Daily Quote: ""We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort." --Jesse Owens
A different type of experiment...today was my first attempt in weight lifting! My primary focus is regaining upper body strength that I've lost through several years of emphasis on long distance running. I'm not striving for large muscles or mass, but becoming more lean and strong, therefore my training will have more repetitions with lighter weights. I'm using Bill Phillip's "Body for Life" book as a guide. This morning I did only one set per upper body part with 10 repetitions each. Eventually I'll be upping the training to two sets once I've become familiar with the proper form and the correct maximum weight for each exercise.
I'm still recovering from the Salt Lake City Half Marathon, therefore another Recovery Run.
6 miles. 58 minutes. Pace, 9:40 minute miles. Out and back on Lanning Route. Sunny, 74 degrees, little wind. Nice and easy run...almost could smell the flowers...cough, cough....damn allergies!
This weekend the temperature high will be in the mid 90's!! Summer is just around the corner and I'll be returning to the dreadmill....I should consider another race in May as a last hoorah before the Summer. I've been thinking about "Come Run in the Sun 10k race" that's at the end of May, which gives me some time to recover from last Saturday's half marathon and to add a little speedwork before the race.
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5 comments:
Nice going Bruce. You might consider weight gain shake mix and/or whey protien to help make your workouts more effective by supplying your body with the building blocks necessary to rebuild after exercise. I've noticed it is extremely hard to gain since I've started distance running, but the shakes and vitamins make it possible. Keep it up!
Howdy Robert!
Thanks for the tips on shakes and/or whey protein! I'm not placing emphasis on gaining, but getting leaner and stronger, hence the ten reps with light weights...soon to be TWO sets of 12 reps with a little heavier weights. Weight lifting is new to be and is a challenge, but I do find it rather boring.
Bruce,
It's hard for me to believe you have a problem being lean. Weightlifting will help you get stronger, but you should already be lean with all of the running you do. In fact, you could probably lift weights all day and not burn the fat you would on a typical run you do. My guess is that diet is the big factor why you aren't lean. Eating no less than 3 hours before bed is the biggest problem for most people.
As far as reps go... once you build core strength and learn proper form (give it a month) you should gradually DECREASE reps and increase weight to bulk up or get stronger.
Right now I'm doing either 2 sets (10 and 7 reps), or three sets of 12, 10, and 7 using a weight that makes me fail to pick it up at that number of reps. I always need to be extra cautious to do to fewer reps (say 3 or 4), as the weight is generally heavy enough to be dangerous if I'm not exactly perfect with my form. Arnold's Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding is widely accepted as THE book on muscle development.
If I were your personal trainer, I'd start you off with three sets of 12 (at a weight you can lift without shaking too bad) to build core strength and develop your stabilizer muscles. Do that for a month or so. Then increase the weight until you do start to feel maxed, but drop to 2 sets for awhile. I would slowly start working up to a weight that makes you fail. After you are comfortable and can safely lift until failure without surprises of dropping the weight, then continue increasing the weight to reduce the number of reps you can perform.
Extreme bodybuilders will spend hours in the gym doing only one or two sets of 4 or 2 lifts of extreme weight, and allowing their heart rate to completely return to normal before the next set. They avoid any activity that increases cardio, including walking any distance and are lean only because of their diet.
Hope this helps.
Howdy Robert! I believe you've hit the nail on the head, I do like to munch in front of the computer when I arrive home from work at 2:00 a.m., then afterwards I would collapse in bed. I'll strive this week not to do any early morning munches.
This week I'll strive to do two sets of 10 repetitions, the following week I'll follow your suggestion of three sets of 12 repetitions to failure. Afterwards I'll stick with that program for a month before decreasing the reps. Thanks for the suggestions and I already consider you my personal trainer!!!
Well Bruce, I'll take that as a compliment! Feel free to ask me anything, I'll either know, or be sure to find out for you. I can always ask the guys at the gym. I also promise I won't yell at you like Duster. :) At your current exercise level, you should start seeing improvement immediately with just that diet change. I'll be interested to watch your improvement.
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