Archive for the ‘Running’ Category:
Importance of Breaking Routine & Monotony
After you get a routine down, your brain consciously and subconsciously starts to figure out ways to make it more efficient, to use less energy, and consume fewer calories. It’s totally natural and there’s almost nothing you can do about it, it’s what took us from the trees and put tools in our hands. However, this very skill that has enabled so many things is something we always have to combat in our workout routines. Have you heard about how “your body adapts to the exercise” or that “you’re plateauing because your body is getting used to it?” That’s what I’m talking about.
In addition to adapting, your brain also gets bored. When you first start doing a routine, it’s fresh and new and exciting. You look forward to straining that muscle, feeling the pump, and then stretching it afterwards. It makes you feel alive as you feel the sensations in different muscles. After a while though, you recognize the feeling and it’s not so fresh and new anymore. The routine becomes… well, routine.
That’s why it’s important to vary your workout regime and introduce new types of exercise.
The prime example is in the twice-weekly Body Pump classes I’ve been taking. Every few weeks, they begin varying the motions you go through for each body group. They introduce new exercises or new positions along with new songs. While it’s a little tricky to follow along, the variation does keep you continually interested in the class.
This can apply to nearly anything, just give it a little change, work that muscle a little differently, and you’ll see dividends. This isn’t some novel idea I came up with either, people have been saying it for ages!
Photo: Alexpgp
Subscribe to the comments for this postItchy Legs When Running, Walking
One minor concern that I experience when running or walking outside in the cold (it’s not cold now, but I didn’t research it until now) is a mild itchiness on my legs around the thighs. It’s not serious enough to stop me from running or walking outside, but if I can prevent it then I can avoid a bit of the mild discomfort I experience.
It turns out I should count my lucky stars because some people get it a lot more seriously than I do. These two Ask Metafilter (1, 2) have some crazy stories from other people and links to things that are downright scary. A lot of the answers amount to links to conditions such as Exercise-induced anaphylaxis (as in Exercise-induced anaphylactic reactions, or allergic reactions) and cold urticaria. Being allergic to the cold seems a bit ridiculous, doesn’t it? I, like many, always thought it had to do with sweat coming out of pores and just being mildly irritated.
If those seem a bit outlandish to you, as they did to me, other explanations include:
- Reaction to detergents - It could be that my body doesn’t like the detergent I’m using, though my itchiness is only in the legs and I wash all my clothes.
- Blood circulation - Some have said that the itchiness just comes from blood circulation, that it goes away after the first mile. To be honest, I don’t really notice if the itchiness starts in the beginning and goes away, or persists for a long time. I have always ignored it and kept on going because it wasn’t that bad.
- New to exercise - Another commenter stated that it happened a lot when he first started working out but less so now, I can’t remember if it was worse when I was younger… dang my memory is going too.
Oh well, either way I’m not taking any drugs for it because it’s only mildly irritating, so I guess I’ll just power on through.
