Hope you’re enjoying your bank holiday. It’s nice in Exeter again. I’ve been chilling out, eating too much, but back to it later today when I head out for a run, which brings me onto today’s post. First of all thanks very much for everyone that sent in their questions about losing weight by running. I had some really good questions, and I’ve included a really good one below. Running For Weight Loss: Ultimate Beginners guide is now available and I’m pleased to say that £1 from every ebook sold will be going directly to Cancer Research UK.
I know that this ebook will be massively popular, purely for the reason that so many women want to run a Race for Life, so thought it would a really good idea to donate some money to the charity, especially as my family has had the pain of this dreaded disease and I know many of you reading this will have had someone close to you had a similar pain.
All in all I’ve had to condense down all of the questions asked, but i’ve included nearly 40 of the top questions in the ebook as well as beginner running plans and essential tips to help you run for longer, run faster and get slimmer more quickly… in fact there’s 70 pages of very high quality information.
Here’s one of the questions from the ebook.
I can run for about 10 minutes and then I cannot breathe anymore. How do you keep going?
Answer:
The short answer is that early on you might not be able to go further than 10 minutes. Eventually though, your running will become easier and easier. Almost everyone has difficulty in the early stages of running. If you can run for 10 minutes continuously, you are actually doing well! What you need to remember is that running is all about the long term. As you run several days a week, your body will become better and better at running. As you lose weight (which is inevitable, as long as your calorie consumption remains steady) it will also become easier to run. You cannot gain fitness instantly. It comes over time, but by putting in place the right training plan, you can get to a 5k quite quickly!
Intervals are a simple trick to running further early on. If you can only run for 10 minutes total, try running 5 minute intervals with 2 minutes of walking rest. Set a goal of completing 3 x 5 minute intervals. They do not have to be hard. What I really like about intervals is the sense of accomplishment they give you. When you set a goal you are telling yourself that you believe in your ability to achieve that goal. Right now you think you can only run for 10 minutes. If you run 3 x 5 minute intervals, you can run for 15 minutes total.
Running For Weight Loss: Ultimate Beginners Guide is available now for £12.95 – instant download – you can also get the first chapter free by heading to the site and putting your details in at the bottom of the main page…
Use the code ‘raceforlife2′ and the first 25 codes claimed will get a £6.95 discount. SOLD OUT
Use the code ‘raceforlife1′ and the first 50 codes claimed will get a £4.95 discount. SOLD OUT
Use the code ‘raceforlife’ and the first 100 codes claimed will get a £2.95 discount. SOLD OUT
As always it comes with my super cool money back guarantee – if you don’t absolutely love it just mail me at simon@simonlovell.co.uk for your money back. To use the code, visit beginnersrunningguide.co.uk, ‘hit’ the orange button on the right, then enter your code and refresh the cart.
Check out all of the other questions answered…
Q1. Which type of running is better for weight loss? Is it better to do interval
runs (walk then run) or do one long constant run?
Q2. My knees start hurting after running every day for two weeks. What is the
problem? Are my shoes to blame? Am I not stretching right? Or am I doing too
much, too fast?
Q3. What is the ideal speed for running?
Q4. What is the ideal duration for a run?
Q5. How quickly should I expect to increase my fitness?
Q6. How can I avoid becoming injured?
Q7. I can run for about 10 minutes and then I cannot breathe anymore. How do
you keep going?
Q8. I have never run before. How do I start?
Q9. I have not run for a long time, what is the best way to start running?
Q10. How do I know when I should be pushing my body that little bit further or if I have reached the point when I can walk for a bit? How do I know whether I am giving up too easily?
Q11. I run 3 miles 4 times each week and I have been at it for two months, whyam I not losing weight anymore?
Q12. What is the best time of day to run?
Q13. Should I run on the side of the road or on the pavement?
Q14. Will I ever be “in the zone?” How will I know?
Q15. When running, I sometimes reach a point where my legs will not go anymore,
how do I get my mind going if my legs will not go anymore?
Q16. How can I learn to enjoy running? How can I make myself want to run?
Q17. I am thirty to forty pounds overweight, is running a good idea for me? What if I
have health issues like high cholesterol or heart problems?
Q18. I have always had problems with shin splints, how do I prevent them? Also,
how can I tell if I have shin splints and not a stress fracture?
Q19. How do I treat running injuries?
Q20. How do I choose proper running shoes?
Q21. What are the best clothes for running?
Q22. Is it necessary to stretch before running?
Q23. How can I control my breathing to prevent cramping?
Q24. Will running cause knee/joint problems?
Q25. What should I do if confronted by another person when running?
Q26. Will running reduce my stomach size?
Q27. Which is better: walking or running?
Q28. What should I do if a strange dog approaches me while I’m running?
Q29. Is it safe to run with a history of a bad back?
Q30. Is running safe for those of us age 50+?
Q31. How do I improve my running speed?
Q32. How do I improve my running form?
Q33: When do running shoes need to be replaced?
Q34: How can I increase the life of my running shoes?
Q35: I’ve heard about using my ‘target heart rate’ for training. What is it and how
do I use it?
Q36: Is running safe for diabetics?
Q37: I think I need a running partner. Any suggestions?
I’d imagine that many of you will be diving into the gyms in the new year, maybe even down here in Exeter, if so hopefully I’ll bump into you! Now if you’re new to the gym, please please make sure you get yourself an induction by a qualified trainer, otherwise you could find yourself in lots of bother! For starters, the trainers will teach you how to perform the exercises correctly, how to pair them together to meet your goals and show you the proper selection of reps and sets, again based on what you want to achieve.
Here’s a very common exercise in the gym, it’s called the Seated Row – it’s great for developing the back muscles, particularly in the upper area, and if you sit in an office all day, the seated row can really help to pull the posterior muscles back help you look taller and more confident!
More exercises like the one below can be found within Training Buddy
A bicep curl is an isolation exercise
I wanted to do a quick post today to show you the difference between what we call compound and isolation exercises. It’s quite important to know the difference if you’re using weights which you should know by now are important not only for building muscle, but also losing weight, as the more muscle in the body, the less room for fat. If you’ve not implemented strength training into your programme then you need to, and I’ve got a great solution for you which I’ll come onto in a moment.
But first of all, what’s the difference between a compounds and isolation exercise?
A compound movement is where several muscle groups are being used at once. So, in the example below we have a press up. The press up is a big ‘pushing movement’ which develops the pectorals (chest), triceps (back of arms, or bingo wings!) and delts (shoulders). A compound exercise is great because when multiple muscle groups are recruited, you get more bang for your buck – perfect if you’re short of time and want to get the whole body exercised. By putting a series of compound exercises together in what we call a circuit, you can seriously increase the heart rate, which is ideal for fat stripping workouts.
Compound = Pressup
Now an isolation exercise is where one muscle group is being recruited, such in the example below of the tricep kickback. These exercises are great if you’re looking to build a certain area of the body, but if you’re looking to get overall strength, you can easily make do with big compound movements. In my bootcamps we tend to work large muscle groups (compound), which create more of a hormonal response, thus generating more fat stripping and weight loss cells.
It would take three isolation exercises to get the same benefit of the pressup. You would have to perform a tricep exercise, a shoulder exercise and a chest exercise. By executing compound movements, these are what we call functional exercises, movements that your muscles would require for day to day operation, recruiting multiple muscles, at different intensities.
Isolation = Tricep Kickback
Where isolation exercises are definately beneficial, I think they tend to be overused for many people who simply want to lose weight – bigger compound movents such as squats, deadlifts and the above pressup are fantastic for both. People get conditioned in the gym to working all of the isolation machines, where they could simply hit the compound movements and get the same results. Plus remember your rep ranges 15 for toning, 12 for size and 8 and lower for strength. Having said that, you need to work until you feel uncomfortable remember, let the lactic acid in the muscles build up until it’s like a balloon about to pop!
If you’re looking for more exericse demos, with all the muscles used then head over to http://www.strength-training-anatomy-exercises.com
If on the other hand you’re looking for specific fat burning workouts then one of which I would highly recommend is Craig Ballantyne’s Turbulance Training System which I have arranged you a $4.95 trial of.
A common problem among many newcomers to exercise is their wrist strength, and I see many more women with this problem than men. If you’ve not performed structured exercise before then don’t be surprised if the muscles in your lower arm become weak and you can’t hold heavy weights for very long. This can hinder exercises such as the dead lift, which often need much more weight than your grip can hold initially. I’ve worked with many who simply can’t hold light dumbbells when performing simple pressing movements, the hands twisting and turning out of control, leaving the exercise unsafe, especially when working individually. So what’s the solution when starting out as it can be very frustrating…
First of all you can build up gradually – be sure so hold onto weights as long as you can to develop the muscles and condition them over a period of time. Holding and squeezing a tennis ball regularly is a good option, but many people don’t force themselves to perform this regularly.
Another alternative are wrist curls, please see the animated exercise below which you can perform on a bench with a barbell.
Another more modern version is to grab yourself a Powerball – these smart futuristic looking tools really get to work on developing the wrist and forcing it to work under pressure, with the weight distribution and intensity being continuously moved around.
So, here are your exercise animations for wrist curls and reverse wrist curls, taken from Training Buddy, the exercise animation software.
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