Exercise

Open Thread: What’s Your Resolution?

by Kat on 01/03/2012 · 271 comments

New Year’s Resolutions: love ‘em or hate ‘em, everyone kind of makes them. You take stock of your life, you resolve to “be better”… what are your goals for 2012? What do you want to do better? (Pictured: New Year Sunrise, originally uploaded to Flickr by joka2000.)

For me the answer to that question is to “get fit.” I’m unfortunately at my highest weight ever after the baby, but what really bugs me is how much my muscles deteriorated — due to some pregnancy aches and pains I couldn’t do much more than swim during the last 5 weeks of the pregnancy for cardio, and you’re not supposed to exercise before 6 weeks postpartum… which took me more like 12 weeks because every time I started to exercise I felt so off I thought, “this can’t possibly be right,” and would make another doctor’s appointment. Having now been cleared by my OB/gyn, my primary, and my podiatrist, I have no excuses left… so I’ve started Couch to 5K again.

And oh: it hurts. But I love, love, love this program. The first time I did it, in 2006 or so, I was pretty fit from DVD workouts, but was under the impression that I could never, ever run because my lungs just couldn’t handle it. Someone suggested Couch to 5K, and I remember eyeing the program warily — it’s basically just a 9-week schedule that tells you how much to run and how much to walk during 3 30-minute workouts a week. There is no way it could possibly be true, I thought. I will never run. But I did it — my lungs burned, and I remember coughing for hours after some of my runs, but I finally figured out how to breathe and run at the same time.

This time around, my lungs are fine — but it’s my leg muscles that are killing me. After the first very mild workout, I tried to do 15 minutes of leg exercises in addition to the run — and the next day I could barely walk. Ouch. OK, lesson learned. But still: starting the program as someone who literally has been on the couch for far too long, I’m here to tell you: everything that the Plan asks of me, I’ve been able to do. I love the challenge of each workout… and I love the built-in impetus with the program, the mild fear that if I skip a few days or even a week that I’ll be losing ground and have to repeat a week or two. I also love that it’s only 30 minutes — perfect for busy women with no time.

Readers, what are your resolutions? Has anyone else done Couch to 5K, or do you have any other fitness goals?

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Wakey Wakey! The Business End of 4 AM

by Kat on 12/12/2011 · 223 comments

in Energy, Exercise, Lifestyle, No Time, Personal Care, Sleep, Success

There was an interesting article in Forbes the other week about how power women wake up early, and commenters seemed interested in talking about it more, so I thought we should explore in an open thread. How early do you get up? What do you do with the time? Any tips that make it easier to get up then? For those of you who don’t rise that early, do you have another special time of the day? (Sunrise, originally uploaded to Flickr by killthebird.)

For my $.02: I was always a night owl when I was younger. Term papers and graduation speeches alike got written in the hours between 12 and 3. I realized this was a problem sometime around high school when, reading a college admissions essay I had thought brilliant the night before, I realized a good two sentences were devoted to “finding a piece of licorice on the floor.” And not even in a metaphor way, just a “Kat had a dream while typing” way. Still, the habit perpetuated until after law school, I think. By then — working crazy long hours — I realized that my best time truly was first thing upon waking. So I started getting up earlier.

I also realized a funny thing: that the time was truly mine when I got up earlier. I wasn’t rushing out the door to get to work. I had time (and energy) for a workout. Then I truly got greedy and realized I could get the ME stuff done then — the stuff I’d always wanted to do but never had the chance to. I attempted to finish NaNoWriMo in the hours between 4:30-6:30 one November. I read books I had meant to read in college but never gotten around to — thinky books that won National Book Awards, and not just the latest brain candy. I started this blog. (In fact, most of the longer posts for the first six months of this blog were written primarily in those morning hours.) Occasionally, I would even use this “super Kat” time for good and do work work (usually when I was up against a deadline and needed super focus to get it done.) I love these hours — time to myself, and time to be proactive rather than react to the day.

All that said — I’ll admit it’s really hard to get up, especially when it’s dark outside. I’ve found that it’s helpful to set the coffee the night before, and also to put my workout clothes in the bathroom so it doesn’t take too much effort to change into them. I also tell myself, “If something is important to you there will be time in your schedule for it somewhere, and now is that time.”

Readers, how about you? Do you rise and shine early — and do you use it for “me” time or productive work time?

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The Style of Cycling

by Kat on 11/22/2011 · 104 comments

in Commuting, Exercise, Lifestyle, Professionalism

Reader S wonders if her refreshing bikeride to and from the office is harming her professional image…

I ride my bike to work and struggle to look professional and yet arrive at the office safely at the same time. I’ve started keeping my clothes at work, and so now, I frequently wear leggings and sneakers and then run to my office to change before anyone notices. Other times though, I need to go out for dinner or a client meeting after work, and it can be annoying to have to “change” into my sneakers afterwards so that I can bike home.

What do I do? Should I just start riding the subway? I love biking because it’s fast and refreshing, but I wonder if it’s unprofessional.

I’m really curious to hear what the readers have to say here. I applaud Reader S’s effort for a healthy lifestyle, and I’m kind of envious that her situation is such that she can bike to work. That said… you don’t have to do it 100% of the time to get the effects, and I think some days (such as, say, when you have a client dinner) you should plan to take other means of transportation to work, whether it be by subway or car (or if the distance is short enough, perhaps even walking). To me, that seems to be the easiest answer — what do you do otherwise, travel by car back to the office, then change, and then bike home? Take your bike with you to the client dinner? The latter just sounds a bit extremist — and inflexibility is usually not a good thing. (Pictured: Walk Your Bike to Work Day, originally uploaded to Flickr by Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious.)

If there is another person at your office who bikes to work — preferably a superior — ask them how they’ve done it through the years; it’s a great way to bond and get a mentor or at least a friend in the upper echelons.

I’m curious, readers — have you biked to work? Do you have opinions on others who bike to work? How have you (or they) made the activity appropriate for a professional woman?

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Packing a Gym Bag for the Office

by Kat on 05/26/2011 · 83 comments

in Exercise, Organization, Weight Control

Reader A has a question about what to pack for a workout before, during, or after work hours:

I am an attorney in Chicago. I absolutely LOVE your site and I was wondering if you could do an article about gym bags. Specifically, essentials to have in your gym bag so you don’t have to repack it every time you work out. Also, maybe some cute/durable/good sized bags that you’ve seen. Finally, this may sound silly, but advice on how to pack the bag, like have the stuff you’ll use in the shower in one little pouch; hair stuff in another; or maybe hair stuff with makeup combined.

I don’t necessarily want to own two of everything and my gym does have hair dryers, brushes (not the best though), etc. but if I workout in the morning and I am going to the office afterwards, or after work and want to look presentable when I leave (it is a nice gym with lots of potential business connections), it’d help to have some guidance on what to have and how to pack it in there.

Great question, and I’m curious what readers have to say. The gym bag that I’ve used and loved for the past few years is similar to the one above (LeSportsac – Deluxe Everyday Bag (Dance Dance) – Bags and Luggage, available at Zappos on sale for $58.50) — it’s super lightweight, big enough to fit everything, but small enough to keep me from getting overly ambitious. When I’ve gone to the gym near work it’s been after work, so for my own $.02, my gym bag would contain:

flip flops for the shower — my very first job was as a lifeguard at a public pool and we got a lot of lectures about how gross the natatorium floor was as well as the bathroom floor, and as a result I would never, ever go barefoot in a public space like that.
tiny bottles of face wash and face moisturizer/SPF (kept in a ziploc bag)
very limited makeup: for me, an eyelash curler, blush, concealer, and lipgloss (but if I were planning on going to the gym before work, that answer might change)…One of the reasons I love LeSportsac so much is because they always come with perfect little bags for cosmetics like this.
a shower cap, a hair tie, and dry shampoo such as Psssssst Instant Spray Shampoo, and a comb — my hair is at the point where it’s really comfortable with dry shampoo so I would probably just wash my face and body and skip the full wash at the gym. Furthermore, most of the gyms that I’ve used have provided soap, shampoo, and conditioner, which would be fine if I did want to wash my hair fully. The hair tie is key, though, since I’ve been known to forget them… I keep them stashed everywhere and somehow am still always out!
sport wipes in case I didn’t have time to shower, such as Neutrogena Deep Clean Sport On-The-Go Cleansing Wipes
deodorant, possibly a small vial of your perfume
fresh underwear in a Ziploc bag — I’ve always done this on the theory that the Ziploc bag keeps the fresh underwear fresh, plus it gives you a place to put your old sweaty underwear
a lock for the locker
tech equipment to use at the gym — a spare set of headphones, an old iPod shuffle, even a music CD if your gym still has slots to put a CD near the equipment.
an empty, clean water bottle — that way you have it if you forget one, but it doesn’t add bulk.
extras: an extra sports bra, an extra pair of socks — possibly even an extra bra or an extra black t-shirt (I’ve actually never used these at the gym, but I have headed for my gym bag when I realized that, say, my black bra was showing through my shirt, or when I spilled soup or something on the shirt I wore to work — but you don’t need to keep these in your bag!)

Readers, what do you keep in your gym bags at the office? Which bags are your favorite? And what are your best tips for working out near the office, whether it’s before/after/during work?

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What to Wear to Workout – In Front of Coworkers

by Kat on 05/24/2011 · 117 comments

in Comfort, Exercise, What To Wear To...

Reader M has an interesting question that brings us back to that old classic: what do you wear to workout or exercise in front of coworkers?

I am an articling student at a mid sized law firm and I have a “law day fun run” coming up, hosted by the law society. It just occurred to me that my running outfit (mini skort and a skin tight tank top) might not send the right impression even though it’s what I actually wear when I go running. I have seen male lawyers biking and running in skintight and/or revealing outfits before but I am not sure if I can get away with that as a female lawyer.

What should I wear?

I offered my advice on what to wear to the corporate gym way way back in 2008, and I’m curious to hear what readers today have to say about it. More and more companies are offering on-premises gyms for their staffers’ use, and even if they don’t, many people go to the gyms located near the office, where odds are high that you’ll see coworkers. (Pictured: Printed Chase Skort, available at Athleta for $54.)

Runners particularly can get into trouble here. Half of the runners I know rely on old (ollllld) t-shirts and shorts — the other half buy shiny, new, TIGHT clothing — running tights, sports bras-as-tops, and more.

A lot of this depends on your personal modesty. For my $.02, the skort and skintight tank sounds fine to me, if that’s what your comfortable running in. A few notes, though:

a) Whether your shirt is tight or not — please make sure that your sports bra is a good one and actually stops the bounce. If you have a less than stellar sports bra, not only is it bad for the girls, but wow, talk about distracting. As someone with a larger bust myself I’ve always sworn by Enell bras (such as Enell Maximum Control Wire-Free Sports Bra, available at Bare Necessities for $64.)

b) Wear an opaque shirt. Even though I don’t think twice of passing women on the street wearing nothing but a sports bra, it’s a wee bit different when you know that person in a working capacity. So wear a shirt, and wear an opaque shirt at that.

c) Whatever you wear on the bottom, make sure that it’s something vaguely flattering. Avoid pants that are skintight (and, please, pants that emphasize too-small underwear, as well!). If it were me, I would also gauge whether my shorts or skorts were overambitious, given the state of my legs. Don’t get me wrong, I wear a lot of shorts during summer months if I’m working out in the apartment or going for a run near the apartment — but it’s just a different calculus, for me at least, when I consider wearing those shorts to anywhere near the office. In fact, a friend was just telling me about a line of workout clothes featuring shapewear built into it — Apifeni.

Ladies, what do you think? Should shorts/skorts be off-limits entirely? Should only loose tops be worn? And what about hair — would anyone advise a friend to not wear a ponytail or pigtails?

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Open Thread: How to Hire a Personal Trainer

by Kat on 04/25/2011 · 99 comments

in Exercise, Weight Control

As warm weather approaches, people everywhere are rethinking their fitness routines. For some, that may even include hiring a personal trainer. But finding a good personal trainer can be a slightly difficult proposition: it’s expensive, so you want your money’s worth — but you also want to make sure that your limited time and energy is “spent” well at the gym. So let’s talk about it. (Pictured: study in annoying eddie II, originally uploaded to Flickr by hmmlargeart.)

My own experience with a trainer was less than stellar: It was January 2008, and I was gearing up for a trial with a very small trial team — so I knew a lot of late nights and early mornings were in my future. I went to my gym and requested a trainer, and took the first person they recommended who could meet my schedule. I think I wound up paying about $75 per session for 10 sessions. It was worth it, I figured, if I could still fit into my suits come trial time.

My trainer, a youngish man named F, was a nice enough guy. But throughout our 10 sessions, we floundered. Sometimes he would kick my @!#$@#$ (oh, I still ache a bit from the one-legged walking lunges across the room). Other times, though — actually, a lot of the time — I felt like F was wasting my time, overestimating my coordination (no matter how long I tried, I was apparently incapable of hitting the little speedbag boxing thing with any regularity), and treading on my patience. I left most of the sessions feeling like the 60 minutes spent at the session and the 15-20 minutes walking to/from the session would have been a lot better spent with one of my FIRM videos, going to a spin class, or doing a long run outside by myself. (I ultimately caught a truly nasty cold — right in the midst of trial, too, joy — and ate so little that I wound up fitting into my suits just fine.)

For those of you who’ve had success with personal trainers: how have you chosen a trainer? How have you communicated with him or her to ensure an amazing workout?

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