First thing I always do is warm up on the treadmill. Recently I have started using a higher incline instead of walking farther. Makes sense, right? Might as well work harder for a shorter amount of time then an easier workout for a longer period of time. It definitely pushes me hard and I'm huffing and puffing while walking "uphill". I usually do a mile and increase the incline every two minutes working my way up to at least a 10% incline, maybe more. For the last 2 minutes I released the incline back to 0 and cooled down a tiny bit.
Right after that mile "hike" I jump over to the stationary bike. I have been super interested in biking recently and have been adding it to my routine regularly. Yesterday I biked for about 15 minutes for a total of 4 miles on the level 8. I would like to do RAGBRAI for one day next year and I know it's going to take a lot to get my body ready for that.
At mile 2 I was starting to really lose my motivation and I thought I would wait for the calories burned number on the bike to hit 50 calories. For some reason that was a decent stopping point for me? But, once I got to 50, I didn't feel like I had worked hard enough so I kicked it up a couple levels and powered through 50 more calories.
Wanna know how I got through those 50 calories? My OCD is about to be exposed here...
I watched the number on the screen and as soon as it changed I started counting. Each time I burned a calorie, I started over. Every 8 seconds I burned a calorie. I did that for the last 50 calories, or approximately 7 minutes.
Now, I'm not sure how accurate the equipment is there. When I plug everything into My Fitness Pal it says I burned much more than that. I don't really use the equipment for a calorie count though. I do monitor everything else though, and I try to keep my heart rate above 150 during the entire workout. Yesterday I kept my heart rate between 120-150 for 35 minutes! The day before that was 40 minutes!
It feels good. For sure. Now, that I have my planner I have my workouts mapped out for the week and I am determined to make them a priority. Not just for my body image issues, but for my health and to be a good role model.
Do you have an weird rituals that get you through the last few minutes of a tough workout?
I used to not allow myself to look at the time/distance on my Garmin or the treadmill until a song ended on my iPod. I would just tell myself to get through the song and then we could see wehre I was at. Last year when I was marathon training, I drank every 2 miles and I would stop to walk while drinking so I would tell myself - 2 miles and you get some gatorade. You can do this!
ReplyDeleteGood for you for getting tough workouts in! I set the bike on 2 when I bike! I am such a woose! But I bike the morning after run club and my legs are usually trashed from whatever workout we did so I guess it is sort of a 'recovery' bike ride!
Nice job on your workout! I have been known to play math games in my head with mileage and pace to keep myself distracted while running! I have also done the same as Lisa where I don't allow myself to look at my Garmin until the end of a song.
ReplyDeleteThe last 2 minutes on the elliptical I really kick butt--I kick it up a full notch til I am ready to die. I don't really pay attention to the calories burned on our elliptical because I think Eric has it set for a 200 pound man!! :-) I just put it in my Fitness Pal and trust in that. Good job, Amber
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Ok weird but true the harder i push myself the harder rap i listen to.
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I totally set little goals for myself, and when I feel like the time isn't passing enough, I start thinking of episodes of TV in my head - Friends, Gilmore Girls - and then I tell myself "this is only the length of one episode of Friends" and it seems like it goes faster that way.
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