No Gym? No Problem!

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If you haven't noticed in my last few running posts (specifically this one) my master plan to stay in good racing shape involves a lot of cross training. For me, that comes in two forms; yoga and body-weight circuits.

I am not a member of a gym and, even though I love me some free weights, I don't really feel like putting up the cash for something I can essentially accomplish at home (plus, I'm a spinning instructor on hiatus, and paying for a gym membership is completely foreign to me).

Well, I've got some news. It turns out you DON'T need a gym and weights or machines to strength train. This isn't the first time I've said this (ahem, 100 pushups) but I'm here today to give you guys somewhere to start if you're coming up empty on the "ideas for new workouts" gauge.

The following is a half hour body-weight circuit geared towards toning muscles. It requires zero equipment and about ten feet of floor space.

(that's my mom. isn't she awesome?!?)

WARMUP:

2 minute light jog in place. Don't forget to stay on your the balls of your feet.

1 minute plank. Feel free to shimmy around in your plank, as long as you keep your body in one straight line, it will activate different abdominal muscles.

2 minutes alternating straight leg kicks, you can also walk and kick if you have the room.

2 minute recovery - stretch, drink water, breathe.

2 minutes alternating step back lunges, keep your weight in your front leg, drive with your back leg

2 minute sumo squat with press (with or without dumbells - you still get a shoulder workout without them)

30 seconds squats

30 seconds squat jumps

1 minute pushups with feet elevated (on a medicine ball or exercise ball if you have one)

2 minutes single leg deadlift with reverse fly (no weights is a-ok, I just couldn't find a video of what this looks like together - basically you go into your deadlift and then pull your arms out for the fly, then stand up straight again)

1 minute recovery

1 minute pushup plank to row

2 minute russian twists

1 minute knee tucks

1 minute plank walks (holy harder than it looks)

2 minute single leg deadlifts

1 minute froggers

1 minute two foot forward/backward jumps (exactly how it sounds, jump forward and backward with both feet as fast as you can)

COOL DOWN:

5 minutes stretching - quad stretch, hammy stretch, lower back twists. Just stay in these positions for 30 seconds - 1 minute per side.

Still think you have to go to a gym to get a good workout? Seriously, you have to try this out. I did a 45-minute body weight circuit the other day and was sweating like a maniac. If you're not used to it, you'll definitely be a little sore a day or two after you work through this. 

How do you get in strength training without a gym?

Marathon Monday: Training Week #14

Training week 13 recap:

Monday - crosstrain. It was too rainy to get out and run so we had a challenging yoga practice instead. We followed one of the doyogawithme.com classes, Connection to Core. Like I said, it was a challenging practice and I am still a tiny bit sore from it. I really like the classes on that website though, they are more like going to a yoga class at a studio than watching a video. I've been using they're classes at lunch fairly often.

Tuesday - speedwork, total of 6 miles with 3 x 1 mile repeats at 8:39 and 1/2 mile jogs in between. I also had an easy yoga practice at lunch because I have been really tight, but this run was a challenge for Brandon and I. We rocked our speedwork a few weeks ago, but this time we knocked about 5 seconds per mile off the pace...and we could totally feel it! We also started the run doing the first mile in our VFFs. I am pretty sensitive to cold weather (even if it's only marginally cold) because I have terrible circulations to my fingers and toes! So my toes were SO COLD because the Vibrams keep them separate and they can't warm each other! I think they'll be better to use when the weather is a bit warmer outside!

Wednesday - rain. Haha, kidding. We were going to do our 4-miler today, but it was yucky out and Brandon was still at the recording studio, so I practice yoga instead. A class full of twists was just what I needed to wring out the toxic office goo that I accumulate throughout the day. I also threw in a few cards worth of Hit The Deck to warmup. For the record...I hate burpees. So I usually turn them into mountain climbers or something that doesn't make me wanna vomit at just the thought.

Thursday - 3 mi easy. Turned out to be a 3 miler completely in our Vibrams. We considered putting it off until Friday but that goodness we didn't because it was more rain all morning.

Friday - rest. Cav's game!

Saturday - 18 miles. This run kicked my ass. I wasn't in it mentally just about the entire time. I felt like I dressed too warm and had to shed some layers in the beginning only to put them on again halfway up MLK. There were several long stretches where I just had to walk because I simply couldn't get one foot in front of the next. I was mentally and physically in a bad place...my body was just breaking down. Low on self esteem, high on self doubt. I think the only way I got through this run was because Brandon was right there, encouraging me and sending positive vibes my way. This was the fourth week of long runs in a row and I think my body was showing that.

Check out the map of our run

and the elevation...no wonder I died towards the end!

Sunday - rest, rest and more rest.


Now we have only four more weeks to go! This week is a low mileage, no long run week! Phew. We have a wedding to go to on Saturday so we're only going to do 7 miles for our long run and I think our bodies are going to thank us for that. The schedule looks like this (the dates are incorrect, because I shuffled weeks around to accommodate the wedding this weekend):

I'm really looking forward to an easy week AND spending lots of time with our new puppy!!! (New pup post coming soon!)

Peace, Love & Bagels,

Marathon Monday: Training Week #12

Have you entered my Happy Herbivore Cookbook giveaway yet??? You can enter until Wednesday!

Last week was a wonderful week in running but a not-so wonderful week in cross-training.

photo credit: http://www.emotion-potions.com

Let's start by talking about yoga. I've been trying to practice everyday on my lunch break, but my office is less than yoga-friendly. For a while I was practicing in the document room - which is just a room where we keep all our old paperwork, since the room is fireproof. It's the only place that is semi-private and has the room to move a bit. It's apparently not private enough because I got walked in on mid-uttanasana (forward fold) which was WAY AWKWARD! So the next day, I moved into our shower room, which is approximately 6" long by 3" wide. Good thing I'm not very tall (a towering 5"0' thank you very much!). The shower room worked out okay and I can just lock myself in and be alone with the hum of the machines in the prototype shop right outside the door. Finally, I figure no one will be around Friday afternoon, so I can practice in the document room again, without being bothered...

So I bring all of my things into the room, lock the door, then decide I want to go get my water bottle. When I return with aforementioned bottle, I find myself locked out...and my yoga mat, clothes and computer locked IN.

So much for that. 


I have a new hope for yoga this week and lots of new videos to try (I am currently having "yoga block" when I make up my own practice...I need some new ideas). That is going to start today with some yoga cross-training via doyogawithme.com (got that idea from Maria - thanks!!)

Last week, we successfully ran our first 14-miler of the season (and Brandon's longest run EVER). The highly of my running last week was our tempo run. Our "smart coach" called for a 6 mile run, with a mile warm-up, for miles at a 9:21 pace, followed by a mile cool-down.

I was worried about the pace, to be perfectly honest. But, once we got out there I had to keep asking Brandon if he felt like we were running slow. I was actually comfortable running at a 9:21 pace! WHAT?!?! We ended up running the middle four miles faster than that, because it just felt right. I think we both felt really strong at the end of that run!

This week in running...

Hopefully we'll get out for a bike ride one of these days and then FRIDAY IS THE TRIBE HOME OPENER!!! It's only the best day of the year!


Spring, my friends, has finally sprung!

Peace, Love & Bagels,

No-Gym Strength Training

One of my favorite things about blogging (and more importantly, following other people's blogs) is finding incredible online resources to share.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Ashley, for opening my eyes to the awesomeness of zero-dollar-at-home strength training!! For those of you that are like me and know you need to supplement your running program with strength training, but don't want to fork up the cash to join a gym...this is totally for you.

a six week training program to help you build up to 100 push-ups in on shot

a six week training program to help you build to 200 sit-ups in on shot

a six week training program to help you build to 200 squats in one shot

They start you with an "initial test" (a.k.a. how many push ups you can do in a row right now at your current fitness level) and then build your training program based on your current fitness level. An example, from the push up regimen for week 1 looks something like this:

Guys, this is totally doable!

It's three days per week and a go-at-your-own pace type of training program. If you can't finish the workouts one week, you can just repeat the week until you're able to complete all the push ups/sit ups/squats. I think the best part is, it doesn't take too long! So I'm going to try to work these in after our weekly runs. Every two weeks, you monitor your progress by doing an "exhaustion test" before you move onto the next week. This helps you understand your push up, sit up or squat fitness level and tailor the next few weeks to that level.

My goal in using this program is to develop my strength while I'm training for the marathon, without having to drag my butt to the gym before, or after work. I don't necessarily feel like I need to do 100 push ups (which is a far cry from where I'm at right now). 

I hope a few of you find this helpful, please check back in and let me know how you are doing if you decide to embark on an at-home strength journey with me.

Peace, Love & Bagels,