Before I get into this post, check out my biceps. Lol. It looks HUGE because its closer to the mirror obviously...but never forget to appreciate ALL of your progress. A six pack is not the ONLY thing to be proud of. You ARE working on every other part of your body too, AREN'T you?!
While injuries are NOT my favorite topic to discuss, they are serious, and definitely something to be aware of when doing LOTS of training or starting a more intensive workout plan.
While I've been pretty lucky in terms of chronic injury, I have had my few struggles. Lately, my knees have been really bothering me. I KNOW two factors that are definitely influencing it. They are:
--BAD SNEAKERS
--Lack of Fish oil (omega 3) in my diet
The type and volume of sprinting and running I do 3-4 days a week requires WELL FIT, PROPER running shoes. My hot Nike Air Max sneakers just aren't cutting it. Another big no-no is wearing my regular training sneakers on the treadmill. They are really old, but look brand new. Fine for training, but NOT for running! Such a bad habit, but sometimes I wear them to the gym with no intention of running, and then I get the itch to sprint a few rounds :-)
Another thing I've been doing LOTS of is STAIRS. I use the stair master and run up the concrete bleachers at the track a LOT. Again, this might go back to the sneaker thing...but the impact is just not helping my knee pain. I am such a fiend when it comes to making sure I do enough cardio (that stupid irrational girl fear that not doing cardio will put 10 pounds on me overnight..though I know this is incredibly untrue), but most of all...I really LOVE sprinting and pushing past my limits on the treadmill and the stair master...i always feel so accomplished afterwards...not to mention the sweat factor.
With that said, consider today my final hoorah with cardio until I sort out my knee pain: I'll be limiting cardio to 20-30 minutes for the rest of the week. Jogging and lower impact.
Monday Cardio:
Treadmill:
5 minutes warm up jog 6.0-7.0mph.
sprint 9.0mph 1 min/ walk 4.0 1 min (5 rounds)
sprint 9.5mph 45 sec/walk 4.0 1 min (5 rounds)
sprint 10.0-11.0mph 30 sec/walk 4.0 1 min (5 rounds)
walk/jog 5 mins 4.0-7.0
incline 15% speed 5.0-6.0 5 mins
1 min walk 3.0 cooldown
Total: 35 minutes
Sweat: tons
Stair master:
level 5: 3 min
level 6: 3 min
level 7: 3 min
level 15: 1 min
---breathe----
10 minutes of intervals
level 5/15/8/5/15 etc.
Total: 20 minutes
Sweat: Soaked completely.
Cardio total: 55 minutes of nearly all interval training. *cue huge sigh of relief*
post-workout was a scoop of sunwarrior mixed with war, followed by snacking on snap peas after shopping at trader joes. After I got home and organized groceries, i made a spinach eggwhite with flax omelet. And then I was starving STILL, so I had 6 cherries. Boo. They were sitting on the counter and they help with inflammation...so fruit lovers say.
Back to injuries: Remember to LISTEN to what your body might be telling you. Soreness and injury are very different feelings, and should be treated accordingly. Sore muscles can be remedied with ibuprofen. Torn ligaments, fractured bones, and other injuries CANNOT! In the case of both incredibly sore muscles AND injury, do NOT be afraid to step back from your training plan and rest or do what feels RIGHT. Remember to train smart AND hard. Not just hard. Anyway. There's my PSA on listening to your body. Can't be giving too many of those because then you might mistake that as an excuse to get lazy when you can't drive because your shoulders and back and arms and legs are all sore :)
Tomorrow I train LEGS !!! DEADLIFTS !!!
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