RunnerDude's At-Home Full-Body Workout #13

With most gyms and fitness studios closed due to Covid-19, getting in you weekly workouts can be a challenge. Below is the RunnerDude Full-Body At Home Workout #13 that takes a little over 40 mins. The workout includes lower-body, upper-body, and core exercises. (Be sure to checkout Workouts 1-12 here!)

The workout is a modified Tabata format. There are 9 rounds. Each round has 6 cycles of 30 sec work/10 sec rest. After all 6 cycles are complete, you get 1-min of rest before moving to the next round of 6 cycles. Each round either has one exercise for which cycle cycle you switch sides (i.e. lunges on your left side, then lunges on your right side), or there are two different exercises that you'll rotate between for the 6 cycles. I know you may have limited equipment at home, so the workout uses only a light-medium set of dumbbells. If you don't have dumbbells, try holding canned vegetables, or half or full-gallon jugs filled with water. You could also hold books or hold light ankle weights. If you don't have any weights or alternative weights, you can still do the movements without weights.

The workout is free, but if you'd like to make a donation for the workout in support of RunnerDude's Fitness during Covid-19, donations can be made via Venmo http://venmo.com/RunnerDude or Paypal https://www.paypal.me/runnerdudesfitness. Give the workout a try and let me know what you think. Post some pics of you doing the workout and staying motivated!

For RunnerDude's Full-Body Workout #13,  all you need is a mat and a light to medium pair of dumbbells.

RunnerDude's At-Home Full-Body Workout #12

With most gyms and fitness studios closed due to Covid-19, getting in you weekly workouts can be a challenge. Below is the RunnerDude Full-Body At Home Workout #12 that takes a little over 40 mins. The workout includes lower-body, upper-body, and core exercises. (Be sure to checkout Workouts 1-11 here!)

The workout is a modified Tabata format. There are 9 rounds. Each round has 6 cycles of 30 sec work/10 sec rest. After all 6 cycles are complete, you get 1-min of rest before moving to the next round of 6 cycles. Each round either has one exercise for which cycle cycle you switch sides (i.e. lunges on your left side, then lunges on your right side), or there are two different exercises that you'll rotate between for the 6 cycles. I know you may have limited equipment at home, so the workout uses only a light-medium set of dumbbells. If you don't have dumbbells, try holding canned vegetables, or half or full-gallon just filled with water. You could also hold books or hold light ankle weights. If you don't have any weights or alternative weights, you can still do the movements without weights.

The workout is free, but if you'd like to make a donation for the workout in support of RunnerDude's Fitness during Covid-19, donations can be made via Venmo http://venmo.com/RunnerDude or Paypal https://www.paypal.me/runnerdudesfitness. Give the workout a try and let me know what you think. Post some pics of you doing the workout and staying motivated!

For RunnerDude's Full-Body Workout #12,  all you need is a mat and a light to medium pair of dumbbells.

Ask the Coach: What's the Best Fuel?

As a running coach, one of the most asked questions I get (especially among my race trainees) is, "What's the best fuel, fat or carbs?"

I learned along time ago, that like politics, food can be a very emotional topic for people. So, I'm not here to say one fuel is bad and one fuel is good. I can share from personal experience and from the research which tends to be better for a runner. As an individual, you an decide what's best for you. And as always, consult with your physician and/or registered dietitian when making any dietary changes, especially if you have specific dietary needs or a physical condition dependent on a specific diet.

In my race training plans I provide my runners with basic fueling guidelines to support their pre-, during-, and post run fueling and refueling. These guidelines provide basic carbohydrate, protein, and fat recommendations based on my education from RRCA, ASCM, and NPTI. From my running coach's perspective, carbohydrates are a runners main source of fuel.

A lot of recent popular diet programs use a fat-for-fuel approach. A big draw to these programs is initial quick weight loss. Most of the fat-based diets severely restrict carb to as little as 10% while increasing fat up to 75% of calories. The bases for his shift is that this type of diet for the athlete will prevent bonking or crashing. This type of diet is supposed to provide a bigger reserve of energy sustaining activity for longer periods of time. Research has been done showing that ultra marathoners and Ironman triathletes who had a high fat diet of 70% fat and 10% carbs for 9-36 months burned fat at much greater rates during an 180-min run than those who followed a lower fat diet of 25% fat, 59% carbs. This outcome seems pretty good.

More research, however, shows that for sports where you need to kick it up a notch at times, a high-fat diet, isn't going to provide that umph you're looking for. Why? Well, as your body learns to burn fat more efficiently, it impairs your body's ability to burn carbohydrates. Your body uses fewer chemical reactions to convert carbs to energy. So, with a proper carb store and your body being able to quickly convert carbs to energy, you can get that boost you need to charge that hill, or pull out of a fatigue slump, or change gears  as you near that finish line. With conversion of fat to fuel, your body is more like, "Oh okay, you want to go faster. Wait, hang on. I'm working on it."

Idea Fitness Journal (April 2018) shares that in a review of 61 studies, the vast majority showed that diets relying on more calories from carbs than fats were optimal for athletic performance (Stellingwerff & Cox 2014). None of the studies showed that a carb-rich diet hurt performance. Most research shows that decreasing carbs in favor of fat isn't likely to get you to the finish line faster. (Burke et at. 2017; Havemann et al. 2006; Urban et al. 2017; Zinn et al. 2017).

Another thing to keep in mind if you desire to go to a high fat/low carb diet is that it takes weeks to adapt to. I do not recommend a runner who wants to try a high fat diet switch to it while at the same time starting a race training program. Start the transition several months prior to starting race training. Why? When switching to a high fat diet one can expect to experience fatigue, constipation, and mood swings none of which would be great to experience while starting up a race training plan.

Personally, I'm a proponent of eating a well balanced diet. I'm a strong believer in a good mix of complex carbs (including whole grains, fruits and veggies), healthy fats, and protein is key. Then when kicking in race training, I believe slightly increasing healthy complex carbohydrates is key in supporting your workouts.

RunnerDude's At-Home Full-Body Workout #11

With most gyms and fitness studios closed due to Covid-19, getting in you weekly workouts can be a challenge. Below is the RunnerDude Full-Body At Home Workout #11 that takes a little over 40 mins. The workout includes lower-body, upper-body, and core exercises. (Be sure to checkout Workouts 1-10 here!)

The workout is a modified Tabata format. There are 9 rounds. Each round has 6 cycles of 30 sec work/10 sec rest. After all 6 cycles are complete, you get 1-min of rest before moving to the next round of 6 cycles. Each round either has one exercise for which cycle cycle you switch sides (i.e. lunges on your left side, then lunges on your right side), or there are two different exercises that you'll rotate between for the 6 cycles. I know you may have limited equipment at home, so the workout uses only a light-medium set of dumbbells. If you don't have dumbbells, try holding canned vegetables, or half or full-gallon just filled with water. You could also hold books or hold light ankle weights. If you don't have any weights or alternative weights, you can still do the movements without weights.

The workout is free, but if you'd like to make a donation for the workout in support of RunnerDude's Fitness during Covid-19, donations can be made via Venmo http://venmo.com/RunnerDude or Paypal https://www.paypal.me/runnerdudesfitness. Give the workout a try and let me know what you think. Post some pics of you doing the workout and staying motivated!

For RunnerDude's Full-Body Workout #11,  all you need is a mat and a light to medium pair of dumbbells.

RunnerDude's At-Home Full-Body Workout #10

With most gyms and fitness studios closed due to Covid-19, getting in you weekly workouts can be a challenge. Below is the RunnerDude Full-Body At Home Workout #10 that takes a little over 40 mins. The workout includes lower-body, upper-body, and core exercises. (Be sure to checkout Workouts 1-9 here!)

The workout is a modified Tabata format. There are 9 rounds. Each round has 6 cycles of 30 sec work/10 sec rest. After all 6 cycles are complete, you get 1-min of rest before moving to the next round of 6 cycles. Each round either has one exercise for which cycle cycle you switch sides (i.e. lunges on your left side, then lunges on your right side), or there are two different exercises that you'll rotate between for the 6 cycles. I know you may have limited equipment at home, so the workout uses only a light-medium set of dumbbells. If you don't have dumbbells, try holding canned vegetables, or half or full-gallon just filled with water. You could also hold books or hold light ankle weights. If you don't have any weights or alternative weights, you can still do the movements without weights.

The workout is free, but if you'd like to make a donation for the workout in support of RunnerDude's Fitness during Covid-19, donations can be made via Venmo http://venmo.com/RunnerDude or Paypal https://www.paypal.me/runnerdudesfitness. Give the workout a try and let me know what you think. Post some pics of you doing the workout and staying motivated!

For RunnerDude's Full-Body Workout #10,  all you need is a mat, a light to medium pair of dumbbells, and a towel

A Return to Reading

It took me a long while before I read on my own for pleasure. As a youngster, I could read, but it took me (as compared to others) a lot longer to read the same amount. I later learned, that's because I devour each word. 

In my early 20s after college, when I was reading for me and not under time constraints of others, I became a voracious reader. I read mystery, suspense, Southern fiction, non-fiction, running books, historical fiction and more. 10 years ago, when I started RunnerDude's Fitness, my reading for me pretty much came to a halt. 14-hour days left no time. When I did have time, as soon as I was still for more than 5 minutes, I'd be in a coma. So my reading waned. 

One good thing to come out of the Covid-19 stay-at-home, is that I've had some time to pick up a book again. I'm old school. I like holding a hardback or paperback book in my hands. It's not pretty. When I read a book, the pages get crinkled, there might be a coffee stain or two, and yes (gasp), I dog-ear the pages to mark where I've stopped.  I have the Kindle app, heck my own book, Full-Body Fitness for Runners is on Kindle, but there's something for me about holding a real book that adds to the experience. 

After, I've finished a book, I have to keep it. I think that goes back to when I was a teenager and finished reading my first own-my-own novel. It was a huge accomplishment. I had invested a week of my life with that book. It was a part of me. I couldn't just give it away. As a result, our house (as an adult) was chock full of books. Over the years, being a family of 5 and living in a 1500 sq ft house, I've learned to part with books, but it still isn't easy. 

One of my favorite fiction writers is Brad Meltzer. I have all of his books, even though I haven't been able read many of them the past several years since opening RunnerDude's Fitness. So, now with the time handed to me, I'm catching up. Nothing better than a cool breeze on your face, your feet warmed by the sun, a cup of Starbucks by your side, and a good book in your hand.