Endomorph, Ectomorph, Endocytosis, Ecto-cooler ?

As I embark on a new struggle challenge to drop a few pounds, I have been reading up on particular training programs that may work for me.

Endomorphic

Unfortunately for me, I am an endomorph ... Why must life be so tough?

Typically, endomorphs tend to gain weight faster and have a harder time losing it. But hey, we were super cool way, way, waaaaay back in the day. From an evolutionary point of view, we endomorphs were more likely to survive because we could to store fat longer. You know, when starvation was a true threat.

Some famous endomorphs include Russell Crowe, LL Cool J, Chris Pratt, the Rock (I guess he does not go by that name any more), and Bruce Willis.

I have pretty much been working out in the wrong manner (well, diet is an issue too) for as long as I can remember. Essentially, I should be doing high intensity, high muscle recruitment exercises with 3-5 sets of 12-20 reps. Umm the 20 reps seem a little aggressive. Here are some recommended exercises based on body part:

  • Chest (incline, decline bench press)
  • Back (deadlifts and barbell rows)
  • Legs (squats and leg press)
  • Biceps (barbell curls, and preacher curls)
  • Triceps (weighted bench dips and skull crushers)
  • Shoulders (dumbbell overhead press and military press)
  • ABS (weighted hanging leg press and cable crunch).

The good news is that most of those exercises already are in my Full Fitness app's training programs. I guess that I can just increase the set number from 3 to 5 and not do as much as the other muscle group exercises. Then, I should do 30-40 minutes of cardio after weightlifting. Those lucky ecto- and mesomorphs do not have to do any extra cardio after weight lifting.

Zumba:

I think that I have found a new Zumba home. Over the past couple weeks, I attended three different Zumba classes offered by Crunch Fitness. It was kind of like Goldilocks trying to find the porridge that was juuust right. You know, right before the three bears mauled and ate her.

  • Zumba 1: I signed up for the class online but I saw that there were only 3 other people who had signed up. No bueno. So I did not even attend it. Normally, if there are less than 10 people who has signed up for the class then it's probably going to be wack. I peeked into the class, and it did look a little wack.
  • Zumba 2: Decent class with a lot of people, but the instructor was WAAAAY into himself. He kept taking selfies and posting them to various Zumba sites. Also, he seemed to be literally admiring his ass.
  • Zumba 3: The class that I'm going to stick with. The class had a decent amount of people, the music was excellent (from shazzaming the class, I've already purchased 5 of the songs), the instructor was AMAZING & instruction was on point, and there were guys in the class (although I was the best male, not to toot my own horn). The one thing that I did not like about the class is the instructor made all guys do some routine in the front of the class. I guess that I did a good job, because many of the other students told me that I was really good for my first class with the instructor.

That's it for me. I guess that I should get back to packing.

 

TCS NYC Marathon Training - Week 8

Theme for this past training week was "Change of Scenery"

This week was pretty productive in my opinion. In my last training summary (***), I mentioned that I was somewhat frustrated with my lack of enjoyment training for this marathon. This frustration could have been the result of boredom, lack of motivation, and/or burnout. To fix some of those issues, I decided to mix up my routine a little bit, and I think that it may have worked. Yay, me!

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: Planned - 5 miles | Actual - 5 miles

Change of Scenery #1

For my treadmill recover run, I visited another Crunch Fitness just for a change, in terms of the gym facility and the members of the gym. Actually (and "secretly"), I made plans to meet a friend for drinks in Williamsburg after my run, and the gym is really close to the bar. Although it was a recovery run, I pushed myself during the last 400 meters of each mile, and it felt grrrreat.

I treated myself to a couple of drinks with my friend. At Sweet Science, one of the restaurant's most delicious beverage is the frozen slushy. They normally come in one color, but you can ask the bartender to give you a tri-colored slush.

A nice frozen treat. 

 

Wednesday: Planned - Zumba and Weight lifting | Actual - Zumba and Weight lifting

Change of scenery #2.

Last week, I mentioned that I wanted to mix up my Zumba class because the routines have been come too predictable in my Tuesday class. I visited another Crunch Fitness in Crown Heights to attend a different Zumba class. Man, that class was so much!!! It's not that the Zumba class in Crown Heights was better than the one in Ft. Greene. The classes were just different in terms of music, choreography, and instruction. The Crown Heights class has some abdominal components to it, because my obliques were sore the next day. Going forward, I think that I will alternate Zumba workouts between Crunch Fitness in Fort Greene (Tuesdays) and in Crown Heights (Wednesdays).

Speaking of Crunch Fitness. Although I liked my Zumba class, weight lifting was not a productive as I would have liked. I think that this Crunch Fitness Express is so poorly designed, because there is no room to lift. Plus, the equipment is so close together that you are literally on top of each other; it scares me to death doing bench presses. During prime time hours, you have to work in your sets with 3-4 other people. It makes no sense when you have three people waiting for a single incline bench. I'm one of those folks who likes to do supersets back to back, targeting two muscle groups while lifting (e.g. bench press set followed by back row, dumbbell curl followed by tricep dips). Doing these supersets is pretty much impossible at this Crunch location. During that workout, I lifted for only 20 minutes because I was getting annoyed and frustrated.

My Lame Attempt at a Workout

 

Conclusion:   I will visit this particular gym only for Zumba and simple cardio work. 

Thursday: Planned - Six 800 meter intervals with 90 second recovery | Actual - Five 800 meter intervals. 

Man, how do early risers do it? I woke up at 5 AM to do my 800 meter interval run, and it was very "painful". I woke up early to do this workout, because I had plans to see "Aladdin" on Broadway later on in the evening. It felt nice doing some speed work again, but it was not so nice at 5:30 AM. Since I am not used to waking up that early, my body was super exhausted and I could not finish the last interval set  - my body was "one and done". After this workout, I realized that I really have to stop skipping out on these interval and hill workouts. During the racing season, I know that my body will thank me for these workouts.

Slappy the Seal and I

Clearly, the early start affected me later on, because I feel asleep during "Aladdin." Do not worry, I am pretty sure that I know how the show ended ;)  Yes, money well spent.

Friday: Planned - Static Stretching | Actual - Not a d*mn thing.

I kind of had a "fat boy" day on Friday. After a very long (and useless) day at work, I had a HUGE craving for fried chicken and made a nice trip to Popeye's. One just "reopened" in the neighborhood!!! I kind of lost my mind, because I ordered chicken tenders, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, AND french fries. Yes, I ordered two sides of potatoes . . . and I'm not ashamed for doing so.

Saturday: Planned - 5 mile race | Actual - 5 mile race.

NYRR  Team Championships - I will post a race report later.

Sunday: Planned - 12 miles | Actual - 12 miles.

Change of scenery #3.

I decided to mix up my long run by running over the Brooklyn Bridge and through the West Side of Manhattan. Originally, I wanted to run 6 miles into Manhattan and 6 miles back to Brooklyn. OMG. I feel in love with this run so much that I decided to keep going along the West Side for the entire 12 miles. It has been a while since I have ran along the West Side Highway. I believe running the Manhattan Half-Marathon, two years ago, was the last time I did this.

Brooklyn to Manhattan

Brooklyn to Manhattan

This run was so amazing, I felt strong and energized. I did not think that I would have been able to pull it off, because of the 5-mile race the day before. I think the combination of the nice weather (mid 70's) and the scenery of lower Manhattan and the Hudson River really made the difference.

Some pics from the run:

After my run, I rewarded myself with a nice pint of Shocktop ale and a burger (I passed on the fries) at McKenna's Pub. My beer tasted like pure nectar from the gods, but the burger was not so great. ;) McKenna's is a somewhat shady bar, BUUUUUUT it has 2-4-1 drinks all day and music from the 90's and early 00's rule the jukebox.

 

Favorite tunes from the run: 

Goals for the upcoming week:

  1. I do not know, I think that I may do a trail run next weekend.
  2. Core work, because the folks at Runtastic sent me this email. 

 

 

(OFF) Tempo Run and Booty Shaking

QUICk Points:

  1. Tempo Run

  2. Cardio Cross Training

  3. Upcoming Runs

Tempo Run:

Rather than a tempo run, I am calling this an (off) tempo run. Since my half-marathon training is now winding down (less than 23 days until the race), I decided to do a "quick" tempo 6 mile run. Unfortunately for me, this run was anything but quick. For one, I started out way too late in the morning to attempt a 6 mile run, because the sun was out and it was not taking any prisoners. Starting at Crunch Gym on Flushing Ave in Brooklyn, I ran across the Williamsburg Bridge to Manhattan and back to the gym.

The route

The route

 

I kind of like this route because I am essentially running two sets of hills, which I really need for the Montreal Half-Marathon. The goal of this run was to keep a 8:10 - 8:30 min/mi pace, but that definitely did not happen because the sun was too intense for me. Also, I  was a little disappointed with this run because I had to walk about 5-6 times. One cool (even though it was hot as Hell) thing about this route, from a training perspective, is there are two inclines during the Manhattan -> Brooklyn portion of the Williamsburg Bridge. 

Some Bridge work:

Since I was walking, I figure that I would take a couple of snapshots. Also, what selfie of mine would be complete without my finger in the freakin' shot. 

Cardio Cross TRaining

After work, I wanted to do a little bit of stretching and some light cross training. By the time I arrived to the gym, I was so unmotivated to do anything on my own and I probably would have ended using the free Wi-Fi to play Word Streak on my phone while watching everyone else workout. Luckily for me, I arrived to the gym right before Cardio Dance Blast started. 

I will say that this class definitely was hot AND sweaty; it was a bit like Zumba  . . . TIMES TEN. It was a really fun class, but there was quite a bit of gyrating, pelvic thrusting, and dropping it like it's hot. Let's just say the day after this class, my lower back and knees were on fire. Although I did feel a bit like an old fart in the class, I  believe that I was doing  quite well, compared to the "kids" that were 10-12 years younger than me. You know that you are "too old" for one of these dance classes, when the instructor asks if anyone remembers a song and you are the only person who raises his hand. Although the class was a little tough, I will try it out again. Plus, it works well for my schedule because it starts after 6. 

Upcoming run(S)

I have finally reached the end of my training program . . . well almost the end, because I will do my last long run this weekend. This run will be a 12-mile run in Prospect Park. I was going to run from Brooklyn to Manhattan and through the Upper West Side but I think that my Prospect Park run will be a little better for me. One main reason: it is quite the hilly course, which will prepare me for the Montreal Run. I believe the last 5-6 miles of the half-marathon will be uphill, which is never fun. 

After this run, I can begin with my tapering plan. Even though the most runners taper two weeks before race day, I want to give myself an extra week. During this period, I think that I will focus on tempo, hills, and fartlek 30-60 min runs during the week and I will reduce my mid-long runs to 8 and 7 miles during the first and second weeks of tapering.

Ok, I'm outta here. 

 

Trying Out Some New Things

QUICK POINTS

  1. Trying out new fitness classes. 
  2. A quick trip to Philadelphia.
  3. Joining a new running group.

1. New Fitness classes

Last post, I mentioned that I wanted to try some new things regarding my fitness and take could different classes at Crunch Fitness. So, here goes. Last week, I went to "The Acrobat's Workout"

I will say that the instructors were nice but I did not really experience much of a workout in this class. I would consider this more of a yoga type class. Well, I think that this type of class would be called "acroyoga." We did a couple of fun things in the class. We did something that is called "table top" when you stack yourself on another person's shoulders and legs. 

Doing the move above, which was the last thing we did in this class, was not worth the time to get there. I mean we could have started out with that move and been done with class in about 15-20 minutes. 

In terms out my body's response to the workout, I spent only ONE minute in my cardio zone, according to my Fitbit. That minute probably was the minute that we spent doing cartwheels. I think that I spend more time in my cardio zone dissecting mice. 

So at the end of the day I probably will not return to this class unless I have some time to kill and all of the cardio machines in the gym are taken. Do not get me wrong, some people may enjoy these types of classes (which is why Crunch Fitness offers them), but I like to be efficient with my time when working out. 

Perhaps, the designers of this class could incorporate some cardio in between the acroyoga moves to make it more of a workout. 

2. "Motown Philly"

A little random "new" thing. I have never visited Philadelphia in all 14 years of living in New York City. This really is strange because Philadelphia is only about 1.5 hours by bus away from NYC. This past weekend I hopped on a 10-dollar Greyhound bus and headed to one of the oldest and historical cities in America. 

It was a pretty cool experience. Come one I visited the room where the U.S. essentially was "born," which was an AMAZING experience.  I wish that I could have stayed longer, but I had to run a race on Sunday. The city is so full of history that you cannot do it all in one trip. Aside from a little Airbnb drama, I will be going back soon. Maybe in June or July?

Oh, and I did not have a Philly cheese steak but I did have a cheese steak omelet after hanging out on Friday night. 

3. New Running Group

Also, I "joined" a new running group that combines running with the love of beer (or other drinks). The NYC Fun Run "tribe" (I believe that there are other similar groups in cities around the country) meet up once a week at a bar, run 4-5 miles, and reconvene a the same bar for a few drinks.

For this event, we met up at Session 73 and did a 4.71 isn mile, In and out run to/across the 59th Street Bridge and back to the bar.

It was a nice meet up but it was kind of tough to talk to people because at guy singing covers was performing and it was hard to hear. Plus, I was ready to go because I was sweaty and cold and the music really loud. We will see if I do another run, because the event would have to be in or somewhat close to the UES.

That's all from me.