OK, so you run 5-6 days a week, say 30 minutes a run, perhaps you even throw in a longer run one of the days. You seem to be eating the right food, even the right amount of calories, but just can't seem to lose any more weight.
Looking back at my workouts and diet from that fateful day in February when I started my transformation, I think I might have some useful suggestions for you. It's at least worth a try, and if it doesn't work for you the worse that could happen is that you get a little stronger.
If you remember from my previous post, the first thing I did was figured out what my ideal weight was. Then I plugged in that weight into a calorie calculator to find out what the ideal calorie intake would be if I weighed my ideal weight, and yes, though I don't recommend this for too long, I actually counted calories. (If you remember, I recommend you do this only until you have a good handle on portion size then stop counting. Remember, you want to enjoy a simpler life, not become an obsessive crazy person who is trying to "count carbs", and "be good".)
Once I figured that out, I used the advice on Michi's Ladder published by Beach Body http://www.focused-on-fitness.com/nutrition/michis-ladder.php in order to plan out meals. The idea is that if you stay on Tier 1 and 2 your diet would be perfect. The basic guideline is to eat most from the first two tiers and some from Tier 3. It's Tier 4 and 5 to try and limit. Not that you "can't" eat from 4 and 5, but the suggestion is that you rarely eat from 4 and 5. After a while I got a hang of it.
The Hip Hop Abs program has a great balance of cardiovascular exercise and strength exercise. The workouts range from 30 minutes to an hour, and the intensity of each workout also varies. There's also something like 6 different workouts that are mixed up throughout the week. The point? Variety.
Your body gets used to the same thing over and over again, it hits an equilibrium at some point and just doesn't produce the results it used to. So regular change in your routine with a good balance of cardiovascular (various levels) and strength can be the difference between allowing your body to reach an equilibrium or creating muscle confusion so that your body can't reach equilibrium and keeps on burning calories.
When I was finished with Hip Hop Abs, I continued mixing it up. I ran 3 days a week and did some weight lifting 2-3 days a week. At some point, I even created my own strength routine that I mixed and matched from various other routines. When I started running more seriously, I continued to add in occasional core routines and the weight just continued to come down.
At this point, I've been running exclusively to prepare for an upcoming marathon, but even my routine involves various levels of intensity. Sunday is a light run (2-5 miles), Monday is an easy run (8-10 miles), Tuesday is a speed/strength workout (3-6 miles), Wednesday is a light run (2-5 miles), Thursday is a tempo run (8-10 miles), Friday is a rest day, Saturday is a long slow distance run (14-20+ miles). Some of these miles are slow and easy, some are fast and hard.
Based on what has worked for me, I have come up with some simple suggestions that might help you get over this plateau and back to where you want to be. This plan is assuming you've been running roughly 30 minutes a day, adjust it to your needs.
Week 1
Run 3 days (increase your length to 35-40 minutes)
Strength Train 2 days a week (30-45 minutes- at least 3-single set-10-20 reps- workouts for each muscle group- Quads, Hamstrings, Calves, Abs, Chest, Biceps, Triceps, Forearms)
Yoga or Pilates 1 day a week (get a video that will run 30-45 minutes at least)
Week 2
Run 3 days (keep your length to at least 40 minutes)
Strength Train 2 days a week- as before- same routine
Yoga or Pilates 1 day a week- same routine
Week 3
Run 3 days (40-45 minutes)
Strength Train- as before
Yoga or Pilates- as before
Week 4
Run 3 days (2 days 40-45 minutes); (1 day speed work out)
Strength/Core Train 3 days- mix it up, you could do 2:1 strength to Y/P or 1:2 Y/P to strength
Week 5
Run 3-4 days (2 days 45 minutes); (1 day speed workout); (1 day very easy 30 minutes)
Strength/Core Train 3 days- as before
Week 6
Run 3-4 days- as before
X-Train- bike, swim, speed walk, etc 3 days
At some point in my weight loss experience I would come up with little plans like these- always 6 weeks out, then I'd try to mix it up after 6 weeks. I'd try completely different strength training routines, different running/biking routines, and different Yoga style routines.
Mixing it up really helps with weight loss and it makes the process a lot more fun.
At the very least, trying this will make things a little more interesting and you can only grow stronger... so what else do you have to lose? Give it a try!
Don't forget the 40 Day challenge starting on February 22. That date is approaching fast!
No comments:
Post a Comment