New Resistance Bands

Beach Body Achieved

By Daniel, on June 2nd, 2011

The girlfriend and I are hitting Florida in two weeks and I can for the first time in a long time say that when it comes time to pull off my shirt to soak up the rays, I will be doing it without a bit of self consciousness! Thanks to resistance bands and couch to 5k I have been able to achieve a pretty decent beach body. While I am not sporting a 6-pack (yet!) I am still over 50 pounds lighter than I was this time last year and my arms, legs, and chest are quite tone.

When it comes to getting the beach body you want, you have to exercise. There is no way around it. There is no secret diet or weight loss pill that will take the pounds off AND build muscle. It’s simple science! You lose weight by burning calories and you build and tone muscles by resistance training. It’s amazing how many people try to find shortcuts around an already very simple process.

Exercising is NOT HARD. The hardest part of any workout routine is getting off the couch! Once you get up and get moving it starts to feel good, even if you are a first timer. When the sweat starts to build up the body starts releasing endorphins and other feel good chemicals to help you endure the pain. If you exercise properly though, there won’t be any pain, just a great sense of accomplishment.

Dieting is far harder than exercising. Most of your eating habits and choices have been burned into your brain over the course of decades and breaking those habits can be pretty stressful. If you are going to be shooting for having your own beach body someday then I suggest you do what I did and start with small changes. Set small goals for yourself, goals that you know you can achieve, and then when you hit those goals you will KNOW that you can do it. As you achieve your small goals, make them a bit bigger next time around. Before you know it you will be achieving things you never thought you could and you will be losing weight fast.

There is no better plan for you to start following than The Spark. The Spark doesn’t promise that you will lose 50 pounds in 2 weeks. The spark doesn’t promise that you will have a washboard stomach in a month. The Spark is honest and real and fun and most importantly, IT WORKS. Find another diet book on Amazon that has 133 (and counting) FIVE STAR REVIEWS. People love The Spark because The Spark works.

So if you want to have a beach body, or just want to start feeling a little better when you get out of bed every day, then get The Spark and get your life back.

Beyond Couch to 5K

By Daniel, on December 16th, 2010

Though I finished the Couch to 5K program a few weeks ago, I had yet to run the actual 3.1 miles in one go without stopping. I knew that I could, I usually run 2.25 to 2.5 miles at a time and when I finish those I always feel like I could have easily pushed on to the 3.1, but I never had the time.

Yesterday was supposed to be just another 2.5 mile run. However I was pissed off at being stuck inside on the treadmill instead of running outside. We got hit with a winter storm and I don’t feel comfortable running on ice so I was trapped in the gym. Grudgingly I climbed on the treadmill and started my 5 minute warm up walk and then reset the machine and started my run.

When I run I go through 3 mental states. At first I feel awesome and enjoy watching the distance click by. I keep reminding myself that 3 months ago I could not have ran a half mile and felt that good. This usually keeps me going until the first 1.25 mile mark. At that point my body switches modes and while it is doing the switchover I start feeling anxiety, like I am not going to be able to finish the run. My brain starts coming up with excuses to quit, or to just stop for a minute or two. I spend at least another mile fighting with my anxiety. Eventually I reach the 80% mark and at that point the grit and determination kick in. This is where I decide that I have made it THIS far, there is no way in hell I am quitting now. That makes that last 20% a breeze.

Yesterday was a lot like that except when I crossed the 2.5 mile mark, which was my original stopping point, I told myself to keep going. Just another quarter mile, just another quarter mile. Then I realized how close I was to 3.1 miles and decided to go for it. It seemed like it took forever. My brain was screaming at me to stop. But I didn’t, and I feel great.

Now I know 100% that I can run 5k, there is no doubts about it at all. 2011 is the year of the 5k for me where I work on getting the best possible time in that year that I can before I graduate to the next levels the following year.

Garmin Forerunner Diary – Couch to 5k Graduation

By Daniel, on November 29th, 2010

I have completed the Couch to 5k program. I haven’t actually ran a 5k race yet, but I have completed the program and can easily run 30 minutes or longer. Of course my pace is very slow but that is not what is important at this stage. The Couch to 5k program is about building endurance, and that’s what it did. Now I can take this new base line I have and build upon it by running farther every week and maybe trying to run a bit faster.

The Garmin Forerunner is a great tool for endurance training. I realized that I was not as progressing as fast as I should because I was actually training too hard. I was running a bit too fast and as a result my heart rate was indicating that I was in the anaerobic zone instead of in the aerobic zone where I should have been. I was spending more than half of my training going too fast and burning myself out. By using the Garmin Forerunner 305 to track my heart rate I was able to keep it in Zone 3 (the aerobic zone) where it belongs. In zone 3 your body is using oxygen (and sugar) to supply energy to your muscles. By spending long periods of time in this zone, your body gets better at delivering oxygen to your muscles, building your overall fitness and endurance.

The better you are aerobically, the longer you will be able to train at just about any sport, not just running. No matter if you are biking, swimming, or lifting your muscles need oxygen and the better your body is at delivering that oxygen the better off you will be.

The Garmin Forerunner has alerts that you can use to make sure you don’t drift out of the zone you are in. I set mine to sound an alert whenever my heart rate drifted into Zone 4. This let me know that I need to ease up a bit to stay in the proper heart zone for building endurance. While I didn’t think it looked impressive running that slowly, at least I knew that my heart and blood supply was getting better with every step.

New Resistance Bands

Beach Body Achieved

Beyond Couch to 5K

Garmin Forerunner Diary – Couch to 5k Graduation

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