I know what I need to do to have my body performing the best it can. I know what I need to do to keep rehabbing my knee and IT band. I need to take my own advice!!!
I need to...
I need to...
Take more rest days, damn it! My goal for this year was to take 1 rest day per week. Then I had knee surgery and I took so. many. rest. days. My brain says I have some "rest day credit". But that is stupid. I am just looking for a reason not to take a rest day. I should be taking 1 complete rest day a week and 1 lower body rest day a week. That's what I need right now.
Do not do any lower body strength training on running days. I did this last week. I ran and then I did a full body strength training session. DUMB. If you haven't gathered it from my blog yet, I think it is counterproductive to lower body strength train on days you run. If your goal is to get stronger and faster, you should focus all of your energy on your lifts. Lifting days are lifting days. Just like you wouldn't go do 100 squats before a long run (or would you????) you shouldn't run 5 miles before you hit the weights. You shouldn't run AFTER either. First of all, if you do your lifting right, you shouldn't have energy to run. Second, you just broke your muscles down. They need to REBUILD to become stronger. Go eat some chicken and sweet potatoes. Do not run! (Wow, I didn't realize I was going to get so preachy on this one but I'm going to leave it in.) Clearly, I need to take my own advice on this one, as you will see from my Summer Weekly Workouts that I will post on Friday...
Get in 4 strength training sessions every week. This may seem like a lot but I used to do split body parts and organized it so I would always have 72 hours recovery between body parts. Example of my old strength schedule:
Mon- Chest/Shoulder/Tri
Tues- Back/Bi/Leg
Wed- Rest
Thurs- Chest/Shoulder/Tri
Fri- Back/Bi/Leg
Sat- Rest
Sun- Rest
*Rest indicates lifting rest, not rest from other forms of exercise!*
Spend more time stretching and foam rolling. Right now, I don't do it every day, and the days I do it, it is only for maybe 7-10 minutes. I have the time. There is no excuse. I just need to make it a priority.
Don't eat when I'm not hungry. Some nights, I eat something sweet right before I go to bed... just because. I'm not hungry, I'm not craving it, I just do it out of habit. I guess getting rid of the box of Oreo brownies we have in our pantry would be a good way to make this a little bit easier for me to do.
Wow, writing all of this out really helped solidify in my head what I need to be doing. I need to write out a weekly training schedule and stick to it. I can't be doing workouts because I "feel like it," or because the weather is "so nice that I may as well do a long run." It is counterproductive to my goals. I need to cut the crap.
Do you ever do anything that is counterproductive to your goals?
Do you need to start following your own advice?
What is your philosophy on lower body lifting on running days?
What is your philosophy on lower body lifting on running days?
I had a massage yesterday and my masseuse once again reminded me that I need to stretch and foam roll. :S I am so lazy when it comes to self care for muscles. I know that I also need to stop eating when I'm NOT hungry too...!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't feel so bad hearing others are lazy with muscle self care. I mean, how hard is it to turn on a tv show and just stretch and foam roll for 20 min? HARD, apparently!
DeleteYes, sometimes I work out too long. I really should always just call it good at about an hour but there are times when I go for 90 minutes (cycling). I think this is OK if I take more rest (currently only 1 full day per week). I used to work out 2 hours ever day with no rest and broke that cycle a few years back (and it was hard because I was addicted) but sometimes I see it creeping back in. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI also want to do more yoga. Flow yoga which is not my favorite.
Right now I do one yin yoga session / week but would like to add 2 15 minute flow sessions (I have a dvd).
I also feel like lifting should not be on running days. I do 2-3 full body lifts (body pump dvd) and I do it after my swimming which feels good as the swimming does give me a workout but at the same time warms me up just enough that I am ready to lift and not too fatigued.
It sounds like you have a great plan going. I hear you with the addiction thing creeping in- I feel like we talked about this before but I was in the same cycle as you were. I bet swimming is an awesome warm up. I hope on the elliptical for a few min, even though I hate it it isn't for long and it warms me up!
DeleteHmmm right now I am doing strength 3 days a week. I should up it to four, but I'm always worried about leg day messing with my runs so I strategically place it in the week when I have two easy, short runs following it.
ReplyDeleteI usually do upper body + running on the same days. It leaves me feeling wiped out but good. That's not counterproductive is it?
No I don't think so! I often do it once a week on the same day. I usually lift first so I have lots of energy, then do my easy run. It's so hard to place those strength workouts since we RUN too. I mean, ideally, we wouldn't run at ALL the day after lifting. But I just love running too much to do that.
DeleteYes I need to strength train more and eat less crap. My sweet tooth always wins though! I'm like you when it's late at night I always crave ice cream and cookies!
ReplyDeleteYup, and I don't mind indulging if I am craving it, but sometimes I eat it just because. I don't even want it!
DeleteWow this had me shaking my head the whole time. I need to stop some of my excuses as well. I need to go back to my strength training and stretching. Great motivational post, thanks a lot.
ReplyDeleteNo prob! If I write things out, it makes it more "real" to me.
DeleteI really need to stretch and foam roll. After working out, the only thing I can think about is sitting down and not moving for awhile, so I always neglect stretching. It is so easy to do in front of Netflix though! I also need to stop eating before I get full. I eat so much, I sometimes forget to stop. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI usually stretch/foam roll to The View... but I still don't do it enough hehe
DeleteI need to be a better foam roller, too. I just hate it so much! I do lift on running days, but several hours post-run, after I've had some time to refuel and rest a little.
ReplyDeleteI kind of like the foam roller but I get tired! I don't know why it tires me and makes me sweat haha
DeleteUgh, I need to be better about strength training! I laughed because I'd be doing GREAT if I foam rolled/stretched for 7 minutes! I'm lucky if I do it for three!
ReplyDeletelol I am with you. 7 min may be a record for me ;)
DeleteI always had trouble figuring out how to rest appropriately for my lower body. If I run Monday, do lower body strengthening Tuesday...can I run Wednesday?
ReplyDeleteI think this is an honest kick-in-the-pants. I hope writing it down was helpful to you, because it's definitely helpful to me! lol
The plan was to kick myself in the pants, but if I kick others in the pants in the process, I guess that is good! (So long as you wanted the kick!)
DeleteStrength training... good question. I mean, IDEALLY we would rest the day after lower body lifting so the muscles could fully recover and be STRONGER and FASTER. I say ideally because I truly believe that is what would be best. Do I rest the day after lifting? No. I think if I planned better and was on like a 9 day schedule it could work... like every 9 days lift lower body 2, rest 2, and then have 5 days in which I could run or do upper body. Hmmm now you have me thinking, girl. Why does a week HAVE to be 7 days??
So do you run on your upper body days or on your rest days ??
ReplyDeleteI need to a good solid program myself to start working towards even beginning training for a marathon but not sure which direction to go. Right now I am doing a Body Pump class twice a week, running 3 x per week (occasionally throwing in another whole body weight training day)...
Yes, on those days that I would only do upper body, I would still run on those days. That is what I was doing before my surg. Now I am doing just 2 full body days per week (sort of)- no running on those days!
DeleteI've been trying to incorporate more stretching and flexibility training, especially as I do more weight training. And get back to one yoga class per week. I don't especially love yoga, but I love how I feel when it's over.
ReplyDeleteI feel like stretching is like the last piece of the puzzle I need to incorporate... Never did yoga!
DeleteI totally get it... with the lower mileage you have extra energy! Maybe you could count your upper body lifting days as rest days for your lower body?
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could see a trainer (who knows what they're doing) who could work with you to come up for a plan to reach your muscle building goals! I know it is an investment but a lot of trainers would work with you for 2-3 sessions and devise a program for you so you know when to do what.
ReplyDeleteI am SO guilty of the last one; don't eat when I'm not hungrym my mouth seems to like to have something to do and thats not good! I need more hobbies.
ReplyDeletei love these cut the crap rules. i really need to be more strict with myself about a few things too. but mine are a little more simplistic. i need to run. more than once every two weeks. that's not going to get me anywhere...
ReplyDelete