Finding That Balance
Buddha Dog, by SuperFantastic on Flickr
In my last post, Laurie was wondering why I was cutting back on the running, and I thought that was a pretty interesting question. So on my runs yesterday and today (yeah, it doesn’t seem like I’m cutting back yet, does it? *sigh*) I thought about it.
I think my problem is finding balance. When I get into running, I tend to obsess about it and it becomes the only workout I really want to do – I’ll end up running 4 to 5 times a week. Heck, it’s perfect, right? I get it done before the kids wake up, it burns a boatload of calories, I don’t have to think when I’m doing it, and I get to say “Yeah, I’m a runner” to anyone who asks (nobody ever does though).
Unfortunately, a couple of things happen. First, my strength suffers. Sure, my legs are in shape, but whenever I get really into running I notice my upper body starts to flab up. A couple of days a week just isn’t enough strength training for me, and I just can’t usually make myself do a run AND a strength workout in the same day.
The second reason is that a lot of my runs are no longer “fun.” I tend to obsess about time, mileage, or both…and running starts to feel like a job. And the punishment of running 5 times a week is beyond what my body is able to cope with right now.
So I need to find a balance in my workouts. It doesn’t sound that hard when I’m writing about it…after all, I love Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels. I’ve got tons of choices for workouts, and it’s not like they don’t burn loads of calories too. But every night when I try to decide what tomorrow’s workout is going to be, it always comes back to running because it’s convenient.
I think I need a written plan to help me stick to something.
What do you guys do to keep things balanced?
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Bill – maybe you know my schedule already but it works fantastic for me and I realize one’s schedule may not work for another but I’ll tell you what I do that seems to keep me balanced. I run 3 days a week 3/4/5 miles for a total of 12 miles per week. On the days in between running I do a strength DVD alternating between Bob and Jillian. That leaves me with 1 day off. Perfect for me. Maybe you can cut back on the number of days running and just run farther each day? I know, it’s easy for me to say, I don’t have small children.
Brenda
I haven’t found balance either – I seem to be a serial monogamist when it comes to fitness (with minor dalliances along the way). After the half-marathon, when I was no longer allowed to run fast or far because of my hip, I up and stopped running and took up spinning 3x/week instead (plus a swimming class). I still occasionally shred, or go to yoga, or install a pull-up bar, but I haven’t found a way to get in the properly balanced cardio, strength training, and stretching that I know I should.
I definitely felt my best when I was following the training plan for the half, so I think you’ve got something there with your “written plan” idea. Maybe putting some time and effort into coming up with a reasonable schedule will keep us from burning out?
I was, or still am, struggling with this.
Before I had my twins, I did nothing but Tae Bo. I was in the best, best shape of my life. Fast forward to this year, when I jumped on the Shred wagon. I love it, and then fell in love with Jillian, and her workouts. So since January, I was ONLY doing her workouts, maybe a 3 mile run here or there, and I just started to feel stuck. I stopped losing weight, and inches, and I was never looking forward to working out.
I stopped doing Tae Bo for another reason, and that was my shoulder. The outside part of my left shoulder was hurting, and hurting bad. I had an MRI everything was negative, so I blamed it on to much Tae Bo. But I knew that since working out with Jillian, I was stronger. I felt it. And apparently I needed some strength training in there, because Ive added Tae bo in the mix again, and Ive had zero shoulder pain.
So that’s my back story. Now, I’m trying to rotate Tae Bo, with NMTZ and BFBM….the Shred is to short for me, I know when I do a 20 minute workout I’m just being lazy.
I plan on writing down a schedule each week, and rotating between the workouts with weights,(Jillians and Billys!) and then just straight up cardio. Being in a funk is tough, and drags you down…I hope you can get out of yours also! Good luck!