I tried it so you don't have to (though after reading this you just might want to)- Compression Pants

I'm sure by now you've heard of the term 'compression' used in reference to just about any article of fitness clothing imaginable: pants, tops, leggings, bras, tights, stockings, crops, shorts, socks.  You name it, you can compress it!  For ages I've been wondering what, if anything, these articles of compression clothing actually do in terms of your athletic performance.  The promises of endurance, speed, anti-fatigue, thermogenesis, and muscle tone seemed too good to be true... But were they?

A few weeks ago, I purchased some pairs of compression pants in hopes of answering those very questions and sharing my findings with FITTEST.  First of all, what they didn't do- Iet's get that out of the way.  I wasn't instantly more toned, agile, or quicker... at least not that I noticed!  Honestly, I would have been much more surprised had compression gear lived up to those particular claims because I am pretty skeptical by nature.  And they're just clothes afterall, not magic.  

Now for what I did experience.  Immediately after donning the compression tights, I looked great- they may not actually enhance muscle tone, but they will certainly make you *look* more ripped. During my test workouts (including a beach run, treadmill run, plyometrics, and legs day) my muscles and joints felt supported, yet not suffocated like I worried they might.  I should mention that my main goal in adding compression tights to my workout wardrobe was to offer extra support to a recently injured knee and I definitely felt like, for that purpose, they fit the bill.  During both types of runs, I did feel less muscle fatigue than normal, however during plyometrics and weight lifting I completed either equal or fewer reps than usual and saw no increase in strength.  Another compression pant perk was their effect on temperature regulation; I was kept warm whilst running on a cool beach in the evening and cool in a crowded, sweaty gym!  Probably the most exciting discovery was that I actually noticed a reduction in soreness following the all of the test workouts for the compression tights too!  

I can't really comment on compression wear's effect on thermogenesis, as I wasn't wearing any type of BMR monitoring band or anything during my test workouts.  But from the standpoint of a trainer, the difference in calories burned while wearing compression gear, if any, would likely be negligible.  

Overall, I was very pleased in the performance, look, and feel of the compression gear I tried.  I was most genuinely surprised with the pleasant effects they had on my post-workout soreness.  I would definitely recommend giving them a go and seeing if they have the same positive effects on your workouts!  Don't forget to read FITTEST next week as I tackle the classic conundrum- who gets a more effective workout, the early bird or the night owl?

Have a similar or differing opinion on compression gear?  Share it in the comments!

Have a wonderful week,

Sarah

In the Mix

I made a new trail mix this week, and it is so delicious that I just had to share!

Doesn't it look tasty?  Like all of my mixes, of course this is super easy, healthy, and yummy!  As you can probably tell, there's a bit of chocolate in this one... So it's extra yummy!  Read on for the details.

Fruit & Seed Treat Mix

Make as much or as little as you'd like and portion it out into little baggies or containers!  A serving is 1/3 cup, and contains a little over a hundred good-for-you calories.  Here's what you're looking at:

1 cup dried peas

1 cup dried edamame

1 cup dry roasted pepitas

1 cup dry roasted sunflower seeds

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup dark chocolate covered pepitas

It's just enough sweet and salty to satisfy even the craziest cravings and has fiber and protein to keep you full longer than processed treats.  It might sound like a random amalgamation of ingredients, but it really was too good to keep to myself!

Enjoy the mix & your weekend,

Sarah

Expecting the Unexpected

Hello Readers & Friends,

Please excuse my unexpected absence from the blogosphere- last week my significant other showed up (all the way from England) and took me on a surprise trip for Valentine's Day!  While I did take a break from the blog this past week, one thing I didn't take a break from was fitness- a fact that inspired this evening's post.  Today I thought I'd share some of my favorite ways to remain committed to a healthy lifestyle even when life throws some unexpected surprises your way.  Sure you can't plan for the unexpected, but you can be ready for the surprises life will inevitably send your way by following these tips:

-  If you're thrown out of your element, just go with the flow and improvise.  If traffic forces you to miss your favorite spin class, try Zumba or boxing or whichever other class is next, or get on the stationary bike, select the hill interval setting, and crank your own tunes.  Whatever you do, don't use the unexpected as an excuse to ditch out on your commitment to be healthy.

-  Keep a fully-stocked gym bag in your desk at work, in the trunk of your car, or right by your door at home.  Being packed ahead of time will prevent last-minute omissions; no more skipping a workout due to missing shoes, socks, sports bras, swim caps, etc.  If you still manage to forget something, see above and improvise.  No shoes or socks? Swim or do yoga!  No sports bra?  Skip the run and just lift weights!  No swim cap?  Try aqua aerobics!  No more excuses!

-  Have healthy snacks handy at all times.  Apples keep for ages, so buy a bunch and put them in a nice bowl on your desk at work.  Take a look through my old posts for recipes of healthy homemade trail mixes and make up a batch to keep in your purse, car, or gym bag.  It's likely that at some point you will find yourself out and about and craving a salty (or sweet) snack; preparing ahead of time with healthier fixes prevents junk food binges later on.

-  Worst case scenario, if something does come between you and your workout or if you overindulge on a holiday, just let it go.  Don't let one slip up derail your 'big picture' goals.  Being your FITTEST self isn't about being perfect 100% of the time, it's about your overall lifestyle being a healthy one.  If you beat yourself up over every calorie you've eaten and not burned off, living a healthy lifestyle will become torturous and impossible to stick with!

So if you go with the flow, banish the excuses, be prepared, and stay positive, you'll be your FITTEST self no matter what surprises your days have in store!

'Til Next Time,

Sarah

Sarah's Interval Playlist

Just a quick, fun, Friday post to conclude my series on training for your first race in the FITTEST way possible.  Today I'm sharing my own personal perennial favorite running mix that has been blasting out of my earphones for ages now!  It's upbeat, rockin' and will definitely get your feet moving and your heart pumping in the best way possible!

This particular mix is designed for a long interval run (it's a little over an hour altogether)- walk or jog during the slower songs and run or sprint during the heavier tunes.  The chilled out songs still have a great beat so you don't fall asleep and the tempo picks up throughout the playlist to keep you going strong.  I hope you enjoy the picks- and the bit of insight to what motivates me to run!

Warm Up

Save the Population- Red Hot Chili Peppers

Interval 1

Rope- Foo Fighters

Dashboard- Modest Mouse

Interval 2

Bullet with Butterfly Wings- Smashing Pumpkins

Stellar- Incubus

Interval 3

Ain't Talkin' Bout Love- Van Halen

No One Like You- The Scorpions

Interval 4

Best of You- Foo Fighters

Snow- Red Hot Chili Peppers

Interval 5

Achilles' Last Stand- Led Zeppelin (it's a long one, but push through!)

Young Lust- Pink Floyd

Cool Down

Miss You- The Rolling Stones

Stretch

Electric Feel- MGMT

Have fun, enjoy the throwback tunes, and hopefully you get the chance to get out there and run this weekend.  (If there are any fellow rock lovers out there, I hope you enjoy the era pairings).  This concludes my running series, so join me next time for reviews, recipes, and more!

Keep on Rockin 🎸 (and Running 👟) in the Free World 

Sarah 

Eat & Run- Running Nutrition Myths Debunked!

There are literally hundreds of commonly held misconceptions out there regarding nutrition, quite a few of which pertain directly to running.  In this post, I'll be sorting through the facts and the fiction of a few popular running nutrition beliefs.  Which are myths?  Which are legit?  Find out here!

Notion One: You should ALWAYS carbo-load before a race.

Fiction!

Fact:  Carbo-loading is something you likely learned about in high school athletics (it was definitely a common practice when I was in school... Spaghetti dinner before a swim meet, anyone?) and it does have its practical applications in training and competition, but it simply isn't necessary before most events.  The belief is that consuming large amounts of carbohydrates the night before an endurance event will increase the glycogen stores found in your muscles and reduce fatigue, therefore increasing performance.  The truth is that your muscles' natural glycogen stores are plenty to get you through the majority of runs out there; it's only if you're in action for over 1.5-2 hours that you'll deplete those resources.  If you aren't running that great of a duration, then skip the outdated practice of carbo-loading pre-race, as it'll only leave you bloated and possibly feeling sluggish for your event.  If you are competing in a longer race, then you might want to increase you consumption of carbohydrates in preparation.  Instead of adding extra carbs and calories on the night before the race, consider substituting some of your calories from fat and protein for calories from carbohydrates for a day or two pre-race, while keeping your calorie intake about the same.  Also, opt for whole grain carbs instead of refined, processed ones- think whole wheat bread or pasta, sweet potatoes, or brown rice.  You won't experience the same heavy feeling you would from the traditional pre-race pasta dinner.

Notion Two: Runners don't need as much protein as other athletes like weightlifters.

Myth (mostly)!

Fact:  The idea that bodybuilders are the only athletes with increased protein needs is just plain silly!  Running, like pretty much any exercise, breaks down muscle; for your body to rebuild that damaged muscle, it requires protein.  As such, a runner requires more protein than a sedentary individual.  In fact, a runner requires more calories that an average person as well.  So unless you're attempting to get down to your racing weight, be ready to up your calorie, as well as protein, intake after starting a new running regimen.  While every person has unique needs in terms of nutrition, a general, balanced macronutrient ratio for runners would be a ratio of 60 : 25 : 15 of carbohydrates : protein : fat, respectively.  So 60% of your calories would come from carbohydrates, specifically complex carbs and whole foods like oatmeal, whole wheat bread, tortillas, and pasta, bananas, apples, berries, brown rice, sweet potatoes, spinach, and other dark leafy greens.  25% would come from protein, ideally lean, complete proteins like eggs, quinoa, soy, black beans, skim milk, low-fat cottage cheese, and Greek yogurt.  And finally, 15% of your calories would come from healthy, unsaturated fats found in foods like avocados, olive oil, hummus, nuts, and seeds.  Runners do need a large amount of carbs to fuel intense training sessions, but that doesn't mean you can skimp on protein (or fat)!  All macronutrients are necessary for muscular and cardiovascular function, whether you're a runner, lifter, swimmer, whatever!

Notion Three:  Runners need sports drinks, energy gels, energy chews, _______, etc to fuel up.

Myth (mostly)!

Fact:  Much like the concept of carbo-loading, mid-race fuel like sports drinks or energy gels should mostly be reserved for runs of long duration.  If you're running for less than 1.5-2 hours, then energy chews, bars, gels, sugary sports drinks, etc. aren't necessary (see notion one regarding glycogen stores) and will just be excess calories that you don't really need to consume.  If you're training or racing in hot weather or if you tend to sweat a good deal, then consider drinking a low-calorie or calorie-free electrolyte replacement beverage like Powerade Zero or Propel.  Save the sugar-packed sports drinks for runs over two hours (or skip them altogether), as they can have the same sugar (and calorie) content of regular soda!  Again, every person's nutritional needs are slightly different, but certainly try to minimize your reliance on sugary supplements and reach for natural fuel, like 100% fruit juice, whenever possible.

I hope I helped shed some light on running nutrition for you- if there's another nutrition myth you'd like help demystifying, please feel free to share it in the comments!  Don't forget to read FITTEST on Friday for the conclusion of my First Race/ FITTEST Race series!

Take care,

Sarah

First Race/FITTEST Race- Final 1.5 Month Training Plan

Alrighty, today's post is pretty straightforward- I'm going to provide you with your training plan for the next 6 weeks to take to right up to your first 10K.  I really wanted to format this into a nice spreadsheet, but that was much easier said than done.  So behold, the last 1.5 months of the running plan in boring list format! 😝

Week 3- 

Day 1- Easy Run.  30 minutes at a moderate, sustainable pace.

Day 2-  Interval Run.  1 minute of intense effort (sprinting, running, whatever your pace may be) followed by 2 minutes of recovery (slower jogging).  Repeat for 15 sets for a 45 minute run.

Day 3- Rest Day

Day 4-  Interval Run.  Same as above, but for 10 sets for only 30 minutes total.

Day 5-  Strength and Flexibility Workouts.

Day 6- Distance Run.  Run on a treadmill or map out a course and run at your own pace for 3 miles (about a 5K).  If you can't run for the duration, that's ok!  You've been at the plan for about 3 weeks, so now's a good time to see what your mile pace is now and how it's changed (hopefully it's improving!)

Day 7- Flexibility Routine.

Week 4-

Day 1- Interval Run. 1 minute of intense effort followed by 90 seconds of recovery.  Repeat a total of 12 times for a 30 minute workout.

Day 2- Crosstraining for 60 minutes.

Day 3- Strength and Flexibility Training for Runners.

Day 4- Rest Day.

Day 5-  Interval Day.  Same as above.

Day 6-  Long Day. 60 minute run/jog, taking walking breaks as needed.

Day 7-  Flexibility for Runners.

Week 5-

Day 1-  Strength and Flexibility Training for Runners.

Day 2-  Interval Training.  1 minute of intense effort followed for 1 minute of recovery.  Repeat for 30 minutes, 15 sets.

Day 3- Distance Run.  You've been training for about 5 weeks, so give yourself a progress report.  Run on a treadmill or use a run tracker to set yourself a course.  Run or jog 5 miles at your current pace, walking when you need to, and see what your mile pace is looking like.  Pat yourself on the back for sticking it out this long!

Day 4- Flexibility for Runners.

Day 5- Cross Training for 45 minutes.

Day 6- Modified Interval Run.  Pick a fun, upbeat playlist and alternate running and walking to every other song.  Have fun and stick it out for 60 minutes.

Day 7- Rest Day (but try and encorporate some stretching into your day).

Week 6-

Day 1-  Interval Training.  Same as above. 30 minutes total.

Day 2-  Hill Run.  Run on a treadmill at 1% grade for 5 minutes to warm up, then take the incline up .5% every 2 minutes until you reach the goal of 5% then return the incline to 1% and repeat 2 more times the exact same way for a total run of about 40 minutes.

Day 3- Strength and Flexibility Training for Runners.

Day 4- Cross Training for 45 minutes

Day 5- Flexibility Training for Runners.

Day 6- Distance Run.  Run 6 miles at your own pace, taking walking breaks as needed.

Day 7- Interval Training. 2 minutes of intense effort followed by 1 minute of recovery.  Repeat 10 times for a total of 30 minutes.

Week 7- 

Day 1- Strength and Flexibility Training for Runners.

Day 2- Rest Day.

Day 3- Distance Run.  Run 7 miles at your own pace, taking walking breaks if needed.  This is your longest run yet, so don't forget to stretch.  

Day 4- Hill Run.  Same as above, but add on one more rep through the series, for a total of about 52 minutes.  Push yourself as hard as you can- the end is in sight!

Day 5- Interval Training.  1:1 ratio of sprint to jog.  Really challenge yourself as this is your last conditioning day to really shave off a few seconds from your race pace.

Day 6- Flexibility Training for Runners

Day 7-  Distance Run.  The race is about a week away, so today's your test run!  If possible, run the race course and time yourself to see about what your final race pace will be.  If you're unable to run the exact course that the race is on, try to find a 10K route that contains terrain similar to that found in the race.  If you know nothing about the race course, then just map out your own 10K (6.2 mile) run course.  Run outside, not on a treadmill, and take as few walking breaks as possible.  Today's run will reflect your approximate time on race day!  Great job- you're almost there!!

Final Week!

Day 1- Hill Run.  Same as previous hill runs, except with only two full reps of the series for a total of approx 25 minutes.

Day 2- Rest Day

Day 3- Distance Run.  Run for 5 miles at your own pace.  This is last long run you have before your race, so make it good.

Day 4- Rest Day

Day 5- Cross train for 45 minutes.  Don't do any activity that could potential make you sore for your run.  Don't try any new workouts- leave that silliness for after the race!

Day 6- Rest Day

Day 7- Easy Interval Run.  Jog for 4 minutes then Run at race pace for 1 minute.  Repeat 4 times for a 20 minute run.

RACE DAY!!!  You've worked so hard to get through a tough 2 months of training, so enjoy the day, and don't forget to congratulate yourself on all of your hard work!  Whether you have a race time of 50 minutes or 120, know that you've pushed yourself and done your best.  Great job, Newbie in UK and anyone else who's completed the training plan- thanks for sticking with us!

So that's it, how to morph yourself from "not a runner" to a successful 10K racer in just 2 months!  It can be done, but if that particular distance seems intimidating for a first-timer, go ahead and sign up for a 5K instead.  The same plan can be used the entire way through; the only change being that you divide the distance run days in half.  So if the training schedule calls for a 5 mile run, you would run a 2.5 mile run, etc.  Whatever the distance, a race is a great way to motivate yourself to get fit, but even if you don't have a race in mind, you can still use my training schedule to improve your running abilities and overall condition!  Check us out next time as I give you some nutrition tips tailor-made for runners.

Hope you had a fit and fun Monday,

Saran

First Race/FITTEST Race- Week Two Training Schedule

Like last time, begin EVERY workout (whether it's a run, strength training, or flexibility day) with at least a 5-10 minute warm-up, and follow each workout with at least a 5 minute cool-down.  Simply walking will do, just something to bring your heart rate slowly up (or down as the case may be) and transition your muscles into or out of the workout.

If you have time, follow every workout with the entire flexibility routine.  If time doesn't permit, then at least do an abridged version, which includes just 3 quick stretches.  The calf stretch from the full flexibility routine, as well as:

*Standing Quad Stretch* 

Lift one leg off the ground and bring the heel to the glute, stretching the front of the leg.  Hold for 5 deep breaths before switching sides.

*Hamstring Stretch*

From standing, simply bend at the hips, folding the upper body over the lower body, stretching out the backs of the legs.  Take 5 deep breaths, letting gravity pull you deeper into the stretch.

And here's your week two schedule-

Day 1-  Interval Training.  1 minute of jogging or running, followed by 2 minutes of walking or jogging, depending on your ability level.  Complete 10 full sets for a total of 30 minutes.

Day 2- Strength Training for Runners Plan

Day 3- Flexibility Routine

Day 4-  Long Run.  50 minutes at a steady pace.  If you can't run for the duration, jog.  If jogging becomes too much, allow yourself to speed walk.  Long days aren't about speed, they're about building endurance!

Day 5- Interval Training and Strength Training.  1 minute full intensity run/jog, followed by 2 minutes of recovery jog/walk.  Complete just 5 sets for a quick 15 minute cardio workout, then follow with the strength training plan.

Day 6- Rest Day

Day 7- Cross-training for 60 minutes.

You'll notice that one of your rest days has become a mandatory flexibility day.  As you progress, more of your rest days will become light activity or active recovery days on which we work on increasing mobility and range of motion and reducing soreness and fatigue.

Enjoy your weekend and come back on Monday for the final portion of the FITTEST 2 month to 10K plan!

- Sarah