Strength training

 

Part of my #gothedist goals for August are to work some weight training into my routine two times a week. I loath weight training and yesterday morning in fact tweeted just that …

 

 

Almost Immediately I got this response back form Coco …

 

 

The second Link was so awesome I just had to share! I hope one day soon I can feel like this!

 

 

Reflections on Strength

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Coco

When I first started exercising regularly, I had one friend who preferred weights to cardio. I just didn’t get it. I loved to move and sweat. I did the minimal weight segments that might come at the end of a gym class or the light weights that were incorporated into The Firm videos, but I never would have dedicated a whole workout to weights.

As I got into running, I learned that I needed to do more weight training to strengthen weak muscles and avoid injury. So, I reluctantly (and gradually) cut down my cardio days to add weights days.  I typically ran M/W/F/Sat and did weights T/Th.

Fast forward a few years, through some injuries that sidelined me for weeks or months on end, and my basic schedule has flipped. I generally run T/Th/Sat and do weights M/W/F. On my weights days I try to warm up for 15-30 min on the elliptical (depending on how many times I hit the snooze button), but I find myself cutting that cardio time down so I can do more strength moves.

I am afraid not to do push-ups because it took so long to build up that strength. Now, I actually enjoy the feeling of doing them with good form (strong abs and back). Lateral raises always have been a challenge, and now that I can do those with 10 lb. weights I want to keep those up as well. Bicep curls are my least favorite moves, so if I’m short on time those will get cut. On the other hand, I enjoy doing military presses and French presses. Lunges, squats and leg lifts are important to my running, so they are a pretty standard part of my routine, although I’ve slacked on the lunges lately.

I can’t explain why I like my weights days now. For the most part, I still hate pushing through a tough set, and eking out that last rep or two, but I like the immediate  satisfaction of getting through it. I do most of the moves in front of a mirror to check my form, and its one of the few (only?) times that I really look at myself in the mirror uncritically and like what I see. All those arm moves are paying off and even my abs have some definition. After a lifetime of hating my thighs I smile when I see the outline of my quads.

Don’t get me wrong–I still prefer running to weights–but instead of seeing weights as a *necessary evil* to keep me in shape for running, I have come to enjoy them for their own sake.

I have another friend who has adopted the motto “strong is the new skinny” (and yes, she just bought the t-shirt!). That resonates with me. I enjoy fitting into my “skinny jeans,” but my goal is not to be skinny, it is to be healthy, fit and, yes, strong.

 

Check out the rest of Coco’s blog Running with Perseverance here! 

 

Peace, Love and Happy Blogging

M