Workout Stats on a Work-Filled Weekend
Hi All,
It’s a work night for me (ah, the exciting weekend life of an editor!). I promise you a longer post and a new recipe tomorrow, but in the meantime, I’ve been getting a few questions about my workout regimen. Good question. To respond, I’ll give you the exact rundown of the last week:
Sunday: Gym
Cardio: 20 minutes on the Versa Climber, 15 minutes elliptical
Strength: 3 sets of 40 sit ups, 2 1-minute planks
Monday: Yoga
One hour Vinyasa class
Tuesday: AM express workout
Cardio: 25 minutes stepmill
Strength: 3 sets of 15 squats, 2 sets of 15 lunges with 10 lb dumbbells on each side
Wednesday: Yoga
75 minute Hatha class
Thursday: AM express workout (this was, happily, not too express)
Cardio: 40 minutes on the elliptical, doing resistance intervals
Strength: 3 sets of 15 bicep curls with 8 lb weights, 2 sets of tricep extensions with 8 lb weights, 2 sets of 20 push ups
Friday: Lunchtime express workout
Cardio: 35 minutes squirelliptical
Strength: 3 sets of 30 sit ups over a balance ball, 2 sets of 15 reps each on the abductor and adductor machines
Saturday: Leisurely cardio morning!
Cardio: 30 minutes on the elliptical at a high resistance, 30 minutes stairmaster
Strength: Ooops. Didn’t really do any. 2 long planks and lots of stretching.
This is a very typical week for me. Usually I do yoga on Fridays in lieu of a gym day, but I was a bit stressed this Friday and eager to sweat.
You’ll notice that these workouts are not nearly as arduous or exciting as many of fellow bloggers’. When it comes to the gym, I confess, I am a creature of habit and convenience. I love working out, and I love yoga, but I know that I could push myself a bit harder than I do. This said, I pride myself on being very consistent: even at my most busy, I’ll squeeze in a gym run. No matter how many meetings or office dramas are brewing, I get my workout in. I’m a firm believer that consistency (how often you go) adds up more than intensity.
I also think that we all tend to have a workout DNA of sorts. Sure, I think we all should push ourselves to reach new performance goals and to challenge our bodies. But I also think that a person is usually drawn to certain kinds of fitness more than others. I have female friends who hate gym-going: they can’t bear being stuck on machines, the dreadful feeling of being a gerbil on a wheel. I, on the other hand, can do a stairmaster or elliptical or stepmill for hours. But please, don’t put me in a step aerobics or pilates mat class. Please.
And running? I get it. I truly do. I’ve gone through periods where I ran a lot, and others when I ran very little. I’ve felt the joy and sense of reward. But more often than not, I don’t really enjoy running, and feel as though I’m forcing myself to do it. And frankly, my time at the gym is too limited and precious for me to be doing something I don’t really love. I run occasionally—once or twice a week at the very most, but more likely once every two weeks. And that’s OK with me.
How do we raw foodists fuel our athletic performance? With hemp protein (a totally natural and more digestible alternative to whey and soy proteins), recovery smoothies between thirty minutes and an hour post-workout (for example: bananas, spinach, hemp or brown rice protein, dates, and a tablespoon coconut oil or avocado, or my pal Kristen’s awesome “Beowulf smoothie“), an alkaline diet, and lots of green juice and wheatgrass.
I certainly hope to bring the perspectives of more athletes—raw, vegan, and cooked—to my blog, so that you can hear firsthand how men and women of all different lifestyles approach their own training, weekly fitness, and performance. In the meantime, I’ll keep you posted on the fun new workouts and yoga I sample in the city.
On that note, I return to my manuscripts. Happy Saturday, and more soon! xo
Testimonials
–Lyn D., MarylandBefore I started working with Gena, I wasn’t sure whether it would be worth it, since I knew what I “should” be doing. Her counseling, however, turned out to be a key factor in my success.
Not only does she have great advice when I am struggling, but her realistic approach helped me make major changes despite having no time and limited funds. Her recipes and ideas are for real people with lives beyond their diets, and they are great. Gena is down to earth and non-judgmental. She strikes a great balance between encouraging me to go a little father but to keep things in perspective and have fun with the process.
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FAQ
So where do you get your protein?Ah, the million dollar question. I know that my fellow raw foodists are uttering a collective sigh of frustration with me. But it’s inevitable, so here goes:
I get my protein from a wide array of vegetables, sea vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes. The notion that we need to supplement our diet with large amounts of protein, especially in the form of animal products, is mistaken: our bodies are capable of assembling amino acids from all of the foods we eat and building the “complete proteins” that we’ve all been told we need to get in a single sitting.
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Recommendations
Juicer (average $50.00 - $500.00)If you’re like me, and juicing is a crucial part of your lifestyle, then the cost of a juicer will absolutely be worth it! It will buy itself back again and again and again. The juicer I recommend is the Breville Two-Speed Juice Fountain Plus. It’s the only juicer I’ve ever owned, and it has never let me down. I recommend you invest in a juicer that has at least this level of performance in order to juice leafy greens.
Some of you have asked me whether it’s wiser to buy a juicer or a Vitamix.
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