Want the nitty gritty on my workout routine? Here it is. Plain, simple. It might not be for everyone, but when you’re first starting out, I know it’s intimidating to know where to begin.
Running
As I mentioned before, I started out running for 90 seconds, and walking for 30 seconds. This was my dad’s fitness regimen, and it was really working. It allowed me to go far without completely wearing me out. My husband was always urging me to step it up a notch and give myself a bit of a challenge.
One day I decided he was right. I wanted to try to run for two minutes straight, and walk for 30 seconds. I did it. I couldn’t believe it. I could run for two minutes?! Impossible!
The next day, I was feeling pretty good. About five minutes into my routine, I thought to myself, “hey, if I can run for two minutes and not be a complete wreck by the end of my workout, I’m going to try running for five minutes.” And so I did.
It was incredible.
I stayed at five minute runs for a little while, until I was comfortable enough to go to the next level. Then I leapt from five minutes, to ten minutes. I would run for ten minutes at a time and walk for two minutes. I did this three times, for a total of thirty minutes running and six minutes walking (not including warm-up/cool-down).
I found that going from a run to a walk and then back up to a run again was really exhausting. Sometimes it would be hard to motivate myself. It was also really hard to increase my speed. I was holding steady at 5 mph for months. It wasn’t until just recently that I increased much past 5 mph.
After I decided the run-walk, run-walk, run-walk pattern wasn’t working anymore, I shifted gears and decided I should run for 15 minutes, walk for two, and run for another 15. It worked for a little while but again, it was hard to shift from a run to a walk to a run again.
Eventually I weaned from any walking at all and now I run for the duration of my workout.
Working Out
I haven’t mentioned in all of these posts that I used to sprinkle in some light weight lifting, crunches and isometrics as well. See, in addition to my enormous, monstrous, thundering thighs, I was also carrying quite a bit of weight on my upper arms and back. Along with my weight loss goals, I was on a fat burning mission. I needed to remove the extra five inches of skin and fat that had accumulated over the last two and a half years. Yuck.
For my arms and back, I would do a series of reps including rows, curls, presses, arm isometrics, crunches and full body isometrics.
My arm reps started with two pound weights. Wimpy, yes. But at the time I wanted to start out slow so it worked. I eventually moved to five pound weights. Slightly less wimpy.
I would do 10 each of rows, curls and presses. I repeated the circuit three times. Then I would do my arm isometrics for 60 seconds, with a 30 second rest in between, repeated three times.
To correctly perform these isometrics, you hold one free weight in each hand (I would really start with one or two pounds. It’s a lot harder than it sounds). Put your arms to your sides, and raise them up so they are parallel with the floor and your shoulders are even. Your body shape should essentially resemble a “T.” Hold this position for 60 seconds. Do not move. Lower your arms and rest for 30 seconds. Repeat three times. The goal of isometrics is to build strength by keeping your muscles completely still.
With crunches, I started off doing a set of 12 for three cycles. It was tough. After about two weeks, I would add two more. I kept adding two more at a time, and now I can do 30+ without resting.
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Hope this post helps any of my readers who are trying to lose weight, stay in shape, or perhaps just tone and shape. Start slow, give your muscles and ligaments ample time to stretch and work and get comfortable with your new routine(s), and most importantly, don’t give up.
Good luck.
