workout

The Importance of a Training Log

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It’s a rare occasion for me to walk into the SRC or RHRC and see people working out with a training log.  Why is that?  Writing down and keeping track of each workout is so important to your success.

A training log can really be whatever you want it to be.  If you are always in the weight room, record the exercise you did, how many reps of how much weight and how many sets you performed.  Then, set a goal to lift more and see yourself progress over the weeks.  If you are an elliptical hog (that’s me!), write down the level of intensity or your estimated calories burned (although the machine is not completely accurate!), and set a goal to do the same routine at a higher intensity or burn more calories in the same amount of time.

Here are some reason why keeping a training log is worth doing:

Motivation: After a few weeks, being able to look back on how far you’ve come is so encouraging.  Maybe you can bench press 20 extra pounds or you can run a mile 25 seconds faster.  Looking over your progress will give you the confidence to push even further.

Keep You On Track: If you have a specific goal in mind, keeping a training log will hold you accountable to it.  Sometimes, people will even write down their daily workout routine a week in advanced so that they won’t skip their gym time for a nap or a repeat episode of Jersey Shore (am I the only one who is guilty of this?).  Write down everything so you can push yourself.

Evaluation:  A log will help you see what worked and what didn’t.  Maybe you’ve been stuck doing the same number of deadlifts at the same weight for weeks or your three-mile run hasn’t been getting any faster.  You can evaluate what you need to do to get to your goal, so next time you throw in some extra sets to your routine or do a few sprints during your next run.  And if you are seeing the results you want, perfect!  Keep going!

Help You Switch Things Up: After doing the same routine for a number of weeks, your body gets “used to” the workout.  This can lead to a plateau in your results.  Seeing that you’ve been doing the same old thing for the past month may encourage you to change it up – maybe the order that you typically do each exercise or even the workout entirely.  If you’ve been running a lot, try a spin class.  If you’ve been doing regular pushups, try triceps (aka triangle) pushups.  Keep your muscles guessing!

Reality Check: Let’s be honest – sometimes we don’t train as hard as we think we do.  You were at the gym for an hour, but spent three minutes between each set so it wasn’t that intense.  Writing down everything will help you see what you’ve really done.  You might realize that you do a lot of arm exercises but not enough lower-body exercises.  A log will help you see what you need to do more or less of.

Check out the few examples of training logs below!  But feel free to find one that fits YOU and your routine best!

 

Workout Wednesday blog posts are written by UNC Campus Recreation. Each Wednesday we swap blog posts with the Tar Heel Tone Up blog so that readers can view more diverse post topics that will benefit their health and wellness. Workout Wednesday blog posts can be found both here and on tarheeltoneup.com.

Pre- and Post- Workout Nutrition

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Protein shakes, whey protein powder… But when do you use these?  Before or after exercising?  How do you fuel up for a workout and how do you help your muscles recover?

Ms. Mary Ellen Bingham, MS, RD, CSSD, head sports nutritionist at UNC, recommends “book-ending”.  This means you eat something small both before and after your workout.  To fuel up and in order to have enough energy to get through your time at the gym, eat within about an hour prior to exercising.  Then, eat again within 30 minutes – don’t wait until lunch or dinner time to eat.  These don’t have to be complete meals, but more so, snacks.

Check out the image below on nutrient timing that Ms. Bingham created. (Click for larger image).

For pre-workout, carbs will give you the energy to push yourself and not get exhausted.  Try crackers or toast with peanut butter, fruit, a small granola bar or a handful of pretzels.  Post-workout, you want to refuel your muscles.  First and foremost, make sure to drink water!  All that sweat is going to leave you dehydrated, so you need to be drinking before, during and after your workout.  Additionally, have a combination of both carbs and protein such as trail mix, a sports bar, a smoothie or – the classic drink that promotes fast muscle recovery – low-fat chocolate milk.

Previously, I interviewed Dr. Abbie Smith, an assistant EXSS professor.  If you read this interview (I don’t want to repeat it all!), you’ll find other similar advice.  Dr. Smith gave me nutritional advice for those trying to gain muscle, those trying to lose fat, what “cheat days” are all about and supplement information.  That blog post is extremely informative and can clear up some further questions you may have about nutrition for athletes.

So, if they’re right for you, continue with your protein shakes, nutrition bars or whatever your usual pre/post workout snack may be!  Remember – carbs before and a combination of carbs and protein after.

 

Workout Wednesday blog posts are written by UNC Campus Recreation. Each Wednesday we swap blog posts with the Tar Heel Tone Up blog so that readers can view more diverse post topics that will benefit their health and wellness. Workout Wednesday blog posts can be found both here and on tarheeltoneup.com.

Workout Wednesday: 5 Things to Bring to the Gym

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What should you bring to the gym other than your sneakers and some clothes that you can break a sweat in?  To help make every workout successful and enjoyable, here are five items to bring along with you.

  1. Headphones – Nobody wants to hear Kanye West blasting through your headphones while you’re on the rowing machine.  But listening to music while your exercise is important – just do it at a volume that won’t make you half-deaf!  It’ll help get you through a tough workout and keep you from getting bored.  One of my favorite ways to workout is to push your hardest during each chorus and recover during the rest of the song.  By the time your favorite playlist is over, an hour will have already passed and it’ll be time to hit the shower.
  2. Water Bottle – Drinking water while you exercise is essential.  Of course, you need to hydrate before working out, but continue to do so while you’re sweating buckets.  This will keep your energy high and body fueled.  If you’re working out for more than an hour, consider filling your water bottle with a sports drink!
  3. Towel – This one is easy.  You don’t even have to remember to throw one into your bag.  You can check out a towel at the gym!  When you hand over your One Card to be swiped into the gym, ask for a towel.  Then simply return it when you leave – and be sure to have an employee swipe your card again or you might get charged!
  4. Smart Phone – Ignore the texts and Facebook notifications.  Click here to check out some the latest and greatest apps for your workout.  Your phone can be a great tool to keep you focused on your goals and to help you see results quicker!
  5. Snack – If you’re hitting up the gym between classes or have a meeting to go to after your sweat session, you may not have time to stop by your dorm and grab a bite to eat.  Post-workout nutrition is incredibly important!  Getting a combination of carbohydrates and protein (ideally a 3:1 ratio) will help your muscles recover and rebuild.  Pack a protein bar, a small turkey sandwich or some trail mix.  After you finish on the treadmill and head out the door to whatever your next appointment is, eat a little something.

If you’ve got all these items packed, you will be rockin’ your next workout at the gym.

Workout Wednesday blog posts are written by UNC Campus Recreation. Each Wednesday we swap blog posts with the Tar Heel Tone Up blog so that readers can view more diverse post topics that will benefit their health and wellness. Workout Wednesday blog posts can be found both here and on tarheeltoneup.com.

Workout Wednesday: Prep Your Workout

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Do you ever get to the gym and feel somewhat clueless?  Working out isn’t as simple as just showing up and getting into your routine.  Whether you are new to the gym or a veteran, follow this plan to prepare for a workout.  It’ll help you avoid injury, perform your best and see results.

  1. Plan – What will you do at the gym?  Weights, cardio or a combination of both?  Come to your workout with a specific plan.  If you do, you’ll be less tempted to skip out the hard stuff.  If I wait to do my abs after my workout, sometimes I’ll just skip and go back to my dorm a tad early.  Know exactly what you will do and for how long at the gym.  If you’re like me, do your abs before your cardio.  Know which arm exercises and which leg exercises you’ll perform.  Know how many miles you will run on the treadmill or how long your set of sprints will be.  Be prepared!
  2. Fuel – As I’ve stated before, it is incredibly important to have a pre-workout meal.  Maybe “meal” isn’t the right word, but a snack with some carbohydrates is a great way to get your body ready for intense exercise.  Try some fruit, a granola bar or even some toast with peanut butter.  Carbs will fuel your body with the energy it needs to get through any sweat session.
  3. Warm Up – If you’re short on time, it can be tempting to skip the warm up.  Do not, I repeat, DO NOT skip this 5-10 minutes.  If you casually walk into the SRC and go straight into doing heavy squats or extreme sprinting, you can easily hurt yourself.  Skipping these few minutes could force you to skip the gym for months to recover from a major injury like a pulled hamstring or a torn ACL.  Seriously, it happens.  So just save yourself from injury and warm up your muscles prior to an intense workout.
  4. Stretch – You can either do dynamic stretches (like these from Runner’s World – which help warm up your muscles while stretching them) or stretch after warming up your muscles with an easy walk on the treadmill or any light cardio.  Skipping your stretch session could lead to injury.  And, believe it or not, simply holding a stretch for 30 seconds prior to warming up could also damage a muscle.  It is important to warm up while stretching, like through dynamic stretches or warm up slowly and then stretch after.
  5. Get Rest – Sometimes the best way to prepare for a workout is to skip one.  If you’ve been doing intense workouts every day for a week, you should take a day of rest.  Your body needs to recover and rebuild.  You’ll come back to your workout the next day feeling better than ever.

Workout Wednesday blog posts are written by UNC Campus Recreation. Each Wednesday we swap blog posts with the Tar Heel Tone Up blog so that readers can view more diverse post topics that will benefit their health and wellness. Workout Wednesday blog posts can be found both here and on tarheeltoneup.com.

Workout Wednesday: Sweating During a Workout – Is More Better?

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Many people believe that the more you sweat during a workout, the better. Maybe it’s the idea that sweat is a form of cleansing, ridding the body of toxins. Or perhaps the appeal comes from the idea that increased perspiration will result in increased weight loss. Whatever the reasoning may be, the truth is that sweating alone is provides no health benefits. The positive effects come from the exercise, and the sweating is just a byproduct.

Image courtesy of Photodisc on Thinkstock
Image courtesy of Photodisc on Thinkstock

What exactly is sweating, though?

When you exercise and your heart rate increases, your core body temperature rises as well. In order to bring the temperature back down, you sweat. The idea is that the perspiration evaporates, taking the heat along with it. This helps cool you down after an intense run or a strenuous weight-lifting session. But the act of sweating does not amplify an of the health benefits associated with exercise alone.

And what about steam rooms or saunas?

Ah, the sauna. Nothing seems better after a hard workout that to relax in a steam room. While these types of rooms can seem to have health effects due to increased perspiration and skin cleansing, the truth is that these health claims don’t hold up. While it may feel good to take a trip to the sauna after working out, you really aren’t doing much to increase your health.

Next time you jump on an elliptical or lace up your running shoes, focus more on your form than on how much you sweat. Ready to get your workout on? Check out the UNC Fitness Center hours and make 2014 your healthiest year yet.

 

Workout Wednesday blog posts are written by UNC Campus Recreation. Each Wednesday we swap blog posts with the Tar Heel Tone Up blog so that readers can view more diverse post topics that will benefit their health and wellness. Workout Wednesday blog posts can be found both here and on tarheeltoneup.com.

WORKOUT WEDNESDAY: Group Fitness with Campus Recreation – Absolution

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This blog post was written by Emily Wheeler and is published as part of our blog exchange with Tar Heel Tone-Up.

Since the year is new, we’re going back to the basics and introducing some of the opportunities offered by Campus Recreation. We know we’ve written about them before, but we also know that they get buried in the archives of articles every year, so we want to make sure everyone gets a chance to learn about opportunities and get involved!

One of the coolest things that Campus Rec has to offer students is a huge variety of FREE group fitness classes every week! These classes are taught by trained fitness instructors who are students, just like you. They take place in the fitness studios in Ram’s Head Recreation Center and the Student Recreation Center, as well as select classes in Woolen gym and Bowman Gray pool.

Cute Couple - Fitness Instructor and Weightlifter
Photo: “Cute Couple – Fitness Instructor and Weightlifter” by DigiNik13, Flickr Creative Commons.

Course offerings include:

  • Pilates
  • Cycle
  • Step
  • Barre
  • Absolution
  • Zumba
  • Cardio Blast
  • Lower Body Conditioning
  • Yoga
  • Muscle Cut Barbells
  • Kick’n Sculpt
  • Muscle Cut
  • Upper Body Conditioning
  • Tai Chi
  • H2O Dance
  • Mindful Yoga
  • KickHIIT (HIIT = High Intensity Interval Training)
  • Power Yoga
  • Cardio Dance
  • Kickboxing
  • 3-2-1
  • Water Aerobics

As you can see, there are a ton of options available, so you can choose what interests you! Some classes have varying levels of difficulty: for example, power yoga is more difficult than mindful yoga, and Cycle classes and Kick’n Sculpt are extremely heavy on the cardio intensity. However, all classes are open to people of all levels of fitness. You are not required to complete every move or exercise and there are always modifications to make each exercise easier or more difficult.

I’ll feature some brief reviews of various classes in coming articles as the semester gets off to a fast start! For starters, I’ll review the shortest, but quite possibly the most intense, class we offer: Absolution.

Absolution:

This class might only last for 15-20 minutes, but your core will be absolutely on fire the entire time! The exercises are organized by songs; for example, for the first song, the focus might be on plank exercises. For the second, it might be on different types of crunches. The plank song always gets to me! You stay up in plank position for the entire 4 minutes of the song and do variations such as “thread the needle,” side plank, and hip dips side to side. I really like planks because they work your entire core, which includes your oblique (sides) and back muscles!

When we say “core muscles,” we often just think of our stomachs and abs, but a strong core is supported both by strong abdominal and back muscles to support proper posture. I always think it’s crazy to consider that the gap in your skeleton between your rib cage and your hip bones consists only of your spine, yet this part of our bodies is comprised of so many important organs and we rely on a strong canister of muscle to hold it all together and upright. The human body is incredible, people… treat yours nicely.

They love to use this one movement where you’re balancing on your bum with your feet and torso up off of the ground and you pulse your hands up and down beside your knees. This one has me shaking in a matter of seconds and one song of the class makes sure to include that movement in the sequence at least 6 times. The last song is almost always dedicated to the back muscles, so we all flop over on our stomachs like the limp fish we resemble and do “Superman” raises until the song, and the class, mercifully ends with a collective exhale accompanied by a flop of exhausted limbs hitting the gym floor.

If you don’t believe me, check out Absolution at any of these times to experience the burn for yourself!

Monday:

1:05 – 1:20 in Woolen B19

6:10 – 6:30 in SRC Studio A

Tuesday:

1:05 – 1:20 in SRC Studio B

6:25 – 6:45 in SRC Studio A

Wednesday:

6:10 – 6:30 in SRC Studio A

Thursday:

1:05 – 1:20 in SRC Studio B

6:25 – 6:45 in SRC Studio A

Saturday:

5:00 – 5:20 in SRC Studio B

This is an absolutely killer core workout and one of my favorite group fitness classes offered by Campus Rec! You will leave both exhausted and proud of your body! It also is short enough that you can conveniently combine it with your own cardio workout by running to the gym and back! Keep checking back for more group fitness reviews and information!

You Hear That? That’s Your Body Speaking…

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“You can do it…push yourself…keep going…DIG DEEP!” says the super pumped professional fitness class instructor, as I vigorously take breaths to sooth the discomfort that my chest is in from working out. I hear him telling me to ‘keep going’, even though my legs are ready to buckle from exhaustion and constant beads of sweat find their way into my eyeballs causing more discomfort. I am fatigued and my body is aching and all I can think to myself is, “No, Super-Pumped-Professional-Fitness-Class-Instructor—I cannot keep going…aaaand because you are going to keep my $10 for this class, I am just going to leave now.”

This, my friends, is a prime example of me listening to my body. I could have ‘dug deep’ and continue to push my body, but it was clear that my body was telling me to stop. Listening to your body, pretty much means being aware and in tune with how your body is feeling and reacting (usually physical, but not all the time). How did I know my body was screaming at me to stop? Or that doing an extra rep could cause me injury? Welp, not being able to breathe was one sign.

Joe Vennare, from Greatist.com , lists some common warning signs to ‘listen’ for to prevent three problematic conditions that occur often while working out:

  • Overtraining: Take time for your body to rest and recover!Listen1
  • Injury: Be sure to stretch, take breaks, and get doctor check-ups often!listen2
  • Disordered sleep: There is nothing wrong with an ‘adult bedtime’. Good sleep is needed to function!listen3

Yes, physical wellness is important to consider when thinking about positive health and wellness. Yes, we know that there are things in life that have to be done like….right now, but just pause for a second! Let your body in on the conversation and listen to what it is saying to you.

CMMR♥

WORKOUT WEDNESDAY: Treadmill or Elliptical – Which is Better?

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Quick – which machine burns more calories, the treadmill or the elliptical? And what are the dangers of using each? And which is better overall? Most gyms contain rows of different cardio machines and it can be overwhelming to choose the right one. We’re going to focus on the two most common machines here, the treadmill and the elliptical. Each one has it pros and cons, and the bottom line is that is depends on your body and your fitness goals.

Let’s talk about the treadmill first. Basically, this machine emulates walking and running on a flat surface. The treadmill is very versatile and can be adjusted to different inclines and speeds. When you use a treadmill, you are using familiar body movements rather than having to deal with awkward machines. Above all, walking and running strengthens muscles and bones over time. However, overuse of the treadmill without stretching before can really do a number on your joints if you aren’t careful. Running is hard and intense – you need to be ready and in adequate shape before using a treadmill for too long.

On to the elliptical! The elliptical is low-impact (good for your joints) and allows for cross-training with the arm handles. Not to mention – you can use the elliptical backwards to work different muscle groups. It’s a great choice if you are recovering from an injury or if you want to do a long cardio session. However, this machine can be awkward to use at first as it’s unlike walking or running. The elliptical much less dynamic than the treadmill in terms of speed and intensity. Its also deceiving how hard you are working out, as its easy to use only the momentum at low intensities.

What about calories? If you’re trying to maintain a health weight, this could be important to you. A study by the Medical College of Wisconsin showed that the average number of calories burned per hour on the treadmill was about 800, while the elliptical was 770.This difference is almost negligible, so read on for more distinctions.

All in all, the elliptical is a great choice for you if you want to improve cardiovascular health with low impact (safer on the joints!). High interval training (there is usually a button on the machine) will give you the best workout on the elliptical. On the other hand, a treadmill will make you work harder and is a better choice for more experienced exercisers. For the best workout regimen, try to include both machines to reap all the benefits without overbearing your body. Not to mention – variety can really spice up your workout!

This post was written by Ben Smart at Tar Heel Toneup

Ben is a sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill, majoring in Public Health Nutrition with minors in Broadcast & Electronic Journalism, and Spanish for the Medical Professions. From kettle bell workouts to green tea, Ben is a huge health nerd with aspirations to attend medical school. He also plans to use his multimedia journalism skills to advance public health. His mission is to help other college students maximize their health and fitness, even when they are busy.

Eat Well and Stay Active This Summer

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In this last week of class, with finals looming, many students are feeling the stress of this time of the semester. I notice that as the assignments and deadlines approach, I find myself exercising less and eating whatever I find in front of me that is quick to prepare (or does not require any preparation at all, cue the bag of marshmallows). I start to feel pretty tired and stressed, and I don’t always have time to pay close attention to my exercise and eating patterns. Food and physical activity goals melt away and then just seem like memories of things I once cared about.

But hold on, all is not lost! We have one big opportunity coming up to spend a little more time on ourselves: summer. (more…)

Workout Wednesday: Getting My Cardio On With Tar Heel Tabata

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By Emily Wheeler

Twenty seconds on, ten seconds off.  Twenty seconds on, ten seconds off.  One minute down. Repeat four times.  This is Tabata.

Last semester, I developed a love for yoga, and started doing it regularly enough to consider it my main form of exercise (other than walking miles back and forth across this campus every day…).  Between the yoga and participating in the Women on Weights specialty fitness class, as the semester came to a close I realized that it had been weeks since I had regularly done any sort of intense cardiovascular exercise (ex: running, elliptical, anything that makes your heart pound and gets you breathing hard). Then, due to having minor surgery over winter break, I had to take 4 entire weeks off from exercising! It was killing me! (Ask my family; I tend to get a bit tense when I can’t exercise—it’s my stress relief).

As soon as I got back to Chapel Hill to start off the new semester and get back to my exercise routine, I found the perfect way to get a great cardio workout two times each week: the Tar Heel Tabata specialty fitness class.

At first I thought that a thirty-minute class of high intensity interval training didn’t sound too bad at all.  Having become accustomed to my workouts lasting an hour on average, I figured that thirty minutes would be no big deal! Little did I know that there is a lot more behind the development of this thirty minute class, and the benefits reach even further than those of regular moderate intensity cardiovascular exercise!

What is Tabata?

Tabata is an exercise regime developed in Japan by health and nutrition researcher Izumi Tabata (1).  The coach of a professional Japanese speed skating team, Mr. Irisawa Koichi (this guy deserves some recognition, too!) asked Tabata to analyze the benefits of a new training technique that he had come up with for his team which involved shorter workouts requiring bursts of maximum exertion from his athletes, followed by short rest periods to recover before the pattern was repeated.

In order to test the success of this new workout, Tabata designed an experiment in which two groups of athletes participated in two different cardiovascular exercise regimes for six weeks: the first group exercised for one hour per day, five days per week with moderate cardiovascular exertion (70% exertion and can be sustained at approximately the same level for the duration of the workout, such as a long distance run or an hour on the treadmill).  Group two trained using high intensity workouts, four days per week for a total of six weeks.  But get this: each session of the high intensity workout for this group lasted only 4 minutes—twenty seconds of intense training (170% cardiovascular exertion and cannot be sustained) and ten seconds of rest repeated eight times.

The results? Group 1 had great improvement in their aerobic cardiovascular system, but little or no improvement in their anaerobic system, which translates into little to no muscle improvement. However, group 2 showed great improvement in their aerobic systems as well as a 28% increase in their anaerobic system! And thus, the research was published and what was named the “Tabata Protocol” was born (2).

What is Tar Heel Tabata?

The Tar Heel Tabata class follows the same time intervals set out in the original study by Tabata himself, but on repeat for half an hour.  We start the thirty-minute class with a short warm-up that includes jumping jacks, jogging, and other typical warm-up exercises to get our muscles warm and our heart rates elevated.  After a couple minutes of this, we start the first four-minute cycle with two exercises that are given to us by Malika, the instructor.  An example might be jumping jacks and butt-kicks.

With popular songs sped up to extremely fast tempos playing in the background, Malika starts the timer and we do 20 seconds of jumping jacks, followed by 10 seconds of jogging or marching in place as the rest period, followed by 20 seconds of butt-kicks, and again followed by 10 seconds of jogging in place.  This takes 1 minute, and we repeat the cycle with the same two exercises three more times to make 4 total minutes.  We typically do 4-5 of these four minute circuits, and take the last five minutes to cool down and stretch, allowing our heart-rates to slowly return to normal.

On Mondays, we focus strictly on cardio and take super-quick water breaks in between sets if we need them.  On Wednesdays, we follow the same Tabata interval pattern, but add a focus on strength exercises, such as push-ups or holding a plank position while bringing one knee after the other up quickly to meet the triceps. Since this doesn’t make our hearts beat quite as rapidly as on Mondays, instead of water breaks, Malika throws in a quick ab workout in between each set.  We could definitely feel the burn!

Although we have only had three sessions of Tar Heel Tabata so far, I’m looking forward to the next five weeks as we slowly increase the intensity of the workouts in correlation with our increased cardiovascular endurance!  I started off thinking that thirty minutes might even be easy, but instead I left sweaty and exhausted, not having panted that hard in weeks!

Overall, Tar Heel Tabata looks like it’s going to be a great way to make sure I’m getting a fantastic cardio workout twice per week, which will allow me to increase my endurance so that when I’m doing any sort of workout on my own, I will be able to do more without getting tired so quickly. The setting is fun and high-energy, the class is small (about ten of us), and everyone, no matter what their exercise history, is able to work out at their level to receive all of the benefits of this awesome program! Not to mention that if you signed up with a friend, the total cost was $25, or about $2 per session to have an instructor who can help you individually at any time to modify the workout to your comfort level.

I’ll look forward to the next five weeks and will be updating my progress and overall impression of the class at the end of the twelve sessions—stay tuned!

Workout Wednesday blog posts are written by UNC Campus Recreation staff members. Each Wednesday we’ll be swapping blog posts with the Tarheel Tone Up blog so that readers can view more diverse post topics that will benefit their health and wellness. Workout Wednesday blog posts can be found both here and on tarheeltoneup.com.