While I liked the bootcamp class and at first really missed having a scheduled class time and other people to lift with, once I got used to lifting on my own on my hard running days, I grew to like it and believe it's made me stronger. Now that I am running more mileage, recovery is really important on easy days. Sometimes it's tricky to get the strength work in, since the entire workout takes about an hour to get through, but I've found some good systems with how I can split it up and ensure that I get through the exercises twice a week.
Usually I do the full workout all at once on Saturdays, either immediately following my long run or later in the day. This was really challenging when I first started it, but soon it became normal/not a big deal. I think when I do it right after my long run I get endurance benefits, and if I do it later in the day I also get recovery benefits (due to increased blood flow). On Wednesdays I always have to split it up somehow; the best case scenario is that I do about half of it after my morning hard workout and the other half after my second run, but I also have days where I run before work and at lunch, then strength train after work, effectively making it a third workout. I don't necessarily recommend this though (keep in mind I am also working 8-9 hours on Wednesdays, and often picking up Albani from after school care and driving her to Awana). Sometimes I complete part of it on Tuesdays to "get ahead" and other times I have to carry part of it over to Thursdays, and sometimes both. When I do any of these I make sure it's the arm, core, and/or agility stuff that I move, so that my leg strength work is all done on workout Wednesday. I am guilty of rushing through the routine to get it done sometimes (especially if I'm hungry for a full meal after my run!), but even then I assume something is better than nothing.
Here are the exercises that I do! I mix up weights, reps, and hold times for variation.
Glutes and core:
Front plank & variations
Side plank & variations
Diagonal sit
Running man
Glute bridges with foam roller roll out
Glute bridges with foam roller roll out
Crunches
Bird dogs
Dead bug
Theraband:
Side shuffles
Monster walks
Standing side kicks
Clamshells
Lower Body
Weighted squats & variations
Lunge variations (I alternate weighted and body weight on different days)
Eccentric calf raises
Weighted step ups
Hip dips
Weighted dead lifts
Wall sits
Weighted dead lifts
Wall sits
Upper Body
Rows
Push ups
Curls
Tricep dips
Lat pulls
Agility Ladder:
One step
Two step
Iggy shuffle
Single leg suffle
River dance
Scissors
Centipedes
Karaoke
Cross overs
*You can find videos of all of these on YouTube; I had to watch and practice multiple times when I began this routine because I'd never done anything like this before.
Although I'm used to this strength routine, if I go even a little overboard on the weighed moves (especially squats, deadlifts, and lunges), I can make myself quite sore. It always blows my mind how I can get more sore from 5 minutes of squats than from running a marathon!
I really struggled to get a good action shot for this post using my phone's timer, then I gave up...this shows glute bridges on the foam roller |
No comments:
Post a Comment