I did not include much about the actual mechanics of forming a plan
There are many many ways to form a plan-almost as many ways as there are people---- but in the absence of anything else , I will give an example of a good platform to start from
Having a target is important, and I like competitive pursuits- competitive pursuits give you benchmarks and ways to regularly test yourself not against your own best times but against other people in your age groups as well.
Plus it's fun, can be an adrenaline rush, and sometimes not much else can make you dig deeper than being passed by somebody you know you should be doing better than.
It doesn't matter if you're fighting over 47th place with a clerk from Home Depot at the local turkey trot 5K, or going for the win at an Olympic distance triathlon
Sometimes your goal may not be specific athletic performance, but you really want to lose weight, and in rare instances maybe even gain weight, --- the mechanisms used to reach these goals often include walking, running, cycling, swimming in addition to a sound diet --- you can find a competitive outlet for all these things no matter what your age or condition and it is a big help in goal setting
1) Get your head on straight
A long-term goal is easy to visualize
You want to lose weight, or improve your 5K, your 40k cycling time trial, your Powerlifting total or anything else you can imagine---- this is what your aiming for
-For the sake of this essay i am going to use an example tailored to somebody heavy who wants to drop some pounds and get in shape at the same time , using walking as their primary weapon of choice -- with the understanding that weight training will be used on alternating days at first
---- but with some modification and adjustments, this program can be applied towards any activity you choose regardless of your current fitness level -- you may not be overly heavy, but you can still get faster and stronger
The long term goal is heavy duty and is the one looming over the distant horizon, but short-term goals are needed so you can track progress --- meeting more specific short-term goals gives you small victories leading up to your pinnacle and is a tremendous motivational help
I spoke about this also in my Depression essay a week or so ago --- before taking up arms, so to speak, you need to be mentally ready to survive the journey . If you have too much outside stress in your life that interferes with you attaining your health and fitness needs -- knock that down first --
--- this may not happen overnight - but square yourself away before introducing twice as much physical and dietary stress into your life
2) Hardware
Get up to speed with the hardware you're going to need to accomplish your goals---- my article yesterday dealt with shoes - that article was meant to be entertaining but shoes are an important part. Make sure they're not holding you back-I trust the people at the local running emporiums a lot more than I do the staff at a big box store in choosing my footwear, . They speak in terms that include pronation, supination , plantar fasciitis and other things many people dont completely understand -- but they can look at the bottom of your foot and see a lot more than the shaved monkey at the chain sporting goods store
if you have to price shop, I'd say reward the salesman at the running store who actually helped you by buying your first pair from them --- then buy your second set through whatever online emporium you choose when you have a good choice
Again, thats assuming a general fitness program --- cycling really requires specific footwear to get the most out of it, as does hard core weightlifting , but i'm not covering the specific needs of those niches in this article
heart rate monitors--- if you have a tailored fitness plan that covers things like heart rate zone specificity, you will need a pretty decent monitor to track all this--- the $30 one from Dick's probably won't be able to keep up once we start introducing zone specific workouts , intervals and other things like that. Polar, Garmin and even Timex all make pretty good ones -- i would expect to throw down around 100 bucks
GPS devices, pedometers, and even apps on your smart phone to track steps and mileage can provide reasonable distractions during long , exhausting workouts, and if your a gadget hound, might make the work a little more fun --- but these are not absolutely necessary
You need clothes-- this does not have to be complicated at all-just pick out whatever the situation dictates. If you choose to train outside in the cold, do a little research on what's best for your specific sport of interest as without knowing an individual situation all I can do is throw out generic info
So thats really it for hardware -- good shoes and a heart rate monitor when you break it down to the bare essentials
3) Plan a whole year
Break a year down in three or four blocks. You have a big picture goal and thats good -- but spend some time thinking about your intermediae goals --- How far would you like to be along at 3 months? 6 months? etc.
there is an old expression that goes, " How do you eat an elephant?-One bite at a time"
if you are truly large or more than 50 pounds above your goal weight----it's going to take time
at least two or three quarterly cycles, if not more.
I would prefer to set goals based on lowering body fat percentage than actual pounds lost but pounds is easier to understand for the purpose of this article ----
establish a baseline. Obviously this is done first by weighing yourself,
next, pick your poison of your method on how you're going to do this ---- if it's walking, go out and walk 2 miles--- just see how long it takes----and i'm going to write about walking -- we all should be able to do it and aside from shoes and a suggested heart rate monitor, requires no special equipment
if it took you 40 minutes to walk 2 miles, set your quarterly goal to knock five minutes off that
if you can walk 2 miles in 35 minutes at the end of that quarter, I'm betting you can run/jog 3 miles in the same time. By the end of your second-quarter
As a more extreme example , elements of our armed forces are timed on a 4mile march with a 40 pound pack with a suggested time limit of one hour
4) Preparation
These give us a some measurables to shoot for ---- you may not be ready for that Turkey trot or Spring Fling 5K by the end of your first quarter, but it should definitely be attainable by the end of the second
On the days you are not walking hard , we will be working on strength training , because your body is a system, not just a set of lungs and legs
Your first prep phase will be laying down base mileage at a moderately slow and steady pace with little heart rate fluctuation, and we will get in some longer workouts here for fat burning without tripping the internal trigger that starts burning glycogen only
5) Building phase
At a certain point, after some base mileage is laid down, we will introduce some overspeed drills and some interval training ------
------ my competitive running and cycling friends may be howling with laughter now at the subject of walking intervals --- but its not so hard to do - Find a treadmill, set the speed 1-2 mph higher than your typical pace, and hang on, you'll be grabbing for the handrails before a minute interval is up
You'll never get faster until you start training faster --- during these workouts , you will be running your motor pretty high and will be burning a lot of calories, but will be in an advanced heart rate zone where you are burning glycogen more than stored fat --- so in the interest of our fat burning goals also, these high speed drills may only be done once, maybe twice a week maximum during most of your first block or two
A week out from your event --give yourself a "Special test" of sorts -- duplicate the distance at "race pace" -- as hard as you can go , and see where you stand --- your not going to improve much in the next week
6) Goal Event
Final week leading up to your goal event --- whatever it is, -- the Fun Run, or MS Walk, or whatever we have set aside on the calendar, we're going to reduce your workload a bit , but early in the week , kick in a little more intense overspeed training one day, but take an active rest day prior to your event
I am assuming that all along we are weighing ourselves, paying attention to what our body is telling us regarding our dietary choices and things like that
But so far, as long as the diet is sound and clean and we have sustainable practices, we're not concentrating on the diet ---- It becomes its own entity and we are burning off buckets of calories as long as our intake is sufficient and of proper frequency
We're not concentrating on the diet because we're concentrating on our performance . In essence , we're relegating the diet to the hardware section of our program ---- its one of the tools we use to hit our goals - not a stumbling block
And come race day, for most who are fairly new at all this, i'm betting the excitement of just being out there amongst like minded folk will help you find another 5% -- and as i said earlier, getting passed in the final 300 meters by a portly sales manager may help you find a lot more than that !
7) Moving on to the next phase
See how you did and compare it to the goal you set 3 months ago . You're realistic and setting good goals if you are close to those numbers both in your performance on the mean streets as well as with your weight loss -----
Didnt hit it , or missed it by a country mile, maybe even grossly exceeded your original goal ?--- then we need to make some adjustments going into the next block
Take a week to a week and a half and go back to your preparation phase pace ---- slow, steady, and rarely getting above Zone 2 with your heart rate , then start training block 2
Adjustments -
-- sometimes our bodies throw things at us beyond our control -- sometimes , outside factors come into play
A former Olympic speed skater and pro cyclist's father took up cycling --- the son got some of his genes from 'ol Pa, and before long dad was tearing up the Masters criterium circuit at a local level ----- until - ol Dad found out the inevitability of bike racing, and that its not IF your going to crash, but when
That is an accepted risk for that sport, but the problem was, ol Dad was an Orthopedic surgeon by profession -- his hands were his livelihood and he could not afford to lose that in a first turn Category 4 pile up at a bike race
He gave up cycling, but needing a competitive outlet, turned to the rowing scull, -- where the same big lungs he passed on to his kid served him well
---------- This is a "worst case scenario" adjustment - giving up one method (cycling) for another (rowing) --- but for him to respect the career that puts food in his families mouths, - you have to do what you have to do
If a couple of months of walking/jogging/running hits you with issues like chronic shin splints, knee pain, foot problems and other ailments, -- and all the other variables like properly fitting shoes, and using an appropriate gait are ruled out, --- you too may be faced with making a big adjustment --- but as i said earlier, - there are a lot of mechanisms out there that can help us fuel our competitive urges and be the vehicle to carry us to our ultimate goal , and thats dropping the flab and being healthier
Epilogue
There are volumes and volumes of books written by strength and conditioning coaches, exercise physiologists , and many others about setting up your year, but as i have mentioned before ---- i am trying to introduce formerly foreign practices and methods in a way that is easy to understand
My block and phase training i mentioned above is not unique --
A more advanced athlete may look at my suggestions and say -- PFFFT - kiddie stuff. But i'm betting that breaking the year down in blocks with intermediate goals leading up to a big grand finale will give most people a pretty easy to structure system that can be tailored and modified to your needs relatively easilly ----
And even if you are more advanced , - a couple of fresh block cycles of training can serve as an occasional "slump buster" and get you back on track again
If you stayed awake through this whole essay -- thank you. From the standpoint of the reader, i really would like to keep it light, but things like setting training blocks and program specificity make for some dry page turnin' , but good things are on the way if we set it up right !
Thanks for reading
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---- Doug
_______________________________________________________________________________disclaimer: The information contained here is not intended to replace the medical advice of your physician and is not intended as medical advice. This newsletter/blog is a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of the staff of Fitclaimspro.com and professional colleagues unless otherwise noted
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