On the Run: fitness made simple
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A better world starts with a better YOU.
My roommate and I using kettlebells for the first time! They’ve been popular for a long time (I just found an article from 2004 about their benefits). I liked them; definitely want to do more workouts using them! Do you use kettlebells? Can you share with me a workout? I need some ideas!
-Geraldine
P.S. The picture is blurry because I couldn’t stay perfectly still on one-leg!
Update your Nike Training App! There’s new bonus workouts and rewards!
FINALLY, it’s about time they released some new workouts. This one features USA’s women’s soccer celebrity, Alex Morgan (fyeahalexmorgan tumblr). It’s only 15 minutes, but it’s fast and intense! You’ll need a kettlebell (or dumbell), step, and medicine ball (optional). It’s a circuit of 3 sets. Each set is 5 minutes with 5 moves. No resting breaks, but pause the workout if you need a breather (we did!). My roommate, Jo, and I did this workout + 15 minutes on the elliptical after class.
The moves:
- Kettlebell single leg clean and press: works you arms, legs, and balance
- Quick feet on step: gets your heart rate up like your are sprinting
- 2 shuffles into 10 split jumps: awesome combination that works your inner thighs and butt
- Burpee with 2 feet lateral hops over step: If you go at a pace that’s challenging, you’ll feel the burn in your quads when you jump onto the step. At this point, my muscles are fatigued.
- Crunch with alternating kickdowns: always need an abdominal exercise to round out the workout! You’re fully extending your arms and legs so your core really needs to work.
- Repeat 2 more times!
Take at look at what’s new on NTC and let me know what you think! I’d love to hear from you…miss my tumblr readers!
~Geraldine
Hellooo everyone! I just started school again and one of the first things I did was upgrade from student to student premier gym membership (and a locker for my workout clothes and accessories)! It’s totally worth the extra 20 bucks since I’ve already taken 3 new classes my first week! I plan on taking 2-3 classes a week. I’m most interested in strengthening and yoga classes, but I’m also intrigued by spinning! Okay so, my roommates, who also got the upgrade, are motivated to stay in shape and workout throughout our medical school studies. They plan to workout about 4 times a week to get stronger, relieve stress, and tone up. The classes I took were:
BodyPump (55 min): This was super fun!!! It’s all high repetition with lower weights lifting, so it’s challenging, but you don’t sweat a lot. We did a variety of squats, lunges, arm curls, tricep exercises, shoulders, and abs. We use a mini bar bell to which you add as much weight as you can handle. It’s a popular class because its intense and it works! The music used is upbeat and gets you into the groove. We loved our energetic instructor too =) My roommate and I were a little embarrassed at first to start out with lower weights, but we focused on form and we’re ready to pump it up next time! If you don’t want to do weights in the gym by yourself or don’t know of a good routine, I suggest signing up for a class like BodyPump.
Integrated Yoga (1 hour): Okay so this was kind of boring…It was very basic so we didn’t even get to do many poses. And there was no music. This class is supposed to incorporate a lot of techniques from different branches of yoga, but all we really did was back stretches and triangle…The teacher was cool though. She went around to help and correct our alignment. She’s also like 65, skinny, fit, and bohemian-styled. It’s kind of weird to see senior citizens demonstrate how to tuck your tailbone…but whatever, I know I’m going to be one of those ladies one day! However, I love doing yoga after a confusing day at school or work. It helps me focus on something singular, straight forward, and just about my physical well-being.
Athletic Conditioning (1 hour): This was the most intense class I’ve ever taken. It was way harder than the NTC workouts I’ve done. We exhausted all our muscle groups, did nonstop cardio blasts, and had super short shake-out breaks. For legs, we did squats like there was no tomorrow. What killed me were squats-on-toe-raises..UGH. My legs were shaking uncontrollable it was crazy!!! We did this simple quad lift and extension which started to burn after about reps. Me and another student from across the room made eye contact and started laughing because we were both in so much pain. The props used were: a light-weight ball, full bosu ball, step, and sets of light and heavy weights. It was crazy I thought I was going to die multiple times. The teacher was awesome and I’m sad that she’s just about to leave…I will probably try the class again although I’m pretty scared. You can work your triceps pretty well by just kicking back several times, and then pulsing!
Other ways I stayed active this week include: walking to and from school (my roomies and I do this together!), long walks with hills and stairs on rest days, and lots of stretching. ALSO, a great way to strengthen your back AND stay awake in lecture is to sit up incredibly straight!
Oh and yesterday was my White Coat Ceremony =)! I told a lot of my classmates and even some of my instructors about you guys and my blog! Everyone’s really supportive and I’m looking forward to bringing fresh ideas to your dashboard!
…And this is what I’m starting now!
I am registered for the Nike Women’s Marathon on Oct. 14th and chose one of Hal Higdon’s 8 week training schedule. Since I’ll be starting school, I predict that I’ll need a plan that’s more flexible and allows working out around the clock. I also don’t want to be running a lot at night because I’ll be living in a city that’s sketchy after dark. This plan will give me the option of going to the gym (safe even late at night!) more often.
How I’m making it work for me:
- Monday: no running, more casual walks, cross-training at the gym (cycling, swimming, cardio class, or moderate strength training)
- Tuesday: Weight-lifting at gym or BodyPump class (~ 1 hr)
- Wednesday: 8-8:30 min/mile pace with University Run Club!
- Thursday: Interval workout on stationary bike, or spinning class, strengthening (~30 min + ~30 min)
- Friday: Easy conversational pace
- Saturday: Yoga class, light cross-training, more casual walks
- Sunday: Long run day at easy pace
As you can see, I plan to switch some of the days around which the author says is fine. This is not set in stone, and I’ll let you know what I actually decide to do for cross-training days!
Are you starting or following a workout plan too?!
~Geraldine
Hi Everyone!
This was the Marathon Training Schedule I followed. It’s for people who have a solid base of running. I thought it was very doable because I hardly ever felt wiped out. It’s hard to eat moderately and to make healthy choices when you’re exercising a lot. However the rest days, short run days, and cross training days help keep you from feeling exhausted and binge-eating. I did not do a lot of strength and speed training while training for my marathon because I didn’t want to get too tired. But, I did a lot of yoga, abdominal work, and dance. Also, I made sure to include hill runs every week! Check out Hal Higdon’s website for more plans and advice. He has beginner, intermediate, and advanced plans! He’s a well-known author and prominent running expert.
Anyone interested in training for a race this year?!
-Geraldine
The Best Running Form!
I saw this posted at the SF Marathon Expo and I wanted to share it with everyone. I realized that I tend to “sit in the bucket” and favor heelstriking. From now on, I’m going to try standing taller with a slight forward lean. This encourages a midfoot strike as well! Hopefully this will prevent injuries and allow me to run faster with less effort. I read somewhere that, “running is like controlled falling.” That’s why you want to have a slight forward lean. You can read more here: http://www.runningplanet.com/training/running-form.html
Poor Form (Sitting in the Bucket):
- Body vertical.
- Foot lands in front of body
- Reaching forward with legs and arms
- Ankle flexed up
- Heelstrike and tight shins
- Collapsing at the core
- Hips behind heel strike
- Long stride
Nice Form
- Body aligned
- Slight forward lean
- Midfoot strike
- Stride opens behind
- Midfoot landing
So now you have lots of think about while you’re out running those long miles! Happy running (or working out in general) =)
~Geraldine
I used to be really confused whenever I had an instructor or instructions which told me: “Take your belly button to your back!” or “Belly in!” or “Engage your core!” I asked my yoga and dance teachers to explain to me what “engaging your core” really is and how it differs from sucking in and flexing.
Sucking in: This action is too drastic. Your whole abdominal region collapses inwards causing your back to round. Also, your shoulders tense and creep towards your ears.
Engaging your core: Imagine that you are zipping up a pair of jeans. You are standing up tall, tailbone is tucked in and not sticking out, and you have a little tension in your abdominal muscles. You are staying flexible in this position.
Flexing your abs: This move is too static. Your breathing is hindered. You are stiff and rigid limiting your ability to perform many poses and exercises.
Engaging your core without overdoing it allows you to develop both balance and strength. This is a silly picture, but I wanted to illustrate to you the differences! Hope it helps >.<
~Geraldine
Whenever I start feeling signs of exhaustion or frustration, I perform these techniques. Actually, on today’s 20 mile run, I did all of these, multiple times. These little tricks carried me all the way without any injuries! Even on short runs, I’m always asking myself:
- Is my jaw relaxed?
- Are my shoulders riding up towards my ears?
- How do my feet and arches feel? (I have a bunion and am prone to flares of plantar fascia pain =/)
Why these simple things work wonders:
- Try it people! Shaking out your fingers and arms feels awesome when you’re tired. You feel all rejuvenated and flexible again!
- Do you tend to tighten your jaw under stress? Give it a good wiggle and relax those muscles (even when you’re weight training). Always, always relax your jaw.
- I carry water everywhere (out running, to the mall, in the car, etc.). Water allows a good workout. Staying hydrating keeps you energized, refreshed, and happy until the end of your workout. Carrying a water bottle isn’t that bad either (you get used to it and it’s way better to have water than not).
- Plies and quad stretches feel great because it relieves the pressure on your knees.
- And when don’t we need a good neck roll?! Do that and relax your shoulders and you’ll be golden for miles to come!
Don’t stress, just stretch =)
P.S. Oh and this was at the Ritz-Carlton in Cancun! Aren’t the cabanas just dreamy <3 I was just walking by on the beach. I actually stayed at the the JW Marriot (same owner, just not as luxurious as the Ritz) which had an incredible infinity pool.
Today’s workout comes from a multi-lingual, well-traveled, and ridiculously in shape trainer (http://progressiveresistance.tumblr.com/)! You’ll need access to a gym for weights, pull-up bars, and bar-bells.
One of my core routines I call the Back to Basics routine. It looks like this (all exercises are 30 reps @ 80%RM with 60sec rest between sets. I take as many sets as it takes to get to 30 reps. If I get to where I can bust out 7-10 reps in a set, I know it’s time to increase the weight 5-10lbs):
Monday:
Front squat
Weighted ring dips
Barbell bent over row
Handstand pushup
Wednesday:
Snatch grip deadlift
Ring push up
Inverted row on rings
Friday:
Weighted pull ups
Deadlift (Goblet squat if Wed.’s snatch grip deads are still taking their toll)
Dumbbell Bench Press
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday: V-bar pull up/diamond push up with feet elevated on Swiss ball supersets, ring rows, power cleans, bodyweight pull ups, overhead presses, biceps curls/triceps extension supersets and/or back squats…depending on what I’m feeling most that day.
Diamond Push-ups WITH ELEVATED FEET ARE YOU KIDDING ME. I think I might break my neck trying to do a headstand pushup…but sounds tempting. This is a pretty intense workout, but I think if you take it slow at first to learn the moves, you’ll gain such strength and muscles like you’ve never had before. I hope the links help!
Here are 3 videos showing some cool moves. They are natural movements which works both the upper and lower bodies. I can see myself picking up a few dumbbells and doing these moves at night while watching Doctor Who! Let’s all try and get some strength training in everyday, yah? (even if it’s just a few sets of crunches or push-ups)
I’m on an airplane, but this is what I wish I was doing! Oh well…I guess I’ll do some kegels and knee-raises…
Hi Everyone,
Check out my blog post for Seventeen Health! It’s about other ways to do cardio instead of the typical running/jogging routine.
~Geraldine
- 15 minutes total
- 1 minute per move (30 seconds on each side, and 30 seconds per leg on last 3 moves)
- Do all 3x total
Hi everyone! So some of you have already tried this workout, which my core definitely needs! My first time was confusing, but you get the hang of the moves quickly. Sofia looks awesome doesn’t the moves too since she’s a dancer and incredibly flexible. Some tips I found:
- Stretch quads before. You use them a lot during the “V-Hold with Leg Kicks.”
- Keep inner-thighs together during the V-ups. If this is difficult, cross ankles to help.
- Sit on side of buttocks, not your hip, during “Side V-Ups with Leg Kicks.” it hurts less.
Videos:
- Crunch Circuit: http://youtu.be/kkv3jmzp_Uc
- V-Ups: http://youtu.be/rNfe2b88Zgo
V-Hold with Leg Kicks from Sofia Boutella Fearless workout!
This move is awesome! It works your quads, thighs, and abs for a total core exercise.
