Running September 21, 2011

This has been a bit of a manic year so please forgive the blogging absence!  This year has so far seen me move hundreds of miles back up the country, start my own company and move back to my home town.  So it has not been the most stress free year for me and running (the purpose of this blog) has really helped me destress and feel some sense of achievement when work has been going badly!  With that update out of the way, on with the blog!

Since moving (again!) I have got back into running which I have not done seriously since my high school years.  I run with an unofficial running group – unofficial in that we are not a club just members of the same gym who all like to run.  When I started running again I was pretty un(run)fit and could just scrape a good mile, but I have slowly been building up the runs and am now doing some pretty hardcore ten mile runs.  Last weeks run involved the steepest hill in our town for the first 4 miles and then a further 6 miles of long rises -hard but worth it!  So within 9 or so months I have really seen a difference in my running fitness, have dropped some inches and a dress size and am hooked on running.  As I live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country I have also really enjoyed the opportunity to spend some time outside in the (very changeable) elements.  Running highlights over the last few weeks have definitely included watching the leaves start to change on the trees, I love autumn/fall!

Next weekend I am competing in my first 10K so I am really hoping for a good time of around 50 minutes.  I am already planning to enter some events for next year including a half marathon (no full marathons in my running future I don’t think- too many moguls left to ski so I need my knee cartilage!).  I am also going to start triathlon training so have already been putting some more time in, in the pool…that’s going to require some work!  There’s a local tri club that another of the runners and I are going to try out so will see how that goes!

So along with this new found passion for running goes quite a lot of new blogging topics!  Running injury free is at the forefront of my mind at the moment so I will be posting on knee health, stretching and generally avoiding injury.  My main obsession with staying injury free (especially knee injury free) is due to being a skier first and runner second!  Much as I love running and would not want to have to sit out with an injury, I would be distraught to get a knee injury and ruin my skiing!  There will also be posts on running gear (shopping!) including getting properly fitted for some new running trainers/sneakers.

Get you running shoes on!

The Gym Bunny Blog

 

Get ski fit and hit the slopes running (although that could be slippy…) January 13, 2011

At the start of this blog I said that come winter I would write some blog posts on how to get ski fit (or snowboard fit…!) so here they are.  Even if you are not a skier though there are some great ides for you to keep fit and toned through the winter months.

Kettlebells:  I discovered these heavy blighters quite recently and they really are a great way to workout.  The raise your heart rate and tone at the same time, a really effective workout!  Kettlebells are weights (a bit like a rouned anvil in appearance) with a handle (aka their horns).  The basic kettlebell move is to start with your feet slightly wider than hip width apart and the kettlebell (kb) between your feet on the floor.  You grasp the handle and using the strength in your legs and core, thrust your hips forward to haul the kb into the air.  Although you are using your arms to control the kb the idea is not to use your arm stranght to move it.  The kb should end up at about shoulder height with your arms extended.  Repeat this 10-12 times.  This is guaranteed sweat enducing, thigh burning workout!

The above is the basic kettlebell move but I think the best way to get your technique right and get more moves is to have a personal training session.  Your trainer will ensure you are positioning yourself correctly and therefore not hurting your back.  Also kettlebells are very strenuous so you should be of pretty good fitness before you attempt this (health warning!).  If you don’t fancy a training session you could try and source a class at your local gym or through a community workshop.

You can also adapt the basic move to use the kettlebell with just one arm or walking with the bell and doing the above move between steps (hard!) or punching with the bell (great for chest muscles but sore the next day!)

Kettlebell workouts are great for all gym regulars looking to improve fitness/mix up their workouts with something new and are particularly good for targeting key ski muscle groups especially quads and core.

So there you have it something new and very challenging to try!

Happy kettlebelling!

The Gym Bunny Blog

Outdoor Gym August 5, 2010

If working out in the gym is really not for you but you still want to improve your fitness levels and tone up then you could try training with the military!  It’s ok there’s no need to join the army but you are trained by military fitness experts.  The sessions take place in local parks and as an added bonus are realtively cheap compared to normal gym membership (£26-£36 depending on what part of the UK you live in, for 1 session per week).

I have not taken part in one of these but have seen a lot of people sweating it out in various parks and it is does look pretty challenging and definitely worthwhile!  There’s an offer where you can go to one free session so I might try it out one day, there is also a one day boot camp which you can do for £99 (inc a healthy lunch) if you need a serious boost to your bikini workout this could be an alternative way to do it!

This would definitely be a great alternative for those who can’t bear the gym at the moment, however, one session a week would not be enough to drastically change shape or weight so I would suggest using it to supplement other outside activities eg: running, interval training, biking, hill walking etc or another indoor gym alternative eg: boxing, at home workouts, bikram yoga etc.

For more info see http://www.britmilfit.com

See you outside!

Gym Bunny Blog

xx

Getting Out There- Outdoor Workouts August 3, 2010

When the weather is glorious (or you have just been in the gym too much) then slogging it out in an inside gym is just not appealing so how do you keep to your fitness routine rather than just lying in the park with a good book?!  Workout outside of course… Recently the original Gym Bunny has been doing PT sessions outside and on Friday we got together to do our own outdoor workout.

We started off with a warm up run/jog for about 5 minutes.  We then paced out an area (about 50m) and moved some outdoor chairs to the end of this area.  We jogged the 50m before turning and sprinting back the same way, at the end of the sprint we went straight into: tricep dips, press ups, step ups, lunges, dynamic squats etc (one exercise per end of sprint 15-20 reps of each).  We did this for half an hour with a longer run in the middle again.  The chairs were great for the dips, press ups, step ups etc.  We also mixed up the 50m intervals by doing kick ups, knee ups and side steps for a few of them. The point of varying your speed is that by doing interval training you are making your heart/body work harder and consequently you burn more fat! yay!

To finish off the work out we headed back inside (avoiding wet grass) for a 20 min abs, arms and stretch exercise.  We used a resistance band for biceps and triceps (adding onto the outside arm work) and a mix of just floor and ball work for abs.  A good abs exercise to do with a partner (or improvise and tuck your feet under a weights bar) is to get them to kneel (gently!) on your feet and you have to sit all the way up and high-five them each time, get them to move their hands higher and alternate straight high fiving with turning to eg hit their left with your left hand.

Have fun, oh and look out for obstacles- like your dog- you don’t want to go flying!

Gym Bunny Blog

xx