Cardio for the Anti-Runner

I used to HATE running. I couldn't fathom why people would run track or cross country in high school. In college, I had friends who would go out running on sidewalks, treadmills, and trails and I really just didn't understand the appeal of people putting on shorts and tennis shoes to weary their legs over a number of miles and for what? Granted, I eventually started buying into the importance of cardio and the health benefits that come from running but, to this day, I prefer running on a treadmill (I like being able to see how far I'm going, how many calories I'm burning, and how fast I'm going at any time) and I can only run outside when running a 5k or some event like that and then it's more for the "free" t-shirt and competition rather than the actual running. 

- Side note: I did run the Disneyland Neverland 5k (the Tinkerbell Half Marathon was sold out) and if there is one place that I LOVE running outside it's Disneyland. If I ever do a marathon, it will be at/through a Disney Park and I will love every sweaty second of it. - 

Once I realized the benefits of running, I started running a mile or two on a treadmill a few times a week. All I would do is get on the machine, set it at a speed and run until my miles were up. Problem was, I wasn't seeing results. Yeah, I could run for a while but I didn't see myself losing weight, losing inches, losing anything. The only thing that I lost was the time that I spent doing result-less cardio in the gym. I kept at it for about three years and then I started hearing this hype about interval training. Intervals claimed to have "better results in a shorter time" and I'd "burn fat faster." I figured I'd give it a try and I was cautious at first because I don't tend to buy into quick fixes but I did like the idea of spending less time on a treadmill. I started with a Fat Burning Run (http://pinteresttrainer.blogspot.com/2014/02/fat-burning-run.html) and it worked! I replaced my 3 miles on a treadmill with a 20 minute, 1.8-ish mile run and I burned more calories and could see results on the scale and tape measure. 

Now, I'll be honest. There are some days where it's cardio time and I do not feel like running. Just because someone is able to run, doesn't mean they love it. Somedays I still hate it. On those days, I use this:

The Treadmill Shredmill Workout

There are three non-consecutive minutes where you are running (you can do that :-) but the rest of this workout mostly stays below 4.0 mph. Originally, as I am with most workouts, I was skeptical. But I finished this workout the first time and this is what my treadmill told me:

Four hundred twenty calories?!? And virtually no running?? This is great!!! The reason that this works so well is that, even though you aren't walking very fast, you're walking up some sweet inclines, burning calories, fat, and working your booty. :-) I've done this workout a few times now and I am dripping sweat afterwards every time. My husband hates running more than I do and I'm trying to get him to try this (I'll let you know if that ever happens haha). I decided to take out my Wednesday rest day and replace it with this treadmill shredder and it's great because it's mostly a walk so I can still do a run the next day and my legs don't feel like jello.

 It makes you sweat but it doesn't make you run!

Pinterest WIN ;-)

Embrace Your Rest Day

Ah, the Rest Day. Sometimes my favorite day of the week (sometimes it's not because I feel like I should be out doing something). There are a lot of reasons that rest days are good and important and I thought this pin summed it up nicely:

If you're going to the gym and really working your body, you NEED a rest day at least once a week (sometimes you need two, listen to your body and it will tell you what you need). I take a rest day on Sundays and on Wednesdays. (Sometimes I switch my rest day to a different day depending on scheduling or what day I'm supposed to wash my hair - yes, I plan out when to wash my hair. When your hair is as thin as mine, you do whatever you can to make it as healthy as possible which includes making sure you don't "over wash" it. Life with thin hair is tough.)

There are a lot of different Pins that lead to sites that tell you why you need a rest day and, to me, it comes down to this:
1. It gives your body time to REPAIR itself. When you're working out, your muscles are tearing and they need time to heal. Your rest day gives it that time and helps prevent injuries that happen from overexerting your muscles.
2. It lets you mentally REJUVENATE. I don't know about you, but it takes mental energy for me to go on a run and tell myself not to stop until I hit my goal. It takes mental energy to understand and tell myself that I'm not actually hungry, I'm just bored and want to be eating something (I'm a snacker and a sucker for samples). It takes a lot of mental energy to go for those last 15 seconds of a plank. Your rest day lets you take a break from that, focus on other things, and rejuvenate that metal energy so you don't get burnt out on your workouts.
3. You get extra REST time. Life is busy, and I know that I tend to let sleep be one of the first things to go from my schedule. I'll get up earlier or stay up a little later just so I can cram everything into my schedule. On my rest days, I get to take that extra hour or so and can stay curled up in my bed or cuddled on the couch with a pillow. And because it's a rest day, I can embrace it and not feel guilty :-)

There are plenty of active things that you can do on your rest day that aren't strenuous work outs but you're still moving your body. You can go for a walk, clean your kitchen, do some stretching, things like that. When you get into a habit of working out all the time, your body wants to be moving and doing things but remember to take it easy on your rest day and don't feel guilty for taking a day off!!!

Intro to Inclines

I decided to try out this little beauty at the gym today. The caption on the pin just read "Treadmill Workout!" and I love me some treadmill work outs.

Before starting this one I noticed that the speed never got above 4 mph so it's good for someone who prefers walking to running. I also noticed (and gave props to whoever created this) that their time intervals and their calculations on how much to change the speed and incline during each portion of the workout were all perfect to lead straight into the next segment. (I had a class in college where they taught us how to create surveys and they said never EVER have a question asking -for example- how often do  you eat ice cream and the answers being like this: 1-3x per week, 3-5x per week, 5-7x per week. If you eat ice cream 3 times a week then you would want to circle to answers. Anyway, it's made me notice when people note intervals incorrectly and this pin, instead of going from 0-5 min, goes 0:00 to 4:59 min and therefore notes the intervals correctly. Ok, my nerd self is shutting up now.)

This workout moves at a nice pace, it's not too intense, but I did start to sweat a little by the end. They say that the first 20 minutes of your workout is when you are burning sugar and carbs and the after that you're burning fat. I would recommend this treadmill workout for those who are just starting to get back in the gym and haven't done a lot of interval training or walking on an incline. For more seasoned gym-goers, I would suggest using this as a warm up before weight training.

The all-knowing treadmill told me that this pin takes you a distance of 1.34 miles and I burned 147 calories. I tend to like it when I get a better caloric output than 1 calorie to every .01 miles. (I personally believe that most treadmills are not exact and the calories are more of a ballpark rather than precisely what you burned. This is also based on my weight so if you weigh more, you will have burned more than I did using this pin.)

Overall, was I sore afterwards? Not really. Was it a nice break from running? Yes. 

Pinterest Win or Fail: WIN

Fat-Burning Run

I wanted to start off my posts with a Pinterest workout that I LOVE. It took me a while to be able to do the whole thing at the suggested incline but it is a great run. What I love about this is that it burns calories*, you run about 1.85 miles, you SWEAT, and it only takes 20 minutes. 

Set Incline to 2

For a long time I would go to the gym and I would run 3-5 miles on a treadmill and I would get on the elliptical or the stair master for a while and it really didn't feel like it was doing anything. I would spend 1.5 - 2 hours in the gym almost every day and it wasn't showing with how my clothes fit or with the scale. Frustrating!!! Then  started reading about interval training and how that is more effective for weight and fat loss than just running forever. I found this treadmill work out on Pinterest and I never went back to the endless hours on the treadmill. 

To start doing this run, I wanted to see if it was something I could actually do. So I tried the whole thing full out: speed, time, and incline just like it calls for. I made it about half way and I couldn't keep up. There are other ways to ease into it, but I decided the best way for me was the incline. Running on a flat plain is so much easier than running on an incline. So I started going as far as I could on the 2.0 incline and then, when my brain and body were telling me to stop, I'd keep everything the same but go down to a 1.0 or .5 incline. Gradually, I was able to go further and further at the full incline and now I can do the whole thing.

I do this run at least 2, sometimes 3, times every week. I do still run an occasional 5k or 10k on a treadmill (just to switch things up and see if I can do it) and this has made me faster, increased my endurance, AND it's made a difference in the fit of my clothes and on the scale. :-)

*The number of calories you burn depends on each person's individual size. For me, this burns about 190 calories.