Showing posts with label athletic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label athletic. Show all posts

It's been a while since I've updated you all on the rollercoaster that is my training schedule. I've been making a lot of changes since my injury filled 2018 summer and finally have some sort of rhythm with what I'm currently doing. So I don't end up rambling to the point of writing a novel, I thought to take you on my training life through questions:

What has my training schedule been like?
To put it simply, I've started including ~speed week~ in my training every other week.

What's that supposed to mean?
Uh well, I sort of invented this ~speed week~ myself. Speed Week is where my week includes either 2 Hill Sprints & 1 Track Workout OR 2 Track Workouts & 1 Hill Sprint session for that week.

Then, after that speed week is completed, the very next week includes a 5K run, 1 Track Workout and 1 Hill Sprint session.

(p.s. I also do some home workouts to build strength! I will be getting to this in another post!)

Why aren't you sticking to an online training schedule?
 I used to follow online training schedules and even did a Nike Run Club training schedule too, however I felt they didn't fit me. All online training schedules are very much a one-size-fits-all type of thing. So while I personally wanted to decrease my 5K time, it's possible that the 5K training plan online is more for someone who has never run a 5K distance before.

Ok but what about the Nike Run Club Training Schedule? That's pretty specifically for runners isn't it?
Well, yes and no. On the Nike Run Club app there is the option to do one of their schedules and it tailors each week based on the week you've done previously. This is technically the closest you'll get to a trainer without actually paying for one.

I've done Nike Run Club training plans a few times before and I enjoyed them - I've written positively of them here and I 100% stand by what I've written. As I look back at the training plans, and where I am at this point of my running life, my goals aren't really in parallel with the training plans provided. Was I speeding up when I was using the training plans? YOU BET! They are a great way to having structure for your running, every week is planned by the app. There's a Get Started, Get More Fit, and Get Ready for Race Day training plans.

I'm not in the Get Started phase in my running life, I'd probably fit more in the Get More Fit, however there was still the issue of:

 It wasn't/isn't angled towards improving specifically in the 5K distance in terms of speed. So although they did help in terms of speed in the past, I find that at this point of my running life, since the plans aren't specifically for speeding up in the 5K distance, I am better off creating my own training plan tailored to me specifically.

Wait a second, what about the online training plan for the 5K distance from Nike - they have one for it I think?
After a whole lot of searching, I did find a 5K training plan. And, as I mentioned above, it was essentially designed as a one size fits all. I began the training plan as I was gearing up for a race that was going to be in 3 months after I had started it- I ended up having shin splints midway through the plan.
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your favorite track human not knowing what to do for a photo, I think I was looking at someone who was looking at me taking a photo with my tripod

Something that was new for me towards the end of 2018 was Hill Sprints. Whenever I used to look at Hills, I'd kind of be terrified of them. I used to do hill sprints in my high school track days, and uh I left high school track traumatized of hills.

 After seeing Georganne Moline (U.S.A Olympian, 400M hurdler & World Champion) mention in a post on Instagram that although she was resting for a weekend, hill sprints were planned, I left in a comment that hills kind of scare me a bit and asked if she had some advice. I was really surprised when I saw she responded and gave me some tips on tackling my first hill session. 

If you're also thinking of tackling hills, here are two tips she gave me:

1. Find a hill that isn't too steep with a slight incline - you don't want to be on a massive hill for your first one, that will not be doing you any favors. Start small and work your way up to a steep hill.

2. Keep your running rhythm. 

In the beginning, it was actually terrible. My body was the equivalent of ????? as I sprinted up a hill 20 times in a row with 1:30 rest in between each. The first time I did my hill sprints, I averaged at 7'50 pacing for the 20 times I sprinted up a hill. As of recent, I averaged at 6'55 pacing for the 20 times I sprinted up that very same hill. I was consistent with it for 2 months and finally found myself in the 6 range. (consistency! is! key!)

Hill sprints really helped with my 5K pacing in two ways:

1.  Mentally, I thought to myself if I could sprint up a hill then I could sprint straight no problem.

2. Before hill sprints, my arms would feel a bit weak and I'd have to shake them out while running 5K distances. Now, my arms feel stronger.

I think this is mainly because when doing speed workouts your form is always 100% so that carried over onto my 5K runs.

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i promise, the sun is lying to you. it was actually a bit cold out with a sprinkle of sunshine to blind ya girl
Also! So that way I'm not misunderstood here: I am in no way saying that running training plans aren't beneficial at all - I believe they are extremely beneficial. If I hadn't done training plans I wouldn't have known what to include and what not to include in a single training week. (Back to back sprinting workouts with no rest days at all is the equivalent to a Shakespearean tragedy for runners.)

It all depends on where you are in your athletic journey. As someone who was part of a track team in High School and later hopped from training plan to training plan throughout my years at University, I have somewhat of a grasp at what a training week should consist of. If you are doing a training plan as the New Year has just started I'm going to leave you with this advice that I really wish I plastered on my walls anytime I started a training plan:

Listen to your body FIRST and your training schedule SECOND.

How's everyone's fitness life going? Are we all on top of it for 2019?



Towards the middle of January, that's when my next semester started. And the best thing about starting a new semester is that I could go to the gym on a daily - well not really on a daily more like when my schedule had a nice time frame to squeeze a gym session in.

In the beginning half of January - as you can see from my previous post: First Half of January Workout Routine (Home Based) - I generally stayed at home doing home based workouts. Now that I finally had a gym nearby, I was excited to waltz my way through machines and finally! a track! my legs have missed the track so much. But, I also made sure to remind myself that since I haven't been to the gym for a few weeks, I shouldn't just toss myself on a machine like I never left because chances are my body isn't ready for a machine.

Think of it this way: My body was happy chilling with home based workouts for two weeks and then suddenly that whole routine gets turned on its head and replaced with machines and treadmills. Chances are I would have encountered some sort of injury.

So, for this Mid-January Gym routine I was more or less preparing my body for the change in workout. Essentially a warm up for what's to come in February (aka hi this month).

How many times did I go to the gym in a week?
I went to the gym two times a week - Tuesday for an hour and then on Thursday I went to the gym for a couple hours.

Also, as temperatures warmed a little - and by warm I mean 20°F. - I was also able to run outside!

What was my Gym routine on Tuesday?

Free Weights

1. Lunges
Weight in each hand: 2.5lb

Now, there was no possible way I was going to grab a 20 pounder and start lifting like the Hulk. All athletes start small and then move up. For all exercises I did 3 sets of 15 reps. HOLD ON I PROMISE THIS IS NOT AS BAD AS IT SOUNDS. The first rep was done with 2.5lb in each hand only, while in the second and third I squeezed in a 5lb rep in each hand to get my body used to lifting a bit more.

My lunges consisted of this format:

3 set of 15 reps

1 set of 15 reps using 2.5lb in each hand

 1 set of 10 reps using 2.5lb in each hand 
1 set of 5 reps using 5lb in each hand

 1 set of 5 reps using 2.5lb in each hand 
1 set of 5 reps using 5lb each hand 
1 set of 5 reps using 2.5lb in each hand 

As I felt myself becoming to comfortable with 2.5lb, I began doing the same format above but with 5lb and 7.5lb.

2. Alternating Arm Extension
(a.k.a the eagle)
HERE IS A VIDEO SHOWING YOU HOW TO DO THIS

This exercise is probably the hardest for me to do when I keep increasing the amount of weight I can lift. In the beginning, 2.5lb seemed to be the only one that I felt I could lift with correct form while 5lb was more of a I LIFTED IT NOW I CAN PUT IT DOWN-type-of-form.

When I felt myself slacking with my form that's when I went back to the 2.5lb because I'd much rather be lifting a lower weight with correct form than a heavier weight with incorrect form. Do I need an injury? NO. NO I DO NOT.

TIP: If you feel that your form is slacking because of your increased weight, PLEASE go back to what you were lifting previously OR lift in small increments. I used the above format for all of my weight lifting, however when it became too hard to do 15 in a set, I shortened it to only 10 because that's the amount I felt I could keep a correct form.

Never sacrifice form for repetitions.

 3. Lateral Arm Pull
(a.k.a. reverse boxer)

For this exercise, you have your arms straight out in front of you and then you pull one arm to you while keeping the other straight. It sounds easy in theory, but as the amount I lifted went up this exercise got a bit harder. My arms weren't loving this exercise in January and currently in February my arms still don't like this exercise. Towards the end of January, I ended up sticking to only using the 5lb and 7.5lb occasionally for this.

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2. Machines

1. Total Body Crossramp
This machine I genuinely go on every single time I go to the gym.  It's great for warming up my legs and I really feel my form when running has improved since using this machine. Occasionally, I felt my strides were a bit short or I wasn't moving my body the way it was supposed to be moved when running.

For this machine, I increased the resistance by 5 for every .10 of a mile.

Format:
5 resistance
10 resistance
15 resistance
10 resistance
5 resistance
10 resistance
15 resistance 
10 resistance
5 resistance
10 resistance 

TOTAL: 1 Mile

2. Rear Dec and Fly


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THIS IS WHERE I'D END MY TUESDAY WORKOUT

For my Thursday Workout, I do everything above and add everything below:

3. Hip Abduction
This machine confused me a lot when I first saw it. This was partly because I've never ventured to this section of the gym before. So this meant the first time, I was reading through the little bubble of information next to it to see how it worked. I definitely felt this in my inner thighs and think this helped my legs become stronger.

4. Vertical Chest

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For all of these, I followed my Lunge routine above format in terms of how I increased the amount  I lifted in each set.

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3. Running

Since I didn't feel comfortable enough to toss myself on a treadmill, I decided to stick to the track to find my pacing as well as opting to run outside during the weekend.

I stuck to running 1 mile for a bit before increasing to 2 miles.

 I've re-introduced Speed Running into my workout with the help of the Nike+ Run Club app. I usually just use this app to track my pacing, but noticed that they had a category called 'Guided Runs' and thought to test it out. It was the best thing I've ever tested out. The coach guiding me through the runs knew exactly what to say while I was resting and while I was running to keep me running at the fastest pace I could run.

If you haven't done a Speed Workout ever or you wanted to re-introduce it back into your workout routine, I'd definitely recommend trying the First Speed Run Guided Run - you won't regret it!

AND GUESS WHAT MY MIN PER MILE WAS FOR ONE OF THE INTERVALS?
5:45

I honestly could not believe it when I saw those numbers. I used to run a 5:45 per mile easily in high school so to see those numbers again felt amazing:

TO CLARIFY: That 10:04 was me just walking casually to warm up.

It reaffirmed the saying if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.

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And that's what my Mid-January gym routine looked like! Do you go to the gym? What's your routine? I'd love to know!








When exercising it's so easy to get in the mindset of I must workout everyday to run faster & to get stronger and forget that your body needs a recovery day even if your mind is against it. 

Although it doesn't really seem like it, recovery days are just as important as workout days. Trust me when I say I'm guilty of going OH WHO NEEDS A REST DAY I'M SO CLOSE TO GETTING MY MIN PER MILE DOWN. The who who needs a rest day is me. If you've also felt this way, thinking that rest days are for the weak, let me tell you something I wish someone told me: We are not machines. Stop trying to act like one.

hi yes i am a professional at not knowing what to do with my hands

I personally even wondered did professional Olympic Athletes take rest days? I found my answer in Alexandra Raisman's (Olympic Gymnast) Instagram post and in Alysia Montano's (Olympic Runner) Instagram post. One thing that they both mentioned was to listen to your body first and then your training schedule. For Alexandra Raisman, she took a break after Rio (a well deserved one at that! did! you! watch! the! Olympics!) and for Alysia Montano, she makes sure to put rest days into her training schedule.

Recovery days don't make you weak, they make you stronger. By having a rest day in your schedule, you allow your muscles to relax and save yourself from any injury you would have gotten if you overtrained. If you remember from my previous posts that was the reason I ended up out of running for a few months - I didn't take rest days and my injuries came rolling into my life like HAHA YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD AVOID ME.

actual footage of me when I see someone running on my rest/recovery day

And let me tell you having to sit out for a month while seeing people running & exercising is honestly the worst. There's that lil voice in your mind that's like HEY THAT COULD BE YOU BUT YOU STILL HAVE XYZ WEEKS TILL YOU'RE COMPLETELY HEALED. After you take your recovery day- trust me when I say this - your body will be thanking you! literally take the recovery day! your body will be 110% blessed! The next day you'll feel fresh and ready for whatever workout you have planned.
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"Resting is just as important as working out because it's an equal part of the total process required to build strength, endurance, and muscle."
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Resting doesn't mean eating Doritos on the couch and binge watching Game of Thrones. It means doing a bit of walking around your house or outside.  Okay and maybe binge watch a LIL Game of Thrones. Generally you should be moving around a bit but not in an exercise/workout sense. Rather in a I-will-not-become-the-living-embodiment-of-a-potato-on-my-day-off kind of way.

Yes. You may be thinking on your rest days I'm so close to my goal! I'm almost there! I don't need it! A rest day is going to slow me down!

NO. NO IT WILL NOT!

 It will strengthen your muscles, you won't feel a tiredness during your workout since you rested the day before and you'll feel ready to take on any new challenge you've set up for yourself.

On your rest/recovery days, REST. Your body needs time to relax and recharge. Listen to your body - it's the only one you have.





*currently in the process of combining both Instagrams to this one*
if we're mutuals on twitter or on my other Instagram I'll follow back!



For the past month, I've been going to the gym 3 days a week and one thing I was most excited about was to see how waltzing my way from machines to free weights would affect my running pace. Well, I can tell you that going to the gym for a month helped my minute per mile go from 9:01 to 7:33 (!!!).

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I just thought to clarify why my pace was at 9:01 - this is post overtraining. My timing was around 5:45/6:47 before having to take a break due to overtraining. Basically overtaining = hi injuries. 
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If you're sitting there like WAIT YOU CAN'T JUST THROW US THOSE NUMBERS AND NOT TELL US HOW GOING TO THE GYM GOT YOUR MIN PER MILE DOWN BY 2 MINUTES:

What I've been doing at the Gym:

1. Free Weights

Personally I've never even ventured to the free weights section before - partially because everyone always looked so skilled with the weights and lifting a 5 pound weight compared to the person on my left lifting 75 pounds didn't seem like a fun idea for my already negative confidence in the free weights area.

1. Lunges with weights
If you also haven't been to the weights section before please! do! not! feel! like! you! have! to! start! at! XY! pounds! 

Just because you see everyone around you lifting 30-50lb, start at a weight you are comfortable with. Don't compare your Chapter 1 in the free weights to their Chapter 97. I started with 5lb and after 2 weeks moved to 7.5lb-10lb weights.

It was pointed out to me that I was actually doing lunges wrong.
(I stepped forward and didn't bend my back leg as much as I should have - at a 90 degree angle)

2. Alternating Frontal & Lateral shoulder raises
(a.k.a. the eagle [my nickname for this one])

3. Frontal Pull
(not sure if this is the actual name)
I actually discovered this from Lucy's workouts. She did it without weights, but when I went to the gym I thought to try it out with weights. To do this one, you hold your arms in front of you, then you pull one your arm one at a time towards you. It's kind of like punching forward with weights. I can confirm my arms were not happy the first time I did this.

4. Tricep Extension
HERE'S A VIDEO SHOWING YOU HOW TO DO THIS

[I do each arm separately but wasn't able to find a specific video on it.]

These are the ones that I always do - occasionally I throw in some other exercises to keep things interesting though!

* All these exercises were done with 5lb in each hand with occasionally towards the end of the month using 7.5lb -10lb*

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2. Machines

(basically mixing and matching between what things are there to attach to it)

If you'll notice - I do a pattern of an Arm Machine then a Leg Machine. It's to give my arms a bit of a rest while I swap to legs & then my legs a rest once I go back to arms.

Amount of Reps

Something I learned was to always do 3 sets of X reps.
I do 3 sets of 15 on all machines and in the free weights area.

Why 15?
Well, in the beginning, 10 seemed a bit small and 20 seemed a bit too much so 15 was smack in the middle!

As the weeks continued I did occasionally do 3 sets of 20 or 4 sets of 15 when I saw I became too comfortable with 3 sets of 15 - essentially my workout needed an upgrade!

Tip: After 2-3 weeks increase the weight/reps. You're progressing and doing the same thing as when you first walked in Week 1 (basically fetus you) won't help you at Week 2 since you've gotten a bit stronger since Week 1!

What should I be setting the weight to on the machines?

Start off with what you can. If you start at say 10lb then as you get into the second week, try and put the last five reps you're doing in a set to 20lb.

'reps in a set?' What does that mean?
Above I mentioned 3 sets of 15 reps
So if you're lifting 10lb on the machine and want to go up to 20 you can do:

Set 1:
 1 set of 15 reps on 10lb

Set 2: 
1 set of 10 reps on 10 lb
1 set of 5 reps on 20 lb

Set 3: 
1 set of 5 reps on 10 lb
1 set of 5 reps  on 20lb
1 set of 5 on reps 10lb

You can see that each set has 15 reps in total!

This helped me slowly get used to doing 20lb and work to higher amounts.
If you use a different type of system let me know - I love to see how other people tackle increasing the weight!

I'd also really recommend you ask for some advice from the trainers at the gym to see if you're doing something properly - if they're walking around I'm sure they'll be happy to help you with any questions you have!


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3. Treadmill

I start off by going 5 minutes easy walking. Before doing this, I tried going straight into running on the treadmill. That didn't workout for me because it felt like I didn't do a proper warm up before jumping straight into 8 MPH speed.

After the 5 minutes finish, I reset the treadmill and then start myself up in a jog and increase my speed every few minutes once I feel I'm steady enough on the MPH speed I'm on.

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I just wanted to add that I previously did the treadmill at the top of this whole workout and I've concluded that adding it to the end  - after free weights & machine workout - it made my body stronger on the treadmill. 
The way I think of it:

Treadmill before free weights & machine = I didn't work my body enough to run as fast I would like to.

Treadmill after free weights & machines = My body is stronger because I essentially 'warmed my body up' with the free weights, machines & five minute walking.
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STRETCHES AFTER DOING ALL OF THAT

 I did a mixture of these workouts:

How to stretch after a run - Live Well- NHS Choices
Body Love With Lucy Challenge
In the last few minutes she has some cool down exercises!

I went to the gym in the morning then in the evening I did the Body Love With Lucy Challenge. [I've linked to Day 1!]

*My only rest day for the month of July was Friday - I'm thinking of doing a post on the importance of rest/recovery days soon!*


AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! I hope this was beneficial for anyone looking to start going to the gym & it helps any other runners think of other ways to get their min per mile down!

Missed a previous fitness type post?
Here's the one prior to this -> Jumping Around Training Schedules





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After a bit of a break from running due to an injury, getting back into running was difficult; not in the motivational sense rather it was getting my minute per mile down to what it was prior to my injury.

The injury was more or less an effect of pushing myself too hard and not listening to my body and listening more to the Runkeeper App that was training me. After pushing myself too hard on a speed workout my foot was more or less like ?????

To conclude - I was out of running for about 2 months.

By the time my injury healed, finals were coming around the corner the same way like when you're walking down a street / hallway & have to make a turn and you end up bumping into someone [ the someone in my case were my final exams ].

Attempting to get back into running with the Runkeeper App was more or less in my mind the NOTP that I subconsciously did not want to happen due to the injury I had as a result from using it. That's when I thought back to what I did before having an app to guide me - I would run & increase the distance the second I became too comfortable with the distance I was running.

What I ended up deciding on was to use the Runkeeper App only to track my minute per mile. That was until it couldn't perform that function -  I would run for 20 minutes & it would tell me that I ran for 0 minutes and 0 miles. This happened for a few times before I made the switch to the Nike+ Run Club App.



Some exercises that I have been doing before running are these from Pinterest as well as these from 100 Days on YouTube. I've been doing the latter more, and have to say it's really effective in moving all your muscles. After running I do a variation of stretches but use this & this as a guide.

If you're just getting into running, I'd recommend doing the workouts above & start by running at your own pace not the pace an app is trying to make you run at - yes of course challenge yourself, but also, first & foremost, listen to your body.
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Missed a previous fitness type post?
Here's the one prior to this -> Track VS. Road
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