Post Turkey Day Workout!

Okay, so Turkey Day has come and gone. Did you eat way too much yesterday? Is the ole gut protruding just a little more than normal? Do you feel that second helping of stuffing creeping onto your thighs? Are you feeling a little guilty for having the second piece of pie? (By the way did you know it takes more than 2 hours to walk off a slice of pecan pie?) The average Thanksgiving meal is about 1500 calories. That's almost as many calories you need for the entire day. Then there's all the leftovers and some of you are you still making the rounds and have other family meals to attend.

Are you panicking at the thought of more culinary delights just waiting to temp you?  Do you feel doomed that from here through the New Year you're going to undo all the hard work you've done the previous 11 months? Not to worry! Couple a little self-control at the table with some high-intensity workouts and you'll enter the New Year with something other than "lose 10 pounds" on your New Year's resolution list. 

Remember that exercises targeting the larger muscles groups such as the hamstrings, glutes, and quads will help you get the largest calorie burn. 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. Below are a couple of great post Turkey Day workouts to up that metabolism and burn off some of those few thousands extra calories you took in yesterday.

Ramp it up with a weekly speed workout. Pick one of the workouts below to add to your weekly routine and you'll quickly up your metabolism, drop a few pounds and increase your pace too! (My favorite is #6. It's tough, but man, when you finish it, you feel great!)

• Workout #1—5x1000m @5K race pace with 2-minute recovery (walk or jog) in between
• Workout #2—6x800m @10K race pace with 90-second recovery (walk or jog) in between
• Workout #3—Three sets: 1x1200m @ 10K race pace with 1-minute recovery, 1x400m @5K race pace with a 3-minute recovery (walk or jog) in between each set
• Workout #4—4x1600m @10K race pace with 3-minute recovery (walk or jog) in between
• Workout #5—8x800m @10K race pace with 90-second recovery (walk or jog) in between
• Workout #6—400m @ 5K race pace (30sec recovery); 800 @ 10K race pace (90-sec recovery); 1200m @10K race pace (2-min recovery); 1600m @10K race pace (3-min recovery); 1200m @10K race pace (2-min recovery); 800 @ 10K race pace (90-sec recovery); 400m @ 5K race pace

Not into interval workouts, then try this up-your-metabolism circuit workout.

Or, try this full-body circuit workout.

So enjoy a few of those holiday delights and then hit the road or the gym or both!

Push-Ups, A Runner's Best Friend

One of the biggest reasons, runners begin to slow down as they get older really has nothing to do with age. Instead, it has more to do with a weak upper-body and core. For this post, I want to focus on the upper-body.         

Dr. Kenneth Cooper of the Cooper Institute once said, "We do not stop exercising because we grow old - we grow old because we stop exercising." I think this quote really speaks to why many older runners begin to slow in their 50s and 60s.

Older runners are definitely exercising their legs and their legs aren't the problem. That's why so many are perplexed as to why they're slowing down or fatiguing sooner. In many cases, the "slowdown" has more to do with decreased upper-body strength rather than age. As we get older, our everyday activities require less upper-body muscle. Work has us more sedentary. We're too busy for the softball or bowling league. The kids are grown and we're no longer playing with them in the back yard. We're paying the kid down the street to do the yard work. We gave up that gym membership long ago. As a result, the lack of upper-body and core strength, causes the upper-body to fatigue sooner than it used to. When the upper-body fatigues, you lose good running form. And when that happens, leg fatigue is soon to follow.

So, instead of just accepting that you're getting older, do something about it! Okay, so now your thinking, "I don't have time or the money for a gym membership or to invest in in-home gym equipment." No, problem. You don't need any. Push-ups are one of the best upper-body exercises a runner can do to increase upper-body strength and improve running form.

Push-ups are often thought of as just a chest exercise. Well, push-ups do target the Pec Major muscles, but they also strengthen the Anterior Deltoids (front of the shoulder), Triceps, Biceps, Lats, and Abs. And the great thing is all you need is your body and the floor!

The movement of a push-up is as simple as 1, 2, 3.

1. Lay face down on the floor. With arms bent, place your hands palm-side down on the floor a little wider than shoulder-width apart. Your hands should be positioned in line with your shoulders.
2. Think of your entire body from head to toe as one unit. While exhaling, push away from the floor until you've fully extend your arms. From head to toe, your body should be a straight diagonal line. (No bent knees or arched mid-section.)
3. Inhale as you slowly lower your body, bending your elbows until your chest touching or almost touching the floor. That's one repetition.

That's it! 1, 2, 3! Push ups are one of the simplest exercises, but don't let the simplicity of the movement fool you. They're darn tough, especially if you're new to doing them. Take it slow. If needed, you can do a modified version where you rest on your knees instead of your toes. If you do the modified version, however, you still need to make sure that from your head to your knees is a solid unit (no arched backside). Take it slow. If 10 is max, that's awesome! Stop at 10, take a  break, and then do ten more. Over a week try to work yourself up to doing 3 sets of ten. Once you've mastered that. Shoot for 3 sets of 12. Master that, then go for 3 sets of 15. Working up to 3 sets of 20-25 three times a week is awesome.

After you've mastered the basic push-up, there are countless ways to vary the exercise. Below are seven variations on the standard push-up. These exercises are more challenging and place more focus on either the upper, middle, or lower chest. A few of the exercises even use a med ball to throw in a balance element working all the stabilizer muscles in your arms and torso. Enjoy the variety and have fun. Keep at it and before you know it, you'll be running stronger and longer!

  

Upper-Body Workout for Runners

Friday's post talked about the importance of a strong upper body for runners, especially as we age. The post gave a workout for the core and today I have a workout for the upper-body (arms, chest, and back).

As a runner, the focus of the upper-body workout should be to gain muscular endurance. So, go with lighter weights and higher repetitions. 10lbs to 15lbs dumbbells are sufficient for this workout. You can also use light or medium resistance bands or resistance tubes instead of dumbbells.

The workout consists of a 7-exercise circuit. Do each exercise (10-15 reps) one right after the other without taking a break. Once you've completed all 7 exercises, take a 1- to 2-minute rest; then repeat the circuit a second time. If you're new to upper-body exercises, then begin with 10 repetitions. Each day add an additional rep until you get to 15 repetitions. Also, if upper-body exercise is new to you, begin with one cycle of the circuit for the first week. During Week 2, complete two cycles of the circuit. If you're advanced, try three cycles of the circuit.

It's fine to pair the upper-body circuit with the core workout on the same day. Try doing the core workout in the morning and the upper-body circuit in the evening. You can also rotate days. For example you could do the upper-body workout on M,W,F and do the core workout on T,TH,S. The great thing about circuit workouts is that they're quick. You'll have a strong core and upper body before you know it and you'll start to see the benefits in your long runs too!

Ramp-Up Your Metabolism Workout for Runners!

Earlier this week, I posted on reasons why runners may have stagnated in their running and why they might even be seeing some weight gain. As promised in that post, below is a workout perfect for upping your metabolism, increasing your caloric burn, and increasing your lower-body strength. The extra testosterone (men) and human growth hormone (women) produced from these lower-body exercises will also help offset the cortisol release from your long slow runs which will help preserve your muscle mass and keep your metabolism going strong.

Remember that adding this workout along with a speed workout once a week (on separate days) into your running routine will help make you a lean, mean, running machine. Well, maybe not mean, but you get my drift. The lower-body workout is perfect to add to a day you're doing an easy short to mid-distance run.

If you're currently in training for a big race, I recommend holding off on adding the lower-body workout to your routine until after the race. With anything new, your body will go through a period of acclimation and you may even experience a short period of slower running as your body adapts to the workouts and speedwork. Once you do start, stick with it though and your body will recover and get stronger and faster.

No "Butts" About It!

One of the most overlooked muscle areas of a runner is the backside. Okay, well, maybe it's not "overlooked." Maybe "paid attention to." Nope, that's not quite right either. Hmm... I got it! One of the most under worked muscle groups of runners are the glutes (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus). Yep, the derriere, the bum, the hind quarters, the tush. Weak buttocks have been the culprit in ending more running seasons than possibly any other running-related injury.

The gluteus maximus is the attention getter—the J. Lo of the group. But of the three gluteal muscles, the gluteus medius is a key muscle to focus on when it comes to running. This muscle (along with the gluteus minimus) helps to externally and internally rotate the thigh. It's also a hip abductor (helps to pull the thigh away from the body). Okay, now I know what your thinking, "I don't externally or internally rotate my thigh nor do I abduct my thigh when I run." Correct. However, the gluteus medius is key in stabilization of the hips/pelvis.

When running, the gluteus medius and minimus work together along with the tensor fasciae latae (TFL) to keep the pelvis from dropping to the opposite side. If the gluetus medius is weak, it can affect the stabilization of the hips and plevis during running. If this happens a lot of stress is put on the TFL which can cause patello-femoral pain (runner's knee) and iliotibial band syndrome (ITB) which can present itself as knee pain. Who'd a thunk that a pain in the knee is really from a pain in the butt?!

Unfortunately the repetitive nature of running can actually weaken the gluteus medius. So, what's a runner to do? Work that butt! More accurately, "Work those abductors!" The following simple exercises will whip your gluteus medius back into shape in no time. To maintain strength in these important muscles, be sure to do at least one of the following exercies once or twice a week.

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