Continuing on my 3 part Health Series, this will be giving an overview of some of my workout habits and things I’ve learned doing them, but first, a story.

There once was an evil VP of engineering who thought that forcing his engineers to work 60 hour weeks for months was a way to increase productivity (patently false). The engineers did their best to be at the office, but also not at the office. Some of these tactics were taking 1.5-2 hour long lunch breaks, taking extended walks around the building, and working out regularly, which consisted of going to the gym, but also running long distances. Thus, my running life began.

Running

This is a true story, and the reason I got into running (and getting back into going to the gym). Although under terrible circumstances, this allowed me to form a habit which I enjoy today. I’d say in terms of the tips I’ll be giving, walking, in my mind is equivalent, so tune in as well if you like regular walks.

Stick with it

When I started, my shoes were junk, I didn’t really have a good tracker/watch, and I could barely run a couple miles without feeling like I’m going to die. I still feel like I’m going to die on occasion, but because it’s a habit, I know what to expect and can adapt my running schedule according to how I’m feeling. Hungover? Do your best to still get out and take on your shortest route.

Compete with yourself

I don’t really get into competitive anything, but I know it’s a big thing in the sports/athletic world. My suggestion is to put that down and just focus on yourself. Track your progress and ensure you at least maintain. No need to do better consistently, as you’ll certainly run into periods where you’ll lag, and other times where you’ll excel. After a long enough time working out consistently, you’ll notice that your pace/cadence/heart rate are good indicators of your current health, which is a better way to look at your current status.

Cadence

A lot of runners focus on minutes per mile, heart rate, and other factors, but one that often gets overlooked is cadence, which is steps per minute.

What your cadence is doesn’t really matter too much, but how consistent it is, does. Whether going up an incline or down a long gradual downhill section, try your best to keep your cadence the same. This shouldn’t be confused with pace, because most certainly your pace will slow going up a hill (and your heart rate will go up). How is this done? You focus on the rhythm of your feet and simply maintain that, while reducing your stride (shorter steps). There are few things you can really control, but the two main things I focus on when running are my cadence and my breathing (both, in turn, effecting heart rate).

Pick your routes (plural)

You may run/walk exclusively on a treadmill, and in that case this becomes easy, but if you adventure outside, establish several routes you can take, preferably routes that overlap.

The image above is of actual GPS data collected on my various routes. They range anywhere from a 5k up to about 6 miles. Having routes that overlap, and more specifically, start off on the same path, have several advantages. The first and most important advantage is that you’re able to get your run started to gauge how you’re feeling. The goal is to run/walk your longest route, but if you’re feeling sluggish, dehydrated, or have a higher than normal heart rate, you can scale down to one of your shorter routes. The second advantage is that you’re able to avoid possible obstacles. This summer I was running on one of these paths and noticed the road was being resurfaced with black top, something I’d prefer avoiding, so I just switched to one of my other routes dynamically.

Treadmill tips

Although I miss the scenery of running outside, Minnesota winters are long and thus treadmill season begins. Treadmills provide consistency and fine control of your pace and elevation, which is really great for dynamic training (fast pace for 30 seconds, normal pace for 30 seconds, repeat). They also allow you to focus on other things, like learning or catching up on the news. I may not look forward to stepping up on a treadmill, but I do love having a solid 30-45 minutes of quiet where I can catch up on the latest podcast, audio book, or album release. Use your time wisely and take advantage of it.

Calisthenics

Before COVID-19 made home workouts the new thing, I picked up calisthenics. Although calisthenics can involve things like bars and various gym equipment, my workouts consist primarily of core workouts with no equipment. Full disclosure, during winter, it’s not uncommon that I literally roll out of bed and do my 10 minute calisthenic routine right there on the floor next to the bed. Just get the suffering done right away in the morning. I’m going to save you the time and reading and just point you to Chris Heria’s YouTube page as a starting point where you can browse to find something that works for you. Two I like are this high intensity interval training video, and this dumbell video, which brings me to my last topic.

Dumbells

For upper body I like dumbells, but having a full set at home is tough to justify, so I have Bowflex’s adjustable dumbells as well as their adjustable bench. Again, largely a winter workout (why stay inside when you can go outside and sweat), but these are great for keeping your upper body from atrophying. The variable weight combined with the bench allow for a wide range of workouts that can fill the gaps that maybe calisthenics and running/walking miss.

That’s really it for my workout habits. The third and final post in my Health Series will be on tech, so things like my GPS watch, my running shoes, clothing and gear. Thanks for taking interest and feel free to reach out down below in the comments section.