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Thursday, August 23, 2012

Weight training: keeping my whole body strong

I'm kind of sort of starting to slowly run again, just a little, under close supervision. Honestly the pain is a tad worse or about the same as it was before I started seeing doctors or PTs, and I'm happy with that. After all, it's not like I couldn't run with this pain before. I did multiple 20 milers and ran two subsequent marathon PRs with the same nagging pain. Kind of wish I skipped the whole go-see-a-doctor-before-this-gets-worse thing.

In the meantime, I'm trying to make sure I don't neglect strength work - since that seems to be my ticket to injury. Even though I have a gym membership, I don't use it often: it's not near the house, so it isn't convenient if I just want to do a quick 15 minutes of weights. I only go there if I have a pressing need to see sweaty old men giving themselves hernias on the ab machines.

I'll leave these in the living room à la frat boy.
Instead, I've been doing a some workouts at home. For starters, I got some dumbbells (That word always reminds me of when my brother Joey was walking around the house with a dumbbell in each hand - kind of showing off - and my mom commented, "Hm, three dumbbells." Isn't she sweet?)
I bought these online from Walmart and at $20 for the set, they're a deal. Other dumbbells were in the neighborhood of $60 each. The minimum weight is 5 lbs; the max is 30 - should work for my purposes.

Then I decided it was time to try some full-body workouts, since otherwise I would just look at the weights in the corner and nod my head in contentment at the great price I got (which is really a great neck workout guaranteed to prevent double chins).

So I went to the library and got two workouts from both the Biggest Loser trainers. I did the one by Bob and it was ok, but it's an entire hour so I split it into two workouts. That means I probably didn't get the benefit of the whole workout. It does also have a 15 minute quick workout, which I haven't done yet either. I had to return the DVD but of course I copied it to itunes. I think that's ethical...I mean, I already didn't pay, it was a library borrow. And it's for personal use. Anyway my lawyer husband did it for me, and he ought to know, right?
 I haven't tried Jillian but I assume she yells at you.

Since I left my core out last year and ended up injured, I'm also paying attention to my core. Core is pretty easy to fit in, and there are plenty of choices, so I do something different every time. One option is the Pilates workout on Yoga Download.  I like it and it's mostly core. Of course I do the free class (in case you haven't noticed, I'm cheap) and there's a little glitch with it - the workout mp3 doesn't match the pose guide; it kind of skips a section. But you can figure it out yourself so I just pause the sound while I do that part.

So that's how I plan to stay strong and develop imbalance injuries. And there's nothing like getting all buff just in time for cold weather, covered-up clothes either, right? Right.

10 comments:

  1. You're faster injured than I am healthy lol! I started strength training last month in hopes of it improving my running..good job starting it up absinthe. :)

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    1. I LOVE that this autocorrected to absinthe, and I love that reading that word reminded me that I want a Sazarac!

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  2. I've been strength training, and it's interesting how it changes the things that hurt. I kinda feel like I'm in the direction of nothing hurting (except the good hurt that means you actually did something), so that'll be a good thing.

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    1. That's so funny that you say that about "it's interesting how it changes the things that hurt." I'm out of running because of plantar fasciitis so I've started taking Body Pump classes at my gym, which doesn't aggravate my PF at all - but now I have a constant mild ache in my upper hamstrings from all the squats!

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  3. Yee-haw on the strength! You got a good deal at wally world. :) I picked up a great set at the Goodwill last summer and was lucky to have my dad and his truck nearby. Goodwill even loaded it for us.
    I am pretty certain that weights help not just the imbalances, but improve speed. Who knows how fast you might get! :)

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  4. That's great that you are focusing on strength training. I think that is something all of us runners should do. I have been doing it once a week, which is probably not enough, but is better than nothing I guess! I have def been focusing on my core this training season, though, and I think it's been helping with my long runs!

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  5. I figure even if strength training doesn't make me faster, it's a good way to pass the time when you can't run. Netflix used to have fitness dvds on the instant download. Now they've wised up. (blech). I'll have to try the library. Hadn't even thought of that, thanks!
    Another good, total body one is Jackie Warner's One on One. It's broken up into segments, too.

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  6. Update. Jillian is a softball.

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  7. Wow, great deal on the weights! I have a couple at home that I do double chin exercises with. I need to get on that, especially since the dark is coming and I will not be running outside as much in a couple of months...

    By the way, did I miss something? What is a softball? Is it the opposite of a hard ball?

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    1. Yeah, like she's really easy in this workout dvd.

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