Great Ladder Workout on Treadmill

If you are like me, you get tired of just running on the treadmill and want something to do to change things up. My wife told me about a ladder workout to do on the treadmill that I am addicted to now, so I want to share it with those that are looking for something new to do on the treadmill.

There are all kinds of "Ladder" drills that you will find out there. I remember running these drills during both cross country and track during high school. The days that I would be able to do the same workout that Coach Becker would have us do, are way out of my ability right now. I have done a couple different variations of the drill, and you will probably change it up to fit what your abilities are as well. The key to running these drills is to run/walk at a consistent pace both up and down the ladder. The workout takes just under 35 minutes, and I average about 400 calories burned. I change mine up, where I add an incline from 1% incline to a 2% incline. As you start to get stronger at it, bump up the speed for both the walk and run.

Good luck, come back and let me know how it went for you!

Don't Go Over the Physical Cliff with Holiday Eating

With all the talk of the fiscal cliff that our country seems to be moving towards, it makes me think of years past when I would go over the physical cliff with the holiday foods and treats.

My family is really big on tradition, from holiday activities to holiday foods. That is one of the things that I love the most about spending the holidays with my family. Unfortunately, in the past for me, it has lead to over-eating and weight gain. The holidays don't need to lead to either of these choices. Instead we just need to focus on a healthy balance of activity, food and fun. With all of the success that I have been experiencing, I have a few things that I am going to work on to help me through the holiday eating traditions.

1. Plan time for some physical activity. I am planning to add regular exercise into my daily routine, which will help relieve some of stress, and hopefully curb the gaining of weight. Some of my activities that I am planning are; basketball, running/walking and some swimming (since I am starting to train for a triathlon).
2. Don't skip any meals. I find that when I miss a meal, I tend to overeat during dinner. If you find that you experience the same thing, eat a light snack 30-45 minutes before your meal or before leaving to a party. A light snack doesn't mean something sweet, try some raw veggies or some fruit.
3. If you overeat at one meal, try going light on the next. It takes 500 calories per day above your normal caloric intake for a day to gain one pound.
4. Don't eat until your stuffed. Eat until you are satisfied. Savor your food/treats, but in smaller portions. One thing that has helped me by being on the WIO diet, is by eating smaller portions, I tend to eat a little slower, and savor the taste more. I can't believe how the food seems to taste even better now that I can't overindulge when eating meals, and knowing what is on my plate, is it making me want it to last.
5. Be realistic. Don't try to lose weight during the holidays, instead try to maintain your weight. For me, I lost weight over Thanksgiving, and I plan to for Christmas as well. If you follow the steps listed here, it will help you maintain where you are right now.

Good luck with the holiday eating, and come back and let me know what worked and what didn't for you!

December 6, 2012

Today was a group workout day at Elevate. I was supposed to do the VO2 Max test to figure out what my heart rate zones should be while I work out, but it didn't happen. That was ok though, as it was good to workout with the rest of the group and get a good hard workout in.

I think that Rich really likes to work on the legs, because for the second time this week, we were working the legs a ton.We do a lot of core work as well, which is desperately needed, as I usually cramp up half way through the core workout. Better than when I first started though, nearly a month ago I would last about 20 seconds and then cramp up so bad that I could hardly breathe.

Looks like the VO2 test will be on Tuesday afternoon during lunch. Not sure that it is going to be the way that I want to spend my lunch break, but it will be worth it in the end. If you don't know what the VO2 Max test is, it is a test that measures the aerobic power in a person. They basically hook you up to an oxygen and carbon dioxide analyzer, and you perform an exercise such as running on the treadmill, cycling, etc...While you are doing the exercise, you go from a moderate to a maximum intensity. The analyzers measures the oxygen consumption, and gives you the measurement of maximum heart rate by recording the heart rate during the test. There is a really great article that was written by a guy named Pete Williams back in 2009. To read the article Click here.

December 5, 2012

I had a great workout today! Originally, I was planning to take it as an off day, as tomorrow I am doing a VO2 Max test. But, I got a Garmin Forerunner 610 GPS and heart rate monitor. It also came with a foot pod that tracks my cadence if I am running on a treadmill or running indoors and it can't connect to the satellites. So, because I got this new toy, I needed to go and try it out.

Since the watch would tell me elevation, as well as time, heart rate, cadence and other data, I didn't want to run inside today. I talked with April about some of the places that she goes for walks with Ellie and checked her app Map My Walk to see the distances, etc... I found a course that she walks that was about 2 miles and decided that was the one for tonight. I felt great! For the first time running outside in probably a couple of years, I admit I was shocked about how I did. Since most of the beginning is down hill, I decided that I was going to try to run the first mile without stopping. I went nearly 1.25 miles before I got stopped at a stop light. I was happy that I hit the stop light as I was pretty tired. My legs were starting to get kind of heavy and I knew that the hills were coming up. When I finally got to the hills, I knew I wasn't going to be able to run the whole thing, so I decided to count out my steps and go 40 steps running, the 40 steps walking. This was great, as it kept my mind off of me being tired, as I had to count the steps out. Right at the end of the run, as I was about to turn the corner to run onto my street, a dog jumped out at me! Freaked the heck out of me and I am sure that my heart rate graph will show the spike in my elevated heart rate as it was racing!

In the end, I was really happy with my run tonight. Minus the warm-up walk around the block, it only took me 21:44 minutes to do the two miles. That is almost a 10 minute mile, which is my goal pace to run a half marathon in. The data that the watch and accessories captured were awesome to look at (check out the image below for a sample), and will be a great help to me in my training. Now I just need to save up my money to buy the accessory for the bike...

December 4, 2012

Today was the Elevate WIO Group workout. I told Rich that I was definitely leaning towards doing the Ironman in St. George in May, but would want to get the VO2 Max test done and continue discussing it over with April. The race is expensive, nearly $300 plus whatever stuff I am going to need for it.

The workout went well. There were only a few of us there, which I don't mind as it almost makes it feel like a one-on-one workout. We did a lot of lunges, squats, core and medicine ball exercises. I can tell that I am getting stronger, but it still kills. I am sure that I will feel it tomorrow, but the pain will probably go away within a day or so.

My weight loss has slowed down quite a bit. I have been breaking one of the rules of weighing myself this past week. I have stayed at the same weight for the last few days. I am sure part of that is due to gaining muscle and water weight, but it is a little frustrating. If you are reading this blog and you are participating in the WIO diet, and you are weighing yourself, STOP! It will only eat you up. During the measurements today, I lost a ton of inches, and overall the weight loss that I have experienced are phenomenal, and that is all that matters!

December 3, 2012

I went to Elevate today to participate in a marketing photo shoot for the WIO diet and for group workouts. Since I was going to be there, I decided to get a quick workout in while I was there.

I got about 20 minutes into the workout, which was the 30 second ladder run. I got to the point of coming back down the ladder when I was called over to start the photo shoot. During the workout, my legs felt incredibly heavy. I don't think that my legs were quite recovered from my Saturday run.

Stats

Distance: 1.25 miles
Incline: 0
Vertical Feet: NA
Warm-up Speed: 3.5 mph
Walk Speed: 3.5 mph
Run Speed: 6 mph
Higher Interval Speed: NA
Calories Burned: 175
Time: 20 minutes

Also, over the weekend, I had decided I was going to run the Provo City Half Marathon in May. I had put together a calendar of my workouts starting in January so that I could be ready for the race. I brought it into Rich for him to take a look at. He told me that I should just consider doing the St. George Half Ironman instead. It seems crazy enough for me to try it out, so I think I will. Rich is going to help me get a training program together so that I will be ready. Not to sure when it will all start up, but I hope that I can at least get started soon, even if I don't do the Ironman and do the half marathon instead.

5th Week on WIO

November 26th - December 3rd, 2012

Another week down! I am not even sure how many more weeks I have left, and it is probably best that way. I am very pleased with the results that I am seeing by doing this diet and changing my lifestyle when it comes to eating.

I traveled again for work this week. I went to Rawlins, WY. I can't say that there was a lot there in the sense of places to eat. This week I felt that I broke down a little due to the lack of places to eat and the choices that the places had. I did bring up some of the hamburger buns that WIO came out with, but only brought two of them. The last day I ended up eating at Subway and eating a 6 inch sub for lunch and for dinner, along with the bread. What a mistake! It felt like it was sitting in my stomach like a rock. Since I had driven to Rawlins, I brought a cooler with my milk, but I should have packed more rolls and buns so that I wouldn't have eaten the bread at Subway. I am just so tired of eating salads, but it is still no reason to have eaten the bread and not following the protocols.

I did get one workout in during my stay in Rawlins, but I didn't capture any of the details of the run. I will say that my knee was really bothering me during the run, so much so that I only did 30 minutes on the treadmill. My knee hurting isn't anything new after a run, but it hurt a lot more than usual this time.