The "I Have No Time To Workout" Workout

Don't have time to workout? Don't have access to a gym? Try this 22min workout. Each exercise works 2 different areas of the body. For each exercise do 6 rounds of 30secs work 10secs rest, then take a 1-min rest before doing the next exercise. Try this workout, then makeup some of your own.

Running and Still Gaining Weight?

Running is supposed to help you lose weight right? Right. But....... There's always a "but" isn't there. And this time you're trying to avoid the "big butt." I know, it's not a laughing matter. You're determined to get fit and lose weight and you're out there every day running, but each time you get on the scale you're not seeing any weight loss or even worse you may be seeing some weight gain.

Well, there's a few things that need to be discussed first. Basically, your body is like a machine and food is the source of the fuel you need for that machine to run. Your body has something called a BMR or basal metabolic rate. Your BMR is the number of calories needed for all your body systems to function when you're at rest. The number of calories beyond your BMR is determined by your activity level. So, if you're a sedentary person, you'll need very few extra calories, if you're lightly active, you'll need a little more. If you're moderately active you'll need still more, and so on and so on. Basically it's a calories in calories out type of system.

To figure out your BMR use the following formula:

Women's BMR Formula:

655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men's BMR Formula:

66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

Remember, once you've found your BMR, this is the number of calories you need just for your body to function at rest. To determine the additional calories you'll need based on your activity level, use the following information:

sedentary (little or no exercise) = BMR x 1.2
lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) = BMR x 1.375

moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) = BMR x 1.55
very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) = BMR x 1.725
extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) = BMR x 1.9

So for example, my BMR is 1470 calories. That's the number of calories I need just to lay in the bed. Right now, I'm in training for the Marine Corps Marathon and I'm running 4 days a week plus doing cross-training two days a week, so I'd fall into the Very Active category. My daily caloric needs while in training are 2535.75 calories (1470 x 1.725 very active level). If I have a lighter week where maybe I didn't get in the cross-training, I'd need to lower my calorie intake.

Now, I'm not a numbers person, and counting calories is not my thinking of fun, so basically I know that when I'm training, I need to eat more and when I'm not training or when I'm training less, I need to eat less.

In general , the problem is that many times we take in more calories than we burn off and so we end up with a calorie surplus. When those calories aren't used as fuel, then they end up becoming fat which is stored all over you body. So becoming more active should help take care of the problem, right? Right....in theory.

Newbies to fitness, be it running or resistance training, will see big gains in their fitness levels the first few months and they'll probably see significant weight loss too. That's because all of the sudden they've jacked up their metabolism and they're burning off more calories than normal. As long as they don't over eat during this period of new fitness, the weight loss usually happens.

The thing is that your body will eventually acclimate to the new level of fitness and even though you may be burning the same number of calories as before, you may see a stall in your weight loss or even some gain.

There can also be something else at play. Have you ever heard someone say, I run 5 miles a day, but I can't seem to lose any weight? Not only will your body acclimate, if you're doing only slow steady runs, your body will release something called cortisol. Cortisol is a nasty hormone that eats muscle mass. Muscle is what burns those calories. So, less muscle means less calorie burn. Less calorie burn means stalled weight loss or weight gain.

So, now you probably have the clinched-up perplexed look on your face. You're wondering, "Well, what in the heck can I do, if running every day causes me to release stuff that makes me gain weight?" That's a logical response. But have no fear! There actually is something you can do and it doesn't involve buying something for $19.95 from an infomercial that comes with a complete set of Ginsu knives.

So, how do you do it? It's simple. Speed work and resistance training are the two best ways to get you over that hump. Both speed work and resistance training (weight training) will up your metabolism as well as increase the release of testosterone (men) human growth hormone (women) which counteracts the effects of the cortisol.

Okay, now you're probably thinking...."Well, I don't have access to a track and I can't afford a gym membership." Well, guess what? You don't need either. Speed work can be done in the form of intervals on a track, but you can also do something called tempo runs and fartleks.

Tempo runs are when you up the pace/intensity in the middle of a run. For example in a 4-miler, you begin with a 1-mile easy warm-up, followed by 2 miles at just below your 10K race-pace, followed by a 1-mile easy cool-down. Fartleks are informal intervals thrown into a regular run. During a five-miler you may throw in 3 or 4 fast segments. These segments can be time-based or distance-based. For example, you begin a five-miler at a slow easy pace for 5 minutes, then ramp it up to a 10K pace for 5-minutes, followed by 5-minutes back at the original slow steady pace. This is repeated throughout the course of the run. The segments can be any time-frame you want or it could be based on distance such as 1-mile slow, 1-mile fast, etc.

Hill workouts are great too. Find a hill with with a 5-7% incline and run up it as fast as you can. Then jog or walk back down the hill. Then back up the hill again fast. Repeat this 3-5 times. Hill workouts create a great calorie burn as well as strengthen your hamstrings and glutes.

Resistance training is weight training, but you don't need a lot of fancy equipment or gym memberships to see great effects. Body-weight exercises or exercises using dumbbells will work fine. Don't have dumbbells? Do what famous marathon coach/trainer Hal Hidgon does—fill gallon-sized plastic detergent jugs with sand and uses those as weights.

Exercises that target the larger muscles groups such as the hamstrings, glutes, and quads will help you get the largest calorie burn. Remember that muscle is what burns the calories, so if you're working more muscle mass, you'll burn more calories. Squats and lunges are some of the best lower-body exercises that will help up your metabolism. Plyometric exercises (hopping, bounding, jumping) will also get a great calorie burn. Jumpsquats, mountain climbers, burpees, ice-skaters, and lateral hops are simple and effective plyometrics exercises that are great for upping the metabolism. (Look on the blog later this week for a video posting of these exercises.)

So, if you're running the same-ole same-ole and feel like you've stagnated, even gained some weight, give speed work and/or resistance training a try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Running, Resistance Training, and Weight Loss

In the last post we learned how sprinting and endurance weight training can help keep a runner from eating his/her own muscle (which can occur from the release of cortisol during long slow runs). There’s also another benefit of speed work and resistance training. Both boost your metabolism which means increased calorie burn. If you burn more calories than you’re taking in, then guess what? You’ll lose weight.

In order to lose a pound of fat in a week, you need to decrease your calorie intake by 3,500 calories weekly (~500cals a day). This can be done by eating less, but it can also be done by burning more calories. Exercise and watching what you eat go hand-in-hand and this combination is the best way to lose weight. It may not be ultra fast, but it will work.

Now be careful not to fall back into the trap of thinking that running will do all the work for you. Remember, the best way to get a good calorie burn is by doing some type of speed work mixed in with your regular weekly runs. Slow steady running (with no other form of exercise) is going to release that bad old cortisol which can eat away at your own muscle. With less muscle, you’ll burn fewer calories which all allow that fat to creep back on you.

Now initially with regular steady running, you may see some weight loss, but unfortunately a lot of that may be muscle loss not fat loss. Slow steady running and not eating can also cause you to gain weight. Have you ever tried to lose weight by just not eating, but instead of losing weight you gain? Your body needs fat to survive. The protective covering (myelin sheath) around your nerves is actually made of fat. If you suddenly stop eating, your body thinks it’s starving and will go into a self-preservation mode. Normally, if you run out of carbs, your body will turn to fat stores for energy, but if your body feels it is starving it will preserve the fat by using muscle tissue for energy. Your muscles are little calorie-burning engines. If you have less muscle tissue, those engines aren't going to be working as hard and your metabolism slows down. This decrease in caloric burn can actually cause weight gain. Can see a viscous cycle happening? If you’ve ever watched The Biggest Loser, one common thread you hear over and over is that “you have to eat to lose weight.” You can’t just eat anything, but if you’re working out while you’re trying to lose weight, you have to remember that you have to fuel and refuel your muscles before and after a workout.

Resistance training also has an added benefit to weight loss. Studies have shown that once you stop running, the extra calorie burn pretty much stops too. Weight training, however, has shown that the calorie burn actually continues for 9 or more hours after completing the workout. So, you continue to burn more calories even after your workout. Sweet!

All of this information does not mean, “Don’t run.” It simply means, “Don’t just run.” In order to keep you a healthy runner and promote muscle growth and regeneration as well as keep your metabolism ramped up, and main your weight (or even lose some), you need to mix it up with speed work and resistance training.

Sprint and Lift!

For year and years, the thought was that long slow runs were the best way to burn calories. Well, long slow runs will burn calories but there’s something else that happens during long slow runs. Something called cortisol is released. Cortisol actually can eat way at your muscle tissue. This can slow your metabolism causing you to burn fewer calories, and you can actually start to gain weight.

Have you ever heard a fellow runner say, "I run and run, but I can’t lose weight"? I bet if you dug deeper into their running routine, they’re probably running the same mileage at the same low-intensity pace week after week. Now while this is good aerobic exercise, it could be doing harm to their metabolism and muscle mass.

So what’s a person to do? The solution is really easy and some of you may already be doing it. Just mix up your routine with some speed work and some resistance training.

Speed work doesn’t have to be on a track. You can do speed work by throwing in something called fartleks into a regular run. A fartlek (I know you’re snickering) is nothing more than speeding up and slowing back down to the original pace over and over during a run. Fartleks can be timed (run at regular pace for 2mins and run a fartlek for 30 seconds or a minute or whatever time increments you like). Fartleks can be measured by distance (run at regular pace for 1 mile and run a fartlek for ¼ mile or whatever distance increments you like). Just remember that after the fartlek to pull back to the pre-fartlek pace. Repeat this process several times during a run and you’ve had a good speed workout. Be sure that your fartlek pace is around your 5K race pace. You can also do a more formal speed work by doing interval workouts at a track such a 6 x 400m). Hill workouts and tempo runs are also good to ramp up the intensity. Research has shown that short intense speed workouts burn just as many (if not more) calories as a long slow run and you don’t get the cortisol release.

A non-running activity to add to the mix is resistance training. I know, I know. It seems sacrilegious for a runner to advocate a non aerobic activity, but hear me out. Resistance training is a fancy way of saying weight training. Weight training or resistance training doesn’t have to consist of just dumbbells and barbells. It can be your body weight. Course, sometimes I’ve been called a dumbbell, but I’m sure I’m the exception.

Now, I know many of you still have ruffled feathers over the non-running activity thing, but be assured; I’m not talking about Arnold-building, bicep-bulging, scary-looking, meathead-with-no-neck kinds of workouts. Arnold and those other big boys used something called hypertrophy training. That’s training designed to create those big bulgy muscles. Runners can use something called endurance training.

Endurance training uses lower weight and higher reps. For this type of exercise, you’ll be using less than or equal to 67% of your one rep max. Basically that’s a weight that you can handle for about 12-15 reps. Or, you don’t even have to use any weight other than your body weight. Exercises like squats, lunges, and deadlifts are great resistance training exercises for runners (with or without weights). Upper body exercises are just as important. Ever been on a long run and your arms get fatigued? If you’ve increase their muscular endurance along with your legs, you’re going to delay fatigue much longer than just focusing on the legs. Core exercises are great too and are extremely important in maintaining proper running form which will help fight off fatigue.

Another key to endurance weight training is that there’s very little rest time in between sets (30 seconds). So give it a try. Lighter weights, higher reps, less rest time in between sets. Now endurance resistance training may not officially be an aerobic activity, but I guarantee that it will get your heart rate up and you breathing hard. Give it a try and you’ll see.

Now as an endurance runner, you’re going to do some long slow runs. In fact you’re going to be doing a lot of them, especially if you’re training for a marathon or ultra marathon. So what gives? Well that speedwork and resistance training also have other added benefits. Sprinting and other forms of speed work, causes the body to release human growth hormone factor which has been called nature’s fountain of youth. It helps your body build muscle tissue as well as repair muscle tissue quicker. Resistance training does a similar thing, it also helps to release human growth hormone factor (more in females) as well as testosterone (more in males). Both of these help build and repair muscle tissue. So, mixing-up your weekly routine with some speedwork and some resistance training helps to counteract the bad effects of cortisol released during a long slow run. Not only that, it also makes your weekly workouts much more interesting!

Chariots of Fire Meets The Terminator

Ever been in a situation where you know you're in trouble and you're not quite sure what you're going to do to get out of the situation? Not a great feeling, huh? I had such an experience this past Friday at the gym.

I've been working on functional resistance training to increase leg-strength and Friday I was on the leg press machine. I was quite impressed with my puny-self pressing 230lbs. All was going really well. I could feel my glutes, hamstrings, and quads expanding, and building muscle as I was pumping that iron (okay it was all in my head, but my backside was burning). All was fine until after repetition #10 when I was trying to engage the safety in order to stop the weights and allow me to take a rest before the next set.

Problem was, the safety would not engage. Try as I might, I could not get the safety to work. Earlier that 230lbs felt really good, but now that same 230lbs felt like 460lbs! As my life was flashing before my eyes, I was trying to figure out a way to get out of this predicament that didn't involve me becoming a flattened pancake.

Luckily right behind me, an "Arnold clone" was doing back squats on the Smith Machine. So, in the deepest voice I could muster, I said, "Hey man, would you mind helping me a second?" Evidently he had been watching me squirm in this predicament and said, "Yes" with a little chuckle in his voice.

Using his hands, he pushed up on the weights to give my legs a break while I continued to jimmy the safety trying to get it to engage. Still no luck. By this time, I was the talk of the gym. Two more Arnold clones came over to see what was going on. Now two guys were holding the weights up while a third tried to engage the safety. Fortunately (saving me some pride) he too could not get it to lock in place.

Then one of the hulks said, "Just lower it." I'm thinking, "What?!!!" So down the weights go and so do my legs, my knees getting closer and closer to my eyeballs. Wishbone was coming to mind. Then finally, "click!" The bar stopped. Unbeknownst to me, there's a backup safety, so if the handheld safety doesn't latch or comes unlatched, you won't get squished.

So, out I scrambled as quickly as possible. Upon further examination, we discovered that the safety was hanging and was in fact not working properly. I was so glad that it wasn't just due to my ineptness.

The one good thing that came from this adventure was I actually communicated with the "Big Boys" in the gym. It's always been "Us" and "Them." The "Haves" and the "Have-nots." Myself being one of the latter. Well on Friday, we found some common ground. Even though I was about a fourth of their size, I seemed to impress them (just a tad) with my knowledge of resistance training. And I realized that these guys (even though they're huge) are just regular Joe's. When I told them I had run 10 marathons, that gained a little respect too. Each of us had strengths, just in different areas.

Will this fiasco keep me from working out in the gym? Heck no. I may be checking the safety on the equipment before climbing in, but it won't deter me from working out. Plus now I don't feel so intimidated by the Big Boys.

Periodization Training for Runners!

Periodization is a fancy word for training cycles. The sports world (particulary football, baseball, basketball, and soccer) has made use of periodzation training for decades. You've just heard it called pre-season, in-season, post-season, off-season.

To use even fancier words, periodiazation training is broken down in to the following cycles:

• Macrocycle—The macro cycle is "the big picture." It's the entire year of training. Or if your training for something specific such as a marathon, it could be for a specific period of time such as 4 months. If you're an Olympian, your macrocycle might be as long as 4 years!

• Mesocycle—2 or more mesocycles (depending on the needs of the athlete) make up a macrocycle. The mesocycles are the pre-, in-, post-, and 0ff-seasons. They ususally last anywhere from several weeks to several months.

• Microcycle—2 or more microcycles make up a Mesocycle. A microcycle is typically a week long, but could last up to 4 weeks. The microcycle consists of the daily workouts.

If you're running track or cross-country in high school or college a more traditional pre-, in-, post-, and off-season training approach will work fine. Traditional running periodization plans typically consist of a base-building phase, a sharpening phase, and taper phase. This works really well for a marathon when you have a 4-month training window. But if you're a year-round runner with competitions scattered throughout the year, what do you do? Even if you don't have particular races in mind, most runners want to get better, be more efficient, and improve their running techinque year-round. Lack of variety and high mileage (even if it's low-intensity) day after day tends to increase your chance of injury.

More of a Multi-Pace/Multi-Volume Periodization approach may be the answer. This approach to periodization includes high-volume/low-intensity, low-volume/mid-intensity, and low-volume/high-intensity throughout the year and doesn't break it up into distinct phases. Depending on your particular goals for the year (i.e., 5K, 10K, half-marathon, marathon, ultra) you'll incorporate more of a particular volume and/or intensity geared for that goal when you need it, but even during your "off-time" or "in-between-race-time" you'll still be incorportating a variety of workouts into your routine. Implementing a multi-pace/multi-volume approach may even drop your overall total miles logged, but remember, it's not the amount of miles you're logging that's important, it's the quality of those miles.

High-volume/low-intensity workouts consist of longer slow runs (your Saturday-morning long run at an easy pace). Low-volume/mid-intensity workouts are comprised of tempo runs where a portion of the run is run just below race-pace. Low-volume/high-intensity workouts are comprised of speed work consisitng of intervals, fartleks, or hill work. The duration of these workouts will be short, but very intense.

The goal of multi-pace/multi-volume periodization is to get your body acclamated to and maintain a certain level of endurance as well as speed throughout the year. Then when you have a particular race to train for, you're not starting from ground zero. You'll be able to fine-tune what you're already doing to meet the particular demands of your event. A specific type of training may be emphasized in each mesocycle of your race training, but you'll still be incorporating all the types of training (long runs, tempo runs, speedwork). For example if your training for a 5K, there will be more stress placed on increasing your VO2 max, speed, strength, and power. If you're triaining for a marathon, the focuse will be on endurance and race-pace running so, your long runs will be longer and your tempo runs will be longer, but you'll still have some speedwork in your plan which will help especially around mile 20 when you may need to kick it up a knotch to fight off muscle fatigue.

Multi-pace/multi-volume year-round training helps you fine-tune your training to meet your specific needs. Have a good pace, but no endurance? You can ramp up the endurance workouts in your training. Have the endurance, but you can't keep a steady pace? You can make pace the focus of your training no matter the distance. The chart below shows a sample month from a RunnerDude Multi-Pace/Multi-Volume year-round training plan.

There are some racing training plans available (such as FIRST) that make use of more of a integral approach to training which include, distance, speed, and pace workouts that dovetail nicely into a multi-pace/multi-volume year-round periodization plan. Many of my running buddies have used FIRST with awesome success.

The main thing to keep in mind, is that all runners are different and there really is no right or wrong method, but if you want something that may decrease your chance of injury as well as have more of a customizable element, you may want to consider adopting a multi-pace/multi-volume approach to training.

Two more aspects of training that should not be ignored are resistance training and plyometric training. Runners should not shy away from resistance training. If done the right way, it can greatly enhance your strength, stability, balance, and form. The focus of resistance training for runners should be on muscle endurance. This involves using lighter weights (less than 67% your 1 rep max), higher reps (12-15), and less rest (30 seconds or less) in between sets.

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Plyometrics is a fancy word for exercises designed to increase speed and power. Plyometric exercises involve jumping, leaping, or hopping movements such as jumping rope, jump squats, burpees, and bounding. Adding 30 minutes of resistance training and/or plyometrics training 1-3 times a week into your weekly routine is a great way to improve your overall strength, endurance, and speed. Plyometrics for Athletes At All Levels (Ulysses Press, 2006) is a great resource for plyometric exercises.

Caution: always warm-up before doing any resistance or plyometric workouts. Hop on the treadmill, elliptical machine, or bike for 8-10 minutes before your workout and then you'll be good to go.

Resistance Training For Runners to Prevent Injury, Run Faster and Further

Over the past three months during my schooling at NPTI, I've learned a great deal about the difference between strength and functional strength. Functional strength is the strength you use in your everyday life or in the sports or physical activity you participate in on a daily basis. Many people (myself included), find themselves at the gym not knowing quite what to do, so they do like I did and read the illustrations on the machines, sit down and start working out—one muscle at a time. Working joints/muscles in isolation will help you look fitter, but in the long run it doesn't help you become stronger in the ways that you use those joints/muscles in your daily activities. Functional training focuses on working groups of joints/muscles replicating natural movements as well as movements used in your various sports and recreational activities.

Recently I was asked to be a member of the guest panel in a podcast hosted by The Runners Roundtable. The topic was resistance training for runners and the featured expert was Amelia Burton, a health and fitness coach from Sydney, Australia. Amelia shared a wealth of ideas for how to use resistance training in a more functional manner to benefit a runner's performance as well as to prevent injury. Through this podcast, which included panel members from the US, England, and Australia, I learned even more about the importance of functional resistance training for runners.

Below is a recent post from Amelia's website AmeliaBurton.com that provides excellent information on resistance training for runners. Check it out and then head over to Amelia's website and check out even more of the great ideas and information she provides.

What’s your training program like? Do you focus on increasing your miles each week, maybe a bit of speed work here and there, and of course a token stretch at the end of each session? Well hats off to you because unlike 85% of the population at least you are doing something! But whether you are an amateur runner or a competitive athlete, adding a resistance session each week might just be the thing you need to take your further, faster and with fewer injuries. This article looks at the reasoning behind resistance training for runners and identifies the top resistance training exercises all runners should do.

What is Resistance training for distance running?
Conventionally we think of resistance training as weights machines, dumbbells, slow movements and heavy weights (with lots of grunting). Resistance training for runners is quite different. It’s about loading the muscles in a manner that replicates running to improve their strength power, endurance and most importantly coordination. It’s about identifying the weaker muscles in the body and developing them to prevent injury. It is NOT about building unnecessary bulk or damaging already fatigued tissue and I must stress that incorrect resistance training can tighten you up and slow you down.

What purpose does it serve?
There are four key areas that resistance training will help you with: Speed, muscular endurance, efficiency of running technique, and injury prevention.

• Increase strength of your prime movers for speed and distance: The stronger your quads, glutes and hamstrings are the faster your will go and the longer you will be able to maintain your pace. Obviously nothing beats running to strengthen these, but resistance work involving sprints, uphill and downhill running improve their strength much faster.
• Prevents injury by Increase strength of your stabilisers: Your prime movers can only work as hard as your stabilisers will allow. It doesn’t matter how strong/fit you are, if you have poor hip knee and ankle stability, you will never reach your full potential in both speed and endurance.
• Increase coordination: Similar to stability, the faster you fatigue the sooner your coordination goes. Look at a distance athlete and how smooth their running style is. That is good coordination. All muscles, tendons, ligaments and joint actions are working in smooth unison to create effortless strides. The more fatigued you get the worse these actions interrelate create a less economical stride which slows you down and increases your chance of injury.
• Increase stride length: As you fatigue, your stride naturally shortens, your muscles tighten and you slow down. By increasing your stride length (within reason) you can maintain a faster pace and waste less energy through excessive foot strikes.

Two Training Programs for Runners
Click here for a printable program you can take to the park/oval for your resistance session. Ideally you will need a stop watch and a skipping rope, but exercises can be performed without them.

Click here for a printable program for Core Stability and VMO/Glute Activation. You will need a swiss ball and leg extension machine for these.

The Runners Roundtable: Podcast on Resistance Training with Amelia Burton

Check out the podcast below recorded live on 9/16/09 with runners from all around the world—England, Australia, and the US! Runnerdude was greatly honored to be invited to be one of the participants in the discussion. The pod cast is about 50 minutes and well worth the listen. Ameila Burton, the featured expert, provides a wealth of information on how resistance training can benefit distance running. To Listen to the podcast, just click on the green circle below.

The Scarecrow Was On To Something!

Watching the funny enhanced video clip of the Wizard of Oz below reminded me of something very serious—the importance of good bone health. While I don't advocate flinging yourself around like the good ole Scarecrow (man he's flexible), I do want to share that running and jumping are two great ways to improve and even increase bone density.

The July/August issue of Sports Health features an article that says weight bearing exercises can improve bone health and prevent diseases and injury later in life such as osteoporosis and fractures. While this isn't earth-shattering news (we've known this for a while), the article goes further to say that activities that put a larger strain on the body (weightlifting), have a higher strain rate (jumping rope), and have a higher strain frequency (running) also help to increase bone density. It seems that including short periods of rest in between the continuous movement also seems to help improve bone density levels. As little as 20 mins of weight-bearing activity a day can help improve bone density.

Your bone density levels usually peak around 30 years of age. So if you're still a young-en, get out there and run, jump, lift weights and get your bone density levels as high as possible. It will be like banking good health for your later years in life. If you're over 30, don't think you're off the hook! You need to get out there and run, jump, and lift weights to maintain your bone density levels.

If you're new to exercise, be sure to consult with your doctor before beginning any exercise routine. Also, if you've been diagnosed with osteopenia or osteoporosis, do not start any resistance training until you've consulted your doctor. You'll probably be able to add some resistance training and/or weight-bearing exercise with modifications, but check with your physician first.