Just keep going!

Not a great week; not a bad week

Weekly Review July 12.mp3

Using Mileage for Running Workout

I have changed my cardio workout for running to reflect mileage rather than time. I am hoping to encourage increasing my speed this way as running 20-30 minutes, regardless of the mileage, hasn't been helping me increase my speed. Plus, running too slow of intervals hardly is helpful to my overall goal of running an 8:30 mile. So, I am going to work on bringing down my mile speed and work on completing 2 miles in the shortest period of time I can as long as I have an adequate warm-up and cool-down. This would mean, I could get down with my cardio workout in 15-20 minutes with a problem. I will work on this 2 times per/week and then maybe work on a longer run on the weekend. I will still need to monitor the calves but I need to start pushing the speed if I hope to run 8:30 easily and consistently by December.

Strength Tip # 9 Track Your Workouts

The only way I am able to keep motivated with weight training is by tracking my workouts through a training log. I use a small calendar (purchased at the dollar store) and the entries include my weight, my cardio workout with heart rate statistics, my strength training workout, and my food intake. This small notebook fits easily into my gym bag as well as my briefcase and it provides invaluable information for me. Without this data, it would be hard to make improvements or change routines that aren't working for me. I use volume to track my progress for strength as it allows for small changes to be reflected and will now be using mileage information as well as heart rate information for my cardio. You will be amazed when you look back on previous month's workouts and see the changes. No matter what you use, keep track and you will see better results and continued motivation.

New Workout for July

This month I am changing my strength workouts again. My Monday-Thursday training will be based on an old Holiday workout plan from Men's Fitness. It involves using one barbell for all the exercises; keeps the reps low at 6 reps per exercise; increases the total circuits to 4 or 5. I will modify this by using the first circuit as a warm-up with weight that will allow 12-15 reps; the follow 4 circuits will be with weights I can do 6 reps on the most difficult exercise for me--which will probably be the muscle clean. Again, the upper body exercises keep me from going too heave with the lower body exercises. Depending on how I feel, I may use heavier weights as the reps are so low. Here are the exercises:

Monday:

• Bent Over Row
• Muscle Clean
• Front Squat to Push Press
• Squat
• Good Mornings

Thursday

• Dead Lift
• Romanian Dead Lift
• Muscle Snatch
• Reverse Lunge
• Shoulder Press

On the other other two days (Tuesday/Friday), I will do a modified version of the body circuit shown in the featured video; alternating upper/lower body for the circuit

• Y squats
• Push Ups
• Jumping Jacks (cardio)
  
• Lunges
• Reverse Pulls
• Mountain Climber (cardio)
  
• Step Ups
• Chin Ups
• Burpees (cardio)
  

I can go through these a few times, keeping the repetitions for upper at 6-8 and lower 12-15 and the cardios for 60 seconds.

After each session, I do a Yoga Breathing exercise with Om meditation followed by some stretching in poses specific for that training session, ending with a chosen meditation. This routine incorporates the stretching and posture I need and brings focus to my workouts.

Working on "Flexibility"

Maybe not following a rigid program will lead to better gains.

Weekly Review July 5.mp3