FeelGooder Fitness Tweak: Jodi Increases Intensity

This post was contributed by Lisa Johnson of Lisa Johnson Fitness.

Jodi is a third of the way into her journey to lose 100 pounds.  She is very witty and has amazing enthusiasm about her progress.  She’s been losing weight at a very reasonable one to two pounds per week—the perfect way to do it.

The situation

Jodi has been focused primarily on eating and cardio. Her cardio routine consists of running, walking, and Wii Fit.  Her big goal is to walk/run a mile consistently in under 12 minutes, and currently she’s averaging 15 minutes. She’d also like to add in more weight training and lose 13 more pounds by January 1.

Available equipment

• resistance bands
• exercise ball
• 3-, 5-, and 8-pound weights.

The plan: cardio

Going from a 15-minute mile to a 12-minute mile is all stride length and gait turnover.  You need to move faster, step with a longer stride, or a combination of the two.  So warm up for five minutes moving along at a good clip, and once you’ve broken a sweat, start tracking your mile.

Alternate moving more quickly (gait turnover) with longer strides.  Spend one minute going fast, one minute going long.  You’ll learn over time which works better for you and will likely come up with a good combination of the two. Give yourself three different days to experiment with your stride.

Once you’ve got your stride figured out, add in the arms.  Swinging your arms will help you “pump” at a faster rate and you’ll pick up speed.  Set up your timer and go the first mile.  The next time you go out, try to push yourself ten seconds faster. That’s it, just ten seconds.  Have that as your goal every time you go out and you’ll have a minute shaved off your time within a couple of weeks.  In four to six weeks you should be down to the 12 minute mile you’re looking for.

You can do this either running or walking, or a combination of both—whatever works best for you.

The plan: weight training

Wii Fit weight training:  I’m going to send you to your Wii for the resistance training portion, but I’ll add the abs in separately. Choose exercises that cover arms, shoulders, back, chest, legs, and specifically glutes.  Choose ten different exercises to cover all your body parts. Do them two to three times a week without fail!  The strength training will help you build muscle as the fat cells are shrinking. This will keep your metabolism elevated. Since you’ve been losing for a while it’s likely there’s a plateau in your future and weight training can really help you bust through that.

Studies have shown that people who lose weight solely through cardio and calorie restriction have a harder time after the honeymoon period is over.  Adding in weight training before that happens is a great way to stay motivated.  You’ll also start seeing changes in your body sooner—especially your arms.

Abs

I want you to do these exercises three to four times per week, and I want you to use your exercise ball to do them. It’s one of my favorite props for ab work!

Knee lifts: Sit upright on the ball with your feet grounded on the floor.  Hands should be out to the side to assist with balance. Inhale to get ready.  On the exhale, lift one knee  up into the air and suck your abs in hard as you lift.  Inhale and hold the knee in the air.  Exhale, lower the leg back down to the floor, and get your balance.  If you’re new to balance work, have a piece of furniture or a wall near you to grab if you need it!  Repeat the exercise eight times on each leg, and work up to 15 repetitions.

Oblique Twists: Grab your 3-pound weights and sit upright on the ball.  Hold the weights in front of you, one in each hand, with your arms parallel to the floor.  Inhale to get ready.  Exhale to open your arm out to the side and turn your ribcage as your arm opens.  Keep your eyes on the moving weight to help you twist your upper torso.  Your bottom stays right where it is on the ball, and the pelvis should only shift a little bit.  The emphasis is on twisting the rib cage, not just opening the arms to the side.  Inhale to hold the twist and exhale to go back to the start.  Repeat this exercise eight times on each side and work up to 15 repetition.

Ball Crunches: A classic exercise, because they work so well!  Scoot down on your ball so that your lower back is supported by the ball.  Hands go behind the head, and your feet are a bit wider than your hips and firmly planted on the floor.  If you have trouble with this, you can nudge your feet up against a wall for added stability.  Pretend you’re pulling your belly button up and under your rib cage (this is a Pilates trick and it works great!).  Keep tension along the bottom of the rib cage and start your crunches.  Exhale to crunch up and inhale to go back. Don’t release the crunch all the way—keep a little tension always.  Go up for a two count (count 1, 2) and down for a four count (count 1, 2, 3, 4).  The slower you go, the more muscle fibers will fire, and the faster you’ll see results—possibly as soon as the first week.

Jodi, I hope that helps!  Please let me know your feedback: I want to hear about how you do with your 12-minute mile goal.  If anyone has questions about the fitness routine, please ask away.