We are a month and half in to this new year and I know for myself that in years past I was still trucking along to get in the best shape of my life. I don’t what happened before - I was younger, sometimes lived in a pace with a great climate, didn’t have kids… June, July, August would roll around and I’d be back where I started or worse. This year I really made it my main goal to get in the best shape I’ve ever been and so far I am satisfied with my progress. I’d like to share some of the things I’ve been doing and some of the tools that are helping me.
One of my main goals I put on myself was to run a half-marathon this year. I’ve run 5k’s before but I wanted to step it up a notch and go for something grand. I’ve decided to run in the Knoxville Marathon at the end of March. Thanks to my twitter friends especially @sadcox for Hal Higdon’s Half Marathon Training, I’ve been getting encouragement and we are all going to run as a team.
Last August our “Big Box Gym” membership expired and I didn’t want to renew. We had it for 3 years and I really took advantage of it the last 8 months of the contract. While I miss the hot tub whirlpool and the sauna I’m happy about the extra cash we’re saving. Now I had to look for alternatives to working out and that’s how I found the next few tools to help me.
• Crossfit - Probably the craziest style of working out that is sweeping the internet nation is Crossfit. This is what the soldiers in the movie The 300 used to get in the great shape they were in. Check it out at www.crossfit.com.
• The Pit DVD w/ John Hackleman - I’m a big fan of Mixed Martial Arts and John Hackleman and his team of students and fighters at his dojo known as The Pit know MMA. Home of the The Iceman, Chuck Liddell, The Pit is where champions are made. John put out a few DVD’s and I took a chance getting some based on reviews I read on Amazon.com. My favorite is the CrossPit DVD in which he takes his students through workouts based on Crossfit philosophies & Hawaiian Kenpo.
• TRX by Fitness Anywhere - I first read about Drew Brees, QB for the Saints, using the TRX when he’s trained be Todd Durkin in San Diego. I’ve had chance to meet Todd and some of the personal trainers that work at his Fitness Quest 10 facility and have always been impressed by his success. When I heard he uses the TRX with his clients I had to further investigate. I purchased one and I couldn’t be more amazed on what a great workout I get from my own body weight. Last week I attended a Suspension Trainer Certification course in Atlanta and I’ve learned great techniques and exercises to use personally and with clients.
• MapMyFitness.com - In order to track my progress with my run training, I signed up for MapMyFitness.com’s free account and downloaded the iPhone app to update my workouts. The app tracks how far I run, average pace and even tells me how much I’ve run every few minutes. It’s like a personal trainer giving you your progress as you run. Along with my heart rate monitor I’ve been able to run more efficiently than ever.
• Lose it! iPhone App - I just downloaded a free app for my iPhone called Lose It! It tracks your calories and the workouts you perform to burn them in a day. Enter your preferences, set your goal for how much weight you’d like to lose and the app will give you a realistic time and calorie intake limit for everyday.
