Squats

Leave a comment Posted on February 14, 2017 Amy's Stuff, February Challenge Image

Day 14: Be Sweet To Yourself

Happy Valentine’s Day Crew! Be sweet to yourself…eat the treats but don’t overdo the candy, then take time to get a little sweaty and burn it off!

Grab your sweetheart and ask them to get a little sweaty with you. What better way to spend the day with the ones you care about than treating them to a little Core Crew love!

We all know those sweets go straight to our hips and thighs so show your legs and hips some love and feel that good burn! 🙂

Day 14 exercises: 3 sets of 10

****Click here for how to videos****

Modern Mom/Dad Hip Strength (see video below)
Single Leg Deadlift
Squats
Plank – :60
Wall Sit – :60

Challenges:

Superman – 1:20 (80 seconds)
Push Ups – 40
#MadManMartin Plank Challenge – 1:30 (90 seconds)

Bonus: Cardio Strength – Get that heart pumping with some cardio to burn off those extra calories today! 1 – 3 rounds…whatever you have time for.

Speed Work: Running today? Throw in your speed work and get it out of the way for the week!

Workout: 800M, 400M X 3 or 4

Warm up – 1 – 1.5 miles slow and easy. Get your hear pumping and your breathing going
800M (1/2 mile) – Remember those times I gave you for 400’s? Double that and slow it down just a tad. (See times below)
Rest 90 seconds – walk, jog, or stand still and breahte
400M (1/4 mile) – Do not run these too fast. Remember the key is to be steady here. So you shouldn’t be running these at top speed. Take your 800M (1/2 mile) time and cut it in half.
Rest 90 seconds – walk, jog, or stand still and breathe
Do it all again!
Repeat this cycle 3 -4 times. 3 times = 2.25 miles / 4 times = 3 miles
Cool down – 1 – 1.5 miles slowly to bring your heart rate down keep your legs moving

1/4 Mile is equivalent to 400 meters or one lap of a standard-sized track while 800 meters is 1/2 mile or 2 laps around a standard-sized track. Here’s a few examples of where your interval times would range, depending on your mile time.

For this workout, you should take the times below and slow them down just a tad. I run 400M in about 1:45 – 1:50, so for this workout, I’ll run 800M in 4:05-4:08 and the 400M in 1:55 – 2:00. You can do this. Don’t overthink it. Just go out and run a little faster than you’re used to!

During a conversation pace run, if you average a:

14:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 3:00.
13:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 2:45.
12:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 2:30.
11:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 2:15.
10:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 2:00.
9:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 1:45.
8:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 1:30.
7:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 1:15.

If you’re flying solo this year….don’t sweat it…grab your favorite sweety and get them moving with you. Friends, co-workers, children, family…everyone needs a little love on V-Day.

Running will always be our first love anyway so let’s get sweaty and make it a day to remember Crew!

Leave a comment Posted on February 7, 2017February 7, 2017 Amy's Stuff, February Challenge Image

Day 7: Hips and Core – Strength and Balance

Lots of us have gone to the chiropractor and been told we are unbalanced. We can see this in running pictures too…but there are ways to correct this without expensive, thrice weekly doctor visits.

How? Strengthen our hips and core and work on our balance. By strengthening these areas, we are more likely to stand tall and keep our body in line at the end of a long race or training run.

Keeping our spine and hips in line keeps our oxygen flowing, allows our legs and knees to remain stable, and helps us avoid pain and injuries in our lower extremities.

It happens to all of us. At the end of a long race or training run, we tend to slouch and let our posture fall. We are tired and we just want to finish so our brain forgets and we begin to let things fall apart.

Below are images of me at Rock N Roll Savannah back in November before we started doing a lot of hip strength and balance work wearing my knee brace and consistently suffering from knee pain.

(Excuse the watermarks…I didn’t purchase these photos)

RNR Savannah – November 2016

Guilty of Hip Drop 😦

Since then I have dedicated a lot of time to hip strength and it has paid off. My posture has gotten much better and my knee pain has all but disappeared. Case in point, see the pictures below from this past weekend at Rock N Roll New Orleans. Hips and aligned and knee brace is gone…and so is the pain in my knees.

RNR NOLA February 2017

I’ll never say “don’t see a doctor,” but if you’re having on-giong pain, and can’t figure out how to make it go away, strengthening your hips is a great start. I saw many different doctors, had x-rays and MRI’s and even cortisone shots in both knees…but until I started getting stronger in these area, nothing took the pain away.

It’s important to stretch and roll our legs too…I know I know…so many things to do…but as athletes, we must use every tool in our arsenal to be healthy and strong in order to stay on the road pain free.

Today’s hip strengthening and balance exercises had been key parts of my journey and I hope you embrace these exercises and make them part of your tool kit to success too.

Day 7 exercises: Hips strength video is found below and how to videos for single leg deadlifts and squats are in the link below.

****Click here for how to videos****

Modern Moms/Dads Hip Strength -1X all the way through on each side
Single Leg Deadlifts – 2 sets of 10 for each leg
Squats – 2 sets of 10
Plank – :60
Wall Sit – :60

Challenges:

Superman – :40
Push Ups – 30
#MadManMartin Plank Challenge – Plank for additional :45

Speed Work: Everyone’s favorite speed work and undoubtedly the least dreaded is 1/4 mile repeats. So this week, it’s time to put some pep in your step and pour on the speed.

Workout – 6X-12X 400M (1/4 mile) – If you are just easing into speed work for the first time. Keep it short and do 1/4 mile repeats 6 times for a total of 1.5 miles. If you’ve been doing this for a while now, and are training for a longer distance race…don’t be lazy…get in those 12 1/4 mile repeats for a total of 3 miles of speed work. Remember to warm up AND cool down. Both are very important parts of this workout. If you have questions, reach out to me. Let’s chat about how to make this work for you.

1/4 mile repeats can be done on the track, treadmill, or on the road with a GPS watch. Do whatever works for you…but don’t skip it. I know it can be daunting…but speed work will not only help you get faster, but it will also help you increase your breathing abilities and make your long runs easier.

Warm-Up – 5:00 jog followed by your choice of Dynamic Movements (high knees, butt kicks, leg swings, sideways shuffles, skipping, etc)

Work-Out – 6-8 x 1/4 Mile Repeats at a pace that is :30 faster than your race pace.

*1:00 standing or walking rest in between each set.

1/4 Mile is equivalent to 400 meters or one lap of a standard-sized track. Here’s a few examples of where your interval times would range, depending on your mile time.

If you run a 14:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 3:00.
If you run a 13:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 2:45.
If you run a 12:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 2:30.
If you run a 11:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 2:15.
If you run a 10:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 2:00.
If you run a 9:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 1:45.
If you run a 8:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 1:30.
If you run a 7:00/mile, you should run the quarter-mile in 1:15.

Cool-Down – 5:00-10:00 easy jog (you’ve earned it!)

That’s all for today Crew. Let’s keep working on our hip strength and balance so we can stop that annoying lower extremity pain and stay on the road doing what we love…running!

Leave a comment Posted on January 26, 2017 Amy's Stuff, January Challenge Image

Day 26: Squats = Runner’s Best Friend

According to the Runkeeper.com blog Squats are a Runner’s Best Friend, “One of the biggest squat myths is that squats are bad for your knees. False! This myth comes from a few badly run studies in the 1960s that have since been disproved. More recent studies have instead shown that people who regularly squat have more stable knees.”

Squats provide important benefits to runners and walkers:

Knee Stability
Increased Leg Power
Improved Body Awareness
Injury Prevention

Additionally, “squatting effectively teaches runners how to be better runners by addressing and improving basic athletic skills. For example, squatting teaches runners how to load and engage their posterior chain, how to stabilize their hips, knees, and ankles, and how to move with good posture and maintain that good posture for longer periods of time.”

To squat effectively, we must address three basic skills:

1. Maintaining posture
2. Adding load
3. Adding torque

Focusing on developing our athletic skill with posture, load, and torque, a runner’s relationship with strength training can be changed forever. While we want stronger hamstrings, we cannot just do hamstring exercises and expect better running results. Why? Because the whole is greater than the sum of its muscular parts. We must strengthen the other areas around our hamstring to help support those muscles and take some of the load off that area. Squats are a great way to strength and support our hamstrings!

So even if you aren’t doing the extra squat challenge this month…today YOU SQUAT! 😉

Day 26 exercises: 3 sets of 15

****Click here for how to videos****

Squats
Side Lunges (3 sets of 15 for each leg)
Wall Sit – :60 (3X)
Plank – :60 (3X)

Bonus: Squat Challenge (75 additional Squats)

Challenges: I know these are getting harder to fit in as the numbers go up but we are almost done! Keep pushing Crew don’t you dare give up!

Burpees – 55
Push Ups Beginner – 18
Push Ups Advanced – 105
Squats – 75

Remember Crew….we are building brutally strong legs this month! The month is almost over so hold on tight and keep up the great work! 🙂

Leave a comment Posted on January 25, 2017 Amy's Stuff, January Challenge Image

Day 25: Love Ab Day!

You all know Wednesday is one of my favorite days this month! I love this ab work! 🙂

In fact, I give our Wednesday abs a….

Do you love it too?

You know what we’re doing…but here’s today’s list. It’s fun…so have fun with it! 🙂

Day 25 exercises: 3 sets of 15

****Click here for how to videos****

Mountain Climbers – Slowly pull legs in one at a time using your core muscles. Don’t rush this exercise!
Standing Oblique Crunch – Use your core! Don’t rely on your legs… this is ab work!
Russian Twists – If you’re not already, add weight to this move. I use an 8lb medicine ball because it’s easy to hold.
Plank – :60 (your choice)

Bonus: Daily Abs – Another favorite! How many rounds do you have in you today? 2? 3? 4!?! 🙂

Challenges: We are getting so close to the end of the month. Keep going Crew you are killing it!

Burpees – 55
Push Ups Beginner – 17
Push Ups Advanced – 90
Squats – Rest

Who’s doing a little dance for no squats today? Awe…come on…you know you LOVE SQUATS SO MUCH!! 😉

Happy hump day Crew let’s GETTTT ITTTT!!!

Leave a comment Posted on January 21, 2017 Amy's Stuff, January Challenge Image

Days 21 & 22: What’s Your Distance?

The weekend is here!! What’s your distance?

If you planned on cutting it short, remember that distance makes the heart grow stronger!

Go a little farther than you planned and get that runners high! 🙂

Then take a day off…but don’t be lazy. Active recovery, yoga, stretching…whatever makes you fell good. And don’t forget our challenge exercises (if you’re into that kind of thing. 😉 )

Day 21: Long Run + 7 Key Stretches for Runners + Challenge exercises

Burpees – Rest
Push Ups Beginner – 17
Push Ups Advanced – 60
Squats – 145

Day 22: Active Recovery, Yoga for Runners, Rest + Squats

Burpees – Rest
Push Ups Beginner – Rest
Push Ups Advanced – Rest
Squats – 80

Get inspired, get you some miles and make it a fabulous weekend Crew!

Leave a comment Posted on January 19, 2017 Amy's Stuff, January Challenge Image

Day 19: Wall Sit Anytime Anywhere!

Most distance runners will tell you they’ve had a point on one (or many) of their runs where they hit “the wall.” The wall can be both an emotional and a physical barrier. You need mental strength to finish a marathon, but you also need toned muscles!

Wall sits are a great down-and-dirty strength exercise to build strength in your quadriceps and calves. When you’re doing a wall sit, your quads are holding your weight up by pushing it against the wall, and your calves are working to keep your knees bent at a 90° angle.

By strengthening your thigh muscles, you are helping stabilize your knees, which helps lower your risk of injury. Runner’s Knee, which is an unfortunate and common injury for distance runners, can be caused by weak thigh muscles (among other things). By strengthening your quads, you’re helping reduce risk of injury.

Anyone Can Do Wall Sits

Perhaps the greatest thing about wall sits, is that anyone can do them, anywhere, at any time. Can’t find time for your full daily workout? Throw in some wall sits throughout the day. Camping in the woods? Find a tree to lean up against. Got a few minutes before you have to be back at work from your lunch break? Wall sit! Arrive a few minutes before your doctor appointment? The car can provide a solid surface for a wall sit – right there in the parking lot.

Remember, our “challenge” is meant to motivate you to do more than you would each day. We’re not here to beat you up for not getting in every single exercise every single day. If you do…that’s awesome! But we know that busy lives get in the way and the most important thing is being active and adding strength training to your routine.

So when you’re short on time, grab a wall and take a squat. Every little bit counts!

Day 19 exercises: 3 sets of 10

****Click here for how to videos****

Squats
Side Lunges (each leg)
Wall sits – 3X (:60) or 1X for 3 minutes!
Plank – :60 (your choice)

Bonus: Hip Stability Exercies for IT Band Syndrome and Runner’s Knee

Lots of people suffer from tight hips and IT Bands which lead to pain in and around our knees and down our legs. Hip rotation and pelvic imbalances are also frequent issues for runners that contribute to IT Band Syndrome or Runner’s Knee.

Yes, this is a monthly challenge, but I also hope you find information along the way that you tuck away in your personal arsenal for future use. The exercises in this video help to create additional stability and strength for both prevention and recovery. Check it out.

Challenges:

Burpees – 45
Push Ups Beginner – 15
Push Ups Advanced – 30
Squats – 50

Speed Work: Climb ladders

Ladder workouts are speed sessions that vary the length of the work intervals in incremental steps and are a great way to get a mix of several high-intensity running paces in a single session. Go to the track or use your GPS watch to track your distance., warm up with 10 minutes of easy running, and try one of these ladders. Run each interval slightly faster than the preceding one, and jog, walk 400 meters (or just stand still and breath deeply) between each interval.

Starter ladder: 400M (1/4 mile), 800M (1/2 mile), 1600M (mile), 800M (1/2 mile), 400M (1/4 mile).

Advanced ladder: 200M (.1 mile), 400M, 800M, 1200M, 1600M, 1200M, 1000M, 800M, 400M, 200M

Remember that it is always important to do a good warm up and cool down before and after every speed work session. And if you’re not doing running drills to loosen your glutes, hips, quads, and calves…you’re missing out on an important part of the workout.

Warm up
Running Drills: Pick a few and take a few minutes to loosen up. Click here for descriptions of each running drill. Butt Kicks, High Knees, Bounding, Grapevines, Slow Skipping, Hamstring Extensions, Running Backwards, Straight Leg Shuffle, Lateral Bounding
Speed Work
Cool Down

Running today? We usually try to do our strength work before we go for a run…but this time save one of your wall sits for afterwards, when your legs are fatigued. Just one…don’t go overboard with it. When it’s all said and done, take time to stretch out those tired and sore muscles so you’re ready to go long this weekend!

Have a great Thursday Crew! 🙂

Leave a comment Posted on January 17, 2017 Amy's Stuff, January Challenge Image

Day 17: Add Life To Your Years

We strength train to get stronger, run faster, avoid injuries….but we also strength train to gain fitness, and fitness is about more than just exercise.

Gaining fitness affects our health, our mood, our self image…fitness adds years to our life…but it also adds life to our years.

If you’ve gotten bored with the benefits of strength training to your running, remember that being active and fit improves your overall quality of life…even when running is on the back burner.

Leg day again? No, not really…hip and butt day! We’ve taken the focus slightly off our hips this month but we aren’t neglecting them completely. Continuing to strengthen this area is key to a strong base and a healthy body.

I made a comment the other day that this week would separate the committed from the the…well…not so committed, when in fact, the challenges this week should seem relatively easy to those who are keeping up.

If you fell behind, now is a great time to think about all the benefits being active brings to your life. Add life to your years and jump back in today!

Day 17 exercises: 3 sets of 10

****Click here for how to videos****

Donkey Kick + Fire Hydrant (both sides)
Butt Lift Bridge
Clams (both sides)
Plank – :60 (your choice)

Bonus: Modern Mom’s (or Dad’s) Hip Strength – see video below. You know this routine. It takes about 4 minutes per leg and will fire up those hip flexors!

Challenges:

Burpees – 40
Push Ups Beginner – 14
Push Ups Advanced – 70
Squats – 50 (only 50? Easy peasy! 😉 )

Speed Work: Climb ladders

Starter ladder: 400M (1/4 mile), 800M (1/2 mile), 1600M (mile), 800M (1/2 mile), 400M (1/4 mile).

Advanced ladder: 200M (.1 mile), 400M, 800M, 1200M, 1600M, 1200M, 1000M, 800M, 400M, 200M

Warm up
Running Drills: Pick a few and take a few minutes to loosen up. Click here for descriptions of each running drill. Butt Kicks, High Knees, Bounding, Grapevines, Slow Skipping, Hamstring Extensions, Running Backwards, Straight Leg Shuffle, Lateral Bounding
Speed Work
Cool Down

Today, I want you to get up and exercise for you. Don’t do it to run faster. Don’t do it to avoid injuries. Don’t do it because it’s a challenge and you’re “supposed to.”

Do it because it makes you happy. Do it for a healthy mind, an uplifting attitude, and a fabulous mood. 🙂

Strong to the Core

Strong to the Core

Get Stronger, Run Faster, Get Fit and Stay Fit for Life with Strong to the Core!

Squats

Day 14: Be Sweet To Yourself

Day 7: Hips and Core – Strength and Balance

Day 26: Squats = Runner’s Best Friend

Day 25: Love Ab Day!

Days 21 & 22: What’s Your Distance?

Day 19: Wall Sit Anytime Anywhere!

Anyone Can Do Wall Sits

Day 17: Add Life To Your Years