I know you heard the saying “you are what you eat” but I am here to take it a bit further and say you are what you do, as well.

I think many of us sort of evolved down the same path to the way we eat and workout:  we wanted more out of our body and whatever we were doing at the time just didn’t cut it.  Like I mentioned in my last post, there are two types of weight gain out there and you would probably think then that there would be two types of weight loss, too, but no…there’s a bunch.  (There are also more types of weight gain but that really gives a good synopsis.)

Ok, so maybe you’re not running in the Olympics but some of you are racking up that kind of mileage without any “Olympic” results.

One of the ways I see all the time (and watch endless frustration with) is running to get a great body.  Now notice I did not say to lose weight.  You definitely can decide to get up tomorrow and start running and possibly lose some weight but the odds of you getting that body that you desire are slim and the risk you run with injury and overuse is quite high.  Running for a hot body without a concise plan is like heading to the bakery “to pick something up” for a party you’re going to later on—we all know that ends badly with bread tasting and cupcake snacking so let’s just be honest about it.  Go with a dessert already set in your mind, get in and get out or bring someone with you to bail you out when you go down hard.

Running is addictive to many women.  It’s easy, cheap, hard in the beginning so it is a great challenge, relaxing, rewarding and… *completely unsatisfying in the weight maintenance department* so the more we run, the more we have to.  We keep looking at the covers of the running magazines wondering why they have a hot body and we don’t although we log mile after mile after mile.  Yes, from the waist up you are getting there…from the waist down though you look like a Land O Lakes advertisement for their latest cheese product.  With cellulite and dimples abound, you run and run and run and run.  You have every color capris there is to own and you are an expert at tying your jacket around your waist.

But now you have solved that problem—or so you thought–because you became a savvy reader.  You started following the girls out there who have the hot bodies and began to mimic what they do.  You dropped your starches, cleaned up the diet, you lift now and yet, still…nothing.  Instead, you have no energy, you binge on carbs every 2 or 3 days because you just can’t take not eating them and you don’t know how to fit lifting into your schedule the way they do it.  What gives??

YOU HAVE AN IDENTITY CRISIS

• You are not a runner. You are a woman who enjoys using running as a means to getting the body that she desires.

• You are not a figure girl. You have no desire to get on stage—you want to run—but you want that body too.

• You are not your average consumer. You are willing to put in the work of eating clean and working out so following magazines that are telling you the same ole same ole like “top 10 superfoods” and so on is not helping much.

• You’re not a world class runner. You are quite competitive and have no desire to be the slowest runner out there but you are not a run-nut either.  You don’t own the latest heart rate monitor and you just want to enjoy your run.

Honestly, girl.  You need to know who you are so you can get what you want.  Taking pieces of everyone’s plans and trying to make them work is frustrating and unproductive.  I’m sure you’ve also noticed that the more you run the harder it is to lose weight.  So what does the running world say about that?  Run more.  Ummm…how’s that working for you?  Because at some point, you need to go to work.

We have much to develop over the next few weeks: nutrition, training, psychological warfare, supplements and so on.

Obviously this is an issue we need to really put on the table with some serious solutions for you.  This is one of the top questions I am asking no matter where I go.  Follow this series that I will talk about over the next few weeks and we’ll talk about taking off 5 pounds per 5K and tightening that bum.  Cool?

I’m looking forward to it!!  Woop woop!

Next Post in Series

What?

Where are we going, you ask?

IT’S SUMMER TIME!!

Unlike last summer, this summer we are taking it off.  Why?  Because we are all about quality and not quantity. 

Every single one of us is up to our whazoo in projects and traveling and posting for us is becoming harder and harder.  Knowing this, it’s easier to cut this off before we get two weeks into the summer and there isn’t a post to be found with no explanation why.   So what does this mean for you?

Just like our last hiatus, if you are signed up on the blog, you will receive emails from me all summer long.  I have not sent any out for a while so you don’t have to sign up again.  You haven’t missed anything.  What’s sitting in my laptop now and going out in the next week or so is “Lean Going Leaner”.  It’s all about the pitfalls, what you need to know, how hard it is and answers to your questions.  That will take a week or two.  I will also cover a few other hot topics like Staying on Track–For Real.  If you have been eating clean for a while, you know that you can fall off the wagon for weeks at a time and not be able to get back on track and it can incredibly frustrating.  We’ll talk about what you can do to get around that and why it happens. 

We want to thank everyone who reads this blog all the time.  When we jumped into the blogging world we had no idea what to expect nor did we know what we were doing (ummm…and we still don’t!).  Almost two years later, our readership is up over 300% (WOW!) and our email list is up about 400%! We are blown away by your response to us.  Why?  Because we’re not your typical bloggers nor are we your typical company:

• We do not really advertise.  Yes, every so often we’ll tell you what’s coming, but we’re not all ‘in your face’ about it.
• You have no idea what we do.  And we’re kind of ok with that for now.  What you do know is that we love what we do.  We’re real.  And we know what we’re talking about.
• We are consistent.  We’re not a blog that showed up for 10 min and then disappeared.  We’ve been in this location and at Model Per4mance for 2 full years and I pray we have a few more left in us.
• We are low key.  What most of you do not realize (and why should you–read bullet #1) is that Jodiojo & Co. is a thriving company behind the scenes.  While all the world is shouting at you for your attention, we are quietly doing our thing one body at a time.  We will be a bit more flashy when we come back, but not by much.  I am so not the flashy type and I am deeply committed to our clients.  This means I am not trying to pull in a billion clients we cannot service just to say my numbers are up.  (I am SURE there is an internet marketer reading my blog right now CRINGEING over what I am saying.  I am supposed to tell you all kinds of things to make you *think* otherwise. *sigh*)  

So while we will miss you for the next 8 weeks or so, we are happy to take time off to renew our minds, relax and think about the next series or topic we’re going to talk about.  I will be honest with you and tell you that I do not know the format of Jodiojo when we return.  We have a bunch of ideas on the table and we are exploring them all.  If you have anything you would like to see, let us know!  We always want to know what you would like to have us chat about.

In the mean time, I have been doing a ton of consulting lately (funny how this happens) and I thought I would let you know what I do, what it entails and how much it costs.  If it is of interest to you, our contact info will be at the bottom of the post and you can get us at that email address.

I am always asked: “What am I doing wrong?”  “How could I do this better?”  “I want to be healthier, what do I change?”  “How do I take this to the next level” and so on.  Sometimes you just want to know that without having to invest in a full program.  You like what you’re doing and are not ready to change OR you cannot afford the commitment right now because it’s summer and that’s not in the budget OR you’re deciding whether I am serial killer masquerading as an internet guru who is going to run off with all your money so this is the safest way to check me out.  I understand the last one more than you can imagine.  But regardless your reason, what you are searching for is answers.  Things like:

• How much protein should I be getting?
• Am I doing enough?
• Am I doing too much?
• How many calories should I be eating?
• How do I go from lean to leaner?
• What supplements should I be taking?
• How do I incorporate running into my schedule?
• The weight is not coming off like it did before…why?  And how do I change that?
• How do I put my schedule for the week together?

I will answer these questions for you and more in two phone calls:

Phone Call #1:  30 minutes in length

Initially I will send you a questionnaire for you to fill out.  Tell me as much about you and what you’re doing as possible.  Email it back to me and I will call you at the time we agree upon.  During that call I will drill you like a bolt to a beam and get the real truth.  Ok, not really–but it sounded compelling.  I will actually get the details that I need to help you out and I will also get to know what your true goals are–there’s always more than what’s written;).  Then, I need about a week depending on what you have going on because I am going to be VERY detailed in my answer to you.  This is not a general plan or canned phone call.

Phone Call #2: 60 to 90 minutes in length

This phone call will be your life spoken back to you in an orderly and optimized format.  You will have all your questions answered and then some, a detailed schedule that you may change and solid, implementable recommendations.  Typically the call is 60 min in length, but I pad the time by 30 minutes because I am a yapper so I allot for that and I don’t want you to feel like the clock is ticking.  If you have questions–this call is the time to ask them.

What I will not and cannot do in the phone calls is give you custom programming.  I can, however, give you a sample program of some type if you want one or feel that it will help you in any way.  I also cannot give medical advice, I am not a doctor.  But I can tell you what questions to ask your doctor or tell you what specialist can help you more than another based on past experience. 

I am offering this special for the summer only while we disappear off the blogging radar.  Quantity is limited and this will fill up fast because it already has and I have not even advertised it!  Hop on it while you can.

SUMMER SUMMIT CONSULTATION PACKAGE:  $100

If you are interested or have any questions, hit me at jodi@trans4mationstation.com and I will get right back to you with either the questionnaire or answer to your question about this service.  If you would like this with Heather, let me know when you email.  She has a different set of pricing but I will put you in touch with her and you can go from there. 

Thank you again for making this blog awesome!  We had no idea that it would go this far and it has…  Thank you!!  Have an awesome summer and we will see in you September!

It has been quite a busy few weeks for me and because of it, I am a little all over the place.  My parents took a trip to the Grand Canyon and are away for 10 days.  This is a very big deal because my father does not like to travel.  Usually my mother travels with her friends or sisters or me, but my father decided he wants to make an effort to travel with her; ergo, the trip to the Grand Canyon.  However, back in the good-old-days when we lived in Connecticut (where I am from) and only had cats, it was not difficult to get someone to feed the cats while away.  However, my parents now live in Vermont and have Bumba (my cat) and Rosco (our dog).  It is harder to get someone to come feed the cat and we have to put the dog in doggy daycare.  Not wanting the dog to be in daycare for 10 days or for the cat to be alone for 10 days, I agreed to go up to Vermont last Thursday evening through Sunday evening and then again this Wednesday evening through Sunday evening. 

With all of this travelling, my schedule has been completely off.  But, that doesn’t mean my training has suffered.  Through a hectic schedule, training is the one constant that keeps my sanity.  But, with all this travelling and back and forth, I cannot stick to the 4-week program I had scheduled.  So, I decided to let it go and enjoy these two weeks.  (Actually, it is more like the entire month of June because a week after my parents get back, my extended family will be up in Vermont and so I will head back up for a few days). 

While home in Vermont this past weekend I pulled out the workout Heather posted a few weeks ago.  It was the perfect workout to fit into our little home-gym.  We have a finished basement with an elliptical, dumbbells, yoga mats and some other things.  That workout was fabulous!  It was a nice hybrid just like the style I have been doing.  I also spent a lot of time doing yoga as I have not been able to get to a class recently.  Sadly enough Friday was the only sunny day and it rained all Saturday and Sunday.  Thankfully, Rosco and I got outside for a run on Friday and took advantage of the sun.  But man were we both bummed it rained the remainder of the weekend. 

I am now back in Boston for a few days and had to really think about my training for the week.  I decided to go back to a classic upper/lower lift for the three days I am here, as the dumbbells we have in Vermont do not go up as high as I’d like for a heavy lift.  After spending the past 6ish months training in a hybrid style (mix of plyos, sprints and lifting all together) it was refreshing to get in a straight lift.  Yesterday was upper body, for which I did in a push-pull super-set style. i.e. Overhead Press and Lat Puilldown, Chest Press and Bentover BB Row and so on.  What a great workout.  I really enjoyed it because I haven’t done a straight lift in a while.  In fact, I had become a bit snobby about my training and only wanted to do a hybrid-style.  That attitude is never good as all training styles have their importance.  So it was very nice to do and enjoy a more classic lift.  However, I know after a few weeks of this, I’d become very bored.  So don’t expect me to continue with a classic lift.  But for now, it serves its purpose. 

And that sums up my all-over-the-place life and training right now.  I’m planning on doing a hybrid lift up in Vermont when I get back up there and then, weather permitting, lots of hiking and trail running with Rosco.  I will also get in a lot of yoga as my body really needs it right now.  And other than that – I am flying by the seat of my pants; which is very uncharacteristic of me.  So the next time your schedule blows up and becomes a mess, let go of any preconceived plan you think you must stick to and roll with it.  Provided you continue to eat clean and get in and train in some way, shape, or form, you will come out on the other side of your hectic weeks in great shape.  I know that is my plan!

Happy Memorial Day everyone!  I hope you enjoyed a long weekend because I sure did.  I went to visit my parents which means the following: lots of napping, staying up a little too late watching tv with my mother, early morning coffee with my father, and getting in some great hiking and trail running.  It also means that I don’t go to the gym, but instead workout at home.  Thankfully my parents have a small gym area where they have some free weights, an elliptical and space for yoga.  But it also means that I won’t get in my regularly scheduled workout.  Additionally, if I am home for more than a day or two, it means I will have to restructure my entire week.  Whatever plan I am currently doing will have to be modified.

It also means that when I get back home, I usually have a day or two to fill with a miscellaneous workout.  This is the workout you do when you have an extra day to fill or the workout you do when you’ve just finished a program and are not yet ready to start a new one.  Or it is the workout you do when you need a break from your current plan.

This is a variation on that timed sets and can also be called “30 seconds on, 30 seconds off”.  Essentially you set up a bunch of exercises, each of which you were perform for 30 seconds.  In between each exercise you rest for 30 seconds.  Let me give you an example workout first, and then we can talk about variations.  This example is one I would call more of a metabolic romp that is full body with plyos.  As always, perform either a dynamic warm up or at least mobility work first.  Then find an area in the gym and set up all of your weights.  For exercises to be done with weight, chose a weight for which you can do 10 reps, but no more than 10.  There is no weight needed for the ploys.  Because you are lifting for time, a gym boss really comes in handy here.

• BB Front Squat (can also use DB)
• Squat Jumps
• BB Bentover Row
• Prone Jack
• DB Overhead Press
• Burpee
• BB Romanian Deadlift
• Push-Up

Based on the above, you perform front squats for 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds, squat jumps for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds and continue until you have finished 30 seconds of push-ups. That is 1 round.  Rest for 2 minutes and repeat for a total of 3 or 4 rounds.

Now that you’ve got the basic set-up, you can start playing with the exercises, rest periods and weight parameters so the workout best meets your goals.  In this example, mixed plyos and traditional lifting.  However, if you prefer a more traditional lift, replace the plyos with all traditional lifting exercises.  I also chose a 10 rep max weight.  However, if you are currently working in a lower rep scheme and want this work to stay in line with that scheme, chose a weight you can only lift for 6 reps.  You will still lift for the full 30 seconds, but because you are using a heavier weight, your reps will take longer.  However, lifting for time will force you to possibly push out a few extra reps – don’t worry if you have to rest in between finishing the 30 set, so long as you keep trying for the full 30 seconds.

I also chose to put together a full body workout.  However, you can put together any split you want.  And finally, I put this workout together for that miscellaneous time.  But, you can easily add something like this in once/week and progress it.  You can progress it by changing up the rest period or by increasing the number of reps you get out in each 30 seconds.  If you want to progress it by time, in week 2, lift for 35 seconds, rest for 25 seconds.  In week 3, lift for 40 seconds, rest for 20 seconds.  Finally in week 4, lift for 45 seconds, rest for 15 seconds.

If you want to progress by reps, keep track of the number of reps you perform in each 30 second interval (write them down during your 30 second rest period).  Keep track for each round you do.  Next week, try to get in more reps (one or two more).

As you can see, the possibilities are endless. But this is a great workout you can do anywhere and customize it to fit the general scheme of your current plan/goals.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, I workout in the morning.  I wake up somewhere between 4:50 and 5:30 and head over to the gym.  The number of times dictates when I actually get up, but if everything goes according to plan, I get up at 5 am.  I’ve been a morning-workout-person for the past 9 or 10 years (just figuring that out is crazy to me, I started morning training back in college).

 While morning workouts are my preference, there is usually one day per week that is either my rest day, and as such I don’t workout; or I just can’t get up, no matter how hard I try.  Well, last week did not go according to plan, at all!  Now that tax season is over, I actually have time after-work to have a life.  As a result, I can go to a yoga class or go back to the gym and do cardio.  This is a luxury I did not have Feb-Apr. 

 So last week went a little something like this; Monday my alarm went off, I rolled over and after hitting snooze 8 times, decided I was too exhausted to get up  – so I went to the gym after work.  Tuesday it took all my mental strength to get up, but I did, and I made it to the gym.  Wednesday, no matter what I wanted, there was no getting up.  The same for Thursday (and actually, by this point, I had given up on even trying).  And Friday was a moot point.  Granted I went to the gym after work, but it was not according to plan. 

 Thankfully by Wednesday I had given up and decided to just let this week be.  My body clearly wanted the extra sleep, and since I was able to get to the gym after work, no harm done.  Further, I knew I would start fresh this week and get back to it.  But without the foresight to let it go, I would have tortured myself all week about not getting up for the gym. 

 The body has this amazing ability of forcing us to listen to it when we are in need of things like sleep, rest, and recovery.  While all I needed was a few extra hours of sleep, there have been times when I needed to cease all activity and recover; and despite the fact that I didn’t want to, my body forced it. 

Twice now, once when training for the half marathon and once, a few years later when running with a friend, my body just flat out said stop.  Most of the time I will push through most workout fatigue/pain/suffering and I was trying to do so on both these occasions.  I had mentally turned off the little voice telling me I needed to stop.  Yet, all of a sudden, unconsciously, I just stopped.  The first time it happened I was completely shocked, it was not a conscious decision and after, there was nothing I could to do to get running again.  The same thing happened the second time and I was no less surprised that my body just stopped. 

 I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, but it is the body saying “you need to knock it off, and since you aren’t listening, I’m taking over.”  If this hasn’t happened to you during a run/sprint/cardio bout, maybe it has during a lift.  Have you ever been on a roll, lifting like a psycho, making amazing gains; and then all of a sudden – bam – you’ve got nothing and no matter how hard you try, you are not lifting anything else.  It is wild.

 Well, as I get older (and hopefully wiser) I have learned to listen and to be thankful that I have such a wise body that takes control when I’m acting a fool.  For those of you who might not have listened, I wonder soon thereafter an injury popped up?  If you are nursing an injury or remember an injury, what were you doing the months prior to the injury?  Were you training like a psycho and not resting?  Training for a race but also drinking with your buddies at night?  Pushing yourself physically and not eating to support that effort?  I bet you were.  And I bet you can pinpoint the time your body told you to stop or even forced you to stop; yet you didn’t heed the warning.  Even if you took the day off, you went right back to it, without making any modification for the thing your body was trying to tell you (more food/rest) and soon thereafter got injured. 

 If this is you, and the light bulb just went on, try to remember this the next time your body is trying to tell you something.  I know that I certainly am trying, although I know it is easier said than done.  And that is why, last week, I decided to give in to needing extra sleep.  It wasn’t like my body was telling me I needed a week off from training, just that I needed to sleep in – a much easier pill to swallow than having to sit out an entire season/miss the race/take a long hiatus. 

So, I challenge all of you to think back to a time you didn’t listen.  Take stock of the outcome.  And try to be more perceptive the next time it happens.

In the past few months, I have been so busy that I have not been able to make it to a yoga class.  I have been practicing yoga (in some way or another) for 9 or 10 years now.  When I started, I took class two times per week and never missed a class.  As my practice progressed I moved from one style to another until I got to the point that I was done with classes and only took private lessons.  That continued for a few years until I moved away from classes and teacher lead practices all together. 

 I never stopped practicing yoga on my own, but my time away was occupied with other activities that precluded me from getting to class.  (That is a really nice way of saying that yoga class was not my top priority because we all know that if it was a top priority, I would have made it happen).  Nonetheless, I only practiced on my own.  I would hit up a class every now and again, or go through a 4-6 week jaunt where I got into a more regular schedule, but nothing more than that. 

 I then, more recently, got back to wanting to make it to class once/week, but when tax season hit, I didn’t have the time.  Well, now I do – and I realized I was nervous; nervous that in my time-off, I would have lost some of my flexibility and core strength. 

 If you don’t live in a city with a plethora of yoga studios and amazing yoga teachers, then you are missing out.  Boston is a yoga haven.  The teachers are exceptionally good and because of that, the student’s skill is unmatched.  As a result, my two teachers teach classes that on any given day will challenge me, provided I am up for the challenge.  (That is the other amazing thing about yoga, you can make any pose less or more strenuous).

 This past Saturday I made the decision to get my butt to class – Todd’s class that is.  Todd is an amazing yoga teacher who teaches an advanced class.  The class not only incorporates quite a few advanced poses but is physically demanding.  However, I wanted a rigorous class – and Todd did not disappoint.  I had an amazing class and what was even more exciting is that I moved into a pose I had never been able to master.  Eka Pada Sirsasana (I think) – foot behind the head in a forward fold.  (I must admit, my pose did not look quite as graceful, but I am almost there).

 While there are still plenty of poses I want to master, this small achievement really got me thinking: I’ve been focusing on other athletic things yet when I got back to a class, was able to make an advancement.  

But the fact remains, I had taken my focus off of yoga.  Yes, I still practiced on my own (20 or so minutes a day after I’d workout), but I was not trying to improve.  Actually, I was using yoga for mental sanity and for flexibility and joint/muscle health, and nothing else.  But when I got back to it, I was right where I left off and ready to move forward.  As a result, while my focus was elsewhere, by not foregoing yoga altogether due to the fact that I couldn’t give it my full attention, I was able to maintain and prime myself to improve.  (How often do we give up on something all together because we cannot give it our full intention?  Boy am I glad that I did not fall prey to that line of thinking this time, like I have done so many other time.)

 Interestingly enough, I just went through this same experience with lifting.  As I’ve mentioned, I streamlined my training over the past few months.  My lifts have been full body lifts that incorporate plyometrics and agility with the goal of sucking wind and elevating my heart-rate without compromising the integrity of my lift.  Prior to this, one of my focuses was to increase shoulder strength.  However, I knew that any strength gain focus had to take a back seat when my program changed.

 To my pleasant surprise, when all was said and done, my shoulder strength did increase.  I lay the groundwork in Nov/Dec by increasing my weights in a typical strength building workout format.  However, during my recent training, I either maintained that weight or only slightly decreased it (remember when doing a metabolically taxing full body lift filled with plyos, the weight you use in an overhead press half way through the workout is not going to mirror that which you would use for straight sets).  My intent was to lift to my fullest potential, while maintaining good form, and that clearly did the trick. 

 The other day, as I was setting up some crazy giant set, it dawned on me that the weight I was overhead pressing for 10 reps was that which, in December, I could barely eek out for 10 reps while doing straight sets with plenty of rest. 

 In the end of the day, while we cannot always focus on everything all the time, that does not mean we will lose that for which we have worked so hard.  And while I would tell, and have told, clients/friends/anyone else this is true; I’ve always found it a hard concept to believe applies to me.  And so I imagine you might find this concept difficult to grasp as well. 

 While I don’t think an Olympic or even Pro-athlete can rest his/her laurels on this concept, I think the majority of the world can.  You cannot focus on everything all the time (whereas the Olympian/Pro is paid to do so); there are times when things you really love have to take a back seat.  But, that does not mean all is lost.  Maintenance is a very real and attainable option. While I had not purposefully set up a plan to maintain my flexibility, I had set up a plan for my shoulder strength.  I made sure I lifted with integrity every single time; perfect form and to failure; which paid off.  On the yoga side, my daily routine has become second nature to me, so in retrospect, I should not be surprised with Saturday’s new pose.  And while the point of my post was not to plug Jodiojo and Company, I will say that we do put together some amazing maintenance programs to help get you through those murky times when something else has to take center stage.  So regardless of what has to take a front seat in your life, there is always a way to maintain and possibly keep improving.

For the sake of keeping in line with Heather’s hot legs Monday’s post…

It’s getting warmer.

I love it. I am feeling human again.

Can you smell it? Can you hear it? (Honestly, I may hurt the bird that has made his new residence right under my bedroom window. Love nature but really?) Can you feel it?

It’s Sprint time! I mean…spring time!

It is that awesome time of the year when we get outside, shake off the dust from the forced hot air heaters in our houses and live a little. YAY!! I am like a completely different person in the summer and you would think that I would move to a warmer climate but alas, I cannot. Things like bugs, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis keep me in New England so instead I just worship the warmth when it shows up briefly 4 to 5 months out of the year.

But now is the time when most of y’alls fall into the same old 3 to 5 mile run that you do every day because it helps you to “think” or “it’s the only thing that helped (notice past tense) me lose weight” or “it wipes me out (yet you haven’t lost a pound for months)” and you refuse to change or cross train because you either do not want to or you do not know how. Let me help you out with that…

Here are 2 simple ways to liven up your everyday run and add enough intensity change to get your body to respond:

Short Distance Sprint
If you have a 3 to 5 mile flat course that you run every day, change it up with sprints by adding them in the middle of your run. You can do these two ways: stop and pick an area to run a set of sprints or incorporate them into the run and they are part of the overall distance. Either way, instead of racking your brain for distance (50m, 100m, etc), do it for time. If you want to do this separate from your run, after running a 1 mile warm up, find a remote straight away and perform 9—12 sec sprints. Run 3 sprints back to back with a 30 sec rest in between and then rest a full 3 to 5 min by walking around the area slowly. Repeat that whole sequence 2 more times to complete 9 sprints in total. If you want to do this in the run, warm up the same and sprint for 12 secs but now add a min rest in between each sprint and be sure to slow down between them more than your base pace.

Longer Distance Sprint
Take the above scenario in terms of distance and terrain. Now add a bunch of “400’s” instead of “100’s” into the mix. Truly, you cannot do many of these if you do them right. In the beginning, shoot for 3—400’s, if that doesn’t make you bleed from an orifice then try 4—400’s and so on. I would incorporate these into the run—not separately—so make sure you have a good idea of what your base pace is so that you know the distinction between the speeds you are about to run at. After your warm up, you are going to run at your fastest pace JUST short of all out. This means you will not run as fast as the 100 but you will run much faster than your 5 mile pace. Do not rack your brain for distance, instead, run for 1:45 and you will be pretty close to 400m. Once you complete it, drastically slow your run down but do not go to a walk if you can help it. Stay there for 4 min and then complete the next 400. Do that one more time and finish off your run at normal pace. Your legs should feel like jello.

Get out there and get moving if you live up north. Let us know how you do, all of us are sprinters at heart here and we’d love to know how you’re doing. Have fun! Woop woop!

I might have mentioned this before, but my father sends me articles from the NY Times that are related to fitness.  A few weeks ago he sent me this one: Is Fitness All in the Genes?  Check it out if you are interested.  But the cliff notes version is that researchers performed a genomewide study to determine if tiny segments of DNA called single-nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs (pronounced “snips”), recur frequently in people with certain traits.  In this instance, the test was to determine if particular SNPs occurred in people that respond to aerobic workouts by becoming incredibly fit as opposed to those who exercise just as hard for months and end up no fitter than when they began. 

  (for those of you who don’t know what a genome is (I didn’t either), according Wikipedia, “In modern molecular biology and genetics, the genome is the entirety of an organism’s hereditary information.  It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA.  The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA/RNA.”

 The determination as to whether test subjects became fitter was made by looking for an increase in the amount of oxygen their bodies consumed during intense exercise, a measure called maximal oxygen capacity, or VO₂ max.  

 Yes, the study concluded that there were certain SNPs that were more prevalent in individuals who responded to aerobics.  However, what I most liked about this article was how the scientist/author closed it:

 There are many reasons to be excited” by the advances in the study of the genetics of exercise, Dr. Bouchard said. “But there are also many reasons to be cautious.” Genetics, no matter how sophisticated it becomes in looking at the body’s response to exercise, he said, “will never explain everything.”

 Which brings me to the point of my post; I don’t disagree that genetics plays a role in each individual’s skill, but it is not the end-all-be-all of who we are or what we can accomplish.  Each and every one of us is genetically gifted in some way; albeit we might never figure out in what way that is.  However, I would really hate to hear someone say “I’m not going to seek out X goal because I’m not genetically gifted in that area.”  Genes can and do help, but they are NOT everything. 

 There are so many more factors at play than genes, or raw talent.  For example, how many “gifted” individuals do you know that were taken out of the game way too early due to an injury, due to poor life choices, or who simply didn’t want it?  One example that immediately came to my mind was Alex Wong on So You Think You Can Dance.  He was called the most talented dancer to ever be on the show, and was the favorite to win.  Yet in the beginning of the season he injured his knee (I believe it was his knee) and was forced to leave the competition. 

 I was devastated because he truly was/is amazing (I believe he has since healed and is dancing again and I would love to see it).  But to my point, the most talented was side-lined with an injury, leveling the playing field for the rest of the contestants.  (Also, I am not taking away from how hard Alex worked.  I am sure he worked just as hard if not harder than most, I am merely using him as an example.  The saddest part of his injury was that he really did want it and really did work for it.  But was still taken out by something out of his control, no matter how gifted he was or how hard he worked).  This link will bring you to one of my favorite Alex Wong performances.  

 On the other side of the spectrum are stories of individuals who may not have been “talented” but against all odds, worked their tails off, put the time in, and became exceptional.  Yes, the genetically predisposed individual could have gotten their faster and with more ease but this person kept at it day-in and day-out. 

 So no matter how you slice it, genes are not the determining factor of your success or failure at any given thing.  Yes, you might have it easier/harder than others in some things, but just as the article closed, genetics will never explain everything. 

 And in writing this, I think about all the hard work I have put into various things in my life.  One, in particular, being my training.  I am not the most genetically predisposed person to athletics.  However, I have a LOVE for athletics which has driven me to work HARD for it.  And now, looking back at all that hard work and where it has gotten me, I am proud of my achievement. 

 In sum, this article told me a lot of what I already knew.  While everyone has different genes and thus, some people may be predisposed to excel in certain areas, both external forces and human choice play a large role in whether we succeed.  But what do you think?  Do you think only genetically predisposed individuals will play pro-sports?  That might be a tough one as those athletes are the elite of the elite, but what about D1 college sports, can only the genetically gifted make that cut?  I think not, but I’d love to hear what you think.

It was well over a year ago when I wrote a blog post called “Pumping Up with a Purpose.”  I asked the question “Do you workout or do you train with a purpose?”  And followed with:

 Is there a distinction you ask?  Is it just semantics?  I say there is a difference.  Someone taking spinning twice/week is not necessarily a cyclist while a cyclist might take spin twice/week.  Running for cardio does not make you a runner while a runner does run for cardio.  Playing basketball with your buddies does not mean your training is geared for a basketball player trying to get better.  However, a dedicated basketball player might play with his buddies. 

 I then went on about training for a goal and how I trained for a rock climbing trip in Mexico.  Well, a little over a year later and I currently have no tangible training goal.  I am training to stay in excellent shape, keep my physique the way I like it, and for my own mental sanity.  However, that about covers my goals.  Actually, if you cut right down to it, my goal is to get in a great workout.  But I really don’t consider that the type of goal I wrote about last year. 

 There are times when we find ourselves without training goals and I do not necessarily think there is anything wrong with that.  Now, before you come at me with a response like “well, if we don’t need goals, why did Jodi do an entire series on goal setting?” go back and re-read what I wrote – sometimes we find ourselves without TRAINING goals.  That does not mean we do not have goals.  It merely means our goals are not training related. 

 Right now I am barely trudging through tax season.  I know, I’m sure you are tired of hearing me talk about tax season week in and week out, but it really is brutal this year.  I used to LOVE to write crazy workout programs for myself; programs that were designed for a specific goal.  However now, the thought of writing my own program is more than I can bear.  I know that if I was training for something right now, I would be one crazy lady and all of my friends would disown me (if they haven’t already).

 However, that does not mean my life is goalless.  To the contrary, I have plenty of goals.  Two that come to mind are (1) to make it through tax season without losing my mind, and (2) to make it through tax season without losing my fitness level.   But I also have work-related goals and personal-growth specific goals.  So for the time being, I am sticking with those. 

 In that article a year ago, I wrote about my climbing specific training, lifting, cardio and mobility.  Well, except for the climbing specific training, I still incorporate all of those components into my training and add in additional functional training. 

 I do not currently have the luxury of twice-daily training sessions and so I have to incorporate everything I can into a morning workout.  However, this does not mean that I half-arse anything, but it means I train smarter. 

 Mobility and Flexibility

 Every session starts with some form of mobility.  If I am not doing a functional-plyo-agility workout in the aerobics room I start out with shoulder mobility, thoracic spine mobility and hip mobility in the stretching area in my gym.  If I am in the aerobics room, I perform a dynamic warm-up with things like butt kickers, high knees, 180s, lunge and rotate and so on.  Regardless of what I do, I keep in the mobility. 

 Just like mobility always opens up my training, flexibility always closes the session.  I always try to get in between 10-30 minutes of stretching/yoga type work.  Because I am so busy right now, I have not gotten to a yoga class in a few weeks (leaving work before 7pm to 8pm is just not an option).  Instead, on days when I have the time, I head into the yoga studio at my gym and do my own practice.  And in the alternative, I do something for at least 10 minutes. 

 Lifting and Functional Work

 My lifts have been full-body lifts.  This is helpful for the lack of time and also for the type of training and am currently doing.  There are two distinct ways in which I set up these sessions.  The first type is pure lifting.  However, I use the big movers – all complex movements with minimal rest in between and lots of giant sets.  BUT, I am lifting HEAVY.  This is not a circuit you would find at your grandma’s gym.  Additionally, depending on the specific workout, I add in plyometrics/functional moves.  Think of Jodi’s recent post about adding a crank after finishing up on set of exercises, before moving onto the next; or simply changing a pair of lifts into a giant set by adding on a weighted burpee.  When I am doing this type of lift, I’ll lift 3x/week and spend 1-2 days in the aerobics room doing a straight up plyo/functional workout.  Ok, honestly, it is usually 1 day of plyo/functional, which is why I add in the plyos to the lifts.   

 The second type of workout I call a hybrid.  I will head into the aerobics room and do 2-3 plyo/agility combos and then head out onto the weight floor to finish up with a lift.  These lifts will be more combo/complex/giant sets.  With this set up, I will not do a separate functional/plyo workout that week. 

 This training is not for everyone.  But it is PERFECT for my life at this moment and I absolutely love it.  It also helps with the fact that, at the moment, I am unable to get in a large amount of cardio.

 Cardio

 This one is barely happening right now and I openly admit it.  I shoot for 3-4 days/week but realistically am only getting in 2-3.  There are mornings when I plan to get in a lift and cardio, but by the time I am finished with the lift, I’ve got nothing else to give.  Or, there are weeks where my schedule just does not conform to what I had planned and one of my cardio sessions is out the window.  This is the second reason I set my lifting/functional workouts the way I do, I get a full metabolic workout in those sessions.

 A year ago, doing so little cardio would have sent me straight into a panic attack; but not today.  First, I don’t have time to stop and panic, but second, my world has not ended doing so little cardio (what a concept to finally grasp).  I know once the weather is nicer and 4/15 passes, I’ll be ramping up that cardio.  But for now, of all the things to fall by the wayside, cardio takes the hit.

In sum, while I am not training for a goal, I can still discuss my training and the purpose behind it in a similar manner to the way I did when I was training for a goal.  It took me writing this post to see it, but there is a purpose to what I am doing.  I have accepted that right now, I cannot have a training goal and thus set up my program accordingly.  In the past I would have fought this, tried to convince myself that I could train for something despite working crazy hours, put together a program I had no way of ever completing, and the gotten depressed and discourage because I couldn’t get it all done.  Well, not this year.  I am not sure how it happened, but I’ve evolved.  And with that, so has my training.  And when it really boils down to it, I am getting in some awesome, killer, workouts to boot.  So I leave you with the challenge to evolve as well and not be a slave to having a training goal.  There are times when it just won’t happen.  But that does not mean the world will end, nor does it mean you have to lose all that you have achieved.

I don’t know about your, but us here in Boston have been stuck in the freezing winter, under large amounts of snow, for the past three months.  However, this past weekend we hit the 50 degree mark and with that, drones of people hit Storrow Drive to run.  As I drove into work (yes on a Saturday) it was wonderful to see all of the people outside enjoying the weather.  However, it got me thinking, with the change in weather comes a change in our training.  As the weather becomes nicer and nicer, we will begin to hit the track to sprint, trails to hike, and the roads to run – a stark difference from being stuck indoors (absent those of you who get outside during the winter).  Additionally, people who have taken a break from training become motivated to get back to it.

At this time, it is important to be smart about changes in your training.  Further, if you are coming off of a training hiatus, you must really proceed with caution.  So what do you do, when the weather is amazing and you want to get outside and really hit it hard?  Hopefully you have thought everything out and have a plan of attack.

Calling All Runners

Have you been running on the treadmill all winter?  If so, first lets hope Jodi doesn’t come after you for that.  But more importantly, you must be aware that running on a treadmill is not a substitute for running outdoors.  What you can do on a treadmill will not translate 1 for 1 with real-life running.  The treadmill moves you, you don’t move it.  The treadmill has some built in absorption while pavement does not.  Running outside is different on your lungs, your joints, your gate and in so many other ways.  Thus, when moving from the treadmill to outside, it is important to take it slowly.  First, if you were running 3x/week, don’t automatically move from 3 treadmill workouts to 3 outdoor workouts.  Instead mix it up, start with 1 day outside, 2 inside.  As the weeks progress, you can move to more days outside than inside.  Additionally, cut your mileage down when you are outdoors and work your way up to your indoor mileage.

A Word for Those of You Headed to the Track

You all know what a huge fan I am of sprinting.  However, this is another type of workout you have to ease into.  My hamstrings hurt just thinking about those of you who have not sprinted all winter and are planning to hit the track.  I won’t even address those of you who have been “sprinting” on a treadmill….I just fear for the wrath Jodi will have waiting for you.  But if that was you, or if you have not been sprinting indoors this winter in an aerobics room or a basketball court, you really need to work your way back into it.  However, even those of you who have been sprinting indoors still have to work your way up to a true outdoor sprinting workout.  The benefits of sprinting are unbelievable, but because of that, the possibility for injury is just as great.  So, for your first few track workouts, do not sprint above 80% of your full sprint.  Make sure you do an extra long dynamic warm up.  Try not to push yourself to complete failure/fatigue.  And start with only 1 day/week.

All Those Fun Toys

Finally, as you head outside, it is tempting to hit up the local sporting goods stores to get some new toys.  In the next week or so, I plan to discuss some of the fun equipment out there and how to incorporate it in your training.  Yet as tempting as it is to go out and incorporate these things into your training right away, stay the course.  Take the month of March to re-acclimate to outdoor training.  Avoiding an injury will be worth it come April when you are going full speed ahead and rocking the outdoor training!