When new exercisers complain about muscle soreness the day after they initiate their new exercise program (whether it is swimming, weight training, biking, etc) they are not kidding. They are sore!  The muscles that have worked the hardest in that first workout hurt. In weight training these muscle groups are usually the quadriceps, biceps, triceps, pectorals (chest) and maybe the hamstrings.  And, if they do nothing but sit around the day after they have gotten sore they may not be able to get out of bed on the following day as the soreness is likely to have gotten worse rather than better.

Unfortunately, this muscle soreness right after entering a new exercise program many times (because of the pain and soreness) scares many women (and guys, too) into thinking that if “this is what i feel like after exercising, this is not fun”.  Since the pain will gradually go away when the person does not exercise for a few days it is easy to understand why they may not go back to their exercise program.

Many new trainees do not have full knowledge of what is happening in their bodies, how to handle it and maybe even more importantly, how to avoid it (at least to atleast minimize it).  All they know is that they have finally made a commitment to start exercising, jumped right in on day number one and then got sore on day number two and likely even more sore on day number three.  They certainly know that “sore” is not fun!  This is especially for the person who has not gone through this procedure previously.

This phenomenon is especially true in weight training.  I would bet that there are millions of people who ventured into weight training programs at some time in their lives, got sore and retired certainly before anything positive could come of their weight training program.

Physiologically, I used to believe that this muscle soreness due to the buildup of lactic acid (muscle waste product-like exhaust in your car) in a muscle, but I have since learned that this muscle soreness is actually caused by the micro tearing of small muscle fibers in the muscle.  This is an interesting topic and there is much more you can read on this subject, but learning how to cope with this muscle soreness is what is important for this discussion.

The first important aspect of learning to deal with this issue is that it CAN happen to you if you have either never worked out before or if you have not worked out in a long time.

If you have been sedentary for a fairly long period of time you need to temper your initial enthusiasm for your new workout out program and start off very slowly.  Possibly even so slowly that you sort of doubt you even had a workout.  Your first workout should be EASY!  Realize that being able to stay with an exercise program is what is going to do you the most good, and it will take some time to achieve whatever are your fitness goals.

So, instead of jumping into some celebrity’s or some trainer’s program by trying to do lots of sets of lots of exercises and all with heavy weights you should probably do only a few exercises and only a few sets with a very light weight for each body part on your first day.  You will find that, in time, you will work your way up to those three sets of ten with a heavier weight.  Remember, that your muscles did not get soft and flabby in a day or even a week so they will not get strong and shapely in a week either.

Another thing to do is to be very active the day following your first weight training day.  I used to think this helped move the lactic acid out.  And while I now know that that the pain isn’t caused by lactic acid buildup at all, this has still always been a tried and true method of getting over bouts of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness faster.  I don’t know the specific reason it works, but it does so get out and get those muscles moving!  Bicycle, jog, swim, etc to get a decent workout the day after your weight training day.  I have even done the same light weight training routing on day number two that I did on day number one, and have found that it helps me to alleviate the soreness “that sends many people back to the couch”.  Stretching after your weight workouts, applying ice packs, and self-massage may also help assist you in eliminating delayed onset muscle soreness.

If you are like me, you will come to enjoy a little bit of soreness after a training session.  Those microtears mean that once you have recovered, your body will be stronger.  So I love that feeling.  But that is very different from feeling like you can’t get out of bed 2 days after an overenthusiastic beginning to weight training.  So take it easy on day 1 so that you can have day 2, 3,4 and so on!

Be Strong!

I have always felt dramatic mood improvements right after a lift and I can tell I feel more irritable and less confident when I haven’t lifted in a while, but a recent study  published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that regularly exercising with weights can help minimize the effects cognitive decline and impaired mobility in seniors.

Details of the Study

The researchers, led by Teresa Liu-Ambrose, PT, PhD a researcher at the Vancouver Coastal Health Center and assistant professor of physical therapy at the University of British Columbia, enrolled 155 women aged 65 to 75 into 3 randomly generated groups.  About a third of the participants did strength training once per week, another third trained twice per week and the remaining third was the control gropu and did not train at all.  The women in the two strength training groups used a variety of machines and free weight equipment and performed exercises such as squats and lunges in their workouts.

The Results

At the end of the year-long study the researchers found that the women from both the strength training groups saw improvements in their performances on the Stoop psychological test and significant (12.9% and 10.9% in the once-weekly and twice-weekly training groups respectively) improvements  in their cognitive task performances.  The women were better able to maintain focus and resolve conflicts.  And as another bonus we were already sort of familiar with, the women saw improved muscular function, which can help prevent falls.

It is really interesting to see some of the new science going beyond what is already well documented about the physical benefits of weight training for women and exploring the relationship of resistance training on the brain.  As our population ages, and as we ourselves age, resistance training can help us live better lives by keeping our minds sharp.  The study links strength training to an improvement in executive functions which Lui-Ambrose explains are, “cognitive processes that allow you to multitask, make decisions that are appropriate for the situation, and manage your financial accounts on a daily basis.” Basically you can stay focused and solve conflicts… which are the types of abilities required to live independently.

Strength training is thought to effect to the brain in a similar way as aerobic training has already been shown to do, that is protecting the blood vessels in the brain.  However, it is also thought that the added difficulty of the motor patterns associated with strength training gives the brain a bigger workout than typical aerobic activities, which don’t stress the motor learning and memory capacity of the brain very much.  And while you can “set it and forget it” on a treadmill or exercise bike, a weight lifting program involves keeping track of what exercise you are doing, how much weight you are using as well as the sets and reps for each exercise.

Having a Workout Partner

The women in Lui-Ambroses study worked out in small groups, which she credited as further boosting the cognitive function of the participants.  I already know that lifting with a partner provides tremendous motivation and accountability. By yourself it is easy to give into that “I don’t feel like it,” but it is much harder to disappoint your partner who is counting on you to be their and be the answer to her “I don’t feel like it” blues!  Additionally, Lui-Ambrose believes that this added peer support and socialization are associated with feelings of general well-being.  “Even rat studies support the notion that group interaction benefits the brain,” she says.

Resistance training is a great (and drug-free) way to improve your total health and don’t feel you’ve missed the boat if you aren’t currently working out with weights, it is never too late to start!

Yours in Fitness,
-Kathy Darling

Product Rating:

#1 Turbulence Training

(My #1 Recommendation)

• 6 Months of Pre-Planned Workouts
  
• Strength AND conditioning in under 45 minutes
• New Workouts every 4 weeks
• A starting point for everyone, regardless of level

Product Review:

If you don’t know where to start, Turbulence Training takes the guess work out of your training. It features over 6 months worth of strength and conditioning workouts, with several different starting points depending on your current ability. If you have trained before then you start with the Intermediate Workout. If you used to train but have been away for a while, the Beginner workout is for you. And if you are a total novice then you start with the Introductory workout. With these three options it is easy to get started at your own level.

All workouts begin with resistance exercises and end with intervals so that you get the benefits of both worlds. The resistance exercises are done in the “super-set” style, meaning that you perform an exercise and then a non-competing exercise back to back. This is the cornerstone of the Turbulence Training system because it 1. gets more work done in less time and 2. turns your strength work into additional cardio training.

Read the Full Review

Product Rating:

#2 The Truth About Six Pack Abs

• Unique Full-Body Workouts
• Non-traditional ab exercises for a strong core
• NO Gimmicky products, or pills
• Why too much cardio is preventing your fat loss
• Foods that are secretly sabotaging your diet

Product Review:

The primary purpose of this book is to get you a flat stomach. Since over half of the battle for defined abs, is in getting rid of the stomach fat covering them, it is little surprise that a large portion of this book is devoted to nutrition, uncovering many of the foods that are secretly sabotaging your diet.

The extensive diet information, coupled with a ridiculous title, cost this book a half star in my opinion. However, the rest of the book features some high-powered, full-body weight training workouts that will get you stronger and fitter. Strength circuits such as Renegade Dumbbell Rows, Front Squats with Barbell and Mountain Climbers will get the muscles roaring and the fat burning. This book is not about crunches at all, and in fact, details why crunches and cardio are probably holding you back from your fitness goals.

Read the Full Review

Product Rating:

#3 Women’s Kettlebell Workout Kit

• 6 Different, 20-minute Goddess Workouts
• Mix and Match Workouts for Variety
• Top-level instructor in your home
• One Kettlebell is the only piece of equipment you need

Product Review:

The Kettlebell is making a resurgence as the ultimate all-in-one strength and conditioning tool. The Women’s Ultimate Kettlebell Workout Kit is the perfect place to start for a woman new to kettlebells. You get a top-of-the-line kettlebell from Dragondoor (available in differnet sizes) and the Kettlebell Goddess DVD by premiere instructor Andrea DuCane, which is like having one of THE top kettlebell instructors in the country right with you in your own home.

The Goddess DVD will guide you through the proper form on all the many, different exercises and is structured into 6 “goddess workouts.” Each workout targets a different portion of the body. While one of the around 20 minute workouts is great, my favorite part is the ability to mix and match any two of the 6 “goddess workouts” for a great, full-body, fat-blasting workout. The possibilities with kettlebells are endless! So much so, that you can quickly get overwhelmed in trying to figure out on your own where to start, which is where The Goddess
Workout comes to the rescue.

Read the Full Review

Stand up.  Feet a little wider than shoulder-width, toes pointed just a bit out (pointing them straight forward is unnatural), and arms out in front.  Now squat down as low as you can.  Pay attention to where your knees are going.  If your knees are way out over your toes then you should not even think about adding weight to your squat yet, or to deadlifts, kettlebell swings or snatches or really any leg exercise.  Your knees going significantly beyond the plane of y our toes is putting a lot of stress on your knees and pretty much just asking for trouble.

You need to fix this problem before you even think about touching weights.  Enter..

The Face the Wall Squat

The face the wall squat is the perfect self-correcting exercise for teaching you to squat without the benefit of a trainer.  The feedback from this exercise is immediate and it literally forces you into perfect squatting form.  The face the wall squat form is also a solid foundation for proper deadlift, and kettlebell swing/snatch form… or basically all the good lower body exercises!   So when you can successfully and perfectly do a set of 5 or these, you will you can safely hit the weights.

How to Perform the Face the Wall Squat

1. Step one should be obvious… face a wall!  Your toes should be 2-3 inches away from the wall
2. Lift your hands out to your sides to about shoulder height.
3. Now repeat that initial bodyweight squat without your head or your knees touching the wall

Not so easy is it.  If you have been doing squats wrongly, this will actually feel weird.  And yeah it is maybe a little weird to have your nose jammed in the wall, but it is for a good reason.  The wall won’t allow your knees, or head or shoulders or anything to lean too far forward.  The wall prevents you from using bad form!  If you bang into the wall… that is instant feedback and the wall is chastising you for squatting poorly.

The wall literally forces you into proper squat mechanics, ie

1. Weight on your heels. Push through your heels.  This will be much easier if you are not wearing cushy-soled sneakers, but that is another post for another time.
2. Chest up. The wall won’t let you roll your chest forward anyway.
3. Eyes always looking forward.  Your head will follow your eyes.  Find a vertical line on the wall in front of you and follow it as you squat down and stand back up.
4. Abs tight.  Your abs are the built-in weight belt for protecting your back.  Keep your abs flexed throughout the entire movement.
5. Push your butt back.  You will need to use your hip flexors (those muscles right in the crease of where your legs bend at the hip) to pull yourself into the bottom position.

The bottom position will feel strange and you might not even be able to get very low if you have poor hip flexibility and tight hip flexors.  So when you get to the bottom, hold it for a few seconds as a stretch and let yourself sink into it.

You might fall backwards the first few times you try it.  That’s ok!  Just make sure to practice these on a softer surface… like carpet or mats.  You could also try putting a chair behind you both as a goal (get your butt into the chair) and as a safety catch.  If you fall you would only fall into sitting on the chair.  Be sure to use a sturdy chair if you do!  As you adapt to the balance you won’t need the chair anymore.

Practice the Face the Wall Squat every day.  A few sets of 5.  Over time you will be able to bring your toes right up to the wall.  When you can do 5 perfect squats this way you will know that you are ready to safely tackle some weights.  Your knees will thank you.

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You need way more than an apple a day to keep the doctor away. Photo from sxc.hu

The old maxim is that “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” but the trouble is that an apple just isn’t enough.  Everyone knows that they need to eat more fruits and vegetables.  Fruits and vegetables fight disease!  Even cancer!  There is no shortage of research on the subject and no doubt the thought has already been drilled into your head.  And yet many women still don’t get the 2-2.5 cups of vegetables and 1-1.5cups of fruits per day that are recommended by the government.   I am just as guilty as the next woman, so let’s take a look at some easy ways to get a few more fruits and vegetables in our day.

Add fresh fruit to your morning bowl of cereal or oatmeal.  Dried fruit is ok too, but stay away from candied fruits or anything with extra sugar added.  The sugar in fruit is natural and your body knows how to deal with it.

Add fruit to your yogurt or ice cream.  Or better still, make a fruit smoothie with some frozen fruits and a little bit of juice or milk/yogurt.  In the blender you can throw in as many fruits as you can handle!

Add tomatoes, onions, red or green peppers and spinach to your omelets.  Sautée some garlic and onions in a little extra virgin olive oil and you have the delicious-smelling beginnings of any number of meals and cuisines.

Don’t  drown your salads in fat and calories from the dressing.  Add raisins, apples, grapes, kiwi, dried apricots, carrots, etc for flavor.

Learn to make your own vinaigrette.  To go along with the above suggestion, use your own vinagraites instead of those thick dressings.  I promise the versions you make yourself will be better than what you can buy in a tube.  Try this one:

• 2 T of balsamic vinegar
• 1 T of natural honey
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• ¼ tsp group pepper
• ¼ c Extra Virgin Olive Oil (full of the good fats)

When ordering at a restaurant ask for mixed vegetables instead of fries or baked potato (atleast the majority of the time).  Add every vegetable you can to sandwiches.

Discover vegetable soups.  There are some really amazing vegetable soups out there and that is saying something when as a kid I couldn’t even look at vegetables.  Soups are brilliant in the winter for warming you up from the inside.  They can be made in huge batches and then eaten during the week when you might be too busy to cook a proper meal.  And you will hardly even notice you are consuming so many vegetables.  Soups are a win, win, win!

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Keeping a journal can be the difference between results and going in circles.

Heck, it doesn’t even have to be a book, but it does have to be a consistent diary of your workouts.  Not tracking your workouts promises to be an exercise in futility and frustration because you will never see the results you want.  How can you get where you are going if you don’t know where you’ve been?  How many times have you quit working out because you weren’t seeing any results?  Well, to use another idiom is the same paragraph… What get’s tracked, gets results.  Not to mention it is a great feeling to look back after a couple of months and really see just how far you’ve come.

There are a lot of online sites now that allow you to keep a workout log, but you could just as well use old-fashioned paper and pencil.  One of those black and white composition books you used in school would be perfect… or you could use some paper and a clipboard.  It doesn’t matter so much what you use, so long as you do it.

Put your name on it!  Not only to keep track of it and keep it from getting mixed up with others… but to really take ownership of it.  It is represents YOUR fitness journey.

Put your measurements in it.  You don’t need to do this every day, but once a week will be good.  It will give you solid, indisputable proof that your body is changing.  Hot DAMN I lost an inch on my waist!  Well how would you know you really lost a whole inch if you hadn’t written it down?

Then for each workout you will want to track:

What exercise you did and how.  Barbell squats or kettlebell squats?  Bench press or dumbbell press?  This section should not change so much on a day to day basis.  I definitely don’t advocate jumping around from exercise every day.  Too much variety is probably worse than no variety.  Get a solid workout plan and stick to it for a while.

How much weight you used. Depending on your program you might also be using different weights for each set.  Though that is an advanced technique, and a beginner would be better suited to picking a weight and accomplishing her set and rep goals with it before moving up to a heavier weight.  And yes, even women should try to consistently lift heavier weights than they are now.  They should be heavy for you.

The number of sets and reps you performed. If the weight is challenging enough you might not reach your full goal of X sets of & repetitions.  You should never start a rep you know in advance you can’t finish.  So you will want to write that all down. Today you got 3 sets of 5 and then a set of 4 and finished with a set of 3.

Seat and other machine settings. I don’t believe in doing many (if any at all) machine exercises, but if you are doing them then take note of where you like the seat and other adjustable pieces.  Personally, I think you will be better served by getting up onto your feet, but that is another subject.

A space for comments/notes. This is a space where you can write whatever you want.  Did your left hamstring bother you?  Note that down.  Did you feel tired, sad, happy, weak, strong?  Write is down.  You should also note which exercises felt easy and which felt difficult. Leave yourself a note if those 3 sets of 5 and then following sets of 4 and 3 were easy , ok, or really a strain.  If they were easy or even ok you will know next time to shoot for that you need to get 4 sets of 5 and finish with a set of 4, or 3 sets of 5 and finish with 2 sets of 4, etc.

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Osteoporosis (which affects 10 million Americans… with another 34 million more at great risk with low bone density) is often called the “silent disease” because most people affected don’t know they have it until they break a bone.  Post-menopausal women are especially at risk as the decrease in estrogen levels inhibits the body’s ability to absorb calcium and rebuild bone tissue as fast as it deteriorates.

Muscle mass also naturally diminishes with age, starting in your 30s.  Similar to osteoporosis loss of muscle mass also does not become totally apparent until its effects are very pronounced.  It commonly goes unnoticed as you are likely to maintain the same weight, but as you are losing lean muscle mass you are typically gaining body fat.  Muscle does not become fat, but muscle does burn 12x as many calories as fat so as your muscle mass declines, if you don’t adjust your diet accordingly you are likely to put those pounds back on as fat.

This decline in muscle mass doesn’t just mean you gain fat, although declining muscle mass is a major reason older women find themselves gaining weight, or find it difficult to lose weight.  Muscle mass is related to overall strength which is vital to performing common tasks such as getting out of chairs, climbing stairs, picking up things from the floor, etc.  Your mobility and balance also decline, putting you at greater risk for the falls which are usually the cause of osteoporosis-related breaks, and generally leading to a more sedentary lifestyle that only makes the problem worse.

While it might seem that I have painted a grim picture of getting old, all is certainly not lost.

Enter the Miracle Cure of Strength Training

Ok, perhaps miracle cure is too strong a word, and certainly overused.  But consider this; strength training can increase your bone density and your muscle mass!  Not only can strength training slow down the negative effects of aging, it can actually reverse them!  Multiple studies have shown that resistance training (using weights to progressively increase the resistance against which you produce force) regularly improves the body composition and muscle mass of seniors.

Numerous studies have also been done showing the beneficial effects of weight training for older women.  In an older study 30 weeks of thrice-weekly strength training resulted in 30%-97% increases upper leg strength of older men and women.  ^[1]

A study from Germany found that women over 65 who strength trained for 1.5 years improved their bone densities and reduced their risk of falling by 66 percent.  Strength training is a big one, two (and drug-free) punch against aging.

1. Pyka et al. Muscle strength and fiber adaptations to a year-long resistance training program in elderly men and women. J Gero 1994; 49: 22-27.

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Balls of iron with handles- Kettlebells provide super time-efficient workouts.

I am not a research/statistics nut when it comes to training, I like to stick to things I know work and worry about the science of it later. I have been using kettlebells for years, so I was not surprised by the results of a study  funded by the American Council of Exercise (ACE) and published in the January/February 2010 issue of their FItnessMatters journal.  Their findings?  Kettlebells are the queen of cardio and efficiently burn mega calories.  Ok, well obviously the kettlebells themselves not so much, but more specifically the workouts and type of exercises done with kettlebells.  Kettlebell enthusiasts have always been shouting about the superior fat-burning effects of this strange ball of iron with a handle, but this new study provides some vindication.

Are Kettlebells the Ultimate Fat Burning Workout?

The research team at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse studied the VO2max kettlebell snatch program developed by Master RKC (Russian Kettlebell Certified Instructor- the leading certification in the country) Kenneth Jay.  VO2max, which stands for maximal oxygen consumption, is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use oxygen during exercise and is generally a measure of an individual’s fitness.  Described fully in his book Viking Warrior Conditioning (Mr. Jay is Danish), his protocol involves performing a set number of kettlebell snatches during a period of time, resting for the same amount of time and then repeating with the other hand.  It is interval training with a kettlebell.

After a 20-minute kettlebell workout in this fashion the test subjects burned an average of 272 calories. Ok, that is pretty cool by itself, but what is truly remarkable is what lead researcher John Porcari, Ph. D  reported in his conclusions: “We also measured the blood lactate, so anaerobically they were burning another 6.6 calories per minute, which is off the charts. That’s equivalent to running a 6-minute mile pace.”

I didn’t really need the research to tell me this was a heck of a workout, but it was a nice confirmation.  I did this last summer, getting up to 40 minutes of the 15/15 protocol (15 seconds of work, 15 seconds of rest) at 7 reps per set.  I look forward to returning this to program again to get 8 reps per set.  This means I will have to move faster, which works out well with what the scientists guess is the cause for all the significant calorie burn: full-body movement done quickly.  And I’ve always agreed, but now the research agrees that “The kettlebell workout gives you a big bang for your buck in a very short amount of time.”

A word to the wise about this particular program, however.  It is not to be attempted until your kettlebell snatch technique is perfect.  For this you should check out the Kettlebell Goddess DVD (read my full review of the Goddess Ultimate Workout Kit) and see an RKC in your area.

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So what can we change about out muscles?  We can:

1. make them larger and/or stronger
2. make them smaller and/or weaker

Nitpicking or an Insidious Influence on How Women Lift Weights?

Yes it might seem like I am just being prickly over semantics.  No big deal, it is just how English has evolved, right?  Well yes, in some way, but the problem of toning is that it is often the source of another pesky myth in women’s weight training:  The myth of spot reducing and hence spot training.  Because while alot of women will say “I wanted to get toned”.. an equal number are probably guilty of saying “I want to tone my abs/thighs/thighs/etc.”  This is usually spurred by carrying little extra fat on that particular body part.  Those who believe in toning, usually think this can be fixed by training the particular problem area.  And years of commercials for Thigh Masters, Bun Shapers, Ab Machines, etc have been trying to keep us convinced of the validity of spot reduction.  As if extra crunches could burn the fat that is specifically stored on the belly or extra leg lifts could target the extra fat on thighs.  Nothing wrong with training the abs or the thighs but be clear that doing so will not magically reduce the fat in those areas.  As you lose total body fat (from cutting calories, lifting weights and mixing in some cardio) your body will decide which fat it will lose from where and at what rate.  Unfortunately we get no conscious say in the matter.

Most women use the term tone to mean a defined, or cut, look where the muscles are more visible.  Alot of women say toning is their goal because they are terrified of bulking up in what would be considered a non-feminine way and usually confused about what it takes to achieve that look.  I already covered this is The Biggest Myth of Weight Training for Women, but let me reiterate ladies, that among other things we just don’t have enough Testosterone to get really big.  Fear of getting big, coupled with a belief in toning/spot reducing tends to leads to what I will call the “Pink Plastic Dumbbell Syndrome” where women are predisposed to doing lots of reps of isolation-style exercises with a tiny weight.  They’ve heard this is the best way to tone, but now we know what tone really means.

So then now that we are through trying to get “toned”, how do we get defined?  The simple answer is to lose body fat.  The complicated answer is also to lose body fat, because losing fat is always simple in theory and more difficult in practice.  A pound of muscle at rest burns 60 calories per hour while a pound of fat burns 5.  That is 12 times more.. even when sleeping.  That improvement to our resting metabolism is the main reason actually building muscle should be a priority and not a fear.

And in part 2 of this article I will cover the alternative to this outdated style of weight training for women.

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Interval training involves alternating “work” periods (sometimes also called “sprint” intervals) of higher intensity exercise with low intensity “recovery” periods. Each set of a work interval plus a recovery interval is commonly called a round, and your total workout is defined by a warmup, a desired number of rounds, followed by a cool-down.

High Intensity Interval training (HIIT) is a very demanding style of workout, and the phrase “high intensity” often scares many trainees, so don’t be afraid to start out too easy and slowly increase the level of difficulty. When I was reading Turbulence Training, Craig Ballantyne had a great explanation for interval intensity. If on a scale of 0 – 10, 0 is not moving at all and 10 is running for your life.. then the ideal work interval is around an 8. A very important thing to remember though is that even ‘running for your life’ will be different speeds for different people.

Keep in mind that if you have not trained in a long time… or have never tried HIIT before, then even a work interval of 8 might be too much for you. For you, a good work interval might be a fast walk pace. It really depends on you and you should definitely not be afraid to start out too easy and progress to increased difficulty. You can always make it harder at the next workout, but if you go to hard before you are ready you could set yourself back with injuries or just get discouraged.

A Beginner’s Interval Workout

3-5 minutes easy walking

Walk at a leisurely pace. Just get the blood moving and get loosened up. Spend the last minute walking just a little bit faster to get you ready for your first interval.

30 seconds of fast Walking

Remember the 0-10 intensity scale? If you’re just getting started with some walking intervals than shoot for a 6. This should be a fast/brisk walk. Imagine you are late for a big interview and really need to hurry. If you can’t maintain this for 30 seconds, shoot for 20.

90 seconds of slow walking

Immediately drop your speed to whatever you need to catch your breath, but keep moving. A complete standstill is too taxing on the heart. As you recover you can bring the speed up again just a little. If you need more than 90 seconds in the beginning than go ahead and take it. Shoot for 6 rounds of this.

Another 3-5 minutes of easy walking as a cool down.

Do this 3 times per week, being sure to take a day off in between each workout. Once you get a handle on the 30:90 intervals, add an extra round in. When you can do 8 rounds of 30:90, then first focus on cutting down the amount of recovery time. Go to 30 seconds of fast walking followed by 75 seconds of slow recovery. Again drop down to 6 rounds. When you can handle 8 rounds again, cut another 15 seconds off of your recovery time and drop back to 6 rounds. This way you aren’t following a strict schedule that says you should be at this level doing X number of reps by day X, but are steadily progressing at your own rate. Be sure to log everything down in a journal so that you can see your progress.

When you are back to 8 rounds of 30:60 second intervals, then try upping the work intervals by 15 seconds while keeping the recovery period fixed at 60 seconds. Drop to 6 total rounds and work your way back to 8, then add 15 more seconds of work until your rounds are 60 seconds of brisk walking (likely to be almost a jog by now) and 60 seconds of slow recovery. By now, I promise that you will be transformed for a couch potato and ready (and hopefully energetic and eager) to begin pursuing more intense styles of training.

For more on interval training, be sure to check out my review of Turbulence Training

Don’t mind me: this is just my claim token for Technorati: R7C6BRPAF5US

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