In three weeks, your intrepid Healthy Hollywood columnist (me, Terri MacLeod) and my new running buddy, Access Hollywood's Michelle Beadle, will lace up our sneakers and hit the pavement for a 10K. The two of us were asked by Women's Health magazine to participate in their upcoming Run10Feed10 charity, which helps raise money to fight domestic hunger.
While Michelle is a seasoned runner, I'm an aspiring one. As mentioned in previous postings, I've never been much of a jogger and recruited a trainer to help me get into 10K shape. Equinox's rock star trainer, Ben Hart, has been at my side the past three weeks and has provided awesome tips and motivation for me and all wannabe runners.
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"OK, so now it's week three! You should be feeling an increase of energy when you work out as well as throughout the day! Your endurance should be increasing week by week as you stay consistent with the workouts. It will be more pronounced in the first 2 - 3 weeks because of the shock to your body," Ben explained.
Ben outlined a game plan for my third week of training.
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Day 1:
We will start off the week with interval training! We are combining rowing machine and the StairMaster. We are going to start warming up on the treadmill at a heavy jog page at about 50% of your effort. This will prepare the body for the anaerobic work. We are going to do this for about 10 minutes.
The rowing machine is next. The rowing machine is a full body exercise that allows for maximal oxygen uptake, which your muscles can use up. Start off light for one minute. The second minute you are going to push it for about 80 to 85% of your max effort. You're are going to do this combination of one minute light and one minute fast; 6 times. That will be your interval on the rowing machine for the day
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The second interval workout is going to be the stair master: The reasoning behind the StairMaster is the single leg push that will utilize and recruit some muscles that stabilize your hips, which do not get activated in the rowing machine. To get started on the StairMaster you are going to start off nice and light for 2 minutes. This should be about 40-45 percent of your max effort. This is just enough so your body can get used to the new motion and timing of walking stairs. For the full third minute you are going to push your body with a faster pace but still where you can handle a minute with no hands. This should be done at about 65-75 percent of your max effort for one minute. Do this at your comfort level while still pushing your body. You want to do this 2 minute (slower) to one minute (a bit faster) a total of six times.
Day 2:
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This is going to be a strength day.
Exercise 1 - Walking lunges with 3 sets of 15 reps for each leg. Add weight (a load of about 20lbs) for the 2nd and third set. Remember, a lunge is a single leg strength movement that can be manipulated to be a sports specific exercise.
Exercise 2 - Deadlifts. I chose this because it is a predominantly posterior chain exercise. This means it trains the rear side of our body from our back to our hamstrings. You want to do 3 sets of 12-15 reps where the weight you choose is very challenging once you hit rep 12 or 13. Some things to remember when deadlifting: Keep the knees slightly bent, not locked out and straight. You don't want to overload your hamstrings with added weight. The more you bend the knee, the more activation you will give your glutes (butt). Keep your shoulder blades together to secure the muscles around your spine. You want to protect your spine from injury and overload.
Exercise 3 - Standing shoulder press. The rep scheme is the same, 3 sets of 15 reps of a weight where it is challenging to do another one at rep 14. Things to remember when completing a shoulder press: Squeeze your glutes and tighten your core. This will make sure you are using all of the shoulder to do the push and not the rest of your body.
Exercise 4 - You can throw in an array of core exercises that will help you with you running and that are internal and external oblique focused. Some of my favorites are side plank, regular planks, and core twists on the floor.
Day3:
This can be your longer endurance run day. I would suggest no more than 4-4.5 miles. You want to push your body a little bit more by speed each week for your endurance run.
Day 4: OFF
Day 5:
Cross training interval. Today will be a day of sprints. We can do these outside on a softer surface or on treadmill at slight incline of 1 or 2. Start with a light jog for about 5 to 6 min. We are going to do 12 sets of sprints. A minute and a half you start lighter with going at a 50% effort pace. You then start the sprint for one full minute at about 80 to 85 percent of your max effort. We will repeat sequence 12 times.
Day 6:
This is going to be an aerobic work day. This is similar to your jog, but less impact cardio. Today is swimming or elliptical day, depending on where you are geographically and what your time looks like. Both are very light impact on joints and get you moving for endurance -- 30 to 40 minutes is how long we should be training aerobically this day. Go at your pace but remember to push yourself. Don't go too light on yourself.
Day 7: OFF
For more fitness tips, check out Equinox's Q blog, at www.equinox.com.
-- Terri MacLeod
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