Today's weigh-in : 222
Difference : -1
Ok it's been three weeks since last posting, and one thing is becoming really crystal clear - I'm just not cut out for the daily blog thing. It's really become apparent over the long haul that with everything I have to do - working (day job + some extra gigs for extra cash), helping take care of two kids, spending time with my (absolutely wonderful) girlfriend and family and friends, plus rehearsing with a new band that's been going for a couple months now AND, of course, fitting that all in around my exercise schedule - that maintaining a daily and even sometimes weekly blog is a big hassle. Call it the blog that broke the camel's back. So I apologize if you're waiting with bated breath each day for the next installment, but my schedule is really insane now....so I don't think I'll be doing the daily recaps anymore. I still feel I need to finish what I've started here, though - I set a goal of 215 pounds and I intend to reach it, and I'll definitely do it in a public fashion. I just think that I'll better serve you as readers (and my stress level over it) by giving a sampling of what I'm eating/doing/sleeping and perhaps a discussion here and there of what's working and what isn't - I'll try to keep it weekly so that I can post my current weight, and if I have more to say I'll post more often, but I'm not making any more promises - only that I WILL see this through to 215 and you will be there with me. Capice?
So today was the first positive result I've seen in a while, and by that I mean I actually lost a pound instead of gaining or no change. I think it has to do with a couple things :
- I'm eating better - no more Xmas cookies or mondo dinners, about the only totally non-healthy indulgence I have is the occasional junk food binge, which I've kept in check the past week
- my injury rehab is nearly complete - I'm sure I haven't let you forget that I pretty much injured every lower body muscle possible in a soccer game I played with my daughter's team back at the end of November. They say it can take 6-8 weeks to come back from severe sprains like that, I'd say most of my injuries are all the way back.
On that last subject, in addition to the knee and hip sprains I was also dealing with some soreness in my achilles, which frankly scared the crap out of me. I have big plans this year for outside running, building up to doing a marathon within the next 2-3 years, and my ankles were swelling up and getting sore after about 20-25 minutes of hard running (anything above 6 mph). I was really afraid I was developing tendinitis, which would not only seriously put in doubt any street miles, but also kill off a large portion of my workouts since I do so much with running on the treadmill.
Thankfully, I figured out the main source of my problem - shoes. I had been wearing the same pair of running shoes for about 10 months, and now I know with this sort of activity schedule that's just about 4 months too long. Apparently the rule of thumb is to replace after about 300-400 miles of use, depending on your size, weight and the hardness of surfaces on which you're running. I figure with treadmill miles alone I'm logging about 10-20 miles a week, we'll call it an average of 15. If I were to treat those all as road miles, that would mean at the low end of the scale my shoes should get replaced about every 5 months. Now because running on a treadmill is so much easier than running on hard surfaces like sidewalks or streets, I could probably stretch the shoes to around 8 months (the ankle swelling really became noticeable after 9-10 months). But because when the weather gets nicer I intend to do a whole lot more street running, I'm going to enforce a 6-month replacement plan for now and see if that works. If I have any sort of pain I'll drop it to 4 months, but my shoes are kind of expensive (New Balance 993 - retail $140) so if I can save getting an extra pair a year I will. Incidentally, I wasn't aware of this until today, but there's a load of charity organizations that accept used running shoes, so don't throw your old ones away like I did, just donate them and take the tax write-off. DOH. Also, before anyone asks, I get those particular shoes because they are designed for non-stick-figure runners like myself, and provide stability support for your ankles which I need since I've sprained mine so many times. At any rate, after putting on the new shoes and working up to harder and harder runs, I'm back to being able to do 3.2 miles on the street with little soreness at all (in fact I did that last night in about 28:30).
Which brings me to the subject I've been meaning to get to for some time now - stretching/warming up. For the first 9-10 months that I did workouts, I did a 5 minute treadmill warmup at low speed (started at 3 mph, I'm now up to 4-5+ mph), then I did a fairly exhaustive set of stretches for my entire body that took about 10 minutes. Yet I would still get soreness in my ankles or the occasional muscle pull (obviously).
Recently I got pointed to a new way of thinking - dynamic warmups, also called dynamic stretching. Basically there are three types of stretching - static, ballistic and dynamic. What I had been doing all my life is what everyone probably got taught in gym class - stand still, touch your toes, hold for 30 seconds. That is static stretching. Ballistic stretching is what your gym teacher yelled at you for trying - that is, instead of holding a stretch still, you'd "bounce" in and out of the stretch for the 30 seconds. Well he was at least right about that - ballistic stretching is a really bad idea, you can injure yourself really badly jerking your limbs around like that, it's really likely if you do that for any length of time that you will strain and/or tear muscle/ligament tissue. So for christ's sake, don't.
What dynamic stretching consists of is a series of gentle movements that are designed to engage and stretch each portion of your body without over-extending yourself. Is it better than just regular old static stretching? As a matter of fact, Virginia, yes it is - recent sports medicine studies have shown that static stretching actually weakens your muscles by lengthening them, leaving you more prone to injury while exercising.
At first, I thought this sounded pretty dorky, especially since that particular article linked above only mentioned 3-4 different stretching exercises. So I decided to do some research on what I could be doing, and put a small warmup routine together that I can do. I have put this to the test for the past week or so, and I have to say - the scientists were absolutely right (and so was Vanessa...OKAY????). Not only is dynamic stretching intrinsically aerobic in nature, but it really works well - and it's a whole lot more fun than sitting around on a mat holding boring old poses. Granted, you are going to look really....REALLY...stupid doing this stuff. There's just no way around it. My kids get a kick out of laughing at me warming up now. But I don't care because it's much more effective than the static stretching ever was. Beyond the "looking silly" warning, I will also tell you this - this is stuff that's intended to be done in a good deal of space (like outside on the grass), so if you can't go outside you'll have to improvise by using a hallway or other good-sized open space indoors (about 20-30 feet should do). So let me give you what I've been doing, this is my usual workout routine now:
- WARMUP - 5-10 minutes on treadmill at low-medium speed. I usually start around 4 mph and work up to doing 5.5 mph in the last minute. Whether I do 5 or 10 minutes depends on the type of exercise I intend to do after warmups. If I'm doing long-form cardio (anything over 20 minutes), I tend to shorten this up to 5 minutes, don't want to completely tire myself out. But if you're doing resistance/circuit training or intervals, you'll want to do the full 10 minutes.
- REST - 2-3 minutes recovery time - usually when I go to the bathroom or get a glass of water
- STRETCH - I put together this routine from varying sources that works for me, stretches everything dynnamically that I used to do with static stretching and takes roughly 10 minutes. I'll do my best to describe each movement but you can see most of the exercises here, here and
- side bends - feet shoulder-width apart, arms out straight to your sides, palms down, fingers extended. Bend to your left, touch your hip, repeat on the right side, that's one count. Don't move your hips and keep facing forward or you'll defeat the entire purpose. Repeat 10 times.
- trunk rotations - same starting position as #1 only rotate your arms parallel to the floor so that first the right hand is directly in front, then the left, that's one count. Don't move your head. Repeat 10 times.
- arm circles - really simple make big slow circles with your arms 10 times each direction.
- ab stretch (w/stability ball) - if you have a stability ball, lie with the small of your back on the ball and your knees bent. As far as you can keep your feet on the floor, roll backward and touch either the floor or an object behind you while tightening your abs and back. Really important not to roll too far or you WILL fall off. Repeat 10 times.
- groin stretch (w/stability ball) - put your left hand on something solid like a wall, plant your right foot to the right of the ball at an angle (so you're leaning against your left hand for balance), bend your left leg and put your left shin on the ball. Slowly roll on the ball toward the wall so that your groin is stretching slightly (don't overdo it), and then roll back, that's one count. Do 10 and repeat on the other side.
- Walking high knees - walk forward and with each step bring your knee up to your chest, grabbing momentarily with your hands to squeeze it in tight.
- walking quad stretch - walk forward and kick your foot backwards into your hand, pulling into a quad stretch and releasing.
- walking butt kicks - pretty simple, walk forward and kick your own ass with your heels. Marvel that your dominant foot does it a whole lot easier than the other.
- single leg deadlift walk - for each step forward, balance on the forward leg, bend forward at a 90-degree angle and touch the floor while raising the other leg parallel to the floor. I call this the Albert the Drinking Bird move.
- walking lunges - easy - for each step forward, do a lunge. Go straight from right lunge to left lunge if you can (you don't have to).
- reverse walking lunge - same as #10 only backwards. You may find you'll have to pause between lunges or risk falling over.
- heel walking - walk on your heels, with your toes flexed out wide.
- toe walking - walk on your toes, with your heels flexed out wide.
- heel-ups - with each step forward, stand on your forward leg only and raise up on to your toes then down again, flexing your ankle in the process.
- lateral high knee step with hip rotation (both directions) - sounds more complicated than it is - start by raising your left knee up and to the right; then in a sweeping motion move it in the air to the left and then down. Repeat on the right side. I twist my arms side to side at the same time.
- toy soldiers - basically it's an exaggerated goose-step. While standing up straight, raise your right leg up to a 90-degree angle while pointing your left arm straight forward and your right arm straight back. Keep your arms and legs stiff for the maximum stretch.
- scorpions front - lie on your back in a cross pattern with your arms straight out from your sides and your legs slightly apart. While keeping your palms and back on the floor and your knees locked, kick your right leg over to your left side at a 90 degree angle and touch the floor with the inside of your right foot. Bring it back and repeat on the left, that's one count. Do 10.
- scorpions back - just like the above, only you're lying on your stomach with your chin against the floor (palms still flat on the floor). Without raising your chest or your palms, kick your left leg over backwards at a 90 degree angle to touch the floor on your right with your heel. Repeat on the right leg, that's one. Do 10.
- spiderman - I can't really think of how to describe this one so here.
- inchworm - get into pushup position with your butt slightly up in the air. Keeping your hands still, walk forward with your feet as far as you remain comfortable. Then walk about the same distance away with your hands and do a dive-bomber. This one will tire you out fast.
- lateral shuffle (both directions) - shuffle to the side in a bouncy type fashion. I think this is in one of the videos.
- carioca (both directions) - another one I can't describe, view it here. It's also called a "grapevine".
- lateral high knee run (both directions) - run like a total dork sideways by bringing your knees up as high as you can.
- lateral slide with floor touch (both directions) - like the lateral shuffle, only smack the floor with both hands in between each shuffle.
- high knees with skip (power skips) - you'll see a lot of European soccer players warming up doing this. Bring your knee up and use it to propel yourself into a small hop that looks like a skip when you alternate sides.
- "A" skips - looks like skanking to tha beat. It's close to the end of this video.
- "B" skips (like A only kick out) - see the same video as above.
- fast high knees - jog forward, kicking your knees up as high as you can.
- fast butt kicks - lean forward, jog and kick yourself in the butt.
- reverse jog - you really need me to describe this?
- reverse pedal - basically it's like running in place while moving backwards slowly, looks like the up portion of "up/down" drill that is a mainstay of football practices.
- side bends - feet shoulder-width apart, arms out straight to your sides, palms down, fingers extended. Bend to your left, touch your hip, repeat on the right side, that's one count. Don't move your hips and keep facing forward or you'll defeat the entire purpose. Repeat 10 times.
- RECOVER - No doubt after doing that you're going to be breathing hard and sweaty, give yourself about 2-3 minutes before you start any exercise routine
- WORKOUT - 20-60 minutes main workout
- COOLDOWN - if I'm doing anything on the treadmill or running, I always do a 5-minute cooldown walk, slowly lowering the speed over the course of the five minutes.
- STRETCH - this is where you can do your static stretching, as it can balance out some of the trauma from your main workout and allow your muscles to heal in a more uniform fashion. I do the following stretches (a subset of the ones I used to do), takes about 5 minutes. Again, I'm doing the best I can to describe these, but please look them up if you have trouble understanding it. Hold each one of these for about a count of 20 :
- lying shoulder stretch - lie on your back, stretch your arms over your head, try to envision yourself being pulled in both directions along the line of your spine. Really good for cracking your back if you lift your head slowly at the end of it.
- lying ITB (ilotibial band) stretch - lie on your back, roll slightly to your left side, bend your right leg at 90 degrees and bring the side of your right leg to the floor on your left. Repeat on the right. Stretches your hip and lower back.
- back stretch - lie on your stomach, then while keeping your hips on the floor raise your upper torso up and put your hands flat on the floor in front of you. You should feel this in the small of your back, feels really good.
- sartorius stretch - get on one knee only spread your foot further forward than you'd normally be comfortable and scoot your knee back. Lean forward - stretches the top of your thigh near your hip.
- hip/oblique stretch - sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Now bring your right foot up over top your left leg and put it on the floor to your left. Stick your left elbow against the right side of your left leg and push/twist, then hold it. Should feel your hip and side abs stretch.
- modified hurdler's stretch - one leg forward, the other leg bent inward with your heel against your groin area. Lean forward and touch your toes. I do this one because I can't keep my heel straight up in the traditional hurdler's stretch and I want to be sure my hamstrings get hit from two different angles.
- groin stretch - sit on floor, put the soles of your feet together and bring them as far into your crotch as you can, then use your elbows to force your knees as flat as you can get them. Don't overdo this one, it hurts when you screw up.
- traditional hurdler's stretch - one leg forward, the other leg bent at a 90 degree angle with your foot behind you. The standard Hollywood "look he's warming up" pose.
- quad stretch - stand up, put one hand against a wall or something solid and use the other to pull your foot up behind you. I find I get more out of this if my plant leg is slightly bent and I lean more forward to pull my leg back as far as I can.
- calf stretch - another old standard. put both hands on the wall or something solid, both feet flat on the floor. Stagger one foot back and the other forward like you're trying to push the wall over, then bend your forward knee while locking your back leg and keeping your back foot on the floor. You should feel the stretch in the calf muscle on the back leg.
- instep stretch - both hands on the wall, stand on one foot with the other resting against the back of your leg above the ankle. Then rock forward so you're standing on your toes on the down foot. Helps recover from achilles problems and prevent future tendinitis.
- standing groin/glute stretches - really easy, spread your feet wide and touch the floor. I lean to each side first by bending one knee and keeping the other straight (use the floor for balance), then lock up both legs and touch the floor between your legs. Should feel this in the groin area but also around your butt. Spread your legs wider to make it easier, don't be a hero.
- bicep stretch - bend your arm all the way in, then point your elbow to the ceiling and push it towards your back with the other hand.
- side shoulder stretch - hold your arm diagonally across your body, elbow locked so it's straight, then push it inwards with the other arm to stretch your shoulder.
- standing shoulder stretch - arms straight out behind you, either fingers locked or holding your wrist. Either have someone push up against your hands and hold it where you can handle it, or do what I do - lean against something and push down (I use the arm of my treadmill).
- lying shoulder stretch - lie on your back, stretch your arms over your head, try to envision yourself being pulled in both directions along the line of your spine. Really good for cracking your back if you lift your head slowly at the end of it.
- All done!!
