Oh my! I got lots of great running ideas from this post from Men's Health Magazine!
I think I'm going to try the ladder on my next run! And I love the easy-hard principle. I think active recovery and interval training are awesome!
And I also like the Plan A and Plan B thing. I find myself doing that sometimes anyway: plan to go out for a short run, feel great, so stay out longer. I always tell my clients to listen to their bodies. Your body will tell you when it wants more, or when it's time to rest.
I've really started to love running, so I'm looking forward to doing it better and faster!
I wonder why men's fitness magazines seem to have better information than women's? Men's Health Magazine has a whole section on Triathlon! I can't find anything like this on Oxygen or Women's Health Magazine, or even on one of my favourites, Girl Get Strong. I suppose that the majority of female exercises are exercising for health and weight loss, not performance or competition, but I wonder if they are missing out on a target market here? These ones are sometimes a little too fluffy.
I think the only magazine that stands out against this trend is UltraFit Magazine. I love this magazine! Their web page is pretty lacking, but I can assure you the magazine is JAM PACKED with uber-fit ideas! Stuff well beyond me, but hey, they're not fluffy!
Anyway, those are some of the sites I've been busy looking at. Maybe you'll enjoy some of them too?
What are your favourites?
Oh,that first link was useful. I tried doing what they said about not thumping forward but starting to move the front leg back as soon as it touches the ground, and I sped up noticeably with about the same amount of effort. Cool.
ReplyDeleteThat's a total of three runs so far. :-)
(You've inspired me; I'm going to try to work up to a 5K run.) (I just can't train as much as I'd to, because I have to save my legs for all my fitness classes.)
Congrats on working towards a 5km run! I hope you enjoy it! I have no doubt that you have the fitness level to do it, it's just a matter of getting your legs accustomed to the movement and impact.
ReplyDeleteHow many and what kind of classes do you teach each week? How many hours do you put into choreography and at home practice?
I teach one beginner step (maybe 1 hr/4 weeks choregraphy), two step cardio interval (not much prep needed, but those two classes I work at nearly a 100% of my capabilities), and one body trim (resistance), which I spend maybe 1hr/3 weeks preparing for.
ReplyDeleteUnless I'm teaching regular step, or preparing a new class, I don't practice at home any more. (Tho I spent a couple of hours getting ready for that cardio interval class before teaching it.)
I also do pilates once a week, and I try to run twice a week, and I try to do a good core workout on my own once a week.
Basically, for someone who could barely walk down a flight of stairs (because of bad tendonitis in my ankle) three years ago, I'm doing FANTASTIC!
Staring July I will have less classes (summer is not busy at Dalplex), so I'll run more then.
What about you? What do you teach? What else do you do as manager?
I teach Body Balance (known as Body Flow in Canada) three times a week, and Ladies Only Gym Circuit two times a week. These are my active classes. When there is a new release, I will probably train about 5 days a week for two weeks leading up to the release, and then like to do at least one extra session at home for the two to three weeks following the release to make sure it's really embedded in the brain.
ReplyDeleteI also teach Seniors Gym class twice a week, but I spend most of my time chatting and supervising the more challenging exercises. I also teach Healthy Bodies/10 Weeks to Wellness, and we do exercise every class, but it's not as active, we probably get in only 20-30 minutes of exercise. For many of these participants, that's more than enough. The rest of that class is focused on health education, chatting, weigh in, measure in, reviewing goals, that sort of thing.
The rest of my time I spend running around trying to not lose control. I do fitness assessments and gym inductions - ranging from 1 to 6 appointments a week. I also coordinate the bookings, work the front counter, and basically chase around the junior staff to ensure they're doing their jobs so that everyone else can do theirs. On top of that I have many projects that don't get done. Function equipment, procedures manuals updates, and most importantly, fitness class marketing!
It doesn't sound like much, but it seems to be a juggling act, and getting the time to work projects around classes and appointments and emergencies seems to be the big challenge for me.
I'm looking forward to summer again. I had the thought yesterday as I was heading of to sleep that if I summered in Canada, and trained all summer, then came back to Australia for summer... well, I wouldn't have the winter blahs! I think that sounds like a GOOD IDEA!