On Wednesday I had the afternoon to hit the gym and play around with some circuits and monitor my heart rate. I came up with some pretty good stuff and figured I’d like to share with all of you.

Before heading to the gym my resting heart rate was 53.
I jumped on the treadmill and ran .5 miles at 6.0 mph, heart rate = 133.
Ran .1 mile at 10.0 mph, off for .1 mile, back on for .1 five times, with an average heart rate of 163.

Stretch out.

30 mountain climbers (each leg) while holding onto a bosu ball (to bring the heart rate back up to 154 – 163)
8 single leg squats on upside down bosu ball
Alternating bicep curls, 10 each arm while standing on bosu w/ 30 lb dumbbells
12 Chest flys on ball w/ 20 lb dumbbells
Pushups on ball (hands on the balance ball, feet on floor) x’s 15
Heart rate at the end of circuit= in the 120’s
Start over at beginning 3 times through

10 – 15 burpees (heart rate 150 – 160 range)
8 dumbbell reverse flys while standing in the lunge position with right leg foward, 8 with left leg forward (16 total) with 5 lb dumbbells
20 seated balance med ball twisties (abs), throw ball in air between twists (right, left, throw, catch, right, left, throw, catch, etc) with an 8 lb medball
12 reverse dead lifts with 25 lb dumbbells in each hand
12 Dumbbell Tricep extensions on ball w/ 25 lb dumbbell
Heart rate at end of circuit = in the 120’s
Start over at beginning 3 times through

Then an entire abdominal circuit (i LOVE doing abs)
Crunches on ball (hands overhead to make it more challenging) x’s 20
Elbow to knee crunches on ball x’s 20
Kneeling ball rollouts x’s 20
Jacknife of ball (w/ push up in between) x’s 10
modified side plank, dip the hip x’s 15 each side
Did this circuit twice through with a final heart rate of 120.

Stretch out at end.

Kyra Williams
The Get In Shape Girl

I’ve had a tough time sitting down and making myself write this for some reason…probably because there hasn’t been anything too exciting to report.  Everything has been generally positive since my last post.  I’ve settled into a routine where I seem to be managing my injuries and making slow, steady progress with my workouts.

My new chest workout is going well; I’m getting stronger, the elbow hasn’t been bothered, and the shoulder has been OK.  I threw the 18# ball today without any pain, at least not yet.  I had a couple of pretty decent tosses, only about a foot short of my best ever.  I guess secretly I was hoping for a little better, but considering the last time I threw the heavy ball was over 2 months ago I guess I should be satisfied.  It usually takes a little practice to get re-coordinated, so maybe the next time I can tie the strength and the technique together.

My last few  interval running workouts have all been good as well.  I stretched my 400s up to 500s at the same speed and rest period.  I decided to get rid of my anaerobic endurance run…it was just  painful and took me to long to recover.  I replaced it with 12oo meter repeats (3).  I ran my first one at 10 mph, which was tough but didn’t kill me.  Tomorrow I am going to try to run a mile at that pace, which is a 6-minute mile.  I set that as my goal for November…if I can do it will be a new lifetime best.  Part of me is dreading the attempt, but I know I’ll feel great if I pull it off.

I’ve also started incorporating some cross training into my endurance workouts.  The additional running volume I’ve been doing this season seemed to be leaving me a little more beat up than I would like.  So on my easy days I’m doing some rowing or using the elliptical machines.  I can get my heart rate up where I need it without the impact associated with running, and my legs seem to be feeling better already.  I’ll just have to keep track and see if my running times continue to improve.

I have good days and bad with my hamstring injury, but it’s been that way for so long (over a year) that it hardly seems worth mentioning.  It doesn’t really prevent me from doing anything, it’s just a hassle dealing with the stiffness and soreness. 

On the nutrition front I’ve found a new protein source…almond butter.  I’ve never liked peanut butter, so I had my doubts, but decided to give it a chance.  To be honest my first taste (on a bagel with jam) put me off a little bit, but once I got used to the texture it wasn’t too bad.  I had it for the second time this morning and I didn’t mind it at all.

We have so much information at our fingertips I often wonder if that is really a good thing. Generally I love to know things immediately when I wonder it…but in this situation it would be nice to be naive again. Given there is no possible way (apart from time travel) to tell if everything will be fine in the end, all I can do is wait (and with waiting comes obsessing.) My naivety has been thrown out the window long before this round at trying to grow a healthy baby, in the right place, etc. I miss and long for the days of innocence. People always say women in the 50’s didn’t know they were pregnant until they were like 8 weeks or more…were they really not in tune with their bodies enough to realize it? I mean get real people. Without modern medicine, accurate HPT’s I would still be pretty damn sure by now that something was different.  Anyway I digress, of course I have spent a good portion of my day and my night last night obsessing over heart rates, progress reports, what is normal what is abnormal etc. and all I feel is more confused and scared. Medical studies declaring higher chances of pregnancy demise (nice word right?) if the heart rate is less than 120. I read a bunch of sites that insist that seeing a HB early as we did anything above 110 is fine. I have been asked if I will try and get an earlier appointment than the one 3 weeks from now and if that will make me feel better. I don’t know the answer to that. I like to think it would make me feel better to see a HB increasing (which it should be in about 2 weeks). I know for certain I want to see my regular doctor, because Dr. Awkward makes me uncomfortable and I don’t think she actually read my chart or my history to know that this is my 5th pregnancy, yet I only have one child, seems like that would trigger regular monitoring. Today began TMI WARNING: with some chunky brown spotting which scared me, Dr. Google again….miscarriage sign or residual/affect of the US because of sensitive cervix. Let’s stay positive that it was the latter.

I want the holidays to keep me occupied but I know that it won’t. I found an old email from when I was pregnant the first time, and even then I was worried something would go wrong. Apparently I am not the person who thinks everything is fine and dandy even when it was. I can’t imagine waiting til Dec. 14th particularly analyzing every symptom, lack of symptom, TP checking all day every day for 3 weeks.

My DH says that he feels a false sense of optimism after the appointment yesterday, probably good that someone does.  Course he doesn’t have the inclination to consult Dr. Google on a regular basis.

I have been taking it really easy today as I ordered myself as did my husband to not do anything that felt like straining. Rationally I know that likely at this point nothing I do is going to change the outcome of the situation, irrationally I am scared that if I pick up my DD or a bag of cat food or overdo it some other way that I am going cause a problem. I think getting a BFP is really only a portion of the battle…go figure the thing I longed for causes just as much anxiety. I am really trying to calm myself because undo stress and worry isn’t good either. Why is everything so hard?

Tomorrow is prep day for the big meal. Let’s hope I can muster up some energy and enthusiasm to cook…

P.S. I still can’t use the P word. What is wrong with me?

This weekend, I was on-call so there was no riding for me.  I was viewing some of the forums from my buddies at SoCalBikeforums.com and posted a thread on resting heart rate.  To play along with this theme, I then posted one on maximum heart rate.

I got to see what other cyclist’s heart rates were, and compared to mine, I found them shocking.  So my resting heart rate was hovering around 58 to 62 bpm.  Some chimed in with 50 bpm, and some even lower than that (one even mentioned 29 bpm).  Now, that can’t be normal.  I guess when you donate blood, they normally don’t take anyone that is < 70 bpm, unless you are an athlete.

I have to admit, I never looked at my heart rate too closely, but 58 to 62 is pretty low.  I don’t ever recall it this low, but then again my fitness isn’t what it is like now.  The difficulty here is trying to look at past history, and comparing fitness by looking at heart rate, because most of these data is not resting, but more active heart rate measurements.

I didn’t have a working HRM from May through July, so it’s difficult to make a comparison.  In April, my average HR was 127, August 140, September 131, October 135, and November 133.  Looking at this, part of me sees this as how hard I’m working, and part of it says how fit I am.  I guess I really do need a power meter, just to gauge how well I am doing.

As far as maximum heart rate, the highest I triggered was 191 bpm, and 184 bpm (that was the last 200m of the OLH LKHC).  Some of my friends quoted 200 bpm, and I cannot fathom getting my heart rate that high.  Perhaps my perspective of fitness is too low.  I usually never go so hard that I don’t have anything left at the end … I always wanted to have something left in reserve, so that I have something left to go home with.  I think I am averaging somewhere between 160 to 175 bpm on major climbs, like Page Mill, King’s Mountain, and gets just a little higher if they are intense steep climbs.  Is my perception of fitness misguided?

I guess in the end, these numbers and data don’t really mean anything … as long as it’s within the goal you are trying to attain.  Oh well.

Can you tell I was bored this weekend?

     Exercise intensity is one of the most important variables in any workout, because if the intensity is not correct, your workout won’t have the intended effect. Exercising at the wrong intensity level is one of the most common mistakes people make and it should definitely be avoided, if you want to experience optimal results. Intensity seems like a fairly simple concept, as it typically refers to exercise difficulty, but intensity is a little more complicated than it first appears.

     The problem with intensity is that it has multiple definitions and different ways of being measured, depending on the type of exercise being performed. For example, when designing resistance training workouts (e.g. lifting weights), intensity is measured differently than when designing a traditional aerobic workout (e.g. running). Therefore, if you want to design workouts to achieve specific goals, it is important to understand how intensity is used in different situations.

     Exercise intensity is a measure of difficulty, but a workout can be difficult without being considered a high intensity workout. To give you a better idea of what I mean, let’s take a closer look at resistance training workouts. When training with weights or other types of resistance where you perform sets and reps of various exercises, intensity is determined by the amount of weight used during the set, not the perceived difficulty of the set.

     More specifically, intensity is measured as the percentage of your one rep max (1RM). A 1RM represents the amount of weight you can lift one time with proper form and you will have a separate 1RM for every exercise in a workout. For example, if the greatest amount of weight you can lift during the bench press bench press one time is 100 pounds and you want to train at 80% intensity, then you would use 80 pounds during your bench press sets.

Safety Note: 1RM testing can be dangerous if not conducted properly. If you need to figure out your 1RM for program design purposes, be sure to have a qualified professional conduct the tests. Another option is to use a higher repetition test, such as a 10RM test (highest amount of weight you can lift 10 times) and then find a chart to predict your 1RM from that number.

     High percentages of a 1RM are consider high intensity exercises and low percentages are considered low intensity exercises, regardless of the number of reps you complete during the set. This means that performing one rep at 90% of your 1RM is technically considered higher intensity training than performing 5 reps at 85% of your 1RM, although 5 reps at 85%  is actually more difficult. Factors like reps, sets, tempo, and rest periods are not considered when determining the level of intensity of a resistance training workout, although they certainly affect the difficulty of your workout.

     Honestly, for most people it is not too important to know their 1RM, as programs designed from 1RM testing are mainly used with competitive athletes. However, it is important to understand what it means when someone refers to the intensity of a resistance training exercise. With resistance training, intensity is just one of many variables used to determine the overall difficulty of a workout. Therefore, by itself, intensity is always reliable for predicting workout difficulty.

     Traditional aerobic training (swimming, running, etc.) also uses percentages to signify the level of exercise intensity, but the percentages represent something completely different with resistance training. With aerobic training, intensity is expressed as a percentage of your maximal heart rate. In other words, the percentage is a measure of the cardiovascular demand of the exercise. Simply put, the higher your heart rate, the higher the intensity of the exercise.

     Since higher heart rates correspond to higher levels of difficulty, the intensity of aerobic training workouts are more reflective of overall difficulty than the intensity level used to describe resistance training exercises. If you want to design an aerobic workout of a specific difficulty level, all you need to do is perform the exercise at the intensity (heart rate) that corresponds with your fitness goals. Unless you are a competitive athlete or need to improve very specific physiological characteristics, you do not have to factor in many variables, as you do with resistance training.

     Even though resistance training and aerobic training measure intensity in different ways, they both use a specific physiological attribute to measure intensity. Resistance training uses muscular strength to quantify intensity and aerobic training uses heart rate. The important thing to note is both types of exercise use a measure that can be numerically quantified, so specific adjustments can be made to improve the effectiveness of each exercise or workout, which ultimately improves the results of your overall training program.

     When most people refer to intensity, they mean to the general feeling of difficulty, as opposed to a specific physiological measurement. Describing intensity as the overall feeling of difficulty is also an acceptable definition of intensity and if you have very general goals, such as making any type of improvement in your fitness level, then using the general feeling of difficulty as your guide can be appropriate. However, if you have more specific goals, such as improving aerobic endurance, speed, muscular strength, etc., then your workouts need to be designed to match the intensity level required to stimulate each specific improvement.

     There is no single workout that will improve every aspect of fitness simultaneously, so you have to decide which fitness attributes are most important to you. Multiple fitness attributes can be improved through your overall training program, but different attributes often need to be improved by performing different types of workouts. For example, training to improve aerobic endurance requires a drastically different workout design than training for maximal strength.

     Understanding the different meanings and measures of intensity really comes into play when creating workouts to improve different aspects of fitness using the same type of exercise. For instance, if you perform resistance training workouts and you want to improve your maximal strength and muscular endurance, you need to train using different intensity levels (use different amounts of weight) for each task.

     Training to improve maximal strength requires training with a high intensity (high percentage of 1RM), but you will not be able to perform many reps with the high amount of weight. When training for muscular endurance, you must perform a high numbers of reps, so a lower intensity weight must be used to achieve the desires results. It is important to note that though different intensities are used during each workout, both workouts may still feel equally challenging, depending on the other variables in the workout design.

     If you want your workouts to result in specific improvements, it is important to have a way to quantify the intensity of your workouts. Not only will using numerical intensities help you figure out how to plan for your goals, but it also makes it easier to modify your program as your ability level and goals change over time. On the other hand, if you use the more general meaning of intensity and create workouts solely because they are a certain difficulty, then you won’t have nearly as much control over the type of results you get from your training program.

     Intensity is a general concept to describe exercise difficulty, but by using the physiological numerical measures of intensity, you can take your training to the next level and really personalize your program to match your particular goals.

This post meant to be an introduction to intensity, with a focus on explaining that intensity has different meanings and implications, depending on the situation or type of exercise being performed. I know many of you probably do not know how to use all of this information yet, but in future posts, I will continue with this topic and explain how to monitor and adjust the intensity level of your workouts to achieve a variety of different fitness related goals.

No matter your fitness level, you can make this plan work for you.

Week 1*:
Intermediate/Advanced: Perform three circuit sets, four times this week to build calorie-burning muscle. Add four moderate cardio sessions during the week, like a 30-minute jog, an hour-long walk or a 30-minute swim.

Beginners: Perform 2 circuit sets 4 days this week and add two or three moderate cardio sessions.

Week 2*:
Intermediate/Advanced: Cut your strength training to two circuit sets, three times a week; and add an extra fat-burning cardio session (making it 5 days total). Make at least one of your cardio sessions an interval workout, such as sprints, to enhance intensity.

Beginners: Perform two circuit sets, three times this week and increase to four cardio sessions.

Week 3*:
Intermediate/Advanced: Two circuit sets, twice this week and max out on cardio—going for at least an hour per session. Raise your heart rate daily, if possible, and push for extra mileage and intensity.

Beginners: perform two circuit sets, two days a week and do five sessions of cardio during the week.

*Rosenbaum, L. (2006). The No-Wait Workout. Johnson, K., Spiker, T. (Eds.) Women’s Health Summer Shape-Up Guide (p. 54). U.S: Rodale Inc.

Had a great ride this morning followed by a nice cappachino in werribee. Very happy, my weigtloss is continuing with furthor improvement in the last few days. I really felt stronger on the bike today which was good and really felt easier to hold a high cadence for a while.  Tonight im going to the state swimming centre for a swim just to relax the muscles.

todays Ride, Cadence and heart rate

If not for a comment I had to moderate today, I’d probably not have decided to hang around for a bit and post.

So about two weeks ago I admitted I was lazy. As of today it’s still true and I think we can add “avid procrastinator” to the list also. Last week I spent some time reading the fitness posts over at Mark’s Daily Apple . . .

• What Does It Mean to be Fit
• Could You Save Your Own Life
• Modern Fitness Standards: How Do yOu Measure Up?
• Primal Blueprint Fitness Standards

And then I spent some time contemplating various fitness standards, some mentioned in the Modern Fitness Standards post above, and some other measures I’ve utilized in the past. They are:

• The 5 Fitness Benchmarks
• The Presidential Physical Fitness Test
• Heart Rate (specifically Recovery Heart Rate)

5 Fitness Benchmarks

The 5 Fitness Benchmarks were covered in the MDA post so I won’t dwell on it for long, but I do really like that it comes from a standpoint of things you NEED to be able to do in order to save your life. The Benchmarks are:

• Swim half a mile or more
• Run at top speed for two hundred yards or more
• Jump over obstacles waist high
• Pull body upward by the arms until chin touches hands – at least 15-20 times
• Dip between parallel bars at least 25 times or more

Presidential Physical Fitness Test

Ahh, the Presidential Physical Fitness Test. Something I love to hate for all the mortification it put me through in school. Yeah, let’s try to do pull-ups when I’m overweight and have a whole class of girls and boys watching. At least I can take pride in being one of the more flexible students in any of my classes. I remember my gym teacher being repeatedly shocked when I blew away all the skinny girls scores. Suck that toothpicks.

Anyway, the PPFT is probably a nice test for the average joe and a nice place to start if you want to venture into getting more fit. It includes:

• Sit-ups (referred to as “curl-ups”) or partial sit-ups (WTF is that? A crunch maybe?)
• Shuttle run
• V-sit Reach or Sit & Reach
• One mile Run
• Pull-ups or Right angle push-ups (again, WTF?)

Here’s a handy little chart highlighting the number/time you have to pull off to be in the 85th percentile for the test. I think this might be a challenge I come back to and try to overcome. It would be nice to succeed at it at least once in my life.

Heart Rate

One bit of fitness I didn’t want to leave off was a measure of cardiovascular fitness which has generally been measured through your heart rate. You can track your heart rate (beats per minute [bpm]) at all different times of activity…  at rest, during activity, and after activity. Things to watch/track include:

• Resting heart rate (above 80 encroaching on problems)
• Target Heart Rate (220-your age = Maximum Heart Rate in bpm – aim anywhere for 70-85% of the max heart rate for vigorous exercise)
• Recovery Heart Rate (how quickly your heartbeat drops one minute after cessation of exercise – the faster the better)

To measure your heart rate, find a pulse point and count the number of beats within a 15 second time period. Multiple by 4 to get your beats per minute. Take at rest, after your cardio event, and a minute after your cardio event.

Now personally I’m not sure how much stock to put into heart rate but after reading the WebMD article, I’m going say it can’t hurt to track it and aim for a better recovery period.

So I’ve got plenty of ways to measure my fitness. Now to start improving my fitness.

First off: This is my 200th post! I was going to post my weekly stats this morning but decided I didn’t want to “waste” my 200th — even though this post is not going to talk about it from this point out hahaha.

Oh man. And to think that Monday’s shouldn’t be that busy for me.  But it’s 1830. I’ve been up since 0530 (stupid insomnia!) and this is the first time I’ve had to myself.  Sheesh.

Anyway.  Like I just said I didn’t get that much sleep last night.  I was up semi-late trying to figure out what I want to do for my proposal that I mentioned yesterday.  Needless to say it was a bit frustrating and I didn’t get anything done with it.  I just kept looking at articles but nothing was clicking with me.  Grrrrrrr. So I thought that it would translate to a terrible run.

But I keep forgetting how AWESOME I am (and I say that in the most modest way I assure you).  I mean, the run wasn’t the greatest pace wise but it was much better than Mondays of the past.  Muy bueno. My one complaint was the temperature.  The high for yesterday was 68*.  The overnight low was about 28* and about 32* when I got up.  I (stupidly) did not check the weather forecast and froze my little butt off haha.  Not really but my hands and fingers were not appreciative.  I think I need to start looking into better gloves for the winter.  Although I don’t really know why I try, I’ve done the triple layering occasionally to no avail. Stupid poor circulation!

Despite the DST change last weekend the sun still continues to rise later and later.  Boo! So now I’m waking up in darkness but after doing my core routine I have sunshine.  Gosh I really do hate going into these winter months.

Either way sunshine (and not clouds) lifts my mood.  Tremendously and I was able to get through 7 miles quite effortlessly.  My HR stayed low the entire time which was nice and, once I was done, quickly went back to resting.

The run itself was great.  The first 5 miles or so felt strong — which, despite running well the past week, has rarely been the case.  Maybe I was pushing too hard, trying to burn off that frustration of the night before as well as the insomnia.  Regardless the last two miles significantly slowed down and prolly is where the slow overall pace comes in.  The annoying thing is that I could *feel* myself fading over the last couple miles.  And there really wasn’t anything I could do about it!

Overall, however, I’m happy with the run.  I look at it as a Monday run that was much better than usual.  A bonus. I’m trying to embrace things that annoy me or that I dislike.  My theory is that if you can accept this stuff then life is good.  I’m trying it out with slow runs and winter.  We’ll see if my overall mood improves.  I’ve been content so far!

Also, I’ve been getting pretty nervous about this weekend.  I’m hitting “real person age”.  It’s a bit scary. I was thinking of running my age in miles that day, as the older I get the more miles I’d have to do (duh!).  But now I’m not so sure.  See, I’ve planned a three day extravaganza of debauchery.   Well maybe only two (Thurs & Sat as I’ll likely need Friday to recover from Thurs haha).  The thing is that my body doesn’t recover like it did back in the days (haha I sound real old now).  I guess if I take it easy Friday night — and I plan to watch El Laberinto del Fauno and take it easy — maybe I can still do it? I still got a few days to decide.

Alright back to putting my nose on the Monday grindstone.  Lots and lots to do!

Also: Natalie over at NoNo2YoYo is having a giveaway, plus that post I just linked too also has sweet info about Project Feed Me which is soooo cool.  Sign up! (and tell her that I was the one you found out about this from)

AND re: Spanish TA. I’m not sure I believe the rumors and it’s literally one or two things I’ve heard from other ppl.  Definitely not giving up yet

I got a H1N1 shot last Thursday afternoon. I waited in line for three hours at a clinic run by the county health department at the fairgrounds. It was just like what you see on the news. Gobs of “Tier One” people and small children waiting in long lines outside in the cold.

Don’t get me started about how broken our health care system is.

The bad news is that between the effects of the shot and my morning sickness-turned-all-day-sickness, I can hardly get out of bed. I have already missed three days of work. In a row.

Our appointment to check the heart rate is this afternoon. We are looking for a number higher than 100. Last week it was 97. After  the whole tubal pregnancy scare, this seems like just  a small concern, so I am not too worried about it. The doctor mentioned that he might be able to give me something for this nausea, too. I am definitely going to take him up on that.

Well it’s a week into November, and so far it’s been fairly productive.  Taking a few minutes to write down my short-term goals for the month was a good way to get refocused.

Of the four things I chose to work on, the one I figured would be the easiest, getting more protein and good fat in my diet, has proven to be the most challenging.  I’m having two eggs on mornings that I’m hungry instead of just one, and frying them in olive oil instead of cooking spray.  But other than that, an occasional Myoplex,  and snacking on a few more nuts in the evening, I haven’t made much progress.  I need to come up with a good late-morning snack.   I usually have breakfast around 6am, and often don’t get around to lunch until 2pm.   That needs to change.

Item #2,deadlifts, I did 3X this week.    First day I worked up to 145#, next time it was 195#, and today 245#.  So far the elbow has been able to take it, which was my biggest concern.  The lower back and hamstring tightened up considerably mid-week, but don’t know if that was from the DLs or the sprinting I did on the track.  I also decided to add Bulgarian split sqats to my leg routine.  Did those for the first time today and could really feel them in the hamstrings.

Had a so-so running week, making it through my interval workouts with marginal improvements.  The one where I stay anaerobic for as long as possible is a beast.  I take 3 minutes to warm up, then dial up the speed to get my pulse up to 150.  Then I gradually back off on the speed and maintain my heart rate in the 145-155 range for as long as I can.  I made it for a total of 20 minutes this week (including the warmup), which is a long time to be uncomfortable. 

Today I went for my weekly long run (long for a sprinter, that is).  It was a bright, beautiful day and close to 70 degrees, so I ran outside for the first time in a long, long time.  Last week I put in 40 minutes on the treadmill, and that was the first time in at least a year that I’ve run more than 30 minutes at once.  Today I extended that to 60 minutes,although I’m guessing my pace wasn’t quite as fast.   

I’ll have some mile intervals on my menu this coming week, so I should get an idea of how I’m doing on goal #3, running a mile in under six minutes.  Last time I did this workout I think I ran the fastest of my four 1-mile runs @ 9.5mph, so this time out I will probably try one at 9.7 or 9.8 and see how that goes.  To run the mile in 6 minutes you have to be going 10 mph, so I am getting close.

The final item on my list is to make a video about  “the seventh step”, a  jumping workout/goal that I’ve been working on.  Today I took a few pictures and shot a little bit of test video to see what the best way to film it is going to be.  Unfortunately I’ll be working in dark, cramped quarters, so it’s going to be difficult.  I have a wide-angle lens for my video camera, but I didn’t bring it with me today.  I will need to test it to see if it helps. 

I’ve attached one of the still images.  You’ll see that there are three pieces of tape on the wall.  The lowest, at 36″, represents the height of a standard kitchen counter.  The middle piece is set at 45″, the height of the 6th step in the stairwell.  I’ve been successfully jumping (2 step approach) and landing here for quite a while.  My ultimate goal is to make it to step number 7, which is 52″ off the floor.  Pictures don’t do it justice…find a set of stairs and  count up to step number 7.    It looks impossible…and for me maybe it is.  But I’m going to work on it and give it my best shot.  If I can do it I will be a legend…at least in my own mind!

Stairway to Heaven?

Today i started my new training program that has been developed for me in conjunction with my bike fit on thursday. The plan is based on heart rate and cadence and takes into account that a)im still fat b)im not a teenager anymore.  Along with the new program i have acquired a Garmin Edge 305 GPS, which will transmit all my heart,speed,cadence data to the computer to be monitored by myself and by my coach.  Looks like i cant have anymore lazy sessions.. but thats good because it will keep me very focussed in achieving my goals

Author: Arnel Ricafranca – Fitness VIP
Source: articleage.com

There are many words today associated with fitness. Many of these terms are new to the readers, and some of the terms are interchangeable between fitness, wellness and health. So let us take one minutes to some of the terms are explained, you can see from time to time.

Fitness is defined differently from different sources, but the general sense of fitness is our ability to function with strength and agility in the course of our day to day responsibilities. Fitness refers to the condition of our physical and mental fitness would of course be addressing our mental state.

Often we take part in fitness centers with personal trainers, fitness equipment and stationary. There are many pieces of equipment available that perform many different exercises on specific areas of the body to address. The best time to learn about this equipment during the orientation session of the fitness center you have chosen.

Meditation, an exercise recommended for everyone, but especially those of use with a busy, stressful lifestyle, is defined as an engagement in contemplation, especially of a spiritual or religious nature. Meditation has shown that an effective method for lowering blood pressure, relieve stress and promote health, simply by thinking about our days, and finding happiness within ourselves.

Your nutritional needs to refer to the physical supplements of vitamins, minerals and calories needed for you to maintain optimum physical health. Much discussion has centered on this issue now, because of problems our nation faces obesity epidemic proportions.

Alternative therapies refer to alternative medicine options such as chiropractic, acupuncture, herbal cures, and holistic medicine. From the examples given here, chiropractic and acupuncture are becoming more widely accepted in addition to the traditional form of Western medicine.

Studies are often conducted to support the evidence that chiropractic care and acupuncture are effective forms of medicine. Herbal cleansing and healing are terms used by many of the natural healers to describe what the intake of certain herbal combinations can provide the body in the effort to return to optimal health, or to maintain optimal health.

Exercise covers a lot of ground. There are many forms of exercise that we can only try to address some of the more popular and well-defined programs to cover. There are aerobic programs aimed at the heart and cardiovascular health. There are water aerobics that again focus on your heart health.

Weight training and free weights are used to build muscle mass, and body sculpting. Walking is one of the best exercises available, if not jar our bodies, but uses all parts for toning and building heart rate. Running, swimming, jogging, and skiing are all forms of exercise, but not recommended for the beginner.

Fitness today is not only used in conjunction with health and wellbeing, but also fitness of the mind, body and spirit. There is a growing movement among health-conscious people that fitness should not only our physical being, but our mental and spiritual condition.

Long lines at Starbucks, no seats in Van Pelt, no vacant rooms in Huntsman: these are all signs that midterm season here at Penn is in full swing. Running from class to work to meetings to Van Pelt can become overwhelming at times. Knowing that a single exam will constitute at least thirty percent of one’s final grade can create for some stressful situations. Many students study for a single exam for several days, while others try to cram in half a semester’s reading into one long, highly caffeinated night. Yet there is still another group of students who feel that they cannot study without any help. These students don’t seek out aid in TA’s or fellow students, but rather in narcotics such as Adderall and Ritalin.

Students seek out these illegal prescription drugs to be able to study harder and longer. Adderall and Ritalin are legally used to treat attention-deficit disorder, or ADHD, but on college campuses are more commonly being used as study-aids with prices ranging from $5 to $20 per pill. They have become the drugs of choice since they increase cognitive function and allow students to study for hours with full concentration.

Many students rather take these pills instead of drinking coffee since they don’t make students feel as jittery as coffee. Obtaining these “study drugs” has become easier than most would assume. They are being sold in dormitories, cafeterias, libraries, etc. You may wonder how students are even getting these pills since they are prescription drugs. Many buy them from other students who actually have ADD, but receive many more pills under their prescription than necessary, while other, more cunning students, research the symptoms of ADHD and relay these symptoms to a doctor who is willing to prescribe them the drug of their choice.

Although Adderall and Ritalin seem like miracle drugs that allow for highly-stressed students to study longer, they are amphetamine-based, which means they are addictive. They alter chemicals in the brain, such as dopamine, which makes studying seem rewarding, increase blood pressure, blood glucose and heart rate, while constricting blood vessels. They suppress appetite and keep students awake for hours even when their bodies desperately long for sleep.

I know several students on campus who take these drugs because they feel that without them they won’t be capable to perform at the high standards they need to, to “beat the curve” and get that A. It has destructive patterns, and I’ve seen it consume people’s lives. This makes me question whether the University is putting too much pressure on students to do well, or if students are putting too much pressure on themselves to be better than their peers. Whichever it may be, using these drugs will definitely give you more than you bargain for.

My morning run started under a pitch black sky. The clocks fall back this weekend, but for now, the morning is dark.

My headlamp cast a dim beam ahead, giving me about 5 feet of visibility. I figured a coyote, mountain lion or ill-intentioned long jumper can leap at least 8 feet, so this did not make me feel good.

Less than a quarter mile from my front door, I had my first scare. Something rustled loudly in the bushes next to me. “It’s just a bird,” I told myself. Just a bird. Justabirdjustabirdjustabird…. As I turned the corner I heard an animal shuffling along the lawn beside me. I whipped my headlamp in its direction and saw the large fluffy tail and ominous white stripe of a hearty skunk. I kept moving.

I learned that street lights don’t run the length of Hollister Avenue. I was grateful for every car that drove by, because the headlights temporarily widened my view of the area. And as my mind wandered to images of coyotes I’d spotted on Farren Road, which really wasn’t that far away, I made myself more and more nervous.

The wind picked up as I jogged along Cathedral Oaks. Unable to see much, I was haunted by the noises. The insects sounded aggressive. The eucalyptus trees creaked and groaned. Dry leaves scratched across the cement as they tumbled after me. A beer can clanked down the gutter. It was comically creepy.

I said hello as I passed three walkers. They didn’t reply. Zombies?

I saw a hint of pink on the horizon as I approached Glen Annie. A moment later a rooster began crowing and screeching, warding off the night.

As the sky grew lighter and lighter, so did my mood and my steps. The comfort of daylight relaxed me, and made the final miles of a long run pretty pleasant.

What’s the point? There are three:

1) Fear could be the next hot trend in training. It definitely gets your heart rate up!

2) All things are relative. Just as running uphill makes me more grateful for the downhills, running in the dark makes me more grateful for the light. I’ve learned this is also true with pain. Sure, my achilles was nagging a bit, but compared to a month ago, it felt great!

3) Happy Halloween. Stay safe, but give yourself a little scare. It’s fun.

If your life is to be enjoyed and not endured, then your days must be enjoyed and not endured. What I’ve noticed about a lot of people is that they go around complaining about how tired they are. Feeling tired all the time is not a normal state, unless of course you’re overexerting yourself physically. Perhaps not sleeping enough, or not eating properly. I am convinced that a lot of fatigue I see is because people are tired mentally, they’re tired emotionally, and their lives make them tired. If I feel drained, it’s usually because I’ve had a hard workout or I am not eating the right foods. My life does not make me tired and the way I see it, your life should excite you, not drain you.
Fatigue is your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. Learn to listen to that message. Low energy is poor health. Ask yourself: Do you barely want to get out of bed, or do you want to jump out, feeling rested and excited to be alive? If you are tired of being tired, you can do something about it because most fatigue is lifestyle related.
What I’ve learned about exercise is follow an exercise routine in which there is no routine because whenever something becomes routine, you don’t pay attention to it anymore. I rarely do the same thing twice, which keeps me interested and focused.
Do your exercise right and you don’t have to do as many reps. Correct technique is what makes exercise harder, not necessarily the volume.
Do your workout first thing in the morning whenever possible so it doesn’t get canceled at the end of the day.
Stay consistent. When you get older, you can’t just take a week off and pick up right where you left off. You have to keep at it. I personally do something every day, even if it’s only for a half hour.
Mix it up by performing many different activities.
Keep your mind occupied while working out. Concentrate on your breathing, your heart rate, your technique, or your performance.
Breath through your nose, especially when doing cardiovascular exercise. It gets better quality air into your lungs. You will feel refreshed when you’re done, rather than exhausted.
With all forms of exercise, pick something you like to do.
Make your workout a challenge by setting goals. Keep track of your progress so you can see how far you’ve come and how close you are to your objective.
Have a plan for when you exercise because you’ll be more effective this way.
If you don’t have a half hour a day or at least an hour three times a week to spend on yourself, you need to reorganize your life. If you don’t have any time for yourself, whose life are you living?

The last two days have been pretty typical. Feeling some soreness again but today is recovery day which should remedy that. Workouts were Plyometric Cardio Circuit and Pure Cardio+Cardio Abs. I really like having the heartrate monitor to track not only the calories I’m burning but also what heart rate I’m maintaining during the workout. I’m staying at 80 – 90% of my max output for 25 minutes of the workout on average. I’d like to get closer to 90 – 95%.

Carories Burned:
Plyometric Cardio Circuit: 864 calories
Pure Cardio+Cardio Abs: 1007 calories!

I did not expect to break the 1000 calorie mark but they do advertise you can burn up to 1000 calories an hour. However, Pure Cardio+Cardio Abs clocks in at just over 50 minutes so…. I was kicking my own butt as hard as I thought I was!

With a 50% improvement in four exercises in just two weeks, I’m happy…

A coworker generously gifted me an extra heart rate monitor he had lying around so now I’m able to track my heart rate and calories burned. The fit test is only 25 minutes but still burned over 500 calories (512 to be exact).

Edit: I count every two switch kicks as one. Thought I remembered him saying that from the first fit test but didn’t hear this time. So my numbers were actually 100 and 112.

I’ve done some reading on this phenomenon and I think I’m approaching it. I noticed after last night’s run that my resting heart rate was higher than normal; I’m usually hovering around 55-60 BPM, up to 66, and it was well over 80 last night, even several hours after my run. I meant to check my resting HR this morning after sleep but totally forgot.

I took today off to give myself a break. I don’t normally run at night, which didn’t help when I wanted to go to sleep, and today I have felt twitchy and jittery with a little pain in my left knee (note that my left knee hurts most of the time but this feeling is slightly different). I’ve been icing, too. I’m sure the twitchy feeling is more due to coffee overload than anything, but it’s better to be safe than sorry!

Breathing is something of so natural and automatic that no one breathes correctly. We know not breathe.

We breathe hastily, using a very small portion of our lungs. They eventually wither and we can not fill properly with air which, as everyone knows, food is the most precious of our body.

It is not enough to fill his lungs with air, and then reject, for good breathing.

In early life, breathing is fine, just watch a baby, and we see that we breathe fully born. But with age we lose more or less these reflexes and bad habits take over.

It must be said that in the present life with pollution, exhaust fumes, products of varying toxicity that we encounter every day, it becomes increasingly difficult to breathe properly.
Breathing changes, it becomes superficial and chest, the air filled our lungs more than enough.

Because of poor oxygenation of the body and inadequate disposal of waste gas, we lack energy, we tire more quickly.
Many people become asthmatic or develop respiratory illnesses.

We breathe, on average, 15,000 times a day without thinking of course, but do some deep breathing exercises every day, we can do the most good.

Take slow, deep breaths, relaxes muscles, lowers the heart rate and relieves stress.

Learn to breathe well, a few minutes a day is enough, and you’ll be surprised how well-being that will bring this little exercise daily.

If you want to breathe better, be fitter, you feel good about your body, then click the link below and take regular exercise that we offer.