30 minutes of cardio in less than 10

The December issue of Men’s Health has a section on quick, more efficient cardio workouts — better than 30 minutes on a treadmill and done in a fraction of the time. I just finished the squat-jump/pushup teardown routine and I’m a believer.

=

I recommend picking up the issue or even subscribing, but til then, here’s how it went: 10 reps squat-jumps (squat down, arms behind head, til legs are parallel to ground, leap straight up and back down = 1 rep) followed immediately, without rest, by 10 pushups. Then without resting, again, go to 9/9 reps, followed by 8/8 and so on down to 0.

I’m shaking all over and can hardly type this. Try it, it’s a great time-saver for all the “but I don’t have time” people!

TRAU

Quickie: The Aunt’s crack at my knee

It’s nice to have a medical professional in the family … in my case I actually have a lot — one being my Aunt Marie, my mom’s sister. She is a pretty regular reader so a lot of times we end up discussing different aspects of my blog.

I asked her to weigh in on my knee, which is a pretty tall order since she only had my novice explanation of a few moments from last night to go on. Here’s some of her note back to me regarding the knee issue I described in the previous entry:

… was the tightness on the outside part of your knee?  Because me and the Sports Med gurus think it likely is a tight Ileotibial band.  With a guy like you increasing his running, that is a likely cause.  There are special stretches for this.  You can also get a little hip pain on that side (that is where mine kills me if I don’t stretch before running).  Not a serious problem, but look it up , see the stretches for it and do them religiously.  The one that works the best for me is the following.  It is my left leg so I stand about two feet out from the wall with the wall to my left.  I plant and lock my left foot/knee and then cross my right foot over in front of it.  I then stand mostly on my left leg and lean into the wall with my left hip, thus stretching my ITB. …

Here’s what I could find on the googlesphere to get a visual representation of the ITB (it’s the long white strip going from the hip to the knee, if you can’t read the fine print):

Sounds right to me, although I wrote her back saying I didn’t specifically try to pinpoint the location of the stress, aside from mentally cataloging it as “in the knee area.” But thinking back to last night, it does seem that the feeling was more to the outside…

So if I ever feel a similar tension, I’ll be sure to consider what Aunt Marie said and see if it fits the description. In the meantime, I’m going to give that stretch a go before my next run for sure.

TRAU

Run last night: good, bad, ugly

TMI warning: This post could have more than you want to know about my run last night and the resulting … issues. So, if you can imagine yourself grossed out by any negative physical effects of running, stop reading now.

I could just gloss over the ugly, but this is blog is meant to deal with all aspects of my attempts to get and stay fit, and if I pretend it’s all pretty and rosy, I think I’m doing a disservice to anyone still reading.

So on to the run…

I headed out last night for my “long run” for the week, which at this point in time means a 6-mile trot around the neighborhood. It started with a big ol’ glass of water with a couple scoops of N.O. Xplode –  a blend of creatine, caffeine, nitric oxide and other goodies that I take before workouts to increase my muscle growth and endurance. Sounds like ‘roids, I assure you it’s not!

But with the N.O. going and with the previous days’ schedule of short and medium runs leading up to last night, I started the run feeling like a million bucks. I passed the 2-mile marker and was feeling twice as energized as when I started the run, so I mentally committed to 8 miles rather than 6. I knew I had it in me, I felt like I could run all night if my body would hold up!

Somewhere between miles 2 and 3 is where the TMI comes into play… my thighs started chafing. And chafing is pretty much exactly like a blister, where once that heat starts, it’s gotta be fixed or it’s just going to get worse and worse exponentially.

So I hiked up my shorts as high as I could to try to get fabric between my thighs as much as possible, but the shorts were sweaty already and I couldn’t decide what was worse — having a bunch of wet fabric up there or just red-hot skin-on-skin action…

I decided to pretend it wasn’t happening. To not correct. To press on as if my thighs were still feeling silky smooth and dry.

The reality was it felt like I was carrying a glowing charcoal briquette about 2 inches below a very important neighorhood. And it was getting worse. My options were to stop and try to take care of it at my house and continue running, but I knew I didn’t have anything (except now I remember my hiking moleskin, d’oh!) to fix it, or I could just quit running.

But screw BOTH of those options! Aside from the napalm fire between my legs, this run was feeling like the best one I’d had yet. I’d rather walk like I rode an elephant to work for the next few days than give up on the burst of energy I was feeling.

So on I ran. I began a bit of meditation and turned on some metal (Protest The Hero) to take my mind off my crotch. And ladies, you’re right, a man taking his mind of his crotch is a miracle that could be likened to Moses parting the Red Sea.

It worked! Even as the fire grew hotter, I stripped it of it’s mental priority and began to think of other things.

This is all going on as I’m having a parallel thought of amazement that I’m still running, and running hard. I was truckin’!

I got to mile 6, where I had originally planned on stopping, and rounded the corner with what felt like another 6 miles in me. But then a weird feeling hit my right knee.

Not pain. It was more like a slight lack of mobility, like muscles I didn’t know were there were trying to gently slow it down. Like something was trying to tighten up.

So I stopped 2 blocks into the 7th mile and did some stretching. Again, the knee didn’t hurt, but I don’t know enough about running — or my joints — to know how an onset of a major problem unfolds.

I decided to press on having stretched, but the looseness from the stretch only lasted about a half block, then the swelling feeling came back.

DAMN.

I was really feeling this run, too! But there is no way I’m going to jeopardize any future runs or exercise just to try to set a new personal best. I didn’t know what was happening, and again I stress it was not painful, but I decided to walk home.

Got into the house, figuring my knee must be swelling like a grapefruit by now, sat down and compared my knees — no difference. No redness. No puffiness. No pain.

C0uld it have been mental? Or maybe just a reaction to a possible subconscious correction to my step due to my hunka-hunka burnin’ crotch?

I don’t know, and I’ve got emails out to a couple good minds to see.

That’s one thing I’ll stress again, too… I am learning here, and when it comes to physical ailments and things of that nature, I can’t pretend to know what the hell I’m talking about. I can motivate myself and others, I can share my workouts, but my knowledge is totally nonexistent regarding exercise physiology and injury.

So anyway… waiting to hear from the experts, but until then, I’m taking tonight off, and then getting back on a short-to-medium running program til next Monday. Then maybe I’ll try for 8 again and see if my knee is up to it!

Oh, and I’ll grab some Gold Bond powder too…

TRAU

Find your Isle Royale

I’m the kind of person who needs a big finale in order to take the hard road somewhere. So when I’m working out, another mental device I use to keep myself in line is to picture whatever that big finale is — that thing I’ve set out to accomplish — and think about how far off I am from being mentally and physically able to accomplish it.

Last year, it was Isle Royale. I decided 10 months before my 26th birthday that I was going to hike the hardest trail in Michigan to celebrate turning 26. I hadn’t been backpacking since I was in Boy Scouts in elementary school, and I was pretty rough on my survival skills. So I spent 10 months accumulating new gear, learning the ropes of long hiking and most importantly — getting in the kind of shape I would need to be in to hike for 7 days over the hardest terrain on that island, the Minong Ridge trail.

So I tailored my workouts to make me a stronger hiker. I looked up exercises from backpacker.com and magazines and any resource I could. I ended up creating an exercise I called “Isle Roils,” which meant starting in my 9th-floor apartment, running the stairs to the bottom, then back up, doing 30 push-ups and calling that 1 set. I would typically go for 6-12 sets and do it 2-3 times per week. It was hell. I hated Isle Roils, but I knew that all that up and down and extreme physical exertion was putting me in a better place to take on the Isle Royale quest.

So when I returned from Isle Royale, I failed to set a new goal right away. That’s where the weight gain I mentioned came from. I didn’t have anything to chase after anymore — anything to scare the crap out of me.

I’ve since decided that I want to run a marathon, but while I don’t MIND running, I haven’t fallen in love with it yet. Not enough to really feel the fire like I did with Isle Royale.

So the best I have right now is knowing that I will be back on Isle Royale next year. Same trail, hoping to do it faster so I can spend more down time in a little place I found about 3 days into the hike that is my idea of heaven on earth.

Do you have something to chase? If you’re having trouble staying motivated, I highly recommend finding your own Isle Royale to work up to. Maybe it’s bigger, maybe it’s smaller. But having something to get in shape FOR will help get over any of that motivational sluggishness you may be encountering.

TRAU

Young man, there’s no need to pay year-round

I just got back from the YMCA, on Day 2 of the iFitness program. Today was lower-body exercise, and I’d say it worked, as everything below my rib cage is in a state of dull, throbbing pain.

Working out indoors kinda bugs me, makes me feel like a zoo animal. Just part of the cattle. But for right now, it’s the best way for me to accomplish my fitness goals, so I suck it up.

This is actually my favorite time of year to work out in the great outdoors. Because I’m such an overheater, I feel most comfortable busting my ass in high-40s to low 60s temps. But pretty soon I’m gonna need snowshoes or skis to get the job done out there.

Do you have a gym or YMCA membership? For a lot of people it doesn’t fit into the budget. But consider only paying for the membership during the cold winter months. That way if you have a running plan, you can take it indoors to the track or treadmill while it’s snowing and move back outdoors come March.

Now, I’m no mathematician, but I’m guessing it’s a lot cheaper to pay for 3 months of a membership than 12. But who knows, go talk to your gym peeps. Tell them you only want the membership for 3 months and see what they offer you. Who knows, you may end up with a deal worth keeping year round, that way you can stay in there for the weights and machines. A lot of gyms and Ys have extra programs and classes for free, like yoga or spinning.

Check it out!

Of course, you’re always welcome to join me outdoors this winter too… I plan on taking a few snowshoe hikes.

TRAU

What’s in your sweaty headphones?

When I work out, nothing works better than the Nike-commissioned album “All Day” by Aesop Rock. It’s a 45-minute continuous track that builds and evolves and keeps you mentally energized.

This YouTube video plays the first 9 minutes of the track so you can hear a sample…

What gets you going? Seriously, I want to know. AceRock’s all I got!

TRAU

Giving iFitness a day in court

I love finding new uses for my iPod touch. This weekend, after the post Friday about how I was penciling in my workouts, I decided to take it a step further and have my iPod become my own personal trainer.

From a weekly wake-up and reminder schedule broken down day-by-day …

… to using the iFitness app from the Apple store ($1.99) to guide and log my exercises.

I spent a while reading various fitness app reviews, and to be honest it broke my heart to have to pick this one over the Men’s Health Workouts app, but it was cheaper and had much better reviews.

As I began using it, I could really see how this is going to be a good tool to have in the gym to keep me on my plan, and helpful in tracking my progress from weights to running to weight loss.

It has a whole slew of different fitness programs you can follow, from a muscle-building program to body toning for women to a business travel workout.

I’m starting with muscle building, because I thought it would be a good compliment to my running program that I’ve already started. Build lean muscle on the pavement and big muscle in the gym.

Once in the program, it guides you through each exercise with pictures, written explanations and even short video clips if you still don’t follow. Then right from there you can log your sets/reps.

So it’s got me doing upper body on Monday and Thursday, lower body on Tuesday and Friday. I tailored my running schedule to fit around that, with my longer runs on my upper-body days.

Today was my second day with it and I dig it a lot. I’m going to try to stick to it religiously for two weeks so I can fully see how the logging and charting works, and then decide if it’s a keeper.

The basic workout schedule though… that stays no matter what. We’re on a push here, folks. I gotta kill some of this fat away again. No better way to do that then by building some big, energy-guzzling, inefficient muscles.

TRAU

Penciling myself in

I find it easiest to stick to a fitness schedule when I actually put it in writing, or — even better yet — in my iPod calendar with a reminder for an hour before to keep me honest.

So tonight, I’m on deck for a 4-mile run, and I have another one for tomorrow before work and a third one for Saturday night. Tomorrow before work I also plan to get to the YMCA downtown to do some upper-body work.

Should be a good way to get into the weekend, and into my 6-mile runs starting Monday.

What’s on your schedule?

TRAU

Recipe: Wasabe-Soy Pumpkin Seeds

I know, I know, two recipes in one day… but this one is timely. If you have a pumpkin seed recipe you like, share it here in the comments. I dreamed this one up while munching on some wasabe peas. These aren’t even CLOSE to as spicy as those things are, just a hint of flavor.

Wasabe Soy Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients:
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons wasabe paste (more or less … if you mix soy sauce and wasabe at a sushi bar, try to make your mixture about twice as hot as you would there. It won’t be nearly as hot as you expect)
A payload of pumkin seeds

Do all the pumpkin-gutting and seed-cleaning and pat-drying of the seeds and preheat your oven to 350.
Put the wasabe paste into a large bowl. Add just a few drops of the soy sauce and stir it in. Add a few more, stir, add, stir — you’re sort of doing a slow emulsification here. Once it gets good and runny, go ahead and dump the rest of your soy sauce in and stir it up. You do NOT want chunks here! It should be pretty green tinted.
Dump the seeds into the bowl and toss them around until they are evenly coated.
Place them onto a lightly-sprayed foil-lined baking sheet and put them in the oven for about 30-45 minutes.

The cooking time varies, and make sure  you stir every once in a while and shift them around to they are evenly roasted. The soy sauce will make them look dark from the get-go so be sure to taste test the seeds as well so you don’t pull them out too soon. They shouldn’t be chewy at all, but crispy all the way through.

Let me know if you try it!

TRAU

Recipe: Cauliflower Curry Soup with Toasted Chickpeas

I’m kind of becoming a soup junkie this fall, and leaning toward vegetarian food and spicy goodness most of the time has made for some good ones. This soup I made last night, doubled the batch and froze some for winter. It’s very easy to control the spice in this recipe by simply going for a little more or less of the curry powder.

The web site I adapted this recipe from was foodreference.com, however I dreamed up the chickpea garnish from another recipe.

Cauliflower Curry Soup with Toasted Chickpeas
Ingredients:
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1.5 teaspoons hot curry powder
1 pound fresh cauliflower florets
1/2 cup water
1 cup nonfat plain yogurt (I used greek style)
14 oz can low-sodium vegetable broth
coarse ground black pepper
sea salt

Toasted chickpeas:
1 16 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and dried on paper towel
2 tsp hot curry powder (more or less)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
sea salt to taste

Preheat oven to 450.
Spray bottom and sides of a medium pot with vegetable cooking spray.
Place onion and curry powder in pot and cover. Sweat on low heat for 6-7 minutes, softening onion and releasing curry powder’s aroma.
Add cauliflower and water, and cook on medium heat until cauliflower is done, about 10-12 minutes for frozen or less time for fresh. Allow to cool slightly.

Meantime, heat a pan on the stove over medium heat. Put dry curry powder in pan and stir with wooden spoon a minute or so until aromatic. Add olive oil, stir together with the spice and remove the pan from the heat. Add the chickpeas to the pan and stir until well-coated.
Spread chickpeas out on foil-covered baking sheet and put in the oven for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until slightly browned and crispy all the way through.
When finished, sprinkle lightly with sea salt to taste.

Back to that cauliflower….
Transfer pot contents to a blender and puree until very smooth.
Place yogurt in the pot and slowly whisk in vegetable broth until a smooth emulsion forms.
Slowly whisk in cauliflower puree and black pepper, blending well.
Heat on low until warm enough to serve, but do not bring to a boil, as yogurt may then separate.

Serve in a bowl with a small handful of the toasted chickpeas on the top. Maybe a small handful of pomegranate seeds would be tasty too!

Enjoy, let me know if you cook it!

TRAU