Workouts

image from thepaleodiet.com

So, you read the internet and magazines all about working out and what kind of workouts a person should be doing and for how long?  Yeah.  I know.  There's advice ALL OVER THE PLACE.  (don't forget, I use a TON of embedded links!!!  Click on them!!)

There's the "old" way of thinking:  "calories in - calories out = weight loss or gain" that still causes people to exercise just to burn those stubborn calories and their thighs off.  Then, there's the Paleo camp who say that calories don't matter and that you should just work out a little every day (doing the things our body was designed to do), but that primarily weight loss is from WHAT you eat, not how much.  AND then the ones (who DO make a lot of sense), like Chris Kessler, who talk about how damaging over-working out your body is to your system.

So... what do I do?  Well, you must remember that I still have to do the "Fit 2 Fight" model for the reserves, meaning push ups, sit ups (I still refuse to call them "crunches"), run 1.5 mi/walk 2km and have a slim waist.  At my age, and with all the arthritis and joint issues creeping up on what feels like a daily basis, I have to test every 6 months as I just haven't been able to do a full-component fitness test in yeeeaaaars.  Oh well, keeps me honest.

So... as a PT, what do I do?  I truly do think we need to be moving each and every day.  Personally, I have a hard time running (always have, ask my high school PE teacher...) and doing anything with my arms (weak shoulders).  So, I make sure that's in my program.  Why not just do something else?

link to AF fitness program

Well, I might, but there's that pesky AF fitness test ;)  Plus... it IS a good idea to push oneself in her weakest areas, don't you think?

I returned from a lengthy time away from home and got WAY off track while gone.  I was doing my Couch to 5K program MWF and BurstFit every day but Sunday.  But, after 2 months of just walking and a run every now and then (but not even that far... I had gone to Utah and they're almost 5K feet high!!!), my fitness had gone WAY down.  Not to mention my weight had gone a little up and the flab-factor was reappearing.  So, here's what I've done so far:

1st two weeks home:

1. Acclimatize to new timezone (4-6 hours behind where I was visiting), but establish a get-up-before-6am routine with 7-9 hours of sleep.
2. Go back to eating well and eating organic (clean 15/dirty dozen+ rules).
3. Get unpacked, laundry done, travel paperwork submitted, etc.  Get out from under obligations that keep me up at night.
4. Focus on my hubby, son and dogs.
5. Get back into the family routine.
6. Set workout goals:



Sign up for Color Run

• Color Run 5K on November 8
• Fitness test NLT 31 Dec 2014 - NO EXEMPTIONS!  (goal, right??)

Week 3:

1. Continue above
2. Begin walking (whatever distance was comfortable to my body) each day upon rising and use my fitness apps to remain accountable to all the "friends" on them.  I use Nike+ (running app, but I like it for walks, too), Map My Run (which has a place from where I can chose to use "walk" instead of "run"), and Runkeeper (why this 3rd one??  Different "friends" that provide feedback on walks and runs than on the other two apps).  
3. Here's what week 3 walks looked like:
• Monday - 2.31 miles at 17'28"/mi in 40:29 mins
• Tuesday - 2.89 miles at 17'31"/mi in 50:39 mins
• Wednesday - 2.53 miles at 17'42"/mi in 44:50 mins
• Thursday - 3.13 miles at 17'53"/mi in 56:00 mins
• Friday - 2.96 miles at 17'54"/mi in 53:05 mins
• Saturday - rest
• Sunday - 2.43 miles at 17'29"/mi in 42:30 mins

Week 4:

1. Continue eating well, sleeping at least 8 hours a night and rising early (6am-ish)
2. Add Couch to 5K running program back into routine on MWFs and walk other days of the week (you'll notice that I abbreviate that to C25K and the week x day x to WXDX):
• Monday (C25K:W1D1) - 2.06 miles at avg 14'45"/mi in 30:27 mins
• Tuesday (walk only) - 3.13 miles at 17'46"/mi in 55:44 mins
• Wednesday (C25K:W1D2) - 2.15 miles at avg 15'13"/mi in 32:50 mins
• Thursday (walk only) - 3.08 miles at 17'56"/mi in 55:21 mins
• Friday (C25K:W1D3) - 2.23 miles at avg 14'43"/mi in 32:54 mins
• Saturday and Sunday were both rest days as I caught a tummy bug Friday night

Week 5:

1. Continue eating well, sleeping at least 8 hrs a night and rising early
2. Move up to week 2 of the C25K:
• Monday (W2D1) - 2.59 miles at avg 14'47"/mi in 38:21 mins
• Tuesday (walk) - 3.12 miles at 17'58"/mi in 56:09 mins
• Wednesday (W2D2) - 2.57 miles at 14'47"/mi in 38:03 mins
• Thursday (walk) - 3.09 miles at 17'30"/mi in 54:13 mins
• Friday (W2D3) - 2.57 miles at 14'16"/mi in 36:44 mins
• Saturday - rest
• Sunday (walk) - 3.08 miles at 18'00"/mi in 55:36 mins 

Week 6: (this week... so far)

1. Continue eating well, sleeping at least 8 hrs a night and rising early
2. Move up to week 3 of the C25K and add in Burst Fit workouts:
• Monday (W3D1) - 2.41 miles at avg 14'16"/mi in 34:27 mins
• Burst Fit:  Abs and Back Shredder

Needless to say... I'm a work in progress!!  What a great start!  Yes, working through an achilles bursitis (kinesiotape and rolling help) and the usual hip/knee joint pains, but I'm OUT THERE!  Working out at comfortable paces for MY body and now pushing my strength.  My goal is to do 20 push ups for my AF fitness test in December.  I'll get there!  

Now, GET MOVING!!!