Shifting into a New Gear: The importance of mixing it up in my workouts

Today I had another intramural basketball game, and I've noticed a MAJOR difference in my speed on fastbreaks. I'd like to think that I could attribute it to my recent workout regimen, which--aside from weight lifting--includes a combination of plyometric workouts and runs various speeds.

In my limited experience in the world of fitness--or, at least, THINKING about fitness--I have learned one major thing: mixing it up is GOOD thing. I know a lot of people who have a routine that they repeat day after day, week after week, month after month, etc. And while I can't argue that they are still receiving a large number of health benefits from such consistency, I think they are missing out on potential fitness gains.

On my website, my profile lists three health goals that I have: 1. Dunk a basketball. 2. Run a mile in under 5 minutes. 3. Get my body fat under 8 percent. I think those are all good, quantifiable goals--abeit perhaps a little unrealistic, at least with the dunking. I'm 5' 9", and I don't know much about anything, but I DO know that there aren't a lot of guys my height throwing down tomahawk jams over 6'6" opponents. And it's not that I have a long way to go--I can sometimes throw down a miniball, so I'm right there, but I've been "right there" for about 9 years now.

I wish I could say that my new workouts have propelled me to incredible heights, and that I jam the ball down the other team's throat, but that would be inaccurate. Honestly, I didn't even ATTEMPT to dunk the ball. I DID, however, notice a lot more bounce in my step. I think I had about 8-10 rebounds in the game, and I was able to push the ball quickly up the court and get some easy baskets. I felt like anything was possible for me (that's called an endorphin high...;).

That's pretty much all I have to say about that, but I just wanted to reiterate the point that in my workouts, the key has been MIXING THINGS UP. I'll run just 1 1/2 to 2 miles on a breakneck speed on the treadmill one day, and then do plyometric workouts and leg lifts, and then another day go for a 4- to 5-mile run another day. It really helps me to gain cardio benefits one day, and explosive quickness the nest. But whatever workout I choose to do, I always make sure to get a good 48 hours of rest between rigorous exercises with the same muscle groups.

The 5-minute mile goal is coming--I can feel it. In fact, I wouldn't be suprised if I could run it right now; I just need to find a place where I can test it out--a high school track, for example.

The body fat percentage goal won't be attainable until I ascertain exactly what my current body fat percentage is, but I'm fairly certain I have a few percentage points to go there.

And the dunking goal, well, I have to go to work on this one. Most people get their first dunk in high school, not a year or two after graduating from college, so I realize that I only have so much time to accomplish this goal before it becomes increasingly more difficult.

But if I keep mixing things up, I feel like anything is possible.

"The Mystery of the Marathon Runner: Unlocking the secrets of the endurance athlete"

I consider myself to be in decent physical shape.

I can get up and down the basketball floor with relative ease. I finally got my Body Mass Index lower than my age (although I suppose if you wait around long enough, that one will take care of itself). And when I spend a day in the weight room, I'm usually not too concerned about waking up the next morning feeling like I was unwittingly volunteered to take on Evander Holyfield in Match 1 of his final Heavyweight Title run.

Yet, as I become more and more entrenched in the world of free weights and plyometrics, protein shakes and PowerBars, I find myself increasingly inspired, not by the gym-lurking masses of muscle who could snap my wiry frame in two without much effort, but rather by the lanky, long-legged speedsters who can be found jogging up mountain trails, zigging and zagging between pedestrians on crowded urban streets, and ultimately pumping their fists high in the air after finally reaching the finish line.

I am amazed by the long-distance runner.

These guys are incredible. After 3 or 4 miles, when most "regular athletes" would be calling it quits, these guys are barely beginning to find their groove. For the endurance athlete, there is only one number worth remembering-26.2 (that's miles, to the laeity)-and they will forget their own birthday before letting it out of their consciousness.

Bearing in mind that I have probably never exceeded 5 miles in my "long-distance" ventures - and that most of humanity is in the same boat - I thought it would be intriguing to find out how marathoners go about training for such a huge expenditure of energy. What kinds of things do they do differently in their preparations for a race, than, say, a college football running back, or a high school track and field high jumper?

Brian Casaday, who at the age of 24, has already completed 10 marathons and 4 half-marathons, modestly offered his training regimen: "My training program isn't very complex, nor professional. What I do to train for a marathon is to go running three times a week in the morning, about 3 to 4 miles, and then a long run on Saturday." 3 to 4 miles a day! I thought, now that is certainly do-able!

Of course, it gets longer. Brian continues: "I'll start my long runs about three months before a marathon, started 7-10 miles, and add a mile or two each week. . . "I work it out so I do one very long run two or three weeks before the marathon (20-22 miles) and then a 10-mile [run] one week before. I'm fairly active, so my cross training is usually replaced with hiking, Frisbee, swimming, other sports, and occasional sessions in the gym."

That's it? I had to wonder. That's the big secret to running long distances--you just run? Other than dabbling in some cross-training-type activities, and minimal time in the gym, the secret to running is…well…running. And it's not running 100-mile weeks, as I had feared, but, for the most part, starting with manageable distances, and then increasing the length of the run slightly each week, with a few rest weeks.

Convinced that the 10-time marathoner was overly simplistic in his advice, I spent some time reading about various training programs on www.RunningPlanet.com, an excellent authoritative resource for runners of all types.

The 24-week program for beginning marathoners listed on the website was eerily similar to the one Brian supplied me with--a simple system of slowly increasing the distance run each week, with period recovery weeks, which prevents the body from shutting down.

So if preparing for a marathon is simply a matter of running more and more each week, then why is it that after 4 miles I'm done, every time? Well, for one thing, it requires consistency. Most of us simply aren't willing to run every day, or we think that we run more frequently than we actually do.

But there is a simpler reason for my lack of long-distance proficiency.

Brian explained that he believes it doesn't have nearly as much to do with fitness or training in this case, but psychological conditioning. "I believe that anyone, if they can run three miles a day consistently, is physically fit to run 26.2 miles. Don't mistake this to mean that if someone can run three miles a day, they can go out and run a marathon on-demand. I believe they already have the strength and endurance to do so--they only lack psychological training," he said.

So the truth comes out. It isn't so much that my body lacks the proper ratio of slow- to fast-twitch muscle fibers (although that certainly could be part of the problem), or that I don't have a clear concept of what runners do to prepare their bodies for a race.

I just lack the psychosomatic know-how, that je ne sais quoi that keeps approximately 99.9% of Americans from ever seeing the final stretch of those 26.2 miles. Somewhere, deep within me, is a long-distance runner waiting to explode--no, cruise--into reality, if I can only learn to master myself. All I have to do is work toward unlocking the mystery of the marathon runner.

One step at a time.


Take the Marathon Quiz!

Now THAT is what you call Valentine's Day!

If you've watched the right channels on TV lately (and by "right", I mean sports-themed) you have seen the commercial featuring "The Girlfriend".  If you haven't seen it and are too lazy to click on the link to watch it, it features a scantily clad young woman--The Girlfriend--describing her ideal man with her foreign accent.  "I like guys...a little bit fat.  A little bit...hairy back.  Who watch a lotta football."  (She is, of course, simply outlining the target demographic of the bourbon-making Jim Beam company.)  She is, in essence, billed as the quintessential girlfriend.  

I bring this up, not for the purpose of getting more people to drink their Jim Beam bourbon, but rather to illustrate that I had my very own "The Girlfriend" moment, and it went something like this:

Hollie (my wife): "I don't really feel like going out for Valentine's Day."

Me: "You don't?  What do you feel like doing?"

Hollie:  "I don't know.  Honestly, I feel like just making something at home and watching NBA All-Star weekend."

???????

There aren't too many of these moments in a man's life, so I was honestly taken aback.  If this were an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, it would be Deborah setting some sort of trap for Ray to fall into.  But my followup questions revealed that it was one-hundred percent genuine; my wife just wanted to sit back on the couch and watch the slam dunk competition.

And so we did.  

To be sure, there is something to be said for the high-maintenance gal, who carries herself high and proud in her designer jeans and perfectly coifed hairstyle.  

But nothing is sexier than a hottie who ALSO is interested in your ball games.  On Valentine's Day.  

So, while you other guys enjoyed your fancy-pants 5-course dinner with hard-to-pronounce foods and finished off the evening with some sort of predictable chick-flick, Hollie and I were kicking it in sunny St. George on the couch with two monster steaks, watching Nate Robinson dethrone Superman for the 2009 slam dunk title.

I wish I could say I felt your pain this Valentine's Day.

P.S.  Did you see those dunks by Nate?  He is generously listed at 5'9", and in one of his dunks, his head was just inches from the rim, which means his running vertical leap is somewhere around the 48-inch range.  Insane.  I'm working on mine, and will let you know how the intramural ball game goes down tonight!