Exercise Goals for 2009

Intervals today. First one at 6.5 mph (1/4 mile), then two at 7 mph (1/4 mile ea), then one at 8 mph (1/8 mile). The 8 mph one felt great. Sprinting (or getting close to it) is definitely my favorite type of running.

Good work Soz. I think I'm going to throw in some interval training for the next few weeks too.


I ran 28 miles last week, and I ran 13.1 miles yesterday in 1:59:05 hours, which is a record for me. I can't wait for my next half marathon. I thought it'd be tough for me to break 2 hours, but now I think I'll target 1:45. I'm hoping some interval training will get me there.

Very good everyone!

The past few days it was raining and cold so I did most of my exercise indoors.
I'm not as fast as sozobe, but I slowly upgraded my jogging to 15 min, did a
few weights and a few rounds on the stationary bike.

maporsche, why so much milk? What will it do to your muscles once you've
reached that plateau?

You're progressing way faster than I did, CJane...! It's taken me a year to get to this point, pretty much.

Today we did ellipticals for 20 minutes (instead of stationary bicycles) and then did weights and ball crunches. 3 sets of 12 ball crunches is still a struggle for me (at least it was today) so I'm keeping it there for now. 3 sets of 15 is the goal.

I used the stepper yesterday, it was this weird thing where you lean back and kick your feet. Not quite a dying cockroach but I did feel like that after 5 minutes. Oof. Harder than the elliptical.

I find treadmill easiest, I do 30 mins and I'm fine but I am mainly striding and not running (only a minute or 2; it's all I can handle so far). Bike seems second-easiest (20 minutes usually), again I'm probably not pedaling as hard as others do. Then rower (15 minutes or so); I just find it boring but I do it (the flywheel is a bit of a fan and the gym is hot, so that's a bonus). Then elliptical (10 minutes if I'm lucky). Then the dreaded stepper machine from hell.

As for weights I was doing 70 for the first set, then kept going down, 50 I think for second, then 40 or so (I didn't really watch but that's about where they ended up). I've been doing maporsche's idea, modified. Get in, lift free weights about 25 times, then treadmill, then 9 reps on 3 machines, then rower, then 8 reps on 3 machines, then elliptical, another 8 reps on 3 machines, then bike, then 25 situps. That all takes me about 90 minutes. I'd like to work up to 120 minutes on Fridays. Mondays will have to stay at 90 minutes as I need the recovery time plus I hit rush hour if I stay any later. Hence I'll work on more speed and/or heavier weights when I make it to my endurance numbers. Mondays are upper body, Fridays are lower body. If I go in any other day (which I will later this month as I'm going to have some Mondays off), I'll do more lower body which includes core.

That's the plan.

I just realized I have a more coherent plan for fitness than I do for my career.

Well, it's actually about a half gallon of milk per day.

As far as why, it's really about just getting more calories in my diet so my muscle has some extra energy to grow. My body burns about 2300 calories per day, and I need to eat 2800 to maintain my 1lb/wk muscle gain plan. Additionally, I burn about 5000 extra calories per week from my running each week.

So basically, I need to eat 3500 calories per day, and it's just HARD to do if I want to stay even somewhat healthy.

Replacing my water intake with milk gives me an extra 900 calories per day.

Holding a dumbell in each hand, Clive was doing squats. The weights
weren't all that heavy and the squats weren't all that deep, but the
fact that he was doing them at all was a testament to his willingness
to push himself. His limitations have taught him to take his
victories where he can find them. I learned that same lesson, but it
took me a lot longer.

When Clive was done, I took a 60 lb dumbell in each hand and did
one-legged squats. I had to keep the toe of the off-leg down for
balance. My form needs a lot of work. That's true on several levels.
We moved on to the military press. Clive was really working hard. I
had added 10 pounds, but that was too much so I backed off to the
previous weight. He ground out three sets of five.

"OK! We'll go up another five next time." I said.

"Oh, joy," he replied.

It's become a running gag with us. Clive will be kidding me about
something and then stop and say "I better not say that. You'll just
add more weight next time at the gym." I laugh, but I don't deny it.

We also did bent-over rows and assisted chin-ups, then some back bends
on one of the machines. Last of all, ten minutes on the ellipticals.
I was cooked.

ive been alternating hih weight low reps with low weight high reps.

and oddly the lower weight has way way way more "burn" and i think i should stick with it until later on and still keep the lo/ho reps and twice a week use way high weight low reps.

i think if i was bigger intead of skinny i would do it opposite.

i benched 40 pounds 10 reps 10 sets. waited an hour did it again and it felt fuckin amazing. after the benches i did 30 pound curls same reps/sets

usually i do 50-100 10 reps 3-4-5 sets.

i should be consistent tho, thats key for me i always forget and go like 3-4 days without working out now.

Onion, great job on keeping consistent with your workouts. That is the hardest thing to do.

Just so you know though, you will not be gaining much muscle or weight with your plan. And alternating back and forth between different strategies is not having a positive effect.

Now that you're working out, it is time to make sure you're making the most of your time in the gym

If you want to stop being skinny you need to lift heavy weight and low reps (and eat more calories).

If you want to be skinny then continue with the low weight and many reps (and eat just enough calories).

You really do need to just pick one though. This isn't one of those times where doing both extremes will give you a blend of the results.

If you want to get a little bigger and lift a little more weight and still have muscular endurance then let me know and I can work on a plan for you. There is a compromise between the two extremes, but it will not be accomplished by just doing both extremes.

Does that make sense?

George, love the stories.

I feel the same way as Clive though, "Oh, joy" another 5lbs.

I'll give an update on my progress. I'm in week 6 of my weight lifting plan, still going 3 times / week. But this week my muscles just haven't been feeling strong. I've managed to progress in weight on my lifts, but I'm feeling like I need to throw up after every set. I'm sure that this is a problem with my diet somewhere, and I don't know if my 1/2 gallon of milk/day plan has caused this (I'm not sure how it could have). But I'm not liking it.

I have to take next week off from my normal plan because I'll be traveling for business all week so we'll see if my body feels better when I return. I'll still do some lifting if the hotels have a gym, otherwise I'm stuck with body weight exercises which just aren't that difficult for me anymore (that's a good thing).

lol i figured i should do both..

feels balanced.

i dotn mind being skinny, but i dont wanna get "power only" muscle, i dont know what im talking about tho.

i hear when u do high reps lo wight u get stamina, and when u do low rep high weight you get a different kind of muscle.

but yeah, random internet reading is rather , wrong sometimes.

My routine of late is that I have no routine. I run a little bit but not very far, I go to the gym, but not enough to notice, I do some push-ups and crunches here at the apartment in the morning and I trot up and down the stairs all day long. Hmmm.

Joe(but I do think about all of you now and again.)Nation

A group of A2K members were gathered for a late lunch at the The
Stockyard restaurant in Brighton. The cuisine at The Stockyard runs
to beef and barbeque. I was edified to see that some of our group were
able to eat both wisely and in moderation. I attempted neither. I
had a Harpoon IPA while waiting for the appetizers, another with the
appetizers, and a third to accompany an outrageous cheeseburger club
sandwich and fries. As I finished up I thought "This is gonna take a
lot of miles to burn off."

The following Thursday I updated my running log. 12.2 miles so far
that week. Twelve did not qualify as "a lot of miles", but at least my
weight was back where it was before that lunch. I've found that if I
am keeping up a running regimen of about 20 miles per week, my weight
will stay within reasonable limits. The upper reasonable limit is 172
pounds. I don't know what the lower reasonable limit is and I
probably never will.

Ah maporsche, I didn't realize that you drink the milk to gain calories and bulk up. I've only had reversed problems - reduced calories *sigh*

Joe Nation, get up and get out there!! Give me 10 - sit ups that is!!

George, what's a Harpoon IPA?

I am at the stage now where I am weighing my options - 1 bar of chocolate
would be an additional hour of exercise, if not two or three, and so I leave the
chocolate bar alone.

Should have split this into two goals -- 3.a: run 2 continuous miles; 3.b: run 2 continuous miles at 6-7 mph.

If I had, I could say I just met goal 3.a. Ran 2 continuous miles, whoo!!

I've been trying for that for a long time, feels great. HARD though, dunno if I'll be able to repeat next week.

Only 5 mph so that's still kinda pitiful in the scheme of things, but getting there. Once I've repeated the feat a few times, I'll up the speed.

Soz, great work.

A beer.
Harpoon is the brewery
IPA = India Pale Ale

Oh, just a beer! It sounded so exotic though...



That's incredible, especially at that speed, sozobe. Now you will repeat it!
Once it's written here, it's motivation enough to get going, isn't it?

Distance running is real pain for natural sprinters. It just goes against
everything they like about running. I'm impressed with your persistence.

When you feel like taking the speed up a notch, I'd recommend dividing your
run into thirds. Run the first third at the usual speed, then kick it for the middle
third. Drop back to your usual speed to finish.

Did a buncha time (1 hr 45 mins) @ the gym today. I am finally no longer their newest member! The guy who works there brought this gal over to work on the treadmill next to mine (stammtisch). She was apparently signed up for personal training so I listened in a little about interval training and then he left to do something and I told her, "You can do it." We talked a little. She reminds me of how I was about a year ago. Tentative and uncertain.

It can be done.

But I gotta admit I'm pretty tired right now.