Bare Foot and Running

The post today is thanks to my dear friend and training partner Runner Susan. Susan purchased some new shoes and they are called Newtons. The angle that the company uses to set their shoes apart from other running shoes is that they are designed to keep you running on your forefoot versus your heels. Check out this page of the Newton Running website and you will see what I am talking about. Scroll down so that you can see the stick figures running. I tried to think of it in terms of how you run with your shoes off. You will naturally run on your forefoot and more in a tip toe position instead of with the heel striking first.

I tried this whole stick figure running idea this morning. I was running on the Dreadmill treadmill and I started out running my usual way with lots of heel striking and pain in my knees. I then started to just try to come up more on my toes and the front of my foot and a magical thing happened! NO pain in the knees. I immediately felt less stress in my legs from the heel up to my hip! Hallelujah! I could not believe what was happening. I was running and had no pain in my knees. Let me add that I don't have any of the fancy pants Newton Running shoes. I just adjusted my run in my trusty ol' ASICS. The down side to all of this is that with any adjustments like these will come a little discomfort in the form of soreness. I am already feeling a little pain in both of my calf muscles. My arches and the balls of my feet feel a little sore as well. I am hopeful though that this just might be what was needed to get me back running without so much pain!

I know that some of you run and I wanted to share this information with you. You might give it a try and just see how it feels. I would love to hear your feedback as well.

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Top 10 List Kinda

I made a wonderful discovery today and that discovery was if you are ever at a loss as to what to blog about talk to my client Kathy. She always makes me think about different topics. Then I really try to find a way to help my peeps begin the journey to better health.

So Kathy...thanks...once again for inspiring me to write!

I wanted to come up with a top 10 list, and it really isn't 10 things it's more like 9 on one list and 3 items on the other. By the time I finish this post it may be more or less. Anyway, my conversation with Kathy was about diet, exercise, losing weight, gaining weight and feeling a whole lot of frustration along the way. The only frame of reference that I have is my own story and journey, so I thought I would come up with a list of what has helped me along the way.

First list up is eating and what I have done over the past 3 years that has helped me first lose the weight and now sustain my weight loss.

1. Eat healthy foods 90% of the time. If this is too much at first then go 75%, then 80% and so on.
2. Enjoy treats or splurges the other 10% of the time in moderation. Have a freaking Margarita or piece of cake or dip of ice cream in MODERATION!!!
3. Be mindful of what you are eating not OBSESSIVE! You know what is healthy and what is not...make good choices and move on with your day.
4. It's not all or nothing! All of this low carb, no carb, no fat, half fat is for the birds. If you eat a nutritious diet of whole grains, lean cuts of meat, chicken, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables and low fat dairy then you are eating healthy things so RELAX!!
5. It must be doable and sustainable. If it is hard to make recipes or boxed food that is costing you an arm and a leg each month and you are so sick of it you can't eat another bite then it is NOT doable and sustainable. Figure out what types of healthy food you like and stock up on it and eat it!
6. Eat like you are a new born...every 3 to 4 hours. Don't get so hungry that you are going to trade your firstborn for a burger!
7. This brings up #7! Be prepared! If you need to cook a lot of food on Sunday afternoon so that you have it cut up, prepared and ready to go for the week JUST DO IT! YOU are WORTH the time it takes to eat well!
8. Know your weaknesses! If you are a stress eater then go for a walk or call a friend or read a book! Don't walk in to the kitchen or pull through the drive thru of McDonalds when you have just had a smack down with your husband! If you eat at night then have something that is healthy to pick up instead of that gallon of Rocky Road ice cream.
9. Try eating clean and healthy for 21 days! If you can make it 3 weeks doing something then you have GOT IT!
10. Modify as you go! You will get better the longer you eat well!

The next list is exercise! This is my favorite area and it can be your favorite as well! I can hear Kenda right now!

1. Do something you totally don't HATE doing! Try different exercises until you find one that you at least enjoy a little and then DO IT!
2. Schedule your exercise just like any other appointment. Take a pencil and mark it on the calendar and then it is on the books. Don't let other things take up this appointment time. It must be a priority as well.
3. SHOW UP AND MAKE IT COUNT! Be consistent. If you work out once a week it will do nothing, but make you sore and piss you off. Three times a week should be your minimum for better health!
4. Take baby steps with exercise! Don't jump in full force if it has been awhile since you have trained.
5. Enlist a friend that will SHOW UP! I know that Deana will come and run with me no matter what! Be accountable to them and them to you!
6. Try it for 21 days...it works with exercise as well.
7. Modify as you go...it works with exercise as well.
8. Be prepared...it works with exercise as well.

There you have it! As I stated before, I only know what works for me and this works for me! I don't take any magic pills or do a whole lot of 5 hour work-outs to maintain the weight loss. I know that the only person or thing that can take this weight loss away from me is ME! If I screw this up it is my own fault. I follow the above ideas and it works for me! I hope this helps!

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Stretch It Out

I get lots of questions about different aches and pains and what type of stretching would be good to do for that particular part of the body that is hurting. I wanted to come up with some type of video that you could watch that might help you get through that particular ache or pain. I found a wonderful group of video's at the Runner's World website. They have an extensive video library. You may check out the section on injury prevention by clicking here. They also have videos for training, nutrition and weight loss, motivation and shoes and gear.

Another item that I love and use on a daily basis is my foam roller. I bought mine at RunOn in Coppell or you can get one at Target. They are awesome and are a wonderful way to roll out the pain of your back, hamstrings, glutes, quads or even your shins, IT bands and calf muscles. It is the closest thing to a deep tissue massage. They are wonderful and have gotten me through several leg work-outs when my back gets really bound up. Basically you just roll the muscle group that you want to massage over the foam roller. I would be happy to go over the use of the foam roller if you are interested.

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Tone Endurance Strength

This blog entry was inspired by my adult fitness client Lorrie. Her question to me is do I lift heavier weight with less reps or lighter weight with more reps? I will attempt to answer this questions as it comes up time and time again.
I have referenced my trainers manual from ACE. The following information is a cliff notes version of what I read from this particular journal. This is my understanding of the information. Basically to get overall tone and build muscle endurance (get in better shape all the way around) you can best achieve this from doing lower weights and higher reps. This would be where you could complete 10 to 12 reps of that weight with fatigue setting in at the end of the last two or three reps. I think this type of lifting is really beneficial to most of my peeps. This is what we do during the adult fitness group classes. This type of exercise gets you toned.
To build strength in a particular muscle group it is best to do fewer reps with more weight. An example of this would be the bench press exercise where a person would do 3 sets of 3 reps with a few minutes rest in between each set. You would increase the weight for each set and it would be within your one rep max range. The one rep max is the amount of weight you could do for only one rep. My one rep max for the bench press is currently 125 so I would do the first three reps at 95, then 105 and finish with 110 or so.
I have to add that I have benefited from all types of reps and weight ranges when working out. I have lifted lighter with more reps and worked my way to low reps with the most weight I can handle.
The best advice I can give for this is to always keep yourself challenged. If the 10 pound dumbbells feel light to you then you need to move up to the 12 pounders. Your body will adapt to a certain work load and you will stop seeing results from your work-out. It is up to you to recognize that and work harder. I can usually tell right away if you are selling yourself short and need to use more weight.
It is the same with conditioning and cardio exercise. Your body will adapt to the work load of the heart and it is up to you to move faster or jump higher. If you are walking go farther or jog some of the way if able. You can add the incline factor in to your work-out as well. If you are not breaking a sweat during the work-out then you probably need to work harder.

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Aussie Drags and Abs

Cindy Drag from Runner Susan on Vimeo.


Drag from Runner Susan on Vimeo.