What's More Important Cardio or Weights and Should You Do it Twice a Day?

I had lunch with an old friend yesterday. By old I mean a friend I’ve know since grade school, god knows we’re so far from old. We talked about work. He teaches film at Columbia and is in the process of making his first feature film. We moved onto friends, some soon to be married, some soon to be divorced and one in the middle of a very public scandal (more on that later). Toward the end of our meal, my friend said he had a nutrition question for me. I had to laugh because this was the last person I ever thought I'd be talking shop with. This was a friend for whom “green” in high school didn’t refer to kale, a friend who spent more time in the pubs one summer at Oxford than in class, you know the type.

My friend mentioned he had put on a few pounds and he and his brother have been debating something lately. He had started to run but his brother suggested he lift weights instead. He said:

You have to settle this, what’s better for weight loss cardio or weights?*

The cop out answer is they are both important and to a certain extent that’s true. However, if I have a client who wants to lost weight and start an exercise routine initially I would encourage a cardio-heavy regime. Cardio will give a faster initial result. After some weight loss and the cardio routine is established weights can be integrated. Once at a comfortable weight I would put more exercise “eggs” in the strength-training basket. If weight isn’t as much a concern I think a cardio/yoga or a cardio/barre class (the latter more so for women) compliment each other nicely. I told my friend to keep running but not too increase mileage too quickly or his appetite would go through the roof.  There’s such a thing as marathon munchies too. And as long as I mentioned food, let's be clear that exercise alone does not produce results. 

I then asked my friend how his girlfriend was doing. He said she was doing well and, as a teacher, enjoying her summer off. “She would’ve come to lunch but she’s on this twice a day yoga kick, isn’t that a little much?” I told him I didn’t think so. Many of my triathlete clients do an AM and a PM workout. I don’t think everyone needs two hours a day of exercise but a “doubleheader” once a week is a good way to ratchet up results. This double header can be two yoga classes, one hour of cardio and one hour of strength or simply a longer cardio (such as a run or a bike ride).

Lunch ended and I walked back to my office. I thought about how times had changed. Instead of concerts, we were now talking cardio. I also though about my friend’s comment about our classmate involved in the scandal (that may have something to do with phone tapping). “How funny is it that this is the same person who always wanted to be an archaeologist?” Maybe it’s not that surprising, he’s just doing a different type of digging now.

Are you more of a cardio person or do you prefer strength training? Ever do a double header? Is it funny how people can suddenly have an interest in exercise or nutrition? Does that mean that person is old?

*I hold no degree in exercise physiology so this post is the equivalent of a trainer or physical therapist giving nutrition advice which I loathe. Know that I am aware my opinion means absolutely nothing. 

Positive Peer Pressure

I woke up sore and tired and tweeted about it yesterday.  “Too much July 4^th celebrating?” someone replied. Nope, this fatigue didn’t have to do with imbibing or late nights though there were controlled cocktails (delicious white sangria and lime/thyme vodka concoctions). 

We spent the weekend staying with friends at the beach. There were six adults in total, all of us fairly active. Carolyn had recently mentioned the importance of having active friends and I think my friends qualify. Over the course of the 3-day weekend, at various times we:

• Participated in As 1’s inaugural workout classes at the beach (push ups in the sand anyone?)
• Rode 60+ miles to Montauk
• Spun at Soul Cycle’s Springsteen Class
• Kayaked
• Tubed
• Played basketball
• Swam laps
• Ran Firecracker 8K race
• Played Tennis

Granted, we didn’t each do all of these things. However, everyone was doing something daily, if not more.  To some people this may sound exhausting but it was really one of the best weekends. We joked that while all of us had children away at camp (yep, mentioned it again), we were enjoying our own version of camp for grown-ups. So often I hear from clients “I was away and didn’t workout” so I was trying to sort out the keys to being active when staying with friends or when you have houseguests.

Plan in Advance- my friend S., who has a great new blog called My Judy the Foodie (where she’s learning to cook from her mother’s old recipes), sent an email out before we arrived. She gave us the links to sign up for the race or the spin class. She also made it clear none of this was mandatory.

Bring your Equipment- if you’re going to play tennis or ride you need a racket and a bike. We had these things with us. You also need extra changes of clothes if you’re going to be active.  And, if you’re like me. a blow dryer and a flat iron. I cannot tell you how many women do not swim or workout because they didn’t want to mess up their hair.

It Only Takes One Adult to Watch Kids- while I can't say I was the one,  the other adults took turns watching the kids so that everyone could work out. This watching wasn’t exactly sedentary. Kids can play basketball, ride bikes and swim too.

Utilize All Hours in the Day- my husband and our friend E were up at 5am to get a ride in before “the wives” left for our beach workout beating. As we were getting ready for dinner someone would be in the pool doing laps and another person spinning. Just because a workout doesn’t happen first thing doesn’t mean it cannot happen.

It doesn’t have to be a gym workout but investigate what active options there are where you’ll be away. If you’re traveling with others, chances are someone will join you whether it's out of genuine enthusiasm or guilt it doesn't matter. They'll be happy later for the peer pressure.

Did you workout over the July 4th weekend? What are your secrets of staying active while away? Does adult camp sound fun or horrific to you?

Don't Let Summer Make You Loosey-Goosey (or just "Loosey")

For the last 9 or so months Friday morning for me went something like this. Wake up at 5:00am, finish up the day’s blog post, return emails, hop on a phone session with a client in Taiwan, get the kids up, take them to school and go for a run. Today is a little different and not only because I “slept in” until 5:30. Today is different because there is no school. Our family is in that post school year purgatory period where academics are over but camp has not started. I was reminded of this when I read a post on Vicarious Chelsea aptly titled “routine” where she expressed excitement in all that comes with summertime but also fear that her productivity would cease with the school year.

Regardless of whether or not you have kids, most of us find our routine changing. One of our interns (the best part about summer) told me she enjoyed a recent post on weekend eating. She was a little concerned because “now that I graduated every day, over the summer, is like a weekend.”  Summer invites us to relax, to spend more time outside, to go to barbeques and out after work. In the summer we go away more and we (ok I) drink more. You know

“There'll be music everywhere

There'll be swingin' swayin', and records playin” 

but I digress. It’s just so easy to get charmed by summer and all its perks but Chelsea was fearful for a reason, summer has a dark side.

You see in my world and my client’s worlds routine is good. It’s good to know what and when you’ll eat and when you will exercise. In the summer you’re at the mercy of other people’s schedules and menus and margaritas. In the summer we often wing it. Winging it and weight loss don’t go together. If this is all sounding fatalistic, don’t worry. Once you identify a potential (3 month) pitfall you can take steps around it.

• Summer is a great time to train for a race. Whether a 5K or a sprint triathlon, a training schedule can be a great way to organize your workouts.
• Instead of ice cream, experiment with DIY popsicles, we’ll be featuring some in our June newsletter so be sure to sign up.
• Healthy BBQ- not everyone wants a giant burger and nitrate-filled hot dogs when they come to your house.  I wrote about Hardwick beef and my favorite turkey burger and tuna burger, branch out a bit.
• Use the additional hours of daylight to do something active after dinner-a walk or a bike ride is a great way to end the day.

In many ways, over the summer, you’ll do best if you make a new routine versus being loosey-goosey (or just loosey).

Do you find summer is less rigid or routinized? Do you like loosey goosey? Do you gain weight or lose weight over the summer? What are your slimming summer strategies?

Shallow and Selfish

Would be sort of nice if there weren't a million people, a roof overhead and germs lurking

We all go through life assuming we are good people. Perhaps I should only speak for myself. I have always felt I was a good friend, a good daughter (year 14 an understandable pubescent exception) and a good mother.  I have also believed I was an introspective person, some would even say deep. These assumptions have been shaken in the past week and I’m now thinking I’m sort of shallow and selfish too.

A year and a half ago I started yoga. It took a while but I grew to love it. It has been the one time where I don’t think about my to-do list or potential blog topics and always feel great afterward. I’ve made some progress too though I know it’s non-yogi to think in those terms. Recently a new barre class was added to the schedule at the yoga studio I go to. I had been doing Core Fusion prior to yoga and liked it and liked the results. Lately, with running and yoga (and a looong ski season) I had been feeling a little thicker. I tend to feel this way as my running picks up. Well I tried the Figure 4 classes and after a couple of weeks saw the difference. I felt leaner and lengthened and I liked it. Given the choice I was picking Figure 4 over yoga and chided myself for this. I am still doing yoga twice per week but I’m not so proud of my reasoning. I’m choosing body over mind and skinny over sane; it seems I’m not so deep after all.

So I headed into the weekend, newly aware of my shallowness only to find out I had other poor qualities lurking. My husband and a friend of ours were doing a triathlon. There were not many great local lodging options and they decided it would be fun to stay at this “family friendly”  (scary words) resort. It wasn’t my first choice but I went with it. The kids would love the activities and we were only a 20-minute drive from the race location. Saturday morning the boys were begging to go to the waterpark, yep waterpark at the hotel. Marc said he would take them over as I was doing some "work" and I would meet them. Our friends and their kids headed over too. 

When they got there Marc emailed a few pictures. The boys were having a blast. I opened a picture and saw my friend Diane smiling away about to go down the big water slide. I was going to go over and meet up with everyone but I wouldn’t be participating. At 7 and 9 my kids can finally go alone though they also would’ve loved mom coming too. It wasn't going to happen. I was in a hoodie and shorts while my friend greeted me with a huge grin and non-skid pool shoes! I posted on Facebook “am I a bad mother for not going on waterslides with my kids? Tell me what you think, I’m still not going.” I loved one friend who said, “I would rather have a colonoscopy,” I completely agreed.

Many of us strive toward self-improvement. I have built a business around this. Yet I’m also a fan of being realistic and feel it is important to, as the Greeks said, “know thyself.” It seems my self is shallow and selfish. Oh well.

Ever realize you weren’t as great in certain respects as you had hoped? What’s your Achilles heel? Are you shallow? And would you go on the waterslides: germs, crowds, swimsuit and all?

A Walk In the Park

I always joke that I need my workouts to help me distress. It always seems that “mean mommy” makes an appearance on the days when there isn’t time for a run. I had previously chalked this up to the endorphins from exercise, the power of a good sweat and the boost I get from listening to my favorite music. I may have missed that where I do my workout is just as important as whether or not I do it. I marvel at Central Park when I’m running.  When I look around it seems incredible to have such beauty in the middle of a city.  I snapped the photo above during my run today.  Thinking about this post, I focused more on the scenery and less on my speed.

A study conducted in the UK compared a group walking in a shopping mall to another group walking in the park.  After walking in the park 90% of participants claimed increased self esteem, 88% improved mood and 71% felt less tense, these numbers were under 50% in all criteria for the mall walkers. Other research showed people slides depicting scenes from nature and mood was significantly improved.

Here are some of explanations given as to how outside time is beneficial:

Natural and social connections: watching wildlife, evoking good memories, spiritual feelings

Sensory stimulation: colors and sounds, fresh air, enjoyment, escape from pollution, contrasts with urban life, being exposed to the weather

Activity: using manual skills, physically challenging activities such as digging or cycling

Escape from modern life: time to think and reflect, clear the head, get away from pressures and stress.

In terms of exercise, a 1994 study out of the University of Utah compared the 5K times of runners on treadmills, an indoor track and outside. The fastest times were recorded outdoors, the slowest on the treadmill. Runners on the treadmill perceived their workout to be more strenuous than those who ran at the same intensity outside. In fact running outdoors scored higher than the treadmill in the areas of positive engagement, revitalization, tranquility, course satisfaction and lower in the time to exhaustion.

Again, I have to emphasize that while exercising outdoors can be a major mood booster, as little as 5-10 minutes spent outside, even stationary, can make a difference to your stress level and your outlook. Those 10 minutes a day may keep mean mommy (or mean daddy or mean coworker) away.
How will you spend time outside today? Perhaps snap a photo and send it my way. Do you feel being outside is beneficial/believe in "ecotherapy"?