STRENGTH & RUNNING WORKOUT

Welcome to the latest edition of workout Wednesday when each week I share a running or runner-specific strength workout. This week you are getting the best of both worlds because we are combining strength moves with a running interval workout. It's a great way to get in your strength and running in on the same day. This works best in a gym setting when you have access to a treadmill, but you could certainly do the run portion outdoors with a timer.

strength and running workout. Free PDF printable download. Save to Pinterest for later

CIRCUIT ONE

There are three exercises in the first circuit. Move through all three exercises with little to no rest. Move swiftly but not so fast that you sacrifice form. Proper form is always more important than speed. After you complete the exercises, take a short rest or water break and repeat two more times.

LUNGE

Starting with your feet hip width apart and your toes pointed straight ahead, engage your core and keep your back straight. Take one large step with your right leg to lunge forward until your front knee is lined up over your ankle and your back knee is nearly touching the floor. Once you are in the lunge position push back up to starting position. Perform 8 reps on each leg.

PLANK ROW

Start in a straight-arm high plank position with your wrists directly under your shoulders and your legs slightly wider than hip width for stability. Keep your body in a straight line from your shoulders to ankles while engaging your core. Do not allow your hips to hike up or sag down.

With your core tight and your glutes engaged lift your right elbow to row as you bend your elbow up toward the ceiling. Keep your elbows close to your side, do not allow them to flare out. You can do this exercise with or without weights. Perform eight reps on each side

BRIDGE

Lie on your back with your knees bent and push your hips off the floor so your body is in a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles. Push your shoulders into the mat. Squeeze your glutes and engage your abs. Pause for 1-2 seconds at the top of the the move. Perform 12 reps.

CIRCUIT TWO: RUN

Run for 90 seconds at an easy effort pace, then run for 30 seconds at a hard effort. Your hard effort pace should leave you out of breath. Repeat for a total of 4 cycles. 

CIRCUIT THREE

Move through the three exercises with little to no rest. Complete the circuit three times

ELBOW PLANK TO SIDE PLANK

Position your elbows on the floor with your shoulders directly over your elbows. Your body should be in a straight line parallel to the floor. Engage your core while breathing normally. Squeeze your glutes. Be careful not to sink your hips or raise your butt in the air. Do not clasp hands in front as this throws off your alignment. 

Twist up into an elbow side plank position with your shoulder directly over your elbow. Don't allow your hips to drop. Hold the position for 1-2 seconds in the top position. Alternate sides and perform eight reps.

BICYCLE CRUNCH

Lie flat on the floor with the lower back pressed into the ground. Place your hands on either side of your head, do not lock your fingers or pull on your head. Lift your head and shoulder off the floor and touch your right elbow to the left knee. At the same time, straighten your right leg, keeping it several inches off of the floor. Alternate sides to repeat the motion you'd make while pedaling a bicycle. Perform eight reps on each side. 

SUPERMAN

Lie face down on the floor with your arms extended in front of you, raise your arms, chest and thighs off of the floor (like you are flying like superman) Pause for 1-2 seconds at the top position. Perform eight reps.

Download a printable version of this workout.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes in the comments, on Instagram or on Twitter. 

Take a rest day or schedule easy effort paced-runs in the day or two following this workout. Always allow proper recovery after a high intensity workout. Adaptation (getting stronger and faster) happens during the rest period after the workout, not during the workout itself. If you don't allow your body the proper recovery time you won't see the full benefit of your workouts!

Questions? I'd love to help.

Coach Lea

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5 WAYS YOU MAY BE SABOTAGING YOUR RESULTS

It can be frustrating if you feel like you are working hard but still not seeing the results you desire. Human metabolism is complicated and it is not always as simple as the common advice to eat less and move more. Here are five common, easy-to-miss ways you may be sabotaging your fat loss results. 

5 ways you may be sabotaging your results. save to Pinterest for later.

Not getting enough quality sleep

It's sometimes seen as a badge of honor to function well on a little sleep, but sleep is an often overlooked factor for fat loss. Most of our body's recovery processes happen during sleep. Sleep plays a role in stress levels, recovery and regulation of hormones. Aim for 7-8 hours of high quality sleep each night for best results. If you are currently getting considerably less, start by adding 30 minutes to an hour each night. Create and follow a sleep ritual to help develop the habit of a good night's sleep. People are often looking for the supplement or diet that will help them reach their goal while completely overlooking the basics, like sleep, that can have a much bigger impact. 

Not managing stress

High stress can cause you to hold on unwanted weight, can inhibit recovery from workouts, can cause you feel hungrier and potentially overeat. Everything is connected. During high stress times make an effort to spend at least 15-30 minutes a day in stress-relieving activities. Read a book, take a bubble bath, meditate, pray, walk, stretch, foam roll, get a massage, listen to music or anything other healthy activity that puts you in a relaxed state. 

Not eating enough

You may be tempted to severely limit your calories in order to get faster results, but the body doesn't usually respond well to drastic changes. You don't turn up the temperature in the oven to cook your turkey faster and your body doesn't work that way either. If you eat too little for long periods your metabolism may slow down to compensate. With limited food intake you may not be getting the necessary vitamins and minerals, which can cause you to feel tired and foggy-brained. Lastly, if you are severely limiting your calorie intake, you're more likely to overindulge later which will eventually sabotage your efforts.

A better strategy is to eat about 500 calories under maintenance level for a moderate calorie deficit. 

Eating "Diet" foods

Food marketing is tricky. Foods are often marketed with misleading labels to make people think they are making a healthier choice. Labels like fat-free, sugar-free, gluten-free, fresh, natural and organic are often slapped on unhealthy, high calorie, processed foods. If you don't pay attention to the nutrition label and read the ingredient list you may be eating foods that aren't healthy at all. Flavored yogurt cups are one of the worst offenders of a junk food disguised as a health food. They are usually loaded with processed ingredients and can have as much sugar as a cup of ice cream. Read the labels and ignore the marketing to make sure you are eating mostly whole foods from nature for best results. 

Focusing on weight loss and not fat loss

It can be detrimental to get too attached to the number on the scale. The scale only tells a part of the story: your body weight. However if you are trying to lose weight, you should focus on losing fat, not weight. When the number goes down on the scale it could mean you lost fat (good outcome), it could mean you lost water (neutral outcome, neither good or bad) or it could mean you lost muscle (bad outcome). A lower number on the scale is not always a good result. In order to maintain muscle as we lose weight we need to consume adequate amounts of protein and perform some sort of resistance training on a regular basis. Losing muscle can hurt your ability to keep the weight off, which can sabotage your long term results. Focus on non-scale victories like body measurements, sleep quality, performance and how your clothes fit. When we are training properly, we sometimes shrink in size while maintaining the same scale weight. 

Losing weight usually requires a lifestyle changes. Take it slow, be patient and learn to enjoy the journey. Focus on developing the healthy habits that will help you reach your goals. Here are 10 daily healthy habits that can change your life. Need help? My nutrition habits coaching program has three openings. See if you are a good fit. 

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Coach Lea

How to Find Your Perfect Running Pace

The biggest mistake most new runners make is that they start out too fast and burn out quickly. One of the biggest mistakes intermediate runners make is that they run too fast, too often and don't allow for proper recovery. You see a trend here? Whether we are impressing our Instagram friends with speedy paces or we are trying to achieve a pace that is outside of our current fitness level, most of us can learn a lot by putting the GPS away and running by feel.

If we set aside the runner ego that tells us we have to run fast all the time, then we can run by feel on our slow runs and our fast runs to perform better, recover better and reduce chance of injury. So throw away that GPS watch and let's get started. (Ok, that thing is expensive, maybe don't throw it away, just set it aside for now.)

The best way to run by feel is using the Rate of Perceived Exertion chart and the talk test. 

how to find your perfect running pace. save to Pinterest for later.

WHY RPE?

Every runner is different. A nine minute mile pace may feel like a RPE 4-6 for one runner and a RPE 9 for another. It's important in your training to work at your own fitness level and not according to arbitrary paces (especially when following workouts on the internet). If you always run according to your personal effort level, you will be able to choose the appropriate paces for your interval runs, long runs and recovery runs and progress accordingly. 

RPE 1 NO EFFORT

You are probably participating in marathon of the NetFlix variety at this effort level. Sitting. No effort at all.

RPE 2-3 LIGHT EFFORT

A light effort may be a moderate to brisk walk. It feels easy and you could likely go an extremely long distance before getting tired.

RPE 4-6 MODERATE EFFORT

This effort is a usually a running pace often referred to as conversational pace. It is exactly what it sounds like, you should be able to hold a full conversation with your running partner without taking gasps of breath between words or sentences. My running partner doesn't talk back, but that doesn't stop me. (Note to new runners, it may take 3-6 months before any runs are conversational, this is normal. Just be sure to take plenty of rest days and walk breaks as needed until you get there.)

Easy short runs for recovery and most long runs should be done at conversational pace. Conversational-paced runs should be done the day or two after hard efforts runs or long runs to allow your body to recover. 

RPE 7-8 HARD EFFORT

Hard effort pace is sometimes called tempo pace or comfortably-hard pace. You can usually speak a sentence or two but will need to take gasps of breath. You feel like you are working hard, but you still can maintain the pace over a few miles or long intervals. This is usually the top end of your aerobic threshold.

RPE 9 EXTREMELY HARD EFFORT

At a RPE 9 you can only speak a word or two at a time (and that word just might be a cuss word.) You would not be able to hold this pace for a long time or distance. You usually perform at a RPE 9 pace during sprint intervals. 

RPE 10 MAXIMUM EFFORT

RPE 10 is the top end of the effort chart. You are completely out of breath and unable to talk at all. You would not be able to hold this level of effort for long. It would most likely be appropriate for short sprint intervals.

RPE CHART

Instead of becoming a slave to your GPS watch, let it work for you. Experiment a little bit with pace on your next run. What pace are you running when you are at conversational pace? What is your hard effort pace? What is your max effort pace? Give it a try and let me know how it goes in the comments, on Instagram or on Twitter. The beautiful thing with RPE is that as you adapt and grow faster/stronger the chart adapts with you. 

If you always run your long intervals at RPE 7-8, you will find over time that the pace increases while your effort is the same. Our body adapts to the stresses we place upon it, which means if you run the same pace all the time, it will get easier and your workouts won't be as effective. If you run according to effort and the talk test you will always keep improving. 

Like this post? Know someone who would benefit from it? It helps me when you share with your friends and followers. 

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Coach Lea