Fit Tip

Fitness Q&A

Q: I currently run a mile or more but my rate is somewhere in the 150 to 170 range. I try to maintain a stride turnover of 70 to 80 rpms. I know I probably started out too hard. When I get out of the high target zone should I walk until I am back in the normal range? Also, can you help me develop a running program? I would like to be able to run 5k and 10k.

A: It is best to start a new program easy.  It is very tempting to go hard when beginning.  With your age and health history, it is very important to ease on the cautious side when training.  As for your knees hurting, I recommend purchasing a very cushioned running show to help absorb the impact.  A running store will have many types of good shoes, with a salesman who is knowledgeable about each type of shoe.  Another thing to consider is to run on grass, or a soft field (inside the track), instead of a track or concrete.  Hard surfaces are very hard on the joints for everyone.

I think you are on the right track with your 4 minute run, 2 minute walk.  Your heart rate you report is at 90-100% of your predicted max.  Either you were really tired when running or your max heart rate might be higher than using prediction equations, which can result from training.  Although I'm not a fan of HR training, but a fan of GPS systems, HR monitors can give you feedback on the intensity of your run. 

Training for your 5K this summer is a realistic goal. For a training schedule, I'd recommend the following:

Monday: Interval work: 1/2 mile repeats. Start with 3 easy ones and get an idea of pace based on your HR response.  I would try to keep it below 145 bpm, even if that means going at a snail pace.  Overtime, you will be able to run faster at that same HR.  After 2 weeks, increase reps to 4 if your knees feel well and the runs aren't difficult.  Once at 4 reps, focus on increasing the speed (pace) of the 1/2 mile runs.

Tuesday: easy light jog, used for recovery and to loosen the legs. (or a possible day off, see Thursday)

Wednesday: 5K run.  Start easy and each week try to improve your time by a few seconds. 

Thursday: same as Tuesday or day off.  You could even just walk this day instead of run to give your knees a little break

Friday: Jog easy for about 10 minutes, then perform 2, 5-minute interval runs of 4 minutes easy, 1 minute hard followed by an easy jog/cool down. 

Saturday/Sunday: Off/active recovery (play tennis, basketball, some other sport you enjoy at a leisure level).

If you find your knees giving you trouble, ease back on the volume first (the distance run/umber of runs per week), not the intensity (the pace), then build up more slowly.  What I recommend is simply a template that can be adjusted on any day depending on how you feel. 

Another suggestion for your knees would be to use a foam roller before you run.  This will help loosen up your quads and hamstrings and may help your knee pain.  I know it worked for me when I had knee pain.  In my case the muscles in the quadricep were tight and pulled on my knee, causing patellar pain.  You can find a foam roller at Dick's.  It includes an instructional DVD as well.  It's about 18 inches long and 6 inches in diameter made of white Styrofoam.

With your weight training, for an endurance effect I would keep the reps high (12-20) and the weight low, especially for the legs due to the running you are doing.  I you don't run (or run less) in the winter, this would be the time to work the legs more and cutback on the running.   If you want to work the legs hard now, do it on Saturday if possible where you Sunday off.  I don't recommend weights on your off days during the week, but if it fits your schedule that way, that is fine. 

Best of luck!

Roger White BS, CSCS
GHF’s Sports Specific Training Expert

Success Quote of the Week

Healthy Recipe

Baked French Fries

Makes: 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 2-1/4 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• garlic powder and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Coat a cooking sheet with nonstick cooking spray (nonfat).
• Coat potatoes with oil and sprinkle with garlic powder and pepper.
• Bake at 425 degrees F for 35 minutes, turning potatoes one time with a spatula.

 Nutritional Information:

• Serving size: 1/8 of pan
  
• Calories: 170
• Fat: 4 g
• Cholesterol: 5 mg
• Protein: 3 g
• Carbs: 35 g
• Fiber: 2.5 g
• Sodium: 5 mg

 

Fitness Article

"Overcoming Your Barriers To
Weight Loss Success!"
2004 by Dr. Frank B. Smoot, MA, DD
 www.CoachFrankSmoot.com

If there's one thing ALL of us need to understand, it is this:

The only reason we aren't already where we want to be in life is that we can't see the barriers that are keeping us from getting there.

We humans are smart critters. If we can clearly see what needs to be done, we can do it. And we are remarkably good at getting rid of the barriers we can actually see. Unfortunately, it's the barriers we can't see that are--right now--keeping us from getting where we want to go.

Two more crucial things to understand: All of our barriers are learned, and none are "valid." They are only as real as we, ourselves make them.

But unfortunately, we have learned to make them real, and so we unwittingly give them the power to stop us in out tracks by our own inability to spot them and challenge them. And as long as these barriers remain unseen and unidentified, they will hold us back forever--creating in a life filled with frustration and unfulfilled dreams instead of the successes we truly deserve.

If These Barriers Were Not Blocking Our Progress, We Could Fly Like Eagles To The Destination Of Our Dreams!

So the obvious solution is to learn how identify and then remove/replace the barriers that are currently blocking us. The problem is that we are "inherently incapable" of seeing our own barriers—just as we can't see the back of our own head. If we can't see them, there's no way we can replace them with something better.

We remain blind to our own barriers for several reasons. On some level, we know that these barriers exist. We also know (on some level) that they are of our own making...that we are not "victims of life. "

But since we can't see our barriers for what they really are—illusions, groundless fears, and outright lies—we believe that they're real. So, for us, they become real. Worse yet, since they've been part of our lives for as long as we can remember, we unconsciously fear that they always will be with us—that we're "stuck" with them forever.
 
And something inside us simply can't deal with the thought of that.
 
So Off We Go – Into "Denial Land"
– Where Most Of Us Will Stay

We've been blind to our own barriers for so long that we are not only unable but now unwilling to see them. The people closest to us (who may be able to see our barriers) have learned not to talk about them to us. And even if some objective third party (like a therapist or counselor) should bring them to our attention, our knee-jerk reflex is to run, scream, hide, or make a beeline back into denial.

In short, we most often "can't hear it" because...we really don't want to. What I have found, after decades of experience, is that the most effective way for many of us to identify our personal barriers is through the use of written self-assessments (i.e., as part of a course, class, or therapeutic coaching or counseling process.

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Why is writing such a good "gateway to the unconscious?" Because it is the least threatening way to approach self-exploration. The entire process is under our own total control. And for that reason, we do a much better job of telling the truth--at least as we see it.

I use this technique very effectively with my coaching clients, as part of the homework I give them after every one of our phone sessions. I find this approach to actually be more powerful than the "live" counseling sessions I used to do as a licensed psychotherapist.
 
In fact, I have yet to see any other process that works as well for self-discovery—especially when the writing assignments are being done with a skilled coach or counselor.
 
What You Can See, You Can Fix!

Only when we have identified the barriers to our success can we then take the relatively easy step of removing them, or even converting them into something that will help us instead of hold us back.
 
And once we've done this, we start to discover that we possess a level of freedom, energy, clarity, and passion for life that we once had scarcely had dared imagine possible.

And once we really understand that the quality of our own live—of our own future—depends on identifying our barriers, then we see these self-exploration activities and exercises in a whole new light. Now, instead of mere "assignments," they become tools. Friends. Vehicles to transport us where we most want to go.

The key to it all is to really, really understand that we're going to stay stuck right where we are unless and until we do the work of identifying and removing our own personal barriers.

Otherwise our dreams will never be anything but...dreams.

Yours in total health,

Dr. Frank