It’s February and most people have either settled into their New Year’s Resolutions, or have completely fallen off the wagon. I’m happy to say that I have stuck with my plan for the year! I have focused my attention on being thankful for things in my life and have been keeping active, even through the winter when it can be tough. I have been faithfully setting aside time just for me, and I’m working on getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night. And finally, I’m still going strong with Whole30 and I just added a bunch of doctor recommended supplements to my diet. All in all, I’m very proud of the progress I’ve made in 2016.
However, there is one thing I need to work on: I have fallen into a trap of doing the same exercises every day, and I know that will soon get me into trouble. Once my body acclimates to an exercise, my body just thinks it’s a normal part of my day and doesn’t see it as a challenge anymore. Time for a change!!
January was my month to get back into the swing of things with exercise, but February is time to get serious. Training walks begin for my next Susan G. Komen 3-Day, the last weekend of February and I want to have some different exercise routines built into my schedule before we get started on training walks. The past few days I have been looking for ways to change up my routine so that I get the best bang for my buck, without being able to use weights. My wrist is still not ready for weight training (hopefully by the beginning of March) so I’m having to rely on lots of lower body work and ab/core weight. The 3-Day has a really great training plan put together and it incorporates two days a week of cross training, but it doesn’t specify what kind of cross training, so I have to put the effort together to do that myself. I also think being 50+ means that I need to add more than two days a week of cross training to continue building strength and losing weight.
I was talking with my doctor and she has recommended yoga that concentrates on lower body and core work, especially since I can’t do anything with the weights yet. I then talked to a friend of mine that runs a lot and she did pilates while she was training for a half marathon. She recommended two different Pilates DVDs that I just ordered, so I can start incorporating those into my training plan this week. I’ve never done Pilates, and I know my core needs some serious work so I’m looking forward to the challenge that I know these DVDs will provide me (and can’t wait for the results).
Next up, putting all the workouts into my schedule so that I am getting enough rest time for my muscles, but not so much that it hurts to do it each time I do them. I think by following the training plan put out by the 3-Day I will be setting myself up for success, except I need to do yoga/core work more frequently. My plan till training starts is to do the Yoga and Pilates on alternating days, giving myself a day off from those on Tuesday, which is my busiest day out of the house, but I can generally get a nice walk in the morning. I’m going to continue doing the WiiFit Step Aerobics in the evenings because it is helping me reach my 10,000 steps a day and still have some down time. Adding in the yoga and pilates earlier in the day, and alternating these each day should be a good balance to help me achieve my goals.
My goal is to be in the best physical condition possible by the time the beginning of August arrives, so I can enjoy Michigan’s 3-Day and all the fun things that Michigan has to offer. With this training plan in place and getting my diet and supplementation regulated I think I will be able to achieve this goal.
So to sum up my ‘Cross-Training for the 3-Day’ training plan I’ll be starting soon:
- Follow the 3 Day walk 24-week training plan
- Add in Pilates and yoga on alternating days
- WiiFit Step Aerobics in the evenings for extra steps
Have you created a training plan to help you reach your goals? What types of activities do you use for cross-training?
xoxoxo,
Ann
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