Join me on the Road to October 9th

Well, this is it.  This is the year I turn 50!  I still cannot believe it. I really feel about 30.

My goal is to be the most fit I have ever been.  A little of bit of history......I used to run all the time.  I thought I was the most fit when I ran about 5 miles per day.  Keep in mind, that was about all I did.  I would do a few weights here and there, but mostly just cardio.  I really thought I was strong and fit.

Then it came to my attention that I was not doing enough strength training.  In an attempt to balance out my fitness routine, I had purchased some weights and a mat.  I had tried doing some workouts on my own, but struggled with the motivation and what exactly to do.  I purchased a workout DVD on line.  I remember doing that video for the first time and the lady on the video was doing push ups.  I was really surprised and upset that I could not do a push up.  From that moment forward, I was on a quest to be able to do perfect, straight leg push ups.  From there my idea of what fit was changed dramatically.

the turning point happened when I developed plantar fasciitis in both feet.  I knew I had to stop running.  At that point I could barely walk.  I dug out the weights and researched different types of workouts that would challenge me in both strength and cardio vascular areas.

Before I was running an hour a day and adding in a bit of strength 2 times per week.  So that was 6 plus hours of exercising each week.

I changed that to strength circuits for 45 minutes, 3 days a week (total of 2.5 hours exercise per week). After six weeks, I had dropped a pants size without even realizing it. This was about 10 years ago.  This was one of the major factors that made me decide to become a personal trainer.

As women we are programmed to believe that we need to be doing long cardio sessions to be fit, that we should avoid lifting heavy weights and we should stick to machines.  This is the furthest from the truth.  Long cardio sessions take a lot of time and can lead to overuse injuries - like plantar fasciitis, knee issues, IT band issues, etc.

Long duration cardio workouts do not burn fat.  They actually make your body hold onto fat and prevent your from burning it.

Strength training is the magic bullet in the fat burning formula.  You need to challenge yourself with a heavy enough weight to fatigue the muscle after 12 reps.  You need to get your heart rate up WAY higher than the old fat burning zone for about 20 to 40 seconds and then recover.  This is how you burn fat.

So.......my road to October 9th.  I am going to incorporate 1 to 2 high intensity interval workouts per week. ( This will more than likely be a hill run in my neighborhood.  Those hills kill me.  The run takes about 25 to 30 minutes and my heart rate gets really high on the hills.).  I am going to do 1 workout per week that incorporates very heavy weight for strength and 2 workouts that focus on metabolic conditioning. I am going to stretch for 20 minutes every day. I am going to eat very clean and hopefully be the most fit I have ever been, with a very balanced fitness plan.

And then I plan to go hang gliding on lookout mountain in Chattanooga.  So, want to join me on the road to October 9th?