Aug 27, 2012

Hamstrings SOS

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Happy Monday!

I was supposed to be back at the office this week but the renovations have been delayed until September 4th, hence the random Monday morning posting.

I’m going totally batty at home by myself all day. I have a lot of work to do but I’m feeling really unmotivated. My crappy Internet connection keeps dropping out at inopportune moments (like right when I’m about to hit send on an e-mail) and there are certain tasks that I’m not able to do as easily from my laptop computer. If any of you work from home regularly, I would love some tips on how to be more productive.

Anyway, on to today’s post. Yesterday morning, I woke up with the intention of doing a spin class but my hamstrings were not having any of it. Even after taking Saturday off, I was still unusually sore from Friday’s workout and even today I’m still feeling it a little. I think this is the longest bout of DOMS I’ve ever had.

I was feeling pretty restless without my usual Sunday morning workout so I dragged Josh out of bed to hang out with me. We grabbed some iced coffee from Starbucks and buns from COBS Bread (my new obsession) and sat by the lake. It was a really nice way to spend Sunday morning – makes me wish Josh were more of an early riser.

In the afternoon, I went to Yoga Sport at the Clarity Centre:

A dynamic introduction to yoga designed to stretch and strenghten and help athletes (including runners, hockey, soccer, tennis and other sport players) become stronger, more resilent and flexible so that they can withstand the rigors of a running program. This practice will guide sports enthusiasts through constructing a yoga practice that works on stength, flexibility, endurance and mental focus along with a structured breathing method. Yoga is designed to work the entire body from top to bottom and inside to out, a perfect cross training compliment to any sport practice.

This was a heated class but not as hot as some other classes I’ve been to. For the first half of the class, we did some traditional flow sequences so I got a bit more of a workout than I’d bargained for.

The second half of the class though was pure bliss – we used a strap to stretch out the hamstrings, inner thighs and hips, which is just what I needed.

My legs felt so much better afterwards. They are still a little tender but I think I’ll be okay for RPM tonight. I’ll just go easy on the resistance.

What are your favourite active recovery workouts? 

Filed Under: Yoga · Tagged: ,
Mar 16, 2012

Defining Strength Training

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I think I’ve developed a very narrow view of strength training. This occurred to me yesterday while thinking about this week’s workout schedule:

Sunday – 5 km run + Yoga
Monday – Spin
Tuesday – BodyAttack
Wednesday – BodyPump
Thursday – Power Sweat

As  I was reviewing my workouts, I thought, “Oops, I only strength trained once this week” (I usually aim for 3 strength workouts per week).

Then I wondered why I didn’t count my yoga sessions as strength training – it’s a weight-bearing activity, is it not?

I think I’ve been influenced by a certain school of thought that narrowly defines strength training as “lifting heavy.” In other words, if you’re not under an Olympic bar that weighs more than you do, you’re not really getting a strength workout.

I’ve dabbled in this type of weight lifting (sort of – I still have yet to squat over 80 pounds) but not consistently enough to see any measurable results. The visible changes I’ve seen in my body can mostly be attributed to BodyPump, a class that many “serious” weight lifters roll their eyes at because of the high reps and comparatively lighter weight involved. 

Awhile back, I bucked conventional wisdom and decided to stick with Pump instead of free weights. I had been pushing myself to do free weights workouts, even though I didn’t love them, and I was pressuring myself to lift heavier and heavier because I thought that was the only “real” way to strength train and see muscle definition. Taking time off to train for a half marathon while still doing BodyPump made me (accidentally) discover that I could get results from BodyPump alone.

So what about yoga? Can it replace lifting weights as a strength workout?

In the past, I would have said no way. Now, my answer is: I don’t know, I’ve never tried it.

I think it’s important to keep an open mind when it comes to fitness. With a closed mind, you could be missing out on an effective and enjoyable workout simply because you’ve already decided that it doesn’t count.

With that in mind, I’m giving yoga a try. As I mentioned before,  I’m planning to get an unlimited monthly pass at Power Yoga Canada and plan to go at least three times a week. And while I don’t plan to cut out my other activities completely, I’ll certainly have to cut back. I’m curious to see what happens when yoga becomes my primary strength workout.

I might lose muscle. I might decide after a month that I hate yoga and my current obsession was just a phase. But at least I can say I’ve tried it before I discredit it.

Do you consider yoga a strength workout?

Is there only one effective way to strength train?

Filed Under: Strength Training, Week in Review, Yoga · Tagged: , ,
Mar 19, 2011

Week in Review

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Eats for the Week:

On Sunday, I went to my Italian grandfather’s house for lunch. Since he considers it a personal insult when I turn down seconds, I was forced to eat course after course of delicious, homemade Italian food – meat manicotti, breaded chicken cutlets, fried potatoes, salad. Life’s so hard!

From Monday to Thursday, I ate really well. All of my meals were homemade, fairly low calorie and very healthy with lots of veggies and lean protein. I avoided processed snacks completely and snacked instead on Greek yogurt and blueberries, carrots and hummus, almonds, mangoes and apples.

By Friday, I was craving a little indulgence so when the time came to meet up with my girlfriends for dinner in Little Italy, I decided to go balls out. For dinner, I had a glass of wine, a piece of bruschetta, half a roll with butter and half of a “mini” thin crust vegetarian pizza. The so-called mini pizza was so large, I could only eat half.

But there’s always room for dessert! Craving something sweet, my friends and I went to a cafe after dinner and split a Belgian waffle with ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream. I want to say I ate one third of it, but truthfully I probably ate closer to half. It was definitely worth however many hundreds of calories were in it!     

Exercise for the Week:

I kicked off the week with the most gruelling workout at my gym, a sixty minute boot camp style workout with lots of plyometrics and weight bearing exercises.  This is the most challenging workout I do and I always feel really fit after I’ve completed it (although not so much while I’m in the middle of it, struggling to keep up with women who are at least twice my age).

On Monday, I did an hour of step aerobics (kind of cheesy, I know, but it’s a lot of fun) followed by an hour of yoga. On Tuesday, I did RPM, an interval training based spin class designed by Les Mills. I hadn’t been for two weeks and had to re-acquaint by butt with the bike seat, which is never fun.

Wednesday and Friday, I did Body Pump, a sixty minute cardio strength workout using a weighted body bar. I’ve been doing this class once a week for the past year and my hamstrings, butt and thighs still hurt every time I do it. I’m trying to incorporate more strength training into my workout routine so I threw in an extra Body Pump class this week instead of the cardio class I usually do on Fridays.

Today, I’m planning to do thirty minutes of step aerobics followed by thirty minutes of strength training. Gotta burn off that Belgian waffle!

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: , , , , ,
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