Fitness Friday: Training Your Heart

So I'm a big believer that different types of training yield different results for different people depending on their body types and other various factors. So I'm always on the look out for different ways to train my body to get the kind of results I'm looking for. While aerobic base building is not a new concept, I was really intrigued to read this article from a well known triathlete. I discovered that during my recent period of enforced lower intensity workouts, I had some success in getting rid of some of the stress weight that credit on over the last year (pretty much since I joined State - so that's one check in the con box against joining the FS!). I also found that once I returned to my usual schedule of high intensity workouts that the weight crept back up.* A lot of what Mark talks about in his article are things I have noticed with my own body. Always feeling beat up, always being tired instead of feeling energized, always nursing some sort of minor injury...soooo new experiment! I have laid out a schedule that I may or may not stick to depending on my whims and how many more additional duties I can't help myself from volunteering for.** We're going back to basics, people. Of course there's plenty of science out there to show that high intensity activities are just as effective, but (as I said at the beginning of the paragraph) I firmly believe that you won't know what works best for you until you actually try it. And lord knows I love to use my body as a guinea pig.

In other fitness news, this article on how fit moms get is done is an interesting take on how to make fitness a priority in a hectic life. While it's a bit (ok, a lot) on the extreme side, and clearly these are not working moms, the list at the bottom is actually pretty accurate. There's some sacrifices that have to be made to keep fit as a working parent (mom or otherwise). Getting up early, going to bed early, working out at home, these are some of the flexible options I talked about in my last fitness post.


*I should make it clear that I'm talking about vanity pounds, and that my goals may be quite different than someone who is looking to lose significant weight or someone who is looking to add muscle mass.


**Why do I do this? Is it some sort of mental defect? (that's a rhetorical question, Dad)