Active Rest

Whether you are talking about being active between workout days or performing less intense exercise in between more intense workout sessions such as with high intensity interval training (HIIT), active rest is key to giving your body the recovery it needs so your workouts are effectively intense. 

*Rest days in between days of resistance (strength) training workouts is important because it allows your muscles enough time to recover, repair, and grow stronger.  Rest however doesn't mean couch time.  Active rest would be a less intense activity such as a walk (even a jog), bike ride, yoga, etc.  Get the idea?

*A lower intensity exercise in between HIIT gives your body enough recovery while preventing your heart rate from dropping rapidly.  Without the active recovery period you would not be able to maintain the intensity required in HIIT to make it effective.

Challenge Points Bonus 2

Midweek...How are you doing?  Need a boost?  Here are some bonus points for doing well....Collect 'em and then get on with earning the really difficult points on your own and getting your health and fitness on!  ;-)

If you have a bag of flaxseed in your kitchen and have had at least one serving of it in the past 10 days, then give yourself 5 points.

If you have a bag of chia seeds in your kitchen and have had at least one serving of it in the past 10 days, then give yourself 5 points.

If you have had at least 5 servings of veggies in a day 3 out of the past 10 days, then give yourself 5 points.

If you hit all of your nutritional targets 5 out of the past 10 days, then give yourself 10 points.

For every workout you have done since April 6th, give yourself 10 points.

Eccentric Tempo = Muscle Gain

Count Your Tempo Your muscle gain is in the eccentric movement and not as much in the concentric movement. The concentric movement is away from the pull of gravity and moving the joints closer together (e.g., in a bicep curl the concentric movement is when the wrist moves towards the shoulder joint). The eccentric movement is toward the pull of gravity and moving the joints further apart (e.g., in a bicep curl the eccentric movement is when the wrist moves from the shoulder joint back towards the floor). Note, that delayed onset muscle soreness (the soreness you feel a day or two following exercise) is mostly associated with eccentric actions, especially during higher-intensity exercises (e.g., deadlifts). You should never just let your eccentric movements fall, meaning you should never let gravity do the pulling without you controlling the movement. Rather, eccentric contractions should control the rate of motion, slowing the downward movement against the pull of gravity. There are numerous reasons for this, not the least of which is prevention of joint and muscular injury. During your next workout, see if you can focus on your control of both the concentric and eccentric contractions by counting your tempo. The commonly recommended movement speed of six seconds per repetition is broken out as 2-3 seconds for the concentric muscle action and 3-5 seconds for the eccentric muscle action. How on track have you been between contractions? What have you noticed in focusing on this?

 

Rest Intervals You should have very little to no rest between repetitions within a set. However, rest between sets allows your anaerobic energy stores to replenish, but you need to be careful with how much of a rest between sets as this affects both the workout itself as well as the outcome of the workout. For the types of workouts we do, the ideal length of rest between sets is 30-90 seconds and no more. With 30 seconds being an ideal target. Shorter rest intervals increase cardiovascular and metabolic responses both during and after the exercise session.

Got Something to Say?

Do you have an experience or piece of knowledge that you think would benefit this Community?  Send me an e-mail at cagib1@charter.net & I'd be happy to post it as a "guest post" if it is in line with what I provide on this site!

Yes, More on Protein ;-)

Read a blurb from the current issue of Fitness magazine:

"Instant Energy Boost:  When you need a pick-me-up, reach for something with protein.  Scientists at the University of Cambridge found that the nutrient activates orexin cells, which release a stimulant in the brain that's responsible for wakefulness.  What's more, protein neutralizes the effects of sugar, keeping your energy levels stable.  'Even a small amount of protein seems to cancel out the effects of large amounts of glucose,' lead author Denis Burdakov, Ph.D., explains.  So if you normally grab a piece of fruit when you hit an afternoon slump, pair it with a small handful of nuts or hard-boiled egg to power through the rest of your day."

Beyond this, protein, as I have mentioned a few times/ways, aides in the repair of your muscles which is all good and wonderful....but if you are not working out regularly know that just as with too many carbs and fats, protein too turns to fat if you are consuming more calories than you are burning!

Want some other info, be sure to check out all of the info and links on Eating Supportively

1st Bonus Challenge: Walk/Run Your Way to a 1/2 Marathon!!!

1st Bonus Challenge: Walk/Run Your Way to a 1/2 Marathon!!!
Be sure to reference Couch to Half Marathon Plan for the "how". Beginning today, 4/13/12....Here is how the points will work: 5 points for every day you walk/run a minimum of 2 miles; 10 points for every day you walk/run a minimum of 3 miles; and 15 points for every day you walk/run more than 4 miles. Remember that for fat loss, prolonged steady state cardio is not going to get you where you want to go and that sticking with your resistance/interval workouts needs to remain your priority. The 3-4 cardio days are a great added cardio/respiratory benefit that will 1) get you your 10,000 daily NEAT steps in (Are You NEAT?) & 2) help focus you outside of your usual thought loop ;-) Be sure to get at least one full day of rest a week for proper recovery!

Couch to Half Marathon Plan

Whether you have never tried running or are currently puttering through 5k runs, here is a very doable plan to get you to a half marathon in just 10 weeks and not impede upon your normal resistance/interval workouts.  The below can be adapted to whatever days, and is based on a Mon/Wed/Fri resistance/interval workout routine:

                       Tues                  Thurs                      Sat
Week   1     Run/Walk 3 miles   Run/Walk 2 miles     Run/Walk 4 miles
Week   2     Run/Walk 3 miles   Run/Walk 2 miles     Run/Walk 5 miles  
Week   3     Run/Walk 3 miles   Run/Walk 3 miles     Run/Walk 6 miles
Week   4     Run/Walk 3 miles   Run/Walk 3 miles     Run/Walk 4 miles
Week   5     Run/Walk 3 miles   Run/Walk 3 miles     Run/Walk 7 miles
Week   6     Run/Walk 4 miles   Run/Walk 4 miles     Run/Walk 8 miles
Week   7     Run/Walk 4 miles   Run/Walk 4 miles     Run/Walk 9 miles
Week   8     Run/Walk 4 miles   Run/Walk 5 miles     Run/Walk 11 miles
Week   9     Run/Walk 5 miles   Run/Walk 5 miles     Run/Walk 7 miles
Week 10     Run/Walk 3 miles   Run/Walk 4 miles     Run/Walk 13.1 miles

Misc Blog/Challenge Info

A little housekeeping......

Whether you are officially, unofficially, or kind-of-sort-of participating in the Current Fitness Challenge be sure to jot down all of your daily points.  As this Challenge goes on you will accumulate quite a number of points.  Seem silly?  Are you competitive?  Then, no it's not silly.  Will focusing on something other than what you'd rather eat than steamed broccoli help you do what you need to do?  Then, no it's not silly.  Will pushing yourself to do a workout when you'd rather not to hold on to that personal accountability seem silly?  I didn't think so!

There will be numerous posts with bonus challenges, mini challenges, etc., so be sure you sign up to follow my blog so you will get daily e-mails with all the current post info:

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Come On......

Seriously cannot believe I am posting this, but.......If you are either officially or unofficially or kind-of-sort-of participating in the Current Fitness Challenge and think that the first mini challenge means you can eat whatever you want "all you have to do is track what you are eating," then you are totally not getting the point of the exercise.  After talking with several participants this week, I have actually gotten that kind of feedback, and am screaming in my head "where have I gone wrong?"  I realize that I didn't specify in the "mini challenge" info that you needed to eat well and supportively, but come on folks isn't that the point of this Challenge?  If you are new to all of this, baby steps are fine just keep progressing as the days and weeks go by.  There will definitely be mini challenges helping you with the nutritional juggling as we move forward.  For those of you who have been doing this for a while........YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO so DO IT!!!  ;-)  If you have been eating supportively and tracking since Friday, give yourself 15 points!!!

Better is Better

In the same line of thinking of perfect practice makes perfect (Practice Makes???) ..... More is not always Better but rather Better is Better!  More of a bad thing is still a bad thing.  If you are always trying to do your best, then you will get better.  If you are always practicing good, mindful, intense form in your workouts, for example, you will get better and achieve great results!  See a theme here?