QuadBandit is an innovative new product that allows you to get rid of the phone armband or phone belt once and for all. With QuadBandit, you can quickly and easily access your phone simply by reaching into your pocket. QuadBandit integrates with the existing pocket on your workout shorts or pants to keep your phone secure and out of the way. Unlike an armband or belt which must be tight enough to support the entire weight of your phone, QuadBandit only has to be tight enough to hold your phone against your leg. Your shorts pocket will supports all the weight of your phone. This means QuadBandit will stay in place, without slipping like an armband or belt.
Furthermore, QuadBandit works with any phone, with or without a case. That’s right, you won’t have to buy a new armband each time you get a new phone or new case! Even better, QuadBandit is worn out of sight, underneath your workout clothes, so no more tanline from your armband or wearing a belt that looks like a fanny pack.
]]>A year ago, around the time of the Marine Corps Marathon I ran into a lot of people that were running. It made me feel a little jealous and a little guilty. I looked into running it a few weeks before, but it was well past the sign-up or transfer date. I decided to run it the following year and started training immediately. A few days later I felt pretty good about my progress. A week later I forgot why I was running.
Eleven months later it was mid-September. It had been 90+ and humid for a couple months in Northern VA, so my after-work runs usually consisted of four miles at whatever pace I could stay alive at. Then one Sunday the humidity dropped and my four mile run turned into a solid feeling seven. I knew the Marine Corps Marathon was coming up, so I looked up the transfer date for bibs. It was a couple days away. I hopped on Craigslist and an hour later I had a bib with six weeks to train.
I still had the three hour goal in the back of my mind. But after doing the math I realized that was a sub-7 minute mile pace. While I had done plenty of 10+ mile runs, I had never run a race over 5k in my life. Not to be dissuaded, however, I kept to my goal, and created a plan to achieve it. I applied the same strategy I previously wrote about on how to train for a 5k in 3 weeks. Start off running a short distance at your goal pace and incrementally increase that distance, while running shorter distances at a faster pace in between. I increased my weekly long runs from 9 to 13 to 14 to 16 to 18 to 20, running all of those at or below my goal pace. In between the long runs I ran faster paced 4-6 mile runs, mixed with some easier 8-10 mile runs.
As the race approached, I was pretty confident I could achieve my goal. Like anything in life, preparation is key. By pushing myself in training runs, I had put myself in a position where the actual race would just be a redo of what I had been doing for weeks. I was a little worried about how my body would react during the last 6 miles, but I kept to my plan during the race to pace myself. Like anyone, I was in pain towards but I wasn’t in doubt and it was actually a very enjoyable experience.
The point of this post isn’t to tell how I ran a three hour marathon. Rather, it’s a lesson I learned about expectations, goals, and fear of failure. I probably didn’t run a marathon sooner because of the high expectations I had for myself. A fear of the work it would take to achieve it and how I would feel if I didn’t meet my goal. As it turned out, my goal was well within my reach. When I decided to run, I knew there was a possibility I wouldn’t meet that goal, but I put that fear aside. Whether your goal is a three hour marathon, completing a marathon, or something else, it’s within your reach. Don’t let a fear of hard work or failure stop you from trying. You’ll surprise yourself.
Here are all of my training runs leading up to the marathon:
]]>Whether you’re trying cut weight or simply maintain your current weight, walking can be the secret to success. Everyone knows getting in shape requires sticking to a disciplined exercise and diet plan. But sometimes even when you’re doing everything right, hitting the gym every day and cutting out excess calories, you still hit a wall with your progress. So how do you overcome this hurdle? Sure you can eat less and exercise more, but you can also supplement your day with a healthy dose of walking to achieve your goal.
With the growing popularity of pedometers of all types, we’re more conscious than ever of how much we move around in a given day. Many of us know pretty much down to the step. If you use a pedometer, you’ve probably realized some days the steps rack up without you even noticing. On an average weekday, I walk around 22,000 steps. Roughly 5000 of these steps come from my daily run. However, many weekend days, even when I get a run and a trip to the gym in, my steps are closer to 12,000.
So, what’s my point? What this tells me is, while my daily run certainly contributes to my daily caloric expenditure (and of course has other benefits), what is really helping me stay in shape is walking around throughout the day. The good news is that if you’re the type of person that hates cardio, there is hope. Don’t get me wrong, cardio should still be part of your overall routine if you’re trying to cut weight. But if you’re not meeting your goals, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to eat less or do more cardio.
By just making an effort throughout the day to walk more here and there, you can make a huge difference in your daily caloric expenditure. This can be parking a little farther away from work or the store, taking the stairs, and just taking a couple 5-10 minute breaks to go for a brisk walk. 5-10 minutes here and there can easily add up to several miles throughout the day. It’s a lot easier to add 3 or 4 miles walking throughout the day than to add 3 or 4 miles to your daily cardio.
For many of us, the idea of just going for a walk to get in shape may seem a little ridiculous. We envision ourselves lifting or doing cardio to get in shape, not strolling through the neighborhood. But once you get over that image, going for a walk in the evening can be a great, and enjoyable, way to supplement your workout plan. It can be a great time to think, relax, or explore the neighborhood, and also something to do to help stave off evening food cravings. Most importantly, those few extra hundred calories you burn may make all the difference in hitting your goal.
]]>Running can be one of the most powerful brainstorming tools at your disposal. I don’t have a scientific explanation for it. There is lots of information out there about endorphin release and metaphysical things that occur while exercising. My theory is based purely on anecdotal evidence. But I wouldn’t bother writing about it if I wasn’t confident there was some truth to it. We all have problems, work or personal, good or bad. But rarely are we in a state where we can completely immerse ourselves in thought.
Especially in this day and age, we have constant distractions. If you’re sitting on your couch, you probably have your phone and television. If you’re driving, you have your phone, music, and of course driving. But when you’re running you have two things going for you: first, your blood is pumping and your mind is alert—no matter how tired you were, once you get into your workout your fatigue fades; second, you have no distractions but putting one foot in front of the other. Running is such a routine movement that your mind can wander, and for many of us it’s a rare time we’re not focused on a screen, document, or other people.
If you’re stuck on a problem, use running as a tool. Take a break and go for a run. I can’t quantify the number of times I’ve had a great idea while running, but there have definitely been a few. Try focusing on a problem that you need to solve during a run. You’ll be surprised how fast the miles pass once you have an idea and your mind starts going down rabbit holes. You’ll not only have the benefit exercise, but also clarity of mind and thought.
]]>Many days, just making it to the gym and finishing a workout is a victory. But some days you are just going through the motions, doing what you need to maintain the status quo, and then there's days you go above and beyond and are barely able to walk out of the gym. A lot of factors contribute to the quality of a workout: how much time you have, your mental state, sleep, what you’ve eaten, etc. We can’t always control these factors, some days you just don’t have the physical energy. But working out is as much a mental challenge as it is physical. Motivation is probably the most important single factor. On any given day your motivation can overcome all other factors and lead to a great workout. One of the best ways to motivate yourself is by a setting a specific goal for your fitness.
The best way to accomplish any goal is to have a plan. When you have a goal, and a plan to accomplish it, you will start making both conscious and unconscious decisions to achieve it. This is true for anything in life, but your fitness is something that only you are totally in control of. If your goal is just to get a workout in, it’s less likely that you will get the most out of it.
The first step is to write your goal down. Having a goal that is concrete will help you maintain focus on achieving it. Sometimes there is an external event to motivate us to get in shape—a race, a competition, a social event. You might notice when it’s almost summer or you have a race coming up, the focus and intensity of your workouts increase. But often we don’t have an external event to work towards. This is when it’s most important to create a goal. The more specific the goal, the more focused you will be to achieve it. It’s important to set specific benchmarks that you are trying to achieve, such as lifting or losing a certain amount of weight, or running a race in a specific time.
Once you have a goal, you need to create a short-term plan to achieve it. This can be down to the week or day. On Sunday, you should be thinking about your plan to achieve your goal that week. Then, most importantly, set a plan every night (when you’re lying in bed is a great time for this) for the next day to achieve your goal. It’s extremely difficult to stick to a plan to achieve a goal that’s a year out; it’s easy to forget about it or tell yourself once X life event is over, you’ll get back on your plan. This is why the daily plan is so important. When you’re working towards your goal one day at a time, if you fall off, you get to hit reset that night and all that matters is you achieve your goal the next day.
When you just show up at the gym and start your workout without a plan, you're less likely to really challenge yourself. If you have an ambitious plan before you begin, such as doing a certain amount of sets or miles, you have something to push yourself towards. You'll know if you're selling yourself short if you don't meet your goal. When you make have a plan before you're experiencing the pain, you won't be as susceptible to the compromising excuses we often make when under duress. You'll know exactly what you have to do to make it a successful workout.
A great way to do this is to envision your day the night before: what are going to do first, what and when your workout will be, what you are going to eat, etc. Having a plan gives you an easy metric against which to weigh success for that day. Success, whether you’re measuring by the day, month, or year, is achieved through the effort you put into the task immediately at hand. Having a goal and a short-term plan to achieve it will help you maintain focus and motivation throughout the day.
]]>There’s always time to exercise: once you adjust your mindset and expectations, you can get a workout in every day. Inevitably the realities of life will interfere with your ability to hit the gym or trail; sometimes that extra hour of sleep is more important. Often exercise isn’t a priority, especially when compared to work or family. That being said, we often skip a workout simply because we haven’t made it a priority or didn’t plan for it. Not every workout is skipped because a more pressing, unforeseen obligation arose. Sometimes, we just don’t feel like.
First, you should try to plan your workout the night before. If you have a decent idea of what your schedule is the next day, you should know if you have to get your workout done in the morning, afternoon, or evening. Whenever you have a plan for your workout you will start to coordinate your day around it. Once you get in the mindset that you’re going to get a workout in no matter what, you will push yourself to get it done earlier. Mark Twain said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” This quote is often used as a theory to prioritize your work schedule to do your hardest task, or the one you’re most likely to procrastinate, first thing in the morning. This can be true for your workout too.
Next, you have to learn to be flexible with your workouts. If every workout requires you to be at the gym, you are probably limiting your ability to work out too much. Getting to a gym or taking a class can be time consuming. After you factor in travel time, changing, and a shower, you can easily be looking at an hour and a half or more. But there are lots of workouts that you can do in 20 minutes at home, or anywhere, without equipment. Once you’ve opened up your options, it makes it much easier to get a workout in everyday.
It’s important to ingrain in yourself the attitude that just because you can’t do your ideal or usual workout you can give yourself a pass for the day. If your usual routine is lifting weights, and you can’t make it to the gym, do some body weight exercises you don’t usually do. This could be as simple as doing a couple hundred push-ups, mixing up your hand placement. If you don’t have time to do your usual cardio, get up a little early and do some quick interval sprints. Having a pull-up bar and kettle bell is a great, cheap way to expand your options for quick at-home workouts.
I believe on days you work out, you will make better choices when it comes to your diet. You’d think that you would be more likely to eat less or better on days you don’t exercise to compensate, and indulge on days you do, but for whatever reason, it’s often the opposite. Personally, I think it’s the tendency for our minds to have an all-or-nothing attitude. That is, if it looks like the day is already a wash diet or exercise wise, you tell yourself that one more bad meal won’t make a difference and you’ll start your plan tomorrow. However, when you get a workout in, you’re more likely to have a positive attitude about the day and make better diet choices.
Just getting a workout done when you want to the least is a mental victory that will pay dividends. When it comes to exercise and diet, good choices lead to better choices. The more you exercise, the more you will exercise. The better you eat, the better you will continue to eat. That seems obvious, but when you stick to a disciplined workout plan, you’ll start seeing results and nothing is more effective than positive reinforcement. Sticking to a workout plan is a mental, not physical, challenge. I believe if you make the effort to get a workout in every day you plan to, even if not your ideal workout, this will lead to making even better diet and exercise choices.
Fitness is a long term investment that has more than physical benefits. Your physical fitness will have positive effects on your health, energy, confidence, and discipline. Working out isn't simply a vanity that can be sacrificed to make time for professional or personal obligations. It should be a priority that will help ensure you excel in other aspects of your life.
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Starting in 2017, to get a perfect score of 300 on the Marine Corps physical fitness test (PFT) a male must do 23 pull-ups, 115 crunches in 2 minutes, and run 3 miles in 18 minutes. Females must do at least 10 pull-ups (or 70 seconds flexed arm hang) and complete the run in 21 minutes. Many Marines can hit the max pull-ups and crunches. However for most, the run has always been the barrier to a perfect score. A recent study by the Marine Corps found that only 4% of men and women were able to run the 3 miles in 18 or 21 minutes, respectively.
Running 3 miles in 18 minutes is difficult. It seems so unattainable to many they don’t train for it. An excuse I’ve often heard is, “I don’t have the time to train for it.” Well here’s the good news: training for a 3 mile race doesn’t take a lot of time. I’m confident if you follow the plan in this article, you can knock a minute, or even minutes, off your 3 mile run time in 3 weeks, training for less than 30 minutes three times a week. For those of you that aren’t training for a PFT, this routine will work for a 5k run as well.
If you’re already a sub-18 minute runner, this article isn’t for you. If you struggle just to run 3 miles without stopping, you need a little work before you begin this plan. When you start, you should already be able to go out and run 3 miles at a comfortable pace without feeling like you’re dying. Hopefully if you’re Marine, you’re already there. If you’re not, you need to start by running a few times a week until you can jog 3 miles without any problems.
The biggest problems for most people training for a PFT or 5k are two things: (1) they don’t know how to train, and (2) they don’t know how hard they can push themselves. Unless you’ve run competitively at some point in your life, perhaps in high school cross country or track, you are probably not going to know how to train for a 3 mile run.
This biggest mistake most people make is that they don’t train running fast. Many Marines I know will go out and run 3-4 miles a few times a week or two before the PFT. Unless your goal is just to finish, this isn’t going to help improve your time. To run a fast PFT or 5k, you need to train running fast. I’ve found that at a minimum, you need two weeks to train to see results (train two weeks, run PFT the 3rd). Also in my experience, most people (besides regular runners) have difficulty sticking to a training program that is anything over 3 weeks. I’ve also limited this plan to 3 training days per week, because many have difficulty sticking to plans that require any more than that.
To effectively complete this program, you need a timer and known distances. If you have a GPS watch, great; if not, I recommend downloading a running app for your phone. I use the MapMyRun app. If you want to keep your phone from bouncing in your pocket, check out a QuadBandit. Remember, just going out and running won’t do the trick; you need to push yourself to meet the time benchmarks.
The first you thing you need to figure out is what your goal run time is. If your goal is to run your PFT in 19 minutes, you need to run 6:20 mile splits. So your goal in this program will be to always run as fast, or faster, than that. If you’re running 800 meters, you should be running 3:10 splits or less; 400 meters in 1:35 or less, etc. The strategy of this program is to start running your target pace at a short distance (400 meters) and progressively increase the distance, while still running at that pace. Again, it’s essential that you run known distances and that you’re keeping track of your splits with a timer. Equally important, you need to push yourself on each interval. If during every interval, you’re telling yourself, “I’m done after this one, I’m don’t care if I’m not going to finish the workout,” that means you’re doing it right. But once you finish and catch your breath, you need to push on and do it all over again until the workout is complete. In the plan below, I’ve included sample splits; if your goal is different, you’ll need to do the math yourself. Generally, you should be able to run a little faster than the goal split for the first couple intervals,and then struggling to meet the goal split by the 3rd or 4th.
Between every interval, you should do an approximately 400m jog. This should be a very slow jog, but not walking. For the “3 miles @ 90/95%” runs, you should be pushing yourself pretty hard and should notice improvements each week. Ideally, you should train Monday, Wednesday, Friday. If you have time, it wouldn’t hurt to do a 3-4 mile medium pace run over the weekend or on one of the other rest days. Depending on what day of the week your PFT or race is, you also need to do some running that week. (Remember, this plan is set up to train for 3 weeks, and run your PFT or race the 4th week). If it’s on a Friday, you should get one more speed workout in on Monday and then a jog on Wednesday. If it’s on Wednesday, you should still go for a medium paced run on Monday, but don’t do any speed training within 3 days of the PFT or race. If you’re unfamiliar with the course, I’d recommend finding out where it is and jogging it sometime before the PFT. (This is a good time to do your last slow jog).
You should be wearing a watch during the PFT or race to be able to track your pace, and at least know when you have one mile and a half mile left. Also, run your own race; don’t try to keep up with the people that sprint out of the gate. I always run the best times when my first mile is the slowest. If you’ve followed through with the program, you should have a pretty good idea of the pace you need to be running, so don’t get distracted by others that are going to burn themselves out after a half mile.
Another extremely important part of training is diet. You need energy to run so you shouldn’t be training on an empty stomach. This isn’t cardio to lose weight, its high intensity training to gain speed. Eating a snack or small meal with some carbohydrates an hour or so before your workout is recommended. When it comes to race day, you should have a decent meal the night before. I usually have a bowl of pasta, but don’t eat too much or try eating something new the night before. The morning of, it’s essential that you eat breakfast before you run. It amazes me how many people think that they need to “stay light” or something, and starve themselves before a race. A high carb breakfast like a bagel or a couple of granola bars will give you the energy you need to get through the run.
If you follow through with this training plan, the run will be easier than it’s ever been for you. Remember, especially during the first and second weeks of training, that the harder you push yourself the more it will pay off the following week and on the day of the race or PFT.
]]>I did traditional lifting for years throughout high school and college. I eventually transitioned to Crossfit. One thing I noticed is that when I first made the transition from lifting to Crossfit, I reached a level of fitness I hadn’t achieved before. However, after a few months of strictly Crossfit, I was in great shape, but had lost muscle mass. Being a big fan of Crossfit at this point, I tried to supplement my WODs with some traditional lifts, but still didn’t regain the muscle mass I had from regular lifting.
Once you get into a regular routine, it’s difficult to keep your routine fresh. But I’ve found you can get great results by doing a good mix of traditional lifting and Crossfit. My baseline workout is a rotation of traditional lifts: shoulders and biceps, back and triceps, chest and abs, and legs. Every week I’ll do one day of lower body focused Crossfit, doing exercises such as box jumps, wall balls, cleans, rowing, double-unders, walking lunges, or kettle bell swings, mixed with some upper body movements such as push-press, push-ups, pull-ups, etc. Then another day I’ll substitute a Crossfit workout for one of the traditional lifts that focuses on the muscles that I was supposed to lift that day. For example, if its back and triceps day, instead of lifting, I’ll do a workout that incorporates pull-ups, ring-dips, diamond push-ups, and rows, along with some other unique movements for lower body and core.
A great way to mix up your routine is to include a quick Crossfit style workout after your lift. For example, after lifting shoulders, do a 10 minute AMRAP of push presses and battle ropes. After doing legs, do 5 rounds of 10 reps of goblet squats, walking lunges, and step-ups. Just doing a quick high intensity workout can fatigue your muscles in new ways to help bust through a plateau.
Another method is to create your own hybrid workouts by incorporating Crossfit style exercises into your traditional lifts. For example, if you're lifting shoulders, between sets you can work in box jumps and back extensions. During leg day, you could incorporate hand-stand pushups between sets. Ideally, you want to mix in exercises that focus on a muscle group that you're not exercising within a couple days, and you want to do movements or rep counts that you don't usually do during your traditional lifts.
Everyone has their own routine and their own preferences. This post isn’t meant to be inclusive of your options by any means, but rather a suggestion that if you’re doing only Crossfit or only lifting regularly, you will probably benefit by mixing up your routine. If you just lift, by mixing in Crossfit you will exhaust your muscles in new ways through different amounts of reps, higher intensity, and different angles. In addition, you will increase your cardiovascular capacity and overall fitness. If you just do Crossfit, by mixing in days of traditional lifting you will build strength and increase muscle mass. If you’re trying to cut weight, you might want to go heavier on the Crossfit. If you’re bulking up, you will want to go heavier on the lifting. Whatever you do, mixing up your routine is key.
]]>Whether you’re outside or on a treadmill, running is an excellent form of exercise. Many runners dread the treadmill, but sometimes circumstances leave you no other choice. If you have the option of doing either, in my opinion there is no substitute to road running.
I’ve done extended stints on the treadmill before, usually during the winter months when my usual routes are covered in snow and ice. After a couple months of fast-paced, high intensity treadmill running, I’ve found myself struggling to keep a good pace during my first few road runs. While you can achieve a high level of cardiovascular exertion on a treadmill by getting your heart rate up, you don't use your leg muscles the same way as compared to running outside. Road running requires you to push yourself forward with each step. On the treadmill, the belt pulls your leg back instead of you pushing yourself forward. Other differences are a lack of wind resistance and hills on a treadmill. You will be able to cover significantly more ground with less exertion on a treadmill. If you’re training for a race, running on the treadmill isn’t an adequate substitute for road running. Of course, its much better than not doing anything, but the bulk of your training should be outside.
An advantage of the treadmill is you can set your goal pace and then you have no option but to keep up or fall off the back. When running outside, you may unconsciously slow your pace. On the treadmill you set your goal pace and then you have to make a conscious action to slow down. It may be also easier to track your progress by recording times, distances, and speed more accurately.
One way to get more out of your treadmill workout while also making the time pass faster is by running intervals. Increase the speed and keep the pace for a set distance or time. Repeat after running a set recovery distance. You’ll not only get the benefits that come from interval training, but tracking the intervals will help keep your mind occupied and pass the time. Another advantage of the treadmill is running on a padded surface. The padded surface along with the slight give of the treadmill under your weight helps reduce stress on your joints.
Another way to get the most out of your treadmill workout is to increase the incline. By setting an incline (1 or 2 percent will work), you can engage your muscles better than running on a flat surface. The extra inch or two that you need to propel yourself upward on each step helps increase strength and better simulates a road run.
When you are forced to run on a treadmill, the minutes can seem like hours, especially when you’re staring at the seconds and minutes slowly tick away on the clock. Sometimes you have the benefit of a television to distract you when you’re on the treadmill, but workouts can still seem excruciatingly long. There are a couple tricks I’ve learned to help make the time pass faster. First, throw your towels over the dashboard to hide the time and distance. When you’re not looking at the clock or the hundredths of a mile slowly add up, time will likely pass a lot faster. If you don’t have towel, try toggling the dashboard so average pace or speed is showing instead of distance or transpired time. If you’re listening to music, tell yourself you’re not going to look at the clock until you’ve listened to a certain number of songs. I found it’s a lot easier to tell yourself you just have 8 more songs as opposed to 4 more miles.
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