of our favorite walks to do with the kids.

Play follow the leader -  when you take a walk with others - like your family.  Take turns playing follow the leader.

Circuit Hills - find a series of 8-10 hills in the neighbor hood, work the hill hard and rest during your walk to the next hill you have chosen on your circuit. 

Stop and do crunches or pushups every 5 minutes on your walk. 

Play Yo - On a walk with your family, walk in a line starting from youngest to oldest.  The person in the back of the line yells "YO" and makes it to the front of the line as fast as possible - either walking or jogging.  Now someone new is in the back of the line.  Start over - make sure everyone gets a turn several times.

Go to the Track - Take your walk to the track and walk the straights fast and walk the curves slower.  Maybe a good time to try jogging.

                                Try to walk on the line around the track for a few laps - kids like this.

Just have fun!

                               

Step Five - The Workout

There are a few things you need to think about when designing a workout program. Words like frequency, duration, intensity, overload and target heart rate come to mind. Just looking at these words may intimidate you, but I will try to make this simple.


Basically, you should ask yourself this question:
How do I know if what I am doing is doing me any good?


How often should I workout? (Frequency)
We all know too well how hard and long it seems to get into shape and how fast and easy it is to get out of shape. We also know the guy who works out once a month and says he exercises frequently. A good rule of thumb to go by is to work out 3 - 5 days per week. Less than 3 days per week is something but not enough to reap the full benefits of exercising. More than 5 days per week may just get you too tired and possibly injured. Many people work out 6 days a week and are just fine but you aren't going to see much more benefit.


How long should I workout? (Duration)
Even a little time spent exercising is beneficial. If you can only walk for 5 or 10 minutes a couple times a day, start with that. A good rule of thumb is to exercise 20-60 minutes per day. Start out with 20 minutes and gradually increase up to 60 minutes. Most people do not need to exercise longer than 60 minutes unless they are training for something crazy.


How hard should I workout? (Intensity)

This is the part where most people get confused. There are many ways to measure your intensity, to start just give yourself the talk test. During exercise, you should be able to talk but not carry on a long conversation easily. If you can't talk at all you might be going a little hard. If you can talk someone’s ear off, you might not be working hard enough.


A little more sophisticated measurement would be to calculate your target heart rate range (THRR). People who are less active would use the lower end of the range and more active people would use the higher end of the range. To figure your THRR first you need to estimate your maximal heart rate (HRmax).

HRmax = 220 - age

THRR = HRmax X .6 (lower end of range) ; THRR = HRmax X .85 (higher end of range)

 

Example:

I am 34 years old.

220-34= 186bpm

HRmax = 186bpm

186 X .6 = 111.6

186 X .85 =158.1

My target heart rate range (THRR) is 111-158 bpm. Since I am more active, I am going to work out closer to the 158bpm range.

During your workout count your pulse for 10 seconds and multiply that number by 6 - that should give you an idea of where your heart rate is and if you are working hard enough or if you need to slow down a little. Now one common problem I see is that people check their heart rate too often - heart rate goes down and you don't get the benefit of your workout. Just check it once in the middle of your workout - that will give you a good enough idea of where you are.

 

When do I increase the intensity?

I will go over this in depth next week. We have been walking now for several weeks. Boost your intensity by increasing the distance and speed you are walking. Gradually increase your distance until you can easily walk 4 miles at a brisk pace. After you have reached the 4 mile walking goal then you can think about doing an activity that is more intense such as jogging or swimming.

Overload

Too much information-  but one more concept.  Overload - "use it or lose it"  Your body adapts very quickly.  That said,  you have to keep increasing your workload to keep getting the benfits.    When a muscle is worked harder it becomes stronger but when the muscles work load is reduced, the gains are lost.  "Use it or Lose it"

Spring Break

We are going to have fun this week.  Sorry no new Step this week.  Just keep moving, and if it is nice weather try to spend some time outdoors. 

Warning, Warning, Warning,  stay away from your kids easter candy!!!

Remember,  there is nothing to fear but fear itself........and bears.

We'll be back next week!