Today’s News:
I was reading this article today that had some information in it that I should probably pay more attention to.
One of the things that was apparent to me when I was learning to run was how high my heart rate would go. My running partner’s HR was always lower than mine was. She probably weighs a little less than I do but we are about the same height, I’m a full figured type (I’ve got more bone structure (and possibly more muscle mass)wide shoulders/hips, narrower waist) and she’s an Apple shape. She is also a couple of years younger but all in all we are pretty well matched. Anyway, my HR is about 10-15 beats higher than hers. One of the goals of my learning to run was to increase my endurance before my running speed because I wanted to be able to run longer with a lower HR and then once I had that stabilized, I was going to increase my speed. I’ll tell ya, I was running pretty slow and it would probably be a fast walk for most.
What the article was saying is that endurance is an important facet of performance. Two physiological factors that have the most impact on endurance are cardiovascular fitness and muscular fitness. So of course the more efficient your heart is, the easier it is to pump the blood through your body with less beats. The other part is that the stronger your muscles are, the lower percentage of maximum strength is required to push you through your strides, moving you along further will less effort. So if your muscles don’t need to work so hard, then they need less and less oxygenated blood which in turn puts less demand on your heart, which in turn lowers your heart rate.
So how that affects me is that even though I have a lot of muscle so to speak, I have very weak legs and I know this. I’m pretty sure most of my weight is in my wiggly jiggly thighs. And with my hip issues, this kind of helps to explain that a bit. I’ve overworked my hips, which are now seized up, and therefore my legs are having to kick in , and they are suffering as well because they aren’t as strong as I thought they were. I may be able to do 100 squats, but I can’t do step ups very easily as it hurts my hip and I can feel the weakness in my legs. So I need to gain a ton of strength in my legs. What I’m saying is that I do need to work on my lower body strength and even though I could tell my quads were building when I was running, there’s a whole lot of other muscles I think I was neglecting and need to strengthen them. I need an entirely new workout strategy I think.
Exercise:
I was not able to walk today as I had a particularly bad night sleep last night due to the pain in my hip. It’s moved now to another part and it’s becoming a pain in the hipster.
I’ve decided that I need to let it completely heal before I endeavor on any more walking trips. I’ve started a herbal anti-inflamatory with some white willow in it to help with the pain, so hopefully I will see some results in a couple of days. Once that is under-control, then I’m going to start on a regular supplement of a joint remedy to maintain maintenance and lubrication. I truly hope it all works.
Food:
So far so good this week. No booze, eating fairly good and healthy. Going away for the weekend and I know it won’t be that good. Going to a small town in the BC Rockies that has their “Taste of Fernie” weekend where all the local resturaunts make tasters for everyone. It is quite good as there are quite a few different cuisines’ there and you get to try all kinds of different stuff. There is also lots of artsy type stuff and local musicians and I’m just going to enjoy my self
And last but not least – Erin this one is for you
I was reading this article today that had some information in it that I should probably pay more attention to.
One of the things that was apparent to me when I was learning to run was how high my heart rate would go. My running partner’s HR was always lower than mine was. She probably weighs a little less than I do but we are about the same height, I’m a full figured type (I’ve got more bone structure (and possibly more muscle mass)wide shoulders/hips, narrower waist) and she’s an Apple shape. She is also a couple of years younger but all in all we are pretty well matched. Anyway, my HR is about 10-15 beats higher than hers. One of the goals of my learning to run was to increase my endurance before my running speed because I wanted to be able to run longer with a lower HR and then once I had that stabilized, I was going to increase my speed. I’ll tell ya, I was running pretty slow and it would probably be a fast walk for most.
What the article was saying is that endurance is an important facet of performance. Two physiological factors that have the most impact on endurance are cardiovascular fitness and muscular fitness. So of course the more efficient your heart is, the easier it is to pump the blood through your body with less beats. The other part is that the stronger your muscles are, the lower percentage of maximum strength is required to push you through your strides, moving you along further will less effort. So if your muscles don’t need to work so hard, then they need less and less oxygenated blood which in turn puts less demand on your heart, which in turn lowers your heart rate.
So how that affects me is that even though I have a lot of muscle so to speak, I have very weak legs and I know this. I’m pretty sure most of my weight is in my wiggly jiggly thighs. And with my hip issues, this kind of helps to explain that a bit. I’ve overworked my hips, which are now seized up, and therefore my legs are having to kick in , and they are suffering as well because they aren’t as strong as I thought they were. I may be able to do 100 squats, but I can’t do step ups very easily as it hurts my hip and I can feel the weakness in my legs. So I need to gain a ton of strength in my legs. What I’m saying is that I do need to work on my lower body strength and even though I could tell my quads were building when I was running, there’s a whole lot of other muscles I think I was neglecting and need to strengthen them. I need an entirely new workout strategy I think.
Exercise:
I was not able to walk today as I had a particularly bad night sleep last night due to the pain in my hip. It’s moved now to another part and it’s becoming a pain in the hipster.
I’ve decided that I need to let it completely heal before I endeavor on any more walking trips. I’ve started a herbal anti-inflamatory with some white willow in it to help with the pain, so hopefully I will see some results in a couple of days. Once that is under-control, then I’m going to start on a regular supplement of a joint remedy to maintain maintenance and lubrication. I truly hope it all works.Food:
So far so good this week. No booze, eating fairly good and healthy. Going away for the weekend and I know it won’t be that good. Going to a small town in the BC Rockies that has their “Taste of Fernie” weekend where all the local resturaunts make tasters for everyone. It is quite good as there are quite a few different cuisines’ there and you get to try all kinds of different stuff. There is also lots of artsy type stuff and local musicians and I’m just going to enjoy my self
And last but not least – Erin this one is for you
There is 15 of them in this picture. Does not include the 3 I have in the trailer or the two I have here at work. I have an issue.....
I hope everyone has a wonderful day..
ttyl
Sandra
LOL I love the picture! I would have that many if my husband would let me get away with it, but he draws the line at 5 or 6. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is really interesting about muscle strength/heart rate. My HR also gets very elevated when I run, and while it's gotten better, I find that I still have to be very mindful of my pace so it doesn't get too high. It's kind of frustrating, and I just thought I needed to keep working on my running, but perhaps I need to focus on strengthening as well!
I love the picture too! I think I have 7 or 8. :o) This is such great information, so glad you shared it with us!!!
ReplyDeleteThere was more in the article about nutritional suggestions to get your blood flowing and inflamation down (which is what I really need now) but I didn't post it as I don't have any extensive knowledge on this type of stuff and don't want to just share willy nilly and someone read it, try it, and have a reaction to it. I found an online link to the article but it is an actual copy of the page from the magazine. Anyone can google it, "Brendan Brazier, Vista Magazine, Training: Hit a Wall?".
ReplyDelete