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Secrets to More Effective Weight Training

Today’s post is from the lovely Tina of Faith, Fitness, Fun. Tina’s incredible outlook on life always brings a smile to my face. She’s constantly reminding all of us that working out fits into your life, not the other way around. And if you need a little bit of motivation, go read her blog- she’s a new mom for the second time and has found ways to put exercise back into her routine from almost day 1- she’s even taken up running.

I love weight training. It was the first aspect of fitness I fell in love with almost a decade ago. Once I got the taste of strength, I never stopped turning to weight workouts. Very few things feel quite as satisfying as pushing my body to new limits and gaining new strength.

I truly believe strength training should be included in all workout plans. It does so much to benefit our bodies. And no – it will not make you bulky! Promise. On my blog I have some insights on how I set up strength plans, but I want to take this chance to let you in on ways I like to take it to the next level. Who doesn’t want more of a challenge, and more results, in a quicker and smarter way? I know I’m all for it! Which is why I include the following practices regularly in my strength training.

Take it slow. Doing movements in a slow and controlled fashion helps to decrease the amount of momentum used. Less momentum helping you along = more of your true effort doing the work. A good pace is two counts, small pause, two counts. For example, during a barbell bicep curl take two counts to curl the bar up, hold a moment, and then take two counts to release the bar back down. You can mix it up though and do a variety of eccentric and concentric contractions. You can take 4 counts up and 4 counts down. You can do 3 up and 1 down. Taking things slow also helps you to focus more on the move instead of just quickly going through the motions.

Use proper form. Proper form ensures that you are using the correct muscles to complete the exercise. You don’t want to be trying to work your glutes and hamstrings with a deadlift and end up working your shoulders from bad form.

You will likely feel the move more by not allowing other body parts to assist due to not doing the move correctly. Proper form also decreases any possible pain or the chance for injury, so you are able to continue improving your lifts.

Emphasize the use of free weights. Machines do have their place in weight training, namely in adding variety or helping to learn weight training moves, but the use of barbells and dumbbells are more effective.

When you don’t have a machine assisting you, your body has to work harder to stabilize itself and will naturally use more energy to do the same type of move. You also have a wider range of movement with free weights so it is common to feel more comfortable using them. Another benefit is you can challenge muscles one arm/leg at a time with dumbbells to help balance weaknesses.

Include variety. Try to do something new at least every few workouts. That doesn’t mean you have to do new moves every lifting session, but try to switch up how many reps or sets you complete, do a slight variation of a move (like on an incline or decline/with a barbell instead of dumbbell/etc), or even in a different order. Doing things differently will keep your body from becoming too accustomed to your workout. It helps to continue challenging yourself.

Play with bodyweight exercises. We may think we need some iron in our hands to get a quality weight training workout. That is not true. Things like pushups, pullups, walking lunges, squat holds, and tricep dips can challenge your body in new ways.

Consider the moves I mentioned, Pilates classes, or holding yoga poses. Tough, huh? Bodyweight moves help build up more practical endurance and incorporate new movement into your workout.

Compound movements. Things like squats, bench press, deadlifts, and rows use more than one muscle group to complete the move. These moves are more challenging and therefore more effective. In squats, you train your quads, glutes, calves, abs, and even your arms and shoulders with lifting and stabilizing the bar. During rows, you will train the various parts of your back (lats, traps, rhomboids) as well as your biceps from the pulling action. It makes sense that using 3 muscles will use more energy and strength than working one. Compound movements can do that for you.

Play around with new training methods. Include workout techniques that provide a new approach to push your limits.

Supersets – completing two moves back to back without rest
Circuits – doing all moves straight through with no rest
Drop Sets – on the last set, drop your weight and then continue with more reps until you can’t do any more
Pyramid Training – complete a set of 15, for the next set increase your weight and do a set of 10, then increase your weight and do a set of 6 on the last set
Timed Training – instead of counting reps, do a move for a specific length of time

As you can see, there are many ways to train smarter and not harder with weights. I hope you give some a shot and have fun with it! Feel free to catch up with me on my blog, where I openly share about all topics related to living a healthy life to the fullest – body image, recipes, workouts, a positive attitude, my body after baby progress, motherhood, and more!

Do you enjoy weight training? What ways do you like to add a challenge to your workouts?

Fighting Injury: A Guest Post

Guest Posts, Injuries

Today’s post about battling and overcoming injury is from Janel at Eat Well with Janel.

Overcoming Injuries

If you asked me to write a post prior to January 7, 2010 on overcoming an injury, I couldn’t do it. At 27 years old, after being a 3 sport athlete through high school, a gym junkie through college, and a go-getter competing in half marathons, a duathlon, and a triathlon after grad school, I had never had an injury. Not one. I never had to sit on the bench, see a physical therapist, or even ice a joint more than a handful of times. I was very, very lucky, and proud that I took such good care of my body by constantly stretching and cross training.

Then somewhere during my triathlon training I felt a twinge in my hip that got worse and worse as I continued to train and race. Fast forward about 6 months and I scheduled surgery to repair my torn hip labrum. I’m not going to lie: I freaked out. Every day leading up to surgery I grappled with the fact that I’d be on the couch for 2 weeks and on crutches, and then scheduled for physical therapy (which I always thought was a joke that didn’t help you recover). Unfortunately, surgery didn’t go the way we hoped and my labrum repair had me on the couch and on crutches for six weeks, and unable to start physical therapy for three months. That was the least of my concerns. Just four days after my surgery, I got a debilitating blood clot in my calf that felt like a gunshot to my leg. I was now faced with two “injuries” to overcome, and slowly but surely the spring after my surgery I started PT and learned how to regain my strength. I take back every negative thing I ever said about physical therapy – it saved me. It gave me the courage to get stronger and retrain my body to get back on track.

Another setback came seven months after surgery when, after a long flight back from Europe, I woke up with stabbing lower back pain out of the blue. No MRI could explain what was wrong, and I spent the next six months – up until now – trying to find treatments to lessen the constant pain. I couldn’t believe my year: I had spent 27 years injury free and now this? Why was I having a year where all I faced were injuries? It felt like a joke the universe was playing on me, but I was ready to play back.

I learned in the past year that overcoming your injuries is about physical healing, yes. But more than anything, it is about mental healing. In the beginning of the year whenever I’d see someone outside for a run, or read blog posts about people competing in races, I’d have a pang of jealousy. “They don’t know how lucky they are,” I’d think. But it only made me feel worse. So with the help of my insanely positive and inspirational fiancé, I got my mind straightened out. I started to see my little victories, like increasing one pound in weight at physical therapy or taking a walk around the block, as really, really big victories. I started to think more positively about my situation and my progress. I started to reframe my mindset about my abilities. Sure, I was once the girl who could run 13 miles or swim ‘til her lungs were on fire, but I had to set those memories aside and build on that strength. I had to focus on the new me – the one who discovered strength I didn’t know I had. The one who learned how to overcome things that no book, blog, or words of wisdom could have ever prepared me for.

I’m still overcoming my injuries, and every day I’m getting stronger with less pain. I’m discovering new exercise I’m able to do – like Pilates – that I never tried before. But the biggest lesson I learned after the past year was that in order to heal my physical injuries in my hip and back, I had to start with my head. If you’re overcoming an injury, whether it is a long term one, or one that only has you sitting out for a day or two resting, know that changing your mind about the situation and focusing on positive progress is the only way to heal. If I can do it, so can you!

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Janel Ovrut is a Boston-based Registered Dietitian and a food blogger. You can follow her food and fitness focused tweets at @DietitianJanel and her blog Eat Well with Janel.

The Never-ending Injury Society

Guest post

From Tracey at I’m (not) Superhuman

Hi there, I’m Tracey. I’m like Heather but without the ability to magically turn treats like cinnamon buns into health foods. Which is to say, I’m a member of the Never-ending Injury Society.

But I’m not just a member. I’m also the president. First, you should know, we’re not too picky. Though I have about seven gazillion injuries piling up (It’s fun! Really!), you only need one to join.

To become a better candidate for membership, I thought I’d reveal some secrets to success. Here they are, the top five things you should have when dealing with an injury:

Willingness

You may be thinking, “I’ll never join the Never-ending Injury Society. My injury isn’t that bad.” If I had a dime for every time a member said that before joining, I’d retire to a small island off the coast of Greece. With a pet unicorn. Be willing to accept that you’re injured. Then get yourself to a doctor—now.

Humor

What’s funnier than a runner with bad knees? Nothing. That’s the beauty of the Never-ending Injury Society. We can laugh at our own pathetic situations until we start to believe we’re not so pathetic. We’re delusional, of course, but it helps with the waiting.

Indentured servant

This is really the most important tip. Because when you’re laid up in bed without the use of opposable thumbs or without the ability to move your leg, you need a slave friend to do the dirty work. Find a loyal servant to do the laundry, lift heavy objects, and—if you’re really injured like many of our members are—to carry you when your legs stop working. Spouses work great, but you shouldn’t discriminate.

Netflix

Face it, you can’t work out. You can’t do the normal things you love. So what can you do? Sit on the couch with a container of Chubby Hubby, a glass of red wine, and a predictable chick flick. Netflix is a necessary tool for Never-ending Injury Society members, but it can be dangerous, too. Many an injured member as succumbed to the sirens call of flicks like Steel Magnolias or Schindler’s List. DO NOT go down this route. Tearjerkers will only fuel your self-loathing. Stick with tried-and-true favorites like The Proposal and Leap Year. The more predictable the romantic storyline, the better.

Endurance

Before I was president of the Never-ending Injury Society I was like you: Naïve in thinking my injury would just go away. I’ll let you down easy. No injury goes away as fast as you want. (OK, maybe paper cuts, but you’re not getting into the society on a paper cut.) So be willing to sit out longer than you’d like on whatever you love doing. It’s a fact of life, really.

As you can see, these six tips will guide you on your journey. It may seem like a lot to take in, but don’t fear; there’s a handy acronym to help you remember. Next time you think about your injury, just W.H.I.N.E.

Thanks Tracey for the fabulous post!! And for letting me laugh about my never ending injury saga 😉

How to Make Running Your BFF

Guest post

Hello Side of Sneakers readers! My name is Theresa & I’m the author of ActiveEggplant where I blog about making exercise a regular fixture in my life. I’m so excited to have the opportunity to write a guest post for Heather. And maybe a little nervous too – this is my very first guest post!

Heather has made it pretty clear that she misses running now that’s she’s been sidelined due to a nasty knee injury. The idea of “missing running” sounds simply insane to me. Why? Because I hate running.

Ok, ok. Hate might be a strong word. Let me rephrase: Running and I aren’t the best of friends.

Nonetheless, I run 2-3 times a week and have completed one full marathon, 7 half marathons, a 15k, a handful of 10ks & countless 5ks over the past few years.

Even though I moan and groan every time I lace up my sneakers, I’ve realized that running has become a necessary component of my fitness routine. A necessary evil, if you will.

Running lets me manage my weight without starving myself. I tried “not running” for a while and promptly began to pack on the pounds.
Running is a good way to blow off steam after a long day in the office. No matter how pissed off I am when I start running, my mood is noticeably better when I finish.
Running is one of the only things I can take with me on vacations or business trips. It’s much much easier to cram running gear (shoes, socks, shorts, sports bra, shirt) into a suitcase than everything you’d need if you wanted to take your bike with you (have you ever tried to put a helmet in a suitcase?!)

So I’m on a mission to become better friends with running. And here’s how I’m doing it:

Cross training. When I first started running, that was all I did. If I didn’t run, I didn’t do anything. A “day off” turned into a week off & before I knew it, my next run felt like a “first run” all over again. I never got any better, and it never got easier. Then I discovered cycling.

Cycling on a regular basis keeps my legs moving, but without all the impact of running. Now, when I hit the bricks again, my legs are used to moving & they’re still strong.

These days I’m a cross training machine! And I’ve seen lots of improvements in my running as a result.

You don’t have to have a bike to cross train. You can walk, take a spin class, swim, do yoga, Zumba, anything! Just keep moving so your body is ready to go next time you lace up your sneaks.

2. Speed work. I don’t do speed work very often, but it is a tried and true way to make sure I’m challenging myself and not just going through the motions. In only a few short months, I’ve shaved a few seconds off of my pace! And seeing this on my watch pumps me up for the next time I’m out there.

3. Mixing up my running route. Lets face it, running the same route day in and day out is boring. So mix it up! Some days I’ll drive to a park to run on shell trails.

Other days I’ll start in front of my house. Every now and then I’ll run out to the beach and back. Varying my route makes running feel less like work and more like sight seeing!

4. Running with a buddy. I do most of my runs alone, but I try to run with a buddy at least once a week. Whether it’s just me and my sister or my hubby, or with a running group, having someone else there with me makes running a bit more tolerable. With someone at my side I’m less likely to focus on how many miles I have left to go. I am also much more likely to actually show up for a run when someone is waiting for me and counting on running together.

5. Sign up for a race. Nothing like a looming race day to help you keep your eye on the prize!

I usually have two races lined up at all times – one that I’m actively training for, plus one on deck that is my “next” race. This way I don’t stop training altogether after crossing the finish line. (This is a lesson I learned the hard way!)

Plus, races are just F.U.N. There’s always excitement in the air and an overall sense of camaraderie. And it always feels really good to cross that finish line (no matter how long it takes to get there) and say “I did it. I ran a race today.”

Happy Running!

Thanks Theresa!

Anybody else hate running? What’d you do about it?

Easy Peasy Green Pea Guacamole

Guest post

Hello SoS readers!

My name is Allie and I write the blog Live Laugh Eat. I am a recent college graduate trying to figure out my place in the ‘real’ world. Live Laugh Eat was once a this-is-everything-I-ate blog but it has slowly transitioned to a blog featuring my kitchen experiments, daily meals/snax, reflections on life, and food/non-food photographs.

I like to tell people that my blog is like a box of chocolates. Ya never know what you’re gonna get!

Well, today you’re gonna get one of my favorite recipes: Green Pea Guacamole.

You can make this for a Mexican-themed dinner, a football gathering, or just when you want quick and healthy snack

The green peas add a sweet flavor to the dip while maintaining the creamy guacamole texture. Give it a try and see if your guests/family members can tell there is an extra veggie in there!