As promised, I'm finally sitting down to write up a little note about weightlifting and its great benefits toward running. It has now been 9 1/2 weeks (yes, pun intended) and we have been on Body for Life every day! The program calls for 6 days of eating well. Actually better than well. It's a diet that consists primarily of protein and carbs, with hardly any fat. Calorie intake for the day is generally in the area of 1500 calories. With those calories one must workout 6 days a week. 3 days of weight training, 3 days of cardio.
A two week schedule of weight training functions like so:
Monday - Upper Body
Wednesday - Lower Body
Friday - Upper Body
Monday Lower Body
Wednesday - Upper Body
Friday - Lower Body
Thus, in a two week period you work each half three times. The exercises are pretty intense there's an example here: BFL Exercise Plan.
The beauty of the plan though is that you often have long stretches of time when you are not working a set of muscles, i.e. the Wednesday workout is not repeated again until Monday, and the Friday workout doesn't get repeated until Wednesday. This allows for long recovery times and lessens fatigue. Granted adding the lower body week to an already packed marathon training schedule is tiring to say the least, but the following week allows for considerable recovery.
Over the past ten weeks I've stayed mostly to the running plan, and have skipped a few of the workouts. However, my legs are much stronger. Yesterday's speed work was downright easy to accomplish. Nothing like the days of Drunkrunners almost hurling on the track. It was great! I couldn't believe it went so well. I had no problems at all maintaining the speeds I was supposed to be doing.
My recovery times also seem to be much shorter! I can't recommend enough the exercise program. I wish I had begun lifting sooner.
On the vain side: I've lost 14 pounds. Steve has lost 30! And we have a few weeks left of round one. After 10 weeks we both feel much better. We're also quite sure we will not be giving up on the program when it is over. I will more than likely continue for at least one more round, then re-evaluate as to how to bring life back into a more normal mode. The weightlifting is here to stay though. My joints aren't aching like they used to, which means it's probably helping me in that area as well.
Conclusion: Get thee to a Gym!!!!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
The Skinny on Weightlifting
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6 comments:
that sounds amazing! especially the recovery times. which leads to my biggest question: how does adding physical exertion to your legs not contribute to overall fatigue? it's a dilly of a pickle, but i'll have to look at the overall plan before i get too worked up and confused. depending on a few variables, i'm going to start looking into a gym here. if it works for you, i'm all kinds of game for trying it. :)
BTW, congrats to both of you on the weight loss! i commented to tessa that you looked particularly svelte on facebook, but that might just have been the behemoth kelly clarkson standing next to you ;)
Good point! I forgot to mention that. I've ammended the post to include an explanation of the rest phases built in to the plan. Check it out above.
Steve and I are both pretty excited about it. Even better, I've been able to get the man, who once considered driving the car from one end of the mall to the other, to go on extended walks including from our house to Union Square and halfway back! It's been great just getting more exercise on the non-exercise days.
As for Kelly, she's a tiny one. I was really surprised even after seeing her on stage. I had no idea she was so short. Taller than Sabrina, but still short.
Re: quicker recovery time. I know I have heard/read this somewhere, but weight training helps the body recover faster. Something about the more muscle mass... or something. It does sound backwards though, doesn't it?
Anywho, I am also way impressed with your commitment to this diet/exercise plan. You had better not look better in your running shorts than me at the Houston marathon. Oh wait, you always have... Shiiiit. ;)
You guys are all very inspirational.
And by the way, I think I found some of the weight you guys lost. Just let me know if you want it back.
Keep it, or pass it on to someone else!!!!!
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