back at it

Hi, It's Laura!

First thing first: sharing.

Thank you for taking the time to read my posts every day. It's great to know that I have a loyal audience. Help spread the word so more people can enjoy this blog. 

At the bottom of this email you receive, there is a link (triathlon training) in blue, if you click on that, it will send you directly to my blog where you can share with others or post on your Facebook page. If you have any questions on how, ask me!

The hardest thing to do is drag your butt back to the gym after an absence whether the absence is due to illness, busy-ness or laziness. This time of year the TV ads are going to do all they can to separate you from your money with that guilt about getting in shape and losing weight (I am not a Jennifer Hudson fan and I HATE her new Weight Watchers commercial).

What the ad doesn't say is “Learn how to eat healthy or exercise and it will improve your health”. It only says “Hey I am a celebrity and I can get skinny by a corporation hiring a nutritionist and a trainer but we want you to think you can too without it by just paying us money”. “So buy WW membership”.  And so you do buy it, and you will get a little thinner but it is too tough to stick to it. Eventually you return to you normal habits again by say March and your “normal” weight.. She will too (as soon as she isn’t being paid to lose weight and monitored by WW all the time).

I had not planned on discussing Jennifer Hudson, so let's move on back to the gym.

As you are well aware, I have been down with a cold for the last ten days, dying to get back to training.

So this morning I ran.  (I just heard Flock of Seagull’s in my head, go figure.)

I almost always train with a heart rate monitor so I can accurately track my calories, my distance and my time. But sometimes the heart rate monitor is not measuring how hard you are working. Some days you are tired, ate too much of the wrong thing or have been out of the gym for too long. The HR monitor does not reflect how you feel. 

To get a better idea of how hard you are working we can use RPE (rating of perceived exertion). The RPE is used subjectively to rate intensity of the exercise. Most days I can run the West side of Central Park with moderate exertion (13) today after being out for a week, the same hill I considered hard (19).

The Borge RPE Scale:

• 6 - 20% effort
• 7 - 30% effort - Very, very light (Rest)
• 8 - 40% effort
• 9 - 50% effort - Very light - gentle walking
• 10 - 55% effort
• 11 - 60% effort - Fairly light
• 12 - 65% effort
• 13 - 70% effort - Somewhat hard - steady pace
• 14 - 75% effort
• 15 - 80% effort - Hard
• 16 - 85% effort
• 17 - 90% effort - Very hard
• 18 - 95% effort
• 19 - 100% effort - Very, very hard
• 20 - Exhaustion

Use this scale and/or "Talk Test", the talk test measure intensity by your ability to respond in a conversation. When comfortable speech is not possible you may want to decrease your intensity to a conversational level (I do get some strange looks when I talk out loud to myself but I got used to it). Although simple guidelines, they will keep you working a good intensity for YOUR fitness level. The more fit you get, the more intensely you will work and will still be able to have a conversation.

So this morning I realized I was sucking wind and needed to slow down. After a week of no exercise and a little too much holiday cheer, I definitely lost a little cardio along the way.

The RPE can also help you compare yourself to yourself instead of someone else's performance (that goes for all you Lance-Armstrong-wannabees in the park in the morning too).

Just because the person next to you is on 82 RPM on the spin bike, doesn't mean you should be, you need to work at your own pace, not theirs. They may have gotten a better night sleep or they could even be a competitive cyclist and you don’t know. Follow your own fitness goals and stay on track.

Play hard! (20)

Laura