My thoughts on marathon training so far....

I'm in my 4th week of official marathon training. This weeks long run is 11 miles, my farthest run in about ten years. I've been very cautious and a little nervous about the high mileage of marathon training. I've honestly never been a huge advocate of marathon training... seeing so many clients, friends, teammates, and students suffer from running related injuries. A lot of people lately have asked me, "Then why are you doing it?". Well I have several reasons for why I'm training for the 26.2 mile adventure in October. I have the typical "bucket list" reason, gotta cross if off my list of things to do in life. I also like working towards something, having a goal and training has pushed me out of my comfort zone. It's easy to fall into a routine, so it feels good to have a little fire under my ass to shake things up. Leaning out is another reason, obviously the extra calories burned will shed some poundage but most importantly I want to be able to learn from this experience and take in all that I can. I want the necessary tools to help future clients and friends with their running goals and training. When I take advice from someone, I find it hard to take them seriously if they lack the real experience. By going through the training and the entire race, I will have the knowledge, the empathy and experience to back me up.

So why am I nervous and training cautiously? You might guess, I'm worried about not being able to accomplish my goal of running 26.2 miles, but that's honestly not it. My biggest concerns are injury and overtraining. My job relies on my body... chronic injury is basically the death of my career. 8 out of 10 runners, fall victim to running injuries. It's the brutal truth, and I've seen many people suffer chronic back, knee, foot and hip pain for the rest of their lives from marathon training. I'm also trying to balance teaching Spin classes, strength training classes, boot camps, etc on top of the running mileage I've added to my weekly routine.

So not only is my goal to run 26.2 miles, but to do it injury free, without feeling completely physically exhausted. (I'd still like to be able to squeeze in a few sessions at the skatepark without my legs feeling like two blocks of concrete). So what's my plan of attack?

I will only be running three days per week, consisting of a short, medium and long run. Most marathon training programs call for at least four days of running, but with all my classes, my legs would be fried if I attempt four days.

I'm following the ten percent rule. This two-part rule specifies: (1) do not increase your weekly mileage by more than 10 percent nor (2) increase the distance of your long run by more than 10 percent per week.

I will have two days of rest per week, just light exercise like walking, tennis, skateboarding, mellow bike riding etc.

I will be Spinning twice a week, which will keep my quadriceps, (the muscles in the front of my thigh) strong. Running is very back of the leg, hamstring focused. Cross training is important to keep your body in balance.

I will include weight training and stretching, which is easy for me because I have to! I get paid to strength train and stretch.

I'm using the foam roller (These are so awesome, if you haven't discovered them, get one!) to help with the recovery process. Hot tub soaks after hard workouts also help fatigued muscles recover. I also plan to use ice baths, I absolutely hate these, but they work to speed up the recovery process by forcing more blood to your muscles.

I'm following the Hard/Easy concept with running. I'm not doing hard workouts on back to back days, and I'm using a sports periodization approach to training. Which in a nutshell, is the 18 week marathon program that I am following.

(These are the Nike 2011Air Maxes I'm training in)



And lastly, on my attempt to stave off injury, I will be swapping out my running shoes about every 400 miles. But can supportive and specially designed running shoes help prevent injury? This brings up a whole new tangent that has been recently brought to my attention. Over the past 30 years, with all of the latest technology and research, running injuries have not gone down. So those fancy, expensive, new shoobie doobies, haven't done much to aid with shin splints, plantar fasciitis, ankle sprains, runners knee (IT band syndrome)... My brother brought this up to me when we were discussing marathon training and he asked me if I had heard of the barefoot running movement. I told him I had heard a little about it, but I kinda scoffed at the idea of running on the pavement in my bare feet. He recommended the book, "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall, and I was intrigued when I read all of the reviews. I started reading it last night, and I can't wait to pick it back up and finish it. So far, I think this book may help my quest to run injury free and might change my position on long distance training. I guess we will wait and see. Cross your fingers for me being injury free this marathon season. And for all you former/current marathoners, if you have any tips, advice or suggestions on marathon training I'd love your feedback!

Why does alcohol make you a fatty?

The difference between this:

and this:

May be what you are drinking!

Okay, so most of us have been know to throw back a few beers, have a little wine with dinner or celebrate with some shots. We are all human, and it's fun to party and socialize with a couple of drinks (I'm guilty as most of you all know). But unfortunately, there's a price to pay, and that's not including the headache the next morning. The purpose behind writing this blog entry isn't to preach and tell you to stop drinking all together, but rather give you some knowledge and insight. If you are trying to lean out, build muscle or lose weight, minimizing your alcohol consumption is key.

So how can alcohol contribute to weight gain? When you consume an alcoholic beverage, alcohol is split into two compounds, fat and acetate. The fat is stored, and the acetate is taken into the bloodstream and is your primary source of fuel. What this means, is that rather than burning carbohydrates, proteins or fats, your body is using the acetate from the alcohol as energy. That hamburger you just had with your beer, is basically just put on hold to digest, until the acetate is burned off. So you have this surplus of carbs, protein, and fat circulating in the body with nowhere to go. So where does it all end up? You guessed it...it's converted to fat and deposited on your pretty little waistline.

It takes about one hour for your body to metabolize .5 oz to 1 oz of alcohol. So if you have 5 beers in one sitting, that means your body's digestive system will be put on hold for 5 hours, until the acetate has been metabolized. What makes this even worse is if you are snacking while drinking... Which usually goes hand in hand right? Pretzels and beer, wine and cheese, nachos and margaritas. All that food is just sitting there, not moving... waiting next inline to be used for fuel.

Theres more unfortunately. Man, I sound like a real party pooper don't I? Alcohol is high in calorie content. Carbohydrates and proteins, have 4 calories per gram, and fat contains 9 calories per gram. Alcohol, which has no nutritional value, contains 7 calories per gram. A glass of wine has about the same amount of alcohol and calories as a 12 ounce light beer or a shot of 80 proof liquor. A regular, non-light beer, is even higher in calories, since it contains over twice as many carbohydrates as light beer. So, let's say you relax with a nice big glass of red wine every day, that's about 110 calories a day, about an extra 1000 calories per week, which turns into a lovely 12 pounds of fat per year!!! Below is a chart of the lowest calorie alcoholic beverages, to reference the next time you hit the bar.

Sorry guys, once again there's more. Not only does that hangover slow you down and keep you from getting off the couch, but just a single binge of heavy drinking will vastly increase the levels of the hormone cortisol, and significantly decrease the level of the hormone testosterone. So what does this have to do with your training? Cortisol causes the body to breakdown muscle and suppresses recovery from exercise, while low testosterone makes the body less likely build lean muscle or to burn fat as a fuel. So if you don't like the cute, bulging beer belly, with skinny little arms, legs and butt... think again before you slam those tequila shots!

So any tips when it comes to alcohol consumption and weight loss? Well, obviously we are not all saints, and there's nothing wrong with enjoying life and having fun. I don't expect you to cut alcohol completely from your diet, but if you are serious about leaning out and losing weight, keep it to a minimum. My advice is moderation. Moderation is key. Instead of having a few drinks every day after work, keep it to the weekends. Don't mix your liquor with soda pop, juice or any other sugary beverage. Mix liquor with soda water, a non-calorie beverage or drink it straight up or over ice. Try to drink light beer instead of regular beer. Indulge on top shelf liquor or a really nice wine, and sip it slowly, savoring it. I'm a pretty social person, so it's tough for me not to want to go out all the time, socialize and relax with a cocktail on a sunny afternoon. For me personally, I have to chose 1 or 2 days out of the week, and designate those days, as my "party" nights... the rest of the week I stay in, or stay away from alcohol. Sometimes it's hard to say no, but it's worth it when I wake up in the morning feeling great, look down at my tummy and breath a sigh of relief that I still have a waistline.

So now that I have you all excited about the weekend! Cheers and Good luck!

Squats

I incorporate squats into all my strength training workouts. It's one of the best ways to train and strengthen your lower body. Learning how to perform a squat correctly, will help prevent injuries, build muscle and strength, boost your metabolism and improve your overall look. To get a tight, round booty and shapely legs - you have to do your squats! I never get bored with squats, there are so many variations, it's one of those exercise that will always keep you challenged. By adding more weight, changing your foot stance, doing them on one leg, adding a jump to them... the possibilities are endless.

The squat is a compound, full body exercise that targets the muscles in your thighs, hips and butt. The primary muscles that the squat targets are your Erector Spinae (Lower back), Gluteus Maximus (glutes), Quadriceps (quads- front of thighs), and Hamstrings (back of thighs).

I'd recommend starting with a basic body weight squat, then once mastered, trying different variations. Some of my favorite variations are, one legged squats, squat jumps, sumo squats and overhead barbell squats.

Here are some tips for perfecting your squat that I got from the ACE exercise library:

Step 1
Starting Position: Begin standing with your feet slightly wider than hip-width, with the toes turned slightly outwards with your hands by your sides so the palms facing inwards. Depress and retract your scapulae (pull the shoulders down and back).

Step 2
Stiffen your core and abdominal muscles (“bracing”) to stabilize your spine. Hold your chest up and out, tilt your head slightly up, shift your weight back into your heels while pushing your hips towards the wall behind you.

Step 3
Downward Phase: Start the downward phase by first shifting your hips backwards then downwards to create a hinge-like movement at your hips and knees simultaneously. As you lower your hips the knees will then start to shift forward slowly, but try to control the amount of forward translation (movement) of the tibia (shinbone). Maintain tension in the core muscles (continue bracing) and attempt to keep your back flat.

Step 4
Continue to lower yourself until your thighs are parallel or almost parallel with the floor, until your heels begin to lift off the floor, or until your torso begins to round or flex forward. Monitor your feet, ankles and knees, ensuring that the feet don't move, the ankles do not collapse in or out and the knees remain aligned over the second toe.

Step 5
From the Lowered Position: the knees should continue to remain aligned over the second toe and body weight should be evenly distributed between the balls and heels of the feet. From the side, the position of the tibia (shinbone) and torso should be parallel with each other and the low back should appear flat or showing the beginning of some rounding.

Step 6
Upward Phase: While maintaining your back, chest and head-up position, exhale and extend the hips and knees by pushing your feet into the floor through your heels. The hips and torso need to rise together while keeping the heels flat on the floor and knees aligned over the second toe. Continue extending until you reach your starting position.


This is a great example of what a squat looks like in motion...



Remember, building muscle boosts your metabolism, thus helping lose fat. Don't get stuck in the cardio trap that I see a lot of people at the gym doing. They spend hours doing cardio, and don't see results. The more muscle you have, the faster you burn calories all day long.... So if you haven't already added squats and strength training to your routine.... DO IT!!!

Love it...

Exercise Bulimia - the "new" eating disorder

Exercise Bulimia is an eating disorder that is difficult to detect in a society that praises and admires those that adhere to a rigorous exercise program. I know all to well about compulsive exercise, and how easy it is to hide behind the title "elite" athlete... Nobody second guesses or questions you when adhering to an exercise routine right?

From the age of 18 to 22, I was competing in NCAA cross country and track for a Division 1 University, Racing and Competing for the National Junior Olympic Triathlon team, and a closet compulsive exerciser- or exercise bulimic.

It was easy to hide, exercise is a positive and healthy outlet, right? My parents thought I was extremely motivated and were proud of my hard work and determination. What they didn't know was that I was running, swimming and cycling for all the wrong reasons. I was so worried about gaining weight, and keeping my body fat down that my exercise routine was getting in the way of all other aspects of my life. I would skip class to exercise, I wouldn't attend social events if it was conflicting with a workout, and I would constantly monitor what I was eating. I was extremely fit, and the attention from friends, guys and coaches only snowballed this compulsion at first... My life revolved around when my next workout was gonna be. I was winning races, training at the Olympic Training center, yet my obsession to exercise was the only importance to me. I crossed the line from fitness enthusiast to compulsively burning calories by excessive exercise.

My body could only take my 2-3 hour workouts for so long. Now that I look back on my career as a college athlete and Junior Olympic athlete, I'm sad. I had so much potential, but my over training, and unhealthy motives hindered my progress and success. At first, my running times were strong, I was improving and getting faster... but the long workouts and not giving myself time to recover and rest, started to catch up with me. While training at the Olympic Training Center, one of my coaches suspected something was up. They made me wear a heart monitor at all times so they could track my workouts, I was sneaking workouts and he caught me. I was crazy, here I was at the most prestigious and elite facility to train and excel, and I wasn't following proper protocol because I was so worried about gaining weight? Yeah stupid, but at the time, I was so caught up... I was clueless that I had a "disorder". Exercise Bulimia wasn't really acknowledged yet like Anorexia and Bulimia, to most people I was just an extremely fit and motivated girl... but if I didn't get 2-3 hours of exercise in a day, I'd freak out.

Running for one of the most highly acclaimed college running programs, made me a small fish in a big pond. I was running on a team of the best college runners in the nation. While training in Colorado, I was recruited by a smaller school in Southern California, it was a full ride, and I had nothing to lose... so I jumped on the opportunity. I was on my way to become a big fish in a small pond... or so I thought.

When I got down to California, the first thing my new coach said to me was that I looked like I had gained weight since the last time she saw me. Obviously this freaked me out, being my worst nightmare... I started to amp up my workouts. I was pretty naive about nutrition and over training, and my times started to suffer. My new coach was so hard on me, she criticized me about my weight, my times... and running, once my passion, was now my worst enemy, I hated it. My body wasn't happy, all the overtraining was beginning to catch up... and I threw in the towel, and it was like a light bulb went off in my brain, and I knew things were messed up.

So what happened, how did I learn balance? Well I stopped exercising cold turkey for awhile, and I began to enjoy food. Did I gain weight? Hell yeah I did... but it was what I needed to do at the time. I needed to learn about balance, nutrition, rest and exercising right. I needed to see food as nourishment and enjoyment, and I needed to live a normal social life. Part of my recovery process was talking about my exercise compulsion. I was an Americorps member for two years, and I put on eating disorder workshops, and taught health and exercise classes to middle school and high school girls. I slowly began exercising again, and started teaching exercise classes and personal training. Recovery from exercise bulimia isn't like some other addictions. Unlike an alcoholic who gives up drinking, it isn't realistic for an exercise bulimic to give up exercise for life. I have to constantly monitor myself, give my self rest, and put my life and people I love ahead of my workouts.

That part of my past was quite along time ago. I'm grateful that I was able to overcome and conquer it. I am so much happier, put emphasis on making my workouts fun, rather than just a means to keep my weight down. I am healthier and wiser now, still a bit crazy, but I don't think that will ever go away!
I was 21 years old in this photo drinking beer!!!!

Winning first place at Vineman, qualifying for the Junior Olympic Triathlon Team

Crossing the finish line at another race I won the women's division... even though I was skinny- I still couldn't lose that butt! haha

Me now... 10 years later, healthier, wiser and happier!

Burpees- The Ultimate effing Exercise!

People often ask me, "Jocelyn, what is your favorite exercise?" Without a doubt, I always answer Burpees! Burpees are the shit. In my opinion, they are the ultimate exercise. What are burpees? A burpee is a compound exercise: a combination of a squat, a push-up, and a vertical jump. It is similar to a squat thrust, but there is a jump at the end, which separates the "boys from the men". It requires strength, balance, endurance, and flexibility. It increases cardio endurance while working the entire body, including the core muscles. The burpees is a highly challenging and effective exercise. I love incorporating them in my classes and personal workouts. The burpee can also be modified in different ways, which can stave off boredom.



To perform a basic burpee, just follow these instructions:

Begin in a squat position with hands on the floor in front of you.
Kick your feet back to a pushup position.
Immediately return your feet to the squat position.
Leap up as high as possible from the squat position.
When performing burpees, the key is to perform them in quick succession in order to get the conditioning benefits this exercise is famous for.

Benefits of Burpee

Strength Training- Burpees are a great exercise in order to build and strengthen muscles. Some of the muscles worked during a burpee include trapezoids, lower back, pectorals, deltoids, triceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, quadriceps, and abdominals.

Aerobic Exercise- Doing burpees for 15 to 30 minutes constitutes a full cardio workout. This exercise will keep the heart rate up at a maximum rate. (A great workout to do when you can't get to the gym or on vacation).

Flexibility- Burpees provide an increase in flexibility in areas of the body such as the back, hips, legs, and core.

Weight Loss - Burpees are a great fat burner and can be used effectively to lose excess weight. It's pretty apparent, when you are gasping for breath and your muscles are burning, that you are getting you ass kicked by these funny named exercises.

Cardiovascular Endurance- Burpees are useful for reducing muscle fatigue for long athletic events, as they improve cardiovascular endurance.

Tone Muscles- Because the burpees work numerous muscles and areas of the body, muscle tone becomes much improved with frequent exercising, creating a better looking appearance.

Time Efficient & Convenient- The burpee is a very convenient exercise; it requires no equipment and can be done almost anywhere. Also, this exercise is not time consuming and does not require going to a gym or getting out any equipment.

Inexpensive- Because the burpee requires no gym or equipment, it provides a highly inexpensive workout.

Since most muscles of the body are used during a burpee, some say that they stress the body into producing higher levels of testosterone, which is useful in building more lean muscle and dropping excess body fat.



Drawbacks of Burpees

The burpee is a great exercise, but it should not be the one and only aerobic and strength exercise used. It does not adequately train some of the muscle groups, such as the pulling muscles (unless a pull-up variation is included). You can do a burpee underneath a pull up bar, and jump up to the bar and complete a pullup- CRAZY FUCKING HARDCORE!
For these reasons, burpees should be added to a well-rounded aerobic and strength training workout program.

On Monday, I'll be doing the 100 day burpee challenge... any takers?
Day 1 = 1 burpee.
Day 2 = 2 burpees.
Day 100 = 100 burpees.
Day 101 = Rest.
Day 102 = "Hey, shouldn't I be doing burpees?"

Taking time off is tough

I had surgery, (nothing major) about ten days ago. Before the surgery, I was told I would have to take an entire month from exercise. I'm able to get up and around, and do most normal daily activities, but I can tell I'm getting a bit ancy. I'm trying to make the most of this situation, and focus on my eating habits and nutrition. Of the three components for weight loss, eating is definitely my weakness. I like to explain the three components for successful weight loss, as a three legged stool. If one leg is broken, the stool will collapse and fail. The three components are cardiovascular exercise, strength training and diet.

I think the reason why I haven't had to worry so much about my calorie consumption was the fact that I exercise A TON! With all my classes and my active lifestyle, I haven't had to worry so much about my daily calorie consumption. Now that my lifestyle has been put on hold, I'm a sedentary couch potato. Thank god I found this really cool website, through my friend Laura, that helps me track my calories, nutrition and my weight loss goals. It's really helped me with portion control and being conscious about what I put in my mouth. I've actually already lost a pound, which is pretty surprising, seeing as the total amount of exercise I've gotten in the last ten days was today- and hour long stroll with my little dog, Dorothy.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

You can use the app for your smart phone so you can easily input your meals/snacks as you go which is really helpful to stay on track. I love it! It's so easy and helpful. It breaks down your carbohydrates, proteins and fats and takes into account your goals and daily exercise. I highly recommend it to anyone, especially if you are trying to lose some weight.

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Weight Loss Tools

I have three more weeks till I can start moving again, but I think this has been a great learning lesson for me. The rest is nice, I'm learning more about nutrition and I'm able to focus on other hobbies that I haven't had the time for! Try "my fitness pal" and see if you like it... I'm not getting paid or getting any incentives to promote it, I just think it's a really cool, easy and helpful tool. Remember for weight loss, thirty percent is exercise and 70 PERCENT IS DIET. So if you are going to the gym every day and not seeing results- add this tool to your daily regimen.