The Beginning to a Marathon is a Run: Running Tips for the Beginner Runner

Now that spring has sprung, (or, in Canada’s case, the sidewalks are no longer entirely covered in ice and it only dips below freezing at night), the desire to get outside and get active before summer starts has crept into some people’s hearts. One of the cheapest full body workouts that really gets you ready for summer is running. With a good pair of running shoes and some dedication, anyone can run. Here are a few basic tips to get yourself out on the running trails, while being safe, active, and healthy.

1. Pick a safe time to go running

Please don’t go running on sketchy back trails at 3am. That’s a bad choice. Seriously though, make sure you’re picking safe locations and safe times to go running. You want to make sure there are people around you, or people within close proximity to you that can hear you if necessary. Pro tip: going for a run before the sun goes down is satisfying both because it’s not in the heat of the day and because if you time it right (and live in the right place in the world), you get to see an epic sunset. Other pro tip: run with one headphone in, not both. That way you can hear your music and also hear what’s going on around you.

2. Warm up before you run

As George St. Pierre likes to say during his RushFit workouts, “your body is like an elastic. If you try to stretch it when it’s cold, it’s going to snap.” You’re going to want to start your run with a walk to get blood flowing throughout your body, get your lungs ready to run, and warm up your muscles before you start. Running from cold runs the risk (get it?) of injury in many different ways, and is generally a bad idea; instead, just start with a brisk walk. Your body will thank you for it.

3. Run at a pace you can handle

Repeat after me: “I am not Usain Bolt.” Everyone runs at their own pace, and that’s okay. Just because your run is someone else’s walk doesn’t make your run any less valid. Start with a comfortable pace that you can run at, and then as you get more used to running, run faster. You’re going to burn less calories by running at full speed for five minutes and burning out than you would if you ran for twenty minutes at a speed you could comfortably handle. Run smart, not fast!

4. Cool down after your run

Don’t just stop running, go inside, and have a beer. Just like you start your run with a warm-up, you should end your run with a cool down. Give your muscles a chance to slow down after your run and prepare you to go back into your everyday life. If you just stop, chances are your muscles will tighten up and you’ll be at a higher risk for muscle cramps or spasms, and trust me, those are no fun whatsoever. Take five minutes at the end of your workout, enjoy the fact that you just did a hard workout, and get yourself ready to go back to your regular life.

5. Stretch

This step is not optional because as much as stretching isn’t fun, it’s actually super beneficial. Stretching helps make everyday activities more easy, helps relax muscles, and puts you at a lower risk for muscle spasms and cramps. Take some time after your run to stretch out your legs, your arms, and your back at the very least. If you’re looking for some good stretches, check out these links:

1. https://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/how-to-stretch-after-a-run.aspx
2. https://www.runnersworld.com/static-stretching/cool-down-routine
3. https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/essential-runner-stretches#psoas

There you have it! Basic tips that will get you from a beginner runner to a 5km pro. Now get on out there and go for a run! Pace yourself, but push yourself, and when it hurts, remember that you’re going to feel so good after you’re done. The satisfaction of a workout always comes after the workout itself.

May the running gods be ever in your favour!

-K

It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year… For (Not) Missing a Weekly Workout

We all get it—the Christmas season gets crazy busy for everyone. There’s presents to buy, Christmas trees to set up, houses to clean, baking to do, relatives to visit, presents to make, wrapping to do, and more and more and more: the craziness never seems to stop. The thing is, taking some you time even during the crazy holiday time is extremely important. As a student; on top of the Christmas craziness, I also have to cram in some time to finish all of my major assignments and study for exams (which I may be procrastinating on by writing this post… shh, don’t tell!)

The fact of the matter is, you probably don’t feel like you have the time, the energy, or the motivation to do any workout because by the end of the day, you just want to curl up on the couch and surf Netflix. I understand that feeling, I really do: by the end of my day, I just want to watch Castle reruns and ignore the exams that are quickly creeping up on me. Here are a few ways that should help you get your workout in, keep that motivation, and still have time to curl up with your favorite show at the end of a long, productive day.

1) Early Morning Workouts

Before you close your laptops and phones and tell me I’m crazy, give me a chance to explain. There are many, many benefits to working out in the morning, including but not limited to getting your workout over with early, improving your mental energy, and preparing you to take on the day ahead. Working out in the morning pumps you up because your workout high comes at the beginning of the day and gets you ready to make the rest of your day as kickass as your workout was. That way, when you’re exhausted by the end of the day, you don’t have to force yourself to work out: you did it at the point in your day when you had the most energy! Even though it may be a little difficult to get out of bed early, you’ll definitely thank yourself for giving this a try.

 

2) Badass Workout Buddies

 

If you’ve got yourself a workout buddy that will show up at your door and boot you out of bed to go to a workout class, you’ve got yourself one of the best kinds of people in the world. Making a commitment to yourself is one thing, but making a commitment to yourself and someone else is even more important, because you’re even more likely to keep it. Unfortunately, I don’t have a gym buddy right now, but every member of my Taekwon-Do family is my workout buddy—they’re the ones that motivate me to get my butt to class even though all I want to do is sleep. Find yourself a person that will motivate you to do your thing, and that you enjoy working out with, and you’ll suddenly find that your workout is way more fun because it means catching up with a friend as well as breaking a good sweat.

3) Treat Yo self—with a Workout!

 

Lots of people’s Christmases involve family coming to visit, which means busy houses, constant people, and a slight headache by the end of the day. Not that I encourage hiding from your family at Christmas: I do encourage using your workout time as your you time; after all, asking your family to come to the gym with you will probably end with a resounding “NO!” (my requests usually do). During the holidays, let the gym be your haven where you can finally have a moment to yourself when you can actually hear yourself think. Family visiting usually increases stress in hosts especially, so sweat your stress away during your alone time, and return ready to entertain people during the best holiday of the year.

As hard as it is to believe, working out during the holidays is easy, as long as you do it in a way that fits your schedule, and that allows you to take some time to yourself. That may include some more planning than usual; however, it’s totally going to be worth it in the end! Not only will you be generally happier, healthier, and less stressed—you’re also going to feel so much better about those extra two pieces of fudge you ate. And the cookie at lunch. And the extra helping of potatoes. And basically every extra bit of food you’ve eaten over the holidays.

Happy Holidays, dear readers! Enjoy your holiday season spiced with the occasional workout!

-K

Burpees, EMOMs, and Lots of Sweat: Workout #1

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about motivation and taking the steps towards getting that first workout in the bag, but we haven’t spent very much time talking about exactly how to work out if you’re doing it at home. Today, we’re going to run through a basic workout plan that’ll be good to start you off if you’re beginning your workout ventures in the comfort of your own home. I’ll take you through a brief warm-up, a workout that’ll hit most of the major muscles in your body, and then some light stretching to do at the end. Now you’ll have no excuse to avoid that first step any longer!

Warm-Up (5 min):

Like I’ve said before, warming up before you start your workout is extremely important, not only because it gives your muscles a chance to prepare for the workout ahead, but also because it gets your blood flowing, your heart pumping, and your mind ready to work hard. Warm-Ups can be anywhere from two or three minutes to half an hour long, so how long you do things for and how many things you do will vary depending on the specific warmup. Here’s a pretty basic 5-minute warmup to get that blood flowing and get your body ready to go.

1) Running on the Spot (1 min)

2) Jumping Jacks (1 min)

3) Push-ups (1 min)

4) Sit-ups (1 min)

5) Squats (1 min)

Workout (8 min):

Excellent! Now that your body is warm and your muscles are primed, you’ve probably already started to break a sweat, which is important: we don’t save our sweat exclusively for the workout. Today’s workout is called an EMOM, which stands for Every Minute On the Minute (not an electronic mother like I thought it was the first time I heard it). This means that you have 1 minute to do a full circuit of the exercises, and then you have to start again. If it takes you 50 seconds to complete the exercises, then you get 10 seconds of rest before you start again. If it takes you 30 seconds to complete the exercises, you get 30 seconds of rest before you start again at the top of the minute. This is an 8-minute workout, so try to push yourself: you only have to do everything 8 times!
1) 6 Burpees (because 5 isn’t enough and 7 is too many)

2) 10 Lunges

3) 10 Mountain-Climbers

Stretching:

Yay! You made it! Congratulations: I’m excited that you pushed your way through! Don’t you feel good? It may not have sounded like a hard workout when you started, but it turned out to be pretty difficult, right? If it wasn’t, then next time, either add more minutes to your time, or more repetitions of the exercises. Now it’s time to stretch, relax, and get ready to get back to work (or schoolwork if you’re a university student like me).

Sitting Stretches:

1) Spread your legs as wide apart as you can, point your toes to the sky, and walk your hands forward as far as you can (hold 30s x2)

2) Put your feet together in front of you and reach down to touch your toes (hold 30s x2)

3) Put the balls of your feet together, pull them in towards your body, and use your elbows to push your knees to the floor (hold 30s x2)

Standing Stretches:

1) Grab one of your feet and pull it towards your butt. Point your knee towards the ground (hold 30s/leg)

2) Place your feet one shoulder-width apart and reach down to try and touch your toes (hold 30s)

3) Reach one arm across your chest, and hug it tightly to your chest with your other arm (hold 30s/arm)

All done! See? Easy as pie! Working out sounds extremely difficult, time-consuming, and painful, but in reality, it’s as easy as taking a half-hour out of your day for some ‘you’ time. Now that you’ve done your first workout, why not try a second? A third? This exercise can be done once a day (or more), and once you work your strength and endurance up, you can increase your repetitions or the amount of minutes for your EMOM. If you want to switch up the exercises because something isn’t working as well as they can for you, do it, just make sure that they’re working similar muscles. Good work, friends! Now go and enjoy the rest of your day, knowing that you’ve done your physical activity for the day.

Don’t hate me when your muscles hurt tomorrow!

-K

Food Prep and the Art of Healthy Lunch-Making

Let’s talk, for a second, about single-person food prep. I get it—food prep sounds like a whole pile of work that you just really don’t want to do, but the thing about food prep is that it can make all the difference in your life, both fitness-related and otherwise. Contrary to popular opinion, food prep doesn’t require fancy containers and pre-made meals for the entire week (though that’s an option if you’re interested in making your week-long workload even less); it can actually take you less than 30 minutes one day of the week, and can save you a whole pile of time, effort, and junk food during the week. Now, as a person that only has to worry about feeding herself, this is primarily going to be about food prep for one person, but the concepts and ideas can be used for entire families. Today, we’ll talk about lunch foods, because lunch is the meal that people are most often away for. Here’s what I do.

I work as a lifeguard/swim instructor, so I don’t have a regular 9-5 job. I could work at 5am one day, and 5pm the next. Accordingly, I can’t exactly make meals for every single day, because some days I’m home for breakfast, and some days I’m gone for breakfast, lunch, and most of dinner. Instead, I prep foods that are easy to make into breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, so that I can prep whatever meals I need whenever I need to. The basic fruits and vegetables that I prep are mushrooms, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers. I wash them, slice them, and package them away in the fridge so that I can pull them out easily. I get some deli meat, so that I can make sandwiches, salads, pita wraps, or other easy lunch foods with meat and the pre-prepped vegetables.

Even when I’m not out, I find that having fruits and vegetables prepared for consumption means that I’m a lot more likely to eat them. I mean, let’s be real here: it’s so much easier to eat some crackers or a bag of chips than it is to peel and cut up carrots and eat them with hummus. Having the carrots already ready means that it takes me the same amount of effort to eat them as it does to eat that bag of chips. It’s an incentive to eat healthier, which I find makes all the difference. If I eat more unhealthy foods for a week, I find I feel more lethargic, tired, and unwilling to do things, whereas if I eat more healthily, I have more energy, feel more positive, and want to accomplish things.

A quick note: eating healthy doesn’t mean limiting yourself to only fruits and vegetables, and only small amounts of said fruits and vegetables. For me, eating healthy is all about moderation. My working lunches have a tendency to consist of a pita wrap filled with mushrooms, cucumbers, peppers, ham, and tzatziki, a bag of carrots, and a cookie. Some carbs, loads of vegetables, and some form of dessert: a nice balance. In the same way, a bowl of chips every once in a while isn’t a sin—it’s just a treat, which is 100% acceptable. If you want to eat healthy, use the rule of moderation and I promise, you’ll never feel like you’re suffering from lack of chocolate, or like you’re living off rabbit food.

Go forth and eat healthy!

-K